Ascend Online

by Luke Chmilenko

  Constantine and I effortlessly cut through a cluster of singed Webwood Spiderlings, the weakened creatures far too overwhelmed to stand up to us. We fell into a defensive circle around the mages, finally giving them a moment to catch their breaths from the constant flow of battle.

  “Who the hell are you people?!” The unknown mage repeated for a third time, breathing heavily just behind my ear.

  “We’re Adventurers!” I shouted, over the chaos, a marauding Predator unwilling to give me a moment to turn my head and talk politely. “Pleased to meet you! Perhaps introductions can wait until this is all sorted out?!”

  “Yes! On second thought, I think that maybe prudent!” The mage shouted back as I threw a ball of fire at a Giant Spider that lumbered close by.

  ACTIVATING LIGHTNING NOVA

  The ground under us suddenly pulsed blue, eliciting a cry of surprise from myself, Halcyon and the mage.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Halcyon voice shrilled over the sounds of combat, “We need to fucking move! Back out into the fire!”

  “Drace! We need to get out of the middle!” I shouted at the warrior. “Finish it off and let’s go! We need a trail!”

  “No!” The unnamed mage shouted. “I need the creature alive! It attacked my camp!”

  Wait, what?! I cocked my head backwards to take a look at the mage for a split instant, then it clicked. Shit! He must have been part of the Expedition!

  “Drace!” I shouted, “Move!”

  “Raaaah!” Drace roared as he kicked the goblin shaman to the ground, sending it skidding out of the circle. “Gonna need some heals after this!

  Drace launched himself into a run as he thundered towards us. He didn’t stop for anything in his path as the ground began to crackle with the smell of ozone, stomping a Spiderling flat with a wet squishing sound. “Fall in!”

  Continuing to gain speed, Drace charged through a wall of spiders with the relentless fury of a linebacker, crunching through anything and everything in his path. Fueled by necessity, he absorbed blows against his body, ignored wicked cuts that gouged his limbs, and forced himself to continue on as his blood began to boil from half a dozen venomous bites.

  “Go! Go! Go!” I shouted the instant that Drace blazed a path.

  “But…” The mage began, looking towards the goblin

  “Go, you idiot!” I shouted shoving the mage ahead of me. “Can’t do shit if you’re dead!”

  There was barely fifteen feet left to go before I felt my hair rise up under my helmet, the charge building up in the air. An explosion of light flashed behind me.

  Awww shit, this is going to-

  You have been hit by [Lightning Nova] for 294 points of damage!

  You have been stunned!

  I slammed into the ground face first, skidding to a halt just shy of Drace’s feet.

  “Shit Lyr!” Sierra shouted, bending down to check on my trembling form. “Are you okay?”

  “Fuck man!” Constantine was right behind her. “How hard is it to stay out of AoE?!”

  “F-f-f-f-fuck y-y-y-ou s-s-crub!” I stammered out as the aftershocks left my body twitching as nerves continued to misfire.

  “See? He’s doing great!” Constantine smiled as he stooped to help me up. “Bit salty, though.”

  ACTIVATING FIRE SWEET PHASE TWO

  “Oh fuck! There’s that voice again!” Halcyon shouted. “What the fuck caused it to go crazy?

  “Lyr touched a switch.” Sierra helpfully supplied.

  “Lyr, why?!” Constantine asked.

  “S-S-Seemed like a good idea to do at the time,” I replied somewhat defensively. “Plus Caius was trapped.”

  “You’re the one responsible for this?” The mage asked with wide eyes. “Why did you touch things you didn’t understand?!”

  “That sure doesn’t sound like ‘Thanks for getting me out of a Temporal Lock.’” I started to say hotly before Sierra cut us off.

  “Measure your dicks later! We need to move! It spawned a second set of Fire Walls moving counterclockwise!”

  “Back to the middle!” Drace yelled wearily as he pointed ahead. “Critters here are realizing they can’t keep ahead of the wall anymore!”

  Faced with two colliding walls of fire the remaining horde of spiders had turned to flee towards the center.

  Right at us.

  “Well, we know how this song and dance goes,” I said grabbing Razor off the ground as I checked my health, finding myself just below 50%. Going to have to be more careful!

  “Shall we mosey back to the middle?”

  “You people are insane.” The mage looked at us incredulously. “You are far too cavalier with your lives!”

  “Phff…” Caius waved a hand dismissively as we began to move. “This is just another Wednesday for us.”

  “Caius, it's Friday.” Sierra deadpanned.

  “Oh,” Caius said with a bit of surprise. “That explains everything then doesn’t it?”

  “Wait?!” the man hissed. “It’s Friday today?!”

  “All day long.” Caius nodded helpfully.

  “But-” I didn’t hear the rest of the chronologically challenged mage’s reply as I ran ahead towards the center of the chamber again.

  “Caius, fix Drace up when you have a chance! I’m going to need a spot of healing too!” I called out seeing the goblin shaman charge into the relative safety of the middle, looking worse for wear.

  With my Puma half a step behind it.

