Apocalypse Knights 2: A LitRPG Fantasy, page 2
“No one cares about a flying rodent’s opinions,” Max called into the sky. “Least of all one that used to be a bloodsucking monster before I chopped her into pieces.”
“You cheated in that duel!” Nesura cried, before launching into a diatribe about Max’s lack of honor and chivalric failings that he’d heard dozens of times already.
“I don’t like men in silk and ribbons,” Flora said quietly, her cheeks bright red.
“Yeah, neither do I,” Max replied, pushing a grin onto his face. Flora mirrored his grin briefly, and they erupted in a bout of chuckling.
“But seriously though, Felix and Marina are really taking their time,” he continued, once their mirth had passed. “If they don’t get here within the next few minutes, we’re leaving without them.”
“Oh no, you won’t, Max!” a man’s voice chirped exuberantly. “You’re not keeping all the fun to yourself!”
Max turned his gaze in the opposite direction from which the voice had come.
“Not bad, Felix. Took me a bit longer to spot you this time,” he said.
A young man dressed in plain leather armor emerged into view, seemingly out of thin air. Behind him, a woman with her short, dark hair cut in a bob appeared as well. She wore a simple but functional gambeson.
“By the Verdant Gods, Max. How do you do that?” Felix said, shaking his head in mock annoyance. “I used a full Level 2 Cloak spell and even threw my voice from the other direction this time.”
“Probably some esoteric martial technique he has learned as a Strident swordmaster,” Marina speculated, grinning. “We’ve already stopped wondering what can’t you do quite a while ago, Max.”
“Well, I can’t see through a Cloak spell, for one thing,” Max replied. He nodded at the soft dirt beneath Felix’s feet. Felix’s Classification was that of an Infiltrator, which allowed him to cast spells that hid his presence and misled his foes. “But I can see the footprints you’re leaving behind. Throwing your voice is a nice trick, though. Is it something you learned how to do, or is that a new spell of yours?”
“It’s a new function of my upgraded Bright Decoy spell,” Felix explained. “I have it at Level 2 now—the illusory copies I create of myself can actually produce sound and move without mirroring me. My Cloak spell also now allows me to hide anyone standing within five feet of me. I’m sure that will come in handy when we head out.”
“It will,” Max agreed.
“It’s this place,” Marina said, idly waving her fingers and causing slivers of frost to dance over her palm. She was an Elementalist, a Knight-Errant who possessed devastating elemental spells. Marina commanded ice and water, and Max had seen her cut down monsters by the dozen with her Icebolt and Icelance spells.
Marina summoned a Soul Lens screen.
Phase 99
“Something happened with our spells when we arrived in this place,” she said. “They’re still mostly the same, but now it feels like they have more… potential.”
Beyond the Apocalypse Horizon, every Knight-Errant’s Soul Lens was still stuck at Phase 4, which limited their maximum Level to 4. According to Nesura, the Cosmic Logos, the arbiter of Soul Lenses as much as it was of Dungeons, unlocked Phases as time passed. But Mira Pureheart, a legendary Knight-Errant of yore, had given her life to bring about the growth of a massive tree at the heart of the Valeris Dominion.
That tree, known aptly as Pureheart’s Sacrifice, ensured that no Dungeon would ever manifest within the borders of the Dominion. Dungeons still appeared near the nation’s borders, however, but these were far easier for Knights-Errant to reach and destroy before they produced any monster incursions. Over the course of a century, the number of lives saved by Pureheart’s Sacrifice easily amounted to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, even if Max were to be conservative with his estimates.
But Pureheart’s Sacrifice had also stifled the entire world, it seemed, at Phase 4. Within the Apocalypse Horizon, where the tree likely no longer existed, every Knight-Errant’s Soul Lens was at Phase 99, which suggested that the highest Level one could now reach was also 99.
Other new things came with Phase 99 too. Max’s Classification was one of them. Prior to the Apocalypse Horizon, the only four possible Knight-Errant Classifications were Warmonger, Infiltrator, Defender, and Elementalist. Max, however, was an Arcanist, capable of copying the spells and abilities of other Knights-Errant or monsters.
