Terramyr Online: The Undiscovered Country: A LitRPG Adventure Read online

  “Icadion, give me strength!” Carodeen shouted, calling out to the god of Terramyr.

  As the lightning emissions doubled in thickness and shot out faster, the creature lurched to the side and roared horribly. It swung itself side to side, but the sphere held steady near the front fangs as Carodeen continued his electrical onslaught. At last, the fire kraken roared and spewed them from his mouth, launching them through the air forty feet above the waves below.

  The sphere started to crack and dissipate in places. Carodeen sank to the craft, breathing heavily and bleeding from his nose and eyes.

  “AHHHH!” Barry cried out as he hunkered down and held onto the side of the longboat.

  They careened over a jetty and then across the shallows before arching downward toward the beach.

  “CARODEEN!” Barry called out.

  The elf was unresponsive. His head sagged slightly, but at the last possible moment before impact, he straightened and let out a last gush of power that cushioned their crash. Dirt and pebbles sprayed out to the side and the sphere bounced once, then twice, then three times before skidding across the last bit of sand. Flashing, the sphere flickered and then vanished an instant before the lifeboat slid into a large, fallen tree. Everyone in the boat was catapulted from the craft. Stamina bars went to zero. HP dropped to barely five percent.

  All Brian could do was watch now. Some two or three hundred yards in the distance, the fire kraken shrieked at them once more and flicked an angry tentacle in the moonlit sky.

  Carodeen pushed himself up to a standing position. “Anyone hurt?” The elf summoned a mage’s light. It was a small spell, but had a powerful effect, illuminating a fifty-foot radius around them. The elf was obviously drained and tired, but it appeared as though he’d make it all right. “I think we’re through the worst of it now,” Carodeen said with a smile.

  Brian barely had time to blink before a bony spine ripped through Carodeen’s body, erupting through his chest and spraying Brian with blood. Looking down at the crimson spike, the elf grunted. The mage light went out, and then the wizard fell.

  Off in the distance, the fire kraken roared defiantly and then turned back toward the final survivors in the water, their screams only barely louder than the monster’s gluttonous howls as it feasted.

  Brian’s character slumped to the ground and the game world went dark. The stamina bar flashed empty, signaling that Brian and the others had been taken to the very brink of exhaustion and, without HP left to sacrifice, their avatars fell unconscious.

  “That... was the best opening I have ever seen,” Mike said as the group waited for the world to brighten.

  “If you think that was good, you should have seen Magic Masters seven,” Barry commented. “Now that was a good opener.”

  “Barry, weren’t you just shrieking like a little baby?” Mike poked.

  “I was not!” Barry protested. “I was just getting into character. It is a role-playing game after all.”

  Brian smirked. He could tell from Barry’s tone that Mike’s barb had struck a nerve. Score two for Mike.

  The game brightened a couple moments later.

  Brian could hear birds chirping as his vision slowly went from blurry areas of light to anything coherent and discernible. He sat up and looked around. Augustin, Mike, Rhonda, and Barry were all where they had been. A large campfire was burning about ten yards away. A pair of NPCs were milling about with water skins and bandages.

  “Oh, they’re awake!” one of them cried out.

  “Be careful, no need to move right away,” another cautioned.

  Brian and the group ignored the warning and stood up.

  “There are a few others we rescued from the water over there,” one of the NPCs said, pointing to several figures standing near the campfire.

  “See, I told you the game would move them along,” Mike said.

  Rojas and Meredith were standing still, neither facing anyone or anything in particular.

  “Looks like the prof and Mare are still out of it,” Mike commented.

  “My name... is Meredith. Not Mare, not Edith, just Meredith.”

  [Forgot about the smart comm voice system—Kolvurin]

  Brian laughed and typed back, [Gotta be careful around her. I bet she watches our DMs too.]

  [Prolly—Kolvurin]

  “Sorry,” Mike offered.

