Soulstone: Awakening: A LitRPG novel (World of Ruul Book 1)

by J. A. Cipriano

  “Die, Kahn!” he wheezed, lurching forward as his serrated jaw unhinged like a snake, and he reared back to strike me.

  As massive fangs jutted from the roof of his mouth, and his slavering maw came closer, I tried to raise my arms to block, to throw him off, to do anything at all, but I couldn’t because they were pinned beneath his colossal body. I struggled to wriggle free, but unfortunately, I’d sooner have been able to bench press a sumo wrestler.

  “Power Strike!” Two’ Manchu said as his axe came arcing through the space between us and caught the demon in his gaping maw just as it was about to sink its glinting fangs into my throat.

  As the demon’s teeth shattered from the force of the blow, and its head snapped violently backward, Two’ Manchu grabbed me by the scruff of my collar with his free hand and jerked me out from beneath the demon.

  I went skidding across the bloody arena floor as Two’ Manchu lost his balance and fell to the dirt, while blood spewed from the demon’s ruined face.

  “How is it not dead!?” Two’ Manchu cried as I scrambled to my feet in record time thanks to the combined effects of the haste potion and the brave warrior potion.

  “I don’t know,” I snarled, “But I’m not going to give him a chance to capitalize on his massive fortitude.” I snatched my swords up as the demon crawled onto his hands and knees. “This ends now!”

  I pointed my swords at the monster and charged. My health dropped as I used the barbarian skill to increase my speed, but there was no way around it since I was out of mana and couldn’t use Blade Rush.

  My short swords arced through the air, hacking into the demon’s side and rending him open while refilling my health bar by twenty more health than I’d had before I’d charged. The cobalt demon flopped sideways onto the dirty arena floor as Two’ Manchu got to his feet.

  “How are you moving so quickly?” he asked, eyes wide as I reared back to strike once more.

  As I buried my short swords to their hilts in the demon’s side, I opened my mouth to reply to him. Only that split second distraction gave the cobalt demon an opening, and it backhanded me across the face, sending me flying backward across the arena.

  Two’ Manchu leapt through the air once more as I landed hard on the ground. His crimson axe flashed through the air, taking the demon’s arm off at the elbow and sending the bloody appendage arcing through the air trailing blood and sinew.

  Another wail of rage and pain burst from the cobalt demon’s throat as it punched Two’ Manchu in the gut with its stub. The barbarian doubled over as I got back to my feet and sprinted forward.

  The cobalt demon’s claws slashed through the air, and as they struck Two’ Manchu across the face, his life dropped to six percent, and he collapsed unmoving to the ground.

  “No!” I cried as the demon got back up and put one clawed foot on Two’ Manchu’s chest.

  “Ah, ah, ah,” the monster said, the giant raptor claws on his foot rising and falling in time with Two’ Manchu’s ragged breathing. “One more step and your friend gets it.” A grin spread across the demon’s haggard face. “And I’m told your kind don’t respawn.”

  “Get away from him, or I will stick my foot so far up your ass, you’ll be tasting rabbit for the rest of your fucking life!” George the bunny cried from across the arena as a blast of cold smashed into the demon, causing him to wobble, but not fall.

  It shook itself like a large dog, causing flecks of ice to rain down around it, as it cocked its head to the side and glared at the bunny.

  “I’ll take my chances,” the cobalt demon snarled, raising its foot to crush the barbarian’s skull into putty. As it did, Dark Heart and Crash killed the last of the devils the cobalt demon had summoned earlier and turned to face the monster.

  When the final devil’s body evaporated into multicolored shards, and my experience bar lurched dismally upward, blue light enveloped Two’ Manchu. His health and mana refilled, and his eyes shot open just as the demon curb stomped him. The barbarian’s health immediately dropped to the thirty percent mark, but that wasn’t enough to kill him.

  “You hit like a bitch,” Two’ Manchu said, swinging his axe around and slicing into the knee I’d stabbed earlier. As the blade cut deep into the demon’s leg and severed it in a spray of ichor, the cobalt demon collapsed onto the dirt clutching the ruined stump of its leg as its eyes went glassy.

