“Alright, I understand. How do we—proceed? What are you going to do precisely?”
“Break your bones,” I replied flatly.
She stared at me in horror. “Wait, I didn’t think that—”
I winked and pressed my left palm against her collarbone, pulled hard, and dislodged her shoulder, elbow, and wrist. Melina’s eyes bulged outward as she gasped and wanted to scream, but no sound came from her mouth. Her body shook, and her eyes moved from glaring at me to staring at her arm. I grabbed her dangling arm with my free hand and squeezed hard as I poured my own Enma into it, forcing the bones to snap.
“Ba—basta—rd!” she finally managed to wheeze through the pain.
“Now, now. Absorb the core’s Enma and do what I told you to earlier. I’m going to do the same thing to myself now.”
Her shoulders shook, and tears streamed down the sides of her cheeks, but she nodded. Good, that was my girl. I took in a deep breath and did the same to myself but with much less efficiency. I had to pull several times until all three joints had dislodged, and then I got busy breaking the bones.
A fog enveloped my mind, and I wasn’t so sure how the reforging was going to turn out if I couldn’t keep it together. I shook from pain as I tried to absorb fresh Enma from the core. It was primordial and strong, clean, and addictive.
Enma filled my palm and slowly entered my bones, moving along the arm and purging the bone by absorbing its form and recreating it by fusing the bone and fresh Enma. Even the tiniest of bones was slowly recreated, and once the hand was done, I sat drenched in a cold sweat. The joint popped into place, and the Enma moved up my ulna and radius, mending them and reinforcing the strong bones. The elbow was next and fell nicely in place. I could already move a good part of my arm without too much pain, but the humerus was large and would take as much time as the other parts so far.
I glanced over at Melina, who was fading in and out of it. She was in pain and didn’t seem to be doing so well despite having started before me.
“You good?” I asked, barely able to mutter the words.
She just shook her head and then nodded at her wrist. “It’s not—working.”
I redoubled my effort and pulled at the dirty Enma with my free hand and expunged it much quicker than I should. The process would speed up, but there might be consequences like bones that mended and reinforced in the wrong way. Still, I couldn’t look at her being in so much pain, so I’d risk it.
Over the next several minutes I endured the additional pain and finally felt my shoulder joint sink into place. I immediately grabbed her arm and studied it by pushing a trickle of Enma into the hand and moving it up her arm. A piece of bone had broken off at a weird angle and wasn’t allowing the Enma to flow. It would have restored eventually, but only after being in pain for several hours.
“Thanks,” she whispered once I forced the bone to readjust. “Was driving me nuts.”
“Focus. It’s not over yet, alright?”
She nodded and closed her eyes. I could feel the drain on the core, and it just kept on going and going. Several minutes in, she had drained more Enma than me, and she wasn’t stopping. I grinned. She had an aptitude for Enma, which was great. Her storage capacity would grow and keep on growing as she got stronger, to the point it would never run out.
The core exploded into a million tiny shards, but I contained it using my Enma and created a barrier around it, then crushed it all into fine dust and threw it into the wind. The core was gone, and Melina had just finished mending her arm. What timing.
Melina grinned at me, pulled her arm back, and slammed her fist into my face. I could have stopped it, but I didn’t. Going at her arm earlier had earned me that at least.
“We good now?” I asked as I held a hand to my bloody nose. It didn’t hurt as much as my pride did, but no one saw it aside from the two of us.
“No, we’re not! That fucking hurt!” she hissed. “You should have waited!”
“Oh? You would have been in more pain like that.”
“Whatever. How long will this pain last?”
“Fifteen minutes? Half an hour?”
Just then the debuff disappeared, and I grinned to myself. It was time to see what I was made of after all the new upgrades and goodies. I pulled out my bow and opened my status window.
STATUS
NAME: Viktor
Age: 31
LEVEL: 24, REALM: 2, RANK: 3
HEALTH: 6,852
ENMA: 1,952
SPEED: 3.3
PHYSICAL ATTACK: 6,334
ENMA ATTACK: 6,442
BREAK: 3,984
DEFENSE: 2,438
ENMA SHIELD: 6,977
Reflect: 101%
Absorb: 80%
POISON HIT CHANCE: 44
POISON BONUS DAMAGE: 36
I wasn’t as surprised by the big increase in attack as the small bonus to my health. Now that there were so many different modifiers, I saw them as I focused on the stats. The passive buffs that I got from Veles, the Killer passive, and the Blood Brother buff when in the same party as Mark were calculated first and together with the gear’s passives and set buffs. Next were the skill passives from Two-Handed Weapon, Bow, and Heavy Armor that raised the stats further.
My attack could be even higher when using the halberd or greatsword, but then there was no arrow modifier. Still, I was kind of bummed, hoping my health would be double what it was. For some reason, I forgot that I’d picked the gear that gave the best stats and not the most health and defense. The best thing of all, though, the stats were without anyone’s buff. Melina’s skills would make my attack go up by half, and the arrow modifier would add another 50% with a rank five arrow, or 70% with a rank six arrow. Even more than that, I had totally forgotten to enchant my gear using gems. Once I had done that, I would be a monster. Just like the Zanoxian. Was this how he felt? Everyone else was beneath him, as he could snuff out their life if he wanted. Same for me. It was dangerous getting carried away by shit like that.
