Crafting Death: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 2)

by Nephilim Night

  Zero Gravity – Add 0.4 points of speed to the target. Duration 30 minutes.

  Breaking Point – Add 75 points of break value to the target. Duration 30 minutes.

  Blood Brothers – Add 15% to all stats while in party with Blood Brother.

  Edge – Add 5% attack to target. Duration 60 minutes.

  Bludgeon – Add 10% Break value to the target. Duration 30 minutes.

  Melina’s buffs had gone up a level, as I remembered them adding 0.3 speed and fifty points of break value, but I wasn’t going to say no to any improvement. Hell no!

  Samantha’s buffs could potentially be worth more than Melina’s, but only once one had high enough stats. Speed was something that would always be a stat that was more important than the others, so there was no doubt about it, I’d prefer her buffs over the newcomer’s, but depending on Samantha’s growth, the break value could increase immensely.

  Next, I checked on my skills and proficiencies. Seeing hers had gone up, mine should have gone up as well.

  Active Sills:

  Used slots: 4 out of 10

  SKILL NAME: << BASH >>, Lv: 2, 24%

  DESCRIPTION: Use 60 Enma to add 420% to Enma Attack on a successful hit and inflict Defense Debuff with a 45% chance.

  CHARGE TIME: Instant

  COOLDOWN: 30 Seconds

  SKILL NAME: << X-SLASH >>, Lv: 2, 17%

  DESCRIPTION: Use 70 Enma to add 315% to Enma Attack on a successful hit and inflict Bleed Debuff with a 35% chance

  CHARGE TIME: Instant

  COOLDOWN: 45 Seconds

  SKILL NAME: << FOCUS >>, Lv: 1, 70%

  DESCRIPTION: Use 100 Enma to add 1,000% to Enma Attack on a successful hit and inflict Defense Debuff with a 40% chance

  CHARGE TIME: 5 Seconds

  COOLDOWN: 60 Seconds

  SKILL NAME: << DOUBLE JUMP >>, Lv: 1, 90%

  DESCRIPTION: Use 10 Enma to add a second jump in midair.

  COOLDOWN: 10 Seconds

  REMOVE SKILL?

  Damage output had gone up on the first two skills, along with the probability of causing a debuff. It wasn’t anything major, but if I managed to get them up several more levels, they would deal much more damage.

  Next were the proficiencies.

  Proficiencies:

  Used slots: 7 out of 10

  1. 1-H Weapon – Level 1 – 73%

  2. 2-H Weapon – Level 3 – 44%

  3. Sword – Level 3 – 11%

  4. Polearm – Level 2 – 51%

  5. Tyranitaur Blade – Level 2 – 8%

  6. Tyranitaur Halberd – Level 2 – 23%

  7. Heavy Armor – Level 1 – 84%

  REMOVE PROFICIENCY?

  Proficiencies had gone up quite a lot as well, which made me think. Was there a way to find out how they affected my stats? Since Sword was at the highest level, I switched to the Tyranitaur Blade quickly and checked my stats, interested to see if I could figure out how it all worked.

  Status:

  NAME: Viktor

  AGE: 31

  LEVEL: 7, REALM: 1, RANK: 6

  HEALTH: 1,380

  ENMA: 391

  SPEED: 2.8

  PHYSICAL ATTACK: 1,024

  ENMA ATTACK: 738

  BREAK: 478

  REFLECT: 1.50

  ABSORB: 1.32

  DEFENSE: 597

  ENMA SHIELD: 897

  After calculating for several seconds, I figured out how it all worked. First, the base stats were calculated, then the armor, which was more or less bound to me, then the weapon I held in my hand, all four of the buffs from the girls, and finally the Blood Brother buff. Then after all was said and done, the proficiencies came into play, and they were insane. From the gathered proficiency levels, I had a +50% to all attack types: Physical, Enma, and Break.

  When I focused on removing the calculations, they disappeared and only left behind the total. It was interesting, to say the least, but it made me wonder what these stats would do against… whatever it was that awaited me. Just to make sure, I removed the sword and saw the stats plummet until they were at half of the numbers when I held my sword.

