Warrior of Mist: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG, page 1
WARRIOR
OF
MIST
Mists of Redemption Book 1
M. L . REID
To Mom, who has been my creative companion all my life.
And to Josh, for always supporting me and never complaining about my odd writing hours.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission from Podium Publishing.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2023 by Michelle Reid
Cover design by Podium Publishing
ISBN: 9-781-0394-3023-5
Published in 2023 by Podium Publishing, ULC
www.podiumaudio.com
Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
KESSTEL
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHAPTER 1
I was pretty sure this was how it felt to stand on top of a platform looking down at a tiny river below, knowing that the only thing keeping me alive was a bungee cord tied to my feet. Granted, I wasn’t actually bungee jumping, but right now, that might have been less scary. And I wasn’t the only one feeling like this, judging by the expressions of all the kids around me.
Yesterday, me and the other seventeen-year-olds graduated from school. Today, we would learn if we were either going on to higher learning with the rest of the humans or joining the ranks of the Hunters on the other side of the Wall.
“Ah, Jynn, I’m so nervous,” Marcie said, standing in line ahead of me. She shifted and looked back. “I knew I shouldn’t have eaten breakfast. My stomach’s all cramped up.”
I forced a smile and patted her back. It wasn’t like I was much better. “I didn’t think you’d be so nervous. You don’t have any Hunters in your family. Do you really think you’ll be one?”
She moaned and massaged her stomach. “No, but it’s not like they can go back over twenty years to check, right?”
It was true; there wasn’t a way. When my parents were growing up, magic was a myth. Then, twenty years ago, the Gates to another dimension appeared, and Earth and the humans inhabiting it changed.
I bit my lips and looked to my right, toward the Wall. Red bricked and ten feet high, it stretched out, cutting the city in half. People had been angry when it was first built. Families were torn apart—parents taken from their children, brothers and sisters separated, married couples split apart. But as harsh as it sounded, there was a solid reason. This side of the Wall was Garden City, where normal humans and everyone younger than seventeen lived. On the other side was Eden, where the Hunters—enhanced humans—resided.
Even more importantly, it was where the Gate was.
The Gate’s huge black arch loomed over the buildings in the distance. To the naked eye, there was nothing beyond the Gate. It was just a black, seemingly two-dimensional hole. One which spilled out wave upon wave of monsters—man-eating monsters that killed (or attacked) everything that moved—if the Hunters didn’t keep them under control, coming out and killing everything that moved.
Scientists theorized that humans developed into Hunters because of the Gates; that it was Earth’s way to defend itself, to evolve its already most-advanced species. When the Gates first appeared in each major country on Earth, random people across the globe started to Awaken with magical or enhanced powers, regardless of their age. Now, the most common age to Awaken was seventeen, so children have mandatory school until they graduate, then we’re all tested.
Ironically, the Wall which surrounded Eden wasn’t to keep the Hunters and monsters in. It was actually to keep the crazy humans out.
There were treasures and energy crystals in the Gate, so Hunters were generally pretty rich. The stronger the Hunter, the wealthier they became, but even an E-rank Hunter, the weakest rank available, still had a free ride in life as long as they brought enough energy crystals back. But a normal human with a normal weapon was nothing but dead on the other side of that Wall. Even Hunters had a high mortality rate, which was why they were paid so well.
My dad had lost his life in there ten years ago.
Everyone knew there were hundreds of Hunter deaths a year, but that didn’t stop the greed-hungry expressions of the kids around me. They stared at the platform ahead with open desire, dreams of being the next S-rank Hunter written all over their faces. In the entire US, there were only twenty-four of them. S rankers were the gods of the Hunter world; the strongest of the strong, they could level cities with one fire blast or punch. It’d been more than a year since the last one was announced, so the country was ready for another megastar to be added to their roster.
On top of the platform was a giant glass ball, taller than the two Hunters manning it. Every eye—from the students, the family members on portable rafters around the square, and the random watchers in the side crowds—was glued to that ball, waiting to see if it reacted when a boy or girl put their hand on it. If it lit up at all, whether it was red for mage or blue for melee, the person was ushered toward the Wall. The brighter it lit up, the higher the person’s rank was. I heard that when the last S rank was found, the ball glowed so bright it made the sun dim. If the ball didn’t react at all, the kid was normal. Shoo, go be normal.
Even as I watched, a kid walked up and laid his hand against it. Almost instantly, a glowing red stain appeared in the middle of the glass and spread until it filled the entire orb like a red light bulb.
