Ever since then word of my arrival had spread and nearly everyone in this prison spent their time hunting me, day or night. It was all I could do to hide in whatever nook or cranny I could find, doing my best to stay ahead of those searching for me. I knew all too well what they would do to me if they found me.
I did my best to stifle a yawn. I need to catch some sleep, or I’ll start making mistakes.
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” A feminine voice caused my eyes to widen in panic as I tried to find the source of the voice.
Who said that?! Where did that come from?! I didn’t dare move while I fervently scanned the room before me, gripping my shiv painfully tight. My heart hammered in my chest as I saw nothing but shadows before me. It has to be a trick to flush me out!
“You were on the verge of becoming a King!” the voice continued. “But now you hide in the shadows like a rat, struggling to survive, all while your killer prospers. How does that make you feel?”
Angry. I thought to myself, feeling the embers of rage kindle within my breast, still searching for the source of the voice. But there’s nothing I can do about that now.
“What if there was?” Pale white eyes suddenly appeared in front of me, just inches away from mine.
“Ah!” I barely stifled a yelp as I instinctively stabbed out with my shiv. But before my crude blade could even reach the eyes before me, they vanished. Leaving me alone in the darkness once again.
Fuck, I’m starting to hallucinate! I ground the palm of my hand into my eyes, trying to banish the exhaustion that had crept over me. Holding my breath I strained my ears, trying to hear if anyone was coming to investigate my gasp.
“You aren’t hallucinating, Graves.” With a burst of light a pale skinned woman appeared a short distance away from me, watching me with the same unsettling pale eyes I had seen before. “I am really here.”
“Turn that light off!” Fear of being discovered by the roaming death squads searching for me overrode any concerns I had about speaking. I learned the hard way that light would draw them to me almost instantly. “They’ll find us!
“Oh, don’t worry about anyone interrupting us,” the mysterious woman said dismissively. “I’ve taken steps to ensure that we will be left alone for a time.”
I pointed my feeble dagger at the woman before me, wincing at the sudden bright light. Looking over her, I saw that the mystery woman was dressed in a pure white dress, save for a dark black mantle that covered her shoulders. Waiting for my cold appraisal of her to finish, she cocked her head at me, sending her raven black hair cascading to the side.
“Precautions?” I echoed, while continuing to watch her intently, expecting that at any moment a dozen prisoners would come charging into the room. There’s no dirt on her clothes yet, she must be new here. Maybe she wants to use my head to gain entry to one of the gangs?
“I am not a prisoner.” An amused expression crossed the woman’s face. “As if this place could contain me. To answer your second question, yes, I can read your mind, after a fashion.”
“What are you?” I asked hesitantly, realizing she had sensed the budding question in my mind before I had even had the chance to fully form it. “And why are you here?”
“The ‘what’ is much less than important than the ‘why’.” The woman smiled at me. “I am here to give you an opportunity for revenge, should you be willing to take it.”
My eyes shot open in surprise, before narrowing suspiciously.
“I’ve had my fill of opportunities,” I replied bitterly. “Look where they landed me! Take your cursed offer elsewhere and leave me be.”
The woman made a show of examining the surroundings, her expression forming one of distaste. “I can understand your apprehension. Yet, are you so enamored of your surroundings that you would not even care to listen to my offer? Or would you wish to continue being hunted for the remainder of your sentence?”
I stared at the woman before me, my gut wrenching at the thought of another ninety-seven days in this hellhole. “Fine, I will listen.”
“A wise choice.” The woman took a short step towards me, clasping her hands together. “I have grand designs for the city surrounding us, however, I am limited in the actions I can take on my own. I find myself in need of an agent that can act on my behalf in areas I cannot reach.”
“And how will that help me get my revenge?” I asked scornfully. “I have been a puppet once before and I would be a fool to not have learned my lesson from the events that led me here.”
“And I would be a fool if I haven’t learned that compelling obedience leads to unruly subjects.” The woman cocked an eyebrow at me she spoke. I suddenly found myself questioning just how much she knew about me. “Worry not, you will have full independence without my overt interference.”
“As for your revenge, that entirely depends on you.” The pale-skinned woman stopped before me, extending a hand. “Once you are firmly established where I need you to be, you should find yourself with near unlimited resources to pursue any goal you may have.”
