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

by Dhayaa Anbajagane

  “Which is probably why you can't handle seeing a dead man, either.”

  She shot a look at me. “Death isn’t something you just shrug off or chuckle about.”

  “I don’t chuckle about death,” I said. “It’s not like I love killing. This is just something I’ve had to do because of the way the power pyramid works. You either dominate with your strength, or you end up thrown to the bottom with your hands torn off and your legs broken.”

  “That’s … quite the image.” She frowned. “You’re more dark-minded than I had expected.”

  “What gave me away?” I grinned.

  “But about what you said….” She paused, and then sighed. “Death most certainly does interest me.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Huh?”

  “I learned about these things called the Eternals when I was only eight years old,” she said. “And ever since then, I’ve been curious—how do they escape death when we can’t? What’s so special about them?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I found out later than it was because they had a resurrection ability. And I wondered to myself, what if we all had resurrection abilities? What would the world look like?” Her expression changed. “And that was when I found out about the Death Lord.”

  I blinked. “Okay?”

  “There were many Eternals that I read about at first—the Lord of the Light, the Fire Lord, the Queen of Dragons—but the Death Lord was the man who changed the way I thought. He is a living embodiment of why we as beings are incapable of holding onto such a powerful ability.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  She swung her legs beneath her. “The Death Lord is an Eternal who killed people just so his minions and his enemies would fear him. Death wasn’t an act or a statement to him. It was a tool.”

  “That’s a harsh way to put it.”

  “It’s a realistic way,” she said. “I looked everywhere I could to learn about this man. But I couldn’t find much; only that his will to kill was often overwhelming. It’s annoying how little information we have about these ancient beings.”

  “Maybe it’s for the best.”

  “Maybe.” She looked at me. “The Death Lord alone shows more than enough why giving other people abilities like resurrection would be a bad thing.”

  I chuckled. “Are you sure you want to believe everything you read, though?”

  “What do you mean?” She frowned. “Are you saying the books were forged?”

  “I’m saying books are written by people, and people often write opinions, not facts.”

  “And where would I go for these facts?”

  I smiled. “That, I do not know.”

  “How convenient.”

  I tilted my head back and looked at the canopy. “Remember when you thought I’d burned down the camp because I was evil?”

  “I still think that a little bit.”

  “And that’s wonderful to know,” I said. “But it was only when I gave you context that you were able to realize why I did things.”

  “Ah.” Her voice softened.

  I nodded. “Not that I have anything for or against this ‘Death Lord’ guy, but seems to me if you’re killing people, or even if you’re using Death as a tool, you have a mighty good reason for doing it.”

  “I … guess that’s true.”

  “There are no good and evil people in this world. There are people who can live by the rules we set for ourselves, and then people who are forced into living outside them.”

  The princess sat quietly beside me. I could almost hear the synapses in her head fire, just from the words I had said.

  I turned back to the feast beneath us, and we sat in silence for nearly an hour after. The event ended quickly after, and soon Pera climbed back up to his house. Behind him was the woman from earlier, Lili.

  “Ah, Levi.” Pera stepped onto the final step, and looked for space between me and Valentine.

  “Oh, sorry.” I shifted, as did the princess, and the Gnome stepped into his house. Lil followed him, and we headed in as well.

  “This is Lili.” Pera pointed at her. “Some villagers are accommodating the four of you tonight since our homes can’t fit more than one of you at once. I have already introduced the vampire and the elf to their hosts. This lady is yours, Levi.”

  I nodded. “Nice to meet you, Lili.”

  She smiled. “A pleasure, bear-slayer.”

  “So I guess I’m with you then.” Valentine turned to Pera.

  He nodded. “Congratulations, you’ve got the big place.”

  “I feel special,” she said with a chuckle

  “Anyway.” The Gnome looked at me. “You should probably get going. The Gnomes head to bed right after sunset, and it’s an hour past it already.”

  I nodded and turned to Lili.

  “This way,” she said and walked to the mirror in the room.

  “That way?” I frowned.

  She tapped on the wood beside the object, and then pushed. A cutout swung outwards, just like a door.

  “Whoa.” I looked through. A rope bridge spanned for ten yards and led to a house on the next tree.

  Pera chuckled. “Impressive, isn’t it?”

  “Very,” I said. I turned to Valentine. “I’ll see you later, then.”

  “Sleep well.”

  “Come.” Lili walked out.

  I followed her out the door and over the rope bridge. The structure ended right against the wood of the next house, but Lili tapped on a darkened spot in the middle, and a door swung outward, just like before.

  “That’s really neat,” I said, and walked in behind her.

  Her place was only a tad smaller than Pera’s, but there were no dressers or mirrors in here. There was a bed on one side and a tall chest on the other. A large rug was spread over the middle of the room, about as long as me if I curled into a ball.

  “I hope it is to your liking,” Lili said.

  “It’s more than fine.” I smiled. “Thank you.”

  I laid down on the piece of cloth, and eased myself into the softness. Lili quickly settled down on her bed as well, and in a few instants, she was snoring.

