The Path of Ascension

Matt guzzled down water and quickly wiped his face. His party was working on clearing the second floor, and it was brutal.

What they had expected to take hours was taking nearly a full day. At least they had a trap detector this time. That, and the extra light in the hall were the only bright sides that Matt could find. When he was here last, the runes hadn’t had enough power to start up. Now, they were illuminating the whole floor.

The light and foiled traps still didn’t make up for the masses of golems that were clogging up the halls. Everywhere he looked during the assault, Matt was reminded of details that only he and his team were privy to. Most of these halls had been packed solid with material, and were now only mildly congested. To him, it was a clear explanation of how the golems never seemed to run out of troops to throw at them.

They cleared the first floor with relatively little trouble, and then set their sights on the second. It was worse.

So much worse.

He couldn’t even imagine how it would be if this was a peak Tier 6 rift. Alex, the man who had been his shield mate, stood next to him. He was a mid Tier 6, who had delved peak Tier 6 rifts many times over. Even he said that he’d never seen a rift as bad as this one.

Matt couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something was wrong with the place. He was sure that if they had even rudimentary level access to the EmpireNet, he could find an answer.

The uncertainty made for tense fights, as they needed to quickly destroy the monsters. But it was a slow process, due to the extensive size of the hauler golems’ hall.

Matt ducked a projectile as it bounced off the shield that Alex raised over his head from behind him. It was a futile but instinctive reaction.

The battle on the second level wasn’t going well at all, thanks to the massive spider golems that populated the area. They were so big, they could trample or step over the shield wall in front of them. It left their backline exposed and vulnerable. To make matters worse, the giant spiders would lob bar stock at the human invaders, when they had sufficient range.

The shield wall advanced, and Matt was braced for the impact he knew would come, but hadn’t yet. If he was hit, he didn’t think that he would be walking away. No one else had.

Only one man in his team had died from the tossed ingots so far, but they had still taken out five people during the last few engagements. Matt wasn’t exactly feeling confident about his chances, if he was the newest recipient.

The one casualty was killed outright, when the steel projectile skittered up his shield, and blew his head off. But the others had only suffered a few removed extremities. They were the lucky ones.

The shout of “Forward!” caused their faltering steps to pick back up. Matt watched the advance out of the crack between his shield and the one raised over his head.

They had closed nearly seventy percent of the distance when they received their second gift from the golem. It whizzed towards them with the speed that only a Tier 6 monster nearly twice their size could achieve.

There was a spray of stone from the wall where the ingot landed, but no one stopped their charge. When they reached the golem’s legs, things didn’t get any easier. They had to try and keep the large monster occupied, while the people with ranged skills tried to bring it down. At least, that was the idea. But as the last two fights had shown, it never really worked that way.

Instead of fighting the puny humans at its feet, the golem walked over them, and tried to reach their backline. There it could stomp its pillar-like legs to its mechanical heart’s content. Matt and the other three front liners next to him slammed their prepared hammers into the leg joints, in a practiced and prepared attack. It got the golem’s attention long enough for the mages to pull back farther, and rain attacks down on its center mass.

A [Fireball] exploded a little too close for Matt’s comfort, causing him to duck and miss his swing. That was the danger of being under the monster that the mages were attacking. They didn’t all have the best aim.

Hopping sideways, Matt joined someone else in battering a joint inoperable. When the call for a retreat was made, he was as ecstatic as he could be, with how tired he was.

With everyone else who had been under the golems pulling back, Matt joined them and retreated. As he ran, he noticed a man trying to limp away with a crushed lower leg. He ducked under one of his arms in stride, taking most of the man’s weight on his own shoulders. As he reached the newly forming shield wall, Matt was let through, and he quickly passed off the injured man to one of the back liners. He then quickly returned to his position in the front of the formation.

Despite the fact that the front was the most dangerous place in the formation, it had its advantages. He had the best seat in the fortress to watch the mages obliterate the golem that could no longer walk properly.

