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

by Nephilim Night

  “Why so scared? I’m not going to hurt you.”

  A crackle of thunder resounded from up ahead at the cavern, drawing my attention, and was followed by a deafening roar. I cursed under my breath and started running.

  Chapter Twenty

  A big-ass tyranitaur snapped his teeth at Lana, who danced around him. She was steadily whittling away the shield, but it wasn’t letting her do anything beyond that. The sword she used, despite being pretty strong, didn’t add enough damage to finish the battle quickly.

  I jumped from ten yards away, holding my halberd behind me, and used my first skill as I came flying in.

  Damage Notification:

  You have used << BASH >>.

  You have used 60 Enma.

  You have inflicted 1,443 damage to Tyranitaur.

  You have inflicted 31% Defense Debuff.

  The shield blew me backward, and I barely managed to catch myself from falling over to my back. Lana used the moment of indecision the monster showed, and sent a devastating flurry of attacks right at its head. The shield held, but I could swear I saw a glint of orange in there.

  I pushed myself up and hit the tail next, slamming the halberd down overhead, but it bounced off.

  Damage Notification:

  You have used << X-SLASH >>.

  You have used 70 Enma.

  You have inflicted 986 damage to Tyranitaur.

  You have inflicted Bleed Debuff.

  You have inflicted 188 Bleed damage to

  Tyranitaur.

  A thick red gash appeared on the upper part of the tail, just above the tailbone, and started bleeding profusely. An arrow struck the side and passed right through, but I doubted it did much damage, as it barely managed to pass the thick hide. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the group of five running our way.

  “Lana, disengage! I have it!” I yelled over the growling and snapping of teeth.

  The spiked tail swung about and caught me in the side, cracking my shield.

  Damage Notification:

  You have received 241 damage from Tyranitaur.

  Critical hit!

  I cursed as I flew several feet through the air and fell back down. Another arrow flew overhead and struck the creature for the second time, this time dealing more damage, I knew, as the arrow went slightly deeper in.

  Sebastian charged past me and slammed his shield into the tyranitaur. I pushed myself up and ran over as the monster started swaying about.

  Damage Notification:

  You have used << FOCUS >>.

  You have used 100 Enma.

  Jason’s spear struck the tailbone, the same spot I’d hit earlier. Lana picked the same spot, and suddenly the gash grew bigger to the point the bone beneath showed.

  Damage Notification:

  You have inflicted 2,344 damage to Tyranitaur.

  A wave of buffs washed over me, and I grinned, knowing the tyranitaur was ours this time. Scar appeared as well, but on top of its back, sending wave after wave of lightning into its shield, cracking it after several seconds. The monster had no idea what was going on suddenly and was obviously lost, but it was all over by the time it regained its senses. Several more blows and the tyranitaur lay dead on the ground.

  Notification:

  How to kill a Boss? (Level 1)

  Killed 4/5 Boss-rank monsters for Level 2.

  The group cheered and laughed as the boss lay dead at our feet, and most of them got a new achievement. Beautiful. I busied myself with carving the thing up while the rest chatted or intently watched what I was doing. By the time I was done, a new notification lit up my face.

  Notification:

  ITEM RECEIVED:

  Tyranitaur Bone x 22

  Tyranitaur Skin x 14

  Tyranitaur Fang x 9

  Tyranitaur Scale x 88

  Tyranitaur Core x 1

  Tyranitaur Tail Spike x 1

  Enma Crystal Rank 2 x 38

  A second core. Now that was something I wouldn’t have thought possible after getting the first. Either Veles or someone else was helping us, or I had rolled a fifty on a die that dealt with my luck.

  “Here,” I said, handing everyone five rank five crystals, leaving the biggest share for myself. “The specialists will keep practicing on the grazlitaurs, killing and butchering them. They’ll do whatever job quests they can in the meanwhile and progress on their own until tomorrow, so please stay away from the creatures.”

  “I’m tired anyway,” Lana muttered. “I need some rest.”

  “Then let’s head back and give them some privacy.”

  Scar disappeared immediately, crawling somewhere far into the back of my mind. I didn’t speak, as I was lost in thought about this place. Would it be a smart thing to do, leaving them all here while we went out?

  Just as we were about to enter the dome, Lana let out a dull scream and disappeared.

  “Lana said she’s fine, don’t worry. She said her Enma is spent, so she couldn’t maintain her physical appearance anymore,” Melina explained hurriedly as she clutched her chest. “But shit, it hurts when she’s inside!”

  “Any idea why it might be?”

  “No, I don’t know. We were merged differently,” Scar replied. “And I need my rest as well, please. My Enma reserves are low, and so are yours.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m feeling great.”

  “I don’t know. The link to your pool is faint, but whatever. Don’t disturb me today.”

  I let out an inward sigh as we proceeded to the inn and went our own ways. I stopped at the entrance and put my hand on Melina’s shoulder. “Do you want to cultivate?”

  “Do I have a choice?” she asked, unsure of how to reply. She was still pressing her chest with both hands as we moved, but her face didn’t tell me anything beyond that she wasn’t feeling well.

