Eden's Gate: The Scourge: A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  As I approached the tents, I realized that Gerard’s ‘two over from the left’ instruction wasn’t all that clear, since he could’ve been talking about my left, his left, or the guild shop’s left. I decided to just head for the tent two over from my left and hope for the best.

  I crept close to the tent quietly, careful not to wake anyone, and slowly lifted the canvas flap covering the entrance. To my relief, I ended up guessing right.

  Keysia slept quietly on a makeshift bed with her head facing the roof of the tent. She was wearing her day clothes, her staff was lying right beside her, and there was a shoddy crate near the bed where she was storing her belongings. The orc child lay flat on Keysia’s chest, stomach down with its head tilted to the side. Keysia’s hands were draped over the baby’s back to prevent it from falling off of her.

  I swallowed hard as I took in the scene and found it hard to understand the emotions that flooded into me. Never had I seen Keysia look so beautiful before, and it wasn’t just because of her great body and pretty face. It was something I couldn’t put my finger on—her womanhood, motherhood, seeing her as a caretaker? I wasn’t sure.

  There she was, lying in a tent and sacrificing her own comfort to take care of a child she hadn’t even wanted in our camp. Elves hated orcs, yet Keysia had found it in herself to put that hatred aside and foster a child in need, maybe to help me or the guild, or maybe just because she saw it as the right thing to do. It was nothing short of remarkable to see.

  And Keysia was a remarkable girl.

  I let the flap of the tent close and started to walk away after seeing that the orc child was okay, but after only a couple steps, I had to turn around and go back. I lifted the flap of the tent again and looked at Keysia one more time.

  I felt a bit creepy staring at her while she slept, but I couldn’t help myself. She was too damn captivating. She was smart, beautiful, quirky, feminine, but she was also strong and confident. She was just a ‘good girl’ in general, and it was only emphasized by her willingness to care for the dark elves and even a baby orc, who anyone else would’ve just killed.

  As I stared at her, I couldn’t help but think of what a great mother she would be, or wife, or just a girlfriend. If she could comfort a baby orc the way she was, I could only imagine how lucky her real children would be—how lucky her significant other would be.

  “Gunnar?”

  I turned my head to the side to see Jeremy coming out of his tent, and I quickly backed away from Keysia’s abode.

  “Oh hey, Jeremy,” I said.

  “Where’ve you been, man?” he asked. He glanced to Keysia’s tent. “Is something wrong with Keysia?”

  I swallowed and cupped my hands together behind my back. “No… I um… was just checking to make sure the orc was okay.”

  Jeremy creased his brow as if he didn’t believe me but then just shrugged his doubts away. “Yeah, the kid’s good, but you didn’t answer my question.”

  “What?” I rattled my head. “Nothing is wrong. I wasn’t trying to spy on Keysia or anything. Really, I was just checking on the—”

  “I mean where have you been?” he interrupted.

  “Oh…” I said, feeling the tension in my shoulders relax. “I’ve been busy with that quest is all. It’s still not finished.”

  “Do you need any help?” Jeremy asked.

  “No, I’m good. But I’ve really got to get some sleep before I head back out.” I walked closer to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Thanks for selling those items in Thorpes and helping secure the village while I’ve been gone.”

  Jeremy tossed his hand forward. “Oh, that was nothing.”

  “And do me a favor, will you?” I added.

  “What’s that?”

  “Don’t mention you saw me to Jax until I get back. I’m sure he expected me to have the baby gone by now.”

  Jeremy chuckled. “Sure.”

  I held my fist out for a fist bump and Jeremy reciprocated.

  “I’m going to get in a nap and head back into Scourge territory,” I said.

  “Okay, be careful dude!”

  “Thanks, Jizzler.”

  “Yeah, anytime, Gunnar!”

  I glanced behind me as I started to my home to see Jeremy creasing his brow and looking down in confusion.

  “Hey, did you just call me ‘Jizzler’?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “If Aaron is the Sizzler, you should be the Jizzler.” I cupped my hand in front of me and lifted it up and down a couple times.

