Chapter 3: Rabu_Bryconia: A LitRPG Progression Fantasy

The wagon jolts, and a groggy Rabu tries to open his eyes.

"Where am I?" He rasps, his voice weak.

"Here, drink some water." A girl's voice echoes and Rabu feels something cool against his lips. "This is from the Spring of the Moon. It's supposed to be magic."

Spring of the Moon?

Magic?

The words toy with his thoughts.

"Where am I?" Rabu rasps for the second time, his voice getting stronger after drinking the water.

"We're a few miles away from Logis." The girl's voice says. "Almost home."

Rabu forces his eyes to open, and blinks to focus. The girl has a warm smile on her face and the moon creates a halo around her light blonde hair. As the haze clears, he's realizes he's in the back of a wagon. There is a man sitting in the front and two horses are carrying them forward at a steady pace. It's still fast enough to make Rabu's head spin.

"I don't understand." Rabu sits up. "Logis?"

"The capital." The girl rolls her eyes. "I thought gnomes were supposed to be smart."

"Gnomes?" Rabu asks, then looks down at his body. "Wait... What!?"

Rabu examines himself. He has stubby arms and rather short legs. He's wearing a black robe that looks like it's seen better days.

"You do realize you're a gnome, right?" The girl pokes Rabu in his shoulder and laughs. "We wouldn't have picked you up if you weren't."

The bouncing of the wagon jolts Rabu enough for his thoughts to clear. He quickly deduces that if he's a gnome, it ties into the character he made the previous night, and since he took some cold medicine before he went to bed, it was obvious that he was in some kind of weird dream.

"You picked me up because I'm a gnome?" Rabu asks, narrowing his eyes at the girl in front of him.

"Of course." She nods. "Gnomes are worth a lot of money. My father says he'll be able to sell you for a thousand gold pieces. Maybe more."

Rabu tries to sit up, but he feels an ache in his bones.

"I'm hurt." He groans, his head spinning with ideas. "Do you have anything that can heal me?"

"The water didn't help?" The girl asks, snapping her head back in surprise.

"Not really." Rabu shakes his head. "I need something stronger than that."

"Well…" The girl hesitates for a moment. "I do have my emergency healing potion, but I'd have to ask my father."

"He driving the wagon?" Rabu motions to the man.

"Yes." The girl nods.

"He's the one who told you how gnomes are worth, right?" Rabu forces a half-smile. "I'm sure he'd want me to be healthy. Besides, after you sell me, you can afford plenty of healing potions."

"I guess that's true." The girl clutches a small vial around her neck. "Okay, here."

She spins the string that holds the vial, unties it, and offers it to Rabu. Rabu twists off the top, gives it a sniff, and is surprised to find that it has a pleasant scent. It tastes even better. He downs the potion, and within a few seconds, he feels all of his strength returning.

The girl takes the vial back and secures it around her neck.

"Thank you." He sighs. "What's your name?"

"Mara." She says, moving closer. "How about you?"

"I'm Rabu." The gnome says, then his face twist into confusion. "Rabu."

"Rabu Rabu?" Mara perks a brow. "What a strange name."

"No, it's Rabu." He shakes his head as he says it. "Forget it, my name is Rabu."

He isn't sure why he can't say his real name, but he just decides to accept it.

"Nice to meet you." Mara gives a curt nod. "Why were you laying in the road?"

"Laying in the road?" Rabu asks. "What do you mean?"

"That's where we found you. Close to the village of Roth. You were passed out in the dirt." Mara glances towards her father. "He said you were probably drunk."

"I wasn't drunk." Rabu rolls his head to the side and squeezes his hands which feel strange with his short sausage-like fingers. "But clearly I took too much cold medication last night."

"Cold medication?" Mara asks, the word seemingly foreign to her. "What's that?"

Rabu decides not to explain it.

"Nothing." Rabu rolls over and pulls his robe tight. "I need to get some rest."

"You've been asleep since we found you." Mara pouts, but Rabu ignores her.

Mara slides to the front of the wagon and sits next to her father. Rabu can't hear what they are saying, but the older man glances back at Rabu a couple of times. Rabu pinches himself, which only results in pain, and then pushes his thumbnail into his hand until he sees a speck of blood.

Why can't I wake up? He silently asks himself. This has be some weird dream.

As far as dreams go, it's pretty mild compared to some the previous dreams he's had after taking cold medication. The last one he can recall involved his grandmother fighting a horde of monkeys that were trying to eat all of her food. Also, professional wrestler Batista was there for some reason. Then it all devolved into madness when he discovered his grandmother's house was actually a strip mall in the middle of a Call of Duty-like war torn landscape.

Bryconia, by comparison, isn't quite as chaotic.

That realization worries Rabu. Could all of this somehow be real? Could he actually be in Bryconia?

He glances back at the front of the wagon and then notices a small satchel with a broken strap lying nearby. He's careful not to let Mara or her father see him grab the satchel, and he uses his small frame to block their view as he opens it.

Inside he finds a few vials filled with what appear to be various reagents and a Book of Necromancy.

Rabu didn't get a chance to ask about his spells, so he quickly flips open the book, and sees that most of the spells are unreadable except for two on the front page, which appear to be cantrips.

Unsteady Gait: Vin Di

-Causes one humanoid to stumble or lose their footing.

-Mana Cost: 10 Mana Points

-Reagent Cost: Ginger Root

===

Summon Mouse: Res Tor

-Summons one mouse who will obey simple commands.

-Mana Cost: 15 Mana Points

-Reagent Cost: Mouse Tail

Rabu memorizes the two phrases easily, then digs in his satchel and examines the vials. He finds one with what appears to be ginger root and another that is clearly filled with a few mouse tails. In the lining of his robe, he finds several pockets, so he hides the vials there, and pushes his bag back to the front of the wagon.

The gnome's mind spins with ideas. He contemplates murdering Mara and her father in order to escape. His conscience would normally push him away from an idea like that, but he finds no resistance to the idea when it burrows into his thoughts.

But how?

Rabu tries to remember his character sheet and focuses on the mana. Forty mana points. That's what it said. Combined with the reagents in his pocket, he could easily hinder Mara and her father with Unsteady Gait. Or would it be better to scare the girl with a mouse? Rabu isn't sure exactly how old she is, but judging by what he could see in the moonlight, she appeared to be in her early teens. Surely, she would be terrified if a mouse suddenly appeared.

Right? Wrong? Those didn't seem to matter to Rabu. It was like his ability to differentiate the two was missing.

Am I… Rabu thinks silently. Evil?

Rabu remembers what he said when he passed his character sheet to Jenkins, and the phrase immediately passes across his lips again.

"I'm a evil little gnome necromancer who is um, very well endowed."

The last part was said in jest, but as he feels below his waist, he finds that he got exactly what he asked for.

He immediately regrets not asking to be a ten foot tall Minotaur that could tear the wagon to pieces and stomp the two human occupants into nothing but paste beneath his hooves. The thought puts a smile on his face.

As the wagon rolls on towards their destination, Rabu begins to understand that this is no dream. He doesn't know how he got to Bryconia, or if his friends are here too, but his primary thought is self-preservation. Survival. That's all that truely matters.

If this is a game… Rabu thinks to himself. Then the two of them are just NPCs, right? Their lives mean nothing.

Rabu was no stranger to playing an evil character. His endeavors often ended in violence and bloodshed, whether it was a casual game of Skyrim where he terrorized the towns, or Fallout, where he murdered everyone in his path.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Bryconia would be no different, if that's what it took for him to survive.

He was at peace with that decision, but in reality, there wasn't anything to be at peace with. He felt no desire to try and bring a amicable end to his current situation. Death and destruction seemed like a lot more fun.

"We're almost there." Mara says, looking back to Rabu.

Rabu sits up, and what lies ahead takes his breath away for a moment. Enormous stone walls, a giant wooden gate, and in the distance, a grandiose castle is lit up by torches that adorn the windows. Rabu's vision seems to be stronger than it was in the real world, like he has more focus, and can see further than he should be able to. He doesn't know if it's because he's a gnome, or because he doesn't need the glasses that he put on his nightstand before the cold medication put him to sleep.

