The Star Dragon: A Fantasy LitRPG (Dragon Kings of the New World Book 1)

by Dante Doom

  “For what? A tiny glitch? Look, this place I’m talking about, it’s been one of the buggiest places in the entire game for almost two months now. Everyone’s always yammering about how it’s messed up, and Draco has actually physically shut down access to the area in order to prevent players from poking around. But why hide it rather than fix it, right, if there’s not something more going on? All we should do is head over there and you can use your hacking magic to get us into a restricted area!”

  Sang nodded, feeling a little surge of excitement leap up inside of her. She had taken a gamble by bringing Van into the know about the entire affair, but it seemed to energize him. His enthusiasm was already paying off in spades. “Perfect,” she said, “so, if we get a map, we can go to this area?”

  “Hopefully!” Van said, leaping up and grabbing his bagpipes. “And I know I’m undercover, so just leave it to me.” With that, he scampered up to the party of six that was busy arguing. Sang slowly followed after him, hoping there wasn’t going to be any kind of trouble or singing.

  “Hark!” Van said as he tumbled in front of them—it had looked as if he were trying to do a somersault, but wasn’t very graceful about it. “Behold, I am Semimodo! Jester to the stars!”

  “Be gone, foul jester!” said one of the players. His name read Abigar the Bold and he was a Level 75 barbarian.

  “But, pray tell, don’t you wish to hear a ballad? Boost your stats for a whole 24 hours!” Van said.

  “Stat boost? What’s your angle?” asked one of the shorter players, a wizard named Philipson.

  “No angle! I just wish to get to the kingdom of Verrata, but lack a map! If you show me the map, I’ll play my song!” Van said cheerfully.

  Sang was impressed with how into his character the guy could get. While she didn’t particularly like anything about Van’s life choices, he was slowly starting to grow on her.

  “Hmmm, fine... you play the song first and then the map afterwards,” said Abigar. Van stepped back and took out his bagpipes.

  “I shall now regale you all with “The Song of Bravery”! Guaranteed to increase your Strength by +5 for the next 24 hours! Ahem!

  There was a band of brave knaves

  Who knew not fear nor terror

  They cut, battled and fought

  Without stumble nor error

  But what was a brave knave without his friend, Whiskey?

  Who convinced them to take matters they saw most risky

  They’d drink away, To save the day

  And wake up without a single memory!

  This elicited laughter from the group of players and they all cheered. Sang braced herself as Van pulled out his trusty bagpipes and began to bleat. AIIIGHHHHH AIGHHHHHH AIGHHHH the pipes screamed as he tried to play them as loudly as he could. This brought out a lot more laughter from the other players. Sang gave a sigh of relief when she saw that they were laughing at the noise instead of turning violent, like most everyone else did.

  “Enough, bard and jester! You have earned our map!” said Abigar as he pulled out a parchment of paper. “Take it! Take it and find the secrets to reaching Verrata!”

  “Thanks!” Van said as he tried to backflip away from them, but just ended up doing a full-on face-plant into the ground. This caused more laughter as the party walked off.

  “Nice work,” Sang said as she helped Van up. “You really know how to make players laugh.”

  “Well, my old party really loved that kind of stuff; just stupid stuff that wasn’t really witty, but more slapstick. I noticed my buddy wasn’t with them, though.”

  “Who?” Sang asked as she glanced at the map. Her advanced skills allowed her to easily determine the safest route to the kingdom of Verrata.

  “He was a paladin named Trefor. You think I was bad, that guy was on 24/7. He’s either dead from a Cwake overdose or went pro, from my guess. There’d be no other reason he wasn’t with the group,” Van ventured.

  “Makes sense, I suppose,” Sang said. “So, is there some spot of special interest in this kingdom?”

