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

by Nephilim Night

  I shook the stupid thoughts away and let out a deep sigh. This wasn’t the time to think about stupid stuff like white fluffy coats or blankets. Or was it?

  I dashed inside and rushed the fluffy monstrosity. Before the creature even had the chance to launch its first attack, the tip of my blade pierced through its laughable shield and went straight into its big mouth. The dome disappeared, but the corpse remained.

  “Hey, do you really think Bugs over here can be made into a blanket?”

  “Viktor! The hell?”

  “What? Just look at his fur. It could make a great blanket for our… child?”

  “Wait, what? What child?” she muttered and almost stumbled over her feet. “What do you mean? Is there another baby I’m unaware of?”

  Now it was my turn to frown and stand there dumbfounded. “Don’t you want a kid with me?” I asked curiously. “Maybe once this game is over?”

  “So… you want… I could be a mother? A real one?”

  “What kind of mother is there but a real one, woman? Why are you so flustered?”

  “Why don’t we talk about this when we’re back home? And had a drink or three?” Melina asked, her voice shaky. I knew why she was so upset and found it only natural. She’d never probably even considered becoming a mother, much less giving birth herself. But why not? If we managed to get all of… this… whatever it was going, then we’d have the funds and the place to raise a kid.

  Instead of wasting time, I used my one skill that could help with getting this pelt, and to my surprise, it worked.

  Notification:

  ITEM RECEIVED:

  NAME: Fluffitaur Pelt

  QUANTITY: 1

  DESCRIPTION: High-quality white fur pelt.

  I stopped and knelt there beside the creature, shocked and dumbstruck in equal measure.

  “I didn’t think it would even be possible,” I muttered. “I got a damn fur pelt!”

  The familiar message about points received popped up and netted me a total of 2,489 points. The fluffitaur was worth slightly more, and I assumed any newer boss would be worth even more. Again, though, the lack of any real loot numbed me even further.

  “What?” Melina asked as she saw me slump to the floor. “What’s wrong? You got your pelt, didn’t you?”

  I shrugged and let out a sigh. Sure, I was much better than this, but we’d wasted easily two-thirds of our time in this damn tower, and to think I had nothing but a pelt to show for it… Scar would make fun of me.

  “Again no loot.”

  “Maybe they’ll start dropping once we’ve cleared the next boss? The tower will open to everyone then, won’t it? Maybe it’s a mechanic?”

  “Yeah, maybe. Hey, imagine another fluffitaur! We could have matching blankets!”

  I got up quickly and ran over to the portal.

  “You want to go on?” she asked with a smirk on her face. She knew me very well, and once something got me excited, I couldn’t help but finish it. And so we did over the next four hours. Almost five if you counted the break. A little over two hours left in this place and a boss to go. We stopped at the twenty-fifth floor and sat down to rest. I wished we’d found another furball, but we didn’t. What we did find was a big-ass treasure chest with teeth and all kinds of weapons sticking out of it.

  Monster Scan:

  NAME: Mimic

  RANK: 6, Floor Boss, 25th

  HEALTH: 2,500/2,500

  ENMA: 999

  SPEED: 1.2

  PHYSICAL ATTACK: 444

  ENMA ATTACK: 777

  DEFENSE: 555

  ENMA SHIELD: 3,333/3,333

  “Shit,” I cursed as I stared at the moving box. Boxy. Mimic. Mimicry. No matter how I looked at it, the damn thing looked ugly as hell with all the weaponry protruding out of its body. The thing that scared me, though, was its attack. Sure, the speed was negligent, but if it knew how to use abilities, I was fucked.

  “What is it?” Melina whispered as she stared at the mimic. She made a disgusted face, and mine wasn’t even far from it.

  “It has a really high attack. I think you should stay out of this battle, love.”

  “Alright. But don’t die on me, alright?”

  I nodded and changed my sword for the halberd, as I’d need distance over power with this thing. It had weapons of its own, after all.

