Chapter 11 - Trials of Ascension

  [System: You have chosen the Path of Ascension. Everyone beginning the path of ascension has been granted 10 extra days of The Hour Unspent.]

  [The Hour Unspent: 35 days remain]

  “Ten extra days? Just for starting the trial?” Robert thought with a tinge of concern gnawing at him at the charity.

  [System: The initial trial for your party is being generated…]

  [System: You must successfully complete 5 Trials of Ascension to initiate the final Ascension Protocol.]

  [System: Generating Trial of Ascension 1 of 5…]

  Robert felt a bead of sweat forming on his brow in anticipation even though the frosty air of the blizzard still lingered.

  [System: Trial of Combat has been selected…]

  [Trail of Combat]

  Name: Rescue Plan

  Objective: Rescue at least 1 of 5 villagers currently in captivity by the mountain marauders. Failure to rescue at least 1 of the 5 captured villagers will result in failure of this trial.

  Reward: XP, The Hour Unspent +10 days (+ X days owned at the start of trial)

  The Hour Unspent Acceleration Multiplier: 200x

  “What in bloody hell is an Acceleration Multiplier?” Varg bellowed next to Robert as another script flew across their vision.

  [System: During the Trials of Ascension, remaining time from the Hour Unspent may tick down at an accelerated rate depending on the trial. For example, an Acceleration Multiplier of 2x will spend one full day of the Hour Unspent in half a day of the world’s time. In short, the greater the multiplier, the faster the Hour Unspent burns away. Beginning a trial with a larger pool of The Hour Unspent is crucial to providing enough buffer to complete the assigned trial.]

  “Why did they not tell us that before we started this blasted trial?” Robert said as he felt his own panic start to rise within him.

  “What does it all mean?” Oswin cried. “Why is the example 2x when ours is 200x?”[The Hour Unspent: 34 days remain]

  “What? I just lost a day, everyone!” Oswin shouted again as he began to pace back and forth along the deck.

  “We all did, Oswin,” Alice said. “If my calculations are correct, 200x will burn a day of The Hour Unspent in seven point two minutes our time.”

  “What!” Oswin cried as he fell dramatically to his knees in the snow.

  My god, Robert thought, seven point two minutes, as the last update of The Hour Unspent faded from his vision.

  “How does the female human know this?” Brukk growled as he pulled himself away from the deck’s railing and planted his big clawed feet on the deck's boards.

  “Numbers was my job before all of this, orc,” she replied. “And the name is Alice, if you do not mind.”

  Brukk grunted with a nod.

  “Robert, you had the least days between us. How many do you have left?” she asked.

  “Thirty four,” he replied grimly.

  “That is all I have too!” Oswin shouted.

  “Get ahold of yourself, man,” Varg shouted back at Oswin, pointing his big finger in his face as he towered over the smaller enchanter.

  “That gives us around four hours to finish the quest. We should get going now if we are to reach these mountain marauders in time,” Alice replied.

  “Agreed,” Robert said. “It looks like the trial will refund the starting amount of days, so as long as we complete the trial we will end up with more days than when we started.”

  “We can always send you some days as well Robert to balance out our available days between the party,” Alice said.

  “No, hold off on that. I am the weakest of the group. Let us not start transferring days until absolutely necessary. I do not want to die from some marauder’s arrow and take a bunch of your days with me.”

  “Don’t talk like that, Robert. You are not going to die,” Oswin said with a sob.

  “Enough of this already. Let us get a move on,” Brukk growled as he walked beside Alice and Robert.

  “How many days do you have left?” Alice asked, looking up at the big orc.

  “More than the priest,” Brukk replied before issuing another booming command. “Zurni, show yourself!”

  Robert checked his map as the goblin made his way up from underdeck. The quest marker location was close. From what he could tell it was on the next mountain north of this one. They would need to circle this mountain and make their way down to the next, unless there was some orcish contraption he was not aware of that could bridge the gap between the two mountainsides.

  After ten minutes of further preparations, they departed the great airship from the edge where it still leaned against the mountain. Zurni gave a few brief assurances that the ship would be airworthy again if they made it back, and to Robert’s surprise, he did have a somewhat clever, if dangerous, solution for breaching the divide at the mountain pass.

  “You will not be rid of us that easily, goblin,” Varg sneered at the small creature before he and Robert jumped onto the grey rock lining the mountainside. Robert’s boot slipped slightly against its smooth face, the ice creating an invisible barrier that made their upcoming trek more treacherous than he had hoped for.

  “Mind your steps,” Varg shouted. For minimal safety, they had tied a thin rope around each of their waists, linking them in a long chain. Robert was tied to Varg’s waist, Varg to Alice’s, Alice to Oswin’s, and Brukk was tied last. The orc led their party as they climbed horizontally along the mountainside, one of the massive crossbows that had once been mounted on the ship’s deck strapped across his back, Zurni’s solution for reaching the neighboring mountain. With Brukk being the largest and strongest of the group, and with clawed feet that could grip stone, everyone hoped that if someone fell, the orc would be able to anchor them and keep the entire line from plummeting down the rocky slope.