  “I want to redo the test,” I said as I turned to Kade. “I think I’m at least at SS- rank now or possibly higher.”

  “You what?” he blurted out. “Are you trying to pull my leg or something?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m not. We’ll see when I’m done beating this gate down.”

  I turned back to Melina and cupped her face with my hands, then planted my lips on hers and kissed the woman furiously.

  “What’s wrong?” she whispered, finally speaking since we’d arrived earlier. She was lost in her own thoughts, that much was obvious, but she was usually more talkative.

  “Nothing. I’m just blessed to have such a woman with me. Nothing else.”

  She smirked and leaned in for a second kiss. “You want one too?” Melina chuckled as she glanced over at Mark.

  “No, why? Because I’m not annoyed by your fooling around?”

  “Why are you such a hard one to tease?” Melina frowned. “It works with Sarah.”

  “Yeah, well, it has to work with her. She’s my wife.”

  I rolled my eyes and pulled her in for another hug, then let go of her as hundreds of eyeballs looked my way.

  “It’s time to get serious, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s get the show on the road!”

  I turned my back on everyone and ran across the bridge, only to slam into the domed shield. It wasn’t as far out as it looked from where I stood earlier. I almost embarrassed myself, but then swung the blade as I bounced off the shield.

  Damage Notification:

  You have inflicted 397 damage to Tower Shield.

  “Hmm,” I muttered, then pulled the sword back around and hammered again. It bounced just like the first time and almost launched from my hands. I stepped back and brought the sword down to the ground.

  I focused on the dome and scanned it, but it showed nothing except for a single stat.

  Object Scan:

  NAME: Entrance Shield

  HEALTH: 999,246/1,000,000

  “Holy shit!” I cursed and turned back to Mark. “I need your help! You too, specs!”

  Mark got up and ran towards me, with the four right on his heels. They stopped and stared at me strangely.

  “What is it? Why are you screaming?”

  “Why?” I hissed and grabbed his arm. “This shit has a million points of health, and my ordinary attack did 397 damage!”

  He pulled his lance back and struck the dome, but it bounced off with as much ease as my sword did.

  “I only did 158 damage,” he muttered after realigning his lance. The specs went next and gave more or less similar numbers. Our biggest problem was that the bridge wasn’t wide enough for more than up to ten people to fight. Other than that, I’d need room to use skills. Hmm, skills. I turned back and ran over to the ramp.

  “I need several people who can cause Bleed debuff with their skills. Anyone?”

  Pelos put his hand up and looked around, then motioned for two of his people to join him. Kade did the same. The six of them followed me back to the gate and stood there, waiting for orders.

  “Do we just use bleed?” Pelos asked as I took up my place on the right side of the bridge. I needed room to swing my weapon around, so by not having to worry about anyone on my right, I’d be more efficient.

  “Use anything you have, but keep blood stacks up as high as possible. The shield doesn’t have any defense, so it shouldn’t be too hard with all of us present.”

  “How come you know how many points it has?” Pelos asked curiously as he stood to my left. “We’ve been hitting it for hours on end on several occasions, but we never knew how much damage we did.”

  “It’s something unique to me,” I replied and gave him a smirk. I couldn’t help but take a jab at the man. This new world was all about power and knowledge. Now if you had both, you were set for the rest of your life. “I’ll s
tart, and every one of you will use your bleed skill five seconds after the previous. If you have more than a single bleed skill, use them one after the other.”

  “We won’t be able to keep it up indefinitely,” Kade said as he put his hands on his hips.

  “No, but we’ll be able to keep whittling it down and rest in between. I have a good regen, so I can keep the points from going up by myself. You’ll be the ones draining the shield alongside me.”

  “Alright then, you heard the man,” Kade snapped at his soldiers. “On his mark!”

  I pulled back my sword and hammered against the shield, catching the bounce and using my first skill.

  Damage Notification:

  You have used << BASH >>.

  You have used 60 Enma.

  You have inflicted 4,207 damage to Entrance Shield.

  You have inflicted 44% Defense Debuff.