  I charged in from the side and slashed with the long edge. It bounced off as expected, but somehow it felt as if I’d hit a tree, nothing like the usual bounces. A fireball came flying right at me and struck the Enma Shield to devastating effects.

  Damage Notification:

  You have received 581 damage from Mimic.

  I lashed out and struck the mimic a second time, catching the bouncing halberd and connecting it to my first skill.

  Damage Notification:

  You have used << BASH >>.

  You have used 60 Enma.

  You have inflicted 3,788 damage to Mimic.

  The shield exploded, and the mimic staggered, but not before a hail of cold weapons flew in all directions. Two hit my shield, or what was left of it, and one struck me once it was down, cutting the hem of my kimono and slicing into my skin.

  Damage Notification:

  You have received 84 damage from Mimic.

  You have received 77 damage from Mimic.

  You have received 80 damage from Mimic.

  For the first time since starting out in this new world, there was a monster that managed to destroy my shield and had taken blood. Shit. Fuck!

  I growled as I got up and saw another fireball flying right at me. Dodging out of the way, I ended in a roll and ended on my feet. Another sword shot out toward me, drawing more blood as it pierced my leg. I lunged at the mimic and used my second skill to devastating effect.

  Damage Notification:

  You have used << X-SLASH >>.

  You have used 60 Enma.

  You have inflicted 2,500 damage to Mimic.

  The mimic shuddered and drooped onto the floor, all of the weapons dropping out one by one until a broken, bloody box was left. It remained there for several seconds, but then it suddenly disappeared only for a chime to ring out and a new pop-up to appear.

  Notification:

  You have passed the first Tower Point threshold by collecting over 3,000 points in a single day.

  The tower is now open to everyone.

  A mass of crystals and gems appeared where the mimic had been moments before. The appearance was accompanied by another prompt asking me if I wanted to pick them all up. Hell yes! Especially after I’d just experienced my first near-death situation, even though it was quite anticlimactic.

  Notification:

  ITEM RECEIVED:

  Enma Crystal Rank 1 – 41

  Enma Crystal Rank 2 – 27

  Red Gem Rank 1 – 49

  Blue Gem Rank 1 – 51

  Green Gem Rank 1 – 47

  It was high time I finally got some upgrade materials. Now I had something to work with and wouldn’t mind if a few went to waste until I figured out what to do with them. I stashed them neatly away and grinned again at the notification. Finally! I finally got something from these damn floors!

  A countdown appeared in my periphery and went down from 3… 2… 1.

  I found myself standing in the lobby area of the tower, right in front of the Operator. He stared at me as if he saw a well-done steak for the first time. It was either that, or he didn’t really like me. Whatever the case, I walked over to the bastard and put my hands on the counter.

  “Operator!” I said, my face and voice all fun and games. “I’d like to use my points.”

  “Certainly, Viktor human. What kind of things are you interested in? Oh, one thing. Anything that isn’t shown in golden letters can’t be traded to others.”

  I knew there was something he hadn’t told us, and that something would bug the hell out of me. It did. He did.

  “Please show me your list,” I said again, sounding equally as plea
sant as moments before. I wasn’t going to let him shit on my parade, not today.

  Operator 1st Floor:

  ITEMS AVAILABLE AFTER UNLOCKING THE 25th FLOOR:

  RANDOM SKILL SCROLL: 2,000 Points

  (Grants a random skill to user based on proficiencies)

  STAT BOOST SCROLL LEVEL 1: 500 Points

  (Grants 50 random bonus stats to user)

  STAT BOOST SCROLL LEVEL 2: 800 Points

  (Grants 120 random bonus stats to user)

  STAT BOOST SCROLL LEVEL 3: 1,200 Points

  (Grants 200 random bonus stats to user)

  SPATIAL BAG LEVEL 1: 1,000 Points

  (Grants a small spatial bag to store items)

  SPATIAL BAG LEVEL 2: 5,000 Points

  (Grants a large spatial bag to store items)

  SPATIAL QUIVER: 1,000 Points

  (Quiver with infinite arrows/bolts)

  “Now that you’ve seen the items, is there anything you’d like to buy?”

