Black Flame in the Barren Steppe: Epic LitRPG (Realm of Arkon, Book 8)

by G. Akella

  Noticing the stupefied stares of the locals, I realized how absurd I must look to the and shifted from combat into my normal humanoid form. The figures of the orcs escorting me blew up in size as my own frame diminished, and my nostrils instantly picked up the scents of roast meat, baked goods and sour wine. Suddenly I remembered that I hadn't eaten in nearly twenty four hours, but I didn't feel like munching on the go. That made me think of Bonbon, and I smiled at the mental image of the bald-headed comic.

  The citadel, bristling on either side with bastions, fit organically into the general architectural scene of the city. Once inside, the party split up: the four who had been carrying Knugh made for the main building, while Gronn and the rest turned right, with me in tow. We passed several fountains with four statues of macabre-looking three-headed statues, and entered a small copse. Up until now none of us had uttered a single word, not counting the chieftain's blood brother's delirious mumbling as he slipped in and out of consciousness. The copse ended quickly, and we found ourselves in a large meadow with a curious structure at the center of it. The collection of huge boulders was arranged in a circular fashion, very similar to that of the Stonehenge. The dour faces of my escorts lit up with reverence as the system log informed me that we had entered the temple grounds of the most venerated goddess for the orc race—Kahella.

  The discovery was a surprise. What were we doing here?

  "Come with me, demon," Gronn said in a voice both low and tense. "The rest of you, wait here."

  We walked over to the ring of boulders, which ended up being made of granite. Then the orc turned around and put a hand on my shoulder.

  "I have no reason to doubt your story, prince, but we have a rule. The insignia of our clan's chieftain must be accepted by our Mistress. I remember the Crescent Moon, down to the last detail. But it had been in enemy possession for too long, and I dare not touch it without the goddess' permission," he concluded with a sigh.

  Every people had a right to their customs, and who was I to defy them? I just hoped he wouldn't ask me to hop from boulder to boulder while playing the tambourine as part of some sacred ritual. I rushed to suppress a smile that the chieftain might find offensive.

  "What do I do?"

  "Just place it on the altar," Gronn asked, gesturing at a round, slightly larger boulder at the center of the composition.

  "You got it," I walked over to the stone and placed the amulet on it, then turned back toward Karrosh's son for confirmation.

  What happened next, I would struggle to try and explain. The air grew heavy with scents that reminded me of Indian spices (I remembered the smell from an episode from my childhood when Max and I had built an Indian temple out of scented mini pyramids kept by his mom), and the tops of stone boulders blazed with a blue flame. Gronn and the orcs who had remained at the copse all fell to one knee and bowed their heads as an elegant woman's hand fell on my shoulder. A slender wrist, pitch-black fingernails, a couple of rings and a plain silver bracelet. I didn't twitch or freeze with shock—these encounters weren't all that new to me anymore. I simply turned and nodded to the tall and shapely orc female.

  "Mistress?"

  "We don't have much time, Dark One," she said in a pleasant voice, sizing me up. "You said that Vill is coming for me and Lord of the Ether, and that you are able to delay him?"

  "Two Fallen Gods are with him, and one of them is severely wounder. I also have Ahriman's Fiery Weakening."

  "And the Great Sword infused with the most volatile element," she smiled, motioning at Ruination.

  The goddess bit her lower lip, just like an ordinary woman would. A trace of doubt flashed on her face, but then she smiled again.

  "Any ally is better than no ally at all. We will call you before the attack, Dark One." She nodded at the kneeling Gronn. "Tell the chieftain that he's worthy of the Crescent Moon. Farewell for now. I will find you when the time comes."

  With those words, Kahella dissipated in the air. The luminescence faded from the stones, only the scent lingered.

  The last time I smelled it, Max and I would get our hides tanned in short order for our shenanigans.

  You've completed the quest: Returning the Insignia.

  You have gained a level! Current level: 282.

  You have 7 talent points to allocate.

