The Tree of Ascension: A LitRPG Apocalypse (Peril's Prodigy Book 2) by Craig Kobayashi (ebook reader 7 inch TXT) 📕

At Rank 1, you can spot a Lair from up to 50 meters away. Practice your new Skill to increase its range.

When he dismissed the prompt obscuring his vision, Garath understood what Aldrasyl had meant when he explained how he’d spotted the Lair. A faint purple glow beneath his feet and all around him let him know that he had indeed found the Lair he’d been seeking, but he wasn’t sure how Aldrasyl had spotted such a faint luminescence from the sky so far away.

Considering for a moment the fact that he was standing inside a Lair, yet hadn’t seen a single creature, Garath turned his head to see how far into the monster’s den he’d unwittingly wandered. Seeing that he was already a good 40 feet or so within the perimeter of the purple glow, the Necrologist started growing suspicious. It wasn’t until a new scent registered, like fresh sawdust with a hint of blood, that he realized he was not the hunter.

He was the prey.

As the scent intensified, Garath became confused. He could smell it clearly, but was unable to put his proverbial finger on the source—until he realized that was because it was coming from all around him.

Now in panic mode, Garath whirled his head around again, scanning the shadows for movement. He saw none. But something did catch his gaze—a pair of reflective, unblinking eyes looking right at him from a few feet away. When he looked closer, he was able to distinguish a pair of pointed ears above them. To his right, another pair of eyes appeared, glowing faintly in the darkness, and another to his left. His heart beat faster as fear crept up his spine, and every hair on his body stood on end. They watched each other silently, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

Here Garath was, thinking he’d managed a stealthy approach into the Lair. In reality, his pure white form stuck out in the dark forest like a MAGA hat at Hempfest.

*Have you located the Lair?* Aldrasyl’s booming voice inside Garath’s mind would have made him shit his pants had he been wearing any. Garath actually would have preferred that reaction to what did happen, in this case.

Instead of shitting his pants, Garath once again experienced the panic response of his House Cat form. The tiny white Necrologist jumped straight up into the air, his back arched and all four legs stiff as a board.

His sudden movement proved to be enough to spur the waiting predators into action. And Garath finally got a good look at what was populating the Lair. He didn’t have to trigger his Inspect ability to know he was looking at a whole den of pumas. Pumas that had grown to be much larger than they should have. Pumas that were in a much larger group than Animal Planet would have led him to believe. He didn’t need to trigger his Inspect ability to know he was fucked, but he did it anyway.

Puma Matriarch

Beast

Health: 1,950/1,950

Level: 19

Station: Lair Boss

Mana: 0/0

Description: A Puma Matriarch will defend her young with fierce resolve. Puma’s are ambush hunters, if you see a Puma Matriarch, it may be the last thing you do see.

By the time Garath’s fluffy white paws touched the ground, he was certain that he wouldn’t be driving the Lair’s creatures through the forest to Aldrasyl. Luckily, that wasn’t his only option. Garath locked eyes with the Puma Matriarch as she pounced. Another notification appeared, and was instantly minimized for later review. Garath barely noticed, His full focus in surviving the several tons of gigantic murder machines coming down at him.

The Matriarch arrived first with an open mouth that bit down on the ground where the agile Necrologist had been only a millisecond before. Garath’s first instinct was to haul ass back to the overpowered reptile by the riverbank, but he figured the den of pumas may not blindly follow him into the trap unless he really pissed them off. An undersized house cat would barely be a snack for one of these creatures.

His immediate concern was evading the Matriarch’s next attack. Garath dodged another pounce and released instant cast of Blight, landing a damage-over-time debuff on the increasingly agitated large cats.

A part of him wanted to shift into form with wings and fly the eff away, but the animal lover in him gently reminded him that cats regularly kill birds for food, and just as regularly for sport. Dodging individual attacks seemed doable, though. Two of the cubs attacked at once, both missing their mark when the tiny Necrologist jumped back at the last second. He didn’t think he could outrun the larger felines in a straight race to the riverbank, but the route he'd taken to get there had been anything but straight. If he could use the terrain and his smaller size to his advantage, he'd at least have a shot.

He ran through the shadowed forest for his life, with nine pissed off pumas hot on his ass. Garath dodged left around a tall oak, then squeezed through a patch of thick undergrowth, hoping the pumas wouldn’t fit. He was right, they didn’t. Unfortunately, the athletic monsters had no problem leaping over the dense patch of ferns and brush. A second later, all of the pumas were back on his heels. A searing pain in his hind quarters and a suddenly missing chunk from his Healthbar not-so-subtly let Garath know he’d been caught.

Twisting in his skin, the Necrologist turned, face to face with the Puma Matriarch, his ass in her mouth. He grabbed her face with needle-like claws, and channeled Mana into a Death Bolt. The Matriarch released her death grip on the little white Necrologist as she reared back in pain. Garath didn’t wait for the other pumas to make a move. He ran.

*Garath?* came Aldrasyl’s voice again within the fleeing feline’s mind. *You have sustained damage. Do you require assistance?*

*Little busy right now Aldrasyl.* He ducked under