The Path of Ascension 2: A LitRPG Adventure

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Liz had used her floating spear to take out the rightmost boar by letting the boar charge straight through the spear, impaling itself. That caused enough damage to render it unable to fight. Aster used a [Ice Spear] to penetrate the heart of the last boar, just as it tried to turn and flee into the forest covering the valley.

After Aster ate the heart out of the largest boar, they pushed slightly deeper into the forest.

Their methodical advance continued for hours, slaying beast after beast. The outer portion of the central landscape was comprised of low Tier 5 boars, with the occasional mid-Tier 5 popping up. Still, the difference in cultivation didn’t cause them any real problems.

They took breaks once in a while, so that everyone could recharge their mana to a degree. It would take a full day to go from empty to full for most mages, but Matt was subtly using his Concept to increase the rate. It mostly affected Camilla, as Malcolm was hardly using any mana, but most of her fighting style was physical, so she didn’t use a lot of mana.

With careful swaps and feigning, Matt charged Liz and Aster’s mana stones. They put up the illusion that they had stockpiles of the stones ready for the excursion. Camilla had stocked up, and most any other delver would as well. Liz and Aster didn’t need to do that with Matt there, but the illusion was useful to stay any questions from Malcolm.

Thankfully, the man seemed more worried about getting ambushed and gored than the finer points of their mana regeneration. They had protected him well, but he was still skittish and jumped at the slightest sound.

The boars weren’t that smart and relied more on their size and the momentum they could build up while charging to devastate whatever came close. Their true threat came from their tusks. They were powerful enough to tear chunks out of the ground and trees alike, let alone their intended targets.

The group attracted more and more attention as they advanced and had to retreat more than once to avoid being overwhelmed. The closer to the center they traveled, the more concentrated the number of boars got. No one wanted to risk getting knocked to the ground and trampled, or get gored by the tusks, so they proceeded methodically to stay safe.

With the weakest of the beasts being culled, the larger monsters in the center of the area took note and charged out to meet the threat.

Two mid-Tier 5 boars came at them. These particular beasts were the first they had encountered that were capable of using skills. Their hooves glowed with translucent red energy that also surrounded their heads. The skill created a large cap of energy that bristled with spikes.

Matt met one with a blow from [Mana Charge], but for the first time during their trek through the valley, it didn’t instantly kill the beast. The skill seemed to do more than just add spikes. It clearly had a defensive component as well. Matt used the rebound of his blade to bring his longsword up and around in a spinning s***h, using the momentum to cleave the boar’s spine from above.

The blow sent the beast tumbling into a tree, and Matt quickly glanced over to see Camilla holding the attention of the other monster. With a lunge and thrust, he pierced the heart of his boar while it was struggling to stand on its remaining two front legs.

Turning, he watched as Camilla’s whip twirled around her boar’s throat and tightened down. Each turn and struggle opened more and more wounds on its delicate throat. She was careful not to get pulled off her feet, but the damage from her whip enraged the boar, which Liz was also attacking with the blood of its comrades and cousins.

Finally, the boar was dispatched when Camilla used her mace to c***k its skull. With the finishing blow delivered, the beast dropped.

Aster glared at Matt. She went over to his defeated adversary, only to find that the heart had been pierced. She still ate the heart, but she pushed discontent through their bond, as she swore that she could taste the difference.

Matt just leaned down and scratched the fox, who begrudgingly accepted the pampering.

Malcolm looked to the dimming sky and asked a good question, “Do you think it’s time to call it quits for the night?”

Liz agreed. “We all need to distribute the essence we got today, too. This was better than a rift, really. The five-way split meant that Matt, Aster, and I were all getting less essence than normal, but we had so many boars to kill, it didn’t make much of a difference. We all made out well here today.”

Before the sun dipped below the mountain tops, they retreated out of the valley and set up camp. Matt had thrown a few choice cuts of the last boar they killed on the fire for their dinner. Even with all the fighting, they were still in good spirits as they sat around and watched Matt cook.

Matt took the first watch, with Malcolm actually joining him and not stealing extra sleep this time. They were posted near the top of a mountain ridge, where they had an amazing view of the stars. Matt felt his mind wander, until their sentry bot pinged his AI that something was approaching.

A rush of something flew across the stars, and the flapping of wings suddenly became so loud, even his AI couldn’t guess at the numbers of bats that flew through the night sky.

Matt threw Malcolm into the corner of the wall and put his armored form over the man’s fleshy body.

With a thought, he activated [Hail] right in front of the girl’s tent to discourage any beast from trying to investigate. The tent was reinforced to protect from attacks, but with so many bats, he wasn’t confident that the material would hold up to such an onslaught.

Blows and claws scratched at Matt’s armored back, and the Tier 6 beasts broke through [Cracked Phantom Armor] more than once, cutting deep wounds into his back. He regretted taking off his secondary armor and resolved to wear it even while guarding the camp at night.

He took the time to cast another [Hail] right in front of himself and Malcolm. It drained his mana stone, but Matt found that the bats started to avoid him, and the blows lessened once he cast the skill.

What felt like an eternity later, the wave of monsters passed, and Matt got up off the pale and shaking Malcolm.

“What the f**k was that!?” The panicked man was patting himself down, and when he found a scratch on his leg, started gasping for air. His voice got thick with tears and snot as he choked out, “Oh, Ascenders! How bad is it?”

The girls came out of their tent in full battle gear, and Matt stopped channeling the two instances of [Hail]. Liz and Aster rushed over to him while keeping their heads on a swivel.

“Let me see your back. Your AI is reporting quite a bit of damage.”

Matt had very deliberately not looked at his HUD to avoid that reality. Even so, he was aware of the flashing red that covered the depiction of his back.