Implode: An Epic Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (The Completionist Chronicles Book 8), page 11
The Wooze went down with a mournful cry—like a whale being harpooned, knowing that it would soon be harvested for its oil. Joe's contribution only netted him two hundred and thirty-six experience points, barely worth stopping to fight, if they’d had any other choice. He scanned the horizon, noticing that the elevation had taken a drastic upward pitch. “How long until we get into the mountains proper, do you think? Wait, do you think this creature has anything in it that is worth harvesting?”
“I suppose this would be a Rare or better monster.” Major Cleave replied guardedly, not quite certain where the conversation was going.
“Give me five minutes to harvest it, if you wouldn't mind?” Joe didn't wait for an answer before setting up his Field Array around the difficult-to-define corpse. He supplied the mana required, and with a burst of light, the entire body disintegrated, reduced into various rarities of aspects. As he straightened, a portion of the remaining energy cloud dissipated, and a core dropped to the ground. “A good selection of Rare aspects and a core? Nice!”
Jaxon eagerly scooped it up, and the core vanished in a flash of light. “Hooray! I am that much closer to regaining level twenty-five!”
For a moment, Joe had to force himself to stop from lashing out, reminding himself that he wasn’t automatically entitled to every resource that came into the group. In fact, he began feeling guilty about all of the cores he had appropriated in the past without considering his teammates, and resolved to be a better sharer. His preschool teacher would be proud of him.
“We should get there tomorrow and be able to see the mountains by first light.” Major Cleave’s assertion earned her a rough cheer from the others, and they all began their ascending hike once again. “Keep an eye out for small creatures, and remember that if you see something cute or cuddly, there must be a reason that it has survived this long in such a harsh environment. Creatures like The Wooze are very solitary, but they are also extremely resistant to status effects. That tends to allow them to ignore Charisma-heavy creatures or at least the influences those have on most every other entity.”
“What would they be able to do? Is there something specific that we should watch out for?” Joe had his notebook out in a flash, ready to start taking notes and perhaps gathering material for his eventual research papers for the Mage’s College, or perhaps the Scholar’s Society, if they stopped hunting him like a rabid dog sometime in the future.
“It's pretty simple. Anything that is a Charisma-based hunter tends to lure you into a false sense of security, and some can even deal damage to you while preventing you from reacting in a negative way. For instance, if we run into a discrepancy creature that is based on having a threshold of Charisma that is significantly higher than Strength, it will appear to be very strong. That means that it will bluff us, and if we fall for the intimidation, it might achieve something to the effect of… chasing us off of a cliff, or into the jaws of a creature it has developed a symbiotic relationship with.” Major Cleave looked at her team to make sure that everyone was understanding what she was saying. Both Joe and Daniella nodded along in comprehension, but Jaxon’s eyes were glassy and he was humming a soft tune.
They had a few encounters over the course of the day, but most of the time, they were not with creatures that had been magically or ‘scientifically’ altered. They were simply monsters that were in the wrong place at the wrong time, looking for an easy meal rather than a battle with this group. Evening ended quickly as the party drew closer to the mountains. The light cut off, leaving them in a long shadow that stretched to the horizon and turned into darkest night.
“Daniella, as far as I can tell, you have much higher Perception than the others,” Major Cleave asserted as the stars in the sky burned clearly. “I need you up here with me to watch for threats. Joe, you should be fine going as you are, but Jaxon… I need you to keep your eyes on me unless a fight breaks out. That means get as close as you can and run with me while bumping into me as infrequently as possible, if you please.”
“It's the new beard and haircut, isn't it?” Jaxon winked at her, even though she was facing forward and trying to pick out the best path in the darkness. “My Cultural Understanding skill is tingling!”
“Bump into me too often, and I will slice off your arm. Then we’ll see what tingles,” Cleave threatened vaguely, too distracted at the moment to come up with a better warning.
All of them were expecting that the monsters that hunted at night would be bigger, meaner, stealthier, and harder to kill than those they had been running into intermittently throughout the day. It wasn't a great feeling, and the fact that their ability to see incoming threats had been reduced was putting most of them on edge.
Contrary to what he had been told to do, Joe went to the front and ran alongside the Dwarf. She scowled at him and was clearly going to say something to put him in his place, but he pointed at his face. “I have Darkvision. I am likely more useful at night than I am during the day, at least in terms of scouting.”
“See, to me, your usefulness is still up for debate.” Major Cleave’s retort could have been taken as insulting, but Joe understood that she was merely trying to make a joke to lighten a very stressful situation. The night began to pass, seeming to last forever while also vanishing in a blink. By that point, they had been traveling for several days without rest, even eating their food and drinking their water on the move. All of them were getting tired, and perhaps a little snippier than they would otherwise have been.
Contrary to expectation, the various fights throughout the night were easily resolved, with most of the creatures running off as soon as they got a taste of the firepower that could be brought to bear against them. Daylight began to dawn, and they crested one final ridge before sighting the mountain range that was their destination. Joe immediately understood how it would be nearly impossible to find where they were going if they didn’t have a guide, as the entire mountain range looming in front of them was shrouded from tree line to summit in a thick cloud bank.
