Poor Cultivation (The Slayer of Heaven Book 1): A LitRPG Wuxia Series

by Alan Bard

  Eli let go of the sobbing Jelena, picked her up, and pressed her against him.

  “Okay…” She sobbed. “All right.”

  I stood in the middle of the meadow for everyone to see me, and clapped my hands.

  “Since we’re staying together, I have some news for you: I have an unusual ability. I… Well… I can feel animals and delve into their minds. They fulfill my orders as people do Vicki’s. As long as the system doesn’t reveal my abilities to our enemies, we can spring a nasty surprise on them.”

  I wasn’t going to tell them anything else yet. Eli, whispering something into Jelena’s ear, switched his attention to me.

  “So that’s how you got the goats! What else can you do?”

  “Right now, I’m so hungry and weak that I can’t even control a mouse,” I answered evasively.

  Victoria unfolded a bundle wrapped in paper, and handed me a piece of cured meat.

  “Eat then. Your life, as it turns out, is the most valuable one right now.”

  I shared the piece with everyone but took the biggest one for myself.

  You have consumed 312 kcal.

  Physical characteristics have been partially restored.

  Transformation Progress: + 0.04%

  And then, it dawned on me. Transformation didn’t work while we were starving, because it couldn’t get energy. That was why the system had been silent for so long. I couldn’t help but wonder if all my efforts to improve would be taken into account later, or if all the invaluable experience would disappear due to malnutrition.

  The air trembled lightly. I clenched my fists.

  “Do you feel that?” Rio gasped. “There it is again! Like something is trying to reach us.”

  “Reach us?” Eli was confused.

  “I don’t know how else to describe it. Maybe not reach, but break through to us… Damn, it’s gone… I don’t want to stay in this place anymore.”

  Letters flashed in front of my eyes again.

  Calorie deficiency: 175 kcal

  Intellect and physical characteristics have been reduced by 5%.

  Carbohydrates would work better, but where could I get them? There were no Sugar Trees visible nearby.

  “Rio, we’ll be leaving soon. Victoria, there must be plenty of edible roots, berries, and fruits somewhere around here.”

  She nodded. “Sure, but no one explained anything to me, and the neural network, as you can see, is stingy with tips. I’m sorry, but I’m not willing to be a taste-tester. One guy from my cohort tried some pink berries that looked like wild rose buds, and he ended up turning on us. I had to keep him in check for three days. It’s a pity that you’re a zoologist and not a botanist.”

  “Find us a goat then,” Rio said, and rubbed his hands. “No, a rabbit, its meat is softer.”

  “Fuck off then. I have to be alone.”

  Holding the Knife, I lied down on the ground, trying to relax. Unfortunately, everyone kept staring at me, not letting me concentrate.

  “Get lost, I said!”

  I imagined my mind breaking up into a million particles and flying off in all directions in search of animals. Cultivator pulsated on my arm.

  Attention, Nick!

  You can only control the minds of wild animals for 30 seconds!

  I almost choked on the sensations: beneath us, in the ground, there was a colony of rodents and bugs, and at first, I perceived them as a whole. Moles, worms, ants—all that was swarming, mating, rejoicing, and suffering.

  I disconnected, set more precise search parameters, but still couldn’t find any rabbits, goats, or wild boars. But, high in the sky, right above us, I sensed a raven.

  I guess we can eat it. I’d eat a rat how hungry I am right now.

  I carefully slithered into the bird’s mind. The raven felt danger and flapped its wings, but I quickly took control and reassured it that everything was fine.

  The next moment, I was looking through its eyes, and I saw the island from above. The view was breathtaking. The whole flying thing felt like playing a musical instrument, the mechanics and tunes of which only birds could understand.

  Attention, Nick! Loss of control in 15 seconds!

  I focused and saw a clearing on a plateau. Tiny dots were standing frozen on it. To the west, there was a green valley, behind which a whitish fog swirled—the mysterious center of the island. To the east were mountains and a huge quarry, where giant slabs of stone grew from the ground, which either someone didn’t manage to cut out or had thrown there in a hurry.

