Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO STUBBING AUGUST 15)

The crowd went silent, as if they were unsure how to react to the fall of the Champion. That silence stretched for what felt to Elijah like an eternity before, suddenly, they let out a collective roar that shook the very foundations of the arena. It wasn’t simply deafening. Rather, it was a sound so loud – so visceral – that it was physically painful to endure. However, Elijah felt nothing but elation at his accomplishment. He basked in the crowd’s approval, his chest heaving with excitement.

Then, he noticed a silver box glinting in the distance. It stood before the gate, his reward for another level conquered. The prideful satisfaction he felt was nothing new. He’d felt the same way, though to a lesser extent, upon winning bouts in his boxing days. Or when playing other sports as a kid. It was always addictive, and yet, it was usually fleeting as well.

Not so, this time.

Elijah knew how uncommon his accomplishments were. His first tower had been a series of misadventures he’d survived through cunning, good fortune, and simple endurance. However, the gauntlet he’d just run was no such thing. He’d fought, not via tricks or subterfuge, but in an even match against impossible odds.

And he had come out on top.

That he’d proven himself stronger than an entity like the Champion – much less the ten encounters through which he’d fought before facing off against the giant ogre – was a heady realization. Yet, Elijah knew he wasn’t finished. There was still one more level left in the tower, and if he was going to conquer it and survive, he would need every aspect of his unique abilities.

So, with that sobering realization coursing through every facet of his mind, he summoned Healing Rain and set about scrubbing himself clean. The water wouldn’t persist longer than the spell’s duration, but it still lasted long enough for an impromptu shower. He’d even packed a little of his homemade soap for just such an occasion.

He must’ve made for an odd sight, showering with his summoned raincloud in the middle of an arena that, at present, housed quite a few dead bodies. But the crowd never stopped cheering, which told Elijah that they weren’t even whatever passed for real people within a tower. Instead, they were just background noise. Meaningless, soulless, and inconsequential.

“I’ll still take the cheers, though,” he said to himself as he finished washing the soap – and all the viscera – from his body. The shower also served the purpose of reinvigorating and healing much of the damage he’d taken. However, he still had to use Touch of Nature to heal a few broken bones he’d sustained. All in all, though, he managed to make it out of the arena with far fewer injuries than he’d have suspected.

It was a rarity for him to get through a fight without being beaten, bloody, and on the brink of death, so he chose to enjoy it while he could. After all, he still had the Reaver to defeat, and he wasn’t so naïve as to think it would be any easier than the gauntlet he’d just endured. And given the fact that it would’ve only taken a mistake or two to send the previous battle careening in an entirely different direction, Elijah was wary of what he might have to suffer on the next level of the tower.

After he finished showering, he dressed in one of the outfits he’d bought back in Ironshore. He still had one that was undamaged, but he chose one that had already been subjected to quite a bit of wear and tear. As usual, he wore no shoes, as much because he didn’t have any as because his spells seemed to work better so long as his feet remained unshod.

Clean and rejuvenated, he returned to the ogre’s corpse and took the creature’s money pouch, which he tossed into his pack. Then, he retrieved the giant staff he’d lugged up from the other wings, then shouldered it before heading toward his reward. The chest was a lot bigger than the ones he’d received in the past, and as he approached it, he noticed that it looked slightly more elaborate.

He leaned down, then unlatched the clasp that held it shut. The lid popped open of its own accord, revealing a leather bracer. The moment he opened the treasure chest, a notification popped up, too: