Tower Ascendant: A LitRPG Adventure (Realm Grinder Book 3), page 18
“Your helping looks a lot like kill-stealing.” Farida allowed her weapons to dissipate, then turned and started walking down the path toward the distant village yet again.
“And what do you care, even if it is?” John asked, following close along behind.
“I don’t. It’s just annoying that you do.”
“But I don’t!”
“Fine.” Farida raised an eyebrow. “Then, when the next horde of monsters comes, sit back and let me take them out. All by myself.”
John felt his face turning rather red. “Ahh… I mean…”
“Busted!” Farida snorted. “You’re a mess, you know that, John? A powerful mess, but a mess.”
“One of these days, I’m going to find a PvP arena where we can’t actually kill each other, and I’m going to pummel her,” John muttered as he slung his spear onto his back again. Enora, standing nearby, only laughed.
Overhead, the moon beamed down, lighting their way, and John sighed deeply. Whoever got the kills, they were pressing along as quickly as they could, and that, at least for the moment, was all that he cared about.
CHAPTER 23
[Now Entering: Howling Trail]
[Floor 62: Forest of Fangs]
[Power: SSS+++]
[Will: SSS+++]
[Skill: SSS+++]
[Level: 100]
The bare, twisted trees stood above John like long, skeletal fingers. His breath came short and soft, and all around, dark shapes flickered back and forth. He wasn’t sure how many of them were monsters and how many were simply ambient effects, but he was certain that there were dangers out there, if he only knew where to look.
Overhead, the moon was half-full, and looked rather orangish. Crows cawed loudly as they fluttered back and forth, wings spread wide. A few of them dove through the trees to rush the small group, but none of them actually attacked, which was fortunate.
“I think we’re getting close,” John muttered. Even his voice sounded weird, as if there was some sort of distortion filter applied across the floor.
“If the sign back at the crossroads was accurate, we may have passed it already.” Enora held up her shield as another crow flashed overhead. “This is not my favorite floor, in case anyone wants to know.”
“I think we pretty much got that already.” Farida snorted. “You’ve been complaining about it ever since we got here.”
John didn’t say a thing as the two women argued softly. Ahead, he had just caught a glimpse of a small light through the trees, and he kept his spear prepped and ready. As he came around a small bend in the road, he found himself looking at a large, wooden house. There were boards over the windows, but still, candles flickered in between the cracks. A sign over the doorway read “Humans Welcome,” but there was little to indicate whether it was a trap or an actual invitation.
“What do we do?” Enora asked softly.
“We-”
A powerful howl cut through the trees, and John spun around to see a massive, dark form moving straight toward him. He raised his spear across his body in a blocking formation, then braced himself as the form struck him. He was driven backward down the road, toward the house, as an enormous werewolf snarked and snapped at him.
“Behave, beast!” John punched the werewolf in the side of the head, knocking it to the side. It snarled and bounded away, turning to face him a moment later. All told, it stood at least five feet tall at the shoulder, and was covered in thick, bristly hair that had rather hurt when it rubbed up against him. Beady red eyes peered out at John, and saliva dripped from the toothy jaw.
“Alright. So it’s a trap.” Farida created a flaming sword in either hand. “Let’s get it!”
She leapt forward, spiraling like a top, and landed half a dozen long strikes across the werewolf. It was driven backward with a scream, and John ran up to join the fight. He drove his spear into its side, then pulled upward as hard as he could. The werewolf was lifted up into the air, and he brought it crashing back down.
To his annoyance, the health bar only dropped a short distance, and the monster regained a foothold within a moment’s time. It dug its claws into the dirt and bounded away, tearing the spear from John’s grasp. He snapped his fingers and teleported it back into his hand, then slowly moved back to Enora. Farida joined him, and the three of them put their backs to each other, watching the forest for any and all movement.
They didn’t have to wait long. There was a loud crack, and the werewolf raced back out into view, slamming its nose into Farida. It gave a toss of its head and threw her up into the air, then bit down on Enora’s arm. Farida, for her part, simply formed a large lance out of fire, which she brought crashing back down onto the werewolf. Flames exploded across the road, and the werewolf was forced to let go of Enora.
Enora reacted instantly, bashing it with her shield so hard that it staggered back against the side of the road. She then threw the shield, which slammed into its head before rattling to the ground next to John’s feet. Before the monster could react, he stomped on the edge of it with his foot, launching it up into the air. There, he snatched it, spun, and threw the weapon as hard as he could. The shield spun through the air and slammed into the monster’s head once again, then bounced off and stuck firmly in the bark of a tree. The werewolf was knocked back into a tree, itself, and slumped to the ground.
Of course, it was given no chance to recover, as John leapt forward and sent a blast of ice over its head, freezing it to the dirt. Farida blanketed it in fire, at least the back half, and Enora stabbed it through the heart. A moment later, it was dead. Enora retrieved her shield from the tree, and Farida slowly let her flames dissolve.
“You’re alive! You’re human!”
The voice came from the house, and John turned warily. An elderly couple stood on the front porch, beckoning at them, and John slowly walked up to them. Glancing about cautiously, the husband motioned them inside, and soon, all had retired into the house.
