Met with the same respawn notification, Joe chose to return to the battledome.

A sense of relief washed over him as the Greensnare's HP displayed zero. Glancing at his own stats, his face scrunched with a peculiar finding. While his mana particles hadn't regenerated with the respawn, his health and stamina had returned to max capacity.

Multiple system notifications indicated several level-ups, but an unusual MP Max Capacity notification caused him to pause. Even if his mana levels weren't full, he had more mana than when he had been crushed by the Greensnare. He shrugged the notification away, figuring he’d look further into it when he assigned his flex points. Right now he wanted to check if his new friends were okay.

Joe adjusted his hoodie around his neck and walked over to Brian, who was kneeling close to the Greensnare's oozing core hole.

“What are you doing?” Joe tugged on the cords of his hoodie as TJ approached, arms crossed.

“How are you supposed to collect titan tears if the Greensnare has no eyes?”

“Its eyes are hidden here.” Brian looked up as he capped a vial and retrieved it from the gaping hole at the back of the titan. Joe recognized the guard cell's pores, now purging sap, each droplet trailing the vine like a tear. “These titan tears will help me create more potent potions for mana regeneration.”

“That’ll be really useful...” A glint caught Joe’s eye. He glanced around at the lifeless form, the ground littered with thorns from the blood roses. Grinning, he grabbed one, its earthen shell as hardy as the knotted vines.

[Blood Rose Thorn. This earth-affinity plant armor is enhanced when combined with water-based items.]

He tossed a few of them into his backpack inventory.

A notification appeared and hovered above the titan:

[Congratulations! Floor One Titan Greensnare Guardian has been defeated. Floor Two is unlocked for all ascenders. Proceed with caution to your designated zones.]

Joe’s chest burned as the blue flame flickered to life. “Being first might make you famous, but it won’t stop the knives. Can you spot the back-patters from the back-stabbers? Smiles are cheap, after all." .”

I'll figure it out, been backstabbed enough times before. So, why should I trust a word you say when you’re still a mystery to me.

“Heard that one before. Come up with something original, why don’t you. It’s not time for a bed-time story. Live long enough and you’ll find out everything you need to know about me.”

You’re as funny as a root-canal.

Joe welcomed the silence that followed. He looked around, soaking in the scene of the Greensnare’s downfall.

The titan's body slowly started to fade, and shimmering green crystals dropped from overhead to the ground in its place.

The border dome around them disappeared, and a horde of ascenders cheered, rushing toward them.

Dawn waved to another green zone ascender, and the rather short changeling sprinted closer.

The changeling straightened his long, brown beard. “Congratulations, Dawn. I’m happy you managed to find a faction other than Andras’.” He glanced at Joe and gave him a subtle nod. He planted a hand on his hip, his stature about half Joe’s height. “And to defeat the first titan is even better.”

“Ryan, this is Joe.” Dawn gestured from one to the other. “You were one of the top factions I’d have joined if it weren’t for Gaia.” Her sharp gaze shifted to a thin, blond haired gal whose gaze seemed locked onto the crystals. Eyes lit with hunger, Gaia lunged towards them, grasping at the loot, but her hands passed right through as if the crystals were holographs.

“By Saturn’s crab infested ballsack, this…this is an outrage,” Gaia hissed, eyes narrowed on the loot.

“Eh, nice to meet you.” Joe knelt down, distracted by Gaia’s failed attempt to grab the loot. He paused, a distant growl echoing across the field from among the other ascenders further away.

Alert, Joe scanned the crowds but when no other suspicious growls followed he turned his attention back to the changeling.

Ryan nodded. “Don’t mind her, she’s mighty competitive. You all deserve the loot from your kill…” He shot a warning glance at Gaia. “...not any other ascender.”

“This is a waste of my precious time.” Gaia sneered. She stormed off, disappearing through the crowds of ascenders.

“Catch you guys later.” Ryan dipped his head and gave a salute. Dashing after Gaia he slowed and called over his shoulder. “We’re the Blanche Brigade by the way.”

Joe grasped one, his fingers met with a cool, rough texture. As he lifted the vibrant green crystal in his hands a notification appeared:

[Time Crystal. This loot stores time from the Immortality Jackpot. If chosen, one can transfer the time without penalty.]

Joe’s chest heated as the blue flame appeared. “Surprise, surprise, you managed to survive long enough to defeat the titan. These crystals will be your only saving grace in this tower. Take them all.”

Joe furrowed his brows in disagreement with the blue flame’s greediness, but curiosity for understanding the gravity of the loot proved necessary. He shoved the crystal against his chest, his shoulders tense as he waited for an electrifying sensation.

The blue flame chuckled. “Don’t be stupid, use your forehead.”

