The Tree of Ascension: A LitRPG Apocalypse (Peril's Prodigy Book 2) Craig Kobayashi (top 5 books to read TXT) 📖

“Should we head back to the entrance?” Auto asked, once again hyper-focused on unlocking more BeastScape forms.

“Soon. Yeah,” said Irwin. “But first…”

The Tamer looked around like he’d lost his keys. He lifted a fallen tree near the spot that Garath had first noticed Joanna, and several baby Komodos scurried across the forest floor to hide beneath their mother. Upon seeing her exposed brood, Joanna took a threatening step toward Garath and Auto, who backed away slowly in response.

“It’s okay, Joanna. This guy’s a friend,” Irwin told her with a comforting tone. He bent to inspect the young lizards with an awe-struck smile on his face, and the tears that had welled upon seeing Joanna again now poured over his cheeks. “I’ve heard of virgin births in this species, but never experienced it personally. You’re all so beautiful!”

Garath and Auto let Irwin have his touching moment with the tiny, wingless ‘dragons’. A prompt appeared in his mind’s eye and Garath took in the information at a glance.

You have completed the Quest: Trouble at the Zoo

Quest Reward: 1,500 Experience Points

The Experience Point reward was underwhelming, but every little bit helped. He still had to rack up another 138,000 Exp to finally reach Level 30, but they hadn't made the trip to the zoo to get Experience. They were there to get some cool new BeastScape forms.

Irwin led Garath and Auto, trailed by Joanna and her brood of little monsters, back to his new home. The zookeeper and his family made good use of the many habitats of the Woodland Park Zoo, but they made their home in what had once been the admissions building. It had been a solid choice. The thick metal fencing probably did wonders during The Culling.

When Irwin had said his 'family' was living with him at the zoo, Garath figured he'd meant his wife and children. He realized how wrong he'd been when more than twenty people came out to meet them at Irwin's call, each trailed by an animal companion that varied in species as much as Irwin's family varied in age, gender, and ethnicity. The eclectic group of survivors and their companions served as a beautiful reminder to Garath of just how amazing Earth was as a planet. It was different now, of course, but the life-giving blue orb had cultivated each and every one of these wondrous creatures long before the apocalypse.

One by one, Garath and Auto introduced themselves to the members of Irwin's family. They shook hands and exchanged names before attempting to unlock the BeastScape form of each of the Tamer's animal companions. Over the hour that followed, Garath and Auto each unlocked a plethora of new and interesting forms, including Auto’s beloved rhino. Garath decided he'd take the time to read over the BeastScape details of each form on their flight back to the Guild Hall, dismissing them for the time being in the name of courtesy. Staring silent and vacant-eyed at new acquaintances as he read over the details would be terribly rude.

Garath would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed that he didn't manage to unlock any forms with a Class synergy, but he did already have two with Crow and House Cat. Surprisingly, Auto received a synergy bonus with one of his new forms. The Chameleon, apparently, was synergistic with the Chimerist Class due to its well-known ability to alter the color of its skin. The bonus that Auto got for making a hybrid with one of the parts being the Chameleon form was that it would allow him to blend into his surroundings, and provided an interesting, Chimerist version of Stealth.

After Garath and Auto had made their rounds, they thanked Irwin for the amazing opportunity and said their farewells.

"You fellas are welcome here anytime," Irwin told them sincerely.

With all the new BeastScape forms available to him, Garath contemplated which to use for the flight home for a few seconds. In the end, he decided that being a Bald Eagle for a little while was the way to go, and off they went. It was an experience that made Garath feel just about as majestic as a, well, as a bald eagle.

After quickly glancing through the individual stat alterations and spell limitations of each of his new forms, Garath shifted his thoughts ahead to what he had planned for that afternoon. The entire Dungeon party were within two Levels of their goal, and Garath knew exactly how they were going to close the gap. They were going to make a trip to the lowercase-‘d’ dungeon with the highest suggested Level in all of what used to be called the state of Washington.

Chapter Twenty-Three – The Place Where the Forgotten Stay

Chuchusullay was the closest of the little-d dungeons that had been appearing all over the place. Located on a small island once called Hat Island by the locals, Chuchusullay was only a few nautical miles from the Guild Hall.

Even though the Party initiated the instanced dungeon with the sun high in the sky on a beautiful July afternoon, once inside, their world was blanketed by the oppressive dark of a moonless night. Fog, like that of the magical barrier surrounding the ocean-locked dungeon, hung unnaturally thick in the air, motionless and palpable. Garath thought he could probably palp it, if he wanted.

The only source of illumination was fire that flickered off wooden torches laid out in uneven lines on either side of the path ahead, sending little shadows to dance in the fog and teasing Garath's peripherals. High-pitched, humorless laughing echoed all around the Party, making it impossible to tell where the sounds were coming from. The only option the dungeon offered them was a dirt path.

Auto scratched at the back of his neck nervously, then started laughing with no explanation.

"What's funny?" Daisy asked incredulously. The little girl was clearly disturbed by the darkness, fog, and haunting laughter.

"Nothing," Auto replied, still smiling to himself. He pointed at the dirt