Zero to Hero: A High Fantasy Harem Romance LitRPG

"Here we are. We've reached the Bowels." Faye pointed to a crossroads ahead of us. One path was a massive tunnel that looked like it was carved by a giant earthworm covered in spikes, which we'd learned from Faye was essentially what the Beast of the Bowels was. The other was a smaller mineshaft that jutted out to the forty-five heading north. "Double check your map, but I'm confident the smaller path will take you where you need to go."

I reached into my inventory, pulled out our [Pathfinder's Map], and waited for the lines to shift. As the top of the page changed to read "The Bowels," I could make out the areas we'd been in the past as well as where we were now. Based on the angles, it was clear that the offshoot was where we needed to go.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the right way." I folded the map up and put it back into my inventory.

"Good." There was a flash of light, and Faye's clothes were replaced with her gleaming armor. After adjusting her belt, she turned to us and nodded. "So, I guess this is it, kids. It's been fun. Thank you for letting me tag along with you."

"Thanks for guiding us, Faye." I held my hand out to the Hero. "And for being there for us when we needed you."

Faye took my hand in hers and shook it. "Of course."

"You saved us, Faye. I'll always be grateful." Tristan's hands were clasped in front of her heart.

Vral sighed. "I guess you're not so useless after all. You're actually kind of epic. Sorry for picking on you."

"Don't be." Faye knelt in front of Vral. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help."

"You keep saying that, but I don't get it." Vral shook her head. "You're strong as shit. Probably stronger than anyone. Who the hell could stop you?"

She pulled off her gauntlet, held up her hand, and pointed to a small ring on her pinky. "The Lords of Saern forced me to wear this little treasure a few decades back. Whenever I break the rules I agreed to back when I put it on, I get teleported back to Deneir. Then, I usually get yelled at a lot. So, during most of our time together, all I could do was watch and give advice."

Vral's eyes fixed on the ring. "That's dumb. Why'd you agree to that?"

"Turns out, none of the powers of this world enjoy having someone around who can topple their nations with ease. It was either agree to wear this or have every country in the world hunt me down for the rest of my days, which, unfortunately, are endless. I kind of like sleeping with a roof over my head, so I had to go with it."

"What are the rules?" Tristan asked.

Faye pulled her gauntlet back on. "Like I said a few days ago, I can only use my powers if they're used to fight threats I consider to be existential or beyond the abilities of the people who live within whichever of the Nine Kingdoms I'm in. I also can't really get involved in the internal matters of the nations. Aside from some wiggle room I squeezed into my oaths, my job is to fight monsters and the darker things of the world, and I'm to mind my own business the rest of the time. Suits me anyway. I hate politics."

I laughed. "You and me both. Nobles are the worst."

She gave me a funny look. "Not all of them. I've known many wonderful leaders over the years. It just so happens that many of the ones who are in positions of power in this era are in them because of their heredity rather than their deeds." Grinning, she added, "But bad leaders can't lead forever."

I scratched my stubble. "What's that mean?"

"It means keep an open mind. You never know what lies ahead."

Oh, I knew what lay ahead for me. I'd end up kicking some corrupt noble asses eventually. With how many of them were perfectly fine with abusing the commoners of Istaera, along with the sizable number who were openly working with the Crimson Kingdom down in the Dregs, all of whose faces were burned in my mind, it would only be a matter of time before I ended up finding a few to vent on. "I'll do that."

She stepped closer and put a hand on my shoulder. "Anyway, the most important thing is that you've proven to Greta, me, and now my brother that you're worthy, Alex." She looked at Tristan and Vral next. "And, frankly, you girls have done the same. While you two may not be chosen like Alex is, you've all announced that you're walking the path of light, and from now on, you'll be recognized for it by others who are as well. Along with that comes responsibility and no small amount of danger, so train hard and get ready for what's to come."

I nodded to the Hero. "We will."

"Yes, ma'am," Tristan said brightly.

"Yeah, we can do that," Vral slammed her fist in her palm. "But what comes next? I don't even know what we're doing anymore."

Faye laughed. "What quests do you all have now?"

"I don't fucking know." Vral huffed. "I can't see that shit."

"Sorry, not you, the other two."

"Honestly, I haven't looked in a while." I pulled up my quest list in my mind:

[The Alchemist of Galden]

[A Knife in the Dark]

[The Cleansing of Embermist Keep]

Tristan laughed. "Damn, we still need to find that alchemist."

"Oh yeah, I forgot all about that. It feels like we got that quest years ago."

"We did get that quest years ago."

"You're so right. That's weird."