“What is it?” Melina asked after a good minute passed. “Why are you frowning?”
“I’m too strong, Mel. I’m afraid what will become of me if I lose my humanity.”
“That’s why you have me, isn’t it? And besides, you can’t be much stronger than I am. I capped out at around 4,000 attack with my buffs.”
“I’m at 6,500 without any buff.”
She snorted and coughed violently as she almost choked on air. “You’re screwing with me, right?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not. See, it’s this kind of thing that makes you a Zanoxian. When you get power unlike anyone else and think of yourself as better than the rest. I just wish that I never—”
“Met me?”
“What? No, that’s not what I said!”
“But you were about to say something similar, weren’t you?”
I let out a deep sigh and took her hand in mine. She was so beautiful that I could stare at her for hours on end. Just like a painting that was too perfect.
“I think we should get to it. We could be there by nightfall if we hurry up. Or at least somewhere nearby and then hunker down somewhere to study the enemy.”
“Enemy, huh?” she asked. “It’s funny how everyone is the enemy if they’re not on our side.”
She got to her feet and offered me her hand. I got up and hugged the woman. She always knew to do or say the right thing. All that remained were… well, three things. Kill the first rifter, take care of the greenies, and kill the last rifter. I’d take a break for the rest of the year. Whatever would happen, I was alright with it. I did my best, I created something beautiful in the hunters, I helped the military, the ordinary people, I opened the tower, and I found someone I’d be content with for the rest of my days.
The next several zones were more dangerous than the last, and there were fewer hunters about. The only ones I saw were a group who stayed in formation even when nothing was around. Seven men and women, of whom two wore sh
ields and walked out front but slightly spaced out to cover more ground.
“You interested in them as well?” Melina asked. She must have noticed me staring in their direction.
“Yeah, I am. Just curious, nothing else.”
“Want to sit with them?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Too many people for my liking. If it were two or three, sure, but not seven. I’d rather keep to myself. To ourselves.”
I wished them good luck from afar and upped my pace. We used Enma to run faster and with less strain on our stamina, so we covered in an hour what we usually would have in four or five hours. There were still several zones ahead of us, but every one of them was lower in number. We were about to hit 2:18, but I still didn’t notice any tracks that there had been any humans. Or aliens in our case. People that started out in my zone didn’t go too far out either, but it wasn’t the same fighting in 3:15 or 2:15. There was a whole rank between the zones.
“What’s got you worried?” Melina asked as I stared out into the distance.
“The lack of anything. See, no one’s hunting, no safe spots like with our zones, and there are herds of ordinary monsters roaming the plains.”
“Now that you say so,” Melina whispered and squinted to look around better. “What do you think? Trap?”
I shrugged. “It’s hard to trap someone of our caliber, but it might be. Or they might be enjoying life back at their base.”
“And if they are, we’ve got no way of getting to them.”
I nodded. “Exactly. I can’t just shoot an arrow from the outside and hit them in their safe zone.”
“Then let’s find them and see what they’ve got in store for us. I think we just might have an easy ride here, Viktor.”
“Yeah? Somethings telling me the opposite.” I dropped from the tree I was hiding in and landed on a bed of Enma that cushioned my fall. Melina landed next to me and picked up the pace as I started running toward zone 2:14. We’d have to see what would await us once at our destination.
Chapter Fifteen
The one thing I never would have expected to see once I got closer to the target zone was the existence of prison camps. Several of them. I had no clue about—well, anything when it came to my opponent but for the one thing that they were physically pretty strong. Yet there we were staring down at the valley where several camps had been erected, and several different kinds of alien races were at work.
“What the hell is going on?” I whispered. “Is this for real?”
“Yeah, this place is definitely a mess. What do we do?” she asked and pinched my arm. “Will they all die once the rift owner is gone?”
“I don’t know, but I definitely have a bad feeling about this place. It’s like—wait, what’s that?”
A group of—whatever they were, appeared out of nowhere. They must have exited the safe zone. It helped give me a better picture of the whole situation. The camp was located right at the entrance, but it was still walled in by wooden fences and what looked like steel grating.
The five important-looking newcomers strode with their heads held high and backs straightened as if they owned the place. Maybe they did, as I had no idea whom I had to kill. Only then did it occur to me that I had no idea what I was doing.
“Do you think we can do them all at the same time?” I asked. “If we use both of our bows.”
“I don’t think so. I mean, I got a skill that can guarantee the death of one, and you have a skill that can kill one for sure, but that leaves three.”
“It does unless I get in close, but I have no idea how strong or fast they are.”
“Which is a risk in its own.”
“It is, but I’ve got an idea,” I smirked. “Could you do me a favor and stay behind after you buff me?”
Melina frowned. “Why? Shouldn’t we be doing this together?”
“Maybe, but I’d rather be able to go all out if need be.”