As fire and lightning streaked overhead, he grinned, and started to allocate the essence he had earned over the last few fights.

***

Liz launched a series of [Blood Bullet]s, and followed it up with [Blood Manipulation] when her attacks splattered on the humanoid golem’s sides.

Her team had quickly figured out that the quickest way to defeat the large, hulking spider golems was to get some blood inside one, and then tear at its internals. It was cheaper on mana, compared to beating them into scrap metal, and it was faster to boot. She felt dumb. She hadn’t thought of it before. But most creatures had their spirits to protect them from internal tampering, so she never considered the possibility.

The golems weren’t alive, though. They had essence, but no spirit, so they were vulnerable to methods of attack that would never work on living things. Apparently, there was a crafter who had been drafted to fight that possessed [Metal Manipulation]. He was able to rip core components out of the golems without much effort, and was responsible for nearly half of the large spider golem kills on the second floor.

The third floor was another battle altogether. Traps had made another appearance, and they were taking their toll.

Liz pushed that thought away, and moved her blood along the floor while they advanced to the next group. Her blood almost immediately set off a spinning blade that dropped from the ceiling. It was exhausting work, but she was determined to keep as many people alive as she could.

She reached the next group of golems, and made her blood flow up their legs, and into the internals. Sensing that her blood had reached the golems’ cores, she started wrenching it back and forth. The approaching golema started to jerk and twist as she worked. Unable to see what she was doing, Liz focused on constant and violent movement, hoping to deal as much damage as possible.

Aster yipped next to her ear, and the air went frosty for a moment. A huge [Ice Spear] launched out, killing a large spider that tried to ambush them by dropping down from the ceiling. Apparently, the first team who had been hit with that one only had four survivors out of nearly thirty.

Liz kissed the side of the fox’s head through her helmet, and was rewarded with a questioning series of yipps about how Matt and Camilla were.

Aster thought they were fine, but wanted them to be safe. With a quick check of her HUD, Liz found them safe, and relayed the news to the fox.

The problem was, they were low on mana when they had made it through just half of the second refinery floor. Now, on the third floor, they were running near empty.

Without Matt near at hand, they were once again reminded of the greatest flaw in a mage combat style. Mana meant skills, and no mana meant no skills. No skills meant that they were practically useless.

Aster was nearly tapped out from their earlier fights, before Liz had even started killing the largest golems from the inside. Now they traded off the attacking role, and only Liz struck out at the giant spiders and larger groups of melee golems. Meanwhile, the other mages handled the smaller groups of humanoid golems. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best they could do.

Reaching up to scratch Aster, Liz moved forward with the others. She mentally tried to calm her building headache, caused by the strain of using [Blood Manipulation].

She almost wished that she was still on the second floor. Killing a single large golem was preferable to killing multiple smaller ones, even if the same tactics worked on them as well. The groups required finer control of [Blood Manipulation], and her head felt like a spike was being driven through it. She just wanted to find a corner and die in it.

Aster nuzzled the side of Liz’s head in sympathy, causing her to smile. Aster, for all her ice, had a warm heart.

***

Prince Albert walked down the halls, and looked around at the destruction that had been brought to this floor as well. Each step increased his mood.

Frederick, the asshole of a Tier 15 working for his older brother, had wanted to use this fortress to kill him. Oliver, the other Tier 15 teleport guardian, had been bribed to look the other way as well. They made their plans clear, and had chosen their side.

He would remember.

The anger that flared up disappeared as he re-examined the fortress. When he conquered this place and took over, he was going to bring in craftsmen loyal to him, and have them refit this flying fortress to be his newest mobile base.

To the victor goes the spoils.

Albert couldn’t suppress the smile that crept over his face. He was thankful for being surrounded by only loyal guards.

This flying fortress was slow, and only Tier 6, but it would have quite the impact on public perception as he flew it through the Kingdom. He could already imagine the awe it would instill in the common man. The little display Duke Ignite put on while killing his distant uncle would only add to the mystique.