“That is hardly enough for me to even begin to trust you,” I looked down towards her outstretched hand, then back at her pale eyes. “Everything you’ve just said is vague and insubstantial at best, coupled with promises that can be broken at any time.”
“Perhaps it is,” the woman agreed. “But unless you take my offer, I will not tell you anymore.”
“Then you can take your off-” A shout from nearby interrupted me.
“Hey! There’s a light! It has to be Graves! Go! Go! Go!” The sound of rushing feet and laughter began echoing through the hallway.
I looked up in horror at the woman standing before me, a devilish smile crossing her face.
“Tick, Tock, Graves. The offer is about to expire.” She waved her extended hand in front of my face. “You know what they are going to do when they get here.”
I swallowed hard, as I looked up at the hand hovering before me, the sounds of rushing bodies closing fast.
“Damn you,” I croaked as I grabbed the woman’s hand, feeling the world shift out from under me, leaving me falling through an infinite abyss.
Discordant laughter filled my ears.
Lyrian’s Character Sheet at the End of Book 1
Lyrian Rastler – Level 11 Spellsword
Human Male (Eberian)
Statistics:
HP: 638/638
Stamina: 580/580
Mana: 640/640
Experience to next level: 14,000/23,200
Critical Hit Chance: 11.5%
Attributes:
Strength: 46 (48)
Agility: 36 (38)
Constitution: 36
Intelligence: 42
Willpower: 16
Abilities:
Sneak Attack I (Passive) – Attacks made before the target is aware of you automatically deal weapon damage+14.
Power Attack I (Active: 50 Stamina) – You slash viciously at the target putting extra strength behind the blow. Deal weapon damage+7.
Kick (Active: 20) – You kick your enemy for 10-20 points of damage, and knock them back 1-2 yards. Depending on your Strength/Agility score, you may also knock down the target.
Shoulder Tackle (Active: 40 Stamina) – Stun enemy for 1-2 seconds with chance to knock enemy down based on Strength and/or Agility attribute.
Skills:
Evocation – Level 10 – 66% (Increases knowledge of Evocation Magic and improves related Abilities.)
Alteration – Level 9 – 88% (Increases knowledge of Alteration Magic and improves related Abilities.)
Unarmed Combat – Level 8 – 21% (Increases knowledge of hand-to-hand fighting and improves related Abilities.)
Stealth – Level 6 – 14% (Decreases chance of being detected while attempting to stay hidden. Improves related Abilities.)
Swords – Level 10 – 75% (Increases knowledge of sword fighting and improves related Abilities.)
Wordplay – Level 3 – 11% (Increases c
hance to persuade others, resolve differences and/or get information.)
Perception - Level 9 - 55% (You are skilled in spotting hidden creatures and places. Depending on your skill level, hidden creatures and places will be highlighted in red.)
Tradeskills:
Blacksmithing – Level 10 – 1%
Carpentry – Level 6 – 51%
Cartography – Level 2 – 3%
Cooking – Level 5 – 54%
Herbalism – Level 7 – 14%
Leatherworking – Level 10 – 1%
Mining – Level 5 – 13%
Spells:
Flare
Light
Blink Step
Shocking Touch
Racial Ability:
Military Conditioning (Passive) – All defenses are increased by 5% and total hit points are increased by 10%.
Traits:
Open Minded – Accepting of racial differences and radical ideas, you have learned to accept wisdom and the opportunity to learn no matter what form it takes, allowing you to make intuitive insights where others would give up in frustration. Grants a substantial increase in learning new skills, and the ability to learn all race locked traits, skills, crafting recipes, and abilities that are not otherwise restricted.
Re-Forge – You have learned the basics of how to recreate a broken relic and are able to bring back some of its former glory. This skill will function across any and all Tradeskills you acquire.
Improvisation – Your study of goblin craftsmanship has given you the insight to make adjustments to standard and learned recipes by replacing required materials with something else. E.g., Replacing metal with wood in an armor recipe will create a set of wooden armor instead of metal. The higher your level in Improvisation, the more changes can be made and the fewer materials they will require.
Ætherwarped – Due to high exposure of Raw Æther, your body has undergone unpredictable changes! You have gained the following Sub-Trait(s) and Abilities as part of your condition.
