Sword

by Byron Kings

  “Fucking hell,” he whimpered behind his full helmet.

  I ran around him. While more heavily armored, he couldn’t maneuver as well.

  “Over here, fuck face,” I taunted then poked him in the back with my blade.

  “Fucking fight me!” he shouted in an enraged tone.

  The priest swiveled around with his mace out. It hit my right bicep, knocking me to the ground again. He followed up with another direct hit to my guy. My health drained quickly as I scooted backward to get away from him. He kept coming forward, hitting me repeatedly.

  “Chant on this, fatso!” Harper cried out behind me.

  The priest stopped, suddenly not making any sounds. I got to my feet and took a few steps back. Harper smiled.

  “Silence cone,” she said.

  I nodded, grinned, then closed the gap with the priest. Morgana and the other warrior kept crossing our path, but the damage bonus added up when we could hit them with their insane fucking armor scores. The priest regained his voice and cast another spell, buffing himself. He charged at me like a bull, knocking me over.

  With one health point left, I knew I had to act. Harper screamed behind me. I struggled to my feet and lifted my sword. The priest laughed like a fucking haughty noble before charging me. I slipped to the side at the last possible moment then stuck him through the visor of his helmet. He screamed and clutched at the metal monstrosity, trying to get it off.

  I used the opportunity to finish him off.

  << Arena kill! >>

  << Full health restore! >>

  << Full mana restore! >>

  “I needed that!” I shouted, hoping Harper understood.

  Remembering she’d screamed, I turned to check on her. Morgana had the other warrior on his knees. Harper zapped him with simple energy bolts, taking him out of the battle.

  “Yeah!” Adrenaline pumped through my virtual body. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

  “Settle down,” Harper said. “That’s only two of the eight, most likely their lowest level characters. We need to keep going for the middle loot box. The last buff isn’t going to last much longer.”

  “Let’s go,” I said, jogging toward the center of the arena.

  The last half mile went by quickly. I heard the stegosaurus and dragon roar somewhere nearby. Was it coming from the sky? Or all around? I kept running with one thing on my mind, reaching the loot box and buffing up before we got attacked again. As the central loot box came into view, I saw the stegosaurus and dragon fighting while King Gregor and Kin Jang rode the impressive creatures. This is our chance to get the biggest loot box.

  “Go for it!” I shouted, running even faster.

  I reached the loot box and slammed my palm down on the top, getting a splinter.

  << Loot Box Found! >>

  << Double Speed for 12 minutes >>

  “Twelve! Twelve! Twelve!” the crowd chanted.

  “Back to back,” I said. “Let them fight each other a minute.”

  The dragon roared then shot a stream of fire at the stegosaurus, causing it to scream and screech. I grinned as King Gregor almost toppled off the back of the beast he hadn’t tamed on his own. Rented mounts were usually a bitch to control.

  “Where’s Newton?” Harper asked.

  I glanced over and shrugged.

  “He’s around somewhere.... I hope.”

  Even if he’d gotten killed, we could win the battle if we focused.

  “We don’t want to waste this speed much longer,” Morgana said.

  Xin Jang’s two mages and tank ran from around the dragon and headed toward us.

  “Look alive,” I said. “Two o’clock.”

  Everyone turned to face them as they ran forward, the tank in front of the two mages. I ran around him at double speed and came back behind the spellcasters. They looked surprised when I zoomed by and slashed them both. I continued running around them, hitting every few seconds as I passed them.

  They tried to cast a few times, but every time, I sliced their hands or poked a new hole into them with my horn sword. Morgana fought their tank, tearing into him with Harper’s help. I quit fucking around and finished off one of the war mages. He fell to the ground, leaking blood fast.

  “You killed my brother!” the other mage shouted.

  He pulled a wand from his robes and pointed it at me. Flames shot out of the tip, hitting me in the face. My hair burned, filling the surrounding air with an acrid stench.

  “You fucking pyro,” I muttered as I closed in on him.

  He screamed in a shrill voice, turned, and ran away. King Gregor’s stegosaurus ran toward him and bit the man, chopping him in half. Damn, I thought, stopping. The dragon dove from the sky above, clamping its jaws around the head of the dinosaur. I turned to check on Harper and Morgana. The final warrior had her on the ground.

  I screamed and ran toward him. The double speed wore off just as I reached him. My blade still went through his throat, killing him instantly.

  << Arena kill! >>

  << Full health restore! >>

  << Full mana restore! >>

  “I needed that kill,” Morgana said then collapsed, closing her eyes.

  “Harper, we need healing!” I yelled.

  She ran over as the dinosaur and dragon continued battling behind us. I watched as Harper poured a potion into Morgana’s mouth. She coughed and sat up, looking around.

  “What happened?”

  “You passed out,” I said. “Are you okay?”

  “Better now,” she said, looking up at Harper. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Harper said. “We’ve still got the dinosaur, the dragon, King Gregor, and Xin Jang to defeat. Are you good enough to fight?”

  “Never been better. Another loot box would be nice.”