Everyone would see his flying fortress, and immediately think of the Duke, giving him a slight bit of borrowed prestige.

The smile returned larger than before. Even his father didn’t have a flying fortress. Sure, once they were integrated into the Empire proper, he would be given one by the Emperor. But that was in the future, not now. Oh, how his father would complain! He had heard it often enough. His father hated the fact that flying islands were so expensive. Even a Tier 35 couldn’t afford one. But he would have one of his own.

Suppressing the urge to jump in the air and celebrate, Albert tried to remain calm on the outside. But from the smirks of his guards, knew he was failing.

A pattering of steps caused him and all of the guards to stow the lighthearted mood. They prepared for either a betrayal by their human allies, or an attack from the golems.

Juni came sprinting around the corner, and the smile returned to Albert’s face. His guards made an opening for his friend to make his way through.

Seeing Juni only added to his good mood. Their little play hadn’t convinced everyone, but it had convinced the people he needed it to. Albert couldn’t believe how well Juni had pulled that assassination of Zoey off. It was so clean, no one in the court suspected anything at all. That was exactly what he had needed. The woman was vile, and more importantly, a spy.

He had told Juni to kill her if he was given a chance, and apparently, someone else had decided to take out the trash for them. It was always nice when others did the dirty work for free. Both of them had their suspicions and conjectures, but everyone they suspected was either from The Path, or from the Empire proper with backing. It wouldn’t do to provoke either faction, so he let what was well enough lie.

Juni leaned into his ear, clamped a band around his wrist, and Alberts AI fuzzed out. Finally, he whispered, “The vault isn’t unlocking. We’re going to need a key of some kind. I have a few of our trusted craftsmen working on it, but it doesn’t look good.”

Calling to the guards, Albert got the group moving and asked, “Do we have any suspected shapes?”

“Yes, A jewel of some kind. As weird as it sounds, the crafters think it would be a large, egg-sized gem. Maybe a necklace, or a scepter.”

Albert thought that over and asked, “Why those two in particular?”

“The debate is if it needs to be turned or not. If not, there might just be a single pairing rune, or something somewhere keeping it secure. But if it needs to be turned, then there might be a handle.”

Nodding, Albert raised his voice, and unclipped the bands on their wrists. “Well, the clearing of the second floor has gone well. What are your ideas for the third floor and higher?”

Juni launched into a recap of what they already had discussed, and Alber let his mind wander to the many plans he had for the future. If he wanted to pull the Kingdom into the future, he needed to be prepared for everything. But first, he needed to take this flying fortress.

***

Camilla stood in the third row of her shield wall, and watched the front liner block a golem’s strike. She used her mace’s extended head to smash the golem’s head in. It was clean and quick work.

With a jerk to the side, she bashed the golem one row over. No matter how many times she used the weapon, it was disconcerting to attack through her allies’ bodies with it.

They turned a corner, and she breathed a sigh of relief. They were finally done with this awful level, and she was just as happy as when they exited the refinery areas. They hadn’t seen one of the hauler spider golems since. She didn’t miss the giant monsters and their deadly limbs.

Any hallway that had one of them turned into a long and drawn-out battle that she didn’t enjoy in the slightest.

This last hall was awful because it was packed with traps and golems. When you killed the golems, the traps would activate, and cut into the humans’ flesh. She had been lucky so far, but that was bound to run out eventually.

The man next to her moved, and Camilla went hyper-alert, looking for a betrayal or some other attack. She had already witnessed two different people settle personal grudges with a causal push into the golems, or a trap. Maybe it was a “conveniently” misplaced weapon’s handle that happened to catch someone’s legs during a retreat. It was the small things, but she noticed.

She wasn’t going to be a victim like the others.

Not again.

