On My Brother's Grave: Reconnaissance: A LitRPG Adventure (Vatenkeist Online Book 1)

by E. M. Hardy

  “What the hell are you doing?” Klarg asked with a clenched fist. “They’re going to hear us!”

  “I don’t care,” she snapped back. “Just help me here punch a hole in the floor. We can’t break the crystal, right? So we’re going to drill holes all around it and disconnect the thing from the rest of the ship.”

  “Why not just smash the connecting pipes?” I asked.

  Elia shook her head. “Looks like they’re made of alloys too heavy and too strong for our weapons to break. But by digging around the crystal, the weight of it will eventually bend and break those pipes for us. With no connection to it, the ship still might stay afloat due to the raw power of the crystal, however I’m sure the helmsman will no longer be able to draw energy and therefore control the ship.”

  “Genius,” I said with a smile.

  Klarg sheathed his sword and then rammed his heavy fist down on the wooden planks, creating a gap. “Sorry I doubted you lassie. You’ve got brains bigger than most adventurers I’ve met.”

  “No hard feelings.”

  It took no time at all for the two of them to destroy the room and, soon enough, the weight of the crystal began to make the floor sag. We all hopped on and clung to the railings around it to add more weight. With a loud pop, the floor crashed.

  The pipes holding the crystal twisted as the thing fell, and even the strong metal material bent down and cracked. Blue-white energy leaked out of the openings and, with another snap, the whole thing broke down. The crystal – with us holding onto it – dropped onto the cargo hold. There it lay, dark, silent and suspiciously wet.

  Chapter Fifteen

  This was a skyship, not a regular boat. So why the heck was there water down here? The three of us tried to get a better grip on our surroundings, using the faint glow of the Levitation Crystal to look around. Somehow, both Klarg and Elia were having an easier time finding their bearings than I did. It was so dark that even the dim light didn’t really help me all that much. Maybe something to do with our diverging races?

  That was when I smelled an odor so strong and pungent I wondered if we were deep down in water or something entirely different. It was a smell so powerful I couldn’t tell if it was acidic in nature or another quality beyond my understanding.

  “Guys,” Elia said, when she peered down at the liquid flooding this cargo hold. “We need to go. We need to go right now.”

  Klarg agreed and he grabbed me by the collar to yank me up.

  “Wait, why? What the heck’s going on?” I asked.

  “We’re wading in a pool of oil,” the captain answered. “One or more of the drums carrying this oil must have ruptured during the battle. This whole room could explode any minute.”

  “Let’s use that to our advantage then,” I told him. “I have an idea to really shake things up and make sure we can take these damn pirates out for good.”

  Elia and Klarg stared at me, and I could tell they were trying to figure out what sort of crazy plan I had cooking up in my brains. I pushed them on forward, however, until they led me up to the stairs heading to the deck above us. I waited until we were completely out of the oil to fully reveal my plan.

  “I still have some MP left,” I told Elia. I didn’t know if Klarg could understand what I was rattling on about because I still wasn’t sure if he was an NPC or a player. “I can fire a flaming arrow at the wall, just above the oil. It’ll only be a matter of time before the fire and oil kiss each other and blow this ship to hell.”

  “That’s a very risky idea,” Klarg commented. He took a hold of his rapier in one hand and his crossbow in the other. “I like it though. Fire the arrow and let’s make haste to rush back to the Obelisk Gallant.”

  Elia then called out, “Guys, we better hurry. We got company!”

  “If we’re going to die,” I said as I gripped an arrow. “Might as well die in a blaze of glory. Fire shot!”

  I let go of the string and watched as the arrow burned with a bright flame. It landed against the wall inside the cargo hold, just inches above the surface of the pools of oil. It was then that I saw there were barrels of oil stored down there too, along with caches of rum and other alcoholic beverages.

  “Oops, my mistake,” I said. “We got to go now. That thing could blow up any freaking second. I think I fired too low.”

