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

by Craig Kobayashi

  Auto

  Form: Bear/Human (size: Large)

  Health: 2,450/2,450

  Level: 29

  Class: Chimerist

  Mana: 0/0

  Garath decided quickly that getting hit by the monstrosity charging his way was a bad idea. He’d fought more than his fair share of melee characters as a healer in his gaming days. He knew the drill—kite like his life depended on it. He just hoped his House Cat form was faster than Auto’s Man-Bear.

  He paid the 142 Mana cost to activate Plague as he sprinted across the infield toward third base. In his human form, activating Plague would have cost an additional 60 Mana - though it may not make the difference between victory and defeat in small skirmishes, in a Player versus Player type battle, 60 Mana very well may be the deciding factor. With the battle underway, Garath turned to his right and channeled Mana into the 3 second cast of Haunt. His intent was to reduce the Man-Bear’s movement speed and stack more damage-over-time. Unfortunately, this wasn’t Auto’s first run in with a caster. The instant his transformation was complete, he took off like a lightning bolt shot out of a gun on an intercept course toward the Necrologist. The massive, muscled mutant was faster than Garath had guessed it would be–by a lot. He cancelled the casting of Haunt with a thought and felt the Mana that had been pooling into the spell flow back into his center as Auto entered melee range. He ducked under a wicked swipe from claw-tipped fingers and scampered beneath Auto, sprinting toward Maimon. The Preacher had deserted their starting location at second base and was now on the pitcher’s mound.

  *Roots would be good right now!* Garath called to Sharon as his fluffy white legs sent up a cloud of infield dirt. He needed to gain some distance if he hoped to use any Skills that required a casting time. He was fast in his House Cat form, but Auto was faster. *Like right now!*

  A green glow appeared in front of Sharon’s feline form, then grew in intensity for a single second. Two thorny tendrils sprang up from the ground between the pitcher’s mound and third base. The roots shot forward and wrapped tightly around Auto’s left ankle. The charging beast came to an abrupt stop. His right leg attempted to catch up with Garath, but the rest of his body was thrown to the ground.

  Garath jumped on the opportunity to land a Haunt on the Man-Bear as it struggled to free itself. When the cast was complete, a white specter came screaming out of his fluffy white chest. The unearthly form covered the distance between the Necrologist and his target in a blink. It sunk into Auto, slowing his movements and adding another damage-over-time effect.

  Maimon the Rabbi had spent the opening seconds of the duel placing transparent bubbles around himself and his teammate. White light surrounded his hands and raised staff as Garath raced towards his position on the mound. With Auto hot on his heels and Maimon only a few yards in front of him, Garath unleashed the instant cast of Blight. Dark purple energy shot out from his tiny form in every direction, infecting both opponents with a 15 second DoT that would inflict 203 damage to each of them over its duration. Garath smiled to himself. Everything’s going exactly to plan.

  The undersized white cat jumped onto Maimon’s white robes and clawed wildly as he climbed. Auto pulled back his claw swipe to avoid hitting his teammate with friendly fire as Garath clawed a path up the Preacher’s chest. Maimon must have cancelled the spell he’d been casting when Garath leaped, because the white light faded from his hands before winking out entirely. The self-proclaimed Rabbi flailed his arms trying to get the feisty feline off him, but Garath clung tight to the Preacher’s robes. With a muttered oath, Maimon dropped his staff and flung Garath off his chest by the scruff of his neck. The tiny cat flew, a sensation he was becoming a little too familiar with from his time in House Cat form.

  He was now effectively a mid-air snack for the drooling Man-Bear, and Garath braced for an abrupt death by tooth and claw. Auto pounced at the opportunity to end this fight quickly, but Garath wasn’t fighting alone.

  As Auto leaped, teeth bared, two thorn-covered vines erupted from the ground once again, this time wrapping themselves around both ankles. The momentum of his lunge and the sudden stop caused by Sharon’s Roots slammed Auto’s face into the ground. Frustrated, the mutant bear growled and tore at the thorny roots with his clawed hands. Garath landed on all fours and booked it back to third base.

  *Nice one, Sharon!* Garath called, relieved for the moment of respite. Garath put some much-needed distance between himself and the hideous Man-Bear, darting toward shallow left field as he willed his demons into existence and issued some quick mental commands.