  Jeremy smirked. “That’s not funny, Gunnar!”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Do you prefer bad-joke Gunnar or sword-through-your-brain, asshole Gunnar?”

  Jeremy tilted his head from side to side and shrugged. “Well, I guess Jizzler doesn’t sound too bad…”

  I started to laugh out loud but held back the intensity to avoid attracting attention. My joke was horrible and tacky, but at least I’d tried. The guys were starting to wear off on me or maybe I was just starting to be looser around them—being myself even, be the guy I had always been inside but just never had the chance to be.

  When I finally reached my home, I locked the door behind me and lay on my bed. With my eyes closed, I tried to relax and get to sleep, but the image of Keysia lying in her tent kept running through my brain. Had I really messed up on having her, having that? Since entering Eden’s Gate, I had no idea what I wanted or why it was so hard for me to figure out, but when I thought about all that Keysia was, it made me wonder ‘What more could I ask for?’

  Sure, things would be easier if she wasn’t a dark elf, but no matter who I ended up with in life, they wouldn’t be perfect, and no one I had met thus far had been as close to perfect as Keysia. That fact was finally hitting me, and it was scaring me more that I might have lost something special, because I had the fear of missing out, the fear of commitment, and the prospect of greener pastures.

  I groaned and turned onto my side, trying my best to stop thinking about her. I had a long day ahead of me, and I was hoping to get at least a little rest beforehand. Rithnar was going to try to challenge Ergoth, and I was somehow supposed to send my blight beetle in to infect a King without anyone noticing.

  A 30% chance, Mordok said. Or was it a 20% chance? It was some unfavorable chance where, knowing my luck, I’d end up in the void.

  And if things didn’t work out, I’d have to abandon the baby and prepare for a Scourge shitstorm. I thought at that moment that I didn’t care so much about the rule that members of the Mages Guild shouldn’t get involved in politics. If Rithnar’s plan failed, I’d head straight for Highcastle and warn the King of what I had learned. Doing so might be ‘political’ and not necessarily ‘for the greater good’, but it would be for Edgewood’s well-being. We were already suffering a massive loss in trade, and if Highcastle changed hands or the King was killed, we’d be screwed for the foreseeable future.

  20% or 30%? I couldn’t remember for the life of me what Mordok said the chances of success were.

  I scoured my mind, trying to think of ways that I could increase those odds, but couldn’t come up with anything great. I could perhaps cast my Divine Zeal spell on Rithnar beforehand, which might help a bit, but that probably wouldn’t be a gamechanger.

  Maybe when I bought a new spell the next day, I’d find one that could help?

  I felt like I had little control of the whole situation, and I didn’t like that. The two orcs were depending on me to use my blight beetle on Ergoth, but even if that worked, the rest would be up to them—up to Rithnar mostly. It was a total roll of the dice, and I was just in for the ride. I hated entering situations where I had so little control.

  I tossed and turned, wondering how I could turn the tide of the quest and help Rithnar without killing myself in the process, and I eventually rounded back to Aaron’s quirky suggestion of stealing the infinite mana shard from the Omnicron in Highcastle.

  It was a terrible idea on the surface, but was it better than a 20 or 30
% roll of the dice?

  I hadn’t noticed any obvious security in the Omnicron room, probably because the Mages Hall was strictly for Mages Guild members, and it was unlikely any of the mages there would steal it. But… what if I got caught? And what kind of damage was I doing to the Mages Guild if I took it?

  On the flip side, what kind of damage would I be doing if I didn’t take it? If stealing Highcastle’s mana shard prevented the Scourge from launching giant boulders into Highcastle and potentially damaging the Mages Hall, wouldn’t that actually be for the ‘greater good’?

  The more I considered it, the more the wild idea was growing on me, but I wasn’t sure if I was being irrational due to how tired I was. I needed to sleep on it and feel things out once I was in the Mages Hall. I’d probably get there and realize it was an incredibly stupid thing to try, and I wasn’t even sure where in the room the shard would be. All I remembered was an empty room and the Omnicron itself.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  2/23/0001

  I woke from my nap an hour or two later and could tell by the sound of Aaron’s hammering and chattering amongst Jeremy and Jax outside that most, if not all, of the gang was up.

