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

by Craig Kobayashi

  *I don’t know how to tank a bird, dude,* Auto called.

  *Keep that shield on Obawon,* Garath said, a plan forming in his mind. *With that huge Mana pool, it’s definitely a magic user and birds don’t do well in melee. It’s gotta be a ranged fighter. Here’s what we do. Obawon and Auto, stay near the casters and do whatever you can to absorb whatever it sends at us. Atlas, do your Link-versus-Ganon thing to send anything you can back at that bird. Athios, you too. Ranged fighters, this fight is going to depend on us. Let’s light this bitch up.*

  Still atop the totem pole, the Thunderbird sparked with electrical energy. It wasn’t really a surprise to Garath that this enemy employed lightning-type attacks, considering its name. The Party took a split formation with the healers and Jebawon behind Auto. Garath, Daisy, and Athios moved behind Obawon. Atlas, his ostentatious outfit glowing brightly, took his spot between the two groups. Garath and Handsome stacked QE’s in tandem as Bill and the Dreadreaver attacked the totem pole. Daisy sent a bolt of fire at the ghost eagle, and Athios cast a dimensional enhancement around the Raid Group’s ranged fighters to boost their damage output by +10%. In response, the Thunderbird screeched and loosed streaks of crackling yellow and white energy.

  A cluster of five bolts approached, sizzling the air behind them as they moved forward, spreading out like a shotgun blast. Between the expanding bolts of lightning, a field of static spread, forming a net of electricity.

  Auto the Unibear stood on his hind legs, with limbs outstretched in front of his group of casters. The roar of pain and the distinct scent of burnt hair let Garath know the Party’s tank had successfully tanked. A protective bubble around the Unibear, courtesy of Maimon, took most of the damage, the cluster of bolts only removing about a fifth of Auto’s total Health. The static net passed through Auto’s body without resistance. It continued on, passing through Maimon, Sharon, and Jebawon, dealing several hundred damage to each as it did, before finally winking out of existence when it met the stone wall of the gallery.

  On Garath’s side, things didn’t go quite as well. They were further away from the Thunderbird than Auto’s group, allowing the bolts to spread even more by the time they struck. The cluster came too quickly and with too large of a striking area for Obawon to stop all of it, but he took the majority of the lightning damage on his caster’s behalf. One of the bolts struck Garath in the shoulder, sapping 350 Health and causing his ears to ring so badly he couldn’t hear anything else. When the static field passed through his body, Garath felt his heart race, and a debuff icon appeared in his mind’s eye.

  You are afflicted with Static Charge (1) for the next 15 seconds. Duration refreshed with each subsequent stack.

  Warning: 5 stacks of Static Charge will increase your heart rate beyond its maximum capacity, and you will die.

  The bolt on course to land a hit on both Daisy and Athios was redirected through space-time to re-emerge from a silver disk above the bird boss perched on the Totem Pole.

  Unfortunately, but not entirely unpredictably, the Thunderbird was unaffected by its own lightning. In fact, it seemed to swell just a bit as the lightning entered it. Garath was also pretty sure its Mana bar had refilled slightly, and a buff icon appeared below its nameplate. The monster’s Healthbar showed they had only taken about 5% of its maximum Health.

  Garath continued casting Creeping Death on the boss alongside Handsome as he thought about the information he’d read about his newest debuff. He wondered if the five-stack maximum was a universal estimate, or if it took things like the cardiovascular superiority of an athlete into consideration. It was just speculation on his part though. They would need to avoid acquiring five stacks of Static Charge at all costs. He knew he’d need to advise his Party, but quickly read over the details of the Thunderbird’s buff first.

  Static Charge (1) - increases the range and spread radius of the Thunderbird’s lightning attacks by 10% for the next 15 seconds. Duration refreshed with each subsequent stack.

  The Static Charge buff wasn’t a game changer, as the Thunderbird’s area of effect was nearly unavoidable as it was. With his ears still ringing, and more electricity loudly cracking and popping all over the gallery, he figured it would be best to keep the chatting to a minimum.

