Blood for Power: A LitRPG Apocalypse

We left the building twice as rich as when we’d gone in. Hugo was proud of himself and recounted what had happened as if I wasn’t there. All I could think about was how easy things had gone. It never sits right with me when things go well.

“Forty thousand gold a piece!” Hugo said on my shoulder as we walked through the lobby. Heads turned at his outburst and the orcs stared. I picked up my walking pace before one of them decided to try and rob us for the money.

“You know crowing isn’t a good look on you,” I said.

The bird squinted at me. “Really, crow puns? What’s got you so worked up?”

“It was too easy.”

“Come on. It’s not like I got everything I wanted.”

That was true. Hugo had tried to bargain for some of those chrome pistols they carried, but Enzo wouldn’t budge. The orcs couldn’t risk one of the guns falling into goblins' hands in case they learned how to reverse engineer it. It was the same story with their other technology. So in the end, we settled for cash.

“It was still too easy,” I said, keeping my voice low.

“So what do you want to do? Go back in, return the money, and say we can’t help even though the quest forces us too?”

“No, obviously we have to do it. But I think the situation is worse than Enzo let on.”

“But why hire us then? Look at this place. He’s got an army of orcs at his disposal.”

“Well firstly, it’s because none of them seem to know what the word subtle means. They’re more likely to scare the perpetrators into hiding than find them. The second reason he hired us is because we’re outsiders. No worse, we’re Tower Climbers. Destruction and mayhem are expected of us. If things go wrong, we’ll be the fall guys.”

Hugo sighed. “So it’s the usual then. Trust no one and be extra cautious.”

“That, and we should try to find other Tower Climbers. They might know things about the city that we don’t.”

Broody was waiting for us when we got outside. He muttered something about escorting us out of the orc district. Evidently, Enzo didn’t feel that any part of the problem was in the orc part of the city. Of course, being an escort didn’t mean he had to answer any of our questions. He walked quickly, taking long strides, and did not look back to see if we were keeping up. I had to jog not to lose him.

This time we saw more of what I could only describe as civilian orcs. Men, women, and children all going about their lives. What did they see in this place to risk coming here?

Being here voluntarily was madness.

When we got to the border checkpoint, Broody gestured for us to be let through and then spun on his heels to leave.

“Hey, where was that goblin found?” Hugo asked.

It was a good question to ask. If it was close to where we’d encountered the goblin Dratch, then it could help us narrow things down.

Broody chose to ignore him, which angered Hugo.

“What, you’re not going to carry us all the way back to the market?” he yelled.

Broody stopped. He turned back and stomped towards us so fast I thought he might tackle us. We held our ground and regarded him cooly until he stopped just short of us.

“When you fail,” he spat. “And you will fail. I’ll be the one to pick up the pieces and I’ll be the one that saves this city. We found the body in the contested area where most of the fighting happens. Hurry up and die, so that I can do my job.”

The contested area was where we’d found Dratch and where Gren lived. We’d have to speak with him again. If this whole thing had been going on for months, then he must have seen or heard something.

Broody walked away, and the gate buzzed to let us out.

“Do you think I did the right thing?” Hugo asked. “I know you wanted us not to antagonize others.”

“No, his ego was giving me a headache. He needed to be knocked down a peg or two. Besides, we learned where the other body was found.”

It started to rain as we left the orc district. Hugo activated his bubble shield, which kept him warm and dry. It wasn’t large enough to envelop anything other than him and where he stood, so I every part of me except my left shoulder was getting drenched.

“Do you really have to use that?” I asked.

“You should have brought an umbrella,” Hugo sniffed. “Besides, you know how heavy my feathers get when they’re wet. I need to stay combat mobile.”

“We’re just going to the inventor’s shop for a conversation, but I’ll let you know if I need someone to army crawl under the shelves.”

Enzo told us that the shop was on the outer edge of the market district. We were headed back to the square when I spotted Mizick in the distance. He was standing in front of the burned-out husk of his livelihood, shouting at passersby for help. Though none did so.

I steered us away and went down a different street. “Let’s take the long way round.”

“Agreed.”

When we reached the inventor’s shop, we found the door locked. It was dark inside and we couldn’t see anything through the windows.

I knocked on the door, loudly and insistently, until a small peephole opened up.

“What do you want?” a man gruffly asked.

