Insight: A Fantasy LitRPG Saga (A Touch of Power Book 4)
INSIGHT
Book Four of A TOUCH OF POWER Series
Written by Jay Boyce
© 2022 Jay Boyce. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by US copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Newsletter
Prologue
Chapter One - Monsters
Chapter Two - Devour
Chapter Three - Blood
Chapter Four - Dragons
Chapter Five - Guards
Chapter Six - Marked
Chapter Seven - Sigils
Chapter Eight - Creation
Chapter Nine - Husk
Chapter Ten - Hindsight
Chapter Eleven - Swarm
Chapter Twelve - Infected
Chapter Thirteen - Briar
Chapter Fourteen - Legendary
Chapter Fifteen - Mirror
Chapter Sixteen - Perhaps
Chapter Seventeen - Clean
Chapter Eighteen - Unique
Chapter Nineteen - Spirits
Chapter Twenty - Reunion
Chapter Twenty-One - Summon
Chapter Twenty-Two - Two
Chapter Twenty-Three - Change
Chapter Twenty-Four - Descend
Chapter Twenty-Five - Upgrade
Chapter Twenty-Six - Meeting
Chapter Twenty-Seven - Union
Chapter Twenty-Eight - Attempts
Chapter Twenty-Nine - Trust
Chapter Thirty - Wounded
Chapter Thirty-One - Mortal
Chapter Thirty-Two - Kids
Chapter Thirty-Three - Hashimoto’s
Chapter Thirty-Four - Sunshine
Chapter Thirty-Five - Better
Chapter Thirty-Six - Peach
Chapter Thirty-Seven - Early
Chapter Thirty-Eight - Burnt
Chapter Thirty-Nine - Mirrors
Chapter Forty - Apologies
Chapter Forty-One - Next
Chapter Forty-Two - Hero
Chapter Forty-Three - Alliances
Chapter Forty-Four - Family
Epilogue - Letters
Afterword
About Jay Boyce
About Mountaindale Press
Mountaindale Press Titles
GameLit and LitRPG
Appendix
Acknowledgments
This book has been a long time coming. Thank you, to everyone who has stuck with me on my journey as I struggled to write. There have been far too many to name, but I’m grateful for all the help and love I have received as we’ve all had to cope with a changing world.
So to those who have loved, and those who have lost, this book is for you. I hope you find happiness in the small things. I hope you find the courage to be kind, even when the world seems an unfriendly place. I hope you seek out the light in the darkness.
I hope you know you are never alone.
Newsletter
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Prologue
I once read the wise words of a man who said that living is a choice given to each of us. Every day, we make the choice to live instead of die. If we let go and died, nothing would change. Our pain would end, and we would be at peace. If we chose to live, our life would be a never ending battle against those who meant harm to the universe—but we could be Superman.
I may not be Superman, but I guess I’m about as close to it as this world gets. Chosen. The Traveler. Avatar of the gods. I never actually wanted to be a hero or any of that nonsense. All I ever wanted to be was a normal girl, but my second life didn’t really give me that choice. I have to deal with that whole schtick about there being great responsibility when you have great power.
I want to say it’s baloney. Most of the time I wish I could ignore the call. I want peace. I want to play with my little ones and read books and go see far off places. Maybe even date a guy eventually. The only problem is, the world isn’t at peace. There’s a war going on. Every time I leave the city, I fight. Even in the city, I fight. And I’m good at it.
But not good enough.
You see, I’m not Superman. I’m just one girl. I can’t stop time, or fly at the speed of light, or shoot lasers from my eyes. What I can do is fly, shoot lasers from a gun, and do my best with the time I have. The entire city is under attack. Blood runs through the streets like rivers. Monsters are everywhere.
I may be just one person, and I know I can’t save everyone; but I can save that person.
Chapter One - Monsters
The arrow went cleanly through the head of the mesmer, the force of it pulling it to the side and away from the woman… and the two children hiding behind her. The dagger falling to her side under compulsion came up again in wariness as she called out, “Who’s there!?”
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” Jade’s voice arrived before she did as she dropped down from the rooftop to check on them. She crouched down, holding her hand out to one of the children as she spoke soothingly, “It’s okay. My name is Jade. I’m just going to heal you up really quick, and then I need you to go to the gates, where they’ll send you to Abala. There are guards clearing the streets, so you just need to get to them.”
The middle child nodded solemnly, holding out his tiny hand to her. At a glance, she could tell he’d been shielding his little sister when the mesmer attacked, as there were several claw marks across his back. While the woman had blood splashed on her, it wasn’t her own. She pushed the taint from him, drawing it into her ring so they wouldn’t be tracked by it as she closed his wounds. All the while, she let out a soothing aura, trying to calm them down for their next leg of the journey.
“Thank you…” The woman’s whisper was muffled as she looked at her children, then glanced at the downed mesmer with disgust. Jade could practically see the woman weighing the pros and cons of kicking the body before her matronly instinct kicked in. She grabbed her kids and asked, “You say the gate is open?”
