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

by Craig Kobayashi

  “I know you said to meet you here at dawn, but what the hell are we doing awake at this hour?” Auto asked, then lifted the coffee to his nose and inhaled reverently.

  “I’ve actually planned something special this morning just for you,” Garath told him mysteriously. “I think you’re going to love this.”

  "Cryptic,” Auto said unenthusiastically. "Are we going to take a portal to another world where every woman I interact with will be unreasonably attracted to me and inexplicably horny all the time?"

  “Nope.”

  "Bummer," Auto said seriously. "Are we… going to do the same thing we do every night, Pinky?"

  "Nope."

  “Are we going into another dark forest to slaughter more innocent creatures for our own gain?”

  “Almost the exact opposite of that actually,” Garath said, laughing.

  “Garath, like my uncle used to say: guessing games are like having a pet bear. At first, they are cute but if you don’t treat them properly, you are an asshole,” Auto said. He sat there for a few seconds, adopting the sage expression he always did when delivering advice from his uncle. “Just tell me what we’re doing.”

  Garath smiled and sipped cautiously at his over-hot coffee. “Alright, but before I do I’ve gotta tell you, that is probably the best proverb your uncle ever told. I’ve been messaging a guy that used to be the head zookeeper at the Woodland Park Zoo for the last couple days. I thought we might make a trip that way and get you some more BeastScape forms to bastardize.”

  Auto looked seriously at his friend, searching his demonic features for some sign that the Necrologist was just messing with him. Without any obvious signs of betrayal, Auto’s hope swelled, and he set his coffee down. “Are you Being serious? There's no way . . .” Auto couldn’t even finish his sentence.

  “Yep. I don’t know how many of the animals made it through the apocalypse, but this Irwin guy, that’s the head zookeeper, and his family all chose the Tamer Class and did their best to keep the zoo intact during The Culling. He said we could come for a visit to get new forms, as long as we’re okay with him accompanying us. He is, well, reasonably nervous about allowing people near his family and he seems just as protective about the animals there. Luckily, he's been following my forum posts and knows about our group of survivors. He said we could come by this morning if we wanted to."

  “And you said yes, right? Dude. Do they have elephants? Or, oh my God. Do they have rhinos? Rhino-Bear?!” Auto was losing his shit.

  “I thought you might be interested,” Garath said with a smarmy expression.

  “Where is this zoo?” the Chimerist said, barely able to control himself at this point.

  “It’s pretty close. Like 20 or 30 miles south of here,” Garath explained.

  Auto sprang to his feet, all traces of morning fog gone. “We could make that in less than an hour!”

  “I told Irwin we’d be coming early, but let’s get some breakfast first. Right?” Garath asked.

  In his excitement to unlock new BeastScape forms, Auto talked Garath into eating on the way, something the Necrologist wasn’t thrilled about, but Auto assured him that bugs actually taste great when assuming a bird form. They shifted into flight-capable forms and headed south.

  The trip was uneventful and passed quickly, due mostly to Auto's insistence on declining Garath's every attempt to talk him into stopping at every Lair they passed over. The Necrologist was only one Level shy of 30, and he was anxious to hit the threshold. Eating bugs was not nearly as convenient as Auto had led Garath to believe. In fact, Garath didn’t see a single bug the entire flight. Turns out, bugs don’t often hang around the altitude at which they were flying. Garath was sure it was not a coincidence, and that Auto had told him that so they could get a move on. The Necrologist made a mental note to get the Chimerist back with some passive-aggressive savagery when the opportunity presented itself.

  A man standing in the distance caught Garath’s eye as they spread their wings to descend. The man appeared to be looking right back at him. Behind the man, an enormous tortoise was chewing on a fern. Garath opened a private message to Irwin as they dropped, but before he entered a letter, he received a message himself.

  Private message from Irwin to Garath - 00/00/12 @ 03:18 (GST):

  I see you, mate. Come on over. Don’t mind the tortoise, he’s my companion.

  *That’s him,* said Garath via Party communication. He indicated the man’s position with his beak, then he and Auto banked slightly to meet Irwin near where Garath was sure the parking lot had been.

