Raze (The Completionist Chronicles Book 4) Read online

  RAZE

  Book Three of THE COMPLETIONIST CHRONICLES Series

  Written by Dakota Krout

  © 2019 Mountaindale Press. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by US copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Newsletter

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-one

  Chapter Forty-two

  Chapter Forty-three

  Chapter Forty-four

  Chapter Forty-five

  Chapter Forty-six

  Chapter Forty-seven

  Chapter Forty-eight

  Chapter Forty-nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  About Dakota Krout

  About Mountaindale Press

  Mountaindale Press Titles

  GameLit and LitRPG

  Appendix

  Notable Characters

  Final Stats

  Skill List

  Sneak Peek

  Acknowledgments

  As always, the first among the acknowledgments is my amazing wife, who works harder than anyone I know.

  A special thank you to all of my patrons, who not only help me make better stories, but are great friends and people. An extra special thanks to: Justin Williams, Samuel Landrie, William Merrick, Brayden Wallach, John Grover, Dominic Q Roddan, and Keifer Gibbs.

  To the deer that are tearing up my apple trees, I will find you.

  Lastly, a heartfelt thanks to you, the reader! I could not do this without you, and I hope to keep you entertained for years to come!

  Newsletter

  Don’t miss out on future releases! Sign up for my newsletter to stay up to date. And as always, thank you for your support! You are the reason I’m able to bring these stories to life.

  Prologue

  “Good morning, America and, of course, the rest of the world.” President Musk stood on a stage with flags flying behind him and fanfare still dying down. The most beloved President in American history spoke in a firm tone, “I am here today to tell you all some very serious news. Over the next few weeks, it is imperative that everyone goes to a government building and is issued a data core.”

  Holding up a small, shining gem, he continued speaking; doing his level best not to let his fingers tremble too much, “Within the next month, this world is going to become a very dangerous place. For that reason, we—and the world at large—have prepared a refuge, a safe haven for humanity to weather the impending storm. Until we can tame the dangers of this new reality, it will be impossible for us as a people to survive on earth.”

  The media erupted, shouting questions at him so loudly that not a single voice could be distinguished. He shouted over them, hoping that everyone would hear his message, “All of our troops, all government employees, all people who hope to survive longer than one month, please go to your nearest government building and get a Core. They are free, and I will now demonstrate their purpose.”

  He held up the gem so that everyone could see it. “These gems act as a key, a storage device, and a path to safety. Already, tens of thousands of people are in this new world, not knowing that they are fighting to save literally all of us. None of them are coming back. At the time of this broadcast, all people connected to the game ‘Eternium’ are living their true life there. As the man who sent them, it is my duty to join them as well. Take the Core, and hold it to your head. That is all you need to do. Good luck… and Godspeed.”

  Finishing his speech, he held the Core to his head and vanished without a trace. The gem went with him. Utter silence filled all media outlets in America at the same time, a feat that had never before been accomplished.

  Then the world went mad.

  Chapter One

  A burst of noise nearly knocked Joe from his kneeling position as the crowd of gathered Nobles and various factions burst into applause. King Henry wrapped an arm around Joe's shoulder as much to steady him as to show his favor. “A little strange, isn’t it?”

  Joe looked at the King in wonder. Everything sounded different, everything reverberated with different tones than he was used to hearing. “What… what was that? Wait, is that my voice?”

  “Ah.” The King bobbed his head in understanding, every slight motion seeming to suck the air from the room. “By your expression and the way you are clutching at your ears, the gift you have been granted must be Magical Synesthesia. I was wondering what you would earn. I know you are keeping your eyes off of your notifications out of politeness, but I would look into that more closely when you leave here. As a secondary gift, let me increase the land allotment that you earned from the part you played in that little war.”

  Joe heard a *ding* but again refrained from looking over at the blinking notification. The King spoke to the room at large after sitting down, his motion calculated to force clapping to a halt so that his words would have maximum impact on the gathering. “My people, we are here today to honor a man that not only played a large part in ending the Wolfman uprising, but also saved my very life.”

  “This man, Joe,” here the King motioned at Joe and silenced the excited whispering that had broken out, “has earned my favor and the favor of my people by extension. I deem the first of his steps toward Nobility as complete.”

  “Should he complete two more tasks of such aid to the Kingdom, he will be granted the rights of full Nobility.” The room exploded into furious noise, and Joe could have sworn that he somehow saw a smug look on the King’s face through the armor that blocked all sight. “Of course, this is easier said than done. How many times can one man save a King… who has only ever needed to be saved once?”

  Polite laughter broke out, but the smiles were cut with calculated staring that felt anything except excited or happy. “Let the feast begin!”

