Chapter 50 - The Trial of Ascension, Part I

Welcome to the Trial of Ascension. With this, you are able to upgrade your race to an advanced race. You may retain the features of your base race in addition to those of the advanced race you unlock. While there are many advanced races, the Trial you face will depend upon your base race, your play style to date, and the path you choose. Base Race: Incubus Due to your play style and base race, the following Paths are open to you: Path of the Mind: Strengthen your mental abilities, gaining more magic and influence. (Unlocks Greater Incubus) Path of the Warrior: Strengthen your physical abilities, granting you great combat prowess and resilience. (Unlocks Half-Demon) Path of Cruelty: Eschew the physical to draw power from tormenting your foes, even after death. (Unlocks Lesser Soulkeeper) Path of Power: The most dangerous of the paths, for those who seek power above all else, for good or ill. (Unlocks Hellspawned Drake)

I grinned to myself. The most dangerous path, huh? That was game talk for ‘high risk, high rewards’. I liked the sound of that, and being some kind of demonic dragon would give me a big boost in my quest to build Aria into something to talk about. The other three were cool, but looked pretty limited. That, and Hellspawned Drake sounded the most badass of the four.

“I choose the Path of Power.”

With that, the world shifted. The smoke-filled room faded away, leaving me in another room, which was reminiscent of one of those old RPGs where you had to jump around and solve problems to open the door. It looked like I was in a tomb of some sort. I really didn’t know enough about ancient cultures to identify it, except that I didn’t see any obvious markings, like a big Eye of Ra or Zeus on a throne or Thor’s hammer.

The Path of Power Those who wish for power must step through three challenges in order to walk this path. Step 1: Mind Escape the room.

Yeah, that’s what I figured. Wiping the blue screen away, I looked at the only door to the room. It was big, like twenty feet wide and forty feet high, and made out of stone. An Earth Mage would be through there in a second, but I wasn’t an Earth Mage. There was no way I was moving it with my abilities, which made sense, since these things were personalized.

I looked at the door, and saw that there were two great mechanisms that looked as though they would open the doors, but there were three great stone bars in the way. I didn’t see an obvious way to open them, however. No obvious switches or levers near the door, so I began looking around the room. If this was based off the old crypt raiding games, then there would be something I could use in the environment to free the doors. Hopefully without dying twenty times, since I’m pretty sure dying would make me fail the trial.

I decided that now would be a good time to have a second set of eyes, so I used a spell that I’d had for a long time, but never actually used until now. The ‘Summon Demon’ spell I’d gotten when I became a Warlock was something I’d never needed, since I always had my pets with me. Supposedly, it summoned a unique demon based on my level, role, and other such things. Not something I needed before. Now, however, I could use a hand. With that in mind, I completed the spell, and summoned my demon.

Green hellfire burst up in a summoning circle before me, forcing me to shield my eyes from the sudden glare. The wall of hellfire prevented me from seeing what was inside, but soon it burned down to a low circle, coming only a couple feet high. In the center was my demon.

Kylana Lesser Hellion Female Level 40 Fleshshaper (Transmuter) / Conjurer Titles: Corrupter, Sadist, Masochist, Scholar

“WHAT THE FUCK?”

In the middle of the circle of fire was a red skinned woman with black hair, and horns. She was clearly a demon of some sort, but didn’t look like one of the really powerful ones you always heard about. Maybe ‘Lesser Hellion’ was the equivalent of ‘Human’ in the hell planes? Anyways, she wasn’t a pinup model or anything, but she had some nice curves and a geeky, girl next door kind of charm, which was slightly ruined by the fact that she was completely naked, and sopping wet, clearly in the midst of taking a shower when she was summoned.

Her eyes caught mine, and she frowned, trying to hid herself with her hands. Had I actually summoned a prudish demon? Wow. “Great, I finally get summoned, and it is by some pervy incubus. Couldn’t you have at least fucking waited for me to be dressed?” She went on, muttering, “Why couldn’t I have gotten a sexy female elf, damnit!”

