Century Beast Ichor x 31
Century Beast Eyes x 3
Century Beast skewer x 2
Century Beast Bone x 291
The boss dropped quite a number of things I knew would be usable for crafting, but I didn’t care about them. I frowned, remembering that the first time we’d fought the pit boss, he’d been protecting the fire orb, but there was no elemental orb in here. At least not that I could see.
“Mel? Do you see the orb anywhere?”
“No. Are you good now? Or should I stay hidden for a while longer?”
“Sorry, I’m good,” I yelled back and pushed myself up again. I wasn’t looking forward to what was about to come, but I knew it had to happen. “The orb must be somewhere inside.”
“Yeah, figured as much,” she replied and stopped right next to me. “Where do you want to begin? And here, take my ingredients as well.”
I accepted her offer and stashed everything in my subspace. I just might even have enough for a full set. It would probably be a hard pick between the pit boss and the century beast depending on their stats. What was worse, I’d need to spend a whole day crafting all the gear, but I’d use Donald and Mark to create the—no, I’d do it myself. Maybe I’d get lucky and get extra stats since I was much stronger and higher with level, rank, and overall power. I had no idea if that would have any effect, but you never knew with this world.
I started with the head and wasted a good half an hour on it, but the orb wasn’t there. Melina had started with the tail end, going with the logic of the most important thing being as far away as possible from danger.
“I’m at the third piece from the tail!” Melina yelled. “And still nothing!”
“We should start where we normally never would!” I yelled back. “Considering my luck, I’d be in here for a few days until I found it!”
“And where’s that?”
Our voices echoed in the cavern. It was quite bad; we had to yell harder to be heard over the previous yelling. If it only had screeched more often and made more noise, we might have run, and it would still be alive. Not.
“Wait, let me try something!”
I released a trickle of Enma in all directions, feeling for something that might be off or hidden. The ground was clean, the walls were clear, and the monster was clear from what I could feel. The Enma had thinned out so that it resembled a huge colony of ants that crawled in every direction and looked in every nook and cranny.
A sudden trickle of lightning-infused Enma escaped the ceiling. I looked up and stared at the small gap. It was too dark, so I had no idea it was even there in the first place.
“There’s a hidden chamber above us,” I said as I pulled out my bow and nocked an ordinary arrow. “I want to try to shoot it.”
“Wait! Let me straighten my hair so if we get buried under tons of rock and debris, I’ll make for a good-looking corpse at least.”
“Women,” I muttered and released an arrow. Nothing happened. I frowned and nocked another one, released it, and waited. Nothing again. “Alright, how about this?” I released a Shadow Hunter next. And voilà, the arrow dug into the hole. A strange sound reverberated from within the ceiling as if cogs were whirring. A hole appeared just to the right of the mechanism I shot, and a pedestal dropped from overhead. A purple-and-blue-ish orb sat on top of it. And remained out of reach.
“Really? Damn it!” I cursed. “Mel, can you use your wind to propel me upwards? I can’t jump that high.”
She nodded and used her fan to create a gust of wind. It pushed me up, and just as it was about to die out, I double-jumped and grabbed the orb. My eyes widened as I saw the ground coming up pretty fast, but I was out of alignment with the floor. A burst of Enma hit me from the side and sent me flying, but it stopped me from falling headfirst. I struck the far wall and then dropped the last part to my feet, landing with the grace of a wounded cat.
I shook the pain from my legs and ran over to Melina as I read the prompt that had appeared. So I had enough to create even the second tower, huh? What a present could do to one’s mood.
“Craft.”
NOTICE
YOU HAVE CREATED THE
LIGHTNING ELEMENTAL TOWER LEVEL 1
Health: 15,000/15,000
Enma: 1,500
SPEED: 1.5
ENMA ATTACK: 1,500
DEFENSE: 750
ENMA SHIELD: 30,000/30,000
NOTE: With every addition to the skill Fortress, all towers will receive a buff to their stats
I checked the fire elemental tower as well, and the note had been right. Both towers had higher stats. I grinned and barely managed to keep myself from giggling. All the bad thoughts and the horrible mood were gone in an instant. At least until I remembered that I’d be destroying another rifter and their place.
“What is it?” Melina asked as she studied me. “You were sour, then happy, and now sour again. Is it because of the next rifter?”
I nodded. “It is, but let’s not think about that today. I’ll need a while to craft us armor sets anyway, so I’ll have enough time to mope around.”
“Do you want us to help?”
I shook my head and put my arm around the woman. She was warm and soft, just like always.
“No. I want to be alone with my thoughts as I craft them. I need some time to think.”
“Alright. Do you want to port home?”
“Yeah. Let’s go home.”
Chapter Twelve
A large crowd was gathered near the portals when we got back. The people nearest us dispersed immediately as they noticed us. I grabbed one of them by the shoulder and turned him to face me.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Oh, boss Viktor.” He chuckled. “We had an incident. Someone tried to be a smartass and wanted to steal more crystals than allowed.”
“That’s not the first time, but we rarely have such crowds.”
“Oh, yes. Mark had them go through the rift but held him in place between both worlds.”
