Maelstrom

by Ajdin K. Denic

  Contents

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  About the Author

  About the Community

  Foreword

  The book you are about to read is part of an exciting new genre called GameLit; or LitRPG. What do these funky words mean? Basically this genre is focused on Fantasy or Sci-Fi works with game-like progression, and game-like abilities.

  For those of you having played games in the past this will be exciting, for those who haven’t this could be an exciting entry into a whole new world of storytelling.

  This particular sub-genre is called a PortalGameLit or PortalLitRPG, where the main character is teleported to a world with game-like mechanics, where everything evolves as the MC comes into touch with weapons, armors, skills and so on. It's a looser system than many authors use, but at least the MC doesn’t already know 50 skills at level one already. He struggles for every centimeter, and that's how the story is intended to be.

  The MC’s don’t have a large arsenal of skills, weapons, armors and items to their disposal, as any game where you start out, doesn’t give you all that for free. You have to work for it. The same thing applies to Maelstrom. There might be spamming of same skills sometimes, or same tactics, but that's how one would play the game, or the world if they were there. You use what is given, so you are forewarned.

  There are quite a few battles, but I try to keep them brief and different so that it doesn’t get boring. As one reviewer wrote, "there is too much action". In what game isn’t there action? There’s hundreds and hundreds of hours of grinding to get to that level, or that item, or that level cap. So please, don’t read unless you expect some romantic walk in the park. That said, there is some romance and there should be in every book. At least the victims have something to keep them going.

  I wish you all a great reading experience (If you can get past the fact that it's my first book haha) and be it if you liked the story or not, consider leaving a review, as it helps every author out more than you can imagine.

  PS: There might still be a few technical mistakes. I would be very happy if you gave me a heads up rather than leaving a review mentioning those mistakes. It's in my interest to have it as clean as possible.

  Chapter 1

  "Kaden! What the hell are you doing? Get off him!" yelled a voice, as Kaden felt four hands pulling him off of a burly, older man. His mind had gone blank earlier when he was working in his cubicle. He couldn’t recall anything happening to make him come over here and attack Mr. Travis, except for the years of soul-crushing harassment endured by everyone in the office.

  "Is he still alive? He doesn’t seem to be breathing," another voice spoke out softly. Blood trickled down Mr. Tavis’ forehead from a nasty cut he got during the attack. Travis’ eyes were wide open, taunting Kaden with the same lifelessness in death as he had in life.

  "Oh shit. What have you done? What are we going to do? Our fingerprints are all over the room!" his soon to be ex-colleagues exclaimed.

  Kaden looked around the room upon hearing the word fingerprints. Mr. Travis lay sprawled on the floor behind his massive oak desk. Papers were strewn all over the conference table and pens and other utensils lay on the floor. The large window looked out at a park he loved so much, so Kaden dared one last glance from where he stood.

  "You need to admit to doing this. We have families!" the first voice spoke again, drawing Kaden’s attention.

  He didn’t care much anymore. What little of his life he had left was meaningless in every way imaginable. The dreams haunting him didn’t help either, keeping his mind racing all night thinking about battles, the carnage, and feeling the emotions from everyone within it.

  Maybe I have gone insane. Yes, that must have been it, Kaden thought.

  "I see. Alright then. Call the cops, but give me a ten minute head start. I want to go home and wash up first," he whispered to no one in particular. And with that, Kaden found himself standing in front of the tall office building, outside of what had been his personal hell for years.

  The evening breeze stole away all of his worries with a cold caress, shivers running down his spine. The gentle rain stung as it fell onto his bleeding fists. "I didn’t even notice the blood. How strange," he whispered to himself as he held his hands up, studying the wounds. Luckily, they weren’t so bad and most of the blood was from his former boss. A feeling of dread crawled up his skin as what just happened finally sank into his mind. Dread turned into panic just as a car stopped in front of him.

  "Need a ride?" the taxi driver said through the partially open window. Kaden nodded and got into the yellow cab hurriedly, looking around him before entering. He was sweaty, his short, black hair slicked down by the rain. His dark brown eyes were unfocused and dull, void of life as he got lost in his thoughts.

  "Where are you going to, mate?" the taxi driver asked.

  "Sorry, what?" he asked, looking up at the man.

  "I said, where do you need to go?"

  "Can you take me to the crossing of fifth and seventh please?" he asked with a dry voice. "I need to get my medicine there," Kaden said, feeling for his wallet. Thankfully, it was still inside of his jacket pocket. Before he even knew it, they were speeding down the street. The driver’s eye met his a couple of times and the man seemed to want to talk, but was silenced by Kaden's haunted eyes.

  The lights flashed by as the driver floored it, eager to get rid of his strange and bloody passenger. A few minutes later they arrived to the man’s obvious relief. Kaden paid the man and walked over to the drugstore as if drawn to it by an invisible string. A loud bell chimed as he pushed open the metal-encased glass door, drawing the attention of the older woman standing behind the counter.