Nodding, Jade replied, “Yes, we’re evacuating everyone we can. Just turn right at the street; the guards weren’t far behind me. Go quickly. I’ve got to move on.” The last bit was in response to the look the woman was giving her, as if she was about to ask her to accompany them all the way there. As much as she would love to do that, she couldn’t. There were far too many other people who needed help. In the distance, bells tolled, a staccato declaring the city under attack.
“You can do this.” Jade gave them a gentle push, and the woman rushed forward, her kids hanging onto her clothing with one hand each as they ran. Not waiting for them to get out of sight, she jumped into the air, her gravity still lightened. One of the first things she’d done after she’d broken off from the main group was to shove her dress into her ring and put on a cloak. She didn’t have time for much else, and with her lacy pants and under armor, it was as mobile as she was going to get. The cloak had only been necessary insomuch as her white arms were a beacon in the dark otherwise.
Landing on the roof, she began to run, making wind floors where she needed to get across streets as she ran towards the next nearest fight her senses were picking
up. It was a few streets over, and she could hear shouting and snarls intermixed. As she reached the nearest roof, her arrow was nocked as she assessed the situation.
Six people formed a semi-circle against the building, protecting four more inside. Three of the four were crowded around one figure, obviously trying to bandage or staunch the wounds of a guardsman; one of the four that should have been patrolling, given that three more were in the fighting group, one of which was wielding a sword covered in flames. The other three civilians had a combination of swords and spears they were using to keep a group of beithiche—she couldn’t tell if there were three or four of them—at bay. They kept slipping in and out of the darkness to attack. Most of the outer circle had open wounds.
Taking all this in, she activated her mana sense, the cats glowing in her sight as they were outlined by their magical auras. Four of them. Enchanted arrows flew from her bow one after the other, another one appearing from her ring as soon as she’d loosed the last. Perhaps it would have been easier to just kill them with magic, but she was trying to conserve it as much as possible for healing. What use was killing the creatures if the people she was rescuing died?
She couldn’t even use her flamethrower because she would flambé her rescuees if she tried. It was one of those things that was useful only when there were no friendlies around to kill too. So arrows it was. The things were moving around so quickly, but she hit three out of four of them. The last one missed, and the angry cat yowled as it took off into the night while she made a pincushion out of its injured companions. “I have a feeling that’s going to bite me in the butt…”
Her mutter went unheard as she jumped from the rooftop, running towards the wary group. Two more of them had moved to bandage wounds when they realized the immediate danger had passed. Her wind magic grabbed the beithiche as she ran, yanking the arrows out as she put the bodies and arrows into her ring, making one of the guards who was watching her take in a deep, surprised breath.
“Thank you…” one of them started to say when she waved her hand, cutting him off.
“Save it. Anyone injured, give me your hand. I’m going to heal you enough so that you can get moving. The gates to Abala are open. There are guards clearing the streets. You just have to get to them and you can evacuate. There are more healers waiting there who will finish the job.”
Before she could finish talking, one of the women had held up the hand of the person they were working on before, and Jade didn’t hesitate to grab it. Her eyes closed briefly as she sent a surge of healing through him, closing off the wounds at least superficially so that he’d be able to move again. When she opened her eyes, four more hands were in front of her, and she grasped them quickly, doing her best to heal them up while minimizing her costs.
As soon as the four of them were done, she called the blood from her hands. They were taking little awe-filled glances at her, though most of them remained on guard. She pointed away from where the last beithiche had run off to, and towards the portal. “Time to go.”
“Wait—what’s your name?” One of the women caught her arm, determination written on her face.
Giving the woman a brief smile, she responded, “It’s Jade.”
Surprise crossed her face, and she questioned almost immediately, “The traveler?”
“That’s me. Now run!” Not giving them another opportunity, she pulled her arm from the woman’s grasp and turned towards where the beithiche had run off to. She heard the patter of their feet as they ran in as much coordination as they could manage with civvies and guards combined.
“May the heavens bless you, lightbringer.” The woman’s voice was quiet as she turned, but Jade still heard her.
She whispered softly in return, knowing that the woman wouldn’t be able to hear her, “Be safe.” She hoped the heavens were watching over all of them, but on a night like tonight, it was hard to believe. Still, she couldn’t blame the gods entirely. The few beliefs she’d accepted centered around agency and kindness. Bad people would choose to do bad things. The balance was that good people had to do their best too.
Like that group, she knew there were good people fighting in the city. She just had to find them.
Jumping to the rooftops once more, she knew she’d lost the last beithiche. It’d vanished into the night. She was about to move forward when she heard a weird sound that she couldn’t quite place. It was wet and slurpy, and it was coming from one of the houses she was about to jump past.
