Rise of the Apex Predator: A LitRPG Adventure

Chapter 33 – Soul Rain

Agatha

The assistant guild head stood by the window of her office, her hands clasped behind her back, as she looked at the hubbub of the bustling city. Her city. Even though she had come here a few months ago, it was like a part of herself, and its citizens were like her children. She cared deeply for it, and she would stop at nothing to destroy anyone or anything that dared harm it. As she saw a group of children running around the streets, she smiled. An expression very few people had seen on her face. To lead the rabble of adventuring ruffians, she had to maintain her strict image after all.

A knock interrupted her musing, but she stayed in the same spot while speaking loudly in an authoritative tone, “Come in.”

She heard a bunch of footsteps of varying gaits entering her office. But she didn’t need to see or hear to guess who it was. She could feel the emotions rolling off them very clearly. She was part dryad after all. “Have a seat gentlemen, and lady.”

“How may we be of assistance?” asked their team leader, Eskad the Mad Barbarian. Agatha liked this party’s dynamics. They may be slobs when it came to social gatherings, but when it came to business, they were impeccable.

“I have a mission for your team. It’s of a sensitive nature, both in terms of time, and secrecy,” she said while turning to the guild’s top adventuring party. All 5 of them were sitting at the edge of their seats, giving her their full attention.

“Go ahead Ma’am,” Eskad said respectfully.

“Jadefall. I need you to investigate it along with its surroundings,” Agatha stated while taking her seat. The twins looked at each other in excitement, but did maintain their professional behavior otherwise.

“What do you expect us to find? And why now? I thought the entire area was infested with treants,” asked Elara, the only female of their group. She was a shrewd one, keeping her husband’s head straight despite all the distractions he was so prone to fall for.

“There have been reports of a new … entity within the forest to the south of Jadefall. I need to know who or what it is. And will it upset the balance of power, thus sending monster hordes our way,” Agatha stated while crisscrossing her fingers in front of her.

“So? There’s always some new beastie popping up somewhere. What makes this one so special?” asked one of the dwarves.

Agatha hesitated, not sure if she should go against orders and reveal it. But since she would be sending this party towards danger, she decided to defy the city leader’s command. “Because this … beastie as you put it master dwarf, has unleashed its domain.”

The party’s eyes widened in shock at the revelation. This was serious indeed. A new power laying claim to a region always caused chaos in the surrounding areas. The delicate balance of power would be upset, displacing hundreds, if not thousands of monsters. Thus, giving rise to monster hordes that migrated en masse. And any settlement in their path was in danger. Even though Pinespire sat on a plateau with nothing, but cliff faces on every side, the danger could not be underestimated.

Eskad folded his hands and hung his head down with his eyes closed. He had a deep frown on his scar-covered face. Despite what people thought of him, he was quite astute when it came to analyzing mission scenarios, and the possible dangers. It was this quality of his that set him apart from other berserkers. When in combat, his class’s rage ability blinded him. But he picked the battles carefully before charging in. His party all turned to him, awaiting his decision.

“Alright, we’ll do it. But we need all the info you can get us. I know even this little bit of info you gave us must have been against orders. I know that old fart well. He wouldn’t risk causing a panic in the streets, even if his life depended on it. He is too greedy to hold on to power. But I can’t lead my team in blind,” Eskad said after a while.

“Of course,” Agatha said while internally sighing in relief. She had backups, in case Eskad’s party turned down the mission. But they were just that, backups. They could not compare to the formidable team before her. She pushed forward a file marked ‘Top Secret’ towards the hulking man who grabbed it and started reading it carefully.

His frown deepened by the third page, before he shut it in anger, “What the hell is this?” he demanded.

“Exactly as you read it. All the circumstances leading to the collapse of Jadefall are there. Things the public is not supposed to know,” she said in a serious tone.

“So, all those stories of a brave and selfless Arbiter helping rescue the common folk, what is that then?” Eskad said while fuming in anger. Agatha could feel the rage bubbling under the surface, and if this went on for a bit longer, he might trigger his class skill by accident.

“It is true that the Arbiter used a rare and precious item to transport the villagers. The heroic part, not so much. She was merely cleaning up her own mess. And the System did strip her of the Title as a punishment. We have a new Arbiter, someone who has chosen to stay hidden. To maintain the peace.”

“How did you silence the survivors?” Eskad asked in a borderline threatening tone. He was, after all, amongst a select few people who knew of her class abilities.

“Don’t forget who you are talking to Eskad,” Agatha said in a similarly threatening tone. “I don’t like what you are insinuating. You of all people should know the restrictions I have placed upon myself due to my power.”