  “Melina, I’ll never force you to do anything unless it’s to save your life,” I said and pulled her in for a hug. “I’m here if you decide you want to become stronger, but if you’d rather not, would you mind keeping me company at least?”

  She bit her lower lip as her eyes settled on mine and then darted away into the distance.

  “I’ll join, but I won’t promise anything. Want to take a bath while we’re at it so I don’t have to clean the sheets or our clothes? The black muck doesn’t want to rinse out.”

  “Can you prepare the bath? I’ll have a look to see how our soldier friends are doing.”

  Melina leaned in and planted her lips on mine before she ran off toward the bathhouse. I stared at her back until she disappeared inside and felt… something. It could either have been a sort of pain or longing, or whatever it was. All I really knew was that she’d been the reason.

  I let out a deep sigh and tried to push the feelings aside as I made my way toward the bridge. Most of the soldiers had dropped their gear, and all they had on were their fatigues and their shirts or tank tops. For every male soldier, there was a female counterpart, and it made me pause. Sure, I’d noticed they were about equally represented when they arrived, and I’d done their first meridians, but it was only now that I saw the paired groups.

  “Herrion!” I yelled from across the bridge. I caught him off guard as he was fumbling with an ax off to the side. “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to get accustomed to my ax, sir!” he called back.

  I jumped across the stream and landed next to him with both hands in my pockets. He stopped hammering the wooden stake and dropped the ax, startled.

  “Why are you doing that with an ax? Use your hands and your newfound power.”

  I ripped the stake free from the ground to his big surprise. He’d managed to hammer it down into the ground by a third of its length, but now it was out again and in my hands.

  “Why would you—I just wasted five minutes on hammering that thing!”

  I grabbed the five-foot-long stake with both hands and rammed it into the ground. A foot was all that was left above ground, but it
was more than enough if they planned to tie ropes to it for either a tent or a small boat for the stream. Not that they’d need it, but whatever. I only did it to show him how to go about doing it the easy way.

  “You were saying?”

  “Nothing,” he whispered and stared down at his feet but then looked back up to me. “Is that something we’ll be able to do as well?”

  “You will once you’ve ranked up several times. The best thing you can do until then is to practice doing it. Pull in as much Enma as you can from around you and concentrate it on your hands, then just ram it into the ground.”

  Herrion picked up a second stake, copying what I just did. He stood there for several seconds with his eyes closed as the Enma swirled around him and gathered in his hands. The stake slammed into the ground with decent power, sending it halfway into the ground.

  “Did I just do that?” Herrion muttered as he stared at the tip of the stake.

  “You sure did. Now, practice some more, and you’ll be a champ in no time.”

  I pulled ten crystals from my pouch and handed them to him.

  He stared at my hand in shock and disbelief. “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll give you another twenty pieces, one each for the twenty soldiers. Make sure they all get a rest once they’re done with that… is that the storage building?”

  “Yeah, it is,” he replied and looked over his shoulder, but his head turned back around pretty quickly. I could almost feel his gaze burn a hole in my hand. “We’ll sleep outside in tents for the night, every couple in one. We got more than enough land, don’t we? Tomorrow we can start cutting down logs and building a lodge, where we’ll be staying.”

  I shrugged and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry that I can’t offer you the bathhouse, but it’s far too small for a large group of people. We bathed in the stream for the first few days, and seeing all of you are military, you might as well have a group bath. Considering all of the soldiers here are couples, I assume?”

  “They are, and that’s the reason why we picked them to be stationed here in the first place. They have no families back in Sylmar, no kids, no obligations.”

  “Wait, what have you told these people? This isn’t a one-way trip. They can go back whenever you let them,” I whispered, not wanting anyone to overhear us.

  “Sir, please leave that to the military. General Kade respects you a great deal, but he told me to ask you not to interfere with our chain of command. And decisions for that matter. Please.”

  I put my hands up on instinct and shook my head. “No, Herrion, I won’t interfere. Your army, your responsibility. We’ll provide food and the necessary equipment with which you’ll start working your way up, but that’s about it.”

  “And I’m not asking for anything more than that, sir.”

  “Good. When do you want to eat?”

  Herrion looked down at his watch and thought about his response, but I cut him off. “Don’t answer that. Go find Donald and Rita in an hour or two from now. They’ll prepare food for your people.”

  I left him standing there and jumped back across the stream, then headed for the kitchen. He yelled something to my back, but I couldn’t make it out, as I was already in front of the kitchen.

  “Rita?” I yelled from outside.

  “In here!” came a voice from inside the cold storage. “What is it?”

  “Hey, I told Herrion that he should find you when his people need food. Is that alright? Maybe a meal a day? They can take care of the rest.”

  I leaned on the door frame and stared inside. Donald and Rita were fooling around, and she was all flushed while he stared back at me with a sheepish expression on his face. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

  “Yeah, sorry. Donald was helping me stack some of the meat.”

  “Just as she said, boss.” Donald laughed.

  “Whatever. You’re older than me, so I don’t care either way. Are you fine with kitchen duty? And is there any way I can make it easier on you?”