  Garath was in awe at how many of man's structures and miracles of technology had already been reclaimed by nature. He figured that Rum’bah, or another emissary for that matter, may have had something to do with that. The landscape of vines and moss among several unrecognizable plants growing over everything mankind had forged over its thousands of years was both beautifully gratifying, and also a stabbing reminder that the world would never again be how it once was. Before making it to ground level, Garath triggered Inspect on both the zookeeper and his tortoise.

  Irwin

  Human

  Health: 910/910

  Level: 23

  Class: Tamer

  Mana: 240/240

  Darwin

  Beast

  Health: 1,100/1,100

  Level: 23

  Tamed Beast

  Mana: 0/0

  Garath and Auto shimmered into their natural forms upon landing a few feet from Irwin and his massive tortoise. Garath smiled, hoping the greeting would help alleviate any bad vibes given off by his slightly demonic features.

  “Irwin,” Garath said brightly. “It’s nice to meet you.” After his verbal beatdown from the Hawkies a few days before, the Necrologist stopped introducing himself by name. As those little asshats pointed out, the nameplate always visible above his head did the job for him.

  “Ay, Garath. Who’s this?” the man asked, his Australian heritage clear in his voice.

  “This is Auto, he's a friend of mine. He’s a Chimerist, so for him, getting new forms to combine is like getting a Tamer getting a new pet,” Garath explained.

  “Chimerist, huh? I guess that explains the fuzzy bird thing.” Irwin looked curiously at Auto. “I think I’d really like to see what someone like you can do with that BeastScape Ability!”

  Auto smiled widely. “I’ve come up with some pretty cool things, but meeting the animals you have here is like Christmas in July,” Auto responded. Then, unable to contain himself even long enough for a proper introduction, eyes wide, he asked, “Do you have a rhino?”

  “Yeah, we do," Irwin replied, laughing. "Just the one though. She’s grown quite a bit since the whole magic-world takeova, but she’s just as sweet and gentle as she’s ever been. Harriet’s my wife’s companion.”

  “Can we…” Auto stammered. "May I please have the pleasure of meeting Harriet?"

  Garath was taken aback. He'd never once seen Auto so polite.

  Irwin grinned. "Yes, you certainly may. Before that, I was hoping you would help me out with something too, Garath. And since you’ve brought your friend, I’m sure the three of us could handle it without too much trouble.”

  “Anything,” Auto readily agreed. “Whatcha need?”

  Garath just smiled at the exchange and nodded his agreement to Irwin’s questioning look in his direction.

  “There’ve been a couple attacks down the south side of the compound. Nothing serious yet. The animals’ve grown strong and can hold their own for the most part, but it’s been getting worse. The elephants have been the target each time, poor things. At first, I didn’t know what was going on, just seen the blood on their legs and undersides. Whatever attacked ‘em was gone before I got there to check it out. Anyway, yesterday, it left the Matriarch with a nasty poisoned condition. I found a Naturist in the forums who was willing to heal and cleanse the old girl, but I’m worried to think what’ll happen if I don’t do something . If you’re wi
lling, will you come with me to check it out?” asked Irwin.

  Garath was surprised to receive a prompt.

  You have been issued the Quest: Trouble at the Zoo

  Irwin has made it clear that something has been attacking the elephant enclosure on the south side of the compound. Go with him to investigate and, if necessary, quell the threat.

  Do you accept this Quest?

  Yes or No

  Success Rewards: Unknown

  Failure Rewards: Unknown

  He quickly chose yes. Garath was chomping at the bit to get to Level 30. In this new world, quests seemed harder to come by than a good joke about the Church of Immaculate Conception.

  “Dude! You just gave me a quest,” Garath exclaimed.

  “Me too!” Auto cheered.

  “How did you do that?” Garath asked. If he could figure out how the process of issuing quests worked, it would open a whole new world of possibilities.

  “Wish I could tell yeh,” Irwin said, the surprise and confusion clear on his rugged features. “I didn’t even know I’d done it ‘til I got a message sayin’ that you two accepted my quest.”

