Consequently, voices worldwide urged their governments to support the Alliance in any way they could, and they did. An endless amount of financial support, workforce, and PR from most of the world elevated the Alliance into what it was today.
Many top-grade ascenders left their guilds to join the Alliance, all for different reasons. Some wanted a bite of the cake that was the Alliance, while others felt their cause was worth fighting for. A few crazy ones joined to face the unknown in a search for adventure.
Fast forward to today, minutes before the blood moon, Peter stood atop a watchtower to overlook the battlefield, like last week. The traps, sigils, artillery, and auto-turrets were in place. The last two would last three times as long this time. All Peter did was tell the governments to send the guilds under their control to farm some ammo.
To be honest, it felt quite good to have the powerful countries do his bidding. Fortunately, the weight of responsibility prevented Peter from becoming arrogant and conceited.
A trap going off broke Peter from his thoughts. The horde was imminent. Just then, the mana cannon activated automatically, sending a giant ball of condensed mana into the miasma in a low arc. It disappeared in a blink, moving so fast it made contact with the monsters as soon as it fired. At the top of the cannon, a small spark of mana came into existence in the middle of the U. It grew bigger and bigger, and after ten seconds passed, the cannon fired again.
It only took a few minutes for the traps to deplete. Once they did, monsters poured out of the miasma, rushing at the wall in madness. Up above, a squad leader shouted, “Conserve your stamina; we’re in for a long night!”
Potions could replenish mana, so mages didn’t have to worry about conserving their resources. Only rangers, warriors, and the like needed to pay close attention to their stamina. This had been the case since the tower’s arrival. However, the paradigm changed once they got runes.
With six hundred ascenders having two runes and some three hundred having three, it was equivalent to fifteen hundred skills with no resource cost. Barely any had cooldowns more than a minute. As a result, it was a massacre. Even after a few hours, no demons made it over the wall, saving plenty of ammo.
If a scientist were present, they would’ve observed an interesting phenomenon: most top-grade ascenders formed runes specialized in dealing with monster hordes. Indeed, most created runes not to smooth out their builds by eliminating flaws but to deal with the most pressing matter at hand. Only a few had the mentality to plan long-term.
There was no right or wrong here. If everyone focused on removing weaknesses, the monster hordes would have been much more difficult. There would be a blood moon every week, and the monster hordes would only scale in difficulty as time passed.
Deep in the night, a few of the strongest ascenders decided to fight the demons head-on. In the center of the team, next to Amara, Dubaku had his arms folded across his chest as countless daggers flew around the battlefield. With his awakened soul as a base, he used telekinesis to control daggers from afar to fight dozens of demons simultaneously.
Unfortunately, using daggers in this way did not allow the use of dagger-related skills. At least, that was how it was in the past.
Deft Hands - Tier 1 Rune
Allows telekinesis to use your melee-related skills.
Remark 1: Stamina consumption remains the same.
Passively increases damage by 1%.
Dubaku was delighted upon seeing his dream build come into existence. Alas, he forgot to consider something. Although he could now fight dozens of monsters at once by using melee skills from afar, it also increased his stamina consumption considerably.
Dubaku didn’t give up and decided to go all in. His second rune solved the problem, albeit slightly.
Continuous Strikes - Tier 1 Rune
Stamina consumption is reduced by .1% for one minute for every skill used, up to a maximum of 10%.
Remark 1: The buff’s duration is refreshed with each additional skill usage.
Passively reduces stamina consumption by 1%.
To be honest, ten percent was negligible. Only after several upgrades would the rune show its real power. As a result, Dubaku used his daggers to support his allies instead of killing monsters outright like before.
Fighting down in the horde was dangerous. Monsters surrounded the team, and if not for Jason forcing most of the monsters to attack him, they wouldn’t have chosen to drop from the wall. There were even a few tier four demons among those assailing him. Usually, Jason would have to defend against attacks of such caliber, yet today he disregarded any thoughts of doing so. His confidence came from his second rune.
One Against Many - Tier 1 Rune
Increases your fortitude by .1% for every foe within thirty feet.
Passively increases fortitude by 1%.
The fortitude stat increased the natural hardiness of Jason’s body. As he was a tank, the stat was already absurdly high compared to his peers, and the rune only served to increase the stat further. In combination with his first rune, Jason was practically invincible fighting the low-tier demons.
Typically, the defense modifier on equipment would never apply to an ascender’s body. Only because of Jason’s rune did this rule change. Not only did he have the improvement from Fortitude, but he also had the defense modifier as well. From the perspective of the tower, Jason’s body was considered equipment.
The monster horde this time came from the north-east. By using skills to force demons to attack him, Jason reduced the pressure on everyone else. Anyone else would have died in minutes.
Inevitably, the dawn came. While everyone was exhausted, not a single person had died. The tier three mana barrier prevented any deaths. Not only that, the tier one mana cannon killed around three percent of the horde. While it seemed insignificant, three percent removed a lot of pressure.
