Resurrection of Adventure (Book 4): Dirty Rotten Seizure
The Return of the Master's Quests: Resurrection of the Masters a LitRPG Series
Andrew Bardsley
Copyright © 2019 by Andrew Bardsley
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Chapter One Dragon’s Landing
Chapter Two Elven Fort
Chapter Three Journey Through the Great Forest
Chapter Four Into the Dark Forest Depths
Chapter Five Some Time Alone Together
Chapter Six A Magical Study Partner
Chapter Seven A Birthday Gift
Chapter Eight A Message of Peace
Books by Andrew Bardsley
The History System Chronicles
Book One in the Series: The First Era
Book Two in the Series: The City god
The Ether World Series
Book One in the Series: Into the Ether
Book Two in the Series: The Inscribed Angle
The Dark Part of the Soul
Book One in the Series: The Unknown god
Dawn of Adventure: The Dungeon Master's Quests: Journey into Glory a LitRPG Series
Book One in the Series: Origins
Book Two in the Series: Dungeon Master
Book Three in the Series: Dungeon Battle
Book Four in the Series: King of the Realm
Book Five in the Series: Legendary Weapons
Book Six in the Series: The Empire Under the Sun
Book Seven in the Series: Battle for Freedom
The Hope of Eternals Enduring, Infinite, Boundless, Timeless Love: Space-Time Romance Science-Fiction
Resurrection of Adventure: The Return of the Master's Quests:
Book One in the Series: Dirty Rotten Magic
Book Two in the Series: Dirty Rotten Quest
Book Three in the Series: Dirty Rotten Heist
Book Three in the Series: Dirty Rotten Seizure
See Author’s page
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07LGBBBYD
See Author’s Web site
https://authorandrewbardsley.com/
Chapter One Dragon’s Landing
NOBODY MENTIONED THAT DRAGONS EXIST IN THIS CRAZY WORLD!
I gaped in fascination at the roaring, fire-blasting dragon that was as big as several houses. Except unlike houses, this had large teeth and was throwing flames everywhere, which caused the rest of the soldiers, the earl and the king to look on in sheer terror.
Then, the predictable happened: as one, all the soldiers dropped their weapons and ran. They were encouraged on their way by several powerful blasts of rolling flames out of Xaset's mouth, coursing across the sky and setting fire to a few treetops.
When he had finished, only the king and the earl were left. Both were trembling, but the earl was still clutching the king tightly with his dagger at his neck.
The voice of Xaset sounded magical in my mind as the dragon said, “I think we’ve outstayed our welcome here. Shall we go?”
This was not really a question, as one of his powerful front claws had grabbed me. Then, with powerful beats of his dark, majestic wings, he soared into the air. The dragon's wings were beating in great, powerful motions that swirled the air around him. Within the first few initial downblasts of air I could see their dramatic effect, as shown by the dust on the ground being blown up into the air.
In amazement, I saw the blast of air pushing aside anybody left on the ground that was close to the ascending dragon. Soon they were being pushed onto their backs against the ground. Some of the people who were running away were blown over face-first into the ground like tumbleweeds. I noticed that many of the people on the ground just stayed down and covered their heads with their hands.
The initial blast of pressure also blew the dust and the trees away from the epicenter of terror that was the dragon. This created a cloud of dust that obscured everybody’s vision for a few seconds.
I watched with surprise to see us rising quickly above the trees as they bent backward. Before I could scream for Xaset to place me back on the ground, I realized that the dragon was flying higher into the dark sky.
Definitely too late to be dropped from this height, I thought, and shut my mouth. I didn’t want to add ‘falling’ to my methods of not dying.
I thought, Admittedly I’m no expert on flight, but to me this dragon seems to be going faster than he should be. It more like he’s a powerful jet aircraft with more thrust than his wings can produce.
For a second I wondered how he was doing this, but I was distracted by the changing scenery below.
With the lights from the dwellings outlining the city below me, I could see it getting smaller as the dragon lifted up into the dark open sky. A few seconds later I looked down again as the lake around the city came into view. The still, dark surface glittered with some of the lights from the top of the city wall. Then, with a powerful beat of his wings that altered the direction of flight, we cleared the city and were flying toward the east of the kingdom.
Every now and then I could see some flicking dots of yellow, flickering light on the ground as we rose higher. Soon we were too high for me to see any detail of the ground at all, except for the dark overlay of the forest that covered this land.
