“Index?” Carly’s ears perked up at the mention of the name.
Many guilds knew about Index. After he released information about the four realms and how to reach them, the whole world couldn’t stop talking about him. The three realms were a closely guarded secret, with only a handful even knowing about the fourth realm's existence. The impact of releasing such information was huge.
Over the past six months, thousands of ascenders successfully reached the first realm, with many more every day. The training methods Index released were extraordinarily detailed and had helpful tips and tricks.
Dubaku was one of the people who benefited. He finally understood that his unique ability was not unique at all. It was the fourth realm. Thanks to Index, he no longer feared it.
After Amara spoke about Index, Shenlong gave Jason a strange smile. Jason could only shrug helplessly in response without saying anything. It wasn’t hard for Shenlong to connect the dots. How many people knew about the fourth realm?
Amara continued. “This morning, Index gave out detailed information about the monsters on the forty-sixth floor. With this, we have a good chance.”
Peter extended his hand. “Can I take a look?”
“Sure. I brought a lot.” Amara handed everyone a copy.
While everyone was perusing the book, Carly couldn’t help but get excited. “Index is so amazing. How does he know so much about everything? I’d like to meet him.”
“Bah!” Eboni smacked her lips. “Him, him, him. How do you know it’s not a girl?”
Carly blinked. “Oh. Maybe?”
Eboni glanced down at the book in her hands. “Still, it IS strange. Index knows stuff even top-tier guilds don’t.”
After everyone digested the information in the book, Shenlong spoke up. “How about a vote? Raise your hand if you want to participate.”
Jason, Roy, Olivia, Cheslov, Shenlong, and Peter all raised their hands. After a moment of thought, Amara raised her hand, followed by Eboni and Dubaku. The only two people left were Ebba and Carly.
Ebba glanced around and spoke. “I’m interested, but as you all know, I don’t have a guild backing me up. My gear is lacking.”
Shenlong and Peter waved their hands dismissively. “Don’t worry. Naturally, we’ll lend you some equipment for this operation.”
Ebba nodded and raised her hand. “All right, then.”
Everyone turned to look at Carly, who cowered under their gazes. After a second, she bit her lip and raised her trembling arm. “I’ll go…”
Shenlong clapped his hands. “Great! Then all that’s left is to prepare. Peter and I will handle the supplies.”
“No problem.” Peter nodded. Their two guilds were among the best, so they were plenty rich.
Jason turned to Su Long, who sat in the corner. “Yo, Su Long. How about helping out?”
Su Long was startled at suddenly being mentioned. His first response was to decline, but when he saw Shenlong glare at him, he changed his mind. Coughing, he said. “Well, as long as everyone pays for the materials.”
“Hmph,” Amara frowned. “What can a blacksmith do for a magician like me?”
Roy’s face lit up as he began to praise Su Long. “A lot! Definitely! Su Long can enchant equipment with glyphs. It’s super amazing.”
“Glyphs?” Amara hadn’t heard much about Su Long, only some vague rumors. As she was a solo ascender, her information network was lacking.
Peter chuckled. “Great. I haven’t gotten the chance to purchase Su Long’s services yet. This is a surprise.”
Now that everyone agreed to form a temporary party, they spent several hours discussing their abilities. Only in this way could they perform their best. They also decided Shenlong would lead the party.
In exactly one week, they would begin their climb.
Chapter 4
Jason, Olivia, Roy, Cheslov, Shenlong, Peter, Carly, Dubaku, Eboni, Ebba, and Amara all wore the tower's best gear. The total value of their equipment was worth billions of USD.
Shenlong and Peter each brought one of their subordinates. Carly was a new member of Peter’s guild, but her talent was limitless. Her grasp over her ally's health and the timing of her skills were incredibly high.
Shenlong’s guild was unique. Back before the tower arrived, Shenlong was the grandmaster of a dojo for half a century. The former members of that dojo made up the members of his guild. The first disciple under him was only second in strength to Shenlong. His name was Zhen Hu.