  “Yes! The players nicknamed it the Cave of Visions. It’s only this stupid bear cave, but one of the players found some kind of crazy glitch and then, next thing you know, players were flocking from all over to see the glitches in hopes of getting some free gear or something. Apparently, the caves were all contorted and crystalline... a lot different from a bear cave. Some people thought it was some kind of expansion that hasn’t been released for the game yet, but which was accidentally made accessible. From everything you’ve been telling me about glitches, it’s gotta be the perfect place for your research. If there is any kind of... you know, alien stuff... that’s gonna be the spot.”

  Sang nodded, gripping the map. She could see there were dozens of red areas with the words ‘wild’ on them.

  “What does ‘wild’ mean? Why is some of the road covered in a red splotch?” Sang asked.

  “Oh, yeah. Wild areas mean you’re perfectly free to kill other players without being labeled a bandit. They’re some of those crazier spots where there is no law. So, in order to get to the kingdom of Verrata, we’re going to have to move through the Great Jungle of Sorrow. I’m not going to lie, it’s a pretty rough area to get through alive. Lots of players have built up little camps into the wild zones and consider themselves to be rulers and kings. So, if we get found by one of those people, they might kill us or try to enslave us.”

  “Enslave us?” Sang asked. “How?”

  “Powerful magic. Trust me, it sucks. So, whatever route we’re going to take, we’ve got to be careful.”

  Sang glanced at the roads. The map display appeared in front of her, showing her the different paths.

  Path One: Road of Sorrow. By taking this road, you will make it quickly, but must pass through the heart of the wild zone. Chance for encounter: 99%. Recommended level: 15

  Path Two: The Griffin King’s Lair. A crazed man who has tamed Griffin lives within a treetop home in the jungle, and if you convince him, he may loan you a Griffin to fly to Verrata. Recommended level: 7

  Path Three: Guts and Glory. Going off the road is a dangerous job, but there is a lot of treasure to be had. Encounter chance: ????? Recommended level: ????

  “Hmmmm,” Sang sounded out loud as she looked at the choices. They were still only level 5 due to the fact that the sheriff quest hadn’t paid out. “What’s the best way to go?”

  “Well, if you ask me, I think the Griffin King. Going off the road is insane, and the Road of Sorrow will have too many high-level players waiting for us. Getting to the Griffin King won’t be easy due to the level requirement, but it is doable,” Van said.

  “Alright, then that’s the plan,” Sang said as she grabbed her bow and began marching towards where the jungle would be. “We’re going to find the Griffin King and get a Griffin.”

  “Great!” Van said as he trudged along after her. “See? You’re getting into this game hardcore now!”

  “I’m just trying to focus on the best way to play,” Sang said.

  “Exactly! See, being a gamer is all about learning how to think on your feet, overcome challenges, and improve yourself. In a lot of ways, it’s the exact same as real life, except this is far more fun.”

  “The problem is, Van, that your progress stays in here, in the game. All of the muscles that you think you’re developing are only online. When you try to fell a tree in real life, you won’t be strong enough to do it. You’ll get worn out. You don’t get a lot of real-life skill out of this kind of life,” Sang replied.

  “No, that’s not true. It’s where you get to think things out. I don’t know about you, but how many actual puzzles do you face in real life? I mean, come on, this is a place where your mind can run free.”

  “Mind runs free while the body rots?” Sang muttered. “No thanks.”

  “Mark my words—by the end of this whole thing, you’re going to be in love with gaming. I promise.”

  “By the end of this whole thing
, I intend to be far away from this game and up close to a real-life mountain,” Sang said. All of this time running around in a breathtaking virtual world had created inside of her a passionate longing to be out in real nature. While her senses told her that everything in this world was real, she knew the truth... and that always seemed to keep her from feeling fully immersed into it. She decided that she’d go to Spain for a vacation, to a place called Asturias. There, she would be able to experience real beauty, and forget all about Alfred, the aliens, and all of this nonsense.

  “Whatever. Come on and let’s get on the road to the Griffin King,” Van said. “No time like the present.”

  “Hey! Earth to Sang!” he said.

  “What? I was listening. The only way to improve my Bow skill is to get an Effervescent Bow—I got it,” Sang replied.