Given all these changes, he wouldn’t be surprised if “older” spells—those that had been around in the two hundred years since the appearance of the first Knight-Errant and Dungeon— had acquired new facets and dimensions as well.
Marina held out her hand. A sword of ice coalesced into being within her grasp, utilitarian in appearance, with a simple unadorned cross guard and unremarkably proportioned hilt, but utterly functional.
“This is one of the new things my Icebolt spell can do now,” she said. “Previously, I could only use it to launch spikes of ice at monsters. Now, it allows me to shape and manipulate small quantities of ice.”
“I assume your Icelance spell functions the same way, but only on a larger scale,” Max said. “That’s good to know. It’s good that the two of you took the time to meditate on your spells and the new things they’re capable of.”
“Well, we didn’t spend all that time meditating.” Marina looped her arm around Felix’s and grinned. The Infiltrator smiled sheepishly and took her hand in his.
“Sorry we took so long, Max,” Felix said.
Max chuckled and shook his head. “There’s nothing to worry about. Flora just arrived,” he said, nodding to the Defender. “If anything, I have to congratulate you two on your excellent timing. Also, the time and space you gave me helped me clear my mind and regain my focus, something we all needed to do after arriving at Level 3.”
Max had been on the cusp of surpassing Level 2 after his emergence from the Dungeon called the Feast of Dusk. Felix and Marina weren’t nearly as close, but a few days of focused ghoul-hunting in apocalyptic Hisktown had gotten all three of them to Level 3.
“These two cleared their minds by rutting for two days straight,” Nesura chimed in as she swooped down and landed on the top of Max’s head. “You, on the other hand, sat down here and brooded.”
The spirit familiar’s words elicited a mischievous grin from Marina, an abashed chuckle from Felix, and furious blushing from Flora.
“I meditated,” Max corrected the bat. “And it would have gone much more smoothly if you hadn’t been here, mouthing off about things nobody wants to hear.”
“Well, it’s not like I can be anywhere else,” Nesura snarled. “Because you killed me and bound me permanently as a spirit familiar, remember?”
“Get over it,” Max said, before tuning out the fresh wave of obscenities pouring from her mouth. He nodded to the three Knights-Errant standing before him. “Alright. Let’s go. We have six days. The walk itself will take us just under two. That will leave us with four days to get through the Dungeon.”
“That’s cutting things a bit close, isn’t it, Max?” Felix sighed. “Not that I don’t appreciate all your help getting me to Level 3, but I wonder if it would have been better if you’d left me behind and headed off immediately with someone at a higher Level.”
“You and Miss Trist were the first to respond to Mister Crask’s call,” Flora said. “It was most fortuitous that Mister Strident already knew and trusted you both.”
“Flora, please,” Max interjected. “Just call me by my first name.”
“Us, too.” Marina reached out and squeezed Flora’s armored forearm briefly. “Or we’ll start calling you Lady Truesteel. Unless that’s what you actually want us to start doing.”
“No, no. That’s not necessary,” Flora replied. “Please feel free to address me as ‘Flora’… Max, Marina, and Felix.”
Shortly after his debriefing with Jonn and Flora at the Full Cup, Jonn had sent out a rallying call amongst the Venture Spears. To Max’s annoyance, the Venture Spears, though ostensibly a guild of Knights-Errant, functioned more like a loose network of vague, interpersonal relations, more dependent on individual esteem and exchanged favors than any real rank or organizational protocol.
Jonn Crask was widely respected, but he held no rank within the Venture Spears. Neither did anyone else, it seemed, save for its Guild Master, a mysterious individual known only as the Slayer. Still, Jonn’s repute was widespread and profound enough to warrant near-immediate interest amongst many Knights-Errant. A whole host had congregated upon the Full Cup within the same day, Felix and Marina included, but only the latter two had remained after Jonn revealed the challenges awaiting them in the Apocalypse Horizon.
