Goblin: a LitRPG Novel (Tower of Gates LitRPG Series Book 1)

by Paul Bellow

  "No, and it's not funny," Eric said.

  I stepped back, allowing Benji to hold out his arms and chant a prayer.

  After he finished, Eric stood up and brushed himself off.

  "Not bad for our first big encounter together, but one got away. That's not good."

  "We should go back to town,” I said.

  "No," Benji said. "That will give them too much time. Remember, this is just an advance scouting party. We need to clear the area of them now, or they'll come back in even greater numbers."

  "How are we going to take on a whole party of gnolls? I'm almost at my daily limit of spells again."

  My words weren't entirely true with thirty-six mana points left, but those would disappear quickly if we ran into another group of gnolls, not to mention black bears or other forest creatures.

  "I’ll go after that one and scout out the area. You two hide the wagon and get ready," Eric said.

  "Will you be okay alone?" I asked, getting into our mini-adventure.

  Thoughts of Josh and the real-world were far away in my mind.

  "I'll be fine," he said. "Be back in ten minutes. If I'm not, leave without me."

  "Don't talk like that," I said.

  "You worried about me, are you?"

  He grinned.

  "I am. You know that..."

  We made eye contact, neither of us looking away.

  His weathered face and piercing hazel eyes captivated me.

  "If you two love birds are done making kissy-faces at each other, we should get working."

  Eric smiled. I turned to glare at Benji.

  "I'll be back," Eric said then disappeared into the woods.

  "Let's get this wagon hidden," I said then sighed. "This afternoon is going to last forever."

  ()xxxx[:::: Chapter 11 ::::>

  A Gong and a Strange Note

  ERIC

  I put my stealth skills to good use as I ran after the wounded and frightened gnoll.

  Don't mess this up, I told myself, still getting accustomed to running.

  My virtual legs were real for all intents and purposes.

  When I heard a whimpering nearby, I slowed and ducked behind a tree.

  Creeping forward, I came to a crude clearing under construction.

  A tall gnoll verbally lambasted the wounded one. I had no pity for the creature. We were only playing a game, but being trapped made me want to perform even better.

  The wounded gnoll limped away while their leader went back to tend a fire. No other gnolls were in sight. Were these the only ones left? Had we lucked out?

  I pushed the questions aside and prepared for battle.

  > Stats health

  You feel okay with 20 (31) health, but you could be better.

  I should've had Benji heal me, but we had no time.

  The gnoll poked the fire with a stick, sending burning embers into the air. Smoke filled my nostrils. I decided against going back to get the others and crept forward.

  Don't let him hear me...

  As I crept closer, I drew my sword, intent on some back stab damage.

  Your back stab attack DECIMATES the Gnoll Scout Leader for 35 damage!

  The Gnoll Scout Leader is dead!

  You get +600 experience points.

  You only need 35xp to hit level three!

  "Come on," I groaned.

  So close yet so far away.

  I glanced around the camp, waiting for other gnolls to arrive. When they didn't, I crept away, back to the others waiting on the trail.

  Sarah appeared majestic as I approached.

  Those elven eyes and perfect skin.

  "Well?" she asked. "What are we up against?"

  "I used a back stab to take out their leader."

  "Love those," Benji shouted, punching the air with his fist.

  Sarah and I both turned to look at him.

  "I mean, I love when others do them, you know."

  "And you call us strange?" Sarah asked him.

  "There might be more around," Benji said. "We should be sure."

  I glanced up at what sky I could see through the canopy of trees.

  "We have a few hours of daylight left. I need to heal-up, but we should be okay."

  "Did you see any loot?" Benji asked.

  "I didn't have a chance between killing their leader and coming back to tell you guys."

  "Fair enough," he said. "Let me heal you."

  He chanted his prayer and laid his hand on my shoulder.

  You have been healed!

  You feel great at 31(31) health!

  "Thanks, brother," I said.

