Hack, Slash & Burn 2: A LitRPG Fantasy, page 9
“He finally did. That’s when I revealed to him what I had seen. You, in that damned village of yours. He had laughed, knowing an army would be marching straight through it. Knowing you would be dead within a day of our conversation. At first I had thought him callous, ordering the death of his own son. His only son, at that. But I realised the truth—you’re a stain on his legacy. How could you be anything but, working with him.” Marcus nodded at Calder, disdain filling his voice.
“So why aren’t you more surprised to see me?” Peter asked.
Marcus smiled. He visibly relaxed, the shock of having scanned their levels seeming to dissipate. He tapped his forehead. “I heard you were coming, though I couldn’t have guessed you were coming to me.” He smiled.
Peter’s eyebrows pinched together. “You heard we were coming, how could you—”
Calder clutched the Hunter’s shoulder. “They have a Spirit Construct.”
“We have more than that.” Marcus raised his left arm. From it, a screen appeared, showing a Proximity Scanner. On the screen was a mini-map. It showed two blinking red dots next to a blue one.
Calder’s hand came to rest on the hilt of his sword below the table. Those two blinking red dots were him and Peter. The blue one was Marcus.
And there were several more blue dots—three more, to be exact—outside of the tavern. The rest of his party. “You have a blasted Proximity Scanner?”
“Ah. You know what this is? That’s interesting.” Marcus tapped the top of his forearm, his hand moving straight through the projected screen. “Strange, the Soldiers of Light never provided us with such technology. Nor did they ever provide us with the ability to create portals, as I discovered the two of you were able to do. The commander of the orcs, however… well, he provided a very pleasing offer to the emperor. One he couldn’t refuse.” Marcus smiled. “It came with a few perks.” He tilted his head to the side. “Oh, and if you know what this is, you must know how it works.” He raised his arm so they could see the screen more clearly. “Those blue dots? Those are only the people in my party. There are far more Darktouched out there. In fact, the entire tavern is completely surrounded. You see, once we knew you intended to enter the city, we, well, let you, then we had a non-Touched follow you—just so you wouldn’t scan them and get suspicious. Apparently you didn’t even notice them at all.”
Marcus casually picked up his mug of ale, leant back in his chair, and took a generous sip. He swirled the liquid around in the mug, raising an eyebrow. “Lacks what it used to, but it still tastes fairly pleasing.”
“And that surprise you just showed, from seeing our levels?” Peter asked. “If you have a Spirit Construct, someone you’re in contact with must have scanned us before we reached you.”
“My mother always did tell me I had a knack for acting. I suppose she was right.” Marcus looked smug, leaning farther back in his chair.
Calder was inclined to push him right off it.
Peter’s shoulders slouched. He looked at Calder. “Feel free to say it.”
Calder raised an eyebrow. “Say what?”
“You know what.”
Calder cleared his throat. “I told you this was a terrible idea.”
“Oh, and by the way”—Marcus raised a finger—“don’t expect to be able to create a portal to escape. Those don’t currently function within the city. Another neat trick the commander taught us.”
“You were right too, Peter.” Calder moved backward and stood, the chair he sat on making an awful sound as it scratched across the tavern floor. “This man can’t be redeemed.” Though there wasn’t time to change into his Sage Full Plate, he wasn’t about to fight this fight with a crappy falchion.
Slipping his hand into his pouch of holding, Calder grabbed his Sage Sword and Sage Shield. Peter didn’t waste any time, equipping himself with his bow and strapping his quiver back around him.
“It won’t do you any good.” Marcus loudly sipped from his mug. “We’ve taken your high level into account.” He nodded at the tavern door. “Outside are ten level 50 Orc Dominators.” He sipped from his ale. “That should be enough.”
Orc Dominators. Calder set his jaw. He had defeated a fair few of those at the Battle of Berring. Though in the Battle of Berring, he’d had help. He’d had a defender’s bonus.
Now it was just him and Peter, and the enemy had the damned defender’s bonus.
