Second Chance Swordsman 3 (A LitRPG Adventure), page 5
The boy didn't move.
He didn't even flinch.
The blade rushed towards him and then, seconds before it completely obliterated him into a million tiny particles of dust, the boy's face revealed a smirk.
Seconds before Sam's impending death, the axe completely vanished, leaving the giant crystal's grizzling's hands gripping nothing but air.
The boss monster's eyebrows furrowed, confused.
The creature didn't understand what was happening. Where had his weapon gone?
Unfortunately for the boss monster, the axe had reappeared right above his head, still falling with the same descent and force that it had when it had vanished from its grip.
The crystal grizzling's axe fell through the air, puncturing the boss monster's skull and brain, before slicing him completely in half.
9
Sam grinned as the giant battle axe landed explosively on the floor of the boss monster's chamber.
Drenched in blood, the giant silver blades of the axe wedged themselves into the ground.
The axe had had a mighty fall.
The two halves of the now-dead crystal grizzling collapsed onto the ground, leaving a splattering of guts and entrails before taking on a silver glow and melting down into a large yellow monster stone.
I'll be taking that, thank you very much, Sam thought to himself, walking over to the monster stone and pocketing it into his inventory.
The boss battle had had some close calls, but in the end, the new evolution of his Blood Teleport ability meant he had a majorly strong advantage over his opponent.
The new level 2 evolution of Blood Teleport now allowed Sam to teleport more than just himself to different nearby puddles of blood, but now he could teleport inanimate objects with spilled blood on them as well.
With the use of this new evolved power, Sam had made sure to get spilled blood both on the giant crystal grizzling's battle axe as well as on the ceiling above his head.
Once Sam had done that, the battle was sealed. He'd teleport the axe when the monster least expected it and send it right above its head, ready to crash down right into his skull.
Sam had executed his plan flawlessly.
He was pleased.
He'd leveled up the skill he wanted and he'd defeated another dungeon gate from the world.
He could finally return back to his friends at the campsite.
Sam stepped out of the dungeon gate to find the surroundings of the Misty Woods pretty much the same as when he had left them.
The forest was still pitch black. The clouds above dark and murky.
Sam's surroundings smelled of damp wood and pine trees.
His boots sunk into the wet muddy ground.
From what Sam could tell, even though he had spent multiple days inside the dungeon world, it looked as if only a few hours had passed out in the real world.
Such was the case with dungeon gates most of the time.
The dungeon portals were inconsistent in their connection to time in the world outside.
This could lead to all sorts of chaos and trouble. Entering a dungeon gate for an hour, only to leave it and find a whole two days had passed out in the real world.
For the most part though, Travelers were able to manage the chaotic time dilation between Westria and the multiple worlds and planes of existence that the dungeon gates sent them to without too much hassle.
Sam chuckled to himself that so little time had passed that, if he didn't tell his companions that he'd gone and solo cleared a dungeon gate on his own, he didn't think they would ever know.
As Sam approached the campsite, lots of raucous laughter and cheering began to echo through the woods.
He could hear people loudly singing.
Sam's eyebrows furrowed as he got closer and closer to his home base.
He was confused. He wasn't really getting early morning vibes from the campsite. The majority were not morning people and could definitely be a bit grouchy before their first cup of coffee.
What's going on over here?
When Sam stepped out of the woods into the small clearing the group had made for their campsite, everybody cheered.
"THERE HE IS!"
Sam looked at all the friendly faces, many of them holding a metal tankard full of dwarven ale or fairy rum or some kind of intoxicating substance.
The tedium of waiting for the Mist Belt to clear had led to some more relaxed habits on the campsite.
A friendly hand was placed on Sam's shoulder.
He looked over to see Captain Olivia Reeves. She was the second in command of the Traveler's Guild and one of the most powerful Travelers in all of Westria.
Sam had never gotten to know Olivia closely in his first timeline, but they had become close allies and respected Traveler colleagues in this new second life of Sam's.
"How did the dungeon gate go, Sam?" said Olivia.
"How long was I in there for?" Sam asked, finally accepting that it wasn't morning like he'd originally thought it was when he had stepped out of the dungeon gate a few minutes ago.
"Ten, maybe twelve hours or so," said Olivia. "A full day. We went searching for you when you weren't around when we woke up. Then we came across the yellow dungeon gate. We figured we'd leave you to it."
"You didn't want to take part?" asked Sam.
Olivia shrugged. "It was a dungeon gate a full tier below me, I figured I wouldn't get too much benefit out of it, so I'd let you solo clear it to maximize your gains."
“Ah thanks,” said Sam. “That means a lot.”
“Don’t worry abou—” Olivia stopped talking and her eye twitched.
Sam hadn’t noticed before, but he suddenly realized Olivia was swaying on her legs a bit.
Brock, a sturdy dwarf, stood up to catch her and looked around the campsite with anger and suspicion.
“Who let her drink Goblin Grog!?”
Brock turned to Curtis, a tall elf.
“We have a code red,” said Brock.
“What’s a code red?” said Sam.
