“I am not sure what you are trying to tell me.”
“We all carry a bit of fate, and it connects your Ku to your soul—this is an immutable law. Fire chose you because it was always your core. Fire, one of the most destructive primal powers in existence, resides in you. It is not born of wrath or fury, but of rebirth. If existence relies on life, death, and rebirth it would stand to reason that fire is used for destruction and death. The way you wield it is not because you want to see the world burn, its because you see its destructive force as a means of cleansing disease, and to allow life to flourish once more.”
“Would this affect the way I evolve my class skills?”
“It would, a great deal. A [Dragon Fist] reborn, but not as the warriors of old. You are a catalyst of interesting times ahead. I am feeling generous, Deuce, and hope that I can trust your discretion. Take this token of my favor, and I suggest you use it—immediately. Also, if you can send this BanHammer to me, I’d like to have a word with him. However, it has to be you that sends him to my realm.”
[You have received: Soulkeeper’s Reach
Item Name: Soulkeeper’s Reach
Item Type: Godly - Legendary (Soulbound)
Durability: Indestructible
Effect: Allows the user to move their spawn point to a place within one mile of an Altar. If you use it inside of a restricted area, the moment you lose access, the spawn point will shift back to the Altar.
How to Use: Stand where you wish to use the item and activate it. (Cast Time: 30 Seconds | Moving while casting will interrupt the ability)
Quest: BanHammer’s Hell
End BanHammer’s reign of terror. He kills newbies because he lacks the skill, talent, and courage to take on that might hurt him. You are doing the world a favor by getting rid of one more over-compensating loser. Use your innate ability and burn out this infection so that the new growth can flourish.
Requirements: BanHammer must die by your hand.
Rewards: Title - Friend of the Soulkeeper, other rewards depend on the Soulkeeper’s magnanimity.]
“Shit tits. That’s awesome.”
“I moved your spawn inside Shreddit to the [Wizard Circle]. It will raise fewer eyebrows if you appear out of nowhere. Now, I should warn you that there is a reason I never bring your kind here fully aware, so I apologize for how traumatic this might be.”
A woman appeared out of the darkness, and my mouth opened but no words came to my lips. Her unearthly beauty terrified and aroused me, and both feelings intermingled until I wasn’t sure which was which. Fingers brushed against my bare chest, and before I could register what was happening, she tore my chest open. My exposed heart had wilted, leaving behind something resembling a large raisin. The Soulkeeper shoved a glowing blob into the cavity with my dead heart.
Everything happened fast, and I had not even finished sucking in a breath before my heart glowed with vitality once more. A needle with a thread of Ku pierced my skin and wove through flesh, bone, and soul—a practiced movement impossible to follow. In the time it took to inhale and exhale the Soulkeeper had returned my soul. The scar of the wound had almost disappeared before she spoke.
“Close your eyes; you are about to move back to the land of the living. Crossing the barrier is not something you will enjoy witnessing.” Soft lips pressed against mine, and her soft tongue pushed into my mouth. An exhaled breath filled my lungs, and my vigor for life had returned. “Try not to die, Deuce.”
The warmth in my chest had turned to intense heat, and I did as she asked. Lights flashed against my closed eyelids. I refused to open them. There was a moment of weightlessness followed by a surge of power that boiled the marrow in my bones. There was no way to scream in agony because my lungs quivered and refused to draw air. Tears squeezed out of my closed eyes and my retching body heaved and contorted out of my control.
The pain ended before my mind snapped but muscles continued to spasm. The contents of my stomach left long ago, which left me dry heaving on my hands and knees. Underneath me, the shaped stone dug into my palms bringing back clarity. Nervous, I cracked open an eye, afraid of what I’d see.
Chapter 20
Location: Shreddit
“There you are,” Butter called out. “I did not know you and BanHammer had history, or we’d have taken the other way.”
