Beginner Quest: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 1)

by Nephilim Night

  A grin replaced the fake smile.

  “I know and I’m glad we got our priorities straight.”

  I couldn’t handle the strange atmosphere anymore and the way she looked at me, so I got up and kissed her.

  “See you soon, alright? Make sure to prepare a bath for us. I want to make you stronger once we’re back.”

  “I’ll make sure you get a grand welcome. Now please go before I start crying.”

  I nodded and leaned in one last time, planting a kiss on her forehead; then I turned away and walked out, leaving her standing there. I could feel her eyes all the while on my back as I walked toward the sakura tree, where everyone was seated in the shade. It was strangely hot outside, and the sun hung high at its zenith above the ryokan.

  “What a damned strange day,” I murmured.

  “What was that, boss?” Gary asked as he played with his guandao.

  “Nothing.” I took in a deep breath and let it out before I started speaking again. “Anyone want to stay behind?”

  “And leave the fun to the rest? No way!” Don laughed.

  “Interesting choice of words.” I laughed back. “But yeah, no fighting means no loot. And if elites drop good stuff, what will a boss drop?”

  “Whatever it is, we’re all in,” Kang added. “We’ve done what we can when it comes to preparation, so now it’s all up to our skill and our balls.”

  “Balls, huh?” I whispered. “Where’s Sandro?”

  “He went ahead,” Mark replied as he joined us.

  “You were with Sarah and the kid?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, we were sitting on the balcony earlier when he said he was going on ahead earlier. Now that I think about it, it was right after you got back.”

  What the hell was he up to? I didn’t like this one bit, but I couldn’t lose time trying to find him. He would be there if he promised, and he’d better be. I needed the strategy he’d gotten over the last day. If he got it at all.

  “I guess this is it, then,” I whispered as I looked over my group of fighters. “All that’s left to do is to get this over with.”

  We turned into the last street on the right about half an hour later, as armed and armored as we possibly could be. There wasn’t even a single soul outside on the main street or even the side street. I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, as people might have all died already or were just hiding inside.

  The buildings looked slightly worse for wear in comparison to a few days ago, with some extra bullet holes in the walls, some smashed windows and doors, garbage all over the place, and graffiti spray-painted wherever one looked.

  “This place sure has gone to shit since all of this went down,” Kang whispered. “I’ve never seen it this bad.”

  “Must have been because of Kihot’s death,” Mark replied. He scratched his stubble and shook his head slightly. “People have a strange way of showing their appreciation.”

  “For what? Me killing him?” I asked. “You saw them that day, didn’t you? And the police? Where the hell are they? Where is the army? Where is anything? Busy with their own shit while ordinary people have to duke it out with gangsters and warlords.”

  “You’re right, boss. Everyone is probably fighting for themselves and their families,” Kang murmured. “I would be doing the same if—well, we are doing the same just in a more organized manner.”

  “We are, but I’d still hope someone would take charge. At least my example of leading you guys is different than what the others were doing. We don’t extort or threaten, we just do.”

  “We do, boss,” Mark hissed. “But what about the rest of Sylmar? What about the world? Electricity is gone, there’s no way of transportation other than going on foot, and now there are monsters everywhere.”

  I shrugged and made a show of looking around. “This, all of this will be a wasteland if things don’t change very quickly, so we’d better try to do something about it ourselves before others fuck it up.”

  They murmured in agreement. We all knew what this meant. No production, no law and order, no economy, no trade, no food, clothes, and nothing else. This world fucking sucked!

  “What do you have in mind for the kobold lord?” Mark asked as we started walking again. We were halfway down the road, and the barricades in front of Kihot’s place were visible.

  “That idiot Sandro should have been here to tell us what he managed to find out about the other people killing the boss, but he’s nowhere to be seen,” I growled. “He keeps doing what he wants, but that will stop today.”

  It was eerily quiet out on the streets. No one was clearing the kobolds and getting stronger, but why? There were so many benefits to doing so. Were they afraid? Or did they lose all hope? I couldn’t blame them. It was the same everywhere when it came to pure survival. Food would run out pretty quickly, along with all other necessities.

  I forced the thoughts to the back of my mind and steeled myself. This was the first step in consolidating my power base in this area. Once we managed to get everyone strong enough that they could take the elites on by themselves, I would just camp the bosses and wouldn’t allow them to wreak havoc on whoever farmed the smaller kobolds.

  The tension grew with every step we drew closer to the gate. The air around Kihot’s estate was different, staler, and almost deathlike. I stopped and put my hand up.

  “Come out.”

  Scar appeared almost momentarily next to me, sitting on his haunches and yawning. “What is it?”

  “Why can’t I see it yet?”

  “Because it’s inside a similar dome just like the ryokan. We have to get inside to see.”

  I nodded nervously. So we would have to go in blind. I didn’t like that at all, to be honest.

  “Where’s Sandro? Can you sense him?”

  Scar shook his head. “No, I can’t. He isn’t here.”

  “I see. Well, one more or less won’t make a difference. We can either take it down or not. Can you go in and check?”

  “I can try, but I don’t think it’ll do much good if it’s a pocket-space.”