“Half of the man was in this place and the other half in Sylmar?”
He nodded.
“Shit, now that’s one sadistic bastard,” I muttered. “When did it happen?”
“Oh, you just missed it.”
I shook my head and let go of the man as he stared at my hand on his shoulder.
“What was that all about?” Melina whispered as she leaned in. “Want to find out?”
“Yeah, hold on,” I replied and took in a deep breath. “Mark! Where the hell are you?” I yelled at the top of my lungs. A hand shot up ahead of us. He’d been standing amid a group of soldiers, so I couldn’t see him earlier.
“What is it, boss?”
The soldiers turned around to stare and then stood at attention.
“You go report to Herrion. Mark is needed,” I said and waved them off. “And you, we need to talk.”
“About this thing?”
“About that thing, yes. Is he still alive?”
Mark shrugged as we made our way toward the inn. “We put rules up for a reason, right? Everyone needs to comply, or the market would get flooded, and they wouldn’t be as valuable anymore, right?”
“Yeah, sorry. I’m just a bit… down today. Nothing some rest and crafting can’t take care of.”
“Oh? What did you hunt this time? Another rank ten?”
I first nodded, but then shook my head. “Yes and no. I killed a rank ten and then an eleven when I went for the lightning orb.”
“Now that’s some bullshit, man. I feel left out!”
“Hey, can’t help it, but I got a present for you. Here, take this.”
I handed him the pit boss core, and he just stood there with his mouth wide open.
“You’re screwing with me!” he hissed under his breath and looked around, grabbed the core, and stashed it. “That thing is worth a ton!”
“It is,” I whispered as well. “Get past that barrier and hit the second realm already.”
&nb
sp; “Tonight. I’d like to share this with Sarah and the baby.”
“Then do so. Just make sure you get your part first.”
I pushed him along as Melina took his spot and hooked her arm around mine. She flashed me a warm smile that said “everything will be fine,” and I knew it had to be. There was no way I’d lose to the Zanoxian or the others. If I did, everyone I knew would die. Still, it was one thing to wish for a result; it was something else entirely to get there.
I led her toward the smithy and sat down in front of my usual anvil. Melina sat next to me on a bench and waited for me to start crafting, but I didn’t yet. I had no idea what the two sets looked like. Sure, I needed to make two sets, but if one of them ended up being pure shit for our builds, then I didn’t want it, and it would have been a waste of time.
“Veles? Is there a way to see what the hell I’m making?”
She didn’t appear, but I heard her voice in my mind. “Of course there is. You should have just asked, and I would have explained how. See, use a blueprint and place all the necessary ingredients in the crafting tab, then focus on the blueprint. It should show you the item’s stats, and what’s more, anything above rank ten gives you a set bonus as well.”
“Thanks, Goddess.”
“Don’t forget. You promised me a head, Viktor. Get to it once you’re done with crafting.”
“What zone?”
“The next one is in 2:7. It’s the easier of the two, though both are about equally strong.”
“Can you tell me anything about them?”
“Hmm, not really. I have no idea what they look like, what kind of powers they have, what gear they’re using, etc. Those things are hidden for the opponents.”
“Do you have an estimate of how strong they are?”
“Let’s say they’re not lagging so far behind. I think.”
“You think, huh?” I chuckled. “Thanks, boss. I’ll get to it as soon as possible.”
“You’d better make sure you do,” she replied and chuckled.
Her presence disappeared, and I didn’t call out to her anymore. I’d already overdone it with two questions, and I had no idea how I’d be punished for it. A question a day, but she’d answer no matter how many I asked. Even before I finished my train of thought, the buff disappeared, and I got a seventy-two-hour debuff that subtracted as much as her buff gave. Shit. I’d have to stay inside for three whole days.
I let out a sigh and looked over to Melina.
“I just asked two things accidentally,” I muttered.
“Yeah, I can see by the debuff. Thanks, love.”
“Ahh, whatever. You’re getting your rest, aren’t you? Can get your hair done, nails, skin, all kinds of crap.”
“Oh, oh, oh! Yes, that’s a great idea!” She darted to her feet, leaned in to kiss me, and then hurried away.
“Whatever,” I whispered and activated the crafting menu. I placed a pit boss armor blueprint first and added all the ingredients, then focused on the blueprint. An image of the breastplate appeared in front of my eyes, pitch black and streaked with several red lines.
Pit Boss Breastplate Rank 1
Health: 500
Enma Shield: 500
DEFENSE: 150
POISON DAMAGE: +5%
The armor stats themselves were pretty good, no doubt about it, but the true greatness was the set passives.
Pit Boss Armor Set Bonus Stats
3/9: +25% to Physical Attack, +15% chance to poison
6/9: +20% chance to poison, +50% additional poison damage
9/9: +30 seconds to poison duration, 20% to cast defense debuff -30%
NOTE: Poison damage is calculated as follows: All Attack x 0.8/(30) second.
The bonus stats were quite interesting, I had to give them that. The set was perfect for prolonged fighting and for someone who had a lot of attack stats. It was a definite winner no matter what. I needed to see the second set before I made a decision, but this would help both Melina or me, no doubt about it.