  “That’s not an option anymore. We’re trapped,” Klarg answered when a dozen pirates came rushing down the stairs. They were all armed with swords and shields, and Klarg ran straight towards them like a suicide bomber. He raised his rapier and started dancing the tango of death, sliding in and out to avoid their strikes and slash with his own lethal attacks. Watching him fight was magnificent to behold.

  Elia followed suit and rammed the first wave of enemies with her shield. If my presumption was correct, then all of these pirates were players, and they were likely far above our level. However, in this tight corridor, even their advanced abilities couldn’t do them much good. Out in the open, like on the upper decks, they had the advantage. But in here, the three of us could funnel them in to our attacks.

  I still had two flaming arrows to deal out, and I fired them quickly, taking out two enemies that neither Klarg nor Elia could immediately reach. I then activated my Marked Prey ability on the closest foe, so I could deal more damage. As soon as he was down from two arrow shots, I passed the mark to the next enemy and then to the next.

  “Guys, we have to freaking move!” I screamed. All the fighting was causing the ship to shake, and the oil could make contact with the flaming arrow any second now. We were still right by the cargo hold and the blast would instantly annihilate us.

  Elia slammed her mace down on an enemy’s skull, crushing him into a pile of meat and blood before the body dissolved. She grabbed the few coins and potions the pirate had in his possession, and when she searched for more to fight, we all realized there were none left.

  “Finally! The path is clear,” Klarg said.

  “No need to say it twice,” I replied, and we all rushed to get upstairs.

  The upper deck was chock-full of pirates and wyverns, all preparing to board the tipped Obelisk Gallant. Just from an estimated guess, I could say there were at least two dozen of them preparing to raid and kill the last few people aboard our ship.

  “No time to fight,” Elia reminded us as she ran right through the crowd. The enemies all turned to us in surprise, but she bashed whoever got in her way with her shield and mace. Klarg and I followed suit, stabbing and slashing at those who got too close as we all made our way to the side railings.

  A wyvern came in, swooping to grab us and drop us off the side, but I managed to snipe it down with a couple of arrows. Several pirates tried to stop us by lining up in front of us but Klarg, being the only one whose level was high enough to deal with them, pulled a flask from his pocket and tossed it at them. As he did, he uttered a phrase, indiscernible in the wind, and probably activated a spell or activity. The flask glowed and, once it hit the ground and shattered, every enemy in the vicinity shuddered from a chain of lightning that sparked through them all.

  One of the ship’s cannons fired at the Obelisk Gallant. The cannonball burst right through the stern deck, obliterating the ship’s helm and main office. Yet, that wasn’t what got us worried. The impact from the recoil shifted the pirate ship so much that, in the next moment, we heard a spark and then a roar – the flaming arrow and oil had met. The expanding gas was already ripping through the inner bowels of the ship and, before we could process the horror about to strike, a sudden explosion rocked the pirate ship.

  The whole bottom portion of the ship’s hull blew up and, with it, the Levitation Crystal. The entirety of the pirate ship was beginning to fall, and the three of us sprinted as fast as we could to leap across the impossible gap and regain the Obelisk Gallant.

  “We’re not going to make it,” Klarg said, but he didn’t care to stop. He just continued running even as the deck below our fee
t was crumbling. The electrified pirates behind us were just now beginning to comprehend what was happening. They were no longer concerned about fighting; instead, they were searching desperately around for a wyvern to carry them up.

  Of all people, Elia was in the worst position. She was the one wearing heavy armor after all. However, she didn’t even say a single word of complaint and just leapt out, following Klarg’s lead. I didn’t say a word of protest either and jumped out as well.

  All three of us reached out forward, hoping we’d make it to the Obelisk Gallant. We knew it was impossible – the distance was just too great. And indeed, it shouldn’t have worked for us… but the pirate ship exploded twice more in succession. The resulting blast wave pushed us just enough – while making me feel like I had shattered nearly every bone in my body – and we all crashed hard on the quarterdeck of the Obelisk Gallant. We didn’t get to watch the pirate ship tearing itself apart in the flames as it descended down to crash below.

