Forged By The Apocalypse - A LitRPG With Draconic Potential

The next week passed by in a blur. I took what might have been my first true break since the System arrived. The pressure of the trial wave had forged some truly promising individuals within Londimin who were rising from the ashes of the trial wave. Nolan and I hadn’t been able to get much time to talk, as the new position of power took up most of his time. The stagnation of Londimin was over. More and more teams were being created to hunt the nearby monsters, and the progress was good. Nolan’s daughter Lucy was heading up a special contingent, aimed at exploring further afield.

An important move for the city. Helping the process along, were the most changed by the events of that very long day. The Elite dungeon had released a few monsters of its own. Hassian was an obvious target for such a name, but he had been welcomed to the city’s bosom with open arms. No, it was the humans that I had dragged with me who were making a name for themselves. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, really. At least Callum and Rashid made some sense, but when I saw Larry and Morris giving lessons to others I almost interrupted out of principle.

However, on listening to their “Tao seminar,” I actually felt it might be the right choice. Their information was correct enough, if I was being generous. It had been stressed to me that trying to teach people about the ins-and-outs of how Dao truly worked was impossible, so perhaps this vague and rambling explanation they gave could be considered the best way to share the information. I left them to it, along with their growing number of doe-eyed fans.

Callum had come out of the Elite dungeon with a Dao, and the effects were clear. He was one of two bright spots I could sense burning in Londimin, the other being Hassian. More would appear soon, I knew. Too many had faced the burgeoning Dao of the higher level monsters and sensed the truth of the world just out of reach. With this many people, if I wasn’t careful, I would be surpassed. For me, the thought was almost a joke, as I couldn’t imagine what someone would have to go through to match my achievements in power at this point. For Callum, and Hassian to a smaller degree, the threat was real.

Every night, in the newly formed training arena, the pair sparred to the utmost of their abilities. They weren’t gaining levels, but their competency was going through the roof. I had only really “trained” in life and death situations, as no one could reasonably keep up with me. It was interesting to see up-close the more measured gains of people who weren’t fighting for survival, but for improvement alone. They challenged me to a two-on-one battle, which I assured them they didn’t want. When the pair essentially begged me with their best attempt at puppy-dog-eyes, I agreed quickly, just to get them to stop.

The hopeful, fluttering blinks of a child was not something I wanted to see on Hassian’s face again. Unsurprisingly, neither of them forced me to even use Dao of my own. However as a sign of their growth, they did corner me enough to remove a few limiters. I had been consciously restraining myself to half of my Attribute power and using no skills when the pair used what was clearly a practised double team attack. Hassian’s Dao arrived on my shoulders with impressive solidity while Cal seemed to steal some of the weight and add it to his own attack.

Almost unbidden, the thought errant, my Alternating Armament snaked onto my arm and formed a buckler to bounce the incoming attack away. My skill with the weapon was surprising even to myself at this point, I guessed. If the Armament is out anyway… With no small amount of chagrin at being forced back at all, I quickly ended the fight. The shield became a staff and the pair were whacked into the gentle embrace of unconsciousness in very short order.

Of course, they considered making me use any of my toolkit a victory for themselves, which was endearing in a way and a little alienating in another. Together, Callum and Hassian would easily dominate the security forces of Londimin. Nolan would need to step in and stop them, and even then, he wouldn’t be able to face either of them alone. Then there was me. If this whole city attacked me at once, they would fail.

What did that make me..?

A knowing voice poked through my distracted thoughts, literally appearing in my head as well as in my ear. “Wondering whether to raze the city again?” Naea asked, poking my exact anxiety in the perfect way to make me throw it aside. I gave her a withering look, slightly disappointed it didn’t actually drain her at all. I would have to practise with the skill and see if it was possible.

“I didn’t raze it in the first place,” I responded, foolishly taking her seriously. As her mouth split into an evil grin, I rolled my eyes and tuned her out. Something, I found, was increasingly difficult to do. My mental barriers were powerful, a titanium fortress compared to most. Yet, due to her new evolution and our connection, Naea could brush it aside like tissue paper.

“Mmm, arguable.” Naea dropped the subject, having had her fun, but it did increase my troubled thoughts all the same. My presence increased the dangers for the people around me. Steel had said as much, as had the Nomad of the season of death. While I hadn’t actively started the trial wave, the System had essentially used me to create an actual challenge for Londimin, one they couldn’t hide behind their walls from. In some ways-

“Ugh,” Naea interrupted, “stop it. It was a joke. You’re too serious. All the time. It’s exhausting being a roommate in your head sometimes, Grant.” I frowned, but nodded. It wasn’t simple, to turn your mind from dark thoughts to light ones, but Naea’s helping hand within my very thoughts made it possible. Her suggestion that we find Rashid helped, too. Much like Callum and Hassian, he had been on a warpath of his own.

The bustling building which had become the headquarters of Rashid’s new business was the same one I had dealt with some bullies in front of when I first arrived. There was a pride in choosing this location which resonated with my Dao. The site of defeat need not always be so. I liked that thought. Entering, people moved out of my way with deference and fear. I tried not to let it dredge up the feeling I had just shaken.

