Eden's Gate: The Scourge: A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  “Our mission is to find the orc Vyrnok and kill him, not to engage in… whatever you’re doing with these rotten beasts,” the woman said.

  The man with the mohawk held up his hands. “Sorry, baby. I’ll make it up to you when we get back home.” He kissed his palm and blew it to the lady, but she smirked and turned away.

  “They’re here to kill orcs…” Rithnar grumbled angrily, showing his fangs. His fists clenched tightly onto the worg’s fur, and I could tell he was ready for a fight.

  I looked down to the worg and then to Rithnar. “Why don’t you just wait here. Let me see if I can get rid of them.”

  “How are you going to do that?” Rithnar asked. “There’s three of them.”

  “Just wait,” I said. “I’ll try talking to them.”

  Rithnar grumbled but didn’t say anything, which I assumed meant he was going to reluctantly do as I asked.

  I slid off the worg, to the ground, and started walking slowly to the group.

  I raised my hands in the air when I was close enough that they could see me and said, “Um, hey! Excuse me!”

  The woman grabbed her staff, the man with the axe raised it, and the mohawk guy pointed both his torch and his hand towards me.

  “What the fuck?!” the guy with the mohawk shouted. “It’s some sort of mage!”

  “Wait!” the armored man with the orc helmet said. “He’s human.”

  “Sorry to startle you,” I said, lowering my hands.

  “What do you want?!” the armored man said harshly. “Who are you and why are you out here alone?”

  My expression turned cold. “Look, I don’t want to waste any of your time, but you guys need to get out of the Wastelands.”

  “Da fuck you on?” the guy with the mohawk asked. “Who the hell are you to tell us what to do?”

  “He’s a member of the Mages Guild,” the woman said. “A low-level green belt, judging by his attire.”

  “I know you’re Reborns.” I nodded slightly towards the mohawk man. “At least I know he is.”

  “So, you’re a Reborn too,” the man with the helmet said. He started walking towards me with his hand extended.

  I held up my palm to him. “It’s nice to meet you all, but I don’t have time to chat and exchange pleasantries. There’s a lot of shit going down, and you guys aren’t helping.”

  The armored man creased his brow. “What do you mean?”

  “Where’d you get the helmet and the axe?” I asked. “And how’d you get in here?”

  He pointed north. “There’s a hidden entrance to the north. I looted ‘em both from the guards.”

  “Did you kill them?” I asked.

  The man nodded. “The guards up there are good loot and XP. Every time we kill them, Ergoth sends another handful of them as replacements in a day or two.”

  I sighed and shook my head. “You’ve got to stop it.”

  “What are you talking about, man?” the guy asked.

  “Oh hey, hey, hey! We know this guy!” the mohawk man said, pointing his finger at me several times. “I watched you fight him in the Arena.”

  “The Arena…” the man with the helmet muttered. He squinted and homed in on me, and at the same time I started to notice some familiar features of his face. His armor had been upgraded and he had a different shield, but it was the tanky camper whom I had previously battled.

  “That was a hell of a good fight, man!” the mohawked man said. “I’m Pauly by the way.” He shrugged. “Darth Pauly.”

  I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “Darth? You’re kidding, right?”

  The guy shrugged and scratched the back of his head. “I didn’t know names would be permanent when I logged in. Guess I’m stuck with it now.”

  “Don’t listen to this guy, Pauly,” the man in the armor said as he stepped forward. “He’s just a big fuckin’ newb, and you know what? Fuck him!” The man stepped forward and let off an Intimidating Shout.

  “Yo, yo, yo!” Pauly yelled. “Chill out, Ike!”

  I grabbed my staff, unable to resist Ike’s shout, and started marching for him with rage in my eyes. With my brain triggered to kill, I fired a Firebast at Ike, which he blocked with his shield. As soon as he blocked the blast, he yelled “Shieldcharge!” and seemed to dash at me with a warplike speed, slamming the shield into me with a loud Bong, throwing me back several meters and to the ground.

  My staff fell out of my hands.

