Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

He didn’t know where to dodge. Was it early or late? How far should he lean?

Jack would later swear that, at that moment, the wolf grinned. Its claw came at him, and there was nothing he could do except gamble. It had been toying with him; it had the Dao Root of Shadow but hadn’t used it until now, except for that small illusion it activated at the very start.

The claw came for his head, its position vague. Jack had to make a decision. What was best?

At that moment, it felt like his brain exploded. Every single synapse fired off at once. Time didn’t slow down, but he saw a thousand thoughts go through his brain at the same time, like he was watching a hundred bright minds work together inside his.

He had perfect awareness of his body. He could sense every muscle, every injury, the exact millimeter at which he could lean and how much time it would cost him to recover.

He saw the wolf’s stance. Every tiny thing was taken into account. He remembered all patterns he’d witnessed and contrasted them with the current one. His brain, trained by years of study as a biologist, was now fully devoted to battle.

A hundred simulations ran through his mind. He saw the claw’s most probable patterns, three of them, and the different scenarios they would lead to. He included the inevitable feint. He considered every possible way to dodge and saw two moves into the future. He contrasted his options and the wolf’s, pruning the scenarios with unbelievable speed.

For a single moment, he had perfect awareness.

Congratulations! Fistfighting (II) → Fistfighting (III)

He dodged. His movement was accurate to the millimeter. He had taken into account his momentum, his injuries, even the strain on his muscles. He knew how fast and where the wolf could move.

The claw sailed two fingers over his head. He leaned to the side with mathematical accuracy, letting the next strike pass just under him as he used his momentum to turn and jump back. The maneuver was perfect. Jack was safe.

In the next moment, his head almost exploded. A terrible headache assaulted him as if his brain was cramping. Under normal circumstances, he might have fainted on the spot; right now, he didn’t have that luxury.

But his reflexes dropped. The previous perfect awareness gave its place to lethargy, confusion, and dizziness. Everything was fuzzy. Jack’s mind was spent, and so was his body.

That bastard… he thought, watching the wolf pounce with jaws wide open. He hid until the last moment… There was nothing I could do… I’d lost before the battle even began.

The wolf approached, but Jack was determined to fight until the very end. He scrounged up his last dregs of energy and prepared a Calamitous Punch. With the upgrade in Drill, perhaps it would work this time.

The wolf approached. Its head blurred in darkness. Jack chuckled. It didn’t matter, anyway. His fist sailed forth unerringly. The two were about to meet. Jack would die, but at least, he’d go down with a bang.

At that final moment before his death, a tiny candle burned in his mind. Something called at him from deep within. He let it, curious where the thought would lead. He let himself get distracted because it really didn’t matter.

Then, Jack saw the wolf’s previous attack in replay. He saw how it had fused its Dao Root into the attack.

He saw the bald man’s punch. He felt the Dao of the Fist at work, operating at a level he couldn’t fathom. And, for the first time, under the veil of death, he realized that Dao and fist didn’t move separately. The bald man didn’t envelop one in the other, as Jack had assumed. They were one and the same. The Dao and the fist could become one—no, they always had been.

Jack snapped back to the present. He saw his fist inches away from the wolf’s open maw and felt himself activating Calamitous Punch.

Why stop there?

His Dao Root flowed into the fist as well, majestic and undeniable. Then, something magical happened. His Dao was absorbed by the System’s skill, tamed, and released in a way far more effective than his own crude use.

At the moment before impact, the sun went dark. The world turned black and white. Every eye was drawn to Jack’s fist as if the world was ending. In the colorless void, his arm left a meteor trail behind it. The fist shone purple. It sped up and attained such momentum that Jack couldn’t control it anymore. Its power far belied his fist’s size.

The punch exploded on the wolf’s snout like a sun was born. Color returned to the world abruptly, along with a thunderous sound wave as an actual explosion enveloped the site of Jack and the wolf’s clash.

Congratulations! Skill Calamitous Punch (I) upgraded into Dao Skill, Meteor Punch (I).

Meteor Punch (I): When meteors fall from space, they cause exponentially more damage than their size would indicate. Your punches can carry the same effect. Overdraw your body’s potential and combine it with your Dao of the Fist to unleash a devastating attack.

