Moonlight assassin a lit.., p.1
Moonlight Assassin: A LitRPG Space Fantasy, page 1
MOONLIGHT ASSASSIN
Sword of Asteria
Book 4
EDDIE R. HICKS
Moonlight Assassin
Sword of Asteria Book 4
By Eddie R. Hicks
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Copyright © 2023 Eddie R. Hicks
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
This novel contains scenes of graphic violence, explicit language, and sexuality and is intended for mature readers.
Cover Art by: Caterina Kalymniou
V 1.0
Contents
Newsletter
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Epilogue
Final Stats
Next time on Sword of Asteria . . .
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Prologue
Water splashed across the sands of a beach, washing away Sayuri Nakayama’s footprints, the shoreline foreign yet familiar at the same time. Sayuri had spent the last ten minutes walking and exploring the shore. She faced the ocean on the horizon as a swift sea breeze whipped her black hair tied into a ponytail along with the ends of her Crimson Kunoichi Dress, exposing her legs, thighs, and arms adorned with sigils. The beach she stood on was just like the beach she had left hours ago, only slightly different. For example, the wreckage of a pirate ship wasn’t there.
Sayuri had indeed crossed over.
Faeheim’s twin suns shined down upon Sayuri as she continued her stroll, their light casting dual shadows of herself across the terrain. The intense light shone on a golden object nuzzled in the sand. Sayuri sauntered to the object, kneeled, and retrieved it from the ground. She brought the object to her face while dusting it clean of the beach’s sand. It was a compass commonly used by traveling sailors. Judging by its tarnished texture, the compass was in the sand for weeks, perhaps even months.
She flipped the golden trinket around and narrowed her eyes at the name engraved onto the compass, Parkil Pinespring. Pinespring was a well-known captain on Faeheim whose ship met a violent end at the hands of the infamous pirate princess, Nijana Celestina. Supposedly, Nijana took the compass in exchange for sparing the lives of the surviving crew members.
The compass was worth a lot.
Now it was lying on the beach in this alternate universe.
Nijana Celestina had been to this beach. It made sense the more Sayuri thought about it. In the universe where Sayuri came from, on this same beach was the wreckage of Nijana’s pirate ship. The pirate princess of Faeheim crossed over into another universe like Sayuri did. Nijana was a local from Sayuri’s world, someone to demand information from, for Sayuri had many questions about this universe. The light universe, as her informant had called it—
A man whistled to Sayuri, snapping her gaze to his location.
Rather, he and a gang of scruffy fae men, their unshaved faces grinning with lust.
Sayuri stowed the compass away for the time being and watched the fae man approach her. “Hey,” the fae grunted to her. “You lost, girly?”
The fae men sprouted their buzzing wings and flew toward Sayuri, landing and forming a circle around her. Each one took two seconds to eye Sayuri, studying her class, level, and rank. She eyed them back as well.
Land-fae (Spell Lancer) | LVL: 31 | Rank: C
Land-fae (Berserker) | LVL: 35 | Rank: C
Land-fae (Medic) | LVL: 28 | Rank: C
Land-fae (Ranger) | LVL: 31 | Rank: C
There was a fifth one, farther back.
Land-fae (Mage) | LVL: 17 | Rank: D
The Mage was a small fae boy, no older than 15 with teenage facial hair growing on his chin.
Spell Lancer, Berserker, Medic, Ranger, and a Mage, how odd. Sayuri had never seen such classes before. She assumed Mages were spell casters though.
“Soul Hunter,” said the fae Spell Lancer and gasped. “Are my eyes deceiving me?”
“No,” muttered the fae Berserker. “I see it too. Her class is a Soul Hunter.”
The Ranger snorted. “Never heard of it.”
Sayuri snorted back. “I could say the same about your classes.”
“What?!” The fae Medic pointed at Sayuri. “You been under a rock or something? Our classes are quite common. Surely someone of your level has seen them?”
“I have not,” Sayuri said, shaking her head.
“Not even a Medic?” the Berserker said. “Oi, Medic and Cleric are the only healer classes.”
“I have neither seen nor heard of Medic or Cleric,” Sayuri said.
The Berserker lifted his cherry-red eyebrow at her. “How in the fuck did you reach level 35 without ever partying with a healer?”
“I have worked with many healer classes,” Sayuri said, folding her arms. “Just not Medic or Cleric.”
He leaned closer. “Oh, you had me there for a second!” His laugh brought a smile to his face. “Because everyone knows Medic and Cleric are the only healer classes.”
“Eh,” the Ranger said, rubbing the back of his head, his free hand clenching his bow. “To be fair, many weird new classes have been showing up lately.”
“Aye,” the Medic chimed in. “Heard a rumor of a Paladin going about walloping the empire.”
“Not a rumor,” the Spell Lancer said as the winds rustled his long red hair. “The Paladin is real, just like the Nox Knight, and now supposedly there is a Summoner.” He used the tip of his lance to point to the cloudless sky, brightened by twin suns. “Up there in the stars is where you could find them.”
Paladin, Nox Knight, Summoner. Those were classes Sayuri had never seen. She did, however, hear about Nox Knight from many people back home.
Up in the stars? So star-dwellers exist in the light universe as well too. Good to know that I’m not restricted to this world.
The Berserker looked at her closer. “So, this Soul Hunter then . . .”
“Is probably another one of those weird classes ain’t nobody can use,” the Spell Lancer said with a slight wince. “Or she is that demon.”
&
A grin spread on the Berserker’s face. “Good, because she is a cutie.”
