Player Reached the Top. LitRPG series. Book I Read online

  They remained silent for five minutes. When all the players started twitching anxiously, Raven bent down, pressed something to the floor, and stepped back. The room shuddered, and the wall appeared before him like an illusion melting away.

  Chapter 73. In search of the way out

  The wall dissolved, but nobody stirred. Raven stepped aside, not reacting. In the small room was a black eye, three feet in diameter, hanging in midair. Its red pupil formed a pentagram, which rotated without stopping.

  “Identification”.

  Illusory eye (Source).

  “Have you seen this before?” Will addressed his fellow travelers, but their surprised expressions spoke for themselves. “I guess not. Excuse me for a moment.”

  The rogue approached the eye, closely examining it.

  “Does anyone here have an Identification skill level above Apprentice?”

  “Ha! Of course not,” one man answered. “To achieve that level, one would have to find either an extremely rare book, or to apply an Identification skill nearly ten thousand times.”

  “Which means only I can see its name. Therefore…” Will drew his dagger and stuck it directly into the center of rotating pupil.

  The dungeon shook, the ground vibrating as if struck by an earthquake. The hanging eye began to melt as the wall had done before. A skinny man hanging on chains appeared for a moment in its place. When he faded, the players saw a message.

  “You’ve destroyed 1 of 6 sources which put the Labyrinth into illusions.

  Destroy the others, and you will be able to find the way out.”

  “So that was the problem!” Rollin’ Dice exclaimed almost in unison.

  “That’s why the all tags and methods to find a way out disappeared or became unusable. We went the wrong way from the very beginning.” Kingmaker said, glancing at the small room behind the illusory eye. “Will you be able to find the others?”

  “I ain’t sure. It doesn’t work on request. I have no time to examine every wall. So we will hope for Lady Luck.” The rogue grinned. “As for this…”

  Will walked to the back wall and opened a barely visible door. Inside were shelves stacked with old, yellow papers. And a bracelet.

  “Diary Visarot. (First pages)

  Description: Diary of an old famous magician of illusions.

  Mirage bracelet (Gold).

  Class Requirements: Thaumaturg.”

  Will furrowed his brow, trying to remember whether he had seen such a class before.

  “What’s there?” The leader came to him, examining the items in the young man's hands.

  “Have a look at it!” He handed her the bracelet. “I know the list of classes by heart. Tell me if you’ve seen anything like that.”

  “ Hm… No, it ain’t a class…” Mollie smiled from ear to ear. “I think it’s a secret specialization. We’ve got to learn how to get it. Bless my soul! What a unique catch!” She stopped short, staring at the grinning rogue.

  “Yes, Mollie, gather!"

  She mentally cursed herself. She had just given Raven one more chance to profit at the expense of her clan.

  “Aren’t you going to boast about it as soon as we leave?” she asked, knowing how naïve the question sounded.

  “Of course not.” Will waved his hand, the smile never leaving his face. “We can always agree about silence, can’t we?

  “I hate you!” Kingmaker answered. sighing.

  ….

  Over the next three hours, the players discovered four more illusory eyes by means of Raven’s intuition. Every time, they saw different people appear after its destruction. They did not know what it all meant, but hoped this secret would be revealed soon. Raven and all the others twigged on that the rogue had the necessary percentage of the search characteristic for discovering hideouts in this floor.

  In every room Will found the subsequent pages of Visarot’s diary, which had been placed in no particular order. The would be impossible to read or make sense of until the players found all its pages. Letters on pages ran up and floated away. Spells of illusions were everywhere.

  After destroying the sources, the players realized the Labyrinth was changing. There were fewer and fewer forks and dead ends; gradually, it was turning into a straight line. The Pangolin kept leading the players along corridors and rooms, but he stopped every time Raven gave the sign.

  Will waved his hand and Tangi halted the party. They expected the last room to open. It usually took five minutes to find a button to activate the opening, and this time, the rogue saw it to his right, directly on a joint of walls. The young man, as soon as the wall opened, unhurriedly headed to the final eye and stuck his blade into its pupil.

  Everything began to tremble, and this shiver did not stop for five minutes. A lingering groan echoed, then died away. In the hiding place, Will discovered the last pages of the diary, Thaumaturge 's belt, and two gold rank set items.

  The players left the room just as the walls finished moving. What remained was a long, direct corridor, at the end of which stood a huge gate. Rollin’ Dice had already got seen this gate, as the thief had recorded it before his death. This was not the boss of the dungeon. Kingmaker surmised that the thief had been distracted by the sight, been caught in some kind of trap, and died.

  “Have we really done it?” one girl asked.

  “Hush!” Tangi chided her. “Now is not the time to relax. We return the stipulated system, as before.”

  “If I were you, I would wait a little longer,” the rogue said, drawing their attention.

  “Why? There’s something else that we’ve missed, isn’t there?” the Pangolin asked.

  “Well, for starters, we have to read this diary.” Will waved the collection of pages. “I imagine there haven’t been many attempt made to beat the Labyrinth. But are you ready to rush into the unknown? In here,” he pointed at the diary again, “you can find information about what’s waiting for us behind those doors.”

