Paladin hunter 3 a litrp.., p.10
Paladin Hunter 3: A LitRPG Adventure, page 10
“You do realize that…” The man paused. “That sword costs 500 million credits? You’d need a Level 95 mana stone to buy it!”
“Then I suppose it’s a good thing that I have a blank check.” Josiah tucked the weapon into his inventory. “You’ve been most helpful. Thank you.”
“Anytime.” The man muttered. “Go on. Go slay dragons and kill monsters and whatever else you’re planning on doing.”
“Much obliged!”
Josiah walked from the room and to the elevators. Instead of heading straight up, though, he rode the elevator down several more floors, where he came to the private museum of the Shadow Rift Guild.
As the doors hissed open, he found himself in a broad, elegant space. A dozen hunters, serving as security guards, stood here and there throughout the area. Marble pillars stood here and there, while a great many artifacts that had been pulled from the dungeons stood on display. Josiah shuddered the moment he entered. He could feel the dark power radiating through the area, pressing upon him, trying to tear him apart. The others in the area didn’t seem able to feel it, particularly the scribes and students making their way about.
His eyes fell upon a small bench, and he quickly walked over and drew out his three new swords. Using the power given to him by the Chalice of Light, he applied a handful of effects to them, which would make them far more effective against the undead, as well as just buffing their strengths and damage ratios a bit more. With that, he returned them to his inventory (he could have technically done it anywhere, but he wanted at least some privacy), then turned and walked over to the new display where the dungeon crystal had been placed.
It stood on a small, marble pedestal, with a glass case around it. The case was rigged with a handful of tripwires and other visible forms of theft deterrent. A plaque below it simply labeled it as “under study,” while a scribe from Stormforge looked it over intently.
“Excuse me.” Josiah murmured as he stepped up to gaze at the item.
“Certainly.” The man gave a nod and stepped to the side. He was younger, probably in his twenties, likely a fairly new recruit. “You wouldn’t have any idea what this is, do you?”
“Do you?” Josiah dodged the question.
“No. We have something like it back in Stormforge, but it’s been a mystery to us for the last decade.” The scribe laughed. “The younger generation suspects that the upper-levels know more about it, but they’re holding out on us, and… That’s been that.”
“Indeed.” Josiah chuckled. “Well, I can’t say that I’m a member of Shadow Veil, so I’ll not be working on this myself, but it does interest me.”
“Me, as well.” The man paused, then glanced at Josiah. “Do you have affiliations with Shadow Veil?”
“That depends on your sense of the term. I have friends here.” Josiah nodded. “Why do you ask?”
“Because…” The man lowered his voice. “If I were you, I would be careful of who you befriend. Shadow Veil notifies us anytime something new goes on display, so we can examine and study it. Well… I find it curious that this goes on display now, when the crystal from our vault went missing just a few months ago.”
“The same crystal?” Josiah nodded down at the thing.
“No.” The man admitted. “There are a number of key differences, and they aren’t caused by artificial alterations. I just find it… I don’t believe in coincidences, generally speaking, at least. Could two people decide to go to the market at the same time and just happen to meet up? Sure. Does a crystal vanish from vault, only for a similar crystal to appear inside another vault, when no other crystals like them have ever been recorded? That’s a bit harder to chalk up to chance.”
“Indeed.” Josiah stroked his chin. Now that was interesting. “Do you happen to know anything about the force of Stormforge hunters that entered a dungeon last night? Barnabas was apparently among them.”
“Pfft. If you think Barnabas broadcasts his daily schedule publicly, you’re cracked.” The man chuckled, then turned back to his research. “Now, if you’ll forgive me, I was sent to run a preliminary report on this crystal and then report back. If I spend time talking, they’ll think I got lost in the Pine District on my way.”
