Tower Ascendant: A LitRPG Adventure (Realm Grinder Book 3), page 1
TOWER ASCENDANT
©2023 WOLFE LOCKE
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CONTENTS
Also In Realm Grinder
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Thank you for reading Tower Ascendant
Groups
LitRPG
ALSO IN REALM GRINDER
Tower Reborn
Tower Unleashed
Tower Ascendant
CHAPTER 1
[Now Entering: The Lair of Litheral the Fair]
[Floor 50: The Caverns of Flame]
[Power: SSS+++]
[Will: SSS+++]
[Skill: SSS+++]
[Level: 100]
John Mavren held his breath as the great door slowly rumbled open. Stone grated against stone, and the foul stench of sulfur filled the air. A deep, red light that he recognized as coming from magma flickered against the interior of the stone elevator, and he glanced over at his traveling companion.
“Are you ready?”
The woman standing next to him was scarred so badly that almost all her features were obscured. Still, though, her eyes peered out from the destruction of her face like twin points of fire. Indeed, flames burned inside her irises, and her long, black hair flickered with dark fire. She twitched her fingers, and a sword made out of pure energy formed in each palm.
“You know I am,” Farida whispered softly. “Let’s get Enora back.”
John nodded, then took out his fishhook spear. It was a classic, underpowered compared to his other weapons, but… That would only make his victory that much sweeter.
As the door finished rumbling open, screams and screeches echoed from the walls. John charged forward, drew his spear back, and found himself in the final stretch toward the destination he had fought toward for six long, painful months. The tunnel was long and straight, marked by pockets of bubbling magma that lit the area. Holes carved into the walls made the granite look like Swiss cheese, and out of them came hundreds of lizardfolk. They brandished crude weapons and hissed loudly, while, at the very end of the tunnel, shadows moved across a bright, glowing exit.
John met the charge of lizardfolk with nothing but power and strength. The monsters stood, on average, ten feet tall, and had muscles that made their limbs look like tree trunks. Long claws dangled from the ends of their hands, which looked just as deadly as the clubs and crude spears that they carried. John spun his spear around, so he was holding the weapon just below the massive spearhead, and swung it with all his might.
Crack!
The impact from the weapon lifted the first of the monsters clean off its feet and tossed it back down the hall. It dissolved into blue sparks before it hit the ground, and John spun, catching three more in the next strike. They, too, were lifted from their feet and thrown roughly into the walls, and John smiled grimly and spun his spear back around.
“Light Lance!”
A blast of light poured off the end of his spear, cutting through a dozen of the monsters all at once. They screamed and fell to the ground, smoke and steam hissing upward from their wounds, and John continued to stride forward. Another lizardfolk leapt at him, holding a crude spear tightly, but John only smirked. He sidestepped the attack, then grabbed the lizardfolk at the wrist. The monster, which was a great deal taller than John, opened its eyes wide in surprise as John drove it to a halt.
“Not today,” John whispered. He twisted the monster’s wrist and threw it to the ground, then planted a foot on its throat while he ripped the spear from its grasp. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the weapon through the approaching horde, spearing four of them in a single strike. They fell with a gurgle, and John crushed the fallen monster as he stalked forward.
“You’re enjoying this too much.” Farida came striding forward, the blades still flickering in her hands.
“No,” John muttered. He jabbed his spear through the chest of another lizardfolk, then spun and slung the corpse into several more attackers. They all tumbled backward into a pool of lava. “I enjoyed fighting the giant cockroach on Floor 48. These are in my way. I’d appreciate it if you’d help out a bit.”
“With pleasure.” Farida raised her hands and crossed the blades, then slammed them downward. A blast of flame rolled outward from the weapons, washing over the attacking crowd. Lizardfolk fell in droves, writhing in the flames. With that, side by side, John and Farida strove forward, striking down anything and everything that came close. Monsters surged all around them, but none could lay a single claw upon the duo. John dodged and slashed, jabbed and punched. Once, he hit a lizardfolk on the jaw so hard that the monster was thrown up and into the roof, where it cracked against the ceiling before coming crashing back down to the ground, flattening another monster.
