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

“What kind of a problem?” asked Sadie, her tone intense. “What’s going on?”

“The Immortals.”

“What about them?” Elijah asked before Sadie could cut in.

“They’re taking over,” Atticus responded with a shake of his head. “They’re multiplying. I don’t know how, but every day, there seems to be more of them out there. And they’re not shy about imposing their will on other people, either. The only reason we’re not completely under their sway is because we paid their price for protection.”

“What was the price?” Sadie asked.

Atticus looked away, then sighed before answering, “Equipment. The best we had. My people, they don’t have the best materials to work with here. It’s not as if anyone’s set up a mine, after all. But they’re good at what they do, and they’ve managed to create some High Simple-Grade items. Those have all gone to the Immortals.”

Elijah narrowed his eyes. His first impulse was to berate Atticus for giving in to the Immortals’ extortive demands. However, on second thought, he understood it. His consortium’s power was more economic than martial, and as such, he couldn’t respond properly to such a blatant threat. He could have fought, and his people probably would have joined him. That would have gotten a lot of people killed, though.

“The real issue is that people can’t even leave when they want,” Atticus went on. “They’ve got access to the Branch blocked.”

“How?” asked Dat. “Before, there were only a dozen of them.”

“And we took one of them out,” Elijah said, remembering the woman he’d fed to a beast in the jungle. There was no way she could have survived that, even with whatever immortality skill she’d been subjected to. “We know they’re patrolling the wilderness, too.”

Indeed, they’d encountered a few other groups lately, and they’d all reported running into Immortals. In some cases, the black-clad and unkillable fighters had been repelled, but in others, their targets had been forced to flee.

“They have more people than that,” Atticus stated. “A lot more. According to everything I’ve seen, at least a hundred. Maybe as many as two.”

“That’s…that’s too many. How did they –”

Dat cut Elijah off, saying, “They’re recruiting. I need to go check this out. Give me an hour.”

“What are you going to do?” Elijah asked.

“Investigate,” Dat said. “This is what I do, bro.”

Elijah was about to offer to help when Sadie said, “Don’t worry about him. He knows what’s he’s doing.”

“I really do,” Dat agreed.

Elijah sighed. “Fine. Be careful,” he said.

Then, Dat disappeared – literally. One second, he was there, and the next, he was gone. Elijah could still feel a vague disturbance in the ambient ethera, but he only noticed it because he was looking for it. If he hadn’t been, his senses – including One with Nature – would have been largely useless, and Dat would have been entirely undetectable.

“That’s…impressive,” Elijah said.

Sadie responded, “It’s a new skill. He got it at level seventy-five.”

“When did that happen? Getting to that level, I mean,” Elijah asked her.

She shrugged. “Back in the junkyard,” she said. “We’ve all leveled significantly over the past few weeks. Not enough to catch up to you, but we’re getting closer.”

“Any other new abilities I should know about?” he asked, looking at her, then Kurik.

“I got a few new tricks up my sleeve,” the dwarf said. “New ways of buildin’ traps and such. Should be a lot more efficient, assumin’ I can get my mind around it. It requires a lot more input on my end. Not like those spells you all fling around. This is based on skill and technique, almost like a crafter.”

“Interesting. And you, Sadie?” asked Elijah.

“I got an enhancement called Verdict,” she said. “I’m not sure how it works, though. The description is a little vague, and I haven’t had a chance to try it out. It’s supposed to enhance my attacks, though.”

“That should help,” Elijah said. Inwardly, though, he couldn’t help but wonder if his companions were destined to catch him. To comfort himself, he looked at the Planetary Power Rankings: