DLC: A LitRPG Adventure (The Crucible Shard Book 6) Read online

  So now it made sense to assume it was the killer’s knife used in the murder. Otherwise, the murderer would have had to search the cottage for Cara’s knife first, raising her suspicions, before killing her with her own dagger.

  I’d just narrowed down my list of potential suspects considerably. When everyone in the village presented their knives, it would have been instantly clear if their gem was the wrong color and someone had the wrong knife. If the Cara’s knife could be mistaken for the killer’s own, then both must have had a yellow gem—the stone indicating one of the future leaders of the village.

  I was already getting an uncomfortable sense of who the killer might be. Lea’s knife would have a yellow stone, but Lea was on the Vainglory when the murder occurred.

  I didn’t know much about this village, but I knew enough to fit a scenario together. The victim’s knife wasn’t the only one missing. Leif’s weapon was gone, too. Which meant the killer would have taken it as well—and they knew where to quickly find it. Someone that Leif trusted, someone that he would never think would have betrayed him this way.

  It must be Lea’s cousin, Sarelle. As the one appointed to be Keeper after Lea left, the stone of her knife would have been yellow. As Leif’s wife, she would know the location of his knife.

  I wish that I had more pieces of this puzzle to fit together, but those alone might be enough to force some sort of confession. I willed myself out. The world flickered for a moment and a prompt appeared.

  Congratulations

  You have used your mind game ability to unravel a mystery. As a reward you now have an option of two power ups.

  Detective: In future mindscapes objects of particular interest or utility will be highlighted.

  Rule Master: In future mindscapes when first emerging into the world you will be given a brief set of rules and instructions on how to interact with the reality.

  Both were tempting. It had taken me awhile just to figure out that this had been a detective game. Knowing the rules would have saved me some time. On the other hand, recognizing objects of interest could be useful in all kinds of settings.

  The more I did this, the more familiar I’d become with the settings. Rule Master might be quite useful at first, but not for long. Detective, on the other hand, would always be handy. I selected it. As soon as I made the choice reality began to fade and I was back in the cottage.

  Chapter 5

  When I came out of the mindscape Leif was backed into a corner and looking at me in panic. From outside I could hear shouting.

  “I know you’re innocent. I think I can prove it, just stay right here,” I said, as I rushed outside.

  Lea, Ashley, Walt, and Yve were facing off against what must have been most of the population of the village. Weapons were drawn and there was a disturbing number of blue glows coming from activated runes.

  “Liam, I really hope you have something,” Lea said.

  “It wasn’t Leif. The dagger used in the murder belonged to the killer, and the one they presented when everyone was searched was Cara’s. A closer study of your cousin’s knife should show it isn’t Sarelle’s,” I said.

  I was bluffing there. I did not know if there was any way to tell the knives apart, but hopefully the killer didn’t either.

  “Sarelle? Is this true,” Burma asked.

  The woman she was talking to did look a bit like Lea, thin and dark-eyed with an angular nose. I think I’d checked her out appreciatively earlier. Of course I did. A manipulative murderess—I liked what I liked.

  “You left us here. You left me with him. I never wanted to take your place,” Sarelle said, pushing past Burma to glare at Lea.

  Lea slumped under the gaze. “You could have run away too. You didn’t have to get stuck in a life you didn’t want.”

  “It is too late now,” Sarelle said, and the runes on her body began to pulse an ominous red. Cracks of glowing white energy appeared in the ground beneath her feet. Wraiths made of smoke rose up.

  I pulled stats on one.

  Temporal Wraith: Erasers of Time

  Level 27: Type: Spirit HP: 410/410

  Temporal Wraiths can only be conjured by a Seer who has fully given themselves over to evil and murdered one of their own blood. They have the ability to scrub people and events out of time. Immune to physical damage, they will carry out the will of their summoner unless they encounter those who have manipulated time for their own purposes, those they will seek to destroy before all others.

  Great. Just great. Sarelle probably intended to wipe out Lea, but I didn’t think she was going to get what she wanted. Ashley and I had both traveled in time and done more than a little fucking with it.

  “You see this, Ashley?” I asked, as I drew Intemperance.

  “I see it. I’m all physical damage. Walt?” Ashley asked.

  “I’m no longer a mage, but blows from the Death-hand should be considered magical,” Walt said.

  “I’m a better Paladin than Liam ever was. We’re good,” Yve said. That was mean.

  Intemperance should count as magic as well. Our primary damage-dealer might be out of the fight, but that also left us some options.

  The spirits surged towards Ashley and Walt, and I stepped forward. Intemperance passed right through the first Wraith. The fires wreathing the blade flared as they made contact and the Wraith hissed in agony.

  Erasure

  The spirit spun and grabbed me by my arm. For a moment I could see myself going translucent. I was too real now to be so easily dismissed. The attack which should have wiped me out in an instant simply made me feel like every cell in my body was screaming. It beat dying. Slightly.

  I tightened my grip on Intemperance and drove it into the Wraith’s form again, this time holding the sword within the mists that made up the Wraith’s core. In a burst of flames it exploded.

  Blood Moon

  Lea and Sarelle were going at it, Lea glowing blue and Sarelle red as spells wreathed them in a full-on magical duel.

