The Mad Immortal: A LitRPG Adventure, page 8
“Nate!”
He spun toward the source of the shout and saw Wes grappling with a flying verabeast back by the rest of their group. The creature had its claws wrapped around one of the twins’ shoulders and was trying to lift him into the air.
Nate shoved the cloak into his bag; there’d be time enough for loot later. For now, it was time to fight.
Chapter Nine
Nate conjured a Fire Bolt, preparing to hurl it at the verabeast attacking his group. As he sighted on his target, however, he hesitated. The flier was flailing from side to side in Wes’ grasp while the twin clutched in its talons pummeled at it ineffectually.
With his low Finesse, Nate’s Fire Bolts weren’t exactly the most precise projectiles. There was a good chance he’d accidentally catch one or more of his allies in the blast. Dismissing his weave, he instead channeled his essence into a new Ice Blade.
He shaped the flows of essence into a spear like the one he’d used against the ferroceros, hoping it would be long enough to reach the verabeasts in the air. His Gusting Boots were liable to throw him straight into the panicked crowd, so he charged toward the melee with his spear held aloft.
Before he could reach them, a thin beam of fire split the air ahead of him, close enough that he could feel the intense heat it radiated on his skin. The narrow line of flame broke past the flier’s weak aegis and seared a hole through one of its wings.
Shrieking in pain, the creature released the twin it was holding and tried to fly away. Unfortunately for it, the attack had done too much damage. It flopped to the ground beside the freed twin, struggling to rise.
Nate slammed his spear into the creature as he arrived, the Ice Blade piercing its abdomen. This close up, he finally got his first good look at the verabeast.
It was small, about the size of a hound, with a thick, bulbous body. Its wings reminded him of a giant fly, its head lined with clusters of segmented black eyes.
The creature snapped a pair of mandibles at him. Nate easily dodged to the side. Yanking his spear free, he drove it back down, this time through the flier’s head. It shuddered and stilled. Golden light enveloped its corpse as it broke apart in a spray of essence.
Nate reveled at the tiny trickle of essence that flowed into him. Whatever these things were, they didn’t seem too menacing individually. Still, with so many of them in such a confined space, getting swarmed proved a very real danger.
The immediate threat dealt with, he made a quick survey of the Hub. Their group was now the closest to the front. A few scattered verists hurled ranged weaves toward the invaders, but most had fled back down the bridge toward the pad. Many of them were likely binders or forgers ill-suited for combat. Why weren’t they using the pad to escape?
“The pad must be locked down!” he shouted. “We’re stuck here with these things until the protectors arrive.”
Ellie held her stone rod up, firing off a series of beams toward the circling fliers. “Then we’re just going to have to keep the fungitera busy until then.”
She cursed under her breath as most of her shots went wide of the nimble creatures, though a few scored lucky hits.
“You two do what you can,” Wes said. “I’ll cover you.”
Ice Skin coated his body as he positioned himself beside Ellie, fists raised and at the ready. Wes might be an excellent brawler, but his skillset wouldn’t help much against flying enemies he couldn’t reach.
From what little Nate knew of the twins, they’d be even less useful here. They huddled down, their forgelings picking up on their distress and quivering in close to them like frightened pets.
He glanced at Ellie—of course, he would’ve thought her a similar hindrance in combat before he saw her in action. They would just need to do the best they could.
The next few minutes passed in a flurry of wings and shrieks and exploding essence. Thankfully, the fungitera appeared confused and disoriented, focusing their erratic attacks on the first thing to grab their attention. That kept them corralled toward the front of the platform, away from the noncombatants.
Nate tried at first to lob his Fire Bolts at the swooping creatures. Unfortunately, his projectiles were slower than Ellie’s energy beams, giving the speedy fliers ample opportunity to dodge out of the way unless they were at point-blank range.
Ellie had more success with her heat lance, gradually wounding or slaying over a dozen of the beasts. Nate still had no idea what manner of bindings she’d added to her rod.
