Gamebreaker - Chapter 2

This is the second chapter of my new LitRPG story - Gamebreaker. If you're interested in following along, check out my page on RoyalRoad. It's free to sign up and the site is chock full of great fiction.

I hope you'll join me on this adventure!

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/112380/gamebreaker

Chapter 2 – This Isn’t a Game 

 

Devin grabbed the handle of the pitchfork, then yanked his hand back when more words appeared in his vision.

 

Pitchfork (Tool, Common)

This is a pitchfork. It’s made for moving hay, but it looks like you’re about to use it for a battle. That makes it an improvised weapon which is, fortunately, right in your bailiwick.

 

“What’s happening?” Devin said. He looked at the dog with wide eyes. “This is not supposed to be happening!”

“Relax,” the dog said. “This one will be easy.”

“Easy? A talking dog is telling me to kill a giant tree with a pitchfork, and I’m supposed to believe this is easy?”

“It could be worse,” the dog said.

“How?” Devin yelled.

“Well, it’s a pretty weak specimen of its kind,” the dog said.

Another branch slammed into what was left of the farmhouse’s roof. The ground shook, and one of the beams supporting the roof crashed down. Inside, a child screamed.

Devin grabbed the pitchfork out of the dog’s mouth and waved it above his head.

“Hey, ugly!” he yelled.

The tree turned towards him and roared again. Another icon appeared in his vision. This one was a ‘C,’ and it expanded on its own. This time, the words were bright red on a white background.

 

Devin’s Ability ‘Identify Opponent’ scored a critical success on ‘Corrupted Tree’.

Corrupted Tree (Magical Creation, Silver, Hostile)

A tree altered into a ghastly unliving state. These creations are often used as guardians. They hide in plain sight as normal trees until someone threatens their territory, then they spring to life, destroying everyone and everything around them. Don’t expect mercy from these unfeeling creatures of darkness.

Critical success in Ability ‘Identify Opponent’ provides a +5 bonus to Ability ‘Spot Weakness’ against this opponent.

 

Devin leaped aside as the tree smashed its three largest branches down onto the barn. The building collapsed with a sound like a train wreck.  

“Maybe weak is not the best descriptor,” the dog said.

Devin stared at the pitchfork in his hands. He couldn’t think of a less effective weapon to use against a tree.

A widow-maker branch swung at Devin at about head height. He ducked underneath and stabbed the pitchfork upwards. He expected it to bounce off, but it buried itself to the tines in the limb. The handle was jerked out of his hands as the tree roared.

Devin froze. What he’d just done was impossible. He was in good shape for his age, but there was no way he could have dodged that blow and counterattacked, let alone stick an old pitchfork that far into solid wood. It wasn’t …

Something soft crashed into him from the side. He went tumbling just before a huge branch slammed down right where he’d been standing. He rolled to a stop, tangled up with the dog.

“This isn’t a game, Devin,” the dog said. “Start taking this seriously or you’re going to die.”

“I …” Devin rolled aside as three more branches slammed down. The face of the tree glared down at him, twisted and ugly. It was outlined with bright luminescence.

More red words appeared.

 

Devin’s Ability ‘Spot Weakness’ activated on Corrupted Tree.

 

A quarter of Devin’s vision was now filled with words and symbols. They obscured his view of the tree looming over him. Oddly, the glowing luminescence around the face shone through the text.

Another beam snapped. The whole family poured out of the farmhouse as it creaked and groaned.

The baby wailed. The tree turned to look. Something snapped in Devin. He hopped to his feet with a yell and darted forward. He ducked under the swing of a smaller branch and jumped. He caught the lowest branch and chinned himself up.

The branch whipped around in an arc and tried to smash him into the ground. Devin tucked and rolled. He came to a stop several meters away from the tree near the collapsed barn. He sprinted towards it.

Roots exploded out of the ground all around him. He danced through them to reach the woodpile. A root came out of nowhere and caught the edge of his foot. He went tumbling across the hard ground  as a branch sliced through the air above him at about neck height.

He came to his feet next to the stump, pulled the axe out, then rolled to the side as a huge branch crashed down where he’d been.

 

Wood Axe (Tool, Common)

This axe is made for chopping wood. It’s still an improvised weapon, but you’re using it against a tree, so good on you!

 

“Come on,” Devin said with a snarl. He choked up on the axe like it was a baseball bat.

The tree hesitated.

Devin charged. He dodged another branch and took off in a running jump that would have been impressive for a tiger. He sailed into the trunk and buried the axe in the middle of the tree’s face.

The face caved in. Black goo flowed out of the cut. Devin’s feet swung into the trunk, and he wiggled the axe to enlarge the cut. More letters appeared, further blocking his view.

“Go away!” Devin shouted.

Every icon vanished. At the same instant, a thin branch hurtled in from the side and impaled him through the torso. It pulled him off the trunk into the air.

His whole world exploded into pain. He managed to get his hands around the branch to keep it from ripping him open as it whipped him back and forth, but he could feel his insides tearing apart. The words that appeared now pulsed red in time with his heartbeat.

 

Devin is infected with Tree Rot! This is a fatal disease.

