BladeDust Online: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 1)

by Corey Thompson

  That was interesting. If I completed a quest, would I have more quest choices? I smiled. Then, I remembered I needed a healing potion. “Do you know where I can purchase a healing potion? I need to get one as soon as possible.”

  “There is a tall man in a green robe that sells these potions. He is here for this very reason.”

  “This very reason?”

  “Yes. Once you step outside, the guards will have a higher chance of seeing you and taking you back to your cell. After completing a quest that runs over your free time, you are only given a few minutes of extra time to stock up. The man in green knows this. So, he provides players with healing potions after completing a quest here. That's why he is stationed in this Tavern. His name is Hugo. Go talk to Hugo, and he will provide you with some healing potions. Keep in mind that he does charge a higher rate for these express services.”

  A few minutes? I didn't have much time. I spun around and began to look for a tall man in green. Suddenly, an alert popped up in front of me:

  Congratulations!

  You Have Completed The “Free The Giant's Pet” Quest!

  Congratulations!

  You Have Leveled Up! Open Your Inventory to Distribute Points.

  I was glad to level up. I opened my inventory and began to play around with my points:

  Note To User: You Have 4 Points to Distribute. Use your points wisely.

  Walker Williamson – Level 6

  Human Male - Warrior

  Statistics:

  HP: 20/20

  Stamina: 14

  Mana: 10

  Attributes:

  Strength: 18 (+4 added)

  Persuasion: 4

  Intelligence: 1

  Willpower: 1

  Sneak: 2

  Agility: 3

  Skills:

  None yet acquired

  Perks:

  None yet acquired

  Abilities:

  None yet acquired

  I couldn't resist the urge to get stronger. Seeing my body grow was addictive. I looked at my arms and noticed they were bigger. In fact, my size increases were starting to add up. When I flexed my bicep, it actually rippled now. My hands went over my chest and felt the firmness. Yes, I was becoming a beast. It was exciting to see such changes. But, I couldn't bask in my glory for too long. I knew I was short on time, and there was a half dead troll that needed my help. My eyes scanned the room for the man the NPC had told me about. Within seconds, I spotted a man not far away that fitted the description. I ran over to him. “Hugo? Is your name Hugo?”

  “Indeed it is,” he replied. “What can I help you with today?”

  “My cellmate is near death. He took a beating in the coliseum and needs to be healed. What do you have for this?”

  “Is he conscious?”

  “No, not really. He's breathing, but not really moving.”

  “He needs “The Seed of Life” then. That is the only potion that will work for him.”

  “Fine. I will take one of those.”

  His old face looked pleased. “Alrighty. “That'll be forty five gold.”

  “Forty five gold? Are you kidding me?”

  “You want to save his life don't you?”

  I began to think. That was a good question. Did I really want to save his life? I mean, would it really be that bad if I just let him die? He would become a lost soul and probably just respawn back into the cell once his body was found. I rolled my eyes. Damn, I just couldn't do it. He needed my help, and I was going to help him. “Fine, I'll take it.”

  I took out forty five gold coins and handed them to him. Hugo reached into his bag and pulled out a long thin tube full of blue liquid. “Just pour this down his throat. That's all there is to it.”

  I put the potion into my inventory and thanked Hugo. I turned around and my eyes landed directly on Cosmo. He stumbled to his feet as he was obviously drunk. “Where have you been lately?” he asked while stumbling closer to me.

  I tried to ignore him, but he wouldn't let me. “I asked you a question,” he said while coming even closer.

  “Dude. How often do you drink? You are always drunk when I see you.”

  Cosmo laughed. “That's because you always see me at the Tavern. Is it really that hard to believe that I would be drunk? Makes sense doesn't it?”

  “That doesn't explain why you are always here,” I said while walking past him.

  “I like to have fun. Can you blame me? What else are we suppose to do here?”

  I didn't turn around. I just kept walking. “You're pathetic,” I yelled back without looking at him.

  “At least I'm not a coward,” he replied. “If someone was responsible for me being sent to this dump, I would be sure to teach them a lesson. I'd be sure to give them a real ass kicking. But, you can't do that can you? Just doesn't go along with your cowardly lifestyle does it?”

  I stopped walking. Damn, this guy was seriously starting to get on my last nerve. I slowly turned around. My footsteps were slow as I walked closer to him. Then, I stopped right in front of his face. “I will fight you. Two days from now. Set it up, and prepare for an ass kicking. Deal?”

  His lips turned downwards. “Are you serious? You really think you stand a chance against me?”

  “I know I stand a chance,” I replied. “But, do you stand a chance against me? That is the question isn't it?”

  “You're funny,” he replied while popping his fingers. “I'm gonna enjoy this. I'll set it up and tell the guards to inform you of the exact time.”