  Our ship was still angled to a point that we would slide down and off the side railings. Klarg didn’t wait for us to fall off; he grabbed me by the hand and helped me get back up to reach what remained of the stern deck. I managed to grab a hold of the helm, or what remained of it anyway. The steering wheel had been blown off from a cannon blast, but the stand and the gears within were still somewhat intact.

  As Klarg and Elia held on to whatever they could, I dug an arrow into the helm stand and did my best to rig through the gears and steer the skyship back to an upright position.

  “Come on, you damn old ship!” I screamed as I pulled with all my strength and nearly broke the arrow shaft. I put all my weight behind my tug and the ship slowly began to return to its normal axis. Slowly but surely, it moved back to its proper position. As it turned, numerous loose parts and shattered pieces of wood from the cannon blasts floated freely under the influence of the Levitation Crystal, but they soon plummeted to the ground down below.

  Just as the ship steadied, I let go of the arrow shaft and slumped down to the floor, exhausted. I checked my stats, worried that I had taken too much damage from all that fighting and explosions.

  4 HP? Okay, now it made more sense. No wonder I was feeling so fatigued. I could only guess at how much pain and damage Elia and Klarg had sustained through this ordeal.

  “Good work,” Klarg congratulated me as he and Elia walked over.

  “You’re pretty beaten up,” Elia muttered softly and somewhat endearingly, as she opened a potion bottle and helped me chug it down. I recovered enough HP to get back to my maximum. Not only did my health go back up, I felt the exhaustion recede as well.

  “Thanks,” I told her and, acting on impulse, gave her a warm hug before she helped me get up on my feet. I then turned to Klarg, “Well, captain, we should go down to the cabins and see if anyone else is still alive.”

  He flashed a thumbs up. Before we headed down, however, he made sure the arrow now controlling the ship was locked in place.

  To our utter surprise and delight, there were still a lot of people breathing on the lower decks. There was roughly half of his crew, struggling to repair the ship and get it back in shape, and a good fifteen passengers. Most of them were level 1-2, and they had had the smart idea of hiding while the more powerful players had been blown off the ship from the pirates’ cannon blasts. Fortunately, we found the dwarf and elf from earlier, still alive and right where we had left them.

  Elia got busy tending to everyone’s wounds, and I started taking note of everyone’s name so we could compare my list to the passenger log sheet and see who was missing. For his part, Klarg returned to commanding his men in order to get the ship back on track to reach Cael’vron ASAP.

  To celebrate our victory, the captain decided to open some of his personal shipments of exquisite wine and food, and he hosted a special dinner for us all, passengers and crew alike. Elia got to wear a nice, beautiful blue dress – which I didn’t even know she had packed in her little explorer’s bag – and I got to borrow formal attire from the captain himself. It was a little out of my tastes but, then again, I had no idea what was fashionable for a fantasy world such as Vatenkeist.

  Klarg sat at our table and treated Elia and I as guests of honor.

  “You did well,” he told me that night, as we were diving into our meal. “You two were the only ones thinking quickly on your feet. We had a level 15 Assassin aboard this ship, but even he couldn’t survive a direct cannon blast. Once he was gone, I thought we were done for until you two came.”

  Elia smiled and she took a sip of wine before she answered, “You’re too kind. We were just doing whatever we could at the moment.”

  Klarg waved that sentiment off and emphasized, “You do one small good thing, then you do another and then another. Before you realize it, you’ve done so much you’ve saved this entire ship and most of the people on it.”

  “I wish we could have saved everyone,” I said. “Innocent people shouldn’t have to pay for the madness of others.”

  “You know, even a level 25 veteran can’t save everyone,” Klarg noted.

  That comment really got me curious. I looked at the captain. “That’s the second time you mention character levels. Are you an NPC or a player?”

  Klarg burst out laughing. “I’m a player, man. I’ve been playing this game since it came out. This is already my fourth character and I’ve been living in this virtual world for in-game years.”