  Loss of control in 5 seconds… 4…

  I made the raven go down and collapse, folding its wings. The bird pushed me out of its mind before it crashed.

  Eli’s joyful cry came from behind the bushes. The girls, however, were more interested in how I was doing.

  Victoria sat down nearby. Jelena pretended that she needed to go the other way and passed by me.

  “I saw through its eyes,” I said under my breath. “We are near the quarries.”

  “Great news,” Victoria whispered, but there was no joy in her voice. “But I would prepare before we start poking around.”

  I seemed to be fine, but I kept feeling like someone was looking at me from behind. I wanted to scratch my back. The air vibrated again.

  Something was heading toward us.

  Eli returned, holding the raven in his hand. Rio was right behind him. The latter sat down on the ground with his legs crossed and looked around, as if he had also sensed something.

  We stared in horror as a portal began to form near us, tearing space as if it were made of fabric. Whatever had been trying to find us, finally appeared.

  Eli’s eyes widened. Rio jumped up and backed away, holding on to the nunchucks hidden behind his belt.

  Victoria recoiled and yelled, “Shit! They’ve found us!”

  Chapter 27

  THE ADVANCE

  “Listen, I’ll activate the Portal-blocker. If we don’t get out of here while it’s working, we’re dead!” Victoria pulled out an artifact—a stick of a strange shape—from her pocket and snapped it in half.

  Victoria has activated a [Blocker] artifact.

  All portals within a 300 feet radius will be blocked for 10 minutes.

  By this time, the portal had become a clear semicircle with jagged edges, woven from thousands of fireflies. The man that had begun to emerge from it froze in place.

  I heard a weird hiss in my head, as if someone were trying to tune an old-fashioned radio.

  There was fear in Victoria’s eyes. I shared her panic as we ran through the forest toward the mountains. We never looked back, feeling as if something might be gaining in on us. Only then did I realize how much I had built my endurance thanks to training and the neural network.

  Simon and his gang were on our trail. Rio was running next to me. Eli and the girls were right behind us.

  I was wondering if these frikin’ mages could get to us. How fast were their fireballs?

  My temples hurt. I felt pressure… in my mind, like someone was trying to break into it. My ears caught faint whispers, but I couldn’t make out any of the words.

  The sounds behind us suddenly died down. Jelena stumbled over a root and fell. Eli and Victoria rushed to pull her to her feet but she clumsily brushed away the latter’s hand. I didn’t care though; I wasn’t going to be a referee in a girl fight.

  I took a moment to catch my breath, and then we kept on going. Someone reached for my mind again, and I heard an indistinct conversation, spoken in thin voices.

  “How the hell did they find us?” I asked, looking over my shoulder as I ran.

  “I guess they put a Mark on one of us. It’s rare and invisible, and can let them track us. Zeke or Simon could do that…”

  “So there’s nowhere to hide?” Eli snarled.

  “No. At least for an hour.”

  At this point, the alien force entered my mind and consciousness, and Zeke’s voice rattled through my head.

  Give up,
you fools! Just give us Vicki and we won’t hurt you.

  “Mental Block!” One hand in her pocket, Victoria snapped her fingers, activating another artifact and shielding us.

  I was wondering if Zeke was close, or if his mental power could travel great distances to find us.

  “Don’t believe that piece of shit!” Victoria said, panting. “He’ll lie to you, betray you, and take advantage of your trust.”

  “Pft, as if anyone was gonna trust him,” Eli sneered.

  We exited the forest and entered a barren wasteland full of yellow-orange canyons, dotted with strange boulders. For some reason, Victoria was sure that Zeke wouldn’t follow us here. I had no idea why she’d think that. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had a backup plan in case she was wrong. On the other hand, the only other option we had was to fight to the bitter end. Having decided what to do, I felt a little bit calmer.

  We climbed up the steep slope. I turned and saw a group of six tall silhouettes, at whose head I distinguished Zeke’s small figure, advancing quickly toward us. A fireball whizzed ten feet away from us. We jumped into a ditch. We were lying down when the shock wave hit us. I still had no idea where the fireball had come from.

  Victoria has activated the [Sleeping Beauty] artifact.

