Project Xero: Reblood: A LitRPG and Gamelit Adventure

by J. Cee

  With that, Jexaka disappeared into the dark rocks. Aeri hunched over her knees, lost in thought. A shroud of confusion blurred her visions like never before.

  “The hell, man.” The words died on the Everborn’s lips as he keeled over from the blow of a Soulstrike.

  “Number four,” Ceph said. “That’s it, right?”

  Zeudah nodded. “Let’s get this back to the others.” He grabbed the corpse and threw it over his shoulder. He walked over to a corner where he had hastily dumped another corpse prior to the fight. He threw the second corpse over his other shoulder.

  Ceph had been hunting new Everborn at night with Zeudah. It was almost nostalgic, as it reminded him of his first outings with Aeri. That seemed a lifetime ago.

  At Ceph’s rank, the new Everborn were easy kills. Zeudah, at least, gained several power points from the night’s activities.

  Ceph picked up his share of two corpses, and the two men walked on the dark streets back towards the cultists’ home. Ceph kept an eye out for other Everborn. While dead bodies weren’t anything special to an Everborn, they wanted to avoid unnecessary questions. Ceph also had a bounty on his head, and, given their recent theft from headquarters, they didn’t know if Zeudah was also a marked man now as well.

  They approached the house at the southern wall and knocked. This time the door opened immediately. The old man, Faros, peered through the partially open door. After he glimpsed Ceph and Zeudah’s faces, he swung the door open further and ushered them inside before quickly shutting it again.

  The elderly priestess, Kayla, beckoned them over. “Put the bodies here, one in each tub,” Kayla said, indicating four iron bathtubs in the middle of the room.

  Ceph and Zeudah dumped their grisly packages as directed. The red-haired woman, Imelda, started with the corpse on one end. She slit the throat, then made several cuts at the groin and armpits. She positioned the limbs higher, presumably to help drain the blood. Ceph had seen his share of gore, but the knife work and blood pooling in the bathtubs still gave him a queasy feeling. He looked away.

  “Why blood?” Zeudah asked Faros.

  “Blood contains the essence of an Everborn’s power,” Faros said.

  “Like blood points?” Ceph said to Zeudah, who shrugged.

  Kayla retrieved a knife and worked on the corpses from the other end. After fifteen minutes, several liters of blood pooled in the bottom of each bathtub.

  “What happens next?” Zeudah asked. He didn’t mind the bloody scene, and instead seemed quite interested in the ritual details.

  “Now we drink,” Kayla said. The women collected the blood from each tub into four enormous pitchers, one for each corpse.

  “Drink,” Kayla said, giving a pitcher to Faros while keeping one for herself. “As much as possible for a greater chance of success.”

  Imelda gave another pitcher to the boy Seth and drank from the last pitcher herself. Seth grimaced but swallowed the dark liquid without complaining.

  “Wait, chance of success?” Ceph asked. “You mean this doesn’t always work?”

  “No,” Faros replied. “It usually works about half the time. You and the Beastspawn were lucky to both survive. Or perhaps it was fate.”

  Ceph showed the stump on his left arm. “Not that lucky.”

  Zeudah’s brow creased in concern. “Four should be enough to win the fight. Three will be tough but possible, depending on how well we do.” Zeudah glanced at Ceph. “Two or less will be difficult.”

  “You can still turn back,” Ceph said to the four cultists.

  “No, we’re ready,” Faros said. The other three cultists nodded in agreement. They had all finished drinking their portions of Everborn blood.

  “Help me move the corpses,” Kayla ordered. “Put them in the corner.”

  Ceph and Zeudah removed the mutilated corpses and stacked them in the corner. By now, everyone’s clothes were steeped in blood.

  Imelda and Seth transferred blackened charcoal from a rough burlap sack to each of the iron bathtubs. Their bare hands grew dark from the soot. Kayla poured what looked like oil from a large pot over the piles of charcoal. Faros brought out four burning oil lamps and set one next to each bathtub.

  “We’re ready,” Kayla said. “You’ll need to help us with the final step. When we’re inside, shatter an oil lamp in each of the tubs.”

