Ascension

by J R Davis

  I was pretty sure this was an uphill battle but I wasn’t going down without a fight. I called out Grasping Hands and fired multiple vollets of Dark Orb that did seem to slow him down. I imagine between my drains and Charon’s attacks he did not have a lot of hp left. Maybe I could take him out if I could get a few more shots in. Briggs was heavily injured and essentially limping in my direction with his sword in hand and reinforced determination written on his face. It was then that I had a crazy Idea. A last ditch effort to take him down before that sword got in range.

  I emptied 4 rabbit skeletons onto the ground and put myself to work casting. Raising each of the rabbits I then sent their skeletal forms to different sections of the arena, effectively making a large square within the circle we were bound within. He was almost on top of me now with his shield at center and sword at the ready position. Either this was going to work or I was going to experience virtual death for the first time, yay.

  Again I activated my skill to root him and fired a few more volleys at the paladin. Now within range, he raised his sword high, attempting to end me in one clean sweep. He brought the sword down with lightning speed. His cold determination pushing the tired man forward. His hit never connected though, for when the blade started its drop I triggered Arcane Shift and switched places with one of the rabbits on the far corner of my undead network. Confusion momentarily on the mans face, he looked down to see that rather than a bloody pulp of a necromance there was now an angry little rabbit skeleton chomping away at his ankle.

  With a grimace, Briggs turned around to face me. My staff already channeling its next spell. I triggered Grasping Hands once more and mentally nudged the rabbits to sick him. The rabbits themselves bore little threat to the armored paladin, but they made for a good distraction. As the tiny swarm attacked I fired volley after volley of Dark Orb. I knew the individual shots were too weak to kill the man, but between the rabbits and myself, I was hoping it would get the job done. The issue being, my mana pool was already running dangerously low after all the spell-slinging I had done this match.

  Step by step Briggs made his way through. The scowl on his face a clear indicator that he was not having a good time. He didn’t even acknowledge the rabbits ah he took long strides forward. All the while I used orb after orb hoping to shut him down before he came within striking range. In one last desperate attempt, I rooted the paladin, issuing a mental command to the rabbits to all ram the back of his leg joint to bring the man to his knees. As he fell I slammed my staff onto his head, dazing him and leaving his guard wide open for one last Drain. The skill hit true as I healed and drew from his already diminished health.

  After a long moment, his body went slack. Even The paladin's health pool had its limits. At the same time, I saw that same red glow outlining his body. With the last remnants of my mana, I cast Raise Undead on Briggs, inadvertently ranking up the skill. That same portal appeared in the man's back. From it rose the familiar form of my companion, Charon, fully clad in his armor, blazing blue eyes locked on me as he rose. This time though, a blue ethereal aura could be seen covering the skeleton, his features seeming sharper, more defined. I may have to ask Lia about that later.

  “Let’s not do that again,” Charon said with an exhausted mental sigh.

  “No arguments here, man,” I said, my exhaustion rivaling his own.

  The announcer declared me the victor and the two of us made our way slowly offstage and back towards our friends. I’d have been a lot more excited to win my first match but, that fight took more out of me than I’d readily admit. I had barely sat down when Ogma’s large muscular arm wrapped around me.

  “I was worried about you for a minute there, but you pulled through!” He said with a wide grin. “We better celebrate later whether this whole thing works or not”.

  “I try to avoid facing paladins and clerics but you didn’t do bad” Lia added with while raising her drink in a salute.

  “I’m honestly as surprised as you guys,” I said with a tired smile. The fight took a lot out of me and my mana pool was almost entirely depleted. “Still, I pulled that shift idea from you, Lia”.

  “I’ll be expecting a drink later on as a payment on the royalties of that trick,” she said with a wink.

