by Ryan DeBruyn
EXCISE
Book Two of the ETHER COLLAPSE Series
Written by Ryan DeBruyn
© 2019 Mountaindale Press. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by US copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Recap
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Epilogue
Afterword
About Ryan DeBruyn
About Mountaindale Press
Mountaindale Press Titles
GameLit and LitRPG
Appendix
Acknowledgments
To have written and published one book is a dream. To have an opportunity to publish a second is more than I could have imagined.
Thank you to Mountaindale Press – you believed in me and have created a family of people that help each other grow.
Thank you to everyone who has read book one, your support made book two possible and your input helped it become something greater!
Recap
Rockland and his group have managed to rescue just over eight thousand individuals from Ottawa and Corsair’s devious regime. Rocky originally travelled to Ottawa to find his family but now puts that goal on hold. After killing Corsair and eradicating the evil regime inside the militia, the group now must make a cross country trek back to the safety Algonquin Valley offers.
Rejoin Rocky, Sela, Azoth, Jason, and Joe as they struggle to keep the eight thousand under leveled survivors of the first two Ether waves safe.
Character Sheet of Rockland Barkclay at the end of Book 1
Rockland Barkclay Level 21
Class: Apprentice-Dark(Azrael) Revenant,
Level 1 Strategist
Class Skills: Dark Blade, Dark Mend, Dark Cloak, Shadow Clone
Health Points = 230/230 Points
Dark Ether Pool = 190/190 Points
You have 7 stat points and 2 skill points to distribute.
Stamina – 23 (Strength of Body +5)
Strength – 29 (Strength of Arms +5)(Strength of Arms +10)
Agility – 37 (Speed of Arms +5)
Dexterity – 30
Intelligence – 19
Wisdom – 27
Charisma – 29
Luck – 7
Weak Skills
Non-Class Combat Skills: Combatant – 19, Ether Channels – 13, Ether Manipulation – 11, Stealth – 24, Swordsmanship – 24
Common Skills: Barter – 5 , Camouflage – 7, Endurance – 20, Perception – 21, Tracker – 12, Trance Meditation – 15
Profession Skills: Actor – 5, Butcher – 17, Cook – 2, Herbalist – 14 , Miner – 1, Skinner – 17, Trader – 5
Moderate Skills
Non-Class Combat Skills:
Common Skills: Analyze – 2, Sneak – 5
Profession Skills:
Prologue
Earth — 25 Days after the First Wave
The second wave of Ether had been a massive discharge, undoubtedly as ample as the first. The wave had thundered with the pent-up, first-tier energy, frying her exposed dendrites and forcing her to initially recoil. When that same energy had combined with the returned steady tide of local Ether, it had far surpassed her expectations. Even she was unable to overcome the eons of slumber that had degraded her infrastructure designed to cope with such influxes.
Her slowly frying dendrites continued to curl around herself protectively as the crashing wave dumped more and more wild, chaotic energy on to her surface. Eventually, the energy had filled every crevasse around her until she was forced to seclude herself behind her mental walls from fear of it sweeping her away.
After days hidden away, the non-intelligent lifeforms and fauna creeping along her surface had finally filtered enough of the virulent Ether that she could come out of her protective state and begin surveying the damage. Gaia felt her soil settle comfortably when her sensitive dendrites discovered almost all evolved wildlife, including her golems, withstood the tidal storm of energy. Stretching her mind away from her recent respite showed her that, in fact, all of her flora and fauna had undergone massive evolutions, increasing their life energy and filtering effectiveness drastically.
A moment later, the planet quested far deeper, feeling the magma in her heart spin faster.
Where were her champions? What had happened to them?
A momentary rumble could be heard across the planet as her search failed to find massive collections of her champions, quieting only when Gaia’s dendrites told her they were still alive. The champions remained seemingly unchanged, evidently because their sapience had prevented the energy from acting according to its will.
Gaia scrutinized the imbalance between the powerful creatures and her chosen champions. Her Essence recovery was already accounting for an almost eighty percent loss of the humans since she had first awoken. The surface shuddered briefly when Gaia recalled the process of creating the creatures so many millennia ago. To call it uncomfortable was an understatement. The act of splitting her Essence and sharing it with the creations remained utterly terrifying. If she didn’t remedy this soon, she may be forced to create champions again to protect her surface from her brothers and sisters.
Immediately, Gaia searched for areas where her humans could survive and grow. Using the Atlantean Net, she accessed any conquered Territories but felt her burning-hot volcanic blood grow cool when she uncovered a scant few conquered Territories listed in the twenty-one rotations since the Atlantean Net began monitoring. Imprinting the locations on her body, she hunted out the first alphabetically, this ‘Algonquin Valley’, and noticed a small group of citizens starting to build lodging and organize themselves.
