The Tree of Ascension: A LitRPG Apocalypse (Peril's Prodigy Book 2)

by Craig Kobayashi

  Auto stepped between the gargantuan Golem and his dying healer, meeting the huge demon in melee combat if only to allow Maimon the time he needed to recover from Handsome’s harassment. Handsome, for his part, wasn’t done. The winged demon latched onto Maimon’s head, a gnarled hand grasping each of the Preacher’s ears, holding on for all he was worth.

  Even this far into the fight, between Garath’s Regeneration stat of 63 and the fact that he received a 30% reduction to all Mana costs while in House Cat form, his Mana bar was still sitting pretty at 1,101/1,690. With the amount of available Mana, Garath was tempted to throw a few more stacks of Quickening Entropy on his target for good measure, but he knew from experience that Auto wouldn’t allow them much time to take down his healer. With that in mind, Garath channeled his Mana into a deluge of Death Bolts, hoping beyond hope to land a critical hit.

  Standing side by side, the fluffy white Necrologist and grey-tabby Naturist sent a volley of black and green orbs at the Preacher, still trying desperately to peel the winged demon off his face. With his Health low even before the attack due to the constant incoming damage from the DoTs, Garath was sure Maimon wouldn’t survive much longer. But Garath wasn’t the only one with a valuable teammate.

  In the mere seconds they’d been focused on Maimon, Auto had taken the Dreadreaver’s Health to 0, and tossed its corpse to the ground, then charged at the two cats blasting their best attacks unimpeded into his healer. Garath could feel him coming and issued a mental command to Bill to meet his charge, hoping the demon-dog could keep the Chimerist off of them for long enough to finish Maimon. The Cambionic Fel Hound limped toward the Man-Bear with one leg oozing green blood.

  Garath and Sharon both ignored Auto’s approach and the inevitable damage they would sustain when he arrived as they each sent bolt after bolt into Maimon, each knocking off a fraction of his remaining hit points. Through what was sure to be agonizing pain, and with a demon humping his face, Maimon was still able channel Mana into a cast. As much as Garath disliked the Preacher, there was something to be said about that kind of grit. Garath was impressed, until the Preacher’s HP reached 0 and he died before completing it.

  At the exact moment that Maimon’s body disappeared from the system-sanctioned duel arena, Auto reached the two felines with their backs turned to him. With a wide, cleaving swipe of his claws, the Chimerist landed a vicious hit that raked both Garath and Sharon across their backs. The pain from the four-clawed slash was tolerable to Garath, despite it costing him nearly a third of his HP. Sharon did not fare quite as well. The same attack that parted the Necrologist from 30% of his total Health took more than twice that from the Naturist, leaving her with only about a fifth of her red Healthbar filled and a bleed debuff draining more of what precious few Health Points remained. Garath mentally kicked himself for standing in such close proximity to his teammate, allowing Auto to land such a devastating blow to his team as a whole.

  *Sharon, we’ve gotta split up!* he shouted over their Party communication channel. Sharon’s only response was a muffled uh-huh noise that sounded remarkably similar to no shit, Sherlock as she ran toward home plate. *I’ll try to slow him down while you heal yourself. Turn around and try to run beneath him without getting hit.*

  *You want me to run towards that monster?* Sharon asked incredulously, without changing direction.

  *Do it, Sharon! Your reflexes are faster than his right now,* said Garath, fairly confident that he was right.

  Garath resumed his natural form as Sharon skidded to a stop and wheeled around with four flailing limbs, her tail whirling to keep balance. Auto took a swing at the tabby as she passed beneath his legs, scoring the infield dirt with four deep gashes as she sprinted past him back toward the now much larger Garath between the pitcher’s mound and second base. The House Cat bonuses were great, but the Necrologist didn’t have a chance in hell at slowing the massive Man-Bear creature while weighing in at less than eight pounds. If he had to take a few hits from the Chimerist to give Sharon the time she needed to heal up and get back in the fight, at least he’d take less damage in his human form, although his chances of slowing Auto’s beastly form weren’t all that much better weighing in at his natural 170 pounds.

  Garath didn’t like his chances of beating a fully-healed Auto in a one-on-one matchup with his own Health already sitting below 70% if Sharon went down. He had to give her the time she needed to recover.