She let out a sigh and shrugged. “You’ll do whatever you want anyway, so yeah, here,” she said and refreshed all the buffs. My power skyrocketed, and I felt comfortable going after them. Still, I would have to play it smart, just in case.
I leaned in and pressed my lips against hers. Who knew if this was going to be the last time I saw her, so if it was, I wanted to leave her with a kiss.
“See you soon.”
Melina nodded and looked away as I saw her chest heaving erratically. She was about to burst into tears, so I ran, leaving the woman to her sorrow. No, that wasn’t right. I just had to make sure that it didn’t become sorrow but anxiety. Right, that was the correct line of thought.
I made my way around the hill and slowly crept along the edge so as not to be seen. There weren’t many of those… people around, but they were all busy doing something. I recognized it as the same thing we did back at our camp. Some were skinning, butchering, and separating monster parts, while others were busy crafting things.
The items I could see were pretty different from ours. I guessed that with every different race came a different type of weapon. Maybe even armor. I stopped and thought. Had that been the reason why I got the Fortress skill? Had my first victim been a stranger kind of alien with control over—no, I was starting to sound even stupider than I felt.
I pushed the thoughts aside and busied myself moving along, but stopped to peek out at the group of five that was roaming the camp. They didn’t look as if they’d be there for much longer as they argued about something, but I had no idea what. I was too far out to hear anything anyway.
I redoubled my efforts and moved at a faster pace. The hill was now behind me, and I was about two-thirds around the left side toward the camp, but the last hundred yards or so didn’t have much for protection. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as I pulled out my bow and a rank five arrow.
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered and got up from behind cover and started racing across the clearing. One of the five spotted me almost immediately, but as he was about to talk, I nocked the arrow and shot while in mid-stride. The arrow flew straight, but a strong gust of air knocked it aside slightly. The arrow struck his shoulder and knocked the alien over on his ass.
Damage Notification:
You have inflicted 7,224 damage to Perovian ???
It was always a better thing to attack someone else before they had the chance to attack you, and that was what I did. The strangest thing of all was that the workers, as I thought of them, didn’t even seem to be bothered by someone dying around them. The four others darted for cover, leaving the lone Perovian, as the notification message called them, to his own luck. Or lack thereof.
I ran for where they had entered earlier and stopped there, put both towers up, and nocked another arrow. None of them attacked me, and none of them did anything to defend themselves either. Had I misunderstood them?
“Stop! We will give you everything we have! Don’t kill our people!” a voice yelled from… somewhere.
It came from every direction at once, but that wasn’t possible. It could have been a skill that allowed the user to communicate with someone without alerting them to where the speaker was hidden.
“Can you hear me?” I whispered.
“Yes, I can. Please, what do you want?”
“Me? I don’t want anything, if I’m to be honest, but the Gods want this rift closed, and that means that one of us has to die today.”
“No, wait! Please hold on,” the voice said hurriedly. “There is a way to opt out of the game, and that is to sacrifice ninety-nine cores. They want eleven different ones, and the rest can be duplicates.”
I stopped for a minute and thought as I hid behind my towers. No one was able to hit me from the side of the camp, other than if someone was to walk up on me from behind. I glanced back hurriedly, but no one was there. Not that I’d die unless a mountain dropped on top of me, but still. The head was a great spot to score a critical hit.
Now, what was it that he just said? We could get our hands on n
inety-nine cores and opt out? Veles had never said anything like that, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. Her bet was to win or lose, and with every destroyed deity, she’d become 10% stronger.
“How can I believe anything that you’re saying?”
“You can’t, but I’m willing to bet that I can’t take you on. See, I have over two hundred cores and only ten different ones. What’s more, I need a specific core, according to my God.”
“Who is it?”
“My deity?”
“Yeah, what else?” I muttered.
“Indra. One of the first three that drew the lots for this rift. Trust me, we’ll make it worth your while if you don’t cause me any trouble.”
“I’m still not really convinced, you know? Can you call on your God to testify?”
The voice stayed quiet for several seconds. Then it turned into a minute, yet still no one had made a single move. The workers kept on working while two of the original five targets had managed to save their comrade.
Not that it mattered, as they had no way of getting even close to me because of the towers. Still, it made me wonder. What would I be able to do with so many cores? If I got my hands on all two hundred, well—no, yes. Ugh! I was here to do her bidding, or she’d probably do something really bad. She was a great patron, but not the kind of deity you wanted to mess with.
“I’m sorry, but my deity does not wish to appear for just anyone. You are too weak and insignificant for them to come.”
“What if I torched this place? Would he want to come then? He must know that anyone with enough power wouldn’t resort to half measures, even if what you just said was true. What about your world? Do your people keep on living once you’ve sacrificed the orbs?”
“They do, stranger. From the way you talk, I assume you’re the one my patron warned me about. The one who will be fighting the Zanoxian in a little over half a year.”
We could go on all day or put this all to the test. Maybe even finish it all if I was lucky. Still, if it was anything to go by, they were going to be a strong bunch. One of the five had caught an arrow, and even if I hadn’t used a skill, seven thousand damage wasn’t anything to scoff at.
Crossroads: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 3) Page 12
