Poor Cultivation (The Slayer of Heaven Book 1): A LitRPG Wuxia Series

by Alan Bard

  Victoria was looking at him, one of her eyebrows raised.

  “You’re right, we’d need a miracle to win. Fortunately, we have two. The first and most important is our mole in the Alliance camp. He should cut either Simon or Nick’s throat, depending on whose he manages to reach first, and then give us a signal. Our second trump card is that Zeke has a Time Lock artifact, which immobilizes enemies. Once its effect runs out and the base is taken, Simon’s and Nick’s allies, realizing that they have lost their leaders, will surrender.”

  “The whole thing sounds a little too simple,” Joe grumbled. “Too much of it depends on others, and I don’t like it. Almost nothing is up to us. I’m not used to that.”

  Victoria shook her head vigorously.

  “Look, I don’t like it either. The plan is not without its flaws, I admit. But we must take this chance, we won’t get another one.”

  And although her words made sense, when we asked her to tell us about the plan in more detail, she only snorted and switched to her do-as-you’re-told attitude. Soon, the conversation turned to the topic of artifacts.

  “You already know that the most valuable artifacts appear only in certain places and that everyone wants to get their hands on them. But in order to do that, you have to put your life on the line. On the other hand, you have random artifacts, but they rarely appear. Once we’re done with the Alliance, we should go on a raid in the Quarry.”

  Victoria stopped and stared at us, waiting to see how we’d react.

  “I don’t understand, why would we need go to the Quarry?” Joe said indignantly. “Why the hell would we go there if we took stuff from the Alliance?”

  “Because there’s one tiny little issue with this whole arrangement,” Victoria said, suddenly grim. “All we get from them goes to Zeke. Only under such conditions did he agree to help us.”

  An unbearably long silence ensued. I was about to break it when Victoria said, “So, the Quarry…” She slid her fingers over the map and then drew a line connecting our fortress and the cliffs to the north. “Here. It’s some six miles away from us. No one really knows what’s in there, and only a few have managed to leave the place alive. The ones lucky enough to have survived are silent about what they’ve encountered there, and they refuse to go back. One cohort disappeared there. Some have changed their minds halfway and turned back because there are a lot of powerful creatures roaming the Quarry. However, I bet that it’s not only the monsters that scared them, but also the unstable rift.”

  Victoria fell silent again, but we all knew where she was going with this.

  “It’s dangerous,” she continued. “We could die there so we must go together. We’ll set off the day after tomorrow, once the battle’s over. We will win, don’t doubt that,” she added firmly.

  “Yeah… We have to go to the Quarry anyway,” Ksandra said grimly. “Only I won’t survive long enough to join you.”

  “Nonsense!” Victoria snapped. “Now, you asked about other cohorts earlier. Well, the higher your rank is the more information you can see about other players. But this info is subject to change. New stuff happens on a daily basis, so I can’t tell you the exact details. Take a look at the map… The Sea Rats owned this area a few days ago. Eight people. Their leader is Mickey, an aqua mage. His assistant, Paco, is like Ksandra: wielding the powers of the space and time. In theory, they can play with time too. So far, they’ve only learned how to create portals and teleport themselves and others from one point to another.”

  “An interesting skill,” Rio said, nodding.

  “Yeah, but it’s damn difficult to train it. And it’s useless in battle,” Ksandra sighed, resting her elbows on the table.

  “They have a fig tree forest and a lake. The river you went fishing on flows into it from below… They guard it fiercely—it’s a very convenient place, with zero danger and a lot of advantages. And on the other side,” her finger stopped south, in a dark gray zone, “is the Valley of Skulls. A very interesting place, but full of elemental Waves. Very deadly ones at that. Also, there are wandering portals. There’s a rumor that one guy went there, and a day later, they found him looking like a senile old man.”

  “Heh, my little portals.” Ksandra grinned. “But we can’t go there either. The Rats and the Straw Hats are fighting over this artifact-rich zone, they’ve settled in the south-west.”

  “So what about these Hats?” Rio asked.

  “Their leader is called Helm. He’s a tall, red-eyed albino,” Victoria winced, “who’s also a giant scumbag.”

