Immortal Kings: A LitRPG Adventure (The World Over Book 2) Page 3

  Levo’s smile grew at Aegis’ excitement. “A fine offer. But I still have unfinished business here, lad. I don’t intend to let this splendid castle that I helped build with my bare hands… I can’t let this guild’s reputation be torn asunder.”

  Aegis closed one eye in preparation for what he was about to say. “But they stuck you on guard duty.”

  “New leadership often fears strength.” Levo winked. “Now, be off before one of the Ear’s little whisperers report back to the Throne.”

  Aegis relaxed, holding out a hand. “Whether or not your ink is on my charter, I consider you an ally to Shields, good sir.”

  “Bold.” Levo grabbed him, using his considerable strength to take control of the handshake. “Often in politics, the wrong foot started is the right one ended.”

  Aegis’ eye twitched as he tried making sense out of that one.

  “Farewell, for now.”

  Aegis watched Levo push open the door to a bright shining day and immaculate gardens, with the four of his friends all huddled together looking at a parchment in hand, which he realized was now visible to the others.

  Silver walked up first, arrogant expression evident. “I take it you no longer think we’re going to the ball, Levo?” He held up the letter. “Aegis must’ve made some impression if he came out with a quest of this proportion. These items…”

  “They’re worth more than Oofan’s axe!” Flatpuss blurted.

  Aegis’ eyes widened at the mention, showing clenched teeth in hopes that she could read his expression from behind Levo. He indicated a slit throat to cut it out, and when she threw her hands over her mouth, he knew she realized what she’d done.

  “Idiot.” Silverline sighed.

  Levo laughed for the first time in their presence, which made Aegis stiffen with fear. “You think I didn’t notice Oofan’s two closest confidants sandwiched between your thumb on that guild charter?” He laughed again. “It’s quite alright. I rather liked the burly Shardswinger when he was with us. Thinks outside the box, that’s for sure.”

  Silver smacked Flat upside the head anyway.

  “Rug munchin’ peanut.” She growled back at him while rubbing the sting, and then turned to Resuel. “No offense, love.”

  Resuel’s face scrunched in what Aegis guessed was a mix of confusion and disgust. “Never a dull moment with you.”

  “You all are quite likable.” Levo rested his hands on his hips. “Reminds me of my beginnings.”

  “You had a Flatpuss?” Silver pointed at her as if she were a specimen.

  “Gods no. But we had our fun too.” He smiled at them. “Now run along before I change my mind about those rewards.”

  The group crowded Aegis as he made his way to the bottom of the steps.

  “Well, did they sign?” Silver pressed.

  Resuel pushed forward next. “Did you meet the Throne? Hope you inspected his armor. Apparently it’s a legendary artifact. One of a kind!”

  “Oy. Any big kitties in there? Must’ve been some high-level Ferals with all types.”

  “Can I take these damn clothes off yet?” Lee scowled.

  Aegis only walked past the crowd, considering how to tell them that he’d failed terribly, but for Levo’s faith in him. “Let’s just say, we’re not welcome here…”

  He then proceeded to explain his story, how he was essentially dragged onto a stage where apples and shoes were hurled at him just for existing. How even with rumors swirling around about the Battle of Hearthden, no one would take a level ten seriously. He didn’t blame them, honestly, though they could’ve been more tactful about it.

  “A harsh lesson.” Silver’s lips folded into a line.

  “Screw ‘em, then. We don’t have to carry out any quests on their behalf.” Lee sneered.

  “That’s the thing,” Aegis said. “Levo doesn’t seem very connected to the inner circle in there. Looks like he has his own agenda. My gut says to trust him, and apparently, we need those items.”

  Silver pulled a tome from his sack, flipped through a few chunks of pages, and cleared his throat. “Talisman of the Unheard – opens a portal calling forth fifteen assassins from the Mercenaries’ Nest, which is a union of mute Natives meant to defend Dark Weaver caves. When summoned, these Natives are to fight on the wearer’s behest for a duration that varies depending on level. This is a level twenty-plus item. The cooldown is two weeks.”

  “That would’ve been nice at Hearthden, ey?”

