Rogue ascension book 3 a.., p.5
Rogue Ascension: Book 3: A Progression LitRPG, page 5
It was like watching the world’s greatest truck driver speed, drift, swerve his way forward. All while running over the occasional monster in his way.
Joey landed on the middle cart, green acid sword glowing still. He held it above his head to keep from damaging the supplies or Little Happy Man.
He activated his Meditative Stasis skill. Despite all the distractions and the dire straits they were facing.
He was going to go for broke. They couldn’t be far from the canyon wall now. All they needed to do was defend Little Happy Man and kill the Flesh Cleaner King.
Joey summoned one hundred clones. All sniper clones and shotgun clones with backup knives on each one.
He gasped as his channels felt extremely burdened in a new way. His body grew colder and colder as clones ran around up and down the millipede’s back.
He didn’t dare look at how much essence he had left. Instead, he pointed his radioactive colored sword up at the sky.
“Send up flares. Snipers prepare to wound the target. Shotgunners, defend Little Happy Man at all costs! The rest of you, scout ahead and clear the path!”
The dark sky above became glaring red with flare glyph tiles activated and hurled into the sky. Half of the sniper clones aimed upward. The shotgunners focused on the rear and the flank.
The remaining clones without glyphlock guns dashed forward. They ran with all their speed to get ahead of the barreling millipede.
They needed to chart a safer path forward. And remove lampreys along the way.
The demand on Joey’s channels was almost too much as the seconds passed, which was why he dove deeper into meditation. He used every ounce of focus he had.
The Flesh Cleaner King swooped down like a dive bomber. All of its necks were pointed forward. The necks bulged.
“Fire!” shouted a sniper clone.
Like one well-trained unit, the snipers released a barrage of accurate shots against the Flesh Cleaner King. They timed it perfectly to interrupt its acid spraying attack.
The horrible monster jerked back, wings flapping erratically. It fell off to the side while sputtering stomach acid in random directions. Some of it fell toward Little Happy Man’s flank.
Sniper clones tossed their spare rifles into the hands of their brethren before jumping into the air. They used their own bodies to shield the caravan from the acid spray.
Their sacrifice eased the burden on Joey a little. But things were only going to get harder.
Joey entered the air while fighting to maintain his meditation. Time slipped past his focus. He nearly ran face first into one of the Flesh Cleaner King’s mouths.
Joey swerved around and hacked the neck with his acid-coated sword. He lashed at the other necks with his materialized tail.
He slipped in and out of meditation, sometimes losing track of time. He barely rolled away from a dangerous swipe of gnashing teeth. His blood sprayed into the air from his left shoulder after the rough dodge.
Another Dark Dash hurled Joey past the flailing mouths. Back into the Flesh Cleaner King’s body. He stabbed his sword into the flesh, hilt deep.
With a savage grunt, he dragged down and opened up the wound. The acid worked to burn and destroy, outpacing the monster’s self-regeneration this time.
Joey used his tail to wrap around the nearest necks and hold him in place. His mouth sparked with dark embers as he drew in a long breath.
Joey released a close-range Shade Dragon Breath straight into the gaping wound.
The Flesh Cleaner King screamed as it flailed around. They plummeted together, Joey refusing to let go.
He cut and stabbed with his acid-green sword in between dragon breaths.
It was like a scene depicted on the album cover for alternative rock or underground rap: Joey riding a nightmarish mini-boss down to the ground, his tail throttling multiple necks. While he hacked, slashed, and burned it with a radioactive-looking sword and dark fire blazing from his mouth.
The viewers would find this scene of Joey’s solo dungeon adventure incredible. Frames of this would get passed around on the crystal ball network, illustrated, and put up on walls. It was moments like these when Joey inspired wonder and disbelief in millions of viewers.
Of course, Joey was not concerned about that. He was in the middle of killing a big bad enemy.
He finally let go before impact.