The gem ensconced at the rod’s base would occasionally dim. When that happened, she’d pull out another essence-infused crystal to replace it. He wondered what those crystal charges must’ve cost and couldn’t help but wince.
With Ellie and the other verists on the platform assaulting the air, Nate began pummeling the wounded creatures on the ground with Fire Bolts to finish them off.
Not just because of the extra essence for landing the killing blow, he told himself, though that was a nice bonus. Wes, meanwhile, made quick work of any fungitera that dared to enter his range, clobbering them with his icy fists.
Even with more than a dozen verists fighting, it took almost ten minutes to cull the last of the swarm that had poured out of the Lord Protector’s portal. There had been a few casualties, mostly from lower-tier stragglers who had been caught out in the initial assault.
All in all, though, Nate was pleased with their defense…and with the hundred or so essence he’d accumulated for his part in the fight. Every bit helped push him toward Journeyman.
The protectors chose that moment to finally arrive, a full dozen in their gleaming crimson armor blinking into existence atop the pad. They must’ve gotten the pad’s spatial veristry functioning again.
Nate wondered what had taken them so long. Then, he noticed their dented armor and haggard appearances. Clearly, there had been trouble elsewhere in the city.
Their leader, an older man by Nexus standards, stepped forward. His speckled gray hair was flecked with dried blood, and electricity crackled across his yellow skin.
He surveyed the area, eyes widening as he took in the signs of battle. The corpses might’ve disappeared, but blood and other residue of the fighting remained, lending the once-serene district a sinister air.
The protector’s eyes settled on the shattered pillar in the district’s center. “We’re too late…” he whispered.
Then he turned toward them, raising his voice. “My name is Protector Miles. I assure you we are doing everything in our power to resolve this unfortunate situation in a swift and safe fashion. For now, I ask that you—”
Angry shouts from the remaining verists interrupted the protector.
“What the Null is going on?”
“Was that the Lord Protector?”
“Are we under attack?”
Protector Miles gestured placatingly. “Everyone, please calm down. Our priority is to ensure your safety. If you have injuries and can walk, please see yourself to the Ward for healing. We’ll attend to the other wounded here as quickly as we can.”
“Where have you been?” Nate shouted.
“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss matters of internal security. All you need to know is that there does not appear to be any further danger. An official announcement will be made shortly. In the meantime, let’s—”
“Did your boss attack another district, too?” Nate pressed. “We’ve been risking our lives here to do your Null-cursed jobs. We deserve some answers!”
The disgruntled murmurs of the crowd intensified.
Protector Miles’ exhausted expression hardened. “Null take me, I don’t have the patience to be polite. All of you, clear out of here! By order of the Patriarch, the Hub is closed until further notice.”
Nate crossed his arms. “Just tell us the truth. What was the Lord Protector doing here? There’s something going on with the Immortals, isn’t there?”
At a motion from Protector Miles, the protectors raised their hands and allowed their respective elements to crackle between their fingers. Some of the other gathered verists shuffled back. Nate, however, stood his ground.
This lot might’ve been gifted with essence and gear to empower them as servants of the Immortals, but that didn’t mean they had any idea how to fight. They’d likely never even ventured out into the rifts. So far as he was concerned, they’d earned their verigenesis about as much as Commander Grisham had.
Wes tugged at his arm. “Maybe we should just do what they say,” he hissed.
Nate hesitated, then sighed and stepped back, as well. Wes was right; he wouldn’t get anything useful out of a forced confrontation.
Protector Miles smiled grimly. “That’s better. Now please, head to the pad in an organized fashion. If you have wounded that can be safely carried, bring them with you. Otherwise, leave them here, and we’ll see to them.”
So much for a quick jump back to base. Nate and the others trailed after the retreating verists toward the bridge leading to the pad. They had just taken their places at the back of the line when the air before him shimmered.