I turned my head to the side and saw the stars shining brightly as we flew into the night. From this vantage point, the stars were spectacular. Each pinprick of light provided a wonderful backdrop as we seemingly flew into a dark void.
As I moved around, Xaset spoke to me in my mind: “I’d really hate to drop you and then have to find you again! It would be most inconvenient, and probably painful for you.”
Hearing his words of warning, I froze, as the thought of falling thousands of feet - with a very sudden stop - was not appealing.
“Better,” thought the dragon, as his wings continued to beat powerfully.
Now that the initial adrenaline rush of take-off was over, I felt the cold wind press at my face, making me shiver within the dragon's claws. It was like I was being tossed around in a freezing cold blizzard. Wondering if I could maybe do something about it, I considered using a fire spell to heat myself up, but due to the possible implications of burning the dragon, I quickly dismissed the idea. If moving around could cause the dragon to drop me then obviously burning his claws would be a problem. So, I figured that I would just have to grin and bear the cold wind as I was carried to heaven knows where.
Looking around me, and careful not to move too much, I saw the darkness of the ground was flashing by far below. This made me wonder how fast we were going. Trying to come up with a way of calculating the speed of travel, I found that the only way I could gauge it was by a comparison of the dragon with other large aircrafts.
Looking at the size of the dragon, I guessed that it must be going fast for him to stay in the air. This brought another question into my mind as I started to wonder where he was taking me.
So, thinking of the dragon and hoping this would work, I thought simply, “Where are we heading?”
Thankfully the telepathy seemed to work both ways, and the dragon replied, “
I’m thinking that it would be a good idea for you to be out of this kingdom for a while, so I’m taking you east to the kingdom border where the elves are.”
“Why go to the elves?” I asked curiously.
For a few moments the dragon's claws dug into me tightly. Then with a chuckle he replied, “I have my reasons, but all you need to know is that the elves have a significant amount of magical power. You’ll be able to gain a lot of magical ability if they teach you! My guess is that they will be overly helpful. Too much of a help, if I'm right.”
The last part sounded as if it was not as good as the words indicated.
“Why is that bad?” I thought. I was not sure what he meant by the statement and I was hoping he would clarify. I was getting sick of not knowing what was going on around me, which was often the case in this strange world.
“You'll find out,” the annoying dragon replied cryptically.
Well, whatever the elves’ motivation, a greater understanding of magic would be a good thing for my advancement. It would be nice to have somebody help me develop and increase my magical power, no matter their motives. I was sure that I was missing something with my magical training, having just learned from a book. It was always good to have a teacher who knew all the pitfalls. If I was honest with myself, I was getting sick of relying on my main advantage in this world of simply not being able to die. It was not a bad starting place, but what I really wanted was to become a powerful magician. This would hopefully prevent me from getting injured in the first place, in situations that would kill a normal person.
Deciding to check on my skills and level, I mentally opened my book of life. This showed me the following stats:
Skill Table
Name
Major
Level
XP to the next level
XP
Comment
Unarmed combat
Strength/Agility
31
3200
90
Any fighting without weapons
Blunt weapon use
Strength/Agility
25
2600
567
Use of a blunt weapon in combat
Trading
Charisma
5
600
45
Buying and selling items
Romantic
Charisma
0
100
48
-
Running
38
3900
23
-
Gambling
Charisma
18
1900
34
Shield Magic
Intelligence
35
3600
30
Any type of shield magic
Domestic Magic
Intelligence
10
1100
34
Useful for all type of work around the house
Fire magic
Intelligence
40
4100
490
Any heat energy magic
Blade weapon use
Strength/Agility
29
3000
124
Use of a blunt weapon in combat
Healing
Intelligence
5
600
34
Magical healing
Name:
Chrix
Top Skill
Fire magic
Character Total Level
40
Major
Strength
Fortitude
Agility
Number
11
11
11
Major
Intelligence
Charisma
Knowledge
Number
245
16
10
Minor
Shield
Magical Power
Stamina
Carry Limit
Number
N/A
1235
65
32
Regen Sec
N/A
50
2.1
N/A
Happy with what I saw, I thought that I had made excellent progress. It must be down to all the trouble that I had gotten myself into in the capital city. I now had enough of a skill level to study for the spell Heat Energy Blast.