  *Bill, slow Auto down as much as you can. Bite his legs and ankles, got it? Bark if you understand,* Garath directed, turning to look over his shoulder at Auto.

  The Chimerist was moving slower now due to Haunt’s movement speed reduction, but still gaining on him. To Garath’s surprise, he saw that Auto too was being chased. A grey tabby with Sharon#142 floating over her head was in hot pursuit. Bill gave a growling woof and peeled right to circle back. *Handsome, use all your Mana to stack Quickening Entropy on Auto, then go pester Maimon with any dirty trick you can think of. If he’s focused on you, he’s not healing. Got it?*

  *Yes,* Handsome responded directly into Garath’s mind. The Cambionic Flayer’s one-word response was somehow brimming with mirth. The tone confused Garath briefly, then he realized that he had just ordered a literal fucking demon to use any dirty trick it could think of. Of course Handsome was happy about this command. Garath was curious to see what the ugly little demon would come up with.

  Bill barreled into Auto as the Chimerist took his first Root-free step in Garath’s direction, causing them to roll over each other in the grass. Garath took that second to further bolster his forces. For the first time, he excitedly started pooling Mana into the Skill ‘Summon Golem – Dreadreaver’. The relatively quick one-second cast seemed to stretch on for days as Garath nervously watched Auto toss Bill away, almost casually, before tearing off toward the Necrologist. When the spell was complete, Garath looked at the creature he’d summoned in gleeful awe.

  Standing a full head taller than even Auto in his Man-Bear form, the Dreadreaver was one of the most frightening creatures Garath had ever seen. It was tall, muscular, and black as darkest night. One of its too-long arms ended in an almost-human hand tipped with five long, dagger-like claws. The other arm looked like a thick, heavy club below the elbow. Its twisted facial features could have been inspired by Dali’s worst nightmares. Garath pointed at the Chimerist sprinting their way and gave the Dreadreaver a singular command.

  *Attack.*

  Garath and Handsome stopped in deep left field, then turned back to see Garath’s Dreadreaver meet the Chimerist in a clash of muscle and claws. Garath and Handsome each channeled their Mana into casting Creeping Death. In tandem, the Necrologist and the Flayer each landed their first stack of Quickening Entropy as the Man-Bear reached the slightly overgrown left field grass.

  Garath noticed that two separate debuff icons appeared below Auto’s Health bar, answering a question he’d had regarding two separate casters stacking Q.E. on the same target at the same time - he was a little disappointed that each subsequent cast of Creeping Death would only refresh the DoT debuff stack of the caster. That little detail wasn’t exactly game changing, but if he and Handsome could each refresh a single, shared debuff stack it would be easier to ensure the timer didn’t elapse and cause all of the stacks to fall off. Garath and Handsome both started casting Creeping Death for a second time as Auto broke free of his deadly tango with the Golem and closed the distance to Garath. That was when Bill made his second clutch appearance in as many minutes.

  The Cambionic Fel Hound bit into Auto's lower leg, sinking his teeth in only briefly before releasing and scampering out of range of the Man-Bear's counter swipe. Auto paused, looking from Bill to the Golem, then to Garath and back at Bill. Garath smirked. He knew exactly what his old friend was considering. In many games, simply taking out a player's minions c
ould render them near useless and Auto was trying to decide if that would apply to the Necrologist Class.

  The Chimerist's moment of indecision ended and he continued his gallop toward Garath and with Bill nipping at his lower legs and the Golem lumbering behind. Sharon and Maimon were each heading into the outfield as well to keep their teammates within the range of their healing Skills. Garath caught a glimpse of green light leaving Sharon’s grey feline form and a flash of light from Maimon. The Rabbi’s spell restored nearly a third of Auto’s maximum Health, bringing the Chimerist’s red Healthbar to just under full.

  But Sharon’s cast hadn’t been a heal. A new debuff icon appeared below the Rabbi’s Healthbar. Garath willed more information to appear and skimmed the debuff’s details as he and Handsome each landed their second stack of Quickening Entropy on Auto.

  Maimon is afflicted with Herbal Outbreak, slowing his casting speed by 20% for the next 9 seconds.