  “Is he also a mage?” Eli wondered. “Is it just me, or is it somehow unfair that only mages get to call the shots?”

  “Cohorts are always led by mages; they’re mostly Sergeants, like me. You’re no match for them, they’d swat you like flies. Helm, for example, has the ability to control the wind.”

  Empty shelves in my head were gradually filling with knowledge, but there were still many gaps.

  “If I understood you correctly, mages can control the elements, portals—like Ksandra does—and psionicists,” I asked. “Are there any other types?”

  “Those are the only ones I know of. There are also healers—something like a mix of a mage and a warrior. Okay, right here is the plateau… And here’s the Dancing Forest. I’ve heard that the trees move there. Behind it is the Crossing. There’s a mound over there that looks as if someone has piled up crushed rocks. Also, a sea.”

  “And what’s this?” Eli asked, pointing with his finger.

  “There, in Lake Valley, that’s the Night Ghost’s turf. They’re also going through a really rough time. Their leader is Aladdin, a psionic illusionist. He’s not good at imposing his will, but he’s amazing at playing with the minds of others. He can make people see things that aren’t there.”

  “Yep, he’s pretty cool,” Ksandra said with an air of finality and a yawn.

  “I think we should get some sleep,” she continued. “Just an hour after training isn’t enough for me. I haven’t been this tired in ages.”

  “I agree.” Eli nodded. “My head is quite heavy, a lot has happened…” He froze with his mouth open. Just like the rest of us, probably. We all saw a message flash before our eyes.

  Attention! A demonic artifact, [Zariche Power], has appeared on the island.

  This artifact increases all stats by 10 times.

  The place of its appearance is unknown; anyone can become its owner!

  Let the hunt for the Easter egg begin.

  Victoria gasped, her look full of greed, just like Ksandra’s. Even the melancholic Joe seemed to be turning into a predator.

  “Such artifacts appear very rarely.” He began explaining what was going on because most of us were completely clueless. “The system intentionally dumps them sometimes. These kind of artifacts can be game changers, so that the situation in the Arena doesn’t get too stale. I’ve heard that there are two types of them,” he spoke with excitement; the topic seemed to be of great interest to him. “There are so called ‘catapults’ and ‘escalators.’ The first one has the ability to make the player’s skill skyrocket… However, this has, well, side-effects, or something. And the other one gives you a gradual boost. After a while, they can raise a player’s level even higher than the ‘catapults.’ Of course, provided that they work on bettering themselves. ‘Catapults’ are for upstarts and ‘escalators’ for people with character, we can put it like that.”

  My heart started beating faster when I realized that I had found an “escalator” behind the waterfall in that cave. It was just like Joe had described it: it didn’t make my abilities sky rocket, but it did gradually boost them. I wondered what would happen if I got the other one as well.

  “Now the big hunt begins,” Joe concluded. “The whole Arena will stir up. A random artifact is an unpredictable thing, anyone can be lucky to find it. I’ve heard… Maybe it’s just a rumor, but still… I’ve heard that even Mutants can smell an artifact and rush to look for it. And that the Muta
nt that gets lucky to find one can restore its identity.”

  Victoria snorted.

  “Nonsense. Let’s all grab some food and hit the hay. We need to get up early, meet up with Zeke, and attack the Alliance.”

  After Joe handed out a piece of meat to each of us, we went to bed. Tossing and turning and already falling asleep, I felt both afraid and excited about what was to come. I felt like there was a big change coming.

  ***

  I heard screams. I was tired and wanted to continue sleeping so badly that I thought that they were a part of my dream. I buried my head in the hay, but someone grabbed my leg and started poking my chest.

  “Nick! Wake up! We’re all gonna die!”

  I jumped to my feet as if electrocuted, trying to figure out what was happening. The screams were now louder and closer. Eli was staring at something behind me, and I could see flames that were blazing on the street dancing in his eyes.

  “Is there a fire?” Rio asked, looking around helplessly.

  Ksandra burst into the hut with her hair and eyebrows scorched.

  “We’ve been attacked! We have to run!”