  Class bonus: +1 to intellect; +1 to spirit.

  You have 21 stat points to allocate.

  You have gained a level!

  …

  You have gained a level! Current level: 285.

  You have 10 talent points to allocate.

  Class bonus: +1 to intellect; +1 to spirit.

  You have 30 stat points to allocate.

  Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. Kahella, the Goddess of Will, is friendly to you.

  Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. Dhoresh, Lord of the Ether and Ethereal Essences, is friendly to you.

  Your reputation has increased. Gronn an Ghort, konung of the Bloody Spear Clan, is friendly to you.

  Your reputation has increased. Orcs of the Bloody Spear clan relate to you with reverence.

  I turned toward the orc, who was getting up off his knees. "You've heard everything, Gronn. The amulet of Karrosh an Ghort is now yours, but we have much to talk about still."

  Chapter 13

  Max opened his eyes, then winced immediately from a savage headache. He grit his teeth to keep from groaning, closed his eyes again, and lay there for several minutes, breathing heavily as the cold sweat ran down his burning forehead. Eventually, the pain abated. Max opened his eyes once more and tried to ascertain where he was. The log cabin he found himself in was small, maybe fifteen by fifteen feet, with three glassless windows and a small door. A cracked ceiling, two benches, unknown plants drying on the walls. And no chimney to speak of. Outside the windows sang the nocturnal forest, with fragrant aromas of herbs and grasses stupefying the mind. There were no light sources anywhere, but for some reason it wasn't dark in the room.

  Max tried to move, triggering another bout of headache, and realized he was lying on either grass or a bed of leaves. What kind of house was this? How did he get here? Why was he alone?

  He managed to sit up and take another look around the room. He touched his face, finding a long beard. He was wearing strange cloth pants with an equally strange tunic. Was there a mirror nearby? How long had he been here? And where was Roman? From the corner of his eye he glimpsed highlighted lines of text, and that was when reality came crashing down on him like an avalanche.

  Mallorn trees! The Guardian! He was alive! And he could see! A ball of fur slipped under his arm. Glitch twisted in an impossible fashion, licked Max's cheek, climbed onto his shoulder in the blink of an eye, twirled around his neck, nibbled on his ear and then slid down into his lap, silver belly up for his master to scratch.

  "I didn't dream you up," Max scratched his familiar as he purred happily. "What kind of animal are you, anyway?"

  The critter didn't say anything, but since his appearance seemed to fully obliterate Max's headache, he began scrolling back the system logs. He hadn't been paying much attention to them while planting mallorn trees, but now he had time to try and process the shocking pieces of information carried by the scrolling text. He didn't feel like going anywhere or even moving at all, feeling a strange kind of apathy compounded by incredible weariness. Alyona... No, he would force himself to get up once he was done reading, and he would find her. But first he needed to learn what actually happened.

  A breeze gusted in through the window, scented with forest flowers and tar. The critter kept purring in his lap as Max sat there scrolling. He would have time to study all the new talent branches and strange new abilities, but for now all he wanted was to know the species of his familiar. It seemed especially important to him for some reason. There! Max stopped the scrolling text and began to read, slack-jawed.

  ...The Great Forest has gifted you its own incarnation!...

 
Glitch.

  Silver Weasel. Familiar.

  Artifact. Without level.

  No minimum level.

  Attack: ???????

  Armor: ???????

  All resistances: 99%.

  Strength: ??????.

  Stamina: infinite.

  Constitution: ????????

  Special abilities:

  Astral Protector.

  Fusion.

  Devotion.

  Astral Protector:

  Absorbs 80% of all damage directed at the Guardian, including damage dealt to the astral body. Restores the Guardian's astral body: 1% every 10 years. Multiplies tenfold all external effects that heal the Guardian's astral body.

  Astral body durability at the present time: 70.1673%.

  Fusion:

  Grants a permanent 5% boost to Perception of the Great Forest and increases its growth rate to 1% every 100 years.