  “Uhm … We’ve tried to pass this Floor many times. Thank God you stopped us.” Mollie answered for all. “So read, we’ll wait.”

  Raven took a seat on the earth, and started reading.

  “My name is Visarot. I am a Thaumaturge by birth. The rare gift that was bestowed upon me allowed me to create illusions, to place mirages in the heads of people around me at will.

  I grew up in a simple family, I desired only to pay back my parents for their kindness. I began to organize shows and became a famous on the Floor. I provide for my parents so they would not know hard everyday life anymore. They were happy, as was I…

  One day, everything changed. Greedy people, who wanted to use my gift to oppress the people and for their own enrichment, kidnapped my parents and forced me to do awful things. I knew my parents would rather die than see their son doing evil, but I wanted them to survive. I chose the lives of my father and mother over the lives of countless strangers. These beasts warned me that if I used my magic against them, their accomplices would kill my family. I became their slave, slowly blackening my soul.

  Half a year later, I read the thoughts of one of these bastards while he drank to their successful business. I learned that my parents had been killed on the same day they had been stolen from me. In a rage, I locked them in caves, placing them in different rooms. For those who dared to try to save them, I thought up the Labyrinth which would be activated at once as soon as someone entered.

  Their souls became sources of my magic, my revenge a torment they enjoyed for centuries. They had to suffer as my soul had suffered!”

  You have learned about the unique specialization. You must possess any magic class and no specialization to study it.

  Warning! This specialization is unique, and will become available after reading this diary.”

  “Hm,” Will pondered. “No information about what lies ahead, but this is another great opportunity to make some money. The scroll that transferred me here really was sent by Lady Luck.”

  Chapter 74. The t
haumaturge

  The rogue finished reading, and a wide smile crept over his face.

  Kingmaker wished herself good luck and asked him, “Find anything interesting?”

  “Oh, you’ll like it. We need to discuss it in private, though. Once outside the gate, I’ll need to be on my own again. I may have to kill you in a greedy rush.”

  The players drew their weapons, adopting fighting stances.

  “Calm down!” Mollie shouted at her players. “Did you listen to him or did you lose your brains? Stand down!”

  “Smart leader!” Raven nodded approvingly. “Let's make this sooner rather than later.”

  Mollie, her expression deadpan, approached the guy. She hated that she had to give in to his manipulation, but without it they would likely have died or been left to wander along infinite corridors without any hope of finding an exit.

  “What’s up?”

  Will briefly told her about the journal’s history, particularity. Her eye started to twitch at the injustice of it all. After several deep breaths, she calmed down.

  “Well. Do you suggest we buy the book because you don’t need it anymore?”

  “Obviously.”

  “And what do you want for it?” Mollie asked. It seemed she had asked this question today more that in last two years put together.

  “I want as many unique skills as possible, but you lack them, I see. By the way, how many do you have?” Raven uttered.

  “Not many,”-- the warrior of chaos responded. “They aren’t enough.”

  “So I don’t even know what to ask…” He thought of something. “Have you got any unknown items in your storage? For instance, reagents, ingredients for craft, and so on?

  “Unidentified? Wait a moment, I’ll ask.” She wrote a brief message in the chat of the guild, then stared at Raven. “I don’t know why you’re always trying to get money from everything. Are you poor or something?

  The young man became serious, as if a heavy aura had enveloped him. “Are you rich?” he whispered, narrowing his eyes. “Though if you were poor, you would not ask such a stupid question. I’m betting, you’re one of those rich kids, aren’t you? Believe me, you don’t want to hear my answer to that question. Why don’t we keep silent while we wait for the answer, okay?”

  The girl nodded. Struck by his sudden change in mood, she thought it better not to ask any more questions.

  Mollie was indeed one of those rich kids. She had never thought about how poor people lived. It had never come to her mind. Her social circle was not terribly wide, including only wealthy people and college friends.

  Games were her hobby. Though she earned big, Mollie played for pleasure, not for money. As a beautiful and rich girl in reality, as well as the leader of the top guild in the game, she had never received such rebuffs.

  She began to wonder about this man’s goals. “He’s playing only for the sake of money without enjoying the wonderful and magic worlds her friends delight in. To log in is as if he’s going to work… are there any people just like him in my clan? How many them are there in the world of ‘Ascension’?”

  She was distracted from her depressing thoughts by a message. It told her they had several unidentified items in their storage, but they were not ingredients.

  “E-em, excuse me…” Mollie began. “I’ve got an answer.”

  “What do you have?” Raven asked.

  “Two swords, one helmet, gloves and… wait a moment, what kind of a joke is that?” She frowned.

  “What’s up?” Will said, intrigued.

  “In our stores, there’s a head... hm… a woman's head. Stone. Okay, let me follow up on this. I want to be completely clear.”

  In a few minutes, she confirmed that there was a stone head, and it was not the head of the Gorgon Medusa. A gnome, the manager of the clan storage, sent the answer.

