Rot Heart: A LitRPG of Rot Magic in an Ancient World (Book 1 completed)

Everyone grabbed their weapons and whatever else they could carry and sprinted toward the river. They didn't know how the mountaineers had found them, but it wasn't hard to guess the artifact had something to do with it.

Surely, they had a way to track the numerous sources of curse they had planted all over the Wildlands.

It didn't take long for Div to isolate the rot signature of his opponents and allies. Another advantage the disaster that had befallen the land brought him. With the forest nearly devoid of life, most of the rot-attuned mana and rotlife were concentrated around the few humans.

"Three mountaineers in front of us," he announced.

"I see them," Dana said, no doubt using one of her skills to scout. "One Evolved Rank and two Basic Ranks."

"Div, can you use your spell?" Lugsellos asked, hoping the rot mage could replicate the feat that had won them their previous encounter.

Div shook his head. "Not while running."

It had taken a while, back then, to cast Turn without being noticed. Div just wasn't practiced enough to throw spells without using his full focus.

Still, he offered. "I can try."

If there was one thing Div wasn't lacking, it was endurance. His mana reserves were near endless and Scornforged took care of the rest.

Of course, he could still get tired if pushed far enough. But it would take a lot more than it would for other people.

Trying to cast a spell while running felt like threading a needle during an earthquake. His points of reference were always moving, both him and his target.

When they turned around a corner and came face to face with the mountaineers, he had only managed to create a very rough version of Turn.

Still, he activated it. It didn't seem to do much, but any advantage was good to take.

With three Evolved Rank on their side and Gennorina who wasn't too far off in power—especially if she worked with Suce, Div wasn't too worried about the fight.

The only issue was that the other mountaineer parties were swiftly approaching.

They had to get it done quickly.

Dana was on the same page. With a burst of speed, she closed the distance separating them from the Evolved Rank mountaineer and thrust her spear at the man.

The warrior, taken aback, scrambled to raise his shield, narrowly deflecting the blow. Dana followed up with a kick to his legs and, with her other hand, she drove her dagger into the man's side.

Unwilling to waste the opportunity their newfound ally had created, the other three rushed into action.

Div stepped into Blighted Passage, taking but a few steps to appear behind one of the other assailants. Fed by their scorn, he struck at their back, breaking past their light armor with a single motion.

Rotten Spear was already doing its job when he turned toward the final warrior, the one he had cast Turn on. Seeing that Lugsellos and Gennorina were assisting Dana with the leader and that his own target was intimidated by his superior rank, he decided to slow down and cast another Turn.

This time, both he and his target were motionless. So close to one another that they could almost smell each other's breath.

He shaped his spell, activated it, and the mountaineer collapsed.

Near simultaneously, Dana managed to slice the Evolved Rank's neck with a swipe of her spear.

"We have to move," she said. "The others are getting closer."

"There are more than I thought," Lugsellos added. "Not just a dozen, but several."

"We haven't put the boat to water yet," Gennorina noted. "We don't have much time."

Suce was hovering around them. The earth spirit hadn't done anything yet. It was simply how spirits were. They would only do what they felt like. Most likely, it was mostly interested in keeping Gennorina and the pebble she was carrying safe.

The four of them continued their flight to the river banks where they had left their boat. With Div having set up Preservation on the small vessel, and them having filled their food stocks, it wasn't hidden anymore.

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Div was worried the mountaineers would get there before them and sabotage it.

"I'm going first," he said, stepping into Blighted Passage before the others could answer. He hoped Lugsellos had gotten his reasoning and would explain it to Gennorina and Dana.

Sure enough, when he reached the river, two Evolved Ranks mountaineers were already there. They hadn't touched the boat yet, but they weren't far from it.

They noticed him and shouted at him in their language. Div didn't understand, but he didn't need to speak it to know it wasn't anything friendly.

Most likely, they were ordering him to surrender the artifact, along with his life.

Div didn't pay attention to their speech and instead focused on how he would fight them. Spear and shield at the ready, he put himself between the mountaineers and the boat.

He didn't think he could beat them. Same rank, two against one. Add to that the fact that Div still had no idea what Bound Genesis did, or if he could use it in a fight.