  Jelena was just blinking in confusion.

  “But who—?”

  “The Alliance! Joe and Victoria are holding them back. I’m gonna make a portal! As soon as they get here, we’re leaving.”

  Her forehead was covered in sweat and she was breathing heavily. She waved her hands nervously and exhaled noisily.

  “Portal!” she screamed.

  Nothing happened. Cursing, she repeated the gesture, but to no avail.

  “Fuck! They’ve blocked us! Nothing’s happening!”

  “Let’s just run away,” Eli suggested.

  “They’ll catch up with us in no time and kill us.”

  “Who’s yelling out there?” Rio asked, preparing his nunchucks for battle.

  “The dying Mutants,” Ksandra added quickly. “Put your fucking toys away!” She was pacing around the room frantically, her eyes sparkling with tears caused by helplessness. “We won’t make it. I don’t want to die! I don’t want to!”

  I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her back to reality.

  “Stop being hysterical!” I shook her again. Despite looking frightened, she started calming down. “What do you mean they’ve blocked us? How do we remove the block? Explain so that we can help.”

  “There’s an artifact blocking any portals from forming.”

  “How. Do. We. Remove. it?”

  “A strong mage could do it… A… A portal mage, like me. But I can’t. The other option is to wait for the artifact’s effect to wear off.”

  “How much time do we have?”

  “Five or ten minutes, I don’t know… They all work differently,”

  She slapped her forehead, rushed out onto the street, and yelled. “Victoria! They’ve blocked us! We need more time!”

  Victoria was standing on the wall, observing the flames. She turned to where the scream was coming from, ran to us, and said, “I don’t have any more Freezers. I have no weapons to restrain Nick and Simon. If they hit again…”

  Her words were drowned by an explosion and the rumble of debris being scattered in different directions. Covering our heads with our hands, we fell on the ground. Rubble was raining down on us, and the acrid black smoke that was spreading through the air stung our eyes. When it dispersed, I turned around and saw three silhouettes in the crater left by the explosion: one short in the middle, a giant one to the right of it, and an average sized one to the left. I had seen a similar sight before…

  “Mental Block!” Victoria shouted, rising from the ground. She put her hands in the air. The blue medallion on her chest started pulsating, and I felt a ringing in my brain.

  Nick, [Victoria] has put your consciousness under her protection.

  “Vicki!” said one of the three uninvited guests. A gust of wind blew away the remnants of smoke, and I immediately recognized our “old friend.”

  Scarlet letters floated above his head.

  Name: Zeke

  Age: 17

  Status: Sergeant

  Cohort: [The Rippers]

  Specialization: Mage, Psionicist

  To his right was a bald man with a neck thicker than my waist.

  Name: Hans

  Age: 16

  Status: Corporal

  Cohort: [The Rippers]

  Specialization: Martial Artist

  He’s sixteen?! Fuck my life. He looked like a mountain of muscles and at least thirty years old!

  On Zeke’s left was a tall blonde.

  Name: Dana

  Age: 16

  Status: Corporal

  Cohort: [The Rippers]

  Specialization: Universal Soldier

  “Hello again, everyone.” Zeke rubbed his palms with a triumphant grin on his face. “Vicki, I suggest you immediately surrender, you and your newbies have no chance.” He cast a glance at us. “Have pity on them… Or don’t. Let them not suffer further in the Arena, but die quickly.”

  Victoria’s face was tense. I noticed blood on her tangled hair—she was in pain. But despite that, she didn’t want to hand us over to Zeke.

  I looked around our squad. Ksandra was hiding in a hut. I would’ve done the same in her place as our lives depended on her. Eli and Jelena were nowhere to be seen. Rio got up, staggering. Joe was also gone. I had no idea if we had the upper hand or not. Panic reigned; there was no plan, and our only goal was to stall and flee to the portal.

  Through a hole in the wall, I saw Mutants. Set ablaze, they were running around and screaming in agony while attacking Simon’s group. I didn’t even know how many of them were there and how much time they’d buy us.

  “Vicki!” Zeke spread his hands. “My love! This is your last chance to give up, relax, and have fun! Otherwise, you’ll end up on a rope without eyes, just like poor little Anna.”