Devin is bleeding to death! Not so lucky now.

 

The branch whipped up like a trebuchet and flung Devin into the air. He flew straight up. Everything seemed to pause when he reached the top of the arc. The entire farm was spread out below him. He could see a road to the south and an irrigation canal stretching past the fields to the north, both running east to west. In the back of his mind, he marveled that he knew what direction was what. He’d always been the guy who could get lost in a shoebox.

He fell. Below him, the tree toppled over onto the already-wrecked barn. At the same moment, the farmhouse collapsed. If he'd been in a video game or a movie, there would have been a hay cart below him, but Devin was plummeting towards nothing but solid earth. The ground raced towards him faster and faster.

At the last minute the dog ran underneath him. The last thing he heard before darkness overtook him was a crunch.

 

“Sir?”

Devin groaned. It felt like a thousand goblins were pounding his skull with jackhammers, but that was nothing compared to his stomach. It was as if someone had shoved a hot poker through his belly and poured lava into the wound.

He blinked open crusty eyes and looked around. His vision was blurry. The sun beat down from high overhead. He could hear a man and a woman arguing from the direction of the farmhouse.

One of the farmers knelt next to him. It was Lee, the youngest. In one hand he held an empty vial; in the other, a waterskin.

“What …” Devin coughed. He tried to sit up, but waves of nausea flowed over him.

“Don’t try to talk, sir,” Lee said. He helped Devin sit up and dribbled a few drops of water into his parched mouth. “I used the salve the midwife gave Maw last year when she got hurt while having the baby. There wasn’t much left, but it stopped the bleeding.”

“The dog,” Devin rasped. “Did I … did I kill the …”

Lee stared at him, then looked aside. The dog sat a few meters away, watching them. He didn’t have a scratch on him. His tail thumped the ground.

“Sir, you’ve got to get away from here,” Lee said. He looked over his shoulder at the farmhouse. “Paw’s gone to Pitmerden to get the constable.”

“I’ll wait here,” Devin said. “They can take to me a hospital.”

“I don’t know what a hospital is, sir, but the only place they’ll take you is to the gallows. After what happened here, they’ll bring some soldiers with them for sure. That’s assuming Bryce doesn’t do something stupid before Paw gets back. You’ve got to go.”

“Where would I even go?”

“You can try Horgoff,” Lee said. “The healer there can fix you up.”

“Where’s Horgoff?”

“About a day’s walk,” Lee said. “Head east through the forest until you hit that wheat field with the big tree, then turn right. There’s a path that runs north. Keep going until you hit the creek, and then …”

“I can’t remember all that,” Devin rasped. “Also, I can’t walk like this.”

“You better try, unless you want to fight my brother,” Lee said. “He’s saying he’s going to kill you before Paw gets back.”

“Why does he want to kill me?” Devin said.

“Bryce has a mean streak to him,” Lee said. “Maw told him to you fought that thing off and saved us all, but Bryce said you probably brought it here in the first place. I tried to tell him you were a knight in disguise, but he said you’re one of those Warlocks. I snuck away while he was arguing with Maw.”

“You think I’m a knight?” Devin said. “Like, an actual armor-clad knight?”

Lee flinched and looked around. He leaned close.

“You’re one of the rebels, aren’t you?” he said. “I won’t tell anybody. Just don’t hurt my brother. Please. He’s mean but he’s still my brother.”

Devin looked down at the wound in his stomach, then shook his head. “I’ll try not to hurt him.”   

Lee’s look of relief was almost painful. ”Rest a minute. I’ll bring you some more water and we can figure out how to get you …”

“Lee! Get away from him!”

Devin swiveled his head. Bryce was sprinting out from behind the farmhouse. He held a machete in his hand.

“Get back here, Bryce!” Maw yelled.

“I’ve got to finish him off while he’s down, Maw!” Bryce yelled. “He’s a Warlock!”

Lee helped Devin to his feet. Devin swayed then staggered towards the trees. Bryce overtook him and thrust the machete into his back. Devin felt the impact, but the point didn’t break his skin.

Bryce cursed and raised the machete for an overhand chop. The dog darted in between his legs, and Bryce went tumbling. The machete flew out of his hands.

Devin staggered into the trees bordering the farm and kept running.

 

It took Devin half an hour to reach the path running north. The pain kept getting worse and he had to slow to a walk lest his insides fall out. If it hadn’t been for the healing goo Lee had given him, he didn’t doubt they would have.

He came out of the woods onto a dirt path running north and south. The road looked like it had no end.

“I give up,” Devin said. He slumped against a tree and slid down to the ground. His mind wandered as he dozed.

 

“No rest for the weary,” a voice said.

Devin opened his eyes to see the dog standing in the middle of the path. In his mouth, he held the reins of the mule that had run over Devin.

“I found you a ride,” the dog said.

“Go away,” Devin said. “Just let me die.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” the dog said. “Mount up and you can rest on the way.”

“On the way to where?” Devin said.

“Horgoff, of course. To the healer.”

Devin pushed himself to his feet. He staggered over and collapsed against the mule. He managed to climb onto its back and get his arms around its neck before he passed out again.