Ascend Online

by Luke Chmilenko

  "Like fuck I even know…" Drace replied dryly. "I didn't bother to ask it about living arrangements, seeing how badly it was trying to redecorate using my intestines."

  "I'll say it again. ’Why did you even decide to fuck with it in the first place?!'"

  "Because of what was behind it!" A wicked grin broke over Drace's face. "We found a fucking motherlode, Lyr! Four hundred pieces of copper ore! Nearly half that in Tin! Just from that cave alone!"

  "Holy shit!" That sort of haul would solve a great deal of problems for us in the short term. If nothing else I'd have enough to repair our armor and make a few sets for the Militia. "That's awesome!"

  "I figured it was worth the risk!" Drace said happily after hearing my excitement. "That's not all, though! I hit level 10 too!"

  "Ah! Congrats! Sierra and Constantine did too!"

  "Yeah! We ran into them outside." Drace smiled as he spoke. "They told me to keep the details of level 10 a secret…so you're out of luck to get anything from me!"

  "Damn it!" I cursed. Everyone knew that my curiosity would always get the better of me. "You're all conspiring against me!"

  "Just a little," Drace said. "But you'll understand why."

  "Yeah… one day maybe. Seems like I have an endless list of shit to do before I get something as mundane as my Base Class." I shook my head with a huff. "There's a crate in the workshop you can drop your stuff into, leave your armor on a rack while you're there. I'll see if there is any way I can fix some of it up."

  "After that…" I eyed the group of Militiamen, who had all been standing stoically while Drace and I chatted. Hang on. "Wait…Loren…are you okay? Your jaw looks a bit…off…gods…is it dislocated?!"

  "Gah." Was all that Loren managed to say. "Gnat go gad."

  "Shit, Drace!" I looked at the rest of the men and noticed one cradling his shoulder, and another leaning on his spear like a crutch. "Your men are all broken and you have them standing here like it's nothing!"

  "They haven't complained." Drace looked at the men proudly.

  "I don't care! Go get Shelia!"

  ***

  "So you have to go out into the wild and make some sort of fautian snack?" Constantine asked.

  "Ugh, no," Caius said with a touch of exasperation. "I need to go out into the wild and make a Faustian Pact after I find and sacrifice a creature."

  "Then you'll gain your dark powers?" Drace cut in.

  "That or be damned for all eternity if I get it wrong."

  "Wait, what?" I just clued into the conversation happening around me. I finally managed to get enough work done for the day that I didn't feel bad calling it quits for the day and was in the middle of enjoying a Webwood Casserole with everyone, save Halcyon, who had already gone to bed, when the topic of Caius's Base Class came up.

  I still had more than enough work on my plate, from repairing everyone's armor to getting more crafting done and somehow finding the time to level my Evocation skill to finally unlock my Base Class. But at the moment, I was doing the best to enjoy my evening without feeling bad about it.

  "Damned for all eternity? Do you want us standing by just in case?"

  "Huh?" It took a moment for Caius to realize I was talking to him. "Nah, I'll be fine. It's all the typical arcane mumbo jumbo stuff. Be afraid of demons, because they'll fuck your shit up. Blah, snore."

  "I'm honestly not worried."

  "If you're sure…" I wasn't completely convinced of Caius's bravado, but there were some things that could only be faced by oneself.

  "Yeah, don't worry about it," Caius said without a concern. "You really worry about us too much, Lyrian. You should worry about hitting level 10 yourself. You've been working yourself to the bone trying to take care of the village. Don't forget about yourself eh?"

  "Heh, I'll take that under consideration."

  "If you're anything like Halcyon, you have enough to look forward to," Caius spoke softly. "He's feeling a bit…overwhelmed right now."

  "Yeah…" I nodded with a bit of sympathy. Halcyon was the Fourth of our group to reach level 10 today, but for whatever reason when he hit level 10, he was immediately overwhelmed with an influx of Arcane Knowledge and afflicted with a similar type of migraine that I had yesterday. "Hopefully we'll be fortunate enough to avoid that."

  "Yeah, shit," Caius agreed, tapping his head. "I have my immortal soul to worry about here. I don't need a headache clogging up the works when I'm negotiating with a demon."

  "Don't you mean digital soul?" Sierra quipped with a raised eyebrow.

  "S'long as it gets me level 10," Caius said excitedly. "You can call it whatever kind of soul you want."

  "I hear you there!" Constantine laughed.

  "So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Drace cut in. "More drilling?"

  "Yeah." I nodded. "We need to get used to working together. Then after that, we'll keep working on Aldford's defenses."

  "Sounds good to me." Drace nodded. "We should be able to burn through the next ditch tomorrow if we're all on it."

  "Hopefully…" I added softly. "Gods know I have enough shit to do."

  The rest of the evening broke down into simple chatter and catching up about our day. There was an energy about the village that I hadn't felt before, hope, excitement, joy even. Sometimes an honest day's work was all it took to raise people's spirits and today was one of them.

  It was the first day I went to bed thinking that everything would work out perfectly, that I could handle all the work that I'd piled onto myself.

  At least until the screaming started and threw all my plans out the window.