  “No!” the demon snarled as sapphire blood gushed through its fingers. “It wasn’t supposed to end this way!”

  “Really? I pictured it ending no other way,” Two’ Manchu replied, getting to his feet and glaring down at the fallen demon. “Power Strike!”

  Two’ Manchu’s axe arced through the air as the demon tried to raise its hands to block. The barbarian’s axe sliced through the cobalt demon’s arms and buried itself in the creature’s skull. It had half a second to try to reach up and grab the axe with its stubs before it exploded into a billion scintillating shards of light that swirled upward into the air.

  My mouth fell open in disbelief as lightning cracked and thunder boomed overhead. Rain began to fall, pelting us with fat drops of surprisingly warm water as the air in the center of the area tore itself asunder, spilling purple light across the rent in space and time.

  “We did it!” Two’ Manchu said, his eyes wide in shock as he stared at the portal in disbelief. I staggered over to him.

  “That we did,” I replied, slapping him on the back. “Now let’s get out of here.”

  “I agree with that,” Crash said as he, Dark Heart, and George approached. They looked battered and beaten, and sweat creased their bloody faces, but they were alive. They were all alive. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  35

  “So, uh, who gets what?” Crash asked, picking up the broken sapphire armor the demon had worn. “I vote for me getting this, by the way.”

  “How about we identify it all and go from there?” I asked, picking up the two-handed sword the creature had dropped. Since the fight had ended, my regeneration rate had increased, and now I had more than enough mana to identify the three items the boss had dropped.

  “Fair enough,” Crash muttered, glaring at me in resignation the entire time I cast the identify spell on the two-handed sword. As the glow from my spell faded, the name of the item changed to Bastard Sword of the Cobalt Demon which seemed like a ridiculously unclever name.

  “This sword does six damage to large and small monsters but does fifty percent more damage when used as a two-handed weapon.” I hefted the sword. “Though I’m not sure it’s feasible to use one-handed. The fucker is heavy.” A smirk crossed my face as I stared hard at Crash, knowing there was no way he’d use it. “You want it?”

  “It doesn’t do anything else?” Crash asked, frowning as the hope on his face disappeared. “That really doesn’t help me. Someone else can have it.”

  “I’d like it,” Dark Heart said, watching me in a way that suggested I might refuse. Honestly, I didn’t care who got the sword. If I took it, I’d just sell it to the shop since I had no two-handed sword mastery. No, what I really needed was a pair of nice daggers, especially since my scythe was broken.

  “Two’ Manchu?” I asked, ignoring her as I raised an eyebrow at the barbarian. So I was a bit sore about the whole stuck my fucking brain in a jar. Deal with it.

  “Dark Heart can have it. She might be a bitch, and I hate her, but I also don’t want her to die.” He shrugged as he picked up the morning star and hefted it a bit before frowning. “Besides, there’s no way I’m giving up my hasted axe.”

  “Looks like you’re in luck,” I said, turning toward the paladin and offering her the sword. She nodded and leaned in close.

  “Thanks,” she whispered loud enough so only I could hear her. Then she took the sword and stepped back in a way that made me think she was worried I’d snatch it away from her.

  As she swung the two-handed sword through the air like she was testing the weapon, I picked up my broken scythe and s
hoved it violently back into my inventory before walking over to Crash. I wasn’t sure if my scythe could be fixed, but I’d at least check once we got to town.

  “You ready to identify my armor?” Crash asked, offering me the cobalt demon’s sapphire plate mail. “Because I’m ready to get rid of these kobold robes.”

  “You realize there’s an excellent chance this has magic resistance, right?” I said, taking the item from him and using the identify spell.

  “We’ll cross that bridge in a second. What’s it do?” Crash asked impatiently as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the glow of my spell to fade away.

  “It’s called crystal plate mail and doesn’t look like it has any special properties, so I guess you’re in luck.” I shrugged, offering it to him. “The durability is pretty bad, so you’ll probably want to get it repaired, but it provides eight armor, which seems like a ton.”

