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

“Only two,” Brandon said hopefully.

“I’ll tell you what,” Warrion offered. “If you make me two Rank 2 rings, I’ll give you an extra ten Mana Crystals to play with.”

The boy looked up with unconcealed glee. “Would you really? Deal!”

Warrion laughed and opened his MENU panels, navigated to his Items panel, and retrieved twelve of the teal orbs. Surprising the Assassin, all twelve Mana Crystals came out of the hand-sized black disk as one, massive Mana Crystal.

“I’m not sure how to do this,” Warrion told him, holding the large teal orb in both hands. “But when we got them in the dungeon, they just sort of flew into our chests. So, don’t freak out, this might feel a bit weird.”

Warrion pushed the large orb into Brandon’s chest, shoving the young man back a few inches and sending Dave flapping into the air.

Would you like to give 12 Mana Crystals to Brandon?

Yes or No

Warrion chose ‘Yes’, the orb still held against the boy’s chest. When he did, the Mana Crystals sank into Brandon, causing the young man’s eyes to pop wildly with excitement.

“Omigod! Thank you!” Brandon shouted the words. “Okay, give me like five minutes and I’ll make your rings.”

Warrion laughed and patted the boy on his back. “No problem, kiddo. I’ll tell Garath about your new Profession, too. No doubt he’ll want you to make him some rings with Wisdom. I bet you’ll be able to talk him out of every Mana Crystal he’s got.”

Brandon couldn’t contain himself anymore and barreled into Warrion with a grateful hug. “Thanks, Warrion. I’ll be able to Level up my Jewelering so much!”

Warrion smiled and patted the boy on his back again uncomfortably. “No worries, my dude. While you’re working on the rings, I’m going to go pick some more flowers to work on my Herbalist Profession. I won’t be far away. If anything weird happens just shout and I’ll come back.”

Brandon and Daisy agreed to do so, and then Warrion slipped back into the forest. A few plant-plucking minutes later, Warrion heard Brandon shouting his name, echoed by caws from Dave. The Assassin headed back to find Brandon holding a small wooden ring in each upturned hand. Warrion triggered Inspect on his new rings and eagerly read over the system-provided details.

Wooden Band of Dexterity

Raiment Slot: Finger

Durability: 10/10

Item Score: 21

Quality: Average

Rarity: Common

+20 Dexterity

Created by the Jeweler, Brandon.

Pleased with the result, Warrion triggered Inspect on the second ring to find an identical item description. He happily took the rings from the boy and slipped one on each index finger. Warrion had high hopes for his self-improvement day, but upon waking early that morning he would have never guessed that he’d coincidentally bump into a kid that would effectively raise his Dexterity by 40 Points.

“Thanks man, these are awesome!” Warrion said enthusiastically. “I gotta go find G, he’s gonna be pumped.”

The Assassin immediately shifted into Crow form, a quick and reliable way to get from A to B, even if it limited his available Skills to Stealth. Before he took off, Warrion looked at the two children standing unaccompanied in a magical forest on a post-apocalyptic Earth. He wasn’t sure if he felt right about leaving them there but, like Daisy said, he wasn’t their father.

Reluctantly, Warrion opened his Friends panel and located Garath on his World Map. The Assassin was surprised to find that Garath was with both Athios and Sharon, three blocks north of the Guild Hall. Mildly offended that he hadn’t been invited to, whatever it was they were up to, he decided to go see what he was missing.

Chapter Fourteen – It’s Time to D-D-D-D-Duel!

Standing near home plate, Garath felt it was a perfect time to distribute the 10 Attribute Points he’d been sitting on. He placed every single one into Wisdom, confirmed his choice, and grinned as the feeling of improved stats washed over him. The Necrologist took advantage of the Party communication channel to go over the plan again with Sharon without the risk of being overheard, a pretty low risk considering Auto and Maimon were standing almost 130 feet away, near second base, presumably going over their own strategy a final time.

*Okay, they think you’re just going to be my healer and that’s exactly what we want. Tell me the plan one more time,* Garath said. They’d been over the plan three times on the way there, but he wanted to be sure that Sharon completely understood her role.

Sharon sighed and placated the Necrologist. *I cast Roots on the short guy and keep us both alive while you do your spells on both of them.*

Garath nodded, waiting for her to continue.

*And then you’ll give the signal and I Floral Bomb the Preacher,* Sharon finished. *Did I miss anything?*

Garath exhaled dramatically. *Yes, you did. What do you do before the Floral Bomb spamming?*

*Spam is a meat-product, young man, not a verb,* Sharon croaked. *Oh, that’s right. I do Herbal Outbreak to slow the Preacher’s cast speed, then Floral Bomb.*

*Exactly!* Garath cheered. *And spamming just means to cast the same spell repeatedly at the same target. It’s a gamer thing.*

Sharon looked suspicious, but then Sharon always looked suspicious. Garath felt confident enough that she understood her role, though he only gave her the details that would be important to her.

The basic plan was simple, often referred to as a late-game target swap. Garath would make it appear as if Auto was his target, leading the healer to watch the Chimerist’s Health more than his own. With the damage-over-time spells active on both of them though, Maimon’s Health would be slowly draining throughout the fight. When it got low enough, Garath would give the signal and, together, he and Sharon would both pump out as much burst damage as they could muster in an attempt to take out the healer before he realized what they were doing. It didn’t always work,