Blood Mage Empire Book Two: A Cultivation Gamelit Litrpg Harem Adventure Page 2
COST: 700 MP
SUMMON MINOR DEMON
EFFECTS: CONJURES DEMON FROM HELL FOR 60 SECONDS
COST: 1000 MP
SUMMON MINOR DREAD MAGE
EFFECT: CONJURES DREAD MAGE FROM HELL FOR 30 SECONDS
COST: 1100 MP
SUMMON SHADOW-REALM DRAGON
EFFECT: USER SUMMONS SHADOW-REALM DRAGON FOR 60 SECONDS
COST: (DRAINS MANA COMPLETELY)
I didn’t actually cast that last spell, I only inspected it. I didn’t want to summon a shadow dragon in the middle of Nindor City and send the people down in the streets into a goddamn panic.
Lastly, I pulled up all of my charm spells.
CHARM - INVISIBILITY
EFFECT: MAKES USER INVISIBLE FOR 60 SECONDS (EFFECTS END UPON ATTACKING OPPONENT)
COST: 200 MP
CHARM - BOOST LIKEABILITY
EFFECT: USER ENDEARS HIMSELF TO TARGET FOR 60 SECONDS (DEPENDS ON LEVEL OF TARGET)
COST: 300 MP
CHARM - SILENCE
EFFECT: USER’S NOISES ARE MUFFLED FOR 60 SECONDS
COST: 150 MP
Along with the spells that I had to cast actively, I had enchanted skills and enchanted items.
I practiced with my enchanted items too, the powerful rings of fire I wore on my fist. I had a telepathy amulet, as well, though I just inspected it, rather than activating it.
MIRANDA’S RING OF FIRE
EFFECT: SPREADS INTENSE GOUT OF FLAME UPON ACTIVATION
CHARGE: 3000/3000
I had created three more rings identical to this one, enchanting them myself then wore them all on one fist.
RAPTURE WINTERHOLLOW’S AMULET OF TELEPATHY
EFFECT: ESTABLISHES TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION WITH RAPTURE WINTERHOLLOW
CHARGE: ∞/∞
The amulet of telepathy was important, as it kept me in constant communication with Rapture. However, I could, at some point, use this amulet as a template for creating other telepathic items.
Finally, there was the meta stone, one of the powerful, mysterious cosmic artifacts that powered Kalaban’s mech army.
META STONE
EFFECT: ???
CHARGE: ∞/∞
By absorbing the essence of a meta stone during my battle with Kalaban’s powerful automata. I was now able to add powerful meta damage to my attacks, though at a cost.
ADD META ENERGY DAMAGE TO EXISTING ATTACKS
COST: 1000 MP
As the days wore on and I constantly practiced these skills, I beefed up my overall power levels decently.
KYLE HUNTER
CLASS: BLOOD MAGE LORD
HP: 18000/18000
MP: 25000/25000
LEVEL 33
Yes, my skills were improving. In my short time in this realm, I’d become one of the most feared warriors to walk the land. But all of that amounted to shit since I had no idea how to get Ronny back safely.
Mother Fae had taken him back to the Fair Lands. I was tempted to go there – to restore some previous save point, thus sending my soul back to the Fair Lands before my status reloaded – but there was no telling what effects that would have.
Previously, every time my soul ended up in the Fair Lands, it had helped Lexica sniff out Ronny so that she could torture him.
If I voluntarily went to the Fair Lands, I’d be risking another round of torture for my little brother. Or possibly worse. There was no way to know.
Suddenly, the rage overcame me. I cast the bloodletting spell, summoning my four hooks from the slits in my palms, and tore my small bed into splinters.
I cast a spell to summon a blood claymore. The weightless, blood-forged weapon materialized in my palm and I used it to slash my dinner table in half.
BLOOD MAGIC SKILL INCREASED +1
“FUCK!” I roared, because being stuck in this rut with no answers was practically worse than defeat.
Then, I heard footsteps behind me. Someone cleared their throat.
I spun around, still red in the face with rage, and saw Miranda standing in the doorway. Dasha and Rapture Winterhollow were with her.