  “Yeah,” I said, nodding. “Should we go back to the second one and wait for it to respawn?”

  “No, look,” Harper said, pointing to the dueling beasts. “It’s almost over.”

  The dragon finished ripping the head off the stegosaurus. As the immense dinosaur flopped around on the ground, King Gregor fell off. Xin Jang flew in close to finish him off.

  “Fuck,” I said. “He’s going to be at full health.”

  “It’s three against one, though,” Morgana said. “We’ve got a chance.”

  “Don’t forget about me,” Newton said behind us.

  I grinned. “Glad you’re still alive.”

  “You like how I got them fighting each other?”

  “Tell us about it later,” I said. “We need to finish this.”

  “Here he comes,” Morgana said.

  I turned and saw the dragon, slouched down, stalking toward us. A few hundred feet away, it leaped into the air, flying high above. We scattered, looking up and trying to guess where the damn thing might come down. I fucking hated dragons. Xin Jang cast a few lightning bolts at us as the dragon dove toward the ground.

  “The loot box!” I shouted, too late to do any good.

  After scattering away from the loot box, we’d given the dragon enough time to land near it. Even worse, the loot box reset a moment later. An impressive blue energy shield surrounded the entire creature. Xin Jang laughed, lifting a lance.

  “Prepare to die!” he shouted.

  The dragon stepped forward. Harper threw up a giant wall of briers, but the dragon simply burned it down with a single blast of its nasty breath. I gripped my horn sword, wondering if I’d live long enough to eventually enjoy its benefits.

  “Concentrate on the dragon first,” I said.

  As if he’d heard me, Newton shouted, “Fuck cancer!”

  The dragon roared and flung back its head. Blood poured out of its wounded eye.

  “What the fuck did you do?” Xin Jang yelled.

  “Are you okay?” I glanced around. “Newton?”

  “Over here!” he shouted. “Let’s finish this shit!”

  With only one eye, the dragon had no depth perception. The we
akness turned out to be beneficial as we surrounded it and attacked from all sides. Xin Jang clung to its back. I ran forward and finished off the foul beast by lopping off its damn head.

  As the two pieces of the scaled, red body flopped around on the ground, Xin Jang jumped off. He screamed and ran toward Harper. Morgana intercepted him, scoring a direct hit on the dumb fucks left side. She finished him off with her sword piercing his heart.

  << Arena battle complete! >>

  << No xp awarded. >>

  << You win the battle for the horn sword! >>

  I dropped to my knees, my hands on the hilt of the sword with its blade buried in the ground as if I could kill the entire planet. The charging process would still take more than two weeks, but I didn’t care with things looking so much brighter.

  “We have a winner!” the announcer sang.

  The crowd continued cheering. A chant of Drake started. The sound of over a hundred thousand people chanting my name made an impression on me.

  “We did it,” Morgana said, walking over.

  “You finished him off.” I hugged her briefly before pulling back. “Are you okay?”

  “Never been better,” she said. “Our kingdom starts today.”

  I smiled, loving her even more. Her deception stung a bit, but she was just having fun. No one had gotten permanently hurt by her changing characters on me.

  ┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑

  CHAPTER 22

  ┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙

  Foundation of a New Kingdom

  Our team of four left the arena. The emissary, Ouber, summoned us to the throne room of King Gerald, the leader of Gristle. On the way to the most central and fortified building in the city, I saw glimpses of all the desolation outside the city walls. They had used up all their natural resources and permanently scarred the land with vast battles.

  Still, Gristle was damn impressive. The hundred square miles of industrial might were highly fortified and secure. As the smallest city state in the League of Twelve — and the closest to the badlands — they had to work extra hard to gain the respect of the others.

  “This city sucks,” Harper complained as we walked down the middle of a shit-stained street.

  “We’ll make ours better underground,” I said.

  “Yay, no sun. Can’t wait,” she said sarcastically.

  Morgana chuckled. “You complain too much. Nobody likes a whiner.”

  “Everybody in the badlands is going to like us,” Newton said. “Except for everyone in King Gregor’s and Xin Jang’s lands.”

  “They were smart paying for resurrection,” I admitted. “We’ll get them. I’m anxious to see what Ouber wants to talk with us about. They better not go back on their word.”

  “Everyone in Gristle loves their contracts,” Morgana said.

  We went through three sets of heavily guarded gates before we arrived at the imperial palace of King Gerald. Ouber met us at the door of the lavish living quarters.

  “All hail the kings of the arena,” Ouber said. “Queens too.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “What’s going to happen with King Gregor and Xin Jang? The horn sword’s still mine, right? Do I rule the badlands?”

  Ouber smiled. “That’s up to you.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Come, talk to the king,” he replied, turning and motioning for us to follow.

  I glanced over at Morgana. She turned and followed Ouber deeper into the palace. I glanced around as I walked after them, wondering what kind of kingdom I could build underground. We reached a secure steel room with thousands of rounded rivets sticking up, forming patterns throughout the room. King Gerald, standing by the throne, turned and walked over as we came in.

  “Welcome,” he said, smiling like a politician. “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “We’re anxious to get back to the badlands and claim what’s rightfully ours.”

