Ascend: A World of Ga'em LitRPG (The Chaos Emperor Book 1)

by Dhayaa Anbajagane

  “A vampire that’s scared of the dark,” I said, chuckling. “Now that’s something you don’t see every day.”

  I lay back on the stone bed and looked at the ceiling. What do I do? I bit my lip. I was running out of options now. And the longer I waited to act, the more time these idiots would have to learn about that scroll.

  Although, I doubt anyone can even read them.

  I checked my Ga’em menu a little later, and noted that it was seven in the morning. Time passed by quickly when one was worried.

  Footsteps echoed from the corridor outside the cells, and chatter accompanied them.

  A soft snore sounded from right ahead of me. I blinked. Is someone still sleeping?

  I stepped to the cell bars and looked to the side. The guard from before was on the floor, with his back to the wall, and was sleeping soundly. I looked further down that end of the corridor and saw a brown-haired man stride forward. Joseph.

  I stepped back, and sat back on my bed. What does he want? I looked at Stan, but he was still curled up in his blanket, probably asleep.

  The footsteps thudded closer. “Knight!” a voice thundered.

  A clutter of sounds filled the air, and the guard fell right before my cell. He looked up groggily, and his eyes were only half-open. “What?” he blinked. “When? How?”

  Whatever that lady did kept him asleep the whole time.

  Joseph stood above him now. “Sleeping on the job?” His voice was sharp.

  “No, sir.” He picked himself up. “I was—” He slipped over his own spear and stumbled to the floor once again.

  Joseph slapped his forehead. “You imbeciles!” he yelled. “If this boy escapes, then I’ll have your head. You understand?!”

  “Y-yes, sir!” the man saluted, still on the floor.

  I chuckled. Now that’s a fun sight.

  Joseph’s eyes darted to me, and a smile curled onto his face. “You find that funny?” He unlocked the cell door and walked in. “Let’s talk about that.”

  I slid further back. “What do you want?” Two Knights came in after Joseph, and the vein in my neck throbbed. What’s going on?

  “It’s just like before.” Joseph stepped up to me. “Although, the question is a little different now.”

  I frowned. What does he mean “different”?

  “That scroll,” he said. “Where did you get it from?”

  My chest tightened. I froze my expression, and kept the calm stature on my face. No wide eyes, no sudden breaths. Just calm and silence.

  Why is he asking about the scroll? My heart thumped. Does he know what’s in it? But that can’t be possible.

  Joseph cracked his knuckles. “Are you going to stay silent for this as well?”

  My back touched the far end of the wall. I stared at his form. What is he going to do?

  “You see, Levi,” he said, “you can either tell us, or we can make you tell you.”

  A small smile curled onto my lips. “Torture? Really?” I asked. "You can't torture me. The whole city would be in uproar if the goody-goody Knight Force did that."

  He grinned. “They would do that if I tortured a citizen. However, if we torture a despicable creature of darkness—" He clasped his mouth. "Oh. Did I say torture? I mean 'experiment', of course,” he chuckled.

  “You lowlife,” I muttered under my breath. Heat surged up my neck. The sensation of ice and fire rose into my blood, and a hellish feeling of peace and aggravation consumed me. I snatched the broken shards of rock and swung at Joseph’s neck.

  A fist punched my face and I thudded into the wall. My back slammed against the stone, and I gasped for breath.

  Ugh. I looked up.

  A fist came down on me once more, and smashed into my face. Blood filled my mouth, but pain didn’t fill my body. The melody of ice and fire played an encore inside, and the addictive sensation grew stronger, turning my skin numb.

  I gripped the rock in my hand, and threw it at Joseph’s head. It hit him right in the corner of the forehead, and the Knight jerked away from me. I yelled and rushed to him, with my fingers already curled into a fist.

  Hands grabbed my body, and the next moment, I was slammed down to the floor. I gasped and spat the blood from my mouth. The two Knights from before held me to the ground now.

  Damn. I grit my teeth. The flames and ice melted away from my blood. Don’t go! My muscles tightened, but in seconds, the sensation had left me completely. The numbness disappeared along with them, and in their place, waves of pain surged through me.

  “You’ve got some fight in you, boy.” Joseph dabbed the streak of blood from the corner of his head. “I didn’t think you cared that much about the elf.”

  Not her, I thought. Just what she might know.

  “Let’s play a fun game.” He knelt above me. “You’ve been a pretty bad kid lately, and it seems a nobleman’s daughter wants you punished for beating her up.”

  My eyes widened. Caroline, I realized. “That girl beat me up!”

  He sighed. “It’s always the other person’s fault, isn’t it?” He stood up. “You’re beyond saving kid, and I won’t try to. Just give me the information I want and we’ll be fine.”

  I spat out more blood. “You’re wasting your time.”

  He smiled. “I was hoping you’d resist.”

  I stared at him, anticipating a punch. But instead he turned around, and the Knights pinning me down left as well. I glanced at my health bar. Just 15%. I’ll probably get killed if I attack him now.

  Joseph stepped out of the cell with his two henchmen. “Knights, inform the executioners,” he said. “Levi Ryder’s beheading has been preponed.”