In all, they numbered twelve. Their combined strength was enough to crush any military force in the world. If they’d had any thoughts of world domination, it would be a simple matter.
Underground in a dimly lit tunnel, next to a glowing blue portal, stood Jason and his allies at fixed positions. In the center of their formation was Ebba. She no longer wore a cloak to mask her appearance. Her hair was dark, her skin pale, and her eyes black as night. At first glance, you would think she was ill. Currently, her eyes were unfocused, her mind in some far-off place.
Ebba was the key to the party's confidence in clearing the floor, so they surrounded her as soon as they arrived. Since then, less than five minutes have passed.
Everyone focused on Ebba when her eyes suddenly grew clear. Ignoring the attention, she pulled out a large piece of paper and began drawing a map. A few minutes later, she used a magic tool to copy and paste the contents onto other pieces of paper. Upon finishing, she handed out the crudely made maps. “I explored as much as I could before my minions died.”
Jason and his group inspected the maps. With their powerful stats, they memorized its contents in a few seconds.
Shenlong turned to Ebba with a curious expression. “What of the monsters?”
A summoning circle full of lines and patterns appeared at Ebba’s feet as she reported, “I encountered four different types of monsters. A large spider, a dog, a humanoid scout, and a flying drone. All of them were robots and had various technological weaponry. The spider, drone, and dog had guns mounted on them, while the scout shot out laser beams from its palms.”
Shenlong rubbed his beard. Ebba’s findings were the same as what Index’s guide stated. Although this time, that was all Index had to offer. They would have to move forward blindly from now on. For Shenlong, this wasn’t anything special. He had been ascending the tower blindly since the beginning. Slow and steady was his motto.
Shenlong turned to face the tunnel to the left and commanded, “Take your positions; we’re moving out. Amara, light up the path.”
For the week leading up to this operation, Shenlong learned everyone’s abilities in order to assign them the best role. Hearing Shenlong’s orders, everyone got into position. Jason and Zhen Hu took the front, Peter and Dubaku the left, Amara and Eboni the right, and Shenlong and Olivia the rear. In the center of their formation stood Cheslov, Ebba, Carly, and Roy.
Cheslov stood in front of Ebba and bent over. Ebba hesitated before she reluctantly hugged him tightly from behind. While they walked, Ebba continuously summoned her undead minions and sent them wherever she could. Her role was a scout, albeit a unique one. She had a rare skill to see whatever her minions saw. Unfortunately, she had to see through all of their eyes or none. There was no in-between. As such, all of her attention went to her minions, not her body.
Less than a minute after they began exploring, Ebba announced. “Two spiderbots, one robodog. A hundred feet ahead.”
Shenlong calmly responded to the situation. “Jason, solo tank them and learn their skills and stats.”
“Leave it to me,” Jason answered as he stepped forward.
A few moments later, an undead skeleton ran over with three monsters following behind.
(Elite) Mechanical Spider K-Series - Level 90
Health: 35,000/35,000
(Elite) Mechanical Dog C-Series - Level 90
Health: 50,000/50,000
The spiderbots were the size of an overweight rabbit, while the robodog was the size of a G
erman shepherd. The spiderbots carried a small turret atop their heads, and though the robodogs didn’t seem to possess any ranged weapons, their teeth were massive. They could easily tear through flesh and bones.
Jason strode forward without hesitation and used killing intent to take the aggro from Ebba’s undead skeleton. The turrets atop the spiderbots swiveled over to their new target and immediately opened fire. In response, Jason covered his body with his shield as sparks flew everywhere.
After two seconds, the spiderbots stopped to reload. Before Jason could move forward to attack, the robodog arrived. It pounced, its jaws open wide. The robodog’s teeth suddenly emitted a jarring noise as they began to move like a chainsaw.
Jason lowered his posture and took a step forward while letting out a Chop. A clang rang out as metal hit metal. As the two stepped back, Jason noticed the robodog now sported a cut no deeper than an inch. Its defense was frighteningly high.