I was in Shreddit, and the wizard circle was something I had not seen before. It was a large circular platform made of stone cobbled together like some mystical mosaic. Most of it was a gray stone, but they made the circles of a glass like stone and had sigils etched into them.
While I gawked, the rings lit up.
“You might want to get out of there. If those are lighting up then something is incoming,” A robed man near the stairs leading up to the platform said, and I hopped down near Butter. “Not sure how you teleported here, but please don’t do it again. The stones did not light up, giving me no warning you were incoming.”
“Yes sir, sorry.”
“Ok, this time let’s go through the Temple of the Old Ones, there is a secret exit there, but it is dangerously close to the dungeon under Shreddit. With a bit of luck, we’ll outside the range of BanHammer’s detection network.”
The thief moved through the streets and back alleyways towards the northeast. Occasionally pausing and telling me to remain silent and not to move. After about five minutes, I was lost. We were in a run-down part of the city, but I hesitated to call it the slums. I felt more at ease here than I did on the other side of town. It made me wonder if Butter was leading me into a trap. I blamed Earle for my paranoia.
Eventually, we came to a temple that had broken pillars and a collapsed roof. I could sense people around at the edges of my heat sensing ability, but the temple itself remained cool and uninhabited. We picked our way through the rubble, until we came upon an intact stone table, or maybe an altar. Curious I placed my hand on the cold stone and pushed heat into it.
The thief, seeing what I was doing, rushed over to stop me but it was too late.
#Fi_Porta: Who dares defile my temple?
The voice boomed inside my head, and I struggled to form words.
“It was me,” my brilliant reply choked out lamely.
#Fi_Porta: Do you not fear the Upper Pantheon of Genres?
“Should I? I have done nothing to deserve your wrath.”
#Fi_Porta: Hmm… perhaps. I am Fi Porta, the God of Portals. The temple you are in, I destroyed it long ago. Worshipers the Goddess of Games tried to usurp my power by creating portals to game worlds. I gave them their virtual worlds, but they kept taking. Do you seek to seize my power too?
“I do not,” I said, but doubted my sincerity. I mean the doc was trying to upload me, would this god consider that some breach of portal fantasy etiquette? More than that, this was confusing. Authors are creating stories about being in the game. I decided not to think about it. “Are Lit RoPlaGa stories in your realm? I’m new, so I’m not aware of how the god’s powers mingle.”
#Fi_Porta: I gave Ro a sliver of my power, to control a specific portal. This self-proclaimed Father tried to force himself into being her champion. Once that failed, he took a different tack. While there are others, his offenses are the worst. He writes portal fantasy disguised as something it’s not. His content is not in a game world, but a real world with game mechanics. And yet [Authors] blindly follow him, ignoring this slight against the Upper Pantheon.
“Sorry. So let me get this straight… He is trying to become Ro’s keeper, and he does not even follow her divine teachings? What about the other [Authors], do they at least acknowledge you?” I’m not sure how this worked. “How are they writing these stories, anyway?”
#Fi_Porta: Do you not know why you are an [Author]? The Archgod Zon takes the intent of your story and writes it for you, then publishes it when ready. This Father of Ro writes portal fantasy, and that disrespectful bastard chooses not to acknowledge me. He and others like him will regret it. Tribute must be paid even i
f it's in blood.
Woah. So my actions within the game are also turned into books? No wonder people were trying to cash in with this realm. “If it helps, the whole reason I am here is to stop the Father from doing something stupid. There are supposedly plans to prevent him from destroying Ro. He has to be delayed.”
#Fi_Porta: Do not address her as Ro; she is my niece and it's a term I’ve used for her ever since she was a little goddess. But this is good; you know your place. I will help. Look upon my altar and take my assistance. If you run into Lit Gama, you tell him I am not pleased about the actions of the people within this realm. Tell him to restore order and take control. Do that, and I may restore portal functionality to your realm.
“Thank you.” The god was already gone. Also, I had no idea what that even entailed. Did that mean I did not have to kill the [World Boss]?
