Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

The impending fight drew Jack to the present. He was full of dark thoughts, and the best way to get rid of them was to punch something hard and repeatedly. His Dao agreed, too.

Jack grinned as the sharkman landed in the arena. The nearby crowd cheered at him.

However, before jumping in himself, Jack had something to do. Reaching inside the white bag he carried, he removed a head-sized glass sphere shining with all colors of the rainbow. He crushed it between his hands—it wasn’t really glass—and inhaled the colors. They smelled like lit tinder.

Level Up! You have reached Level 41.

Level Up! You have reached Level 42.

Level Up! You have reached Level 43.

The audience wasn’t surprised by this, but they gasped as he took out another ball. Grinning, he inhaled that one, too.

Level Up! You have reached Level 44.

Level Up! You have reached Level 45.

Level Up! You have reached Level 46.

Another.

Level Up! You have reached Level 47.

Level Up! You have reached Level 48.

The last one.

Level Up! You have reached Level 49.

That was it. Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then let his face split into a grin. He opened his status screen.

Name: Jack Rust

Species: Human, Earth-387

Faction: Bare Fist Brotherhood

Grade: F

Class: Pugilist (Elite)

Level: 49

Strength: 105

Dexterity: 105

Constitution: 105

Mental: 10

Will: 10

Free points: 20

Skills: Fistfighting (III), Drill (II), Pugilist Body (III), Parkour (II)

Dao Skills: Meteor Punch (I)

Daos: Dao Root of the Fist, Dao Root of Indomitable Will

Titles: Planetary Frontrunner (10)

There was no point in holding back the Levels anymore. Every other finalist was at 49 already, and Jack sure didn’t lack the fighting experience. He didn’t need to bet anymore, either.

49 was the peak of the F-Grade. To level further, he would need to advance one of his Dao Roots into a Dao Seed.

Grinning, he surveyed his available free points and allocated them quickly. He followed Master Shol’s advice on an 8-1-1 distribution between Physical-Mental-Will, but since none of the other finalists used mind attacks or anything like that, he leaned towards Physical a little more.

Name: Jack Rust

Species: Human, Earth-387

Faction: Bare Fist Brotherhood

Grade: F

Class: Pugilist (Elite)

Level: 49

Strength: 119

Dexterity: 119

Constitution: 119

Mental: 13

Will: 13

Skills: Fistfighting (III), Drill (II), Pugilist Body (III), Parkour (II)

Dao Skills: Meteor Punch (I)

Daos: Dao Root of the Fist, Dao Root of Indomitable Will

Titles: Planetary Frontrunner (10)

One extra point would have made the numbers prettier, but it was what it was.

For the first time, Jack had increased all his stats at the same time. The ensuing euphoria overwhelmed him. His muscles tightened as his body burst with power at the seams. His mind expanded and sank into a deeper level of worldly awareness as his willpower sharpened itself, ready to impose itself on the world and force it to obey.

Jack felt like he was ascending.

A moment later, the feeling was gone, but the power remained. His entire body buzzed and hummed with power. He clenched his fist. He was strong.

“Jack Rust, please proceed to the arena,” the head judge instructed, looking at him, and he only glanced at her once before jumping. He landed with a hard thud against the rock-bedded sand, but his knees didn’t even budge.

He raised a closed fist high in the air, and the audience cheered like crazy. Jack, too, was a crowd favorite.

He grinned as he stared down Shard Presht. “You again,” he said, lowering his fist. “You never learn, do you?”

“This battle will be different from last time,” the sharkman hissed, crossing his arms before his face. He already wore his forearm-blade gauntlets. “Master has helped me a lot. My strength has increased tremendously.”

“Too bad. So has mine. And I got more Levels than you.”

“I—”

Jack wasted no more time talking. His heels dug against the sand as he launched himself forward. The wind screamed in his ears, the crowd was a blur, their screams empowering him. His bare feet smashed against the ground with every step, taking him over the sand like an arrow.

He closed the distance almost instantly and smashed out a punch.

“Fin Sail Dance!” Shard Presht cried out, moving his hands so fast before his chest they were like a curtain of blades. If Jack tried to reach through it, his arm could be severed. “Touch me now, human!” Presht laughed.

Jack was unfazed. He planted a foot firmly into the ground before the shark-man, reared a fist back, rotated his body, and struck with all his strength. Shard grinned in disbelief.

Jack’s fist came to a booming stop right in front of the curtain of blades as if hitting a wall. A whooshing sound filled the arena as the shockwave of his fist traveled through the air to explode in front of Shard’s face, sending him flying backward with a yelp.

“Not enough.” Jack tsked. He had tried to make the shockwave actually reach Shard’s face, but he still wasn’t skilled enough with Drill. It didn’t matter. It was good enough.

As he was flying back, Shard spread his fin-like forearm-blades and stopped his flight instantly. However, the moment he did, Jack’s fist was there. It smashed hard into his face, sending him flying backward again until he met a wall with a bang.

“You made the same mistake last time,” Jack said, shaking his head. “You really never learn.”

Scattered laughter came from the audience as Shard stood up. A thin line of blood flowed down his chin, and one of his many needle-like teeth had been broken. His face was a visage of fury. He glanced momentarily at the curtain before turning his gaze at Jack.

“You will pay for this, human,” he hissed.

“Less talking, more fighting. Come on.”

Shard burst forth with instant acceleration, even faster than last time. His right blade cut out at Jack’s chest, expecting a block or a dodge. Jack grabbed his arm mid-strike and leaped over it, then leaned back to avoid the other blade and spun in mid-air. Shard struck again, but though his Dao could give his attacks great speed, the same didn’t go for his reflexes.

