The Eldritch Realms Pt. 01

Author's note: the Eldritch Realms is a sequel to the Disciple of the Liga Umbrei. I highly recommend reading the former before the latter. Even though so, reading the Disciple of the Liga Umbrei is not strictly necessary to understand and enjoy the Eldritch Realms. Best wishes.

Every time I looked upon the trees, I still remembered that day. Twelve I was when she came. Slyvia Vanhel, an infamous elven supremacist, came to our village. She razed our village and slaughtered everyone with her band. My uncle and my aunt brought me from Maluscia in the north to Lagolach somewhat in the south.

She pursued. I saw her behead my uncle and aunt and lob their heads at me.

Still I ran. I slept beneath trees, in the homes of kind villagers, in caves. Three months passed and I found myself in Phantasma: a new nation formed ten years ago after the war on Cawl. It was a rather exotic land, where men, elves, goblins, and vampires lived side by side. I eventually settled in Northern Phantasma after being taken care of in an orphanage. Six years had passed since then.

But my hatred for Sylvia never died out. Her cold eyes stirred fire within my eyes. One day, Robin. One day, I will behead her myself.

"Oh hey, Robin! Heading out so early?" Kara asked me. Kara was a vampire I met. I initially stayed at Mir Romata, the provincial capital of Northern Phantasma, but it was way too expensive. I moved to a smaller village nearby, rented a small cottage, and shared the costs with Kara. Whereas she was a seamstress, I trained myself in war magic.

"Yeah, I need to repair my staff."

"Right, you're going to that, what is it again?"

"Phantasma Yearly Duelling Arena," I said. It was an annual competition for war mages, held either in Mir Romata, Tar Cavel, or Nor Miroth, provincial capitals of Northern, Central, and Southern Phantasma respectively. Mage guilds most often recruited new members during this period. Rarely, one could even catch the eye of the High Lords and elevated into a Phantom, an elite battle mage. If I were ever to move to higher circles, I needed to at least have a good showing in the Arena. This year, it was held in Tar Cavel. Those who registered would be given a ride there for free, thankfully.

"By the way, the robes you ordered are done. You want me to send it straight to the enchanter?" Kara asked.

"That'd be much appreciated, thanks."

I headed to the magic shop. The manager was an old Alex Vandamme, a vampire I knew well. "Hello, Robin. What can I do for you?" Alex's shop may have looked rather shoddy; its lighting was scarce and it was a bit dusty. But Alex's skills were well known and his prices were quite acceptable.

"I need my staff repaired," I said.

"Ah. You must be heading to the Arena," he said. I handed him my broken staff. The one metre long staff was made of mahogany and decorated with a small sapphire on top. The sapphire had declined in quality and many of the enchantments had been broken since I used it all the time doing bounty hunting.

"Three gold coins should suffice."

I took my pouch and placed the coins. "When is it finished?"

"Half an hour. You should wait here."

Half an hour later my staff was done. I slept in the cottage for one last time. Everyone in the Arena would have their own tricks, but I also had aces up my sleeve. I took it from a chest enchanted with my sealing magic.

My treasure.

It was a little black book, a grimoire of sorts. I found out in a cache that I stumbled upon in a cave during my escape from Maluscia. It was short, only eight pages long. Yet in those eight pages I discovered an esoteric art: whereas most mages channeled mana into elemental powers, I could harness the power of mana itself. I copied the spells into scrolls and absorbed them long ago.

Yet there were several spells that I did not recognize, all placed in the eighth and last page. I copied and absorbed two of the spells, but they confused them. They appeared... alien, as if such spells were not meant for a human like me. So I left them alone. I placed my treasure back in its chest.

The next day, when sunlight shone bright through the cloudless sky, I bode farewell to Kara and the other villagers. In Mir Romata, a fleet of airships were ready to transport us. Airships began to be developed after the war, and Phantasma was at its forefront. To this day only Phantasma had a fleet of war airships; I often saw them flying near Mir Romata.

The airships, all three of them, were terrifyingly fast. In only several hours we had reached Tar Cavel. "Whoa...," I muttered. I thought Mir Romata was large. Tar Cavel was at least fifty percent larger. And significantly brighter, too. Northern Phantasma was populated mainly by vampires, so most of its cities were kept dim.

