Human: A LitRPG Novel (Tower of Gates LitRPG Series Book 2)

by Paul Bellow

  "Great job," I said, then added. "Watch out!"

  A hellhound crept up behind him and let loose with its breath as Ewen rushed by, throwing him to the ground and covering his body.

  "No," I yelled, rushing forward.

  I scanned the battlefield as I ran forward. The others were still up and fighting.

  When I reached the hellhound, I leaped over Ewen and Evan then stabbed with both my swords.

  Your pierce WOUNDS the hellhound for 18 damage.

  Your stab INJURES the hellhound for 14 damage.

  The hellhound is dead!

  I pulled my weapons free then turned to check on the brownies.

  "Get off me," Evan cried.

  Ewen didn't move. I rushed over and pulled up his crisp, lifeless body.

  "Noooo," Evan cried as he struggled to his feet. "Not Ewen."

  "It's okay," I said, wondering if the brownies were computer run players and not real people.

  "No, it's not okay," Evan said, dropping to his knees beside his companion. "We've got to stick together. They told us."

  "Who told you?" I asked.

  "No time." Evan stood, the smile fading from his face.

  Without it, he looked terrifying, a gleam in his red-tinted eyes.

  "Time to join my friend," he said then rushed up the hill toward the tallest fire giant still at the entrance of the cave, observing everything.

  "Healing," Axelrod yelled after downing the fire giant he'd been fighting on his own.

  Josh, still in a barbarian rage, charged up the hill after Evan the non-smiling brownie.

  I needed health myself, but there wasn't time to wait for our inept cleric.

  "Evan, wait up," I yelled, rushing toward the fire giant with four hellhounds barking and yapping around him, two on each side.

  A brownie, a barbarian, and a rogue wander up a hill, I joked in my mind to clear my thoughts as I ran toward the final fire giant and his fiery mutts.

  While running, a familiar bolt of energy hit me from afar.

  The Divine Arrow of Energy hits you.

  You feel refreshed!

  You have 104/104 health remaining.

  +10 to-hit bonus for duration of this battle.

  That's what I'm talking about, I thought with a smile as I reached the top of the hill and the entrance of the cave. A hellhound burned Evan before I could do anything.

  He fell to the ground in a smoking heap. My heart broke, but I continued forward, even more determined to win the battle for our fallen comrades.

  I reached the fire giant and attacked as Josh knocked the hellhounds over their heads with his Club of Confusion, causing them to yelp and howl in pain.

  We've got this, I told myself as I went for my first attack.

  Your pierce WOUNDS the fire giant teen for 16 damage.

  Your stab INJURES the fire giant teen for 15 damage.

  The fire giant teen is barely bothered by you.

  Another steel, two-handed greatsword swung toward me.

  I dodged, but stumbled and took the brunt of the hit.

  The fire giant teen's greatsword MAULS you for 27 damage.

  You have 77/104 health remaining.

  Where's Axelrod and the others, I wondered as I wondered about my foolhardy rush to take out the final boss in the encounter, the toughest of them all.

  Josh finished off the last hellhound then charged me. I dashed around to the back of the fire giant. The barbarian in a rage swung and hit the fire giant's leg with his club.

  I attacked again with both weapons, loving all my buffs but wanting more. The game continued to draw me in as I hit twice, feeling the rush of a good strike on a mob.

  Your pierce INJURES the fire giant teen for 14 damage.

  Your stab HITS the fire giant teen for 10 damage.

  The fire giant teen is feeling pain.

  Axelrod barreled into the scene, swinging his battle-axe and screaming, "For the dwarves!"

  I grinned and slashed at the fire giant leader again.

  Your pierce WOUNDS the fire giant teen for 17 damage.

  Your stab INJURES the fire giant teen for 13 damage.

  The fire giant teen is in pain and liable to flee.

  Your Monster Lore skill has improved.

  It is now Basic Level 7 of 10

  Josh and Axelrod both battered the fire giant leader, one with a club and the other a glowing battle-axe of the finest dwarven construction. Both hit, causing the fire giant to run.

