Beyond the Veil: A LitRPG Adventure: Terra Mythica, Book 3 by Fobywoby & John Stax

Author:Fobywoby & John Stax [Fobywoby & Stax, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shadow Light Press
Published: 2025-05-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty

A Crown in Shadow

The room was dim, the glow of the suite’s privacy wards casting faint patterns across the walls. The hum of muted magic filled the space, a low thrumming like a heartbeat under the surface. Jace sat cross-legged on the edge of his bed, his brow furrowed in thought. The others were scattered around the room, their expressions ranging from tense to outright grim.

Ell broke the silence first, her tone sharp but not unkind. “Alright, are we all going to pretend like that carnival wasn’t one of the creepiest things we’ve ever seen?”

Dex snorted, flopping into a chair. “You mean the creepy fortune-teller tent that nearly ate us alive? Yeah, hard to forget that.”

“No, I mean all of it,” Ell shot back, leaning forward. “The way everything felt... off. Like it was too bright, too loud. The smells, the sounds, even the people—it was all just... wrong.”

Alice nodded slowly. “It was overwhelming. My senses felt bombarded the entire time. But here’s the thing—nothing showed up in our HUDs. No status effects, no alerts, nothing. How is that even possible?”

“It’s not supposed to be,” Marcus said flatly. His arms were crossed, and his usual scowl was deeper than usual. “If it’s not showing up in the HUD, then it’s bypassing the system entirely.”

Jace exhaled, his hands resting on his knees. “It was overriding my Word of Power,” he said, his voice steady but laced with unease. The statement landed like a thunderclap, drawing the room’s attention. “That’s why I noticed it. My Truthsense wasn’t working right—it was like something was actively fighting it.”

Marcus straightened, his expression sharpening. “Overriding a Word of Power? That’s... not supposed to be possible.”

“It’s not,” Jace agreed. “But it happened. If my Word wasn’t already active, I might not have seen anything at all. And once I pointed it out, you all started noticing too, right?”

Ell nodded reluctantly. “Yeah. I didn’t catch the distortion at the ring toss until you said something, but once you did, I could see it. Like a shimmer in the air.”

“Same,” Alice said quietly. “It’s subtle, but it’s there. And it gets worse the closer we get to the center of town. Out in the Commoners’ Circle, it’s faint. But in the Merchant District...” She trailed off, her meaning clear.

Dex tilted his head, frowning. “But why hasn’t anyone else noticed? I mean, the townspeople are acting like this is all normal. And what about higher-level Travelers? Surely they’d pick up on something this big?”

“Maybe it’s a Traveler-specific thing?” Ell suggested, her tone uncertain. “Like, maybe it only affects us?”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Alice said. “There are Travelers who are way stronger than us. If this is targeting Travelers, they’d see it, wouldn’t they?”

The group fell silent, the question pressing down on them. Finally, Marcus spoke, his voice low. “Or maybe it’s not just a Traveler thing. Maybe it’s a Jace thing.”

All eyes turned to Jace, who shifted under their collective gaze. “What do you mean?” he asked, though he already suspected the answer.

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