Forged By The Apocalypse - A LitRPG With Draconic Potential

My muscles were reaching their limit but with obstinance in my heart, I remained stationary for another fifteen minutes. The shadows on the ground shifted noticeably over that time, the quickening pace of the sun’s descent signalling that night was fast approaching. Pushed right to their breaking point, I fell from the tree when I finally released the tension in my arms.

Despite the stiffness, I landed with an appropriate amount of feline grace. With a trill of pride, I felt the large skull of my bond nudge my hip. I scratched the big cat behind its ear before pushing her forward. “Forget it, Grace. You can have the meat. Let’s just go.” Grace tapped the baited creature with a large paw and it disappeared into our shared inventory for later. We began walking home, our quarry once more elusive. I opened my character page, though I don’t know what I expected to see.

Name - Sinead Kaeron Race - Human (Grade 1) Level - 30

Title - Tamer Of The Wild

Fortitude - 23 Speed - 82 Mental - 44 Will - 254

Free attribute points: 0

16 Per Level

Same as it had been for a week. My newest skill, if you could even call it that, itched as I gave up on the trap I had laid. Did it really count as a skill if you could never actually use it? Hunter’s Call was my first passive skill, and it was currently driving me insane. I knew the next step in my growth was waiting for my success here, yet due to the System’s weird gifted intuition I knew giving up now was the right choice. I had missed my window of opportunity this time.

Skill - Hunter’s Call

Laymen decry the skill of the hunter as luck, but you know this isn’t the case. The wind carries information, the churned ground a story. Analysed in the mind of the hunter, all in the name of the hunt itself.

I kicked a stone in frustration. My strength caused the projectile to bury itself in a tree and I winced. “Count to five,” I told myself aloud before following my own instructions. I calmed quickly as I took control of my mind and chastised myself. Hunter’s Call wasn’t at fault. There was no need to be frustrated because I hadn’t made the wrong choice. My trap was perfect, it just wasn’t sprung. Knowing when to quit was also the sign of a good hunter, after all.

No, it was the wasted time that bothered me more than anything.

As the dark navy furred lynx took up her spot at my side, we aimed ourselves in the direction of home and I let my mind wander. I focused on the uncontrollable energy inside of me, my butterflies of mana and followed one of them to their source. Within moments, my consciousness was inside the garden of my mind. Though the real world around me was quite beautiful in its new, mana-changed way, a truer calm could only be found within.

I walked slowly through the flowery space. Just over a week ago, I had taken my Aspect of The Hunter to the next level when I finally managed to keep track of the elusive butterflies within my mana channels. The act of hunting power within my own soul had given me enough of an insight to let the System do the rest. With the action now habit, slipping into the garden was becoming second nature.

Dao Pool - The Hunter

Chasing prey, patterns or power, the Hunter never stops in their pursuit. Neither do you.

Effect: Will +50, Speed +30, Will Attribute +15%, Speed Attribute +5%

The creation of this inner space had been guided by the System, and I was still learning its possibilities. I was walking in both the real world and my ever changing inner garden, vaguely able to see the physical trail while still tracking the butterflies in my soul. By following the more mystical path laid out by the fluttering packets of mana, I would grow stronger. Well, if I could ever find what it wanted me to find, that is.

Grace brushed against me, rubbing away my frustration and bringing me back to my body in full with her luxuriously soft fur. She had grown fast since Sean gifted Grace to her. It had been surprisingly easy to convince papa to let me keep her as a kitten, and now as a fully fledged Manaphyte Lynx, he’d have an easier time catching smoke with his bare hands than keeping her away from me.

All of my senses told me that the glade I had previously trapped was where I needed to be, and the actions I had taken were the ones I needed to take. “The Hunter Does Not Rush,” I reminded myself. The phrase had come to me as I unlocked my Dao and it resonated nicely with my body when I said it as a mantra. I would return tomorrow and try again. I just wish I had caught a glimpse of whatever it was my magic told me to hunt.

“Hey, munchkin!” I jumped. The happy voice of my brother Sean broke me from my reverie, and I barely had time to brace before he swept me into a big hug. I had only been gone for a day. Or had it been two? “Yes, yes, you too little monster,” Sean dropped me and gave fuss to my bond. She was supposed to be a fierce predator, but when Sean tickled her just right she turned right back into a kitchen.

Sean himself was doing better than just about anyone, with his three Dao pools, but he was a monster when it came to understanding the System. No one even questioned his choices or suggestions anymore. He just got it in a way that others didn’t. He was the reason I had figured out my own path, as well as learned not to worry about our mom so much. After all, he had helped everyone, their mother included.

We knew now, she was adjusting to a power none of us understood.

Welcome to the family Kaeron, I thought as I walked onto our family’s grounds. If you asked any one of us if they felt happy before the System had arrived, we’d have probably said yes. Life was pleasant enough, even if no one had exactly what they wanted from it. Who on god’s green Earth could say otherwise?

If you asked them now, with the System, were they happier? Oh, yes, much.

The only real issue had been the maternal unit, but even she had started moving around and doing stuff now. Now I had my own Dao, I could sense it in others. I realised now just how powerfully the winds of power danced around the matron of the Kaeron clan. It was cruel, but she had stepped into power before she was ready, and now it was her body that slowly caught up. The firmest proof none of us had any idea what was happening was Patricia Kaeron and her mysterious Dao, after all.

“You alright, Naed?” Sean didn’t have to ask whether the hunt had gone well or not. If it had gone well, I would have a new bond, after all. I was hunting, not just because it was exactly how I wanted to spend my time, but also for a specific creature. Grace was the first of my bonds, but to continue growing at a reasonable pace, I would need more. Now that I had gone up a grade, I could try to tame a Grade One creature. I just hoped whatever it was the System tried to lead me to was as friendly as a Manaphyte Kitten.