“We walked into a city-sized trap.” Calder half-turned away from Marcus, keeping the man in his peripheral vision. He activated his Proximity Scanner and glanced down at it. Sure enough, there were thirteen blinking red dots surrounding the tavern. Three must have been Marcus’s party, like he had seen on that man’s mini-map, the others would be the Orc Dominators.
And a small river of blinking red inched toward the tavern from the direction of the gates, about a mile away. More orcs? Or Touched Imperial Soldiers, come to witness this fight? Calder didn’t know, and didn’t care.
They had to get the hell out of this place.
Chapter 9
The patrons in the rundown, crap-hole of a tavern were all standing now. Apparently they had caught wind of what was happening, most likely because the three Touched had stopped bothering to keep their voices down.
Though the patrons probably didn’t realise that one of them was the prince. Calder doubted it would make much of a difference even if they did.
Calder activated Tough Skin. He glanced at the mini-map, formulating a plan. At least, trying to formulate one.
They had gotten themselves into a right mess. Should have turned back around the second we realised this place was overrun with Darktouched. How could they have been so foolish? The Avatar of Darkness they had fought at the Battle of Berring had had a pouch of holding strapped around him. It wasn’t so much of a stretch to imagine these bastards wielding Proximity Scanners and having Spirit Constructs.
Calder just… hadn’t considered it, as none of the enemies they had faced in the Dark World where they trained had been aware of their presence without actually seeing or hearing them.
Not all Darktouched are created equally. The Proximity Scanners and the Spirit Constructs, as far as he was aware, had been invented by humans. Humans, not being natural—not ulasna, as the elves he had briefly met in the Dark World had called them—had found they could create more than just Weapon Stones to even the playing field.
And there were humans that were Darktouched. Not just on this world, but others. Apparently that meant that higher level Darktouched had access to the same technology as they did. I’ve never seen an orc use one of those things.
Calder shoved those thoughts down. Now wasn’t the time to puzzle this out. The problem wasn’t that they had Proximity Scanners and Spirit Constructs.
The problem was there were ten Orc Dominators outside that tavern door, and they couldn’t portal out of this place to escape. We can’t use world portals… but that doesn’t mean we can’t use localised portals.
Going out the back door would be pointless, as every entrance was covered. In Calder’s training of his Portal spell, he had always had to see where he wished a portal to go to create it, which also placed a limit on how far he could go—he could only create a portal that was within his range of vision.
And this place had no windows.
Calder cast Fireball and Lightning Bolt, enchanting his blade. Flames and electricity danced across the length of the Sage Sword, making shadows flit and play across the walls of the dimly lit tavern. He heard many an intake of breath and shuffle of feet as the patrons moved farther away from him.
He pointed the blade straight at Marcus, the tip an inch from his neck. However “good” an actor the man was, his abilities didn’t stop fear from bleeding onto his face. “You move, you die.” Calder wasn’t sure why he didn’t kill the man right now. He was Darktouched, after all. Something that apparently corrupted his very soul, turning him evil.
He’s human, and not attacking me. Perhaps it shouldn’t have mattered. Human. Orc. Elf. An enemy—especially a Darktouched one—was an enemy.
Maybe it was because he wanted this man to give him a reason to kill him.
Marcus raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have to move for the two of you to die.”
“Should have made it ‘you talk, you die,’” Calder muttered. He strode away from the man. Another moment in his immediate presence and he might just kill him, reason or otherwise.
“Can we take that many Orc Dominators?” Peter mused, glancing at Calder.
Calder grunted. He didn’t want to reply. Didn’t want to tell Peter his plan. Anything he said Marcus would just relay through his Spirit Construct to those outside. He briefly returned his sword to his pouch of holding as he walked over to one of the boarded-up windows and yanked off a plank of wood. With his strength, it came off easily. So easily he almost overbalanced, as he had put more momentum into the movement than he had needed.
He steadied himself, drew his sword once more, and peeked out the window. He sighed.