  Auto stumbled, off balance from his missed attack and Sharon’s abrupt change of direction, but recovered quickly and was gaining on Sharon as she passed the pitcher’s mound. Garath didn’t know what the hell he’d do when he got there but, now in his natural form and adorned with the tiara and baton he’d picked up in Aquawood Depths, the Necrologist helped to close the distance by sprinting toward Sharon, paying the 81 Health and 81 Mana costs into the two-second cast of Sanguine Ward as he did. The Blood Magic shield-spell would reduce the damage of physical attacks by 80% for the next five seconds.

  Garath had never really been involved in athletics, but if he were to attempt a sports reference to describe what happened next, he would liken himself to a tennis player trying to tackle Jerome Bettis with a full head of steam. He knew there was a chance that Auto would break off from chasing Sharon and simply attack the squishy Necrologist. He knew it would hurt, but that was the result Garath was hoping for.

  Unfortunately, the Chimerist smelled blood in the water and continued chasing Sharon, only slightly inconvenienced by the glowy-eyed Necrologist holding onto his hairy back as he moved in to make the kill on the wildly fleeing tabby.

  Sharon’s Health continued to drop from the bleeding debuff as she made her mad dash, zigzagging in her best attempt to shake the pursuit. Garath had hoped to save his most powerful spell to use as a defensive measure, but opted instead to activate Black Blood in the form of an attack as Auto closed on Sharon and raked at her back with his right paw. The cleaving slash left shallow wounds on the Naturist as she made yet another well-timed direction change, lessening the impact but not completely avoiding the attack. Unfortunately, the numerical value of the glancing blow was greater than Sharon’s remaining Health. The Naturist’s limp and blood-soaked feline form vanished from the arena as she died.

  Hundreds of black droplets of shiny liquid seeped from every pore in Garath’s skin as the fight became a one-on-one deathmatch. With his arms still wrapped around Auto’s hairy, muscled, way-too-thick neck, Garath willed the Black Blood to form a lance. The tiny black droplets, supposedly his own blood, coalesced at his command, and an impossibly dense spike shot out from Garath’s center, entering Auto’s back and erupting from his stomach with a string of hot, dripping intestines hanging loosely from it. The bear-man roared in pain, sounding much more beast than man, as nearly half of his Health drained away from the single devastating attack.

  The Black Blood lance shish kabobbing Auto reverted to liquid form and reentered the Necrologist’s body. Garath wondered briefly if Auto’s guts had gotten into his own blood somehow. Gross.

  Garath held on tight, weaving his fingers together around Auto’s neck as the Chimerist bucked wildly to throw the Necrologist. Garath’s heart pounded with excitement, thinking that if he could just hold on long enough, his DoTs might just win this fight. He released the instant cast of Blight again as the cooldown elapsed. He tried to funnel Mana into Creeping Death, but found that he was unable to cast some spells with his hands occupied. Garath reasoned that having free hands must not have been a requirement for that Blight, an instant cast that only affected the area surrounding the caster.

  Taking Auto’s Large form into account, Garath knew that the Chimerist would take a reduced 18 damage per second between his Plague and Blight. At that rate, it would take quite a while to bring down the increasingly angry Man-Bear beneath him. Not going anywhere soon, Garath stole a glance to check Auto’s Healthbar, and a giddy smile stretched across his face.

  Though Handsome’s Mana Regeneration rate was now
here near that of his Summoner, the ugly winged demon had apparently regained enough of his magical energy while riding Maimon’s face like a bucking bronco that he was able to get back in the fight. While Garath was reviewing Auto’s debuffs, a second stack of Q.E. was added to the list, refreshing the duration of Handsome’s spell and doubling the damage Auto would take every second from the single-target, stackable DoT. Things were coming together, and Garath felt better about his chances.

  Until Auto triggered a BeastScape transformation.

  Whatever new mutant animal the Chimerist was turning into, it was much smaller than his Man-Bear form, Garath reasoned, because the iron grip he’d had around Auto’s neck went suddenly slack. Garath’s Chuck Taylors made contact with the infield dirt for the first time in several painfully long seconds when Auto’s transformation came to an end.