I sighed, then sucked the blood hooks and the claymore back into the slits inside my palms.
“What is it?” I asked.
“The council is about to meet,” Miranda said. “I thought I should let you know.”
I nodded grimly. Despite my rage, despite my recent hopelessness, we still had a war to win, even if things had gone quiet in the last two weeks.
“Let’s go,” I said. “I shouldn’t keep the council waiting.”
I followed them out of my private room, leaving the mess for later, and we started down toward the council’s meeting hall.
However, as we walked down the hallway leading to my room, I saw the diminutive wood elf vampire named Riley Coldblooded watching me from afar.
She was as powerful as she was beautiful, this savage little vampire, decked out in heavy armor and a claymore that she wielded easily. Her strength was incredible, given her short stature.
I hadn’t seen her since she arrived here, after she led her thousands-strong army of southern vampire tribes to Nindor City.
Rapture Winterhollow glared at the other vampire and drew her scythe. “Does this new arrival dare to eavesdrop on a private conversation of council members?”
Riley glanced at the scythe and smirked. She didn’t look the least bit intimidated by the other vampire.
“This new arrival dares to know what the hell is going on with the United North’s elected leadership,” Riley said, then swatted the scythe away.
Rapture bared her fangs, but I grabbed her by the shoulder before she could attack.
“Riley’s got a point,” I told Rapture. “She came here to join us. She’s the head of a powerful vampire legion. She should be in the loop.”
Dasha cocked an eyebrow. “But she was listening in on our conversation, blood mage,” she said.
“If you all would stop being so goddamn paranoid, you might want to know my thoughts,” Riley said. “Because from the look of things, the United North has been stuck here spinning its wheels ever since the blood mage’s little brother surprised you all in the council chamber.”
I glared at Riley Coldblooded. “I’m glad to have your help, but don’t you mention my brother to me,” I hissed.
Riley’s face softened. “I meant no offense,” she said. “But from what I gather, Mother Fae has stolen your brother and taken him back to the Fair Lands.”
I nodded, though I was gritting my teeth something fierce. “Yes,” I said. “That’s part of it, yeah.”
“If you’re willing to listen, I might be able to help you out,” Riley said.
“How?” Rapture Winterhollow asked. “What does some southern vampire know of the Fair Lands?”
Riley stared down Rapture, then rolled her eyes dismissively. “More than some frozen-fanged snow vampire,” she said.
Rapture turned to me. “Hunter, the next time this one insults me, not even you will stop me from getting my vengeance.”
“Both of you calm down,” I said. I gently pushed Rapture aside and turned to Riley Coldblooded. “What do you know about the Fair Lands?”
She smiled. “I know there’s a way to get there without dying,” she said. “In the Citadel of the Sworn, home of the chief priests of the Order of the Mother’s Fist.”
“The armed wing of the Lexica’s religious order?” I asked.
Riley nodded. “Indeed,” she said.
“I’ve heard of this citadel,” Dasha said. “In my travels as a war mage for the Nindor military, I heard whispers of that place. It’s where the Sworn study the teachings of Lexica, trying to master the arts of healing magic.”
“Aye,” Riley Coldblooded said. A grim look fell over her face. “And it’s also where they conduct experiments that most of the Triarchy’s citizens don’t know about.”
“Experiments?” Dasha asked quizzically. “I was a ranking war mage under King Nin
dor, and I never heard of such things.”
“Well I’ve seen them firsthand,” Riley said. “In that very citadel. And that’s how I know the most elite priests of the Sworn have a portal to the Fair Lands.”
I studied Riley for a moment, then nodded.
“Tell me more,” I said.
SAVE POINT REACHED!
Chapter Three
The Citadel of the Sworn, as Riley told us, was an isolated place of holy learning in the southeastern reaches of Lexica’s Territory.
Given the secretive nature of the Sworn, and the darker elements of the Order of the Mother’s Fist, the citadel was hard to find, and not very populated.