Not much was visible outside. He spotted three of the Orc Dominators, each wielding different weapons, all massive. One wielded a two-handed great sword, another a double-bearded axe, and the third a large halberd. They stood twenty feet tall, just as every other one he had seen. He scanned the closest of them.
Orc Dominator
Level 50
Classification: Spellsword
Attributes
Strength: 59
Agility: 55
Magic: 54
Stamina: 45
Perception: 42
Calder frowned. The Orc Dominator’s attributes weren’t very high. He had remembered them as, well, more than that. Though he did realise there was something off about them.
The defensive bonus they received from the Intermediate Enchanted Stone wasn’t taken into account. He wasn’t about to do the math. Perhaps if he’d had Graham, the Spirit Construct would be able to tell him—or even show him—what their actual stats would reflect.
Even so… He glanced back at Peter. “Perhaps we can take that many of them.” He relaxed a little. His initial plan had been to create a portal that connected to another as far as his eye could see. Both he and Peter could activate Charge—if Calder used Berserk, he would leave the prince far behind—and get a head start on their enemies. They could take a circuitous route to the gates, avoiding Darktouched as best they could with the mini-map.
A part of Calder, however, wanted to see if they were up to this challenge. They had just defeated three level 120 Quake Mammoth, after all.
There’s more than just those Orc Dominators. That Commander of theirs will be around somewhere. We can’t take on a level 200 Orc Destroyer along with an entire army. Not alone. The thought was a sobering one. They hadn’t even been able to see the Orc Destroyer’s stats, and if it was another Avatar of Darkness like he assumed… well, he imagined it would have gained +100 from that transformation just as Calder had.
Peter raised an eyebrow, looking about as dubious as Calder felt. “Are you sure?”
“No. I’m not sure. I said perhaps, didn’t I?” He bit his lip, wishing they had time to change into their proper armour. This will have to do.
His initial plan of portalling to the farthest thing he could see wasn’t an option. At least not right away. There were too many buildings surrounding the tavern, completely obscuring his line of sight. They would have to get out there first.
Calder walked over to the front door. He glanced behind him. Marcus still sat at the same table, leaning back smugly in his chair. He looked at Peter. “Ready?”
Peter sighed. He came to stand beside Calder and pulled an arrow back to his ear. “No.”
Calder grinned. Might as well embrace the challenge. If nothing else, at least this would be interesting. “Let’s get this over with then, aye?”
Peter sighed again. “Yes. Let’s.”
Calder pulled the tavern’s door wide open. It creaked loudly. Marcus chuckled somewhere behind him. “Bastard nobles,” Calder grumbled.
The three Orc Dominators that Calder had seen after he had torn a plank from the boarded-up window stood in front of the tavern. Calder looked at his mini-map, seeing the other seven wind their way around the tavern to join their kin.
Peter glanced at Calder.
Calder glanced at Peter. “I’ll take the left ones. You take the right.”
“You have an escape plan, don’t you?”
“Aye. But first, we take some of these bastards with us.”
“I can get onboard with that.”
It wasn’t just the Orc Dominators out here. Three human Darktouched, one in the heavy armour of a Warrior, another in the light, leather armour of a Ranger—bow in hand, arrow nocked—and the third in the white robes of a Cleric. A Darktouched Cleric. Calder scanned each of them, but didn’t find anything surprising—they were level 25, just as Marcus was. They stood far back from the Orc Dominators, however, as though they were worried about getting into the fight. As they should be.
What Calder couldn’t see was an Orc Destroyer, which he was glad for. If the commander is the Orc Destroyer as I suspect, then he’ll be in the palace. I hope the bastard stays there. Though it might be connected with the other orcs via a Spirit Construct, which meant it could appear at any moment, especially if it realised these orcs weren’t enough to take them down.
Calder stopped hesitating. There wasn’t room for that in combat. He activated Charge and Berserk and sprinted forward. He could have Dream Stepped straight behind one of them, but he wanted to keep that little trick up his sleeve for as long as possible.