We were brought to an open ground. On an elevated platform stood three people. On the left was High Lady Anise of Northern Phantasma, a cold vampire with a comically oversized hat (probably to fend off heat). To her right was High Lord Autumn of Central Phantasma, a jovial young man with an eagle on his left shoulder. The rightmost position was taken by High Lady Magna, a redhead elven witch scanning the field with her eyes.

"Well then." Using some sort of spell Lord Autumn's voice boomed. "Welcome, one and all, to the Arena. I would like to begin with a long speech, but that seems unnecessary based on how eager you are!"

He laughed slightly. "Nevertheless, the Arena's... games have differed from one another. This year, you will be plunged into a pocket dimension. You will then face enemies, in total some eight hundred or nine hundred, in the dimension, as well as traps. Each enemy slain grants you a small green gem. You will be rewarded and evaluated by the amount of gems you have at the end of the game, which is an hour after the game begins. Everything is fair game... except outright purchasing them with money or promising influence. The Phantoms will watch closely for any violation of this sole rule. Anyone deemed too injured will be instantly teleported out. Prepare yourself! We begin in ten minutes!"

I spent the time weaving a barrier around me. I wasn't stupid, and neither were the High Lords. No, the most casualties would come from when we first arrived. We were likely to be teleported to a trap, or worse, an enemy.

"Three, two, one! Begin!"

Immediately upon teleportation a shower of flames descended upon me. My barrier held firm, but I saw many around me falling immediately. I turned and saw one who stood. It was a tall and intimidating young man, perhaps 24 years old (the age limit of the Arena; they didn't want archmages to jump in and whoop everyone's arses). He was a redhead and he had a large warhammer.

"So."

"So."

"I genuinely don't see any benefits to us fighting here," he said, breaking the awkward tension. "Temporary truce?"

"Deal!" I said.

I looked around. This pocket dimension was a labyrinth-like castle. Almost immediately I encountered a pair of the enemies: crude constructs animated with shadow magic, most likely High Lady Anise's. They extended their shadow tentacles at me, which I blocked with a mana barrier. I extended my own bluish tentacles, seizing them and crashing them against the walls. They vanished, leaving behind two peculiar green gemstones. I took them and put them in a bag we were given.

"This won't do," I muttered to myself. I sent in a flock of birds to seek out the largest concentration of enemies.

My birds found one such concentration inside some sort of storage room. I crafted an explosive from my magic. Once I opened the door, I threw the explosive orb inside. I squatted and closed my ears.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion hurled the constructs towards ruin. But my birds soon detected another anomaly; a horde of other competitors was coming to my position. My breath drew heavy. It was a trap.

Not one I couldn't get out of. I quickly gathered the green gems and hid. I withdrew my birds and prepared a powerful bomb. A dozen or so competitors came.

"Damn, we were late!" one of them cursed.

"That guy shouldn't be too-"

I opened the door, hurled the bomb, and ran away. Another explosion boomed, and when I looked again they were gone. I remembered that the gravely injured were teleported out. "They aren't dead... are they?" I mumbled.

"They're not."

I glanced and saw a woman in a cloak. More importantly there was a silver rose brooch worn; the mark of a Phantom. "Oh shit. Forgot I shouldn't have spoken. Uhh, don't tell my bosses about this, kay?" she said before she disappeared.

I spent the remainder of my time hunting down individual packs of monsters. At the end of it all I had some two hundred crystals, half of them from my earlier haul. Several minutes were left and I didn't take want to take the risk; I merely fortified my position with layer upon layer of arcane shields. This late in the game, everyone left would have been one hell of a mage.

Time passed and soon I was teleported out. I saw the open field from before filled with tents and healers working around the clock to heal the wounded. "Ah. It's you."

A pale skinned vampire with silver hair. Her cold gaze evaluated me from top to bottom. A faint smile cracked. "Congratulations. With 203 gems, you own the first place."

"What? Did I really?" I gasped.

"Technically you share the first place with that guy."

She pointed at another person: the redhead earlier. It was probably fortunate for both of us that we didn't decide to clash against one another. "Come. You are expected," the vampire said.

"Expected?"

"In the Tower of Mist. It's Mast-I mean, Lord Autumn's personal residence near Tar Cavel."

The vampire led me on. "If I may know, who are you?" I asked cautiously, glancing at her slave collar made of gold.

"You can call me Caitlyn. I'm Lord Autumn's personal bodyguard. Our relationship traced back to many years ago," she replied. "Here we are."

I observed the Tower of Mist intently. It was made of some sort of black granite and stood some twenty metres tall. Impressively there were many layers of powerful enchantments and shieldings, a good chunk of which I didn't understand. "Whoa, you really put in quite an effort to defending this tower."