“There are elite patrols of Mother’s Fist warriors,” Riley said. “But they keep a fair distance from the citadel itself. Inside the citadel, there are only a handful of proper warriors. The place is, indeed, controlled by the Sworn priests.”
My plan was obvious from the very first moment Riley told us about the portal to the Fair Lands in the citadel.
If Ronny could control himself and the vast blood magic powers that had spilled out of him, we just might be able to combine our strength and kill Mother Fae.
After speaking with Riley, we all went to the council chambers where I told them about my plan.
The council listened grimly. Star, the dark elf archer, and Slim the dwarf were both hesitant. They’d been particularly anguished over the deaths of Droggo and Blue Eyes, their fellow members of the Ice Force City Council.
Slim stared forlornly into his mug of ale after listening to my plan.
“Kyle Hunter, lad, I’ve fought by your side from the very beginning,” Slim said. “But this sounds like madness.”
“I must agree,” Star said. “There is still much work to be done here. Our numbers have swelled lately, as new arrivals from the red cloaks have tripled in number.”
The red cloaks were the worshippers of the old gods that had lived in the shadows in Nindor’s Territory. Now that we claimed it, the red cloaks were coming in from all over Trinity Kingdom.
“Aye,” Slim said. “We’re already burning through our food supplies. We need to spread out into the towns and smaller cities to expand our resources.”
“And to bolster our defensive network,” Star added. “There’s no telling when Kalaban and Lexica will launch an attack.”
These were all pressing concerns. I agreed with them in spirit. But the truth was, neither Lexica nor Kalaban’s forces had pressed very far into our new territory. There had been some sorties and some probing forces, but no mass troop movements yet.
Of course, that didn’t mean an attack wasn’t coming.
I stood at the head of the table where the council was sitting. Riley Coldblooded was standing behind me.
“I’m not asking the council to give me an army, or even a squad to escort me,” I said. “For this mission, it will just be me traveling with Riley Coldblooded, the vampire knight.”
Murmurs and whispers erupted around the table.
Slim stood up, staring hard into my eyes. “You’re our most powerful warrior, Kyle Hunter,” Slim said. “If an attack comes while you’re gone, we’ll be at a terrible disadvantage.”
“But what if I can kill Lexica now?” I asked. “She’s the most powerful Triumvir, even more powerful than Kalaban.”
Slim lowered his head, shaking it in displeasure. “Just be out with it, lad. This is all about your brother.”
I grit my teeth. I felt the blood sizzling in the slits in my palms. “It was always about my brother,” I said. “And if it’s my decision to go to the citadel, the council cannot stop me.”
“I have to vote ‘no,’ lad,” Slim said.
I scowled. “At what point did you mistake me for asking your permission, dwarf?” I growled.
Miranda put her hand on my arm to calm me down. “Hunter, easy now,” she said.
I brushed my fingertips against the red-headed priestess’ cheek. “Miranda, this is my decision,” I said, then turned back to the council. “I’ll be leaving with Riley Coldblooded immediately. If you all see fit to vote me out of the council, so fucking be it.”
I turned my back on the council and kicked the door open, and Riley Coldblooded followed behind me.
*****
We left that very day, heading east toward the border of Lexica’s Territory. The Northern Alliance Territory (formerly known as Nindor’s Territory) was pretty barren outside of Nindor City.
Soon, our forces would spread out to make better use of the landscape, barren as it might have been. For now, though, it was practically one big ghost town.
We made good time heading toward the border. With my levitation magic, I was able to hold tight onto Riley Coldblooded and I soared over our empty territory.
When my magic began to run low, Riley would use her powers of vampiric teleportation to speed us across the landscape.
However, once the border appeared on the horizon, we decided to go on foot.
“Lexica’s forces will be on very high alert,” Riley said as we used our looking glasses to glimpse the fortresses lining the border on the horizon.
“Our intelligence agents noted that most of the forts along the border are stationed with at least one or two mages with detect life spells,” I said.
That meant simply flying over the border, even while cloaked in invisibility spells, was a no-go.
