Path of Celestial Ascension - A LitRPG Adventure

The hallucination didn’t wear off as Finn traipsed through the very wet, very boring woods. He was bruised and electrocuted—he still didn’t have a theory for that—as well as sodden and cold.

Seriously. Couldn’t his strange nervous breakdown or government experiment mean that he didn’t have to feel cold?

Finn had figured out that his ‘character sheet’ appeared every time he swiped his hands in from the bottom right. He had discovered this new tidbit of information when, several times, he had to quickly throw his hands to stop himself from falling down the steep, rocky slope.

Name: Finn Callahan

Level: ??? [Calculating . . . ]

Profession: ??? [Calculating . . . ]

Health: 210 / 210

Mana: 210 / 210

Stamina: 210 / 210

Well, THAT is going to get annoying, he thought as he swiped the character sheet back into nothingness and tried to concentrate on what was ahead. The ground was starting to slope toward the causeway, but the trees were getting thicker.

He grumbled, wishing he had more than his spiffy blue GameShop t-shirt on, as he took a step—

[Celestial Engine Error!]

[Advancement Failed . . . ]

“Ahhhh!”

Once again, the purple lightning did that thing. Bolts of gleaming, shining purple raced across the moss. It doesn’t seem to burn them at all, Finn managed to notice before they hit his ankles and shot up his spine.

It wasn’t as bad as the first time, he had to admit. The attack lasted for only a fraction of the time that the first one had, and somehow, the intensity seemed less, too. Maybe the first time had burned away his nerve endings or something.

“I really wish it would stop doing that!” Finn declared after the light vanished and he was left steaming and panting.

Hey, at least I’m not so cold anymore—

Finn’s thoughts were cut short when he heard the first growl.

* * *

There was something lumbering toward him through the trees. Two somethings, to be precise.

“Hey! Who are you—” Finn started to shout.

One of the shapes suddenly grunted and turned in his direction.

He could see them clearly through the gap in the trees, where the moonlight above illuminated them. The shapes were large and hulking compared to any regular human form. Their heads were larger and set a little deeper against their chest, with giant neck and shoulder muscles, barely constrained by the leather straps holding a ragged tunic to its body.

Finn gasped. He was looking at monsters, real life monsters.

But this can’t be real.

There was no way this could be real.

But Finn knew precisely what monsters were. He worked in a shop that was stuffed full of them, after all.

“Fleshie!” the larger of the monsters cried out as they locked eyes. It raised its large, meaty arm to point in Finn’s direction, and he could see that it was unmistakably holding a large, single-headed axe with notches all down one side.

Wait, no, what?! Finn knew, immediately, what was about to happen as the second, smaller monster suddenly rose and roared. They both leapt in his direction.

No, no, no, no . . .

Finn did the only sensible thing that any sane person currently under the influence of a government-controlled, psychedelic experiment would do.

He turned and ran.

Or he would have, if that weird ground lightning thing hadn’t happened at precisely that moment.

[Celestial Engine Error!]

“Ahhh!”

Finn saw the ground erupt with those brilliant, purple-infused lightning bolts. They arced across the ground and plunged into his legs one more time. It hurt, but it still wasn’t as bad as the first. If anything, it was like getting bitten by ants or something. It still drove him to one knee, however, as he gasped in pain.

[Advancement Accepted]

You have been chosen as a Defender (Level 10).

You have 45 points to split between your characteristics. You have 24 hours to allocate the experience, otherwise the Celestial Engine will allocate them for you.

Level 10 indicates you have started walking your Ascension Path. Every stage along the path allows you access to the powers of the Asai themselves . . .

Choose: Fire / Earth / Air / Water

“What?! What!” Finn struggled back to his feet. The sounds of the charging monsters behind him were only getting closer.

I have no idea what any of this means! He had no idea what a Defender was, or an Ascension Path, or whoever the Asai were. At least not as it related to real life.

There was no time to try to figure it out.

He lurched back into a run, his limbs now feeling energized rather than pained. He dodged the first tree in his path and bounded over the next boulder.

“Fleshie! Glory for Trollheim!” one of the creatures raged behind him, howling with an obscene level of joy.

Is this some kind of game?! Finn’s panic spurred his limbs. Everything was way too real. Somehow, he had a load of attribute points already, which seemed like a good thing, but he was going to die any minute.

What would help him win a fight?

He had played enough tester games to know that you needed an awful lot of strength and stamina, right?

“Agility!” Finn cried out as he ran, hearing the monsters lumbering faster, getting closer, and he really wished he was very far away from here.

“I need strength and agility!”

It took a little mental finagling, but then in blink of an eye, his attributes suddenly changed. His Strength and Agility jumped to 18 and 19. Finn wasn’t exactly sure how Vitality or Durability worked, but he knew they were important, so he added points to them too. He held some attribute points back until he could learn more about what they all did.