  Chapter 21

  Friday, February 8th, 2047 - 1:58 am

  Aldford

  It started with a single shriek of surprise echoing over the sleeping village, leaving its inhabitants struggling to discern if they dreamed the noise or had actually heard the noise.

  The second shriek banished all doubt from the sleeping villagers.

  Aldford was under attack.

  "Lyrian! Wake up!" Sierra's voice had me leaping off my cot, still half tangled in my blanket.

  "The fuck is happening?!" I shouted as I reflexively conjured Light on myself. In the dim lighting, I saw the rest of the party scrambling out of their cots as another scream pierced the night. "Shit!"

  I tore the blanket off myself, my hand shooting to where I had left Razor. I grabbed the cool hilt of the blade as I pulled it free of its sheath. Shit! Everyone’s armor is still in the Workshop waiting for repairs! "We're under attack, somewhere outside! Let's get moving!"

  Weapons already in hand, we rushed towards the Town Hall door. Drace slammed through the large door with his shoulder and charged through.

  "Spiders!" Caius shouted as his night vision was the first to pierce the darkness. "Holy shit! A ton of spiders!"

  "Fuck!" I heard Halcyon swear as he conjured Light on himself as well. "What are we going to do?!"

  "Start killing them!" Sierra shouted as she began to fire arrows into the horde. "Lyrian, we need to start finding the villagers!"

  "Yeah!" Adrenaline was coursing through my body as my sleeping mind went into overdrive. "Drace! Const! Let's go! House to house!"

  "Right!" Drace shouted as he broke into a run.

  We barely made it twenty feet before we found a trio of villagers being swarmed by over a dozen spiders as they pressed themselves into a doorway in an attempt to hide from the creatures. Two wielded simple short knives as they tried to keep the creatures at bay, while a third shakily held a lantern, casting a dim orange glow over the spiders. Seeing our approach, they quickly called out. "Hey! Help!"

  "There! Go! Go! Go!" I ordered Drace as the three of us dashed to the rescue.

  We closed the gap between us and the spiders in a heartbeat and trampled over the swarm, desperation fueling our assault. Razor slashed through a quartet of legs as I forced myself through the swarm, trying to place myself between the villagers and horde.

  A thunderclap of Magefire flared for t
he briefest moment as Halcyon joined the fight, his spell incinerating three spiderlings instantly in a burst of fire.

  Shit! I need to learn that one! Halcyon's attack blew a hole in the spiderling swarm, which Drace quickly filled as he swung his blade in a mighty cleave.

  An arrow and bolt of magic crashed into a spiderling beside me, killing it instantly before it was able to bite me. With the path mostly cleared before me, I was able to reach the huddling villagers. A pair of spiders appeared but were swiftly slashed down by two quick strokes from my sword.

  "Go! Retreat back to the Town Hall! Wake the Bann if he isn't already! He'll know what to do!" The irony of my words struck me hard. Of course, he'll know what to do! This is the second attack Aldford has suffered!

  As the villagers broke off to run to the Town Hall, I took a moment to look at the few spiderlings still alive and saw that they were all [Webwood Spiderlings] - Level 7.

  "These are all Webwood creatures!" I called out to the party as Constantine and Drace butchered the remaining spiderlings nearby.

  "The fuck are they doing all the way out here?!" Halcyon shouted as he sent another magical blast towards a group of spiders.

  "They're expanding," Sierra guessed as she fired another arrow into the darkness. "Doesn’t matter right now! We have incoming! "

  "So quickly?" I couldn't believe that the spiders could expand through the forest so fast. Did they follow us somehow?

  I quickly snapped back into the present as I heard Drace yell and point at something glowing in the distance. "What the hell is that?!"

  ***

  Wood splintered into a thousand pieces as I flew through the side of the building, coming to a rest in front of two very terrified looking villagers. "Get…to the Town Hall!" I wheezed as I checked my health and struggled to get my feet under me.

  Down 27% health with just a graze!

  It had taken just a handful of minutes for everything to go to hell. Seconds after saving our first trio of villagers we were overrun by a massive horde of spiderlings. Lacking armor and being generally unprepared for a late night invasion, the battle was desperate until Ritt, Jenkins and Shelia, along with all six members of the Militia charged into battle to relieve us.

  With the bulk of the spider horde destroyed, we had a few precious minutes to comb through the village in search of any trapped villagers as the ominous blue glow marched closer to Aldford. Thankfully, after being victim to one invasion, the villagers had a first-hand understanding of the benefits to have a sharpened weapon at hand, or in most cases a sharpened pitchfork or spade.

  The Militia helped us direct and even carry the rest of the villagers we found to the Town Hall, we quickly found the Bann organizing a defense. Happy to have defenders in place to ensure the villagers wouldn’t be overrun, we turned our attention to the strange glow that had steadily been advancing on Aldford.

  “Fuck!” Sierra hissed as she could finally make out details through the bright blue glow. “Is that a giant glowing spider?!”

  “It’s fucking nightmare fuel, is what it is!” Halcyon’s voice trembled as his fear of spiders reached new heights.

