Court of Thorns: A LitRPG Story Read online

  “Yes, my lord,” Marko said, looking a bit awkward.

  There had been some friction ever since Hawke had peeled off about half of the Town Guard to build the Sunset Legion – a ‘legion’ with fewer than fifty effectives, but you had to start somewhere – and Marko had become its commander. Kinto had remained in charge of the Town Guard, saying that it was as large a force as he felt comfortable commanding. There was already a rising sense of competitiveness among the two military branches that might turn nasty as time went on.

  “I’ll be on my way, then,” Hawke told Marko.

  “My lord?”

  “I’ll be flying Blaze to go meet the invader. If he turns out to be more than I can handle, I will fall back and join up with you.”

  “Very well, my lord.”

  Hawke returned Marko’s parting salute and headed out. Time to see who had decided to interrupt his meditation and give him a headache.

 

  Guess we’ll find out just how dangerous we all are, Hawke told his sword as the sleek shape of Blaze descended onto the town square.

  Two

  Blaze announced.

  Blaze’s vision could make an eagle look near-sighted. It took Hawke a moment to spot the lone figure walking down the middle of the road as if he owned the place. As the Drakofox flew closer, he was able to make more details. The stranger was wearing a weird straw contraption over his head that covered it completely, as if the guy had decided to wear a bucket for a hat, with small openings on the front to let the wearer see. Considering it was near the end of June (or Juno in the local language), it must be pretty hot in there.

  The rest of the outfit had a vaguely Asian motif to it, something he’d only seen a couple of times in Akila, which had visitors from all over the local continent and beyond. The man’s deep purple tunic reached all the way to his knees; it had wide sleeves and a cloth belt tied off on the side with an intricate knot. Inscriptions of the magical kind were embroidered over the tunic and the belt, along with what Hawke thought were Chinese or Japanese characters. His footgear consisted of foot wrappings under simple sandals. He was armed with a pair of scabbarded swords thrust through the belt, and Hawke would bet money they were katana-type weapons, one longer, one shorter. Samurai style.

  Did my life just turn into an anime story?

  Saturnyx info-dumped.

  You could even say the Far East, Hawke thought as Blaze flew over the stranger, who stopped walking and craned his basketed head to watch the circling Drakofox.

 

  Well, he’s come a long way just to piss me off.

  Blaze asked eagerly.

  Not yet. Let’s see what he wants first.

  Hawke instructed Blaze to land about a hundred feet ahead of basket-head and got off the magical saddle, which obligingly released all the straps that kept him from doing a header at two thousand feet. He walked towards the waiting man, his black armor clinking with each step. The stranger was about the same height as Hawke, but looked smaller, since he wasn’t wrapped in metal from head to toes with oversized shoulder protectors and evil-looking helmet.

  Horosha (Half-Yosei)

  Level ??(20) ?? Tier 1 Entity

  Health 4,567 Mana 4,955 Endurance 3,166

  Ok, I’m a little impressed, Hawke thought before turning on his Advanced Mana Sight.

  The man had Sidhe blood, so the Yosei must be a Fae species like Elves or Dryads. His Mana Channels flowed with torrents of energy, and all his Chakras were open. Not only that, but there was something else about his Heart and Root Chakras; they seemed denser somehow, acting not only as gateways but as places where power was condensed into something greater than ordinary Mana.

  Saturnyx told him.

  More Cores. I didn’t even know that you could have a personal Core! Hawke protested.

  So far, he’d encountered Dwelling, Fortification and Proving Ground Cores. All of those applied to places, not people, although he had fought a Demon who had a Dungeon Core inside its guts. But now that he’d heard of Mana Cores, he wanted one. He also had no idea what a Tier was, but he figured that people who didn’t have a Tier were probably weaker than those who did. A diplomatic solution seemed like the best option. Hawke stopped when he was thirty feet away, and the two armed men silently eyed each other for a moment.

  “Greetings,” Hawke said, carefully weighing his words. “You have entered the Sunset Valley Domain.”

  He didn’t extend a welcome to the guy, since anyone with Fae blood might take advantage of an offer of hospitality. You had to be cagey when dealing with the Sidhe.

  “So they tell me,” the stranger – Horosha – replied. His Vulgate had a slight accent. “You are the one I seek. Hawke Lightseeker. I have heard a great deal about you.”

  “People like to tell stories, I guess. Hope you didn’t take them too seriously.”

  “By the contrary, I do. I was asked to test your mettle. To find out if the stories had a kernel of truth within them, or if they were so much hot air.”

  “I don’t like taking tests.”

  “Refusing this test is not an option,” Horosha said.

  The stranger in the basket hat didn’t make any gestures or go through the motions of a spell, but by the time he was done speaking, a glowing dome of energy appeared out of nowhere. It was over a hundred feet wide – and it surrounded him and the Stranger while leaving Blaze outside. The Drakofox roared and cut loose with a stream of Mind-Fire, which washed over the dome without any apparent effect.

  “A Dueling Dome is impervious to most forms of damage,” Horosha informed Hawke. “It will not release those inside until one of them is defeated.”

  “Okay, then,” Hawke said, and cast Death Stare at the Half-Yosei. If basket-head wanted a fight, he got a fight.

  The spell he threw at Horosha was the deadliest one in his roster. Enhanced with Chaos and dual-casting, as well as the bonuses of his Mana Mystic class and Thanatos armor, plus an additional +300% damage increase for a mere 30 extra Mana, the spell inflicted a massive 4,080-6,800 Death damage and 1,200-2,000 Chaos damage, for a base cost of 2,650 Mana, which his bonuses to Death magic reduced to a mere 132. His Spell Penetration Perk further reduced the target’s Resistance to either type of magic by 20%. It probably wouldn’t kill the stranger, but it was a good way to start the fight.

  Horosha didn’t move or say anything but Hawke’s spell fizzled. Hawke didn’t hesitate and went for his other go-to trick, Twilight Step – and it fizzled as well. The bastard was negating his spells!

  Saturnyx said.

  “Not bad,” the stranger said reaching for the pair of swords at his belt. “You are a powerful spellcaster. But perhaps you can show me how well you fight with that fancy sword you’re speaking with.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Hawke and the stranger drew their blades. Hawke also readied his shield, which gave him added protection; he had a feeling he was going to need every advantage he could get. As soon as Saturnyx cleared, Hawke fired off an Elemental Strike for a thousand Mana, aiming the energy beam at the stranger’s center of mass. Horosha did a little sidestep and the massive Light blast missed him clean and spent itself against the magical dome isolating the two combatants. Hawke was on the move right after he fired the blast, his shield in front him as he sidled forward until he was in range to deliver sweeping cut.

  Horosha didn’t bother parrying the blow. He simply ducked away. The guy was fast as hell, and Hawke was still suffering from a 1% temporal slowdown
, although it might not have made much difference even if he wasn’t. For several seconds, Hawke chased the Half-Yosei around the circular area, unable to land a single hit. He tried every trick that Saturnyx had taught him. His Sword skill was level 9, increased to 24 by the magic in the sword’s handle, but he still couldn’t keep up with the guy. Horosha dodged most attacks, and used his two blades to deal with Hawke’s best blows, using the weapons to deflect hits with minimum effort. Most of the time, he didn’t even seem to be looking at Hawke directly, just letting his body anticipate every move and reacting accordingly.

  He's way better than me, Hawke realized after basket-head ignored a feint and danced away from the real thrust, a maneuver that left Hawke exposed to attack. Horosha didn’t take advantage of it, though. He hadn’t attacked once. He was toying with his prey. Hawke couldn’t see the man’s face under the woven straw helmet, but he was sure that the guy was smiling.

  Well, time to surprise him a little.