  “Yeah, but it has no specials,” Two’ Manchu said, thumbing the armor he’d gotten from the monsters earlier in the dungeon. “So it’s probably good that it has high defense. That way Crash can use it without adverse effects.”

  “Am I the only one who thinks it is silly that the priest is wearing plate armor?” George asked, glancing at us. “Don’t you have any respect for adventuring conventions?”

  I laughed at the bunny as I tried to figure out if he was fucking with me or if the AI was speaking through him. Unlike last time though, his eyes didn’t have that malevolent intelligence in them, so I was going to go with fucking with me.

  “Ah, don’t get your panties in a twist,” Crash said, shrugging onto the armor, and as he did, the size changed to fit his form. Its crystal plates glimmered in the flashing sky as I walked over to Two’ Manchu and took the morning star from him.

  “You know what bugs me,” I said as I cast identify on the morning star, revealing it to be the Morning Star of the Cobalt Demon, which was once again not terribly clever. It did five damage to large and small monsters with a fifty percent increase when used two-handed. “We never got the ghoul nail, which was the whole reason we came to this godforsaken wasteland.”

  “Seriously?” Two’ Manchu grumbled. “That means we’ll have to hunt for the stupid ghoul nail when we get out of here.” He shook his head. “And that thing sucks.” He glared at the morning star like it offended him.

  “I’d like it,” Crash said, moving over to me. “I don’t have a decent weapon, and I remember a lot of mace-based skills from TG.”

  “You can have it, but it’s not going to help you much since it doesn’t increase spell power and I can’t see you beating anything to death with it,” I said as he took the morning star from me and swung it through the air. “What’s your strength, like six?”

  “It actually is six,” Crash replied, shaking his head. “So, I won’t get bonuses for attack from that, but at the same time, if I raise proficiency enough with the weapon, it’ll increase my damage a lot. Then, once I get one with magic boosting stats, I’ll be ahead of the curve. At least, I’m willing to take that chance unless you have some magic staffs in there?”

  “Fair enough,” I said, sighing as I gave away the last boss drop. I’d started the dungeon with some of the best gear in the group, and now I’d broken my scythe and was forced to use goblin short swords. It was annoying because if I’d had daggers as good as my scythe, I’d have probably killed that stupid demon with Revering Vendetta.

  “If you ladies are done jabbering, I’d like to get out of the fucking rain,” George said, glancing at us in turn. “Rain is really only fun when you’re with some smoking hotties, anyway.” He narrowed his eyes at Dark Heart. “And no offense, Sugar Tits, but you’re wearing way too much armor for the rain to make it worth it.”

  “I think we need to get your bunny neutered,” Dark Heart said, glaring at me. “Or at least teach him some fucking manners.”

  “Yeah, I’ll get on that right after I get my brain back in my body.” I turned away from her and knelt down next to George and rubbed him with one hand. “I agree, buddy, let’s get out of here.”

  “Finally, some sense talking,” George said, thumping one large foot on the ground in pleasure as I rubbed his fur.

  “I’ll go first,” Dark Heart said, and when no one objected, she made her way toward the portal. As she touched it, purple light leapt from the portal before her entire body disappeared in a flare of star fire. A quick glance at our party menu told me she was still alive and that her location was listed as the Wasteland of Chaos.

  “Well, it looks like she didn’t get teleported to Jupiter,” Two’ Manchu said as he approached the portal. “See you guys on the flipside.”

  He nodded once to us and touched the portal. Like the paladin, he vanished in a cascade of flame, leaving only Crash and me standing there.

  “You want to go first?” he asked. His voice shook, and he swallowed hard in a way that made me think he was scared. “Because, I’ll be honest, I don’t really like going last for things.”

  “Eh?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”

  “When I was a kid I saw this movie where the last kid in this room at a museum was turned into a monster by an old relic and since then I’ve been afraid to be the last one inside a room.” He tried to smile and failed. “It’s silly, but do me a solid, okay?”