  "Get him," I yelled, running after the enemy as he fled into the cave.

  "Wait," Axelrod screamed. "There might be more."

  Ugh, I thought as I continued anyway.

  We need the xp and to get into the mines.

  I ran into the dank, dark cave, hoping the others would follow.

  ()xxxx[:::: Chapter 15 ::::>

  A Game Within a Game?

  SARAH

  I stopped outside the entrance of the stone giant's cave, exhausted and out of breath.

  "Where's Eric?" I asked.

  "Fool went in the cave alone to chase the leader. Or maybe the teen went to go get his father, the real leader. Fire giants are like Spartans. You know about them?"

  "Yes, I know about them," I lied. "Let's go after him."

  Josh stood with his hands on his knees, breathing deeply and trying to control his anger.

  Screams filtered out of the cave. Not caring about the danger, I ran into the darkness and toward the sounds of terror. Fires burned deeper in the cave, throwing crazy shadows on the straight, hewn walls.

  I entered a large chamber, fully healed and with all my mana thanks to the last of the potions I'd brought with me.

  Eric needed help, and I wanted to be the one there for him. He had my back, and I had his. We were tight like that.

  On the far end of the twenty-foot-high chamber, the fire giant teen, wounded, threw a flaming boulder at Eric. He fell to the ground, pushing the stone away as I approached.

  "Don't do that," I scolded as I zapped my wand of summon monster three times in quick succession.

  A giant eagle, wolf, and a shark appeared out of thin air. The first flew toward the fire giant while the second growled and leaped after the majestic bird.

  Not so triumphantly, the shark flopped to the ground, thrashing about.

  Not horrible, I thought as I put away the wand and prepared for my new highest-level damage spell – Lances of Lightning. I spend sixty mana to create two of them. They whizzed toward the fire giant.

  Your lance of lightning WOUNDS the fire giant teen for 16 damage.

  Your lance of lightning WOUNDS the fire giant teen for 18 damage.

  You have 78/138 mana remaining today.

  The fire giant fell to its knees and screamed in pain.

  I cast Divine Arrow of Energy at Eric for another twenty-five mana, leaving me with fifty-three.

  Die, fire giant, die.

  "He's dying," Charlotte said from my shoulder. "Get him."

  I went for broke and sent one last Lance of Lightning at the hulking monster.

  Your lance of lightning WOUNDS the fire giant teen for 18 damage.

  The fire giant teen is dead.

  Combat is over!

  You get 46,400 xp divided by 7 party members.

  You get 6,629 xp

  You have 55,956 xp

  Welcome to Level 7 Wizard -> Warlock

  You need 21,044 for level 8 Wizard -> Warlock.

  You gain 10 health. You have 46 total health.

  You gain 52 mana. You have 190 mana per day. (+70 from Staff of the Caverns)

  My thoughts turned to the brownies who hadn't made it through the battle. Was it my fault for not watching them closely enough? I turned to see Eric walk over.

  "You level?" he asked.

  I nodded. He grinned.

  "You're so into the game," I said.

  "Aren't you?"

  "Yeah," I admitted.

  Axelrod, Josh, Sheldon, Bernard and Ryu entered the
chamber, weapons at the ready.

  "It's all clear," Eric shouted.

  When he took charge, I remembered the reasons I'd enjoyed spending so much time with him gaming and in the real world. At least until we'd both gotten older.

  "Thanks," he said. "For the divine arrow thingy."

  "Not a problem," I said, still smiling.

  The thought of the dead brownies waking up as NPCs hit me.

  "Do you think they'll respawn together again?" I asked.

  "Who knows with this game," Eric said as the others reached us.

  "Someone watch that door at the other end of the room," Axelrod barked.

  Josh grumbled and walked over to do his thing.

  "You're crazy running in here alone," Axelrod said.

  Eric shrugged then said, "We're fine. After the brownies went down, I stopped thinking about everything and went with it. That's when we won against the final fire giant."

  "You didn't know it was the final fire giant," Axelrod said.

