Summoners shadow 5 a lit.., p.1
Summoner's Shadow 5: A LitRPG Adventure, page 1
Summoner’s Shadow 5
A LitRPG Adventure
DB King
Copyright © 2023 by DB King
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
v002
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Contents
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Contents
Series by DB King
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
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Series by DB King
Apocalypse Knights
Crafter’s Fate
Death’s Chosen
Dragon Magus
Dungeon of Evolution
Elemental Mastery
Fatehaven Farm
Kensei
Mage’s Path
Night Guild
Ranger’s Magic
Shinobi Rising
Spellweaver Codex: Elder Mage Chronicles
Summoner’s Shadow
The Last Magus
The Lost Mages
War Wizard
World End
Chapter 1
Bran stood outside the cave in the Lost Realm he and his cobbled-together resistance had taken refuge in and rested a hand upon his eight-slot Summoner’s Bandoleer. Currently, of the eight crystals he had, all were in use. The final crystal, which usually lay empty, glowed—but it glowed because he was in the Worldbreaker State. He was the monster inside that crystal.
It was a strange thing to consider, one that often boggled his mind when he thought on it too much.
Pushing out his spirit-sense, Bran sensed them all out there. Hundreds of Worldbreakers, all serving under him. Former prisoners and former castle guards, training, hunting, and taming monsters in preparation for a battle they all knew they shouldn’t be able to win. Bran’s spirit-sense was strong enough in the Worldbreaker State that it could stretch for miles. If he closed his eyes and focused hard enough, he could sense what each of them was doing.
Since arriving in this realm after Bran had defeated Bael the Guard Captain, they had done a headcount of those who remained and found they had been extremely lucky.
Lucky, Bran thought, shaking his head at the word.
Out of the twelve hundred Worldbreakers—one thousand former prisoners, and two hundred former castle guards—only fifty-six of them had died.
Bran felt horrible thinking about it in those terms. Lucky and only. That was… far too many dead, and most of them had been prisoners.
But losing fifty-six people when there could have been far more deaths… he had to see it as a good thing.
Right now, the former prisoners were out hunting monsters. They needed to tame enough to each have full bandoleers. There were still over nine hundred prisoners left. Before the battle with the castle guards—the guards who now walked and trained among them—the prisoners had tamed one another—as all Worldbreakers were technically monsters—but that wasn’t a permanent solution.
Bran felt useless standing there. This was their first full day on this world. He could have been out training with the others, but he needed to think. Needed to come up with some sort of plan.
Gary, the guard, was next to him, a hand on his chin, his brow furrowed deeply in concentration.
Their problem was simple: King Goltran and countless thousands of Worldbreakers were about to launch a full-on assault against the Mortal Realm, where they would be committing genocide upon the human summoners. “Half breeds” King Goltran referred to them, as the reason they had Monster Magic in the first place was that they were part-Worldbreaker, somewhere back in their family lines.
The Worldbreakers were far stronger than the human summoners. When Bran had been in the Mortal Realm, before he had ventured to the Lost Realms once more and found the Worldbreaker Realm, he had been the strongest summoner there.
But in the Worldbreaker Realm, he had found summoners far stronger than himself. Summoners who had been alive for far longer than him—some decades longer, others hundreds of years, and a few who had been around for thousands of years longer than Bran.
Not only that, where Bran had been able to switch between all the different configurations—something that helped make him become the strongest summoner in the Mortal Realm—the other Worldbreakers could use all the class configurations simultaneously.
Though Bran had now gained that skill—and something far greater, the Worldbreaker State, which only he could do, a fusion of himself and his monsters—it wasn’t a skill human summoners would ever be able to use.
It would be like human summoners attacking non-summoners back in the Mortal Realm. Like when that Lancer astride the manticore, Bryce, had attacked Bran and his squad in the Battle of Heathland.
The human summoners won’t stand a chance, Bran thought. My friends won’t stand a chance.
Bran had sent Alaro, Lara, and Patrick to warn everyone, but he worried about how much they would be able to do, especially as time moved far slower for those in the Mortal Realm than it did for those in the Lost Realms.
Even if they had ten years to prepare, Bran hesitated to see how they would be able to resist the Worldbreaker army.
“So…” Gary looked at Bran with a raised eyebrow, his hand rubbing against his day-old stubble. “How’s that plan coming along?”