  Joe sat to the right of the King, only two seats away from the man himself. The Queen sat next to Joe, but both of the Regents remained as still as cut stone the entire meal. The Prince, sitting on the left of the King, kept glancing at Jo
e in confusion, as if he had seen him before but could not remember where. Joe remembered quite clearly. It was one of the most unexpected deaths he had experienced in the game, and if he hadn’t been nearly immediately given recompense, Joe may have held a grudge. As it stood, it was likely better not to point out errors perpetrated by the Crown Prince at dinner.

  “Joe, thank you again for what you did to save my husband.” The Queen was speaking in a low tone and hadn’t turned her head to address him. That would have instantly drawn attention since the movement would have caused all the gathered people to choke. “I thought all was lost. Also, how is the wildebeest?”

  “Is that what this is?” Joe inspected the haunch of meat, and sure enough he got the expected result.

  Perception check + knowledge check success! This is a perfectly seared slice of meat from a wildebeest. Stamina +10 for the next two hours.

  “Wow.” Joe allowed his excitement to show through. “I’ve never seen normal food cooked well enough to give bonuses by itself! Oh, um. It’s delicious, ma’am. That is, Your Majesty. As for the King, as happy as I am to have saved him, I truly can’t take much credit. At the end of the day, it was an incredibly self-serving act.”

  “You refer to the penalties imposed on males of our race?” The Queen shifted a tiny amount, and Joe assumed she had needed to hold in a shrug. “It would have been far worse for me and mine, Joe. We would have lost Henry. As for being self-serving, I disagree. While there was sure to be the benefits of having a King, I was told that you crossed the battlefield not only with terrible burns but also missing a leg. No one would have faulted you for not making the journey.”

  “Ugh, I’m so hungry.” The words were not what Joe expected to hear coming from her next. “Our battle prowess makes more… regular aspects of life somewhat more difficult. If I wanted to tear into that meat with you, no one else but Henry could eat at the same time. I told him we should have eaten before the ceremony. I do have one more question for you, and it may seem a little strange.”

  “Um. Right, please.” Joe nodded slightly as an indication for her to continue and refrained from taking another bite of food while he waited for her to speak.

  “How did you revive Henry?” Seeing Joe’s confused expression, she tried again, ”Please don’t misunderstand, but I know how the abilities you wield work, and there is no way that you should have been able to bring him back to life. Did you somehow have a divine favor to use?”

  “I didn’t.” Joe hadn’t even considered his actions. He had gone into the battlefield knowing that he could save the King. Now that he thought about it, he could only resurrect people his own level or lower. There was no way that ‘King Henry the Battle Tyrant’ was a lower level than him. “I’m… I guess I have no idea how I did it. I just… did it.”

  “Hmm.” The Queen paused. “I would like you to ignore propriety and take a moment to look at your notifications. Please, let me know if you see anything different, at least, in a negative manner.”

  Joe nodded gravely and intentionally let his notifications flow over him.

  Skill gained: Magical Synesthesia (Novice I). One of the four magical senses that can be granted by the King or Queen of Ardania. From now on, all items holding magic within them will hum softly to your senses. As a consequence of your hearing being enhanced, all sounds will be interpreted differently than before, even voices. Higher levels of this skill will allow for more robust sounds to be heard. Masters of this skill are rumored to weave magic by the sound of their mana alone. Effect: 1n% increased mana-auditory sensation, where n = skill level.

  The King of Ardania has doubled the amount of land that you have been authorized to claim! All land must be contiguous and cannot have a current landowner in place.

  You are at a Royal Feast in your honor! Reputation gains with factions friendly to the Crown are doubled for the duration!

  You are seated at the Royal table! Reputation gains with factions friendly to the Crown are doubled for the duration!

  “I’m not seeing any issues, and I had read through all my notifications before coming here,” Joe quietly informed the Queen. “Would you please thank the King for me again if I don’t get the chance? Magical Synesthesia seems amazing.”

  “You don’t know the half of it.” She snorted softly. “Just wait until it hits the upper ranks! No change in stats then, everything is good? I am glad to hear that you have not had any blowback for helping us so much.”

  “Stats? I don’t think so…” He hastily opened his status sheet and looked over his stats, wincing as he realized that there was indeed an issue; and a rather devastating one at that.