  “Never mind then. I’ll go in first and draw their attention, whoever it is. You’re with me.”

  “You think I can take a break for several days once we’re done? I want to explore Sylmar and the land around us.”

  The men shifted from foot to foot nervously. Now two things scared them. One was me, and the other was Scar. And soon there would be a third thing, the boss. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes, that’s for certain. I was only afraid of one thing: that someone might die.

  “Yeah, you can, but we’ll talk about that later, Scar.”

  I stopped and turned around to have another look at the group in front of me. Twelve men and a wolf against a kobold boss. It’d better be enough.

  I pulled three vials from my pouch and gulped them down at once. Nothing happened for five whole seconds, but then it kicked in and I felt as if I were about to explode as a mass of energy built up inside my chest. The images of three small vials appeared with counters above them in my peripheral view on the upper left, right next to the names of the people in our party. It was just then that I noticed I hadn’t put Jess and Kai back into the group. Whatever. I couldn’t and wouldn’t go back now.

  14:59

  14:58

  14:57

  The buffs’ timers were ticking, so I got to it.

  “What now?” Mark asked as he stared at me. “The plan of me getting the high ground is no longer viable.”

  I nodded. “You’re right. The best thing I can think of is that Kang and Gary deal with the small fry around me as I tackle the boss, and everyone supports when they see an opening.”

  “What about me?” Mark asked.

  “You can get two to stay behind with you and make sure you’re undisturbed.”

  “You have no idea what’s inside, Viktor,” Scar said, drawing my attention.

  He wasn’t usually talkative around others, especially not in taking initiat
ive.

  “What are you saying?”

  “Nothing. I think that the inside of that place is different than what we think, so it’s useless to make up plans. This place doesn’t feel good.”

  “What are you talking about? How do you know?” I asked over our link.

  “It reeks like death.”

  I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. “It’s not making plans, it’s just assigning people their duty,” I went on so everyone could hear.

  He yawned again and dropped on his side. “You can call it whatever, but that doesn’t change the fact we don’t know what’s inside.”

  I sighed and looked back at the group. “I go in first; then thirty seconds later the main group joins. Everyone but Mark, Han, and Jin will come in second. After another thirty seconds, you three join as well.”

  They all nodded and steeled themselves. I could both see and feel their excitement. They were ready to do this despite the warnings, but it was better to go in ready to die than cower in fear.

  “Hey, remember that time we hunted the tortoise dragon and nothing went as planned?” Scar asked.

  “You have to do that now? I’m trying to instill some confidence in these men, Scar! And my potions are running out, so please stop interrupting me.”

  I glanced up left at the counter and scowled.

  13:25

  13:24

  13:23

  I turned my back to them and pulled the gladius out with my left hand, then the nodachi with my right.

  “Don’t trip over a rock!” the wolf called after me, but then got up and joined me hurriedly.

  “Asshole,” I grumbled, at which he snickered.

  “You too, Viktor, you too.”

  I couldn’t help but take his abuse. The idiot had sacrificed his previous life for me, and I’d be repaying it over this lifetime. Whatever. Maybe I could manage to get him a real body so he could buzz off and go on his vacation.

  “Everyone ready?” I asked after taking in a deep breath.

  “Ready as ever,” Mark replied as he put up his new gun.

  “Can’t wait to see that thing in action.” I grinned over my shoulder.

  “Oh, you have something coming!” He laughed. “So, how about it, boss?”

  I turned back to the shimmering dome and took in a deep breath before I stepped into the light separating the boss from us.

  “See you on the other side!”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  A sense of dread washed over me as I walked through the barrier. It was just as Scar said; something felt off. It was almost as if I floated in midair, just before slamming down against the rocks and dying a horrible, mangled death. Nothing happened, though, and the feeling passed as I appeared on the other side of the domed wall.

  I wasn’t alone when I got there. Hundreds of gray common kobolds, a score of uncommon kobolds, three goldies, and ten elites stood around a black kobold lord.

  It was easily two to three times the size of the largest elite. It was broader, thicker, taller, and armed with a wicked-looking spear adorned with the bones and skulls of fallen—humans? Its skin was pitch-black, with two bright yellow eyes that glowed like an animal’s. This one had a scaled tail as black as its skin and two times as long as the elites’ clubs.

  Something drew my eyes, and I looked over to their right. Dozens of corpses lay there, some decomposed, others barely dead. Children, women, and men were stripped of their clothes, skin, and flesh.

  I turned away and spat as I tried to steady my breathing, but my heart was thumping in my chest, threatening to explode. Shit, thirty seconds! The rest would be here… soon.

  My mind shut down momentarily when I saw everyone appear right next to me, one by one, man, woman, and child. Every single person we recruited appeared right around me. Sandro was the last to pop up, looking especially tired and surprised.

  The women started screaming along with the kids, while the men tried to figure out what was going on and hurried to their loved ones. It was a mess, a whole fucking mess. A damn clusterfuck.

  A deafening bellow from my left almost popped my eardrums. I shook my head clear and turned to face the army standing on the other side of this dome.

