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> You have been struck by the ground for 125 points of damage.
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Finn’s first thought was that it was amazing how many times he had been told that in his short, dangerous, and illustrious career as a Defender.
“Still, 125 Health isn’t too bad, is it?” he groaned, looking around to see that he was surrounded by rock dust and soot. The burning planks had fallen with him into the ruins of the building, and the air was heavy with smoke.
It was mostly dark, with a few shafts of light shining down.
“Great. Just wonderful. Just absolutely wonderful.” Finn coughed and pushed himself up. He appeared to be on top of a pile of rubble. Whenever the bridge originally fell, it must have taken out this building with it—or most of it anyway. He could see the darker shape of an archway at the bottom of the rubble slide.
Finn refused to think about failure. How long had he been lying here? He didn’t know. It could have been moments or hours, for all he knew.
Did that mean Vheti had already won, and he and the others were now exiled from the Celestial Order?
Finn even wondered whether he should just turn around and head back to the lodge, but he shook his head. No. For all he knew, Vheti could also have fallen. The undead were everywhere.
He had to push on. For the sake of Malvas, for the sake of Esther.
He checked his statistics briefly and found them still passable. Still good enough against any Level 14 zombie, anyway.
>
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> Name: Finn Callahan
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> Health: 532 / 848
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> Mana: 659 / 861
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> Stamina: 736 / 736
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Failure could not be an option.
He hissed in irritation as his sore limbs woke up. “I guess I’m lucky I didn’t break my neck,” he muttered, summoning a small orb of flame to light his way forward. Surely that archway would lead to something that led up to the next level of the citadel.
Unfortunately, the fire illuminated more than just rubble and dust. It showed him the rising, terrible heads of the undead, glaring and alive with a toxic green energy.
“Oh, crap,” Finn swore. There was a sizeable group of them down here. Ten? More?
He could handle that, right? Finn saw their hungry faces and reaching hands as they grabbed the nearest blocks and started to climb. It didn’t really seem he had a choice.
He launched himself down the pile, kicking the first zombie in the head as he slashed his blade at the next. A twist of his hips and he was driving his blade through the next zombie on his other side.
Suddenly, he had a moment of space as the undead fell back. His feet crunched on the snarling form of one underfoot at the bottom of the collapsed roof. He slashed and hacked from one side to the next, trying to clear as much room around him as possible.
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> You have slain the Level 12 Zombie. Experience awarded.
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> If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
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> You have slain…
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Finn ignored the messages that constantly blinked updates as he hacked and kicked at the undead. He was more than a match for any of them on their own, he knew, but that didn’t mean he could stop every strike or sweeping claw.
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> You have been struck by the Level 13 Zombie for 25 points of damage.
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With a roar, Finn ran his blade through his attacker. It flailed as it fell, and its blackened claws raked across his face. He yelled in horror and fury.
Enough of this!
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> Fire-Bolt. Convert Mana to Damage.
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Vivid flames burst along the blade as he swept it around, pulling it through the impaled zombie and the two that blocked his way. He sunk 120 Mana into the attack, and there was a sheet of explosive flame that sent zombies flying backward.
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> You have slain the Level 12 zombie. Experience awarded.
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Finn jumped through the gap in the horde, his feet skidding on the far side, and then he saw the dark archway and ran for it as the dead burned behind him.
There was movement, a snarl in the darkness and green flaming eyes, as one of the creatures rose toward him. He struck out at it, spinning past as his flaming blade illuminated the way ahead.
He found himself in one of the many tunnels that snaked through the citadel, linking the various levels and lodges to form an entire under-city of storerooms, workshops, and lodgings. The tunnel turned to the right, opening into a wide room whose roof was held up by pillars.
Waiting for him there, of course, was more undead. Finn saw them staggering to their feet, pushing away from the wall as he tore forward. His blade struck out at any that dared get too close as he ran for the steps at the far side.
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> You have been struck by the Level 14 zombie for 35 points of damage.
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Hands and weapons struck out at him, but he safely reached the steps. There was a larger archway straight ahead, leading into darkness. It was moving up, so that had to be the right direction… Finn ran into it, aware of the growing clamor behind him.
He just needed to get to higher ground. He needed to get to the tower level, the highest point of the entire citadel. He was in another tunnel, wider this time. He passed dim doorways on either side and could see broken chairs and ruined scraps of paper. This had to be some sort of underground library, he thought as he heard the scrape of feet chasing him.
How far do I have to go?
There was a hiss from his right, and Finn’s blade slashed through the reaching arm of yet another zombie. Another sweep from his left came from a zombie that had clearly been one of the librarians or clerks, still wearing torn and ragged white robes.
The tunnel turned, and there, right up ahead, was a large wooden door.
“Come on, come on, come on…” Finn struck it, grabbing the handle to find that it was stuck. He heaved at it with one arm, feeling it creak and move just a few inches, groaning in protest.
The sounds of his pursuit grew louder, and he glanced back and saw the horde filling the passageway. Even from there, he could see the toxic green of their eyes. There were more of them now, since the first group had undoubtedly gathered the undead from the rooms they passed. Growling, he grabbed the door handle with both hands.
>
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> Ascension Path: Fire
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> Strength +1 STR for every 20 Mana.
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The door wasn’t opening under his normal strength, and Finn was sure that there must be something blocking it from the other side. He poured 100 Mana into his Strength, giving himself a boost of five as the horde grew closer.
With a grunt of effort, Finn threw his shoulder against it. There was a crash, and he was suddenly spilling into the darkened room beyond. He surged to his feet, seizing the door and slamming it shut. He pulled up the thing that had been blocking it—what looked to be a wooden bookcase, still half filled with grimoires and scrolls. He slid it in front of the door right as there was the thump from the other side, followed by another, and another, and another.
“How long is that going to hold?!” Finn whispered to himself as he backed away from the shuttering door. He almost tripped down stairs behind him.
“Whoa, sh—” He caught himself before he fell, turning to stumble down the steps as he got the sense he was in some vast chamber, but it was almost pitch-black. He could feel air against his skin, but it was musty.
He summoned a tiny ball of flame to cast dim light around himself. He was halfway down the steps, and before him were aisles and aisles of a library, stretching on for what looked like forever.
“Oh, great,” Finn said. There was another thump from the doors behind him, and now a creak as the wood started to give under the weight of all the undead bodies pressing against it.
This wasn’t a higher level, and it just might be a literal dead end. He had to find some way forward or admit that he had already lost the race. Not to mention possibly being eaten by zombies.
The idea of failing Malvas, and failing his sister, was something that he could not and would not bear. He would push on. He hadn’t come this far in the Celestial Ascension just to be pushed back so easily.
The door shook behind him, and the Defender could hear the hissing voices of the dead now. They must have managed to open it just a crack.
“I can’t wait around here,” he breathed.
Finn started forward, but then his ball of flame was abruptly snuffed out.
“No… No, you can’t,” a deep, baritone voice said.