Court of Thorns: A LitRPG Story Read online

  A cold wave of power coursed through his energy channels, pushing Chaos back. The wave of Order erupted from his Third Eye Chakra and flowed through the Mana spike connected to the Dungeon Core. In a flash of light, the energy construct changed its color from the Rorschach-like ever-shifting swirl of silver and black to the cool and steady white pulse of Order.

  You have transformed: Dungeon Core (Dark Chaos) into: Dungeon Core (Order).

  Absorb Dungeon Core? Y/N

  “Yes,” Hawke said as soon as the notification popped up. The pain from his overstressed Mana channels was coming back and he didn’t wait for other options to appear. He just wanted to end this mess.

  The Core leaped towards his face, too fast for him to react. It smashed him right between the eyes, plugging itself in the spot where his Third Eye would have been before the Chaos intrusion broke it. The pain stopped just before the Chaos Duke exploded all over him in a wave of shattered bones and Chaos flames.

  Next thing Hawke knew, he was lying at the bottom of the hill. There was no trace of the Chaos Duke and he was back to full Health, so things must have worked out for a change. As he struggled to his feet, he heard screaming and the sounds of battle magic coming from the other side of the hill, where the party was. There were dozens of notifications clamoring for his attention, but only one was blinking red, so he opened it:

  Infernal Greater Being detected.

  Assume Mantle of Order? Y/N

  Zippo’s pet was probably up to no good. Might as well be ready for trouble. He ‘clicked’ Yes.

  And found himself flying on angelic wings while the world became a place of gradients of energy, similar to when he activated Advanced Mana Sight, except this new kind of vision measured the amount of Order and Disorder in everything. Numbers flowed back and forth and he could see something like blueprints underlying everything from the air molecules around him to the trees in the forest. It was kind of trippy.

  Saturnyx noted.

  Yeah? Maybe now I’ll get some more respect around these parts.

  The sword snorted before turning serious.

  Hawke flew towards the hill. He discovered the wings that had sprouted behind him weren’t really connected to his body but were somehow instead floating about an inch away from his back armor plate. His flight speed didn’t seem as good as Blaze’s, which was confirmed when the Drakofox came soaring up from behind him.

 

  “Yeah. What’s going on?”

 

  Hawke saw the party. Everyone except Alba and Zippo were arranged in a semicircle around the demon Drekavak, who was holding the Fire Mage-Summoner by the scruff of his neck. It looked like a hostage situation. The group seemed unsure what to do about it, since the demon noble had a fiery claw poised to cut Zippo’s throat.

  Drekavak looked up at Hawke’s winged figure.

  “This does not concern you, Caelestis,” it said in Infernal. Which apparently Hawke could understand now. The word the demon used meant literally ‘from the heavens.’

  “I am the party leader and that pinhead is with me,” Hawke replied in the same language. His voice came out with an inhuman reverb and volume that made it sound like he had an entire FX team working for him. It was inhuman. It was powerful and awe-inspiring. And he had used it to call Zippo a pinhead.

  Saturnyx noted. From the way everyone else was staring at him, she was the only unimpressed member of his group.

  “He made a deal in return for power. Then he broke his compact with your party, disobeying your orders,” the demon countered.

  “True,” Hawke admitted as he landed. He noticed that he was at least a foot and a half taller than normal, towering heads and shoulder over the humanoid members of the group. Saturnyx had also grown proportionally, looking bigger than K-Bar’s Zweihander. So had all his gear. He’d turned into a giant angel of justice. But it was Order’s version of justice: inflexible, final, and devoid of compassion.

  The demon was right. Zippo had been warned repeatedly about using AOEs. And the demon he had summoned had killed Alba and nearly killed several others with an AOE. Either Zippo had figured the demon didn’t count, or he had forgotten to order it not to harm any allies. Disobeying orders was a violation of the oath he had made. By rights, he should be dead already, killed instantly by the magical oath-enforcement system.

