Eden's Gate: The Ascent: A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  “You did.”

  “I’m the Princess of Mist Vale. You’ve gotten more attention from me than most will get in their lifetime—especially for a human.”

  “And High Elves don’t umm… you know… with humans?”

  “Enter relationships?” Adeelee asked.

  “Yeah…”

  “It’s uncommon but not unheard of. It’s not something I’ve ever considered for myself, to be honest.”

  It felt like she was slowly beating down any hope I had with her answers, and I was grasping at straws to get affirmation from her. The idea of rejection hurt, no matter if she was an NPC or not. “What about Reborns?”

  Adeelee paused, and her eyes glued to me. She looked me up and down with a slight smile on her face. “I’ve grown quite fond of you, Gunnar, and I always enjoy our times together.” She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “I suppose Reborns aren’t like normal humans, are they?”

  Adeelee slowly leaned in towards me, and halfway towards reaching me, she closed her eyes. Much like my first time kissing Keysia, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion—only this time it was more surreal. This was the Princess of Mist Vale. This was the girl who had dodged my advances so many times who was about to do something that I couldn’t have even fathomed a few minutes prior.

  Butterflies filled my stomach, and excitement washed over me. I watched as her lips neared me, and when she was only inches from my face, I instinctively closed my eyes as well.

  The smell I remembered hit me—that fresh, evergreen smell, like a forest in the middle of spring after all the flowers had started to bloom. She always smelled like it when she was close. And when her lips finally touched mine, I felt sparks run up and down my body. Plump, soft, slightly moist. Perfect was the only way to describe her kiss.

  It only lasted a second before she pulled away. But even though it was quick, it was a giant leap beyond what I thought I’d ever achieve with her and felt more intimate than a brief kiss should have.

  I exhaled as I opened my eyes, realizing I had been holding my breath the whole time.

  Adeelee smiled and fluttered her lashes a couple times. “A kiss is harmless, right? I’m sure we’ll spend more time together once we’re out of this den of gnolls. I suppose we should loot up find our way out of here?”

  I grinned and nodded, not sure what to say. My heart was practically beating from the adrenaline rushing through me, and I was pretty sure all the blood in my body had started rushing from my head to somewhere below the waist.

  But even with all the exhilaration, I felt a sense of confusion and almost a tinge of guilt. I really liked Keysia. And even if we weren’t in any sort of relationship together, I knew that she’d be hurt if she found out Adeelee and I had kissed. A flash of the dream where Keysia stood in my doorstep crying as Dryden called Adeelee my “little Princess” entered my mind.

  Damn, I thought.

  I rattled my head from side to side as I considered the dark elf, but then I remembered another dark elf that Adeelee knew. Someone I had yet to ask her about.

  “What’s wrong?” Adeelee asked. “You don’t want to meditate?”

  “No, I’ve just been meaning to ask you about something. You said that you and Donovan had a history. What was that all about?”

  Adeelee frowned and leaned away, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “Donovan…” she whispered.

  “What is it?” I asked. “You always seem uncomfortable around him. I know it’s not just because he’s a dark elf.”

  Adeelee looked away from me and stared straight ahead. After a brief pause, she said, “Donovan was once a High Elf. He was one of the strongest swordsmen in the elven army. No one at his level could compete with him. He was destined to be a commander, destined to be a leader.”

  “A leader of the army?”

  “A leader of the High Elves of Mist Vale.”

  I narrowed my eyes a bit. “How does that work? You choose your leaders based on fighting ability?”

  “No. Birthright.”

  “Nooo….” I leaned back and snickered. “Are you telling me that Donovan has some weird birthright story like Jax? Like Donovan is your brother, destined for the crown?”

  Adeelee looked down, and her face slumped. “No. He’s not my brother. Donovan and I were to marry.”

  My eyelids snapped wide. “What?! Marry?”