  I was dazed by Ike’s new ability, and when I looked up, he was already hammering his battleaxe down at me. With no way to block and no time to cast anything, I instinctively held out my forearm, but right before his axe hit me, Rithnar’s worg jumped up, bit into Ike’s arm, and started pulling him away.

  “Fuck! There’s an orc!” Pauly yelled as Rithnar rushed in to help.

  The worg dragged Ike across the ground, and when Pauly shot a Fireblast at Rithnar, the orc managed to duck and roll forward to close some distance.

  The woman raised her hand to heal Ike, pulled a wand from her side, and fired a stream of white sparkling energy toward Rithnar that made him slow his advance and eventually pause in his tracks. Tiny white ice crystals seemed to form all over his body.

  I fired an Arcane Missile at the lady, striking her hand and causing her to drop her wand, then fired a Fireblast at Pauly’s hand, which he was holding out as if he were about to cast a spell of his own. He yelled, grabbed his wrist and started writhing in pain.

  The sound of ice breaking and falling to the ground could be heard as the lady’s spell ended, and seeing an opportunity, Rithnar stormed forward again with his axe raised, ready to cut Pauly down.

  “Stop!” I yelled. “Everyone stop!”

  Rithnar slowed, and everyone seemed to look at me at once.

  Ike slammed his fist repeatedly into the worg’s head, which was still holding his arm, yanking and tugging at him crazily. “Get this thing off of me!”

  Rithnar glanced to the worg and then back to me.

  I gave a subtle nod. “Let him go.”

  “Come,” Rithnar said, and the worg immediately released its grip and ran over to Rithnar.

  “Look, just get the fuck out of here!” I shouted as I picked myself up off the ground. “We don’t want to fight you guys!”

  “What the fuck is this shit, mane?” Pauly asked, still gripping his scalded hand. “You’re teamed up with a fuckin’ orc?”

  “Something only a newb would do,” Ike said. It seemed he still hadn’t gotten over me calling him a newb and baiting him during our Arena fight.

  “I don’t really care what you guys do, but just stop for now, please,” I said. “Stop coming here to kill orcs, and stop stealing their bodies or kidnapping them or whatever you’re doing. Just stop.”

  “Kidnapping?” the woman asked. She turned her head to each side in confusion, and her demeanor was beginning to make me believe she was actually an NPC. Perhaps only the other two were Reborns.

  “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Ike barked. “We’ve never kidnapped anyone.”

  I shook my head. “Well, whatever you guys are doing, the Scourge knows there are Reborns here now, and they think that you guys have been sent in here because the Gilgaroth in the Cataclysm is disturbed.”

  “Gilgaroth?” the woman questioned.

  Pauly laughed. “That’s some bullshit.”

  “You know the orcs have attacked the Freelands, right?” I asked.

  “Who doesn’t know?” Pauly said. “We have a quest to kill a high-level orc somewhere in here from one of the Highcastle commanders. We’re going to keep grinding and pushing until we can take him down.”

  “You won’t!” Rithnar roared, stepping closer to Pauly with his axe raised.

  “Calm down, Rithnar,” I said. “They don’t know what’s going on.”

  “I’ll kill them before they kill any more orcs in the Wastelands,” Rithnar roared. “I’ll kill them all!”

  “Look,
” I said, holding out my palm. “Maybe Highcastle still thinks they can win this war, but I’m not sure they can. Regardless, I’m working with Rithnar here on a quest to end the fighting altogether. But in order for it to work, you guys need to back off and stop messing around in the Wastelands. Please, go home.”

  “Fuck you!” Ike yelled.

  There were several seconds of silence as Ike and I started daggers into each other.

  “I don’t know…” Pauly groaned towards Ike. “You should probably tone it down, broski. He’s being kind of polite about it and shizz.”

  “It’s rather late,” the woman said. “We can always fight the orcs in the Freelands, closer to our fort. There’s no use fighting in here anymore.”

  Ike crossed his arms a moment before saying, “Fine. We’ll put our quest on hold, but you did hear that right?”

  “Hear what?” I asked.

  “We’ve set up shop in the Freelands, pretty close to your stupid little village.” He took a step closer and looked down towards me. “That’s right. I remember that you told me you live in Edgewood, and I’ve been there, bitch.”