  “That’s a fair deal isn’t it...rabbit lord?” Morrigan added. The two women giggling loudly with Ogma as I placed my head in the palms of my hands. That’s just great, a new nickname, just what I needed. The entire time Okane just sat back with an amused grin. Apparently enjoying the show, that sick bastard. I could not have asked for a better group to play with, but fuck em. I chuckled to myself for a moment as the group spectated the next fight. The way things were going so far, I’d say we were a shoe in to get this guild thing going. Let’s just hope Morrigan and Okane fair as well as we did. My match was odd enough, but leave it to Ogma to headbutt the opponent into the ground.

  A few more matches and an intermission later, our group found ourselves seated in a nearby food tent grabbing a bite. I was not entirely sure how I could even get hungry in the game, but the mutton was certainly seeing to that. An icon reading “well fed” appeared under my status bar after I was about half way into my meal. Apparently, it essentially granted a small amount more experience as well as decreased stamina depletion for about an hour, which was nice.

  Ogma, on the other hand, was presumably on his 6th drink and 4th helping. I wonder if the man was trying to see if the buff would stack. This seemed unlikely though as I had just a bit ago seen him in bear form up against a tree. Still, given Ogma’s sheer level of intake, It was becoming increasingly curious if the man could actually get fat in here though. Even if he could, I don’t think hibernating on us would be a great way to kick off our quest to protect the goblin village though.

  It was in the middle of such thoughts that I suddenly found an armored hand resting on my right shoulder. It was Briggs and he looked pretty serious too.

  “I’d like to talk if you have a moment,” the gruff man said. His face matched his stern tone. Ogma and the group looking up at the man, but seeing no imminent threat they went back to their general drinking and merrymaking.

  “Uh...sure,” I said hesitantly and rose to meet the man. To which Brigg’s then nodded and gestured with his head towards the exit. He then swiftly turned on his heel making his way out of the tent's entrance with Charon and I following closely on his heel. Let’s just hope the paladin wasn’t planning for round 2 of smite the necromancer. I didn’t exactly consider our last bout one that I’d want to repeat.

  After a short walk, I found myself seated in a room with a large wooden table in the tournament grounds. Across from me Briggs reclined in his own seat giving me a studied look. The room itself seemed to be a meeting room for the guild. The interior was nicely decorated with a small statue of a wolf in the center of the table as well as a few banners. I think it's safe to say he would not attempt a rematch in here since it would likely trash the place. Deciding to break the ice, I addressed the man. “So, what exactly did you want to talk about?” I asked a bit sheepishly. I was pretty sure the man didn’t invite me here for a drink.

  “About our last match…” the paladin said while trailing off. His stern glance not wavering for an instant. “By all rights, that should have been an easy fight. My class has a clear advantage on yours and even then I have a level advantage as well” he stated matter of factly. At this point, I wasn’t sure if he was going to shake my hand or claim I had cheated. “Still, you pulled through and turned what was essentially overwhelming odds into a victory for you and your companion,” he finished, his serious look breaking into a smirk. “It’s a bit early, but I think you would fit in here with us.”

  “Wait, so you’re inviting me to join the guild?!” I replied in an exasperated tone. I was not expecting this sort of turn around. Usually, people get pretty salty when you beat them in pvp.

  “Exactly that” Briggs said with a nod. The man easing into his seat and throwing his legs onto t
he table. “If you can pull off shit like that early on, I expect some even more interesting stuff later on”.

  “Hey I’m definitely down, although I may have been looking to join to get some help as well,” I said hesitantly. I was hoping the man didn’t take my possible ulterior motives poorly.

  “Go on,” Briggs said, gesturing for me to continue. The man’s lax demeanor straightening into a more formal position. “If what you’ve shown me so far is any indication, this should be good,” he added with a sly grin.

  “The man’s got a point” Charon commented via our mental connection. I could almost see a flicker of amusement behind those glowing blue orbs. Of course, that could just be my imagination. We had yet to have our talk about exactly where he came from, but I suppose that's a topic for another day.