  I checked my belongings and was out of healing potions and bandages, but based on my plans, I probably wouldn’t be needing them. If I was in the Wastelands, surrounded by orcs, and Ergoth decided I was to die, that was probably going to happen whether I liked it or not.

  During my slumber, I hadn’t thought of any better way to tip the odds in Rithnar’s favor, other than getting a new spell, which I hopefully was about to do. With a little luck, I could find something that would not only be beneficial to me but would help in his duel as well.

  I walked to the shelves on my wall, focused on the rune for the Mages Guild, and recalled away.

  The study room seemed empty when I reappeared, but right as I materialized, I heard a thump, a clank, and a metal inkwell resting on top of the study desk toppled over and spilled ink onto the floor.

  I wasn’t sure how I had tipped the thing over, but I guessed that maybe I had just spawned close by and somehow recalling generated a sort of air pressure or energy that was enough to shift small items. The window in the room was also open, so perhaps the wind had coincidently blown it over right as I arrived.

  I picked up the inkwell and set it back on the desk right beside a book that was lying in the center. Oddly, the quill that partnered the well had been left out beside the book, and the ink looked fresh as if someone had been using it not long before I arrived.

  The book had no title on the front, and when I flipped it open, it was mostly blank pages. The first page read ‘Student Assessment’ with ‘Liam Greatsky’ written underneath, and the second page said. ‘Yellow Belt Approved’. When I flipped to the third page, the top read “Approval Basis,” and right below it said, “After review—” and the next single character was difficult to make out as it ended in a long line, as if someone had hurriedly jerked their hand across the page. There was no content in the book after that.

  “So, Liam finally got his yellow belt…” I muttered as I closed the book. I smiled for him, but I wasn’t sure how he had talked Darion into giving him a trial, since Darion seemed insistent that he go through the process with me.

  I headed out the room and down the winding stairs until I was outside the door of the Omnicron room and could feel its energy through the walls.

  I quieted, looked down the steps and turned around to make sure no one was coming down the stairs before I grabbed the handle and pushed it open.

  “I don’t want to do yellow zone! It’s too dangerous!” a blonde female mage in a grey robe and yellow belt cried.

  “Come on!” another yellow-belted female with long brown hair and a bright red robe insisted. “We’ve got to try! We’ll get more loot.”

  “If we survive!” the blonde countered. “Even the green circles are hard sometimes, but at least we won’t—” The blonde paused as she looked up and noticed me.

  The brunette turned around to see what her friend was staring at.

  “Sorry,” I said with a smile and raised my hand to them.

  “Oh, you can come in if you’d like,” the blonde said. “We’ll stay out of your way if you need to use the Omnicron.”

  I shook my head. “No worries. I umm… opened the wrong room. Sorry to disturb you guys.”

  I closed the door and sighed. Luck was already not on my side. Just getting alone time in the room might be difficult, much less stealing the shard that powered the device inside.

  Having no time to wait around, I continued down the stairs until I reached the spell room.

  When I entered, Quagmire was sitting on a tiny bench with his hands in the pockets of his robe. He was leaned forward a bit, swaying and snoring, clearly asleep. Each time he leaned forward, he’d snort and jerk his head back up.

  Looking at the hundreds, if not thousands, of spells in the room I was tempted to grab something while he was asleep, and I wondered if the Mages Guild, particularly that room, had ever been robbed.

  I took a step further in the room and said, “Excu—” before Quagmire’s head shot up, and he licked his lips several times.

  “Oh, oh… sorry!” he said as he jumped to his feet. “I must have dozed off for a moment. I had a terrible nightmare of harpies and demons last night, so I didn’t get much sleep.”

  “No worries. I know the feeling.”

  “How may I help you today?” he asked.

  “Just here to buy a spell,” I said.