  “No problem,” Meredith replied. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

  Brian rolled his eyes. Hugging a porcupine probably feels more comforting than talking to that person. “I see Chris.”

  “Hey Chris,” Mike called out.

  “Hey guys. See you in a bit, going to go explore.” Chris started taking off toward the jungle.

  “Chris, you’re going to want to forage for supplies and stuff,” Mike called out.

  Chris didn’t listen, disappearing into the thick jungles, heading due south.

  Brian walked along the dirt shore, glancing back to the water and thinking about the fire kraken.

  Mike, Augustin, and Rhonda began gathering materials. Rhonda focused on plants of course, while Mike and Augustin looked around for things they could fashion into crude weapons—clubs, wooden spears, that sort of thing.

  Brian took in the scenery, the salty smell of the surf, and noted the few bits of scrap wood that had drifted in from the night before. He was drawn to a particular crate that looked mostly intact, draped with a piece of sail clinging to a jagged corner. Going up to the box, he set his hands on the edge. The lid was wedged shut. Brian picked up a heavy rock and hammered the outside until the lid popped loose.

  Peering inside, he found some simple leather armor.

  “Anyone need armor?” he asked. “Looks like two full sets.”

  “Grab them and bring them over here,” Mike said. “We’re pooling our resources in one spot. The NPCs are happy to let us take things from them too. I just got a dagger from someone who was gathering firewood for a signal fire. Didn’t even charge me for it.”

  “Nice,” Brian replied.

  He walked back to the group and set the open crate down.

  A thunderous roar could be heard echoing across the jungle from somewhere to the south—a flock of birds erupted from the tree tops in the distance.

  “Looks like Chris found trouble.”

  A high-pitched gong rang out and a flash of light appeared near the campfire. Chris was back with them.

  “Looks like you won the bet,” Rhonda said.

  Brian laughed.

  “A bet?” Mike asked.

  Chris grunted into his mic and ran off into the woods again.

  “Hey Chris, I have armor,” Mike called out.

  Chris waved a hand and disappeared into the jungle again, going a slightly more easterly direction than before.

  “Rhonda and I bet who would die first in the game,” Brian said after Chris was out of earshot.

  “I lost,” Rhonda put in.

  Mike laughed. “I saw some smaller trees over that way—I’m going to fashion some staves for us. As a wizard I don’t have the skill to create spears, but it’s better than nothing.”

  “I have already found two minor healing herbs,” Rhonda said proudly. “I don’t really have a cauldron to put them in right now, but...” Brian smiled and went back to scouring the beach for more wreckage.

  A loud, light-pitched gong rang out again. Brian turned around to see Chris reappear at the campfire again. He shook his head. “What is he doing?”

  Chris sprinted into the jungle again, this time running south by southwest.

  Brian didn’t find anything else along the beach except for a small coin purse that held a hastily scribbled note inside. The water damage was bad, but he could still make out the words.

  Tell Ysilda I love her.

  Brian shrugged off the note. It didn’t come with any quest line notification, so it was probably just a fluff detail, something to make the world more immersive. Still, just in case, he kept it in his inve
ntory and walked back to camp.

  The group arrived back just as another gong sounded and Chris reappeared at the campfire.

  “Chris, you do know the definition of insanity, right?” Mike jabbed.

  “I was scouting,” Chris said. “Due south are some really big monsters. Looks like some herbivorous dinos, and then one or two things that put a spinosaurus to shame. I didn’t stand a chance.” Chris turned and pointed to the southeast. “Some smaller creatures out that way. If you’re careful you can sneak by most of them, but I got attacked by a swarm of giant hornets or something. Drained my stamina in about two seconds and then picked me apart until my HP dropped to nothing.”

  “Lovely thought,” Augustin commented.

  Chris shrugged. “I mean, I did try to harvest from the hive. I wanted to see what would happen. Either way, lots of baddies out that way.”

  “And southwest?” Brian asked.

  “I got hit by a pair of wolves. Shouldn’t be a problem if we move as a group. You said something about armor, right?”