  *The debuff we just got could be a problem,* Garath projected, but thought of a solution just as he communicated the problem. Just like a Raid boss he’d fought online dozens of times, each member of the Raid Group would have to break line of sight with the Thunderbird at regular intervals to let the debuff time elapse before rejoining the fight. *At five stacks we die. When you get up to three stacks, hide behind one of the ribs and wait for the debuff to lapse. We won’t be able to pump out as much damage like this, so whenever it’s safe for you to attack, make it count.*

  Athios continued to redirect as much of the forking lightning as she could away from the others, but released the lightning into the cave walls instead of back at the boss after that first one. Try though they might, Auto, Obawon, Atlas, and Athios couldn’t stop, absorb, or redirect every bolt of lightning pouring down from above, and the static net between them passed through nearly everything in the gallery. Every member of the Raid was occasionally hit with a stray bolt, keeping Maimon and Sharon busy as they tried desperately to refill the Healthbars of their Party.

  Within a minute, Garath and Handsome were both running low on Mana from the Creeping Death spamming. The cost got prohibitively expensive from subsequent casts, but it was easily the best option the Necrologist had for single target damage. Garath smiled to himself at the numbers displayed in rolling text on his combat log. With the whole Raid Group’s numbers scrolling by and a pissed off Thunderbird hurling lightning everywhere, he didn’t have the time to fully appreciate the amount of damage they were doing, but it gave him a decent snapshot.

  Within that same minute though, Garath had acquired three stacks of Static charge. A glance told him that Athios, Obawon, and Daisy had too. Even Handsome, Bill and the Dreadreaver had three or four stacks of the debuff, so Garath dismissed Handsome and Bill with a thought. He left the Dreadreaver to its fate, not wanting to spare the one-second cast time it would take to dismiss the Golem.

  *Athios, can you ally transfer us to the other side of one of those pillars?*

  Athios nodded then pulled Daisy close to her body and beckoned to Garath and Obawon to get within range. As soon as they were close enough, Athios did her thing and a second later the three of them were behind a pillar. Bolts of lightning and an occasional static field hit the rib, but didn’t pass through. They each swallowed a gulp from their Health and Mana Potions while they waited for the debuff to elapse.

  “When you’re clear, portal yourself over to the others then bring them here. Just keep that up. If you see someone with too many stacks, get them out of there,” Garath told Athios. “I’ll keep an eye on Daisy for you.”

  Garath pulled Bill back into existence and was relieved to see that his previous dismissal had freed the Cambionic Fel Hound of his three stacks. He issued Bill a mental command to hover near the little Elementalist and take the proverbial bullet for her whenever possible.

  “This isn’t working, Garath. We’re burning through the healer’s Mana too fast and we aren’t doing enough damage,” Athios told him.

  With only two seconds until they could get back in the fight, Garath looked at Maimon and Sharon’s Mana bars, then nodded. “You’re right. Go get the others and bring them here. I’ll come up with something.”

  Garath and Daisy followed Obawon back within the Thunderbird’s line of sight and got to work. Athios was right—the Thunderbird’s HP was only down by about 10%. But it was running low on Mana too—only about 30% remained. Regardless, the Party wouldn’t do enough damage at this rate to kill the thing before the healers ran out of Mana and were no longer able to keep everyone alive. Garath saw Athios appear out of a silver disk next to the healers, Auto, and Atlas before they all did a group hug and disappeared out of sight
. He needed to get the melee fighters in on the action, causing damage to the bird instead of just getting hit. With Auto, Obawon, Atlas, along with Bug Eyes and Bill all bringing the pain, they may have a chance. The problem was getting the melee fighters in range without them getting fried.

  *You need to ground the source,* came Alice’s dull tones over the Raid communication channel.

  Garath thought about that. Yes. That’s exactly what they needed to do. And they had the perfect person to make it happen in Athios. Garath cast a Felfire Bolt as he relayed the plan to his Raid Group and, when Auto’s group was free of the Static Charge debuff, it went into action.