  Quagmire scanned me with his eyes up and down. “You bought your last spell from the guild at level 27, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s right,” I said.

  “Now that you’re level 33, you’re eligible for two more spells,” he explained. “Are your branches of magic the same? Are you looking for anything in particular?

  “A buff that could turn the tide of battle,” I said. “I’m skilled in Fire, Arcane, Divine, and Mentalism.”

  Quagmire rubbed his chin. After a moment of thought, he walked over to the wall and pulled a scroll from the shelves. He slid closer to me and held it out in his hands. “This one could definitely give you the edge in battle.”

  Scroll: Celestial Empowerment. +8 Intelligence, +8 Wisdom, +10% Magic Damage, and +15% Divine Magic Damage for 5 minutes. Requires 40 Intelligence. Divine Magic Lvl 20. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Epic. Weight: 0.1 kg

  I shook my head. “That looks nice, but I’m not looking for that kind of buff. I need something a little stronger that will increase the odds of defeating a much stronger opponent. Actually, I’m still only level 8 in Divine Magic.”

  “Okay, well I have one over here…” Quagmire said. He walked to the shelf, put the scroll back, then proceeded to the other side of the room where he climbed a ladder to fetch another spell. He came down and handed me the spell. “This Legendary has a low skill requirement.”

  You’ve received: Scroll: Supernatural Reflexes. +20 Dexterity. Dodge Skill increased by 100% and Block Skill increased by 50% for a short time. Requires 20 Intelligence. Divine Magic Lvl 5. Arcane Magic Level 15. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Great. Rarity: Legendary. Weight: 0.1 kg

  “Oh, hell yeah! This might be what I need,” I said.

  “Great,” Quagmire said.

  “How much?”

  “19,000 gold.”

  “19,000 gold?” I asked, and my eyes almost bugged out of my head. “I thought I got a discount for being in the Mages Guild.”

  “That is a discount,” Quagmire said. “I’d guess that this spell would sell for 25,000 on the streets. Rare spells with low requirements like this are hard to come by. I’d almost venture to say that this spell is overpowered.”

  I groaned and handed him the spell back. “Well, I can’t afford that.”

  “Also, I don’t know what would ‘turn the tide of battle’ as you say,” Quagmire explained. “It’s up to you to figure out ways to use your spel
ls most effectively in battle. You’ve been training, right? What did your master recommend?”

  I scratched the back of my head and grinned. “Umm, yeah, I’ve been training,” I lied. “Darion recommended that I get a shield spell of some sort, but I figured I could find one of those on my own.”

  “Well, have you found one already?” Quagmire asked.

  “Not yet,” I said.

  “And with your Divine Skills, a healing spell could be useful,” he added.

  I nodded. “Healing would be nice.”

  “Okay, just a moment,” Quagmire said. He moseyed around the room, climbed the ladder, and pulled several spells from the shelves, checked them, and shoved them back until he found what he was looking for. When he returned to me, he held out three in his hands. “One of these might be good for you. I threw in a Mentalism spell as well, just in case you want to work on that branch.”

  Scroll: Absorb One Physical. An invisible layer surrounds you that absorbs the next physical attack. Requires 35 Intelligence. Arcane Magic Lvl 17. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Great. Rarity: Epic. Weight: 0.1 kg

  Scroll: Seize and Restore. Intercept Arcane Magic and convert it to healing. Requires 20 Intelligence. Divine Magic Lvl 10. Arcane Magic Level 20. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Great. Rarity: Epic. Weight: 0.1 kg

  Scroll: Deceptive Presence. Appear greater than or less than to those around you. Requires 40 Intelligence. Mentalism Level 10. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Great. Rarity: Rare. Weight: 0.1 kg

  All of the spells seemed useful, but the Seize and Restore scroll seemed the most worthwhile. The ability to intercept a magic attack and convert it into healing could be extremely useful. Unfortunately, it required a level 10 in Divine Magic and a level 20 in Arcane which I had yet to reach. I wasn’t sure why he was still showing me spells out of my range. “How much is this one?” I asked as I pointed to the spell.