  “Fair point, long story short we have a quest to defend a goblin village from another attack from another guild called Catalyst” I replied. The mention of that name causing Brigg’s eyes to widen a little. I suppose that meant he may know the guild? Let’s hope they aren’t on good terms because I’d rather not have to fight a battle on two different fronts.

  “Of course it would be them, those fuckers have the tendency to throw their weight around, tried it with our guild before during the beta,” Briggs mused, perhaps as much to himself as to us. “So you are joining to secure some assistance in defending against this attack.” He added trailing off. The man's eyes were focused yet not on anything in the room, deep in thought.

  “That's the gist of it, yeah. My entire group wants to join the guild and yeah it's primarily to kick their asses but you guys seem pretty chill too thus far so I’d stick around after,” I said, trying to sound sincere. I knew Briggs was up there in his guilds chain of command and could likely aid our cause if he saw fit to.

  “Well, we already don’t like them so it wouldn't be hard to convince our leader Lethe. Still, I can’t promise anything just yet. For now, just enjoy the tournament and know that if your other friends do half as well as you and Ogma did, they are in too,” the paladin said with a wink. Things were actually not going terrible for once and it was looking like we would have the help we needed. After a bit more talking about the village and our loose plans for it, the two of us headed out. Fortunately, I found my friends right where I had left them, albeit a bit drunker.

  Ogma had quite literally been drunk under the table by Lia who now had a leg on said table in your typical Captain Morgan pose.

  “I don’t see any red outline yet Ogma, keep drinkin!!” She said and took another swig.

  “How am I even this sick from drinking, it's supposed to be a game” Ogma groaned and reached one hand up onto the table, attempting to steady himself enough to get back in his chair. He was in fact not steady enough as his hand slipped and he fell right back onto the floor.

  “I need another body for a Draugr, man up and die you bastard” Lia cheered even louder now. Most of the food tent was glaring at our clearly too rambunctious table, but I could see some people eagerly watching us like you would a sitcom. They were clearly awaiting the next train wreck. To which, I’m sure Lia and Ogma could accommodate. Not sure which was stronger, Ogma’s pride or Lia’s crazy. I guess I would find out if Ogma could actually drink himself into a respawn. Would the Draugr she summoned also be drunk? Inquiring minds wished to know.

  A few hours later, the tournament was back underway and another 3 fights had passed. The most interesting of which was between a spear user named Ephraim and a sorcerer who went by Tim. I have never seen a mage pile drive someone before but god I hoped to see that again. The present fight, however, would be just as interesting. Morrigan was about to face the Wolfs Blood guild’s leader, Lethe. He was apparently an elf bard judging by the lute in his hands and the point of his ears, but I did see a mounted crossbow on his right arm as well.

  As the two got into position in the arena’s center, Lethe eyed her over. The bard then with a sly grin spoke to Morrigan saying “There is something you should know before this match begins.”

  “And what exactly is that?” She responded with a skeptical look. Her crossed arms bringing attention to that gleaming dagger casually held in each hand.

  “In all due seriousness, before the matches commences, I need you to check something,” the elven bard said while taking on a more weighted tone. The sudden change in demeanor actually setting our thief off guard for once. The bard then slowly made his way towards Morrigan, who was not quite sure exactly how she should have been reacting at the time. She was just pretty sure he wasn’t going to try a sneak attack and that this man was far stranger than her brother.

  “Can you tell me what this fabric is?” Lethe added while raising his arm. The green tunic he wore reaching just beyond the man's wrist. Morrigan took the fabric in her hand and felt it with a puzzled look.

  “I’m not sure, leather maybe?” She finally said with uncertainty written on her face.

  “That was not a bad guess, in truth though the answer is far more interesting” Lethe added, exaggerating the statement a little due to the accompanied variation of jazz hands he employed.

  “Ok then, was it is?” She asked, starting to get annoyed with the elves games. She knew who he was since we did our research. That didn’t mean that she would be ok being toyed with for the man’s amusement. Morrigan was not exactly the type to put up with anyone's crap.