  “Sure, why not? I’ve got nothing better to do,” Rita replied and walked past me up to the freezer. “Donald dear, why don’t you help me carry two of those big slices?”

  I chuckled and shook my head as I left the kitchen. The two hadn’t shown much when it came to their emotions, so it was almost scary to watch. Lost in thought about the two, I found myself holding the handle to the bathhouse’s sliding door. The door was slid shut, so I guessed she was already done preparing. I slid it aside slowly and walked in, shutting it behind me again.

  The room was dark with only the lanterns giving off the usual light, though it looked slightly different than usual. There was a hint of green in there this time, but I had no idea why and what it was from. A spicy smell wafted up to my nostrils, sending shivers down my spine.

  “You sure kept me waiting after insisting I cultivate.” Melina chuckled from inside the tub. She beckoned me to join her, so I did. It would never get old, being in there along with her and just relaxing.

  “Sorry, had to ask the older couple if they would make food for the soldiers, and found them fooling around in the cold storage.”

  “Oh? Really?”

  I nodded as I placed my kimono on a nearby chair, pulled out several rank two crystals, and then cracked them lightly before I slid them into the water. A mass of energy rose from inside the water and struck me in the face, almost stunning me for a second.

  “Yeah, really. She was all flustered and red in the face. Said he was helping her stack the meat,” I muttered, trying to shake the feeling off.

  “Oh? What kind of meat were they talking about?” She smiled mischievously and slid toward me.

  “Can you hold it in until we’re done?”

  “I can, but it’s like asking a hungry man if he can wait for another hour because you want to make sure the table is set nicely.”

  I let out a sigh and pulled her in, then kissed her forehead as she slumped into my arms.

  “I missed you while I was out,” I whispered and kissed her neck.

  “Did you bring me what I asked for?”

  “And then some. Here,” I whispered, pulling out a small box of extremely tasty chocolate, the same I ate back at the tower. I pulled out a small piece and slid it into her mouth.

  She stared at me and then grinned as it melted in her mouth. “How much was it?”

  I shrugged as I gave her another piece. “I don’t know. I promised them weapons and armor, so I didn’t ask.”

  “Anything else?”

  “All kinds of candy, soda, hygienic necessities, alcohol… I don’t know, it’s all inside boxes inside the storage. We’ll need to sort the stuff later.”

  She pursed her lips and leaned her head on my chest as she halfway slid into the water. “What’s next?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Which meridian do you want to do next?”

  “What about the shoulders? I think we could do both at once, so you would hit rank six.”

  “Oh? Two at a time? Won’t it hurt like a bitch?”

  “Probably will, but if you want to even remotely keep up and give Lana a chance to become stronger so she can protect you when I’m not around, then yeah.”

  She let out a sigh and slid up my chest again, placing a kiss on my lips next. “Go on before I regret it.”

  I caught her off guard when I grabbed her shoulders, dislocated them, and stabbed my index fingers into her flesh. I was already done before she could even protest, but that was only the easy part. Her eyes bulged outward, and her mouth opened in protest, but no sound was coming out as I poured all the Enma I could into the holes, keeping the shoulders out of position so they couldn’t regenerate by themselves. We needed to do this if she was to break through two times.

  A deafening scream finally escaped her mouth as tears started rolling down her cheeks. I felt like screaming along with her, but I knew this was the best and fastest way, and since she was familiar with the pain, she’d have to
fight through it.

  The holes started closing as an immense amount of Enma surged through her, directly from the crystals. First the one shoulder and then the other as I started shuddering and felt her drain all of my own power through the link we’d accidentally established. But how? I hadn’t opened any kind of link between us.

  All her pain flowed into me, and I could see she was visibly relieved when I clenched my teeth, now feeling all the anguish instead of her. Then she frowned, as if understanding what was going on, but the pure bliss that washed over her was too much for her to do anything. Two ranks in a span of a minute were too much for her to recover right away. She’d need to process the power for at least two weeks if it was to make her as strong as possible and work on repairing the foundation, or at least what could be repaired.

  The pain lessened and then disappeared altogether as we stared at each other, lost in each other’s gaze. I wasn’t going to rank up today, no way. Everything hurt so bad, but I didn’t mind. She’d reached a very high point, one the specialists or the soldiers probably never would. Who would show them how to progress but me? And I wasn’t very fond of teaching others.

  Melina scrubbed my skin clean, and I did the same for her before we got out, not even in the mood for anything more than a deep kiss. I strode to the kitchen first and pulled out whatever I’d brought back for Sarah, Mark, the baby, Donald, and Rita. I kept some alcohol, most of the chocolates and sweets, and half of the soda for ourselves.

  I instructed Mark and Donald to teach the soldiers how to craft weapons, and then we all pulled our blueprints for the day. The amount Donald had on him was enough for over eighty pieces of armor and thirty weapons, so I let them have at it as we went up to the bedroom, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep before we could even pull the blankets up.

  The next morning Veles greeted us in the bedroom as we woke up. She sat in the lone recliner and stroked Scar’s neck as he sat next to her. Damn wolf really knew how to piss me off with the dawn. She remained silent as if waiting for me to speak first, so I did after I sat upright and woke Melina up.