Vral scoffed. "Yeah, but we looked for that guy everywhere. For months. That's why we took a vacation in the first place, to blow off steam after getting pissed when we couldn't find him."

"That's right!" Her eyes grew dark. "Then, we went to a fair, I won a prize, and we split up when I found out my moms were in town. After that, you two got blackout drunk, almost killed damn near forty people, and acted all sweet with me the next morning after I stayed up all night healing their broken bones."

"Heh, that was fun." Vral was grinning.

"Breskaya!" I growled. "We should do that again, but with all three of us." When Tristan glared at me, I added, "Without all the fighting of mind-controlled villagers, of course."

"I mean, if they attacked us like that again..."

Tristan crossed her arms. "I'm still a little mad about that."

"I mean, it all turned out okay, right?" I gave her my best smile.

"You were puking flaming blood a couple of days ago." Her eye twitched.

"Well, all's well that ends well, right, babe?" Vral hooked her arm around Tristan's waist.

"I watched your head bounce off a stone wall like a volleyball."

"You should have seen the wall."

Tristan tried to keep acting all stern with us, but she couldn't help but crack a smile. "It did all work out, didn't it? And we've completed another quest. I'm proud of us." She looked at the ground. "Also, I'm sorry about getting all moody with you two back then. Had you not defended yourselves that night, either of you could have ended up like Davik did, or worse. The thing is, I knew I was being unreasonable, but I was just so worried about your hearts." Her sapphire eyes found mine. "Especially you, Alex. You were getting so cold, and I could feel through our roots how much you were carrying..." She swallowed. "So don't hide things from me, okay? Either of you. I'm always here for you, no matter what."

"You big softie." Vral rested her head on Tristan's hip. "But okay. I'll take that deal."

"Me too." I kissed her hand.

"Ahem." Faye cleared her throat. "The alchemist."

I'd forgotten she was there for a moment. "Ah, yeah. What about him?"

"I vaguely remember something about that, but a lot has happened since I first saw you two in Greta's orb. Remind me again who this alchemist is? And why do you need to find him?"

I searched my memory for a moment. What was that all about? Oh yeah! "We found a series of letters in Goodfield from Baelgrim and Devon that talked about this alchemist they were working with in Galden. His name was..." What was his name again? Oh! "Farvad Biddlebinder IV." Hard to forget a name like that.

"What did this Farvad have to do with the Hands of the Fallen?"

"He was making something for them. We think that it mutated the villagers. And, there was something about their souls."

One of her eyebrows cocked. "Their souls?"

"Well, we think so. A bunch of villagers went missing, and some of them were found as undead in Copperhold. Oh, and we watched Devon sacrifice a guy."

"That was crazy. We were way out of our depth back then." Tristan rubbed her arms.

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"She sacrificed someone?" Faye frowned. "Why?"

"We don't know. All I know is we got our asses kicked that night. Devon's magic was really strong." At least, back then, she had been. I couldn't help but wonder where I'd stack up now.

"Yeah, and that was after we found a dead monster in this sweet old couple's barn." Tristan's eyes lit up. "We should go check in with Bertram and Bethany sometime."

"That's right! It was all horrible and mutated." Dorit's final words popped into my head. "Also, I don't know if this is related, but Dorit said that the Hands of the Fallen were trying to create a new race. I'm guessing that monster and all those undead had something to do with it."

Faye stroked her chin. "A new race? Why would they do that?"

The rest of my conversation with Dorit flooded into my head. "She told me she was able to make five weapons that would allow them to control them. That's what these black blades were for." I drew mine. "They're all prototypes based on some powerful original she found in Embermist. Oh! Also, we have a quest to go there and cleanse that place."

"Embermist... Keep?" Something flashed behind Faye's eyes. "And you say Dorit found his sword there?"

"Yeah. Renard said that he's tried to cleanse the place a dozen times, but he can't find the magic that's holding the place together or something. He thinks we might be able to do it since the Goddess is directing us to go there."

Faye's expression grew intense. "The alchemist can wait. If the Goddess is directing you to Embermist Keep, then that's where you need to go."

"But what about Farv—"

"He can wait." The Hero's eyes were more intense than I'd ever seen them. "Now, it's time for your evaluation." She looked at me. "Alex, you rely too heavily on your size, strength, and skills. You need to learn how to strategize better. Renard can teach you a lot more now that you're stronger. Train with him."

"Okay, I can do that."

She turned to Tristan. "Tristan, you need to learn as many spells as you can. Your repertoire is woefully limited. Also, you need to cast more selectively. If you weren't so naturally talented, you'd have been a liability in most of Copperhold. You have to learn more spells and learn when to cast them."