"Well, what can I say? There is no such thing as overkill when it comes to defence."

The redhead came to join us, escorted by a bulky woman with dark skin wearing the same collar as Caitlyn did. We entered the Tower of Mist and immediately went to the fourth floor by stairs. Then we reached a chamber with a strange metal disk. "We're going first, alright. We gotta report to the High Lord," the bulky woman said. "Just press this lever later."

So I was left with the redhead. "Uhh, I don't believe we've met," he said a bit awkwardly. "My name's Josh. Yours?"

"Robin," I replied shortly.

"Hey, I kind of recognize that accent. Do you come from somewhere in the north? Nor Miroth?"

"No, not really. Too expensive there, so I live in a village nearby," I said. "What about you?"

"A Tar Cavel native. I was lucky my parents never pledged allegiance to Cawl," he said. "Otherwise, well, I don't want to think of it."

"Wait, you're a noble?"

"Yeah. Just a viscount family, though," he said. "Hey, about tomorrow. It's quite likely we'll be pitted against each other."

He turned to me, offering his hand. "Let's have a fair fight, shall we?"

"Of course," I said, shaking his hand firmly. The metal disk descended and we boarded it. Josh pulled the lever. The disk carefully ascended to the highest floor, where Caitlyn escorted us to an office. There we faced Lord Autumn.

For a man of his power, he was remarkably young; he didn't even look older than I. Josh and I exchanged glances. Even dormant we could feel the overwhelming power in his veins with deciphering abilities, which most mages had at least some rudimentary control over. He seemed very aware of our attempts.

"Probing me immediately? Bold, but I suppose that kind of boldness is what Phantasma needs," he said with a smile, making us both flinch. "Congratulations, both of you."

"Thank you, My Lord," we replied.

"There will be a final trial for you both tomorrow," he said. "But I assume both of you have known this already, hm?"

"We have," Josh answered.

"Follow me," he said, heading out of his office. "Your weapons are no slouch, but you'll need better for tomorrow."

We followed him to an armory, or perhaps a treasury. There were many arcane weapons; staves made by elven smiths, blades and axes of magical power, and many more. "Oh my goodness!" Josh gasped. "Some of these weapons would be enough to buy nobility! Where did you get so many relics like these?"

"Some I commissioned for my Phantoms. Some I recovered from ancient caches and vaults. Some I received as prizes of war. Both of you can take one weapon from this vault."

I was, strangely enough, drawn to a strange glittering blade on a rather dusty corner. It was finely made with some sort of black metal. The blade itself then creeped out from the corner, laying on the floor for me to take. When I did take it, Lord Autumn, who was talking to Jose about an axe he had picked, walked to me.

"Huh. Peculiar weapon you're taking," he said. "You sure you want to take that one?"

"Yeah," I said, even though I never used a sword before. But something in me stirred.

I know. That sword is mine. It is supposed to be mine.

"Take it then," he said. I nodded.

After that we were ushered out of the vault, which was resealed with powerful seals. "Caitlyn will escort you to your room," he said. His vampire servant came running. "Off you go. Pleasant dreams."

We were escorted to a large room decorated with carpets. Two single beds laid side-by-side. Jose and I took a short bath and prepared for rest. I took a moment to examine my newly acquired weapon.

A sword of strange black metal; probably iron, but obviously some intense magic had impacted it. It was unusually light, too. Sharper than even steel the tip was. "What manner of blade is this?" I muttered to myself.

A soft but audible knock was heard. Josh, still arranging his pillow, opened the door. "Yes?" he inquired. I placed the blade inside its sheath. I saw a rather short elven woman, her hair brown with golden streaks.

"I brought a couple of ladies of pleasure, courtesy of the High Lord," she said. I glimpsed past her and saw a human, dark-skinned, woman perhaps in the early thirties. Next to her was a blonde elf who looked more mature.

Josh and I exchanged looks, completely surprised. Their sensual looks, coupled with their lingeries which barely covered their crotches and nipples, did entice us. "Well, uh, that is, uh, very generous," Josh stammered. "But-"

"Alright then, I'm off," the brown-haired elf said.

The two whores looked at us with hungry eyes. They seductively lurched forward, conventionally losing their tops, which revealed their tits. "Ready for a foursome, boys?" the elven woman asked.

