Travail Online: Resurrection: LitRPG Series (Book 2)

by Brian Simons

  The three archers rolled off the roof and landed in front of Coral. She couldn’t see Daniel clearly anymore. She raised an arrow to shoot at the nearest elf. These had only simple cloth armor on. Coral squinted at one while she pulled an arrow from her quiver.

  >> Level 14 Elf Archer.

  So they sent stronger elves this time.

  She shot a heat arrow at the elf and it sank into his flesh. He squealed in pain and tried to remove the arrow from his body, but the searing hot metal cauterized the wound shut. The arrow was trapped inside of him.

  >> Elf Archer takes 380 Damage. [Burning]

  An icon of a small fire appeared above its head, along with a small -8. The arrow’s heat continued to inflect eight damage per second.

  An arrow landed in Coral’s shoulder. Another one in her thigh.

  >> You’ve been hit! 113 Damage.

  >> You’ve been hit! 128 Damage.

  She dismissed the damage notifications and kept fighting. She refused to acknowledge this pain if it was going to distract her from the task at hand.

  She shot the second elf, then the third one, with a Hot Shot arrow. She had already spent 50 MP on Hot Shots, leaving her with the energy for six more. She was not, however the only archer with a trick up her sleeve.

  The first elf shot her in the hand with an arrow imbued with something dark. The second elf shot her in the arm with the same special arrow. An icon appeared above her head of a black square with a purple ripple through it, but the damage had been slight.

  >> You’ve been hit! 12 Damage.

  >> You’ve been hit! 20 Damage.

  She ignored it and loosed another arrow. It sailed right past the elf. She tried again, and missed. The elves started laughing. So that’s what that debuff meant. She had been Cursed!

  Behind the elves, Daniel still sparred with two warriors, both of whom were sending smoke into the air. Coral’s heat arrows were burning through their armor the same way they were burning through the flesh of the Elf Archers in front of her.

  The elves shot her with another round of arrows, and Coral was powerless to strike them back. Every shot from her bow missed.

  >> You’ve been hit! 101 Damage.

  >> You’ve been hit! 134 Damage.

  >> You’ve been hit! 107 Damage.

  With her base Constitution and the bonus she got from her Sahuagin Suit, she started off with 920 HP. She was already down to the last 315 of it. She pulled back an arrow in her bowstring when one of the elf warriors burst into flame. Her heat arrow must have ignited its wooden armor! Then the second one started to burn. The elves stumbled backward, knocking into two elf archers and lighting their cloth armor on fire.

  Coral let her arrow fly, but it missed again, even though she was at point blank range. Forget arrows. She reached out and grabbed the one elf that wasn’t on fire and slammed her head into his.

  The pain was unreal, and she immediately became very dizzy. She didn’t know what came over her, it just seemed like something people got away with in movies. When she opened her eyes, that elf was on the ground, out cold. So maybe it did work.

  An elf warrior started to climb the fountain wall to extinguish his armor fire, but he wasn’t quick enough. His last HP burnt away and he fell backward, dead.

  Sal stood up, holding an elf warrior above his head like a pro wrestler. He threw the elf into the two archers that were poised to shoot arrows at Coral. All three ended up in a heap on the ground. Between the impact and the burning arrows in two of their chests, they all died within seconds of each other, as did the unconscious archer lying at Coral’s feet.

  “Where’s Daniel?” Daniel slowly emerged from behind a building.

  “They just burst into flame,” he said, “with no warning, right in front of me, and I just—”

  “I’m so sorry,” Coral said. She hadn’t thought about how her Hot Shot arrows might spark the same terrified reaction in Daniel he had when he last faced a giant fireball. “It was only a heat arrow, I didn’t know the elves would catch fire.”

  Daniel nodded and the three of them pressed onward toward the castle. Coral was sure the Elf Tactician was somewhere nearby. She just wasn’t sure what he learned this time that he would use in his next assault.

  23

  Travail Online Master System Log.

  Analyzing game-wide economy…

  Total currency held by players: 9,202,176,993 gold

  Total player currency in U.S. dollars: $920,217,699.30

  In-game economy insupportable.

  24

  Daniel was exhausted. He didn’t like his newfound aversion to explosions. In movies he loved them, but in VR, being up close to a blazing fire filled him with panic.

  The group walked up to the metal doors that sealed off the castle from the rest of Havenstock and pulled a small string. A chime rang above them and the doors opened.

  No sooner did Daniel step into the courtyard surrounding the castle than a huge hairy beast crashed into him. The force nearly knocked him backward. He dug one heel into the ground and unsheathed his iron sword in an instant, driving the blade into the monster’s chest. It coughed up blood, and reared onto its hind legs for a moment before crashing forward on top of Daniel, its massive brown body flattening him out as the monster heaved its last breath.

  >> Conjured Wilderbeast takes 299 Damage. Conjured Wilderbeast dies. You receive 56 XP.