  The four cultists each stepped into one of the bathtubs. The bathtub wasn’t large enough to lie down completely, so they hugged their knees to their chests. Zeudah walked over to the closest bathtub containing Kayla and picked up the oil lamp sitting at its base.

  “I don’t know…” Ceph didn’t move.

  “This is your plan, Ceph. There’s no backing out.” Zeudah readied his oil lamp.

  Ceph walked over to the bathtub containing Faros. “Is this going to hurt?” Ceph whispered.

  Faros nodded with a firm look in his eyes. “I think it’s best if you do all four at once,” Faros said, indicating the oil lamps.

  “Right.” Ceph grabbed the oil lamp next to Seth, holding it with his left arm against his side. The heat wouldn’t harm his Onceborn body. “Zeudah, get the other one.”

  Zeudah grabbed the last oil lamp that was next to Imelda. Each man had two oil lamps ready to break in the nearest bathtubs.

  “On three,” Zeudah said. “One.”

  Ceph forced himself to look at the young boy. Seth’s eyes were shut and his hands clenched in fear.

  “What am I doing,” Ceph whispered to himself. “Aeri, Aeri, what am I doing?”

  “Two.”

  “Three.”

  Four oil lamps cracked in unison. Four screams rose to greet the rising flames. A fifth voice sobbed, too soft for an outsider to hear over the wretched chorus.

  Chapter 26

  Aeri sat still with her legs crossed in meditation, studying the visions in her mind. She searched over and over again for any advantage hidden in the threads of possibilities. It was maddening to be unable to take direct action. Aeri wanted to attack, to fight, to win. The signs all said the same thing, though. The only course of action was to wait.

  So she waited. The locust-men continued their harassment, keeping her blood and spirit pools low. Still, she waited.

  As was her routine, Jexaka appeared after a set amount of time. She crouched on the balls of her feet. Something was different this time. Jexaka was eager, even excited.

  “I have news,” the fey woman said.

  Aeri waited in silence. Jexaka would speak more or not as she pleased. Frowning, Jexaka continued. “An artifact has appeared.”

  Aeri’s pulse quickened. Finding three artifacts was crucial to her mission. Was that a coincidence? Artifacts were extremely rare; only two others were known to exist in Xero. Aeri’s eyes strayed to Jexaka’s chest, where Zeudah’s stolen artifact lay hidden. Was this the Creator’s doing? She didn’t know what to make of the news. Did Ceph know about it?

  “This one is special. Only a Onceborn like you or I can fulfill the challenge and receive the artifact. The Everborn can’t touch it.”

  “Ceph,” Aeri said softly.

  Jexaka overheard Aeri’s remark. “That frightened pet of yours? Why do you waste your time on weaklings like him?” She spoke louder. “Join me.”

  Aeri wanted to ask Jexaka for more information about the artifact, but she bit her tongue. Jexaka was something worse than the Everborn. She was a reckless creature of destruction, an enemy of Xero itself. To seek her advice was foolish. Still, Aeri wondered.

  As if reading Aeri’s mind, Jexaka stood up with an annoyed expression. “Your stubborn foolishness isn’t cute anymore. It’s irritating. You insist on thinking of me as a threat. I can help you. We can help each other.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Come with me. Help me retrieve the artifact. In return, I can teach you how to defeat the Tetramorph.”

  “And you’ll keep the artifact? What use is your knowledge, then?”

  Jexak
a laughed. “Perhaps you’ll take the artifact from me by force. Perhaps you’ll join me once you see the truth. The truth is strength, and strength makes its own path.”

  Was Jexaka aware of Aeri’s visions? Aeri wanted answers, but she was wary of the other woman. Easy answers often came with a price.

  “No, I won’t help you,” Aeri said.

  “Suit yourself. I’ll take and use the artifact myself.”

  This wasn’t supposed to happen, based on the fragments of foresight that Aeri possessed. Who was revealing the artifact now? If not the Creator, was it the Tetramorph? Jexaka revealing herself to the world had altered the strands of fate.

  And Ceph, Aeri thought, where are you?

  * * *

  Ceph coughed. The door was ajar, but smoke still filled the cultists’ windowless home. Zeudah waited outside, standing guard for unwanted attention.

