A Litrpg and Gamelit Harem Adventure Bundle: (4 Novels) Page 8

  One by one the captains of each ship answered, whistling as well. As if the moment wasn’t weird enough, they all lifted their right hands and murmured a few words. Instantly, an earthquake occurred, carrying huge waves against the ships, letting water go through the small holes in the wooden walls. The mountains ahead split, creating an accessible, and suitable passage for everyone. The sea on the other side was quieter, as if another world was hidden there, and could only be seen with permission.

  We sailed toward the opening, and the other ships followed us. After 20 minutes there was land in sight, a normal sandy beach, which led to a forest, whose trees looked centuries old, their wood-aged and wrinkled.

  We landed on the beach and changed clothes to something more casual. Joannie had warned us that wearing armor could be a risk if they thought we were getting ready to fight. We were outnumbered and had no clue what skills and levels they had. We kept our weapons with us, but hands away from them.

  It took only a few minutes before the beach was filled with lots of players ranging from level 3 to 7, all with cloaks over their hair, enough to cover their faces. The captains, who were level 9, walked toward us and stopped a few steps away. They looked at us from top to bottom, analyzing our weapons, bodies, and anything else that would give them an advantage in case a fight broke out. One of them, the one who seemed older, asked us with what authority and audacity dared we entered their land. He was even bigger than Loras and had a helmet with two bent horns on it. He had a scar on his right cheek, which had been inflicted long ago, and wielded a huge ax in his left hand.

  “We are here to talk to your leaders,” Joannie said.

  “That’s not going to happen.” He replied and gripped his hand tightly around his ax.

  “Tell them Joannie is here. I might have something good for them.”

  A wave of murmurs spread across the beach, with several players gossiping about her. Everyone knew who she was. The chief captain changed his speech and introduced himself as Goliath. He asked us to follow him, and that he would lead us to his bosses. No one pestered us on the way to the forest.

  The deeper we got the harder it became to know the way back. We had turned several times to the right, a few to the left, but everything still looked the same. I could feel eyes gazing at us from the trees, attentive, and following our every move. I even saw a strange ooze trickling down the trunks. The bushes were dark green, almost black, and smelled like sour milk. The only noise was the sound of our soles breaking the branches on the wet ground.

  I had no idea if it had been 20 minutes or an hour since we started walking, but my feet were already sore, and I had sweat running down my face. A few minutes later we arrived at Riverdant. It had a western look, reminiscent of those cities I used to see in cowboy movies when I was younger. At the entrance, there were two heads impaled on a pike. There was a bar, a place to rest, horses wandering around, and a proper space to train and fight. In the center, there was a huge grey building with only one window on each side. The metal gate was protected by 10 guards, armed with different weapons and armor whose material reflected the sun.

  We looked at each other, and at that moment, we realized that our lives were no longer in our hands. We had lost that assurance as soon as we stepped foot on the sand. Goliath ordered us to wait at the door while he spoke to his chiefs and waited for new orders. The guards stood motionless, focused on us, prepared for whatever madness we may try to commit.

  “I don’t like to follow orders.” Said Jones.

  “Neither do I, but there’s nothing we can do,” Brie replied.

  “Trust me. They’ll want to talk to us. They can’t resist it. As soon as they hear that I have something good for them, their minds will explode thinking about a new powerful item to add to their collection.” Joannie said and smiled. She was either overconfident, or she was just fantastic at faking it.

  “You better be right,” Brie said.

  We waited in silence. It took a while for Goliath to return.

  “You can go but leave your weapons at the entrance. They’re on the last floor.” He said, before turning around and walking toward his army.

  “I told you. They won’t harm us if no one tries anything stupid. They can’t have rumors spreading around about hurting a possible seller. It would hurt their business.” Joannie said.

  It frightened me how much she knew about these transactions. We climbed the long staircase that had over 50 stairs until we reached the top. Whoever engendered the building could have included an elevator. When we got to the top floor we faced another door, this time it was a steel black one and was protected by two level 12 players. One of them had high-end armor and a sword on his grey belt and the other one wore a brown cloak and had black gloves with two red scratches. They moved aside and signaled for us to enter.

  Joannie went first, and we followed her.

  If something bad happened we depended on magic, and on physical combat, and I wasn’t good at either. As soon as we walked in, the woman closed the door with a finger snap. Maybe it was something they always did, maybe it was a demonstration of power. There was a barrier preventing us from seeing their level similar to what happened with the faceless man.

  There were 3 people in the room. On the right side, a thin, blonde, blue-eyed man, with a fringe up to his eyebrows, and on the left side, a girl with brown, concave eyes, red hair, and a ruby-encrusted wand, in her left hand. I had never seen a sorcerer with an accessory, and I didn’t want to discover its abilities. The guy in the middle was the boss. He was dressed casually, and unarmed. He seemed a genuine businessman and not a player.

  “I thought I told you that if I saw you here again I’d kill you.” He said, as his eyes pierced through Joannie’s soul.