  I nodded but then stopped. “How often can I buy these items? Are they a one-time-only deal?”

  “Oh? He asks a great question. I like him already!” The Operator laughed and looked around as if talking to several people and not just us. “The random skill scroll is a once-every-twenty-floors thing. The stat scrolls are once every five, ten, and twenty floors, so the small stat boosters can be gained once every five floors. The spatial bags are a onetime thing, as well as the quiver.”

  I glanced over at Melina, who was already holding her hand out to me. On her palm lay a small scroll, one I already recognized.

  “What? You also bought a skill scroll?” I asked as I bought one for myself and closed the Operator’s window.

  “No, not for myself. For you.”

  I frowned and pushed her hand back slowly. “I need you as powerful, Melina.”

  “And a single skill scroll won’t make me overpowered, but it can help you in a crucial moment.”

  I sighed and shook my head slightly as a warm feeling grew in my chest. Sure, she only got to clear the floor because she was with me, but Melina was my woman. It was only logical that she got to clear it along with me.

  “Alright, I’ll accept this time,” I whispered and planted a kiss on her lips.

  She pushed herself up on her tiptoes and hugged me fiercely. “Use them. I want to know if we just wasted our points.”

  I used Melina’s scroll and got my first real passive skill. At first glance, it didn’t look as good, but once I read it a second time, I grinned.

  Notification:

  SKILL NAME: << PRIMAL >>, Lv: 1, 0.0%

  DESCRIPTION: Increase attack by 1% with every hit against same target up to a 50% bonus.

  CHARGE TIME: Passive

  This kind of passive wasn’t as good when fighting smaller monsters or weaker bosses, but it would be great when dealing with things like the damn gate and/or big slow bosses. It didn’t explain how the skill worked with different weapons, but if I could get my hands on dual swords or spears, or anything else that was pretty fast, I could rake up the 50% bonus pretty quickly.

  The next skill was an active skill, which made my heart race. It wasn’t anything special, but the cooldown and Enma use were very short and small.

  Notification:

  SKILL NAME: << SLASH >>, Lv: 1, 0%

  DESCRIPTION: Use 20 Enma to add 150% to Enma Attack and inflict Staggering debuff: for 2 seconds.

  CHARGE TIME: Instant

  COOLDOWN: 10 Seconds

  I couldn’t find the passive skill anywhere when I looked for it, but then a thought struck me, and I went for Proficiencies instead. It didn’t want to open until I tried to open my passive skills. There it was beneath the proficiencies, which were now all called “Passives.” Should have been called that from the start, but whatever, I didn’t care.

  “So what did you get?” Melina asked excitedly. The way she stood there with a big grin and sparkling eyes made me think she was looking forward to it way more than I was.

  “An active battle skill and a passive one great for bosses and things like the gate,” I replied with a tad more excitement than I felt. She needed to know I appreciated her gift, and I would show that to her one way or another. “They’ll definitely make life much easier than what it was up until now.”

  “Life? Or battle?”

  “Yeah, sorry. I meant battle.”

  She shrugged and pressed her cheek against my chest, listening to my heart beat steadily. “Do you want to go back? Or should we spend some more time here?”

  “I want to go back,” I replied and pushed her away slowly. We need to see where the soldiers are at and… everything else. We need to come up with… shit. There’s nothing we can really do about the economy.”

  “What do you mean, Vik? What economy?”

  “The one inside the tower. We should start working on the association I want to start and then monopolize on the first two spots in the market. Make items inside the rift and then sell them in the tower. Buy upgraders for cheap and skill scrolls. I still have room for five active skills and two passives. You need over a dozen to fill up yours.”

