Legend of the Awakened Goblin [Tower Climbing LitRPG]

Myrsvai took a deep breath upon arriving back in Verdantallis. The Fortress had a mustiness to it, and the fresh air and blowing breeze was more than just refreshing.

Suta also took a big breath, though with a little more exaggerated enthusiasm. Thalgodin did the same, but with a little less drama.

Myrsvai chuckled and led the party back toward the doorway. A healthy amount of heroes were gathered outside in camps. Some were preparing to enter and checking gear or strapping on armor. Others had clearly left after a few floors recently and were nursing injuries or resting and cooking.

Myrsvai found a spot right in the middle of the path where everyone could see him and lifted his staff high. "Greetings, heroes!" His voice boomed in a deep, resonant bass.

People looked at him warily at first, then upon seeing the demons and noticing the missing arm and the staff, they started to realize who he was. Fame sometimes had benefits, even if one had to suffer for it.

"I am Myrsvai Ryllsion. For those of you who don't know me, you may have heard my story. The story of the Maimed Magus."

That was enough for the last people to understand. With just that statement, he had everyone's attention. A good twenty or so people stopped what they were doing to listen.

"I have a favor to ask of you, good heroes. This is Thalgodin, neural demon of the Plains of Awakening. He has been a partner of mine for a long time and has agreed to fuse. Suta has given me the idea to buy some food from anyone who can spare it. As you may have heard, fusion is fatiguing and creates a deep hunger. I know, fusing in the outside world can be dangerous, but Thalgodin and I will have no problems at all. You can trust me."

"You have two shards now?" a hero asked.

Myrsvai passed his staff to Suta and held out his hand. Two shards lifted from his palm. "The Ocean and the Fortress. I have been traveling with Owin the goblin, who has gained his own amount of notoriety. It took me years to get back in the dungeons, and here I am, ready to fuse with my friend."

"I've got half a loaf I could spare, I think," the hero said.

"I'm making stew. You could have a bowl," another shouted.

"Ale?" another asked.

Myrsvai smiled. "We will take anything you offer. We have coin for it. I will find a spot away from your camps for fusion. If anyone new arrives, please warn them of potential releases of magic. I will do my best, but fusion is impossible to predict."

"You can do this!" someone shouted.

"Thank you. I will be back soon." Myrsvai took his staff back from Suta and faced Thalgodin. The neural demon stood tall and proud.

"Are you ready?" Thalgodin asked.

"I was going to ask you the same."

The demon grabbed Myrsvai firmly on the shoulder with all three of his left hands. "Let us go, brother."

For general safety, Myrsvai led Suta and Thalgodin away from the Fortress entrance to a small forest. A rabbit watched them walk near before bolting into the bushes. Wildlife could be harmed, but most creatures, like the rabbit, would keep their distance. The amount of abyssal magic that would likely escape during the fusion could be disastrous for anyone nearby. Myrsvai looked around at the trees and listened to the bird song, wondering if the forest was perhaps not the right spot.

Thalgodin settled in a clearing by dropping to his knees. He took the belt holding his neural blades off and set it in the weeds at his side. Suta knelt across from Thalgodin and just stared at the bigger demon.

Suta never was one for subtly.

"I was just wondering about this forest," Myrsvai said as he walked through the last of the undergrowth.

"We will keep it intact." Thalgodin took the battleaxe from his back and set it beside the swords. "Join us."

Myrsvai slowly crouched, then moved to his knees. He set his staff between himself and Suta and looked into Thalgodin's eyes. The demon only grinned and extended a hand, palm up.

Decades upon decades had built up to this moment, and somehow, there was no stress. It was simple. It was destined to be. No doubts existed within his mind. Myrsvai reached out and took Thalgodin's hand.

Energy thrummed.

Myrsvai shivered. Something muted sounds around him, and everything was dark. He shifted and brushed snow from his eyes. He shook his head and found shaggy hair cascading down his shoulders, partially matted with ice.

"Figures," he said. Myrsvai pushed himself off the ground and started wading through the knee-deep snow. On his left was a boundary wall, and on his right was a flowing river of blood. Occasionally, bits of meat or bone floated down toward whatever gruesome basin lay at the bottom.

This was not a real area of the Tundra Dungeon. That map was burned perfectly into his mind. Every step, every inch of the Tundra's first floors existed entirely in his nightmares, and the landscape around him wasn't it. It was an amalgamation of memories, of dreams and thoughts, of realities and imagination.

"This is not enough to stop me," Myrsvai said to the gods watching. And he knew they were watching.

In a normal fusion, he would find and battle the target of his fusion. Instead, he just needed to find Thalgodin. The neural demon would locate Myrsvai first, but the unfamiliar terrain and general difficulty of the mindspace could prove difficult.