  “Well…” Raven tried to understand whether it was worth taking one more pig in a poke by exchanging for a trump in his hands. “Ok. I have the journal. If you die, I’ll wait for you near the entrance, and you’ll come back with the head. If we leave the Labyrinth alive, you’ll order them to send it to you. I’d like to have a look at it.”

  She nodded in agreement.

  “Well, if our mind's made up, let’s finish what we started.” The rogue stood from the cold ground.

  …

  The party carefully moved along the corridor. The huge gate loomed closer and closer. They now had a good look at it, only ten yards away.

  The gate depicted a mouth of a terrible monster. Inside the mouth, which was as black as impenetrable night, were shutters of high doors. This mouth seemed to be alive, making the players wonder if entering was in their best interests.

  Will faced this strange gate and tried to learn whether there were traps. Twenty minutes passed, which felt like an hour to the expectant players. At last, Raven stepped toward the mouth and the doors.

  “Someone conjure some light!” the rogue asked. “I can't see a thing.”

  An illuminating sphere appeared above his head. The door knocker, like ones found in ancient castles, would alert its owner. Without thinking twice, he brought it up and let it fall. It wasn't long until the doors opened without a single creak.

  It was light inside. The players saw a cozy picture in front of them. Though the gate looked large, the room beyond was small. In the middle were two coffins. Next to them, a young man sat on a chair. He seemed to be sleeping, leaning an elbow on one of coffins.

  Raven turned to the other players and warned them not to apply Inspection until this person attacked. While the rogue spoke, he looked at Kingmaker and Tangi. The Pangolin and the Warrior of Chaos nodded.

  After the gate closed behind them, the young man raised his head. He faced the players with red fire in his empty eye-sockets.

  “Who are you?” His voice echoed with the emptiness of time, both far away and close, heavy and easy at the same time. It made their hearts beat without restraint. The voice was contradictory, capable of forcing one to believe everything they heard. Was it magic or just the strength of the being sitting before them?

  The magicians and warriors were poised, ready to attack, but Raven stepped forward. Mollie flashed the others a sign to stay sharp while the rogue did the talking.

  “We are here not as your enemies. You probably do not know, but you’ve been here a long time.”

  “I did not ask what you’re doing here… who are you?” the young man remaining sitting, staring at his uninvited guests.

  “We are Messengers of Gods. Adventurers. Soldiers of fortune. The meaning is the same in any language.”

  “Uhm… me… what am I?”

  “You?” Raven considered for a moment. “You are the famous magician. Your name was known by everybody on the Floor. You should read this diary.” RAVen approached the magician and gave him his find. This was a risky move. Visarot might remember this rage and attack them, without reason or provocation. .

  When Mollie saw Raven hand the diary over, she felt the blood drain from her face. She looked at the robber, dumbfounded.

  “What is this swine doing?” she muttered to herself. Her fists clench in anger as she tried not to scream at this idiot.

  The weak fire in Visarot's eye-sockets began to inflame more and more brightly. The Thaumaturge was becoming strong again. His ailing image faded, and the young man appeared before them, once again in the prime of life.

  “Now I recall.” His voice sounded normal, no longer awe-inspiring as before. “Repeat once again what you are?”

  “We are Messengers of Gods. Adventurers. Soldiers of fortune.”

  “Messengers of Gods? What the hell is that?”

  “We are called upon to unite this world. Against our will, and by forces that are above us.”

  “I am the force that’s above you. Are you saying it’s me who called you?”

  “Uhm … Don’t you remember?” Raven expressed astonishment. He had begun another dangerous game with a sup
erior opponent, unsure of what he wanted to achieve.

  Will reasoned that all AIs behaved according to the role they had been assigned while meeting with Messengers of Gods. The result of these meetings depended solely on the players. Apart from their interaction with players, they were on their own. They had no Internet access. They could not download terabytes of information and begin a revolution. The “Emperor” would never allow it.

  They develop, watch the environment. They are native to this world. They consider all their opportunities to be their own. According to AIs, their past is the past which they endured once, and so on.

  “You wanted us to find your enemies in those distant times before you came to this room, to mourn your family.”

  The Rollin’ Dice went catatonic listening to this dialogue.

  “What is this madman doing?” one player said.

  Visarot frowned, scanning Raven from head to foot.

  “Khm … I do not remember it. Even if it is true, where is the proofs of their death?” The Thaumaturge asked, his chin propped in his hand.

  “After their murder, we came here at once. We sprang the trap of the Labyrinth you had arranged for allies of those bastards you imprisoned here. We have been wandering for ten years, unable to find the way out. Having run out of necessary things, we began to stock up on meat of the local monsters and…”

  “Monsters?” The young man raised his eyebrows. “I did not create monsters here. What’s going on here?”

  “Like I said, much time had passed since you created your Labyrinth. As a result, we had to eat their meat to survive. Forgive us, but we had to kill them to learn whether you were alive.”

  “Had to kill?” Visarot’s eyes flared. “How dare you kill them?! These animals had to suffer till the end of times. I don't care what you did with the others, but them?” A spell began to coalesce in his hands, but Will continued.