And his grin was infectious and spread to the other men. They peered at her with predatory gazes and widening perverse smiles. The Berserker, who Sayuri suspected was the party leader, licked his tongue across his chapped lips, rubbed his hands together, and took three intruding steps into her personal space. She tried to back away, but the Spell Lancer heaved his lance forward, bashing its shaft onto Sayuri’s backside, forcing her toward the Berserker.
The Medic reached for a battlestaff, and the Ranger gripped his bow and lifted it to her face. They surrounded her.
Sayuri scowled at the fae men and curled her lips, unveiling spotless white teeth. “What do you want?” she demanded.
The Berserker kept his sick grin. “To give you a good time.”
“Not every day we see a human woman like you.” The Medic laughed.
Their words meant nothing to her. Sayuri retrieved the tarnished compass by the chain and dangled it before the men. “Have you seen the fae woman who held this?” she asked.
The men looked at it and then at her, raising red eyebrows. “Bitch, are you daft? We want to give you a good time.”
“Answer me,” Sayuri spat, her voice raised.
“Fuck it. Give it to her by force, boys.”
The Ranger grabbed Sayuri’s left arm with haste. She assumed his class had high agility. The Medic caught her right arm to the side, and somewhere behind the Spell Lancer shoved his polearm and knocked out her left leg. Lucky shot. He won’t be so fortunate the next time.
The actions of the three fae men forced Sayuri’s knees onto the beach’s sand. She was kneeling before the Berserker as he strode closer and loosened his belt.
“I ain’t had human pussy in ages.”
“Me too,” snorted the Spell Lancer.
“Hey, boy,” the Berserker shouted to the young Mage watching behind. “You still a virgin, right?” The Mage nodded yes. “Tell ye what, you can have a ride next when I am finished.” The Berserker faced her. “I shall try not to leave too much of a creamy mess when finished.”
The man to my right said his class was a healer. He will have to be the first to die then.
Sayuri shut her eyes and focused, her astral circuits drawing in astral energy.
She selected her first spell to cast since arriving in this strange world.
Instant Arm (Rank B)
Arm yourself with your equipped weapons, regardless of the situation, then spin in a shadowy attack.
Potency: 100
Cost: 100 AP
Her Kunoichi’s Sais flashed into existence before her hands. She grabbed them without thinking about it, then stood and spun like a cyclone despite having two men hold her. She turned so fast that her attack threw all four men backward, inflicting them with 350 critical damage.
Sayuri was free and stood with her weapons held forward, one Kunoichi’s Sai raised for lower parry, the other for upper.
At her feet, the fallen fae men reached for their weapons in the sand. And as predicted the Medic idled as swirls of astral energy encircled him. He was casting a healing spell. She didn’t know what the spell would do and had no intention of finding out. Sayuri dashed and struck his chest six times in three seconds, piercing the chainmail he wore, interrupting the spell. The last hit granted her AP, and she unleashed it half a second later.
Heart Stab (Rank B)
Sink your weapon through the heart of your target with a quick thrust, inflicting heavy bleed damage.
Potency: 370
Cost: 100 AP
His chest exploded with red pulp, soaking the sand below. He was dead before his knees hit the ground, dead before his friends had run toward her. Behind, the Ranger nocked an arrow as the Berserker and Spell Lancer charged. Sayuri just smiled and selected her next skill to use, made possible by her subclass.
Smoke Bomb
Conjure a Smoke Bomb into existence. Throwing it on the ground will shroud you in blinding smoke, making you invisible to hostile targets when it passes.
Cost: 250 MP
She hurled the bomb to her feet.
Poof.
Sayuri vanished within the plume of gray smoke that obscured the beach. By the time the winds carried the smoke away, she was nowhere to be seen as three arrows soared through the air and pierced nothing.
“What the fuck?” the Berserker said, his head moving from left to right.
“Did she use Stealth?” the Spell Lancer asked.
“She was dual-wielding, so probably using an Assassin subclass,” the Ranger said. “The thing is my True Sight ain’t picking her up.”
Assassin? That was another class she had never heard of. She’d ask about it more, but the Spell Lancer whirled toward Sayuri, striking her with his lance. The blow hit Sayuri with 43 points of damage and forced her to reappear from the shadows. No matter, she was within reach of the Spell Lancer, and his wide-open eyes suggested he wasn’t expecting to find her. She disemboweled him in seconds, leaving him holding his belly and dangling intestines. But only for a second. She used Heart Stab again, removed the last of his HP, twisted around to face the Berserker, and made a three-fold mudra hand gesture, invoking her subclass’s ninjitsu skill and consuming what remained of her stored AP.
Hojōjutsu
Bind a selected target with ropes using a secret ninjitsu mudra technique.
Cost: 100 AP
A rope forged from a flash of light bound the Berserker’s arms and wings to his torso. The Ranger remained. Sayuri knew this because several arrows sank into her torso and legs, sending her backward. Turning to face him, she fetched a soul crystal, tapped into the astral energy around her, and cast a spell nobody in this universe had seen.
Evoke Lost Soul (Rank B)
Use a soul crystal to summon the soul of the dead to fight at your side.
Cost: 150 MP
She called upon the soul of an archer.
The ghostly figure of a deceased elven man appeared and fired hundreds of arrows at the sky. The arrows came down upon the Ranger like a raging storm, killing him and pinning his corpse to the sand.
It was just the Berserker left, having cut himself free from Hojōjutsu’s ropes. He raised his blade to Sayuri but never swung it. His twitching hands were not up for the task.
“I stand corrected,” the Berserker cried. “You are a fucking demon!”
“Let us report her to the empire!” shouted the frightened Mage, who stood watching.
“No, the sentinels,” the Berserker said to the boy.
The Mage grimaced. “Why?”
Facing Sayuri, the Berserker revealed. “The sentinels will reward us for finding a demon. The empire won’t—”