For all its downsides, his shared body with En had massively benefited their fighting power. Without it, Div had to relearn a lot of things. Not having the luxury of a second mind to split up their use of skills was the biggest downside of their evolution.

He had no desire to return to their mind-split state, but he had to be mindful of his new limitations.

Chief among those, he couldn't afford to take hits like before, Echoes of the Rot Heart would only be usable in safe places.

As he was sizing up his opponents, Trap Detection blared in alarm. Without thinking, he used Blighted Passage to dodge, leaving an arrow to strike the ground where he had been standing.

A cursory inspection with Rotlife Sense didn't yield any results. He couldn't tell where the archer was.

He narrowly avoided another arrow that Trap Detection had warned him about.

The two melee combatants closed in the distance and started harassing him with their swords. Div was stuck on the defensive, having to avoid three people at once.

A few cuts were unavoidable, but he was holding on.

Each blow against his shield allowed more rot-attuned mana to seep into his opponents. It was a shame he wasn't skilled enough to take advantage of this. But casting a spell while running had already been too much, doing so while simultaneously fighting two swordsmen and an archer was impossible. He would have to work with the passive effect of rot-attuned mana weakening his opponents. At worst, it would strengthen the effect of Rotten Spear if he managed to land a hit.

It had been a while since Div found himself on the backfoot like that. Not to say he was enjoying it, but it was bringing back memories of the rift, of his endless fight against the faceless horde.

Years later, after evolving, he was saddened to see some things hadn't changed.

As the fight progressed, he grew more confident. He had avoided every sword slash, every arrow. His wounds were superficial and he was still full of energy.

Only, he hadn't found a chance to counter-attack, but it would come. If he had time.

But he didn't.

He needed to clear the way so that he and his friends could get the boat to the river as soon as they arrived. With what little time he had to pay attention, he was tracking their position in the village. They were bogged down by countless mountaineers who were being reinforced by more streaming from the forest

Where had all these men and women been hiding?

Div felt they had underestimated the threat. In his mind, a few scouting parties were roaming the region. But this… it wasn't quite an army, but it was starting to look like one.

Slightly distracted, he tripped on a rock. The archer took the chance to land an arrow in his arm. Div winced in pain as he fell to the ground.

Still, he wasn't going to let that stop him. He'd known worse pain.

Ignoring the arrow sticking out of his arm, he stood up and continued dancing around his opponents' blades.

"Div!" Dana shouted, finally reaching the bank.

"Careful, there's an archer," Div said, warning his friends.

His reinforcements coming forced the swordsmen to take a step back. Lugsellos fired an arrow at them. It wasn't enough to injure them.

"Suce," Gennorina said, prompting the invisible earth spirit to take action.

The earth shook, making the mountaineers retreat further. They weren't blind to the spirit's presence.

But all Suce was doing was moving the boat toward the river. As powerful as he was, he was still a newborn as far as spirits were concerned, he wasn't capable of turning the tide by himself.

Dana was.

She nocked an arrow on her bow and fired into the woods. A sharp cry resonated from the archer. She got him.

"Evolved Rank archery…" Lugsellos whispered, clearly impressed.

Then, Dana grabbed her spear and launched herself toward the two swordsmen. Div followed her in the fifth direction and, together, they landed a hit on one of their enemies.

After being slowly filled with rot-attuned mana, Rotten Spear's effect took hold instantly.

The last remaining mountaineer hadn't given up. He struck back, leaving Div with another gash, on his leg this time.

A splash echoed when Suce dropped the boat in the river, along with a shower of rocky debris.

"Let's go!" Lugsellos said, hoping the spirit's rough handling hadn't damaged their vessel.

Behind them, more and more mountaineers were approaching. Some were even watching them from the other side of the river.

Like Bavacium, they were on a smaller tributary of the Lien. The river was crossable without too much difficulty.

"Time to leave," Div said. He was the last to step on the boat.

"They're going to chase after us," Lugsellos said. "I'm trying to stop them, but this is beyond me."

"Of course they are," Dana said, her lips forming into a smile. "I wouldn't expect otherwise. How would you make them stay behind?"

Realizing he had said too much, Lugsellos opted not to reveal what his skill could do.

Sitting on the boat flowing down the river, Div turned his attention to his injuries.

They were safe, for now.

Skill leveled up: Trap Detection Lv7 -> Lv8