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

he did about the guy now, Warrion wondered why he’d never fostered a relationship with... with…

Warrion thought so hard that his brain hurt. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember Garath’s given name. They’d been neighbors for at least two years before The Culling, but try as he might Warrion just couldn’t remember. It was never too late to start a friendship, though, Warrion figured. Maybe the two of them could bond over a fat bowl of Jungjem leaves in a couple weeks.

With his Stealth Ability active once again, the gangly Assassin continued through the forest. He picked up a handful more of the Burning Twindleroots and a veritable fortune of other strange plants, some with seemingly useless qualities while others seemed almost too awesome to be allowed. One by one, he placed every flower, weed, and herb into his Items panel as he worked his way south through the heavy underbrush.

A flash of light and the sound of voices pulled Warrion’s focus away from his new Profession. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought the voices belonged to children.

Warrion crept through the forest, and after a few careful steps, the voices became louder. A few steps more and he was able to distinguish a word or two over the rustling breeze.

Closer. The voices of two children chatting and laughing became more easily distinguishable, even familiar. Warrion was nearing the west edge of the forest when his eyes finally found what his ears had been leading him to.

The young Elementalist, Daisy, and one of the young red-headed boys that belonged to Gary were standing between the strange new forest and a mostly-destroyed brick wall that had presumably once been the side of a building.

Warrion watched as Daisy conjured a dense storm cloud that rained a maelstrom of pointed ice shards that shattered against the brick wall. She jumped over a fern-like plant to her left, rolling to break her fall. The little girl built a ball of blue flame that spun wildly between her outstretched hands, then released it. To Warrion’s profound surprise, the blue flame-orb turned like a curveball and slammed into the wall, exploding with tendrils of flame on impact. Daisy and Brandon both whooped with excitement at her success.

“See?” Daisy told the boy, hands on her hips. “Totally possible.”

“Wow, Daisy!” the boy said in disbelief. “You’re amazing!”

Daisy blushed, tucked a lock of blond curls behind her ear, and kicked bashfully at the dirt. “It’s nothing, really. I’m just showing you that just because your Skill Tree says that you can’t do something, it doesn’t really mean that you can’t. You just have to figure out how to do it yourself.”

Warrion dropped Stealth and appeared as if from nowhere at the forest’s edge then started walking toward the unaware youths.

Daisy spotted Warrion and immediately pooled her Mana into another Blast!, but recognition spread across her features just in time. Daisy cancelled her cast, allowing the Mana to flow back to her center. A too-large crow landed on the boy’s shoulder and together, Daisy, the boy, and the crow looked at Warrion expectantly.

“Does Gary know you guys are out here?” Warrion asked. “I know this is technically a safe zone, but…”

“Gary isn’t my dad, and neither are you,” Daisy stated defensively.

“Whoa there, kiddo. I’ve got less interest in being your dad than you may think,” Warrion said, chuckling. “I was just wondering what two kids were doing alone out here. And Gary is his dad.” Warrion pointed at Brandon. “So, what’re you two up to?”

“We were making rings, then Brandon said he didn’t believe me when I told him I can change my spells, so I was showing him, and then you got here,” Daisy said, all in one breath.

“Please don’t tell my dad you saw us out here,” Brandon pleaded.

Warrion was quiet for a moment, scratching at his chin as he ran a playback of Daisy’s word vomit through his mind. “Rings?”

“I unlocked my first Profession,” Brandon told him proudly. The large crow on his shoulder cawed loudly in apparent agreement. “It’s called Jeweler and I can make rings and amulets and some other cool stuff, but without gems or metal bands I can only make Rank 1 items.”

“Wait,” Warrion said flat-faced. “You can make items? Do they have Attribute bonuses or anything?”

“They sure do,” Brandon confirmed. Seeing Warrion’s growing excitement, the young red-headed boy took on a sly expression. “I’ll make one for you if you promise not to tell my dad you saw me out here.”

Gary had access to the World Map, and likely always kept an eye on the whereabouts of his boys anyways, so Warrion readily agreed.

“Okay, hang on.” Brandon’s eyes went vacant as he looked through the rings he could currently craft. “Which Attribute do you want me to add to your ring?”

“Dexterity,” Warrion said immediately. “How much can you add? What are you even making these rings out of if you don’t have metal or gems?”

“Carved wood,” Brandon said, his eyes returning to focus. “I can make a ring with plus ten Dexterity. I could make one with twenty if I had Mana Crystals to push it to Rank 2, but I don’t know where to get any.”

Warrion perked up at that. “I have Mana Crystals. How many do you need? I’ve been wondering what these things were for.”

Brandon dropped the cylindrical piece of wood in his hands and looked open-mouthed at Warrion. “Where did you get them?” he asked urgently, almost desperately.

“We picked up a bunch from killing creatures at the Alderwood Mall dungeon a couple days ago,” Warrion explained.

Brandon slumped so deeply that his crow , Dave, nearly fell off his shoulder. “My dad’ll never let me go to a dungeon…”

“I could go get more Mana Crystals for you!” Daisy offered excitedly.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Daisy. I went with Garath, Athios, and Sharon and we had a pretty hard time of it with all four of us,” Warrion told her seriously, then turned back to the