Guardians of Camlan Read online

  Guardians of Camlan

  A LitRPG Adventure

  A.T. Gilbert

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Afterword

  Chapter 1

  “Ready?”

  I am distracted by Erin smiling at me from across the room when someone else tries to get my attention. After as much as she and I have fought, her warmth surprises me.

  But someone else is trying to get my attention.

  “Asher. You ready?” My official Toterra Online handler, Theresa, rests one hand on the lid above my Toterra Capsule, the full immersion virtual reality pod that I’ve basically been living in most of the week. The wires and sensors are attached to my temples; the strange lavender gel rises around my ankles. I’m almost settled, but Theresa waits for my go ahead to close the pod, watching me for any hint I want out. I’ve only had a little over twenty-four hours IRL before being sent off to Camlan again, but I don’t care. I’m not missing anything out here.

  First with the forty-eight hours of the Camlan Challenge, and then with another full day in the White Rock Ravine to capture the Cambion Jewel, Camlan has been more like home than my dark, lonely apartment will ever be. The game may be a series of obstacles, but they are obstacles I have all the tools to manage, unlike whenever I have to go back and find a job again. I put that from my mind. The power I wield in the online game greatly dwarfs any power I might have in real life.

  I can’t wait to get back to Camlan Realm.

  “Ready.” I nod.

  “Good luck,” Theresa replies, sealing me into the Capsule.

  Now my third time entering full immersion, I almost don’t notice the machine taking over my brain and body as I mentally review my instructions.

  The five other players I have been playing with, including Erin, are all logging in at the same time. We’ve been told that Sung Cho and the other Toterra Online developers—they all have names like Mike and Jeff—have successfully contained the rogue AI in the Cambion Jewel within the game. But in order to help keep that code contained but still usable, we need to reinstall it elsewhere in the realm. On a more secure server in a slightly different location, with levels of security that I don’t totally understand.

  All I know is where we’re taking the Jewel. That’s my quest and my objective. The what-happens-after-that I don’t need to understand.

  Unfortunately, to complicate this mission, Toterra Online’s Board of Directors has decided that they can no longer wait to open the game up to the public. We’ve had a few days with the game all to ourselves, but apparently, every day that the game remains unavailable, the company’s share price takes a hit. I don’t know if the CEO, Jeffrey Talbot, agrees with that decision, or if he just has faith in our ability to secure the code before new players reach this section of the game. But if we can’t get the jewel installed and the quest completed before new players show up, I don’t know what we’ll have to do.

  With the rest of my party, Erinocalypse, TexBadass, SteelFeather, Balderdash13 and Callidus, I have to make my way up through a likely hostile castle, enemies unknown, all the way to the Throne Room, before any other players reach us. We can’t risk the noobs interrupting or distracting us. Once we’re there, assuming the powerful Queen Vivian doesn’t kill us or trap us like she did the sorceress Marilyn we just defeated, we need to figure out how to install the Cambion Jewel in the throne itself. Cho has assured us it will all be clear once we get there; that’s easy for her to say since she won’t have to do it.

  Thoughts of our quest ahead consume me, and I don’t notice when the switch from real life darkness to in-game darkness happens until the space around me begins to lighten.

  I open my eyes to the last place I saved my game when we played yesterday. The fuzzy outlines of Erinocalypse, Balderdash13 and the others take shape around me.

  Welcome back to Camlan Online!

  Quest Offered: Save the Kingdom I

  Description: Locate and visit the Throne Room of Castle Nennius

  Reward: +500 XP

  Oh, excellent. XP for what I plan to do anyway? Hell, yes.

  Now in the game, we have reappeared in the well-lit room, the chamber deep in the ravine, torches blazing every few feet. The tiled floor is completely clear of the blood, dirt and viscera that remained after our battle against Marilyn. I steal a glance at the corner where I had last seen TexBadass’s bleeding-out corpse, but it is as though nothing has happened here. Video game magic.

  With this room as our current save spot, Marilyn will not respawn and we don’t need to refight any of our previous battles. The floor-to-ceiling shelves and the rows of locked chests remain in place, as they were when we first entered yesterday. The loot we gained from completing the dungeon is all saved in our bags. The only thing missing is the special chest. Callidus picked its lock and we discovered it held the Cambion Jewel that we battled the sorceress for.

  I check my inventory. I know there are secure copies of the Cambion Jewel in all the others’ inventories, but I still intend to protect mine as though it is the only one. There’s always the chance that when we reach our goal I may, in fact, be the only one. Who knows what else will pop up between here and there.

  While I’m still waiting for the others to log in fully, I review my character stats.

