Forged By The Apocalypse - A LitRPG With Draconic Potential

With my energy recovered for the most part, and a new lease on my powers after the experience with the avatar of the Tempest Dragon, I was happy to push forward through what I hoped were the final rooms of the Elite Dungeon. “Technically,” Rashid had said, “the dungeon could go on for a thousand rooms if we’re being honest.” I had restrained myself from knocking him out for a few rooms for tempting fate like that, but I knew he was wrong. There was a pressure building at the end of the dungeon and I could feel it pushing back at me.

We increased our pace, not least of all due to Cal. His application of the Dao of Balance was shaky at best, but he would soon get some assistance once we reached the next safe room. The dungeon’s rewards so far were entirely boss loot, something I had destroyed any chance of receiving from the war room with my breath attack. However, the group had not been shafted by my actions. Instead, a contribution chart appeared in everyone’s view, with myself at the bottom. I was more than happy for the group to get some gains they felt they had truly earned, and they were exactly what each person needed.

Four Aspects and a weapon. The prizes were such an on-the-nose convenience that I once again wondered if the System, or perhaps even the Tree itself, were sentient in some way. Cal was confidently swinging his new flail at any enemy that came near. The creatures of the Elite dungeon may have basic Dao, but the momentum Cal was able to get while using the flail’s heavy head to make that irrelevant.

Item - Rebounder’s Retort

Flails have been so-named in nearly every language that described them. First used by the blind monks of Flagge, their effectiveness is clear. They are also unwieldy, wide range and dangerous to allies as well as foes in the wrong hands.

Effect: While charged with mana, the head of the Rebounder’s Retort increases in momentum upon impact

I hadn’t seen such a clear physics breaking effect on a magical item before, and watching it in action almost gave me a headache. Without his specific Dao to counteract the forces Cal’s body underwent as he attacked like a spinning top, his speed increasing with each blow, he would have been torn apart. I tried to use the staff-like weapon, assuming it wouldn’t be too different from my main equipment, but after nearly knocking myself out with a thwack to the back of the head, I gave it back to its rightful owner. Everyone else was giving Cal a wide berth, too.

They all had far too much to live for now, after all.

Hidden and safe in their four inventories, the level thirties were all harbouring an Aspect that they would use in the next safe room. There was an impatience in everyone’s stride and mood now which had been missing earlier. While before they had been willing to sit and wait for me to clear the rooms, any fear or doubt they had was now gone. The monster might be strong, but they were dumb things that could be tricked and outsmarted. It had taken Larry, Morris and Rashid a little bit to get a sense of their own power, but it was there, it was real and it was going to get stronger once we got to the next room.

Just had to defeat some really annoying creatures, first. The room had only ten enemies, but the strength of those monsters was condensed well. “So, anyone excited to learn that vampires and werewolves are real?” Larry gasped, catching his breath desperately. At least we learned that combining hyperventilation and running for one’s life could still cause fainting, even if someone had high Fortitude. Larry received angry disagreement from everyone at his question.

There was no questioning it, the System outright said they were vampires and lycanthropes. “No one got bit did they? Don’t want any surprises with the full moon.” I thought of Lucy, the woman with the wolf Aspect outside. Was she helping defend Londimin while we wasted time here? “Loot the bodies and let’s move.”

“These things would change with the moon? Becoming normal once more?” Hassian asked, gesturing to the bodies of two large humanoid wolves. I nodded and told him how werewolves worked in our mythos. “Aha, very interesting. These things exist on my planet, but we have three moons. It’s rarer for the creatures to be in Gibralan form than their crocodilian cursed forms.”

“Werecrocodiles?” I asked with a shiver. That would basically be a half-dinosaur-tank-man. I didn’t like the idea much at all. As we moved to the next room, which we could tell was a safe room before we entered, everyone shared stories of their most feared monster. Larry said it had been zombies, until today. Once you’ve fought them for hours, the fear falls away a little, we all agreed.

“There is a legendary creature on my world, which I still believe to be real but I never had any proof.” Hassian’s voice was serious, eyes closed. Despite his definitely strange appearance, he had slotted into the group well, and any hesitation to speak had faded away. He was quite gregarious, when he wanted to be. “This thing, it lurks in the shadows underwater. Any shadow. If it needs tentacles to grab you, it uses them. If your hand slipped into the dark already, a mouth might appear to take the whole limb.”

“That’s a real thing?” Larry asked, pushing the door to the safe room open. I had held my breath, half-expecting to see Seth’s angry face with even more upgrades piled on, but the power of the safe room enveloped mine as it was supposed to and I relaxed.

“Sounds like more than one monster to me,” I suggested. “Maybe it’s actually a bunch of small shadow monsters which get blamed as the same thing?” The idea of all dark shadows on their world being connected to the same massive, dangerous beast was scary enough that I instinctively wanted to argue against its existence. However, Hassian’s thousand yard stare, quiet concession and following silence did nothing to assuage my new worries.

