Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Rufus Emberheart stood at one end of the arena. He wore a set of chainmail armor that glistened in the morning sun, with armored pants underneath. There was no helmet, leaving his majestic mane free to sway with the breeze. He was unarmed and supremely confident, though his piercing eyes left no doubt that under the arrogant nonchalance slumbered a mighty titan.

Li Xiang faced him. The old man wore traditional kung-fu attire, was equally unarmed as his opponent, and his hands rested calmly at the sides. His mustache was white, long, and thin, hanging down the sides of his chin. Under his bushy eyebrows, however, his eyes were clear as day and sharp as a knife. He met Rufus’s calm stare with challenge.

He had met many practitioners in his day. He had toured the world to experience different martial arts, and he had practiced from infancy to old age. That was supposed to be the end.

However, the System had revitalized Li Xiang. It wasn’t enough to make him young again, but it stroked the fire in his heart, the unyielding tenacity that pushed him to pursue martial arts with complete devotion. The same tenacity that made him challenge the world’s most accomplished martial artists.

And this lion alien was the strongest of them all.

Simply standing against him gave Li Xiang pressure, but his heart was strong. For honor and pride, he would win. His disciples were heavy on his shoulders; he couldn’t let them down.

And if there was one thing that Li Xiang hated, it was cheating.

“You cheat,” he declared in a sharp Chinese accent. “You do not belong here. You show no respect. Your victory is our dishonor.”

“I do possess respect,” Rufus replied steadily. “Please resign. My strength is undeniably greater than yours, and it would pain me to harm an elder.”

“Never.” Li Xiang adopted a kung-fu stance, fine-tuned as his Dao Root indicated. A host of minute alterations perfectly suited to countering the lion’s fighting style.

“Very well,” Rufus replied casually. “You can have the first move.” He did not assume a stance. He simply stood there, paws resting at the side and eyes piercing his opponent.

Li Xiang spoke no more. He charged and arrived beside Rufus in a heartbeat. The sand still hadn’t settled where he’d originally stood as his punch flew out.

Rufus welcomed it. He crossed his arms and blocked. There was little power behind the strike, but Li Xiang kept going. His arms and feet became a tornado as he unleashed blow after blow on the leonine, incredibly fast and impossibly precise.

Every attack was meaningful. His moves bled into each other, becoming a constant rain of blows that neither paused nor ceased. Li Xiang was poking for holes, feinting, and striking at Rufus’s vitals. Being shorter, he focused around his opponent’s torso.

It was the same flawless technique that had rendered the previous scion, the canine, helpless.

Rufus blocked everything. He used his own martial art, one that Li Xiang didn’t recognize but that was aggressive in nature. His wide arms moved abruptly as he shielded everything, parrying and catching every strike. He also had claws, which made Li Xiang’s job harder, as well as thick fur that weakened any glancing blow. His physiology was different than a human’s, too, forcing Li Xiang to adjust his martial arts on the fly.

Li Xiang dived into the flow state. He had long developed the ability to do so at will. The battle became a dance of power. Scenarios spread out like flowers in his mind; his mastery was so great that even the tiniest hints unfolded into clear patterns. He did not have the speed to match his opponent, but he did have the efficiency. It was an uphill battle.

But Li Xiang was a master. His Martial Arts IV skill wasn’t for show.

The audience had gone silent. Only the sound of smacks and shouts filled the arena as Rufus and Li Xiang kept exchanging strikes for close to a full minute. Unlike Gan Salin, Rufus didn’t seem flustered. He took no steps back, matching Li Xiang’s efficiency with ferocity. His face was calm and focused.

Li Xiang was on full alert. The leonine would break the tempo soon, but how? The attacks came so densely that he had no time to strike back.

Rufus opened his lion’s mouth and roared.

The sound was deafening. It was deep and booming, as well as regal. It struck out like thunder. The audience reeled as their minds were filled with awe, and only the staunchest ones escaped.

Li Xiang received the roar at point-blank. It felt like a physical blow. He stopped mid-strike and jumped back twice, shaking his head to clear it.

“Your martial arts are impressive,” Rufus said. “I don’t know how much of that is due to your Dao Root, but you undoubtedly have great talent. If the Integration had met you at your youth, you could have roamed the galaxy as a member of the Animal Kingdom’s Foreign Guard… Unfortunately, you are long past your prime.”

Li Xiang did not reply. He just kept staring at Rufus, watching out for sneak attacks and devising battle plans. After all, their close-quarters bout had been roughly equal. He had hope.

“I will attack now,” Rufus warned him. He swiped a paw through the air. The winds picked up and the air shimmered. Though the two opponents were separated by more than ten feet, the gigantic phantom of a paw materialized and quickly closed the distance.