“Then I shan’t disturb you.” Josiah turned and walked away, folding his hands behind his back. His mind spun as he processed the information. That was… Interesting, to say the least. What did it mean? He didn’t have the fainted idea, but it was another clue in the puzzle, and that, at the least, kept him interested. As he reached the doors, he cast a look over his shoulder, where he found the scribe bending down over the crystal, writing just as fast as his hand could move. Josiah watched him for a moment longer, then turned and slipped away.
Whatever the result was… well… He would learn it soon enough.
Chapter thirteen
Spire
Josiah walked slow as he entered the Redwood District. He cast a longing glance toward the City Steam, but knew he didn’t have time for such indulgences at the moment. He caught sight of a Hunter’s Association attendant standing at a street corner, just next to the Athens Senate Library, and walked over just as quickly as he could.
“Excuse me, would you happen to know where the dungeon… Hmm.” Josiah suddenly realized that he hadn’t gotten the name of the dungeon or its location within Redwood.
“Are you Mr. Mathers?”
“That’s me.” Josiah reached for his ID, but the hunter stopped him.
“Your description matches what I was given. Head over to HU, it’s right on the Quad.”
“Much obliged.”
Josiah headed off in that direction, dodging across a couple streets and through broad parks. Students relaxed on the banks of a small pond, studying their work, while others practiced dueling beneath the trees. It was a calm and quiet place, secluded from the insanity of the rest of the world.
In any case, Josiah soon came up to the broad gates of HU, the (creatively named) Hunters University. There had been a push at the beginning of the war to come up with an acronym that spelled out H.U.N.T.E.R. when abbreviated, but after dozens of rejected submissions, it was simply left as HU. In any case, it, too, was a pleasant place, with limestone and brick buildings rising above the gently-rolling landscape.
Josiah had helped build the institution many years earlier, and had once actually spent a good bit of time teaching there. As he swept onto the quad, a central green space between a number of the buildings, he sighed deeply. Even with the black, flickering portal in the middle, it was still a lovely, lively place. He crossed his arms and started forward, where a number of barricades had been set up to keep curious students away from it. A handful of police stood at ease, with massive techno-magic weapons keeping everyone at bay. As Josiah approached, they saluted, and motioned for him to go on through.
“Josiah!” Clara’s voice rang out from behind, and he turned as she came jogging up. Her face was flushed, and she frowned. “What’s going on? I thought you’d be needing me!”
“I do. This is somewhat of a… distraction.” Josiah sighed. “Bit of a late-night detour. There are civilians inside, and Anthony Gray is attempting to acquire a dark artifact of some sort.”
“Do you think it has any connection to everything else?” Clara demanded.
“I doubt it, but it’s hard to tell for sure.” Josiah frowned. “Right now, I’d like you and Mitchell to be keeping an eye on the crystal in the Shadow Veil tower. I suspect that Stormforge is going to try to steal it, or at least to borrow it, though there could be other guilds involved. If I’m right, there is a connection between that crystal, the blights that are appearing around the city, and these parasitic worms.”
“The worms that we know the Crimson Reapers were harvesting.”
“Precisely.” Josiah confirmed. “If anything, I more so think that the Crimson Reapers entering this portal are trying to find some way of amplifying the power that they’ve already found for themselves. I want you to—”
“‘Scuse me.”
A bleary-eyed, S-ranked hunter came charging past, bowling aside Josiah and Clara. Josiah frowned as the man stumbled toward the portal, even as the police all raised their weapons to warn him away. Their fingers all went to the triggers (as rightly they should have), and Josiah sprang into action.
“Hey!” Josiah dashed around in front of the man and drew Hope Rising. The strange power of the weapon seemed to sing in the air, and the hunter drew to a stop. His eyes were yellowish-red, as if he were sick, and he looked like he hadn’t bathed in a week. As he raised his arms, Josiah caught sight of a wound on the man’s arm, a wound that had turned black and seemed to be infected. “Wait a minute… I know you.”
“Don’t think so.” The hunter bounced on the balls of his feet. “Now let me through! I need to get in there and stop the Reapers!”
“You and everybody else, it seems like.” Josiah didn’t lower the sword. “Tell me why.”