The people crowded around the edge of the square cheered. Out of the two thousand or so students who had been tested so far, he was the six hundred and thirty-sixth newest Hunter to be found in Garden City. The kid puffed out his chest and strutted to the right side of the platform where a Hunter waited for him.
“Why didn’t we get farther back in the line, Jynn?” Marcie muttered her question.
My brows wrinkled as I looked around. “We did line up in the back, remember?” As it was, there were only a couple hundred kids behind us now. It was just that many kids had already been tested.
I couldn’t help but glance up into the rafters where the crowd sat. On the right side, my family watched me. I wanted to look at them, but at the same time, I couldn’t seem to bring myself to do it. My stomach twisted, and I nervously tapped my fingers on my thigh. If I became a Hunter, I could change their lives, give them a life worth living. But I’d have to leave them to do it. Even with regular visits, it wouldn’t be the same as waking up every morning to see my little sister’s sweet smile.
In no time, me and Marcie were at the front of the line, staring at the steps ahead. Marcie was shaking so badly she almost missed the step when the man on the stage beckoned her forward.
She looked at me, and I smiled in encouragement, even though I felt like throwing up. She practically ran up the steps and across the stage, slapping her hand on the ball hard enough that I could hear the thump from here.
I stared at the detector so hard that my eyes started to water.
Please, don’t change, I thought. Don’t change.
Her whole family was human, typical dentists—you couldn’t get more normal than that. Marcie wasn’t Hunter material; she’d never survive on the other side of the Wall.
“Human,” the Hunter on the right side of the detector called out.
Marcie’s knees bent like they were ready to give out. She sighed and patted her chest, then straightened up. She practically danced as she hurried to leave the stage. Before she disappeared down the stairs on the left, she turned and gave me a thumbs-up, mouthing, “You got this!”
I forced a smile before looking at the top of the platform. Sucking in a deep breath, I stepped up the stairs. It was almost like I was in someone else’s body as I walked across the stage on wooden legs. Thousands of eyes
Jeez, I hated being the center of attention. What did I do with my hands? Were my steps too big or too small? What if my ponytail was crooked?
But the worst part was the giant detector getting closer and closer. I stopped in front of it and looked up as it loomed over me. I wasn’t overly tall, but I’d never felt such a crushing weight before. This magical glass ball would completely control the course of my life. I either obeyed what it said or went to jail, so harshly black and white that most kids like me didn’t even bother to dream about what they wanted to do with their future until they were tested.
For myself, I just wanted to live. Human or Hunter, my family would collapse without me.
I took a breath and forced my heart to slow down. No matter what, I’ve got this.
I reached out and put my hand on the cold glass. I’d meant to slow down my heart rate, but it seemed to stop altogether as I watched the inside of the detector, just waiting for it to change color. And waited.
Nothing.
Slowly, I let out the air I didn’t realize I was holding.
The Hunter next to me opened his mouth. “Hum—” He stopped midword.
I paused just before I lifted my hand from the detector. At the center of the glass, a faint blue mist appeared. It slowly spread out, turning the entire ball a pale robin’s-egg blue.
CHAPTER 2
I stared at the pale blue, barely able to breathe. I was a Hunter. The crowd cheered behind me, albeit a softer cheer compared to others.
Instinctively, I turned my head and looked toward the crowd. Surrounded by people pushing in every direction was a fifteen-year-old girl with the same color of honey-brown hair as me and the same hazel eyes as my father. I didn’t have to see the tears to know she was crying, even though she was cheering with all her might. Behind her, my aunt, a near carbon copy of my mother, gripped my sister’s shoulders as my uncle stood by, both with solemn expressions.
They were the only family I had left in the world. On the other side of that Wall, there was no one waiting for me. Still, I’d be able to give them a better life by being a Hunter, right?
“Go on,” the Hunter beside me rumbled.
I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Oh, right.”
I forced a smile on my face and walked to the right. At the top of the stairs, I stopped and looked back. On the other side of the stage, head barely within sight, was Marcie. She was staring at me with huge, tear-filled eyes. She waved at me and mouthed, “I love you, Jynn. Bye!”
My forced smile became real as I waved back. “Love you. Bye!”
It wasn’t like I would never see them again. Hunters had to live in Eden, but they could visit Garden City whenever they wanted. Sometimes, humans even went to Eden.
At the bottom of the short stairs was a hallway with three doors, and standing next to the farthest one was a smiling man. I couldn’t help but pause at the sight of him. He wore a loose pale-blue mage robe over a white button-up shirt and gray slacks. His brown hair was long and tied in a ponytail which hung over his right shoulder.