Li Xiang jumped out of the way with reflexes that belied his age, dodging by a hair’s breadth and letting the attack fly on. It met the back wall with a loud bang; less than half of its power had dissipated on the way.

Rufus wasn’t done. He swiped paw after paw, sending out multiple projections. Each was larger than his entire body, and they crashed on the back wall with loud bangs. Li Xiang dodged them all. His face darkened. He had seen this strike before, when Jack Rust blocked it at the auction house. He had assumed it was a full-force attack...but as it turns out, he had still underestimated the leonine.

He can shoot them at will. Fine.

Suddenly, Rufus charged. One moment, he was far away; the next, he stood right in front of Li Xiang, and he swiped down with a paw. The old man hadn’t even seen the movement; it was like Rufus had teleported. He didn’t have time to dodge. He raised his arms to block the overhead strike.

The phantom of a paw superimposed itself on Rufus’s. It was like the entire sky came crashing down on Li Xiang. His arms buckled near-instantly under the pressure. He was helplessly weaker.

The attack smashed his forearms into his face and flung him back like a ragdoll, nailing him to the far wall that remained pristine despite receiving all those attacks before. Li Xiang stood up, but he was hurt. One of his arms hung limply at the side, bent oddly at the elbow. His forehead was bleeding, as was his nose, and his robes were torn in places. His short hair was disheveled.

Only his long mustache remained unharmed—he had protected it during his crash. It was the symbol of his pride, and it had taken him decades to grow.

“Had enough?” Rufus asked. Li Xiang grabbed his dislocated elbow and set it in place with a loud snap. He didn’t even flinch. He then flexed the fingers on his just-relocated arm, frowned, and nodded to himself. It hurt, but he could still use them.

He charged.

He had no ranged attacks. His only chance at victory lay at close combat.

Rufus could have tried to keep him at a distance, but he welcomed the challenge. The underestimation burned like a flaming rod in his guts. Li Xiang vowed to win. “Come,” the leonine said. “Let me prove my fists superior.”

His hands were closer to a human’s than a lion’s. Twin phantoms formed over his closed fists. He struck out the moment Li Xiang approached.

There was finality in those strikes. Li Xiang instinctively felt they were unstoppable. To dare block would be suicide; he would be blown away like a human standing before a running horse.

He tilted to the side. The air screamed as Rufus’s strike shot past, but there were more where it came from. Rufus’s hands blurred as he launched into a fierce offensive, pummeling Li Xiang, who struggled to survive under the onslaught. He dodged as well as he could. When left with no choice, he even redirected a few strikes, though they were so heavy his balance was affected.

This was the first time Rufus truly showcased his fighting style. He was a melee fighter. His technique was refined, his defense was solid, and he struck hard. He was also decently skilled.

Li Xiang weathered the assault, but he constantly backpedaled. Rufus opened his mouth again and roared; Li Xiang expected it and did not flinch, but the disturbance was enough for him to finally reveal an opening.

Rufus got a punch in. Li Xiang flew away, spitting out blood and stomach fluids, and once again rammed into a wall. The audience gasped. That strike wasn’t deadly, but it was enough to put almost everyone out of commission.

Not Li Xiang. The old man stood up again, unable to suppress a frown. He had several broken and cracked bones around his chest. His elbow had gotten dislocated again, and this time it was also broken, a bone jutting out. His mustache once again remained safe.

Despite all that, Li Xiang tried to settle into a fighting stance. He even extended his broken elbow, intending to use the bone as a weapon. He would rather die than lose to a dishonorable child.

“I will not yield,” he said with blazing eyes. “You are an enemy. Kill me if you must.”

He longed for a warrior’s death; if he had to endure that to save his honor, he would be happy.

Rufus frowned. “Why do you insist, old man?”

“Because I have honor. Something you lack. Alien.”

At this, Rufus really frowned. “How many times must I repeat this?” he growled. “I am a native of this planet. My ancestors were running away from misfortune and ended up here, and we have been living quietly ever since.”

“Those are lies. You claim to be supreme, but your actions are those of a thief. You bully us, who are like children to you and your people. Where is the king in you? Where is your supremacy? Where is your honor?”

“You have a mouth, but it can only spout nonsense,” Rufus declared regally. “Fine. Have it your way. Let me punish you.”

Rufus wasn’t angry. He was simply condescending, like a god striking down an arrogant mortal. Li Xiang prepared to defend—though he couldn’t walk without trembling, his fighting potential wasn’t completely snuffed out yet.

Rufus took a deep breath, then opened his mouth. It wasn’t just a roar; it was a storm. The winds rose from their slumber and cut like blades as they flew at Li Xiang. The sound reached him first, booming across the entire stadium and making everyone cover their ears. Then came the wind, and it shredded him.