“Which one are we going to?” Jaxon clapped his hands in excitement as they started forward again. “Not going to tell us? Excellent! I love surprises!”
Major Cleave mimed zipping her mouth closed before she clarified, “Until we are in a protected area, we never gesture or say aloud where we are going. You never know who is listening, or what kind of devices—magical or otherwise—might be used to record what we say, or where we go. Simply follow, and trust that anyone who is tracking us at this moment is going to have a very difficult time piercing the enchantments and formations that have been put in place to stop them. Stay close. It would be a great shame to lose you all so close to our destination.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Contrary to Joe's expectations, they were not led to a secret tunnel. There was no entrance hidden behind a bush, no waterfall guarding a secret path to a magical city. Instead, they simply began their trek into the mountains, following a narrow path that could fit only a single Dwarf at a time. If it were not for the fact that he knew of the existence of magical storage devices which would allow for the rapid transit of huge amounts of resources and everything else that a thriving city needed, he would never have believed that roads of this quality would be sufficient for their needs.
“I'm just checking, are we on a goat path right now?” Jaxon peered around in excitement. “I love those fluffy little guys and their square eyes! Basically the cutest things I've ever seen in my life! Beyond any random snake sunning itself by the side of the road, of course!”
“This is actually known as the G.O.A.T. path.” Major Cleave favored the Chiropractor with a rare smile; clearly she was feeling more secure as they got closer to the city proper. “According to every magically inclined Dwarf that has come from this place, it is the path to true enlightenment and understanding. The ‘greatest of all time path’, or the ‘G.O.A.T. path’. At the end lies a repository of knowledge, secrets of the Oligarchy, and opportunities for advancement both in careers and society. That is what Dehur Bethi, the High City of Deep Thought, represents to my people.”
“That's pretty grandiose… in that case, the capital has to be even more amazing, right? A symbol of prosperity and wealth, perhaps?” The Chiropractor questioned with unbridled enthusiasm. “Also, is it just me, or is it starting to get bitterly cold?”
“The Capital is merely the center of trade. It's home to the Oligarchs, as well as the citizens that want to climb the social ladder. You will always find the highest ranks of military, nobility, and merchants in that city. It is not designed for innovation or anything else beyond functioning as a central hub for the rules and regulations of our civilization.” Major Cleave blushed slightly at the words coming out of her mouth, which almost sounded treasonous. “That's the reason I was there, for sure. Clearly, it worked out for me, since I reached the rank of Major in only a few decades, instead of a century and a half, as is custom.”
“Right, and the cold?” Jaxon gestured at the air as he pulled out a large parka and shimmied into it.
“Yes, this mountain range is frozen in an eternal winter below the cloud layer.” Major Cleave could only shake her head and continue on as the others began to bombard her with questions.
“Are there going to be more monsters up ahead?” Daniella’s voice was quivering slightly, and Joe tried to feel sympathetic to her plight. As far as he knew, she had always been able to gain levels through her profession instead of through direct, dirty, painful combat. Or, it could have been the fact that it really was getting pretty cold. “That is, how much further do we have to go until we get to the city?”
“Now that we are on the path, which is protected from eavesdropping, both magical and physical, I can give you a better idea.” Major Cleave pointed directly up, and a smug smirk graced her face. “Straight up. All we need to do is follow the path until we get there. We’re already on the mountain that the city is built on.”
“Wait, it's the first mountain? The very first mountain in the whole range? The easiest one to get to out of all of them?” Joe started to scoff, but it turned into a tiny laugh as he thought about it. “That's tricky! Put a city inside of a massive mountain range, lead on that it is going to be very difficult to find the city, but it's actually just… right here?”
“You know it.” Major Cleave’s words floated back to him on the wind, as she was facing forward to scan for threats, as well as to ensure her footing. “It is still going to take us a day and a half to get there at this pace, more if we run into any monsters.”
That put a damper on Joe's spirits. “So long? Why? Don't we just have to go up?”
“We need to circle the entire Mountain several times, due to the necessity of staying on the path or in the larger rest areas attached to it,” Major Cleave explained easily. “Normally, of course, people that are coming to the city would simply teleport in, never knowing the difficulty in reaching the city by foot. However, with that option unavailable to us, the only thing that we can do is follow the ancient way. On the plus side, this is also the path that any magically inclined Dwarf would need to follow to even be considered for training. If they teleported in, it would show a lack of resolve.”
She gathered her thoughts, then continued in a considering tone. “The path is magically guarded, with various effusive and misleading enchantments woven into the stone over the last millennia. Leaving the path, even for a moment, will result in you finding yourself back at the bottom of the mountain, nowhere near the entrance path at all. If you are lucky.”
“That means taking this route will give us an easier chance of getting access to the people we need to talk to in the city above?” Joe voiced his hopes carefully. “If we combine that with my military rank, what do you think the likelihood of meeting with a Grandmaster is going to be?”