Twenty years ago, people would have called him a cosplayer, but this was a common look for Hunters nowadays. Earth’s advanced technology didn’t work inside the Gate. Tanks broke down before they fully crossed the line, and bullets bounced off the weakest E-rank monster, not to mention that guns usually fell into pieces before the second shot.
Nearly half of Earth’s population was killed before Hunters realized that only specialized weapons made of materials found inside the Gate, wielded only by Hunters, could kill the monsters. Swords, daggers, bows—that was how they hunted. Even their armor was made from those materials. And since they used that style of weapons, their armor also followed the fantasy-like fashion, so it wasn’t uncommon to see the two styles mixed together, like this man’s business-casual clothes beneath mage robes.
“Greetings, and congratulations,” he said, motioning to the open door. “My name is Jonovan, and I’m going to help you get started as a Hunter.” Everything about him was friendly and professional.
I swallowed the nerves bubbling in the back of my throat and nodded. “Thank you.” This was the start of my new life. I am a Hunter now. My and my family’s lives were going to be better than before.
The room I entered looked a lot like a doctor’s exam room. There were a couple chairs along the wall and a padded bed in the middle of the space. Two very obvious security cameras hung from the ceiling.
I hated sitting up high on exam tables, so I sank down onto one of the chairs. Even then, my butt was only half on it. It took everything I had to keep my legs from bouncing.
Jonovan walked over to a laptop on a desk and sat down. “First, I’m going to input your information into the Hunter’s Association. Then I’m going to give you your Guide, and we’ll find out what rank you are, okay?”
In his soothing voice, he started to ask me questions, like my name, date of birth, and SSN. He then went over my weight, height, and physical descriptions. The only thing he didn’t ask me for was my zodiac sign. Just as I was about to conclude that the questions would never stop, he smiled at me. “Great, all done.”
He walked over to the doctor’s table and opened up a drawer at the end, reaching in and pulling out a clear rectangular case. Inside was a small cream-colored pearl. “I’m going to assume you passed your Hunters course in school and know what this is?” He glanced at me.
I nodded while my gaze wandered over to Jonovan’s right temple, where a pearl was embedded in his skin. And the one in his hand was going to be implanted in mine.
My heart started to beat faster.
He nodded, satisfied. “I’ll just go over it quickly then, as a reminder. This is a Guide. It has all the information available to the Hunter’s Association in it, which in turn is available to you as a Hunter. It will help guide you through the Gate, recognize beasts and plants inside, and even keep record of your daily needs and stats.” He opened the case and touched the pearl with his long, thin finger. “Sometimes, when first implanted, it can cause dizziness. Would you like to stay seated on the chair or lay down on the table, Miss Devhro?” The pearl began to glow faintly, like a mini moon. When I didn’t say anything, he glanced at me expectantly.
“Ah.” I blinked out of my thoughts. I could still barely believe all this was happening. “I’ll stay here. Thanks.” Quickly, I slid back until I felt the backrest.
“Alright.” He walked over to me and sat on the chair to my right. “This might hurt. Please bear with me.” He lifted one finger up, and the Guide rose into the air with the movement like it was attached to an invisible wire at the end of his finger. He pressed it to my temple.
When he said, “This might hurt,” what he really meant was, “This will feel like someone is hammering a stake into your head.” My eyes widened, and I sucked in a huge breath, my body freezing. My hands gripped together, and it was all I could do not to shrink away from the pain. I could feel the pearl pressing against my skin until my skin parted.
“You’re doing good.” Jonovan’s voice was right in my ear. “Almost there.”
The Guide slid into my skin and stopped just before it touched my skull.
“Done. Sorry that hurt so much.” Gently, he rested his fingers against my aching temple. A soft golden light flashed in my periphery, and the pain instantly disappeared. He smiled and patted my shoulder in comfort. “You did well. It’s been a long time since someone reacted like that. Honestly, most Hunters don’t even feel it because of the numbing magic coating the Guide.”
He was all smiles, but I couldn’t help but think there was a slight sadness in his eyes.
“What do you think?” He reached into a cabinet and handed me a mirror.
I took it and stared into it. Jeez. Under the harsh lights, the bags under my hazel eyes from a sleepless night couldn’t be more obvious. But that wasn’t what I should be looking at. I turned my head and saw the pearl mostly embedded in my skin. It was a testament of how awesome healing magic was that there was no swelling or anything; it was as if I’d been born with it. Really, he’d put it in a good spot. It sat perfectly in line with the corner of my eye.
“It looks great, thank you.” I handed back the mirror.