The stone halls and darkness were enough of a reminder of her past nightmares the first time she was here. She had never wanted to return to this shit hole. But because of the constant fighting in the now bright corridors, she didn’t have much time to dwell on it. She had to focus on the enemies in front of her, and even the possible ones behind.

Camilla overheard the team leader call in that they had found the stairs up, and were going to hold them from enemies coming down. Everyone set up, and one of the door-blocking things would be brought over. At least, that’s what she assumed would happen; it had the last few times they found stairs. But if they were right, this would be the last floor, where they expected the boss room to be.

***

Matt blinked bleary eyes. They had been fighting for three days, while taking the fortress floor by floor.

Where the halls had been nearly empty the first time through, except for the rare patrolling golems, they were now packed with them like cordwood. They were forced to bash their way through the monsters one step at a time.

Currently, he was resting with the members of his team while they waited for more Tier 6 shields to be made for the final push. It was the only time they got a break, and he was grateful for it.

Matt closed his eyes while sitting crossed legged against a wall, and gripped his hammer.

At the sound of footsteps near him, he jerked to his feet and readied his weapon, struggling to keep his eyes open. Seeing a man walking to the rear, he plopped back down after the false alarm, falling back asleep in moments.

The next time he woke, he actually felt better, and stretched a little while sniffing. Something had gotten his nose’s attention, and it roused him into action.

Following the smell, he found a cart with food piled high. It was a lot of what looked like goat, and clearly canned vegetables. But they were steaming, which meant the food was hot. That was more than he could say about what he had been snacking on for the last few days.

Reaching for a plate from the tray, he noticed that his hands were covered in something dark brown or black. He looked at them for a minute, wondering how they got dirty, and finally walked to a water station that had been set up. He washed his hands while his stomach grumbled at him.

Scrubbing for far longer than should have been necessary, he got the grime off his hands, and piled the food on his plate. He gave a nod to the man behind the cart as he left.

Returning to his spot, he kicked the boots of the still sleeping people as he passed. They would want the hot food more than sleep. Varied grunts and curses followed his passage, but he ignored them all for the smells of wonder coming off the plate in front of him.

Just from the smell, he could tell the lamb needed more seasoning, and that the mixed veggies had been boiled together. They were at various levels of doneness, but he didn’t care a bit. Matt savored his first bite as the heat radiated out from his stomach. As he paused to chew, he checked his fingernails, only to see more grime stuck there.

Where did I even get anything on my hands? My armor should have protected me from that.

Matt pondered on the question for a while, taking slow and deliberate bites of food. Before he could find an answer that made sense, he finished his plate, and wiped up the last bits of food with a chunk of bread.

Chewing slowly, he looked around, and couldn’t recognize anyone. There had been so many losses during the last few days, it was impossible to keep track anymore. For nearly everyone else, it only took a sword thrust to take them out of the fight. The mana blades were deadly. Even if they destroyed a dozen golems before they went down, it was still a numbers game, and the golems had the advantage.

But it was finally done.

They had reached the final floor that they expected the boss room to be at.

If this was a traditional castle, it would be a throne room. At least, that was his speculation.

They had cleared the entire rift except for the last floor, where they secured the entrances and waited for everyone to rest and recover. They weren’t waiting long enough for the injured to get back into the fight, which Matt thought was the wrong call.

They would lose nothing if they waited a few days, keeping all but a single floor clear. But the orders were that they needed to push as fast as possible, so they were only given eight hours of time to rest, before they were to take on the boss.

Honestly, after Matt got over the idea of not waiting, he figured that this would be a much easier fight than the ruin had been before. There should only be a single boss after all, and that meant that they could overwhelm it with pure numbers, if nothing else.

Checking his AI, he leaned back and closed his eyes, falling into a half slumber while waiting for the next two hours to pass.

“Everyone up!”

Someone called out, and Matt stood with everyone else. Even with [Endurance] running all night, he still felt sore as his muscles stretched. It was painful, until he got fully warmed up, and got the blood moving around his body again.

Not even five minutes later, they were formed up and ready for the assault.