I chuckled, and said, “And how am I supposed to know what you’re up to, hmm? I’m a ‘pervy incubus’, not a god. And this was my first casting of the spell.”

The girl blushed as I said that, coming to the realization that I couldn’t know what she was doing the first time. “Fine, fine. Damnit, let me just…” She trailed off as she cast a spell, conjuring a jade-colored robe that went nicely with the color of her skin. She squinted, as though she were used to wearing glasses, and sighed. “That’s good enough without the books, I guess. Anyways, since you’ve summoned me, I guess you have some kind of problem? Where is this place, anyways?”

Down to business, huh? I could deal with that. Especially since her… assets were hidden away now, and not tempting me anymore. “Well, I’m in the middle of the Trial of Ascension. You know about it?” She nodded in the affirmative. “So I’ve got three tasks to do, and this is the first one. I figured an extra set of eyes would help in getting this door open, so we could move on to the other tasks.”

“Right. Before we go forward, I guess I should lay a few things out about how this spell works. You’ve summoned me, so I’m supposed to use my abilities as best I can to help you. But I’m no slave, and you can’t force me to do something against my will. And while the magic lets me recover if I’m ‘killed’ while I’m summoned, you won’t get to summon again for another twenty-four hours after that, and I’m pretty certain any demon will be pissed at you if you use them like fodder.”

I sensed she was holding back something, but I wasn’t quite sure what. “Are you sure that’s everything?” I was rewarded by a flicker of emotion on her red-tinted ‘librarian’ face. “What aren’t you telling me, hmm?”

Kylana sighed, and said, “That is with the basic spell. If you dismiss me, and cast the spell again, you’ll get a new summon, based on your needs at the time. If you want to keep calling me, then you’ll need to… mark me, as a Familiar. The Familiar bond has different effects, but can’t be forced on someone.”

Secret Quest! Taming the Librarian Kylana, one of the librarians who looks after the books in the library of the demonic city of Thuressos, has been summoned by you only this once. However, it may be possible to convince her to become your Familiar, granting both of you power in return for her service.
Rank	D
Success	Kylana agrees to perform the Familiar bond with you.
Failure	Kylana refuses the Familiar bond. You unsummon Kylana before she agrees to the bond.
Reward	Experience Kylana becomes your Familiar.

Interesting. So this Familiar thing was more like the contracted spirits idea you saw in some games and animes. The contractor got to call on the spirit, and the spirit got something in return from the contractor, but first you had to earn that contract, or something like that. Not really my favorite brand of anime, but I’d seen enough to pick up on themes. Still, those stories typically had multiple ways to get a bond. Some could be forced by overpowering the spirit, if you knew what you were doing. I had the feeling that Kyana was deliberately leaving things out, but for the moment I had other concerns. Nodding to her, I said, “I see. In that case, why don’t we work through these challenges, to start?”

When she nodded, I turned, and looked at the room again, starting with the floor. I noticed a few squares that were oddly out of place in the otherwise regular stone floor. Standing one of them revealed it to be a pressure plate that slid down when I put my weight on it. There was a grinding sound, and I looked to see one of the bars retract away from the doors, but the other two were still holding on. I stepped off the platform, and the bar slid back in place. I looked over the rest of the floor, and counted a total of three pressure plates in a triangle on this side of the room, and another over closer to the door.

I looked over to Kylana, and said, “Right, looks like the first part is a simple pressure plate system. We’ll need to find weights to keep all three plates down, which should free the door. This puzzle was meant to be solved, so there should be something we can push onto these plates.” From the look in her eye, the fact that I was actually thinking through the problem instead of being a muscleheaded idiot about it raised my stock with her a few points. But puzzles like this were a staple of games, and had been for ages.

So I wasn’t too surprised when I found a large rock that you could roll around the room with some work in one corner. Together with Kylana, we got it into one of the depressed plates, and it stayed put. One bar pulled back, two more to go. Simple crypt raiding here.