The monster crushed a dozen lampreys under its bulk. The ground cratered beneath. Joey flapped a few times with his wings to remain in the air before diving back down.
The necks swung around weakly as Joey swept with his blade and grappled with his tail. He cut one neck. He cut two, three, four.
The monster’s struggles weakened. Its lampreys were everywhere, converging on Joey. He rolled away from their grab attempts, sliced off limbs, and kept slipping in sword strikes on the mini-boss monster.
Until the Flesh Cleaner King died.
Joey received the notification among many others. Only then did he fly away before he was pinned by the monsters.
Looking back, he caught a gruesome sight. The lampreys turned on their fallen king and cleaned the flesh from its body.
He shook his head and focused on meditating to keep his channels from freezing solid.
They weren’t thawing or warming. He’d used a lot of powers in a short time. He had an army of clones working fiercely to keep Little Happy Man unharmed. To keep the caravan going across the canyon floor of death and flesh cleaners.
This was a huge undertaking for one adventurer to handle.
Joey was barely keeping a grip on the situation as he landed roughly on a cart. By then, the royal acid coating on his sword had run its course. The weapon was back to normal.
He was glad he’d used the alchemy coating. The extra damage helped against the mini-boss, which was possibly the toughest monster Joey had faced yet.
If health points had been a thing, that mini-boss would’ve had a lot. Just to represent its huge threshold for taking damage.
Joey couldn’t wait to check on which of his skills had grown and maxed out.
That was for later, however.
Right now, they had swarming lampreys all around them. The superstorm was nearly on top of them, too.
The wind had picked up by a lot. Sand hurled in from everywhere. It was getting harder to see. The clones kept tossing flares into the sky.
A bunch of flares lit the way forward because of the brave clones scouting a path ahead. The caravan was moving nearly at top speed now. Little Happy Man followed the trail of lights and dodged obstacles with only a few inches to spare.
He was running over lampreys constantly.
As long as the monsters couldn’t latch on and slow the caravan down, Little Happy Man was fine. The shotgunners still had their work cut off for them. Their guns blasted away the fiendish dungeon monsters that clung to the millipede’s sides.
There was a lot of self sacrifice happening with his clones. Which was good for Joey’s channels. He could barely do anything more after killing the mini-boss.
He wished he could celebrate that. But his clones were dying. The storm grew closer. There was no end in sight.
Until, finally, the wall appeared right in front of them.
Along with a huge writhing mass of lampreys between them and the wall. “Full speed ahead!” Joey yelled.
Little Happy Man had a nitro boost spell. Joey nearly lost his footing when the millipede sped up suddenly. The caravan doubled in speed for a few seconds.
Then Little Happy Man hit the brakes when he crashed into the mob of lampreys in their way. Oil-slick monsters flew into the air. The millipede’s bulk bashed them up and away. Or down below his many feet.
The impacts shook the entire caravan. Clones flew off and into the raised hands and ring of teeth of the lamprey. They didn’t die quietly. They fought to kill the monsters before perishing.
It would seem strange to an outsider that Little Happy Man was braking. Joey understood right away what the millipede was doing.
Little Happy Man lifted his back half off the ground. Most of his clones caught on quickly and grabbed the straps of their carted supplies.
More and more of Little Happy Man’s body curled up off the floor. Most of his weight balanced on his front feet, his face stuffed into the hungering lampreys in his way.
His body curled into a C like a very flexible yoga instructor. Then his rearmost feet touched the wall and stuck to it with magic.
Little Happy Man uncurled backward. More of his feet touched the wall while pulling his body upward until he straightened into a single line again, facing the sky.
The dumb dungeon monsters fell from around Little Happy Man since they were too late to readjust. The lampreys that remained were quickly killed off by Joey’s clones.
“Go, Little Happy Man, go!” Joey shouted.
The millipede tooted with determination and started the long climb up the canyon wall.
The lampreys couldn’t follow.
Joey’s fate wouldn’t end with his bones adding to the piles in the canyon. Or so he hoped.
The superstorm struck. Things only became more troublesome as the caravan endured battering winds and roaring thunder and stinging sand. All while climbing thousands of feet up a sheer cliff wall. The higher they went, the worst the fall would be for their caravan because of Little Happy Man’s bulk.
The super thunderstorm seemed to know that.
If I ever get to talk to the dungeon itself, Joey thought, we’re going to have a long chat about fairness and level design. This is ridiculous!
5. Upgrading Skills during a Superstorm
The caravan reached the top of the cliff and stopped for the first time since Joey left Hieroglyph City. His clones worked fast to unbind the straps to their cargo and carry them off of Little Happy Man’s back. Then the giant desert millipede lay on his side and curled tight around everything.
Joey sat in a cargo box filled with different garments, blankets, quilts, and other fine quality crafts. A bunch of nonessentials that would fetch an attractive price outside of the dungeon. Or become nice additions to his place of stay when he returned to New Zam City. They were comfortable to lie on right now.
The tarp covered the box, keeping him dry. Somehow, the superstorm hurled down both sand and water in equal amounts. All of it stung even through his layered clothing when he was out there.
It sounded like Hell outside as the storm pounded on his impromptu shelter. Little Happy Man had the power of shelling himself with magic while resting, so he was better protected than Joey.
They should be safe while under the storm. But Joey had too much to lose right now for him to sleep easily.
He called Shady to him and instructed the ghostly dragon head to patrol around Little Happy Man. Attack anything dangerous.
Giving Shady free range to strike on his own was risky, but the dragon head didn’t need to rest or sleep. He was unaffected by the storm, and he hadn’t contributed much to the last battle.
The dragon head wouldn’t be alone out there, either. Joey dispersed all of his current clones and summoned fresh shotgunners. Only fifteen this time, but they all had extra essence and skills packed into them.
They would serve as Joey’s elite night guard while the storm raged, leaving Joey safe in the cargo to meditate and recharge. And to look at his earnings from the past battle.
He’d taken some risks during that fight for the sake of maxing out his skills. He hoped he won out big.
Immense thunder claps whooped through the air outside. Furious winds howled like titanic banshees.
Joey clenched his jaw when he felt all the cargo around him shift, Little Happy Man’s body sliding from the persistent push of the wind. He could barely hear his clones shouting at each other as they set a perimeter around the parked millipede.
A clone opened up the flap of tarp to his right. Joey had a lit illumination glyph tile in his hand, shining a light on the frustrated, wet face of his clone.
For a split second, Joey felt guilty that he was sheltered inside a cargo box while his clones suffered the elements. He expected for the clone to berate him.
“Boss, it’s a no go on setting up a perimeter out there,” the clone said. “We’re better off hiding in the cargo close to the edge. If something hurts Little Happy Man, we can respond faster from there.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Joey said before quickly adding, “Thanks!”
“You’re welcome!” The clone disappeared back into the superstorm, the flap secured.
The storm continued to rage. It made it impossible for Joey to hear his clones moving into different containers.
Joey figured they would do whatever was necessary to keep guard. Hopefully, the storm would pass and the caravan could continue their journey without any more trouble.
Joey had to admit this was the most tiring adventure he’d faced yet.
When he first arrived at Multiverse Z, he had an awesome companion in Curi the kraken trader. They’d avoided most trouble. When Curi had needed to rest, Joey took over and faced off against squads of monsters by himself.
Those early days were fascinating and extreme. Back in a time when Joey had nothing but a sword, his powers, and his ripped up basketball shorts.
Fast forward to his escape from New Zam City on top of Al Bruce Crabton’s shell, and Joey recalled his week with the renegades on a roadtrip to the northern temples. Liam, Nate, Emelia, and his mentor, Mollysea.
He hoped they were okay. He’d been gone for a while.
Joey wanted to think they would survive well without him, especially with Mollysea there to take charge of them.