As she calculated distances from other pockets of survivors, something in the area made the ancient god feel brackish, and her consciousness seemed to tremble before she locked down her defenses. What had tried to attack her just now?
The people of the Territory didn’t have the combined power amongst them to register on the shields she had in place. With her defenses tight, she investigated the area in search of the culprit of her foreboding. As she delved around the Territory, widening her senses, she felt something s
trange to the north east of Algonquin Valley.
Gaia usually could sense everything on her surface, but an entire area in that direction had become a void. She focused on the region only to feel the area resist her influence and try to attack her again. It was like a kitten clawing at a full-grown hound, but it still worried her, as everyone knows that kittens turn into vicious, unruly alley cats if they aren’t dealt with.
The energy signature felt familiar to her. It was weak, yes, but it seemed like a sibling or some other being that tickled the edges of her mind. In desperation, she swept the area in all directions, and immediately southeast, she found a group of humans headed directly towards the Territory.
The group wasn’t large and seemed to be in a quandary. She was glad to see a group progressing towards safety, if plodding. To Gaia, it looked like a group of four exhausted champions, and some strange quadruped was their only real protection. Oddly, the beast and the man on its back vibrated with strange resonance to Gaia’s senses, but even this group of four was weakening. To her, it appeared that this group should have failed long ago, the wildlife’s far superior levels shattering them and their entire caravan. Gaia was bewildered that these people had survived, which made her dendrites inspect the situation more closely.
A part of her categorized every member of the larger group effectively before it arrived at the smaller group of four and the pet creature. Another member of the four was unique, having been gifted the druid class by her own hand. Gaia hadn’t specifically watched the tiny druid. She couldn’t be present for all of these minutiae on her surface. No, the Atlantean Net had notified her of a problem, and the woman’s resurrection had been her solution to it. The choice had been simple and concise. In fact, she had a small backlog of similar decisions currently, but before she got to those, it was time to solve this uneasy imbalance or tether it.
Chapter One
“This is Selaphelia Ardensai. A group of distant creatures is amassing on the east side of the column. Over.” Sela’s voice came through over the earpiece radio Rocky currently wore.
Rockland Barkclay was currently flying around the column, scouting for dangers. He first patted Azoth on his shoulders and through a very weary mental voice asked, “Can you fly to the east side of the column, big guy?”
Azoth turned his lion head, making an unnatural bird-like angle with his neck, and mentally responded, “Rocky need sleep. Azoth scout, Rocky sleep,” as he banked to the east.
They had learned early on that having Azoth scouting or relaying communications was a bad plan. Not only was he directionally challenged but he was also extremely incompetent at counting. His first mistake had been in relaying Sela’s precise instructions about a herd of elk. Azoth had led the way to the northwest side of the column, and the herd had passed on the southwest. Luckily, the mistake wasn’t critical, and they managed to bag a few for food.
Especially when you consider how tough the other monsters seem to be on this hell march.
His second failure had occurred when he was in the crow’s nest, meaning scouting from the sky. He had relayed and amassed a large portion of the army to tackle, “Tenzy panthers. Attacking from rear.” It had turned out to be three panthers attacking from the side and had cost a few people their lives. It was at that point that he had been relegated to become the vehicle for Rocky to scout.
As they approached the east, massive creatures began to take shape. They were dusky brown, mutated lizards marching in single file. At first, Rocky thought one had arms but realized a moment later that it sported a massive tree trunk protruding from a gaping wound in its side. On Azoth, he circled the group, noting marks of combat on all of them, and he quickly dove and centered on one to Analyze.
Land Lizard
Master-Dirt Devil
Level 29
Heavily Injured
Moderate Analyze failed to provide additional information.
These creatures were extremely strong. Normally, he would have left them, hoping they would go in another direction, but with their injuries, this was free food the caravan couldn’t afford to pass up.
He clicked on his radio, then yelled, trying to talk over the whistling wind, “They’re heavily injured but Master Class Level 29. I suggest we finish them off.”
“This is Ground Shark. You forgot your moniker, Eagle Eye, and to say over. Over,” Joe chimed in, making Rocky roll his eyes. He hated radio etiquette. It made him feel like he was back in elementary school playing with walkie-talkies.
I walkie and I talkie! Look at me; I can walkie talkie…
His brain was a little fried due to lack of sleep and a seven-day march through lands infested with scarily strong monsters. The trip to Ottawa hadn’t been nearly as dangerous as this; plus, he hadn’t had so many people to look out for.