Pit Boss Breastplate Rank 1
Health: 700
Enma Shield: 800
DEFENSE: 200
ABSORB: +25%
Century Beast Armor Set Bonus Stats
3/9: +25% to defense, +10% to Enma Shield
6/9: +0.3 to Speed, +30% to Physical and Enma Attack
9/9: 30% chance to cast Chain Attack
NOTE: Chain Attack causes the user to attack 5 times in quick succession with a normal attack.
I was at a loss for words, as both sets had quite the nice bonuses. After checking my current situation, I wasn’t able to make a full set of century beast armor and spare weapons. I came up with a plan that would do the most for my raw damage output, which meant that my bow damage would also skyrocket.
I focused on my breathing and started working on the gear. The breastplate needed two hours, and everything else ranged from half an hour to an hour. I started with the longest and entered a trancelike state where I worked on autopilot. My mind wandered, and I lost track of time. Not just that, but of my thoughts as well. Everything went blank, and I found myself drifting in a vast abyss, one with a single shred of light that shone down on me from far overhead.
I looked around, or tried to, but I stayed in the same position no matter how much I tried to move around. Nothing hurt, there was no discomfort, none but what I created myself by trying to move. I took in a deep breath and spoke.
“Anyone here? Where am I?”
I recognized the space to a degree. It was similar to what I’d seen when I first met Krajolik. It had been equally dark and lonely back then as well.
“Viktor, you have my warmest greetings,” the familiar voice said. “We haven’t seen each other in a while.”
“Krajolik,” I replied as my body regained all sense of direction. I dropped to my feet on… something dark that served as the ground, and walked over to the deity. “What brings me here?”
“Nothing much. I thought we’d chat a bit, as your body is on autopilot anyway. Isn’t that how you thought of it? Autopilot?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it is. And I’m always up for chatting with a friend.”
“Good, good. See, things are becoming heated right now, you know? After gaining your second tower and once you put on your new armor and weapons, your chance to win this thing will be around sixty percent.”
My eyebrows rose at the information he’d just provided. Sixty percent was almost enough to beat the Zanoxian no matter what I did!
“Do you think that—”
“No, there’s no way. See, he’s just too powerful. The calculation is done with several factors in mind. One of them is that you’ll defeat both rifters before you fight the Zanoxian.”
“Figures,” I muttered. “What else can you tell me?”
“Not much. Your next target is a male and extremely strong. He has four limbs, and his skin serves as a sort of armor. It’s tough and resilient to anything but bludgeoning or elemental damage.”
“So I’ll need to make a hammer or mace?”
“Hammer would be better, but you don’t have many skills for that type of weapon.”
“I’d make do even without skills. It’s not like I can’t win in the state I’m currently at, right?”
Krajolik shrugged and sat down next to me. I found myself sitting on a large sofa on a balcony and the deity sitting next to me.
“You can win with relative ease, but never forget one thing, Viktor. A battle isn’t over until it’s over. And it’s only over when one of the two parties is dead.”
“You don’t need to tell me that twice,” I muttered. “Say, do you know where the snake is? The one who hunted us back when we just got here.”
“It’s on respawn. The stupid creature decided to fight a stronger monster and died.”
I snorted and shook my head. “Whatever. I already got enough on my mind.”
“Yes, you do with the rifters, getting stronger, clearing the Green Dragon Gang, and then th
e Zanoxian. Make sure you don’t burn out before you’re done.”
“You can say that again, but tell me, what if I manage to win? What kind of wish can I expect?”
“Anything you’ve ever wished for, and that’s only for winning the first round of the rift wars. You can stay there, or you can go on and fight for a bigger prize like immortality and godhood. That’s how most of my—colleagues came to be.”
“I see. That’s quite interesting, if I’m to be honest. But tell me, what if I decide to stop? What happens to my world?”
“Your world will enter the second stage of evolution. Rifts will open up and keep spawning monsters, even bosses that will attack the world. They will never be so fierce that your species will go extinct, but things can get dangerous.”
“And that’s a certainty?”
He nodded and put his hand up to make a typing motion or something. “You can choose to opt out of the games for a thousand years, and those who come after you will have to fight again. But Viktor, don’t tell me you love humans so much that you’d make that kind of stupid decision.”
“No, I don’t, Krajolik. I don’t love them as much. That’s beside the point now. One thing that’s bothering me now is the question of me being able to go home. You said anything, though back then you said I wouldn’t be able to go home anymore.”
“Things change, and so do our rules. If you prove yourself to be worthy and strong enough, we might change our mind. But tell me, what is there for you? What would you go back to? Nothing.”
“No, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It was just a hypothetical question, nothing else.”
“Young Viktor, the more questions you ask, the harder it will be to decide on a course of action. Do what your heart tells you and forget about the rest.”
“Say, can you indulge me with one more question?”
Krajolik nodded and turned to face me for the first time. He’d looked me over, sure, but this was the first time today that he stared intently.
Crossroads: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 3) Page 10