  Brian pointed at the crate. “Two sets.”

  “Hey, anyone seen Barry?” Augustin asked.

  A gong rang out from the campfire.

  A flash of light brought Barry into the group, pushing Chris’s avatar to the side a bit.

  [And in second place we have Barry—Sylandra]

  Brian stifled a chuckle. He wasn’t eager to get Barry’s ire up right before a march to their first quest. He typed back, [I guess that means Meredith outlasted them both. ;) ]

  Rhonda giggled into her mic.

  “Looks like Barry and Chris need the armor the most,” Augustin commented.

  “I don’t need armor,” Barry protested. “I am like a shadow through the trees.”

  “Ah, so then the shadow was killed by an abundance of sunlight?” Brian quipped.

  “You’ll get yours, Bob.” Barry reached in and took the armor from the crate.

  Score one more for me. Brian smiled wide.

  2

  Fezhik

  “I see a quest-giver, y’all good if I go chat with him?” Mike asked.

  No one objected.

  Brian moved in close enough to listen in as Mike approached the sailor with a yellow arrow pointing down at his name.

  “Kassim, hello!” Mike said.

  The man looked up. “We need to move away from the beach. The nights here can be treacherous.”

  “No kidding,” Mike said. “Where should we go?”

  Kassim pointed due west. We have two choices. We can either fashion a raft to cross the inlet to the next peninsula, or we can walk around the southern edge and then up to Fezhik. If we try to cross the water the shortest stretch is about fifty miles. If we walk, we will need to go fifty miles to the south, then about fifty-three miles west, and nearly sixty to the northwest. What do you think is best?”

  Mike turned around and shrugged. “I’m assuming we’d all like to go on foot instead of risking another fire kraken attack, right?”

  “That’s a lot longer,” Augustin said. “Might be nice just to cut down some trees and sail across.”

  “More plants to pick along the coast,” Rhonda said.

  Barry nodded. “We don’t have weapons for sharks, let alone a fire kraken. May as well stick together on land.”

  Brian stayed silent, and Augustin didn’t push his opinion. Mike turned back to Kassim. “We should walk around.”

  Kassim nodded gravely and stroked his chin. “There are lots of predators in the forest here. Farther west, after the river delta, it turns a bit marshy as well. Bogs and pits spring up on you if you aren’t careful, but it’s better than sharks or sea snakes.”

  [QUEST ADDED: REPORT TO FEZHIK]

  Brian turned to see Chris’s character standing still again. The armor flashed on and off as he played with his avatar. The ugly face of a half-orc appeared each time the hooded cloak disappeared. Big tusks jutted up from the lower jaw, and the skin was a pale greenish gray.

  “No one is going to like him in the cities,” Barry said. “You do know that orcs are cursed races in Terramyr, don’t you?”

  Chris shrugged. “I thought it would be fun. A good challenge.”

  “I’ve read all the Terramyr books,” Barry continued. “This isn’t going to be fun for you.”

  Mike mimed a yapping sign with his hand to Brian. Brian and Rhonda both chuckled and then turned to their meager supplies. Brian was a mixed-class character with both warrior and assassin skills. Mike gave him the dagger.

  [Iron dagger equipped. Attack +4 piercing/slashing]

  Opening his inventory menu, Brian pulled out his map. It was crude, barely more than the northern coastline of the western half of the continent drawn out on it. He saw Fezhik and set his waypoint marker on it—the city marker now had a blue compass rose on it. Exiting from the map, he saw a faint blue dot off in the distance. If this game was like other Terramyr Online games, the dot would become both bolder and brighter the closer he got to his waypoint.

  For now it would appear to draw nearer for a while and then grow distant, depending on the exact direction Brian traveled, but it would be a good enough point to orient himself just in case they had to run into the woods or anyone got separated.

  “Everyone mark Fezhik on your maps?” Brian asked.

  “Yup,” Rhonda said.