  [Webwood Horror – Rare – Level 10]

  Glowing like a blazing furnace, the many-legged horror was like no other we had seen before. It towered above the rest of its kin, easily twice the size of the larger spiders but with even more legs. It put the Webwood Aberration that I had fought yesterday to shame. With no regard for the freshly dug ditch below it, the vile creature crossed the threshold of our defences the same way we effortlessly crossed street curbs in the Real World. I cursed as I saw a days’ worth of work go completely to waste.

  To be fair, I didn't build it with the intention of defending against something like this!

  Stumbling through the wreckage that was once a wall, I moved to rejoin the fight. The creature shone like a miniature blue star, forcing my eyes to squint as I took in its massive, twelve-legged form. Judging by the damage I had taken, its spellcasting ability was more potent than an Aberration’s. The monstrosity had none of the strange deformities the other creatures had. I swore that the behemoth of a spider had to be at least ten feet tall!

  On top of it all, it's a fucking Rare creature! Which means it's going to be a ridiculous pain in the ass to kill!

  I grimaced as a wave of Caius's magic splashed harmlessly in front of the creature, caught by some sort of unseen barrier. To make matters even worse, the creature seemed to possess some sort of shield when it came to ranged and magical attacks.

  "Lyr! You okay?" Caius panted as he wove another spell together to throw at the Horror.

  "Yea… that didn't quite work out…" A moment ago I had tried to close with the creature and get into melee range but had misjudged my timing and gotten myself thoroughly clobbered. Judging from the lack of anyone else being close by, none of the other melee fighters managed either.

  "Shit!" Caius cursed as another one of his spells splashed harmlessly off the creature's shield. "I'm fucking useless here…"

  "What can I fucking do to help?" He turned to eye me for a moment, taking in my injuries and slapped a hand to my shoulder. "Oh… fuck… this is going to suck…"

  "Caius, what are you, oh!" I flinched as my wounds instantly faded. "What the hell did you do?!"

  “Ugh." Caius was gasping as he clutched his side. "I took them away… d-don't worry, though…"

  Caius saw one of the numerous spiderlings still roaming the village and quickly slammed his hand onto the creature's rough chitin. A heartbeat later a red pulse of energy enveloped the spider and it quickly dried to a husk. "Ahhh… much better!"

  "Caius, what the fuck?! I thought you were a Warlock?!" I couldn't quite believe what I'd just seen, momentarily forgetting about the Webwood Horror.

  "I am…" Caius's voice sounded different than it usually was, but I couldn't place how. "I made a Pact with Blood Demon… and it allows me to heal, in a way. But that's a story for later…"

  A flash of blue energy drew my attention away from Caius. I turned in time to see the Webwood Horror cast a massive blue missile at the Town Hall, only to be intercepted by Halcyon, as he caught the missile on some sort of ward and directed it straight into the ground.

  The resulting blast threw dirt everywhere and sent the mage flying backwards into the Hall. "Damn it!"

  We need to do something! Or we're going to lose the fucking village!

  Leaving Caius behind, I charged at the Horror again, leading the way with my measly Flare spell. Fuck! Everyone else is throwing level 10 magic around and all I can do is throw around a tiny little fireball. I saw my Flare splash against the creature's shield and cursed at its ineffectiveness.

  My charge quickly had me re-entering melee range with the creature, breaking into a full out sprint as I closed with the creature. I somersaulted over a sweeping leg, rolling across the ground, forcing my momentum back into a run through sheer athleticism and determination.

  Barely ten feet away from the massive creature, I was close enough to be attacked, yet far enough to still be ineffective against the creature. Not willing to give up on at least doing something, I continued to throw Flares at the creature.

  [You scorch a Webwood Horror for 19 points of damage!]

  What?! I actually managed to land an attack on the creature?! I rolled to the side as I slashed out at an attacking limb and threw another Flare to confirm my result.

  [You Power Attack I a Webwood Horror for 48 points of damage!]

  [You scorch a Webwood Horror for 20 points of damage!]

  The shield only extends as far as its reach!

  "THE SHIELD ENDS AT MELEE RANGE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, praying to all the gods I knew that my friends would understand what I meant. For the moment, I was more concerned with staying alive, while in the belly of the beast, so to speak.

  The next thirty seconds of my life were probably the most intense and stressful that I had experienced to date. I went into a full defensive pa
nic, trying to stay alive as I desperately evaded a maelstrom of legs and two-foot long claws directed at ending my life. With me crouched in so close to the creature, my only saving grace was that it was unable to physically see where I was as I danced my way towards its flank.

  Drace was the first to come to my rescue, taking full advantage of the fact that the spider's attention focused on me. Charging straight into melee range unmolested, he unleashed a mighty two-handed swing, brutally chopping through a leg the spider had braced its weight on.

  With a gush of blue-glowing ichor as Drace cut the Horror's leg in two, the spider's balance momentarily faltered as it shifted its weight to its other legs, long enough to allow a close following Constantine a chance to charge down its gullet. At the last moment, I saw him jump, higher than I thought was possible, landing on the spider's 'face' and continue running up the creature's thorax.