Forged By The Apocalypse - A LitRPG With Draconic Potential

The birth of Nolan’s Dao was worthy of celebration, and one more night in Londimin because of it. The plan was to leave early in the morning while the sun would be at our back. It was a fairly flimsy reasoning but the sun had been setting when the checks for the plane were finished and a party had already begun in the airport. It would have been rude to leave.

In truth, Grant wanted to say goodbye to his new friends.

The System is brutal. It takes, and there was a good chance he would never seen any of these people alive again. The thought was calm and calculated, not panicky. He embraced it, and let it fuel his good humour instead. Every night could be their last, so he made it count. He laughed, he drank, he even flirted a little with an older woman who kept tickling him with ice created by her Aspect. It was a fun evening, unmarred by the fears of the outside world or what was to come.

Larry and Morris had been quickly eclipsed in strength by others as a few Dao users started appearing in Londimin. Their strange training courses were increasingly popular regardless, as it was from their teachings that those who could grasp the Dao did so. I remained bemused at the whole thing. There seemed to be no issues with the people’s actual strength, though. I had half-expected those coming out of the lessons to have some misshapen energies, some malady passed from teacher to student, but there were none. Even Naea was begrudgingly impressed with their progress, comparing them constantly to Fledglings in an increasingly complimentary way.

I had worried a little that I would need to look after Hassian, but it was Cal who took the man under his wing. The two spent most of their time together, a strange competitiveness blossoming into new growth for the pair of them. The combination of Balance and Pressure was potent in the few times I had sparred with them. I wondered at how their paths would progress, with the two of them entwining their styles around each other. I was a little dense to these things sometimes, but even I was able to see that strength wasn’t all which was blossoming between the two men.

I said nothing, keeping my thoughts on the matter to myself. “But…” Naea had said, distraught when I told her of their relationship, “but what about all of those sharp teeth?” I had no answer and just hoped the two were making it work in whatever uncomfortable way they did. It was agreed that the two would be part of the first group which moved to create diplomacy and trade routes with The Ascent. Rashid was extremely excited to be going with them, planning to be the first merchant to set up franchises in this new System world.

Nolan was drinking away his nerves about the subject. The man himself was remaining in Londimin for a multitude of reasons, not least of all was Sarah. While he wanted to find his wife, it did no good if she had no home to return to. So, it was left to the eldest daughter. I had been surprised to learn the wolf girl I had talked to in the forest before ever coming to Londimin was Nolan’s daughter, but I didn’t overthink it. The world was both larger and smaller than it once was. If anything it made me hopeful for the fate of Nolan’s wife and my own family.

The party was loud, long and lovely. People with Aspects of Electricity powered musical equipment, which I quickly found I could not do when I tried to push Tempest mana through the guitar someone gave me. It played for a strum or two before blowing out the speaker, and I was angrily pushed away from anything delicate. It was in the quiet shadows while everyone else revelled that I had my biggest surprise of the night.

“Can we speak?” I almost jumped out of my skin. Due to the rising strength of the town, I kept my perception tight to myself. Otherwise, I would end up seeing and hearing all kinds of things I didn’t want to, my attributes and skills were just too powerful to be around weaker people. I turned and saw a feeble looking Seth leaning against a tree. “Please?” He added.

So, we did. He told me of how his journey in the System started, of an alien called Titus which had gifted him Aspects and magical items along with levels. Seth’s beginning was not terribly unlike my own, with the exception of the dungeon I was locked in. It didn’t create camaraderie, but at least I felt I understood some of the pressures on the kid now. He really was just a kid. With the strength from killing the Nomad, he made the town save more lives than he ruined. Seth’s actions were, ultimately, forgivable. So I did.

I did not expect him to do the same, however. “Thank you,” Seth said, a look of surprise on his face. Then he shook his head clear of a doubt and looked me in the eye. “Seriously. Thank you. The Aspects I have are powerful but they are like anchors. Once I turned them into a class… It was like I could barely think for myself.” He shivered at the thought.