  “What? No, first off, the Effervescent Bow is what you want to avoid, and secondly—look! There’s a quest in the middle of the road!”

  Sang glanced at the road to see that there was a wounded knight laying on the ground. The terrain was still relatively open, but Sang could also see the mouth of the jungle not too far ahead. There was a yellow outline around the wounded knight, indicating that he was a quest.

  “Great!” she said. “We’ll need the experience.” She rushed up to the knight and activated the dialogue box.

  “Behold!” said the knight, holding up his sword to the heavens. The sunlight caused the steel blade to glint. “There are but two noble people before me! Alas, I am wounded! But my quest must continue! Not too far off from here is a beautiful princess who has been held captive by an evil sorcerer! I was wounded in my attempt to liberate her from her prison, but you two! You two must go and finish what I have started!”

  A quest menu appeared in front of Sang. She glanced at it.

  Quest: The Tower

  Mission: You must free the Princess from the tower before it is too late!

  Reward: 4,000 experience. Ring of Charms.

  Recommended Level: 5.

  “Well?” Van asked. “Are we taking it or what?”

  Sang nodded. “Yes, it’s perfect! We’re just the right level and we should be able to save the princess relatively quickly.”

  “Great, well, it shouldn’t be too far from here, so let’s go save a princess!” Van answered.

  They quickly rushed in the direction that the knight had indicated; the valley wasn’t too far from the jungle, and they could already see a massive stone tower in the distance.

  “That is much larger than I would have expected,” Sang muttered as she looked toward it.

  “Yeah, well, evil sorcerers love to build towers,” Van said. “What’s the plan?”

  “What?” Sang asked, glancing back at him with a puzzled look.

  “Well, you’re the one in charge, so why don’t you come up with a plan?” he offered.

  “I’ve not done this mission before; I wouldn’t know what to do,” Sang said, feeling a little put off by Van’s words.

  “Well, the good news is that I have no idea either. And I’ve been thinking, too... the problem between us is that you’re always relying on me for the plans, but then you always mess them up on some level. So, I figure if you come up with the plan, maybe you won’t blow it so badly.”

  “I said I was sorry about the arrows thing,” Sang replied.

  “Let me ask you... did you grab any arrows before we left town?” Van asked.

  Sang glanced at her inventory.

  Inventory: Longsword, short sword, knife. Bow. Beginner’s Arrows (150). Steel arrows (5).

  “Oh, uhhh, crap,” Sang said as she realized that she had completely neglected to get new arrows before leaving on their current mission.

  “Yeah, I thought so,” Van said as he pulled out a big bundle of steel-tipped arrows from his bag. “If we’re gonna survive this game, you’re going to have to learn how to take responsibility for your own actions. So, yeah, you’re in charge on this one. Lead me to victory, oh fearless leader!”

  Sang looked at the tower, and back to him.

  “Fine!” she said, raising her head and straightening up. “We’ll go right up to the tower and climb it. From the looks of it, we should be able to get right to the top.”

  “You think the princess is at the top?” Van asked.

  “Princesses are always at the tops of the towers,” Sang replied as she took out her rope. “Now, come on, we’ve got some experience points to gain.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  They walked through the valley as the wind gently blew against them. They were heading through a serene, green valley with beautiful flowers of gold, yellow, and violet. Everything was still and, except for the chirping of the birds nearby, there was no sound at all.

  As they walked up to the tower, the words Abandoned Castle greeted them, indicating that the castle wasn’t occupied. Sang frowned as she checked her map. There was a single red blip on the map, indicating that this was a place where there was bound to be some kind of trouble. The problem was that Sang wasn’t exactly sure where their enemy would be. Her Map skills weren’t high enough to determine the exact location of the enemy. She glanced back at Van, who was eagerly watching her, his bagpipes in hand. She didn’t want to put off the impression that she was unsure, so she shrugged and began to climb the tower.

  “My Climbing skills are high enough to get me up there,” Sang called down as she grabbed for the stones and crevices of the tower. “I’ll throw you the rope once I’m in the tower!”