  “He still lives because of the deal he made with us,” Drekavak explained. “He thought it would allow him to escape the justice of the mortal city of Akila. And in a way, it did. By delivering himself to our justice. He will not find the trade pleasant.”

  Hawke wanted to argue the point – and discovered he couldn’t do it. He physically could not even utter any words pleading for the Fire Mage. Because Zippo had broken the law and an Archon of Order could not protect lawbreakers. All he could do was nod.

  Drekavak laughed. He and Zippo vanished in a cloud of sulfur.

  “What the hell just happened?” Aristobulus blurted out.

  Hawke realized nobody but him and probably Saturnyx had understood that exchange, since they had been speaking in Infernal. First, he turned off the Mantle of Order and transformed back to his usual, six-one, Thanatos armor-wearing self. The wings and the disturbingly loud reverberating voice disappeared. So did the constant need to measure the disorder level in everything around him. Or to judge people. As it turned out, being in full Order mode turned you into a judgy bastard.

  “Zippo made a deal with the Infernals,” he said. “When his summoned critter killed Alba, he broke his oath to the city and the Infernal took him.”

  “Took him where?”

  “Where do you think?”

  “You didn’t stop him,” Aristobulus said. “You didn’t even try.”

  “He killed Alba. She will come back, thanks to a Soul Jar I bought for her, but after that there is no second chance for her. Zippo could have ordered the demon to make sure not to hurt any friendlies. If he was still here, I would have chopped off his head myself. Hell, the oath he took would have perma-killed him by now.”

  Aristobulus lowered his head. None of the other ex-Herders seemed terribly upset at what had happened. Nobody had really liked the Fire Wizard. The only thing that anyone was likely to miss was the DPS he brought to the table.

  “What happened to you?” Grognard asked him, changing the subject. That was the end of talk about the missing and presumed damned Zippo.

  Hawke shrugged. “I’ll let you know as soon as I go through the two million notifications I’ve got floating around.”

  Interlude: Leveling Up, Part One

  For slaying your foes, you have earned 20,000 Experience (2,500 diverted towards Leadership, 2,500 diverted towards Node Mastery).

  Congratulations! You have conquered the final level of the Emerald Wing!

  You have earned 16,000 Experience (2,000 diverted towards Leadership, 2,000 diverted towards Node Mastery).

  You have partially completed a Quest: Destroy the Guardians (1/47).

  You have earned 2,000 Experience (500 diverted towards Leadership, 500 diverted towards Node Mastery).

  You have found 2 Soul Shards, 3 platinum, 73 gold.

  You have found 13 Master Healing Potions, 18 Master Mana Potions, 8 Master Rejuvenation Potions.

  You have found: Greater Amethyst of the Magus (level 28 Legendary Item)

  You have found: Master Ring of the Adventurer (+8 to all Attributes)

  Congratulations! You have reached level 25! You have gained 6 Attribute points to distribute. New spells available. You have gained a new Perk: Understand Languages. New Sword Boon available.

  You have become a Tier 1 Entity (Archon of Order)! Y
ou have gained new bonuses and abilities.

  Warning! You have lost access to one Force, one School of Magic, and four spells.

  Your Leadership has increased to Level Fourteen! New abilities available.

  The Earth and Realms Defenders Guild has reached Level Six.

  Current XP/Next Level: 250,927/300,000. Leadership XP/Next Level: 103,108/200,000.

  Current Node Mastery XP/Next Level: 43,299/50,000. Current Guild XP/Next Level: 11,289/20,000.

  Tier Experience/Next Level: 0/500,000.

  Fighting a big boss at his level paid off. Everyone had leveled up at least once. Of course, he hadn’t just leveled up, he had become something else. A Tier 1 entity, whatever that meant. When he’d assumed the mantle of an Archon, he had seen the world very differently. He wondered what other changes were in store for him. While the rest of the party was busy checking notifications, he closed his eyes and let his senses wander.