  I groaned. “Ummm, okay.”

  “Watch your back, because I’m going to show you who the real newb is one day,” Ike warned.

  “How about you just chill out?” I said. “The fight in the Arena was in the past. No hard feelings.”

  Ike snarled, turned, and spit on the ground. “Fuck you, newb.” He pivoted on his foot and waved his hands to his friends. “Let’s get out of here and let this newb and his fucking orc buttfuck each other. We’ve got better things to do.”

  “Ay, calm down bro,” Pauly said as he, along with the woman, joined his friend to walk away. “He seems like an okay dude.”

  Apparently, Ike really held grudges, and it seemed I was going to have to deal with him again one day—whether I liked it or not.

  I turned to Rithnar. “Well, at least that’s one problem solved. No more reapers.”

  Rithnar creased his brow. “They are reapers?”

  “I assume so,” I said. “Immortals for sure.”

  “I won’t pretend to understand you and your magic, but I hope you’re right,” Rithnar said. “If those are the immortals who have been attacking and stealing our people, I may be in an even greater debt to you once this is all over.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  2/22/0001

  I breathed a sigh of relief when the squeaking wheels below the crate slowed to a halt. While necessary for me to avoid flak from the orcs in and around the city, it was a cramped and uncomfortable ride.

  “Stay put,” Rithnar said to his worg.

  I heard the heavy latch of a door.

  After several more minutes of waiting in the dark, constrained corners, the lid to the crate opened, and Rithnar stood over me, holding a torch in his hand. “Hurry, before someone notices.”

  I swiftly jumped out of the crate and rushed through the iron door of the Mages Hall, which Mordok was holding open.

  “Quickly now,” Mordok ordered, motioning with his hand.

  When I was safely inside, Mordok let the large door slam shut and locked it behind us.

  “What happened?” Mordok asked.

  “He’s managed to tame a blight beetle,” Rithnar said. “We have a chance.”

  Mordok lowered his eyes and buzzed, “Hmmmm…”

  “What’s wrong?” Rithnar asked. “It took longer than expected, I know, but everything is going as planned.”

  Mordok took a deep breath and motioned his hand to follow him. “Come.”

  Mordok headed up the stairs, and both Rithnar and I followed, passing many large doors. Eventually, Mordok pushed open a door several floors up, which led us into a large room with thousands of books on the wall—perhaps more than any of the libraries that I had seen in the tower at Highcastle. In the center was a large, marble desk with a small wooden chair sitting behind it.

  Mordok walked to the desk and lifted a book that was resting on top of it. “Rithnar, I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry for what?” he asked.

  “I’m afraid you cannot defeat Ergoth,” Mordok said, “We have to change our plans.”

  “What are you talking about? You’ve lost faith in me as well?!”

  “No,” Mordok explained. “I haven’t lost faith in you. It’s just that chances of you defeating him are far too slim, even if he’s infected by a blight beetle. And that’s even if the human here manages his task.”

  Rithnar clenched his fist. “If the human fails, then I will battle him even without the blight beetle!”

  Mordok shook his head. “Ergoth killed Xurrak, Rithnar. Think about that for a—"

  “Even if I die,” Rithnar interrupted, “I will make sure my bloodline ends in honor!”

  Mordok sighed. “Bloodlines and honor… ancient concepts in this twisted world.”

  “I will fight Ergoth, with or without your support,” Rithnar insisted. “If not for my child, then for the Scourge.”

  “What I’m saying is you might not have to.” Mordok flipped open the book and started rubbing his finger down one of the pages. “After the human here—”

  “My name is Gunnar,” I interrupted. It was starting to feel condescending to always be called ‘human’.

  “Okay, Gunnar,” Mordok said. “After Gunnar told us what he knows about the Old Ones, it triggered me to revisit a book I had skimmed through several years ago but never fully read—The Ancients’ Plight. The information in it gave me an idea.”

  “What idea?” Rithnar asked.

  “Well, to understand, you must know that there’s a stone in the Eternal Ravine known as an infinite mana stone…”

  “I know of it,” I said. “I’ve seen it.”