"I... Yes, ma'am."

Looking down at Vral, she said, "Vral, you're incredibly gifted, but you've plateaued. You must unlock the system to keep growing."

Vral laughed. "Look, it was all hot when Alex said I could do it, but that's not possible for gobl—"

"You're going to make it possible."

"But—"

"But nothing. If you don't unlock it, you might as well stay at the temple. Otherwise, you'll be a liability in Embermist Keep." Faye's voice was sharp and offered no room for challenge. It was the most she'd ever sounded like her brother.

I tensed, ready to defend Vral, but she just nodded. She knew Faye was right.

"Okay..." Her wavy black hair covered her face as her head dropped.

"Now, all three of you need to work on your teamwork, and Alex, you need to work on your leadership." Faye was looking at me again. "While decent for a low-level adventurer, you're no longer in that category, and Vral has reached that threshold, despite not having access to the system. Tristan, you need to train twice as hard as either of them to catch up."

"I-I'll do my best!"

Where was all of this sternness coming from all of a sudden? "We can do that."

"You will do that."

I'd never seen her like this. "Why are you so stressed out? Is the keep really so dangerous?"

"Yes." Faye took a slow breath. "It's incredibly dangerous for many of the reasons that the Depths are dangerous, and it was the home of the most powerful mage Reial has ever seen. Even if it's been centuries, Embermist Keep is still a major threat to the region, one that's been resistant to all efforts to neutralise it."

Great. "Okay, so what do we need to know?"

"The Black Flame's most powerful ability was his talent for pulling black fire from the abyss and bringing it to the surface. Despite the Goddess's laws, that magic could overwrite Her will in a limited range. Embermist Keep was one of those ranges."

"If it's this dangerous, why don't you come with us?"

She shook her head. "I can't enter the keep any more. Abad's magic won't let me in. Same with Greta and Kasimir. Otherwise, we'd probably try to come with you."

"Damn. It would be nice to have the help."

Sighing, she said, "With the clefts acting up, honestly, I don't know that we'd be able to even if we could. I've already lost too much time doing all of this. It just so happened to work out, considering what happened with the seal, and we now have another chosen working in the west. Still, I'm needed on the other side of Reial right now."

"Why do you all think we can do this when none of you could?" Tristan's voice shook slightly. "We're nowhere near as strong as any of you. What could we possibly do that you couldn't?"

"Three reasons." Faye held three fingers up. "First, the Goddess chose you for this task. That's enough." She put a finger down. "Second, Alex has something none of the rest of us has. He's been chosen by the Goddess and marked by the Dark Lord. I don't know what exact role that will play, but I know it's significant."

"And the third?" Tristan asked.

Faye's face softened. "I believe in you three."

Something about her putting so much faith in us made me proud. "We'll do our best."

"I know you will." After all the intensity, she finally smiled. "That being said, I expect you three to train hard. I'm giving you a firm time limit of three months to get ready for that quest. When the time comes, I'll come to the temple to see you off."

The three of us looked at one another and nodded.

"You're good kids." She turned on her heel and started walking up the large tunnel. "I'll see you three in a few months! Keep up all the great work. You're going places."

"Kick that thing's ass." Vral pumped her arm.

"Travel well!' Tristan shouted beside me.

"See you soon!" I was looking forward to it.

She waved over her shoulder. "Have a great trip back topside, you three. And don't mind the rumbling. This is going to be loud." With those words, she walked into the larger tunnel, her footsteps growing more and more distant until she vanished into the gloom.

When she was gone, I turned to the girls. "You two ready to get home?"

"So ready." Tristan yawned. "I'm beat."

Vral caught Tristan's yawn. "The second I hit our bed, I'm gonna sleep for a week."

***

It took us two days, but, luckily, there weren't very many monsters wandering the tunnels, probably thanks to Faye's presence, and the ones that we did fight were either weak or ran away when they saw us, so it was easy walking overall. After a quick detour to Dorit's forge, we found a small amount of leftover black ore, some tools, and dozens of her swords strewn about the floor. We destroyed everything we could and burned everything that remained, only leaving after we got the notification that we completed the quest [A Knife in the Dark]. With it all destroyed, the cult had no chance of coming back and using her work again.

From there, we continued on to the collapse, where we were supposed to meet up with Khadrel and the others. The path hadn't been opened up yet, so, knowing all that was left for us to do was to wait, we set our gear down and took our first real breather in days. After we double-checked that there weren't any ways we could get ambushed, Tristan set up a barrier, Vral made a nest of blankets and bedrolls, and all three of us stripped down to our travelling clothes and settled in.