Sitting on the altar was an item I recognized. Dammit, why don’t you beat me over the head with this stupid quest?
[You have garnered the notice of the God of Portals, and he has named you his champion within this realm.
You received the title God’s Champion; all attributes increased by 15% (rounded up). Scrying spells will not find you.
You have looted a LitRPG Trope - A God’s Champion. Legend says the person that puts all the Tropes together will be granted an object of immeasurable power. You currently have 2 Tropes out of 15. This item cannot be destroyed, traded, or be used as a weapon, but as long as you are a champion of the God of Portals you will receive a 10% boost to all your attributes, revealed and hidden.]
“Shit tits,” I whispered.
“Should’ve warned you not to touch the altar. Did he curse you?” Butter asked.
“Nope, he gave me a blessing.”
The thief’s eyes widened in surprise. “Well I do have to say traveling with you is not boring. But at this rate, we won’t have time to do the dungeon tonight. So let’s get out of here and hope nothing else crazy happens.”
“Is it me, or does this temple look less damaged?” I asked, looking around. I could have sworn there was more debris littering the floors, but it was the stairs that convinced me. The marble steps were whole once more.
“It does that when someone touches the altar. It’ll slowly repair the building, but if restored it’ll summon a god. Last time the God of Portals was here, thousands died. Guards will kill anyone they find in here,” Butter explained while he moved to a wall behind the altar and pressed a stone low on the wall. The floor melted downward, creating stairs down into the darkness. “After you, my friend. Do not worry; nothing hides in there; it was once used for smuggling by the priests of this temple. It’s a straight tunnel that leads out into the north hills. The exit is impossible to find if you don’t know where to look.”
“If you say so,” I muttered but headed down into the darkness. A strange thing occurred the moment my vision was gone; my eyes adjusted to the ambient heat. It wasn’t the best vision, but I could see where I was going because the walls, air, and us all had different levels of heat.
[You have learned Heat Vision - This is a sub-skill of your Sense Heat ability. To turn it off, blink twice. Or think ‘Heat Vision Off’]
Butter stayed with me, so I assumed he also had night vision. “Not sure what skill you have, but it makes things easier. Think you could pick up the pace?”
“Sure,” I told him and jogged slowly at first, trying to get used to my vision. Once I was comfortable, I found it better than my normal vision in some ways. I could pick out details that might have blended in otherwise. Like stones that were slightly above others, or jagged obstacles. Even spotted skeletons along the way, but no loot on them.
After about five minutes I slowed down because something was blocking our way. All I could see was a layer of blue in front of me, so I reached out and touched it. I felt the coldness of metal under my fingertips.
“I got this.” The thief said and moved forward, his hands slid brushed the wall alongside the door, and then pressed a stone. Click.
The metal door opened silently, and daylight flooded in. I blinked twice to prevent myself from getting blinded and followed the thief out into the hills. He stopped and turned towards me.
“Get ready to fight.”
Chapter 21
Location: Hills Northeast of Shreddit
Cows grazed near the exit, and I struggled to keep a straight face. Butter’s reaction had me believing a dragon was waiting for us. The thief did not let up his guard and stared at the slabs of beef intently.
Cows? I shook my head and counted three of the dangerous creatures, and one of those was missing its legs. “Hey, ground beef.”
The thief gave me a look of pure contempt. “Puns are the humor of the intellectually stunted.”
“Wrong,” I shot back at him. “Wordplay requires education and a quick mind—uh are those zombie cows?”
“Yes, they are.” Butter grinned at me. “You should put one in that fancy bag of yours.”
“My directions were to put nothing living in there, it will preserve them, but it also kills.”
“You know that part about you being intellectually stunted…?” Butter sighed. “They are dead, dumbass.”
“Oh, right.”
“Plus, Nomar suffers from bovinophobia—he’s afraid of cows.”
“Isn’t he a minotaur?” The look on my face had Butter laughing loud enough to attract the zombie cows.
“Yeah, he is. That’s why it’s so damn funny.”