Name: Finn Callahan

Level: 10

Profession: Defender [Not Specialized]

Health: 210 / 210

Mana: 210 / 210

Stamina: 210 / 210

Agility: 11 + 8 = 19

Charisma: 8

Durability: 10 + 8 = 18

Intelligence: 9

Strength: 10 + 8 = 18

Vitality: 11 + 8 = 19

Wisdom: 8

You have spent 32 points out of 45. You have 13 points left to spend.

Was it enough? Finn didn’t have much time to answer, but he knew that having physical scores of eighteen or nineteen was usually pretty good in the fantasy roleplaying games they had in the GameShop.

“Rarkh!”

The first monster was right behind him now as they raced through the forest. Finn had run out of time.

Choose Ascension Path: Fire / Earth / Air /Water

Finn heard the sudden crash of giant feet on the ground right next to him, and he felt a whistle of movement.

He reacted, ducking as he jumped out of the way. He grabbed onto the branch of the nearest tree with one hand and used it to swing around the trunk.

Suddenly, Finn was moving fast—faster than he had ever moved before. There was a crash as the first monster’s battle-axe hit the far side of the tree and lodged in it.

Finn spun around the tree faster than he could think, and suddenly, the creature was right in front of him. Its expression was confused and shocked as it tried to free its axe.

He did the first thing that came to mind and kicked out as he finished his branch-swing. Finn’s sneakers hit the monster squarely in the chest with all of his newly upgraded 18 Strength and sent the creature flying backward.

The monster grunted in surprise as it tripped and fell backward down the steep, wooded incline, slamming its body against the mossy boulders and continuing to spin as it tumbled down.

Crunch!

The creature hit a large boulder with a sickening thud and broke its neck.

You have slain Level 8 Troll Warrior. Experience awarded.

What?!

Finn skidded to a halt, his 19 Agility making it comparatively easy for his feet to dance over the tops of the mossy boulders and come to a halt. He had just slain his first monster—a troll apparently—and he was looking at the body below him in a kind of sickened awe, as his heart raced. He felt an exhilaration that he had never felt before—the power of life and death, literally in his hands (and feet).

“Bogrot!”

There was an anguished cry as the other, slightly smaller monster rushed him, a wickedly-barbed short spear in the creature’s hands.

Finn turned just in time to avoid being completely disemboweled, twisting to one side. He felt the rush of pain across his ribs as the spear tore through his thin synthetic cotton GameShop shirt and his flesh underneath.

You have been wounded by the Level 8 Troll Warrior.

Finn screamed in pain as he stumbled back against the tree, his back banging against it to see that the troll was pulling back the short spear in both hands, ready to plunge it straight into him . . .

Time slowed as he faced imminent death and his mind raced, trying to find a way to save his own life. There was the first monster’s battle-axe, stuck in the tree above his head. There was also the Ascension Path thing, which apparently gave him magical powers. Finn blurted out the first element on the list and hoped it would help him not get killed.

“I choose Fire! Fire!” he yelled as the Troll Warrior lunged forward.

Ascension Path chosen: Fire.

At Level 10, you have access to:

Illumination

Fire-Spark

“Fire-Spark, Fire-Spark!” Finn yelled.

Some impulse made him thrust his hands out before him and—

He felt power shoot through his body, rising from his core and down his hands. His palms glowed like molten gold, and a burst of flame suddenly exploded out of them. The spark only lasted a moment, but it engulfed the troll in a blaze of orange and red. The troll staggered back, dropping his short spear as it reached up to cover its eyes. Its leather shirt was ablaze.

Finn felt a wave of exhaustion rush through him, but he thrust out his hands again and called on the power of Fire-Spark. Once more, he felt the rush of power erupt from his core and flood through his body, down his arms, as he lunged forward, pushing the spark of flame at the troll. The flames engulfed the monster once more and the creature staggered back, one hand thrashing in the air as the other clutched its burning face.

Finn felt another tremble of exhaustion rush up through him, but the troll was still there, so he did it again.

“Die, why don’t you!” he shouted.

You have used 12 Stamina and 150 Mana.

You have slain Level 8 Troll. Experience awarded.

Finn collapsed to his knees as a wave of fatigue overwhelmed him, but his opponent fared a lot worse as it fell to the floor in a smoldering heap.

“Dear heavens!” Finn gagged at the terrible burning stench that came from the burning body, and he crab-crawled back to the tree, his heart racing as he gasped for air.

He couldn’t keep a grim smile from his face as he realized he had survived a confrontation with two creatures far more dangerous than anyone he had ever tangled with before.

Another message appeared on his inner field of vision as Finn tried to gather his senses, and for a moment.

Loot the Level 8 Troll Warriors? Y/N

Finn was confused, but his mind had already accepted the absurdity of the new game-like world he found himself in. He mentally chose ‘Yes’ and was rewarded with a series of new messages.

You have looted Battle-axe (Grade D Weapon).

You have looted 25 Celestial Coins.

You have looted Gauntlets of Strength.