"Okay, I need to say something at this point," Jose said. "Nothing against any of you, but I don't think Robin and I are close enough to have a foursome together. We just met today."

"I agree. What about this: we take one of them for each of us and cast a soundproof barrier in the middle of the room?" I had had a number of partners before, but never in a threesome, never mind a foursome. And definitely not with a prostitute.

"That seems right," Jose said. "So... which one do you prefer?"

I took the hand of the elven woman. The dark-skinned human followed Josh to his bed. The barrier was cast. I turned my attention to the elven courtesan; she was certainly charming, her large tits dangling like cow's udders. Her long, smooth, blonde hair was let wild.

"Can I have your name?" I asked.

"It's Janine," she replied. "What shall I call you? Master? Sir?"

"Whichever is fine.

I couldn't resist her tits. I seized them and began playing with her nipples. "Please enjoy my body to your heart's content, Master," she whispered. "This whore is yours for tonight."

Janine took off my pants. My cock was fully erect. "Oh dear, it looks like it is in so much pain," Janine teased. "And the size... you may think I say this to everyone, but this is at least in the top five."

"Alright, whore," I said. I could feel my lust bubbling up. "If you like that cock so much, put in in your mouth."

The darker side of me emerged. "My, my. Getting quite--"

"Did they send a whore or not? Get on sucking!"

"Y-yes Master!" The elven slut immediately swallowed my entire cock, filling up her throat. Her skilled tongue twisted and licked my cock even as her hands quickly undressed her lingerie. She juggled her tits seductively.

"If you have hands to juggle those tits, you have hands to jerk me off," I jeered. "And use that mouth to suck on my balls. They're getting cold."

"Yes Sir! Anything you wish!"

Her soft hands rapidly pumped my hard cock while her mouth sucked on my balls like vacuum. I took the time to grope her exposed tits.

I laid her on the bed. "Open those legs."

She revealed her puffy ass and her cleanly shaven pussy. I inserted two fingers inside her pussy, making her squeal. "Hmm, it's not as tight as I want," I said. "I didn't know what I was expecting. Of course you have a loose one; you are a shameless whore, after all, going around wherever your owner tells you to. I bet you'll do it with a dog if you are ordered to."

Hearing my taunts made Janine blush. "I-if you find my pussy so pathetic, you can try out my asshole, Master," she pleaded. "You should find it more pleasing than my worn cunt."

"Open up, then!" Soon her legs were up in the air as I pushed my wet cock inside her ready ass. It was tight and warm inside, as if her entire anus was comprised of little tentacles that tickled my cock from all sides.

"Damn, this hole is tight!" I complimented Janine. The scent from her rose perfume was completely drowned by the smell of our sweat and sex.

Janine's nails dug deep into the bed as I slammed my whole cock inside her welcoming ass. "Yes! Harder Master!" she moaned. "Mend my ass into the shape of your cock! Ah!" Her pussy squirted high enough that some of her love juices got onto my chest. I leaned forward.

"I'll fill your slutty ass up!" I whispered.

"Yes Sir!"

I ejaculated into her spasming ass. "Ha... ha...," I groaned. As my sperm came out from her swollen ass, I used my finger to stir some of it and fed it to Janine, who eagerly licked my finger. No less eager was she when she used her mouth to clean my cock.

"Alright, now let's give your used up pussy some fresh love. On all fours, Janine."

Janine did so. Without warning, I drove my entire cock into her pussy, making her cum instantly. "A-ah! Yes!" Janine moaned as the tip of my cock touched the door of her womb. "Impregnate me! Fill my womb with your cum!"

I landed a strong slap on her left asscheek. "You like that?" I taunted as my cock ravaged through her cunt. "You like being treated as a fuckdoll?" I seized her tits and pinched her brown nipples.

"Yes! I am a fuckdoll and I want to be treated like one!"

"Then take this one, you sow!" I ejaculated inside her womb just as she climaxed. We both laid our backs on the bed. We gasped for breath, not even bothering to wear back our clothes.

"Sorry if I were a bit rough," I said.

"Oh, no, don't worry. It was quite fun for me too. The nobles I usually serve rarely have large cocks and their stamina is weak. So that kind of domination is your fetish, huh?"

"Yeah," I said. "I saw you handled it quite well. You're really experienced. How long have you been, you know, a courtesan?"

"Give or take 12 or 13 years. I used to be the Duchess of Gira. It was some real noble pussy you were screwing a couple of minutes ago," she said with a laugh.