Azarinth Healer: Book Two - A LitRPG Adventure, page 1
AZARINTH HEALER
Book Two
RHAEGAR
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Dedication and thank you note at the very end.
Thank you for reading Book Two of Azarinth Healer.
Contents
The story so far…
1. A Guild and a Bed
2. Storage Skills
3. Evaluation
4. Excursion
5. Iron
6. Team
7. Class
8. Vampyr
9. Team-building Exercises
10. Yield
11. A Fine Establishment
12. Dinner
13. A Knowing Trade
14. Questions
15. Vampire?
16. Workaholics
17. Rarities
18. Survival
19. Mission
20. Death and Ash
21. Lost Wanderer
22. Mission Accomplished
23. Another Settlement Needs our Help
24. Don’t Fear the Old Blood
25. Cleanup Crew
26. Everyday Life
27. Wings
28. Origins
29. Barriers
30. Ruins
31. Housing
32. Another one of them missions
33. Advances
34. Bedtalk
35. Tournament
36. Horde
37. Salt
38. Mind Weaver
39. Bone Dog
40. Relics
41. Chambers of the Lost
42. Flashy Beams
43. Horde Mode?
44. Into the Light
45. Ripples
46. Return
47. Air Support
48. Family Dinner
49. A Good Show
50. Wine
51. Bureaucracy
52. Virilya
53. Preparations
54. Flying in the Dark
55. Infected City
56. Brawl
57. It’s just a Flesh Wound
58. Bloody Entrails
59. Lakes and Crystals
60. Hordes
61. Night Shift
62. Imperials
63. Reminiscing and Planning
64. Westward
Dedication
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The story so far…
Ilea Spears, a soon-to-be former student and kick-boxing enthusiast, appeared one day in a monster-infested forest. Suddenly equipped with a magical Class and a status informing her about various skills and stats, she trained and embarked on a journey to explore this new world she had found herself in.
Faced with Drakes, murderous Elves, and undead, she fought and leveled up her abilities to face whatever would come next. She soon made her way westward from Riverwatch, traveling with a caravan to Salia. When she reached her destination in Dawntree, she was offered the task of exploring an ancient Taleen dungeon, a long-forgotten underground town crawling with green-eyed machines ready to kill whatever ventures into their domain.
After helping an unlikely trio through the traps and dangers of the dungeon, she met and joined an expedition to explore it further. They reached the main room of the supposed Great Hall, where massive Taleen Praetorians, war machines from ancient times, decimated the expedition and forced them to retreat.
Ilea reached the exit of the dungeon and joined the few survivors. After a solemn return to Dawntree, they were faced with yet another danger. Elves had come to attack the western independent cities.
She left for Salia, but one of the Elves confronted her. The battle was close until the intervention of a team of Shadows, mercenaries from the Shadow’s Hand in Ravenhall.
Ilea received her first third-tier ability, and her main Class evolved to become Azarinth First Hunter. She returned to Riverwatch, finding people desperate and afraid due to the Elven attacks. At the same time, she was unsure how to proceed after everything she had experienced in the Taleen dungeon. Felicia, Edwin, and Aliana had left her. Alice had lied to her, and Roland had lost everyone but Lily.
Seeking council from one of her friends in the Vultures Brotherhood, Walter, the barkeep, bard, and dark mage of the necromancer group, suggested she could travel to Ravenhall and join the mysterious Order she has already encountered twice in her travels: the Shadow’s Hand.
ONE
A Guild and a Bed
The suns were high in the sky and cast a warming glow over the city. The restaurant Ilea had chosen was in the perfect position to take full advantage of the sunlight. She lounged happily while casting a curious eye over the passers-by. Many people here were of a much higher level than in the towns she’d been in before, and she even saw quite a few question marks.
As she surveyed the city, Ilea happily tried four different items from the extensive menu. When she finally left the restaurant about two hours later, she was quite satisfied. She navigated her way into the crowd and began to eye the many stalls and shops.
Now, what to get first…
She felt a sudden jolt as someone grabbed at her. Spinning around, she stopped the hand with her own and put pressure on it while peering into the mustachioed face of a wiry man in neat clothing with a small felt cap on his head.
There was a crunch of bone as the man screamed. Some people stopped to gawk, but most decided just to ignore it and mind their own business.
