Advent of eternity a lit.., p.7
Advent of Eternity: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Shattered System Book 1), page 7
“Good sir and madam, take a gander here!” a merchant called to them, waving a necklace around in the air. “The finest jewelry in Chrisford, my word on it.”
Knell ignored him. Dozens of other traders called out to them as they passed, but they swapped targets to other travelers as soon as they realized that neither would pay them the time of day.
At the end of the docks was a long line of taverns overlooking like the seafront. Despite the early hours, loud laughter and conversation came from within them. Knell walked straight past the first few, only stopping for a few seconds to examine each one.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” Stix asked. “If you want to find a ship, wouldn’t one of these taverns work fine? There should be more than a few captains in there.”
“These ones are too high-end. Unless you’re sitting on enough money to hire an entire crew, we need to stay realistic,” Knell replied, stopping before a tavern that had seen better days. It wasn’t in a complete state of disrepair, but it was well on its way to it. The windows were boarded up, and there were numerous rough patch jobs on its walls. Any paint it might have once had was long-since faded and eroded by the salty air.
Loud crashes came from within the building, broken up only by the roar of laughter and the meaty thunk of what Knell suspected to be mugs on fleshy heads.
“This place?” Stix asked doubtfully. “I don’t think any captain worth their weight in rum would be caught dead in a dump like this.”
“Exactly,” Knell said. “You know what that means? They’re desperate.”
The door slammed open, and a man sailed out of it, tumbling across the dock and disappearing into the ocean with a loud splash.
“And stay out!” a large woman roared, slamming the door shut behind her. The man clambered back onto the dock, muttering under his breath and wringing his hair out as he staggered to the next tavern over and stumbled inside.
“Right,” Stix said. “Desperate.”
Knell’s staff clicked against the wood as he approached the tavern and pulled the door open. Stix rolled her eyes and jogged to follow after him. Knell stepped inside, ducking to avoid a mug as it sailed through the air over his head and crashed into the wall.
“Davey, if you throw one more mug, I swear to the Sixteen Seas the next thing flying will be you,” the massive woman from earlier roared, her voice ripping through the cacophony like a buster sword. A man scratched the back of his head sheepishly, sitting down at his table with a mollified expression. The woman lumbered over to Knell, looming over him as she examined his face. “You look a bit young to be in a place like this, boy. Those scars of yours make you ugly, not aged.”
“I’m older than I look,” Knell said. “And I’d like to make my stay as short as possible.”
“Looking for cheap booze, then? You won’t find cheaper.”
“I believe that,” Knell replied. “But I’m afraid not. I’m in search of a ship and a captain for a short trip on a low budget. The trip should only be a few days.”
“How much gold you got?”
“Ten.”
The barmaid let out a booming laugh. “We might be cheap, but not that cheap. Are you trying to find a boat or a bucket?”
“That’s what I told him,” Stix grumbled.
“Are you telling me there isn’t a captain here with a half-serviceable skiff that would do a short, easy trip for ten gold?” Knell asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve got to pay for booze somehow. Ten gold would cover the trip.”
“I could point out a dozen captains from where I stand,” the woman replied. “But ten gold is barely worth the possible risk of sailing around, risking monster or pirate attacks for no further profit. You’re going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel if you want that.”
“Coin is coin. If we don’t get attacked, the captain will make a bit of profit,” Knell replied. “Can you point us in someone’s direction? I’m not looking for the highest quality here. Just someone willing to do a quick trip in exchange for a little coin.”
“If you’re sure, you could talk to Jasneh over there,” the barmaid said, nodding at a woman with her feet kicked up on a table. She had a hat pulled low over her face, hiding her features. “She’s done odd jobs before, but she drives a hard bargain. I doubt you’ll have much luck finding anyone else dumb enough to take on a risk for that little reward.”
“Much appreciated,” Knell said, then headed toward Jasneh’s table. He lowered himself into a chair carefully, then laid his staff across his lap.
12
“What do you want?” Jasneh asked, not even bothering to shift her hat.
“A short trip,” Knell replied. “Ten gold for it. Three passengers.”
Jasneh nudged her hat back, revealing two stark green eyes and a short scar running from her nose to the left edge of her lip.
“That’s not a whole lot of coin. Where’s the location?”
Knell pulled the paper he’d taken from the Ruler’s mansion out and handed it to Jasneh. She let her feet fall from the table and leaned forward, grabbing the paper from him and scanning over it.
“Three days, there and back with the fastest route,” Jasneh said. “But that isn’t happening.”
“Why not?” Knell asked.
“The fastest route passes straight through merfolk territory. Skirting around them would take an extra five days, and I’m not doing an eight-day trip for ten gold.”
Knell frowned and rubbed his chin. “Merfolk generally only attack people on the top of ships, don’t they? We could hide below deck for a little if they show up.”
Jasneh snorted. “Sure, if you want them to rip my ship apart because they didn’t get a sacrifice. My skiff would only attract one or two of the slimy bastards, but their claws are more than enough to tear the sails apart and cut up any ropes they can get to. They’ll keep at it until one of us goes up there and they claim their meal.”
“Only one or two?” Knell asked. “Then that’s no problem. I’ll handle them.”
“Cute. You going to offer yourself up to them as bait? You’re so small the merfolk might still be hungry after they finish eating you.”
“I’m serious,” Knell said. “If I deal with the merfolk, will you take us?”
Jasneh leaned forward, the humor sliding from her face. “Do you want to die, boy? How would you deal with the merfolk’s siren song? They’ve drowned more sailors than anyone could ever remember. The sea isn’t a playground for pampered fools.”
“What’s it matter to you?” Knell asked. “If they kill me, your ship will be fine because they’ll have had their meal. You can just turn around and sail away once they leave. You’ll have ten gold to clean the blood off your decks.”
Jasneh pressed her lips together and studied Knell’s face. “You really think you can deal with them? You got some fancy Path or something?”
“None of your concern,” Knell replied. “Either I deal with the merfolk and we make the trip or you get an easy ten gold. A fair deal, no?”
Jasneh grunted. “Let’s see that coin.”
A grin stretched across Knell’s lips, and he pulled five gold from his bag, placing it on the table in front of the woman.
“This is only five.”
“You’ll get the other half once we set off,” Knell said. “When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow,” Jasneh replied. “My ship is the Foamrunner. It’s at the far side of the docks. Be there before sunrise or I’m taking your gold.”
Knell inclined his head and pushed himself out of the chair with his staff. He headed over to the bartender, rejoining Stix to buy a room for the night.
The following morning, Knell and Stix found themselves sitting on Jasneh’s skiff. The ship had clearly once been beautiful, but the ravages of time had taken their toll on it. Its paint was chipped and faded, and the wood had been almost completely bleached white.
Despite that, the ship’s structure seemed to be sound and the sails were well kept. The two of them climbed aboard, and they were off before they could even get settled down.
Chrisford soon faded into the early morning horizon behind them, and the only sound was the creak of the wood under their feet and the lap of the calm ocean against their boat. Knell drew in a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the salty, fresh air.
“You’ve got good sea legs for a cripple,” Jasneh said from behind the wheel. “Were you a sailor?”
Knell grunted. He tapped his staff on the deck, then walked along the edge of the ship, testing the wood.
“At one point. Your manners tell me exactly what field you’re in, though,” Knell said, his lips curling up. “Smuggler, are you?”
“Of course not,” Jasneh replied smoothly. “What makes you think that?”
Knell hooked his staff under a floor board and pried it open. It swung smoothly, revealing a small, empty space beneath the deck.
Jasneh narrowed her eyes, and Knell pushed the floorboard back into position. It closed with a snap, blending in as if it had never been there.
“How’d you know?” Jasneh asked. She shifted so that Knell could get a better glance at the scimitar at her hip.
“Don’t worry, I couldn’t care less,” Knell said, raising a hand. “And it’s because the rest of this thing creaks like an old tavern maid making money on the side. This floorboard didn’t. You made your security too good, and that wrapped back around.”
Jasneh cocked an eyebrow. “Well, aren’t you clever? I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I think he just likes showing off,” Stix complained, peering over the edge of the ship and marveling at the ocean. “Don’t feed his ego or his head might pop.”
“This guy? Nah,” Jasneh said, shaking her head. “His head popped long ago, I think. The only thing left in him is ego.”
Knell laughed and sat down against the mast, bracing himself against the deck with his staff. “I can’t argue with that. Now where’s the food? I’m starving.”
Jasneh nodded at the stairs that led to the tight quarters below deck. Knell chewed his lower lip. “Never mind. I just sat down. I’m not that hungry.”
“I am,” Stix said, pushing away from the railing and sauntering down the hatch. It would have been considerably more impressive had she not nearly fallen over half a dozen times in the process.
13
The next day of their trip passed quietly. Unfortunately, the calm did not last into the dawn of the third morning. Scattered throughout the ocean before them were hundreds of jagged gray rocks, each as tall as small islands. Ship wreckages, rotted and in various states of disrepair, littered the horizon.
“We’re growing close to merfolk territory,” Jesnah warned. “Last chance to turn back. We’ve got an hour at most until we’re near it.”
“No,” Knell replied. “We continue.”
“Fair enough. I brought extra sails,” Jasnah replied with a shrug. “You do realize that earplugs won’t stop their song, right?”
“It is of no consequence.”
Jasneh shook her head. She pulled a wooden lever beside the wheel down with a grunt. “Come on then, Stix. Belowdecks for us, until your friend gets himself torn to shreds.”
“Wait, how will you keep the ship from running aground?” Stix asked.
“This,” Jasneh said, patting the lever. “This’ll lock Foamrunner into a straight path. Nobody runs aground of those rocks of their own volition. So long as we don’t hear your friend screaming, we go straight and through the rocks. If he starts and then stops, we come up to turn around. Simple enough.”
Stix sent Knell a pensive glance, then nodded and followed the captain below deck. Jasneh pulled the trapdoor shut behind them with a final thud, and several clicks rang out as she locked it, leaving Knell alone.