The gates are open and Rabu peers over the side of the wagon at the guards standing nearby as they pass. They are outfitted in chain mail armor with a tabard that bears the symbol of an ornate fish, and holding spears that shimmer in the moonlight.

As the wagon enters the city, the ride gets bumpier, and Rabu looks down to see cobblestones making up a roadway that weaves through the city. Rabu sees houses and workshops along the road, and a few dirty children are playing in the street. When they catch sight of Rabu, they point and stare. This causes Rabu to duck back down into the wagon, unsure if he should let very many people see him.

Mara did mention selling him, after all, and greed is a motivation Rabu knows well, although he isn't sure why it seems so familiar.

The wagon passes underneath a bridge, and Rabu dares another peek, noticing that quality of the houses they are passing seem to be dwindling. Instead of stone houses and workshops, he sees wooden shacks, and the wagon finally comes to a stop in front of one.

"We're here!" Mara jumps up, excitement filling her voice.

"Alright, gnome," her father says harshly before stepping into the back of the wagon. "I believe I've got a chicken cage that will hold you."

"A cage?" Rabu asks, clutching the reagents in his pocket. "Why are you going to put me in a cage? That seems a bit harsh."

"Well we can't have you running off while we're asleep, can we?" The man suddenly grabs Rabu, lifts him out of the wagon, and tosses him over the side.

Rabu is startled by how easy the man was able to lift him, but he doesn't have much time to think before he collides with the dirt.

"Daddy, you'll hurt him!" Mara jumps to the ground, landing beside Rabu.

"Gnomes are more durable than they look." The man laughs, then drops down behind Rabu. "Mara, go get the cage."

"Yes sir." She says, her voice reflecting a hint of defeat.

Rabu's blood boils as he peers back at the man who threw him out of the wagon. A second later, the man pulls his foot back and kicks Rabu hard in the ribs, which sends him sprawling towards an old rickety fence.

"That's for tricking my daughter into using her emergency healing potion on you. That's the only one we have." The man grinds out his words. "Filthy little devil."

Rabu contemplates running away and using his spells to escape, but he doesn't know if that's the best option. If Mara and her father have no issue with selling him, then others will likely feel the same way, and he only has forty mana points at his disposal. Also, he has limited reagents and no idea how to acquire more.

Mara returns with the cage and she places it on the ground. Rabu looks at it and laughs to himself, because there's no way it will be able to hold him, but if they think it will, then he'll use it to his advantage.

"Get in the cage." Mara's father kicks at Rabu again, but Rabu dodges the attempt and scurries into the safety of the wire-framed enclosure.

"You don't have to be mean to him." Mara gives her father a doe-eyed look. "Please, he's not a monster or anything."

"You don't know what these filthy little devils are capable of." Her father grunts. "Run along, now. I'll get him inside."

"Yes sir." Mara sighs and walks back to the house.

"Know any magic tricks, gnome?" The man leans down to study Rabu. "If you do, you'll be worth a lot more money."

"No." Rabu narrows his eyes into a glare as he lies. "I'm not a magic gnome."

"Too bad." The man grunts. "Ah well, I'm sure someone will buy you anyway."

The man picks up the cage and carries it into the house, then places it in the center of the room.

Rabu surveys his surroundings, noticing that the house is fairly quaint. There's a fireplace, a cooking kettle next to it, and two straw beds on opposite sides of the house. Each of them has a tattered curtain tied back, which appears to be designed to give some sort of privacy. There isn't much furniture other than a wooden table, a few chairs, and a paltry looking shelf that contains what Rabu assumes to be food.

"Should I make some soup?" Mara asks.

"Yes," her father says. "Just enough for the two of us. The gnome will just have to starve until we find a buyer."

"Yes sir," Mara says, then flashes a solemn look at Rabu before turning to walk to the cooking kettle.

"I'm going to take care of the horses," her father says. "I'll be back shortly."

Rabu watches the older man as he exits the house, then Rabu turns his attention back to Mara.