  "Aw, I'm touched you think of me as a brother."

  "No, it's a saying where I come from..."

  He laughed.

  "I'm only teasing, brother."

  "When you two finish your bromance, let me know, okay?" Sarah asked. "We've got work to do."

  "She's right," I said. "What about your bow? You haven't used it yet."

  "I broke the string, and I've completely forgotten about it. Not all mages get to use a ranged weapon."

  "You're definitely special," Benji said, smiling at her.

  "Let's go," I said gruffly, trying to hide my jealousy.

  The three of us headed back into the woods toward the clearing made by the gnolls. I sensed more nearby, but it wasn't like I had a game radar map or anything.

  "It's up ahead," I whispered as we approached.

  With me in the lead, Sarah in the middle, and Benji guarding our rear, we walked into the clearing. The body of their leader still laid lifeless by the fire.

  "Nice job, boss," Benji said. "I'll see if he's got anything salvageable."

  "We should check those tents too. Did you get the wounded one?"

  I frowned, kicking myself mentally.

  "No, I forgot about him."

  Sarah stepped toward the two large tents.

  I rushed forward to make it there before her with my sword drawn. When I threw back the tent-flap, I saw a bunch of items, including a chest, but no gnolls wounded or otherwise.

  "Nothing?" Sarah asked.

  I stood up straight and shook my head.

  "No. He must've gone to warn the others in their party."

  "Will they come back or go get more gnolls?"

  Benji yelled, “We have company."

  Six gnolls and four hyenas in armor entered the clearing from the other side.

  "Positions," I yelled, hoping the others remembered what we'd done last time.

  I raised my sword and ran toward them, relishing my role as a fighter-heavy rogue. With no real tank in our group, I had to handle most of the action while Benji protected our mage.

  Half-a-dozen golden bolts of energy whizzed by my head and struck a hyena, causing it to yelp and stop in its tracks. She’ll kill me one of these days.

  I ran to the left of the hyenas, leaving them for the other two. Six gnolls bore down on me. Maybe I should've thought this through more. Too late to stop, I carried on.

  My first blow struck one of the six.

  Critical hit!

  Your slash WOUNDS the gnoll scout for 17 points of damage.

  The gnoll scout is dead!

  You have momentum to attack again.

  Your slash INJURES the gnoll scout for 12 points of damage.

  Two swords came for me, landing decisive blows on my arms. While my armor stopped most of the damage, the force of the blows knocked me off my feet.

  I rolled and got to my feet on the other side of the group of gnolls.

  "Looking for me?" I called out then stabbed the nearest one.

  Your pierce HITS the gnoll scout for 8 points of damage.

  I need those strength buffs so bad.

  Another slash and a stab hit me, bringing me down to a little over half my health. Do or die time.

  I slashed again.

  Your slash INJURES the gnoll scout for 12 points of damage.

  The gnoll scout is dead.

  Th
at's what I'm talking about.

  As I congratulated myself, two of the gnolls hit me again for ten damage. Six more golden bolts flew in my direction. They missed me and took out another of the four remaining gnolls.

  Benji screamed and smacked a gnoll across the face with his mace, sending it to the ground in a heap of lifeless flesh. The others didn’t back down or run away.

  Two more to go. You got this...

  One of the left hit me with his rusty short sword, dealing five more damage and poisoning me.

  "Again?" I screamed. "Aaargh."

  With a mighty roar, I swung my sword.

  Your slash HITS the gnoll scout for 9 points of damage.

  The world spun and my vision blurred as I felt another stab in my arm. I fell to the ground with only one hit point. Glancing up, I saw one of the tall creatures grinning and laughing like a hyena.

  The gnoll raised his short sword into the air. Before he could bring it down and kill me, six more golden bolts shot into his body, followed by a lethal blow from Benji with his red-stained mace.

  I rolled over as the gnoll crashed to the ground, nearly crushing me.

  Combat is over!