Hmm. Having a zombie cow in my inventory wasn’t the worst idea. Hell, I’ll take two.
Rushing towards the cows, the closest one looked up and charged at me. I dodged and clipped its head with [Mister Fister]. Skin sloughed off exposing its skull and eye, which was the grossest thing I’d ever seen. That’s saying a lot from a guy who lived off toilet water.
[Unarmed Combat +1]
The cow slowed down, and its front hoof stomped the ground sending tremors outward. It shook its head, confused. It’s flimsy-looking tail stopped twitching, and I shoved it into my bag’s small aperture. Not sure it would work, I was prepared to run away, but the world stopped, frozen in frame. Reminded me of hitching in games of old when the servers couldn’t keep up with the data overload.
Broken from our standstill both the cow and I stumbled as the suction on the bag pulled the zombie bovine backward towards me. The nasty rotted rear-end shrank like a scene from a cartoon, and then the cow disappeared with a plop!
“By [Drama], it worked?” Butter said with reverence, awed by what he had just seen. I chose awed because he had an ‘O’ face like someone had just slapped him stupid. “Not sure which surprised me more, the cow or the [Bag of Holding]. I’ve seen fakes, but never the real thing—where did you get it?”
“Hold that thought.” I rushed towards the second cow who turned and tried to bite me with its sharpened teeth. I gave myself a brief second to wonder what crazy bastard had filed their teeth, but I let the thought go for now.
Like a matador, I sidestepped while the bull charged past. Although it did not change trajectory, it still tried to twist its head to get at me. The funny thing is, the horns scared me more than the sharpened teeth and there was no telling whether it was trying to gore or bite. After the initial charge, it used microbursts of speed to attack me which forced me to keep diving out of the way.
[Dodge +1]
[Dodge +1]
“Shit tits. What is it doing?”
“Probably hoping to poison or disease you? Either way, pay attention and don’t stop dodging.” Butter had not remained idle. The rocky terrain gave him plenty of ammo to throw at the cow, some which lodged into the rotted flesh with a meaty thunk! None of which bothered it until a lucky strike broke one of its horns. Enraged, the creature’s eyes turned red, and it turned to locate its new source of hate.
I sped forward and shoved its tail in the bag. Plop! This time there was no hesitation, the cow disappeared inside the bag and Butter la
ughed to see such a sight. Seeing a cow get sucked up into a small bag was almost as ridiculous as a cow jumping over the moon and admittedly funny.
“Well, you got two cows; now what?”
“Going to get Mr. Groundbeef,” I said, and even though the cow had no legs, it thrashed its head about trying to bite me. Either way, I gave it a wide berth and circled it until I could get behind it. Plop!
“I’m afraid to ask what you plan on doing with those.”
“Then don’t ask. But we should get going; I doubt those were only three in the area.”
Butter shrugged and turned towards the narrow pass. Thankful he had dropped the question about my [Bag of Holding]. Before following, I felt a ringing in my head like I was receiving an incoming phone call. “Shi—”
[Point of View Shift
Adjusting to 3rd Person Limited…done.
PoV shifting to Nomar…done.
Re-engaging vision…done.]
“—t tits. What the inferno is happening?” I shouted out to the ether, not expecting it to answer back.
“Your author skill has engaged. I am here to help explain your ability, but while we talk time dilation in this place is at a 60 to 1 ratio. Every minute in here, only a second in the game. Follow so far?”
“I think. When this shift is over, almost no time will have lapsed for everyone else? And I am already time dilated, will this harm me?”
“You got it, and it’s safe—mostly safe.”
“Who are you?” I asked, choosing to ignore the last part.
“I am the system, don’t tell me you forgot me already. I handle Author related abilities since they fall outside normal skills. These skills require a delicate touch or the servers could crash. Or, for game nerds, I manipulate the Ku to create—never mind, I don’t do nerd, but you get the idea.”
The Land of Trademark Online Page 14