The hunter’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Darin?” Clara stepped up into the conversation. “Darin Matthews? Again?”
“Yeah. Yeah, that’s me.” The hunter nodded rapidly and took a step back. “What are you two doing here?”
“Apparently the same thing that you’re doing.” Josiah held his gaze. “What’s going on, Darin? What do you know?” He nodded down at the wound on the man’s arm. “What happened to you?”
Darin licked his lips. “Is there somewhere private we can go?”
“None that I’m aware of. Nowhere truly private.” Josiah shrugged, then paused. “Well… Unless you include this.” He raised Rising Hope toward the sky. “Guardian’s Resolve.”
A blast of light rose from the sword as a shield formed over them. It wasn’t quite as good a shield as one created by Faith’s Edge, but it would have to do. With a command, Josiah made the shield grow blue and opaque, shielding them from the outside view. Darin seemed to slump, and Clara caught him and let him to the ground.
“Darin, what’s going on?” Josiah knelt down next to the hunter. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“Wouldn’t do any good.” Darin took a deep breath. “I was invited to the Reapers headquarters for a secret meeting. I don’t know how many days ago it was, everything’s so blurry now. They had these… These worm things. They were in a jar, and they could… They could eat your brain.”
Josiah looked up at Clara in horror, and, down below, Darin continued his tale.
###
Darin leapt back from the table in horror, drawing his sword. Anthony laughed, drawing his own weapon, a short sword that shimmered with a cursed power. Barnabas and Rachel both did the same, retreating to a safe corner of the room. They were technically in the fight, yes, but they were essentially safe.
Darin, however, was not.
“This is insane.” Darin spoke slowly. “We’re not going to fight you for this. I am a hunter. I protect people from monsters. I don’t infect them.”
“Then you’ll be the first to perish.” Barnabas raised his hands. The jar shattered, spilling liquid out across the table. The worms screamed, a powerful shriek that punched through Darin’s skull, and one of them began undulating across the table toward him. Everyone else screamed, and complete and utter chaos exploded. Fireballs exploded, swords clashed against sword.
The worm attacking Darin leapt up into the air, and Darin snapped his fingers, firing an ice attack at the monster. Barnabas countered it, though, and the ice melted into water as it struck. The worm was battered to the table, but was very much alive. Suddenly, a spectral chain formed around Darin’s left arm and slammed it down to the table’s surface, sealing him in place. He gritted his teeth and tried to pull away, but the worm was too fast, and bit him on the wrist, just below his gauntlet.
The pain was impossible to describe, lancing up through his entire body. The chain vanished, and Darin staggered back against the wall. The worm began to eat into his arm, burrowing into his flesh.
“How’s that?” Anthony laughed. “You’ll feel it every last bit of the way up to your brain, and then, you’ll—”
Darin took a deep breath, then reached up and unclasped the armor around his arm. It fell away, allowing him to see the worm slowly pushing itself up through his skin. It passed through his elbow, then began winding up toward his shoulder.
“No, I won’t.” Darin lifted his sword with his right arm. He charged it with a flame spell, then flicked it down at his shoulder. Before it could hit, Barnabas flicked his hand, causing the sword to be battered out of the way. Off to one side of the room, a woman used her sword to cut off the leg of one of her friends, saving the man from the deadly worm burrowing through his leg. Her relief was short-lived, though, as the worm leapt out of the now-severed flesh and bit her on the leg as well.
Darin opened his inventory and scrolled through it as fast as he could, finding his mana stones an instant later. He selected a Venom Stone, took a deep breath, and slammed it into his own flesh. Barnabas was either distracted, or didn’t care, and he activated the stone.
Pain exploded through his body, pure and simple. Long strands of venom, black as night, began to erupt underneath his skin just like the worm. He gritted his teeth, unwilling to say a word as the mana burned away. When the stone had been used up, he was left with mana burns on both his shoulder and his hand, but he was alive. Threads of venom now crossed the path that the worm would have to travel, which had caused it to stop moving. He paused, waiting… Waiting…
Pop!