The girls were out in minutes.

I, however, found it harder to quiet my mind, so I started parsing through everything we'd experienced and learned since we entered the Depths.

When we'd walked through the Depths with Faye, we'd confirmed with her that, like she'd said before her fight with Maluphet, she'd only rested for a few hours after we left her in the infinite hallway, even though we'd walked several days before we found the doorways that led back to Earth. When we'd asked how that could be, she'd explained that it was some kind of time dilation that she'd also experienced in the hallways she'd had Kasimir open for her in the past.

Apparently, the farther we tried to go, the more time would have stretched out. Had we gone far enough, we would have died of old age while she'd have only lived a few months at most. She said that, one time, she'd walked as far down her own infinite hallway as she dared to go, walking past thousands of closed doors before finding a single open door and entering it. For her, at least five years had passed by before she entered the door. For Kasimir, a week.

Faye also said that time didn't really pass when someone was walking one of their roads. It didn't actually stand still, but it moved very slowly. She thought it was like being infinitely far away from one's starting place. If walking farther and farther down a hallway made time move slower and slower, then entering a doorway meant time practically stood still. Thus, our eight years together on Earth were mere minutes in Reial time.

It was hard to wrap my mind around, so I decided to stop trying.

After we'd left Faye, Tristan, Vral, and I had compared notes about our final moments back on Earth. The girls said that, the way they'd seen things play out, Stella, Arden, and I stood up, walked into the hallway that led to our bedrooms, and were never seen again. When they couldn't find us, they called the police, which led to a search, but no one could find us. It was like we'd completely vanished.

Then, after three weeks of worry and grief, Tristan started seeing the same weird stuff that I had. At that point, she started getting her memories of Reial back, unlike me, who heard my real self as a disembodied voice in my head. That's when the world started breaking down around her, and she found a door that led her to the vampire's lair.

Vral said she came home to find Tristan gone, even though Tristan was absolutely confident she'd told Vral what was happening before she exited her doorway. Vral said she remembered talking with Tristan the night she disappeared, but Vral couldn't remember what it was about. All she remembered was that Tristan said that it would be okay and that she'd see Vral soon.

Being left all alone and completely overcome with fear, Vral, or V, as she'd gone by back on Earth, fell into a major depression. She said it was the worst time in her entire life, even when counting Reial and the Pit. After a month, though, and all at once, she realized none of it was real. Unlike us, she never had a voice in her head, no weird stuff happened around her, and her memories didn't come back slowly. For her, it was like a veil was lifted, and she saw the world for what it was. That's when her door opened, and she walked through it to find us fighting the vampire.

It was odd, knowing that all of our experiences had been so different. I had no idea what it meant or if it even meant anything. All I knew was that I had no desire to walk one of my roads ever again.

There were still two things that stood out to me, though.

Reaching into my inventory, I pulled out the charm that Faye had hidden in that chest she planted for us. Holding it up at an angle to catch the dim light cast by Tristan's barrier, I looked the object over again for the tenth time since we'd left the seal.

Overall, it was silver and fairly plain. Normally, I wouldn't have thought anything of it had it not been for the image edged onto its front. While the back side of it didn't show anything of note, the front certainly did. Etched into its surface was the face of a dog.

I had no way of knowing whether Faye knew we'd end up walking one of our roads or not, but I was fairly certain the charm was given to me as extra insurance in case we did. That, or it had some power I didn't know about yet. Either way, I knew I'd be toying with it until I learned more about it. Perhaps Arden, the human one back at the temple, would know more.

Putting the charm back into my inventory, I pulled out the other object that was nagging at me. It was small and round and slightly warm in my palm. Opening my hand up, I found a small stone in my palm, one that glowed with a soft white light.

It was the stone that had come out of the other world with me.

I studied the stone for a long time, tracing every curve, every line, every groove.

I'd asked Faye if she'd ever been able to take anything out of her roads in the past, but she said never. That it wasn't possible. Yet, somehow, when I'd pulled Stella through that doorway, something had come through with me. I didn't know if it was nothing, a memento, or a small piece of her, or something else entirely. All I knew was that something came back with me, and I was determined to find out why.

Placing the stone back into my inventory, I settled into the blankets and pulled out Dorit's journal. Opening its cover, I quickly found that she wrote in a script I couldn't understand. Closing the cover again, I placed the journal into my inventory and closed my eyes.

We had a lot of work to do before we needed to leave on our next quest, and we didn't have a lot of time to do it. All the same, there wasn't a single shred of doubt in me. We'd go to Embermist Keep, and we'd do whatever we had to do to cleanse it. That was our path forward.