BladeDust Online: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 1) Read online

  I looked around at the peasants. They were all holding swords and wore the iron armor. “Everyone looks good,” I said with a smile.

  The peasant that killed Ronald had a blood stain on his chest plate. He held his sword into the air. “Let's kill something,” he yelled.

  “That's the spirit,” Cosmo replied.

  “Now what? Should we train our army?”

  “Did you name the army yet? You can do that in the inventory.”

  Really? I didn't know that. I quickly opened the inventory and looked around for the option. Oh, here it was!

  Create Your Own Army? Yes/No?

  I clicked yes. After that, I was given an option to add players to the army. “How do I add peasants?”

  “Just type in the first few letters. I mean, mentally type them in,” Cosmo replied.

  I did what he said. Then, a selection for peasants appeared. It asked me how many. I looked around and counted the peasants. There were 8 that were wearing armor and had swords. So, I selected 8. Next, it asked me to name my army. “What's a good name for our army?” I asked with excitement.

  “Soul Destroyers,” Cosmo yelled back.

  “The wandering rats,” Tommy replied.

  Wandering rats? That sounded like a terrible name. In fact, I didn't even like Soul Destroyers. It almost sounded like we were bad guys or something. “I'm not crazy about either of those.”

  I began to think. Crap. This was hard. This was what the world was going to chant once we became the most powerful army around. What did I want them to chant? I continued thinking but nothing came to my head that I liked. Then, it hit me. “The Blades of Tomorrow! Do you guys like it?”

  “That's not a name for an army,” Sonny replied. “How could you be so foolish?”

  “It's a good name. Okay, so what's the great name you came up with?

  “I need to think about it. You are always rushing me.”

  I scratched my head. What was our army to be called? It was so exciting yet frustrating at the same time. Then, I decided on another name. “Swords of Yesterday.”

  “I like it,” Cosmo replied.

  “Me too,” Tommy said.

  “I really don't like it,” Sonny replied. “But at this point, I don't want to waste any more of my precious mental energy.”

  I entered the name “Swords of Yesterday” and was asked another question. It was a question that asked who the Commander of the army would be. I looked around. I wasn't even going to ask. The Commander was me. Yes, that was right. I was the true leader of this army and would gain all of the glory it received. I entered my name and confirmed it. Then, I received a message:

  Congratulations!

  The Swords of Yesterday Army Has Been Created!

  Wow! It was official. I had an army! “Well, we are now officially The Swords of Yesterday. How does it feel guys?”

  “I don't know,” Tommy replied.

  “Feels great,” Cosmo yelled.

  “Shit,” Sonny mumbled. “My robe has a small brown spot on it that won't come out. I already spat on it like twenty times. It's a stain, I just know it is.”

  The peasants didn't reply. They kinda just stood around with blank looks on their faces. I looked at the brown dirt beneath my feet. The area we were in was fairly large. “We should travel in the proper formation. That way other characters will know we are an army.”

  “Good idea,” Cosmo replied. “Peasants will go to the back. Two rows of three, and one row of two. Me and you will be on the front row. Tommy and Sonny will be behind us.”

  “Why do I go behind you?” Sonny asked with confusion.

  “Because that's just the way it worked out.”

  “Are you suggesting that I am on the same importance level as him?” Sonny asked while pointing at Tommy.

  “I'm important,” Tommy replied. “You should feel good being next to me.”

  Sonny looked frustrated. But, he eventually accepted his position. The peasants scattered behind us and we all took our positions. It felt good. It felt really good. “Let's move out,” I yelled.

  Chapter Eighteen

  We began to march and left the peasant village. After about 3 minutes of marching, a peasant began to cough. At first, it just seemed like a normal cough. But then, the cough dragged on for way too long. I turned my head to look at the peasant. Suddenly, he fell to his side. “What's wrong with him?”

  “Old age,” Tommy replied. “He was getting pretty old.”

  “Old age? He only looks to be in his mid thirties to me,” Sonny replied.

  The peasant continued to cough. “Do something Sonny,” I yelled. “This is your chance to redeem yourself.”

  Sonny pulled up his robe just to make certain he didn't get any dirt on it again. He leaned over the peasant's body and began to mumble a few words. His hands turned green, but then went back to normal. The peasant began to shake uncontrollably. Then, he died. “What the hell Sonny? You couldn't even heal a peasant?”

  “What's that suppose to mean?” another peasant asked as if he was offended.

  “I needed a warning. He was dead instantly. How was I suppose to heal him so quickly? Remember, we have already been over this. Or, did you already forget?”

  Was this guy serious? Did he really expect me to believe that? “Cosmo,” I yelled. “Tell Sonny that healers can heal instantly. If a character is still alive, he can be healed. Isn't that right?”

  “Of course it is. A healer would be worthless if he couldn't.”