  Why would I have to hit the damn thing with a defense debuff when it didn’t have any in the first place? It would just lower my chance of dealing bleed damage. I sighed inwardly and pulled back my sword, readying myself for the next skill.

  Damage Notification:

  You have used << X-SLASH >>.

  You have used 60 Enma.

  You have inflicted 3,227 damage to Entrance Shield.

  You have inflicted 323 Bleed damage to Entrance Shield.

  “Get to it!” I snapped and started bashing with my blade several times before I used focus and stopped attacking, with my mouth wide open, when I hit the damn shield for 18,277 damage with a critical hit.

  Gunfire erupted from behind us. I could feel Mark’s eyes on my back, but I wondered what was with the others? Why were they firing? The answer came seconds after when Mark yelled, “I’ve spread out my thousand bullets across nine others using a sniper rifle! Will go much faster this way!”

  A grin crept up my face when he finished. The man was always trying to do what was best and optimal. You gotta love him for that.

  Minutes passed, and then half an hour. A chime rang out in my mind just as a notification popped up.

  Notification:

  FIRST STAGE UNLOCKED

  The first wave of defenders will be triggered in 10 seconds. 9. 8…

  “Incoming!” I yelled. “Specs, to the front! Rest pull back!”

  A heavy iron chain moved somewhere inside for several seconds before the gate creaked and rose, but only about a quarter way up. Sometimes I was a very smart man, but sometimes I was pretty dumb. Like now.

  I jumped forward and dashed toward the hole. An incredibly painful blast sent me flying backward over twenty feet.

  Damage Notification:

  You have received 300 damage from Entrance Shield.

  I pushed myself up and shook the pain off as I coursed Enma through my body and absorbed whatever I could from the ground beneath my feet and the air around me.

  “You alright?” Melina yelled from behind me. “Need some healing?”

  “No, I’m fine!” I called back and ran toward the mist that seeped out from underneath the gate. When the mist dissipated, a horde of kobolds stood there, but these things were mean-looking. They were green and pointy-eared with blades in both hands. A single kobold stood in their midst. He looked like an elite but was as black as the boss had been.

  I didn’t wait for them to attack and went on the offensive, charging them with all the speed behind my attack. The Tyranitaur Blade swung in a wide arc as I stopped inches from the nearest kobold, but to my surprise, it passed easily through their weapons and their bodies. Only the black kobold parried the sword but lost his arm in the process.

  I was caught off balance, as I expected the sword to meet some resistance, but as it hadn’t, I swung wide and let go of the weapon. It struck the dome and bounced back, hitting me with the blunt side. Now that was going to look horrible to the onlookers.

  Instead of grabbing the sword, I pulled the halberd from my pouch and attacked the black kobold. The edge sliced cleanly through it from the neck down to the groin and struck the bridge. Sparks flew in all directions as the corpses lay there. None of them had disintegrated, but why?

  “You good?” Kade yelled from behind me.

  I put up my free hand and gave him a thumbs-up. “All good! Have some of your people drag these monsters off the bridge so we can keep going!”

  It took them five minutes until the bridge was cleaned up and some of the blood washed away with water. Thanks to the snipers keeping up with the damage, the shield remained under 900,000. Ten percent down, ninety to go.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  It took us fourteen long hours to bring the shield down to under 100K points. The last wave had been pretty nasty with twenty times the number of enemies appearing, but that wasn’t everything. They kept coming out in bigger numbers, but those numbers were much stronger. The ordinary kobolds were as strong as grazlitaurs, while the single stronger monster was just a little smaller than the boss we faced back then.

  The snipers were down to barely any ammo. I told them to wait with twenty bullets left apiece and had everyone resting. I stood there alone, still hitting the wall. Melina sat nearby and kept me refreshed so I wouldn’t run out of power. It wasn’t just the Enma, no, my body had almost become numb from the exertion ever since we started.

  The shield’s points dropped steadily to 70K, then to 40, and to 10. I finally had it, not able to move my body anymore. My arms were numb and they wouldn’t rise. The halberd dropped from my hands and clattered to the ground.