  Even with his eyes closed, he knew exactly where everyone was. A map similar to the one in the Party Interface was visible through his closed eyelids, except this version painted a more detailed picture of everything around him, including trees, the regular insects fluttering around tentatively now that the monsters and environmental insanity were gone, and some small woodland animals that had managed to live through the chaotic changes in the pocket dimension. Where did this new sense come from?

 

  I was going to, Hawke grumbled.

  He dug out the stats of his new species first. Might as well learn what he was in for. Being able to grow angel wings was awesome, but he was pretty sure there would be a price to pay for that and all the other stuff. Everything had strings attached in the Realms. Probably everywhere else, too.

  Archon of Order (Celestial), Tier 1 Entity: You are no longer a mere mortal, or even a normal Eternal. You are a servant of Order, beholden to the Architect. Your nature will be known to other greater beings and you will automatically garner the hostility of Infernals, Chaos-attuned entities, Undead, and the High Sidhe. You can also advance in Tier, gaining more abilities and powers. To do so, you must devote a portion of your earned Experience towards that purpose.

  As an Archon, you gain a number of new Perks and Abilities:

  Archon Perks

  Attribute Bonuses: +6 to all Attributes.

  Characteristic Bonuses: +20% to Health and Endurance; +50% to Mana.

  Resistance Bonuses: +5% Resistance to all Elements and Forces. +25% Resistance to all effects designed to debilitate or control minds.

  Archon Abilities

  Archon’s Awareness: You are perfectly aware of your surroundings without using your physical senses. All living beings and objects within (100+Perception) feet level will appear in a virtual three-dimensional map. Stealth abilities and Fae Glamours have a chance to evade detection but have a -50% penalty, modified by level differentials.

  Assume the Mantle: When in the presence of greater beings (level 21+ Elite Monster Lieutenants or Rulers, Celestial, Infernal or Sidhe nobility, Tier 0 or greater entities, and Godlings or Gods), you can invoke your full power as an Archon. This ability only works in Realms or dimensions with a higher level limit than 20.

  Assuming the Mantle doubles your Health, Mana, and Endurance, increases your size and that of any soul-bound weapons and armor by 20%, raises weapon and spell damage by 50%, renders you immune to all effects that debilitate or control minds, and causes all mortals at your level or below to be awed in your presence (if they fail to resist, they are unable to strike at you or oppose you in any way). You also gain wings and the ability to fly with a maximum speed in miles per hour equal to your Willpower plus Level. This effect has a maximum duration of 1 minute per level and can be used once per day. The effects of Impose Order and Restore Order are doubled in effectiveness.

  Enhanced Senses: You can see deeper into the true nature of things. At Tier 1, you can examine the full attributes of non-Tiered beings and have a percentage chance equal to (30 + Intelligence) to detect hidden traps or compartments.

  Hide Self: You can hide your true nature from mortals or even most supernatural beings. Your Tier status will be invisible to non-Tier entities unless they possess extraordinary powers of detection or insight. You can choose to change your name, Class, and level at will. This is an illusion; even if your Attributes or Characteristics appear to be anything you wish, your real ones will not change.

  Impose Order: You can dispel Chaos and Infernal energies by emitting a wave of Order-attuned Mana from your hands, eyes, or Chakras. This ability will affect a single spell of effect within line of sight. Each point of Mana spent in this manner will counteract up to 20 points of Chaos- and Infernal-attuned spells and effects.

  Restore Order: You can send a pulse of Order energy around you, restoring all things and people back to their normal status. The ability affects a volume with a radius equal to 3 feet per level. All curses, blessings, debuffs, and other effects that alter people, objects and the environment can be removed if you have enough Mana to overpower them. Chaos energies can be dispelled, with 1 point of Order-attuned Mana negating 10 points of Chaos-attuned Mana. The Mana cost of other effects will be determined by the power level or strength of the disordered elements.

  Resist Damage: You are harder to injure than normal beings. At Tier 1, you ignore the first 100 points of damage from any attack, spell, or effect. This includes curses, poisons, and other ongoing damage effects.