  “I know, and you know I wouldn’t come here if it wasn’t needed.”

  “What do you want, and what do you have to offer?”

  “Straight to business, as usual. I bet you have heard things about the faceless man that attacked Viribirus…”

  “Let me stop you right there.” He said, interrupting her. “He didn’t just attack your town. He attacked several cities across this world. He even attacked two of our armies that were stationed on Dremigon. He’s not one of us.” He said.

  “But do you have any clue who he is?” She asked and walked up to him.

  “You’re asking too many questions. However, yes. We might know something. If you’re thinking of going against him, think twice. He’s stronger than the three of us combined.” He said and pointed at him and his colleagues.

  “Tell us what you know and if there’s a way to fight him. We’ll do anything you want.” She shouted. I had never heard her so serious.

  “Well, that works for me. There are rumors about him being an ex-employee of the company that created the game, wanting revenge for being dismissed.”

  “I heard about that on the television. He stole something from their building and caused a fire that sprawled through two floors.” I said, without even thinking.

  Everyone looked at me, and I knew right away that I shouldn’t have talked.

  “Who’s this little guy? I hadn’t seen him before. Level 5? I didn’t know you still hung out around those anymore.”

  “I have a name,” I replied. I wasn’t going to let him treat me like that.

  Loras hit me with his elbow and nodded his head in disapproval. I knew I shouldn’t but I couldn’t control myself.

  “He’s brave. I hope you don’t let this one die.” He said.

  Joannie clenched her first. She had protruding veins in her arms and hands, her pupils had widened, and her eyes seemed to have a red hue. Anger corrupted her, and she was about to lose her temper. She put one foot in front of the other, swung and tried to punch the man right in his face.

  He didn’t even try to dodge.

  Her hand went through his face. He was using an item that made him permeable, therefore it was impossible to touch him. He laughed and told her she had yet
to learn how to control her dark side.

  “I can teach you, you know?” He said.

  “I don’t want anything from you. You killed my friends, I won’t ever forget that.” She said and got ready to leave.

  “I thought you wanted to know how to defeat the faceless man.”

  She stopped.

  “Do you know anything, or are you just messing with me?” She asked, without turning around.

  “I might know, but I need something in return.” He said while writing on a white sheet.

  “I’m not surprised. Say it.”

  “Take this. Everything you need to know is there.”

  She grabbed the paper and read it intently.

  “We can do this, sure.” She said and walked toward the door.

  “I hope you don’t die. We still have things to solve.”

  He seemed willing to help us because he too feared what the faceless man could do. Fear was always a great catalyst for a person’s sudden change. I’d have to ask Joannie about her apprentice who died, without trying to force it or being disrespectful. Her secretive past, which tormented and agonized her, pulled me toward her. I always had a crush on girls who were more than a shallow board, and she fit the profile.

  We followed her again until we were back to the gate. They returned our weapons. Goliath informed us about the best place in town to rest and told us all about the good places to level up. Wherever we were going I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and I couldn’t stay level 5 forever. I needed to invest twice as much as the others.

  Despite the white clouds and the heat, there was a layer of dust running through the city. Small swirls of sand and dust flew into our faces, and there they stayed as unwanted guests. They didn’t cause any harm, but they turned into a problem when they entered our eyes. I walked most of the way with one eye closed, and the other half-closed, as tears streamed down my face.

  When we arrived at the resting place, they offered us a room for each of us. We suspected that it could be a way to separate us so we decided to keep the same pairs we had on the ship, in case something awful happened.

  “Aren’t you going to tell us what it says on the paper?” Brie inquired Joannie.

  “I will. You need to loosen up a bit. It says that we must go to Immortuos, the city of the living dead. And while we are there, we need to go to the ruins and grab an item for him. He also wrote that there’s someone there, a guy named Krespo, that may be able to help us.”

  “May?” asked Jones.

  “Yes. Look, guys, I know this isn’t perfect, but it’s all we got, and it’s better than nothing.”

  She was right. At least we were one step closer to a solution, to a way of saving this condemned world. We arranged to meet the next day, at 11 pm, at the front door. Before we left, Brie had the idea of going to the tavern to relax, to drink something and talk to some players. She thought we could find out more, something that they might be hiding from us.

  Chapter IV

  The rest went to sleep, while Brie, Loras, and I went to the tavern. It was a huge place, whose cozy lights didn’t match the whole vibe and aesthetic. There were dozens of tables, all of them with several players playing cards, while a bartender was handing out drinks. At first, I thought he was an NPC because of the respectful way they all treated him, but I quickly realized that the respect came from how much they feared what could happen if they touched him.

  We sat at a table in a corner, and everyone looked at us. The murmurs increased, and we were about to get up and leave when the bartender whistled and told everyone to calm down. He said the bar was a neutral place. Any damage done there would be paid by the offender. He ended up coming to our table and offering us a drink.

  “You’re the guys who went to talk to Tillian, aren’t you?” He asked as he sipped on his drink.

  “Tillian?” I asked.