  "We don't have time to argue about it," I said. "Where's Josh going?"

  "To check the door where the roguelike game is located," Axelrod said then turned to the flopping shark and frowned. "Someone put that out of its misery."

  "Josh, hold on," I yelled, running toward the door leading further into the ominous mountain.

  "What?" he asked, stopping with his giant hand on the handle.

  "You know not to play the game within a game, right?"

  "Woman, you're speaking Mandarin to me right now."

  He smiled. I rolled my eyes.

  "I'm trying to be serious."

  "We've got to remember how to laugh and smile," he said, his face tensing up. "This game gets to a person."

  "Tell me about it," I said in total agreement.

  "Axelrod hasn't told us a lot about the other game," he continued. "But I don't want to be stuck in here without you."

  I smiled, momentarily overwhelmed by my emotions.

  "The shark is dead," Bernard said, his loud voice echoing in the vast chamber.

  "I found a chest," Bernard called out.

  "Come on," I said then walked over.

  Bernard and Eric stood next to a massive iron chest. Josh stopped next to me.

  "You sure you got it?" Eric asked.

  Bernard nodded.

  "Simple lock, no traps I can detect. Give me one second..."

  "Get out of the way," Axelrod said, pushing his way through.

  He stopped in front of the chest that stood as tall as him.

  "This is a big chest," he said.

  "You're about as useless as those two brownies," Ryu said. "Useless."

  I turned.

  "Don't talk about them," I said.

  "There's bad energy in here," Sheldon the quiet noted.

  "Yeah," I said, still glaring at Ryu.

  The cleric slinked away.

  "Back to business," Axelrod said. "Get this chest open."

  I looked up at Josh.

  "Can you bury the brownies?"

  He frowned while staring into my eyes.

  "I don't see why," he said. "It's just a game."

  "Please?" I asked. "The alignment boost will help us."

  "Fine," he said with a huff. "Bernard, can you help me?"

  Bernard turned and said, "I'm about to pick this lock. Give me a minute."

  "The brownies aren't going anywhere," Josh said.

  Eric the impatient pushed Bernard to the side and slid a small metal bar into the lock. In a few seconds, it clicked and the padlock protecting the chest opened.

  "What'd we get?" Axelrod asked.

  Bernard removed the padlock as the rest of us watched in anticipation. He opened the heavy lid with Eric's help. They peered inside.

  Axelrod tapped his foot on the floor.

  "Well?" he asked.

  Bernard reached in and pulled out a giant green scale.

  "Dragon?" he asked, holding it up. "Useless, right?"

  Lights from the torches in the chamber hit the dragon scale, causing it to flicker like glitter.

  "I think so," Eric said, setting the lid down.

  "What a rip off," Josh said then turned to walk away.

  "Hold on," Bernard said. "I'll help with the bodies."

  "Get the potions and the gear while you're at it," Axelrod called out as the duo walked to the entrance of the chamber.

  Our dwarven leader turned to us.

  "We need to strategize our next move."

  I glanced at Sheldon as he looked around nervously. Ryu stood coldly, his fingers clasped together in front of him. Axelrod wandered over to the lifeless shark.

  "Hold on," I said. "Tell us about the game within a game. What happened to your companions?"

  "I told Eric already," Axelrod grumbled.

  "Why did your companions go into the game?" I asked.

  "There's a magic amulet you can win," Eric said. "But there's permadeath if you fail."

  "Maybe that's a way out of the Tower of Gates game," I said, a smile spreading over my face.

  "I thought the same thing," Eric said. "But Axelrod doesn't think so."

  "Oh?" I turned to the dwarf as he stood next to the lifeless shark.

  He nodded his head while patting his mohawk.

  "A death in the roguelike means death in the real world."

  "How do you know?" I asked.

  "It's just a theory. Go try it out, but I've not heard from my friends since they went into the game. You can read the inscriptions above the entrance to the dungeon."

  Axelrod turned and headed outside to join the others in getting our gear for heading deeper into the mines. Eric walked around the rest of the chamber, examining the walls.