  In a flash, a stout quadruped with a thick orange coat, a fluffy tail tipped with a white flag, and a mouth so full of sharp pointed teeth that Garath wasn’t even sure how they all fit, whirled around to face him with a snarl. The new form was quite a bit smaller than the Man-Bear, but still bore a resemblance, leading Garath to believe it was probably still a bear hybrid, perhaps mixed with a fox. Auto began another transformation immediately after freeing himself of Garath’s unwanted hug. But before he finished the shift, Bill came barreling in from right field with an open mouth and violent intentions.

  The Fel Hound wrapped it’s maw around Auto’s left foreleg and shook his head viciously, tearing into the muscle while the Chimerist swelled back into the bipedal Man-Bear hybrid form. In less than a second, Bill was hanging in the air with Auto’s arm still clenched between his teeth.

  Garath gathered his Mana, channeling it into the 3 second cast of Haunt. Handsome, once again out of Mana after applying a third stack of Q.E. to the Chimerist, flapped his skin-and-bone wings - flying toward the Man-Bear with reckless abandon. Auto’s Healthbar showed that he was under 30% and dropping rapidly, but there was a reason he had chosen the hybrid of human and bear.

  With a show of incredible Strength, Auto ended Bill’s life by lifting the arm the hound was chewing on and slashing at the demon-dog with the other. The savage attack opened Bill’s neck, hot gooey blood cascaded to the ground and his limp body fell to the ground. Handsome reached Auto’s melee range, flying toward his head in an ill-advised attempt to harass him like he had Maimon. Auto jumped at the demon and slashed, spilling Handsome’s intestines onto the infield. Handsome joined Bill, the Dreadreaver, and Sharon on Auto’s growing list of kills, leaving the Necrologist alone to face his friend.

  A white specter flew from Garath’s chest and into Auto as he charged. The blood of his demons was still dripping from the Chimerist’s claws and face. The visage was startling, and panic crept up his spine.

  Indecision during battle is the easiest way to lose. Garath knew that, and despite his analytical side screaming at him to flee, he knew he couldn’t get far enough from Auto even if he’d had more time. A glance at Auto’s Healthbar revealed that the Chimerist, only a few feet away now, had less than 10% of his maximum HP. Garath wouldn’t be able to complete a long spell cast before Auto closed to melee range, and adding more damage-over-time wouldn’t help much if Garath took a few hits like those that had just obliterated his demons.

  There was only one thing left for him to do. Praying to Satan for a critical hit, Garath poured Mana into casting Death Bolt. The one-second cast time felt like an eternity as Garath watched, almost as if in slow motion, as Auto’s clawed hands rose for an attack. Auto’s right hand came down as the orb of black energy shot out from between Garath’s raised staff and outstretched hand. Both attacks landed simultaneously.

  The Death Bolt connected with Auto’s neck, just under where Garath had been aiming and the Chimerist’s Healthbar dropped to below 5% and continued to drop from the damage-over-time effects already in place. Auto’s right hand came down against Garath’s neck, followed shortly by a left that connected with the top of the Necrologist’s head, finding purchase and ripping away a sizeable chunk of skin from his face

  The pain felt peripheral to the Necrologist. His body coursed with adrenaline. Even with parts of his face missing, his Healthbar empty, and soaked in blood and entrails, Garath still felt pretty.

  And then, he was standing between Sharon and Maimon just outside the system-approved arena.

  All members of your Party have died. You have lost the duel.

  Chapter Fifteen – Things are Coming Together

  Maimon and Garath had buried the hatchet after the duel, each feeling much better after sating their testosterone-fueled rage. Garath didn’t see the two of them becoming bosom companions by any stretch of the imagination, but they’d shaken hands and agreed to let bygones be bygones. With that out of the way, the duelers and their handful of spectators followed Garath back to his cliff top and made preparations for the dinner that the Necrologist had promised everyone.

  The unmistakable smell of campfire blended with the tang of the ocean, creating a scent that reminded Garath of summer. It brought back memories of late nights telling stories as a Boy Scout and of the friends he shared his youth with. The delightful scent and fond nostalgia were a welcome distraction, although Garath was still sore that he’d lost the duel.