Still, this whole superstorm getting in the way and slowing down his progress was aggravating. They couldn’t be sure if the caravan’s position was safe. What if there were dungeon monsters living in the superstorm?
How unfair could the dungeon get when putting its powers against a solo adventurer? Though Joey supposed he shouldn’t complain too much.
He was growing fast, maxing out his powers as best he could. While the spells were nearly impossible to level up when facing challenges Level 100 and below, his skills were benefiting a lot.
He also gained a new level from all the kills his clones racked up on top of slaying the Flesh Cleaner King. He was Level 86 now. Only fourteen levels away from Level 100 and getting the offer for ascension.
After disseminating his free stats, Joey’s mind reached 230, his body reached 232, and his spirit reached 239. Every time a stat reached a set of ten points in its growth, there was a notable bump in power.
Joey needed that bump in mind so his focus would sharpen. That helped maintain his meditation while staying present in the here and now.
His stats were simple to track, thankfully. He was sticking to the advice he heard a while ago: keep your stats balanced because more often than not, a great adventurer needed to stay flexible and use all of their stats.
As a rogue, Joey had a focused mind, an agile body, and a fortunate spirit. He liked to pack more into his spirit because being fortunate had led to great results – the assassination of the Head Cleric was a colossal success because of his fortunate spirit.
Another example was the card game against the Black Market Chief. Joey would’ve probably lost if rogues weren’t inherently lucky.
Of course, relying strictly on being fortunate wasn’t enough. It hadn’t helped the rogues Joey fought and slain in New Zam City and on his way northern temples. It took actual ability to leverage fortune.
All the hard work Joey had done to train and level up his skills was paying off. He had Mollysea to thank as he picked up more skill attachments with every maxed skill.
Joey sat back and got comfortable. The superstorm kept raging. It sounded like the end of the world.
If a storm like this struck Earth, it would’ve wiped cities off the map. Miami would’ve disappeared.
But Joey, Little Happy Man, and the many creatures living in the Sand Spire Dungeon had stats and magic toughening them up.
Joey let go of his concerns about the superstorm. He kept his meditation going while digging through his system messages.
[You’ve leveled up Headhunter from 21 to 22!]
[You’ve leveled up Short Sword Finesse from 22 to 23!]
[You’ve leveled up Combat Acrobatics from 21 to 22!]
[You’ve leveled up Armor Pierce from 22 to 23!]
[You’ve leveled up Dominator from 21 to 22!]
[You’ve leveled up Monstrous Momentum from 19 to 20!]
[You’ve leveled up Roll With The Hits from 24 to 25!]
[You’ve leveled up Assassin Grappling from 24 to 25!]
[Congrats! You’ve maxed out two Basic Skills: Roll With The Hits and Assassin Grappling!]
Joey smiled. He had a bunch of skills that needed a few more levels. Some skills were in his profile longer than others. But not all of them grew equally.
Roll With The Hits and Assassin Grappling grew the fastest because Joey’s more recent activities relied on his roguish nature and being able to take a hit here and there. Roll With The Hits had been a lifesaver when Joey faced the City Commander in the fortress of the corrupt Hieroglyph Army.
“Let’s see what’s in store for me.” Joey shifted around to get more comfortable with all the gear he had strapped to his body.
It was tempting to drop his stuff. But a fight could start at any moment. Even while in a superstorm. Constant meditation and his focused mind helped him endure the slight discomfort.
He pulled up the attachments for Roll With The Hits first.
[Roll With The Hits (Basic/Maxed): The attacks are coming. And you can’t avoid them all. Endure what you can. Lessen the damages with deceptive movements. I could’ve sworn I was hitting this guy with everything I have. But then my sword arm gets tired, and he attacks like he’s never been hit!]
[You have the opportunity of choosing a Skill Attachment for Roll With The Hits: Counter Strike Attachment! Durability Attachment! Speed Up Attachment! Blurring Figure Attachment!]
Without even looking deeper, those all sound like good attachments.