“It’s when the captain has had precisely 5.3 pints of goblin grog that she—"
Olivia bent over, puking on the ground below.
“Does that,” sighed Brock, pulling back his captain’s hair to keep any barf from getting on it.
There was a loud noticeable cough from the other end of the bonfire.
An older woman with her hair tied tightly in a bun, crossed her arms at the sight of the captain.
Mildred Cross did not approve of the current debauchery happening around her.
“You are not being a very good example for our younger companions,” said Mildred.
“You’re right,” Brock replied. “In my younger days, I’d puke at least three times in a night. Did you hear that, lads—we’re not drinking enough!”
“That wasn’t what I was getting at—”
“Maybe we just leave them be for tonight,” said a young beautiful blonde girl beside Mildred.
It was Queen Alice Grace.
The whole group of them were all traveling back together from the Snowpeak Mountains where they had stopped the Dwarven Cataclysm and watched their companion Ulfgar be named the new king of the united dwarven civilization.
Sam smiled at the queen and she smiled too, before looking away quickly.
Sam and the queen’s relationship could best be described as tumultuous. They had gotten started on the wrong foot long ago. First, Sam had saved her and Mildred from an assassination attempt. Then, for some odd reason they kidnapped him. Then, he saved them again from another assassination attempt. Then there was a whole period where they argued all the time which then culminated in the strange event of them dancing together at Ulfgar’s coronation party.
In short, Sam’s relationship with Alice was complicated.
“Why don’t you scoot over and make space for your boyfriend?” said Mildred with a devilish glimmer in her eye.
Alice’s face went red as did Sam’s.
“He’s not my—”
“He’s not, what?” said another voice, sitting down at a nearby log beside them.
It was another cute girl with auburn hair, freckles, and green eyes.
It was Sam’s childhood friend and fellow orphan, Klara.
Sam had known Klara for most of his life, or at the very least, as far as he could remember.
Klara, himself, and their other mutual friend Toby had been a trio of sorts, growing up together in an orphanage in the back streets of Resfall. They'd become friends over the course of years of pickpocketing and fighting for their survival together.
In Sam's first timeline, both Klara and Toby had died inside the treacherous White Gate tutorial dungeon. Saving them had been one of his top priorities when he first returned five years to the past. It had also been one of the biggest changes to his timeline that had resulted in his greatest amount of happiness.
Seeing Toby and Klara grow into the great Travelers and adventurers they never got to be in his first life brought him joy and a sense of satisfaction each day.
Just thinking about his two friends made Sam realize something.
"Hey, where is Tobes?"
It was at that exact moment that he felt a sweaty hand wrap itself around his wrists.
Sam looked at the hand, then at its owner.
Toby—a portly boy with shaggy brown hair—looked at him with wide eyes and intense seriousness.
"It's butter time," he whispered, his lips quivering as he did so.
"Um," said Sam. "What are you talking about?"
"It's butter time," Toby whispered a bit more fiercely, and gestured with his head.
"I mean, I can check and see if I have any butter in my inventory, if you want? Is everything alright, Toby?"
Toby shook his head. "I can't believe you forgot. 'It's butter time' — that was what we agreed was our secret signal."
"I don't remember any of this. Why do we need a secret signal?"
"In case we need to have a special boy's chat away from prying eyes," said Toby, gesturing towards Klara and Alice.
Sam grinned as he realized why Toby was acting so weird.
"Okay, if you insist," said Sam. "You're right. It's butter time."
The two boys walked away from the camp until they were out of earshot.
"We need to discuss the Klara situation," said Toby.
"What's there to discuss?" said Sam. "You two like each other, right? And you told me you kissed at Ulfgar's coronation."
Toby threw his arms up in the air with aggravation.
"Okay, great, we've kissed each other," exclaimed Toby, eyes widening with a strange mania. "It was amazing. The best experience of my entire life. Now where the heck do we go from here? Do we kiss all the time now? Explain to me how we're going to have life-changing-ly beautiful moments multiple times a day? That's too much life-altering-ly amazing-ness for two people to handle!"
Sam tilted his head.
"Is this a serious issue?"
Toby balked at Sam's words, getting so red in the face, Sam worried Toby might try and slap him.
"Okay, okay," said Sam. "Toby—I think you just need to embrace the uncertainty of life. Heck, maybe even learn to enjoy it."
Toby crossed his arms.
"Easy for the guy who has a knack for being at the exact right place at the exact right time."
Meanwhile, Alice and Klara were having a similar conversation in front of the fire at the campsite.
"'It's butter time'!?" Klara said, mockingly. "Do they think we're idiots?"
Queen Alice giggled.
"I don't know, I think it's a bit cute," said the queen.
"Cute in the goofiest way possible," sighed Klara, shaking her head.
"So what's going on with you two?" said Alice.
Klara blushed and looked away. She looked up to the cloudy night sky and smiled. "I don't know. Sometimes I think what's happening between us might be the most amazing thing that's ever happened. And then other days, he says, ‘It's butter time’ and absolutely pisses me off. It's hard. I wish I could embrace the happiness I'm feeling, but it's difficult. How can I go down this road of pure bliss when we have so much responsibility on our shoulders as Travelers? It doesn't seem right."