They deactivated the barrier they set up, and pushed through.

Matt had the best view from his lead position, and he paused when he reached the top of the stairs.

The others next to him stopped as well, and Matt felt the fear rise up. Soon, the answer for why the ruin had so many golems was revealed.

There was a throne ahead, with a massive golem sitting on it. Even while sitting, it was nearly nine feet tall. It had a spear clutched in one hand, and a circular shield in the other. In the back of the throne as a centerpiece was a familiar scepter.

One boss like this one was what everyone expected. Finding another six thrones and bosses was a crushing blow to their psyche.

The information about ruins he had found came flooding back to Matt at the horrible sight in front of him. They could re-invert, just like a normal rift could break when enough essence was accumulated. So the reason why there were seven bosses was the same as why there was seemingly a never-ending number of golems. They were fighting seven golems, where there would usually be a single one in the rift version of this fortress.

Matt awoke from his shock when the boss golems stood in unison, and jumped forward. Each went for a separate entrance, and one aimed to land on Matt and the others. No one needed the order to run, and they scattered from the entrance.

To his horror, the golem readied its spear as it leapt through the air towards their entrance. It landed with a bone-rattling quake, and thrusted its weapon into the entrance. It came back dyed crimson.

Matt lunged back at the twelve-foot golem, and brought his hammer around into its side. He was blocked by its shield as it pivoted to face him. The rest of the golem followed its shield, and in a lightning-quick pattern, it thrust out again with its spear. It was a skill enhanced attack, as the glowing edge of the weapon suggested.

Dodging, and trying to keep his shield raised, Matt retreated in the direction of the center of the room. His new shield was being whittled down to kindling with each spear thrust.

Getting desperate, he caught the spear just as it was being withdrawn, and he smashed his hammer on the shaft, trying to snap his opponent’s weapon. But his hammer bounced off, with barely a dent made.

Matt tried to avoid the shield bash, but the golem had baited him out, and the blow was simply too fast for him to react. He was knocked flying, skipping across the floor until he bounced into a wall.

Standing, with loud pops coming from his back as he moved, Matt prepared to re-engage. At least he had bought time for the others to flow out of the corridor.

***

Camilla and her group had made it into the hall, when they were immediately caught by an expanding cage that seemed to meld with the floor.

Everyone panicked, and she was no exception. The cage was connected to the boss golem with a chain, and it pulled itself to them, but was intercepted by a massive stone spike as it sprung towards them.

A quick check showed there was another boss golem connected to another caged group, with a greatsword instead of a shield. That golem wasn’t intercepted, and she watched as it thrust into the cage, killing the trapped humans.

Camilla’s panic skyrocketed. She just wanted out.

Her answer was provided when she saw that there was the only person left alive in the other group. The cage released on its own, freeing the single survivor.

The idea to kill the others in her cage popped up. All she had to do was summon her bladed whip, and start swinging. It would be so easy to ensure her own escape, if she just sacrificed everyone else.

Her subconscious whispered that they were all bad people, and the justification that they deserved to die kept echoing through her head. She had already watched them kill each other. Why couldn’t she do the same and ensure her own survival?

The time to decide was taken from her when the golem approached.

Camilla didn’t know what to do, and her body started moving on its own.

Aiden’s smiling and happy face was the last thing she saw, as she activated her last resort device, and set herself on fire.

She wanted him to be proud of her, if nothing else. That would make it all worth it.

The pleasure hit like nothing ever had before, and she extended her mace through the bars, and swung with everything she had.

She let her emotions flow through her. All of the rage, the panic, the hatred, the anger, and above all, the disgust. Disgust with her Talent and the way it messed with her feelings, making it impossible to live a normal life.

She put all of her pain and frustration into a single heavy blow, and the golem crumpled like wet paper in the face of her fury.

She could already feel the nerve damage building up, as it was growing hard to control her now deadened body. So, with one last burst of strength, she grabbed two of the Tier 6 bars and pulled. It was more like pulling apart clay, as they bent with little effort.