Frowning, Joe pressed it to his forehead. In an instant, his Ascender number increased by five years. “Holy shit.” The emerald green faded to a dull black. He glanced around at Dawn and TJ as they grasped their own time crystal loot.

“We earn time loot when we kill a titan.” Joe picked up another. There had to be at least twenty more lying around from where the Greensnare had lay slain, and it all belonged to his faction.

Dawn nodded. “Even more reason for us to be the ones to kill each titan.”

“Don’t let them take your time away, Joe.” The flame in his chest flared.

Joe shook his head, his thoughts directed toward the blue flame. It’s not my time to keep. All of the Titan Slayers deserve the loot as much as me.

“Five for each of us—that’s twenty more years added to our ascender numbers.” Joe winced. He was more than thankful none of them were GORED in the time it took to defeat the Greensnare. He could have risked respawning a few more times had he known they could get a larger number of years back from the loot.

Like kids in a candy store, TJ and Rose grinned with each crystal they lifted. Around him ascender’s lost interest in the unobtainable loot and regrouped into their factions each going their separate ways.

Something stirred in his gut telling him to grab the loot and get the hell outta there. Hairs rose on his neck as he jolted to his feet, his eyes searching the streams of ascenders moving away.

“What’s wrong?” Dawn asked, her eyes following his gaze.

Joe’s shoulders tensed as she brushed his arm. “Not sure. Thought I’d heard something.”

“Heard what?” TJ took a guarded stance beside him. Rose joined them.

“A growl, I think, but it was way off, over there. We should—”

Blood-curdling screams shifted Joe’s attention to distant ascenders as they scattered, fleeing the area. Activating Quick Wit, his eyes widened as a handful of pale-faced, large-eyed ascenders shuffled toward them. “What the fuck is that?”

Brian frowned, placing the cap on his collection bottle. “What are they screaming for? Those look like ascenders,...but in ash gray hoodies?” He stored the Titan’s tears he’d collected in his ring, his face grim.

Joe blinked again, rechecking his perception with Quick Wit. He shook his head. “They looked like they’ve been smoking some weed.”

TJ frowned, offering Joe his butterfly knives he dropped earlier. “Maybe they were covered in magic soot from the battledome disappearing? I don’t care what they’ve been smoking, if they try anything funny, stab first, ask questions later.”

“Yeah, everyone keep your weapons handy.” Joe grabbed his weapons from TJ. “They’re like grays.”

Brows scrunched, TJ dusted fresh dirt off his hoodie. “Grays?”

Dawn joined their side. “Grays like in aliens…ones that apparently aren’t a part of your world.”

Joe tilted his head at Dawn’s mention of aliens. Did ratfolk have them in their world too?

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“This is like Fifty Shades of Gray.” Rose giggled, grasping a couple of time crystals. “Where’s the whips and chains?”

Joe smiled at the joke, telling by her serious look she was trying to ease the tension as even with their slow shuffling, the gray ascenders were getting closer.

His senses screamed at the creepy as fuck ‘uncanny valley’ shit.

“Poppy, those things almost seem to be ascenders; they’re wearing the same hoodies, but in gray. What’s happening?”

“Yip-yip, those are the hollows Lich Master released!”

“So, they’re monsters or NPCs?” Joe flicked his butterfly knife, readying to attack.

“Wrong, Joe. They’re ejected ascenders—the GORED. Sad-sad, once their time ticks away they forever gone.”

An orange hooded ascender slipped, the hollow shuffling toward them. The ascender released a gurgling scream and rose to its own feet with sporadic, jerky movements. A notification appeared above his head:

[Debuff Touch of Madness: 5:00]

The ascender scrambled after the next nearest ascender wearing a red hoodie. In an instant, the same notification appeared above their head.

Joe’s jaw dropped, his eyes struggling to make sense of what the hell he was seeing. The crazed ascender leapt at a Ratfolk ascender rushing past and tore into him with his bare hands. Coming to his aid a green hooded changeling thrust his sword deep into the attacking ascender’s chest, blood sprayed his manic face.

He smeared the blood all over like it was warpaint and his face was a canvas. Crimson dripped over bloodshot eyes as he caught the sword-wielding ascender on the arm.

The same debuff notification flashed above his head.

“It’s a domino effect with a single touch.” Joe’s heart raced as all hell broke loose.

Joe couldn’t help feeling like a cornered rat as the group backed up together. An elf ascender cried out as the sword-wielding ascender locked blood crazed eyes with her. Dropping his weapon he charged at her. A dagger appeared in her hand, fear ruined her aim as the blade flew past him.

With no concern for his safety the mad man picked up speed.