  +4000xp divided by two party members.

  You get +2,000 xp

  Quest: A Hunting We Will Gnoll Completed!

  You get +1,000 xp

  Your Weapon Craft skill has increased to Basic Skill Level 4 of 10

  Your Sneaking skill has increased to Basic Skill level 2 of 10

  You have 7,965 experience points, welcome to level 3, Rogue.

  Level three requires a harder to find training manual. The nearest one is in the city of Mednia to the West. You will make more decisions about your long-term career as a rogue in a few levels.

  "Poison," I gasped, still smiling after reading the stream of notifications.

  "Why are you smiling?" Benji asked. "Everything okay? You look confused like you're staring at something."

  "I'm fine," I said, chuckling. "Good, in fact."

  "You too?" Sarah asked without asking.

  I nodded. She knew me so well.

  After drinking one of our two remaining remove poison potions and some healing by Benji, I felt better.

  Looking around the encampment, I saw a lot of work ahead.

  "Their swords and armor will be worth something back in town," Benji noted.

  "We need to gather everything up and get it back to the city before dark," I said.

  "Do you think that's all of them?" Benji asked. "The gnolls, I mean."

  "Yeah, I'm sure," I said, knowing we had defeated the quest.

  Sarah chuckled but said nothing.

  "Let's see what they have in the tents," I said, walking in that direction.

  "I'll gather up the weapons and armor, boss."

  "Good idea, Benji."

  Sarah followed me across the field of battle to the two tents near the edge of the clearing the gnolls had made in the forest.

  "That was a close one," she said, staying in character.

  "Yeah, but we did good. This haul should fund our trip to Mednia."

  "I was about to say the same thing."

  Her smile brought me happiness.

  Inside the tent, we took stock of the items and made a list, including approximate weight and value.

  Masterwork Gong (100 gp)

  Bag of Iron Nails (5 sp, 1 lb)

  Box of 20 Arrowheads (5 sp, 1 lb)

  7 x Chisel (5 sp, 2 lb)

  Iron Bar (1 sp, 5 lb)

  Pole (10') (5 cp, 8 lb)

  Rack of Firewood (1 sp, 200 lb)

  2 x Sack of Animal Feed (2 sp, 50 lb)

  Signet Ring (5 gp)

  Medium Wooden Chest (3 gp, 20 lb)

  Vial of Ink (8 gp).

  The chest contained thousands of copper pieces. All told, we would make a couple hundred gold. Not as much as we needed, but it would help.

  Sarah glanced down at the coins and smiled.

  "I’ll not count them, but they’ll buy Benji quite a few baths."

  "Tell me about it. You don't have to sleep in the same room as him," I said.

  She laughed.

  "If you guys paid me a salary, I could afford new clothes," Benji said behind us.

  I changed the subject.

  "Most of this stuff will be easy to carry in the cart, but I'm worried about that gong."

  "Do we need to take it?" Sarah asked. "Really?"

  "Well, I reckon it's worth at least a hundred gold in the city. After almost dying today, I want to get the most out of it as possible."

  "I should have cast protection magic on us."

  "You have a protective spell?" I asked.

  She pressed her lips together and looked to the left.

  "Remember next time, okay? It could mean..."

  "She did great," Benji interrupted, patting her on the shoulder.

  "Will you cut it out? You're just trying to get us to let you join the party."

  "Maybe we should," Sarah said.

  I groaned, shaking my head.

  "You two will be the death of me."

  "If it's not rats or giant bees first, boss."

  Sarah giggled.

  "Or giant rat-bees."

  Benji's eyes opened wider.

  "Those are a thing?"

  "No," I muttered. "You two are nuts, but thanks for healing me, Benji."

  "Anything for you, boss. Either of you."

  He smiled at Sarah. She returned the gesture.

  "You should load the other stuff in the cart," I said to Benji. "We might need to spend the night here."

  "I've done it before on my own," Sarah said. "We'll be fine."