  They spent the next two hours circling the snowy mountainside. Far below, Robert could make out a snow covered trail arcing around the mountain’s base, twisting through the jagged range toward the northern peak they were moving towards. Recently traveled, he thought as he spotted faint hoof prints marking the snow. The marauders were likely using the mountain range as a temporary hideout between their treacherous raids.

  “This should be far enough,” the orc gladiator shouted against the freezing breeze of the mountain valley. Robert stopped, his frostbitten hands gripping a handhold between two rocks, his feet braced against others. Thankfully, the mountain was not steep enough to require true climbing like Robert had heard in the old stories of the Frostmere ranges, tales passed down through generations of farmers who, like him, had lived their entire lives on flat ground.

  With their line of tied party members halted, Robert looked across the great valley separating their mountainside from the opposite one, where the marauders’ base supposedly hid the captured villagers. At the base of the mountains, a frozen river divided the two, ending the trail at a crudely built wooden bridge across the pass. They would never make it down the entire mountain in time. We’ll need to trust Zurni’s solution, he thought as another of the frequent warnings blared across his vision.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  [The Hour Unspent: 24 days remain]

  Blasted HUD, he thought as the green reminder faded again. They had already burned through ten accelerated days just circling the mountainside, and it had only been a little over an hour in their time. We are not going to make it, he thought as the doubts started to creep across his mind.

  Brukk took the giant wooden crossbow from his back and aimed it toward the opposite mountainside. “Cross your claws,” he shouted as he pulled the trigger on the goblin-constructed contraption. The iron arrow sprang from the crossbow with an ear-piercing snap. An iron chain uncoiled from an attached box Zurni had added to the right side of the crossbow’s stock as the bolt arced across the mountainside valley.

  “That bloody goblin better have given us a long enough chain,” Brukk growled as the loud clacking of the unraveling links echoed back and forth between the two mountainsides. Robert hoped their unstealthy approach did not alert the entire marauder group as he watched the iron arrow strike through snow and rock, impaling the opposite mountain with a loud crunch.

  “Hah, it actually worked,” Varg bellowed loudly.

  “Let us try to keep our voices down a bit,” Robert pleaded as Brukk drew a large iron spike that had been tucked into his leather belt. With his clawed hand, he placed the spike into an iron ring at the end of the box where the chain had unraveled and called out to Varg. “Warrior, use your hammer now.”

  Oswin and Alice climbed a bit higher, letting Varg pass as Robert, still tethered behind him, advanced as well. Varg drew the massive maul from the sheath on his back and, with a single overhand blow, drove the iron spike into the mountain with a thunderous crack.

  “Is that really going to hold us?” Oswin asked with concern.

  Brukk cranked the metal lever on the side of the crossbow and the chain extending across the mountain pass began to tighten. When the line went taut he pulled out five objects that looked like horseshoes, though they were far too large for any normal horse, and he tossed them among the group.

  “Everyone onto the chain,” the orc called out as he descended just beneath the line, hooking a metal horseshoe over it. The ends of his horseshoe were bent closer together so both could be gripped with his one massive clawed hand. His other hand, lost to the Blood Baron and now only a healed stump, rested at his side.

  “Didn’t the goblin say to only use the chain one at a time?” Alice asked.

  “We do not have time for Zurni’s cowardly caution. Get onto the chain, we move,” Brukk commanded.

  Robert and Alice met eyes briefly, both concerned, before Oswin made his way toward the chain.

  “I am with you, Master Brukk,” Oswin said as he looped his horseshoe onto the chain just behind the orc.

  This is not a good idea, Robert thought as Varg and Alice moved toward the chain.

  [The Hour Unspent: 23 days remain]

  Robert hesitated as the new vision flickered before his eyes while Varg looked back toward him.

  “The time for hesitation is past us, priest. Let’s move.”

  Ugh, I hate heights, Robert thought as he forced himself forward. Taking a tentative step down on the slippery rock, he pushed aside snow with his boot and braced himself under the chain, extending his arms upward and looping the cold steel horseshoe over it.

  “Should we at least untie our tether?” Robert asked, far too late.

  Brukk leapt forward as the horseshoe slid him ahead in a rush along the suspended chain. The tether tied to the orc’s waist yanked those behind him forward in turn. Two ahead of Robert, Oswin screamed as he launched over the chasm in a rush of wind.

  “Ahhh!” Oswin yelped as the rope tethered behind him pulled Alice, then Varg, forward down the angled chain next. Robert felt the chain flex as he shot after them, his hands death-gripping the horseshoe as the ground dropped away beneath him and his feet left the mountainside.