  Perception of the Great Forest—15.00012%.

  (10%—the Guardian's base perception; 5%—permanent familiar bonus; 0.00012%—acquired.)

  Perception of the Great Forest: the Guardian's capacity to sense the events taking place in the Great Forest and influence their outcomes. (The ability to influence the outcomes of events taking place in the Great Forest will appear when Perception of the Great Forest reaches 35%.)

  Devotion:

  Enables the Guardian to use abilities that consume Infinity Points in any point of the Inhabited World.

  Max re-read the stats and abilities of his new familiar, then sat there for a minute, staring in disbelief at the weasel purring in his lap.

  "You... uh..." he mumbled, then gave up on forming a coherent thought and simply smiled.

  Realizing that he was no longer being scratched, Glitch bit his master gently on the finger and squeaked demandingly.

  This creature seemed perfectly ordinary, more like a polecat than a weasel, really, but Max remembered vaguely how the elven princes had recoiled at the sight of him. He couldn't make out their faces then, but...

  "Holy shit, I'm alive!"

  The realization of this miracle finally dawned on him. And his astral body was above seventy percent, which meant he could access his combat form! And Alyona! And he was ravenous, hungry enough to eat an elephant. I'm an idiot... Inventory! His inventory was accessible, so half an hour later Max leaned against the log wall and lit up blissfully, his belly pleasantly full. Glitch squeaked his offense, though he was just as full, taking a seat across from him on the bench.

  "You have much to learn about humans... or about elves, I suppose," Max smiled, exhaling the fragrant apple-scented smoke. "Anyway, where is everyone?"

  The critter yapped something in response, which Max couldn't pretend to understand, but he decided not to rush things. For some reason he was sure that "everyone" would arrive in due time. At the very least, he could wait till morning. In an effort to keep himself busy, he decided to shave—all his shaving essentials were right there in his inventory. He wasn't going to bother allocating talents now—he wasn't in the right state of mind, and it would be foolish besides without Donut and Alex to advise him. But a nice unhurried shave should be just the thing to calm him down and bring his scattered thoughts in order. Despite the fifteen perception he had acquired, he really couldn't sense anything special about the Forest. Perhaps the house he was in had some kind of screening spell over it, or maybe the Forest itself didn't want its new Guardian going mental the moment he regained consciousness.

  He cast a suspicious glance at Glitch, but the rascal scrunched up his muzzle, then stuck out his tongue and began cleaning his fur coat of non-existing fleas. I guess we're both shaving, Max thought with a chuckle.

  He pushed up one of the benches and set a mirror on it. When he finally saw his reflection, he suddenly felt like another smoke. It was one thing to imagine what you looked like, but quite another to see a man as old and gray as the moon. Oh well. He shaved the beard clean off, then cut his hair short. The result was better already—looking back at him from the mirror was a gaunt world-weary man in his fifties, with familiar features and a deep scar across his chin. Good enough! Max picked up his hair and burned it, then put the shaving kit and the mirror away, lit up again and got to thinking.

  How would Alyona react to her suddenly aged husband? He chuckled. She wouldn't bat an eye. He knew his woman well enough to be sure of that.

  Max decided to focus on more pressing problems. Though personal stats and skills wouldn't be dealt with till later, he could at least check out what was new in the Guardian's talent tree.

  He opened the character menu, switched to the tab highlighted a bright lime-green, and focused his eyes on the upper left icon, a dark brown vine coiled around it.

  Guardian's Will.

  Casting time: 5 minutes.

  Cost: 5% of the Guardian's astral body.

  Duration: 24 hours.

  Cooldown: 500 years.

  All creatures friendly to the Guardian and the Great Forest located within a radius of 15,00012 km of the Guardian are granted a 400% (depending on the degree of the favor) increase to health, mana pool, vigor and prana.

  The spell's radius is calculated based on the Guardian's Perception of the Great Forest.