  Fist of the Forgotten

  Walt dispersed another Wraith, the Death-Hand glowing blue as he delivered a punch that blasted right through the Wraith’s form.

  Seer’s Sanctuary

  A glowing bubble of blue force surrounded Ashley just as another Wraith was about to reach her. Searching for its source I saw Leif standing in the doorway of the cottage, his own runes brilliantly alight.

  I nodded my thanks to him and he nodded back.

  Fireball

  Three Wraiths exploded into flames as Yve threw a fireball right into the middle of them. Okay, I was one part jealous and one part pissed off at that.

  “Why, exactly, did I never get a fireball spell?” I asked.

  “You went strength and endurance. I’m smart and I’m hot,” Yve said.

  I still didn’t like it, even if it did make sense.

  Sarelle gave an agonized scream and I looked over to see the duel was over. A dagger had been plunged into her heart, the yellow gem pulsing with light as the red markings on her skin grew even more intense. They seemed to be melting the flesh away, the dagger falling out as the last of Sarelle oozed into the cracks in the ground and vanished.

  “Is that normal?” Ashley asked. “Because I’ve got to say, she seemed like kind of a bitch already and then she goes and dies in a way that doesn’t leave any loot.”

  “It’s not normal,” Lea said with a sigh.

  “It probably means the ancient evil is rising again,” Leif said, stepping up to join us.

  “I thought you guys killed that thing? Then you raised it and killed it again? Someone distinctly told me it wasn’t going to be a problem,” I said.

  “It won’t be, for you,” Lea said, flashing me a sad smile.

  “Our village has always dealt with it, and we’ll deal with it again,” Leif said.

  “I mean, if it has the courtesy to actually leave gear when it dies, we might be happy to assist,” Ashley said. It seemed she wasn’t willing to give up the matter
of loot.

  “Truly, you wouldn’t even be able to help. It’s hard to explain, but it is an evil that lives on in our blood and in our bones, and so does the ability to fight it,” Lea said.

  “Does this mean that you’ll stay? Please, stay. With Sarelle dead we are without a Keeper,” Leif said.

  Lea looked torn. I didn’t expect that somehow. A lot of my friends seemed to be running away from the places they came from, myself included. I wondered if Lea regretted it.

  I said, “You can stay, if you want. Riggs can captain the ship. We’ll miss you, but if this is where you need to be we’ll understand,” I said.

  Lea knelt and picked up the dagger she used to kill Sarelle, returning it to a sheath at her waist. “Not yet. I know you think that Cobalt has run away, I know that she thinks she has, but with a fight as big as the one coming Cobalt won’t be able to stay away.”

  “We need you. I need you,” Leif said.

  I remembered that if Lea hadn’t left, she would have married Leif instead of her cousin. Perhaps there was something there.

  Lea rose and reached out to take Leif’s hand between hers, holding it for a moment. “I know. With a Keeper fallen you’ve got a year before another must be chosen. Can you wait for me?”

  Leif didn’t seem to know how to answer that. It was Burma who finally stepped forward. “Your word, child. Your word that you’ll return within the year and take your place.”

  “I swear it,” Lea said.

  “Then we’ll manage,” Burma said, and her attention shifted to me. “You keep her safe, no putting her in harm’s way.”

  I didn’t swear to that. I’d be doing exactly the opposite. I didn’t know if any of us would survive the coming year, but I had some idea what was coming. Lea was one of the squishiest of us, and probably the most decent.

  Lea brushed a kiss against Leif’s cheek and released his hand.

  “You’re sure you don’t want this? A home to come back to?” Ashley asked me.

  I did, but that didn’t mean I could have it. Earth wasn’t home, not any longer. Castle Sardonis was a home of a sort, but I couldn’t embrace it without accepting the idea of who and what Elsora was, and I wasn’t ready to do that. The Silver City might be home one day, but for now it was just another place filled with uncertain friends.

  “If I want it, I think I’m going to have to make it. Let’s get going. We’ve got a God to kill and a planet to save.”

  Chapter 6

  Below the Vainglory a stone wall stretched as far as the eye could see. A faint shimmer in the air above it indicated also a magical barrier that kept us from going any further. We’d reached the edges of the Dark Court.

  “Ideas?” I asked. We had gathered on deck.

  “You were joking about it being DLC, but maybe you were right,” Ashley said.

  “A literal paywall?” Yve asked.

  “We tried pushing through it already to no effect. We could cut loose with the cannons, but I’m not hopeful. For a shield this large there must be a lot powering it,” Lea said.

  The paywall might be a possibility. In the past I’d sometimes been able to get things to respond to me by focusing on them, and I tried now. Willing my attention to the wall.

  Dark Legends Corporation

  The lands beyond are restricted to those authorized by the Dark Legends Corporation. Permission to enter must either be granted by a member of the board or an admission ticket must be purchased.

  Ticket fare for your vessel and all occupants aboard comes to 107,322 gold coins.

  Do you wish to purchase a ticket Y/N?

  Well, that seemed exorbitant, even ridiculous. While Ashley handled our finances, on the other hand I was the King of the damned world.