  “Good reflexes! But next time, don’t kill my quarry. It’s rude,” said Harold, the Regent of Havenstock.

  The monster’s corpse disintegrated into a thin layer of fine powder. Daniel stood and brushed the dust off of himself, sure that he looked every bit as confused as he really was.

  “That will be all for today, Plato,” the Regent said, shooing his hands toward a wizard in a long yellow robe and a conical yellow hat. The mage’s round face bore no expression as he bowed slightly toward the Regent and then walked toward the castle’s main doors.

  “Plato was just conjuring up some beasts for me to spar with. It’s important to keep one’s sword skills sharp. A monarch is not immune to the blade. Come.” The Regent turned toward the castle and Daniel’s group followed.

  “You’re missing one,” the Regent said. “Saves me the trouble of killing her myself. I’m through tolerating elves in this kingdom.”

  “Sybil isn’t dead, Your Highness,” Coral said.

  “Oh. Pity,” he said. “You have an update for me, I hope?”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” Daniel said. “First, I regret to report that we were not able to secure any dwarven mines on this expedition.”

  “That is disappointing,” the Regent said, stressing the last word.

  “However,” Daniel continued, “I do have news about the elves.”

  “Out with it,” the Regent said.

  “Their army is powerful, and growing. They have compromised the bridges over the river, and possibly other infrastructure. The forest is full of strong monsters perverted by a dark magic taking over the forest. We also saw the elf Tactician, Quinnick. He has a lot of experience under his belt. We watched him command an elven battalion against the dwarves.”

  “That is a lot to process,” the Regent said, sinking into his throne.

  “It appears that the elves also want to conquer the dwarves’ mining sites.”

  The Regent sat upright. “We can’t let that happen.” Finally, something Daniel and the Regent could agree on.

  “We must strike now while the dwarves are distracted,” the Regent said. “We will take as many mines as we can. The dwarves are as good as dead anyway if the elves have started this war. The mines may provide us with the tactical advantage we’ll need to fend off the elves here. Maybe even wipe them out of the forest for good.”

  Daniel stood for a moment before he realized his mouth hung open. He snapped his jaw shut but struggled for a response to the Regent’s new plan.

  “Your Highness,” Coral said, “the number of citizens who are begging in the s
treets must be at a record number.”

  “Yes,” he said. “The kingdom is falling on difficult times.”

  “I believe Sagma is to blame. He is brainwashing your citizens and plans to brainwash the whole world if we don’t stop him.”

  “Stop a god?” the Regent said. “That’s quite a proposition. No, I think our army will go into the mines. At any rate, the information you provided about the elves is superb and has informed our next military endeavor. Here is your reward.”

  Quest Complete: Do or Diardenna

  The Regent is impressed with the high quality information you provided about the elves’ military movements.

  Reward: 20,000 XP

  >> Congratulations! You have reached Level 20. To apply your 8 skill points now, open your Skills and Attributes screen.

  >> Congratulations! You have reached Level 21. To apply your 9 skill points now, open your Skills and Attributes screen.

  “Thank you, Your Highness,” Daniel said.

  “Furthermore, we will have a banquet tonight in your honor and to raise morale before we make a move on the dwarves first thing in the morning. The more we kill on this excursion, the fewer there will be to defend the next mine. And the next one. Sir Daniel_of_Manayunk, you have done the kingdom a great service by alerting me to this opportunity. You will have the honor of leading the assault.”

  Daniel felt sick at the thought of how many dwarves would die defending the mines to prevent their contents from ending up in the hands of a bellicose race. The elves on one side, the humans on the other. It felt like a world war was brewing. And somehow, he was leading the charge.

  “Your Highness,” Daniel said, “perhaps Coral is right. Might I lead some guards into the desert to put a stop to whatever Sagma is doing? Maybe a war on two fronts—”

  “Absolutely not,” the Regent said. “We attack the mountain with all of our might. Whatever money our people have donated to Sagma, we’ll earn it back ten times over in mythril and gold from those mines.”

  “And qualia,” Coral muttered. The court wizard stepped forward, his yellow robe swishing along the stone floor.

  “Excuse me?” the Regent said.

  “Qualia,” Coral said, clearly this time. “The mines have all sorts of things, including qualia. It’s a clay—”

  “Of course I know what qualia is,” the Regent said. “You’ve seen it on the mountain?”

  “Yes,” Coral said. “Do you know how to use it?”

  “No,” the Regent said, exchanging glances with Plato. “But the elves will. If they capture a qualia node, they’ll farm it endlessly. With their magic, they’ll craft all sorts of abominations. That settles it, we strike at dawn.”

  “Won’t that leave the city vulnerable if the elves attack here?” Daniel asked.

  “There is no reward without risk,” the Regent said. “Besides, you’ve said the streets are full of beggars these days. Maybe the elves can help us with our homeless problem while we’re gone. We’ll lock up the castle, of course.”