Changing directions, she landed feather light in front of the door, noting that it was hanging open. There was only darkness inside, so as she stepped in, she lit up her hand as she called out, “Anyone he—”
Her voice cut off as she saw a man look up from the child he was holding… only it wasn’t a man. Or at least, not a human one anymore. Stomach churning as she forced the bile to stay down, she looked at the blood smeared face of what she could only classify as a vampire. The child was limp, and she couldn’t imagine he was anything but dead from the way his throat was ripped open.
These weren’t the sparkly vampires. No, they had a jaw full of pointy teeth that were the fuel of nightmares as it snarled at her for interrupting its meal. Tossing the child away like a ragged doll, it dove towards her with lightning reflexes, though she noted it was looking pointedly anywhere but her light.
The sight of the child hitting the floor seemed to be almost slow motion, and she could swear she saw red as he bounced limply against the stone. Eyes focused on the vampire reaching out for her, she seized control of his blood right before he reached her, holding him still as he snarled.
“Blood sucking scum. It’s only fitting that you die by the very thing you killed for.” Reaching for the blood in his stomach, she formed it into spikes that ripped the body apart, spraying red everywhere. The only reason she wasn’t covered in it was because of the thin wind wall she kept around her. The blood splattered against it, running in rivulets to the floor as she stared at the room, recognizing now that the child had been one of three victims in the house. They all looked like they’d had their necks savaged by the beast she’d torn to shreds, but she couldn’t feel any life in the room.
“I’m sorry I was late.” Her voice cracked as she turned, walking back out of the house with the gore forming outlines of her feet as she passed. She flicked the last of it away as she exited the house. There was no one there to save, but there were others.
She had to keep moving before it was too late for the next person.
Chapter Two - Devour
“Shhhhh, keep moving and we’ll find some guards soon.” The girl’s teenage voice was quiet enough that she shouldn’t have been able to hear it, but from Jade’s vantage point on the roof across the street, she stared at the three girls, trying to figure out why she wasn’t going down to help them.
When she’d first spotted them shuffling along cautiously in the shadows, she was about to jump from the roof when her tingling senses followed. Something was wrong. While the girls were being stealthy… they didn’t have a single weapon out. No one walked around without weapons even on a normal day when there weren’t monsters invading. She’d seen four year olds with knives.
Maybe it was because they were mages? They were practically glowing like miniature suns under mana sense. Also, what was that really quiet humming sound? It was a really low thrum, but it seemed to be coming from the girls too. “Move faster. All we need to do is grab a couple men and then we can go home. Why did we have to come at night? So annoying…” The last girl’s grumble sent a chill through Jade’s heart as it clicked.
They were monsters, and in the end, that was all she needed to know. She immediately started shooting at them, the arrows piercing straight through where their hearts should be… and going through them completely. Cries of anger escaped their tiny lips as the illusion disappeared, revealing their tiny bodies and insanely quick wings. That was the humming she’d heard earlier.
“Queen’s luck, get her!” They wer
e like some mixture of Tinkerbell and the Unseelie legends. Their little bodies were wrapped in almost punk rock outfits made of leaves and thorns. Tiny pointed ears were half hidden among wild green hair that drew her attention less than the mouthful of tiny needle teeth they were sporting with their sharp little nails. Gossamer wings moved so quickly that she could barely pick them out, reminding her of hummingbirds.
They were in front of her almost instantly, and so were the icicles they were creating out of seemingly thin air. Her reaction was instinctive, cutting off the mana strings that connected them to the icicles and their air supply almost simultaneously. The looks of outrage on their faces belied the fact that they were fighting her every step of the way. As soon as they tried to call to an element, she attacked the mana strings, determined not to give an inch.
Seeing as they weren’t giving in, she changed tactics, fearing that she was taking too long. Bursts of concentrated air pummeled their tiny heads until they were finally knocked unconscious. As she brought them forward with a burst of air, studying them more closely, dread knotted in her stomach as she saw the violet sheen of compulsion magic covering them like a faintly shimmering curtain. She hadn’t checked the others, but if they were being controlled…
Regardless of why they were here, their conversation revealed that they still had their own rationality and were planning on killing people. She shook her head and reached forward, swiping her finger across their faces quickly as she pulled up the resultant blue dots.
You have touched a Sylfae, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience…
Choose a stat to siphon: Strength(7), Dexterity(4), Constitution(3), Intelligence(2), Magic(1), Charisma(5), or Luck(6).
Choose a skill to siphon: Aura Manipulation(A), Devour(M), Flight(A), Illusion Magic(M), or Water Magic(A).
The result made her jaw drop briefly in shock. She didn’t know what that M after devour and illusion magic meant, but she figured it was the next level, given that every other skill was at advanced. Thoughts of how fae could essentially live forever unless they were killed filled her mind. She’d been told there were fairies in this world, but she wondered if humans had just mangled the name or a horrible game of telephone changed it over the years. Did the preface ‘syl’ mean that there were other kinds of fae? These ones didn’t match what she’d read about in the monster compendium, so she had to figure the secretive little folk had managed to either elude or kill any previous witnesses. It also meant she had to be on the lookout for them in the future.