  It seemed like a ridiculous reason, but at the same time, it was hardly a difficult request to comply with. The boss was dead, and while it was raining, nothing was trying to eat my face. He could go first. Besides, it’d be good to have done him a favor if I needed him to do something for me in the future.

  “Fine,” I said, and he nodded at me, relief flooding his face as he moved to the portal and vanished within his confines. I moved to follow, only as I did, a thought struck me. When I’d first come to Ruul, George had admonished me for leaving to quickly after boss fights and not searching well enough.

  Hell, there were weapon racks on the wall not far from where that crazy dude had stabbed himself. I ought to at least check those things out, right?

  “Whatcha waiting for, boss?” George asked as I spun on my heel and made my way toward the weapon racks. “Time’s a wasting, and I ain’t getting’ any dryer.”

  “Gonna see what’s here before I take off.” I smirked at him. “After all, how often does one get the run of a place like this?”

  “Seems like you’re taking my words to heart,” George replied, hopping along beside me as I approached the weapon racks. “Normally, that’d please me endlessly, but normally it isn’t raining, so hurry the fuck up, would ya?” He shook himself, spraying me with water, but since I was already soaked, it didn’t much matter. Besides, it wasn’t real rain anyway, and it more or less stopped bothering me the moment I stopped paying attention to it.

  “Sure,” I said as I stared at the nearly empty racks. There were a few miscellaneous items, but like the ones the guy had used earlier, they were all rusted, pitted, or otherwise not worth using. Still, I gathered them up and deposited them into my inventory much to the chagrin of my weight gauge. They might not be worth much, but I’m sure Dora would happily take them off my hands in exchange for a few Rhuvians.

  “There’s going to be a time many moons from now where you will look back at this moment and wonder why you bothered to take all that junk to sell,” George said as I circled the weapon racks, looking for anything else I could sell. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything that wasn’t bolted down.

  “Money is money,” I said, glancing at the rabbit. “It takes like three seconds to sell stuff, so unless you’re overweight, why wouldn’t you take it?”

  “Time is money too,” George said, shrugging at me. “And this place is lame.” He scampered forward toward the stands in an effort to keep out of the rain, and as he did, I realized almost everyone who had been watching was gone now. It was weird because I hadn’t seen them leave, or anything, but then again, they weren’t real so maybe they just spawned alongsid
e the boss and disappeared again when he’d died?

  “Fair enough,” I said, standing up. I wanted to leave too, but the more I stood here, the more I thought I was missing something. For one, we’d worked so hard to get here, and while the boss’s drops seemed good, they weren’t particularly special. For two, the rain bugged me. It was like the place wanted us to leave the moment we’d killed the boss, which made me think I should stay. There had to be a reason for that, and I was determined to figure out what it was.

  “So, you ready to go?” George asked as an idea flitted across my brain.

  “In a second,” I said, glancing at the bunny. “I want to roll perception to see if I missed anything.”

  As I said the words, a green flare of light spread out around me while I turned in a slow circle. Everything looked fairly normal as the emerald wave of perception swept out until it reached the cage the cobalt demon had torn free of at the start of the battle. As the perception check hit the twisted wreckage, something within the box began to glow with that same light the brick, marking the secret exit had when I’d found it earlier.

  “Eureka! I’ve found it!” I cried, sprinting toward the box. As I reached it, my grin widened. Sitting inside the sundered cage was a black lacquered chest the size of a shoebox. As I reached in to check it, and my fingers danced close to the lid, I stopped myself. A sly grin crossed my face as George hopped over next to me and watched me. “Clever girl. You almost got me.”

  “You think it’s trapped?” George asked as I stood there looking at the box and rubbing my chin.

  “Could be,” I said, using the Detect Lesser Traps skill. Green swept out over the box and pinged several times along the box. Yep. It was definitely trapped.

  “Well, that’s balls,” George said, and I instantly agreed with the bunny. This hardly seemed fair since the boss was dead.

  “I wonder how to disarm it?” I said, rubbing my chin once more. I wasn’t sure what level the disarm trap skill was, nor did I want to try it for the first time on this chest. Still, it wasn’t like I had other options. If I wanted what was inside, I had to go for it.