  My eyes widened.

  The lowlife turned to me. “All you have to do is talk, and you will get what you want.”

  And I’ll lose what I need, I thought, and stayed silent.

  Joseph grinned. “You’ve got four hours left to live, trash.” The cell door slammed shut. “Spend it well.”

  ***

  This is bad.

  No one was supposed to know about that scroll, and yet here I was, being asked to reveal where I’d gotten it from.

  Like that would help me.

  “A-are you okay?” Stan asked, still covered in his blanket.

  I nodded. “Hurts a little when I speak, though.” My health had come back to 20% percent now, courtesy of my regeneration rate, but that didn’t even matter. It was going to go down to zero in—I checked my Ga’em menu for the time—another three hours.

  “It’ll be fine.” Stan’s voice shook.

  Optimism doesn’t help here. I need a plan.

  Talking to these men was out of the question. That was only going to compound my problems, and I didn’t want that. Of course, I didn’t want to die, either, but there still was an alternative.

  I could run away from here.

  The biggest problem right now was the preponed beheading. My best bet at running away was the lady I’d met before. However, she was supposed to come tonight, and my beheading was happening closer to the afternoon.

  Ugh. How else can I get myself out of here? I put my face through the bars and looked out. Multiple guards stood around and walked up and down the corridor.

  I sighed and sat down on my bed. I opened the Ga’em menu again and checked the time. Two hours and fifty-eight minutes.

  Ugh. I reclined back.

  “Dark magic.” Stan shifted.

  I stared at him. “What?”

  “That’s what they put me in here for.” His head peaked out of his blanket. “For being an ardent practitioner of the Dark Arts.”

  I frowned. “Are you?”

  “You’ve seen how weak I am, haven’t you?”

  I kept silent.

  “It’s just how things work here,” he said. “The system is said to be nurturing of all. That isn’t true. It nurtures everyone as long as they fit rules and guidelines. I’m a creature of the darkness, so I have to be evil. He’s a Knight, so he has to be
good.”

  He wrapped his blanket tighter around himself. “This system isn’t nurturing. It’s selective. And in something like that, the weak always get trampled on.” The vampire stared at the floor. “Sorry, I-I’m not really that good with speaking. What I’m trying to say is … I admire you for standing up against them. It’s the first time someone showed me it’s possible.”

  Claps sounded echoed inside our cell. “That was a wonderful monologue.” The lady in the hooded cloak stood outside the bars, and two Knights were snoring on the ground beside her.

  She knocked them to sleep again. My eyebrows furrowed. She’d probably done that to every Knight in this corridor, then. How is she doing that?

  “Now, then.” The lady held up her hand, and in it was a gold-plated key. “Let’s get you two out of here, shall we?”

  ***

  CHAPTER NINE

  Helen dragged the wet rag across the kitchen counter.

  A long sigh left her lips. She glanced up the stairs. She wanted to go up there, to open that door, to see Levi sitting on his bed, doing whatever crazy thing he’d thought of next.

  But reality was different now.

  That kid had gotten himself arrested, and there was nothing she could do about it. After all, how much influence would a poor, single mother have on the Zevalon Knights?

  She didn’t even know people who could help her out. Liam was the only one she could think of, and even he wouldn’t be able to do anything. She wiped down the kitchen counter once again, even though it was already spotlessly clean.

  She looked to the door. Maybe the Henways?

  They were people who had enough influence to turn the tides. Her mouth twitched into a small smile. Who was she kidding? The Henways would sooner bring the blade down on Levi than actually help him out. Helen had already taken off from working their house today. There was no telling what the lady would do if she saw her now.

  That family had already been harsh on Levi since the very beginning, and things were bound to have gotten worse. Everyone knew about the boy who had kept a Drow Elf in his house. Word had gotten around fast after the Second Knight captured him a few hours ago.

  “You could have told me, you idiot,” Helen whispered, and scrubbed the same spot over and again.

  She didn’t understand Levi anymore. He was always yearning for power. She wondered if it was because he’d been raised in poverty, but she could tell that wasn’t the case. The boy’s eyes … they were different.

  He was someone else entirely, different from the rest of them. Helen had just accepted that as a fact. And that acceptance had led her to the situation now.

  People on the streets had already started talking about the possibility of a beheading, and as time passed, more voices spoke the same words.

  “They won’t do that.” Helen scrubbed. “They won’t.”

  Her hands turned red from all the cleaning, and traces of blood soaked the rag.

  She let go of it, and sighed. "Such a troublesome boy." She wiped her eyes.

  A knock thudded from the door. Helen’s chest clenched. Was it news about Levi? Had something happened to him? She held the door handle for a second, and then pulled it open.

  A slap cracked across her face.

  "You witch!" Lady Henway glared at her. "Did you think you could just live easy after harboring that scoundrel?!"

  Helen’s shoulders slumped, and a quiet sigh left her lips.

  Today just wasn't a good day.

  ***

  "You either come with me or your head gets taken off in about two and a half hours."

  I stared at the woman on the other side of the bars. I was desperate now. I needed a way out, but my inner conflicts held me back. Working with other people was … an issue.

  Her hand slid down the bars. “Do we have a deal?”