He walked up to the front of the ship, just before the bow, and leaned against his staff. Sunlight prickled his skin, and a gentle breeze danced past him. Knell settled down to wait, slipping into meditation. There was no point wasting good time waiting for the merfolk to arrive.
Time passed. The Foamrunner grew closer to the rocks, heading straight for a wide opening between two of them. They drifted past the remains of a galleon run into a jagged spike of stone. Knell opened his eyes as they crested a large wave and he was sprayed with saltwater.
A tiny white ripple passed through the sea to their side, so fast that Knell barely noticed it. A few minutes later, it flashed past the other side of the ship. Another one flickered up, and the skiff lurched slightly as something struck it.
“Only chance,” Knell called out. “Turn around. You’ll find no prey here.”
A chimelike laugh rang out, setting Knell’s hair on end. Two blue hands reached over the edge of the boat and a merfolk woman pulled herself aboard the deck. If not for her blue skin and the scales around her eyes, she would have looked exactly like a human.
The woman had wide, doe-like eyes. Her features were strikingly beautiful, and she was completely naked. She rose to her feet, a blood-red tongue flicking out and running across her lips.
“So eager to step into my embrace,” she whispered. Her words sent shivers down Knell’s spine, like he was a harp and she the musician. “Who am I to deny you?”
“Your words hold no alure to me,” Knell lied. His eyes lit a dull yellow. “Leave.”
She giggled and opened her mouth. A faint musical note slipped from between her lips. It wrapped around Knell, seeping into his very soul. It took every fiber of his being to keep himself from throwing the staff to the side and falling to the deck at her feet.
The merfolk smiled, revealing dozens of sharklike teeth. She continued to sing, the melody enveloping Knell more with every note she wove. A trickle of blood ran down from Knell’s right eye, tracing across his cheek.
Her song urged him to raise his chin, baring his neck to the beautiful woman before him. She took a step forward, leaning in as if to kiss him. Her plump lips parted, inviting him to lean in and let his worldly troubles fade away in the passions of love.
Knell stepped forward, twisting his staff. It split in two, and he pulled it apart, driving the blade that had been hidden within it into the woman’s chest with a single, clean blow. Her song cut off in a ragged gasp, and her eyes went wide.
He twisted the blade as she weakly scrabbled at his shoulders, trying to push him back. Her mouth worked, trying to form words as disbelief warred with dismay on her face. The trickle of blood running down Knell’s face turned to a stream. Knell cradled her head as he pulled the blade out from her chest, maintaining eye contact with the merfolk the entire time.
“Your call has nothing on my hatred,” Knell whispered, driving the blade back in. The merfolk’s body jerked, and the light bled out of her eyes. Knell rose to his feet and flicked the blood from his sword.
Knell slid his staff back together with a click, then grabbed the merfolk’s body. He dragged it across the deck and up to the bow. Knell jutted the end of his staff between the planks in the deck. Knell’s leg ached furiously as he worked. He struck the staff a few times to drive it deeper, then grabbed the merfolk and pulled her upright with a grunt.
With a heave, he positioned her over the end of the staff and shoved her down using all his might, driving the hilt of the staff out through her chest. Knell swung the corpse around so that it dangled over the front of the ship, her dripping blood down the wood and into the water below.
The water around the ship rippled. Knell looked out over it, but no more merfolk rose to challenge him. He carefully sat down behind the body of the dead merfolk and wiped the blood from his face off with his sleeve.
Magical energy rose up from her body and entered his, making his hair stand on end.
The gods have granted you Experience for besting your foe. You have leveled up.
You have defeated an entity more powerful than you. Experience Granted. Your level has been adjusted accordingly. New skill gained.
The second message appeared, just like it had the first time. But, this time, there was another line along with it. Knell stared at it, a slow smile creeping across his face.
Name: Knell Coda [Age: 0]
Path: Scion [Rank Zero]
Level: 10
Attunement A: Foresight of the Vulture
Attunement B: Empty
Attunement C: Empty
Attunement D: Empty
Attunement E: Empty
Foresight of the Vulture [Legendary] – Peer a short distance into the future, seeing the most likely outcome of actions taken in your immediate surroundings.
Bloodline: Eternal Body [Epic] – Time magic bends around you, modifying your lifespan and granting you resistance to spatial magics.
Path: Epoch
Level: 4
Abilities:
Mental Clock – Use time magic to keep time or set an alarm audible only to you.
Slow – Impede the movement of a single creature by warping the time around them for a brief instant.
Sunlight reflected off the blue woman’s scales, dancing over the water as the Foamrunner slipped past the jagged rocks. It grew brighter as the sun rose further overhead. Yet, to Knell, it somehow felt as if the day had grown a little colder. His grin grew frigid, and he sat down, watching the waves lap at the side of the ship. He’d been given an advantage, and he intended to use every drop that he could squeeze out of it. He couldn’t afford to do anything less.
14
Knell was still sitting there, meditating, several hours later when Stix and Jasneh emerged from the trapdoor. Not a single merfolk had tried to challenge him after the first one. The creature’s blood had stained the front of the ship, running down the bow and vanishing into the crystal blue water beneath.