  They were running out of time to dissuade the Regent from attacking the dwarves, if that were even possible at this point. “Your highness,” Daniel said. “This may not be the right time to address it, but I seem to have become Dishonored.” Daniel spoke slowly, hoping to buy time to think of a way out of tomorrow’s raid.

  “Ah, yes. A class limitation I am all too familiar with. I hereby absolve you.” The Regent waved his hand and the debuff vanished.

  “You don’t need to know what I did?” Daniel asked.

  “No, the details don’t affect me. Unless you defamed me,” the Regent said. “Did you defame me?”

  “No, of course not!”

  “Then it’s all water under the bridge. If it happens again let me know. I’ll fix it.”

  Daniel stood before the Regent. He had nothing left to say. “Is there anything else?” the Regent asked.

  “Yes!” Daniel said. “Sal here has been gathering supplies as we’ve traveled. He has some meat that is a bit of a delicacy. It provides a nice XP boost to those who eat it. Perhaps we could ask him to cook tonight’s feast, to strengthen the troops before we attack the dwarves.”

  He couldn’t look Sal or Coral in the eye. He knew they would feel betrayed by his sudden about-face, but they’d see. He had a plan now. Maybe.

  “By all means,” the Regent said, “food seems to be the only thing those people are decent at, might as well get some free labor out of him while he’s here. Have him head to the kitchen and report to the head chef.”

  Daniel nodded at Sal. He walked toward a corridor that led further into the heart of the castle, but he didn’t seem pleased.

  “Does this mean you’ll do nothing about Sagma’s temple?” Coral asked.

  “Sagma is hardly my concern,” the Regent said. “Securing the mines will be good for our economy. That’s how we’ll address everyone’s needs here.”

  “And if Sal and I refuse to wage war on the dwarves?” Coral asked.

  “You were useful once,” the Regent said, “but you’re no soldiers of mine. You can do as you please.”

  Uuuuuuuuuuuusssse meeeeeeeee. Daniel turned toward Coral, ignoring the vial of poison begging him for a purpose. “Let’s get some fresh air,” he said.

  The two walked out to the courtyard. Alua was there, pushing the castle gates open from inside.

  “Alua,” Daniel said, “where are you going?”

  “Back to the desert,” she said. “Sagma is the god of all knowledge. If he knows what has happened to Ze, I have to try again to speak with him. I’ll have the best chance of accomplishing that at his temple.”

  “That’s where we should be going,” Coral said to Daniel after Alua had closed the castle gates behind her. “I still might. Or maybe I should head for Hiber Camp and warn them that you’re bringing an army to their doorstep.” She folded her arms and turned her back to Daniel.

  “No one’s attacking the dwarves,” Daniel said.

  “There’s a castle full of guards that beg to differ,” Coral said.

  “We have to stop Sagma or the whole game will fall apart,” Daniel said. “All of that money he’s siphoning from players. Where is it going?”

  “Good question,” Coral said. “It doesn’t cost anything for an NPC to buy construction materials or pay other NPCs for construction labor. That money all stays in Arbyten’s coffers. So if it’s not going back into player hands—”

  “Then it’s out of the in-game economy,” Daniel said, “for good. Which means there’s no way for the rest of us to earn it. And think of all those players on the mountain. If the Regent kills them all, and then the elves kill all the humans, the game will be overrun with players reincarnating at level one again. Some will start as ogres, until the elves kill them too.”

  “With that many lowbies,” Coral said, “and very little gold left to earn, it really will all fall apart.”

  “We have to stop Sagma,” Daniel said, “which means first, we have to stop the Regent.” He expected to earn a Dishonor debuff just for saying that out loud. As a Knight, he was supposed to support the Regent’s endeavors, but he couldn’t. Not this time. Maybe Devon was right, maybe the Regent wasn’t a good guy after all.

  “How?” Coral asked.

  “I’ll figure it out.” Daniel headed back inside the castle. The Regent was no longer at the throne, and his entourage was gone. Daniel took the opportunity to walk around the castle to clear his head while Sal got dinner started.

  He wished Alua were still here. Even though she was infatuated with the Regent, she was wise and level-headed. If there were a way to appeal to the Regent through reason, she might have an idea. It would prevent Daniel from resorting to the only plan he had so far.

  Daniel continued down a corridor with small rooms on either side. One had baskets of linens waiting to be washed, another had amphorae full of wine awaiting some royal ball or celebration. One door led to a supply room with saddlebags and buckets for the stable
men and stablewomen to store their gear in. From the smell of horse manure and hay, the stables were just on the other side of the storage room. The back half of the castle seemed to house all the rooms that would interest an adventurer the least.

  A set of stairs at the end of the corridor led up or down. Down seemed like a fine option, considering that’s how everything else was trending anyway.

  The air was colder here. Daniel’s armored feet echoed down the stone hallways of the basement level as he wandered further. The only other movement was an occasional mouse that popped out from a crack in the mortar between stones. One scurried along the wall before disappearing into another crevice.