Atlas Rising a LitRPG gaming adventure by Blake Severson (top 10 books of all time .txt) 📗

You dealt 1 HP damage to Squirrel.

He attempted to pull back, to thrust again, but his hand froze. Standing up straight, he watched the squirrel in confusion. It spun to look directly at him before. Atlas saw that same silhouette from earlier, but this time it showed his arm lifting and his dagger facing an upward position. Contrary to the image, Atlas just freaked out and threw up his hands. A sharp pain stung his arm.

A furry faced stared at him with beady eyes over the edge of his forearm. The squirrel released its bite and scurried up his arm. The ghostly image returned and showed an arm swinging across his own, into the path of the squirrel. Atlas swung his other arm in the general direction the image showed, but it breezed past and didn’t stop the creature. Teeth dug into his bicep and the sharp pain returned. This process repeated one more time until the creature took a bite of his shoulder and then jumped back to the ground.

Squirrel dealt 3 HP damage to you with Triple Bite.

That’s not possible. Is this thing higher level than me? He looked down at his skin and saw no marks left from the bites. The squirrel had one small blood spot on it from his attack. Atlas concentrated on the little animal and a small bar appeared over its head. The bar showed a small missing section that accounted for a little less than a quarter of its health missing. Beside the bar was a number 1.

So it’s level 1, but somehow did three times more damage than me?

Atlas shifted and realized his arm moved again, so he took another stab at the animal. The image swung in a wide arc, but Atlas performed a straight thrust. The blade bit into the creature’s side, but then he froze in place again before standing back up.

What the hell is going on? The image must be important or I wouldn’t keep seeing it. Maybe I should try to mimic it?

The furry animal leaped toward him again, and Atlas waited for the ghostly motion to appear. As soon as he saw it, he swung his arm directly through the image at the approaching monster. His arm flew forward and his knife found empty air. He tried to swat at the incoming enemy with his other hand, but it wouldn’t move. The little guy landed on him a moment after, and its teeth dug into flesh. It scurried up his arm in the same motion as before and bit him three total times as he flailed uselessly at the tiny monster.

Squirrel dealt 3 HP damage to you with Triple Bite.

Frustration set in and his anger rose. Atlas couldn’t figure out how a level 1 Squirrel was besting him. It shouldn’t be possible. Is the game bugged? He gritted his teeth and swung his knife at the animal again. This time, when the image appeared, he carefully shifted the path of his own knife to move in time with the image. To his surprise, it struck the enemy without fail and he could still move. The image appeared again, and he tried to match it. The second strike was a sideways slash, and he was close to right on track. The squirrel collapsed and an unexpected message greeted him.

You dealt 3 HP damage to Squirrel with Double Slash.

Squirrel died.

You gained 5 experience.

Whoa. An addition? So this whole combat system works on mimicking movements? Interesting. Atlas walked to the corpse and reached down to grab it. A box popped into his view and showed him the items available.

Loot - Squirrel (Level 1)

•     Raw Squirrel Hide

•     Raw Squirrel Meat

So, some meat and fur, huh? No coins magically appearing or anything? Atlas selected both items, and a rolled up bundle of fur and a chunk of meat on a tiny bone appeared in his hands. Hair from the hide littered the surface of the meat, and he looked at his surroundings. One of the nearby plants was a broadleaf variety, and he pulled two of its leaves and wrapped the meat in it before stowing the items in his small bag.

A glance toward the ground showed the body of the squirrel already gone. With a shrug, Atlas continued his trip. It took him another ten minutes of walking before he finally spotted a cluster of small plants near a large rock. The blue and white streaks over the plant drew him closer. When the vase-like shape resolved, he knew he was in luck. He looked at the plant for a moment before the name, Weer Bloom, appeared over it.

Atlas reached down and grabbed the base of the nearest plant. With a quick heave, he ripped it free from the ground. He held the plant in his outstretched hand and waited until it identified. Destroyed Weer Bloom appeared over the now wilting plant.

“What the hell!” Atlas yelled as the plant slowly withered and disintegrated in his hand. Before the entire plant faded into dust, he noticed a broken section on the main root stem. Is it really so picky I have to harvest the entire plant intact?

With a frustrated sigh, he dug through his bag until he found the small trowel Zaina gave him. He knelt near the next plant and thrust it toward the ground. His hand froze in midair as he spotted the increasingly familiar ghostly image. He watched the illusion as it dug into the ground a few inches from the edge of the plant. With careful precision, he tried to mimic the movement. His movement didn’t align perfectly, but it must have been close since the image changed to show him putting pressure on the handle to pop up some dirt. The actions shifted again and showed him placing the trowel in a new spot. He gingerly copied the movements until the ground around the plant popped up.