  “Donovan and I were courting, I suppose. As an only child and heir to Mist Vale, it is my duty to marry someone worthy—someone who would be a good King. It was easy to love Donovan. He was not only strong, but kind-hearted as well.”

  “You love Donovan?”

  “Loved,” Adeelee corrected. “I loved him before he became a dark elf.”

  I shook my head. “Love doesn’t end just because someone’s skin color changes. That’s not how it works.”

  Adeelee turned towards me. “You still don’t understand, do you? Dark elves are dangerous, Gunnar. Once an elf changes, they’re unpredictable. They can attack at any time, and they attack to kill. I have no more feelings for Donovan. I could never love a dark elf.”

  “Pfft,” I spat. “I’ve been living in Edgewood this whole time, and not once has a dark elf tried to attack me or anyone else in my guild.”

  Adeelee shook her head. “It’s only a matter of time before one of them snaps—you will see.”

  “It makes no sense. They’re good people.”

  Adeelee took a deep breath. “You just don’t understand, because you’re a Reborn. Death for you is an inconvenience. Death for anyone else is permanent. We can’t risk death, just because they might seem like good people.”

  I sighed heavily, feeling like there was no way to get through to her. “Whatever.”

  “I’ll show you something sometime—a place where you can see for yourself exactly what dark elves do.” She tilted her head towards the bodies on the floor. “For now, forget about Donovan and whatever other dark elves you may have on your mind. Let’s meditate, so we can loot these gnolls and find our way out.”

  I nodded. “Alright…”

  I took one last breath before crossing my legs, closing my eyes and trying to force myself into a meditative trance. I was difficult with the craze of mixed emotions running through my head. I was elated that I had shared a kiss with the Princess and was excited to spend more time with her, to see where things could go. But the fact that Adeelee and Donovan had once been together was something that was hard to process. It made me jealous and disgusted at the same time.

  Not disgusted that they had been together, but her prejudice against someone who was a good guy.

  Did it even matter? I wondered. Since Adeelee and Donovan were NPCs, anything they once had was really just a backstory, right? They hadn’t really existed until launch day. Or had they? Isn’t everything just a piece of data that’s stored to memory immediately after it happens? If her backstory didn’t count, did mine?

  And Keysia… What about her? Things weren’t nearly as complicated with her as they were with Adeelee, aside from the fact that Keysia herself was a dark elf. What if Adeelee was right, and Keysia would one day snap on me and try to kill me? Fuck!

  And what would Rachel think of it all? I knew she was in Eden’s Gate, and I had no idea how that conversation would go if and when we found each other again. What would she say if she knew about Keysia and Adeelee?

  And what if she had a new man? Or an elf? Or an orc?!

  “Gunnar, what are you doing?” Adeelee asked.

  I opened one my eyes. “Trying to meditate.”

  “You’ve been sitting there a long time.”

  I glance up to my mana bar and noticed that it still wasn’t full. Apparently, I had barely meditated at all. I scratched the side of my head. “Sorry, give me another minute.”

  Again, I closed my eyes and did my best focus.

  Chapter Sixteen

  2/10/0001

  Adeelee and I gathered a little more than 1200 gold from the do
wned gnolls and split it between each other. The Princess found a few gems, which she kept, and I pocketed two emeralds.

  I yanked the necklace off of the neck of electro-claws.

  You’ve received: Toothed Lightning Efficiency Necklace. Durability: 7/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Rare. Weight: 0.1 kg. Reduces lightning spell mana usage by 10%.

  It wasn’t something that I could use myself but seemed like something I could give to Keysia or at least would be valuable to sell if she didn’t want it.

  When I checked its pockets, I was pleased to see a key.

  Iron Key. Durability: 998/1000. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 0.1 kg. A standard key to an unknown location.

  A key to a door further inside, perhaps? A key to our escape? Or perhaps a key to a chest? Maybe even the one above us?

  There was nothing else of interest in any other gnoll’s pockets.