Li Xiang crossed his arms to defend, unable to dodge with his injuries, and the winds struck him like razors. They tore through his clothes and into his skin. It lasted but an instant, yet Li Xiang’s robes were in tatters, barely hiding his privates anymore. His exposed, pale, wrinkly skin was covered in deep red lines, one of his eyes was shut and injured, and even his mustache had been severed on both sides.

That mustache had taken decades to grow, and he had gone to great lengths to protect it throughout the fight. Now, it was just white hair on the bloody arena sands.

For the first time in decades, Li Xiang lost to his emotions. He was frozen in rage and indignation. He had been defeated and stripped bare. His pride had been severed. His honor had been dragged through the mud.

This wasn’t a warrior’s death. And he was forced to stay conscious, experiencing i. His aged face warped into the bitterest scowl. His disciples and family were watching. So was the entire world. He was living a nightmare.

Li Xiang opened his mouth and screamed.

“I showed you respect, but you only returned insults and hypocrisy,” Rufus declared slowly. His voice reached Li Xiang’s ears, but he was too lost to comprehend the words. “You spoke of honor, so I severed your pride. This is a fitting punishment for your blasphemy at my face. Now, let me put you to sleep.”

He swiped a paw.

Li Xiang was still frozen in utter rage and indignation, unable to even muster a response. Rufus’s attack reached him in an instant, crushing his body against the wall and breaking most of his bones. He had absolutely no hope of resisting. His scream cut off sharply when he lost consciousness, and the djinn healers rushed in to save him.

He wasn’t granted death. Instead, he had been condemned to spend his final years in shame.

***

The audience was only now comprehending what had just happened. Dozens of voices rose from across the stands, cursing at Rufus and crying out in outrage for what he’d done to the old man. Jack shouted too, as did everyone around him. Even the Sage broke his calm facade, and Dorman erupted with the temper of the teenager he really was.

Rufus stood in the center of the arena and took it all in stride.

“Silence,” he roared, and the magical nature of his voice helped him overpower the audience. “Open your eyes and see. What action of mine was unjust? I showed respect, but he replied with insults. He attempted to slander me publicly and humiliate me, so I paid him with the same coin. His humiliation was deserved. What action of mine was unjust?”

The audience was not silenced. Rufus’s words did have a twisted logic to them, but only a lunatic would agree with them.

Li Xiang was an old martial artist who valued honor above all. In previous matches, he had always been polite and respectful to his opponents, with the exception of Gan Salin, whom he also accused of cheating. Everyone knew that was true, anyway. Li Xiang just voiced the obvious and despised it exactly because it was dishonorable.

Now, he had been humiliated in front of the entire planet; stripped almost naked, beaten to an inch of his life, and having his proud mustache severed. The healers had saved his life, but his honor was unsalvageable.

The outrage was simply maddening.

“Hey, Rufus Emberheart!” A voice louder than most cut through the clamor. It wasn’t Jack’s. It belonged to a nondescript man with particularly strong lungs and a tendency to meddle everywhere. He was the same person who had asked the C-Grade lioness to clarify a rule on the first day.

The people quietened as they looked at this man. He took a deep breath, then shouted, “Fuck you!”

Rufus looked at the guy. “Remember your insolence,” he replied slowly. “Because when the tournament is over and the Animal Kingdom is no longer protecting you, I will come to collect my dues.”

“You’ll come to suck my dick!” the same man shouted back, prompting the entire arena to laugh.

Rufus’s eyes darkened, but he spoke no more. With a leap, he flew over the stands and landed in front of the curtain that separated the scions’ seats, then hid himself behind it.

Jack cracked a grin. He had been about to shout out loud himself, but that random dude had beaten him to the punch, and he’d vocalized what everyone thought: “Fuck you, Rufus Emberheart!”

Jack clapped, both for Li Xiang and the man too brave for his own good. The entire arena followed.

Then, he had an idea.

“Fuck you, Rufus Emberheart!” Jack started chanting. “Fuck you, Rufus Emberheart!”

People caught on quickly. They roared the same words, over and over. Not everyone chanted with him, but many did, and their System-enhanced voices filled the arena and rocked it to its core. Most alien merchants looked at the surrounding humans in horror, but the humans themselves couldn’t give a flying fuck.

Who would dare mock a scion like that? Who would dare antagonize the B-Grade overlords? Who would bring the attitude of hooligans into the planet’s most prestigious event?

Well, Earth-387 would! He deserved it!

The entire arena thundered with the people’s shout of “Fuck you, Rufus Emberheart!” The sound filled all of Integration City, echoing out into the ocean around it. They went at it for a long time, until the entire planet knew.

It was glorious. Nothing brings humanity together like cursing out loud.