  Warrion, who had apparently seen the group at the baseball field on his World Map and flown over to watch the fight, approached Garath with some interesting news. As the Necrologist and the Assassin carried long folding tables from the Guild Hall to the cliff top, Warrion told him about his chance encounter with Daisy and Brandon just west of the new forest. Garath was impressed with the story all the way around, though he wasn’t sure if he could believe what Warrion told him about Daisy without seeing it with his own eyes. The rings on the Assassin’s fingers were proof enough of Brandon’s prowess, and Garath made a point of finding the kid later that evening.

  The community dinner on the clifftop was a roaring success. Sharon, along with a few friends she'd made within the Guild, put together an amazing spread, and the group of over two-hundred men, women, and children happily devoured the meal. A great deal of stress and fear peeled away from everyone with no immediate threat to their lives and Sharon's cooking in their stomachs.

  After everyone had eaten, Garath scanned the crowd for Brandon. He found the young man standing alone, staring up into the evening sky near the groups chatting around the buffet. Garath followed his gaze to find two crows playing an aerial game of tag. Thanks to the nameplates above their heads, Garath knew it was Daisy practicing her Crow form with Dave, Brandon’s pet. He approached Brandon with Warrion at his side, and patted the young man on one shoulder to get his attention.

  Brandon jumped at the unexpected touch, then turned wide-eyed to face the demonic-looking man standing over him. The moment of fright quickly turned into recognition, and the boy smiled deviously as he received a wink from Warrion.

  “You’re here for some rings?” Brandon asked slyly.

  Garath laughed, half-expecting the red-headed young man to reveal a full inventory of black-market rings and counterfeit watches on the inside of his jacket or something.

  “You got it,” Garath confirmed. “Warrion told me you can make some pretty cool rings with nothing but Mana Crystals and wood. Is that right?”

  Brandon nodded. “Sure can. I can make rings that can give you plus twenty Wisdom each.”

  “That’s amazing.” Garath nodded, looking impressed. “I’d like to commission two of these rings immediately. What’s it gonna cost me?”

  Brandon smiled with the enthusiastic excitement of a used car salesman about to close a deal. “It takes two Mana Crystals to make each ring, but I do have to charge you for my time as well.”

  Garath smiled. This kid has a future. “And what is your time worth?”

  “I’d say ten…” Brandon cut off at a sharp look from Warrion. Garath saw the Assassin not-so-subtly point up with a poorly concealed hand. “Fifteen
Mana Crystals,” Brandon amended.

  Pretending he hadn’t seen Warrion’s subterfuge, Garath appeared to consider the offer for a moment. In truth, he didn’t really care how many Mana Crystals the boy wanted for the rings. Until now, he hadn’t even known what the damned things were good for.

  But he was wondering who else may benefit from Brandon’s rings. At the very least, he knew that Sharon and Athios hadn’t filled their ‘finger’ slots yet. “How about this. I’ll give you all of my Mana Crystals and you make me six of these plus-twenty Wisdom rings?”

  Brandon’s eyes went even wider. He almost agreed on the spot, but another sharp look from Warrion pulled him up just short of putting his hand out for Garath to shake. “And exactly how many Mana Crystals is that?” the boy asked smartly, glancing to Warrion.

  Warrion nodded his approval and they both looked inquiringly at the Necrologist.

  Garath did a quick check. “Eighteen.”

  Brandon agreed, and the two shook hands to seal the deal. Just after Garath handed over the payment, instructed by Warrion on how to complete the procedure, Brandon crouched low and pulled things out of his Items panel to get started on the order. Just then, two crows landed on Brandon, one on either shoulder.

  “Hey Brandon,” Garath said, scratching at his chin. “How’d you unlock the Jeweler Profession anyway?”

  Brandon’s face suddenly turned as red as the hair on top of his head and he glanced at the smaller of the two crows on his shoulders. He looked away in a hurry, shifting his gaze to the ground uncomfortably. “Uh, I…” Brandon struggled. He looked at Daisy in her Crow form again, then quickly back to Garath. “I just got lucky, I guess.”

  The smaller of the two black birds hopped off and promptly shifted into her human form. “What do you mean, got lucky?” Daisy asked, looking curiously at Brandon. “I should have asked before. How did you unlock that Profession?”