I doubted it.

Using a skill of her own, Grace leapt at my chest. She entered my soulspace and Archie swapped out. I could only hold one of my bonds within the small inner world, but I was getting stronger. “No luck, Archie.” The tiny owl hooted dismissively. Then, it went on a small tirade of trills and whoops that I listened to patiently. Sean was cracking up a few metres away. “No, I can’t ride you. No, not even when you level up, it just wouldn’t make sense. Listen, go fly home and let Niamh know we’re on our way back. I’m hungry.”

The owl gave me a stink-eye and I flicked its butt to get it moving. Archie was my second bond and despite being no larger than a gerbil, was not to be trifled with in a fight. Once he took off, Sean and I made our way home without discussing anything important. He didn’t ask why the hunt had failed, and I didn’t ask when he was going to be ready. Eventually “home” came into view.

Home, which now meant a large mansion. “How times change, right?” Sean said, clearly understanding my thoughts. With strapping lads like Liam and Conor clearing up the surrounding countryside, their father’s newly forming position of power and my own fairly sizable contribution to the family Gold Coin fund, we had been able to purchase multiple housing upgrades from the System.

Or, Sean had. He had wandered the local area for a few days before coming back with a strange look in his eyes and the ability to turn their mostly useless gold coins into actual value from the System. He had mentioned facing some challenge, but didn’t explain what that meant. He had shown me his new title, Regent. When I asked why it sounded like he was just holding onto a position for someone, he just smiled and said it would make more sense later. There were more important things to do than pester Sean about something he didn’t want to share, so I eventually lost interest.

The new world had done a thorough job forcing people to grow. It was hard to say who had changed the most. Everyone was still them, but they were more, too. Liam, for example, was big now. He’d always been my biggest brother, and with five years of age between him and the still-missing Grant, he’d always felt like an adult more than my other brothers. Even more now that he was essentially a sheriff and in charge of keeping people safe.

Between him and Conor, safety was fairly guaranteed. The hammer and the spear of Avalon, they were competitively racing to see who could stay ahead in levels. You wouldn’t think Liam was nearly twice my age at thirty. At sixteen, I was the baby of the family, then three years older than me was Sean. He had celebrated a birthday under the System, the first to do so. Niahm is next at twenty one, with Conor and Grant after that. Both twenty four, the Irish twins of the family with Conor only eleven months younger than Grant.

Both of our parents were fifty five, yet the physical difference between Liam and our father was shrinking by the level. The System brought a huge amount of vitality to those who embraced it, and the thickening, increasingly red hair of their dad was as clear a sign of that as anything. “I’m going to go make sure Niamh is making something nice,” Sean declared before leaving myself and the now returned Archie alone.

“I’m not sure about that one, Archie,” I solemnly told my bond as he perched on my finger. “Wrong in the head, I think. Always was, probably.” I sighed theatrically as we made our way to my bedroom. A private, personal bedroom was definitely the best thing that had come out of the System’s appearance. I was walking past the room I tried to ignore when I screamed. I always tried not to look into my mother’s room, knowing I would see her standing like a statue within. However, instead of the silhouette at the window, staring out unmoving, she was on the floor. “Help me!”

My voice carried through the whole house. I felt three surges of mana from around the house and within seconds, I was surrounded by the boys of the family. Liam was the quickest, grabbing me by the shoulder and spinning me to face him “What did you do?” Liam demanded. I didn’t bite at the accusation. He was just scared. Liam was leaning over our spasming mother while the massive form of my father panicked to one side.

“Where’s Sean?” I hadn’t been calling everyone, as only one person would actually be able to do anything.

“Right here, move.” Everyone did as they were told the second he started speaking. As though she were light as a feather, which she might well be I realised, Sean scooped the form of their mother up and held a hand up to the wall. With a shocking display of power, the window and everything around it was torn from its place. “You all stay, she’ll be fine. Naedie, with me.” Another moment later, he was jumping outside into the darkening evening with her.

If Sean was calm enough to use my shortened name, then I trusted him. It seemed the others felt the same, though they were clearly uncomfortable. “Best thing you can do is what Sean says,” I reminded them before following him outside. I landed closeby. He hadn’t taken her far, just enough to get her into the air. The sky above was purple like a bruise.

“What do I do, Sean?” I asked, waiting for instruction. His face was grave and my stomach dropped. “What? What’s happening?”

“You can’t do anything, Bug. She’ll be okay, but you can’t help.” Solemn and serious, my brother didn’t take his eyes off our mom.

“Then why the hell did you tell me to come outside?” However you looked at it, this was traumatic. I didn’t want to see my mom talking in tongues, especially if there was nothing I could do to help. Sean just put a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re the one who has to hear what she says.” The certainty in my brother’s voice helped even as the garbled nonsense from our fitful mother became increasingly understandable. I looked to him for guidance and he just nodded his mop of Kaeron red hair towards our mom. I knelt next to her as she twitched and groaned.

“The power of Prophecy is getting stronger,” Sean said simply from behind. I nodded. You can only hear so many ominous whispers that come true in metaphorical ways without noticing after all. Sean had understood the issue quickly, had seen the potential forming in their mother’s mind even as it broke her. Almost all of his magical power was bent on finding a way to help her.

“-them coming in their thousands. Destroyers all. A chain has been released, one of many but now that the first has risen, the barrier falls. The others will follow soon.” I almost laughed at myself, but the severity of the moment held it back. As portentous as her words were, it was good to hear her voice. I missed her. I did my best to gently hold her hand and keep back the tears while she relayed the future she was forced to see to us.