  Garath figured since they were going together, he may as well send the zookeeper a Party invitation. Irwin accepted. “Well, let’s go check it out. I unlocked a non-Class Skill called Tracking that may help us figure out what's been going on."

  Irwin was intrigued by Garath’s Skill. The zookeeper asked the Necrologist questions about it as they made their way around the perimeter of the zoo through dense foliage to the south side. Considering Irwin’s obvious interest in the non-Class Skill, Garath said he’d try to help the zookeeper unlock it as well, but cautioned non-Class Skills can be difficult to unlock.

  Irwin’s tortoise, Darwin, lagged behind as they went, but the Tamer didn’t seem concerned, so Garath and Auto kept pace with him. As they rounded the final turn, bringing them directly south of the elephant’s habitat, a purple glow came into view. Garath pointed in that direction.

  “Right there,” he said. “There’s a Lair just past those thick bushes. Can’t be positive, but I’d say it’s a good bet that whatever’s populating the Lair is your problem.”

  Irwin and Auto both looked in the direction Garath was pointing, then at Garath and back to the forest ahead.

  “I’ll have to take your word for it, mate.”

  “I don’t see anything either,” Auto agreed.

  Garath rubbed his chin as he recounted his own experience unlocking the Tracking Skill. “I didn’t see the glow until I was standing in it the first time,” he remembered aloud. “Though, honestly I can’t recommend learning it that way. Right after I got Tracking, I was pounced on by a freaking pride of pumas.”

  “Pumas aren’t pride animals mate,” Irwin told him. The zoo-keep fixed Garath with a curious look. “How many of those beauties were livin’ in one place?”

  “There was a Matriarch,” Garath said. He recalled an image from the night he'd spent hunting with Aldrasyl, silently counting the cubs in his mind. “And maybe eight cubs, give or take.”

  “Nine?” Irwin gasped. “Nine pumas all living together. Well I’ll be… Oh, I wish I coulda been there to see that.”

  “There are more puma Lairs in the mountains,” Garath supplied helpfully. “We could take you there some time.”

  “I’d like that,” Irwin said with a smile before turning his focus back to the Lair in front of them.

  As they neared a potentially dangerous situation, Garath considered shifting into a more athletic form. Without knowing what type of animals populated the Lair ahead, he was not keen on going in there wearing his slow, plodding human form. In the end, the factor that decided it for Garath was a growing interest in racking up some soul-taints for his new Onikasha to feed on. He stayed in his human form and figured he could always shift into something else if the situation called for it.

  Closer to the Lair, Garath picked up a new scent on the breeze. It was an acrid, almost viscous aroma that made him feel like he was sitting in a warm car with the windows up and a family of hippopotamuses in the back seat, somewhere in Florida, at noon, in July. He wondered for a second if there would be any purpose to unlocking a hippopotamus form, or if that silly creature somehow received a synergy bonus with any Class, but figured it probably didn’t. Refocusing on the potential danger ahead, Garath willed Bill and Handsome into existence behind him… and in front of Irwin.

  “Blimey!” Irwin yelled, tripping over the foliage and landing on his butt. He scurried backward on all fours. “What in the dingo’s dingus…”

  “Not enemies, not enemies,” Auto explained, frantically waving his hands. “Garath sometimes forgets that pulling demons out of his body without explanation tends to freak people out.”

  Garath hadn’t thought about that. “Sorry. I do forget. My bad on that one, man. I suck.”

  Live and learn, Garath figured. He’d try to remember that he shouldn’t do that without some kind of explanation in the future, at least not around people that hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting Bill and Handsome yet. Irwin got back to his feet and raised a calming hand to his tortoise, Darwin, who had made it to the scene suspiciously quickly after Irwin had called out in shock. The uncanny speed didn't escape Garath’s notice. He figured the tortoise must have used a Skill or Ability to have covered so much distance in such a short period of time.