[You have received many Fragments of Will and Power]
[You have collected 134,214 Points]
The notifications scrolled past John’s vision as fast as he cut through the monsters, but he ignored them all. He had no need for points, nor for Fragments. Not anymore. Finally, as they reached the end of the tunnel, and the smell of sulfur grew even more intense, a great, twenty-foot-tall lizardfolk came around the corner, stood before John, and roared so loudly that a shockwave rolled down the tunnel.
“Give me a break,” John muttered. He bent down, scooped up a rock, and then threw it at the monster with all his might. The stone slammed into the scaly forehead of the monster, sank through a soft point in its skull, and… Well, it was dead long before it hit the ground, which made the ground shake and several stalactites come crashing down distantly behind the two warriors.
With that, John stepped out into the main arena of the floor. The Lair of Litheral the Fair. He took a deep breath as he entered, looking around the area closely. It was a single pool of lava, ringed by a small strip of land, with a handful of islands scattered here and there throughout. Whirlwinds of fire erupted from the bubbling stone and raced back and forth, crackling and roaring furiously. John held his breath, then planted the butt of his spear against the stone and called out loudly.
“Litheral! Come out!”
There was no answer.
“I said… Come… out!”
He punctuated the last word by slamming the butt of his spear against the ground. The lava quivered, and he drew in
It was humanoid, vaguely, and stood about twenty-five feet tall. She was covered in armor, and had four rather spidery arms coming off her back, each of which flickered with roaring flames. Her feet rested firmly on top of the lava, which she clearly commanded with ease.
“I’ve come to speak with you.” John picked his spear back up and pointed it at the Bloodskin.
“I do not speak with humans,” Litheral spat. Her voice was deep, yet still unmistakably feminine. She pointed all four spider-arms at John and loosed a scalding blast of flame. Farida rose up and crossed her arms, and a dome of pure flame flickered to life around the duo. For a long moment, flame roared against flame, until Litheral’s attack died away. As John found he could see her again, he cleared his throat.
“I’ve come to speak with you about Enora Long,” he called out. “Is she alive? Where is she? I can kill you and spend time-”
He was cut off by another blast of flame, and Farida again created a shield to protect them. As it died away, Litheral hissed madly.
“How are you alive? What manner of witch do you have with you?”
“I’m no witch,” Farida replied. “Let’s tussle, and see which one of us comes out on top.”
“There’s no need for that.” John took a deep breath. “Now, as I was saying, I can kill you and spend time looking for Enora, but I’d prefer if you just-”
Litheral responded by diving down into the lava. A great wave of the burning stone rose up and came crashing down onto the duo, and Farida once more created a crackling shield. John looked at it for a moment, then slowly stretched out his hand and pressed his palm against the flame.
[Warning: Magma is at Level SSS++ Heat. Your Heat Resistance is SSS+++. You will receive damage after 99 seconds of exposure]
“I can deal with that.” John muttered. He took a deep breath, backed up, and then raced straight through Farida’s shield.
Flames crackled around him, and he dove down into the lake of magma. One arm stroked above the other, and he raced down through the burning liquid. That, of course, was when he realized that… Well… His health sure wasn’t depleting, but then again, it didn’t deplete when he got a paper cut and squeezed lemon juice onto it either.
“Ahhhhhh!” he cried out loudly, then squeezed his jaw shut. A moment later, the lava swirled around him. Litheral had heard him… But then again, maybe that was okay.
Two powerful arms wrapped around his torso, and a moment later, they came exploding out of the lake on a wave of magma. Instead of landing on the shore, they came crashing down on one of the central islands, where Litheral cast him dismissively to the ground.
