Crafting Death: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 2)

by Nephilim Night

  The hatch closed behind us, and the vehicle roared to life, speeding up the street and past the intersection where the inn used to be. The strange thing was that the gate was on the street and not where the sakura tree had been. Not that it mattered to me.

  I looked through the slits out onto the street. Life looked the same as it used to mere weeks ago before all of this shit happened. The streets were littered with cars and pedestrians, though there was a heavy military and police presence. Stores were open, and everything had returned to normal from what I could see, except for the ever-present danger from the rifts and the tower.

  We didn’t speak, not wanting the others to hear anything we had to tell each other. The soldiers sitting inside shot us nervous glances and fidgeted with their guns, but no one did anything stupid.

  Some ten minutes later, we stopped in front of a massive building. I recognized the building as the city hall from the body’s previous memories. A good dozen tanks were arrayed in a defensive line, with more APCs behind them and several helicopters off to the right of the building. A very heavy presence of soldiers told me this place was probably the best-guarded building in the city. Several hundred soldiers were milling outside, though all their guns were pointed toward the road and my left. I stared in the same direction and noticed the bullet holes in the sides of the buildings and the road. They must have fought someone who came for them or something they were protecting.

  “You guys sure know how to throw a party,” I said drily. “Not that all of this would even be remotely enough to stop me.”

  “Sir, please refrain from making threats,” one of the soldiers said. His voice was neutral, but he glared at me for some reason. “We already have enough on our hands.”

  “Oh? What does that mean?” Lana asked curiously.

  “You’ll be briefed by the general,” the man responded as the APC came to a halt. He got up and slid the door aside, then exited the vehicle along with the other soldiers.

  My eyes met Lana’s for a brief moment where she chuckled and shook her head.

  “How far have we fallen, huh? We could have destroyed entire countries in our past if we wished to, and now we’re being escorted to get debriefed.”

  “It could be worse,” I replied. “See, we could be the one doing the debriefing and sitting it out on the back lines. Screw that.”

  I winked once and then exited the APC. Lana followed close on my heels as we walked past the two rows of soldiers up the stairs and into the building. Every single pair of eyes was glued on us, and I had no idea at whom they were directed between Lana and me. The armor I wore looked… like something from video games, but she looked as if her body was made from pure lightning.

  The men guiding us beelined straight for the elevator, and we followed as I tried not to get annoyed by all the stares and whispers. It became problematic when I didn’t fit inside with the seven others, so five had to stay behind.

  The man who had talked to us inside the vehicle managed to squeeze into the elevator along with Lana and myself. He pressed a series of buttons and then pulled his phone out as it rang.

  “Sir? Yes, sir, we’ll be right up. Yes, they’re both with me.”

  I glanced over at Lana, who seemed bored by all of this. I, on the other hand, felt slightly nervous. But why? Because I was going to meet another human? Or was it because of the unknown?

  Before I had a chance to ask anything, the elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open. The man stepped out first and waited for us to follow him. To either side of the hallway stood more armed soldiers, but these held large guns, similar to what Mark had used when we fought the kobold lord. They were big and had wide barrels. I wondered how many hits I could take before going down.

  The door at the far end of the corridor was pitch-black, as were the glass walls. The paint was unevenly distributed, so I guessed it must have been done over the last few days. The door shot open and a woman in her late thirties walked out. She wore a pencil-skirt uniform proudly, and long, black hair flowed down her shoulders. She paused and stared at me for a long second, then at Lana.

  “Are you the two… adventurers who came out of the rift?” she asked. Her voice was slightly higher in pitch, as she surely hadn’t expected to meet a brute such as myself, or maybe she’d expected a monster? “Seeing your getup, I must be right.”

  I stared at her and stood there, my eyes boring holes in the woman. She had this arrogant aura surrounding her, along with a tone I disliked.

  “Care to tell us who you are before you ask any questions?”

  “Oh, right.” She chuckled at my retort. “Linda is the name, Linda Matos. I’m the secretary to General Kade, who is currently otherwise busy. I’ll help you get registered so you can move freely around the city.”

  “Wait,” I asked as she started walking. “Why would I need a permit? It’s not like anyone can stop me if I wish it.”

  She stopped and turned back around. “Sir Cerna, was it? There are many things you probably don’t know, but over the last seven days, all kinds of things have happened, of which I’m not sure how many I can talk about. You’ll have to wait for General Kade to finish his meeting; then you can ask him all about it.”

  “I’m a busy man, and I don’t have much time before I need to go back, so it wouldn’t be smart to make us wait, Miss Linda.”

  Lana chuckled behind me, and the secretary shot her a reproachful glance but quickly turned away after a stray lightning bolt almost set her skirt on fire.

  “Please, can you follow me and make my already crappy day just a bit easier?”

  I could appreciate someone direct, especially someone who’d already had a crappy day, as she just said. Whatever. I was curious about it all anyway, and there wouldn’t be any better chance to learn about the current state than to meet this general.

  “Lead the way.”

  She flashed me a weak smile and nodded. “Thank you.”