Another round of bullets began almost immediately after the clash. Jason used Burst to position himself so that the robodog took friendly fire. A few bullets nicked his body, but he recovered quickly from his powerful defense and natural regeneration.
Jason continued to play around with the monsters, trying to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Of course, this was more for his companions than himself. He already knew everything about these foes.
A few minutes later, Shenlong shouted. “All right, that’s enough. Everyone, attack!”
Everyone here was the cream of the crop. During Jason’s brief exchange with the robots, they fully glimpsed everything about the monsters.
Hearing Shenlong’s command, Amara promptly used her strongest single-target skill, Flame Lance. It flew forward faster than a bullet and collided with a spiderbot. The spell knocked the robot off the ceiling, the surface of its body visibly melting.
Dubaku and Eboni worked with Jason to defeat the dog, while Peter took care of the other spider. Cheslov and Ebba stayed still while Shenlong and Olivia protected the rear. Roy and Carly kept a close watch on the battle, prepared to heal at a moment's notice.
In less than a minute, the battle was over. The robots dropped scrap metal, a crafting material.
Shenlong glanced at Ebba. “Anything?”
“No movement,” she responded.
“Continue!” Shenlong pointed forward.
Jason and Zhen Hu continued to lead the way. Slowly but surely, a map of the floor was beginning to form. Larger groups of monsters began to appear the deeper they went. The largest battle was against six spiderbots, three drones, and two robodogs. Still, against Jason and his comrades, it was a slight struggle, nothing more.
A few hours after they entered the floor, Ebba’s eyes suddenly widened. “There’s a fight!”
Jason paused, a faint smile appearing on his face. He’d been expecting this encounter.
Unaware of Jason’s thoughts, Shenlong turned to Ebba, bewildered. “A fight? We should be the only ones who got this far.”
Ebba’s eyes flickered in and out of focus as she explained. “Not ascenders. I think… I think they’re residents of the tower.”
“Residents?” Shenlong gasped. He didn’t expect this. Residents of the tower rarely appeared on floors. The thirtieth floor was an exception. He quickly asked, “What’s the situation?”
“They’re fighting a new type of monster. It looks like a slender human, except it’s a robot. Also, it has a lightsaber?” Ebba’s voice was full of doubt.
“A lightsaber?” Roy suddenly shouted in jubilation.
“They’re losing. And fast too.” Ebba narrated the fight as it happened. “I don’t think they’ll last much longer.”
“We’re going!” Shenlong immediately made a decision. “This is now an escort mission. Move quickly!”
Chapter 5
“Where the hell is Decker?” A middle-aged woman covered in modern military-grade equipment screamed at her allies, her voice full of fear and anxiety.
“He’s coming; he said he was close!” A man wearing similar equipment replied as he opened fire with his plasma gun. Blue beams of light shot through the air, destroying drones and spiderbots in rapid succession.
The area they were fighting in was a large underground room, full of barricades and sentry turrets. Around fifteen humans fought against a horde of robots. Mutilated bodies and trashed robots littered the ground, lit up by hundreds of beams shooting all over the place. It was pure chaos.
“AGH!” A scream cut through the battlefield.
The middle-aged woman glanced to the front entrance and found a horrifying sight. She gasped. “Damn, they sent a scout! We’re finished!”
The scout she referred to was a sleek humanoid robot. A plasma cutter, a melee weapon with destructive power, had just easily bisected a human soldier from head to toe. The scout stepped over the corpse, its red eyes scanning the room.
“Focus your fire on the scout!” The middle-aged woman was the highest commanding officer of this group, so everyone switched their focus to the new enemy.
“Take this!” A grim-faced man stood up from behind a barricade and fired a rocket launcher. An explosion followed a loud whistling sound. The man looked expectantly in the direction of the scout, only to curse under his breath.
A transparent blue shield covered the front of the scout. There were a few cracks from the impact, but even those showed visible signs of healing.