  I turned my back to him. “You have no idea who you just messed with,” I said before walking away into the distance.

  Suddenly, two guards rushed to my side. “Your free time is up for today,” one of them said.

  A long laugh came from Cosmo. He didn't say anything. He only laughed. The laughed dragged on until we almost got to the door. Then, he stopped laughing just long enough to yell something my direction. “The timing of the guards coming for you was hilarious. You are such a natural born loser. Everything you do just screams loser. It's just too funny.”

  We exited the Tavern. I had to admit, the timing of the guards grabbing me sucked. It really did make me look a little pathetic. But, that was okay. It was okay because I knew I could beat Cosmo. All I had to do was figure out his weakness. Perhaps I should have waited until I knew his weakness. But, I couldn't. There was no way I was going to let that little backstabber call me a coward. I just couldn't. Besides, I knew his magic had a weakness, and I was going to learn what it was. My head dropped while we began our walk back to my cell.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  When we got to my cell, I felt a sense of accomplishment. I had done something productive. And much more importantly, I was about to save someone's life. The guard pushed me into my cell and the door slammed shut. Douglas wasn't moving. Was I too late? I walked over to his body and kicked it. “Are you awake yet?”

  There was no movement. I bent down and put my head close to his chest. His breathing was much more shallow than when I had left him. This poor troll was in some trouble. He was lucky though. Lucky that I was here with the special potion to cure him. I opened my inventory and found the “Seed of Life” potion. I held it into the air and examined it. There was a small brown cork that contained the liquid. My fingers squeezed it and tried to pull it out. Damn, this was a tough cork to get out. There was a struggle, but time finally allowed me to win the battle. I held the potion with the most steady hands ever. This was it. This was the moment that I would bring a troll back from the dead. It seemed like a pretty valuable skill to include on my resume actually. “troll saver” would look mighty good.

  I opened Douglas's mouth with one hand while I poured the potion into it with the other. Seconds passed until the potion was empty. It was done. I had given the troll his cure. Now, what was to happen? Would his eyes just pop open and everything would go back to normal? I didn't know. I continued waiting with the most eager feeling ever. Then, something
happened. His body began to twitch. After that, he started to mumble some odd sounding gibberish. His legs became stiff and his body began to shake. I took a few steps backwards. The shaking got worse before Douglas let out an ugly sound. The sound lingered. Then, his body slowly came up. He bent over and began to cough uncontrollably. His eyes were still closed, but he was awake. “Douglas? Are you okay?” I asked.

  He twisted his head to the left and there was a loud pop. “That felt good,” he said.

  “How do you feel?”

  “I don't know,” he replied.

  “I gave you a potion. You almost died in the fight. Did you know that?”

  Douglas wiped his nose. “I never almost die. That's impossible.”

  “This time you did. I think you have been lying on the ground for around twenty four hours now.”

  “I was probably sleeping,” he replied. “I like to sleep after my big fights.”

  “No dude. You weren't sleeping. The guards and everyone said you were gonna die. Trust me on that.”

  Douglas plucked one of the few remaining hairs out of his head. “I think I was fine,” he mumbled.

  “I saved your life. That is a fact. You have no idea what I went through to get that potion for you.”

  Douglas got quiet. His eyes became a little misty. I could see that he knew I wasn't lying. But, he was too prideful to admit that he had almost died. “Thanks,” he replied. “I would have probably been fine though. But, I appreciate the effort.”

  I sighed. Unbelievable. I had to become a dancing weasel and this was the best “thank you” I was going to get from him? I guess it didn't matter. I knew that I had saved his life and that was good enough for me. “So, what happened during the fight?” I asked.

  “He just got lucky. That's all. I'll beat him next time. He won the battle, but I will win the war. Just mark my words on that.”

  I sat down next to Douglas. “I'm going to be fighting the backstabber that sent me here.”

  Douglas suddenly got excited. “Really? When are you going to fight him?”

  “I'm not sure on the exact time. But, I think it will be two days from now. I need to figure out his weakness though. Who can I talk to about NightFall Magic?”

  “NightFall Magic? There is a well known mage here in FlatFall. I am sure he knows about it.”

  “Where can I find this mage?”

  “There is a guild here for mages. But, this mage is the most well known in FlatFall. He is the one you need to talk to.”

  “And his name would be?”

  “Edern. He lives alone, and will charge you for information. I can take you there tomorrow during our free time. I wanna see you mop the floor with the scumbag that betrayed you.”

  “Really? You would take me to him?”

  “Of course,” Douglas replied. “You would do the same for me. I see that now.”

  I smiled. Douglas was weird, but, he was alright. I guess my good deed didn't go unnoticed to him after all. “Thanks. I cannot wait. If I can just figure out his weakness, I know I could beat him.”

  Outside of our cell, there was the sound of many footsteps. “What's going on out there?”

