The Eternal: Awakening - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 1)

by Dhayaa Anbajagane

  Images of the piles of dead bodies flashed my mind, causing me to cringe. So that’s what he used them for, I grunted.

  “It seems Asterion managed to trap this spectral spirit in a Kronos Crystal, an object known for holding large amounts of magical energy. Once he got the spirit into the crystal, he was able to draw power from it and perform the kinds of things that only you, the Phantom Lord, could have done.”

  My eyes widened. “So he’s the one that summoned the Valdar.”

  “And the one who made all those tortured wraiths. Or at least he’s the one who did it with the help of one of your spectral spirits. In fact, his act of summoning a spectral spirit was what caused you to reappear into this world again.”

  I froze. “What?”

  “Every spirit has a body that it truly belongs in. When Asterion performed a mass sacrifice to summon your spectral spirit, he ended up summoning your body as well. When you first appeared you were a shell of sorts, a body of the Phantom Lord that held none of his spectral spirits.”

  “Asterion is the one who caused of all of this,” I said quietly, realizing that everything that had happened to me was caused by that one man.

  Anger rushed through me. “He did this to me,” I muttered.

  “I suggest you keep your calmness intact, Diablo,” Nyx said. “Your anger is justified but it is better you do not give into it. There is too much at stake here to let emotion define our actions.”

  I paused, but I couldn’t deny that he was right. “Fine,” I said a few seconds of silence later.

  “Thank you.”

  The darkness around me melted and I found myself back in the balcony once again, overlooking the circular floor downstairs, my back against the wall. Asterion was still speaking when I finally gained awareness of my surroundings, and I for one was pretty annoyed by that.

  Freya sat next to me, a somber expression on her face, as though she were just in wait of something to happen. It didn’t seem like she’d been shut off by the fact that I was the Phantom Lord. I wasn’t too sure of what to think of that though.

  I stood up, clearing my thoughts and walking up to the balcony. “Hey Emperor of Dargonia,” I yelled. “Shut up!”

  Asterion turned to me, a stunned expression on his face, but he quickly transitioned, giving me his classic, unsavory smile. “So you were here after all, Eternal.”

  “A big surprise indeed,” I said. “Now if you’re going to wait around to try and get me to join your Alliance, I should let you know you’re wasting you time.”

  He chuckled. “Ah, Zoran,” he said. “Still so innocent. Why do you think I did all of this? Grand schemes, mass murders. All just to induct an Eternal into my Alliance?”

  I felt unease within me. What’s going on? I thought, and I could tell my face radiated the question as well.

  “Asking you to join the Alliance was, how shall we say it, a small side project at most.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “I should say, it would have been nice if you joined the Alliance and then regained your powers, but it’s fine now, for with the spectral spirit within you, all I need is your unconscious body.”

  “What?” I blinked.

  He laughed and threw his hands up into the air. Gusts of wind surged in from all sides, enveloping him within. In seconds his body changed form, turning into a giant creature that was half-man, half-bull.

  I looked at him wide eyed, words forming in my throat, but not coming out of my mouth.

  The beast looked at me, its eyes like burning coal. “You may have escaped death, Diablo,” the Minotaur said. “But you will never escape pain.”

  ***

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “Great,” I muttered as I looked at the minotaur in front of me.

  The beast burst forward without hesitation, with a pace that was not normal for someone his size. I surged away, my ‘Phantom Lord’ speed getting me across the whole room before I could even blink.

  Got to get used to that, I thought as I looked at the beast.

  He turned around to face me. “I see,” he said. His legs crouched and the next moment he was right in front of me, his fist recoiled and ready to punch. I dived to the side, moving away just as his hand thundered down onto the wall behind me. His punch struck right through it, sending waves and tremors through the whole ruins.

  “Ah,” he pulled his arm back, cracking his knuckles. “I was hoping that punch would have landed.”.

  “You’re going to have to try a lot faster than that then,” I taunted.

  He chuckled. “You see, Zoran. You may be an Eternal,” he said. “But you’re not strong enough to go around acting like one.”.

  He opened his mouth and a burst of fiery flames shot right at me, at a speed too fast to process. I instinctively put my hands in the air, and a phrase left my mouth on instinct.

  “Askar el thum,” I said.

  A wall of fire burst from the floor, rising between me and Asterion. His attack collided with my wall and the whole thing exploded, the blast sending me a few inches back and filling the room with dark smoke.

  I could see the faint silhouette of the Minotaur a few yards in front of me and so I took advantage of the split-second distraction, deciding to use my analyze skill.

  Name

  Asterion

  Race

  Beastmaster

  Level

  435

  Health

  5640

  Mana

  4270

  Stamina

  4470

  Beastmaster? I tapped the race section, bringing up a racial characteristics info screen.

  The Beastmasters are a tribal race that live deep in the wilderness. They hold special abilities that allow them to turn into any kind of beast. They can change into a beast only after facing it in combat and defeating it. The Beastmaster race has high physical prowess, with great strength and agility.

