Zero to Peak: Ascension Online

The adventurers casually strode into Level Four, and like the previous levels, the stairwell vanished, and the environment behind them warped to fit into the expanse of Level Four.

Ivan unleashed three special attacks in a row: Straight Path Boomerang.

SheCyclones cast ten miniature cyclones, momentarily exhausting herself. The effort was worth it. A significant number of undead skeletons were decimated, partly thanks to the reanimated creatures rushing in on the adventurers in a disordered cluster.

Am_I_Me returned a solid dark orb, the size of two folded adult fists, to Sarah_Ze_Beauty. Sarah_Ze_Beauty had given her the ball during the heated exchange between Ivan and Wanyama. The orb had been ticking when Am_I_Me received it, and it was still ticking now that she had returned it.

"What exactly is this ball?" Am_I_Me enquired.

Sarah_Ze_Beauty, the Stagemaster, replied with a knowing grin, "A trick."

She pulled back the hand that held the orb and subsequently launched the ball into the sky with a powerful throw, demonstrating impressive athleticism. Am_I_Me was surprised that the Stagemaster could do that. The ball exploded into dozens of dazzling sparks like an expensive firework, halting Am_I_Me from asking Sarah_Ze_Beauty what the function of the launched projectile was.

Rapidly descending from the sky, the dozens of dazzling sparks landed upon a handful of 'awe-struck' undead skeletons. A strong sizzling sound, accompanied by black, pungent vapour, erupted from the bunch of undead creatures that came into contact with the sparks. The sparks were, in fact, aqueous acid disguised as a firework blast.

A magician never comes to the stage unprepared.

Helpless wails echoed across the battlefield as the unfortunate undead skeletons were gradually and painfully reduced to naught. A base-rank Stagemaster special character was most likely to be the most unuseful character on a battlefield. But if given time to prepare for a battle, they were very formidable because they had the innate talent to produce makeshift weapons to use to their advantage.

Two powerful explosions shook the ground, littering embers of burning bones around the perimeter. Wanyama had detonated two 'grenade runes' in the midst of their adversaries. The embers caught some skeletons, and the stronger embers erupted into a raging inferno on the unfortunate creatures. SheCyclones cast her AOE skill, decimating and aiding the spread of the flames.

The legion of undead skeletons devolved into a sea of flames. However, some undead creatures forged forth, undeterred. Ivan made sure that most of these stubborn creatures met their demise at the fury of his blade.

Am_I_Me noticed a corner of the realm where there was an abundance of loot items. There were a few wounded undead creatures pitifully crawling around the area. The criminal-class special character called Wanyama's attention. She informed him of her intentions to go there but couldn't go alone because she was unsure of her capacity to defend herself. She successfully convinced Wanyama to follow her on the basis that they could covet some of the loot without sharing it with their colleagues.

When the duo arrived at the spot, they met the unexpected. Undead skeletons swarmed them from an undisclosed direction. Unfortunately for Wanyama, he was the one who suffered an attack. Am_I_Me had evaded the assailants thanks to her Deceit powers.

Onelight had been secretly surveilling Am_I_Me. This development deepened her suspicion that Am_I_Me was the devil collaborator. Wanyama was the one to suffer an attack while she, Am_I_Me, escaped unscathed. It never crossed Onelight's mind that Am_I_Me had powers well-suited for evasion.

The team was alerted, and a great deal of effort was used to safely rescue Wanyama. Wanyama suffered injuries, but Onelight was perfectly capable of healing him.

On Level Four, the adventurers battled against a legion of one thousand, two hundred undead skeletons. Although the battle was fast, it significantly drained the adventurers. They had to rest for more than forty minutes before they advanced to the next level.

The adventurers decimated legion after legion on the subsequent levels, moving from Level Five to Level Nine within eight hours. In total, the adventurers spent thirteen hours clearing Level One to Level Nine, including defeating Lhilac and his minions.

Meanwhile, in the 'regular' world. It was 9 PM. Daiyu had been dismissed from work two hours earlier than usual. She boarded public transport, heading to her apartment. Unfortunately, she couldn't secure a seat because all the seats were occupied before she came on the bus. She saw no need to go to Ivan's residence to check if he was home; he had informed her that he wasn't going to be around. All the while she had been at work, she couldn't take her mind off Ivan. She called his line on three occasions in the afternoon, but it rang without answer.

'He must be busy,' she thought, trying to justify the reason for Ivan not answering her calls.

Now that she was on the bus, she couldn't help but call his line again. It rang and rang, and just when she had given up, at the interval before the ringing would end, there was an answer.

"Oh my gosh, Ivan! What have you been doing?"

Shockingly, a female voice replied, "Hello?"

"Yes, hello, who am I speaking with?" Daiyu asked, her confusion palpable.

"You are certainly not speaking with the owner of the phone," the female voice replied, a touch humorous. "The owner is currently extremely busy."

"He is busy?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Bye. Wait, hold on! Excuse me, who are you?"

"Umm…" the female voice hesitated, deliberating on an answer. She decided to say something humorous. She said, "I'm his girlfriend. A lovely friend."

"You are his lovely what?!" Daiyu exclaimed loudly in shock, forgetting that she was in a public space.

The lady with Ivan's phone panicked, surprised that the person she was speaking to misunderstood her joke. By that reaction, she understood that the lady she was speaking to was Ivan's actual girlfriend.

Oh, shit. What have I done?

The lady holding Ivan's phone terminated the call and moved away from the open chest where the adventurers kept their phones. Apparently, Daiyu heard the lady's last sentence as 'his lovely girlfriend'. Daiyu harangued at the phone, not knowing the call had been terminated. Her outburst drew the other passengers' attention onto her. After a while, she noticed that the call was terminated, and then she noticed the eyes staring at her. She was a mix of embarrassment and anger.

She seethed within herself, cursing herself for falling for Ivan's 'lies'.

All men are the same. Men are scum.

She wondered why Ivan would cheat on her now that the relationship was still very young. She concluded that Ivan must have been seeing the lady before he came lying to her.

But why would he come to me?

The only answer she could come up with was 'lust'. She thought that Ivan lusted after her. Tears welled up in her eyes. She fought herself from crying on the bus, but ultimately, teardrops streamed down her cheeks.

One of the passengers seated behind noticed her emotional condition and was kind enough to give up their seat for her. Daiyu put her face between her knees and wept. She felt so betrayed and empty. Little did she know her tears were unwarranted, and she was crying because of a silly joke turned into a profound misunderstanding.

At the Vate Prison realm, Level Nine. Ivan and his colleagues sat on the floor, exhausted from successfully clearing this level. The next level was the final one, and they would find the exit gate.

Ivan had accumulated over one hundred thousand EXP points. He had now met one of the criteria to level up to Bronze rank.