Forged By The Apocalypse - A LitRPG With Draconic Potential

I had found there was no better practice than the heat of battle when it came to learning my abilities in the past, so I took my time dismantling the troublesome turtle. The enemy was actually a level higher than me. Due to still being bottlenecked, I took that as a specific insult.

Like the others, this one carried a typical “ninja” weapon. I dodged the nunchucks with ease, not even using any mana to strengthen my attributes. Making full use of Staff Mastery, I focused on watching the mana move around within the monster’s body. With the new layer to my sight, I could see the jumbled pathways inside the creature. From its neck down, every inch of its body was like tangled wool to my Stormborn senses.

As the creature attacked, the dishevelled fairy lights of its soul lit up like a beacon. It will punch with the right fist, leading into a right elbow jab. Followed up with a knee to the dropped face. A good combo. Instead of allowing the turtle to hit me and move me around, I blocked its punch, slipped the elbow attack and then, its knee raised, I swept its now off-balance leg and jumped back. Naea clapped with enthusiasm and I nearly caught a nunchuck to my mouth when I turned to grin at her.

Focus up, I told myself. The monster was no joke and that blow would have taken teeth, if now my whole lower jaw. Naea and I hadn’t worked out the extent of our healing capabilities but I wasn’t desperate to find out its limitations through human trials. Or would they be Stormborn trials now? This time, the thought slowed me enough to actually take a hit.

Two knuckles on my left fist were pulverised. I swore and kicked the turtle high into the air. While it fell, I dashed over to Naea. “What are you doing?” She asked, amused as she quickly healed the damage before the turtle even landed. “You just wanted someone to wrestle, didn’t you?” I waited while its impact rang out before replying.

“Gross,” I replied. “Every time this thing touches me I shudder, lose my cool and nearly kill it. I’m trying to see if I can read its movements from its mana.”

Naea frowned before scoffing loudly so I could still hear her. “Good luck.” She didn’t sound optimistic. I didn’t ask why because I didn’t want to know. I was fairly sure more than half of my success since the Dungeon spawned around me was down to not knowing I couldn’t do something. Within me, the Hurricane Heart was clear proof of this.

It was slowly releasing the vast energy inside to nurture both my body and soul because I had overcome its nature and trapped it. The pill had been designed to rewrite my mana control at a base level but instead, I had turned it into fuel for a racial upgrade and even then, the power was barely tapped.

I jumped forward and kicked the turtle as it landed, sending it crashing through some trees. I waited for it to return, portioning some of my energy away from containing the Hurricane Heart. My control was abysmal and I was reminded of my early uses of mana, even down to the amount I could wield. My opponent came back and its energy was flaring.

The thing really was nightmare fuel of the highest order. Ignoring the dense mana snarl underneath its skin, I had to say these were definitely my most hated addition to the new world. Giant scorpions were pretty scary, and the strange elemental forms in the tower had been uncomfortably uncanny at points, but seeing a beloved cartoon brought into violent realism was the worst. There was no moral dilemma in ridding the world of this evil. I was probably doing the thing a favour.

Uncomfortably human teeth underneath human eyes, with that being the extent of its likeness. Two nostrils sat atop a ridged beak-like forehead with the ridiculous headgear tangled around it. A filthy yellow-brown shell covered its top-half, long limbs with wiry muscles poking out of it. Its hands were like a tree frog’s, while its feet were stumpy like a tortoise. The nunchuck in its hand was oddly pristine for all that.

The ninja was done messing around, and so was I.

All of its pathways ignited like a bonfire and it exploded forward. For all I could keep the thing under wraps, it was still at the same level as myself and could cause some serious damage in the right conditions. Such as if it burned its soul like I had against the Storm Dragon. For a tenth of a second, I was on the other side of the clash. It was perfect.

I spun the Yo Staff defensively and threw the turtle’s momentum to the side. With its very soul ignited, the persistent attack continued quickly. It moved like a wasp with the force of a cannonball, but the real danger wasn’t the creature but the weapon it was holding. Since the start of the battle, each swing of the nunchucks had made it glow with more and more power. Right now, it was doing a good job of blinding me while I dodged it. Intrigued, I shoved the turtle right as it swung, causing it to hit a tree instead of me.

The tree was pulverised. A four foot chunk was straight up deleted, only dust left of the sizable area carved from the chestnut tree’s trunk. The blow continued and a terrifying eruption of earth followed when the nunchucks collided with the ground. My eyes widened and I immediately activated Infusion, tinged with everything I had learned from Harmony of the Storm.

“Okay,” I screamed over the noise to Naea, “no more playing around.”

From the moment Harmony of the Storm had been unlocked, it had been different to my other skills. Instead of a simple activation like my previous skills had required, I needed to figure out its use on my own. The System’s assistance when it came to my other abilities was noticeably lacking for this one, so it had taken me a while. More than information, I had felt like something was missing. A spark I had been unable to kindle properly.

I couldn’t help but smile. Battle really was the best teacher. The spike of adrenaline I had felt when a truly lethal attack was thrown my way forced my mind to race. The Hurricane Heart reacted as I used its mana, roaring in impotent outrage. Whatever vestige remained of the Storm Dragon was angry I had stolen its power. When I activated Infusion, I felt the difference immediately. My skin began to glow as white energy illuminated my mana pathways from within. “Ah, so that’s what it tastes like.”

Storm mana.