Not expecting Jack’s abrupt parkouring, he missed—and, as a result, left himself wide open.

In Shard’s eyes, the world turned black. Only a purple meteor still held color, crashing down from the highest orbit and directly into his face. His slit-eyes widened. He tried to duck, but it was too late.

Meteor Punch.

Jack’s fist smashed hard into Shard’s face, sending a dozen teeth in the air and the sharkman himself flying back like a broken kite. He slammed into the wall even harder than before, and all spectators cheered at Jack’s display of strength—after all, Meteor Punch was a very flashy skill!

Jack landed on his feet. His hand was bruised but fine.

“I’m in a really bad mood today, sharky,” he said, cracking his knuckles. “Please don’t resign too soon.”

Shard Presht looked up from the ground. His face was warped and even slightly indented where Meteor Punch had hit him. He gritted what remained of his teeth.

He was completely outmatched so far…but he still had tricks to show.

“Wind Swim!” he shouted.

He shot up from the ground, not rising to his feet, but taking to the air! His fin-blades spread like wings as he flew around at high speed, changing directions randomly. Jack’s narrowed eyes followed him the entire time.

“Would you look at that,” he said. “A flying fish.”

Shard did not reply. He rose high and then fell on Jack, aiming for his head. At the last moment, his momentum disappeared, leaving him still above Jack’s head to pummel him with slashes. His forearm-blades became a blur as he struck from above, an angle that Jack couldn’t really defend against, and one that was especially close to his vitals.

Shard Presht held nothing back. His blades aimed for the throat, the face, anywhere they could reach. Jack slapped two strikes away before taking a slash to the shoulder, making him buckle and grunt in pain. Another came from his blind spot and headed for the exposed side of his throat, but he ducked.

He then kept going lower until he was squatting, and as Shard followed, Jack shot back up as fast as he could. A blade raked his entire back as he passed, drawing a line of blood, but he was sturdy enough to take the hit. He didn’t even try to defend. Instead, he grabbed Shard’s other wrist as he shot up, dragging him along in the air.

Shard’s eyes widened. He tried to change his momentum in any direction, but in the end, his momentum was relative to his weight, and Jack could easily handle that.

Still holding Shard’s wrist, Jack somersaulted twice in the air and spun Shard like a rag before smashing him face-first into the ground with all his strength. The shark-man gasped as all air was pushed out of his lungs, but Jack wasn’t done yet. Still holding his wrist, he spun him around once more before smashing him into the ground again, then raised him and started smashing him to the left and right alternatively.

It was like a cartoon fight in real life, and that shit was brutal. Every smash rocked the arena and sent teeth flying. Stones and sand tore into Shard’s body.

Shard gathered the last of his strength to resist, but grappled by a stronger opponent, it was hopeless. The most he could do was use his Dao to slow himself down and soften the blows.

“How does it feel to be bullied for once, fucker?” Jack yelled in rage. When he pulled Shard up again, he clenched his free hand into a fist and smashed it into the shark-man’s face directly against his momentum, slamming his head into the ground so hard it bounced. He then punched him again on the way up, driving him back into the ground.

Finally, Jack let go of Shard’s wrist and stepped back.

“Had enough?” he asked. “Surrender, or I might accidentally kill you.”

He had already vented. Now, this was just bullying.

Shard spat blood as he struggled to stand. His arms shook as he supported his upper body. “I…am…not…” he muttered, barely managing to get on his wobbling feet. He was clearly in no shape to continue.

“Come on, man,” Jack said, extending a hand and stepping closer. “Don’t do this.”

Just as Jack approached, a sharp glint shone in Shard’s eyes. He instantly shot forward, blade cutting directly at Jack’s throat. From this distance, dodging would be very difficult if Jack didn’t expect the attack—but he wasn’t an idiot.

He ducked, letting the blade sail over him. His eyes hardened. He found himself crouched under Shard’s extended arm, poised to strike. He clenched his fist.

The colors disappeared again. Shard’s eyes opened wide in terror. “I—”

A purple meteor smashed into his chest from below with terrible force. Bones broke and blood flew as Shard Presht was launched upward like a missile, flying diagonally over the arena to crash into the curtain that separated the scions from everyone else.

The curtain collapsed from the impact, revealing a section the size of a tennis court with only five chairs occupied, as well as a screen that displayed the tournament. Shard crashed into a wall and fell on a seat, bleeding, while three djinn healers were already rushing to save him.

Rufus Emberheart was sitting with his arms crossed. His stormy gaze met Jack’s as the curtain fell, exposing the scions to the world, and Jack stared right back.

He then turned to the head judge, who was glaring at him. “What?” he asked. “I didn’t kill him, and he clearly refused to resign. He even attacked me with intent to kill.”

The judge’s eyes were hard, but she did not speak.

“I win, right?” Jack asked again, just to drive it in.

She nodded. He smiled.

“Thanks!”

His frustration vented, at least for now, he jumped back to his seat in the stands and high-fived Brock. Who knew; punching fish was a great way to let off steam! The healers were already working on Shard, so he would live; Jack hadn’t hit him too hard.

However, the fight served to prove one point: humanity wasn’t powerless. Jack had easily beaten one scion. If he could do that to Shard Presht…could he dethrone Rufus Emberheart?

Whispers spread like wildfire as everyone wondered about the same thing.

“Next fight,” the head judge declared, demanding their attention, “Edgar Allano and the Dao of Magic versus The Sage and the Dao of Divination!”