  "Hey Kaden," the woman said cheerfully. Susan, a long-time employee, had been working there ever since the store opened years ago. He flashed her a weak smile and tired greeting.

  "Hey Susan. Can you get me the usual?" he asked, more subdued than normal. She looked back and frowned.

  "They returned? The nightmares I mean?" she questioned, obviously worried. Kaden nodded once and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to block out the memory of the nightmares that came creeping back into his head. ‘Hey, what’s that on your hands?’ she asked. With a few quick strides, she turned around the counter and looked at his bloodied fists for a long moment. ‘Have you been in a fight?’ A short and uncomfortable silence followed.

  "No. Well, yes. I think I killed my boss. He wasn’t breathing anymore when I left the office, so I have no idea. For all I know he might still be alive. Not that I care anyway, not today."

  Susan closed her eyes and whispered something before shaking her head. "Say, could you clean and wrap them up for me? I would appreciate it," he asked her with a weak voice.

  The adrenaline was gone, and all that remained was a weakness and a pressure from within, a weight that slowed his thought process and movement. The same doorbell chimed again, drawing their attention.

  "Sure, go into the back room, alright?" Susan motioned for him to move, and turned towards the newcomer. He couldn’t move however, as a woman so beautiful she could eclipse the s
un stood in the doorway, staring back at him. His heart skipped a beat, recognizing the beauty with long brown hair and violet eyes. Her skin was slightly tanned, and she was built like an athlete. A short black dress hugged a perfect body as if it had been created just for that sole purpose. It showed off every curve and dip to perfection.

  "Can I help you?" she asked, her voice sounding like a choir of angels singing in his head. Without realizing it, he took a step and pointed his finger, trying to speak.

  "Y-You are that woman from my dreams! From my nightmares!"

  At first, she didn’t seem to realise what he was saying, but then her face went pale, as if all blood had been drained from it.

  "Please tell me that this is a joke," she whimpered back, her eyes wide open in shock and fear.

  "No," he replied firmly, taking another step towards her. "I recognize you for sure!" She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Within an instant, she stood beside him and whispered into his ear.

  "Shut it and come with me," she ordered, pulling at his wrist, and walked outside without looking back at Susan. The medicine was dangling within a bag in Susan’s hand as she called after them, but they just kept on walking.

  Running past pedestrians and getting yelled at more than once for bumping into them, a new strength rose up within Kaden. He felt that this walk had a purpose, that he would get the answers he yearned for all these long years.

  Without even noticing the time go by, they stopped in front of a restaurant that looked as if it was closed. As the door opened, a bright light escaped the room beyond.

  "Welcome," said an invisible voice. Breathing heavily, Kaden walked after the woman as she ran ahead disappearing into the light.

  "Right, thanks. Go along with whatever then, I guess. It’s not as if I have my own questions that need to be answered," he murmured sarcastically.

  The restaurant was decorated with various antique furniture, at least from what he could see from the door. A strange yet familiar scent took him by surprise, slightly spicy but pleasant. A butler appeared out of nowhere and took his coat, his face obscured by a white mask that only showed off the dark blue eyes hiding behind it.

  "If you will follow me, sir Kaden," the man said tonelessly, motioning for Kaden to follow him. The brunette had already sat at a table with an older white-haired man when he was brought forward by the butler.

  "Kaden! Please take a seat, my dear friend," the older man said, gazing at him from behind strange looking glasses with his green eyes. They seemed to be scrutinizing him, but on a much deeper level than humanly possible. As Kaden took his seat, a very uncomfortable feeling came over him as he had no idea what to say. A deep silence stretched out uncomfortably.

  "How do you know who I'm, if you don’t mind me asking, and what do you want from me?" Kaden asked, trying to get some information out of the older man. The man however, kept on smiling and nodded his head in a constant rhythm.

  "Tell me about your dreams, if you would be so kind," the man said.

  "My dreams? How do you know about them?" Kaden replied, frowning at the man. He leaned back into his chair and took the old man in once more.

  "Please forgive me," he replied with an innocent laugh. "My name is Bardos and I'm, as you Humans would call me, a god." Kaden coughed, almost choking on the air caught in his windpipe. He didn’t know whether to laugh, cough or cringe at the man’s statement.

  "God Bardos? How come I have never heard of you before?" A look of disbelief and fear replaced his curiosity as some things clicked into place within his head.

  "Why would I, a god, have to explain anything to you? If you need an explanation however, I'll give you a small demonstration." Without waiting for a reply, Bardos winked and Kaden’s soul was seemingly ripped out of his body. His body dropped face first onto the table and lay there motionless, while a white aura floated above it, screaming in pain.

  Kaden tried to speak out but couldn’t. An agonizing five seconds later, Bardos waved his hand, forcing the white aura back into his body. Another second later, he could breathe again.

  "What the hell?" Kaden cried out, "why would you do that? What have I ever done to you? My life is miserable enough as it's mind you!"

  "I'm the one asking questions. Not you," Bardos cut him off with an angry retort. "Now, if you will, please tell me about your dreams. What do you dream about?" The woman seemed to unfreeze as she leaned in as well to listen to what Kaden had to say.