That drained some of the rage from the man, finally calming him down a bit. “Must be that old wretched city leader then,” he finally stated while spitting on the ground. After a few moments and a dozen deep breaths, he was calm enough to talk casually.

“Very well then, consider this done. I will head out with my party within the hour. Any other things I need to be aware of?”

“Yes. I would like you to take a certain someone with you. She will be deadweight, no doubt. But she is from the village and might have some intel. Or maybe not, but she needs to go on this mission.”

“Absolutely not. I will not allow her to risk…,” the elf spoke up suddenly, only to be shut down by Agatha’s glare.

“This is not a debate, young man. I have my reasons. Take this letter with you and only open it when you have reached the bridge. Hand it over before crossing it. You are dismissed,” she said with finality while grabbing some paperwork on her desk.

The bewildered party looked at each other, before marching out helplessly. None of them knew how to break the news to the poor soul they would be dragging around for the next few weeks.

………………

Aenon

Aenon stood at the edge of the water next to the forest. He had made it to the shore of Misty Swells, right where the river drained its waters. If his map was correct, he was 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) east of the unknown dungeon that lay in the river’s delta. The problem was getting across the river channel which was flowing exceptionally fast. He knelt and scooped up some water and tasted it. It was salty. Which meant this was not a lake, but a sea or an ocean. However, he couldn’t worry about the wider world just yet.

Bane walked up beside him and licked the water before recoiling in disgust, “This water is foul. We cannot drink it.”

“I know Bane. I was hoping to cross the river and make it to dungeon that is supposed to be there, but we can’t cross this river that easily. I don’t see any bridges on the map either, save one that is 40 km (24.8 mi) upstream. And even that would take to the other side, which has 2 river channels in between. I am guessing this dungeon can only be accessed by boat. Unless you all are great swimmers,” Aenon said in silent frustration.

They had been hunting treant for the last few days and managed to take down 5 juveniles so far. But the closer they got to the treant dungeon, their strength and numbers increased exponentially. And Aenon was not foolish enough to blindly go charging in. And thus, he had planned to earn some levels in the closest dungeon, which looked infinitely far now.

He had disregarded the goblin dungeon entirely, having had his fill of easy fights. They just weren’t challenging enough. He had found a couple of monsters in the forest, but they all just bolted the moment they saw him. And he was not looking for any more stealth kills. He was itching for a good old physical brawl since his void stalker class was starting to lag a bit.

Aenon sat down cross legged on the beach, pondering his next course of action while the wolves ran up and down the glimmering sand. He had never visited the sea or ocean before, so the sight and smell were spectacular indeed. He took a deep breath of salty air and stood up, finally resolving his next course of action.

“Alrighty then. Let’s head back to Reality’s Edge and make some preparations. We are going on a road trip,” Aenon said while dusting the sand off himself. Even Bane was scratching himself furiously, trying to get the sticky stuff of his fur.

“What is a road trip?” he asked while shaking himself to get the sand off.

“Ah, kind of hard to explain without mentioning cars. I’ll show you along the way. Anyway, we are going to the nearest town for some reinforcements. The surrounding areas are safe enough that some people might want to move in, right?”

“Indeed. We can put those freeloaders to some actual work while we are at it. Take the jumpy one with you. The pack and I will hide in your shadow, or trail behind by a few kilometers.,” Bane said.

Venge had finally given birth to 4 puppies a few days ago, and the pups were living in the shadows at the mansion. But they were growing ridiculously fast and were already moving around the entire building by the second day. The little menaces had made it a game of sorts to scare Blake whenever he was least expecting it. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why his shadows kept going the wrong way. And his friend, Vincent, never believed him when he tried explaining. It had gotten to a point where Blake would randomly jump and turn to his shadow with a loud “Ahah,” probably expecting it to fly off into the night.

Aenon was so glad for the mask, for it let him hide his laugh whenever he heard a random ahah sound from somewhere in the mansion. He pitied the man, and almost revealed the wolves’ existence, but Venge had insisted against it. Apparently, it was good training for the younglings and by this point even Aenon got curious to know how long it would take for the supposed seasoned warrior to figure out the conundrum.

And so, they started their march back to the village, albeit at a casual pace along the riverbank. Aenon wanted to check out the bridge on his way back, just to make sure it was not demolished. Luckily it was not, but what he was not expecting were the people on it. A group of six adventurers, if their gear was any indication, were camped next to the bridge on the other side of the river. The wolves instantly dissolved into the shadow once they picked up the scent. Aenon used his gear’s passive as well as his active skills he had been honing for the last few weeks and crept closer.

For amidst the group was a face he was least expecting.