His debuffs alone told the story.
De-Buffs
Sleep-Deprived
● Until you get a full night of sleep, you will find it harder to think and stay awake.
● Effects -25% Intelligence, -25% Stamina – Effects doubled due to use of Alchemy Potions.
● Lasts until you get a full night’s sleep and go 24 hours without a potion.
Skunk Shower
● You have been sprayed by an evolved monster, Peppy Le Skunk.
● Effects -50% Charisma.
● Lasts until treated.
Dance of the Dreamless
● You have not slept for more than eight hours throughout a week.
● Effects +125% chance to hallucinate.
● Lasts until you get a full night’s sleep.
Unclean x7
● You have not bathed or showered in over a week.
● Effects -25% Wisdom, -15% Charisma.
● +50% Chance of catching Disease.
● Lasts until showered or bathed.
Weakened Body
● Your body has been pushed beyond its current limits.
● -50% Recovery of Ether and Health.
Toxic Blood
● You have high PH levels in your blood due to high use of Alchemy Potions.
● -50% Effectiveness of future potions.
● Lasts 24 hours, will renew and increase every time a potion is used.
The hallucinations were sometimes relatively simple things that didn’t affect his day in the least. He waved to the flying cartoon squirrel beside him as it started and flew off into the distance, probably realizing he wasn’t his namesake moose friend, then blinked it away. Other times, the illusions had cost people’s lives, and Rocky hadn’t even had the mental capacity to comprehend those tragedies yet. The group of eight thousand souls that started this trip had been reduced to just under five thousand, and he felt his heart stutter as his brain took that distasteful path.
Sela luckily interrupted, “Selaphelia Ardensai here. We are low on food and need a restock. Any view of what injured them? Over.”
He looked down at the massive lizards that were twenty feet wide and at least forty feet long and nodded. One of those things could feed everyone, probably.
Then he scanned the horizons in both directions, looking out for anything big enough to have done this. Sela was absolutely right, and this level of damage implied a stronger foe nearby. He clicked his radio. “Eagle Eye. There is nothing close enough to see. I think this is our best chance to restock food. Everything else over the last few days has been nearly impossible to take down. People might starve soon.” He let go of his radio button, then remembered and clicked it again. “Over!”
He glanced down and saw the three members of his group standing ready while riding on top of the nearest tank. The tanks were each covered in huddled survivors who were either sleeping in their scheduled shifts or desperately stealing a brief reprieve from walking. They were probably discussing the danger level of attacking the foe, and so he waited for their decision.
Gritting his teeth at the reminder of the people depending on them, Rocky commanded Azoth to fly around behind
the lizards to cut off the most direct path of retreat and waited for the group’s decision.
Sela clicked back on. “Selaphelia Ardensai here. We have to risk it. Over.” He ordered Azoth to attack the largest and least injured one.
As the massive, truck-sized Chimera folded his wings and dove, over the radio Rocky stated, “Give ‘em hell!”
The lizards gained size quickly as they descended, and Rocky reassessed them. The alpha was probably seventy-five feet long and also happened to be the one Azoth was targeting. The others were closer to fifty feet long but were as tall as a three-story building.
He only had a moment to reconsider before Azoth back-winged furiously, and Rocky felt the g-force of the sudden deceleration try to press his body into the straining back of the Chimera. With his increased Strength, Rocky easily maintained his posture and even untied the ropes holding him in place. Once the momentum of the dive stopped with a jarring impact on the alpha lizard, Rocky leaped off of the Chimera’s back towards the trailing lizard with the tree protruding from its side.
These creatures were seriously heavy hitters and may have even compared to the boss monsters in Ottawa. While they had been forced to fight a few Master level creatures on the trip so far, all they had been able to manage was a single kill, only injuring the others enough to make them retreat. This was also the first time Master class creatures were in a group.
Rocky felt in his bones that this fight would have been a death sentence for his party in any other situation. His nerves ratcheted up a few degrees, thinking about something hurting these enormous beasts. If they weren’t near death, one would be quite capable of wiping out the entire caravan alone.
He summoned his Shadow Clone mid-leap and saw it use Stealth, while simultaneously the head and neck of the impaled lizard catapulted diagonally up at Rocky’s flying form. In desperation, he cast his Dark Cloak and curled into a ball. Luckily, his clone was summoned above his position, as the head missed it and only glanced off his butt. It turned his curled-up flight into an untold number of careening, airborne somersaults. Even injured, these creatures weren’t going to be easy prey.