  “They are a nasty lot,” Lee agreed. “A valuable item indeed.”

  “Alright then, I say let’s take a stab at it. We need to start leveling again anyway.” Aegis glanced at his map. “Vul’doug Mines… Vul’doug Mines.” He searched around with his finger, until Silver’s pointer startled him when it patted the correct location.

  “‘A’ for effort, but let me save you the time. It’s right there, under the Skyder mountains. And you see that?” Silver zagged his finger around one section of the map. “The path is long and winding, and we have to go through Browlertin.” He grimaced.

  “Mm.” Resuel echoed Silver’s concern. “Everyone returning from there always has some colorful bruises.”

  “Sounds fun!” Flat egged. “Though I really don’t feel like taking arrows to the gut again. Could do without the pain, yeh?”

  “Lee, what are you doing?” Aegis shouted in his loudest whisper as the Undercut slipped into the shadows and reappeared near a row of plants in the Immortal Kings’ garden. “Lee!”

  He crouched down and held out his hands, obviously taking advantage of some rare herb that caught his eye. His palms glowed as they cupped over the plant, until a very noticeable patch in the otherwise immaculate design stuck out.

  Lee slipped back. “Chul-weed. We’re going to need this where we’re going.” He held it up before putting it in his bag.

  “Any other scenes you’d like to make?” Silver scanned the group. “Anyone? Flat? Aegis? Okay, good.” He dove back into the map. “Best route to take is behind the castle. It’s steep, though.”

  “Great.” Aegis gulped.

  And so they trekked past the side of the castle, admiring its spectacular spires and dazzling architecture, until making it to the backside of the mountain. Aegis forgot to breathe when every small step forward revealed more and more open space that seemed to extend down infinitely. It reminded him of the Death Realm, only more color and less cloud slides. Seeing treetops from an overhead view was daunting knowing he had to somehow get down.

  A gryphon would be nice right about now.

  Lee took two quick steps and flipped down first before anyone could protest, earning a gasp from the others. But when Aegis walked over to the ledge to find that Lee had caught a rock crevice with his blade, he huffed with relief.

  Then Aegis noticed his hands shaking from knowing he was up next.

  Shit.

  His teeth began to clatter as he crouched like a boy hiding from Sweepers, hesitantly inching toward the edge, hugging the rock as best he could. Positioning himself slowly down the first boulder, winds rapidly rose up his backside as if trying to push him back onto flat ground. He agreed with its sentiment, but fought against it nonetheless.

  It’s only temporary. If I fall, it will only hurt for a second.

  The awful affirmation did nothing to stifle his fear, however. Every audible breath was as shaky as the last, and shutting his eyes as tightly as he could did nothing to tear him away from reality.

  Just keep going.

  Ten minutes of a steady snail-like pace downward only heightened the anxiety. His muscles ached to the point where he worried he might not have the strength to make it all the way to the bottom, and he couldn’t help but think of his weak, sickly body back in Belna… how he would’ve perished already had he not possessed the strength of his Idol.

  Snap out of it. Keep going.

  Aegis could sense how annoyed the group was getting waiting for him to move, especially since Lee was already near the bo
ttom – slithering in and out of shadows and hopping rocks like there was nothing to worry about.

  “Oy, move it!” Flat called to him from the top, prompting everyone to look up. “Ey Silver, stop looking at my arse. Your lady’s right there!”

  Silver shook his head and scoffed.

  Ten more minutes yielded the same slow pace.

  “Smider’s Peak sucks,” Flat complained, stretching her leg carefully down the next set of rocks, desperately feeling for a groove.

  “The Immortal Kings suck,” Aegis added, peeking over his shoulder after every unpleasant bit of progress.

  A goat awkwardly positioned on a rock stared at them, chewing grass nonchalantly as if it were watching a show.

  “Ugh.” Resuel finally caved. “I didn’t want to have to do this… but since I’m an adventurer now, I’m sure I won’t have to worry about dice as much.”

  Aegis furrowed his brow as he watched the Ethedin pull two feather-engraved runes from her bag and hand one to Silver above her. She whispered some kind of joking apology about him having to go with Flat since he was closer, and then climbed down to Aegis’ side.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hi?”