  “Alright, fine!” Van answered. She could hear the lack of confidence in his voice. Not that he wasn’t confident in himself, but was rather hesitant towards her approach. She ignored his unspoken hesitation and continued to scramble up the tower. Rocks chipped off as she dashed from the right to the left, barely catching the window ledge with a jump when she reached the top. She wheezed as she pulled herself over and the windowsill.

  Much to Sang’s surprise, the tower was well lit from the inside. She could see dozens of strange sketches on the wall. There were anatomical drawings of what looked to be hideous ghoul-like creatures pinned to the wall, as well as potion bottles scattered across the ground. The room was almost ominous and spooky. She felt a shiver run down her spine as she spotted more than a few skulls in jars sitting on a large oak desk at the center of the room. There was no princess to be seen.

  “See anything?” Van called out from below.

  “Something!” Sang called back as she glanced around some more. She needed to find something sturdy to tie the rope to. She found the desk in the center to be the right choice. It seemed to be made of very sturdy oak and, when she tried to move it, it didn’t budge. As she tied off the rope, though, she heard a loud creaking as the door behind her opened up. She spun around to see a tall, pale woman wearing purple robes. Around her neck hung a purple gem. Purple was the color of royalty, Sang thought as she breathed a sigh of relief. She’d found the princess.

  “Hey!” Sang said to the princess.

  “What are you doing here?” the woman demanded, raising her hands threateningly.

  “I’m here to rescue you!” Sang said as she rushed over to the window and looked down. “I found the princess! Catch the rope and we’ll get her down!” she called out as she threw the rope down to Van.

  “You found the princess? Up there?” Van asked.

  “Yes!”

  “Are you sure?” Van asked, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand as he looked up at the tower.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Sang said, crossing her arms and turning back to glance at the princess. “I’ve clearly found her.”

  “I don’t think the tower’s big enough for her,” Van replied.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I won’t let you rescue the princess!” said the woman behind Sang. Sang saw the words YOU ARE IN COMBAT suddenly appear in front of her. She turned around to see that there were words displayed above the tall woman’s head. They read Evil Sorceress
Level 7.

  “What?” Sang asked as she was promptly blasted by a powerful bolt of magical energy. She watched as her Health dropped by 50 points. The blast had knocked her away from the window and into the wall where the strange sketches were.

  “Hey!” Van cried from afar. “What’s happening up there?”

  “Get up here and help!” Sang cried out as she stood up and drew her bow. She aimed it at the sorceress and fired off a shot, hitting the sorceress for 10 points of damage. Crap! She was still using her beginner’s arrows.

  “Die!” the sorceress screamed as she raised both of her hands and unleashed a powerful torrent of flames from her fingertips. The flames arced toward Sang, but she was able to dodge out of the way, using her Dodge Roll ability as a ranger to avoid the damage entirely.

  “Van!” Sang cried out again as she fumbled to switch the arrows in her inventory. She had to actually change her arrows physically, and she was having a hard time grabbing them out of her bag as the woman kept shooting bolts of magic at her. “A little help!”

  “My Climbing skill is so low that I’m still at the bottom of the tower!” Van called back. “I fell like three times!”

  “Are you kidding me?” Sang muttered. She glanced at her health bar. It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t too good. Spellcaster enemies were harder to face in this game if you weren’t prepared. She aimed her bow with her improved arrows and fired once again at the woman. This time, the words DEFLECTED appeared atop the woman’s head. A thin film of flickering blue energy appeared. The words DEFLECTION SPELL circled her head.

  Sang decided that it would be a better idea to pull back and ambush the caster, so she made a dash for the only exit. She rolled through the door and rushed down the stairwell. “Come back here!” cried the sorceress as Sang ran deeper into the tower. She hustled down the steps. It didn’t seem like there was a lot going on in the tower when it came to design. The designers probably hadn’t work too hard on it, she figured, considering that it was just a side quest.