  Elia and I looked at each other in awe and wonder.

  “What about your life in the real world?” she asked him.

  In that instant, all the glimmer in Klarg’s eyes vanished. He paused for a moment, somewhat hesitant, before he looked back at us. He took a long drink of wine and then spoke, “In the real world? Out there I’m paralyzed, from head to toe except for a few fingers and my eyes. I’ve always been that way since I was a kid. It all changed ever since Vatenkeist Online became a thing. In here, I was a hero, not a helpless patient just waiting to die.”

  I felt a strange mix of sadness and joy for him. In the game, he could incarnate someone he could never be in real life. Out there, he had no choice – genetic lottery and the harsh realities of our world dictated the direction his life would follow. In Vatenkeist Online, he was in charge. He had no limits.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that,” Elia stuttered, heartbroken from the story. “You should be proud though. In here, you’re a recognized captain. You just helped save more than two dozen people and you stopped a pirate attack.”

  “Thank you, but I know it’s not really all that meaningful. Those who died will just re-spawn back in town. NPCs that died will just be replaced by a new line of code.”

  “Does it matter?” I asked. “What matters is that you took the chance and you fought for what you believed in. This is your story – whether it’s all real or not – and the significance of it lies in you.”

  Klarg paused and I could see our words had struck home. He wiped away a shadow of a tear, and finished his drink before he got up.

  “My first mate will be here soon,” he said. “She’ll attend to your needs until we arrive at Cael’vron. Thank you very much for all you’ve done. I must head back to my quarters for now. I have to write down my report and see if I can investigate who those pirates were. They were players, not enemy NPCs made for the game, and that fact troubles me the most.”

  “Good night then,” I bid him farewell. “Thanks for the meal.”

  The orc shook our hands, and we settled to finish our dinner and talk a bit with the other passengers before eventually calling it a night. By morning, we were already beginning our descent to the skyship port of Cael’vron.

  Chapter Sixteen

  By the time we landed, the ship was smoking in all corners despite the hours of repair done to it by the remaining crew and volunteer passengers. The Obelisk Gallant was a sturdy ship, however, and I was sure it would get completely fixed soon and soar through the skies onc
e again.

  As we headed towards the departure ramp, the captain pulled us to the side.

  “Take this,” he said, handing Elia and I a letter. “It’s a recommendation note. I’ve heard you guys are hoping to join the Silver Blades. Those are good folks, so I hope this account of what transpired here will aid you in securing a position amongst their ranks.”

  We each accepted a copy of the letter and thanked Captain Klarg before finally waving goodbye and getting off the skyship. We then turned to check what was ahead of us, and for the first time we got a good look at the city of Cael’vron.

  If Strovport was like a beautiful mix of Paris and Venice, with bright colors and sunlight piercing through the streets, then Cael’vron resembled more the industrial steam age of the early 1900’s in America. Soot hung in the air and smog made it difficult to see further than just a few feet ahead. When we did get a good look at the streets and buildings, they were all dark and grey with black and rotten roofs. Street lamps barely helped light the way and it was easy to forget that it was mid-afternoon.

  The cobblestone streets were slick with oil and water puddles. Mud and dirt were everywhere, and if it wasn’t soot getting our clothes dirty it was saw dust from the different mill shops or the particles of metal from all the smith shops.

  Everywhere we went, we found tinkering shops, blacksmiths and apothecary shops. It looked like Cael’vron was on the verge of an industrial revolution of some sort since almost everybody and anybody was working on crafting some new machine, weapon or magical component. It would have been a wondrous place to visit if it wasn’t so dirty and polluted.

  “So, where do we go?” I asked.

  Elia shrugged. “I honestly don’t have any idea. I think we should go find a temple first and get a divination. It’s impossible that we didn’t earn enough EXP to level up.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said. “At the same time, we could ask the priest to guide us to the Silver Blades office. The only problem is we don’t know where the temples are. Everything looks so gloomy here, reminds me of those old Sherlock Holmes movies set in old London.”