  She then took one of his hands.

  “Resuel, I’m flattered, but I don’t think this is the best place to have a dance.” He laughed nervously, glancing toward the depths with one less limb anchored onto the rocks.

  “Relax.” She peered down, and then yelled, “Flistis!”

  The rune in her hand suddenly became aglow, as did Silver’s, and before Aegis could ask any more questions, Resuel kicked off the rock and took Aegis flying with her.

  “Ah! You psycho! Ahh!” He felt his nails scrape as he tried desperately to claw onto a boulder to no avail. His stomach lurched at the feeling of freefall, arms flailing desperately to get out of Resuel’s grasp. But after a second, he froze, realizing that he was falling at an incredibly reduced speed. No, not falling… floating.

  He heaved in dismay, eyes wide as he looked down at an impossibly long drop that he was somehow manageably descending. It was like there was an invisible parachute guiding their fall. He looked up to confirm there was nothing of the sort, and then landed his gaze on the Ethedin once more. “You… had these the whole time?”

  “If I’m to be the Guild Dice Broker, you’d best hope I watch my spending.”

  Aegis sighed as he marveled at the view, and then was interrupted by Flat spinning Silver into nauseating circles.

  “Fun, in’it?” She laughed as Silver scowled.

  “I swear I’m going to light your hair on fire when we get down there.”

  “Oy, that’s not very Seles-like!”

  Their voices faded as they circled past Aegis and Resuel.

  The Ethedin tried her best not to giggle at the ridiculousness, and then broke into laughter when Aegis told her not to get any ideas.

  “I miss this,” she admitted, watching as her boots emitted continuous golden feathers that dissipated into the wind. “You lose something by sitting behind a desk all day.”

  “Oh yeah?” Aegis hesitantly loosened his grip around her slightly. “A desk sounds real nice right about now.”

  “It has its perks. No screaming or threats of being stomped on by a thromp, or burned alive by a maeldron, but… there are no stories to tell being an innkeeper. You only get to listen to them.”

  Aegis tilted his head. “I guess I never thought of it since I’ve always been on the move, in Belna and otherwise.”

  Resuel peered at him as if they had just finished their slow dance. “You remember the Reflecting Pool – seeing our ‘true’ selves in that reflection.” She shivered. “It’s hard to even think of it now that we have these wonderful Idols to hide behind. But one thing was always certain: We were all running from something back there.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “Not to worry. Eventually… there will be peace. One day you’ll have your chance to sit tranquilly in Strathmar, hopefully in a guild house of your own. One that’s even more vast than the one we leapt away from.”

  Aegis smiled at the idea. “Would be nice.” He let the thought linger in his mind before snapping to. “But you have to promise me something, Res. Never… and I mean never let me lose myself.” His form flickered the moment he said it.

  “I think you’d better swap out that shield if you mean it.”

  His lips folded inward. In truth, he loved his Wraith Shield. Feeling somehow connected to the legendary Urias Thundersharp gave him more mental strength than he’d given it credit for. And his appearance was more powerful too. He was taller, stronger, more durable in the face of danger… so what some whispering voices found his ears once in a while? The side effect of madness was a long way away.

  “I’ll think about it,” he lied.

  Not long after, winds began to warm as they descended, the landscape of trees now stretching far to either side. Crack. Crack. Branches snapped underfoot as they covered their faces and straightened their legs to fall lightly into the trees, until touching down harmlessly near a white-brick pathway with weeds growing out of it.

  “No more red carpets or trimmed hedges.” Resuel dusted herself off.

  “I’m happy to be free of it, if we’re being honest.”

  Aegis grabbed his shield when two beast carcasses were hurled at his feet.

  “Took you long enough.” Lee stalked forward, cleaning his blade. “Well? Go ahead. Skin ‘em. You said you wanted to try different crafts, right?”

  “I thought we settled on ‘molder’?” Aegis swallowed hard. “I’d much rather be forging imbued armor than… well, you know.”