  I indicated my willingness with a thought, and the air before us shimmered green for a moment. A passage appeared large enough for the Vainglory.

  “Take us through,” I said.

  “How much was it?” Ashley asked.

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “Really do. You let them rip you off, didn’t you? Damn it, Liam, you’re a King. You can’t just let people charge you to go places. You’re supposed to be the one charging them,” Ashley said.

  I didn’t disagree. While being the King of this whole world was a new experience and I would still make mistakes, things like this would need to stop. Making such a bold move against the Elves had bought me some breathing room against the world’s other major powers, but it was only a matter of time until someone else decided to press their luck.

  “I’ll let you make your displeasure fully known to Veros,” I said.

  That mollified Ashley a bit. If there was one thing I could rely upon to outpace her greed, it was her bloodthirstiness.

  When we passed beyond the wall the lands below began to take shape. The skies here were perpetually dark, as they were everywhere now due to Elsora. Still, that served to help mark how much the world was active. Trails of light cut through the forested lands, the roads leading through the wilderness.

  Regular, glowing clumps indicated thriving towns. This place wasn’t just inhabited, it was active and vibrant.

  “Any idea where we’re going from here?” I asked Lea.

  Lea had already started to activate her runes and opened scrying portals. “I wasn’t able to look through the wall. Give me a few minutes and I’ll get us a destination.”

  “Do we have a plan or are we just going to charge in with guns blazing?” Walt asked.

  “It’s Veros. We kill him first or he kills us,” Ashley said.

  I looked out over the landscape. It had been hard to make plans without knowing exactly what we would be facing. Now that I could see what existed on this side of the wall, it made things more complicated. An area this populated would mean they’d be able to mount quite a defense.

  “Ashley said it earlier. I’m the King of the World. I figure I have the right to come and survey my lands,” I said.

  “You don’t think Veros is just going to sit back and let that happen?” Ashley asked.

  “Whatever he is doing here it obviously involves playing the long game. Look at all of this. This isn’t some crazed God sitting in an abandoned castle. This is someone planning something big,” I said.

  “Got something. You want me to just head on in?” Lea asked.

  “Do it.”

  The Vainglory veered starboard and ahead of us loomed one of the larger clusters of lights. A big city.

  As we drew closer the lights became more frequent and we could start to make out small figures going about their tasks. There was a lot of fighting. I spotted a sorcerer throwing bolts of fire at what seemed to be some undead lurching about a field. The sorcerer was being defended by a young woman with a sword and shield.

  Scenes like this were everywhere.

  “Is it a war?” I asked.

  “You know better than that. You know exactly what this is,” Yve said.

  “It’s a game. It is exactly what I’d expect to see when I’m flying over a properly functioning game world,” Ashley said.

  I saw it now. They were right. The Crucible Shard had always looked a bit different. For the most part people were just going about their lives, but here they were getting well along with the process of killing and looting.

  Yve asked, “I wonder how they keep it all up? Actual in-game economies tend to be preposterously unrealistic. When you have this many people out having adventures, who is tilling the fields and running day-to-day business?”

  “If this was all set up by Elsora, then she could have figured out a way. You know how good she is at running a kingdom,” I said.

  Ashley said, “One day we’re going to figure out why you have such a thing for manipulative bitches who fuck with your head.”

  “Rude,” Yve said.

  “Not talking about you. You’re out of his head and done fucking with it now. Notice how he stopped being interested?” Ashley said.

  That hit a
little too close to home.

  The center of the city was dominated by an odd structure, a modern skyscraper with a more antiquated castle perched atop it. The building had “DLC” emblazoned in large letters on the side.

  “I thought you were joking about the name,” Ashley said.

  “Maybe someone had the same idea that I did,” I said.

  A light on the castle began to blink.

  “Inviting us in?” I asked.

  “Or warning us off,” Lea said.

  “Let’s assume the former. If they wanted to fire a warning shot, we’re in range. They would have done it by now,” I said.

  Our approach to the castle was uninterrupted—we did seem to be welcome.

  The castle appeared abandoned, the light a magical orb glowing on one tower where there was a well-appointed airship dock that looked as if it might even have been made for the Vainglory.

  “This is spooky. There was no lack of people anywhere else. Why have they sent no one to greet us?” Yve asked.

  It was a good question.

  “Could it be a trap of some kind? They don’t want to risk anyone else getting caught in an explosion?” I asked.

  Lea shrugged. “Perhaps, but like you said, we’ve been within range this whole time if they had wanted to attack us. You’d guess they must have a lot of firepower.”

  You would think.

  “Dock. We can explore the castle once we set down,” I said.

  The Vainglory lowered itself into position and ropes unfurled themselves as we neared, moving on their own to secure the ship and helping to bring it gently into position.

  “Anticlimactic,” Ashley said, a moment before she toppled over and crashed hard against the deck.

  I tried to raise some shout of alarm, but my own limbs were suddenly heavy and my thoughts dazed. A thick fog seemed to roil through my mind.

  I pushed against it. As the King of the Twelfth Moon I had a lot more reality to me than most and had proved resistant to most mental effects, but this one seemed to be taking hold.