Besides, he might very well need it.
Peter stayed by the tavern’s door. He had already loosed his first arrow—a Knockdown Arrow. It slammed straight into the chest of one of the Orc Dominators on the right. The orc lost its balance and fell straight to the ground.
Calder’s grin intensified. It was a damned good sight watching one of these bastards fall like that. Ten Orc Dominators. They underestimated us. Though he had to remember to keep an eye on Peter. Peter was stronger than these bastards, but that didn’t mean he could take five on at once.
Calder leapt high into the air. The Orc Dominator he went after swung its large halberd straight for him, probably hoping for a swift decapitation. Calder blocked it with a Shield Bash, wrenching the orc’s arms backward.
The orcs eyes widened as Calder activated Eviscerate, slashing down its face.
Blood poured from its wound and it shuffled back, losing its balance. It tried to slash out at Calder, but he was in too close. With his speed, he managed to slash the orc four more times before he fell back to the ground, diving straight into a roll and using Crippling Strike on an Orc Dominator next to him, slicing straight through a gap in its full plate armour.
Back on his feet, he found six of the bastards surrounding him. They all looked angry, but the one with the slash in its face looked the angriest.
They each glowed red.
Calder was hit with ten notifications at once, though he couldn’t see the other four Orc Dominators. They must have been going after Peter.
Orc Dominator has gone Berserk! Its damage and speed will be doubled until this status effect wears off.
Calder pushed past the notifications and surged forward. The lower-level foes he had faced back in the Dark World had gone down in single strikes. That was no longer the case, especially with the 110% boost to Stamina they would be benefiting from.
He went after the one with the wound in its face—he had gotten that first strike straight through the slit in its helm. Calder slid between its legs, moving far faster than it had expected, and sent a Power Strike through another gap.
Though his sword, coupled with his Strength, was powerful enough to penetrate these bastard’s armour by now, it did far more damage if he went for weak points.
Proficiency flooded into him, putting a smile onto his face as he the orc tumbled to the ground.
The smile didn’t last long, however. It was wiped away as he heard Peter cry his name.
“Calder!”
Another flood of Proficiency entered him. Peter must have taken down one of his orcs. Calder’s gaze snapped to the Hunter. The man was kiting—running and loosing arrows at the orcs at the same time. Calder did some rapid math—with every level he gained, he could think just a little faster, though there didn’t seem to be a correlating Attribute for mental acuity—remembering Peter’s Agility attribute.
Peter’s Agility was at 110. Probably less, as he didn’t have his armour. It was evident the Hunter had Charge active, which meant it would be at least 200. The Orc Dominator’s Agility was 55. 110 with Berserk active. But the Darktouched defenders had a 30% boost to their Agility, putting them at roughly 140.
Right now, Peter is faster, but the second his Charge spell runs out, if the orcs are still Berserk…
They’ll be able to run him down.
Calder swore under his breath. Peter might have Tough Skin and some ability to tank, but his Stamina wasn’t terribly high. Not against these bastards. Calder once again realised the particular advantage he had that others lacked. The attribute points he had gained when making that pact to become an Avatar of Light had made him substantially stronger than anyone else near his level.
If they catch up to him, they’ll take him down fast. Then there was that little matter of the wider army. That sea of blinking red dots less than a mile from their position. If his hearing was anything to go by, that army was getting closer and closer. We’ve spent far too long in this place and gained nothing good from it. He doubted the emperor—assuming he had any sway at all now that he had surrendered Dranador to the enemy—would risk leaving Peter alive.
Calder activated Dream Step, teleporting in front of the Orc Dominators heading for Peter. I’ll get you out of here, Peter.
Chapter 10
Having Dream Stepped, Calder appeared directly in front of Peter. Peter was sprinting past the tavern, slowing only to loose arrow after arrow at the Orc Dominators. The cooldown on his Knockdown Arrow spell must have reached its end, as an arrow took one of the orcs straight to the ground.