  “Oh, this is going to get dicey,” I muttered, seeing the Puma leap at the goblin shaman, quickly followed by hordes of spiders that had begun to flood into the relative safety of the middle, trying to get away from the colliding walls of fire.

  “Stay close to the fire’s edge and move with it!” Drace called out as the rest of the party moved. “If we need to dip out again we won’t be running far.”

  Following Drace’s lead, we slowly walked ourselves along the edge of a rotating wall of fire, hoping that any fleeing creatures would give us a wide berth as they passed.

  “How do we finish this?!” Halcyon called out as he channeled his shield, protecting our flank.

  “Wait it out?” Caius suggested as he reached out to slap a fleeing Spiderling, reaving the life out of it as it passed.

  “How about option number two?!” Halycon yelled, rocking back on his heels as spiders glanced off his barrier. “Anyone?!”

  “Lyr! What about the magic crystal you saw up here?” Sierra called out, pointing upwards. “Maybe we can start shooting at it now?”

  “Uh.” I stalled as I looked towards the ceiling, seeing it for the first time in the light.

  The roof bulged ever so slightly inwards forming a dome, perfectly aligned with the center of the chamber. Set into the sides of the dome, I noticed four large depressions. Three were empty, glistening with what appeared to be shattered glass. In the fourth however was a large crystal, cut into a similar diamond shape as the others I had seen previously. It burned with a near white tint of blue, leaving afterimages in my eyes as I looked away.

  “Crystal?” The nameless mage looked up to the ceiling, spotting the glowing shard. “Yes! That shard must be channeling magic for the circle!”

  “Good enough for me!” Sierra shouted as she powerfully drew back her bow, aiming nearly straight up and firing an arrow. “Halcyon, Caius, and whatever your name is! Help me out with this!”

  “Lyr! Swap out!” Halcyon called as he moved to follow Sierra’s orders.

  Wearily, I filled Halcyon’s spot as our mages began to rain a flurry of magical energy upwards at the crystal anchoring the chamber’s defense. Once more my world shrank into a mechanical array of parries, cuts, and scything limbs, losing the goblin shaman and Puma in the chaos of battle. As the fight raged on, the horde began to dwindle, giving my beleaguered lungs a chance to suck in air and recover the precious stamina I hadn’t realized I was missing.

  I was about to shout out for an update when the broken cac
ophony of voices echoed out again, even more, distorted than before.

  A-A-ACTIVATING L-LIGHT-LIGHTNING N-N-NOOOV-

  “It’s working!” Halcyon shouted, throwing another blue bolt up into the air.

  “Move!” Constantine shouted as we timed our step out of the middle once again.

  This time, there was no buildup of electricity as the circle flared with magical energy or the warning smell of ozone before the nova detonated itself. Without any sort of warning at all, a thunderous clap of magefire sprayed over the center of the chamber with so much force that it knocked all of us off our feet, sending us sprawling across the ground.

  I saw brilliant shards of crystal rain down from the ceiling as a massive arc of blue lightning discharged itself along the walls and ground, gouging scars everywhere it touched. Then just as quickly as it had started, it was over, the walls of fire winking out, the room immediately beginning to dim.

  Phew. My mind echoed with relief as I took a deep breath, rolling onto my back.

  “Well…” Drace groaned as he sat up. “…that was a ton of fun… lets never do it again.”

  Chapter 30

  “Where is it?” The mage was the first on his feet, with me not far behind. “The goblin! I need to catch it! If five days have truly passed…”

  He scanned the rapidly dimming room urgently, trying to see where the goblin shaman had ended up after the blast. My eyes scanned the room eagerly as well, though in my case, trying to spot the Puma before it could escape. I didn’t know what had happened during the battle, but I was certain that the Puma had taken a bite out of the Goblin at one point.

  A flash of violet light from across the chamber cast the room into a brief purple haze, silhouetting a pair of shadows across the far wall.

  “There!” the mage and I both shouted, breaking into a run. “Let’s go!”

  We stared at each other in surprise for a moment, before the mage finally asked. “You! What is your name?”

  “Lyrian, Lyrian Rastler!” I shouted back at the mage, already suspecting who he was. “Yours?”

  “Donovan Kaine!”

  “I think the Puma is after the Ley Line!” I shouted back at him. “It’s possessed by some sort of Intelligence.”

  “Goblins attacked my camp while we searched for the Ley Line! I don’t know what happened to them!” he shouted back.

  By this point, the Goblin and Puma had noticed our reckless charge towards them. Sparing a quick glance at one another, forming a temporary truce, they turned about and ran deeper into the ruins.

  “Damn it!” I cursed, seeing the pair fade away into the growing darkness as they descended down the ramp Sierra and I had spotted what seemed like a lifetime ago. “Why. Does. Everything. Keep. Running?!”

  With Donovan and me leading the charge and the rest of the party not far behind, we charged across the chamber, my Light spell faithfully illuminating the way. We quickly began to descend down the ramp, moving deeper into the ruins. The moment that I stepped out of the massive chamber, the walls began to glow with bright blue energy once more. Blinking my eyes quickly, I dismissed Arcane Sight, before I tripped over something I couldn’t clearly see.