Alice nodded. "I get that for sure."
Klara shrugged. "And then—of course—I don't even know what exactly is going through Toby's mind either. Agh—it's confusing."
"You said it, sister," laughed Alice.
"Changing topics. What's the deal with your handmaiden, Mildred?"
Alice blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, her and the guildmaster always seem to be bickering when I see them. Do the two of them have a thing?"
"I'm not sure," said Alice. "I think they may have fought together as Travelers back when the gates first started emerging, but I really can't say."
"Strange," said Klara. "It's weird to think about older people having lives before you met them, but they've lived so much longer than us. They probably have had multiple phases."
"Oh my gosh," said Alice, shaking her head. "I don't even want to consider what Mildred's moody phase was like."
A loud cough could be heard from inside Mildred's tent.
"I'm not sure she ever left it," laughed Klara.
When Sam and Toby returned to the campsite, they sat around and melted marshmallows on sticks together.
Toby took a bite of his marshmallow too soon and yelped in terror.
"Oh no," he cried. "My tongue is burnt. Have I lost all my taste buds forever?"
"You'll be fine," groaned Sam.
Toby was about to launch into a tirade about how terrible it would be to lose all of his taste buds, when Curtis’ long pointy elf ears perked up.
The wizard looked around.
"The air is getting lighter," Curtis said. "It looks as if the Mist Belt is clearing. We'll be able to continue forth towards Resfall, first thing tomorrow."
The group cheered.
They could finally continue home to Resfall on the final leg of their journey.
Sam smiled at all of his friends and companions.
It was an evening worthy of celebration.
10
Over a week later, Sam and his companions stepped through the gates of Resfall, returning home to the capital of their nation Volsungar.
It was a bright clear blue sky day. A gentle wind blew through the streets, a hint of coolness in the late summer heat.
It was the month of Summerfin, the last month of summer, before the autumn truly kicked in.
As soon as they stepped through the gate, an envoy of guards rushed towards them.
Both Klara and Toby tensed—their years of pickpocketing and being on the other side of the law meant that even now, as certified heroes of the city who helped fight off monsters and dungeon breaks, they were still nervous around the royal city guard.
It turned out that they had no reason to be.
As soon as the incoming guards got close enough, they quickly halted and stood at attention.
"Welcome back, your highness," said the guard, nodding their head vehemently. "Your assistants in the keep have much to catch you up on, we were told to escort you back to the palace as soon as there was word of your arrival."
Alice smiled and her cheeks grew red with embarrassment.
Sam could only imagine the last few weeks traveling back from the Snowpeak Mountains must have been a welcome respite from the glamorous captivity that was royal life.
Despite her clumsiness—she had almost sliced off Brock's thumb one day when they were chopping wood—the queen had fit in with the ragtag group of Travelers remarkably well.
This sudden reminder of the different life she led from the rest of them would probably inspire a bout of embarrassment.
"Ah, don't be shy, Alice," said Brock. "Get on back to your palace, but don't forget you know where your real friends are!"
"Thanks, Brock." Queen Alice smiled. "And again—sorry about almost chopping off your—"
"Let's not bring up past traumas," said Brock. "It's all in the past."
"Weren't you screaming in your sleep last night? Something about your thumb?" Curtis said, smirking.
Brock nudged Curtis heavily in the ribs and smiled.
"As I said," smiled the dwarf. "All in the past."
Queen Alice looked at each and every one of them, her eyes avoiding Sam's until there was no one left to look at but him.
Even when Sam had first met Alice, her eyes had always been incredibly striking. Two bright gorgeous blue globes that you could get lost in if you weren't careful.
And now such beautiful eyes were staring back at him.
Sam felt a flutter in his heart.
It was a feeling he wasn't quite familiar with. It was unsettling.
He suddenly didn't want this moment to end. He didn't want to say goodbye to Alice after their weeks of traveling across Westria together.
It had been nice to spend more time with her (and even Mildred too) over the last few weeks. It felt like they were more part of their little Traveler family now.
There was something sad that they would return to their keep and continue their separate lives from them now that were back in Resfall.
All of these mixed feelings bubbled beneath Sam's skin, but he didn't know how to articulate them out loud, and, even if he did, he wasn't sure if it was something worth saying.
Maybe things had to be felt and lived through, however uncomfortable.
He wondered to himself, does saying goodbye make a goodbye any less sad?
His thoughts were broken when Alice gave a faint smile at him and said, "See you later, I guess."
"Yeah, sure," said Sam, a bit stunned.
With that, Alice turned to her regiment of guards and along with Mildred, marched off towards a nearby carriage that would escort the two of them back to the palace.
Sam watched Alice go until he turned to his group of companions who were all staring at him with shocked faces.
"What?" asked Sam.
"We're just so incredibly amazed by your smoothness," said Olivia, sarcastically.