  “Have you?” Mordok questioned before rattling his head. “Of course, you have if you’ve really visited the Eternal Ravine and met with the Old Ones.”

  I nodded.

  “During the War of a Hundred Years,” Mordok continued, “the elders used that stone to cast a powerful spell across Eden’s Gate, breaking the bond that ancient beasts had with their masters. That may have saved the world, but they subsequently needed to use the stone again to cast another spell that they’ve been channeling ever since—one that soothes the ancient beasts and prevents them from bonding with any new masters.”

  “I’ve heard the story before,” I said.

  “The infinite mana stone gives off a powerful energy that grants those who use it an unlimited source of energy, and projects a sort of invisible wave that slowly calms the rage of nearby ancient beasts.” Mordok raised his finger. “The Old Ones are using their own life force to channel an ongoing amplification spell, which sends that invisible wave all across Eden’s Gate.”

  “What’s this have to do with defeating Ergoth?” Rithnar asked irritably.

  “I’m getting to it,” Mordok answered. He cleared his throat. “According to ancient texts, there were once several infinite mana stones, and it wasn’t until a dark force sought out and destroyed the stones that the ancients were released into the world. All but one infinite mana stone was obliterated to dust, but during the destruction, several small shards of the stones were scattered about the world—what are now known as infinite mana shards.”

  “Infinite mana shards?” I questioned.

  “They’re extremely rare,” Mordok said. “But during the War of a Hundred Years, fighters, and even those who could use magic, gathered the shards in order to help them battle the ancient beasts. You see, when the shards are placed near an ancient beast, they can calm and weaken them much like the Old One’s spell, only with a much smaller radius.”

  “So, what are you saying?” I asked.

  “What I’m saying is that if we can gather a couple of the shards and place them in the Cataclysm near the Gilgaroth, the combination of the Old One’s spell and the nearby shards could be enough to calm it back to submission.”

  “By couple do you mean two?” I asked.


  Mordok shook his head and flipped a few pages of his book. “There is little documentation on the number of shards needed to calm an ancient beast, but I’ve read tales that adventurers who sought to slay an ancient beast used a minimum of two. It could be more, or it could be less.”

  “That wouldn’t solve the problem,” Rithnar grunted. “Ergoth would still be in power, even if we calmed the Gilgaroth.”

  “Don’t forget your objective, Rithnar,” Mordok said pointedly. “You don’t really care for power, do you? You want to end Ergoth’s war. You wanted to give your child a chance.” He pointed to me. “If we can pacify the Gilgaroth—specifically if Gunnar helps—he can take the credit for the act, and we’ll use his help as leverage to ask Ergoth for peace.”

  “Would he listen?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” Mordok said, then turned to Rithnar. “When was the last time a human entered the Wastelands to do something good for the orcs?”

  “Never in my lifetime,” Rithnar said.

  “Right,” Mordok said pointedly. “We orcs may have a bad reputation with other races, but we have an inclination to return favors when they’re done for us.” He tilted his head to the side. “Though Ergoth is unpredictable, I think he would consider this a very valuable favor.” He turned to me. “And calming the Gilgaroth is for the greater good of Eden’s Gate. It wouldn’t be political and doesn’t violate our guild rules.” He glanced to Rithnar. “It’s also not treasonous, the same way poisoning a King before a challenge would be. We could all rest easily, knowing we’ve done things the right way.”

  “I like the idea, but how do we get stones or mana shards or whatever you’re calling them?” I asked.

  Mordok smiled, reached into his bag and pulled out a small blue crystal. It was sharp on each end, no bigger than a flattened pear, and sparkled brightly as he turned it on each side.

  “How’d you get that?” I asked.

  “You’re familiar with Omnicrons, aren’t you?” Mordok asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “The map in the Mages Halls that detects magic items in the vicinity.”

  “Right,” Mordok said. “They don’t power themselves. Each Omincron requires an infinite mana shard to function.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, one of our floors caved in several years ago, taking out part of the tower’s wall and destroying our Omincron—or my Omicron, I guess you could say. This huge tower is far too much maintenance for a single orc, but thankfully, I managed to salvage the shard inside.”