Too many unknowns, some of the Knights-Errant had said. Others balked at the notion of following Max’s lead, which was reasonable, since he hadn’t been a Knight-Errant for very long and was a literal nobody amongst their ranks. And then there were a fair few who refused to believe Jonn’s dire tidings about the Apocalypse Horizon, and Max couldn’t blame them. The very notion that there existed a portal to the not-so-distant future where humanity had been driven into extinction by Level 99 Dungeons and monsters did sound very far-fetched.
Jonn had offered to show these detractors the portal to the Apocalypse Horizon, but many of them had declined, preferring to return to their own pursuits of wealth and Victory Shards instead. And then there were those that didn’t disbelieve Jonn, but were reluctant to involve themselves too, especially since Erik and Velia, both Level 4 Knights-Errant of considerable repute and prowess, had perished within the Apocalypse Horizon.
A contingent of Knights-Errant were more than willing to resume their vigil over the portal, thanks to the prospect of payment from Flora’s rich and powerful family, but almost none were willing to join Max as cohort members, at least during Jonn’s initial rallying call anyway.
Jonn had left the Full Cup shortly after, saying that he would call on more of the favors he’d accrued amongst his fellow Knights-Errant and also ask the Guild Master of the Venture Spears for help. Flora had also returned to her family’s outlet, seeking to achieve through money what personal fame and esteem could not.
That left Felix and Marina, who had then followed Max right into the Apocalypse Horizon, where they’d spent the last few days hunting ghouls and accruing enough Victory Shards to bring all of them to Level 3. Flora had joined them intermittently, returning to the Errantry Mansion and the Truesteel outlet next to the Blue Trumpet tavern at the end of each day to continue her organizational efforts.
The time had been well spent, Max believed. Though Felix was young, he was bright, loyal, and filled with potential. Marina herself had been on the cusp of attaining Level 3, having steadily worked her way through Level 2 over the course of two years. She was a competent combatant, a seasoned Knight-Errant, and a skilful and creative spell-caster.
As for Max himself, he’d been a few Victory Shards short of Level 3 after his triumph over the Feast of Dusk. It made sense to him that the three of them invest the time to arrive at Level 3 together, then work toward some degree of synchronicity as a team.
The first goal had been achieved after much work, especially on Felix’s part. The second goal had been met to some satisfaction too. Marina and Felix shared a natural affinity for each other, which wasn’t surprising, considering the fact that they were lovers. Max, on the other hand, with his versatile repertoire of spells and special abilities, found himself falling into a comfortable working pattern with the Infiltrator and Elementalist.
If monsters were attacking from afar, Max could hold the projectiles at bay with his Shield spells while Marina struck back with her Icebolts or Icelances and Felix flanked them. If a horde of ghouls decided to charge them, Max was more than happy to wade into their midst, his strength and reflexes heightened by his Prowess spell while he split skulls and opened torsos with Stridentsong, his enchanted sword. While he was doing this, Marina would hose the monsters down with her deadly spells and Felix would cut away at the edges of their formation, all the while remaining hidden beneath his Cloak spell. And whenever they came across a cluster of monsters who had not detected their presence, Max could use Cloak alongside Felix, and the two of them would kill all the monsters unseen, leaving any stragglers for Marina to mop up.
As long as I can work around them, which isn’t hard, we should be good, Max thought. His gaze fell over Flora. The Defender hadn’t spent as much time training alongside Felix and Marina, but she’d found her place easily amongst them, serving as a stalwart anchor and bulwark against the monsters they’d fought. Max had fought alongside another Defender called Boris. Flora was much better at her job than Boris. I think this is as ideal a cohort as I can rustle up, given the circumstances.
“Alright, let’s get going,” Max said. “And Felix, don’t worry. We’ll get this done on time.”
He extended his will and sent out a cohort request to Flora. The Defender nodded.
Cohort request accepted.
Flora Truesteel, Level 3 Defender has joined your cohort.
Current cohort members:
Marina Trist, Level 3 Elementalist
Felix Straya, Level 3 Infiltrator
Flora Truesteel, Level 3 Defender
Maximo Strident, Level 3 Arcanist
+9 to Health Point reserves
+9 to Mana Point reserves
+3 to all Physical Attributes
Max brought up a screen describing his Prowess spell next. He’d just upgraded it to Level 3, and in doing so, he’d assigned two of its four physical attribute points to his strength, one to his dexterity, and the last to his fortitude.