  The walls were lined with so many potions that we didn’t have time to check them all. Adeelee filled her bag with health and mana potions, and I picked up two of a potion that I had never seen before.

  You’ve received: Caustic Potion. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Uncommon. Weight: 0.1 kg. Causes a damage over time, slow, and disorienting effect.

  I figured they were the same kind of potion that had spilled on Adeelee’s back and would be useful to have in the future—especially as a mage, where throwing things out at range was ideal.

  There was only one hallway connected to the room, and we crept down it slowly in sneak mode to avoid alerting anyone or anything ahead.

  We passed two small rooms attached to the side of the hall. One had hay spread all over the floor but was otherwise completely empty. There was another room with 10 large picnic-style tables inside. A few of the tables had what appeared to be fresh, raw meat and fish still sitting atop them, like it had recently been abandoned.

  There was one other room further ahead that had a leather hide draped across the front of it. The sound of heavy breathing could be heard through the leather, so I felt anxious when I pulled it back and peeked inside.

  Around thirty or forty gnolls lay inside on makeshift beds consisting of leather and hay stretched across the floor. Each of them appeared to be in a deep sleep, and their weapons were lying idly by their sides.

  I retracted my head and put the leather covering back. “Holy shit,” I whispered. “It’s filled with gnolls. They’re all sleeping.”

  Adeelee moved to look inside as well, and I cautioned her to be extra careful. When she pulled her head back, her eyes were wide. “It’s like an experience gold mine in there.”

  “With them all sleeping like that, yeah.”

  “But even if we manage to kill five or six before they wake up, the rest will be too much to handle.”

  “I agree. If Liam were here, maybe… but…” I couldn’t believe I was wishing Liam was there. Maybe I was starting to feel better knowing Adeelee had no interest in him.

  “Let’s just move on and try not to wake them.”

  I nodded, and we continued down the path.

  There was one other leather-draped door further down the hall that we passed, the room behind it again filled with numerous sleeping gnolls, and eventually, we reached a dead end. At the end of the dead end, however, were two levers, identical to the ones we had seen earlier, sitting side by side.

  “End of the road,” I said. “There were no other routes out, were there?”

  Adeelee shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “Well, then I guess the only thing left to do is try the levers.”

  Adeelee bit her inner lip and gave a slight nod, but I could see she had some doubt that the levers would lead us anywhere. I hoped that neither of them would open up a trap door in the floor and lead us further into the dwelling or worse alarm the numerous gnolls that were sleeping down the hall.

  “Left or right?” I asked.

  Adeelee darted her eyes between the levers, and then said, “Left. We’ve been doing everything left-first, so might as well continue with the trend.”

  I grabbed the lever, then glanced at Adeelee one last time to give her a silent warning that I was about to pull, right before I yanked the lever back hard. The lever clicked when it was all the way back, and there was a dull clanking sound from somewhere above.

  We looked around us, but nothing seemed to have changed, We listened to make sure we hadn’t alerted any enemies. When we found nothing and heard nothing, I gave the second lever a good pull.

  The second lever clicked into place and immediately began ticking, exactly like the lever we had experienced near the bell.

  I looked to Adeelee and I could tell she from her eyes that she was thinking the same thing as me. “Do you think it’s like the one above?”

  Adeelee nodded. “For sure. Pull the other one now that this one is in place.”

  I quickly pulled the other lever, and this time it felt stiffer, like whatever I was doing was working against some resistance. Again, there was a dull sound from above, this time just a little bit louder.

  “It’s got to be the bell,” I said. “This how they get out from inside.”

  “We’ll if that’s the case, we better go now. We have to sneak past the sleeping gnolls and then make a run for it if we’re to make it in time.”

  “Yeah, let’s go!” I grabbed Adeelee’s hand as I moved in front of her, crouched down into sneak mode and crept forward as quickly as I possibly could without making too much noise.