  “What’s the favor you’re talking about?” I asked. No point getting out of here if I’m just going to end up doing something worse.

  Then again, it was hard to find something worse than dying.

  Usually.

  “It’s simple,” the lady chuckled. “All you need to do is form a party with me.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

  She opened her Ga’em menu and tapped through her options.

  DING!

  You have received a party invitation from:

  Rosam!

  A mysterious woman has invited you to form a party with her. What are her actual intentions? Then again, do you really have a choice here?

  Accept

  Decline

  Rosam. I looked at her. I haven’t such a name around here before.

  “Umm…” Stan mumbled. “E-excuse me. But was I supposed to get a party invite, too?”

  Huh? I looked back. Stan stood a yard away, covered in his blanket, and before him was a screen with text on it.

  “I am saving you as well, vampire,” she said. “So the same favor applies.”

  “He’s just going to slow us down,” I muttered under my breath.

  “No, he will not.” Her tone was suddenly stern. “I can gauge people’s abilities myself. Thank you.”

  Wow. Touchy already. I turned back to the screen, and looked at the Accept option. Well, it can’t be worse than dying. I tapped on the button. Like the screen said, it wasn’t like I had much of a choice.

  DING!

  You have now formed a party with Rosam! You have gained access to new services. These can be accessed from the second icon in your Ga’em menu — the ‘Alliance’ menu.

  “Alright.” I looked at her. “Get us out of here.”

  “With pleasure.” She inserted her key into the lock and a satisfying click echoed a second later. The door swung open, and we were free men. Well, man and vampire.

  “Thanks for the help.” I darted out the cell.

  A hand grabbed my collar and slipped back. “Hold on,” Rosam said. “Don’t you want to know where the elf is?”

  My eyes widened. “You know?”

  She nodded. “Stick to me, kid.”

  “W-what do I do?” Stan stepped out the cell, with his blanket held tight to his body.

  My eyes narrowed. “Are you kidding me? You’re free! Go run away or something. What do you—”

  “Follow us, Stan.” Rosam ran down the corridor. The vampire stared at me for a second, and then shuffled after her.

  He’s going to bog us down, I sighed. I hate working with people.

  I wasn’t planning on hanging around them for too long, either. The moment I found the elf, I was getting her and getting out. I couldn’t care less about a vampire afraid of the dark and a woman who wasn’t as calculating as I’d expected her to be.

  Fifty yards later, a staircase rose from the corridor. “Where is the elf?” I asked as we climbed it.

  “Upper chambers,” Rosam said. “Second floor.”

  Second floor isn’t too bad. There were probably quite a few escape routes from there. Probably quite a few Knights as well.

  Stan stumbled back off a step and I caught him. “Are you trying to get us caught?!” My grip on him tightened.

  Rosam pinched my arm. “No one is trying anything. Now stop fighting or you’re the one that gets dropped.”

  I grunted, and let go of the vampire. Who the heck is this lady anyway? We continued up the staircase, and Rosam stopped us a few seconds later. Noises came from above—the chatter of a few men.

  Knights. My muscles tensed. We must be close to the first floor.

  I looked to Rosam, but she just held her hand up. The sounds turned louder, then faded away. Ten seconds later, they were gone. She nodded and we climbed to the second floor. It was just a long corridor, laid with red carpet. Another set of stairs were right next to us, and I stepped to it.

  The lady caught arm. “The one further up.” She ran down the corridor. I followed her, and Stan stumbled after us.

  Ugh, he’s so slow. But I didn’t say anything. Didn’t need Rosam yelling at m
e again. The lady stopped a few yards ahead and put her hands against the wall, pushing a sole brick. A part of the wall split and a small section—about a foot wide—opened up. She walked into it and we followed her in. The walls around us changed shade, no longer greyish blue but a warm brown instead.

  “What is this place?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Rosam waited for Stan to come through and then pushed the panel back, closing the gap.

  I looked around. An old, metal staircase rose from the floor and wound upward. I cranked my neck, but I couldn’t see where it ended. Why would staircase go this high up inside the— My eyes widened. “This staircase goes up the central tower of the palace.”

  Rosam chuckled. “You’re smarter than you look.”

  What do you mean “than I look”? I frowned and followed her. I pushed Stan in between us once again, because constantly looking back for this idiot was getting annoying. I’d have just left him behind, but I needed Rosam’s help, and she’d made it very clear she wanted to save the two of us, even if one of us was completely inept at escaping.

  The staircase creaked and shook as we ran. “Is that supposed to happen?” I asked.

  “I think so,” Rosam said. “This was originally an emergency exit for the higher-ups who stayed on the higher floors. It’s probably been fifty or sixty years since anyone used it.”

  I grabbed the railing and came away with a palmful of dust. “I can see that.”

  After a minute of climbing, we came onto a fork in the staircase. It still went up, but there was also a pathway that diverged off it and led to the wall. Rosam took it and we followed her.

  “Second floor?” I asked.

  She nodded, and touched the wall.

  Stan’s foot caught his blanket and he stumbled forward, crashing into Rosam. The two of them thudded into the wall and a panel crumbled before them.