Myrsvai continued hiking downhill, pushing through the snow, ignoring the pain lancing from the metal prosthetic into what was left of his leg. He'd dealt with worse, and he would deal with worse again in the future. Pain was manageable.

A man appeared downhill, swaying slightly in the snow. Blood poured off him like waterfalls, melting and mixing with the snow and ice. Muddy, bloody, slop soon formed around his feet. The man was little more than a husk, and still Myrsvai recognized him.

"Theodore," Myrsvai said.

The undead cocked his head. "Little Prodigy." His mocking tone, even now, grated at Mrysvai.

"Even here, you're dead." Myrsvai continued walking closer until another form appeared. First like smoke, then more material. It was a long, lanky creature that made Myrsvai's heart freeze. "Bastronum."

The mirth demon fell to his knees. "I fought for you, and you left."

Myrsvai clenched his jaw. It wasn't real. No matter how it felt, looked, or the memories it conjured, none of it was real. Bastronum was long dead.

Theodore reached out, grabbed the demon's neck, and snapped it.

Myrsvai flinched. That wasn't far off from what had really happened. And the crumpled, suffering form of Bastronum, still twitching, brought the feeling of dread back.

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"Husvrina is dead," Myrsvai said. "You're dead."

Theodore stuck out both arms, still pouring an impossible amount of blood. "If I'm dead, Little Prodigy, then how am I here? You think you're smarter than us. Better than us. We'll see what your girlfriend says after this."

Myrsvai closed his eyes and calmed his heart. A few deep breaths, and—

The rotting stench of undead made him recoil. Theodore was directly in front of Myrsvai, splashing blood across the magus. A desiccated hand latched onto his throat, and squeezed. Myrsvai reached out and had his hand easily batted aside. He wheezed in half a breath, and the hand gripped tighter until no air could move.

It was impossible. It wasn't real.

Tighter still.

It was impossible, and Myrsvai was going to die. Back in the Tundra, back in danger. Failing again. Dying again.

All that work for nothing. All that time for nothing.

Failure after failure.

He had never done anything right.

Nobody cared about him then, and nobody cared about him now.

Myrsvai's skin prickled as the Tundra fell silent. Even Myrsvai's choking and Theodore's ragged, rancid breaths fell away. Complete silence. Complete stillness.

A crack appeared in the sky, then something tore the boundary wall in half. The gods themselves would never intervene. Myrsvai squeezed his eyes shut, feeling tears run down his cheeks.

It was time to rest. He had hoped he wouldn't suffer, but most of his life had involved some type of suffering. Time and time again.

The world would be better without—

An impact shook the ground. Myrsvai's eyes opened, but were blurred with tears.

To his side was a radiating ball of violet flames. The hand pulled back from Myrsvai's throat, and all the sound, pain, and sensation flooded back at once as Myrsvai fell to his knees, splashing in a puddle of muddy blood and snow. He wheezed, coughed, and sucked in a breath.

"You," Theodore said in a voice filled with venom.

Something shifted, crunching snow.

"No words? Coward," Theodore said.

Myrsvai looked up as the form blurred, turning into a purple smear. It hit Theodore directly in the chest, and sent the undead hero into, then through the boundary wall and into the nothingness beyond.

Suta landed firmly and marched right up to Myrsvai. The little familiar held out a hand, and the bond reconnected.

Strength.

Myrsvai nodded once and grabbed Suta's hand. The familiar pulled him back to his feet and walked him to the remains of Bastronum. Suta crouched and put one hand on the demon's skull.

Brother.

Myrsvai bowed his head.

After a moment, Suta dragged Myrsvai on.

"Suta, I . . ."

Suta turned and hugged Myrsvai's legs. Myrsvai rested his hand on top of the familiar's head. He could feel the rush of emotions through the familiar. They didn't need words. They were as connected as a summoner and familiar could be.

No. That wasn't it. They were as connected as two living beings could be.

Myrsvai dropped to one knee and fully embraced Suta. He rested his forehead against the familiar's. "Thank you."

Words weren't needed, but sometimes they should be said.

"Thank you for saving me again."

"Thalgodin," Suta said after a moment. He grabbed Myrsvai's arm and tugged gently.

"Yes. Let's find him." Myrsvai stood, wiped his cheeks, and smiled at the light snowfall. A giant tear in the boundary wall above them looked like it might split the place in two, even if it was just inside his mind.

Suta led the way down the rest of the hill and into a forest, still following the river of blood. They stayed at its side as it wrapped around trees and mounds, cutting through a hill and a natural bridge of roots.