  “Some more new arrivals,” Douglas replied.

  “Do they always come through here?”

  “Not always. Sometimes they come through another entrance. It just depends.”

  Without warning, Douglas ran to the bars and grabbed them while falling on his knees. “Let me out of here. I'm innocent,” he yelled over and over.

  I laughed. Douglas really was an odd troll. He continued with his little act as I examined the sad faces that passed our cell. You could tell most of them were new players. I am sure they were tricked just like I was. Douglas ran back to me. “Did you see how scared they were?” he asked with a smile.

  “Yea,” I laughed.

  “You gotta build fear in their hearts. Make the newbies dread seeing you in the coliseum. They will remember this beautiful face, just wait and see.”

  I let out an awkward laugh. “I'm sure they will.”

  The new arrivals disappeared from our view as silence replaced them. I leaned up against the bars. “How many fights must we win to get out of here?”

  “It depends. Some people have done it quickly, while others are still here. It's all about the crowd. Just remember that. If you make them excited, the Emperor takes notice. I once knew a guy who got his own place of residence after only a few fights. But, that is rare.”

  “Do they have total freedom once they gain residence? They are free to come and go as they wish?”

  “Yea. It's great isn't it?”

  My head slowly went up and down. “That would be awesome. If I could just get my own home, it wouldn't be that bad living here.”

  I looked at the ground. Then, a new message alert popped up in front of me:

  “Hey. It's me Tommy. We are almost there. The ship captain guy said we would be there early in the morning. I have been talking to some professional bandits, and they told me it's possible to break you out. There's a weak spot in the wall and we got the tools to crack it open. I will message you the break out location tomorrow. We will set up a time. I came fully loaded too. I got 8 peasants, Todd and Sonny the healer. I told you I would rescue you didn't I? See, I told the truth. Anyways, see you tomorrow.

  Tommy.”

  Damn. Tomorrow? That was the day I was going to potentially break out of this place? It just seemed so odd. I had actually grown to like FlatFall in an odd sort of way. But, I couldn't skip out on the chance to bust out of the place. If I ever wanted to come back, I knew how to do it. I would just get involved with some scumbags like Cosmo. That was a surefire way to land back here.

  I fell to the ground with my back against the bars. Damn. Just another boring day in my cell. I had to admit, if I wasn't sleeping, time would crawl by during this period. It seemed like I was always waiting for my “free time” to arrive. I looked over at Douglas. “So what's the deal with the coliseum fights? Do they just randomly select you sometimes? I have had only one fight and it has been a few days now.”

  “If the Emperor has been informed of your scheduled fight, you will probably not fight until then. Otherwise, they will come for you soon.”

  My heart began to beat a little faster. It was a bit nerve racking to think that they could come for me. I wasn't prepared, and it was something I was going to need to remember. We became quiet as I waited for someone to come for me. But, it didn't happen. Eventually, I began to drift off to sleep. But, I couldn't help but notice Douglas was watching me. “Why do you do that?” I asked.

  “Do what?”

  “Watch me. Why do you watch me while I sleep? It's kinda creepy dude.”

  “I already told you,” he replied with quick words. “It's fun for me. Almost like a hobby. Just go back to sleep. Everything will be fine.”

  I cleared my throat. What the hell was his deal? This one thing was the single most annoying thing about Douglas. But, I closed my eyes. I guess it was something I just had to live with. I drifted off to sleep, and before I knew it, the next day had arrived.

  Chapter Thirty

  I was getting more and more used to my new life. Not long after waking up, our meal came. Douglas and I planned our trip to see the mage while we ate our meal. In a weird way, I kinda enjoyed it. Hours passed before the guards finally came for us. One of them grabbed my arm. “It's time to visit FlatFall,” he said.

  “Finally,” I replied.

  Another guard grabbed Douglas by the arm and we began our walk to FlatFall. The short amount of time we were allowed in FlatFall was truly something to look forward to. If we didn't have it, I would have been miserable. Once we arrived at FlatFall, Douglas began to run. “Follow me,” he yelled. “No need to waste any time.”

  We zoomed past all sorts of players and passed the fountain in the center of FlatFall. Within moments, we had arrived in a part of FlatFall that I had never seen. It was a much more relaxed area. There w
ere more NPCS then there were playing characters. “He lives over there,” Douglas said with his finger into the air.

  I followed Douglas until we stood in front of a small rounded off home. It looked like a giant egg. There was one window and a fairly small cut out entrance. But, there was no door. Did this mage forget to build himself a door? Seemed pretty odd to me. With all of his magic, it seemed like he could summon up a door somehow. But, maybe he just didn't want a door. I didn't know. We began to walk into the home. “Wait. Shouldn't we knock or something first?” I asked.

  “He knows me,” Douglas replied with a proud look.