  I took a deep breath, letting the knowledge sink-in. Permadeath wasn't my thing. Dying and turning into an NPC was bad enough. Dying in the real world? If it was true.

  What kind of game had Eric talked me into playing? It wasn't like any sane game in the universe I knew and loved. He made me so mad at times with his stubborn stupidity.

  The others returned from their grisly task, loaded with all the equipment we'd need. We'd converted our wealth to a bag full of gems which made it easier to carry.

  Once we entered the depths of the Mines of Oriam, we might not return to the surface world for a while. I figured the end of the level would be somewhere in the mines.

  "Let's get moving," Axelrod said after we'd all gathered. "We've got many miles to go before we camp tonight."

  "Are we going to run into any monsters?" Josh asked.

  "Yeah," Bernard added. "Would be nice to have a heads-up on what to expect."

  "It's not likely we'll run into anything on the first leg of our journey," Axelrod said confidently.

  "Hey, I found something," Eric called out.

  "Don't touch it," Axelrod yelled, but it was too late.

  After touching something on one wall in the chamber, a portion of the far end slid apart. Two metal bulls with fire coming from their nostrils charged forward.

  I stepped backward with Sheldon and Ryu as the others rushed toward the gorgons. One creature stopped, a green vapor spraying out of its mouth.

  "Watch out," Eric called, dodging and rolling outside the cone of noxious vapors.

  Axelrod ran forward, unaffected, but Josh stopped as he turned to stone.

  "No," I yelled then let loose with a spell at the gorgon still trampling forward.

  Your three Lances of Lightning MAIM the gorgon for 54 damage.

  You have 40/190 mana remaining today.

  "Let me help you," Ryu said as he stood beside me.

  I glanced at him as he put his hand on my neck.

  "What are you doing?" I asked.

  Then a blue wave of energy washed over me.

  You feel refreshed.

  You have 140/260 mana remaining today.

  He grinned.

  "Thanks," I muttered, wondering if he'd needed to grab me by the neck to cast his spell.


  How powerful of a cleric had we let on our team? Ryu had talked little about anything, staying deep in his character. Crazy role-players.

  I pushed the other thoughts aside and turned back to the battle.

  Axelrod smashed the gorgon that had used its breath weapon while Eric struggled against the one I'd damaged. I didn't know if Josh was okay or not, but I cast again.

  Your three Lances of Lightning DEVASTATE the gorgon for 48 damage.

  The gorgon is dead!

  You have 50/260 mana remaining today.

  Eric turned and went after the second gorgon as Axelrod continued pummeling it. Sheldon fired a volley of Golden Bolts into the beast's side, bringing it down.

  Combat is Over!

  You get 9,600 xp divided by 7 party members.

  You get 1,371 xp

  You have 57,327 xp

  You need 19,673 xp for level 8 Wizard-> Warlock

  I ran over to Josh. Eric came up beside me, breathing heavily.

  "He'll be okay as long as he wasn't hit a second time," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

  "Are you sure?" I asked.

  "It'll wear off," Axelrod said as he walked over. "Stupid gorgons."

  He turned to Eric and shook his head.

  "Didn't I tell you not to press that button you found?"

  Eric grinned sheepishly.

  "You told me after I'd pressed it."

  "It doesn't matter now," I said. "We won the fight."

  "How long will Josh stay frozen?" Bernard asked.

  "Not long," Eric said. "According to what I know about gorgons."

  We ended up waiting half-an-hour for Josh to come around. Immediately after he did, Axelrod had us walking two-by-two down a slightly sloping tunnel that led deeper into the mountain.

  "This place scares me," Charlotte said in my mind.

  Me too. Keep your eyes open.

  No one talked as we walked further into the dwarven mines. I imagined all the PCs and NPCs who'd been through the area before. What were their stories?

  We descended by the light of a brilliance spell I'd cast on my Staff of the Cavern. The extra mana it gave me had already come in handy more than once.

  I hoped Axelrod might be able to give us something even better – a way out of the game. We continued walking into the depths of the abandoned mountain kingdom.