  Dammit, I cursed. Minotaurs were really strong creatures, and if this man had managed to take down one, then that said a lot about how capable he was in battle. The smoke cleared just as I shut down my screen. I looked up, only to see that the Minotaur had disappeared from sight.

  “Looking for me, Eternal?” a voice said from behind me.

  I immediately turned, and my eyes widened. There stood the Minotaur, holding Freya’s arms in his massive palm, the poor elf dangling helplessly in the air.

  “Freya,” I gasped.

  “You better pipe down, if you want this one to live,” he chuckled, tracing his finger across her face.

  I saw her eyes go into rage, her muscles tightening, as though ready for a punch. Winds broke into the room, swirling around her. Sparks of red and orange showered the air, heat radiating from just them.

  Oh dear, I froze.

  Freya changed form, blood and black making its way into her appearance. Runes glowed on her body before settling down into the stark shade of black.

  Asterion looked at her in utter surprise.

  But it was too late for that.

  Freya flipped her body, swinging herself above his arm. Mid-swing she twisted forcefully and the Minotaur flew off the floor, crunching into the stone walls. Debris and dust fell from the roof as the aftershocks went through them.

  The elf looked at the Minotaur. “Do not use me as a damsel in distress,” she said.

  “Ughhh,” the Minotaur groaned as he stood up, running his hands over his arms and sweeping the dust off them. He turned to the elf, a smile on his face. “I did not think I would see you here, Queen of Iskaeil.”

  She smiled. “So you do know of me,” she chuckled, more in amusement than anything else.

  “The Traitorous Queen is well known to the heads of the Dark Alliance,” he chuckled.

  She threw her hands forward, and a twister of wind blast of out of her palms, surging into the Minotaur, throwing him against the wall once more. “Then you would know not to cross me,” she said.

 
Asterion’s minions mobilized, surrounding Freya in an instant. She looked at them, a smile on her face. I knew what she was thinking. It was amusing to her that these men thought they could even take her on.

  “Stand down,” the Minotaur said ironically as he got back onto his feet and his men immediately backed away.

  “Stand down?” Freya chuckled. “You’re going to need all the help you can get to just take me on, let alone me and the Phantom Lord.”

  “We’ll see,” Asterion’s arm flashed across the air as he quickly opened up his inventory screen and summoned a weird glass flask. A wispy white liquid stood within, squirming around as if it were alive.

  “What are you doing?” Freya asked, a little unease in her voice.

  “What I need to,” Asterion smashed the bottle again the ground, and a wraith surged from the shards, screaming and howling as it did. It surged into him, not passing through like it would have with me. Runes of grey summoned on the Minotaur’s skin, and he growled in pain as they settled down, resting at a shade of dirty silver.

  “There,” the Minotaur stood straight, his voice different, his eyes glowing with a mild white, an aura of power now emanating from him. I didn’t need to use Analyze to know that that spirit infusion had made him stronger than either of us were.

  “There are still two of us, you idiot,” Freya muttered and charged. She brought out her blade, the massive weapon flowing smoothly through the air. She coiled her arm and struck hard, swinging her sword as fast as she could.

  The Minotaur threw his hands out and a shockwave summoned from the contact point, sending dust and debris all through us. When it cleared away, the beast stood alive, a smile on his face, with Freya’s blade wedged inbetween his hands. The Elf was trying hard to pull it away from him, but his grip was too strong.

  “How unfortunate,” he chuckled with his low voice. He swirled around, his leg smashing into her ribcage. She went shooting into the roof and crunching right through it.

  “FREYA!” I yelled, charging forward. Two of Asterion’s minions tried to come after me, but all I had to do was smack them and they fell back to the wall, unconscious.

  “Round two,” Asterion smiled, but he wasn’t speaking to me. He was looking up at the roof, watching as Freya’s form fell back down, his fist already surging upward to punch her once again.

  NO! My mind yelled as I pushed off the floor, jumping through the air and grabbing her by the waist. We came back down on the other side of the room, my feet sliding as I brought us to a stop.

  “Are you okay?” I turned to Freya.

  “I’m fine, thanks,” the elf pulled away from me. While it was true that she was fine, it was also true that she’d been hurt pretty bad. Bruises lay over her fair skin, all from just that one kick, and I could tell from her face she wasn’t exactly ‘painless’ right now either.

  I looked at the Minotaur, watching him smile at us. How strong did he get? I cursed.

  “How bold of you, Zoran,” Asterion chuckled as he walked up to us. “A love affair in the middle of a battle?”

  “Shut up, you monster,” Freya lifted her blade, the weapon pointing at the beast threateningly. She swung it down to the ground, and the floor split, fissuring in a long crack. The Minotaur shot up to us, ready to swing into Freya just as she finished her move.

  But I was ready this time.

  I charged out in front of her, my arms up above my face. The Minotaur smashed into me, his fist nearly cracking my bones, my feet breaking the ground just from the force put on me. I quickly recoiled back, throwing a punch into his chest and the beast flew back, hitting the wall in one shattering sound.

  I stood still, my arm still out, my breath heaving.