  Kaden looked down at the table, and took a good deep breath before retelling what he had been living with most of his life. "I dream of a strange world filled with monsters. And within it, I fight them together with other humans and… things that look like humans, but aren’t. Wars are being waged on a colossal scale, we died constantly and came back over and over again. After all of that, I started dreaming of her," he whispered as if embarrassed, pointing at the woman sitting opposite him.

  "Oh? At least I hope they were pleasant dreams, when she appeared in them?" Bardos asked.

  Kaden replied with a shrug as if he didn’t even care about the question. "She fought with me against those things. Then everything blurs for a while and she kills me, starting everything from scratch."

  Bardos and the woman looked at each other for a moment. He had a look of triumph on his face while she seemed to be ready to cry any moment, yet she still managed to give Kaden a look that was full of impotent rage to say the least.

  "It has finally come to this, my dear Laney. Your time to join the game is now. Like many before you have and like many after you will do the same." Bardos started laughing like all of this was a joke to him, but Kaden didn’t understand anything at all.

  "Wait, what is going on? Why is she looking at me like I just killed her puppy?" he exclaimed, knocking over the chair as he got up and took a step back.

  "Because you just killed us both! Why couldn’t you have kept your mouth shut when you saw me?" the woman called Laney cried out. She was shaking from rage and fear, her pupils dilated, refusing to look at either of them as she sobbed. Kaden’s eyes narrowed at both her and Bardos as she looked away.

  "What does she mean?" Kaden stuttered. He had a feeling that the woman wasn’t acting, which in turn meant that he would die somehow. Bardos grinned wickedly and cupped his hands in front of him.

  "Just what my daughter dearest said, Kaden. You two are destined to be together, so I'll grant you what your soul is yearning for. Today really turned out to be something spectacular, huh? First you killed that scumbag of an ex-boss, and now you get to die because you were at the wrong time at the wrong place. The irony will kill you." Bardos exclaimed, laughing maniacally. When the two just looked at him angrily, he stopped laughing and murmured something about people not appreciating his jokes.

  A bartender walked over towards the table and stood there motionless for a few moments before leaning in to speak. "What would the condemned like to eat and drink? So saying, for their last meal, that is."

  Kaden closed his eyes as tears slowly slipped down his cheeks, clenching and unclenching his fists. It was too much for him. He had just witnessed his own soul being ripped from his body and returned with nothing more than a flick of the wrist. If that hadn’t been an illusion or a dream, then it was all real, and he had all the more reason to cry.

  "Oh, it’s not all that bad my boy, you will get to live in a better place!" Bardos mocked, smacking his lips. "There is a whole world out there to explore and to make a name for yourself. What happens there is up to you. Everyone is getting the same chance," Bardos said with a calmer voice and waited for Kaden to stop crying.

  "A whole world? What’s wrong with this one?" Kaden interrupted, his eyes shimmering as if about to burst into tears.

  "I prefer the other one much more. Now, You and Laney will be sent there together. You will even be reborn at the same spot, but what happens afterwards is up to you two. Will you part ways, or stay together? I won’t force anyone to do something against their will, at least once on
Maelstrom."

  "Why me? Why do I have to be the one?" Kaden asked, still sobbing.

  "You know, they always ask the same question. Why me? Why me?" Bardos replied, waving his hands in the air mockingly. "Do you think that it's you who matters here boy? No, you do not. I plant nightmares into people’s heads randomly. Each largish city has ten of them, smaller cities have five and even small towns have one."

  "So it wasn’t a chance encounter then! You made us meet each other?" Kaden asked, interrupting once more.

  "Not really. And stop interrupting me or I'll do much worse to you than planned. You see, the one from your dreams, they can feel it and by my order, are forced to bring you here or any one of the locations strewn around the world." Bardos explained. It was heartless, but then again, someone who took people to another world and let them fight for their lives didn’t deserve to be called anything less.

  "Damned idiot. If only you hadn’t said anything," Laney murmured in defeat. Kaden just sat there, all fight having left him.

  "One more thing, if you will, to make you feel better. It was me who made you kill Travis. Even by my standards he was an a-hole, so he deserved to die. That was my parting gift to you, so better appreciate it," he said wagging his finger at Kaden.

  "I see. I knew it was sort of funny that I suddenly woke up in his cubicle, not knowing why I was there. Thanks, I guess."

  "Right. I think this concludes our little chat. It was a pleasure seeing you two. After you eat and drink, you will sleep for a few days until I decide where to put you and what goals to set. As long as you play by the rules and do your best to entertain me, maybe, just maybe I'll make life easier for the both of you down there."

  As Bardos disappeared, three waiters appeared carrying food and drinks. It was their favorites, though they hadn’t even ordered anything consciously. It had all been done by the host in their stead. Neither of them felt any hunger, but they knew that this meal would be the last for a long time if it was true what the wicked god had said. If Bardos spoke the truth, they wouldn’t taste something like this for a very long time.