Weaves of essence condensed to form the rough outline of a face hovering just before his own. From the startled exclamations around him, he assumed that something similar must be happening to everyone else.
Details materialized on the face, and he recognized it almost immediately. It was perhaps the only face more well-known in the city than the Lord Protector’s own.
The wizened visage of the Patriarch smiled at him in a grandfatherly way. His piercing blue eyes settled on Nate, seeming to drill down to his innermost thoughts.
Like most of the Immortals, no one knew for certain what the Patriarch’s domain or discipline were. There was no hint of his elemental affinity in his features, nor did he possess a visible aura or forgeling. Either the Immortals had learned to suppress their manifestations, or else, they’d somehow progressed beyond them.
“Greetings, dear friends,” the Patriarch said. “Alas, it is my burden to bear ill tidings this day. We have been betrayed by one sworn to protect us. While only the Source may know the true extent of his heart, I believe the Lord Protector has succumbed to void madness.”
Gasps echoed around the platform at that pronouncement. Nate snuck a covert look at the protectors and noted their lack of surprise. The only reactions he saw were a few faces tightening and fists clenching.
They already knew of their leader’s fate before this, then.
Likely anticipating the reaction his words would evoke, the Patriarch paused before continuing, his voice laced with sadness. “This is ever a danger to those blessed with vera. Maintain your vigilance lest the same fate befall you. His loss will not soon be forgotten; yet, it is but one of the tragedies that plague our grand city on this Null-cursed day.”
Nate glanced again toward the protectors and the shattered pillar around which they still clustered. He had an inkling of what was coming next.
“In his madness, the Lord Protector has stolen our portal stone, that which powers the Hub and allows travel to the vast reaches of the Nexus. Without it, no new portals shall ease the burden of our journeys.”
Silence gripped the platform as the Patriarch’s words sank in, broken only by Ellie’s sharp intake of breath. No more portals… The rifts would remain, of course, as would travel via spatial veristry.
But not being able to rely on the Hub for quick travel to distant sectors would cripple further exploration. Guilds like the Riftwalkers that stuck pretty close to the city would feel more constrained than ever from venturing out.
The effect would be even more keenly felt by those guilds that primarily mapped new regions. It would throw the entire city and the hierarchy of guilds into complete disarray as everyone scrambled to adjust. Nate had a feeling the demand for spatial verists was about to skyrocket.
Despite the bombshell the Patriarch had just dropped, he wasn’t finished yet. “I fear what may befall us should we not band together to overcome this calamity. Thus do I announce that I am henceforth expanding my bounty.”
Nate perked up at that. The Patriarch's Bounty promised a fortune in drops to any verists who discovered a new gate. While rifts connected sectors of the Nexus, gates linked the Nexus to other realms of existence. It was the gate to Earth, housed somewhere in Tabula Rasa, that had allowed the Immortals to transport selected people to the Nexus.
Since the founding of Tabula Rasa, the Patriarch’s Bounty had only been claimed twice. Neither gate had ever been opened, at least so far as Nate knew. Still, the allure of the bounty had spurred countless verists to explore the Nexus, hoping they’d be the ones to find lucky number three.
And sooner or later, someone would stumble upon the specific gate leading back to the Immortals’ own realm of Lakamora. When that happened, the Immortals would return home, bringing along all those they deemed worthy to join them in paradise.
Nate was determined to be one of the chosen, no matter what it took. He listened raptly to the Patriarch’s next words.
“Any verists brave enough to recover the portal stone shall be rewarded with one hundred thousand drops to divide as they see fit. Further, an additional one hundred thousand drops will be awarded for the apprehension of the Lord Protector, be he living or dead. May the Source bless and guide you.”
The Patriarch bowed his head, his expression unreadable. Whatever weave had sustained his illusion broke apart, and the image vanished. The platform fell utterly silent. Then, everything erupted into chaos.