  “Suit yourself, pussy.” Lee started carving right in front of them, triggering a harrowing gasp from Flatpuss when she emerged from one of the bushes.

  “Oy, do you have to be so brutal about it, love? Show some care to the animals. Sheesh.”

  Lee growled as he worked, muttering something about her annoying voice.

  “Yep, this is it.” Silver emerged next, pointing to the pathway while eyeing the map. “The winding road to Browlertin.” He exchanged the map for a tome in his bag and signaled everyone forward.

  “Our tour guide hard at work.” Aegis stepped over the leftover carcasses to follow him.

  As they trekked, Aegis scoured through the contents in his bag, gaining more and more of an understanding of how the endless sack worked. He merely needed to think of the items he’d previously dropped inside in order to bring them to the forefront. Even more, he was able to organize them side-by-side without them falling back into the black hole.

  He cupped a glowing yellow potion in his hand, for which its lens read:

  x1 Idenia Liquescent – formula used to amplify Infusion abilities.

  Effect: A one-tiered single target ability will become a multi-tiered, multi-targeted ability for a short duration.

  Imbuable using DE (Determination Essence).

  He then cycled to the next red potion:

  x1 Doctun Seeded Serum – formula used to enhance precision.

  Effect: Accuracy increased by 100 percent for a short duration.

  Imbuable using DE (Determination Essence).

  I know who I’m saving that one for. Aegis smirked to himself, thinking of the Feral beside him, before analyzing a few more potions that were beyond his level. He considered his Transcendent status, wondering if he could somehow bypass the level restriction. But so far, any measured logic didn’t seem to coincide with how his level-breaking affinity worked. It was always in some dire situation, or if the need arose. Only then would new abilities become permanently unlocked.

  Silverline cleared his throat. “Anyone know anything about Browlertin? No? Didn’t think so. I’d buckle up my illiterate, uneducated Narbors.” He held up a finger while scanning a tome.

  “Oy! I can read!”

  Aegis grinned as he listened, noting the creatures alongside his path were a few levels lower, and didn’t
present any imminent danger.

  “Dubbed the Town of Unfounded Hate, Browlertin is a place of deep-seeded conflict stemming back to the days of Beta, when the Painters, Architects, and Dreamers were still figuring out how to govern the land of Strathmar,” Silver began. “Apparently the town’s origins – conflict – proved to be so essential to the leveling system that creators decided to leave it in as a souvenir, of sorts. Since it has withstood the tests of time here, its inhabitants, who are mostly Native, have seeded and nurtured this age-old odium to provide a grand clash.”

  “Uh… is there a way around it?” Aegis asked. “Or maybe Resuel can conjure more of those feather runes and we can jump over the entire town.”

  “Clever idea,” Resuel admitted.

  “Feather runes?” Lee scowled. “You used feather runes to get down here? Pussies,” he reiterated.

  “Quiet!” Silver scolded. “There are two dissenting peoples in this town: the Alabasters, who believe their white banners should be placed and hung throughout all the surrounding houses, and the Ridearks, who believe their red banners should be placed and hung throughout all the surrounding houses.”

  “Why not just hang both?” Aegis shrugged.

  “Or neither,” Resuel replied.

  “Apparently, once drawn into the town’s aura, you become compelled to pick a side.” Silver lifted his head from the book. “Aegis, you might remember that overwhelming negative feeling when you were poisoned by those stalkers in the Jarnar Swamps. Ring any bells?”

  Aegis nodded.

  “Or by that maddening shield,” Resuel said facetiously.

  “What’s with you and the shield?” Aegis made a playfully irritated expression.

  Flatpuss sniffed in animated fashion, first inching toward Lee, who backed up, then toward Resuel. “I smell a jelly belly.”

  “I am not jealous,” Resuel declared. “Perturbed by its warnings, is all.”

  “Shh!” Silver silenced them. “My point is, you may become influenced by the aura. Your thoughts may sway in one direction or another due to its sensory effects. And no, we cannot ‘jump over’ the town, Aegis. The aura’s expanse is far too wide.” He pointed to the circumference measurements. “So I say we embrace whatever’s in store.”