Path of Celestial Ascension - A LitRPG Adventure

“Knight-Defender! Where is the Knight-Defender!?”

There was the cry of a young voice as a girl in grubby pants and jerkin threw herself over the low stone wall, her feet splashing in the mud on the far side of the ditch as she took a deep breath and hollered again.

“Knight-Defender! Finn!”

The person in question, the Acting Military Commander and Knight-Defender of Blackwood, Finn Callahan, looked up from where he’d been engrossed in the black soil. The cold morning light caught his eyes, and his hands were full of the thin leek stalks he had been carefully planting.

Even heroes had to do the gardening, sometimes.

Behind him stood the new, partially-built stone walls of his realm, Blackwood, still with the wooden scaffolding and the lithe, moving bodies of the reptilian Lamakai working on it.

The tiny township realm had grown and was still growing. Its wooden buildings were mostly repaired now, and the wooden palisade walls were slowly being replaced with sturdy stone blocks, quarried from the hills to the northeast and carried downriver by barge. It was slow work, but Finn was proud of it.

Blackwood—the realm that he had founded, the realm that by rights shouldn’t have lasted longer than a fart in hurricane—still stood in the Games of Celestial Ascension.

The green flag with a resplendent black tree hung over the gates, and there was a stylized red curl of fire at the heart of the tree.

Out of fire and ruin, I grow. The words of the new Realm’s mantra flashed through Finn’s mind before he turned his attention to the youngest of the Blackwood Scouts, who was slipping over the black earth as she ran toward him.

“Miralda? What is it?” Finn called, his aching back and cold-bitten fingers immediately forgotten. It was spring in the New Zone, or Finn guessed it was, since who knew just how the seasons were going to work in this new world he had found himself in? He just knew he was out early in the morning, planting what supplies their tiny realm that now had five hundred souls in it.

“It’s Laurie. Chief Marr, I mean. She says come to the river tower right away!” the young girl panted for breath as she splashed across the planting lines being carefully cultivated around the eastern side of the township.

Something’s wrong, Finn knew immediately. “What is it?”

Miralda either didn’t know or was told not to say it in front of the other farmers and workers. With a quick word of thanks to the young scout, Finn took off toward the open gate.

What could it be? Is it another attack? Finn’s heart hammered as he crossed the half-built gatehouse and sprinted into the wide cobbled streets.

With just a flicker of his eyes, he opened his inventory and quickly dove into the Hearthstone—the gem that was the powerhouse and beating heart of every realm. It had grown in power with Finn and was now at Level 20, just like he was.

Hearthstone

Realm: Blackwood (20)

Mana: 541 / 541

Abilities:

Shield.

Dimensional Pocket: (20 slots) (Pyrrhic Blade, Gauntlets of Strength, Part-Plate of Azor, Token of Celestial Grace, Token of Blackwood, Celestial Coins – 1230, Rubies – 25, Dagger, Cloak)

Using its dimensional pocket, he quickly equipped himself as he ran, his form flickering with small flashes of light as the bronzed Part-Plate of Azor appeared on his shoulder and blazed across his chest, his stolen gauntlets with their stylized dragons burst onto his forearms, and the long, slender Pyrrhic Blade appeared in his hand, already flickering with a red sheen.

There hadn’t been any major attacks for three months—by Old Earth reckoning—since the Liberation of Blackwood. There had been the odd monster incursion, of course—strange beasts the size of bulls, but with cat’s heads that no one knew the name of—but the archers and Scouts had seen them off.

But it’s only a matter of time before someone from an Old Zone tries our strength, Finn thought as he crossed the main town square where the stall-makers were already setting up for the day of bartering. New-forged axe heads for repaired clothing. Healing ointments in return for food.

In truth, Finn didn’t know how long Blackwood could last like this. People had continued to straggle in, but no other settlements had been found or made themselves known. He knew that they would need more supplies, and soon.

There was the town hall opposite the stone-built shrine. Between them sprouted the central Blackwood Tree, five large trunks growing from a broad base, now starting to drip with heavy, sticky black buds.

“Ho, Knight-Defender!” someone shouted. Finn saw the large form of Goreth, one of the original Blackwood residents before his town had been assimilated by the Asai’s games of ascension. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and bald-headed, but with an impressive black beard. He was running in the same direction as Finn.

“Laurie?” Finn asked, and Goreth nodded. They turned, heading for the Lamakai Quarter and the River Quarter on the other side of it.

“I have no idea what it is!” Goreth wheezed as his feet pounded. Neither of them said the obvious.

Who’s attacking us now? How bad is it going to be?

Cold air blasted up from the river that skirted the edge of Blackwood, finding its way past the many tall warehouses built on stilts directly over the waters. The white stone river tower, the tallest building in the entire town, stood where the new wall met the water.

“Finn! Goreth!” There was a shout from above, and Finn saw the small form of Scoutmaster Laurie Marr—dark-haired and forever-scowling—leaning over the balcony and waving her hand. The Knight-Defender and the Guard Captain wasted no time in jumping into the wooden gondola at the base of the tower, grabbing the winches to haul themselves upward. Cantilevered weights fell on chains on the other side of the tower as they rose quickly, docking with the wide platform at the top.

Laurie Marr wasn’t much older than Finn, but she acted older. There was an air of authority about her that exuded from her every move as she beckoned them to the other side of the platform, where Sesuuk the Lamakai Prophet, and another woman and fellow Old Earther, the pink-haired, tall, willowy Rosa Lux, on the Air Ascension path.