The other two boulders were a little more difficult to manage. One needed me to climb up onto a couple platforms to push it off, that wasn’t too bad, really, but the second one was in a little six-foot ditch off to the side. To get the boulder out of the ditch, I had to push it onto this old wooden freight elevator, and then use my weight on an old waterwheel that no longer had water running over it to turn the gears and lift it up. Finally, though, we had all three bars retracted. The doors, however, remained closed.

I sighed, and looked around again. Oh, yeah. Got to find another boulder, it seems. “Kylana, you see our missing rock anywhere?”

Kylana, who hadn’t been idle while I was doing the heavy work, nodded, and said, “It is up there, at the top of that statue. I think you need to get up there to release it.”

That brought a frown to my face. “Looks like a pretty complicated climb to get up there.” I paused, mapping the route in my mind. The only way I saw that would have a chance of working involved climbing up a series of ledges to another statue across the crypt from the one with the boulder, and then making a leap of faith to grab a rope and swing across to the other statue with another leap of faith, catch myself before falling to the ground, and climb up to a ledge behind the statue. With my stats, it should be possible, but I didn’t like it.

Looking over to Kylana, I said, “Your talents include conjuration, yes? Would you happen to have anything that would make getting up there easier?”

Kylana smiled, looking fairly pleased that I’d actually considered asking her whether she could help, rather than making orders or just doing everything myself. I felt I’d already earned points in her book by working out the problem on my own instead of being a meathead, but this kindof cemented my view that she was looking to be a partner to whoever got her Familiar bond, not a servant or slave. She responded by producing a set of spectral stairs, and I grinned at her, running up them to the ledge behind the statue, the stairs disappearing behind me as I ran.

Once there, I noticed a small nook hidden from below. Inside it was a well-preserved chest. Reacting with my gamer’s instincts, I opened the chest, and was rewarded with a small sum of platinum coins, and several items.

Soulbinder, Grimoire of Ended Dreams
Type	Spellbook	Rank	Artifact
This leather-bound tome is written in the blood of sentients upon pages crafted from the skin of angels, penned in the language of the Abyss. To say that it is a wholly evil artifact containing some of the most vile and dire magics imaginable would be an understatement of biblical proportions. The book is both a grimoire and a treatise on Soul Magic. An ascended being who reads the book completely may learn the Soul Magic skill at Intermediate 1, as well as learning any spell from the book. An unascended being who reads the book completely has their soul ripped from their body and added to the book as a new page containing an original spell based upon their life. Any creature may use the book as a grimoire, using it to cast spells as though they had the Soul Magic skill at Advanced 10. The tome may be used in this way once per hour, but has a cumulative 5% chance of using the caster’s soul to create a new page of the book. This chance resets at dawn one week from the first casting. It is impossible to learn any of the spells in this book without reading it completely. Before a creature may read from the book, they must perform a binding ritual lasting one hour, offering their blood to the book. This serves to bind the book to the user’s soul. Aside from enabling the harsher consequences of the grimoire’s use, this ritual prevents any other creature from gaining the power of the grimoire unless they perform the ritual, breaking the previous binding. Attempting to read the book without performing the ritual results in a random attribute of the reader’s being permanently reduced to 0. Restricted: Level 40+ Restricted: Must be able to read Abyssal. After Ritual Bond: +20 INT, +20 WIS, +20 CHA +50% to Soul Magic while holding grimoire -50% to healing spells received while holding grimoire Gain Soulsight Perk Gain Soulreading Skill at Beginner 1 +1000 Infamy

Bonecarvin Devilwood Scepter
Type	Staff	Rank	Rare
Damage	60 – 90	Damage Type	Bludgeoning/Hellfire
Made from a type of tree found in the Lower Planes and inlaid with carved human bones, this staff possesses great power. Half the damage it deals is Hellfire damage, making it useful for those who have resistances to physical or fire-based attacks. A spellcaster’s weapon, it shows its true use when used as an aid in casting spells. Restricted: Must be (or have been) a member of the Hellion race. Restricted: Level 40+ +50 INT, +50 WIS, +50 CHA +100% to all magic cast by wielder. Enchanted: Mana Shield – May sacrifice MP instead of HP when injured.