The worm poked its head out and began to push itself back into the open. Before it could do anything else, Darin grabbed it with his (gauntlet-covered) right hand and pulled. Doing that hurt almost as much as the worm’s initial burrowing, but it got the thing out. Then, thinking quickly, Darin threw the worm at Anthony as hard as he could.
The guildmasters were distracted by a duel between two other hunters, and as such, no one noticed the worm hit Anthony in the neck. At least until he started screaming. The worm bit him just under the chin and immediately burrowed in, and he let out a powerful shriek.
“Ahh! No! Get it… Get it…”
He staggered and fell against the back wall, blood trickling down his shoulder, and the room became even more chaotic. The doors burst open, people began to run out, and Darin took a step toward freedom before collapsing on the floor. He pulled out a Health Mana Stone and grabbed it tightly. Once more, mana flowed through his system, burning away the venom… Freeing him.
Unfortunately, the toll on his body had been too much. Darkness swirled around him… And… Down, down, he fell.
###
Josiah let out a long breath as Darin finished his tale.
“I didn’t… I didn’t recover for another hour. Everyone must have thought I was dead. I snuck out of there as quickly as I could. Someone tried to stop me at the door, but I fought my way through and escaped.” Darin whispered. “The place was in so much chaos that I doubt they even noticed me, overall. Since then I’ve been trying to figure out… What…”
“Cut away his sleeve, there.” Josiah ordered Clara.
Clara nodded and tore away his sleeve, exposing a massive wound on his left shoulder. There were mana burns, venom marks, all of it was mixed with gangrene, it didn’t look good.
“He needs to get to the hospital, now. You know which room to take him to.” Josiah murmured. “Get him there, tell Mitchell to watch the crystal, and then get back to this portal. I’ll leave word for you to follow me. Got it?”
“Got it.”
As Clara started to lift Darin up, Josiah leaned in close.
“Do you have any idea who else may have been affected?”
“Not a clue.” Darin gasped in pain. He was able to regain a bit of control over himself, and pulled away from Clara slightly. “I don’t even remember everyone who was there at the meeting. I don’t know if any of the worms were killed. I don’t know anything. I think they expected everyone to just turn on each other, they weren’t expecting us to actually fight back against the worms themselves. I don’t… I don’t know.”
“Go get rest, and tell me if you do learn anything.” Josiah nodded.
With that, the shield fell, and Clara helped Darin stumble away. Josiah looked after them for a moment, then walked up to the confused-looking officers.
“When Clara Smith gets here, you’re to let her through. Got it?”
“Of course.”
Josiah nodded, then ran past them and into the portal. Dark energy swirled around him, and he fell forward… forward… And then landed with a thump.
As he got his bearings, he found himself standing on a small hill, overlooking a vast forest. The sky was dark, lit only by a pale moon that hung motionless in the sky. In the distance, off to his left, he could see the spires of a castle rising up over the dark trees. To his right, he could see what seemed to be a town, complete with flickering lamplights, while in the distance, a craggy mountain rose tall above the surrounding area.
“Josiah Mather?” A female hunter walked up to him. She was B-rank, and seemed rather out of her element at that moment. “Mr. Collins and the team just came through a few hours ago. Mr. Collins’s team went…” She pulled out a map. “They went off through the town, past the swamp, angling toward the Deadlands. The other team, led by Mrs. Barnes, went toward the Lonely Spire. They said you were free to follow either of them.”
Josiah gave a small nod, then closed his eyes. He allowed his aura to flow outward, stretching toward the distant lands. He could feel the same dark energy that he had been sensing. It was out there, roving about. It was angry, it was furious, it was…
“There.” Josiah slowly pointed to his left. “That way.”
“The Lonely Spire. It’s a four-hour hike to the place where the Enclave is pinned down, if you hurry, you’ll get there right about the same time as our forces.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Josiah let out a long breath, then charged off down the trail. He would have to hurry if he was going to make this work.