Unfortunately, while focusing on the scout stopped it in its tracks, the other robots took this chance to kill several soldiers. Seeing this, the remaining ten soldiers fell into despair. No matter what they did, they were outclassed, outmanned, and outgunned. A scout was too much for them to handle.
“Damn, damn.” The middle-aged woman glanced at the man behind her, who had contact with their base. “Where is DECKER?!”
The ground suddenly trembled as one of the walls collapsed. Decker, a tall man with broad shoulders, walked out amidst the rubble and dust, more a machine than man. Shockingly, metal formed half his body. It looked exactly like the metal making up the scout’s body.
As the two sides fought, Decker’s mechanical eye flashed. An endless amount of information entered his brain, instantly informing him of the situation. He released a battle-cry as he charged towards the largest threat. “Leave it to me!”
“Decker!” The remaining soldiers sighed with relief when they saw Decker arrive. Previously the fight had been hopeless, but now that Decker was here, it was their victory.
“Quite the entrance, you bastard,” the middle-aged woman quipped as she pinned down a robodog with her foot before firing explosive rounds down its throat.
“This way’s faster.” Decker laughed as he ran, the cement floor caving in from the weight of his body.
In less than a second, he arrived before the scout. He roared as he planted his foot into the ground, twisted his waist, and swung his arm with all his strength. As he did so, his mechanical arm suddenly grew twice as large. A vibrational wave flowed from his shoulder, down his arm, and out his fist at the moment of impact.
The blue shield protecting the scout instantly collapsed. Decker’s fist continued onward, slamming into the robot’s body. The scout’s chest caved in as it flew backward and collided with a wall before disappearing under the ensuing rubble.
“Hah! Take that, you little sh—” Decker abruptly spat out a mouthful of blood. He glanced down and found a plasma cutter sticking through his chest—the metal around the weapon melting. Roaring, Decker grabbed the blade with his mechanical hand and kicked out behind him. He struck something, even though nothing was there.
Decker pulled out the plasma cutter and wielded it as he shouted. “Careful, there’s a viper!”
“Enemy reinforcements incoming!” the middle-aged woman shouted.
Decker turned towards the front entrance, his face turning grim. “Well, crap.”
Five scouts confidently walked through the front entrance, each wielding a plasma cutter. Ev
en worse, the viper was still lurking around. His kick wasn’t enough to take it out.
One of the scouts stepped forward and spoke in an emotionless voice. “Humans. Surrender. Lead us to your base, and we will spare your life.”
“Screw off,” Decker scoffed, his eyes narrowing. The situation was terrible. He might be able to escape, but there was nowhere to run. This checkpoint was already close enough to the resistance base as it was. He couldn’t lead them there. Chuckling, he stepped forward as he spoke to his comrades, “Everyone, head back to the base. I’ll hold them back.”
“Deck—” The middle-aged woman began, only to be cut off.
“That’s an order, Suzzy. Tell Cable this entrance was compromised. He’ll know what to do.” Decker’s body began to pulse with energy, his energy core going into overload.
Many entrances led to their base, and if they lost control of one, they would destroy it with explosives. Doing so would make sure their base stayed hidden, but this time at the cost of Decker’s life. Suzzy’s eyes shook before they hardened with resolve. “Full retreat!”
As this was underground, Decker was unable to utilize his full strength. Otherwise, he could sweep the floor with these bots. Be that as it may, he casually sent the closest scout flying with his mechanical arm while slashing out with the plasma cutter. Just then, Decker felt a sharp wind cut at his neck. The viper chose the perfect moment to attack.
At this moment, a tall and handsome figure suddenly flashed into existence behind Decker. Miraculously, a shield made of gnarled wood blocked the plasma cutter, though it did leave a small mark.
The universe’s most destructive energy made contact with the viper as a sword nearly cleaved the invisible robot in two. Its internal circuits and wires sparked and crackled as it fell to the ground, unable to function correctly.
“Who?” Decker was alarmed and relieved at the same time.
Towers of Heaven: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 3) Page 2