Major Cleave pondered the answer she wanted to give him as they continued to hike. “Back in your world, if I remember correctly, you had something called a lottery? I believe the odds of getting to speak to a Grandmaster so easily has similar odds to winning the grand prize on that game of chance, if for no other reason than you are a human, and to them, an unknown factor. With a bounty on the heads of the Grandmasters, that is the best odds I could possibly give you.”
With the newfound awareness that all they had to do was climb, the blistering pace that they set for themselves was more easily accepted by everyone in the group. All the way until they made it to the first rest area. Upon encountering magically comfortable tents, enchanted perpetual flames that would easily remove the chill from their bones, and a large pot of soup that was stirring itself… all of the humans started to build a slight amount of resentment in their hearts as their Dwarven escort rushed them past.
“But there was soup!” Jaxon pouted as he waved sadly behind them. “It looked like hot soup, and this place is chilly.”
Cleave shook her head and handed him a small bar of travel rations. “Trap soup. When have you ever seen my people—at a level where they are seeking higher understanding—act excited about mere creature comforts? You are in the Legion; you should have a good understanding of what my society thinks of people who are just seeking handouts. If we would have stopped at the first rest station, the way forward would have been barred to us.”
“You Dwarves and all your little tests.” Jaxon spat to the side in consternation. “Why can't you just give people soup when you make it look like you are going to give them soup? Soup, soup, soup.”
“Reaching the highest heights requires an iron will. It requires doing whatever needs to be done, to advance yourself as far as you can.” The Dwarf’s voice was tinged with nostalgia as she said these words, which had clearly been passed down to her. “The G.O.A.T. path is narrow for a reason; there is not room for everyone to walk it. It is a hard path, full of tests for your mental, physical, and emotional being. Only those that can continue to put one foot in front of the other and stay on the path, no matter how long it takes them to arrive, can reach the summit.”
“Ugh, these metaphors!” Jaxon broke the solemnity of the moment. “What's so bad about resting every once in a while? Taking breaks? When you have forever, why not allow people to advance at their own pace?”
“A flawed argument.” Major Cleave shook her head, completely disregarding his griping. “That is definitely what an Elf would think, but we know better than to give in to the lure of hedonism on our march toward eternity. When you stagnate, that does not mean you stay the same. It means that you'll need to work twice as hard, three times as hard, and you still may never catch up to those who simply continued walking the path… no matter how sedate their pace.”
The group lapsed into pensive silence, each of them mulling her words and taking their own meaning from it. Joe nodded along, thinking that he understood exactly what his companion had been getting at. Jaxon was shaking his head, clearly disagreeing with something in her arguments, and Daniella… seemed contemplative, but her jaw firmed up as she reached a conclusion of some kind.
Joe had always loved how the wisdom of the ages could affect people in so many different ways. It made for rich conversation and a deeper overall understanding as their individual points were expressed and examined. He sank into deeper thought, trying to figure out what it was exactly that his friends may be agreeing or disagreeing with, and attempting to consider what Cleave had said from a new light, a light where he didn't agree with her completely. It was difficult, but he could, perhaps, see how someone could take this message as ‘always be working’.
The Ritualist knew, or at least believed, that this was not the actual counsel that was supposed to be taken to heart. Following the path was not about grinding until it simply wasn’t possible anymore; it was about doing the work consistently, taking breaks as needed, but not every possible break available. It was also about not seeking comfort at the first opportunity. He believed, at that moment, that he understood why it was known as the G.O.A.T. path. He had a lot to learn still, and he was loving every moment of it.
Wisdom +3!
“The greatest of all time, indeed,” Joe murmured to himself, pleased at the fact that he was achieving such great results from this adventure. “I'm looking forward to what other lessons reaching the pinnacle of Dwarven success will bring to us.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“I think—mind you I don't know for sure, but I think,” Major Cleave reassured them as they reached the third rest area on the path, “that we can stop here for some rest and recuperation.”
“Finally!” Jaxon dove into the roughly one hundred by one hundred foot space, pulling out a bedroll in midair and pushing his face into it. By the time he hit the ground, he was fully ensconced in the sleeping bag and resting comfortably. “One of the drawbacks to having Living Weapons as a large part of my combat utility is that I accumulate their fatigue! Wake me up if you need something to die, otherwise be warned that you most likely shouldn't rouse me until I get up on my own.”
Joe had never seen this side of his friend before, but then again, he was generally only around Jaxon during travel or combat. “We should have a board game night or something soon, just to sit back, relax, get to know each other better?”
There was no answer from the already-snoring Chiropractor, but Joe knew he would be excited to play a game. Each of the others set up their own area in rapid succession; the Dwarf pulled a chair out of nowhere and sat on it while sharpening her weapon, Daniella set up a tent and disappeared inside for some privacy, while Joe simply sat in a far corner and began tinkering with his rituals and skills.
“The bubble travel was good, but I think I underestimated how dangerous straight-line travel would actually turn out to be.” The ritual clearly needed to allow for some form of control, even if it was simply object avoidance, or the ability to bring them to a safe landing after going the maximum distance that they could have traveled. He played with it for a while, as the dark night that his friends were sleeping through slowly passed. Unfortunately, he could not find a solution to the problem that he was having due to his Student rank in rituals.