  Victoria clenched her fists.

  So it was him who killed her… He was in this together with Simon from the very beginning! He gained Victoria’s trust, found out where our base was, and gave us away!

  “She put up a fight at first, but my guys quickly made her… listen,” Zeke said with a smirk.

  Eli was about to step toward him, but I grabbed his hand and whispered, “Don’t!”

  He stopped. I myself wanted to take a swing at the freak, but if I did that, we’d all end up dead for sure. Even if Zeke didn’t take possession of our minds, a couple of his fighters were stronger than all of us combined.

  “And the other girl turned out to be such a fool,” Zeke added, smile widening.

  I suddenly realized how to buy us more time.

  “Bro, are you gay or something? Do you hate women that much?” I spat.

  “On the contrary.” He grimaced.

  “So this is how you show your love for them?”

  “What do you care, jackass?”

  I spread my hands.

  “Nothin’, I’m just curious how a mind of a psychopath works.”

  “Well, be curious while you’re alive,” Zeke hissed through clenched teeth.

  “They don’t give themselves to someone like you voluntarily, that’s for sure,” I said. “So you have to force yourself on them. You’re mad that they find you repulsive, aren’t you? They always did, didn’t they? It’s written all over your face…”

  Zeke was red with anger.

  “I’ll kill you! I’ll crucify you and gut you! Think about whether you’re ready to die for this bitch!” He pointed at Victoria. “She blew it in the Arena and got her cohort killed! Her mother sent you to her to give her a second chance!”

  Victoria blushed with anger. Zeke acted surprised.

  “Oh? You didn’t tell them about your mommy Zara? About how she saved your ass?”

  “Shut up!” Victoria hissed.

  Zara is Victoria’s mother? Well, that’s new.

  Rio was dumbfounded. Eli’s jaw dropped.

  “Oh, well,” Zeke
continued. “You can’t hide forever that you’ve been getting special treatment. Your squad is expendable, unlike you.”

  “That’s a lie! You little piece of shit! Can’t you deal with rejection like a proper man?!”

  Zeke laughed.

  “You know I’m telling the truth.”

  Victoria kept looking over our heads as if she was waiting for a signal. She must’ve gotten it as she immediately grabbed a knife and threw it at Zeke.

  “Keep attacking him! We need to break his defense!”

  The knife hit an invisible barrier and fell at Zeke’s feet.

  “Too bad, Vicki,” he hissed. “Crush them!”

  Hans drew a machete and rushed toward us. Dana was apparently unarmed but prepared for hand-to-hand combat. I saw Joe release a crossbow bolt, but it did nothing to Zeke. Neither did the second bolt. I noticed two pulsating waves of energy being emitted from the little mage—two activated artifacts. One created the protective cocoon, but I had no clue what the other did. With each missed hit, the pulse grew weaker. Zeke, paying no attention to the attacks, raised his hand and pointed at the bowl.

  “There! Dana, go find and kill that archer,” he said as another bolt hit him.

  Rio rushed toward Hans and tried to knock the machete out of his hands with the nunchucks. He succeeded at disarming him, but not at causing damage. Hans hit Rio in retaliation and threw him aside, knocking him unconscious.

  Dana ran past us, eyes on Joe as he posed the biggest threat. Victoria pounced at Zeke, aiming at his chest, but he hit her with his knee in the solar plexus. She flew off to the side and landed onto a stone. Grabbing a stick, she attacked, but her weapon bounced off the barrier.

  “Attack the bastard!” she screamed.

  I picked up a stone and threw it with all my might. And then another one, aimed at Zeke’s head.

  I knew that my throws weren’t strong enough, but with Victoria’s help, we depleted the artifact’s energy reserve and the barrier ceased to glow.

  “The shield has been removed!” I yelled and ran away, hoping that Joe would finish him off.

  On the run, I glanced at the hole in the wall. Illuminated by the moonlight, silhouettes were approaching us. They had only about three hundred feet left before they’d reach us. If Simon’s team got to us before Ksandra, that would be the end of us.