The Path of Ascension 3: A LitRPG Adventure

37

“We need to run!” His voice cracked which caused him to repeat the statement again only to see Lesley ignoring him.

After five useless arrows, the monster had reached the halfway point of climbing the wall and he repeated himself for Lesley to nod and turn toward the front of the fortress.

They had gotten a single step each, Otto froze along with Lesley as the sight sunk in.

They were trapped.

The ice skill which they had avoided by moving back was still producing at a prodigious rate and had accumulated a foot-deep pile of ice that grew each moment as more fell. The problem was it was covering the front half of the fort’s roof. Where the trap door was.

“f**k!” Their exclamations were said nearly in unison.

Otto withdrew another arrow but fumbled it as he leaned over to launch his arrow.

The monster was only a foot beneath them.

Yellow eyes met his.

He stumbled back but that was the only thing that saved him from a whip of blood that cracked the air with its passage. The snap was so high pitched it hurt his ears and then it was too late.

The monster was on the roof.

Lesley had retreated and loosed her [Charged Shot] skill enhanced arrow. His Tier 6 team leader’s shot was deadly and at this range she couldn’t miss, and the skill made sure it couldn’t be blocked.

Until today.

The arrow was deflected off a flat plane of blood and ice causing the shot to careen off to the side of the woman’s head. He saw a wince as two tendrils of blood lashed out and Lesley twisted to avoid them.

He, still on his back, scooted away and notched another arrow before his legs stopped working.

Otto looked down to see why he wasn’t moving to find his legs were gone and then the pain hit.

He screamed.

Through the pain he tried to loose the arrow but found a bird claw descending toward his face.

Otto’s last sight was of Lesley being impaled from behind as the ice on the roof rose, and a rain of blood like bullets killed his friend.

Suddenly, the pain stopped, and he was momentarily disoriented in a wave of purple then laying in a hospital bed with a view of Lesley’s hole filled body and glassy eyes staring back at him from one bed over.

He overheard someone saying they got overwhelmed and cursing followed but his eyes were locked on Lesley.

Her mouth moved and she tried to say something to him, but it was lost in all the other screaming.

Otto reached out to help her, but she was swarmed by people in healer’s robes and suddenly he was surrounded as well.

“It’s okay now.” An older man stood over with only his eyes visible from his sanitary clothing.

His eyes were a kind brown that spoke of the soft soil of his family’s backyard. It felt so far away and so long ago that he had seen it last.

Otto felt everything going cold and wondered if he was going to die.

The healer said something, but he missed it.

What does a dead man need words for?

He didn’t die. The pain receded not long after and he looked down to see his legs were now attached and the healers gone. He wiggled his toes and found everything still worked.

A nurse, a tired-looking man, reached out with a hand and said something he missed.

Otto focused on the man’s uncovered mouth and finally pieced together what he was trying to say.

“Come with me. We have a nice peaceful place to stay.”

He was led to a comforting room that looked like a garden mixed with a petting zoo.

At his guide’s instance, he sat by a tree where a curious rabbit wandered over to him and then climbed into his lap.

He idly stroked the soft fur as the events replayed themselves over and over. Blood and pain.

Otto pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked around. A few people in healer’s robes moved from person to person but he was confused at their purpose as some stopped to talk and others moved on. It didn’t take long for him to realize that they were checking up to the people who were breaking down and talking to those that needed it.

He refused to be one of them.

His pride won out until he remembered the taloned foot descending onto his face. If the watcher had been any slower…

He swallowed hard and focused on the soft fur in his lap until Lesley was led in and he noticed her clothes were replaced with a white set he hadn’t noticed himself wearing either. Everyone was but he had somehow missed the change of clothes. He didn’t know why he was focusing on that, but he was unable to take his mind off the incongruity.

That was until Lesley saw him and burst into tears. His strong resolute team leader slumped to the ground in front of him and wept into the soft grass.

Otto couldn’t hold it in any longer and did the same as he watched her. Great wracking sobs tearing out of him.

He didn’t know who moved first but they were embracing, they weren’t close friends, but they had grown close over the last month of war preparation and then the week of standing guard. As her second in command over the archers they spent a lot of time together.

In the end it just felt good to be held and that just caused the emotions to pour out faster until both of them were finally drained.

Matt brought his sword around and cut into a hip. Most of the defenders, who were locked out of the fort by one of their faster comrades, were Tier 5 and unable to stand up to a group of Pathers a Tier higher than them. A few of them were Tier 6, but they fared no better, as Matt ignored their attacks that simply bounced off [Cracked Phantom Armor]. He used the openings from their failed attacks to finish them off.

After a minute of frantic fighting, they were standing alone, only left with the sound of blame being passed around inside of the fortress.

Matt smiled when he heard the shouting. Two of the people who made it in blamed the other for closing the door too early, and the other insisted that they saved them by shutting the door early. It had been them or the people outside, after all.

Stopping [Hail], Matt began charging his blade with mana, and as it reached 1,000 mana, he brought the glowing blade around on the door. He released [Mana Charge] onto the wood and metal just before impact.

The door cracked and splintered at the loud explosion but held. The fortress had a reinforcement enhancement that allowed it to resist more damage, but thankfully, the shielding formation was only on the outer wall to prevent ranged attacks. The inner fort had to make do with the simpler rune.

As he readied a second attack, Annie messaged them. “Got a line to the second floor.”

Matt paused for a heartbeat and said, “Conor go with her. Emily and I will keep their attention down here.”

Half a minute later, he slammed another [Mana Charge] into the door, causing another loud explosion.

He unleashed three more attacks before a hole appeared at the top of the door, and a [Fireball] greeted him. With his reflexes perfected beyond the norm for Tier 6, Matt was able to duck the attack, and Emily returned the spell with one of her own.

The [Bolt] caused a scream that indicated someone else was out of the battle.

He checked everyone’s overlays and found that Emily, Liz, and Aster were all at around half mana. It would cause them to start rationing their spells. Conor was the one who surprised him during his check. The man had mentioned that his Tier 3 Talent let him sustain mana, and he was currently sitting at around seventy-five percent. His AI made a note that he was able to hold the mana hungry [Demon Zone] for so long, which meant that his Talent gave him back quite a bit of mana.

The next blow of his sword blew away enough of the door for him to see that the defenders had stacked tables and chairs over the entrance. This time, Matt charged a [Mana s***h] that he used to cut through the debris. Its penetrating power was stronger, while [Mana Charge] had more blunt damage.