  Name: SirAsh3r

  Level: 24

  Strength: 27

  Intelligence: 27

  Dexterity: 25

  Stamina: 26

  Magic: 28

  Skills: Woodcraft 3, Slash 2, Club 3, Paddle 1, Climbing 1, Stealth 3, Archery 8, Power Perception 3, Backstab 1

  Abilities: Initiative 2, Focus 2

  Professions: Cooking 2

  Affinities: 12% Earth; 16% Water; 10% Fire

  Fame: 350

  Achievements: First Explorer of Lake Galavant, First Explorer of Foyle Forest, First Visitor to Allynton, Friend of Water

  Level 24 isn’t bad. I’m sure my leveling up will slow down a bit now that I’m in higher numbers. I’ve spent the last few hours outside the game thinking about where I want to attribute my new point, and immediately drop it into Stamina. The task in front of us is uncertain. Who knows what lies between us and the Throne Room? With players like SteelFeather and Balderdash13 alongside me, I don’t need the Strength. With Callidus on our team, I don’t need the Dexterity. With Erinocalypse casting, I can go without Intelligence and Magic for now. Right now, it is most important that I stay ready and able to run the gamut.

 
For the first time since I started playing this game, I realize I am comfortable trusting the others. My teammates. My friends, maybe.

  “Y’all checked your maps?” TexBadass asks, bursting into the room from the hallway.

  While we have been re-orienting ourselves, TexBadass had to find us. Since he had been killed partway through our last battle, his avatar respawned back in the chamber where we had killed the dragon. Fortunately, the path here is short and direct.

  Erinocalypse frowns. “No. Why?”

  “They’re back. Whatever they did to fix the coding made our maps available again. I’m even getting multiple floors of the castle above us. Finding the Throne Room should be no trouble.”

  I open my own map, which automatically zooms in to the level where we stand now. The previous cavern and hallway are marked, as well as the steps leading up out of the room we’re in. A quick tap and rotation and the map realigns to show me one of the levels above us, a large rectangular room with what might be towers or alcoves along one side. There are steps leading up out of there, and the map adjusts again to show me ‘Ground Floor of Castle Nennius,’ and I spot more stairs leading up after that.

  A game message interrupts my examination.

  SteelFeather has invited you to a group. Do you accept?

  No sooner have I selected yes, than the tank prods us along.

  “We should get moving. There’s no telling how long we have and I think I count five floors between us and the Throne Room.”

  There are only a few hours before Toterra opens up Camlan Realm to the rest of the world. New players will come streaming in, and I have no idea how many will make it here by the end of the day. With such an open world, there’s no guarantee they’ll stay around Allynton either and the last thing we need is a bunch of noobs getting in our way.

  Callidus waits at the foot of the stairs for the rest of us. The quest begins.

  Chapter 2

  We fall into the same order that we spent the length of the White Rock Ravine in. The scout—gangly, black high school kid Callidus—leads, followed by the tanks, the sorceress, the healer, and then me. In the very back. My bow is most effective from far away and I like to observe the scene and what we’re walking into rather than start off in the center of the action and possibly make an impulsive mistake.

  Right now I have my Bow of Elements equipped, which is a killer option but only as long as I have at least ten percent affinity for each element. I’m set for water, earth and fire, but I still need to gain ten percent affinity to the air element somehow. Considering how many times I’ve been attacked by birds, bats and various flying creatures during this game, I’m surprised I’m not in the negative affinity yet.

  Erinocalypse, our sorceress in the golden-yellow robe that all-but-glows in the darkness, casually flicks her fingers at the unlit torches along the stairwell, casting Fire Bolt and illuminating our path. SteelFeather and Balderdash13, our tanks, whisper to each other, making plans as they hold their melee weapons ready. I can’t hear anything in the room above, but maybe they do.

  Up and up, the stairs twist and turn until we have traveled vertically at least a few stories. Knowing that Queen Vivian in the castle above us originally trapped the sorceress Marilyn in the room below, it makes sense that she would want to be able to have access to her prisoner. Just not necessarily easy access.

  A light scratching sound, down near the floor, comes toward us.

  “No,” Erinocalypse says loudly into the echoing space. “No more rats. I can’t handle any more rats.”

  The flickering firelight makes the rodent darting between the shadows even creepier. In the narrow space, SteelFeather uses the tip of his sword like a skewer, stabbing the rat as it passes on its way down the stairs from above.

  “Don’t worry,” he jokes as he pulls his sword free. “I only looted a couple silver pieces. You’re not missing much by skipping out on the rats.”

  We continue our cautious trek up the stairs, hesitating at every curve to be sure we’re not walking unwittingly into a battle. Periodically, Callidus pauses and sneaks ahead under cover of Stealth to check for danger.