Teleportation wouldn’t do us much good for similar reasons. If some patrolling mage saw the life detection auras of two beings suddenly blinking into existence, Lexica’s forces would know about it quickly and blow our cover.
The best way to stay hidden was to blend in, we figured. We both wore plain hooded robes, like common merchants. We barely strayed from the road, either, just to ensure any patrols we might pass would believe we were just normal travelers.
Luckily, we found a traveling caravan of traders and merchants along the road. They’d been loyal subjects of King Nindor and the other Triumvir, but they must not have evacuated with the first wave of the population after we took over the territory.
We walked quietly among them, blending in perfectly.
“So how exactly do you know about the citadel?” I asked Riley.
She grew stiff at that. Even with her hood pulled around her face, I could see the pain in her eyes when I mentioned it.
“We shouldn’t speak of that now,” she whispered. “Not around these commoners.”
I took the hint, even though I’d been keeping my voice low enough that none of them could hear us.
*****
Lexica’s military had further militarized the border, even more so than before, and it was strange walking past their fortresses while having no intention of attacking them.
I had to hold my aggression in check as we were rudely questioned by the border guards, who were more than happy to collect ‘taxes’ from the travelers.
Still, we kept quiet, we kept our heads down, and tossed the guards their ‘taxes’ when we were ordered to do so.
Each fort along the border housed at least a few hundred warriors. Others must have had a thousand or more, all of them itching for battle or nervous about the United North launching a surprise assault.
And our intelligence agents hadn’t been wrong about the mages with life detection spells. I saw more than a few, most of them perched in the windows of the forts, keeping a sharp eye out for forces cloaked with invisibility.
However, as twilight approached, we made it past the border guards. We were now in the lush, fertile lands of Lexica’s Territory.
We reached a fork in the road soon. The caravan was heading toward the left-most road, which led to Lexica City. The road to the right led to the lonely, sparsely-populated lands to the southeast.
Riley tugged on my arm, then quickly gestured to the road to the right. It was dark, so none of the other travelers in the caravan even noticed when we ducked off to the other road.
SAVE POINT REACHED!
&nb
sp; Well…most of the other travelers didn’t notice.
Riley’s nostrils flared after a few minutes of us walking in the dark.
“What is it?” I asked.
She grinned. “Five bandits that were traveling with the caravan,” she said. “Orcs, by the smell of them…and I think one wood elf.”
At this point, there was nothing stopping us from using an invisibility spell to throw the bandits off our trail. But, honestly, I was in the mood for a fight. And judging by her grin, Riley Coldblooded was in the mood, as well.
And so, we walked along the dark road as the bandits followed. Three were behind us, on the road, while the other two kept pace out in the trees on either side of the road.
“Aye, hey there!” one of the orcs shouted in a friendly tone. “This here is a dangerous road, you two shouldn’t be traveling alone!”
Riley pulled her hood back, grinning widely. “I’ve been meaning to see you in a fight, blood mage,” she said.
“Likewise,” I answered.
The three orcs on the road wore a mishmash of armor, mostly light leather armor, along with bits of iron. All three were armed with steel longswords.
They drew their weapons as we approached. I scanned them with my spirit sight, but none were higher than level 7.
Easy pickings.
I smiled, held out my palms, and cast a bloodletting spell. The orcs froze in fear when they saw the hooks and chains emerge from my palms.
“You fellas aren’t having a very good night,” I said, then unleashed my chains on them.
BLOOD MAGIC SKILL INCREASED +1
I sunk two hooks into the brawniest orc, both right into his chest, then ripped his ribcage out of his torso.
My third hook caught another orc in the throat. He gasped and spit blood as the hook pierced his neck, then died with his eyes wide in fear as I ripped his head off.
The last orc on the road managed to parry my final hook and charged at me. I laughed, cast a bloodfire spell, and looked on in satisfaction as I boiled the orc’s blood, cooking him alive from the inside out.
Riley Coldblooded, I discovered, was even more savage in a battle than I thought, and just as fast.
The wood elf bandit drew his bow and arrow, then attempted to snipe the female vampire from afar.