  “I wasn't born yesterday,” Sonny replied with a boom. “You just subtly insulted me, didn't you? And who are you calling worthless? I'll tell you what's worthless. It's these peasants. How do you expect them to fight anyone when they are in such poor health.”

  Cosmo took a step closer to Sonny. “They are fine. Stop spreading your negativity.”

  I felt bad for the peasant, but there was nothing we could do for him. I was starting to realize that Sonny was pretty much a worthless piece of shit. How could he claim to be a healer when he wasn't even healing anyone? I took a step forward and raised my head. “Back to your formations,” I yelled.

  We continued to walk until we entered a fairly dark forest area. Many players ran throughout the forest but paid us no attention. The ground was covered in pine straw as tall pine trees hovered over us. Our footsteps crunched as we carefully walked through the forest. Then, a group of three other characters emerged from behind a tree. A tall man wearing a white hood over his head pushed Cosmo. “I want everything you have.”

  “You won't get it,” Cosmo replied.

  The man pulled out a dagger and swung it at Cosmo. But, Cosmo side stepped the blow with a burst of quickness. The man got ready for another attack. He raised the dagger over his head and tried to stab Cosmo. But, there was a burst of energy that came from Cosmo that knocked the man backwards. The man fell to the ground and so did his dagger. Cosmo grabbed the dagger and jammed it into the man's head. There was a loud crunch as blood went everywhere.

  The two other men looked at each other. It seemed like they were debating if they wanted to attack us or not. Cosmo's hand glowed with energy as the two men took off running. But, they couldn't escape. Suddenly, the two men flew into the air and slammed into a group of nearby trees.

  Cosmo stood over the first man's body he had killed. He didn't say anything though. Instead, he just watched it shrivel up. “Take the loot,” he said before walking away.

  I looked behind us. The peasants just stood with blank looks on their faces. Guess they didn't see the need to help us. I looked at the ground. Yes! Loot? What did this guy have? I picked up the loot and examined it:

  Stone Dagger

  Slot: Left or Right Hand

  Level: 3

  Value: 0.4 Gold

  Weight: 0.29 lb

  2 Gold Coins

  Yes! 2 full gold coins? This was the most gold I had ever found before. I grabbed the coins and then opened up my inventory to see if the dagger was an
upgrade or a downgrade. Crap, it actually made my damage points drop by one. Oh well, I decided to keep it in case I got into a bind.

  Cosmo walked over to the trees where the other two guys died. He picked up some loot. “Nothing too great. Typical for some bandit NPCS.”

  I knew Cosmo was a mage, but this was the first time I had really seen him do magic. It was so cool. “How did you do that?”

  “It's not hard once you learn. Just takes time.”

  “That was awesome! I couldn't believe how you slammed those guys against the trees.”

  Cosmo laughed. “That drained my mana to nothing. It's just something I can do once with my current level. Besides, my magic comes with limits.”

  “Limits? What sort of limits?”

  “I really don't have much physical strength. I've only really focused on leveling up my NightFall Magic levels. Without it, I could hardly do any damage.”

  “What is NightFall Magic?”

  “There are many different forms of magic here. NightFall Magic is basically controlled by your thoughts. The more you level it up, the more it reacts to your thoughts. You basically just need to energize your thoughts with emotions for it to work.”

  NightFall Magic? It seemed really interesting. We walked out of the forest and into a flat area covered in sand. I looked out into the distance. “Wow! It's an ocean. Do you know the name of it?”

  “Sea of Alberton,” Cosmo replied.

  That was an odd name. But, I didn't think much about it as I continued to follow Cosmo. We walked towards the water. The waves pounded the shoreline as I noticed the sun going down. “How far is the bandit camp?”

  “We just gotta follow the coast to the left for a while,” he replied. “Not sure how far it is exactly. But, it's getting dark. So, let's make camp here and go over our attack plan. Then, first thing in the morning, we will leave.”

  I looked at the ocean. The sun was right over the water. It was much more beautiful than a sunset in the real world. Everything was just so crystal clear in the game world. Bright shades of orange covered the water as it danced back and forth. I looked at the ground and kicked the sand beneath me. “Fair enough. I'm actually pretty tired.”

  “Help me break up these limbs,” Cosmo said while dragging a cluster of bare tree limbs behind him.

  I grabbed a tree limb and snapped it in half. Then, I grabbed another and did the same. Within minutes, we had a bunch of tree limbs piled up on each other. “Watch this,” Cosmo said with a smirk.

  Cosmo pulled out a torch and lit the tree limbs on fire. The fire grew larger as heat grew around us. It wasn't cold, but we needed a stable source of light. “That's a perfect fire,” Cosmo said.

  “I kinda like camping out on the beach,” Tommy mumbled.

  I looked around and didn't see Sonny. The peasants sat on the beach. It was weird, but they never did say much. It seemed like they liked to stay together and only talk among themselves. The truth was, I didn't really care as long as they put up a fight against the bandits. My eyes continued to scan the area for Sonny. “Where did Sonny go?”