“You are impressive, human,” she snarled. Idly, John wished that he could see her face, but it was hidden behind a helmet that glowed orange from the heat. “Still, you will-”
John lashed out with his feet, kicking her legs. The blow knocked her flat on her back, and he rose, using his spear as a walking stick. Litheral stood up again, but before she could do anything, John whacked her roundly with the butt of his spear. She was knocked again to the ground, then snarled and launched herself forward.
John was picked off the ground as her feet hit the magma, and created a wave to carry them across the lake. There, the shore opened up a bit more onto a sort of beach. A capsized boat lay grounded there, no doubt filled with lore and other bits of information. John held his breath as she raised him up into the air and brought him crashing down, and red-hot gravel exploded into the air around him.
“You…” he snarled, then jabbed his fishhook spear clean through her chest. It wouldn’t kill her, and if it did, she would only regenerate anyway. Something caught his eye off to the side, and he reached over and caught hold of the ship’s anchor, which was also red-hot. “Just need to listen to me!”
Litheral hissed and tried to back up, but John twisted the spear, and the sharp point of the fishhook caught on the inside of her armor. With that, John swung the anchor, whacking her on the side of her head. A resounding bong echoed through the cavern, and she fell to the ground, stunned.
In that moment, a raging inferno rose up around them; one of the whirlwinds of fire. John blinked as the warning message appeared again.
[Warning: Whirlwind is at Level SSS++ Heat. Your Heat Resistance is SSS+++. You will receive damage after 50 seconds of exposure]
The number began to tick down rapidly, far faster than it should have done, and he realized that the whirlwinds likely also had some sort of effect that decreased the duration of fire resistance. He gritted his teeth together, then pulled out his last-ditch weapon.
“Ultimate Muscle.”
In an instant, he grew to a height of thirty feet, and swelled with muscles that made him more closely resemble a mountain. Litheral let out something that he imagined was a scream, and he slung her into a wall, causing stone and fire to crumble around her. He stepped out of the whirlwind, then clapped his hands and sent a shockwave rolling across the lake. All the whirlwinds were blown out, and he slowly stalked toward Litheral.
She rose up a moment later, and her whole body became wreathed in flame. With that, she launched herself at John. They came together with a mighty crash, and John snarled as he landed punch after punch against her. Her arms and flames stung at him, and he gritted his teeth against the pain. Finally, he groaned, grabbed her around the ankles, then slung her up and over his head to bring her crashing into the ground.
“Will you just listen to me?” he roared. He tried to pick her back up, but found himself looking simply at a statue. Suddenly, something flickered through his mind. Her father, Adornal, had an ability that would cause him to turn into stone if he was dealt a blunt-force blow that would have killed him. Arms wrapped around John’s neck from behind, and he felt himself pulled back down to the ground. Litheral hissed in his ear, cackling softly. A red-hot blade formed against his throat.
“I win this one, John Mavren. Yes, I know your name. I-”
Before she could continue, a brilliant, pure light shone through the room, and John felt his heart skip. He looked up to see a blazing figure, aloft on twin wings, flashing along the top of the cavern. Down below, Farida raced across the magma on what looked like a hoverboard made out of pure fire.
“Oh, not that pestilent insect,” Litheral hissed. “Allow me to-”
John slammed his elbow into Litheral’s gut, and she groaned. With that, he turned around and punched her, lightly, slamming her into the wall. She slumped to the ground, and John reached out and grabbed her spider arms. He pulled them into as painful a position as possible, then pulled her upright as Enora and Farida flashed over to join him.
For a long moment, Enora simply hung there in the air, resplendent, with a smile stretching across her face. Farida looked somewhat more annoyed with the situation, and formed a bow made out of fire. Before she could shoot it, though, John leaned over and hissed in Litheral’s ears.
“Now that you’re listening to me, I can kill you and spend time looking for Enora, you can tell me where she is, or we can spend time in a long, drawn-out battle to draw her from hiding.” John let out a long breath, then shoved Litheral down to the ground. “In exchange for your cooperation, I have letters. From your father.”