………………

Jenny

Jenny morosely poked and prodded the campfire to keep her mind occupied. It was dangerously close to just shutting down at this point. The last day was a blur to her. There she was, diligently minding her own business at her assigned counter when the elite party had shown up. And without much explanation, just whisked her away out of the city while making some random excuses about needing her expertise for something. And before she knew it, she was riding on the Berserker’s back, as he dashed across the open road at superhuman speeds. The other party members were somehow able to keep up using their own unique brand of spells and abilities.

And before she knew it, she was hundreds of kilometers away from Pinespire, and at some old stone bridge. She didn’t even remember much of it, as she had passed out cold a few minutes in. After she had screamed herself hoarse. If she did not know and trust these guys, she would have thought they had ulterior motives. But the look of guilt on each person’s face was crystal clear. So, she decided to give them the silent treatment for a bit before asking what the hell was going on. It would also give her overworked voice some time to recover.

“Told you it was a bad idea.”

“As if your idea was any better. Who uses sleeping draught for something like this?”

“Hey it worked the last time we had an escort mission.”

Jenny heard the dwarves bickering with the tank, as always. As she was pointedly ignoring them, Elara walked up and sat beside her.

“It was my oaf of a husband’s idea. He has a … ahem… weird way of dealing with tough conversations. He just skips it and makes a run for it. And before any of us could realize what was happening, he was halfway down the road. It took us everything we got, just to keep up,” Elara said with a guilty half smile.

Finally, unable to take it any longer Jenny blurted out, “Would someone tell me what in the hell is going in?”

“We are close to Jadefall,” Elara stated in a rush before pausing to gauge her reaction. Which never came, since Jenny had frozen like a deer in headlights. Looking at her frozen in place, the party got more nervous. They tapped her shoulder, shook her vigorously, and even cast healing spells on her. But nothing worked. She was like a puppet with her strings cut.

SLAP

Mave finally decided to just slap her out of her daze. And it finally worked, although Jenny broke down in sobs soon after. She started hyperventilating from a full-blown panic attack and took almost an hour to calm down. In part due to the assurances of Elara that she was safe. When she was finally calm enough, she asked but one question, “Why?”

In response Elara handed her a sealed letter with her name on it. And the seal belonged to Lady Agatha. With trembling hands, she opened it and found just one line in it.

Cross the bridge to face your future; or turn back towards your past.

This was typical of Lady Agatha. A woman of very few words, but she made those words count. The message was clear to Jenny. She could cross this bridge and face what comes next or go back to live the life she had scrounged up for herself. The elite party would no doubt escort her back if she demanded it. The decision was hers.

………………

Aenon

Aenon watched with interest all the drama that was unfolding across the bridge. The panic attack, the arguments, the slap, and the letter that Jenny was reading. He could clearly sense the myriad of emotions she was radiating – fear, uncertainty, panic, anger. They kept bubbling to the surface like hot water over a flame. But what surprised him was the last emotion that surfaced. And it quickly overpowered and drowned all others. Resolve.

Shockingly, he saw her get to her feet and walk across the bridge, alone. Her party members stared in bewilderment, before closely following her. No one stopped her or got ahead of her. They just followed a step behind as the girl boldly walked on till, she was across the bridge. And for some reason she screamed at the top of her lungs when she finally reached the other side.

Aenon was baffled by this. This was not the timid, broken girl he had sensed a month ago. Something was off about her. So, he used his soul sense to dig deeper and what he found put him on guard. He sensed clear signs of soul manipulation. But something was different about this one. While the soul chains of the Overseer were crude and aimed to restrict or coerce, this felt almost… gentle. It was like comparing a blacksmith’s hammer blow to the gentle touch of a potter. Both aimed at shaping material, but the potter’s touch was almost like the caress of a lover. Aiming only to support and nurture till the craft was in its rightful shape.

And unlike the Overseer’s manipulation, the traces of its wielder were quickly evaporating and dissipating. Like rain drops on a parched plot of land, providing life and then disappearing forever. Whoever had helped this girl was a master at his/her craft. And they didn’t aim to dominate, but to nurture.

Aenon watched with fascination her soul transformed in real time right before his eyes. Where it felt stunted and rigid before, he now sensed potential. The negative emotions which seemed to have always clung to her were swiftly washed away and replaced with confidence and zeal. Aenon was instantly fascinated by what he was seeing. He didn’t want to be trained and taught by anyone. That wasn’t his way. But he wanted to meet whoever had done this.

Whoever this mysterious master of soul arts was, had his respect. He had given up and written Jenny off as a lost cause. But this person had not only succeeded in saving her, but rebolstering her latent potential.

For what stood before him now was not a meek kitten, but a voracious tigress in her own right.