  “Well, I’m not in a hurry, so whatever. We’ll get there one day,” she replied cheerfully. “As long as we’re having a good time, I wouldn’t mind hiding out in the dome for the rest of our lives.”

  Rest of our lives, huh? It wasn’t something I’d want for myself. I needed to take my time and think this all through. An economy didn’t establish itself overnight; no, we would need to watch it bloom carefully and establish guidelines along with the military and the Apocalypse group. There was no way I could play this game alone, so it was better to come to certain agreements from the get-go.

  “We need to find the others and have a long chat regarding this place. I have a feeling it will play a much bigger role than I thought it would.”

  To our luck, we found the others right where we left them: outside the tower. They were waiting for us, which was a good thing. This way we wouldn’t need to hunt any of them down for the meeting I wanted to have before anyone even started climbing the tower.

  “You’re back? I thought you would take all day,” Mark said as he ran over to us.

  “No, we need to speak to the rest. That’s why we exited the tower,” I replied and patted him on the shoulder.

  “Same. I just exited the place once I was given my reward,” he added. The others did the same. Kade and that other guy from the Apocs.”

  “Pelos?”

  Mark nodded and let out a sigh. “Yeah, him. They all agreed to wait until the two of you were out, and then we saw the message that it would be open to everyone in twenty-four hours. Well, twenty-three and change.”

  “Then we have enough time. Come on, join us.”

  Pelos and the general met me halfway down the ramp. Both had a shit-eating grin plastered to their faces and looked pretty happy with whatever was going on. They also knew what I was about to say by the way they looked me over.

  “Thanks for opening it up for everyone,” Kade said first and bowed slightly. I didn’t want to embarrass the man and bowed as well.

  “Speaking of the tower, you know about the market and the items you can get by just farming ordinary monsters in there?”

  Both nodded.

  “We do, and we’re extremely grateful for it,” Pelos said quickly. “To prove our word means something, we’ll—how many skills do you still need?”

  “Seven. Why?” I asked curiously, though I couldn’t help but feel my heart race slightly. They were going to try to buy me. Or bribe at least.

  “We will give you five skills, and Kade will give you five skills. Just as a thank-you.”

  I looked over at the general, but he just nodded with that same grin of his.

  “That’s quite the bribe,” I joked. “Don’t think I’ll go easy on you regarding the market.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Kade asked.

  “I want 50% of the tax, and you two can get
25% each. Of everything that goes on in this tower. And I mean everything. Crystals, upgraders, items.”

  Both of them frowned in unison and stared at me as if I were roadkill. Sure, it was hard to swallow, but I knew when to push and when to pull back. This was the time to push, especially after I’d shown them things that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

  “I agree,” Kade was first to respond, “but with a slight change. You get 40%, we get 20% each, and the rest goes to a unit we’d all sponsor, one that would keep order inside the tower. Maybe that association of yours?”

  I shrugged. “I’m fine with that,” I replied, happy that I wouldn’t have to sponsor them myself. “But they would report to me. I don’t see how that would benefit the two of you.”

  “Right, I think I know where he’s going with that,” Pelos said. “If they took care of the tower, we could focus on our own problems, and that way we wouldn’t have to spread our resources thin.”

  “Great, then we can go home without issues. Mark, do you want to stay here for a while?”

  He nodded and flashed me a broad grin as he brandished his spear. “Hell yeah!”

  Kade put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me aside. “Can I take you up on that dinner? We can talk about… the issue from earlier.”

  I nodded and turned to face Pelos one last time. “I hope you won’t go back on your word, Pelos. I’m never further away than a single stone’s throw. Remember that.”

  He frowned but nodded and then strolled off toward his group of people, who had now made a line to keep people from walking up to the tower. Now more than ever did I realize just how much of a shitshow this would become and how much they’d screwed me over by handing the security over to me. I sighed and pushed it away for another time.