  She turned about again, her hair flying wildly in all directions. Lana sent me a mean look when I stared down at the woman’s ass as it moved around inside the skirt, and even hit my shoulder, but I didn’t even feel it. Still, I averted my gaze and instead looked around the place. Not that there was anything to see when everything had been painted black. What a damn dark place.

  We stopped again after a short minute of keeping up with the woman. Several desks sat in a crowded room, all occupied by other young women and a single young man. They were busy typing something on their computers, but when we stopped there, everyone looked up and gasped.

  “We’ll measure them right away,” Linda said to one of the women, who looked slightly older than the rest. “I have a feeling you’ll have your hands full with this guy.”

  “Sure thing, Secretary Matos. You can start right away. No one’s in the chamber at this time.”

  “Chamber? Measuring? What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, annoyed by the lack of context they were providing. It was as if they expected me to know what was going on.

  “During the fourth day of the blackout, or rather after the rifts had been closed, our government was contacted by the—beings who changed our world. They were given several tools to try to help with cataloging the awakened and their power levels. One of them is the chamber. It can measure your power and assign a rank based on the measurements.”

  “Oh? And why would I need to do that?”

  “Because if we ever find ourselves in need, we can—ask for assistance. And the public is already going wild over some of the higher-ranked awakened.”

  “So we’re called awakened?” Lana asked as she pushed past me.

  The secretary nodded. It was just then that I noticed the dark circles around her eyes. Must have been hard at work over the last several days, but so had we.

  “And what rank is the general? And the strongest ranked so far?”

  “The general is ranked A, and two of the strongest who hold the other two rifts are ranked S.”

  “
Oh? Now I’m curious.” I chuckled. “Go on. Lead me to that chamber.”

  She looked at me and then at my broad shoulders. Sure, I wasn’t that wide, but the armor was.

  “You’ll have to—enter sideways. The door isn’t quite wide enough.”

  “You need to slim down, Vik.” Lana laughed.

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Women always knew how to pour salt on a wound, but then I remembered something. “Deactivate Armor.”

  The suit retracted, leaving me standing in the black and red kimono. I followed Linda and wiggled through the doorway and into a chamber that looked as alien to me as—well, anything, really. A large shiny orb stood at the center of the room on a marble pedestal, or rather floated several inches above it. A round, black base lay right next to the pedestal and glowed slightly.

  “Please stand on that base and hold both of your hands out over the orb. Keep them there for thirty seconds so we get a perfect reading.”

  I nodded and stepped forward, standing on the piece of oval stone. The orb started humming and strobing in and out, glowing and flashing. It was more annoying than it bothered me, really, but I held my hands still. Tiny slithering tendrils appeared around the orb and moved to embrace me. I still stood there motionless and let them surround me, not afraid of what they might do to me. Nothing here screamed danger or murder at me, so I didn’t feel the need to be on edge. Thirty seconds passed, and the tendrils retracted again just as the orb groaned and looked as if it was about to overload.

  “Enough! Please step back!” the secretary yelled from behind the door. “You need to get off the base plate!”

  I did as she said and pulled my hands back. The orb’s constant strobing stopped, and the room’s lights came on again before I had taken a second step. The door shot open, and I was almost pulled out by the secretary. The expression on her face was a mix of fear and something she didn’t understand.

  Lana shrugged when our eyes met, telling me she had no idea either.

  A door burst open on the far side of the room and a man in a dark green uniform waltzed in. To either side of him stood two younger men, both carrying swords. Awakened? Most likely.

  The man stopped in front of me and stared me in the eyes.

  “General Kade,” he snapped. “You are Viktor Cerna?”

  I nodded and shook his offered hand, not wanting to be impolite.

  “I am, General. You sure leave a different impression in comparison to that Harriet guy.”

  “Harriet?” He frowned and thought for a second. “Wait, you mean Colonel Herrion?”

  “Yeah, that one.”

  I caught Lana rolling her eyes and letting out a barely audible chuckle.

  “I don’t know if I should laugh like your lady or cry, Viktor. Herrion has served this country for years and deserves respect, even if the person giving that respect is you.”

  “Oh? I already told you guys that I’m not from this world, so I don’t care about your hierarchy and—well, anything else. I will cooperate up to the point it doesn’t affect my own goals, General.”

  He narrowed his eyes on mine again and suddenly jumped forward, his hands both balled into fists. To his bad luck, I was more than twice as fast in comparison to other humans. My left hand shot up and deflected both of his blows while my right pulled the oversized Tyranitaur Blade from the pouch. I felt my arm swing on its own, but then it stopped inches from his neck. The two men at his sides had their hands on their swords, but Lana held the edge of her blade to one of the men’s necks.

  “I see your ranking wasn’t a mistake, Viktor.” The general chuckled as he pushed my sword away slowly, using the back of his hand. “I’m sorry, but I needed to test you. I hope you can forgive an old man for going so far.”

  I frowned and stashed my sword back into the pouch before I spoke. “You don’t want to do that. Next time someone dies.”