“What do you want?” she asked as she healed the broken bone. She hadn’t intended to break it, but being around so many people again after her travels alone might have put her a little on edge. Plus, her patience for surprises had worn thin after that night in Earl’s shop. She let the hand drop as soon as it was fixed.
“I… I’m… you’re joining the Hand, right?” the man asked, grabbing the cap from his head and wringing it in his hands.
“None of your business.” She started walking away.
“Wait! Your garb suggests you might be in need of an educated assistant. I would like to be your agent, organize jobs and all that for you. Would you like to…”
Ilea didn’t hear the rest as she blinked into a nearby shop before blinking behind it into the next street.
Fucking annoying. Maybe I do need to wear my armor… although that might bring more attention to me.
That gave her an idea of what she wanted to buy first. She entered the first armory she spotted, only a few doors down. It had an elegant gilded sign depicting a golden anvil, which looked like it might have cost more than some entire stores she had entered in the past.
“Hello, miss. Anything specific you’re looking for?” a well-dressed woman asked in a polite tone as Ilea entered.
The store looked incredibly fancy inside. The dark wooden counters were polished to a high sheen, silver and other precious metals were inlaid on the shelves, and the air smelled vaguely of perfume. Ilea was sure that if it weren’t for the question marks the level 80 woman likely saw above her head, she’d have been kicked out in two seconds.
“Yeah, I need comfortable leather armor… with a hood.”
The woman nodded quickly. “Please, follow me. What’s the price range you’re looking at?”
“What ranges do you have?”
“We have cheaper sets starting at two gold coins. Higher-quality ones start at five gold, and specialized creations start at ten gold.”
“The high-quality one, then. Five to eight gold is fine.”
Ilea was soon standing in front of several very nice-looking sets of leather armor, all displayed in a back room lit by magically glowing gemstones. She decided on a deep brown set that looked especially comfortable. It had a lot of fabric and padding, so it wasn’t necessary to wear anything under the armor.
“That’s six gold, then,” the saleswoman said. “Would you like to change immediately?” She smiled at Ilea’s subsequent nod, and her smile grew even wider when Ilea grabbed the gold from her backpack and handed it over. She walked away with the money, leaving Ilea to change.
Once dressed, Ilea blinked out into the street again and put up her hood, hiding her distinctive black hair and blue eyes a little.
Hopefully I don’t look so poor and uneducated anymore that someone feels they can just grab me and try to become my secretary or whatever…
“You’re wearing inferior armor now. I think that’s dangerous,” Aki said, the talking dagger still in his s
“I know. Right now, the benefits outweigh the risk, and I’ll try the trick you mentioned with the storage item if I need to put my other armor on in a hurry. I’ll practice that soon.”
She immediately resumed her procrastination by going into a cake store instead. After a brief inspection, she made five cakes vanish before she put three silver coins on the counter. The cakes were being sold for less, but she didn’t want to count out the coppers. A glance around showed there were a few tables where customers could eat, two of which were occupied.
She was glad that there were people willing to bake delicious cakes in a world filled with magic and monsters. They were the true heroes, after all.
“Not bad,” one of the nearby customers said, an older man sitting across from a woman dressed in black robes.
“Not close to heavenly, though,” the woman sighed, two green eyes looking at the piece of cake on her fork.
Ilea wondered how people with cake on their plates could be so unhappy. She vanished to ensure she did not let their sour mood infect her too.
Next thing… hmm, yes… yes, that is very much an important thing… Ilea thought as she looked at the store in front of her.
It looked much the same as all the other buildings with its stone walls and European-style architecture. At least, that was what Ilea compared it to. The buildings around her looked similar to Salia, though a little more geared toward practicality and less toward artistry. The difference in the store in front of her, however, was what was inside, as is often the case with stores.
Ilea walked in and was immediately greeted by an annoyed-looking man standing in front of a bookshelf.
“Yes? What do you want?” he asked, putting on a dismissive smile.
“I want to buy,” Ilea said.
“She wants to buy. And who says you’re allowed to buy?” the man asked, catching her so off-guard she was literally speechless.
After a moment, the gears in her head started turning again, and she was about to reply when a young woman walked in from a side room.
“Herschel, stop it. Miss, how can I help you?” The woman smiled at her and motioned for her to follow.