True Sight – Your eyes have been enhanced by exposure to Æther to the point where they are able to pierce through natural darkness and all facets of magic to see things as they truly are. This ability replaces Arcane Sight and can be suppressed at will. When this ability is active, the player’s eyes will visibly glow a bright blue.
Mana Void – Your body’s hunger for Arcane Energy has become ravenous, turning your appearance gaunt as it desperately craves more and more mana in order to fuel your metabolism. For as long as you have mana, you do not require to eat or drink. However, if your mana reaches 0, your body will immediately begin to consume itself at a rate of one hit point for each second in mana deprivation state, per second, until mana is restored. All mana regeneration is permanently reduced by 100%.
Mana Leech – As a result from prolonged contact with an [Annulment Sphere] your body’s hunger for mana is so powerful you are now able to leech mana from any object or creature that you come in physical contact with, regardless of intervening armor or clothing that is not specifically designed to block the flow of mana. When this ability is activated mana will be leeched at a rate of 30 mana per second, any mana leeched will be added to your current mana pool and any excess mana will be lost. This ability scales with Class Level and Intelligence.
Familiar:
Name: Amaranth
Type: Ætherwarped Puma
Level: 11
Relationship: Fanatically Loyal
Status: Dead (13 hours until respawn)
Familiar Abilities:
Mental Link – The magical bond linking you and your familiar has created an intimate mental link between the two of you, allowing each of you to communicate mentally between one another for a distance of up to one mile, regardless of intervening objects. Magical wards, however, will block this form of mental communication.
Soul Bound – During the familiar bonding process, you have anchored the being’s soul directly to your own. Should the familiar be slain in your service, you will immediately suffer a 10% penalty to all attributes and skills for the next 24 hours until the familiar is reborn. Should the familiar survive your death, it does not suffer any penalties, but will be compelled to travel to your place of rebirth as quickly as possible.
Afterword
Thank you for reading my story! Hopefully if you’ve made it this far, you’ve also enjoyed reading the story! As a first time author, the entire book writing process has been one huge learning experience and I hope to consistently improve with every following book!
One thing I would like to ask of you, is to consider leaving a review of this book! Reviews are critical to both help me improve as a writer and to help gain exposure! If there are things that you like or didn’t like in this story, please let me know!
You can get in touch with me directly at [email protected] I welcome questions, comments, and suggestions! Also, if you happen to spot any errors, please let me know and I will fix them right away!
If you are interested in other books that fall into the “LitRPG” genre, you should check out the Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1030147103683334/
Reccomendations
I wouldn’t be able to end this book without giving a huge shout out to some of the biggest LitRPG authors out there today! If you liked my book, you should really check out these other series!
Awaken Online by Travis Bagwell
https://www.amazon.com/Awaken-Online-Catharsis-Travis-Bagwell-ebook/dp/B01J0E8Z8A
Jason logs into Awaken Online fed-up with reality. He's in desperate need of an escape, and this game is his ticket to finally feeling the type of power and freedom that are so sorely lacking in his real life.
Awaken Online is a brand new virtual reality game that just hit the market, promising an unprecedented level of immersion. Yet Jason quickly finds himself pushed down a path he didn't expect. In this game, he isn't the hero. There are no damsels to save. There are no bad guys to vanquish.
In fact, he might just be the villain.
Delvers LLC by Blaise Corvin
https://www.amazon.com/Delvers-LLC-Welcome-Blaise-Corvin-ebook/dp/B01M0U4B3S
Henry and Jason led normal lives in Seattle before they were abducted to another world. Their kidnapper, the vain, self-styled god Dolos refuses to send them back unless they can accomplish an impossible task. Oddly, Dolos doesn’t seem to care if they succeed or not.
Luckily, Henry and Jason studied Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) on Earth. Unfortunately, a Japanese American EMT and a geeky IT programmer don’t have many other useful skills on a sword and sorcery world like Ludus.
Stranded in the middle of nowhere on an alien world, the friends have no real direction and only a few possessions including magic-granting orbs from an apathetic god. Undaunted, the two begin their insane adventure to return home... but basic survival and eventually paying rent will have to take priority.
The Land by Aleron Kong
In his own words it’s like “Warcraft, DnD and Sword Art Online had a sexy baby!” All four books have hit #1 on Amazon. His writing is definitely laugh out loud funny, and he has managed created a detailed world that will have you loving and hating him at the end of each book! Just click here or on the picture!
Ascend Online Page 59