  Garath smiled, proud of his old neighbor for taking the initiative to wreak some havoc on the opposing team, since her healing spells hadn’t been needed to that point. While channeling Mana into the third stack of Q.E. on Auto, Garath noticed that Maimon had lost about a quarter of his Health from the Blight and Plague. Auto was also taking a solid chunk of damage with every passing second. Between Garath’s Blight, Plague, and the stacks of Q.E., he knew Maimon would have a hard time keeping up as the DoT onslaught continued. Garath stole a one-second glance at the scrolling numbers displayed on his combat log as he finished his third cast of Creeping Death.

  Begin combat log:

  [12:23:04.013] Sharon’s Herbal Outbreak deals 14 damage (Nature) to Maimon.

  [12:23:04.019] Your Quickening Entropy (3 stacks) deals 10 damage (Death) to Auto. (Base: 21, reduced by 50% for form size: Large)

  [12:23:04.114] Your Blight deals 8 damage (Death) to Auto. (Base: 17, reduced by 50% for form size: Large)

  [12:23:04.114] Your Blight deals 17 damage (Death) to Maimon.

  [12:23:04.450] Your Plague deals 10 damage (Death) to Auto. (Base: 21, reduced by 50% for form size: Large)

  [12:23:04.450] Your Plague deals 21 damage (Death) to Maimon.

  [12:23:04.666] Handsome’s Quickening Entropy (3 stacks) deals 4 damage (Death) to Auto. (Base: 9, reduced by 50% for form size: Large)

  [12:23:04.778] Handsome’s Blight deals 3 damage (Death) to Auto. (Base: 6, reduced by 50% for form size: Large)

  [12:23:04.778] Handsome’s Blight deals 6 damage (Death) to Maimon.

  [12:23:04.950] Maimon’s Weak Restoration restores 258 Health to Auto.

  End combat log.

  Garath was impressed at the amount of Health that Maimon restored using a Skill with a name like ‘Weak Restoration’. Effectively negating 7 seconds worth of damage from his DoT spells with a single cast, it didn’t seem very ‘weak’ to the Necrologist.

  When Garath looked up from his combat log, Auto was almost on top of him. The snarling Man-Bear mutant had a sickening smile on his face that made Garath shudder.

  “Hey, kitty, kitty,” growled Auto behind a mouth full of menacing teeth. The Chimerist swiped with his clawed right hand, his left just behind it.

  Even with the improved reflexes of his House Cat form, Garath didn’t have time to dodge. Four dagger sized claws slashed at his side, slicing through fur and skin and causing his Healthbar to drop by over 20% in a single second of searing pain. The second swipe followed, slashing his flank and sending him tumbling through the left field grass. The pain was strangely tolerable, even as he gained a Bleeding debuff that would cause him to continue losing 11 Health every second for the next 10 seconds.

  Garath’s red Healthbar informed him that he had just over half of his total Health remaining. The same Healthbar that he’d considered to be so large and impressive only a day before was nearly split in half with only two hits from the Chimerist.

  Auto gave chase as Garath rolled to his feet and took off once again, this time with blood and grass staining his soft white fur from head to fluffy tail. The resulting image was like a Christmas experiment in Shou Tucker’s lab. Garath didn’t mind the new look though. Thanks to a certain chained ornament hanging around his neck, Garath still felt as pretty as a payday in Vegas.

  Garath churned earth as he sprinted at Maimon, who was now standing near second base with his hands glowing white. Maimon finished the spell that he’d been casting, and the white light dissipated from his hands, lighting Auto up like some terrifying, hairy nightlight. The healing spell brought Auto’s Health up from about half to nearly three quarters full.

  Seeing Garath heading his way, trailed closely by a gigantic man-bear and a trio of demons, the Preacher backpedaled to the pitcher’s mound. The grey tabby glowed green in Garath’s peripheral vision as he made it back onto the infield. Shortly after, Garath glowed green as well, as Sharon’s Nature’s Regrowth landed on his tiny form, healing him instantly for 215 Health. The 78-year-young Naturist cast a second spell, tripping Auto and giving Bill and the Dreadreaver the time they needed to catch up to the speedy Chimerist.

  *Thanks, Sharon!* he called over their shared communication channel.