Robes of Demonic Misery
Type	Robes	Rank	Rare
Creatures of the Lower Planes are often called upon to act as Familiars or servants of powerful spellcasters. These robes were created by a powerful wizard in order to help keep his favored servants alive when he hid behind them using them as a shield. The cowardly nature of the creator aside, the robes do provide a substantial degree of protection for the wearer. Restricted: Must be a bonded Familiar. Defense +300 CON +50 +40% to all Resistances Cursed: Truthsayer – The wearer of this robe may never lie to their Master.

Once again I silently praised my rather insane Luck score. I’m pretty sure no other Traveler has invested that much in Luck. Honestly, I had way too many points to play with when I reincarnated Torgan into Zayn, and it made me pick things I probably never would have looked at before. The benefits, though, were pretty good.

But I had other things to check on at the moment. Turning, I pushed the boulder over the side of the ledge it was on, and heard a loud crash as it fell to the floor below. Fortunately, I didn’t need Kyana to provide me with a new set of stairs, since there was a chain hanging down nearby. It was too far off the ground for me to have reached it when I was getting up here, but climbing down it would give me an easy drop of about fifteen feet. Not rolling out of bed, but not something to worry about if I was careful, even if I was in my RL body.

Back on the ground, I pushed the boulder over to the final pressure plate, and was rewarded with the grinding sound of the two stone doors swinging outward to open for me.

First step completed. Continue on to the next step.

With a smile, I turned, and looked at Kylana. “Now, why don’t we discuss how one marks a Familiar, hmm?”

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Chapter 49 - Gaining the Keep

 

Advanced Class: Hexblade Class Abilities: +20 HP per level Hex Level 40: Mettle - +30% resistance to magic and elemental effects.

Hex (Passive – MAX) All Melee strikes gain the ability to hex an opponent. Duration 60 Seconds. Up to 5 Hexes may be stacked on the same opponent. Stacked Hexes share the duration of the last Hex applied. Each Hex applies one of the following effects (chosen by Hexblade): 5% Debuff to one Attribute 5% Debuff to Armor 5% Debuff to attack speed 5% Debuff to movement speed 5% Debuff to one Resistance

With my choice made, I thanked the trainer, and turned to leave the shrine, my people following me. As I went, I checked the guild chat, and saw Lexichan and some of the others were back in Mylenoris after hunting down the undead, so I called them to meet me at the palace when I went to make my report to the King. I still had to give Lexichan her toy, anyways.

We made a fairly impressive group when we had all gathered, and made our way to the palace. We were almost fifty armed men and women in my train, half of them drow wearing slave collars. Lexichan, Raunaeril, Cookie, Bercilac, Ruva, and Athtar were there, as well as a few other guild members. Lexichan was pleased beyond measure to have the drow ranger, Kilyn Keltris, transferred to her ownership, already making designs on heading to the Underdark to explore. I noticed several guild members watching the enslaved drowesses with looks that could be politely called ‘hungry’. I expected they would go and work out some frustrations in the local brothels later on.

When we entered the throne room, I bowed to the king. He shook his head slightly, a bemused expression on his face. “Rise, Sir Darkmore. I believe you have news for Us? When last We saw you, there were only three others following your train. Quite different from what We see before us now.”

I rose, and said, “Indeed, your Majesty. Some of those you see with me are comrades from the worlds we Travelers have visited before we came to this world, trusted friends who have fought many dangers by my side in the past. The rest I have met upon my journeys here, a few friends, and more than a few enemies who fell under my power.”

“Before I begin my tale, I would first make an offering to the Princess Aravae.” I motioned, and Larrel Leokiam, the drow fighter, stepped forward, clearly displeased by the collar around his neck, among other things. “This Drow is a fighter of some skill, who may be used as either a bodyguard or however else the Princess sees fit.” The king nodded, and waved Aravae forward. It was a simple process to transfer Larrel’s ownership to Aravae, who gave me a quick peck on the cheek before returning to her place behind the King, her new slave in tow, eyes beaming.

I took a breath, and then began my reporting, first of my adventures in the Depraved Pits, then the fight for Ullelone Village, my fight with Kali, and then conquering the Scheming Caverns. The king looked grave as I described the fight with Kali, but merely nodded when I cautioned that Travelers were people, as any other, which meant the whole range of personalities would be present there.

The king nodded when I finished my tale, and said, “You have done many great things for this kingdom, Sir Darkmore, in quite a short time. Indeed, my advisors tell me that, without your aid, the undead would have caused a substantial amount of damage to the kingdom before they could have been put down. We would reward you for your service. Is there something you desire?”

I took a breath, and said, “Your Majesty, by your leave, I would like to take my guild and restore Lithaes Castle to the glory it had before the Scourge, and reestablish the town around it as a source for trade. Too long has the castle remained untended, leaving it open to the use of bandits and cultists.”

The king nodded. “Indeed, We have been considering what to do with the old keep since word came to us of the demon cultists you dispatched there. And as a Knight of the Realm who has three times now done great services to the kingdom, it is a fitting task for you to bring Lithaes back to her glory of old.”

He paused, and then said, “Sir Darkmore, We give to you this choice. Will you take up the mantle of Lithaes Castle and the surrounding lands, defending them and their people and holding them in trust for the Throne?”

“I will, my Liege.”

New Perk Unlocked! Lord You have been granted a fief by the king, and are charged with defending your land and the realm. You may claim taxes from those living in your domain, and administer them as you see fit, provided that your actions do not go against the King’s will. +300 Fame +10 Leadership For being the first Traveler to become a feudal lord, you gain: +200 Fame +20 Leadership New Stat: Leadership While Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom are all important in a leader, there are times where strength of arms or other concerns take precedence. Regardless, a Leader must always be able to get followers to do as he wishes. Leadership is added into all skill and ability use when they involve leading, controlling, or inspiring a group of people pledged to serve you. For example, it will apply as a bonus when you are using a social skill to rally your troops before battle, but not when attempting to seduce a woman to your bed.

New Quest! Claiming Lithaes Castle The King has charged you, as a Knight of the Realm, to travel to Lithaes Castle and claim it and the surrounding townlands as your fief. The keep lies abandoned after a band of adventurers recently killed the cultists living in the dungeons beneath the castle. You may need to do extensive work in order to secure your claim.
Rank	D
Success	Gain control of Lithaes Castle.
Failure	Allow others to claim the castle.
Reward	Experience Ownership of the Castle, Lord of the surrounding townlands.
Consequences	Reputation with Wyrmwood greatly decreases.

I blinked the windows closed, and bowed to the King once again.

After being dismissed from the royal audience, there was a brief discussion about the next steps, and then people began breaking off into different groups in order to prepare for taking the keep. We would head there the next day at dawn with all the guild members that were left in the city.

For me, it was a long day of moving from one place to the other to get my pets their advanced classes. Della picked the War Priestess route, which apparently boosted her combat abilities, giving us another person who could go toe to toe with the enemy, if need be. Severa became a Duelist, enhancing her ability to utterly destroy single targets, and focusing on speed and agility. Yukiko became a Meijikira, or Mage-killer, and gained a fairly awesome ability to slice spells with her sword. I was a bit envious, actually, because that sounded badass. Nithroel’s being a Blackguard and a half-Celestial unlocked a secret ‘Fallen Angel’ advanced class. Basically, it enhanced her ability to royally fuck up good-aligned creatures, though she still held her own against evil creatures.

Of course, we hadn’t gone up against too many good-aligned creatures so far. But killing people for their stuff generally works better when they are people no one will miss. As a guild, though, we’re building our power base, and soon we’ll be able to REALLY cut loose and have some fun. I could see myself leading Legions of Terror a few years down the road.