Bran let out a sigh. “I know I’m prophesized to lead the Worldbreakers and all that… but I was a soldier, not a war general. And a war like this…”
“Aye. It’s a hard thing to prepare for.” The man frowned. “The only thing to do is stop the war from happening altogether, I suppose.”
“But that’s not what the prophecy says will happen, is it?” Bran asked. He shut his eyes, trying to remember all he knew. “The king wants the human summoners dead because they’re supposed to help me overthrow him.”
Gary shrugged. “That doesn’t mean there will be a war.” He scratched at his stubble. “Besides, this prophecy… we can’t base all our decisions off it.” He slammed his right fist into his left palm. “We need to take decisive action.”
Bran was glad he had the guard by his side. Somehow, the man had gone from an enemy to somewhat of a confidant. Though he missed having his friends with him. Would they know what to do? he wondered. Probably not. But he could hope. Maybe the Grand Archmage, Urslan, would know what to do if he were here…
A breeze rolled in from the south, bringing with it the smell of the ocean. Bran hadn’t had much of a chance to explore this realm yet. He wondered what it would look like from the sky. He could sprout wings, take flight, and glide over the trees… He shoved those thoughts down. Now wasn’t the time to explore.
“The king is afraid of me. That, I do know,” Bran said. “He has been around for thousands of years, and he believes in this prophecy.”
“Aye. That’s certainly something that will work in our favor.”
Bran still wasn’t exactly sure why King Goltran feared him, other than what the prophecy said. They had sparred, several times, when the man had been impersonating Jakarris, and every single time—whether Bran was in the Worldbreaker State or not—he hadn’t been able to defeat the man.
At all.
“He’s far more powerful than me, Gary. I need to become stronger, but there simply isn’t enough time.” Bran contemplated what Gary said, about avoiding the war altogether. Many plans had drifted through his mind as the wind was drifting through the trees, but none of them had solidified i
Time, he thought. Time. Time. Time.
He kept wondering—could he evacuate the Mortal Realm? But there simply wouldn’t be enough time. “Gary?”
“Hmm?” Gary’s head had been lowered in thought, and he raised it to meet Bran’s eye.
“What do you know about the time differences between the Lost Realms, the Mortal Realm, and the Monster Realms it connects to?”
The man frowned. “I know we move a lot faster than they do.”
Bran smiled. “Yes. I know that, too. But you must know more than that. Why is there a time difference at all?”
Gary’s brow furrowed. “Time dilation.”
“Time dilation?”
“Aye. It’s an interesting phenomenon. Something cosmic that can sometimes happen naturally or…”
Bran raised an eyebrow. “Magically?” A thought struck him. “The different realms… Did they always have such disparities in time?”
“Honestly?” Gary shook his head. “I’ve no clue. All I know is that they do. I’m not as old as some.”
“How old are you?”
The guard shrugged. “Three hundred and two as of las’ month.”
Bran blinked. He could barely imagine living for that long, considering he hadn’t yet been through thirty summers, even with all the time differences. “You’re three hundred years old?”
“Aye.” Gary sighed. “It’s a long time to be in the same job, I’ll tell you that. I suppose it was time for a career change.” He rested a hand on the pommel of his sword. “Though I didn’t expect ‘resistance fighter’ to be my next occupation.” He scratched the back of his head. “Fate is an odd mistress.” He flashed a smile at Bran. “But you know that more than most.”
Though Bran found he had plenty of questions about Gary’s long life, about how he became a castle guard, and other general curiosities about Worldbreakers, ideas were still swirling around in his mind.
Time, time, time…
“You’re right, Gary.”
“About fate?”
“Perhaps, but I mean about avoiding the war.” Bran’s brow furrowed. “I think it’s the only way. I have a plan. It’s simple but by no means easy. In fact, it might very well be impossible.”
“An impossible plan. Right. Sounds doable.” Gary chuckled. “What is it, then?”
“The Mortal Realm. We have to evacuate it.”
Gary blinked. “Evacuate… the Mortal Realm. Is that even possible? Aren’t there—”
“Millions of people in it?” Bran interjected. “Yes, there are.”
“Even if we could convince every human summoner and non-summoner in all the Mortal Realm to abandon their homes and make enough portals all over the entirety of the world, you’re right, there simply wouldn’t be enough time. Sounds more impossible than anything else.”
“Unless we can change the speed at which time moves in the Mortal Realm,” Bran said.
“You… Is that something you can do?” Gary asked.