Brian pulled his crossbow on him and let his bolt fly. It sank into the throat of the crazed ascender but he didn’t flinch. His eyes wild and fingers hooked into claws as he jumped and tackled the woman to the ground.

“That bolt had enough sleep-inducing toxin to take down an elephant.” Brian’s voice raised with shock.

“Weapons are useless.” TJ pointed his blade at a hollow shuffling along with an arrow sticking out of one eye.

Joe froze in place as the female elf, now with the debuff, flung the changeling with a man-bun off of her. She raced after a fleeing kobold. Attacking from behind with a sharp pull on his hair she tore his scalp off.

Blood spilled down the dying ascender's face as it twisted in agony. His expression turned to blind rage as the touch of madness notification appeared.

The fear that gripped Joe when fighting the Greensnare paled in comparison to the carnage they now faced, spreading like a killer zombie plague. “Less than twenty seconds, and that elf demolished another ascender.”

A stream of water surged from Rose’s staff, but the hollow remained steady on its feet. Dawn’s hands glowed and TJ raised his blade but the look of fear in their eyes was unmistakable.

Not shifting her gaze from the chaos, Dawn gritted her teeth. “We took down a titan, what if we target the hollow’s who started this whole mess?”

Brian grabbed Dawn. “No. We need to run!”

Joe nodded his head. “There’s too many of them, if we don’t escape now we’ll be swarmed. What happens when we die while under the Touch of Madness debuff?”

Rose shook her head. “Hard to know. Not one of them has died yet.” Her gaze shifted to a trembling ratfolk who took out a small blade and slit its small throat.

Its lifeless body slumped to the ground.

TJ frowned. “Why isn’t the body disappearing? Doesn’t that poor little ratfolk have a respawn token?”

“See there!” A hoarse cackle boomed overhead. “That’s what I call a cowardly fool, Poppy.”

“Why-why, Master?” Joe could hear Poppy’s tail swishing side-to-side through the hidden speaker.

“He didn’t read the finer, smaller print during induction. Poppy, be a darling and enlighten everyone.”

“Ending life on purpose is a big no-no. Penalties include respawn token delay, time penalty, AND respawn costs a whole seven years.”

Joe swallowed hard, unable to tear his gaze from the body lying there. The blood pooled around it, dark and foreboding. A GORED notification blinked into his vision, then turned gray and slowly faded away, leaving a chill down his spine.

A snarl and a wet cracking sound snapped his attention back to the frenzied trail of dismemberment. Ascenders were tearing each other apart everywhere he looked, a gruesome ballet of chaos and carnage.

A dark elf, caught up in the bloody melee, ripped a kobold’s arm off at the shoulder and threw it to the ground with a sickening thud. Turning around, he locked bloodshot eyes on Joe, who felt a shiver run down his back.

The elf's manic grin was a promise of violence.

Rose, sweeping her staff in all directions, kept the dark elf’s attacks at bay with her water shield. The effort etched lines of strain on her face, dark circles shadowed her eyes. “I can't keep this up much longer, we need to move.”

“Dawn, check your map. We need to locate the nearest entry point to the second floor.” Joe tried to keep his voice steady despite the terror gnawing at his insides.

The changeling lowered her eyes. When she looked up, her grim face told them she didn’t have good news.

“Can’t you find it? I’m really attached to my arms and legs and want to keep it that way.” TJ's voice cracked, eyes wide with panic as they darted between Dawn and the attacking horde.

“Good news is I found it…” Dawn began, her voice barely above a whisper.

“And the bad news?” Brian asked, his face pale and tight with fear.

Dawn’s mouth set in a hard line. “We have to make it back to the Orange Zone. Before you ask why, I can enter your zone—you can’t enter the Green Zone.”

Joe's mind raced, adrenaline flooding his system.

Using Quick Wit, he mapped a path through the chaos. “Alright, defensive formation. Dawn and Rose, use your fire and water attacks to slow them down. We need to move, now!”

They formed up, moving as one through the seething mass of enemies. Dawn's fire scorched a path, while Rose's water shield repelled attacks. It didn’t stop the ascenders, but it slowed them down enough so they could dodge and evade.

Joe's heart pounded in his chest, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. The stench of blood and sweat filled his nostrils, making him nauseous.

By the time they outran the masses, Joe’s lungs were burning for air, but together, they kept moving, driven by sheer willpower and fear of the pursuing horde. The forest jungle blurred as they crashed through it, branches slashing at their faces and limbs. He lost track of how much time had passed. Dawn guided them through the fastest route back to the safety zone using her map, her voice calm but urgent.

Reaching the zone entrance, they stopped to catch their breath. Joe bent over, hands on his knees, he gulped air. Numbness weighed down his limbs like lead, but relief flooded through him—they’d survived.