  When Horosha parried a swing, which brought the two combatants close together, Hawke fired off a torrent of Mind-Fire right at his face. He’d picked up that trick from his Greater Bond with Blaze, allowing him to spit psychic flames like a dragon. He spent 500 Mana to deliver 400-8,000 points of damage. The straw helmet Horosha was wearing wasn’t destroyed, but it blackened at the point of impact and Horosha staggered, taking over fifteen hundred points of damage despite his resistance values and other defenses. Hawke pressed on but, even injured and in pain, the stranger’s swordsmanship was good enough to keep his other attacks from hitting.

  Hawke unleashed another breath attack; Horosha dodged away but couldn’t completely avoid the flames. That slowed the bastard down. Just enough that when Hawke extended a Tulpa Weapon from his shield hand, he managed to stab the guy. The Pure Mana attack didn’t do a lot of damage, but Hawke used the connection to fire off a 2,000-Mana Elemental Blast that should have ended the fight right then and there.

  Would have, if Horosha hadn’t teleported away a split second before Hawke could activate the attack.

  Hawke spun around and found basket-head at the other end of the circle. Horosha’s Health was back to full. He’d used a potion or a damned good healing spell. Hawke used a Major Mana Potion, delivered directly into his bloodstream by his magical Dispensary. He needed his Mana back. That had been his best shot, and it hadn’t been good enough.

  “Ready to admit defeat, Hawke Lightseeker?”

  “I’m not going to grovel and beg for my life, if that’s what you mean.”

  Hawke racked his brain looking for a new tactic. His spells were useless; the guy could overwhelm them. Maybe if he pumped too much energy into them for Horosha to neutralize? He’d never given much thought to doing that; dual-casting already cost a huge chunk of energy and when using magic you wanted to reduce costs rather than spend more power. He hoped Saturnyx could give him a helpful hint, but the sword stayed quiet. He decided to use his breath attack and hope he could keep the guy at a distance while he came up with something.

  “As you wish,” Horosha said.

  One moment, he was fifty feet away. On the next, he had teleported past Hawke, who looked down and saw blood begin to spurt from his neck. There was no pain, just numbing shock. His Health was down to a hundred or so, and he was stunned, unable to act in any way. He had time to wonder if he couldn’t move because of a magical debuff or due to the massive trauma he’d just endured. He felt two hits on his back, each enough to kill him, but his emergency spells kicked in to keep him alive, barely. He still ended on his hands and knees, stunned and unable to do anything.

  “This fight is over,” Horosha told Hawke before delivering a hacking blow to the back of his neck.

  Hawke’s Health dropped to zero.

  Three

  Duel Completed: Horosha has defeated Hawke Lightseeker.

  Hawke saw his Health rebound back to full. He wasn’t dead after all.

  “What the hell?”

  “You cannot be compelled to enter a Dueling Circle unless the fight is a harmless simulation,” Horosha said in a slightly pedantic ‘you should know this already’ tone that reminded Hawke of Saturnyx at her worst.

  “Well, that’s great,” Hawke replied, noticing the energy dome was still surrounding them. “Mind letting me out?”

  “I would have already, but your kitsune is prowling around the circle like an angry cat. Wouldn’t want to have a misunderstanding.”

  Blaze shouted and exhaled another torrent of Mind-Fire.

  Easy, fur-face, Hawke told the Drakofox. It was just an exhibition match.

  “You may be wondering why I did all of this,” Horosha went on while Blaze growled but finally stopped spitting flames.

  “Yeah, seems like you went through a lot of trouble just to humiliate me. Although I’m told I could use a little more humility. Maybe I should thank you before kicking you out of my Domain.”

  Hawke had fought necromancers, demon nobles and Undead queens, but none of them had beaten them as easily as the stranger had. Saturnyx’s bonus to his swordsmanship made him the match of any fighter he’d encountered. Until now. The level disparity probably helped a lot, but Hawke suspected sheer skill had a lot more to do with it. He needed to spend more time on training.

 

  You were right. I was wrong, Hawke said, uttering the magic words every woman longs to hear, even Furies trapped inside a sword.