  How did I get myself into this, Robert thought as his hood blew off his head and he felt his face freezing under the harsh windsheer.

  Halfway across the chasm Robert made the mistake of looking down. The ice river far below rushed past his dangling boots, and the surge of vertigo overwhelmed him. He vomited to the side while clinging desperately to his grip. He could still hear the faint screams of Oswin up ahead, though the cold wind rushing past his ears muffled everything.

  Hold on, Robert, he told himself as he looked ahead at the fast-approaching mountainside. My god, how are we going to stop? he thought as the slide toward the mountain continued with terrifying speed. Robert was about to time his release from the horseshoe when the feeling of weightlessness overcame him as the chain they all rode on suddenly went slack.

  Nooo was the last thing Robert remembered thinking as he looked upward toward the chain now plummeting with them, the darkened storm clouds peering down from far above. The crossbow or the spike holding the chain had snapped behind them, ending their quick travel across the valley. Their screams that followed were quickly silenced as all of them struck the mountainside and Robert’s vision went black.

  [The Hour Unspent: 22 days remain]

  “Robert, my legs! Help me, my legs,” he thought he heard Oswin screaming somewhere above him. Robert pushed himself up with his arms as he coughed up blood onto the snowy rocks beneath him.

  “My staff, someone, where is my staff,” he said groggily as he looked down at his bleeding hands.

  “It is on your bloody back, priest,” he heard Varg growl in clear pain somewhere on the mountainside.

  My back, he thought. The sling, he remembered as his senses began to return to him. He reached toward his back as a sharp pain pulsed across his chest. He collapsed to the ground again as he gripped his steel breastplate. When he looked down he found the once pristine steel now dented across its face from the impact with the rocks of the mountain pass.

  “Get up, human,” he heard Brukk roar, now towering above him and appearing uninjured. The orc grabbed his cloak and yanked him upright, forcing a shout of pain from Robert.

  “My staff, give me my staff,” Robert grimaced.

  Brukk swung the staff off Robert’s back and smacked it into his injured hands.

  “Here,” Brukk grumbled, annoyed.

  “Thanks,” Robert replied, looking around and trying to gather his bearings. The iron arrow Brukk had shot across the valley was still impaled into the mountainside thirty yards above his position, but the chain now dangled slack against the rock. I guess we should have listened to the goblin, he thought.

  Lower down the mountain, a battered Varg and Alice were kneeling over a screaming Oswin, who lay perched on a large rock jutting from the mountainside. Both of Oswin’s legs were contorted in unnatural directions as he writhed in pain.

  “Robert, heals!” Alice called out, snapping him from his stupor.

  “Set his legs,” Robert replied as he began slowly ascending the slope toward them.

  He heard a grotesque snap as Oswin’s screams rang out again.

  “Stop screaming, enchanter. I barely touched you,” Varg grumbled before snapping the other leg back into its normal position.

  Robert’s heals followed shortly after as the enchanter’s cries began to fade.

  Finally reaching the spot where Oswin had landed, Robert cast a Party Heal, mending the numerous wounds of the others, aside from the orc who was immune to Robert’s healing magic, and was climbing away from his healing circle towards the iron arrow embedded in the mountain.

  “Bloody Zurni,” Robert heard the orc exclaim through the hum of his spell.

  Robert released the heal as he saw his health bar return to full and the scratches along Alice and Varg’s faces stitch close. “How are you feeling now, Oswin?” he asked as he looked down at the enchanter. Oswin’s legs were now extended straight, though Robert could not see the wounds under his brown trousers except for the ring of blood where the breaks had occurred.

  “Better,” Oswin replied, the terror in his voice now subsided.

  “Wonderfu…” Robert began to say when the sound of whistling, a merry melody carried on the cold air, caught his attention.

  “What is that?” Alice asked as the party looked upward toward the tall mountain. High above them, a horizontal rock jutted from its side, and just above it sat what looked to Robert like a small cave opening with icicles hanging along its arch.

  A whistling man in brown fur winter clothing stepped out from the cave’s entrance, still whistling his cheerful tune. He walked to the edge and began undoing the straps of his fur trousers, appearing ready to relieve himself over the ledge, when his eyes met theirs in shock and the whistling stopped.

  Robert watched in silence, unsure what to do, as the man turned to run back into the cave. An arrow, a chain chasing right behind it, flew through the air and impaled the man in his side. The whistling man made a terrible gurgle before he was yanked toward them as the chain recoiled.

  Robert looked on in horror as the impaled man’s body crashed limply in front of Brukk, who held the other end of the chain in his remaining clawed hand.

  “Brukk!” Robert called out. “What was that? What if that was one of the villagers?” he asked, still shaking off the initial shock.

  “Then we still have four to save, human. Better safe than sorry,” Brukk replied with a confident growl.

  Robert put two fingers on his brow, closing his eyes to calm his rattled nerves.

  [The Hour Unspent: 21 days remain]