“I want to buy a bed,” Ilea stated as she followed the woman.
“Sure, they range from four to ten gold. All made with real feathers and masterful labor.”
Isn’t that enough to feed someone for years? What kind of luxury part of town have I ended up in?
Ilea smiled, hoping the beds were exquisite.
“Anything especially fancy?” Ilea asked, and the woman nodded.
“There’s one remaining Nell feather bed, I believe. Seven gold. Would you like to try it out?”
Ilea nodded in turn while also wondering what a ‘Nell’ was, and she was brought into a room with a rather large bed, though not quite queen size.
“Leave the room for half a minute, please,” Ilea requested. “Don’t worry, I won’t steal it.”
The woman reluctantly left the room and waited outside. Ilea saw her sighing and signaling toward ‘Herschel,’ who was looking on from downstairs.
Ilea quickly lay on the bed and nearly moaned at the magical feeling. She smiled as it vanished into her inventory, and she blinked upward so as not to fall onto the ground. The wooden frame came with it as well.
She walked back out and handed the woman seven gold coins. “Business done?” Ilea asked, and the woman nodded.
“Thank you, it’s a lovely bed,” Ilea called, smiling brightly at Herschel, who looked at her with derision in his eyes.
That man lives a dangerous life, she thought as she exited the store. To the Hand then…
Soon Ilea arrived at a symmetrical building that looked a little like a temple. It was located at the very back of Ravenhall, in the part of the city that was built against and into the slope of the mountain.
Two people whose levels were 202 and 205 stood next to a doorway in the shape of a triangle. Ilea walked up to them and entered without being hindered.
Inside, the room opened up into a massive hall. White stone similar to ivory decorated every surface, though the feeling was altogether different compared to the Taleen Great Hall. There were paintings on the walls, and a range of decorative plants and lush carpets brought warmth and a ‘high society’ feeling to the room. Even more so than the fancy armor shop she had been in earlier.
Ilea walked up to the woman standing behind a counter in the middle of the hall. She was surprised to see that the clerk was a level-173 mage.
“Yes?”
“Hey, I’d like to join the Shadow’s Hand. Is this the right place to do so?” Ilea asked.
“Yes, yes. You have to be level 200 to join, but seeing as you got inside, that requirement should be fulfilled. Now, there are two ways of joining: either you get a contract and work off your debt, or you pay three hundred gold upfront. You will be treated as an initiate either way, I hope you understand. If you pay, you can leave at any time, no questions asked,” the woman explained in a monotone voice.
Ilea nodded. “I’d like to know more, but I’ll definitely go with the upfront payment.”
The woman took a small bell from beneath the counter and rang it. A moment later, a man who looked to be in his forties appeared next to the desk and extended his hand to Ilea. His well-kempt gray hair reflected some of the light from the nearby candles, and the air cooled ever so slightly.
Quite attractive.
Ilea shook his hand as he introduced himself. “William Hendricks. Nice to meet you.”
“Name’s Ilea,” she answered.
“Ilea, then, would you please follow me? We have a couple formalities to complete before you can join. Any questions you have, I’ll answer to the best of my capability.” He motioned for her to follow. “Teleportation?”
She nodded for him to continue.
William vanished, and Ilea perceived him appearing in a room on the first floor. She followed with a Blink and took a seat opposite William, who was sitting down as well.
“Perception and teleportation. Already two very valuable assets. Now, you would like to join with the upfront fee?”
Ilea nodded. “Though I would like to have a better picture of what exactly I’m buying, if you would be so kind.” She eyed the question marks next to the man’s mage title.
He nodded and started explaining. “I’ll give you the short version. Ask whenever you need me to elaborate. The Shadow’s Hand is a mercenary guild famous for its highly qualified members and their strength. As long as someone pays us and is not trying to harm humanity as a whole, we will accept the requested job. As a member, you either join with payment or without. With payment, you can leave whenever you want to. There are no strings attached.
“Otherwise, the treatment you will receive won’t differ greatly from that of the debt-based members. However, you won’t have to do guard duty, and your cut for jobs finished is significantly higher – ninety-five percent compared to thirty percent. Additionally, you may refuse any job without reason. You will be evaluated by me and two other high-ranking members and put into a team. You will train and learn with them for the next six months while doing jobs that depend on your capabilities.