  Wow. I always envied people who fall asleep in the blink of an eye.

  I stretched out and looked out the open entrance to her home. The other trees stood tall around us, and I watched the little houses on them. Two or three Gnomes walked down a staircase from one of the houses in the trees.

  Odd, I thought. I guess not everyone sleeps after sunset.

  I gazed into the darkness they disappeared into, and before I knew it, I had lost myself to sleep.

  ***

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Footsteps sounded.

  Valentine’s eyes shot open. Her eyes took a second to adjust to the darkness, and when they did, she could see the tree’s innards looming over her. She was still inside Pera’s house, and the scent of flowers and greenery filled the air.

  She tried to crane her neck, but it stayed in place, as though it was immovable. She lifted her hand, but that stayed in place as well. She moved other parts of her body, or at least tried, but none of them budged.

  She was paralyzed.

  What was going on here?

  Valentine could still move her eyes around, and she darted them from side to side, desperate to find something useful. Anything useful.

  Her senses turned sharper, and a stinging sensation rose in her right hand. She could feel it cutting in at the base of her ring finger.

  A voice echoed. “The ring's paralysis effect lasts quite a while, but it takes a few hours to come into effect. The upside is, of course, the trait cannot be found using the Ga’em, and the target won't know what's happening until it’s too late.”

  A face peered over her. Pera. He wore a grin on his lips now, and held a short, silver dagger in his hand. “I hope you're having a lovely evening, Princess,” he said.

  Valentine’s eyes widened.

  “Ah, yes, of course I knew,�
� he said. “Just because I live this far away from the city doesn't mean I am oblivious to who the important people are. I heard you went missing a day or so ago. I am sure your father will pay me a handsome reward to get you back.”

  Valentine’s muscles tightened. She wanted to move, desperately, but her body wasn’t listening to her.

  “Should I really give you back to your father, though?” He let the tip of his dagger touch her dress, right below her midriff, and he traced a line up to her chest. “You will easily be the priciest slave I've sold.”

  He chuckled, and his face hovered inches over hers. "A pity I can't afford you for myself.”

  He touched her face, and his fingers ran down to her neck. His breath hastened, and she felt every puff of air on her lips.

  "You're going to have a ton of fun, Princess,” he said with a smirk.

  A shadow loomed over the Gnome, shading him with darkness. Valentine’s eyes widened.

  The next moment, a blade stuck out of Pera's throat, and he collapsed onto her, gurgling blood onto her dress.

  The shadow emerged from the darkness. Levi stood there, with a blood-stained dagger in his hand. But instead of his eyes of violet, she saw only solid black.

  He sighed. “I knew there was something fishy about this place.”

  ***

  The sensation of fire and ice spiked inside me. The feeling shot into my bones, and then faded away. Blood dripped from the dagger as I lifted it up to my eyeline.

  These weapons are good, I thought. I should check their stats later.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have defeated:

  Forest Gnome (Lv. 28)!

  This lowlife was thinking about selling Valentine as a slave. Gods know to who or what. You could have asked him, but you killed him and probably tore his vocal cords, too, so he might not have answered. But hey, Valentine is safe now. Looks like those murderous tendencies of yours helped this time. Reward: 10000 XP. Reward: Reputation increased by +50.

  DING!

  Congratulations! Your level has increased!

  Level 19!

  Henway Twins Level achieved! You are now equals in the eye of the Ga’em. Although, if they saw you right now, with blood over your clothes, they might faint. Actually, they’d definitely faint. You gain 4 stat points to spend on your skills. You also gain a 25% advancement to the skill of your choice.

  I dismissed the screen and knelt beside Valentine. I’d heard enough about the paralysis to know how to get rid of it. I pulled the ring off of her, but pocketed it instead of throwing it away. Might be handy sometime.

  I moved the fallen Gnome off of her and tossed him to the side. He thumped into the ground, and blood splattered onto the wall.

  Must have cut a major artery. I looked at my blade. It was probably hard to not do that when you stabbed something like this into the throat of a man only three feet tall. I should make a cleaner hit the next time.

  I turned back to Valentine, who was still frozen. The good thing about this paralysis, though, was that it left the eyes and the nose free. “Blink thrice if you can hear me.”

  She did.

  “Good,” I said. “I’m not sure when the effects wear off. I tried analyzing the ring before, but it doesn’t mention anything about this effect. The way the Gnomes made it must somehow allow the ring to hide it.”

  Might be interesting to learn about, though, I thought. I could see a hundred uses for such a stealth skill.

  Wood creaked from outside, and then footsteps followed. I quickly darted to the entrance and pressed to the side, right against the inner wall. I gripped my dagger tight and peeked out.

  “Pera.” A short man stepped in. “The preparations are—”

  I jumped forward and punched the man’s gut. He was still stumbling backwards when I grabbed him by the shoulder and drove my dagger into the side of his neck. His eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed. I grabbed him as he fell, and laid him next to Pera, pulling the dagger from his neck. Blood spurted out of the wound.