Like the crystals of power I recognised as draconic energy, the current properties of my mana were specialised. When my pure mana had been used for an Infusion, I had become stronger. When the draconic mana was the fuel, the Infusion effects were around five times more powerful, but drained my energy quicker. From the feel of the newest version, I had found the perfect mixture. Blue sparks appeared within my mana channels. It was when they danced in the air around me that I nearly squealed at the sight.

If the addition of storm mana, which increased my speed and strength massively, weren’t enough to completely dominate this thing then my overwhelming attribute advantage was. The turtle hadn’t been idle but with my speed, it might as well have been. Between its first and second swings, I had activated Infusion. Before the second blow landed, I was behind the turtle-frog entirely.

I said a silent thanks to the creature for being my latest training partner. Maybe calling it a whetstone would be more appropriate, but either way, it was dead the second I got serious. The turtle didn’t even try to follow my movements, thrown by a feint. For extra good measure, I filled the Yo Staff’s falling form with mana, curious what effect the new affinity would have.

The staff became charged like myself, a bright glow at the end where the weight gathered. It fell like a thunderbolt, with the crashing force of a landslide and the screaming whip of a gale force wind. The turtle, shell and all, were bisected and then blown away by the following shockwave when the staff hit the ground. I allowed myself to be thrown away by the force too by shifting the weight of the Yo Staff instantly.

Gliding through the air in a move I would call the Reverse Poppins, I marvelled at my own power. I had been thrown a good twenty feet into the air and the enemy had been defeated in essentially one blow. From up here, the two halves of the monster were easily visible, thrown in arcs much like myself. Interesting vantage point. You can see quite a lot fro-

My blood ran cold and I dropped to the ground. I simply stored the Yo Staff and gravity did the rest. Sprinting, hyperventilating, denying what my eyes saw, I ran to the dark heap I spotted from above. Just a short distance away. Not far from the fight, and definitely not far from Home Base. I felt hollow, unable to reply to Naea’s confusion.

“How?” I repeated the question over and over with each footfall. How? How did this happen? How did I not hear? How could I not have known? How did I not think this might happen? How could I let this happen? How could I fuck around and play games while this was happening?

A dozen variations, slowly twisting the blame to myself. I slowed as I approached. Even as I came within mere feet of the mass, I couldn’t bring myself to focus on it. I blinked, seeing only a black shape against the world. I blinked again, swallowing down the revulsion, intrusive thoughts and bile in one filthy gulp. I forced myself to see what I was ignoring.

There, on the floor, broken and cold from the icy grip of death was a human.

My eyes darted around at the nearby trees and I screamed in horror. Draped in the branches were people I recognised. In each of the surrounding trees, looming down over me like spectres, the individuals from the café were all boring holes into me. Sandra, the owner who had kept her husband’s name on the place. The man who popped my shoulder back in when it dislocated. The lady who had thrown her laptop. Above them all, a gargoyle perched on high, the two violet eyes of Mrs Naebol stared down at me in accusation.

Dark edges crowded my vision, the world closing around me. Every negative thought I had buried and every intrusive thought I had ignored pushed through the flimsy dam I had crafted to keep them at bay. Everything was over, the world was lost and I had already died. The body on the ground had my face. There was no point. I raised my eyes from the body to the shadows above, about to ask for forgiveness I didn’t deserve from people who couldn’t give it.

As my breath rose in my throat, a hand touched my cheek.

A tiny gesture, done by a minute woman. Into her touch, Naea poured every ounce of understanding and compassion she could muster. It wasn’t like she didn’t feel sad seeing the body, she just didn’t see what I did. She saw a sad occurrence which could have happened to anyone, one which would happen to us and more if we let this stop us.

“The only way to stop this from happening is to get stronger and defeat the Dungeon bosses.” Naea didn’t mince words, telling me what she thought I needed to hear. I flinched at the idea I could help, the heavy stares from the trees still keeping me cowed. Then, to emphasise her words, Naea pressed her Dao onto me, pressuring me like the Storm Dragon had. Of course, Naea’s power was a droplet compared to the ocean, but I allowed her influence to shake my mind of shadows.

I chanced a look towards the body at my feet once more. Naea’s Dao of the Fairy Dragon pierced the illusion my mind had wrought. Of course it wasn’t me. This person didn’t look anything like me, under the blood. They wore a ramshackle collection of basic looking armours from various time periods and clutched a short sword in the grasp. They must have been level seventeen or higher, not that it mattered. Clearly they had run into the Adolescent Amphibian Attack Animal before I did.

Had they died while I was infusing the Hurricane Heart? It seemed likely.

I turned my eyes to the trees, seeing them clear of shades. The accusation in the eyes of the deceased remained with me as I sat quietly at the grisly scene. Naea collected the nunchucks and my belt even upgraded once more to a Green Belt which gave ten percent increased attributes. I hardly registered. At some point, I began tearing through the dirt like an animal so I could bury the person. They weren’t carrying identification, so I didn’t know their name to mark the grave.

The charge levied by the furious eyes of the dead hadn’t been because I let them die. It was because I wasn’t doing enough with their memory. I had said it earlier, in the fight but the memory felt like ash in my mouth. “No more playing around?” I asked myself.

There were people out there dying, just like this man had died. The actions of the System were not mine to bear guilt for, but each person I could have helped and didn’t weighed on me. I thought of a powerful quote, one which had stuck with me for a long time and guided many of my actions day to day.

“With great power…” I whispered, standing up. “Let’s move.” I turned away, stalking into the dungeon with heavy stomps and a heavy heart. There were three towers out there to claim, bosses to kill and a dungeon to escape. I reaffirmed myself, flexing my Dao. “No more playing around.”