  “Take over but don’t destroy it! Keep whittling away!” Pelos ordered.

  Two pairs of hands dragged me off to the side and leaned me against the bridge railing. Melina produced a can of… something. It tasted both like coffee and an energy drink at the same time, but it made the sugar flow. I’d be lying if I said I was all healed up again right away, but that wasn’t the case. I remained sitting for at least half an hour before I pushed myself up and stretched.

  “Are you good to finish this?” Mark asked as he knelt next to me, his rifle trained on the gate. He looked worried, much more so than usual, but then again they’d never seen me this tired. At least not since the boss fight when all of us had been pulled into the mini-rift.

  “Yeah, give me a minute to stretch,” I muttered and did as I said, first stretching my arms, then my legs.

  I still felt numb, but the flow of Enma managed to recoup some of my energy and artificially inject energy from the outside world into my veins. My meridians flared up, and I could feel a familiar pain, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen, not right now. My body was too weak to push the next rank. I’d probably crash and burn if I did it now.

  I stared at the shield and saw it had risen to 21,223. They couldn’t keep up with the regeneration, so it was no wonder that whenever they tried to destroy the shield, nothing worked out. Not without weapons with great break value.

  “I’m ready,” I called out from behind the group that was busily attacking the shield. “Get back!”

  As one, they stopped attacking, and I took over, hammering away with my sword this time. I found it going slightly faster with the sword, but the halberd was lighter and didn’t tire me out as fast. Two minutes passed and I was down to 13,992 points. I pulled back the sword and used my strongest skill. Every passing second sent an indescribable pain up my arms, but then the blade shot out and hacked at the shield, cracking it open wide.

  “Shoot it!” I yelled as the dome started regenerating visibly. All four of my specs rushed in and started hammering, and ten bullets struck the wall and finally destroyed it.

  “Run!” Sebastian cried as a blast wave struck his shield. He managed to stay on his feet, but not for long. Before we even managed to make a second step, it leveled the clearing and dealt 300 damage to everyone close enough.

  The sound I’d heard at 900,000 points became louder, ever so slowly. I pushed myself up and sat upright as the ringing in my ears subsided, and the clattering of chains and the crea
king of the gate became louder. I stared in horror as a single gigantic creature appeared from the darkness deep inside the tower’s first floor. It was the same damn boss kobold, but this one had a metallic shine to it.

  “Is—” Melina started asking, but the words died out in her mouth.

  “Yeah, I think it is,” I replied as the beast came ever closer while holding a damn gigantic spear in its hand.

  I felt a trickle of sweat running down my back. I was sure it wasn’t as tough as the tyranitaur, but it was the first damn creature my people had died to back when all of this shit started. A single rifle went off, sending a bullet slamming into the creature’s Enma Shield. I narrowed my eyes on it as all fear washed away and was replaced by a wave of burning anger and rage that seethed deep within.

  Monster Scan:

  NAME: Gate Guardian

  HEALTH: 10,000/10,000

  ENMA: 900

  SPEED: 1.5

  PHYSICAL ATTACK: 555

  ENMA ATTACK: 333

  DEFENSE: 444

  ENMA SHIELD: 19,374/20,000

  “Mark, on me with the lance! Everyone else, stay back! This is our fight!”

  “And mine!” Kang boomed from behind me. I couldn’t see him, but I felt his rage. If he’d become any stronger than he used to be, he’d be an asset, but if he’d stayed the same, I wouldn’t have much need for him.

  He streaked past us and activated the skill I remembered seeing back in the rift. The spear pulled back, charged, and pierced the guardian several times before it pulled back again, charged, and slammed a final time into the monster. It reared back on its hind legs, giving us a great opening.

  I swung my sword in an upward arc, catching the free arm. The shield crackled slightly but held as the blade bounced off. I brought it down again and again and again as Mark finally arrived. His lance was heavy and bulky, but it was the perfect weapon for a fight in a narrow space. The lance flashed and kept hammering the same target area, namely the creature’s neck. It cracked and grew back together, but it cracked again and again with every single blow. The destructive power it had when attacking shields was insane. I’d have to do something similar in the future.