  The two men had watched with horror as the figures writhed in pain from the flames before. One by one, they stopped moving. The cultists’ clothes turned to ashes and the smell of burnt meat filled the room, but the bodies remained whole as the flames licked over them. A violet glow might have pulsed over the bodies, but it was difficult to tell with the overlapping light of the fire.

  As the embers dimmed to an orange glow, Ceph heard a rustling noise from one of the bathtubs. Goosebumps ran along Ceph’s arm. Despite knowing the outcome of the Flame Rite, he hadn’t anticipated the first sign of success. He shivered at the sound of the rising dead.

  It was the old priestess, Kayla. Ceph rushed to her side with a cloak, waving away the plumes of smoke that surrounded the bathtub. A wrinkled but firm hand shot out from the gray air and seized the cloak. After waiting a minute for the sound of dressing to be over, Ceph approached the new Onceborn, helping Kayla step out of the bathtub.

  As soon as her feet touched the ground, Kayla gripped Ceph with both hands. “Who else?”

  “You’re the first,” Ceph said.

  Ceph peeked out the door to check on Zeudah, then returned to Kayla. She hovered over the other three bathtubs. There was movement. It was Faros. Ceph handed him a cloak and helped him out of his bathtub as well.

  “Faros,” Kayla held the old man’s hand.

  “I feel… refreshed,” Faros said.

  “That makes two,” Ceph said. He paced nervously. “Come on, come on.”

  In the end, the boy Seth rose and joined the other new Onceborn. Imelda, the red-haired woman, didn’t stir from her place in the bathtub. Dumping her body on the streets at night would have been the easiest way to deal with it, but that was out of the question. Burying the corpse would take time and still risk attracting someone’s curiosity. They compromised by leaving her body in the bathtub and burying it with burnt ashes from the other three bathtubs. They would deal with her body after their mission. If they returned, Ceph thought.

  Faros and Kayla consoled Seth over the loss of Imelda. She wasn’t his birth mother but had treated the boy as her own, from what Ceph could tell. Zeudah spoke quietly with Ceph in the corner.

  “Three should be enough if the boy holds up,” Zeudah said, his eyes on the weeping boy.

  Ceph couldn’t ignore the price of his chosen path, not in this small room, anyways. He had to press forward. “Seth will be fine. He has to be. Aeri needs us.”

  Zeudah opened his mouth to say something, but he changed his mind. Instead, he turned to watch the other Onceborn.

  “What’s next?” Zeudah asked.

  “We train them. We should go soon. We don’t have much time.”

  “Should we wait a bit more?”

  “No. I’ll get them.” Ceph strode towards the remaining cultists. “I’m sorry, but we have to focus on Aeri. There’s not much time.” He looked around, unsure of what else to say. “Imelda… we have to make sure her sacrifice was the right choice. By saving Aeri.”

  Seth nodded, wiping away tears.

  Ceph tried to avoid the boy’s eyes. “It’s time to train.”

  * * *

  The group found a quiet part of the Wild a short safe distance from the city walls for the introduction to their new lives. Ceph and Zeudah debated briefly on how the new Onceborn should allocate their starting power points.

  Ceph had wanted to let the cultists choose for themselves, but Zeudah had warned that a poor choice could hobble their already difficult chance of success. Zeudah was right. Ceph would have spent all of his initial power points on blood alone if not for Aeri.

  Thinking of Aeri, Ceph relented. Zeudah instructed the new Onceborn to assign one of their first nine points to harmony, and the rest split evenly between blood and spirit.

  The combat training was simple. The new Onceborn learned how to cast Soulstrikes and Deflection Shields quickly, but mastering any real strategy beyond that would be difficult. They would likely waste spirit points unnecessarily on shields or neglect the distance-based effects of Soulstrike damage. Faros had trouble reacting to incoming Soulstrikes fast enough to cast a shield. They all had a tendency to freeze or flinch whenever an attack came their way. Again, Ceph thought of Aeri. Is this how she had felt training him?

  In the end, Zeudah suggested a basic strategy. The three cultists would attack a single target continuously while standing next to each other. Their tight spacing would make it easier for Ceph and Zeudah to work around their attacks, avoiding friendly fire. The cultists would cast shields when attacked. The strategy wasn’t ideal, because the cultists would waste spirit points if all three cast shields in response to a single incoming attack. Zeudah and Ceph accepted any potential inefficiency to avoid the chaos of the weak cultists spread throughout the battlefield.

