The Path of Ascension 2: A LitRPG Adventure

36

When they all had finally given up on sleep, they ate some ration packs that didn’t need reheating, and started to move again. Their break was at least useful for Camilla to regenerate some mana. Matt had used his Concept while she slept and hoped she didn’t question why her mana regeneration while she was asleep was so much faster than her normal rate.

The long halls started to blur over time, and without their AIs tracking the path they took, they would have wandered in circles for days on end. It also helped that Malcolm’s Talent was able to lead them toward the growth item. It was a frame of reference that allowed them to be sure that their senses and AIs were not being tricked by some spatial shenanigans.

When they found a flight of stairs, they looked to Malcolm for guidance. But after closing his eyes and using his Talent, he simply shrugged.

“I don’t know. Going forward and taking the stairs both feel the same. I’m not sure if that means we could go either way and reach the item, or if that means we won’t reach it no matter which direction we go. Everything feels foggy.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Matt watched Camilla’s grip tighten around her mace. She was slowly losing her temper the longer they remained in the dark tunnels.

Matt looked to the stairs and put out an idea. “We came from one floor down, so let’s take these up. Maybe we can find something different up there.”

Camilla quickly agreed, as he knew she would, but Liz took a long moment of consideration before she finally shrugged in response.

Malcolm closed his eyes for just a moment and said, “It still all feels the same.”

Using his stick, Matt continued to check the stairs as they ascended to the floor above.

The decision turned out to be somewhat fruitful. At first, the new level of the maze looked to be the same, but they quickly found actual doors in the halls after proceeding for a bit.

There was a collective sigh of relief at the normality of seeing rooms connected to the hallways.

“Does anyone not want to check out the doors?”

Matt’s question was rhetorical, but he wanted to at least ask.

After checking the floor, they inspected the first door. None of them dared to assume that it wasn’t trapped, so they let Matt poke at it with his stick. When nothing happened, they all looked at each other, as if to ask who would go first.

Sighing, Matt twisted the knob, and when nothing tried to kill him, he shoved the door open and quickly jumped to the side.

With no loud sounds indicating the appearance of a new death machine, he returned to the doorway, and used his stick to check the entrance for tripwires. It was exhausting work, but one mistake meant certain death for him and his teammates. Once the door was clear, he entered, only to find what seemed to be a normal workbench and standard carving tools.

Malcolm picked up a small ingot of something and inspected it.

Camilla looked around and asked, “What is it?”

“I don’t know. But my Talent says it’s the most valuable item here. Or at least the most valuable one it can find. That means it’s only Tier 5, but I don’t know what it is. It looks like metal but feels squishy.”

After Matt finished poking all the furniture, checking if they were mimics, he walked over to the ingot and had his AI inspect the small chunk of metal.

“It’s not a metal. At least, not really. My AI has most of the common metals listed in a database for Tier 5 crafting materials. It’s some kind of organic alloy, found in certain heavy metal content rifts. Animals are…” He made air quotes with his fingers. “Adapted to the metal and processed with it. This kind has an organic component that allows it to remain malleable, and able to return to its proper shape. I’m assuming this is where they would shape the metal for the golems.”

Liz asked the important question, “But who? Rifts usually mimic life, but these tools look used. Or at least they were when they weren’t covered in dust. Was there a creator race here?”

With no answers, they explored the rest of the room, taking the materials as they went. Most were Tier 6, so Malcolm’s Talent was essentially useless, and they simply took what they thought would be worth more.

Each room was a repeat of the first, with the only variance being the different crafting specialties in each hall. They all had different parts spread out across the desks, and no two of the projects were in the same state of manufacture.

As they moved through the rooms, they didn’t come across a single trap. They assumed that there were no wandering guard golems, until they found a pair of them walking through a hall nearby the latest crafting room. They glowed with dim mana light, indicating that they had absorbed it from somewhere.

The duo of golems saw them, and the first rushed at them with bounding strides. Matt centered himself in response to take the charge.

With [Mage’s Retreat] and [Cracked Phantom Armor] both eating most of his mana, he took the golem’s shield charge. When they collided, Matt’s boots struggled to keep a grip on the stone floor. After they came to a halt, and the golem was stopped in its tracks, their shields were pressed together in a shoving match. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt bounced off the wall and punched into his side.

His AI registered that the puncture hadn’t pierced his secondary armor layer, but that was only after it had bounced off a wall.

“Armor-piercing crossbow! Watch it! It’s got good aim.”

A whooshing sound flying over his head indicated that Liz was using her spear to harry the archer. Matt trusted her to keep it busy while he dealt with the golem in front of him.

This one had enough mana absorbed that it was equally matched in strength with him, even with the boost from [Mage’s Retreat]. But as they had discovered before, the quality of the movement controlling runes was the last thing to improve in the golems.

Matt shoved hard, then sidestepped the golem’s attempt to return to the shoving match. He lashed out with his mace at the back of the stumbling golem’s head.