  All units of other cohorts below the rank of Sergeant within a 300 feet radius will be disabled for 10 minutes.

  That was smart of her—the only problem was that their leaders could deactivate it if they had the right artifact. However, since our enemies were from two different cohorts, they’d need at least two such artifacts, which provided us with some wiggle room. Simon and Zeke were at the high enough rank, but it was unlikely that either of them would go after us alone. We had already proved that mages at their level could be killed. Even by the hands of newbs like us. I just hoped that none of their sidekicks was of a high rank.

  We sprang up and ran, hoping that Victoria’s secret plan would work.

  I turned around and looked down to where we had been a few minutes ago. The artifact had worked to a degree. Simon and Zeke were leaning over the bodies of three fallen guys.

  “Hurry up!” Victoria shouted.

  We kept running, looking for the entrance to the Quarry, or the dungeon, or the catacombs, or… whatever it was. We followed the road around the canyon, to a narrow ledge that led along its side. It was barely fifteen inches wide, and it only got narrower. The guys from the Alliance were under us. We saw two silhouettes split from their group. The ledge was several hundred feet above them, but they didn’t care. They barely looked like humans, more like lizards slithering along the wall.

  With surprising agility and supernatural speed, they were coming up the slope to cut us off. The artifact had no effect on them.

  “Vicki—” I said, and saw a flash coming from below.

  The fireball hit the path ahead of us and caused a minor landslide. Taken unawares, Victoria stumbled and fell right in front of me, and I nearly tripped, jumping over her at the last moment. I went on, driven by inertia—the stones pelted down like rain—and the next moment I realized that our path forward was blocked.

  Two gray figures were already halfway to us. Only then did I realize that they were Mutants, just more powerful and creepy looking that any I had ever seen before.

  Victoria cursed under her breath; before I knew it, she was standing next to me.

  “Hey, Nick, how are you two?” Eli shouted from the other side.

  “Keep running!” I shouted back. “We’ll catch up with you!”

  I had no idea why I said that. I must’ve panicked. I had to get my shit together. I turned to Victoria and tried to look like everything was all right.

  “I twisted my ankle,” she said and bit her lip.

  We stood shoulder to shoulder, fists raised.

  The first mutant shot out like a jack-in-a-box ten feet away from us.

  [Grey Draugr]

  Undead, Reborn Mutant

  A defective ex-unit.

  The creature was almost naked, save for the dirty rags wrapped around its thighs. It was skinny, wiry, and bald. The Draugr lunged at me. Pushing Victoria aside, I activated Pistol Fire.

  Normally, I’d end the skill with a blow to the enemy’s chest, however, at the last moment, someone grabbed my leg, and I fell and hurt myself. The second Draugr had crawled up the slope a little to the right and tripped me. I fell on my back, and the undead creature towered over me, raising its arm to strike. Once its eyes fixed on me, it hissed, showing me its pointed teeth.

  Did you really think that that artifact would stop me? Oh, you fool. Zeke’s voice pierced my mind.

  Here we go again, I thought. Frikin’ mages.

  Zeke, and everything about him, was pissing me off. The Core shuddered at my thought, and I sent a stream of energy not to my fist, but along the Contour to my feet. As usual, when a channel was used for the first time in a fight, a spike of searing pain shot through me. Severe but warm, it gave me strength and transformed my body into a killing machine.

  It felt like a red-hot wire had been stretched through my veins. I caught the Draugr’s fist right in front of my face and squeezed it. At this point, my feet, now wrapped in energy, hit its stomach. The force threw it into the air and over the edge.

  You have dealt a critical blow to [Grey Draugr].

  Damage dealt: 57%

  [Grey Draugr’s] current HP: 40%

  Transformation Progress: +0.03%

  Willpower: +0.4%

  Strength: +0.7%

  A stone flew above my head, hitting the other Draugr that let out a hiss and a howl. Victoria bought me enough time to get to my feet. My spidey sense was telling that this one was much more powerful than its friend. The next moment, its eyes shone and my vision suddenly blurred—I saw a giant winged demon appear above the Draugr and draw a long sword made of bone out of its body. The next moment, the illusion was gone, but the sword was there. The Draugr pointed it at me and grinned.