  Hawke dismissed the notification. He should be excited about his new abilities but felt a bit out of sorts instead. There was a sense of pressure on his forehead, as if his helmet had shrunk or gotten dented – or his head had gotten bigger. He took the helmet off – and neon-white light shone out from between his eyes as if someone had stuck a flashlight on his forehead.

  “Ah, you’ve got a glowing ball right between your eyes,” Grognard told him. “Thought you should know.”

  “Yeah, I sort of noticed it just now.”

  “Looks kinda like a third – ”

  “Eye. Like a third eye.”

  He looked through his notifications until he found one that explained the situation:

  Congratulations! You have awakened your Third Eye Chakra!

  You have earned 500 Experience.

  Current XP/Next Level: 251,427/300,000.

  You have gained +10% to Mana Capacity and +1 to Mana Regeneration per minute.

  You have gained Mana Awareness: you can sense the Mana bound into all things, allowing you to be aware of them without relying on your physical senses.

  Your Mana Channeling level has increased to Seven (Nine with Mana Mystic Bonus).

  You have learned a new Mana Channeling Ability: Tulpa Edge I: You can surround a bladed weapon with a Mana edge that will ignore all Physical and Elemental damage absorption and resistance values and reduce Force damage absorption and resistance values by 75%. This ability costs 500 Mana, which cannot be regained until the effect is canceled.

  New Quest Available: Mana Cultivation I

  Hawke clicked on the Quest.

  You Have Been Offered a Secret Quest:

  QUEST: Mana Cultivation I

  You have opened the seven Chakras that regulate the flow of Mana through your body. The next step in the path towards Mastery is to condense the Mana inside of you, increasing its density and gaining a greater measure of control over it. Once Mana has been condensed through meditation and cultivation techniques, you will be able to create Mana Cores at each of your Chakras, greatly strengthening your Mana channels.

  Quest Objective: Increase the Mana density around a Chakra until a Mana Core is formed within it (Note: the Root, Solar Plexus and Groin Chakras are the easiest ones to cultivate. It is strongly suggested that you start with one of them).

  Rewards: 5,000 Experience, +15% to Mana Capacity; +10 to Mana Regeneration per minute; other Rewards may depend on the Chakra that gains a Core.


  Failure Penalties: If the quest is abandoned or refused, you will not be able to advance your Mana Channeling until you find a teacher.

  Accept? Y/N.

  As soon as he did, the quest was replaced with a new notification.

  You have completed a Secret Quest: Mana Cultivation I

  You have earned 5,000 Experience.

  You Mana Capacity has increased by 15%. You have +10 Mana Regeneration per minute.

  Current XP/Next Level: 256,427/300,000.

  Warning: Core discrepancy detected.

  Order-Attuned Dungeon Core embedded in Third Eye Chakra.

  Dungeon Core has replaced Mana Core.

  Standard Mana Core (Third Eye) rewards have been lost. Current Core is unstable. Time until critical failure occurs: 17 hours, 3 minutes.

  New Quest available: WTF, Hawke? New Quest cannot be refused.

  “Wait, what?”

  Quests usually didn’t curse him out. Or cursed anybody out for that matter. There was some personalization in the messages Adventurers got from the system, but nothing like that.

 

  The new quest shed some light in the situation, although it didn’t follow the usual format.

  Quest Accepted: WTF, Hawke?

  Are you freaking kidding me? Another mess for me to clean up. This one got handed to me from the Ones upstairs. High upstairs. So I can’t just fix the anomaly by wiping you out from the system. Which is too bad, because that’s where you need to be. Purged from all of reality. Only way to be sure. But I can’t, so let me explain.

  Absorbing the Dungeon Core would have given you a couple of nice abilities that would have gone nicely with your new Archon status (grats, I guess). Unfortunately, someone drilled (more like melted) a hole through your Third Eye. That should have killed your Mana Cultivation advancement, by the way. It would have frozen you at that achievement level. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world. Plenty of people never get past six Chakras. Most never open one. You would have lived without any more kewl powerz.