You have looted Healing Unguent.

You have looted 2 burning rags.

“Ugh!” Finn tossed aside the burning rags, but he was surprised to see that new items had appeared in a list at the edge of his vision. He swiped his inventory listing into the main part of his vision and examined it. There was his new axe, the Healing Unguent, and all the rest. Each one had a tiny image of the item itself available, and his hand moved to select the small, silver-white Celestial Coins.

He was suddenly holding a large, very thin, silver-white coin that was delicately embossed with a design of inter-twirling ribbons, forming a knot.

“What is this?” He turned it over and saw ‘1’ and ‘CC’ engraved on the reverse side.

And now I’ve got some money, he thought, wondering how much one CC was really worth.

He was only slightly aware that he was way, way past the idea of a secret government experiment. If anything, Finn felt too exhausted now to really question what was going on. His body felt too cold, too exhausted, and in too much pain for it to not be real.

Oh yeah . . . pain. Finn looked down at the once-bright ultramarine blue of his GameShop shirt and saw that it was stained with a darker color. He sucked in a breath as he realized that it was his own blood.

“Oh frack, oh frack, oh frack!” Finn quickly lifted his shirt, feeling a stab of pain as he pulled it up past his ribs, and noticed two things.

First, he had a long cut running across his ribs. Second, the rest of his chest was in fine shape. Like, super-fine shape. For a moment, he forgot about the sting of his wound as he realized that he had bulging pectorals and a six-pack.

Finn blinked. How did I wind up looking like a bodybuilder? He’d never had six-pack abs in his life. Every attempt to get ripped had ended with strained muscles and being unbearably hungry all the time.

A smile crept across his lips. Oh right, the attribute upgrades? He suddenly remembered, realizing that he was now rocking a Strength 18, Agility 19 body.

Throbbing pain reminded Finn it was still an injured body. He swiped across to get his statistics, and then again for his inventory and the small clay pot for the ‘Healing Unguent’.

The small, brown clay pot with a wax seal instantly appeared in his hand. His nose crinkled at the musky odor of troll sweat that clung to the pot.

“Ugh!” He wasn’t sure if the unguent was such a great idea after all, but he knew had a pretty serious cut and needed to do something if he was to ever get out of this and find Esther.

The thought of his sister drove him to act.

He broke the wax seal, and was rewarded with a bright, sharp scent vaguely like lavender, rose, and lemon.

Finn dipped two fingers into the pot and scooped out a liberal amount of the strong-smelling ochre paste. He smeared it over the cut on his ribcage and immediately felt a strange, not entirely unpleasant fizzing sensation. When he looked down, he could see that the unguent was doing something to his actual body. It appeared to be bubbling a little and then evaporating. In its place was a puckered, slightly red scar.

Healing Unguent empty. 30 points of Health restored.

His side still hurt, he realized, and when he checked his stats, he saw that his Health was still down by a little bit, but he felt it was a number he could handle. The pot itself was empty, so he tossed it aside and inspected his other finds.

1 x Troll Battle-axe.

It was the same one that had lodged in the tree, and there was now a shiny new notch in its blade head. It felt heavy, solid enough, and Finn took a few experimental swings to get a feel for it.

This will do, he thought. Or he hoped it would, anyway.

Gauntlets of Strength.

The last thing in his hand appeared to be what Finn could only describe as leather wrist warmers, the kind of thing you might see metal fans wearing. They had heavy brass buckles on the inside to tighten them, and a tooled design of multiple triangles running down their outside. He put them on and adjusted them, instantly feeling a rush of power flow through his arms.

Okay, every little advantage helps . . . I hope.

Finn turned his attention to the final strange thing.

He had done magic! It was called an ‘Ascension Path’—whatever that was.

When Finn looked at his statistics, he could see there was now a small logo of a flame inside a circle next to his name. When he focussed on that little logo, it suddenly blossomed with more information.

Path of Fire:

This path is dedicated to the Asai of Fire, V’Morai. It controls all forms of fire—cleansing, purifying, and destroying. V’Morai expects their adherents to be just as ruthless, powerful, and unforgiving as they are.

Illumination

Fire-Spark

“Uh . . . okay then . . .”

Underneath that little bit of non-information, there was what looked to be a list of further installments, but darkened and blurred so Finn couldn’t read what they were.

“So, as I increase on this path, or in my levels, I get other powers?” Finn thought that sounded pretty cool.

Or it would, he was suddenly struck by a pang of guilt, if he had time for any of this stuff.

None of that mattered unless I find Esther, he thought as he raised his head to look through the trees to where that small spit of a causeway stood, leading to the small, rocky atoll.

There was a light coming from the tiny island now. It was purplish-white, like the lightning that had attacked him earlier, and it was illuminating what appeared to be some kind of structure. It looked like a temple, occupying the entire top of the land mass.

“Maybe Esther is there.” Finn pushed himself to his feet, He gripped his new axe tightly in as he started to jog down the slope.