  Horosha gave him a bow before speaking. “Of course. I apologize for giving offense, but I was charged to ensure that you were worthy.”

  “Worthy of what?”

  “Of marrying my beloved’s darling daughter, of course.”

  Oh, crap. “Wait. Your ‘beloved’ is…”

  “Kassia Tones. Formerly Kintes. Mother of Tava Kintes.”

  * * *

  “When should I expect her?” Hawke asked Horosha before leaving him at the Copper Kettle.

  “She will arrive the day before your wedding. Unfortunately, she had some business to conduct in Crystal City and she missed today’s last Gate Transit.”

  Hawke didn’t know what a Gate Transit was or where Crystal City was located, but he figured he’d ask Saturnyx when he had a chance. For now, the important thing was that the high-level swordsman was no longer a threat. He had fined Horosha two hundred gold denars for assaulting the patrol, which basket-head had paid without complaint. After that, he’d gotten him a room at the best hostel-tavern in town. Dorrham Stern’s establishment had once been a third-rate inn on a bad part in town, but ever since Hawke had made it famous, it had grown in size and repute. The fact that it had the only pizza oven in town had made it popular with the other Eternals in the Domain, and now you needed to make reservations if you didn’t want to spend an hour in the barroom waiting to be seated.

  “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Hawke asked Horosha. “I assume there won’t be any more trouble.”

  The swordsman gave Hawke a light bow and removed his woven straw hat, revealing black hair, brown eyes and a mix of Asian and European features, on his wide face. When he spoke, his tone was more diffident than before:

  “No, of course not. If you require any further fines or punishment, I will accept them without complaint. This is not my first journey through a land ruled by descendants of the Romanes, and I know enough about their laws to avoid breaking them.”

  “Very well. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for an appointment.”

  Hawke wasn’t leaving the stranger completely unsupervised, of course. Alba Bastardes, Hawke’s spymaster, had several members of Dorrham’s staff on her payroll, and they would keep an eye on Horosha. That would have to do. He worried about leaving a high-level Adventurer to his own devices, but he figured it would be safe enough.

  Of course, if he decides to act up, he’ll just kick my ass all over again.

  t matter. Quantity has a quality of its own.>

  The sword had a point. If Blaze had been able to join in the fight, it wouldn’t have been a cakewalk for basket-head. And if either of them tried anything in Orom, he could raise everyone in town by five levels, even the non-Adventurers, and spring quite a few surprises on them. The town’s garrison currently included fifty Clockwork Defenders and six Mechanical Golems, all sixteenth level Elites, for example, and if necessary he could summon many more. It didn’t matter how high-level you were, you could be swamped by sheer numbers. He didn’t expect things would deteriorate to that point, but it always paid to prepare for the worst. The Realms were full of nasty twists and turns.

  Hawke walked back up the hill toward the Prefect’s Keep. He replaced his body armor with a tunic and leather pants, his work clothes. Couldn’t hold meetings looking like a death knight; it made people antsy. His clock app showed that he was five minutes late, but most people in Orom didn’t have clocks and their idea of being on time was measured in half hour increments. Nobody was going to complain, especially not when the meeting involved people who wanted something from him. In any case, he needed to have a word with someone before showing up.

  Captain of the Watch Kinto Primes looked up from his desk, where he’d been laboring over some report or another. He still looked decades younger than he had when Hawke had met the man, although his time in charge of Orom’s defending forces was beginning to leave its mark on him. Being a lone hunter and retired Adventurer was a far cry from managing a company-strength military force as well as running the law-enforcement arm of the town. But he did both jobs with the same unflinching dedication that he had shown fighting alongside Hawke.

  “Glad to hear the stranger wasn’t interested in causing more mischief,” Kinto said.

  “Well, he’s promised he won’t start anything, but he brought news I thought you should hear first.” Kinto’s eyes narrowed but he remained quiet until Hawke told him the news.