Chapter Ten
Two hundred thousand drops… Nate’s mind reeled trying to contemplate the enormity of the sum. That much essence would be enough to catapult him from an Apprentice to the peak of the Heroic Stage. He would instantly become one of the most powerful verists in the Nexus.
With that level of verigenesis, he wouldn’t need the Riftwalkers anymore. He’d be able to join any guild he wanted, or perhaps even strike out on his own. Instead of running errands, he could spend his days hunting for gates or testing himself against worthy challenges.
This was exactly the opportunity he’d been waiting for to demonstrate his worth to the Immortals. How could they refuse him their blessing when he’d proven himself against one of their fallen brethren and become the Nexus’ savior?
He barely registered the journey back to the Landing or the crowds of verists already congregating there. All he could think about was this new bounty and what it would feel like to spend it. No matter what it took, he had to earn that prize.
“Earth to Nate! Come in, Nate.”
Ellie waved a hand in front of his face, and he blinked. The others were all looking at him expectantly.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Ellie gestured to the overrun platform. They were standing at the end of a massive line snaking its way up and down the stone path. At the front, the Animated attendant was desperately trying to keep traffic flowing. It looked like a losing battle.
“What’s the plan, oh fearless leader? Half the verists in the city are trying to use the rift. At this rate, we might be here for hours before we can get through.”
“I don’t see that we have much choice,” Wes said. “Unless you know a spaceweaver, this is the only way out of Tabula Rasa.”
“Well…” Ellie said. “If we’re just going to be waiting anyway, there are a few districts I wouldn’t mind checking out in the meantime…”
Nate immediately shook his head. “No. I don’t want to risk getting stuck in even worse congestion later. As word of the new bounty spreads, every verist in the Nexus is going to be gearing up to go hunting. We’ll stand here as long as we have to.”
Ellie shrugged, though he could sense her disappointment. “Suit yourself.”
They settled into the queue. It felt like they’d wasted a good chunk of the day standing around in lines, and Nate had to resist the urge to pace. Every minute they spent here was another minute they were falling behind.
Not that he had any idea how to even begin searching for the Lord Protector and the portal stone he’d stolen. His Insight was garbage, and none of his abilities were helpful for hastening movement or tracking foes.
He’d glimpsed the Lord Protector’s destination through the portal, but there existed countless Cavernous sectors that might fit that description. If only he had something more concrete to suggest where the Lord Protector had gone or what he was up to.
He suddenly remembered the Lord Protector’s cloak that he’d shoved into his bag. He hadn’t had a chance to look at it since the fight, and he’d completely forgotten about it in the confusion after. Perhaps he’d find some clue there, however vague, that could give him a leg up on the competition.
He started to pull the cloak free, then hesitated, glancing at the others. Did he trust them with whatever he might find?
Feeling a slight stab of guilt, he tucked the cloak away and said, “All this standing around is making me antsy. I’m going to take a quick walk, try to calm my nerves.”
Ellie frowned. “Walk where? This place is packed to the brim.”
He pretended not to hear her question, already pushing through the nearby crowd. “Be back in a sec.”
It proved difficult with so many people there, but he eventually found a secluded corner on the platform. Turning so his back was to the rift, he pulled out the cloak.
It was a simple fabric, likely wildforged as most clothes were here in the Nexus. The Lord Protector must’ve chosen it for anonymity because it was far plainer than Nate would’ve expected from one of the Immortals.
His heart fell as he studied it. So far as he could tell, there were no bindings or other magic to it. It was just a torn cloak. Then his fingers felt something hard along the cloak’s side.
Frowning, he traced the edge of the shape. Whatever it was, it had been stashed in one of the cloak’s interior pockets. His pulse quickened as he hesitantly withdrew the small object.
Paper-thin, shaped into an oblong diamond with the bottom twice as long as the top. A curving symbol reminiscent of a breastplate had been etched into one side across the dull red metal streaked with lines of black. He recognized it immediately as the sigil of the protectors, and his eyes widened.