“We were hoping to get your expertise on something we found,” I said.

“I’m closed.”

“Please, the device is very rare and special. We just need five minutes.”

He grumbled to himself and then said, “alright, show me. Hold it up.”

I took the spirit killer cube out of my inventory and held it up to the peephole. Before the inventor could respond, we heard a strange whistle sound like a thin burst of air.

“What is that?” I asked.

It happened again, but this time my eyes caught it. A long metal dart struck Hugo’s bubble shield. The shield remained up, but the force of the attack knocked him off my shoulder. He flew backward and hit the ground, bouncing twice before the shield burst.

I ran to check on him. He was dazed but unharmed.

A frustrated screech rang out above us. There on the roof was a small, red gargoyle creature. A needle pushed its way out of its forearm and he threw it at me. My sword was in my hand and I batted it aside before picking up Hugo.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” he said.

“Not now, and never on me.”

A second gargoyle crept up behind me. It snatched the cube out of my hand and scurried up a drainage pipe to join his friend on the roof.

*Beast Identified* [Needlepoint Gargoyle (common)] Level 96 – A small city gargoyle that prowls the rooftops in search of treasures. They’re attracted to shiny things and bringing them back to their homes. Its body produces needlepoint quills as tough as steel and throws them with precision at anything that comes between them and their treasure.

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Wait here,” I told the inventor.

Hugo and I ran after the gargoyles as they turned and fled. We weren’t going to let them get away.

Hugo flew up higher while I grabbed a hold of a window ledge and climbed the three story building to get to the roof.

For small guys, the gargoyles were fast as they hopped across the roofs. Hugo flew above them and had summoned Archer, who was firing arrows at them. So far, all of them had missed.

Lucas: Careful. The device is fragile.

Hugo: I know. I remember what happened last time.

The gargoyles hopped to the terrace of a taller building and turned a corner. They were out of my sight, and I hurried to catch up with them while Hugo circled above.

Lucas: Hugo, where are they?

Hugo: I don’t know! They disappeared!

Sure enough, I turned the corner and saw nothing but flat rooftops. They couldn’t have gone that way, and Hugo would’ve seen if they’d jumped down onto the street. They must have gone inside.

There was an open window, but it was too dark to see inside.

Hugo directed Archer to climb in first, and then the two of us followed. The window led us to nothing but a familiar stone set of stairs leading only down into the dark.

“You ready?” I asked.

Hugo and Archer both nodded, and we stepped down into the darkness. My eyes quickly adjusted, but it was still gloomy.

[You have discovered an Isolated Staircase]

*New Artifact Identified!* [An Isolated Staircase] – This is a sectioned off part of the Tower. When parts of the Tower are in lockdown, this Staircase can let you access another floor. Unlike the Stairwell, an Isolated Staircase is only connected to two floors. This floor could be the next one down, or it could be a random one. Good luck finding out!

[Now entering floor 54]

Huh, so it was the next floor down.

The next floor was a single large room. It was dark and the only thing it contained was rows upon rows of stone gargoyles. The statues varied in size and design. Some featured gargoyles that were taller than me, some only went up to my shin, and many were the same size as the ones we were hunting.

Okay, this didn’t look good. It was obviously a trap.

With the pommel of my sword, I smashed the head of the closest gargoyle. The blow pulverized it in a cloud of dust. I grinned. These things weren’t so tough. There was, however, nothing inside of it, and I received no message of my kill. That could only mean that some of them were regular statues.

[Rule violation detected]

“What the hell does that mean?” Hugo asked.

[This floor preserves the Gargoyle Stone Army. As a guest on this floor, you will respect its preservation. Failure to do so will have your visitation privileges permanently revoked]

“I don’t like the sound of that,” he said.

“Most of them are normal statues. The real gargoyles are hiding among them. We can’t just smash our way through or the Tower will kick us out and we’ll lose the only tangible clue we have. I hate to say it, but we’ve got to play their game.”

The space between the rows was too narrow for all of us to stick together, so we split up. Hugo and Archer went one way, and I went the other.

None of the statues moved and while they may have all looked the same, they wouldn’t be able to hide the device that they were holding.

Eventually, I found a statue clutching the gold cube. The creature had turned itself to stone with its hands wrapped around the device. I tried to pry it loose, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Hey, Hugo, it’s over here.”

