Atlas Rising a LitRPG gaming adventure Blake Severson (free books to read .txt) 📖

Her eyes looked on the verge of popping out of her head and she screamed at the sight of him. As she turned to run, Atlas called out to her.

“Told you I’d just get a lot bigger, remember?” He grumbled. The tone of his voice was noticeably deeper, but still easy to understand. Being able to frighten her after her display of attitude made him feel a little better.

She froze mid-turn and looked back at him, “Atlas?”

“Yep, still me. Call me your personal mobile shield. I’ll charge them and you stay right behind me. No matter what happens, don’t fall too far behind. We can’t stop to fight them or they’ll trap us.”

A large gulp was her only response before she finally nodded in agreement. Atlas turned and faced down the stairs.

Smells of the tower drifted to him with his newly heightened senses. Wood and smoke drifted from downstairs, mingled with oiled metal and leather. Penny was a little ripe herself after being trapped in this tower.

He heard Penny shuffle up right behind him and he charged down the stone steps. The smaller width of the stairs made the trip a little precarious, but he got the hang of it quickly. The clanking footsteps below halted as he thundered down the passage.

The first guard to see him round the bend yelled in alarm and turned to run the other direction. Atlas could only imagine the terror of a massive animal charging at you down a set of stairs.

Crunching noises filled the space as he charged. Every chance he could, he swiped at nearby enemies and launched them toward the walls while metal scraped against stone and bones snapped under his enormous claws. Two of the dwarves had the fortitude to swing at him and caused a small amount of damage before he trampled them.

Tower Guard dealt 5 damage to you with Chop. (x2)

One last dwarf with a musket waited at the bottom of the stairs. His gun was up and aimed for him. He couldn’t get close enough to attack before the dwarf fired, so he lifted a paw to cover his face and continued in a three-legged run. The sound of the shot rang through the confined space and a small sting burned in his leg.

Tower Marksman dealt 15 damage to you with Crack Shot.

Roaring in anger, he returned to all fours and charged for the last target. The dwarf whimpered and dropped his gun just as Atlas crashed into him and bit into his shoulder. He carried him for a couple of feet before he thrashed his head to the side and flung the man like a rag doll.

The main floor was empty as they continued their charge, and he headed for the front door. A quick glance behind him showed Penny keeping pace, but she looked terrified at the current ordeal. He slammed into the front door and it splintered as the shearing sound of metal marked the hinges breaking free. The door clattered to the ground in a battered heap and he rushed outside.

His momentum froze a few steps out the door as four dwarves stood with guns all drawn and aimed at him. Penny squealed, and he turned to see she’d come around his side and was staring at the weapons. He dove to the side and covered her with his body as the shots rang out across the field. Pain stabbed into multiple parts of him along his side, but luckily nothing hit him critically.

Tower Marksman dealt 15 damage to you with Crack Shot. (x4)

Thank God for this big body and thick hide.

The extra health from his bear transformation allowed him to take a beating, but a quick glance at his health showed he couldn’t take much more of this 195/280 HP.

Atlas couldn’t decide. On one hand, he wanted to just run and try to get away. He wasn’t sure they could do that without being taken out. At the same time, he didn’t think he could kill all four guys before dying. His bear form was tough, but it lacked enough combat abilities to do much damage in an open fight. The cat form was too squishy and didn’t do enough damage yet.

I can charge the marksmen and try to fight them as Penny runs away, but if one shoots at her my entire plan fails and this quest is a bust.

“Penny, we are going to make a run for it. The city is directly southwest of here. I want you to run as quick as you can in that direction and no matter what happens, you don’t stop. I’m going to run behind you and make sure they don’t shoot you. Can you do that?”

“I suppose I can do that, but doesn’t that mean they’ll shoot you instead?”

“Yes, it does. Just remember, no matter what happens, you don’t stop until you get to the town wall. I will find you when I can,” Atlas told her.

She looked down and sighed, but she nodded.

“Now, go!”

The two took off at a run and Atlas had to slow his pace. Penny couldn’t move anywhere near as fast as he could, and he stayed between her and the marksmen at all times. Their conversation had given a couple of them a chance to reload and he heard them yell and curse, followed by blasts of gunfire.

One bullet seared into his back leg while another bounced off the dirt to his right. Instead of focusing on the gunshots themselves, he looked straight ahead to the tree line. If he could get Penny there, they’d be okay. First, they had to get over the short wall.

Tower Marksman dealt 15 damage to you with Crack Shot.

Penny stopped at the solid wall and looked around frantically.

“How do we get through?”

“You don’t, you go over,” Atlas told her.

“I can’t climb that. I don’t have the strength,” she huffed.

“Climb onto my head and hold on,” he told her.

She looked skeptical as she eyed him, “I