“It’s so good to see you,” the woman whispered quietly as they closed the door. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen anyone who hasn’t simply wanted to eat us.”
“I’m glad we can oblige.” John chuckled. “I wish I could say that there were others coming after us, but I’m afraid we’re likely to be the last people you see for quite a while.”
“Posh. Don’t apologize for anything.” The woman led them down into the basement, where a wide variety of lanterns actually had the room quite bright and warm. While the upper part of the house was largely abandoned, strewn with only a bit of moldy furniture, down below, there was actually a rather lovely room set up, with a proper fireplace, a small kitchen, a number of chairs, and more. There were even a few paintings hung on the wall. It reminded John of his conversation with Nadderthal, in a strange way. Even on such a desolate floor, there was… there was hope. It was a stark contrast to Floor 53, that was for certain.
“Now, how can we help you?” The man smiled and sat down in a drawing-room chair. He took a pipe out of his pocket and lit it, filling the air with a rather thoughtful sort of scent from the smoke. “We have few weapons, but we have food, and we can give you directions.”
“The last one.” John held up a hand. “The signs around here are poor at best, and we’ve yet to find a proper map.”
“Then come.” The man rose and walked over to a large desk, which was covered with papers and odd documents. He fished around through a pile of papers, then drew out a handful of pages. Walking back to the kitchen table, he spread them across the expanse, lining up all the pages so that they made a single, cohesive map. “Here. We’re located… here, right next to the swamp.” He pointed at a small square, marked with an X. “Now, I don’t know for sure where it is that you’re trying to go, but I imagine that it’s probably… here.” He pointed off to the upper right-hand corner of the map. “It was an old school, back before everything fell apart. I can’t prove it, but I reckon that that’s where this plague came from. Seems to me that the first of the wolves and things came from there.”
John nodded as he examined the roads that ran through across the distance. There looked to be three options: A forest, a swamp, and an old city. All three of them would hold their own dangers and pitfalls.
“If you take the forest road, you’ll have the straightest path, but the monsters you’ll face will be a whole lot stronger.” The man spoke softly, and his hands trembled. “If you take the city road, the monsters will be weaker, but there are a lot of hiding places in an old town. I’ve been inside a few times, and I’ve almost been jumped every single time. Now, if you take the swamp road, the monsters will be more or less in between the other two, but there’s a heap of quicksand you’ll have to watch yourself over. Quicksand, mire, bog tentacles, fire spurts, the whole bit.”
“Don’t forget the giant rats,” the wife pointed out.
“Right. The giant rats.” The man nodded. “They don’t sound that bad, but they’ve got a bite to them. Last time one got me, I was laid up for a week. Almost lost my leg.”
“I appreciate the advice,” John murmured. After a moment, he turned back toward the stairs. “Thank you dearly.”
“Won’t you stay for dinner?” the wife asked as the three of them started upward. “You’ve only just come!”
“I know, I know.” John sighed. “We’ve got a tight deadline, and I’m afraid that we simply have to stay on the road.”
The old man and woman made a few more attempts at keeping them there, but they made their way back out into the yard. There, on the northern side, John found the trailheads for the three different paths. He paused for a moment, and Enora came up next to him.
“Do you think they were going to try and eat us?” She shuddered. “I feel like that always happens in horror movies, you know? The old elderly couple turns out to be monsters too?”
“Yeah, I know.” John puffed out his cheeks. He had been worried about the same thing, though he dearly hoped that he was wrong. “I’m going to choose to believe that they were truly just a helpful couple, ready to help a handful of road-weary warriors.”
“You hope too much.” Farida walked past him, looking at the three trailheads.
“Sometimes, hope is all that we have.” John shook his head. “Besides, let’s look at it from a logistics perspective. We haven’t come across a safe location since the inn, and that was almost two days ago. I know things get harder the higher you get in the Tower, but come on. There’s such a thing as too much, and there were no other safe points between ourselves and the floor’s exit.”
“That’s fair,” Farida acknowledged.
“I know it is.” John puffed out his cheeks, then pointed down the center path. “I assume we’re walking via the forest?”
“I knew it!” Enora held out her hand toward Farida.
“I didn’t bet against you, because I was betting the exact same thing.” Farida raised an eyebrow toward Enora. “The bigger the battle, the better.”
“More so, the faster the battle, the better.” John shrugged. “I’d rather not have to move slow because we’re watching for ambushes, and I’d really rather not have to move slowly because there’s quicksand we have to avoid walking in.”
“I’m not saying that I disagree.” Farida shrugged. “After you?”
John nodded and started walking forward, then paused. A twinkle of light came into his eyes, and he glanced at the two girls. “Want to have some fun?”
“Not knowing what you’re about to say, I’d wager a guess that my answer will be no.” Farida crossed her arms.
“Go for it!” Enora grinned.
“Perfect! I have permission.” John turned and faced the central path, then balled his hands into fists. “Ultimate Muscle!”
He ordinarily reserved the skill for battles, but it had been awhile since they had actually entered a battle that had required it, and he was itching to use it once more. In a flash, he grew to his ultimate size, rising as high as the trees themselves. Off in the distance, he caught a glimpse of a massive, dark building, just visible over the trees. That was his goal.