I heard a yelp and another crash. I ran over and saw Archer grappling with a gargoyle of the same height. She managed to wriggle loose and fire two arrows at it. The gargoyle turned itself back to stone, and the arrows bounced off.

That wasn’t one of the ones we saw above. There are more gargoyles in here than the ones we’d chased.

I directed Hugo over to the one holding the device and indicated that we should switch to using companion chat.

Hugo: What do we do?

Lucas: We have to find a way to coax it out. I think if we kill it when it’s not a statue, then the penalty doesn’t activate.

Hugo: Sounds good.

“Okay, I guess we should split up and keep searching,” I said loudly.

“Yes, that is a wise plan,” Hugo said unconvincingly.

We turned our backs and moved away. The gargoyle didn’t respond, so we were forced to continue our bluff, walking down the rows of statues. I had my sword and knife ready in case another statue sprang to life.

As I passed one on my right, the grey stone rippled. I struck with my knife into its belly just as it turned to flesh.

*DING!* You have slain [A Needlepoint Gargoyle (common)] Level 96 – Experience Points and Currency Acquired.

Lucas: Got one.

Hugo: How?! These things are impossible.

Lucas: You gotta hit them as soon as they start to change.

I circled back towards the one holding the cube. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a gargoyle take two arrows in the chest.

Hugo: Got one! Hey, this isn’t so bad.

Soon after he’d said it, three gargoyles attacked me at once. I caught two, lopping off a hand and the arm of another. The third raked its claws across my side and danced away before I could touch it. All three then turned back to stone.

The injury hurt and it was bleeding a lot. I almost reached for the gargoyle blood on the floor to heal with, but then I had an idea.

I moved down one row and then another. A couple more gargoyles tried to attack. One took a swipe at my head. I ducked and cast a small Air Slash with my knife. A crescent arc of power blasted out and obliterated the creature before it could retreat back to stone. The other gargoyle scratched my arm and got away.

More of my blood dripped onto the floor, but I kept going, up and down the rows until I met back up with Hugo at the golden cube statue.

“I got two more!” he said.

“That’s great.”

“Yeah, I’m feeling a little worn out though. Archer is hanging by a thread.”

“Awesome. Now I need you to go back out there and be bait.”

“You’re not even listening to me, are you?”

“Hugo, I’ve lost a lot of blood. I can barely stay upright and I’m fighting a serious dizzy spell. Just go out there and give it your best.”

“I’ll give you my best,” he muttered. He stomped one foot on Archer’s shoulder. “Go on, mush.”

Archer complied and walked down the rows with her bow out, and an arrow nocked. That was fine. We needed to sell this.

From the very back, I could see the entire room.

I watched, and I waited.

A gargoyle tried to attack Archer from behind. But my blood was at its feet. The blood became a weapon, and I drove a spike through its heart. It didn’t even see it coming, but the other creatures noticed. The gargoyles tried to use numbers against us. Four attacked Archer at once and four died. Now that I’d soaked the ground in my blood, nowhere was safe for them.

Archer and Hugo continued, and I killed another two as they completed a circuit.

“Do you think that’s all of them?” Hugo huffed. He was barely staying conscious himself. He needed a break soon, but still had one left to deal with. I pointed to the statue, still stubbornly holding the device.

Hugo groaned. “I can’t keep this up much longer. Maybe we should just carry it outside?”

I opened my mouth to argue and then stopped. The rule in this place was about breaking the statues. It didn’t say anything about taking one out of there.

I could’ve slapped my forehead. “I’m an idiot,” I said.

“Now now, that’s just the blood loss talking. So how do we do this?”

In the end, I found some rope in my inventory. I couldn’t remember where I’d gotten it, but I used it to tie up the statue as best as I could. Archer then picked it up and carried it while we followed close behind with weapons ready.

It remained stone as we climbed the steps. Never once tried to attack us. Only when we brought it back out into the light did it change back. A long needle slipped out of each forearm and it dropped the cube to stab Archer with both of them.

My eyes widened at the falling cube. I dove for it, but a ghostly green hand caught it instead. Archer killed the last gargoyle and then turned to mist.

“Good catch,” I said, relieved that his new Spectral Touch ability was proving itself useful.

He handed the device back to me. “At least we’re learning from our mistakes.”