“No. But it’s something we’re going to find out how to do.”
Gary looked dubious, which Bran figured was appropriate. It was perhaps the most ludicrous plan he had ever come up with, and it might very well be impossible, but if the speed at which time moved could be altered intentionally—magically—then someone must know how to do that.
And if someone knew how to do it, Bran could find them. Convince them to help or learn how to do it himself. As impossible as it sounded, he had done countless things that had been thought impossible. He should have been impossible, after all.
They had over a thousand Worldbreakers among them, people who—like Gary—had likely lived for hundreds of years. One of them had to know something about how this could be possible or who might know how to do it.
If it’s not possible, Bran thought, then I’ll be wasting what little time we have on a fool’s errand. Perhaps things were simpler than this. Perhaps he should just portal into the Worldbreaker Realm and challenge King Goltran to a summoner duel… then, all Bran would need to do was defeat one person.
But though Bran had gained many levels since coming to the Worldbreaker Realm, getting all the way to level 60 after his fight with Bael, plus learning how to use all his class configurations simultaneously and then activating the Worldbreaker State, he still wouldn’t be strong enough to take down the king.
If I can alter time in the Mortal Realm, maybe… maybe I can alter time somewhere else, he thought.
It felt entirely absurd, but if the prophecy about him was to be believed—that he would be the one to defeat King Goltran and rule the Worldbreakers—then whatever path he took must be the right one.
Gary was still looking up at Bran with a dubious, concerned look on his face, but he wasn’t arguing.
“Gather everyone,” Bran said, making a decision. “I’ll hold a meeting in the cavern.”
If this plan was the wrong one, and no one knew anything about time dilation, then at least Bran would know he could move on to something else.
But if it was right? It might be how he saved everyone.
Chapter 2
Over a thousand Worldbreakers sat in the largest cavern in the cave systems they had found.
Bran had explained his plan to them all and was waiting for one of them to reply.
Many of them looked so gaunt, he almost felt bad forcing them to train. The prisoners among them—which was the majority of the resistance—had until the day before been stuck in cells and treated incredibly poorly… by the very castle guards that now fought by their side.
It was a strange fighting force that Bran had been able to cobble together. An odd assortment of resistance fighters. He was sure some of the castle guards were only here because they feared him and not because they believed in him. He hoped he could soon change their minds, but he didn’t blame them for their doubts.
He had doubts of his own, after all.
One of the Worldbreakers stood. A tall man with sunken cheeks and long, stringy brown hair tied into a ponytail. His arms and legs were so skinny he resembled a skeleton more than a man. He was one of the older-looking Worldbreakers Bran had seen.
“I know of what you speak,” the man said. “My name is Loreth.” There was a weak, shakiness to his voice. “Before I was thrown into the king’s dungeons to rot, I was a scholar.” He raised his chin, and his voice became a bit stronger. “An academic.” He tilted his head to the side. “An historian. I spent much of my time trying to document our long history, and the time before King Goltran’s rule was of particular interest to me.”
The tall, thin man—Loreth—took a few steps forward until he was standing across from Bran at the front of the crowd. “There was a time when the Mortal Realm, and those other realms that it connects to, along with the Lost Realm, were a part of the same”—Loreth motioned a hand in a circle, his brows deeply furrowing as though he were trying to come up with the right word—“continuity.” He frowned, clearly unhappy with that word. “The realms were once linked, and time moved at the same speed for each.”
Bran leaned forward. “So… something changed?” He was honestly surprised that his hunch had been correct. He had always wondered why time moved differently in the different realms. It hadn’t really made sense to him, but he knew there was a reason for everything, even if he didn’t know what that reason was.
“Indeed. They were once connected.” Loreth raised a long, thin finger. “Though those realms we call the Lost Realms were still more… advanced than the Monster Realms, as a monster’s soul moves through the Great Cycle one realm at a time, and the Lost Realms are a part of the Greater Realms.”
One realm at a time. Bran hadn’t known it had been that way. He had heard that monsters started in the Monster Realms connected to the Mortal Realm until they were resurrected in the Lost Realms, then, finally, in the Worldbreaker Realm. But he hadn’t known they moved one realm at a time.
And this was the first time he had heard the Lost Realms referred to as the Greater Realms. He supposed they weren’t lost to these people who had lived in them all these years.
It still made him wonder where the Demon Realms came into play, but now wasn’t the time for such questions.