  Well, saying “wound” is pretty mediocre. I averted my eyes from the fleshy gash in his neck. I really need to make cleaner hits.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have defeated:

  Forest Gnome (Lv. 19)!

  The guy died before he even knew what was going on. He spilt a ton of blood, though. Maybe you should figure out the best place to stab a person. No point in silently killing someone if you accidentally tap a river of blood from them. Reward: 1000 XP. Reward: Reputation increased by +50.

  I looked at the entrance to this place. What was this Pera planning? I thought. We should have just gone our own blood way. This village is not safe.

  Then again, I’d gotten useful weaponry, so I couldn’t really say it was all bad.

  I stepped up to Valentine. The princess shivered a little—which was expected, since I’d just killed two people in front of her—but her eyes were firm. They didn’t have the usual glare that they directed at me right after I hurt someone.

  “It’s … fine,” she croaked. “You had to do it.”

  “Good to see you’re back.” I smiled. The princess’s fingers curled up, and she flexed her arms. A few seconds later, she sat herself up and stared down at the stains of blood over her pristine white cloak.

  “We can change it if you—”

  She shook her head. “I’m not afraid of death, Levi,” she said. “I don’t like when it’s used pointlessly. But those two….” She looked at the two Gnomes. “Well, I know one of them deserved it.”

  “Deserved it?” I raised an eyebrow. “Pretty strong language.”

  “Justified language.”

  I walked over to the entrance and peered out. Shadows moved through the staircases and ladders. Gnomes were making their way from their homes and down to the ground. My eyes moved with their bodies, and then I froze.

  There was a large metal cage in the centre of the village now, and Luna and Stan were trapped inside it.

  What the hell?

  “What’s going on?” Valentine stood up, and flexed her legs.

  I clenched my fists. “They got Stan and Luna, too.”

  “Figured.” She peered over my shoulder. “They wore the rings, too, didn’t they?”

  “I guess,” I mumbled.

  She looked at my hand. “You were clever enough to not put yours on. Did you think there was something off?”

  I shook my head. “Not a big fan of jewelry.” I scanned the area around the cage. There were multiple Gnomes surrounding it, and each of them carried a weapon—either a short spear, a dagger, or a short sword.

  I counted them off. “Twenty-three.”

  “Eh?” Valentine looked at me.

  “That’s how many people are around the cage right now. If everyone in this village is in on whatever this is, and everyone was at the banquet last night, then we’ve got about thirty Gnomes in total.”

  “That’s a lot of Gnomes.”

  “And I can’t help you take them down, either. I’m an Assassin, for the most part. I’m useless in hand-to-hand combat—unless my target is distracted by something else.”

  “What do we do?”

  “What one normally does when they’re outnumbered.” I turned to Valentine and grinned. “We’re going to get some friends to help us.”

  ***

  I hope she gets back in time.

  The princess’s shadowy form leapt onto a nearby tree branch, and then climbed through the thick canopy. I kept my gaze on her until she disappeared, and then turned.

  A few more Gnomes walked over to the cage. That’s the whole village, then. I counted off the thirty gnomes once more just to make sure. I glanced at the bloodied forms of the two Gnomes next to me. Well, almost the whole village.

  A thud sounded from behind me, and then a gasp. The door in the tree was open, and Lili stood frozen in front of it.

  “You human murderer!” She pulled out a short sword that was strapped to her leg,
and ran at me. My eyes darted around. This was close combat. I couldn’t take her on by myself, and I didn’t have Valentine to help with any distractions either.

  Make your own distractions.

  I darted backwards, to the other end of the room. I pushed off against the wooden wall and switched directions, transferring the dagger to my left hand. My body bent low as Lili and I charged each other head on.

  I slowed down for a split-second, and grabbed Pera’s dead body by the collar. I tugged hard and threw him forward, onto her. Her eyes widened, and she stumbled for a moment. I switched the dagger to my right, and by the time Lili had recovered from the sudden shock, my blade was in her throat.

  She dropped to the floor, spitting blood. Red streaked her body, and yet she glared at me with a stare that tried to petrify.

  My eyes widened. She’s still alive.

  I grabbed the short sword she had dropped and impaled her chest. Her health went to zero, and she slumped, lifeless.

  DING!

  Congratulations! You have defeated:

  Forest Gnome (Lv. 26)!

  Another Gnome came after you, and you killed them yet again—by stabbing them in the throat (You don’t have a fetish or something, do you?). Also, using a dead body to kill another person? It’s like a punchline for a badly written joke. Reward: 4500 XP. Reward: Reputation increased by +50

  What kind of jokes are you thinking about?

  I pulled my dagger out of her neck and walked out of the back entrance, onto the rope bridge. I took a step forward first and looked around. The Gnomes on the ground didn’t notice me, and there weren’t any of them left in the trees to pick me out either.

  I trod across the wooden planks and walked over to the next house—Lili’s house. She hadn’t heard me when I left, so I thought I was safe, but I hadn’t expected her to show up at Pera’s place.