  “Oh, no, I won’t, trust me. This was all just so we can verify that you’re also an S-rank awakened. Or rather an S+ in comparison to the others.”

  “S+? And that’s impressive?”

  His eyebrows shot up and he looked seriously taken off guard.

  “I’m the strongest man in the military, Viktor, and I’m a hard A. You are roughly ten times as strong if the numbers don’t lie.”

  I nodded at Lana. “I want to see her numbers as well,” I said, cutting off anything he might have said after.

  “Oh, I want to see them too. An S+ and—maybe we can make a bet? I’ll wager whatever you want that she’s going to be an A+.”

  “Anything I want?”

  “Anything. But what do I get in turn?”

  “A favor? I can do one thing you want me to.”

  He grinned and nodded happily.

  “But if I win, I need information. A lot of it.”

  “Lady Lana, will you follow the secretary so Viktor and I can see who owes whom?”

  She looked up at me and flashed a smile before she walked off, following right after Secretary Linda.

  “Where are the results shown?” I asked, turning back to the general.

  “On the main screen behind you,” he replied, pointing past my left shoulder.

  I turned around and saw myself plastered next to my ranking, a big bold S+. There was a diagram that showed where my powers lay, but I didn’t understand it at first sight. Not that it mattered.

  The screen turned black, and then Lana’s image appeared on the screen instead of mine, just as the room vibrated slightly. A diagram appeared next to her image along with an S- rank. Kade couldn’t seem to believe his eyes, but he held his tongue.

  “Would you care to have lunch with me? Or a drink and have a chat? You’re looking for information anyway, right?”

  “Where?”

  “I’ll have them bring something up to my office. There’s a small dining table there that can easily seat four people.”

  He looked as if he wanted to say something but then thought better of it.

  “Sure, we’ll have lunch with you.”

  He nodded slowly just as the door to the chamber opened. Lana walked out and rushed over to me.

  “What did I score?” she asked excitedly, but her accidental touch sent lightning flashing across my chest.

  I winced and pointed up at the screen as she smiled apologetically. “See for yourself.”

  Her eyes went wide as she read the result.

  “Hah, you got better gear! That’s the only difference!” She laughed.

  “Wait, no,” Kade interrupted. “Gear isn’t calculated, just the physical and spiritual power. At least that’s what—they said.”

  “Well then, General. Seeing there are many things we need to talk about, why don’t we get going?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “That’s quite a story, Viktor. But yes, I’ll keep it to myself,” the general said as he let out a deep sigh. His facial expression told me he wasn’t quite taking me seriously, but the show of power from earlier was enough to tell him I wasn’t ordinary.

  “Good, now it’s your turn, Kade. Who are those that gave you the gifts? The Gods?”

  His eyebrows rose for the—I’d lost count of how many times I’d elicited that reaction already.

  “How—no, you’re right. It doesn’t matter how you know. It was someone who looked like an ordinary human being, just larger and taller. The testing chamber and equipment were all stored in several containers, and they said every city that’s large enough will get one.”

  “What about the other two rifts? The Green Dragon Gang and the—who holds the third?”

  “Ahh, that would be the Apocalypse Association. Lunatics. All of them. They’re praying for the end of the world, but they’re far less dangerous. The Green Dragon Gang is going around killing and looting without holding back, while the Association fights back wherever they can from one side, and we do so from the other. We’re lucky the Green Dragons are located in between us.”

  Kade’s hand reached down, an
d he opened a drawer in his desk, then pulled out a cigar. He offered it to me, and I took it, interested in how it would taste. Lana shook her head, but she sipped eagerly on the whiskey the secretary poured us. The other woman sat behind her desk and was mostly quiet, asking questions meekly whenever it piqued her interest.

  “I want information on the Green Dragons. Their boss, the smaller bosses, the gang leaders, the—even the members. I want all of it.”

  “Green Dragons, huh? May I ask why?”

  “They owe me several lives, and most of all, one of theirs used to own my—a woman I know. I want to know if he has any children, a wife, family. All of it.”

  He stared at me intently. The man wasn’t dumb, he knew how to read between the lines, but truth be told, I was pretty blunt.

  “I can give you a list of their leadership, but that’s it. We don’t keep tabs on such things, but since they own a rift and all had taken their assessment test, we put a list together—well, just in case we needed it.”

  “And they let you do it without issue?”

  “The first few days were mostly peaceful, and they hadn’t started any trouble, but it’s over the last three days that everything got out of hand.”

  Kade looked over to Linda and nodded. She started typing on her computer and printed out several documents. She put them in a binder and then brought it over to me. I didn’t look inside and instead kept eye contact with the general.

  “Are you interested in a trade?”

  “Oh? What can you offer me that I can’t get my hands on in the military?” Kade asked, an amused expression gracing his face.

  “Weapons, armor, crystals, special—things only available to me.”

  He nodded appreciatively and smirked. “What do you want in turn?”

  “I need the best anti-tank rifle you can get your hands on, ammo enough to last a lifetime, a lot of cognac, soda, candy, some livestock. All kinds of things.”