It finally ended in a basin of half–frozen blood with a pile of bodies rising from the middle of the pond. Each corpse had some symbol of the Husvrina Hero Company marking it.

"Villains," Suta said.

"They got what they deserved." Myrsvai had never wanted to kill another hero, but the way they had hunted him and tortured him . . .

Suta tugged on Myrsvai's hand again and pointed across the pond.

Thalgodin stood in the shadows. His white teeth seemed to glow as he grinned. Wings extended from his back as he stepped and leapt. They beat once, carrying him gracefully over the bloody pond and onto the shore at their side.

"An interesting space," Thalgodin said. He put two hands on Suta's head, patting the familiar.

"You'll share the thoughts soon enough." Myrsvai took a deep breath and looked at the mound of corpses. "I would offer you a chance to back out, but I don't believe it's possible."

Thalgodin acknowledged the bodies and grunted. "I know your story. I have seen worse. I have been summoned for worse. I killed the first magus that summoned me."

Myrsvai raised an eyebrow. "I forgot about that. We haven't spoken of our pasts in many years."

Thalgodin nodded slowly. "Without Suta, I would have killed you too."

"I like to think I could've defended myself."

"Not when you first summoned me. You were broken." Thalgodin turned to him. "Look at you now."

Myrsvai didn't look away from the bodies. "I almost gave up back there. I am no more powerful than I was during the attack."

Suta's annoyance was clear within Myrsvai's mind.

"Your strength has never been for you alone. Suta has been at your side since your fifteenth year. I know no other magus with so many demon allies. Your strength is not singular. It is when you are united." Thalgodin extended his right arm, both hands ready to clasp Myrsvai's arm. "Let us unite."

Suta held his hands up, barely high enough to grab two of Thalgodin's fingers on his lower hand.

Myrsvai turned away from the Husvrina Hero Company corpses. That was his past. His future looked much different. "Together." He grabbed Thalgodin's wrist and felt energy pulse straight into his body. For a moment, it felt like his heart froze.

Magenta fire erupted. A firestorm melted the snow, boiled the blood, and burned away everything around.

When Myrsvai's vision returned, he was kneeling in the clearing. The trees and plants were intact with only a small ring around him burning with abyssal flames. He was alone, and that felt heavy on his heart.

He reached for his staff, and stopped. Myrsvai held both palms in front of his face, unsure of what to think. His left was a little red, but otherwise looked like a human arm. No sign of demonic traits. He shifted and ran his hands over his left leg, now all flesh.

Summon Familiar

Suta appeared in a flash of abyssal fire. The little familiar looked the exact same.

"How are you feeling?"

Suta held both arms out, then shrugged.

I was as gentle as I could be, Thalgodin's voice said deep in Myrsvai's mind.

He smiled. "Thank you."

Look to your index.

Myrsvai did as the demon suggested.

Racial Feature: Abyss Walker

After being bathed in abyssal fire and an eternity living in the Abyss, demons gain a bonus to damage dealt with abyssal damage. Their affinity for abyssal also increases damage taken from both luminous and abyssal sources. Damage dealt to self is not increased by this feature.

Racial Feature: Neural Demon

Neural Demons from the Plains of Awakening focus on information gathering from their senses. Neural Demons have improved vision and the ability to grow more sensory limbs.

Suta also had an index open and suddenly sprouted new arms. He looked like a demonic spider until he pulled the arms back into his body, looking just as surprised and horrified as Myrsvai.

"We have much to learn," Myrsvai said. He tried to stand, but immediately collapsed. A mix of his left leg feeling numb and useless and the terrible pain of hunger and weakness in his stomach caused his movements to be sluggish and clumsy.

Suta hurried over and passed Myrsvai his staff.

With the staff as support, he made it to his feet and walked slowly, awkwardly back toward the Fortress. To his surprise, many of the heroes he had spoken with were gathered near the edge of the forest. Looks of amazement and excitement quickly spread as soon as Myrsvai appeared.

"You look incredible," someone said.

Myrsvai held up his left hand. "I didn't think it would make me look much different."

The hero who had offered ale pointed at his own forehead.

Myrsvai reached up and felt horns jutting from his forehead. "I thought you said you were gentle," he muttered.

It projects strength.

Myrsvai smiled. "If our deal is still on . . ." He reached for his coins, but Suta snatched them and shook the bag so the coins clinked.

"Can you tell us about it?" a hero asked.

"I will happily tell some stories," Myrsvai said. "About Thalgodin, myself, Suta, and Owin." He followed the crowd, already getting into a small tale of the Nimble Hogs. He found a spot to rest against a tree and welcomed all the heroes who were interested to gather around. Suta passed out coins and accepted ale, bread, soup, dried meat, some freshly cooked venison, a raw potato, and more.