  “Boyfriend material,” the elf said with a flourish of his hand. The issue being, Lethe here was not aware of just how badly he just fucked up. You do not fuck with Morrigan, she's clever, she's sneaky, and she has pointy things she can put in your kidney. You just don’t mess with that sort of person, you just don’t. Lethe was going to learn that lesson and I was going to need some popcorn for this show.

  “It's a shame that the both of you will be in tatters soon” she replied in a low tone. With a haughty spin, she made her way back to the ready position. As if the emphasize her point, the very sleeve Lethe had raised now bore the long slender cut of Morrigan's dagger.

  As soon as the match commenced, Morrigan was on the move. Darting back and forth avoiding Lethe’s bolt shots and looking for an opening she had hoped would be there. What was there however, was the realization that this bard was much faster than he should be. While he was an elf, Morrigan was aware of what they could and couldn't do. They definitely could not move this quickly. What she was doing was not working, it was time to mix things up. Morrigan took a deep breath, calming herself as she expanded her senses. A thief's main tools are evasion and speed, it was time to focus on the former.

  The bolts kept coming, but the thief used as minimal effort possible to avoid them. All the while moving closer with each missed bolt. At this rate, she would corner the bard in no time at all. That was only if her plan succeeded. Lethe though, despite his demeanor, was no man’s fool. As soon as she was within range, Morrigan triggered Backstab appearing behind the bard. It was then that as she spun on the prone bard, a great wind burst forth from within him.

  “Boreas’s Sway, you’ll see wind this day~” Lethe slowly rhymed, each word ringing with power as he swiftly turned to avoid the blow. “In the eye of my storm, your cuts know no form,” he finished as the wind around him surged and broke. His eyes revealing a flicker of lightning as the wind died. “Have you ever fought a bard Morrigan?” He asked with a slightly tilted head.

  She glared at the elf for a moment before a curt “no” left her lips. Morrigan was in no mood for games. The fact that Lethe survived was only increasing her resolve to put him down.

  “Well, I’m sure you are aware that our class is somewhat of a support-hybrid. What you are seeing now is a speed buff” Lethe said matter of factly. “Each song or verse has a passive and active effect. In Boreas' case, the passive is innate speed, the active is a 15-second further increase along with a small win barrier that lasts a few seconds…. in case you were wondering why your daggers didn’t hit” he added with a shit-eating grin. Lethe then splaye
d his arms out wide and said “shall we see who is faster then?” Clearly, the elf was toying with her, but Morrigan was not the type to go down easy. Even if she did lose, she was going to make damn sure Lethe didn’t want to toy with her again. He was going to get stabbed, oh yes, wind or no wind the bard would be writing songs about not messing with female thieves.

  Chapter Nine

  The Dagger's Edge

  Morrigan started off at a run, dodging back and forth as the bard shot. All the while moving forward. A shot grazed her shoulder as she rolled under Lethe’s arm. Without hesitation, she brought her dagger streaking upward. The bard drifted back narrowly avoiding the blow. But Morrigan was not done yet. The thief Triggered Backstab once more, appearing right behind him. Again her dagger missed. If he could see the angle he could predict where she would go.

  An arrow struck Morrigan’s leg, then another her side. She scrambled to her feet and rolled forward, hoping to evade the next few shots. She kept moving and dodging all the while her mind clear and focused. It was never about the if, or the when, Morrigan’s mind never focused on probabilities. She only saw what the strength of her will could drag into reality.

  “Now Slow down there, wouldn’t want to trip” Lethe chided as he briskly walked closer. His words seeming heavy, weighing her down. Her movement soon followed as it felt like she was trying to move quickly through water. The symbol of a downward pointing blue arrow in the corner of her vision confirming her suspicions. His words could trigger debuffs and this was likely a slow. Lethe let another few bolts fly into her thigh, her rib and back. She was not going to survive this much longer.