  As we ran down the ramp, we found that gentle ‘plateaus’ had been cut in the decline, leveling out our descent out every twenty feet or so, likely used to ensure that anyone losing their footing, wouldn’t continue to gain speed as they tumbled their way down the passage.

  Doorways and passages flanked the sides of each level we descended, expanding the ruin deeper into the ridge. At first, I noted that the passageways were blocked with rubble, having completely collapsed from the same event that affected the upper levels, but as we delved deeper, more of the passages gaped ominously unaffected by whatever caused the others to collapse.

  “A light!” Donovan gasped, somewhat winded from the sprint.

  Ahead, a brilliant blue light spilled from the final level of the ramp with scattered bits of rubble littering the floor. In addition to the rubble, I noted the tattered remains of webby cocoons and egg sacs scattered everywhere, even stuck to the walls.

  The instant that Donovan and I stepped onto the final level of the ruin, into the blue light, a nauseous feeling struck my stomach followed by the onset of a headache.

  You have entered an area permeated with Æther!

  You are affected by [Æther Sickness] for 1 point of damage.

  You are affected by [Æther Sickness] for 1 point of damage.

  “Ugh.” I heard Donovan slow with a grunt as the symptoms hit him full force. “What…?”

  Squinting ahead as my eyes adjusted to the brilliant glow, I saw the Goblin Shaman and Puma just ahead, focused on something I couldn’t make out. The passage had opened into yet another larger room, greatly dwarfing the massive chamber above.

  “Come on Donovan.” I tugged on the flagging mage’s arm. “We’re almost there.”

  A massive roar echoed through the chamber, clenching my heart with such an existential dread I was certain that I had wet myself both in game and in Reality. I even saw both Goblin and Puma fall to the ground in terror.

  “What the hell was that?!” Halcyon screamed as the party came charging down the ramp.

  Stumbling forward I saw the Goblin desperately begin to push itself backwards, struggling to both stand up and get away from the Puma while something massive came at them. Reacting faster, the Puma twisted, biting deep into the Goblin’s leg before it sprinted forwards, deeper into the room.

  “Nooo!” Donovan screamed as a massive claw stabbed through the hamstring goblin, pinning it right to the floor, a second claw quickly skewering it from the other side. The mage ran forward into the room, intent on somehow rescuing the goblin.

  “Donovan! Stop!” I chased the mage, having missed my chance to grab him.

  I arrived into the room just in time to see a Living Nightmare pluck the struggling goblin off the ground, my mind at first refusing to accept what it was seeing. Whatever type of spider this once was before it had made its home here, in the bowels of this Æther filled room had long since changed. It was mutated grotesquely, almost beyond comprehension. No longer mobile, it was fused with the stone floor of the room, its flesh glowing with arcane energy as its corpulent form straddled a brilliant river of energy that had cut a chasm through the stone floor.

  Gone were most of the creature’s limbs, leaving only the two massive claws that held the helpless goblin impaled on them. Lifting the hapless creature to its tooth filled maw, dozens of flame red eyes regarded it for a heartbeat before it crunched on the goblin whole. Its deformed chest writhing as it swallowed the creature, the thick leathery skin barely able to keep itself from tearing apart.

  Immediately the creature’s name came up in my vision.

  [Ætherwarped Webwood Queen – Boss – Level 11]

  A boss creature! I gasped as I saw the tag appear. That has to be the Ley Line under it, filled with… raw magic!

  “Damn it!” Donovan yelled with despair as the goblin disappeared into the Queen’s gullet. “Fuuuuck!”

  “Quiet!” I hissed grabbing the mage by the shoulder, while craning my head around, having lost sight of my Nemesis in the split instant that it had taken me to chase after Donovan.

  Looking around the room, I spotted nothing but countless more empty egg sacs everywhere I looked, not finding the Puma anywhere in sight.

  “This… is what we came for?” Drace gasped terror intermixing with disbelief. “This… Queen?”

  “There isn’t enough fire in the world to kill this…” Halcyon whimpered, eyes wide, taking a step backwards. “Oh… nope, nope, nope.”

  “Hey! Where are you going?!” Sierra shouted, giving Halcyon a slap. “Focus! You can do this!”

  “Whatever I did in a previous life, I am so sorry…” Halcyon muttered while rubbing a red mark on his face. “Okay… let’s do this… then I can start therapy…”

  “We’re running out of time!” Constantine hissed. “
I feel like I’m ready to throw up everything I’ve ever eaten!”

  “Okay!” Drace shouted, working up his own confidence before sprinting at the Queen. “Let’s do this!”

  “All out!” I shouted, quickly moving to follow Drace. “Don’t hold anything back! We need to kill the bug before the Æther kills us!”

  “Watch your spells!” Donovan suddenly shouted the instant that I had run past him, snapping out of his despair. “This place is full of raw Æther! They will have unpredictable effects!”

  Oh shit! Like we need those sort of complications!