Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO ON KINDLE SEPT. 2)

The smell of the forge permeated the office, punctuated by the unmistakable odor that came with Carmen’s hard work. She clearly hadn’t had a shower in a while – a fact she seemed to disregard as unimportant as she settled into her office chair. It was situated behind a huge, metal desk which she used as a footrest.

“So?” she asked, leaning back and closing her eyes. “”Why are you here?”

“Maybe I just wanted to visit my favorite sister-in-law,” Elijah reasoned. “I mean, I did just get back after a three-decade hiatus in a place that a lot of people would rightfully refer to as hell. It’s not implausible that I’d want to spend some time with family.”

“Elijah.”

“What?”

“Don’t bullshit me,” she said. “You never come here to hang out. To be clear, I’m glad you’re here. I’m fine with it. We could go out right now and get a beer or –”

“Probably need a shower before you go anywhere.”

“Ouch,” she muttered, leaning down to sniff her armpit. The twisted expression that came in the wake of that olfactory probe said everything about her cleanliness. “Point taken, I guess.”

“Did I tell you what happened when I forgot about clothes?” Elijah asked, trying to make her feel a bit better.

“You forgot about clothes?”

He shrugged, then told her the story of how he’d reunited with Benedict and the refugees from Dravkein. “There I was, just standing there without a stitch on,” he finished with a shake of his head. “I think my whole body turned red from embarrassment.”

“You always were a bit of a nudist.”

“No, I’m not.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Okay. Sometimes I forget to wear clothes,” Elijah allowed. “But you calling me a nudist makes it seem…I don’t know. Creepy. I’m not creepy.”

She held her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “You’re a little creepy. With those eyes. And that aura…I bet everyone in the city is freaking out.”

“The guards did give me the side eye, but they let me through.”

“Probably because they were afraid you’d rip them to pieces if they didn’t,” she reasoned. “I’m not saying you would have. But your presence is a little oppressive. Even if they didn’t know who you were, which they probably did.”

“My presence?”

“It’s like standing next to a bonfire, only made if vitality and authority.”

“Oh. Guess I should work on that.”

“Probably,” she agreed. “So? Why did you come by? Really.”

“I was wondering just how far the world has progressed,” Elijah admitted. “In terms of levels. When I left, I was probably the highest level in the world. But now?”

“What level are you?” she asked.

“Two-eighty-nine.”

“Nice.”

“You?” Elijah asked.

“Two-fifty-two.”

“You made a lot of progress,” he said.

She shrugged, then cited the completion of the new Forge of Creation as a huge factor in her leveling speed. “I also helped complete the Court of Light.”

“What was that like?”

“A nightmare. It was modeled after some sort of coming-of-age ritual for young angels where they were forced to confront various miscarriages of justice,” she explained. “The last battle was against an angel that considered herself the ultimate judge. Only, she was corrupted by her own sense of justice.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. It was complicated. I try not to think about it too much. We lost a lot of good people during that Primal Realm.”

“I get it.”

And he did. Elijah had lost people as well. Friends. Family. He knew how it felt to shove the grief down until it could no longer assert itself upon his life.

“Are there a lot of other demi-gods out there now?” Elijah asked, knowing when to change the subject. “There must be.”

Carmen shook her head. “Not as many as you’d expect. Maybe a hundred or so. I think the last time I saw the Census, there was only one person on the planet that was higher than you. That was a few months ago, though.”

“The Census?”

“A list of the most powerful people in the world,” she answered, reaching over to a glass bottle of water. She took a swig. “It’s run by the guilds. They have a few Seers working for them that specialize in that kind of thing. From what I can tell, it’s pretty accurate.”

“I thought there would be more,” Elijah admitted, unfazed by the existence of something like the Census. Some people might find fault with that kind of information being public, but Elijah had nothing to hide. “Does the Census address cultivation?”

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She shook her head. “No.”

“Then it’s woefully inaccurate and completely misleading. There are so many factors that feed into a person’s true power. Levels barely tell part of the story. There’s obviously cultivation, but we also have to consider class rarity. I can’t imagine someone with a common-rarity class could even begin to stand up to someone with a primeval class.”

Carmen chuckled. “I don’t think primeval-rarity is even possible at demi-god.”

Elijah remained silent.

Carmen once again narrowed her eyes. “Wait. No. You didn’t.”

Elijah shrugged. “I had an eldritch option, too. Well, a couple of them, but one was corrupted.”

“That’s not supposed to be possible. Demi-god classes are only supposed to go up to celestial. And even that’s incredibly rare.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. Emerald Archon is primeval.”

“What kind of attribute bonuses are you looking at?”

“Two-nineteen.”

Carmen’s jaw dropped. “That’s ridiculous.”

Elijah grinned. “So, who was the highest level on the Census?”

“A man named Olaf Bruener.”

“Who?”

“He’s a warlord from –”

“Wait. I’ve heard that name,” Elijah declared. “Where have I heard that name?”

Then, he remembered. That was the name of the warlord who’d led the raid that had driven a group of Druids to the Hartwood Grove. He’d already intended to do something about it, but finding out that the man had profited – in the form of levels – from his brutality was more than a little infuriating.

He said as much to Carmen.

She responded predictably. “You can’t do what I think you’re about to do, Elijah. This isn’t the same world it was when you left. He might be stronger than you.”

“He’s not.”

“Elijah…”

“Who else got demi-god? I know you. And Nerthus. Miguel is a demi-god, too.”

“Helen, but not Lamar. Oscar and the pack, though the Census doesn’t track the dogs. Atticus. Solomon.”