  Name: Joe ‘Tatum’s Chosen Legend’ Class: Mage (Actual: Rituarchitect)

  Profession: Tenured Scholar (Actual: Arcanologist)

  Character Level: 15 Exp: 125,993 Exp to next level: 10,007

  Rituarchitect Level: 2 Exp: 2,190 Exp to next level: 810

  Hit Points: 220/220

  Mana: 963/963

  Mana regen: 19.97/sec

  Stamina: 195

  Characteristic: Raw score (Modifier)

  Strength: 22 (1.22)

  Dexterity: 31 (1.31)

  Constitution: 27 (1.27)

  Intelligence: 72 (2.22)

  Wisdom: 66 (2.16)

  Charisma: 26 (1.26)

  Perception: 51 (2.01)

  Luck: 29 (1.29)

  Karmic Luck: +3

  “I’m pretty sure I should have twice the amount of mana that I do right now,” Joe confessed to the Queen as quietly as possible. “It’s normally doubled by my deity.”

  “That could indeed be a problem.” She took in a deep breath. “I’ll arrange transport to the temples as soon as our meal is complete. You should find the issue at the source, after all. Unfortunately, if you leave right now, there will be the issue of breaking protocol and many people will hold a grudge against you.”

  “I’d rather that didn’t happen.” Joe groaned as he looked over his stats once more. There was only one thing that he could do to mitigate the loss, and that was to pour a hefty amount of characteristic points into the intelligence stat. He had fifteen points remaining from his sudden level increase, as well as eighteen skill points, but he was unsure if using them was the best course of action. He reluctantly decided instead to wait until meeting with Tatum.

  As the feast slowed and people started loosening their belts, individuals began to wander around the area. Small social groups were forming, and some intrepid people began approaching the Monarchs. To Joe’s surprise, a few even came to speak with him! None of them really had much to say to each other, but Joe realized that by appearing friendly with him, they were also able to stand directly in front of the Monarchs and have themselves noticed.

  Only one person really stood out from the others, and it was only by his actions. The man in question was dressed in colors just as garish as the other Nobles in the room, but instead of speaking to Joe, the man simply looked at him like he was an interesting bug. This wouldn’t have been a terrible issue, but he was leaning across the table and had even slid Joe’s plate to the side in order to get closer.

  “Humph.” This was the only ‘word’ the man spoke, but a notification scrolled across Joe’s vision that made his pulse race.

  Reputation increased! Your reputation with the Grand Zoo of Ardania has increased from ‘Loathed’ to ‘Hated’! Only 1000 more points to reach ‘Hostile’!

  Reputation increased! Your reputation with the Grand Zoo of Ardania has increased from ‘Hated’ to ‘Hostile’! Only 300 more points to reach ‘Cautious’!

  After that gruff sound, the man simply turned and walked away. Joe managed to close his mouth, just now realizing that it had dropped during that uncomfortable exchange. “What in the world was that?”

  “Hmm?” The Queen was staring at a plate of still-steaming bread, and Joe could feel his breath catch as she twitched toward it. “Oh, him. That’s ‘The Ringleader’. Pff. His name is Robert. He run
s one of the most popular forms of entertainment for Nobility, a zoo that boasts the most unique creatures known to Eternium. I have no idea why people like the menagerie and clowns so much. For now, at least. I’ll figure it out soon, I’m certain.”

  “He didn’t seem to like me very much,” Joe blandly stated, taking a sip of wine and committing the man’s face to memory. Whatever had happened in the past to get him to this point, the fact remained that he had somehow just gained a thousand and seven hundred reputation points at a minimum. “Did I do something to upset him?”

  “It’s highly unlikely. He doesn’t get out much.” The Queen sighed as a server took the bread basket away. “Drat. Ah, well. They’ll save some for me. As for Robert, he just doesn’t like many people.”

  Joe watched as the dance floor started to be populated. Feeling a tickle of dread, he saw several people eyeing him carefully. The King chuckled and spoke just loud enough for Joe to hear, “I think it’s time to sneak you out of here. That mark on your head will always get you access to the throne room if you need it, but do your best not to abuse the privilege. Good luck, Joe. How I envy you getting to leave early!”

  “We should have eaten before this started.”

  “I know, I know.” King Henry sounded exasperated, and Joe smiled. It was nice to see that some things were the same regardless of social strata.

  Chapter Two

  The unassuming carriage rolled to a stop in front of the temple district. Joe popped out and waved at the driver, who nodded and got the horses moving once more. The Rituarchitect looked up at the imposing building and frowned. Normally, he would be happy to be here, but right now he had a sneaking suspicion that something had gone very wrong.

  Walking through the temple, he heard an odd ringing in his ears that just barely tickled at his senses. Oddly enough, covering his ears did nothing to stop the ringing, and he realized that this must have something to do with his new hearing skill. Obviously, this place was highly enchanted or just stuffed full of mana; which would make sense at a giant hub of divine energy like this.