  “You’re strong, Eternal,” Asterion stepped out of the debris, his face looking serious for the first time. He disappeared all of a sudden and the next thing I knew his fist was in my face. I went flying backwards, crunching through the wall before I dropped to the floor.

  I groggily stood up, immediately noticing that that attack had taken down a good fourth of my health.

  What am I supposed to do? I asked myself. I can’t take him on alone. I can’t take him on together with Freya either.

  “You don’t have to,” Nyx’s familiar voice showed up again. “Charge him. I’ll take care of the rest.”

  My body instantly moved, my mind not questioning for a second what I had been told. I rushed out through the wall to find Freya swinging her sword at the Minotaur, the beast quickly dodging and knocking her blade aside.

  “FREYA! MOVE!” I yelled and shot towards the beast, running as fast as I could.

  “Get ready, Diablo,” Nyx said and everything started moving in slow motion. “Put your hand out,” he said and I did, watching as my finger slowly uncurled, my arm stretching out in front of me.

  A stream of violet light collected around my hands and expanded into the shape of a blade.

  “Go,” the spirit said.

  My slo-mo vision ended and I felt myself surge across the ground. My hand wrapped around the weapon handle and I swung hard onto the Minotaur, faster than it could even start blinking.

  I slid across the floor, coming to stop next to the wall, and turned around to see a deep gash in the Minotaur’s side. The big beast stood frozen for a second, its health going down to a measly tenth, and dropped to the floor, unconscious.

  My fingers trembled, as though l was holding lightning in my hand. I looked down, my eyes gazing at the blade of solid black that lay in my hand, the weapon as though it were woven from the very night itself. A gemstone of deep violet lay studded where the hilt and the blade met, light glistening off of it in ghastly shades.

  I turned back to the Minotaur, just in time to see his minions surround both him and themselves in in a white sphere of light.

  “NO!” Freya yelled, charging towards them. She swung at their forms, but just as she was about to connect, they all disappeared, leaving just a flash of light for her to cut through.

  Teleportation, I realized.

  “Damn it!” the elf cursed. She looked at me. “You should have killed that man.”

  “It’s fine, Freya,” I said, my voice unagitated. “Let’s just calm down now. Asterion was unconscious. It’ll be a while before he can even come after us. And even if he does…” I looked at my sword, stunned that the weapon had given me such strength against the Minotaur.

  DING!

  The Analyze screen for the weapon came up.

  Title

  DawnBreaker, The Void Blade

  Grade

  Seven Stars

  Damage

  12K - 16K ATK

  Rarity

  Legendary

  Durability

  Unbreakable

  Quality

  Godly

  Special Effects

  +100% attack

  +100% chance of critical hits

  +100% resistance to all magic

  +50% Accuracy

  +100% Agility

  +100% Dexterity

  +10% health recovery

  Notes:

  Weapon ATK increases with level of user

  Weapon draws %15 Mana every second

  Value

  Priceless

  HOLY HELL! I exclaimed, my mind unable to fathom just what I was seeing in front of me. This thing is ridiculously overpowered.

  Freya leaned over, curious from the gaping look on my face. “OH MY GOD,” she freaked out immediately, her voice yelling louder than I ever would have. “That is amazing!”

  “It is,” I said quietly, still really excited about it, but realizing I needed to keep my thoughts in check given the situation we were in.

  I quickly opened my inventory menu, remembering what the prompt had said before. Inventory has been updated, I recalled. I quickly navigated to my menu, and as I’d expected, there was indeed another new item in my box-like grid, the icon of a piece of armor. I tapped on it, holding my breath in anticipation of what this th
ing was going to be like.

  Title

  Berserker Armor

  Grade

  Seven Stars

  Defense

  18K - 21K DEF

  Rarity

  Legendary

  Durability

  Unbreakable

  Quality

  Godly

  Special Effects

  +100% Defense

  +100% resistance to all magic

  +50% chance of evasion

  +10% Health recovery

  +10% Stamina recover

  +10% Mana recovery

  +4% rebound damage on receiving attack

  Notes:

  Weapon DEF increases with level of user

  Weapon draws %15 Mana every second

  Value

  Priceless

  This one was so good I didn’t really know how to react. I immediately tapped on the ‘Equip’ button, not wanting to wait a second longer.

  DING!

  Would you like to switch out your armor and equip the Berserker Armor instead?

  I tapped yes, and the screen disappeared. A stream of light came out of nowhere, swirling around me and expanding. When it stopped, an armor of horrifying black had formed around me, a few streaks of silver highlighting its form. It covered my whole body, the metal woven into sharp angles and sharper points. Cuts and layers sat within it, allowing me to move freer than I’d expected. The solid pieces of metal hung from my limbs, but where they should have been weighing me down, they did not. Instead it almost felt like I was…lighter.

  Must be the Agility boost from the sword, I thought.

  “Well, you seem to have gotten a pretty good bounty,” Freya smiled. “First a sword, now armor.”

  “Perks of being a Phantom Lord,” I mumbled.