Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO ON KINDLE SEPT. 2)

Once upon a time, Ron had thought of himself as steady and unflappable in a crisis. After all, he’d completed his residency in the emergency room, where urgent situations were the defining characteristic of his job. He’d parlayed that cool-headed nature into survival after the world had changed. It was the only reason he or Hope had survived, and dozens of other people in their community owed him their lives.

Yet, as he looked at the swirling mass of darkness – there was a vaguely humanoid shape in there, though he could barely perceive it – he couldn’t help but lock up in fear.

Not that he could move anyway.

The moment he and the others had stepped into the chamber, he’d been forced to his knees. A second later, he was on his stomach with his cheek practically glued to the tile floor. After Kurik had identified the creature, it all made sense.

Gravity spirit.

Never had Ron wished he’d invested a few points into his Strength attribute more than at that very moment. His body was heavy, and in a way that rendered him entirely immobile. The same was true of Dat, whose attribute allocation made him almost as vulnerable as Ron. Kurik fared a little better, having only fallen to his knees. Thankfully, Elijah and Sadie remained upright.

If they hadn’t…

Ron didn’t want to dwell on that line of thinking. He’d faced death hundreds of times since the world had changed, and he’d found that it was better just not to think about it. Anything else, and he’d go insane with worry. Not for himself. He’d made peace with his own mortality well before the apocalypse. Rather, he feared for his daughter’s fate.

After all, Hope wasn’t well. She hadn’t been for a long time, either. And if something didn’t change, her disease was going to kill her. That was why he’d come to the Trial in the first place. Initially, he’d hoped to meet a proper alchemist who could replicate Hope’s medication – which, after five years, supplies had all but dwindled. But now, with all the levels he’d gotten, he hoped to become powerful enough to cure her himself.

Which had once seemed like a pipe dream.

After all, leukemia – especially the chronic sort – didn’t really behave like most cancers. To date, medical science hadn’t figured out how to cure it. Instead, it was treated via constant medication. Fortunately, Ron knew where that medication was produced, so shortly after the world’s transformation, he and his neighbor had set out on a quest to gather as much as they could so that Hope would have a chance of survival.

Jack hadn’t survived that trip, but Ron had managed to acquire enough of Hope’s medication to see her through for years.

Now, the supply was almost gone.

If she’d been a little older, she might have been able to fix the issue herself. Constitution and Regeneration were powerful factors. However, she’d only managed to unlock the system a year before, and she’d not had time to make appreciable gains. What’s more, she hadn’t been offered a combat archetype at all, which meant that her class options offered meager increases to the attributes pertinent to her survival.

The problem was the nature of her disorder. It went down to her chromosomes, which made it particularly tricky to treat, much less cure. Her medication worked, and remarkably well, but the limited supply meant that her continued survival was on a timer.

That was a difficult thing for a father to accept. He could deal with the idea of his own death. He’d even endured his wife’s demise remarkably well – at least publicly, mostly for Hope’s sake – but he was self-aware enough to know he’d never make it if his daughter died. He wouldn’t want to.

He’d already made arrangements with Dat for if he did pass. The affable man had promised to do everything he could to ensure Hope’s survival. And Ron trusted that Dat would move mountains if necessary. He was just that kind of person – the sort who’d sacrifice everything to help someone in need.

But Ron suspected it wouldn’t be enough.

Of late, he’d latched onto the notion that the only way Hope would make it was if he cured her disease himself. That was why he was so looking forward to his upcoming choice of Specialization, though his level ninety-five spell had given him some hope.