  Another searing pain in his hind quarters let Garath know that he was still within Auto’s range as he got just close enough to Maimon to land a second Blight on both opponents. Garath ran past the Preacher toward home plate, looking over his shoulder every few seconds to keep one eye on the bear mutant. Garath’s heart jumped straight through his chest when he saw the jaws of death coming together, targeting his fluffy tail.

  Garath cringed as he heard Auto’s jaws snap shut only inches behind him, but released a breath of relief when he didn’t feel his tail being ripped off. He stole a glance to see Bill clamped onto Auto’s rear, growling ferociously with a mouthful of Man-Bear ass.

  *Good boy!* he shouted gratefully to the demon dog through their mental connection.

  Bill’s clutch-timing ass-munching slowed Auto enough for the Dreadreaver to catch up and land a powerful blow to the back of his head with its club hand. Garath stopped fleeing and turned to face Auto, channeling 143 Mana into his fourth cast of Creeping Death on Auto. A quick look at the Chimerist’s Healthbar and debuffs let Garath know that Handsome had already landed his sixth Q.E. stack while he’d been fleeing, and Auto’s Health was under half once again.

  *Mana,* came Handsome’s scratchy and fatigued voice into Garath’s mind.

  *Harass that Goddamn Preacher then!* Garath mentally shouted in response. Garath had been looking forward to seeing how the mischievous Cambionic Flayer would interpret his earlier command to use dirty tricks.

  Handsome flew toward Maimon, whose Healthbar was under half-full. White light surrounded Maimon’s entire body now, not just his hands and staff as it had before, leading Garath to believe the Preacher was casting one of his most powerful heals. At the very least, it was a considerably longer casting time than the Skills he’d used to heal Auto earlier in the fight. Garath smiled, knowing the time was perfect to put his plan into action.

  The Necrologist was disappointed that he wouldn’t have a second volley of Death Bolts to send at the Preacher with Handsome being out of Mana, but he didn’t think it’d matter that much anyway. The white light surrounding Maimon intensified as the Preacher’s channeling came to an end and Garath issued a mental command to his demons to switch targets and hit the Preacher with everything they had. *Now Sharon!* he shouted into the Party communication channel.

  The light faded from the Rabbi and entered Auto’s hairy, toothy, and too-muscular form. Garath’s suspicion that Maimon would blow his biggest heal on Auto at this point in the fight was spot on. The white light that surrounded Auto as the Preacher’s healing magic took hold on the Man-Bear was almost blinding. The light show was pretty neat, but far from the only indication that Maimon had just blown his load.

  Auto's Healthbar was all the way back to 100%. He wondered just how much damage Maimon was able to effectively erase with that one spell. Gara
th already planned on thoroughly reviewing his combat log after the duel, and this was one more thing he’d have to look for. On top of the impressive amount of Health Maimon’s spell had restored, every stack of Q.E. that had taken hold on Auto for the entire fight to that point, in addition to the Blight that Garath landed on both opponents as soon as they were in range again, were dispelled. Maimon had definitely blown his load on that beastly spell.

  You’re fucked now, Preachaman.

  Less than a second after his mental command to his demons, Sharon’s Herbal Outbreak took hold on Maimon, and Garath spammed Death Bolts at him. Bill reached the Preacher and sunk his obsidian, dagger-sized teeth into Maimon’s left leg. The Preacher’s long white robe bled crimson around the wound, and he shrieked in pain. Auto sprinted to his healer, and smartly pried the hound off with clawed hands, tossing the bleeding Bill through the air like he was weightless.

  Handsome arrived on the scene, and Garath would’ve given anything for a way to record what transpired next.

  The Cambionic Flayer dipped low, grabbing the bottom of Maimon’s blood-stained robe before pulling it up and over the Preacher’s head. Handsome dropped to the ground, slipping between Maimon’s legs as the Preacher dropped his staff. Before he could pull his robe back into place and cover his tighty-whities, Handsome junk-punched him.

  Maimon fell to his knees and Handsome flapped his wings, rising to the Preacher’s eye level. When Maimon finally got the robe back in place, Handsome poked him right in the eye. Bleeding, blinded, and infuriated, Maimon scrambled on hands and knees, feeling around wildly for his staff. That’s when the Golem arrived.