  Garath caught another whiff of the hippo-car-in-Florida smell, stronger this time. He lifted his nose into the air and traced the scent. The Necrologist felt a hungry gaze fix on him, and froze when he made eye contact with the largest lizard he’d ever seen. He almost didn’t see it at all, motionless and nearly invisible against the backdrop of foliage, but the monster’s tongue lashed the air, tasting Garath’s scent. The hair on the back of Garath's neck rose as he held eye contact, and then he received a prompt.

  Congratulations, Garath! You have unlocked the BeastScape form - Komodo Dragon.

  ***See the BeastScape partition of your MENU panels for additional information.

  “Joanna?” Irwin asked, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. “Oh, Joanna! I thought we’d lost you.”

  Garath and Auto stayed back as the zookeeper ran toward the enormous Komodo. Auto raised one hand, panic clear on his face.

  “Irwin, don’t!” Garath tried to warn him but the zookeeper, Tamer, and lover of all animals fell to his knees before her.

  Irwin raised a calming hand that glowed with white light. Joanna took a few cautious steps toward him, licked at the air suspiciously, and finally began a slow approach. Garath dismissed his demons to decrease the tension as the monster and the Tamer drew nearer to one another. Irwin's hand still held in front of him, Joanna affectionately placed her head against it and the Tamer gently stroked her scales. With a meaningful look at Darwin, Irwin dismissed the tamed tortoise from his service. Darwin shrunk noticeably, took a huge bite out of a nearby fern, and then shuffled away.

  “Hang on just a sec, guys. I’m gonna do a Tame on Joanna here,” said Irwin, still on his knees, stroking the monster Garath thought they’d come to slay.

  “You do you,” Auto told him before turning to look at Garath. “This reminds me of an old proverb my uncle used to tell me.”

  Garath looked up flatly at him, almost sure at this point that the Chimerist just made this shit up.

  “The monster within calms the beast at heart,” Auto said, nodding slowly as if he’d just spewed the most profound sentence ever.

  “Auto, that one didn’t even make sense.”

  “I do think something was lost in translation on that one,” Auto agreed, “but it seems fitting here. Doesn’t it?”

  “Not really. I mean, almost. But, not really. No.”

  The spell cast for Tame only took Irwin a handful seconds. When he finished, Joanna grew significantly. Garath wondered why that was, considering Brandon’s crow, Dave, was only slightly larger than a typical crow. Garath figured if anyone would have the answer th
ough, it was Irwin.

  Garath cleared his throat to get Irwin’s attention. “Hey Irwin, why is it that creatures get so much bigger when you tame them?”

  “Oh that,” Irwin said, finally turning away from Joanna and back to his Party. “I’ve got a Skill called Beast Mastery that lets me put more than one Skill Point into it. After the 3 Skill Points it took to unlock it initially, each point increases the size and relative Strength, Stamina, and Dexterity of creatures I Tame. I’ve got four extra Points in there so far.”

  Garath nodded in understanding. It sounded something like one of his Masteries as a Necrologist.

  “Should we head back to the entrance?” Auto asked, once again hyper-focused on unlocking more BeastScape forms.

  “Soon. Yeah,” said Irwin. “But first…”

  The Tamer looked around like he’d lost his keys. He lifted a fallen tree near the spot that Garath had first noticed Joanna, and several baby Komodos scurried across the forest floor to hide beneath their mother. Upon seeing her exposed brood, Joanna took a threatening step toward Garath and Auto, who backed away slowly in response.

  “It’s okay, Joanna. This guy’s a friend,” Irwin told her with a comforting tone. He bent to inspect the young lizards with an awe-struck smile on his face, and the tears that had welled upon seeing Joanna again now poured over his cheeks. “I’ve heard of virgin births in this species, but never experienced it personally. You’re all so beautiful!”

  Garath and Auto let Irwin have his touching moment with the tiny, wingless ‘dragons’. A prompt appeared in his mind’s eye and Garath took in the information at a glance.

  You have completed the Quest: Trouble at the Zoo

  Quest Reward: 1,500 Experience Points

  The Experience Point reward was underwhelming, but every little bit helped. He still had to rack up another 138,000 Exp to finally reach Level 30, but they hadn't made the trip to the zoo to get Experience. They were there to get some cool new BeastScape forms.