  Chapter Seventeen

  2/10/0001

  “Come on! Come on!” I said harshly as I grabbed Adeelee’s hand and pulled her up out of the hole. As we were both on solid ground, we made a run out from under the bell.

  I smiled at Adeelee when we were free, and she gave me a sweet smile back. It melted me a little inside, and I wanted to grab her and steal another kiss. But, I needed to control myself. Things with Adeelee weren’t the same as they had been with Keysia. While I was just as physically attracted to Adeelee as I was to Keysia, she hadn’t accepted me with open arms the same way that Keysia had. I might even venture to say Adeelee and I knew less about each other, despite knowing each other longer.

  I needed to take things slow and see how they panned out.

  “Liam’s not here,” Adeelee said.

  “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”

  We started away from the protected room, and a few seconds down the hall, we heard the boom of the bell closing shut again. When we were almost to the main area that lead the entrance, Liam was running in our direction.

  “What happened? I thought maybe you two had left me or been killed.”

  “It was like I thought,” I said. “There was a hole leading downward under the bell. The levers lifted the bell to reveal it, but it was timed. It locked us in right after we stepped under it.”

  “We found another set of levers within that got us out okay,” Adeelee added.

  Liam scanned us up and down. “Well, you made it back alive. What did you find? Was it the cache of magic we were looking for?”

  I shook my head. “Mostly just more gnolls, unless the Omnicron was detecting a bunch of magic potions. There’s a ton more gnolls down there too, and we’ll be overwhelmed if they wake up and make their way up here.”

  Liam groaned. “Well, we still have time to explore nearby to see if there’s something else that could be our target.”

  “We did find a key,” I said. “It could be for the chest.”

  Liam’s eyebrows sprung up, and he clapped his hands. “Oh, yes! Let’s go try it!”

  We all marched back to the first room we had found that was surrounded in spikes, had a lever, and a treasure chest. I kneeled down at the chest, pulled out the key, and it fit neatly inside.

  “Bingo,” I said.

  “Open it,” Liam ordered.

  “Stand back a little,” I said. “It could be a trap.”

  When my two companions stepped away, I cautiously turne
d the key, and it clicked after a half turn. The lid popped ajar slightly.

  I lifted the top of the chest, still hoping nothing unpleasant was inside, and was surprised to only see a single item in it. It was a short, steel metal rod that stretched the length of the chest. On one end of the rod was a white bulb that reminded me of a fluorescent light, and on the other end it curved into a bell shape.

  I lifted the rod to inspect it.

  Hillside Gnoll’s Dowsing Wand. Durability: 32/50. Quality: Average. Rarity: Rare. Weight: 1.1 kg. An odd wand used for unknown purposes.

  There was nothing special I could observe about the item. When looking at the bottom of the bell, you could see a deep, cone shaped opening in the end.

  “I’ve seen something similar before,” Liam said. “Not exactly like that, but I believe it’s used for identifying certain areas.”

  “How do I use it?” I asked. “It doesn’t have an on-cast affect.”

  Liam shrugged. “Usually, you just walk around with it, but with no clue or indication of what it might detect, it may be worthless.”

  I stood from the chest and looked over the rod one last time, then at the coned hole at the bottom end. The gap inside looked somewhat deep and tapered to a point. I looked up to the spikes on the wall and suddenly had an idea.

  “What if these aren’t actually spikes?” I asked.

  “They’re clearly spikes,” Adeelee countered.

  “Well, I mean. They’re shaped like spikes to look like a trap, but what if they’re dual purpose. I have a feeling…” I held out the rod and walked towards the spiked wall. I started walking in circles around the room, and in a few seconds the bulb on the end of the rod began to glow lightly.

  “You’ve got it!” Adeelee cried.

  “Impressive,” Liam said.

  As I continued walking, the bulb grew brighter and brighter, but when I walked past a certain point, the glow began to dull. I backtracked a bit, until I was at the part of the wall where the light was glowing brightest and then I waved the rod around and held it out towards each of the spikes.