Arcane Kingdom Online: Death Match (A LitRPG Adventure Book 4) Read online

  Arcane Kingdom Online

  Book Four: Death Match

  Jakob Tanner

  Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  FREE EBOOK SHORT STORY

  Author’s Note

  The Chosen Reading Group

  LitRPG/Gamelit Recommendations

  Join the LitRPG Group on Facebook

  Join the GameLit Society

  More Places to Hang Out

  Dedicated:

  To my mom and dad, who have encouraged and supported me in everything that I’ve done.

  Special Thanks to:

  Richard Sashigane for the awesome cover art.

  Joseph Gisini and Daniella Zanchetta for help with the cover typography and design.

  Andrew Smith for sage advice.

  Everyone who picked up AKO 1, 2, and 3 (seriously, you’re all amazing!)

  Thanks to my beta readers and their amazing feedback:

  Frank Albelo

  Jo Hoffacker

  Erik Tanner

  Carol Sherman

  This book wouldn’t be what it is today without you guys!

  1

  It was a beautiful sunny day in Laergard, dampened by an approaching army of bloodthirsty boars. The ground rumbled. The timer in my HUD ticked closer to zero. We had sixty-seconds. The growls grew louder as the wild beasts got ever closer.

  “They’re here,” said Serena, pointing to the forest with her human-sized great sword.

  Their sharp hazel eyes glowed through the shadows of the woods, growing more and more numerous. The silhouettes of their bodies emerged from beyond the trees, a roving mass of fur and sharp teeth. Hundreds of hogs jumped out from the cover of trees and galloped towards us across the pastures of Land’s Shield.

  “Everyone get ready,” I yelled to our makeshift army in training. I lifted my mage’s staff in the air. “Charge!”

  A small contingent of low-level apprentice mages ran behind me. We rushed across the field to meet the onslaught of boars head on. Wheat stalks crunched and cracked beneath our boots.

  “Mages, follow my lead,” I yelled. I stretched out my hand, sweeping it in a long arc in front of me. Meters ahead, a wall of flames burst forth, creating a fiery fence between our incoming attackers and us. The spellcasters behind me triggered flame wall as well, adding to our defensive line. The row of fire grew in thickness and length, ash crackling while swathes of flames swirled in all directions.

  “Tanks,” yelled Serena. “Trigger your attacks through the flame wall to increase your DPS!”

  The warriors charged by us and leapt into our conjured flames, spinning and slashing their swords, synthesizing their attacks with our spells, right as the first wave of boars made contact.

  A wave of blood cascaded across the field. The boars were drenched in crimson. A cry echoed across the horde of beasts. The angry creatures charged into our defensive line, cut and spewed out as if they were entering a slaughterhouse meat grinder.

  The sky darkened as a smarter boar leapt over the flame wall.

  “Incoming,” yelled Serena.

  The boar crashed into the ground, suffocating a level 10 mage with the impact of its belly. The player’s body went transparent in death.

  Serena leapt in the air and initiated a new ability: star slash. She disappeared in a blink, striking the boar on the forehead, then appeared again for another strike. The lightning quick move landed in five points across the boar, creating a star constellation. The five targeted spots on the boar gushed forth with blood. The creature fell over.

  Serena raised her sword in victory. “The city of Land’s Shield will feast on boar tonight.”

  “Well, aren’t you bloodthirsty?” I observed.

  “I’m playing the game to the best of my abilities,” she said, “And the game was designed for these boars to be crushed by my giant sword.”

  The battle raged around us. Fireballs, magic imbued arrows, and rifle shots flung across the farmland turned war zone. The wave of boars subsided.

  WAVE-1 COMPLETE. WAVE-2 COMMENCES IN 1 MINUTE.

  “Wow! This is going to be a piece of cake,” said one of the nearby beginner mages.

  “Don’t get too cocky,” I said. “We’re only on the second wave. We got one more then the big boss. The chief boar. Many of you training here today won’t see it to the end.”

  The newbie mage’s face fell with dejection.

  Shit. I’d said the wrong thing.

  “Stay close to me,” I said, backtracking on my previous statement. “Together we’ll kick the chief boar’s butt. I promise.”

  A roaring noise echoed behind me. I turned around to see a crowd of people cheering on the ramparts of the city’s walls. There were peasants, shopkeepers, aristocrats, and players—watching us like a crowd at a sports arena.

  “Um,” I said. “Does anyone know why there are people watching us?”

  “Haven’t you heard?”

  It was Shade, his arms stretched out in excitement, his cat tail wagging vigorously behind him. “We’re celebrities now. They’re our fans. See! Look!”

  The crowd along the ramparts unveiled a long wide poster with the words: “WE LOVE CLAY – HERO OF LAERGARD!”