The success this time purely came from the sacrifice of the seventy-two ascenders. If not for them, who knew how many would have died this time, considering Lavos wouldn’t intervene?
Chapter 45
The ascenders collected the essence, pooled them together, took count, then divided it up. The number of tier three demons increased by twenty percent, while a few tier four demons even showed up. If the blood moon’s strength went up by a few percent, the alliance improved by more than fifty percent.
However, such a drastic change mostly came from the blueprints, and considering how hard it was to assault a small stronghold, they wouldn’t be getting more anytime soon. As long as the alliance could manage the next few blood moons, Peter decided not to take on a stronghold until everyone had at least five runes.
Shenlong gathered his team outside the haven after everyone got some rest. He wanted to change things up. “Let’s hunt in groups of two today. Amara and Carly, Dubaku and Olivia, Jason and Tank, and Roy and I.”
Dubaku gulped and couldn’t help but notice everyone had some form of healing except for his group. Roy understood Dubaku’s reaction and reminded. “Don’t you have some of Su Long’s equipment imbued with my healing skills?”
“It isn’t the same…” Dubaku muttered quietly. Yeah, it was great Su Long created healing equipment by copying Roy’s skills, but how could that compare to a bona fide healer like Carly, Roy, or Tank?
“Stop moping; the teams will be different tomorrow.” Shenlong had the final say in the matter.
Carly’s eyes twinkled as she glanced at Jason’s shoulder, or more specifically, Tank. “I want to team up with Tank tomorrow. Please, please, please!”
Shenlong immediately shot her down. “Who will kill the demons then?!”
“Oh, right.” Carly reluctantly accepted the truth.
Tank gave her a consoling squeak before Shenlong continued. “All right, let’s split up. Since there’s no way to communicate, just make sure to return to the haven before night.”
Tank waved goodbye from Jason’s shoulder as he picked a random direction to walk in. Unfortunately, mou
nts were useless on this floor. The breeding industry couldn’t produce mounts strong enough to survive here. They might eventually, but that was far in the future, so jogging it was.
Jason maintained a pace just enough for his stamina regeneration to match his consumption. Even though it was a light jog, it was still over sixty mph. From this, it could be seen that ascenders had truly stepped into the realm of superhuman. It only took him under two years to grow to this level, so what about Aros and the other gods? They had a lifespan of millions of years to work with.
Jason killed whatever demons he came across until, eventually, he found a suitable hunting spot. Below him was a canyon a few miles wide. The howling of monsters came from inside, making him wonder what tier they were. Considering the haven was the starting point of the floor, there was little chance a hostile demon on Lavos’s level was in the canyon. He decided to enter.
Just as he began to climb down, his senses tingled. The fourth realm allowed him to listen to the will of the world, and it was telling him something was watching him from afar with killing intent. This wasn’t anything special. Demons usually spotted him before he found them, so he simply turned east in the direction of the monster.
He scanned the horizon but found nothing. The land was barren, so there was nowhere to hide. Jason thought it was strange. The demon’s will disappeared as soon as he turned. It might have some type of cloaking ability, but how could it hide its will? He only knew a few people who could do that.
Thinking this, he raised his guard. Something was lurking out there, forcing him into a passive situation. Jason and Tank were silent. The only sound was the howling of the monsters coming from the canyon.
A minute passed, then two.
The demon had more patience than expected. There was only one way for Jason to break the stalemate. If the monster wouldn’t show itself, then so be it. He decided to return to the haven. He slowly shuffled his feet along the ground, making sure to keep a battle-ready stance.
Sure enough, as soon as the demon saw his intent to leave, it attacked. Jason spun around, the demon’s will voicing its thoughts. It didn’t have a cloaking ability but could travel underground. There were a few monsters on other floors with this ability, so Jason wasn’t surprised.
However, when he turned around, there was nothing. No monster emerged from the ground like expected, leaving Jason aghast. His awakened soul was wrong? How could this be? There was only one possibility. If something wanted him to turn this way, then didn’t that mean— a sharp whistle came from behind, interrupting his thoughts.
It was too late to dodge. Jason could only watch as an arrow emerged from his chest, blood spraying in a beautiful pattern. The arrow left a gaping hole in his chest where his heart was. It was gone.
Jason staggered forward from the sonic boom brought by the arrow. Blood poured from his mouth and chest as he spun around to face his attacker. Simultaneously, Tank anxiously cast a few healing skills, only for a black mark on Jason’s chest to negate their effects.
Warning! A Tier 4 Rune has cursed you. All healing skills and effects are negated for thirty minutes.
Remark 1: Recovery-based stats and skills will continuously reduce the duration.
He was cursed just like Lavos had been. Not only did it negate healing skills, but it also prevented Jason’s recovery stats from healing the wound. This type of effect was a tank’s worst nightmare.
The situation was dire.
Jason’s awakened soul was useless and harmful, so when a barrage of arrows shot towards him, he decided not to rely on it. However, this was easier said than done. For months Jason had relied on the omniscient effects of his soul, and listening to it had become second nature.
The first arrow curved in from the right, moving so fast it was a blur. Jason naturally raised his sword to deflect, only to realize it was coming from the left. Again, the fourth realm betrayed him. The arrow pierced through his armor, followed by another, then another. Jason was knocked off his feet and sent flying backward.
These five were much weaker compared to the first. Even then, the power behind each arrow broke the sound barrier. As Jason landed on his back, the collision knocked Tank off his shoulder. She bounced off the ground, only coming to a stop a hundred feet away.
Warning! The gravity applied to you has increased by twenty-five times for one minute.
Jason faced the sky as blood poured out from his wounds, his vision blurry. While his condition was terrible, the stats and skills he had accrued over the past two years enabled him to live without a heart for some time. However, he lacked the will to fight. His opponent outclassed him in every way. Worse, his prided fourth realm had betrayed him.
Maybe… maybe it was time to let Peter and the others take over. He had done his best, right?
The Alliance was strong enough to finish Jason’s mission. He could now join his fallen friends and comrades. Ever since the day he entered the depths of his soul and saw the locked memories, a part of himself had stayed there. He wanted to join them so, so much.
A pitiful squeak came just when he wanted to close his eyes. Through his connection with Tank, he was able to feel her lifeforce weaken. He felt her pain and fear as if it was happening to himself.
Not yet!
He couldn’t give up until he handed Tank over to Roy and the others. He didn’t care about anything else as he focused his resolve. Using all his strength, he fought against the increased gravity and forced himself to his feet as blood poured out in lethal amounts.
“Wow, you’re still alive?” For the first time, Jason saw the identity of his attacker.
With disheveled black hair and leather armor in disrepair was Cay Wolf, the once-feared assassin. He stood in human form not far from Jason. In his hand dangled Tank, wounded beyond belief.
Jason’s eyes widened then narrowed as he growled. “Let. Her. Go.”
“A soul companion, huh?” Cay glanced down at the turtle. In the next moment, his fingers transformed into claws before piercing through Tank’s skull. Tank let out a whimper and turned into a flash of light. The light entered Jason’s body in an instant as he stood there in disbelief. The connection between them went silent. What? Tank had died? Just like that?
Warning! Your soul companion, Tank, has died. To revive her, you must sacrifice 25 levels and 50 to all stats.
Jason grew hopeful upon reading the notification. However, another one popped up shortly after.
Warning! Due to your soul companion’s death at the hands of a pure demon, her soul is deeply wounded. Due to her battle physique and the connection you share, she can be revived by upgrading your battle physique to the next level.
Jason dropped to his knees. It was hopeless. The requirement to upgrade his battle physique was unknown, and in all these months, he had yet to make any progress.
Cay saw the despair in Jason’s eyes, and for a moment, he paused. Slowly, he asked. “How’s Olivia?”
Jason only glanced at the ground with a dull expression.
“No matter, I’ll find her myself.” Cay shook his head. He gave Jason another glance. “Jason, right? Back then, I didn’t know what an awakened soul was, so I lost and had to become a tool of the tower. Although I lost my freedom, I learned so much.” Cay considered his words. “Looking at your response to my first attack, you still have a lot to learn. You don’t know how to mask your will nor deceive another. Do you even know what a—”
An immense force abruptly pressed Cay to his knees. The air trembled as the ground cracked in every direction with Jason as the center. Despair and hopelessness flooded the world. Jason’s will unfolded as he lost himself in the reality of Tank’s death. Never before had he so intimately shared feelings with another person, or in this case, a creature. No death had affected him as much as this one.
Cay looked around in shock, recognizing this power. While he wasn’t the target, Cay just so happened to be right next to Jason, the source. Cay’s will was like a small boat in a sto
rm, barely afloat. Jason’s will seeped in, infecting Cay's soul.
Cay’s tears hit the ground as long-suppressed emotions rose to the surface. The shattered pride of the strongest assassin upon failing to kill Shenlong, and the regret from killing his wife, son, and brother for power in a moment of weakness.
Back when Jason and Shenlong clashed wills during the tournament, they knew continuing further might irreparably change their souls. Cay was aware Jason was flooding his soul with emotions he disdained, yet he could do nothing to stop it. Right now, if Jason wanted to, he could directly destroy Cay’s soul. It was only because Jason was in shock that Cay remained alive.
At this moment, Jason’s mind was a mess. A part of him wanted Cay to kill him, a part of him was afraid of death, a part of him wanted to struggle, and a part of him wished he had the confidence he used to have, back when he fought alongside his best friends.
Since reentering the floor of death, Jason had forgotten what confidence felt like. He searched his memories, yet they were dull and gray. Finding nothing within himself, Jason felt something nearby, a light in the darkness. This light was what he sought—confidence bordering on arrogance. It went far beyond what he used to have.
Like how an artist painted their subject, Jason used this absurd confidence as inspiration to rekindle his motivation and will. This was it. The feeling he had fighting monsters, completing quests, and living life to its fullest alongside his companions—belief in yourself and the confidence to accomplish anything.
Towers of Heaven: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 3) Page 20