  The plan was for Ceph to attack the same target as the cultists. Meanwhile, Zeudah would distract the second brute or help kill the first one as the situation demanded. If another enemy appeared, like Jexaka herself, they would abandon the fight and distract the enemy while Ceph ran into the cavern to complete the rescue. The others would then be left on their own to escape. Zeudah was likely experienced enough to find a way to survive. It went without saying what would happen to the remaining cultists. The plan wasn’t ideal, but it was the best that Ceph and Zeudah could devise for their new team.

  The night drew to a close. The cultists and Zeudah returned to their home by the southern wall, while Ceph stopped by Myrtle’s shop to check for any updates.

  “We’re leaving now,” Ceph announced. “Anything else we need to know?”

  Myrtle had been wearing her strange helmet from the moment he arrived. Her fingers continually danced in the air as she talked.

  “How unusual. The anomaly around Aeri’s location is gone.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I can’t be sure, but I believe this means that Jexaka is no longer with Aeri.”

  “Finally. Some good news for once.” Ceph had been worried that Jexaka would interrupt their rescue attempt.

  “I have a hunch. Hold on.” Myrtle’s finger danced again while lights flickered inside her helmet. “Aha! There’s an anomaly at the Glass Vaults.”

  “Glass Vaults? Where the artifact is?”

  “Yes. If I’m not mistaken, Jexaka is seeking the artifact.”

  That didn’t seem bad to Ceph. “If I had gone that way, there’s a chance I would have had to fight her. I don’t think I can beat Jexaka without Aeri.”

  Myrtle took the helmet off, setting it on the desk in front of her. She rearranged the shawls wrapped around her head.

  “I’m not sure. It’s too convenient. The timing of the artifact and the challenge requirements. As if you were meant to take it.”

  “It’s too late to change our minds,” Ceph said. Did everyone else think that he had made the wrong choice? Why didn’t they say so directly? He was starting to get a bit irritated. “If that’s it, I need to head back. Thanks for everything, Myrtle.”

  “Good luck, Onceborn,” the seer said as Ceph left her shop.

  * * *

  Ceph
and Zeudah crouched in the undergrowth at the edge of the clearing with the brute guards, as they had done before. The two brutes still walked back and forth by the cavern entrance. The one on the left was unarmed, while the one on the right had a small ax strapped to his waist.

  “I’ll take the left one first,” Ceph said to the others. “You three stand to the far left and attack him too. Zeudah? Anything else?”

  “No, we’re ready when you are,” Zeudah said. “I’m kind of excited, actually. I haven’t had a hard fight in ages.”

  Faros frowned at Zeudah’s statement. Ceph saw the worry on the faces of the other cultists.

  “Stick to the plan,” Ceph said. “We can do this.” He waited a few more moments to collect his own resolve. Then, he stepped out to meet the enemies.

  The brute on the left spotted Ceph immediately. he howled a challenge as he lowered his head and charged, a Soulstrike already forming in its fist. Ceph drew his sword and readied himself to parry the attack.

  Zeudah sent a Soulstrike at the ax-carrying brute, shifting the brute’s attention away from Ceph. Zeudah drew his own sword and raced to meet his opponent.

  Kayla and Faros stepped out into the clearing and sent Soulstrikes at the brute in front of Ceph.

  “To the left, to the left,” Ceph motioned at the cultists.

  They were standing in the middle, which meant their attacks would split the field in two, preventing Zeudah from cutting across as needed. The stronger brute wouldn’t be similarly dissuaded.

  Faros ran in the direction that Ceph indicated, but Kayla turned to Seth, who was trembling behind a tree trunk.

  “Seth! Seth!” Kayla gave up and ran next to Faros to resume her attacks.

  Ceph parried a Soulstrike with his sword, then lunged in with a Steelstrike followed by a Soulstrike of his own. The brute snorted as Ceph’s attacks struck, chipping away at his blood pool. Ceph dropped to the ground and tried to sweep the brute’s legs out from under him, but the brute reached down and grabbed Ceph’s leg instead.