I decided to leave talk of horror movies with the old world. We didn’t need stories of fantastical dangers these days. When I did sleep, I often awoke flinching as I dodged an attack in my dreams. A green, amphibious arm trying to punch me, a vile Dao-starved shade attempting to drain me… The Dao of Murder, the sensation of its brutality against my own soul and how it had made it so, so simple to end Ewan’s life. There were enough troubles without creating false ones.

The safe room was a blessing, as usual. A plateau over a cliff awaited them, complete with sturdy picnic furniture. The group found comfort before getting to the serious stuff, and I sat with knees over the edge giving them time. Far below me, waves were crashing into the rocks with resounding force. Hassian joined me, but I was glad to see there seemed to be no desire to jump down. Perhaps the shadows in the water were playing on his mind, too, as we both looked into the vast ocean below.

After a few minutes, the Aspects were all brandished and waiting. The Aspects themselves had already been shared without hassle, they just needed to be absorbed now. I realised slowly that it was me they were waiting for. I cleared my throat as I noticed all of the attention on me, while I was busy staring at the magical gems.

“Ahem… When I had first used an Aspect, it had been an act of pure panic and desperation. I had bitten off more than I could chew in more ways than one. I think the thing that nearly killed me wasn’t even level five, even though I was around level twenty.” I had never told this story, I realised. There was a freedom in realising it wasn’t a secret. “Actually, my journey in the System started much differently to your’s. A dungeon spawned, basically on top of me. At the same time, a dragon disguised as an old woman took control of my body and forced me to kill her.”

I still wasn’t comfortable talking about the other people in Clive’s that had died that day, but I wasn’t willing to take blame for it either. That was an act of Naeboaroseax, not Grant Kaeron. “It gave me a huge boost, which I used to brute force my way into understanding mana control. You don’t need fifty attribute points in Mental to do it, but it helped.” I smiled, remembering how scary it had been, but also how simple. “Survive, clear the place, get out of the dungeon. That was all I had to do. So I rushed, ran straight into a nest of weird scorpions that shot venomous projectiles. Inexperience is what really got me though.

“I smashed my mana pathways to pieces in my ankle, forcing a dodge I couldn’t make otherwise. The damage wasn’t just painful, it was causing my mana to leak out of me. I was dying, so I grabbed the Aspect of the Dragon and shoved it onto my soul. The fact it actually saved me is pure luck. That I’m so strong now is all down to those lucky things working out for me.” I pointed to the Aspects gathered on the table.

“You don’t have the problems I did. You have much, much harder ones. Luck won’t make you the strongest person on Earth, because I already am.” There were chuckles at that, and I smirked, even though I knew it wasn’t true. There were Nomads here already, and more on the way. Even if they weren’t aggressive, they would be powerful. “You’ve seen Cal gaining levels now, though, right? By the time we leave here, you could be stronger than almost anyone else on Earth. That’s the only way to protect yourself and the things you care about.”

The energy of my words slipped away and I fell quiet. I hadn’t planned a speech, then I had rambled until petering out weakly. My face started to warm, wondering why I had acted like some master of the practice. Except, I saw Cal’s slow, impressed nod. I saw how the others cast away doubt and grasped their chosen Aspect, ready to bind them. Confidence bloomed in each of them as, one by one, they accepted the System’s assistance and fused with their Aspects.

The process was actually quite boring to watch, surprisingly. The magical effects were all contained within the person, so by Stormborn eyes didn’t see much change in the mana until after the affair was complete. Once the Aspects settled within their cores, however, the air lit up with energy.

For Larry and Morris, a pair of weapon Aspects they were happy with. After the war game, the battlefield had become accessible, and they had found suitable equipment. Nothing magically enchanted, but enough spares to keep them going. The space between them ignited with sparks as their Aspects sprung to life. Aspect of The Spear for Larry, and The Halberd for Morris. Both men stood straighter and a competitiveness seemed to be born in their stances. The two would push each other well, I imagined.

On the other side of the rectangular table, Rashid was giggling. Mana danced around his fingers, glittering the sunlight as his Aspect’s influence trickled in. If my mana looked most like water in the air, then Rashid’s was now pure mercury. “Don’t go crashing any markets, Rashid,” I jokingly warned. There was nowhere an Aspect of Silver could go than to the merchant. A small part of my own Dao had twinkled in jealousy before fading away. I assuaged the slumbering, greedy dragon that it was only a rare Aspect.

Then, everyone staggered back, even myself. The others were pushed by the force, but I was just downright impressed. I had done something similar upon absorbing the Aspect of Tempests but to form a Dao within moments? Hassian had not only chosen the right Aspect, it was clearly something he had already practised to have a deep understanding of. The air around him became dense and the picnic table buckled under the weight of the birth of a new Dao. The Dao of Pressure, to be precise.

I shoved my hand through the growing forcefield which Hassian was exuding and clasped a hand on his shoulder. The spell broke and the shark man’s eyes cleared from pure white back to what I now saw was a dark navy blue. He was breathing heavily, likely completely drained. Cal was looking at him like he had grown a new head, and the others were looking to me to see how they should react. I moved my hand down to Hassian’s wrist and hoisted it into the air. “Let’s have some congratulations to Hassian for taking the next step!”