  "Not bad," Max grunted. He snatched up Glitch who had been scurrying around him, laid the creature across his lap and began to scratch him behind the ear, deep in thought.

  He had told Roman about precisely this in their last conversation. Only with Talverus, the last Guardian before Max, the favor had been at one hundred percent, so taking the side of any High House or Houses would mean strengthening them by an order of two. But even that would have been enough if it hadn't been for the Kaerinean Carnage, the banishment of the Nightcrawlers and the fratricidal war that followed. Nakilon would not have dared to come out against the Fifteenth High House.

  "Talverus died in the attack of the Ancients," Max said with sorrow, then realized that the weasel sitting in his lap had turned his head and was peering into his eyes.

  "Sorry, Glitch," Max caressed his pet's silvery coat and chuckled bitterly. "You know that it's not my fault."

  The weasel scowled in a comical way and slid his head under Max's hand for more petting.

  There he was, incarnation of the Great Forest... Who was their great patron, really? A higher immortal intelligence or this playful critter in his lap? For Max and all the others who had arrived here with him, this world was only six months of age. Maybe this was why he perceived his pet the way that he did?

  So, what else... Prana was a resource of highest value to the gods—this he remembered from his visions in the Silver Grove. The gods had used up almost all of it in that battle with the Ancients, and hadn't even bothered pursuing the fleeing Titans as a result. So while the gods retreated to replenish their strength, the traitorous King Nakilon took full advantage and repainted the entire Great Forest.

  As for the favor, a two percent increase to all stats and HP regen in combat were both welcome. Max admitted to himself that he wasn't feeling the kind of joy he had talked about to Roman. But then he wasn't really sensing the forest either in this shanty.

  The last three icons in the Guardian's options were highlighted a dark crimson color from within. These were the ones that would require Infinity Points.

  Infinity Points—a resource only the Guardian has access to.

  The Guardian can summon the power of the Great Forest only by using Infinity Points.

  Currently available: 10+1 (11) maximum.

  1 Infinity Point is regenerated every 300 years.

  Fury of the Great Forest.

  Casting time: 10 seconds.

  Cost: 7 Infinity Points.

  The Guardian indicates a point or area within a radius of 15.00012 km of the Guardian, at which the Great Forest delivers a blow with all its accumulated strength. The power of the attack is proportional to the favor and is distributed evenly through the area selected by the Guardian. Minimum area—3 square yards.
The effective range is determined by the Guardian's Perception of the Great Forest.

  Protection of the Great Forest.

  Instant cast.

  Cost: 4 Infinity Points.

  All creatures friendly to the Guardian and the Great Forest are granted full immunity against all types of damage (including astral damage) for a duration of 1 minute. Additionally, after the immunity is lifted, the friendly targets absorb all types of damage (including astral damage), up to six times the amount of their HP (depending on favor).

  Protection of the Great Forest can be stacked up to 4 times. Each additional stack doubles the immunity duration and the amount of damage absorbed by the friendly targets.

  Sacrifice.

  Instant cast.

  Cost: 1 Infinity Point.

  The Guardian adds the maximum reserve of Infinity Points to the existing amount, and his astral projection is dissolved in the Astral after 15 minutes. A mallorn tree grows in the Silver Grove.

  Max sighed and reached for his pipe. There it was. Talverus' sacrifice made clear. As well as why one hundred and one trees could be planted and not one hundred. He closed his eyes and remembered...

  Three Titans—enormous, the size of cruise ships—surrounded by a churning sea of the transformed. Millennia-old trunks blazing, the earth torn and ruptured, and Halephos retreating, pressured by Setara and Myrt. Legions of monsters breaking a wall of pikes, and the Guardian's tiny figure, his staff raised high. A colossal lightning strikes a Titan in the back of the neck, but he merely drops to his forepaws. Talverus throws up his staff once more, sacrificing himself as he casts protection once, twice, three times. With a blinding flash, Myrt and Setara knock down Halephos, and a giant of molten tin drops onto the back of Vaepar.