While Rabu can feel a rumble in his stomach, he is rather glad he won't be forced to eat the soup when he observes Mara pick up a couple of moldy potatoes and almost-rotten carrots. He takes note of the dull knife she uses to peel and cut the vegetables, and where she places it when she's done.

A few minutes later, Mara's father returns with Rabu's satchel and a few other things from the wagon. He fumbles around with the satchel, examines the book, and then tosses everything on the table. If he can read the title of the book, he doesn't seem alarmed by it.

"So you can't do anything special, huh?" The man walks over and nudges the chicken-cage with his foot, drawing Rabu's attention.

"Sorry," Rabu says. "I'm just an ordinary gnome."

"Ordinary?" The man snorts. "There's nothing ordinary about you. I've heard the legends. I know you're clever and full of tricks, so don't even think about trying any of that shit with me. A one-eared gnome is worth almost as much as a two-eared gnome."

"Daddy!" Mara whines. "Please don't be cruel to him. He seems nice."

"Already tricked my daughter, it seems." The man sighs as he walks over to the table to sit down. "But that's fine, we'll be rid of you tomorrow."

Mara's father seems to lose interest in Rabu, so the gnome sits quietly in his cage, carefully studying his surroundings. His escape seems simple enough. The cage is held together by thin wire and wooden slats that are almost rotten. Rabu is confident he can get out of the cage with minimal effort.

For a moment, he considers escaping peacefully into the night, but he feels drawn to a more violent escape. A strong desire for Mara's father to pay dearly for throwing him out of the wagon and kicking him in his ribs.

Mara has treated Rabu with kindness, but Rabu does not feel compelled to return the favor. If anything, he revels at the thought of her suffering a violent end, just like her father.

"Get me some of the moon water," Mara's father says as she puts two wooden bowls on the table. "My back hurts from the wagon."

"I don't know if it's actually magic." Mara says with a sigh as she pours some of the water into a tin cup. "It didn't seem to help Rabu at all."

"It probably doesn't work on filthy little devils." Mara's father takes a long drink from his cup and shrugs. "Maybe it takes a while to kick in."

"What are we going to do with the money when we get it?" Mara asks her father. "Do you think I might be able to learn to read or possibly start going to school?"

"Why?" Her father laughs at the thought and begins eating his soup. "Do you think your dowry will be more if you can read a damn book?"

"No sir," Mara says sadly. "But I might be able to learn enough to get a job or possibly become an apprentice at one of the shops. That's what Hannah was able to do."

"Hannah's parents can afford for her to sit around and learn how to sew." Mara's father snorts and a scowl forms on his face. "Us common folks are lucky to have food on the table. The gnome is a blessing, and we'll be able to eat for a while, but the money won't last forever."

"Yes sir." Mara nods and glances over to Rabu.

Rabu doesn't look at her, even though he notices her glance out of the corner of his eye. He simply waits in his cage, keeping his hands close to the reagents tucked away in his pockets.

When the two humans finish their dinner, Mara's father goes to his bed, and Mara carries everything over to the kettle. She watches until her father closes his curtain and then she quickly pours some soup into her bowl. She walks it over to Rabu, unlocks his cage, and pushes it in.

"Shh," She says softly, putting her finger to her lips and lowering her voice to a whisper. "I saved a little for you."

"Thank you," the gnome rasps, pulling the bowl underneath his robe.

"Did you say something?" Mara's father asks loudly.

"No sir!" Mara squeaks, then scurries away.

"Finish cleaning and get to bed," the man grunts. "I want to be up early tomorrow so we can find a buyer for the gnome."

"Yes sir." Mara says in response.

Rabu watches as Mara cleans up and examines the food in his bowl. It looks disgusting, but he realizes he does need to eat, so he tilts the bowl up to drain some of the soup into his mouth. It tastes as bad as it looks and makes his stomach churn after a few bites, so he pushes the bowl back to the edge of the cage.

Mara looks disappointed when she collects it, but she doesn't say anything. All she does is look nervously towards her father's curtain before cleaning the bowl. After that, she wipes her hands, places the clean dishes on the table, and walks back over to Rabu's cage.

"Goodnight." She whispers.