Rashid’s pressured expression brighten upon seeing the pair of us entering his room. “Oh thank the lord, it’s just you.” I smiled happily back at him, very pleased to be just me. Rashid’s office was a busy place visually. Bursts of colour were everywhere, signs of an asian heritage which Rashid still honoured. I bowed to a statue of an elephant headed deity while he finished some paperwork. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Grant was about to lose his mind, so it’s time to leave,” Naea announced. Even I was a little shocked by it, but Rashid looked terrified suddenly.

“No!” He shouted, actually putting a hand to his mouth as though the word had leapt out on its own. I raised an eyebrow, surprised he cared overmuch. I would be a great business partner, I was sure, but considering I wasn’t planning to become one anytime soon, his outburst was shocking. He winced and I waited for him to continue, my smirk locked in place. “Must you leave so soon?” He asked eventually, having returned to sitting in the chair behind his desk.

I just shrugged. “Naea’s right. I’ve been here longer than I wanted anyway. This all started because I wanted to charter a plane, essentially.” Rashid looked bemused and I could only shrug again. “It’s the only thing that makes sense to try and find my family. Most people aren’t in a position where they can search like I can.”

“You know… it’s been more than a few months at this point…” Rashid said his words with utmost hesitance, and stopped at Naea’s gesturing behind my back. My Dao descended upon the room, with nothing I could do to stop it because I didn’t want to.

“That’s a low angle to take, Rashid. What is so important that you thought that was the way to make me stay?” I released the pressure as soon as I was able to, to which Rashid gasped and looked at me with fear. I pursed y lips for a second before releasing a pent-up breath. One I had been holding for months, possibly. “I was having a problem walking over here, and I thought it was possible to ignore but it’s not. I like you Rashid, but your opinion doesn't matter. I didn’t tell you so you can change my actions, I gave you a courtesy. I’m not like the rest of you.”

To accentuate my point, I let my mana run wild, igniting the strange lines and glyphs which hid just under my skin. “I can’t keep paying attention to the petty, low-levelled goings on below me. It’s so easy to feel like these problems are mine to fix, just because I can fix them. Except, then there’s always the next issue, isn’t there?” I waved my hands towards the window behind Rashid. He flinched, which I didn’t like, but I continued anyway. “This isn’t even my city, Rashid. There are people who need me, everywhere it seems. This city imprisoned me rather than talk to me. I owe it nothing.”

Rashid seemed to deflate, but he was nodding begrudgingly by the end of my short tirade. I understood Nolan’s plight quite well, though I wondered if it would be easier if I wasn’t standing at the pinnacle of power. I had to be a good example for those who became powerful. It made making my own choices difficult sometimes, but no more. I had done enough for these two bastions of humanity and now the survival was up to them.

“So, without trying to pressure me, just ask me for the favour as a friend instead?” I removed my pressure from the air, allowing Rashid’s eyes to refocus. I could feel Naea’s approval and reminded myself she wasn’t the best arbiter of what was right. However, as I waited for Rashid to collect himself, I saw the issue with myself. It was too easy to get whatever I wanted from other people. At the same time, it also felt much more simple to do things myself.

After a decent pause and more than a few shudders, Rashid looked me in the eye again. I couldn’t help but be impressed by the strength in his gaze after the brush against my unrestrained Dao. I would have described him as having steel nerves, but I knew well that they were made of more malleable stuff. A flash of silver across the man’s normally dark eyes occurred, the activation of a skill. “I have an ability called Silver Winds. It’s useless in a fight, but you called me a silver tongue and you’re not wrong. The skill doesn’t tell me what to say, but it lets me know when I can get more out of a situation. It’s been very helpful in the last week.”

My eyebrows rose. There were skills like that? Mine were all a little more… simple? I cleared my throat. “I can see that. I thought it was all just the rugged confidence of spending time with your’s truly.” Naea gave the back of my head a jab and I nearly smacked the table with my face. “Naea, too. She’s been here.”

“Right,” Naea nodded, “I have been. What are you trying to get out of us, mister merchantman?”

With a look of relief on his face, Rashid shook his head and smiled. “Not for me. The ability is potent, but there’s also a glaring issue. Grant and yourself. It’s like the System is begging me to wring you for all your amazing potential. An hour with you is more valuable than a month of trading, you understand? But no, I can ignore that. The Silver Winds are telling me that you can still get much value from this city.”

I groaned, not bothering to hold it back. I just wanted to be done with this place, which had drawn me in for far longer than I planned. “Does your ability come with any hints? Generally I expect I can get whatever value I want from wherever I want at this point.” I didn’t see any point beating around the bush. If I wanted to take something from Londimin, I would have already taken it. Well, except for…

Faction Absorption

By defeating the leader of another faction in single combat, and due to there being no laws governing the land, you may now take control of that faction. The faction, Londimin, will be subsumed into The Ascent.

Would you like to absorb the faction?

I groaned again, thanked Rashid while apologising at the same time, and went to find Nolan. It was time to get a plane, and if it took me and The Ascent taking over the whole city in full, then that’s what I would do. It was time to be finished with this whole, strange detour.