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

want to go back to that spineless form ever again. There was nothing wrong with his cat form anyway, he figured, feeling particularly pretty just then.

In recompense for allowing the Cambionic Flayer to be skewered, Garath pulled Handsome back into the world to feed him a gnoll heart. The ugly demon hovered in front of Garath with a raised eyebrow, folded arms, and a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest. Garath shrugged apologetically, then beckoned the winged demon over to him. Handsome obliged, then made an awful screech in pain as Garath wordlessly yanked the crossbow bolt out with feline teeth.

Handsome glared at his summoner with undisguised anger until Garath told him it was time to eat and told him to pick a gnoll. His bulging eyes hopeful, Handsome surveyed the corpses for only a moment before deciding on his meal. A confused, but willing Atlas assisted the demon in opening the creature’s chest on Garath’s request, and Handsome got his meal.

Though he’d seen it a handful of times by now, the process of watching the ugly little demon use both hands to stuff a steaming heart into his mouth and down his throat was still disgusting. Handsome’s missing Health was restored in short order and the bleeding debuff disappeared shortly after that.

After pillaging the carcasses of their kills, the Party took a few seconds to recover Health and Mana after the five-on-five showdown. While they did, Auto asked Garath about the situation with the towers. Garath told them about the four gnolls that had been near the campfire moving to stand between the towers and the fifth running deeper into the camp.

“How many of those things are in the towers?” Sharon asked.

*Couldn’t say for sure, Garath explained. *It's dark and foggy.*

*What do we do?* Auto asked through the Party channel, back in his bulky hybrid form. He turned his horned, lumpy head to look at Garath.

*Storm the towers. What else?*

He laid out the game plan for his Party as they set off back toward the gnoll camp. It wasn’t complicated. When the line of misfired crossbow bolts sticking out of the ground came into view, Garath called a halt.

“Four bolts,” Atlas observed. “There must be at least two in each tower, then. You said they used crossbows, right? They couldn’t have loaded another bolt and missed again before you were out of range.”

*Yeah. Good call,* Garath agreed. *But two more were shot before these four, so it’s a good bet each tower has three. Doesn’t really change the plan though, does it?*

“I hate your plan,” Daisy pouted.

*Suck it up, kiddo. If you came up with the plan then maybe you’d be the one to ride into battle on an epic mount,* Garath said smugly. *You clear on your job?*

“Yes," Daisy confirmed, arms crossed over her chest.

Garath leaped onto the Unibear’s back. It was an easy enough jump, and with all the time Garath had been spending in his House Cat form, he rarely overshot his mark anymore.

With a little Necrologist nervously sinking needle-like claws into his back, Auto trotted down the path ahead of the Party. The sight of a tiny white cat riding on a ridiculously large, hair-patched Unibear didn't stop the gnolls in the tower from unloading a volley of spring-loaded pointy sticks at them the second the fantasy B-movie outcasts entered firing range.

The first bolt to arrive was well-aimed. It hit Auto right in the horn but ricocheted off harmlessly. A second zipped past Auto’s head and thunked into the ground, and another grazed Garath's right ear. A fourth sunk into one of Auto’s beefy shoulders. The Unibear stumbled briefly from the pain but gathered his footing much easier than the cat struggling to keep balance on his back. Auto continued forward with only a sliver of Health missing.

*Now!* Garath signaled the rest of the Party.

The gnolls between the towers moved to intercept Auto, who veered toward the left tower on four churning legs. Bill and the Golem covered Auto's backside as the gnolls gave chase. Bill growled enthusiastically and barreled into the nearest gnoll, then bit, ripped, and chewed on its legs for all he was worth. The Dreadreaver followed suit, smashing his clublike arm into the face of another. The other two got a closeup view of Atlas' flashy swords as he engaged them both with wide, sweeping strikes.

When the Garath and Auto reached the tower, the Unibear reared back on hind legs and put his two front claws up on the stone tower as Garath sprinted up his spine. The fluffy cat sprang to Auto’s head, then jumped as high as he could toward the opening at the top of the tower.

Even with a Unibear boost and the incredible athleticism of a cat, he came up a few feet short. His front claws found purchase between stacked stones then his back legs worked like a springboard to cover the gap. Garath reached the top of the tower, ready to dispatch the gnolls frantically reloading their deadly ranged weapons.

The second he slipped into the crowded tower, Garath summoned Handsome into existence and, together, they released a pair of Blights. Two dark purple rings spread out, infecting all three gnolls. They’d been in the process of reloading their weapons when the little white cat slipped in, but as one, dropped their crossbows, pulled daggers from their belts, and lunged. Handsome didn't stick around. Instead, he flew to hover just outside the tower and sent a volley of Death Bolts into it.

As he scampered between sloppy attacks and furry legs, Garath was reminded of his first few hours of combat in House Cat form. Not unlike what had happened with the Fetid Ghouls and Reanimated Bones during the first two waves of The Culling, the gnolls in the tower did much more damage to each other than they did to the quick, shifty white cat.

While avoiding stabs, slashes, and kicks, Garath kept his eyes open for an escape route— should the situation become dire, he