  I’m not sure if it’s a creature’s carcass or something else when I start to notice a faint putrid smell. Like a combination of rotting vegetables, fetid water and body odor, the stench gets stronger as we advance. I still don’t hear anything from the room above us, but then a doorway comes into view. At the top of the stairs about half a flight up, flickering light from the torches shine on a heavy wooden door.

  The door is about five feet across, made up of thick vertical boards, some of which are deteriorating at the bottom where rats or other creatures nibbled their way through. The smell I have been noticing comes wafting through one of those gaps. I gag and cover my mouth. Callidus reaches the door first and tries to pull it open, then tries pushing, alternating each one more time before SteelFeather elbows him aside to try his own strength.

  While the tank is trying his luck, I activate my Power Perception skill to attempt to detect any magic, traps, puzzles or indication of how we can move past the locked door. If there’s anything special here, it should give me some kind of glow and additional information.

  The entire door emits a green glow, signaling some magic to help us move forward, in spite of the smell. As the tank pushes and pulls, I step forward to examine the surface of the door. The glimmering color and reflection is a collection of gems set in to the door. It’s a puzzle of some kind. The layout and distribution of the gems does not seem to adhere to any kind of pattern, so I’m not sure if I should be adding something or taking it away in order to solve this puzzle and presumably unlock the door.

  I grab one of the torches off the wall to get a better look.

  “Hang on,” I say to SteelFeather, stopping his efforts to try to force the door open. “That’s not going to work. It’s a puzzle. We have to solve this to unlock it.”

  When he steps back I see the whole door for the first time. Blue, white and silver gems are sprinkled over the door, with one single green gem on the far right side and two pale pink gems in the center. The precious stones are only inlaid in the top half of the door. I squat down, torch in hand, to examine the bottom half of the door, but there doesn’t appear to be any holes, stones or marks of any kind.

  Whatever puzzle is embedded here is limited to the top half of the door. I look around at the walls on either side and the floor, searching for a clue or another piece to the puzzle or some indication of the next step. Other than the small hole at the bottom of the door, everything seems unrelated.

  I step back again to take in the entire thing.

  “What are we looking at?” SteelFeather asks.

  “I’m not sure. What does this look like to you?” I say.

  “Can we move the pieces that are already there?” Erinocalypse asks. She steps up to the door and chooses a blue gem, about two inches in diameter and tries to pry it off the door.

  “If it don’t move easily, don’t force it,” TexBadass warns.

  “I know, Tex,” she says. She tries a second and a third of the stones already embedded in the door but not a single one budges.

  “Okay,” I say. “So, trial and error. Let’s assume we are not meant to move the gems that are already there. What are our other options?”

  “It looks like there are little indentations on here. Dips, like stone shaped. Maybe we need to add more gems to it? Fill in these gaps?” Callidus suggests.

  I hadn’t noticed that. I hand the torch to Callidus as I examine the door more carefully. Running my hands over the indentations closest to the pale pink gems, it feels like the right width and depth for a similar stone.

  “I think you’re right. Maybe if we fill in these holes with the right combination of gems or whatever that unlocks the door.”

  “Okay, but—” TexBadass begins.

  “I know!” Callidus interrupts him, excitedly. “I know. These gems are about the same size and shape as the ones o
n the treasure chests down in the room below. One of them even fell off in my hand when I was picking its lock yesterday. Those come off really easy. I bet that’s what we need.”

  “All the way back down there?” TexBadass asks.

  “Seems like it’s worth a shot,” I say.

  Erinocalypse smiles. “Let’s go get some rocks.”

  Chapter 3

  The trek down the stairs is faster than it had been going up, since we don’t expect to meet any enemies and the path is already lit. Though we have to go down several stories worth of stairs, it seems like no time until we have returned to the same tiled room where Marilyn had been trapped with the floor-to-ceiling shelves of small, decorated treasure chests.

  Callidus jogs over to the wall and begins taking down chest after chest, seemingly without plan or discrimination.

  “We all have room in our inventories for these, right? We can just take a bunch of options back up the stairs with us,” Erinocalypse says.

  I check my inventory and remember I had bought an extra bag back in Allynton before we even entered the dungeon. I equip it and now have plenty of slots to fill with gems and precious stones to carry back up to the door. The six of us start grabbing handfuls of the stones at random.

  The first chest I pull off the wall has intricate, winding designs made to look like ivy and leaves all over the surface of the lid. I quickly pop off eight or ten green stones in various sizes and save them in my bag. The next chest I pull off has several pink and purple flowers on it, again with green leaves and yellow stones as the center between the petals. I grab a few stones of each color before moving on to a third chest. This one is mostly yellow and gold with no discernible item depicted, just swirls of yellow all over the chest.