  The Party carried out preparations in short order. Garath willed Handsome back into existence and summoned a new Dreadreaver to replace the one that had died upon reaching five stacks of Static Charge. Auto shifted forms into a terrifying combination of a Puma and a Grizzly Bear to increase his damage output capacity. Athios placed two dimensional enhancements around the Raid Group. The first increased their attack and casting speed by 10% and the second increased the base damage of the group’s Skills and Abilities by 10%. Obawon granted the Raid Group a blessing called Divine Right, adding 50 Holy damage to each attack for the next 30 seconds. Garath paid the Health and Mana necessary to activate Boiling Blood and pooled Mana into unleashing his swarm of Hellflies. Preparation done, Garath gave Athios the go-ahead.

  She sent a silver disk to appear below the Thunderbird, and it fell through. A second later, another disk appeared right in front of a waiting Auto, and the bird fell awkwardly onto the stone floor. When it did, all of the sparking and popping and streaking bolts of electricity stopped abruptly.

  Seeing the window of opportunity, Auto pounced. With long claws and sharp teeth, the Puma-Bear latched onto the Thunderbird and rolled onto his back to hold the boss up, vulnerable with its exposed belly facing the rest of the group. Garath’s Raid Group brought the pain. His damage output bolstered by Boiling Blood, Garath sent in the Hellflies. The poor bird screeched and writhed, flapping wildly to escape Auto's grasp as a myriad of magic and melee attacks rained down on it. Unfortunately, the static fields kept coming in regular intervals, even with the Thunderbird grounded.

  Because of the time it took to prepare for the change of pace, the Party only had about a half a minute to pummel the bird before Garath, Daisy, and Obawon had to break off with Athios' help to get rid of their debuffs. The rest of the Party continued to pump damage into the helpless bird for another few seconds before they too had to retreat. Auto hated himself for doing it, but he released his grip on the Thunderbird and ran to Athios to be transported away.

  The bird didn't wait there on the ground for them to come back and finish it off. With its Health dwindling to under 20% from the barrage, the Thunderbird took flight. It didn't head back to the totem pole though, Garath saw with chagrin. He'd been hoping they would be able to finish the fight with another round of the same tactic once their Static Charges had fallen off. Instead, the Thunderbird flew even higher, nearly scraping the gallery's ceiling as it once again sparked and popped with electric energy. From there, the bird boss rained hell from above.

  *Can you get it down again?* Garath asked Athios while channeling Mana into a Felfire Bolt.

  *I can try,* Athios replied, a silver disk appearing over each of her hands.

  Athios sent the disk from her left hand directly into the Thunderbird's path but it veered right. Her second disk appeared a second later, once again just in front of where the bird was flying near the ceiling but it banked again. Only Jebawon, Garath, Daisy, and Handsome were able to continue doing damage to the boss as it soared overhead, all the while sending lightning streaking down at the Party.

  Again, Athios readied her two disks and sent them after the Thunderbird one right after the other. This time the bird dodged the first dimensional disk and ran head-first into the second, disappearing for a moment before emerging from another disk a few feet off the ground, right in front of an eagerly awaiting Puma-Bear.

  *Nice one!* Garath shouted to Athios.

  As one, the Raid Group converged. The Thunderbird was on its last leg, at around 10% of its total Health remaining. Garath, Daisy, Athios, and Obawon had already picked up another three stacks while the Thunderbird was flying around, but Garath knew this was their chance.

  *Forget the stacks!* he shouted. *Just give it everything you've got.*

  Everyone obliged. The final 10% of the Thunderbird's Health drained away in seconds with the combined attack. When the bird finally stopped struggling in Auto's grasp, Sharon fell to her knees, light-headed and dizzy from Mana depletion. Maimon soon joined her on the ground, sweating profusely. Heavy breathing was the only sound in the gallery as everyone looked at one another. Victory was theirs.

  Having recovered first, Daisy poked the enormous teal orb hovering over the Thunderbird’s motionless carcass. Garath’s eyes went wide when he saw how many Mana Crystals he was rewarded.