  I noticed the king’s smile fading.

  “Since King Gregor and Xin Jang both resurrected, they still technically control the two largest kingdoms in the badlands. You’re more than willing to go against them, but…”

  His voice trailed off.

  “We’re too new and weak,” I said, finishing his thought.

  He smiled again and nodded. “Exactly. I would help, but I can’t concern myself with the dirty details of the badlands with so much else going on all over Gardonia.”

  “What else is going on?” I asked.

  “The same as usual,” he said.

  “Oh, I thought you meant that weird system message a while back.”

  I studied his face for any reaction.

  “We know less than we’d like,” I said.

  “King Gregor and Xin Jang aren’t happy you have the sword,” King Gerald said, resting his hands on his enormous belly. “You will get the swamp and everything underneath them. Anything else you wrestle under your control is up to you.”

  “What about the League of Twelve?” I asked.

  King Gerald laughed. “You’re ambitious, aren’t you?”

  “Give it some time,” Ouber said. “We’ll teleport you back in an hour. Please go get ready.”

  Harper and Morgana locked their arms with mine before we walked out of the throne room. I saw a few people looking at me differently as we walked to our room. We hadn’t brought a lot of belongings because we didn’t own much.

  “I’ll meet you three back in the badlands,” Newton said as we walked.

  “You’re not coming with us?” I asked.

  “Not yet,” he said. “I’ve got some things to do here in Gristle.”

  I nodded. “Come see me when you get back.”

  “You know it,” Newton said. “I’ll bring help if all goes to plan.”

  Morgana put a hand on his left shoulder. “You’ve already been a help.”

  “And we need all the help we can get,” I added. “King Gregor and Xin Jang will both be coming at us, wanting to fuck us hard, fast, and without protection!”

  Morgana grinned. Harper moaned.

  “Have you named your kingdom yet?” Newton asked.

  “Not yet,” I said. “We’ve got too much to do.”

  He nodded, turning serious again. “See you guys on the other side.”

  I waved as he walked away. Harper and Morgana followed me back to our room. Just a few minutes after we arrived, Ouber showed up, knocking at the door.

  “Are you ready?” he asked, walking into the room.

  “Ready as we’ll ever be,” I said.

  “Is there a fourth?” he asked, glancing around.

  “He left already,” I said. “Just us three. Unless you want to come join us?”

  Ouber laughed, shaking his head. “Gristle is the armpit of the League of Twelve, but it’s still in the League of Twelve if you know what I mean.”

  “I’ll clean up the badlands,” I insisted. “Just you wait and see.”

  “King Gerald and I hope you do,” Ouber said.

  After so much time with him, I’d come to accept him not wearing a shirt with leather pants at least two sizes too tight. He wasn’t like a lot of other players in the game. Instead of craving power for himself, he helped others achieve it. Having someone like him on my side would be helpful while I clawed my way to the top ranks of the game.

  “We’ll be watching your progress,” Ouber said.

  Before I could answer, he snapped his fingers. We blinked and appeared at the edge of the swamp in the badlands. I glanced around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

  “Let’s walk the perimeter,” I said. “See what we have to work with.”

  “I wonder if King Gregor’s men are still around,” Harper said.

  “Probably not.” Morgana stepped forward. “They need to give us a chance, or they’ll piss off King Gerald and the League of Twelve.”

  “We won’t have much time,” I said, taking off after Morgana.


  Harper followed a few feet behind. I took note of every bit of high ground and thought about where to put the wall and guard towers. Newton bringing back the cuerno race would help me grow my kingdom until I could attract other player characters.

  “We should fill in the swamp with dirt,” Harper said.

  “Don’t you mean drain the swamp?” Morgana asked.

  “Yeah, that,” she said.

  “No.” I shook my head. “Having the swampy land is better for defense. Even if they breach our walls, they’ll have to contend with the harsh land. We’ll keep everything good underground and out of reach of anyone. Once we get settled, we can start looking at joining the League of Twelve.”

  “You are ambitious, aren’t you?” Morgana grinned and stepped toward me. “Come here, you.”

  We kissed, drawing Harper to us. No matter how many people I added to my kingdom, the two original women in my “group” would remain closest to my heart. I adored both of them. The three of us kissed, our lips and tongues pleasuring each other.

  “Get naked,” I said. “We’re breaking the ground in the right way.”

  Both women smiled and obeyed my commands. I put down my still charging horn sword and got undressed myself. Fucking in the swamp isn’t recommended for a reason, but I couldn’t resist either of my queens. We did the best we could hope for given the circumstances. I wasn’t complaining.

  * * * * *

  A week later, Newton returned with cuernos ready to join my still unnamed kingdom. With less than ten days remaining until I could fully activate the horn sword, I watched as a group of them worked on the wall surrounding my slice of virtual land in Battle Empire. Newton stood next to me, drinking from a flask.

  “You hate NPCs, but they fucking work hard,” he said then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Am I right?”

  “I never said I hate NPCs. I just don’t enjoy fucking them.”