“Look,” Laurie said, pointing at the horizon to where the line of wooded hills met the distant bend of the river. On the left was the green and orange haze of the marshlands, but there, where the marshes gave over to woodlands, was something strange and new.

A ball of light hung high in the morning sky. Purple and shimmering and floating over the low haze of wooded hills.

“Purple?” Finn asked, immediately confused. “Is this, uh, something that happened in your old world?”

Laurie scowled. “Not really. Tierra had normal, old, regular stars. And only at night. That’s something different.” She said the word like she had just discovered a rattlesnake in her bed. Dangerous. Unpredictable.

“This is a test,” hissed the reptilian Sesuuk. The Lamakai turned to regard the others. The fine white and gray scales that covered his body caught in the morning light, glinting a little as he looked at them coolly with his orange, slitted eyes.

“The Asai, the gods, created the Celestial Engines, and they swallowed up entire worlds to test our souls. Nothing happens under the sun or moons which is not designed to challenge us.”

“Inspiring, Sesuuk.” Finn frowned, but he knew Sesuuk had to be right. Of everyone there, the reptilian had the most experience, coming from an Older Zone himself.

“Well, we could just ignore it,” Goreth suggested a little uneasily.

“No, we can’t,” Finn heard himself say. There was a shift in the feeling of the group, as Finn had voiced what they all must have been thinking.

We can’t just sit here and wait for the next terrible thing to come to us. We need to be proactive. We need to defend ourselves first.

“But it reminds me of something . . .” Finn breathed as he stared at the glittering ball of purple light.

What is it?

“It could be a threat to Blackwood,” Laurie said with a great sigh. “You’re right, Finn. We need to do something in response to it.”

“The Hearthstone!” Finn blurted out. With a snap of his hand, he summoned the glittering jewel that was the spiritual heart of Blackwood.

It hovered over Finn’s open hand, which also shone purple.

“When Blackwood was declared a realm, this gem appeared, didn’t it? Do you think that out there…” Finn trailed off, looking up to see that the ball of light was a lot bigger than the comparatively tiny one over his hand.

Ah. Finn winced. If that is a Hearthstone, then what size realm was just founded!?

“I do not know if that is a new realm, Knight-Defender,” Sesuuk hissed, reaching up to scratch at his scaly chin.

“It is true, realms are founded by the magic of the Hearthstones, and they can grow in power, but not even in my old realm did I see something like this. Perhaps it is a new type of shrine, or treasure, added to our New Zone?” The Lamakai’s eyes glittered with what Finn was sure was greed.

Finn’s eyes flickered once more to the Scoutmaster. “Laurie? Blackwood is your town. You’re the leader. What do you want us to do?”

The Scoutmaster narrowed her eyes as she stared at the star ahead for a long moment, and then she nodded. “Knight-Defender Finn of Blackwood, I charge you with investigating it, with your choice of companions.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Finn nodded, and for a moment, he felt a flicker of excitement run through him. “Rosa?”

The young woman with the neon hair was quick to agree. “Thought you’d never ask. I could do with some more experience to catch up with you, Champion of Blackwood.” Rosa smiled, her fingers tapping on her carved silver quarterstaff. The weapon was her treasure from the Order of Celestial Grace—the Staff of the Aethers.

“No one else?” Goreth asked.

Finn thought there was just a little bit of jealousy in his voice. Maybe the big man had had enough of gardening, too.

“Blackwood might need your axe, Goreth,” Finn explained, already turning back for the gondola as Rosa followed.

“Just be careful, Knight-Defender,” Sesuuk’s words caught them as they turned.

Hm. That’s unlike you, Finn thought. He was used to the snake-person’s scalding observations and delusions of grandeur as the Lamakai had shown themselves to be a haughty race who never stopped impressing upon the humans that they built pyramids in their own world.

Finn turned back to see Sesuuk’s eyes glittering.

“If this is a challenge sent by the Asai, then it will be matched to your level or beyond. That is the way of ascension. But if it is an Older Zone invading our world, then they will have only one goal: to capture, loot, and kill as much as possible. Even you, Champion of Blackwood.”

“They wouldn’t be the first to try.” Finn managed a dry laugh as he turned to hop into the gondola, but the Lamakai gestured for him to wait.

“Here.” The prophet withdrew something from his tunic. It was a gold medallion in a roughly triangular shape, set with a brilliant blue jewel in its center. “My people once made these. It will allow us to communicate, despite the distances between us. When you know what we are facing, I will be able to advise.” He pulled back his tunic to show where an identical medallion hung against his chest.

Gifts, too? Finn thought, accepting the medallion and looking over the reptilian’s shoulder to where Laurie’s face was set in stone.

You have received a Trine Medallion.

Trine Medallions are prepared in batches, and each one is paired to the others they were made with. They allow the bearer to communicate telepathically with whomever is wearing a matched medallion.

Cost per use: 100 Mana

100 Mana! Finn was shocked. That was not insubstantial. Just how much Mana did the Lamakai Prophet have at his disposal?

“I’ll report anything we find.” He made sure to catch Laurie’s eyes. There was some kind of power play going on here, Finn thought. Sesuuk, being Finn’s patron, was used to acting like he was in charge, and he knew that didn’t sit well with the Scoutmaster.

“Be sure that you do,” Laurie muttered heavily.

At that, Finn and Rosa were winching themselves back down in the gondola, already thinking about the journey ahead.

Maybe I’ve been gardening for too long, he thought.