  “That’s you, Clay,” said Shade, knocking his elbow into mine. “They’ve been calling you ‘The Hero’ ever since you stopped the Arethkarian invasion of the country. Blimey, it’s about time we got recognition for all the foul things you make us do.”

  “What recognition are you talking about? I only see my name up there.”

  “Of course, of course. I don’t take offence either. You see, you’re the brand, Clay, the face of our little team, you encapsulate the group; it would get too confusing to remember us all, right? Boring Clay, fierce Serena, softhearted Kari, apathetic sociopath Jackson, and the incredibly dashing and spectacular Shade. That’s too many people for a slogan Clay. So they went with you and not me. Fine. I can see how in some ways, you have a broader, more ‘neutral’ appeal, but never mind. I want you to look at something.” Shade materialized a brown beer bottle from his inventory. There was a blank sticker across the front. He materialized a black marker next. He scribbled on the bottle and showed it to me.

  Hero of Laergard Ale.

  “What the heck?”

  “Brilliant, isn’t it?” He wrapped his hand around my shoulders and waved his hand across the sky, painting our future in the air. “We can have a whole line of them: ale, lager, stout, maybe even a fruit juice—you know, for my little orphan pals—but don’t you see, Clay! We need to capitalize on this newfound fame of ours.
Imagine the riches! Rich beyond our—OW!”

  Shade’s rant was cut off by a punch to the shoulder by our companion Jackson. A stout muscular Rorn with the brawler class and years of experience as an underground boxer, Jackson knew how to lay down a punch.

  “Dearest Jackson,” said Shade. “I wasn’t excluding you from our business venture and I’d be willing to let you in on the piece of the pie for a small investment fee—OW!”

  “Wave-2 is about to start. Shut up.”

  A new message came up in my HUD.

  WAVE-2 COMMENCING NOW.

  The rumbling from the forest returned. A new wave of boars appeared. These ones were twice the size of the little ones who had previously appeared. Their fur was burgundy and their teeth jutted out from their jaws, framing their large nostrils. They had sharp yellow eyes, hungering for our deaths.

  The boars hurried towards us.

  “Clay, I have an idea,” said Jackson. “Shade’s going to hate it. Can I give it a try?”

  Shade looked at me and shook his head, pleading. “No—Jackson’s idea will involve harming me.”

  “You don’t even know what it is,” I said.

  He shook his head. “I don’t have to. Mate—Jackson’s crazy, you can see it in his eyes. He’s not all there, you know.”

  I turned to Jackson. “Do what you want with him.”

  Jackson punched his fists together and grinned at Shade. “Follow my lead, whiskers.”

  Shade raised two fingers in the air. “First off, you don’t have permission to do whatever you want to do and secondly, don’t you dare call me whiskers again!”

  Jackson grabbed Shade by the legs and spun him in a circle. “Too late, whiskers,” shouted Jackson as he whipped Shade round and round. “Now go with it. Unsheathe those daggers and unleash the DPS!”

  Jackson let go of Shade, sending the thief deep into the horde of incoming beasts. Shade spiraled through the air, daggers drawn, slicing through the incoming boars like a sentient living ninja star.

  He ran out of steam crash landing into the stomach of a large forest boar.

  “Fantastic idea, Jackson,” yelled Shade. “One problem, I’m now surrounded by angry bloodthirsty pigs—with no tank or healer!”

  Serena double jumped into the air and flipped over the battlefield, landing in front of Shade. “Ahem. You were saying.”

  A little fox girl, Kari, threw out a blast of healing, tending to the Lirana’s wounds.

  “Looks like they got you covered,” I said, blasting out a fireball at an incoming boar. The blast roasted the pig, charring its fur.

  “Fine,” said Shade. “But let’s see if you like getting spun in the air and tossed like a discus by muscleman over there.”

  “A discus is harder to throw than a kitty cat,” Jackson grunted. He ran and dropkicked an incoming boar.

  A running list of messages—experience point gains, party buffs, debuffs, ability triggers—all rolled across my HUD. Too many to look over.

  The young mage from before, who had proclaimed how easy the battle would be, was scrambling in the dirt, stunned from a forest boar’s headbutt attack. The beast kicked up dirt and ran with its sharp teeth ready to skewer the low-level mage.

  I shut my eyes and burst into a crackle of electricity. I reappeared back in front of the player, the boar now charging towards both of us.

  “Eat this,” I shouted, whipping out my arm and letting out a swirling vine of lightning. The rope of crackling electricity weaved through the air and smashed into the boar’s nose. The blue lightning wrapped itself around the boar. The beast fell to his feet, squirming.

  The battle raged on, but I turned to the mage on the ground. I put my hand in front of him and took a deep breath. Luminescent crystals emerged from my palm and drifted down to the ragged player. The crystal diamonds seeped into his skin. He blinked in disbelief. The stun debuff had disappeared from his status bar.

