The Path of Ascension 3: A LitRPG Adventure

14

They moved at a pace only made possible through their bodies’ enhancement from cultivation. As they neared the location marked by Annie, they slowed and watched the AI updates from their teammate. While it was unlikely that they had the ability to detect the hidden AI frequencies, it wasn’t impossible. So, whenever she sent a message she moved to a new location.

Matt was impressed that he didn’t need to warn her about that. He hadn’t even known it was a thing until his meeting with the Path investigator.

They saw three people with crossbows loading their bags in a hurry and with their flying devices laid out. It didn’t look like they would have time to do more than rush in if they wanted a chance to stop the retreating team.

Matt sent a quick attack order to his team and charged forward, while cranking [Mage’s Retreat]’s throughput to 50 MPS for its seventy-five percent boost. The team of three all looked at him and froze for a moment. That moment cost them their freedom.

As Matt and Conor charged, the mages attacked the flying devices. It was unlikely that they would destroy them, but it caused the fleeing group to backpedal away from their means of escape. Conor proceeded to tackle a woman to the ground, while Annie appeared from nowhere and threw a rope around the second man’s neck.

Matt punched out at the last man, who raised a glowing dagger to defend himself. The man crumpled under the blow to a degree that even Matt cringed at. He felt the man’s rib bones crumble under the strike. He had checked before he attacked, and felt that the man was Tier 6. He figured that he would have to strike with his full strength for his blow to have any effect. But before he could worry about potentially killing the man, a woman in army fatigues appeared and quickly vanished, along with the downed man.

Matt refused to freeze up from seeing the man get pulled away for medical treatment, so he moved to help Annie restrain her captive. They struggled for a moment, but the man was taken down after Matt kicked out his knee from behind.

He was much more careful with his power this time, and was sure to only send the man to the floor, instead of whatever hospital the army was using.

Conor had his woman already tied up with her hands and feet restrained behind her, forcing her to arch in an uncomfortable position.

The mages arrived soon after, and Liz started mouthing words, already communicating with someone back at the neutral city or one of the captured cities.

She came back to reality and looked at the two downed captives. “Okay, you have two options. One.”

“f**k you. Just kill us and get it over with.”

Liz just nodded while Matt debated the ethics of kicking a captive man. He decided it would be cruel and unusual, but interrupting someone while they were talking was his pet peeve. Especially when the someone being interrupted was Liz. Besides, by the look on the man’s face, he intended to do it again.

Liz shrugged. “No. We aren’t doing that. The kingdom knows your side is doing some sneaky s**t, since you have less area to defend and can send out parties like this.”

“We won’t tell you anything.” It was the woman this time.

“Listen to me first, please. If you interrupt me again, I’m breaking something nonvital.”

Both prisoners blanched at that, but as the man fixed his mouth to call Liz’s bluff, Conor placed his foot lightly on the man’s bound hands. That quieted the captive down, and Matt nodded at his teammate.

“We won’t kill you. We’re going to capture you and hold you for points or prisoner swaps.”

She let the realization that their capture would mean weeks or even months out of the fight sink in. Once the desperation started to take hold, Liz offered them a lifeline.

“If you tell us what you know, we’re willing to let you go after a few days. If what you tell us is really good, we’ll kill you now, and move to try and stop whatever it is your side is planning.”

The man cracked first as the woman tried to yell at him to stop.

“They’re attacking another fort deeper in the mountains as a diversion as well. I don’t know more than that, I swear.”

Matt looked at Liz and sent her a message, “He’s not lying, but I don’t believe it. Seems too easy. s**t, we don’t even know other groups’ movements.”

Liz played along with the two and nodded while driving her spear into their chests lightly. It was recorded as a way to ‘kill’ someone without needlessly burdening the healers. They would be out of the fight as if they took a spear through the chest, which meant at least two weeks of downtime, but without the cost of healing a massive and deadly wound.

A heartbeat later, they were both grabbed, and their scattered belongings vanished as well.

Matt was about to open his mouth when a series of notifications from the planetary AI appeared in his message window.

Prior Total (last updated 0 days ago): 0 points.

TEAM MERITS:

(Calculated for Tier 6 Combatant).

· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 0 times.

· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 1 times.

· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 0 times.

· Fort defended from attackers. 4 points.

· Enemy vassal captured and interrogated, Tier 6. Worth 8 points. Performed 2 times.

PERSONAL MERITS:

(Calculated for Tier 6 Combatant).

· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 0 times.

· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 1 times.

· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 0 times.

ARMY MERITS:

· Items and equipment looted but returned. Worth 4 points.

UNACHIEVED MERITS: For reference purposes only.

· N/A

SUMMARY OF GAINS:

Team Merits:

· Raw Total: 25

· Team Multiplier: 1x

· Category Total: 25

Personal Merits:

· Raw Total: 5

· Personal Multiplier: 1x

· Category Total: 5

Combined Merits:

· Sub-Total: 30

· Total Multiplier: 1x

· Grand Total: 30

New Gains: 34 points.

New Total: 34 points.

Pather Team Ranking (Kingdom of Seven Suns): 20,781st place.

Estimated Daily Stipend: N/A.

34 war contribution points wasn’t bad, considering they were added to the 10 points received for capturing the fort, along with the additional 3 they earned for guarding it in the meantime.

It was a good start, if Matt said so himself. He also liked that he seemed to be able to double dip with personal achievements and team points.

Annie whistled softly. “Wow. I need to do more covert s**t. I got 10 points for discovering the ambush and then another 40 for tracking and discovering the base.”

Matt had to agree. It was a nice haul and was 10 points more than what he got in total, most of which he assumed that she got as well.

Liz interrupted their chatting and said, “Juni wants us to push into the mountains and check the other forts, but be wary of traps. He agrees with us. Something is funky here.”

Matt used his AI and scanned the area, but neither of them noticed anything that stood out. It wasn’t like there would be an obvious spot that said, “Trap here!” In the end, they just decided to fly around and look for obvious changes in the terrain. If they got lucky, they might be able to find enemies on the move.