Jack flew back and smashed into a rock, unable to move an inch. He moaned in pain. His hand wasn’t just broken, it was completely disfigured.

But it was worth it.

Near the site of impact, the wolf lay still, bloodied, and headless. It was like a small meteor had fallen from orbit and smashed straight into its head.

Jack had won. No, he corrected himself, meeting Harambe’s incredulous stare, we won.

Level Up! You have reached Level 30.

Level Up! You have reached Level 31.

Level Up! You have reached Level 32.

Level Up! You have reached Level 33.

Level Up! You have reached Level 34.

He tried to shout in triumph but couldn’t even move his mouth. Only the bonus points from the level-ups, which could be allocated by simply willing it, kept him conscious.

Congratulations! You have conquered the Forest of the Strong! If you belong to a Faction, you can choose to assimilate the Dungeon into your territory. Calculating rewards…

1 F-Grade Faction-Forming Permit.

1 Trial Planet Token.

1 F-Grade Dao Fruit of the Fist.

A few trinkets materialized before his feet.

…What? Jack was thoroughly exhausted and in tremendous pain. He was in no mood to deal the System’s shenanigans. He also had no idea what any of those things were, but at least the screens confirmed this was the last black wolf. If there was a third one, Jack wouldn’t know who to curse.

However, the screens still weren’t over.

Dungeon border lifting on hold. Total monster despawning on hold. Faction territory assignment on hold. Would you like to assimilate the Dungeon into your Faction’s territory and assume control or proceed with the automated parameters? This decision has a time limit of 1 minute.

…What?

Jack still had no idea what was happening. He was at one of the most exhausted points of his life, and the System thought he was in the mood to play with interfaces. He almost willed the screen away before his addled mind caught up to one important piece of information.

Wait. Total monster despawning? Will it despawn the monkeys?

He gazed at Harambe. The big brorilla was giving him a thumbs-up, and his grumpy face was curved into a big smile. The gymonkeys were hesitantly celebrating from afar, while the brorillas were only now recovering from their shock. Four of them went to take care of their injured bros, while Oz, the strongest brorilla, rushed over to Jack and tried to mime something.

Jack ignored him. Moans and screams of pain littered the air—the cries of his allies, who’d risked themselves to grant him victory. There were also many others that would never make a sound again.

They will all be despawned? Jack’s eyes widened. No!

He forced his mind to parse the information. Due to his exhaustion, he had to read through the screens thrice to understand.

No, he told the System. Do not proceed with the automated parameters. Let me choose.

It ignored him.

30 seconds left before automated dungeon recovery.

Jack gritted his teeth. He understood. He couldn’t take control of the dungeon himself; he needed a faction.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have one.

20 seconds left before automated dungeon recovery.

The reward! His eyes shone. The System had given him 1 F-Grade Faction-Forming Permit for conquering the dungeon. It was self-explanatory.

He gazed at the trinkets by his feet. One was a tablet made of blue crystal with a green F engraved on it. Going by instinct, he grabbed it.

Form faction! he shouted in his mind. Form faction. Please!

The tablet turned into dust.

F-Grade Faction founding activated. Please choose the name of your faction:

I… uh…

10 seconds left before automated dungeon recovery.

He looked at his fist. Bare Fist Brotherhood!

You have chosen the name ‘Bare Fist Brotherhood.’ Please confirm.

Confirm, dammit, confirm.

5 seconds left before automated dungeon recovery.

Faction registered. Please think ‘Faction’ to—

He ignored the last screen.

Assimilate the dungeon into my faction, he thought quickly.

2 seconds left before automated dungeon recovery.

Come on! Please!

Forest of the Strong has been assimilated into the Bare Fist Brotherhood’s territory. Automated dungeon recovery canceled. Please handle everything manually.

Jack felt more relief than when his first date said yes.

Oh, thank God…

He slid back to the ground. Oz the brorilla was still miming his congratulations and asking if Jack needed any help, which he very much did. He was bleeding from multiple places, had lost much blood already, and his hand was ruined. If nothing was done, he would die.

Unfortunately, he’d already used even his last dregs of energy. There was simply nothing left.

“Please help me…” he croaked out before his world turned black.