  “Maps? A true adventurer doesn’t need a map,” Barry jabbed.

  “One moment,” Augustin called out. “I set my marker wrong.” A moment later his character went rigid again and then returned to the game. “Fixed it.” He pointed out to the east. “I have a city in the east on my map too. Enderbury.”

  “Probably a Konnon settlement,” Mike guessed. “Since you’re Konnon, it makes sense you would know where the others of your kind are.”

  “What about Professor Rojas and Meredith?” Augustin asked.

  Meredith’s mic clicked back on. “We’ll catch up another time.”

  “We’re working on the scanning equipment,” Professor Rojas stated. The sound of him chewing something came on over the mic. It lasted a few seconds before he must have realized what he was doing and turned his mic back off.

  The group finished prepping their materials and started southwest, cutting through a small stretch of forest until they reached the western coast of the peninsula they were on. Across the inlet they could just make out the far shore of the next peninsula over. Rhonda oohed and awed over a few flowers, stopping to pick them and then rushing to catch up to the group.

  As they reached the coastline and walked southward, Chris ran ahead, saying something about scouting for baddies.

  Brian took in the scenery. It was fun to see a new Terramyr Online game months before it would officially be released. The graphics of this VR edition were leaps ahead of the last one. The water looked and felt real, but it didn’t leave a chemically, cold feeling like the last edition. The mud schlooped and schlopped as he tromped through it. Even the little crabs skittered across the sand with clattering little feet.

  Barry, of course, killed the first crab he could. He bent down, obviously harvesting from it.

  “Anything useful?” Rhonda asked.

  “Some crab jelly,” Barry said. “It smells pretty realistic,” he said. “Looks like raw it would only restore two HP. I’ll have to wait and see what it does when cooked.”

  “On your left,” Mike called out.

  A momma crab emerged from the mud and clacked its claws at Barry. Mike fired a jolt of lightning. The first-level spell sent the crab back several feet and left a scorch mark, but the momma crab came back for more.

  “To battle!” Barry shouted. He wielded his staff efficiently enough for a crab, knocking it twice and just managing to stay out of reach of its pincers. The shell split open and the crab fell to the mud as a flurry of smaller crabs emerged from the mud nearby and rushed for the water.

  Barry shouted with glee and he jumped onto as many baby crabs as he could before the re
st escaped. “Marginal experience boost, but the meat is worth it. Plus, I got a load of chitin from the big one. Maybe I can use it for armor or something.”

  Rhonda moved near a piece of driftwood and bagged herself a live, small crab, sticking it into her coin purse.

  “I don’t think you can tame them,” Mike said.

  Rhonda shrugged and found a bit of dead fish along the shoreline. She stuck some of that in the bag.

  “The smell isn’t going to come out of that,” Mike commented.

  Rhonda shrugged a second time. “It’s a game. It isn’t like the real world. I’m willing to bet the effect should fade after a while. Besides, Mike, weren’t you telling me that some games let you tame things if you give them food? The crab is a scavenger, and you just killed its mum, so why not?”

  Laughing, Brian walked out into the shallow waves. He kept his eyes to the ground, looking for anything unusual. After a while he saw luminescent blue forms drifting toward him from among a patch of kelp about thirty yards away. “Jellyfish in the waters,” Brian called out. He made a hasty exit. “I’m not really in the mood for seeing what those things—”

  Before he could finish his sentence, Chris was diving into the water and swimming for them.

  “That one is mental,” Mike said.

  Brian and Augustin both shared a quick look and then laughed.

  Chris fought off the jellyfish as best he could with his staff. His HP bar started taking significant hits as green and blue jolts of electrical energy buzzed around him.

  “I’m not going after him,” Brian said.

  “Bad waste of good armor,” Barry put in.

  Brian nodded, for once entirely agreeing with Barry.

  Stepping to the edge of the water, Rhonda aimed her crude crossbow, firing a few shots. Two jellyfish collapsed and started drifting lifelessly.