I almost didn’t want to know, but I had to ask. “What happened to the class? What even was it?” I had avoided Seth until now, easily able to convince myself he had nothing to say to me. Except, in many ways Seth was the person on Earth who might understand me the most. In his eyes, I saw the fearful doubt which rested in my own heart.

“I had the Aspect of the Hero from Titus, and quest rewards gave me Fate, Inevitability and Recovery. Fate’s Marshall,” Seth laughed with a racking cough attached. “You really did a number on me. So did the System. Except where you broke something, it turned me into a puppet. I could think, but every time I tried to act I just moved in a different way. It was terrifying. Once you shattered the class, I could think again.”

Destroying Seth’s connection to the Aspect of Inevitability was something I hadn’t let myself think about much. I had been quick and simple, crippling the man. Or, so I had thought. “You’re not carrying a torch of revenge and hiding it until the moment is right, are you?”

Seth snorted, pushing himself from the tree and groaning. He flashed a winning smile before wincing as weight shifted in his still-damage back. “No, nothing like that. Revenge isn’t really for me. I’m a hero, remember?”

“That remains to be seen,” I warned gently. Seth just nodded and left. I watched him limp away. He would recover the strength I took from him. Hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem in the future. In any case, my soul felt a little lighter, for which I was grateful. As a bookend to my time here, it felt appropriate. With that in mind, Naea and I slipped away.

“You don’t want to say goodbye to anyone? I thought that’s why we stayed this long.” Naea asked, not bothered herself in the slightest. We had been ready to leave for days at this point.

“Nah, I realise now that I've been saying goodbye to these people for days now. Let’s just get out of here. I got everything I needed.” I did take one last look at the revelry I was leaving behind. The bonfires were blazing, casting the shadows of dancers about at strange angles. “I’ve done some good here, I think. We have.”

“Of course you did, Grant,” Naea’s voice was chiding. Our connection opened a little wider and I saw myself through her eyes. Stopping those men from killing Rashid on the first day. Rushing into the Elite dungeon without a second’s thought once the actions of the town came back to bite them. To Naea, it would have made sense to leave right there and make them regret their actions. Except, I hadn’t done that. I had saved them all. “Stop overthinking things. There were no parties here before you came.”

It was as simple as that, wasn’t it? The System had taken so much from these people they didn’t know how to get any of it back. I had, at least, shown them it was possible to do more. That would be enough for others to take up the reins later, right? I nodded. “Let’s go.”

Flying a plane was surprisingly easy once it got in the air. The fact that Grant and Nolan could literally pick up the relatively small private jet helped a lot. Air Manipulation took a lot of the challenge out of handling the plane. I wasn’t confident I could pick us up if we began to nose-dive, but I was pretty sure I knew what I was doing. “We can always jump out if we need to,” I suggested to a blank look from Naea. “It’d be fun! Like skydiving!”

“And if you crash the plane, how do you plan on getting back to Ascentown?” Naea asked, a rare voice of reason. I thought of the places I had left behind.The Ascent, now three town strong. I wondered how the others were doing, but not enough to open up the line with Steel yet. I would soon, but not yet. For now, the people whose lives I had touched would have to carry on without me. Though, if I crashed the plane, they might have to carry on for too long.

I frowned, recalibrating my landing plans. “We’ll be fine. Keep an eye out for good areas to land once we get past the water, though.” Naea grunted an affirmation and we both tried to relax. There was little else to do. Before long, while I was still remaining vigilant for aerial threats, Naea began to snore. I smiled and closed the door, quieting her buzzsaw sleeping noises. It was going to be a long flight.

They would be safe, because while I got lucky, they were strong to begin with. There were greater dangers coming for our world, and I had no doubt that I could face them with the allies I had begun to gather and those that would come. I would keep growing in power and dragging others along with me where I could. The waters of what used to be the Irish Sea stretched out below me as we finally left the landmass behind. It was going to be an interesting, and hopefully easy journey. At the end of it…

I would find my family.

END OF BOOK TWO