With that, he lowered his shoulders and raced forward, crashing straight through the forest. Enormous trees, long dead, crumbled under his forward assault. Werewolves, vampires, and other creatures of the night came charging out of the darkness to meet him, but he only battered them away with sweeping gestures and powerful kicks. Messages scrolled across his vision, informing him every time he defeated one of them, but he didn’t pay a great deal of attention to the actual count.
Enora and Farida came right along behind him, Farida flying on her wings of fire, and Enora in her angelic form. They swept along quickly and rapidly, passing over bends and curves in the road without a second thought. Finally, they came crashing out of the forest right as John’s skill ended, and he tumbled back down to his knees as he shrank down to his normal size and stumbled trying to keep up with his speed. As he rose back to his feet, he found himself looking at the gauntlet of the floor, and smiled.
“And there we go. Just bypassed the entire second half of this place.” He glanced back at the long road, which was now significantly more barren than before. “I bet that woulda taken us a full day to get through ordinarily.”
“Maybe.” Farida shrugged. “In any case, we’re here now.” She formed a large, fiery bow, and fired an arrow up at the doors. They exploded open under the attack, and howls came pouring out. “Let’s get this done.”
CHAPTER 24
[Now Entering: Mountain Pass]
[Floor 65: Peaks of Peril]
[Power: SSS+++]
[Will: SSS+++]
[Skill: SSS+++]
[Level: 100]
John used his spear to brace himself against the raging wind as he inched his way along the narrow path. All told, the narrow strip of land was only about two feet wide, with a sheer drop on his left that fell down hundreds of feet to an enormous pile of sharp rocks, and an equally sheer rise on his right that soared upward hundreds of feet to the peak of the mountain. The wind fought to pull him off the ledge and cast him into the abyss, and he fought equally hard to keep his footing. Slowly, painfully, he worked his way forward, until he came to a small cave that he eagerly ducked inside.
The cave wasn’t large, only about ten feet across and five wide, but it was something. A small fire pit filled with logs sat at the middle, while several logs provided seating. Farida cast a few flames into the pit, and Enora shuddered and held up her hands to the warmth.
John, for his part, didn’t say anything for a long moment. The cave wasn’t deep, but he could sense something hiding at the back. Something moved, and he hooked his foot on one of the logs and kicked it into the darkness with all his might.
Crack-blam!
The log exploded into splinters against the head of a charging griffin, which collapsed headlong across the floor, stunned in its very first attack. John bent down, picked it up, and slung it out through the entrance of the cave. A few moments later, he received a handful of Fragments, and wearily sat down on a small rock.
“How close are we to the village?” He glanced at Farida. “Half a mile?”
“I’d say closer to a full mile.” Farida shrugged. “Hard to gauge for sure, though. The one time I tried to fly up to take a look around, the wind tried awful hard to batter me into the walls.”
John grimaced and nodded, then pulled out some food and handed it to Enora. “Get some rest, while you can.”
He offered some food to Farida, but she turned it down. He and Enora ate a bit, then, until they had had their fill. When he was feeling a bit better, he rose and walked back up to the entrance of the cave, where he braced himself against the wind once more.
“Don’t you want to rest for a bit longer?” Enora asked, not moving from her log.
“Desperately.” John nodded. “But we haven’t gotten this far by sitting around. Come on.”
With that, he strode back out onto the ledge, forcing his way upward. All told, it had been about seven months since he had rescued Enora from Floor 50. In that time, they had powered through fifteen levels, which John was fairly certain was a record, at least for himself. They were nearing their goal, they were so close to Floor 70. With every step, he could taste victory just a bit more. With every footfall, he knew they were nearing their destination. He wasn’t going to slow down. He couldn’t slow down. Rest was necessary here and there, but… with the fate of the entire world on the line, it was dangerous to even consider stopping.
The wind continued to howl about him as he continued to slide along that narrow ledge. If it was still a full mile to the village, that meant that he had an hour, at bare minimum, before he truly made it to safety. If that was the case, so be it. He continued to use his spear as a walking stick, usually with the butt down, though every now and again, he had to use the spearhead to get a better foothold on an area. Farida and Enora soon fell behind him, but he didn’t imagine that they would mind.
The path continued to slope upward, becoming so steep that he nearly had to crawl on his knees to make the ascent. Finally, though, he came to a large depression in the cliffside. A massive cave, manmade, had been carved into the stone. Homes, shops, and other buildings had been carved straight out of the mountainside, without an ounce of mortar to be seen. It reminded him a great deal of pictures he had seen back on Earth, of buildings and cities in the southwestern Unites States.
In any event, the structure of the city was simple. The ground sloped steadily upward, so that the windows from each successive row of buildings looked out over the rooftops of the one below. Narrow streets, perhaps two feet wide, ran between each of the rows, and, all told, there were somewhere around seven rows. It wasn’t a large village, but it was a reasonably safe one, and John eagerly staggered onto a row of stairs that ran up alongside one side, giving access to all the different levels.