Prowess
Persistent spell
Level 3
30 minutes
Mana Cost: 2/4/6 mana (-3 to all Mana Costs due to Bracer of Elucidation +2)
Range: Personal
Current Configuration:
Level 1: +2 strength, + 1 perception, + 1 dexterity
Level 2: +2 dexterity, + 2 perception
Level 3: + 2 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 fortitude
“Felix, stay sharp. Scout up to fifty feet ahead,” Max said. “I’ll take point. Flora, take my left. Marina, between us.”
The cohort nodded. Felix had access to the Prowess spell as well, though as an Infiltrator, he couldn’t upgrade it past Level 2, at least not yet. He uttered the casting words for the spell, causing a faint crimson aura to flare briefly over his body. He then proceeded to do the same with his Cloak spell, vanishing from sight as the last syllable fell from his lips.
Marina and Flora drew their swords. Flora unhitched her shield and hefted it upon her left hand. The two women began taking their places in the formation. Max glanced upward, but Nesura was silent. The blankness of her mind suggested that she’d fallen asleep sometime ago, after her latest tirade had played itself out. He plucked her off his head and shoved the familiar none-too-gently into one of the compartments of his belt pouch, causing her to squawk in indignant alarm.
“If you shit in there like you did the last time, I’m going to skin you alive,” he promised.
“Kill yourself, Max,” Nesura retorted, sticking out her tongue at him in a disturbingly human fashion.
Shaking his head, Max cast his Prowess spell at Level 3. He felt his limbs surge with power as the spell’s crimson aura washed over him. His heartbeat became stronger and smoother, thanks to his enhanced fortitude, while his vision and hearing sharpened to the point of painful clarity. His movements turned surer and defter as well, his reflexes heightened by his increased dexterity.
Physical Attributes
Strength: 3 + 3 (cohort link) + 4 (prowess) = 10
Dexterity: 3 + 3 (cohort link) + 4 (prowess) = 10
Fortitude: 3 + 3 (cohort link) + 1 (prowess) = 7
Perception: 3 + 3 (cohort link) + 3 (perception) = 9
Every point of fortitude above three increased his Health Point reserves by five, while every two points of perception above four would increase his Mana Point reserves by five.
Health Points: 12 + 10 (Level 2) + 20 (Level 3) + 20 (fortitude) + 9 (cohort link) = 71
Mana Points: 10 + 20 (Level 2) + 40 (Level 3) + 10 (perception) + 9 (cohort link) + 20 (Bracer of Clarity +2) = 109
Max grinned at the information displayed over his Soul Lens. He’d come quite a long way since he’d fought his first monster.
Next, he called Stridentsong into his grasp. Two feet of black steel, pouring from a hilt with upward arching quillons, filled his right hand. Lines of blue light ran down its length, pulling apart at the guard before pooling at its pommel. The enchanted sword was soul-bound to him, forged from the shattered fragments of Brightened-Edge, the mythical weapon of Artur Brightblade himself.
Stridentsong: Soul-Bound weapon
Longsword +3
Keen +1, Sure +1, Sundering +1
Keen +1: Increases likeliness of critical strikes by 5%
Sure +1: Improves accuracy of strikes by 5%
Sundering +1: Reduces target’s armor effectiveness by 8% per strike
Stridentsong had increased in potency upon Max’s attaining Level 3. In particular, the blade’s ability to sunder the armor of its targets had doubled. He twirled the blade casually, luxuriating in its balance and heft. Stridentsong was a swordmaster’s blade, a specialized weapon more esoteric and difficult to wield than the common longsword, but it suited Max. The blade forms flashed through his mind as he arced Stridentsong through one more practice loop before bringing it to marching readiness: point low, grasp relaxed but firm, edges kept clear of his stride.
Max could dismiss or re-summon Stridentsong at the speed of thought, which allowed him to easily bring his other weapons to bear if the circumstances called for them. He unhitched his Magus Staff from the sling across his back he’d fashioned in the Errantry Mansion and held it in his left hand.