  You have received 36 Mana Crystals.

  Mana Crystals will be stored in your Items panel until spent, traded, or until your death.

  Begin combat log:

  [You have been awarded 26,550 Experience Points for slaying Level 30 Thunderbird - Spirit Guardian of Si-am’ Whimstick]

  End combat log.

  One by one, each member of the Raid Group approached the gold-plated chest to receive their reward. Just like Garath’s reward, it appeared that everyone received a new weapon from the chest. Garath stopped them from equipping their new weapons just in time, as he had an idea to take advantage of the dynamic difficulty this Dungeon employed.

  Garath took the time to review a handful of prompts that had been minimized. It may be small comfort to the Necrologist, but he was happy for any comfort he could get at that moment.

  Congratulations, Garath! Your Onikasha has reached Level 2.

  ***See the Summoned Creatures partition of your MENU panels for additional information

  Congratulations, Garath! Your Onikasha has reached Level 3.

  ***See the Summoned Creatures partition of your MENU panels for additional information

  Congratulations, Garath! Your Onikasha has reached Level 4.

  ***See the Summoned Creatures partition of your MENU panels for additional information

  Congratulations, Garath! Your Onikasha has reached Level 5.

  ***See the Summoned Creatures partition of your MENU panels for additional information

  Garath dismissed the prompts, happy to see his little baby demon was making some progress. After everyone had a chance to get their loot, a tunnel appeared, uncomfortably below where the beast’s tail might once have been. Gross. With Auto in the lead and Obawon taking the rear, Garath’s Raid Group entered next stage of The Tower.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine – Anime Beach Episode!

  There wasn't a sun in the sky when they finally made it above ground, but it was as bright as high noon in San Diego, causing Garath to squint and shade his eyes with one hand. They came out of the tunnel onto a sandy beach, only a few feet away from a large body of water. Behind them was a great mountain, littered with sad looking trees that didn't stand up straight. The only leaves still clinging to their branches were brown and withered. Even from the base of the mountain, Garath could see a river winding its way down to eventually dump its contents into the vast blue ocean not far from where the Party stood.

  It felt out of place, this beach, this ocean within The Tower. Garath spotted another chest, like the one they’d activated inside of the bear’s carcass, half-buried on the white sandy beach.

  Just like the one that had ultimately led to Warrion’s death.

  Next to the chest, a pathetic, leafless tree stood alone in the white sand with a note pinned to its trunk. The Party approached the chest on the sand cautiously, stopping a few feet away.

  “So, we’re not going to do the cursed chest thing again. Are we?” Atlas asked as he approached the pathetic little tree. The Mage Smith
bent to inspect the piece of paper pinned to its trunk.

  “You should do the chest,” Alice told them seriously.

  “You don’t get an opinion,” Athios replied coldly. “You told us to do the last cursed chest and now Warrion is dead.”

  Alice turned slowly to look at Athios, regarding the Dimensionalist’s ire with an infuriating vacant expression. “The decision is yours.”

  “I think she’s right, Athios. I know the last chest didn’t exactly have a happy ending, but we made it to the next Level of The Tower. It seems reasonable that these chests will lead us to the end,” Garath said. “Eventually.”

  Athios glared daggers at the Necrologist.

  “Let’s at least see what the note on the tree says,” Sharon suggested to ease the mounting tension. “We can make a decision after seeing what it has to say.”

  Garath looked to Alice. “Have you seen anything like this in your other trips here?” he asked, pointing to the lonely tree sticking out of the sand.

  “No,” Alice said. “But I can tell you for certain that it will not trigger any kind of Dungeon event like the chests do.”

  “And how do you know that, if you haven’t seen anything like it before?” Athios demanded.

  “My ability to ‘inspect’,” said Alice with air quotes, “is not as limited as yours is. I don’t sense any system presence in the tree or the note. The chest, however, will react to touch and trigger an event like the last one.”

  Garath nodded. “Good enough.”