Closing the magical book, I looked around into the mist of the sky - we must have entered the clouds. If somebody had said to me that one day that I would be hanging underneath a dragon and flying to an elven kingdom, I would have never have believed them - but here I was in this strange predicament.
I asked the creature, “Could I ride on top? It would be more comfortable for me than hanging from your sharp claws!”
I heard Xaset think, “That’s a right that you must earn, Valkin. For now, you’ll just have to bear the dishonor of being in my claws.”
“What do I have to do to earn it?” I asked.
“You'll see, but first you need to get stronger,” he said with amusement. “No dragon has ever bowed to one so weak. I will certainly not be the first to do so.”
“How long will I be carried like this?” I asked, wondering how much longer I would have to endure the discomfort.
“I fly quickly so it will only be about an hour. Then I’ll drop you off close to the border of the elves’ great kingdom. From there I will be leaving you.”
Groaning aloud at the thought of a long and uncomfortable flight, I decided that hanging below a dragon was not the best way to fly. I guessed that dragon claws would not be taking off as a form of transport. It may be fast, but those claws were uncomfortable. Thankfully I was healing just as fast as the bruises were forming within their vise-like grip. Opening my book of life again, I started to study a spell that I was trying to learn.
I thought that at least with the magical texts contained within the book of life, there was no excuse not to study since I always had the book with me.
In an hour’s time I was rudely broken from my concentration as I felt the dragon dive sharply toward the ground. This was upsetting, as I had been just getting into some of the more interesting aspects of one of the spells and was hoping to finish learning it before the end of my flight. When the beast took its dive, I thought that I was just about to have an epiphany when I felt like the bottom of my stomach dropped into the unending darkness of the night.
The terrifying downward plunge increased the pressure of the wind in my face. This made it go from cold to freezing and I began to feel numb. Dragon-claw travel was going from bad to worse. When I looked down, I got a shock: the ground was rushing up toward me at faster speed than I thought it was possible to fall.
Suddenly, Xaset’s voice sounded in my mind, amid laughter. “Hold on! We’re about to hit the ground hard.”
“You hold onto me!” I shouted back, but guessed that Xaset couldn’t hear me screaming above all the wind streaming past his ears.
I was about to think the request at him, when we crashed through the trees with a smash. Briefly I heard branches break under the dragon's body as we tore through the forest canopy. A loud roar propagated from the dragon’s gigantic jaw as it bellowed across the forest. I wondered if he was in pain or he just did it to broadcast his enjoyment to the world. It echoed around the surrounding forest as if he was announcing his presence. Suddenly, everything went black as I hit the ground with his claws pushing me into the dirt.
When the blackness of unconsciousness released me, I looked up from the flattened grass and dirt that I was lying on. Beside me I could see Xaset standing in his human form. He was smiling at me like I was the butt of one of his jokes.
“Funny,” I said sarcastically, trying to get up. “Flatten the poor human that wa
s riding in your gentle claws.”
“Do you some good. You need to toughen up a lot more,” he said with a serious look on his face.
At these words, I looked at him questioningly. I thought that for me, these last few weeks had been tough enough as it was. But now he was saying that he thought I needed to suffer more.
What the HELL is he thinking? How will it do me any good?
He pulled me out of the dirt with an outstretched hand and said, “Before I leave, I just need to do two things.”
Now that I was standing up, I could see that my clothing was ripped to pieces again. I looked at them and groaned, as I was going through clothing like there was no tomorrow. At this rate I should start carrying spare clothes in my inventory.
Xaset said, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll fix your clothes before I go. I need to tell you that when you think you are ready, you need to travel south past the wall. I’ll be waiting at the smoky mountain for you. You can’t miss it.”
“Well, that sounds needlessly cryptic. How about just giving me a map?” I asked.
Xaset smiled and said, “Well, that’s all I have to tell you but I would like to give you a parting gift. Part of the gift will be for you to understand why I gave you this. You may want to think about that when you're with the elves. They may try and distract you from your full potential, so be careful when you're with them. They have long memories and some have direct dealings with the gods, who are not on your side.”
Wonderfully mystical nonsense, I thought. But before I could ask for clarification, a bright light flashed from his body as if it was the start of a nuclear blast.
Oh crap, he’s changing into a dragon again, I thought.