Camilla collapsed, and as her vision went black, she saw people climbing out over her.

It was nothing less than she expected of the selfish people in the world, but at least she could die knowing she had done the right thing. She had little hope that someone would help get her to safety while she was indisposed.

Who knows, maybe I’ll get through this.

***

Liz screamed as she punched out with her spear. Blood was everywhere, and she was only getting more as the bodies piled up around her.

Aster sent out dozens of shards of ice around her, and froze the blood under the golems feet. Their slight stumble gave Liz enough time to send a wave of blood into the creature’s innards. Before she could wreak havoc inside the boss golems much tougher innards, they launched a volley of crossbow bolts at her.

The worst part of this place wasn’t that there was more than one boss. No, it was that the bosses had different variants that came to be with the inversions. There were seemingly three types of golem bosses. Thankfully, of the seven, there were four melee golems with shield and spear. The other three were two cage golems, and a single ranged crossbow user.

That final one was the problem. It didn’t have a standard crossbow. The bosses weapon shot out a single real bolt, along with a dozen energy copies of the initial projectile. It made for an irritating foe.

Having dodged the projectiles, she knew people behind her were not quite as lucky. She felt the added blood begin to pool with her connection to the liquid. As much as it helped her fight, she wished it would stay inside her allies.

But what was spilled couldn’t be put back in, so she gathered it up, and formed it around her.

Aster saw that Liz was going into her blood golem form, and let out a long whine while she attacked.

Liz interpreted it as, “If you get me covered in blood you’re gonna scrub my fur clean!”

It was enough to get Liz to smile, but it quickly vanished as she tore at the ranged golem boss.

It raised its weapon for another volley, and Liz flexed her Concept. It made the world go bright, and her connection to the blood around her intensified, and became more real. Her Concept gave the blood Tier 7 strength. When added to her improved control, it was enough to stop the bolts in their tracks.

That was the final mistake the golem was able to make. She was on it quickly, smashing down with the bludgeon of frozen blood Aster had created out of Liz’s golem arm.

Having battered the boss to smithereens, Liz surveyed the battlefield, and chose her next target.

The Prince was doing fine while fighting a melee golem on his own. He seemed to be holding his own against the titan of a golem quite well.

One of the other teams was being set upon by two of the melee golems, and clearly needed her help.

***

Matt ducked a spear thrust, got in close to the golem, and started punching it in the side. His bracers heated up as the bone-breaking runes started to smash things inside of the metal monster.

The golem didn’t die without a fight, and elbowed him repeatedly in the back and head. Each blow strained [Cracked Phantom Armor]. A few were even able to break the skill long enough to crack a rib. Matt didn’t let that stop him, and screamed through the pain and rage.

He only stopped striking when the golem did as well.

For all their individual power, these golems were still only seven, against nearly fifty active fighters. Besides, even at Tier five, Matt found that he could hold his own well enough in single fights against the bosses.

Looking up, he found a giant golem of blood and ice fighting two of the melee golems.

Desperate to help, he started limping over. As he forced his body into a loping run, then eventually into a sprint, he slammed his hammer into the back of the nearest golem boss. It stumbled, which let the other fighters trying to help jump on it quickly. They finished it off in short order.

Liz was able to quickly off the last golem, which just left the Prince and his golem. But from the others standing near the Prince, Matt assumed that he wanted to take it down on his own.

Enjoying that, he limped over to where his AI said Camilla was in critical condition. He found her in a cage that was half ripped apart. Wiggling in, he pulled her into his arms then fed her through the small gap, before carrying her to the healer’s station at the base of the stairs.

Though the healers didn’t know what was wrong with her, Matt still stayed long enough to hear their pronouncement, breathing a sigh of relief when they said she would live.

Hearing that she was stable was enough for him, and he ran back up the stairs to find the Prince finishing off his golem.