“Solomon?”

“He’s a Freighter,” she said. “Saved us all in the Eternal War.”

“Oh. Yeah. I remember,” Elijah said. “What about Sadie?”

He’d sent her a message via the Branch, but she still hadn’t responded. Perhaps she was busy. Maybe in a tower or something.

Or maybe she just didn’t want to talk to him after so long. That possibility haunted him.

“She’s a demi-god too. And she’s one of the reasons you can’t just attack them. Probably the biggest one.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Sadie hasn’t been idle, Elijah. She established an organization called the Order of Adjudicators. They’re basically a world police. Judge, jury, and executioner. When they’re around, they have the final say.”

“And people accept this?”

“They don’t have much of a choice, Elijah. Besides, they’re fair, and they only get involved when things get really bad.”

“Except not when a warlord attacks a grove and enslaves the people who live there?” Elijah asked.

“They can’t be everywhere. They can’t –”

“Sounds a lot like an excuse,” Elijah interrupted, his anger rising. It reminded him too much of Ithalon. As much as he wanted to have faith in Sadie and her principles, the fact that they’d ignored Bruener’s aggressive conquest told Elijah that his faith might have been misplaced.

At that point, Elijah realized he was pacing back and forth. His heart had begun to beat much more quickly, and his fists kept clenching, over and over. The worst was that his Mantle of Authority had started to pulse.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to take control.

“I think I need to go before I break something,” Elijah said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Then, Carmen was beside him. Her hand found his tense shoulder. “You’re not alone, Elijah. You don’t have to do this.”

“I do, Carmen,” he said, his eyes trained on the ground as he wrestled his mantle under control. “As much as I hate it, I do. People need to know the consequences of attacking Druids. Of messing with nature. I need to make an example. Just like the pirates.”

“Elijah…”

“Give me one reason to spare them,” he breathed. He finally raised his head and looked into her eyes. “Please.”

Carmen knew him well enough to recognize which arguments wouldn’t sway him. He didn’t care about some outside authority like the Order of Adjudicators. Nor would he be influenced by an aversion to death. He’d killed so many people by now that the act had become a part of him, and in an integral way.

“I…I can’t. Other than the fact that it won’t be good for you.”

“Will the world be a better place with them?”

She nodded.

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Elijah said. Then, he sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t intend for it to go this way. I really did just want to hang out. Maybe get some food.”

“It’s okay. We’ll have dinner when you get back,” she responded.

He smiled, though he knew the expression didn’t reach his eyes. Sometimes, it felt like lasting joy would forever remain elusive for him.

“You should take someone with you.”

“I’m better working alone,” he stated. “I just need to know where to go.”

“I know a good Cartographer,” Carmen responded. “Follow me.”

At first, Elijah was a little surprised that Carmen hadn’t argued more. But then he realized something incredibly important. For all that she had objected to his intentions, she didn’t really oppose him. She wanted those people gone as much as he did. If she’d had the power, perhaps she would have led the charge to rid the world of their blight herself.

But she was just a Blacksmith. A strong one, certainly. She had power, both on the battlefield and in the forge. However, she was no true combatant. She couldn’t do the things Elijah could do.

Perhaps no one could.

No one on Earth, at least.

Soon enough, she’d led him out of the Forge of Creation and across the city. Along the way, Elijah noticed a couple of groups of men and women in white-and-silver armor. Carmen helpfully labeled them as Adjudicators.

They reminded him of Sadie. Probably an appropriate comparison, considering that she was supposedly their leader.

In any case, they paid him very little attention as Carmen led the way to a small shop filled with maps, both old and new. Inside was a dour woman wearing round spectacles.

“Megan, I need a world map.”

“Hello to you, too,” the Cartographer said, adjusting her glasses. “I’m fine, thank you. How are you?”

Carmen rolled her eyes. “Not now, Megan.”

“Fine. Be rude. See if I care,” she said, already moving to one corner of the shop. There, she opened a glass case and retrieved a roll of parchment. “Good detail on that one. It’s pretty up to date, as of last month.”

Carmen reached for it, but she pulled it away. “Not touching my map with those hands.”

Only then did Carmen realize that her hands were nearly black with soot and other detritus from other work. “Oh.”

“I’ll take it,” Elijah offered.

After that, Carmen paid the woman – despite Elijah’s insistence that he could afford it well enough – and they left the Cartographer’s shop.

“Seems like there’s some history there.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Carmen muttered.

“I thought you were with Anupriya.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Does she know –”

“I said not to worry about it, Elijah. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll not say another word.”

“Fine. Fine. Just saying…I didn’t take you for that kind of –”

“Anupriya knows. For god’s sake, she’s the one who initiated the…ugh. I really don’t want to talk about this with you!”

“Then don’t. Nobody’s forcing you,” Elijah pointed out.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Elijah said. “You love me like a long-lost brother.”

For a moment, it was easy to forget what lay in Elijah’s immediate future, but the weight of the map in his hand – slight as it was – reminded him what was coming. That killed any levity in a hurry.

“Thank you for this,” he stated, hefting it. “I’ll make things right.”

“Just be careful.”

“Always.”

She gave a soft and bitter laugh. “That’s a lie.”

“But a good intentioned one. I’ll be fine. When I get back, we’ll do that meal, okay?”

“Sure. When you get back.”

With that, the two parted. Carmen headed back toward the Forge of Creation, a slight hitch in her step that said she wasn’t comfortable with what was coming. Meanwhile, Elijah strode toward the gate, ready to go kill a warlord.