Rabu doesn't respond. He watches as Mara extinguishes the candles that light the room and starts getting ready for bed. She pulls the curtain around her bed, and Rabu can hear the straw crunch when she lays down.

Now I just have to wait, Rabu thinks, remaining alert in the darkness.

It isn't long before Rabu hears snoring coming from the older man's bed. Still, Rabu waits a little longer to make sure Mara is asleep as well before he begins carefully dismantling the cage. He does it quietly, pulling each piece of the wire away from the wood, and pauses after each little sound to make sure it isn't enough to wake the sleeping duo.

It's a painstaking process, but he finally gets one side open, and crawls to freedom. His first step causes a slight creak in the board, which makes him freeze, then he continues on, carefully taking each step towards the table. It's too high for Rabu to reach, but he's able to climb into a chair, and then onto the table. He tucks his Book of Necromancy into his satchel, and ties the leather strap together before slinging it across his neck.

Then he picks up the knife Mara used to make dinner.

It's dull, rusted along the outer edge, and of poor quality, but the point of it can still do some damage. That's all Rabu cares about. He carefully drops back to the floor and clutches the knife in his hand as he approaches the man's curtain.

"Wha-?" The man eyes open as Rabu pulls away the curtain, but Rabu doesn't let the man get the entire word out of his mouth before shoving the knife into the his throat.

The shock registers on the man's face, but his death is anything but quiet. He thrashes around, tries to stand, and makes an awful racket as he crawls away from his bed, jerking the knife out of his throat.

A poor decision.

Blood begins to pour out of the wound and the man collapses. A second later, Rabu sees Mara's curtain fly open.

"Daddy?" She asks, then she sees her father on the ground. "No!"

In the darkness, Rabu isn't easily seen, but as Mara's eyes focus, she stares in horror at the gnome.

"Shh." Rabu says, a grin forming on the edge of his lips.

"What have you done?" Mara begins to cry, then she rushes towards the door.

"Vin Di!" Rabu says harshly, squeezing a reagent to dust in his palm as he utters the spell and aims his other hand at Mara.

Rabu feels something drain from within him, then a wind seems to rush from his hand, tripping Mara as she scrambles. Her feet get tangled together and she sprawls torwards the door, a loud thud echoing as her head hits the metal lock.

Rabu clutches his reagents as he walks over, and sees blood pooling around the girl's head. She pushes herself up and reaches for the vial around her neck, then a light groan passes across her lips before she collapses again.

"Damn it," Rabu says. "I had almost convinced myself to let you live."

Rabu feels nothing as he watches the final moment of life drain out of the young girl. That does surprise him, in a way. While he's come to terms with the fact he's in a game, the deaths certainly seem real. He just took a man's life, and accidentally killed the only person in Bryconia who has been nice to him.

Was it an accident? Even Rabu isn't sure he knows the true answer to that question.

Suddenly, Rabu feels something surge inside of him. His eyes roll back in his head. His mind feels like it's being zapped by a million tiny lightning bolts at the same time. Then his vision focuses and he sees a red dot glowing on his wrist. He pushes down on it, and something appears in front of him.

It's his character sheet.

And he just gained a level.

Rabu – Level 0 +1

Character Class: Necromancer

Race: Gnome

Hit Points: 35 + 5

Mana Points: 30/40 +5

Power – 25

Speed – 35

Intelligence – 80

Affinity – 70

-Negotiation – Level 1

-Language – Level 1

***

Equipment:

Book of Necromancy

Various Reagents

Dull kitchen knife

Rabu blinks a few times as he stares at it, then more words flash.

You've unlocked a new spell.

Rabu reaches into his satchel to retrieve his Book of Necromancy. He opens it and below the two cantrips, a new spell apears.

Poison I: Nox Vi

-Poisons one creature or humanoid of your level or lower, inflicting continous damage until they injest the antidote.

-Mana Cost: 15 Mana Points

-Reagent Cost: Nightshade

-Antidote: Water from the Spring of the Moon

"What the…" Rabu sees the glow on his wrist dim into a light red speck that is barely visible.

He touches it again, and just like before, his character sheet appears.

Rabu – Level 1