  It roared and swung, intent on ending this fight. As the blade drew nearer, I saw my entire life flash before my eyes. And that’s when my body and I came to the profound realization that we needed to be more skillful, more agile, and above all, faster. The blade flew past me, grazing my body. I didn’t so much as blink.

  Degree of Deformation: +1.1%

  “Back off, Nick. I’ll get it myself,” Victoria said.

  I wasn’t sure what it was—magic-must-defeat-magic thing? She was definitely no match for this monster in melee combat with her injured leg.

  “Can you control it?!” I shouted.

  “No, Zeke won’t let me!”

  The Draugr attacked. I managed to dodge in the last moment. Activating Pistol Hook, I moved to the left and threw a good punch, making it stagger.

  The bad news was that I still couldn’t combine my skills and keep my combo going since my rank was too low. Such a thing as a cooldown shouldn’t have existed in the real world, but it did. I wanted to follow up Pistol Hook with Pistol Fire but it didn’t work—it was as if something made my body freeze for a little while after each blow. I couldn’t keep showering the Draugr with blows as it kept moving away. The next moment, however, it rushed at me, holding its hand with the sword a little to the side. I only had a moment to react. I fell to my knees, dodging the deadly blow as if I knew exactly where it was going to land.

  The sword whizzed past my head. Time didn’t slow down, but I still saw the blade cut a couple of strands of my hair and hit the wall. I sensed the vibration in the soles of my feet, and heard the stones roll down the slope. The creature hissed, baring its sharp teeth, and swung again to cut off my head.

  I leaned forward and rose to my feet. I reached for the Knife. The blade wasn’t that good, but I had kept it clean and sharp. The knife sliced through flesh like butter; the sword was no help at all. The blade penetrated all the way to the ribs, leaving a huge gash.

  You have dealt a critical blow to [Grey Draugr].

  Damage deal
t: 77%

  [Grey Draugr’s] current HP: 14%

  The Draugr fell to its knees; the sword fell from its beast-like hand and vanished into thin air. Its glance shifted and it began mumbling something under its breath, holding the hand on the wound, trying to staunch the blood. And then it finally fell on its back, dead.

  You have dealt a deadly blow to [Grey Draugr].

  [Grey Draugr’s] status: dead

  “Hey!” A voice came from behind me. “Hurry up!”

  Rio and Eli stood at the top of the landslide. Eli waved to us as Rio descended the slope, jumping from one big stone to another.

  “No, go back!” I shouted. “We’re on our way!”

  Victoria looked directly at me and then down at the Draugr’s corpse. She then nodded and headed toward the two. I hurried after her, looking through the messages about increase in strength and Transformation. Distracted, I looked down. Those under the Sleeping Beauty’s effect were still there, but Zeke and Simon were gone. I was willing to bet that they were somewhere behind us, climbing up the ledge. They were close.

  Victoria hobbled. I let her go first, ready to catch her if she fell. After a while, we got to the other side. Jelena was waiting for us. She fixed Victoria’s ankle. She seemed angry at her, but not at me.

  Once I finally breathed a heavy sigh, a fireball flew over our heads. It fell apart in a shower of flames, having hit nothing but air.

  Sweat dripped down my forehead and into my eyes. I was so exhausted. Summoning my strength, I kept on moving.

  Zeke has activated a [Paralysis] artifact.

  All units of other cohorts below the rank of Sergeant within a 200 feet radius will be paralyzed for 10 minutes.

  All units of other cohorts below the rank of Sergeant within a 300 feet radius will have partial control of their limbs for 10 minutes.

  “You need to fight back!” Victoria told us, her voice nervous. “They are still too far away. Another sixty feet, and we’ll be out of its range.”

  Yeah, if it were only so simple.

  The air suddenly felt dense, and I felt like I was swimming in jelly. Eli was roaring like a bull. Rio was panting, his hands in front of him, tearing apart the invisible barrier. Jelena seemed to be dealing with it better than all of us, as if she had adjusted to the change.