  “The big boss around these lands. I always forget most people don’t even know his name. He’s really secretive about all that stuff, you know? Afraid of someone more powerful, even more since the faceless man appeared.” He said.

  We all looked at each other.

  “I’m not drunk, don’t worry. I’m telling you this because I know you might be this place’s last chance. People aren’t the brightest in here. All they want is a fight and blood, and then more blood. It gets tiring after a while, but I don’t tend to judge them. I was once like them, I just grew up, I guess.”

  He stopped to drink more, “But as I was saying, there’s something he’s not telling you. If someone asks you how you know this, you better not tell them it was me, but Immortuos isn’t what everyone thinks it is. When people talk about it they say exaggerated things like it’s the island of the living dead, and how it’s impossible to kill someone that is already dead.”

  “In fact, I believe it’s worse than that. Players who live there aren’t dead but they wish they were. They don’t care about anything. Immortuos is what Reverdant was supposed to be if it weren’t for everyone’s respect for Tillian and his army. Players there will die just to have a slight chance of killing one of you. Well, that’s everything for today. Enjoy the night.” He said and walked away.

  “Do we believe him?” Brie asked.

  It seemed too unreal. A random guy that seemed to want to help despite working for one of the bad guys? Were we that lucky? I could understand why, but he was still risking his life for us. The alcohol was stronger than I thought, and it also affected my real-life body.

  Loras got up and began dancing with a random ginger who had been glancing at him since we arrived. I stayed with Brie. I was timid at first and didn’t say a word. I wasn’t afraid to talk to her, but I dreaded she would leave if I asked her what I was dying to ask. It wasn’t about her, so she might not be inclined to talk. I sipped noisily, and felt the alcohol flowing through me, making me dumber and bolder.

  “Look, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

  “You’ll do it even if I don’t want you too.” She replied and crossed her arms.

  “You don’t have to answer, but what was that story about Jonnie’s ex-apprentice dying?” I asked.

  “Do we have to talk about her?” Brie asked me, with a pouty face.

  “Please?” I asked as my speech slurred.

  “There’s nothing much to say. She was teaching him everything about this game when they got surrounded by pirates. She fought them off, but not before he got killed. I think his name was Damien, or something similar. He was a nice guy. I had warned him about the dangers of going with her, but he was so excited about it. I should have tried harder, you know?” She said, and sipped, “I know she hasn’t had an easy life. She went through a lot of stuff, and I don’t hate her. Sometimes I wish she would think about others instead of worrying and crying for them after they’re gone.”

  I had never seen her so emotional. Not even when her mate died. I put my hand over hers, and she blushed. However, she didn’t take her hand away. The confidence between us was growing, and I hoped that it would lead to something more. Being attracted to two girls wasn’t the most intelligent decision, and I knew it could have its fair share of consequences but it wasn’t like I could just ignore my feelings for one of them.

  Loras was also enchanted by the girl he was dancing with, and they seemed to be talking about taking it up to the next level. She was whispering in his ear, and his hands were near her ass. It didn’t take more than a few minutes to have him asking me if he could use our room, and warning me that they could take a while. Luckily, I could just log out in any room, and Brie told me I could use hers.

  “Thank you, dude. By the way, you can call me Trent.” He said, before leaving, with his arm around the girl’s waist.

  “I’m Tim,” I replied, but he was already lost in the crowd.

  “You’re different from the others,” Brie said, stumbling slightly over her own words.

  “Me? Why?”

  “I don’t know, but there’s something ab
out you. When the faceless man attacked you didn’t need to help us, but you did. No one else did. They were all too frightened, too cowardly, or focused on other things.”

  I had never told her why I did it. It wasn’t like I wanted to save everyone, I just wanted to be seen as a hero, to have people noticing me and feel worth it for once. Surprisingly, it worked far better than I thought. All my life I wandered through earth, hoping I’d figure out what was my calling, my reason to be alive. But I never did, and it only took a week in this game to have one.

  Maybe I’d end up dying and quitting the game, or maybe I’d sacrifice myself for them, that was what heroes did. But there was also a tiny chance of becoming the biggest of them all. Stories would be told about my achievements, my greatness, my kindness. Women would get in line to have a chance with me, and I would be able to live with the money I made from the game.

  A man could only dream.

  “My body moved on its own. It was the right thing to do.” I said. Lying created a rift between us she had yet to know existed. One day I would be caught and I would have to confess my true reasons, but for now, I was safe. She thanked me, grabbed my arm, and ordered me to get up.

  “Let’s go. We’re going on a walk.”

  The flickering lights shone upon us while the noisy voices became a tremendous nuisance every time we tried to exchange a few words. We went through the impetuous sea of people that were still in the tavern and finally left that riotous place.

  We stared at the moon for a while, still holding hands, and just breathing slowly, listening to each other breathe. The romantic moment didn’t last long. As we were walking home three level 4 thieves, wearing black masks, surrounded us.

  “Look at the cute couple, holding hands and shit.” One of them said, and they all burst out laughing.