He didn’t want to think of the dire consequences of dying while under the influence of Touch of Madness. The memory of the GORED notification lingered in his mind, a grim reminder of what could happen.

“Don’t know about you guys, but I could do with a stiff drink after that,” Joe said, his voice shaking as he attempted to steady his breath. He looked around at his friends, grateful for their presence.

The floor rippled underneath his feet as he led them through the Orange Zone to a hallway where he’d seen elevator doors. “Once we are on the second floor, we can rest and regenerate our mana.”

Pressing the up button, the elevators opened with a chime. One by one, they stumbled into the elevator and leaned against its wall.

Rose gasped as her fingers skimmed the rows of buttons. “There’s thirteen floors. Hmm…what happens if we choose a higher floor?” The button decompressed, but no light or movement from the elevator quickly answered that question. She sighed and pushed floor two.

Joe inhaled, leaning his head against the wall. “Thirteen is an unlucky number in my world.”

“An immortality jackpot awaits there, so maybe not so unlucky in the lich’s tower?” Brian raised a brow. “That is if you believe the lich.”

“Going up.” An announcement came through the speaker overhead.

With the blare of a horn, the elevator jerked sideways. Joe’s eyes widened as he steadied himself, grabbing onto a rail. Their bodies swayed as the elevator shifted into a diagonal direction.

Brian scratched his jaw. “I don’t know what we just experienced back there, but I never want to experience that again. That was worse than the time I wandered into the wrong dwarven mine shaft.”

“That was messed up.” TJ sheathed his machete, his eyes glossed over as he stared forward. “Where did those hollows come from?”

Dawn shook her head. “They used to be ascenders—”

“But they were GORED.” Joe’s breath caught in his chest as the images flooded back. “I think one of those hollows was that ratfolk who died during the spore attack.”

Frowning, Brian hummed as the elevator continued to shift in a downward direction. “In an instant, ascenders dropped like flies.”

Dawn’s knuckles whitened as her grip tightened on the railing. “Time-rich or time poor.”

Brian tapped his foot. “It didn’t even matter if they were outfitted with green, orange, and red.”

“Ejected!” Joe shouted. “Didn’t Poppy say something about being ejected?”

With a smirk, Dawn nodded. “Each hollow lacked any remnants of a soul.”

“Being GORED is worse than death.” TJ crossed his arms, blinking his eyes into focus. “Did any of you check out your stats yet? I’ve gained xxx levels.”

Joe pulled up his stats. “Bronze Rank Ascender, QRL 12 with eight flex points to assign.” He skimmed the notifications.

[Faction: Titan Slayers

Bronze Rank Faction, QRL 6

Active Ascenders: 5

Non-Active Ascenders: 0]

[Prolonged Exposure to Mana Particles. Ascender Boon: Mana capacity increased by 10%.]

“Hey, did you guys get a boon to your MP too?”

TJ nodded. “Yeah, ten percent!”

Dawn, Rose, and Brian shared a perplexed expression before Brian spoke. “No, how’d that happen?”

“Says prolonged exposure…” Joe paused as he replayed the fight. TJ and him were the only ones that he knew had scaled the Greensnare. “Must have been from touching the titan before we respawned.”

With a jolt, the elevator stopped and the doors opened with a chime. Joe’s stomach turned slightly queasy. He dismissed his mana boon notification and glanced at TJ who gagged. “Rough ride, huh?”

Brian shook his head, gesturing at other ascenders who curled up on the ground, splatters of vomit surrounding them. “Mana poisoning.”

Joe stepped over a puddle, a number two distorted beneath it. He rubbed his chest as the blue flame returned, replacing the annoyance of the short-lived nausea. If you’re not going to be helpful, don’t bother speaking to me.

“Welcome to the second floor, chump.” The flame’s voice was bitter with contempt “Consider yourself grateful that you’re not wallowing in self-pity like them. You’d be crawling along like a little crab unable to handle the higher levels of mana up here if you hadn’t the balls to face the titan and jump on his mana saturated back. I am not sure if it was an act of bravery or stupidity.”

Light footsteps followed him as the rest of his faction piled out of the elevator, minding their step. Joe glanced over his shoulder as the doors closed behind them with another chime.

A screen along the hallway wall flickered to life. “Welcome, welcome!” The lich’s skull seemed to dance with enjoyment as he eyed the floor filled with crippled ascenders. “Less ascenders here than I would have thought for making it to the second floor. What did you say, Poppy? Two hundred and something ascenders lost.” He tossed up his hands in a nonchalant gesture. “Ah, well, more hollows means the jackpot of immortality grows.”

“Yip-yip, more time for the winner.”