  “He's trying to clean his robe,” Tommy replied while pointing at the ocean.

  I looked and saw Sonny splashing water on his robe. After that, he ran back to us. “I knew it. It just won't come out no matter how much water I put on it. It's a stain. Didn't I tell you?”

  “Oh shut up,” his pet yelled from inside of his cage. “You make me sick. All you care about is that stupid robe of yours. How about you open my cage and let me enjoy the ocean too? Did you ever think about that? Did you even consider that I might wanna take a quick sip of the salt water? Or are you just too busy making sure your robe is okay like usual?”

  “You always do this,” Sonny replied with his finger into the air. “You always make me look like the bad guy. I would let you out. But, it isn't possible. And does anyone know why it's not possible to let him out?”

  “Because you like treating him like a prisoner?” Tommy asked.

  “No,” Sonny yelled. “Because he will run away. He's his own worst enemy. He's living a great life. Wouldn't you all agree?”

  None of us said anything. A great life? His life sucked. If I was his pet, I would go ahead and end my life. There would be no reason to exist in the world anymore.

  Sonny tapped his foot as if he was waiting for one of us to agree with him. Then, he looked irritated. “So nobody is going to say anything?”

  “Of course not. They all know I deserve better than this,” The creature replied.

  “There you go. Turning everyone against me. Isn't that what you have always wanted? Just admit it for once, would you?”

  The creature let out a nasty hissing noise. “I wish you would just go ahead and die,” it screamed.

  “How dare you speak to me this way? Have I not provided you food, shelter and an abundance of love over the years?”

  The creature didn't reply, he just continued to hiss. I couldn't see his face from my viewpoint, but he sounded like a real vicious little beast. “Okay,” I yelled. “Let's talk about something else. How about the peasants? Are you guys ready for battle tomorrow?”

  The peasants stared at the ground. A few of them blinked. Then, the one who killed Ronald threw both hands into the air. “Let's kill something!”

  “That's the spirit. Yes, we will kill something tomorrow,” I replied.

  Cosmo began to walk around the peasants. His hand went under his chin. “Let's see you swing that sword,” he said to one peasant.

  The peasant looked scared. He straightened up the straw hat he was wearing. Then, he held the sword into the air. He did a quick swing to the left, and then to the right. “Not bad,” Cosmo replied.

  Not bad? All he did was swing a sword. Sure, that was a good sign, but it didn't mean he knew how to fight. “Shouldn't we do some practice sword fights? Or, some training with them?”

  “These are peasants. They are only as good as they are programmed to be.”

  “Well, how good is that?”

  “It just depends. The one that killed Ronald seems pretty good. Only time will tell for the others.”

  “But isn't there anything else we can do to train them?”

  “Not really. They are what they are. Trust me on that.”

  “Well let's see what they are capable of. I can set up a target for them to practice on. Just give me a few minutes.”

  Cosmo looked irritated. “Nothing will change what is going to happen tomorrow. Do you understand? Everything will go as planned. I can promise you that.”

  How could he promise me that though? What if these peasants were little weaklings? I still wanted to test their skills. “I'm going to set up a target for them.”

  “Just stop,” Cosmo yelled. “You are only going to waste their energy. What they need is rest. What we all need is rest. Understand?”

  My head fell to the ground. Maybe he was right. Maybe rest was what they needed right now. “Fine. Let's just get some sleep then.”

  We sat on the ground. The waves were becoming louder as the bright moon reflected off them. In the distance, there was an odd sounding bird. It kept chirping the same pattern over and over. “I hate that bird,” Tommy said while thumping some sand. “He's so annoying.”

  The bird continued to squeal. Man, this bird really was annoying. It almost sounded like he was choking on an acorn or something. I leaned back and looked at the stars above us. How could this not be real? There was no difference between this and real life. I didn't care if my body was lying in a capsule back in the real world. It didn't matter. This was real. This was just as real as the real world. It seemed odd, but I felt more alive here. The real world was boring and hard. This was hard too, but at least it was fun. Back there, I had no friends, money or future. But here, I could see my future. I could be someone for once.

  As my thoughts continued, I noticed Sonny taking off his robe not far from me. “I can't believe we are just sleeping in the sand like a couple of wil
d animals. If I knew this, I don't think I would have come along. I really don't.”

  “Sand is going to stick to your back isn't it?”

  “I'm not getting my robe all dirty just for one night of sleep,” Sonny replied.

  Man, Sonny's pet was right. This dude had an unhealthy obsessive worry about his stupid robe. What would be the big deal if he got his robe dirty? Sonny fell to his back without any shirt on. I had to admit, he didn't really have an award winning body.

  The peasants all got into their sleeping positions. Cosmo did the same. But, Tommy was still up. “What do you think?”