  “Not so easy, huh,” I said. “Consider investing class skill points into status cure.”

  “Definitely,” said the mage clasping my arm as I helped him back to his feet.

  “If that was wave-2,” said the newbie. “I don’t think I want to see what the final wave looks like.”

  Perfect timing. My HUD alerted me.

  WAVE-2 CLEARED. THE FINAL WAVE COMMENCES IN 30 SECONDS.

  Boar corpses littered the farmland. Coagulated blood mixed with puddles of sludge. Our small regiment of players had thinned out, transparent corpses lined the field waiting to be revived.

  Kari ran towards them, holding both her arms out. She was a full-fledged tier-2 healer now and had proper revive skills. She kept her arms out. A golden glow emanated from her hands. The transparent body she stood over grew more solid until the player coughed and sucked in air at his renewed chance at life.

  “Whew,” said Shade, stretching his arms out and yawning. “I’ve had enough boar slaying for the afternoon. Can we skip the boss part and get straight to the getting drunk section of the day?”

  “Isn’t that every minute of your day?” I said.

  Shade smirked. “Oh Clay, you know me too well.”

  “I’m demanding a group vote on a very important matter,” said Serena. “Who votes Shade and Clay tone down their bromance, at least, until we’ve defeated the chief boar we’re about to fight?”

  “Bromance—what a curious expression,” said Shade. “I like it, but I refuse to be oppressed by Serena’s rules.”

  Jackson and Kari lifted their arms without hesitation, voting against the cat man.

  “Aw c’mon,” said Shade. “I’d have a bromance with you too Jackson if you weren’t telling me to shut up so often. We can’t develop good banter that way.”

  Jackson grunted.

  Shade turned to me. “See what I’m working with—”

  A deafening roar echoed from the shadows of the nearby forest. The chief boar was on the final approach.

  My HUD flashed.

  FINAL WAVE COMMENCING

  A large boar the size of an industrial truck emerged from behind the trees. The new players gasped. The crowds on the ramparts went silent.

  The beast had pale white fur and red eyes. The thick pincer teeth were worn and chipped in a sign of the creature’s age. It sucked in air, its rib cage poking through its fur. The boar exhaled, letting out a deafening war cry. It raised its tail, swaying behind its thick body. My stomach lurched at the sight of it.

  We weren’t fighting an ordinary chief boar.

  The boar lifted the back of its tail. Instead of a stumpy furry boar’s tail, there was a sharp dragon-esque tail. It totally mismatched the creature and its design. It was like seeing a dog with gills or a rabbit with crab legs. Completely and utterly unnatural. Wrong.

  The chief boar was a corrupted fragment.

  I checked out its stats.

  CH13F B0@R

  LEVEL ??

  HP: ??

  MP: ??

  “Uh oh,” said Serena. “What’s the plan, Clay?”

  “Everyone retreat,” I yelled. “My party will stay behind, but everyone else, this is no longer a training exercise. This is a very dangerous mission. Get back.”

  Someone screamed.

  Oh no.

  A farmer was running away from the boar. His straw hat flew off his head as he sprinted away. The man was balding with gray hair growing just above his ears. How did he get so close to the beast? Hadn’t they all vacated the area?

  “Help,” he screamed. He ran towards us, the corrupted fragment chasing after him.

  “Get him out of here,” I yelled. “I need a clean hit with my Prophetic Seal to undo the creature’s corruption.”

  Shade and Serena dashed straight into the chaos. The farmer ran across the field. His eyes bulged. Tears leaked out from them as he ran for his life. The corrupted boar shadowed over him. Its hungry breaths echoed across the field. The licking of its lips. Its hot carnivorous respirations. It opened its mouth wide and reached out to
snatch the farmer.

  “Aghhh!”

  A clamor echoed across the battlefield. Serena held up her blade in her sword shield stance, locking her steel weapon between the giant teeth of the chief boar. The monster’s whole snout grimaced and shivered. It struggled as it bit down and was held against its will. Its red eyes bulged with anger.

  Shade swooped in behind her, grabbing the distressed farmer and carrying him back towards safety.

  “Guys,” said Serena, straining from her struggle with the boar. “I can’t stay like this forever.”

  Golden balls of protect magic flew across the now desecrated wheat field into Serena’s back. “There ya go,” cheered Kari. “+50 Toughness and a passive increase to stamina!”

  Jackson jumped high in the air, flipped, and fell through the air with a flaming fist. His knuckles smashed into the boar’s snout, knocking it to the side.

  Serena pulled her sword away and took a step back. Jackson followed suit.

  “Okay guys,” I said, pulling off my gloves. “Out of the way.”

  I pressed the black mark on my wrist – the Prophetic Seal – and selected a key command made for these exact types of situations: //run: restore_corrupted_file.