Speaking of which, Hrozne picked the Pale Master route for his Necromancer Class. It basically focused less on the general magic and debuffs, and more on controlling as many undead servants as he could. He even got a nice daily ability that allowed him to create a permanent undead with no costs. Sure, it was just a skeleton or zombie, but there was a big difference between a human zombie and a zombie created from the body of a troll, for instance.

Looking at my core team, it looked like this:

Zayn Darkmore Incubus Male Level 40 Hexblade (Warlock) / Dominator Titles: The Executioner, The Sexecutioner, Corrupter, Master Chainmaker, Machiavelli, Dragonfriend, Dragon Consort, Slave Trader, Trophy Hunter, Harem King, Stud Horse, Undead Bane, Leash Lord

Della Smith Human Female Level 40 War Priestess (Priestess) / Ice Sorceress Titles: Slave, Sadistic, Undead Bane, Devoted

Severa Rex Human Female Level 40 Duelist (Rogue) / Battledancer Titles: Slave, Heartseeker, Shadow, Undead Bane

Kiyabu Yukiko Kitsune Female Level 40 Meijikira (Samurai) / Dark Paladin Titles: Slave, Devoted, Unholy Blacksmith, Undead Bane

Nithroel Crana Half-Celestial Elf Female Level 40 Fallen Angel (Blackguard) / Priestess Titles: Genius, Fallen One, Slave, Broken One, Masochist, Undead Bane

Hrozne Bosorka Drow Elf Hermaphrodite Level 40 Pale Master (Necromancer) / Death Knight Titles: Elfslayer, Lichloved, Scholar, Spiderkissed

Not a terrible mix, all told. We were a little lacking on magical damage dealers, since my spells tended to be ‘battlefield control’ or ‘debuff’ spells. Hrozne’s Necromancer class focused almost entirely on debuffs (and some damn nasty ones, too), including some area debuffs, but they were short on direct damage. That left Della’s Ice Sorceress subclass as our only source of magical asskicking for area effects. Sure, she had some spells that fit that bill, but they were expensive suckers, and not spammable. On the other hand, she had some sustained wide-area debuffs that could paralyze a battlefield without costing too much. She was really good at that ‘Blizzard’ spell. It did some damage, but primarily it clouded vision, slowed movement, froze liquids, and reduced equipment durability.

Of course, that was more than balanced out, in my opinion, by the fact that I had three healers, three tanks, two DPS, and so on, all in just a six-man party. As long as we weren’t going out and trying to win a war all on our lonesome, we were in a far better position to take on most challenges than some other groups. For one thing, all my girls could at least hang in melee for a bit if they had to. No glass cannons here. Thinking about it, we were a team that was damn near perfect for hunting bosses and clearing dungeons. Well, so long as they were bosses like the ones we’d faced so far.

But I didn’t have time to wax philosophical about party composition and game strategy. We still had supplies to lay in for the trip to my new castle. More of the Guild was coming, having finished the quests they were on, and so forth. We had craftsmen in our ranks, but finding supplies in the wilds until the ruined town could be rebuilt would be problematic.

There was a bonus in this whole thing that I didn’t expect before. Seems that included in the lands I’d been given, there were a few potential income sources. Mostly the game and herbs from the forest, but there was also a nearby lake which should have fish, some farmland, and a couple nearby mines. Not to mention that, once the guild’s Enchanters and other craftsmen started working, we’d be a source for all sorts of magical goodies. And then, of course, there’d be the normal trade moving from city to city, and anything that the guild brought in… Yeah, we’d be fine.

Anyways, between my pets, the guild, and some wily (or just adventurous) merchant, farmer, and craftsmen types who wanted a chance to try and reclaim the old castle and town (and, not coincidentally, have a chance to ply their trade with little competition), we had three hundred people in our little convoy. As the size of the expedition began to become clear, it was decided that we would take another day to prepare. May as well do things right.

After tiring myself with my girls (and allowing some of the guild to enjoy the drow) I drifted off to sleep, only to find myself in the middle of what looked like a stone room filled with a white mist.

Now beginning the Trial of Ascension.

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