  "Great. Let's get started."

  "Look at this," Benji said, holding up a note on the other side of the tent.

  "What's that?" I asked.

  "I found it behind the stack of firewood."

  "Read it," I said.

  "I would, but it's all gibberish."

  "Let me see," I said. "It’s hobgoblin, but ancient and encrypted somehow."

  Sarah took the note.

  "The elf saves the day again, huh?"

  I watched as she glanced over it.

  "This will take time to translate."

  "You work on that while Benji and I load this stuff into the wagon. We'll sleep there tonight. It's hidden well enough."

  "Sounds like a plan," she said, still staring at the note.

  I smiled. She loved her puzzles in games.

  Benji and I spent the next two hours loading the cart. The round, golden gong turned out to be easier to move than expected as it rolled along the forest floor.

  We slept under the wagon, keeping watch in shifts in case something happened during the night. I found it hard to sleep after all the excitement of the day, but I slipped off to dreamland, or what passed for it in the game.

  ()xxxx[:::: Chapter 12 ::::>

  This New Quest Sounds Too Easy

  SARAH

  I opened my eyes the next morning and found myself still in the game. Faint images, dreams of the real world, faded in my mind as I went back to work on the hobgoblin note. After a good night's sleep, the translation came easy.

  Snargao,

  Protect the Cursed Pendant of Visions until we arrive. The future is ours. Magictology will spread throughout all the realms. Fail me, and you will face my wrath.

  Magi Inyontoo

  Excited at my breakthrough, I woke up Eric and Benji who were both still asleep under the wagon.

  "I've translated the note," I said as I held it up.

  "What's it say?" Eric asked.

  I relayed the message. Benji's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

  "You've heard of the pendant and this Magi person?" I asked.

  He nodded.

  "I..."

  Words stopped coming out of his mouth.

  "Go on," I said.

  He opened his mouth again, but nothing came out.

  "Ugh," he sighed. "Forge
t about it. Yeah, I've heard of the pendant. We should try to destroy it."

  "Why do that?" Eric asked. "Maybe it's magic. And what’s Magictology?"

  "It’s a cult,” Benji said. “And the pendant is magic alright, but it's cursed. Some say it has the power to destroy the whole realm."

  You have discovered the main quest on Level 1:1

  Main Quest: Destroy Cursed Pendant of Visions

  Find and destroy the Cursed Pendant of Visions, and you will clear the first level of the first world in Tower of Gates.

  15,000 xp on Completion!

  I glanced over at Eric.

  "You get that?"

  He nodded.

  "Get what?" Benji asked. "Is there something you two want to tell me?"

  I pursed my lips together. Telling him the truth would only confuse the poor NPC.

  "No, it's nothing."

  Eric stood up.

  "We’ll destroy this pendant. You want to come along? We need someone like you."

  "I'd love to join your party."

  "We can't let you do that yet," Eric said.

  Benji nodded his head, forcing a smile.

  "Let's get back to Fishguard and prepare for our journey to Mednia. You know the way, don't you Benji?"

  "Yeah, it's due west. The road should be clear of bandits, but you never know these days."

  "Great." I put the note away. "Let's get going. We can eat on the way."

  All our loot from the gnoll camp filled up the back of the wagon, so all three of us sat up front. I felt safe with Eric on one side and Benji on the other. We made a great team.

  Half-a-mile down the road, as we ate cold rations in the wagon, I heard a buzzing noise.

  "Uh oh..." I said, looking at the others.

  "I hear it too," Eric said. "Can you cast protection magic?"

  "Good idea. Stop the wagon."

  Benji pulled back on the reins. Our trusty mule stopped.

  I hopped out of the wagon. The other two followed as I cast Glorified Cloaks of Bronze. It cost two mana per armor adjustment.

  At level two, I could cast up to a +6 AC on one person for 12 mana. That would help us, but I didn't want to waste all my mana on protection spells.