  “Get out, get the hell out! All of you!” I yelled. “Use << HOME >> if you can’t walk out! Now! Go!”

  It was just then that I noticed some of the younger women were stark naked and had shampoo in their hair. Melina. Where the hell—there. She still had that ultra-short yukata on she’d worn earlier. Damn it!

  The group erupted in panic, and more screams echoed out, as the wall wasn’t letting anyone through. Everyone started talking at the same time, pleading, and cursing. Then their eyes all turned toward me as I stared at the bright red domed wall from the inside.

  “Boss! What do we do?” Kang yelled, his voice laced with fear.

  I was sure it wasn’t for his own life, but rather for those of his kid and wife.

  “Mark, get out your big gun and take up position over there.” I pointed some fifty steps to the right. “One on Mark, the rest set up a perimeter around the women and children! Scar, you’re with me!”

  The wolf appeared, but he looked different now and not just an outline filled with lightning and thunderbolts. The shapes of his head, ears, legs, and even his tail were clearly visible and outlined now.

  “Hey, what’s with the stares? Don’t I look great?”

  “Is it because of the Enma density in here?”

  He nodded.

  “Everyone, listen up! For every moment we’re in here, I want you to try to absorb the Enma from this place! It’s the same way as you would do with a crystal. I’ll keep you safe, don’t worry. Get stronger so once we’re done with this shitty place, we’ll be an army!”

  “As the boss said!” Kang yelled as he rounded on the women. “Huddle up together so we have a smaller perimeter, concentrate, and absorb the Enma!”

  To my surprise, the kids were asleep or followed orders. They must be feeling the enormous potential of this place as well, at least subconsciously. Good, that would give them something to do and keep them out of their parents’ hair.

  “Melina?”

  She hurried up to me and draped her arms over my shoulders. “What the hell is going on?”

  “I don’t know, but stay with them and absorb everything you can. Here, take these as well,” I said as I handed her two crystals. “Absorb them too and keep on doing it, no matter what happens out here.”

  “Are you sure?” she whispered, her voice ready to break. “The two of you aren’t enough to take all of those things on!”

  I grinned and nodded my head. “You’re probably right, but I can’t let anything happen to the kids and you girls.”

  “What’s with this place anyway? You got any idea?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “All I know is that everyone appeared once I walked inside. Must be the party system thing or the Gods playing a prank on us.”

  I looked up but heard no laughter in the back of my mind, which meant this most likely wasn’t their doing. It would be easier if I knew whom to yell at.

  “Be careful, alright? And don’t forget what you promised me.”

  I closed my eyes and nodded. I almost sighed, but that would probably piss her off, and I didn’t want to do that. It was more and more clear to me that she wasn’t fully stable. There was a lot I didn’t know about her, and I’d only seen the good she had to offer, but who knew what her past was like for real? I wasn’t going to judge, but we’d see how it went. In the end, she had me. I’d make sure she had a good life.

  “Go and hide, alright?”

  I kissed her lightly and pushed her off me, afraid the kobold army might swarm us at any moment. They hadn’t yet made a move on us, but I was sure it wasn’t going to last.

  “I can fight up to the purple ones, but nothing higher than that until we whittle down the numbers,” Scar said as he rose to his full height. “Do I go in first?”

&n
bsp; “No, you’re not going in first,” I replied, shaking my head. “We go in together, but I won’t attack any of the smaller ones. I’ll focus on everything above the purples.”

  A calm washed over me. All my anxiousness and fear evaporated almost as if waved off by an invisible hand. I turned back to see if it was just me and caught Melina’s wink. She pointed her hand at me a second time, and all fatigue was gone. What’s more, I felt limber and more agile. She put up her finger and pressed it against her lips, so I nodded and flashed her a smile.

  A sudden ruckus from behind startled me. I turned around quickly and put up my swords. They were finally on the move. Every single kobold turned my way and stared. Shit. Couldn’t they be any less obvious?

  “Mark, shoot only after the shields are down.”

  “You got it, boss! Go get them!”

  “Hah, go get them indeed,” I muttered. It was an understatement to say that I was afraid despite the buff Melina had cast on me, but I had someone and something to protect.

  I shut the chatter out from behind me and focused on the approaching tide, or rather on the kobold lord first.

  Monster Scan:

  NAME: Kobold Lord

  RANK: 5, Boss

  HEALTH: 3000

  ENMA: 500

  SPEED: 1.5

  PHYSICAL ATTACK: 200

  ENMA ATTACK: 150

  DEFENSE: 100

  ENMA SHIELD: 1000

  The elites were spread out in two rows but in a loose crescent formation. The center ones were wide open with at least twenty paces of room between them. It was the best place to start, so why not?

  “Clear me a path toward the elite in the center, and be careful of those goldies. They can shoot.”

  “I know. You just make sure you keep up.”

  Scar bolted ahead of me. I stashed the gladius and held the nodachi over my shoulder as I ran after him. My body felt lighter than usual. Even my muscles didn’t cramp up when I exerted all my power to move at an inhuman pace. I almost stopped running several steps in after finding myself moving at a speed double of what I should be able to, but I grinned and went on.