Notification:
BEGINNER’S CHAIN QUEST
CHAIN 1: Kill 5 Common Kobolds
CHAIN 2: Kill 2 Elite Kobolds
CHAIN 3: Kill 1 Kobold Lord
CHAIN 4: Close 1 Rift
NOTE 1: Every first completion will receive: a BONUS reward
NOTE 2: Reward for full completion is access to the Tower of Rebirth
NOTE 3: Failure to complete Quest 1 within 72h cancels the Quest Chain
What the hell was this now? Quests? Rewards? Chain failure? And the Tower of Rebirth? I groaned inwardly and cursed Krajolik and all the other Gods who had something to do with my death. Couldn’t this have been a normal rebirth? A normal life?
Chapter Six
A sudden rush of Enma struck me headfirst as I stood there, still holding Melina’s hand. It almost felt as if someone had taken a hammer and hit me between the eyebrows, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. The feeling afterward was pure bliss. There was so much Enma in the air around me, more than enough to circulate it naturally through my body. Especially with two open meridians.
Melina suddenly tugged at my hand and pointed at the door.
“I think I just heard a scream,” she whispered.
I frowned. I was so engrossed in thinking about Enma that I’d failed to register anything around me.
“She’s right. People are screaming out there. I can feel it. The city is filled with pain and death.”
“Yeah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment. Stay in here. I’ll go have a look and come back for you, alright?”
She nodded but didn’t let go of my hand. I gave her a look that said “anything else?” and she nodded as if understanding.
“Don’t die. We just met, and I know we aren’t that close yet, but please—just don’t die, alright?”
I could see the strain in her eyes. She was holding back desperately, but I didn’t understand why. Sure, my heart fluttered and raced whenever I laid my eyes on her, but wasn’t this a bit too fast even for me?
“Do you have anything I can use to defend myself with? An ax or—?”
She cut me off and waved for me to follow. “Yeah, there are a few weapons in a room at the back. They belonged to the previous owner.”
I hurried after her into the corridor next door and ran a good minute through more hallways and hidden rooms. What the hell was this place? I could imagine all kinds of shady things happening here in the past.
We stopped at a wall that looked like a dead end. A small table stood there with a vase on top that looked so out of place. She put her hand inside, and the wall suddenly opened up behind it.
“What the hell?” I whispered. “That’s quite the hideout.”
“It sure is.” She chuckled. “I come here once a month to dust.”
She hurried inside and I followed close behind her. She turned to the wall and pressed another button. The lanterns flickered and started glowing, giving the room life. I froze in place. At the center of the room stood a glass display with red and black armor that I recognized as something belonging to samurai from this world, though it was mostly in tatters. On the wall hung a katana, a wakizashi, a naginata, a sickle, an array of daggers, short spears, and a bow with a quiver of arrows.
“Shit,” I cursed. “I’m not familiar with any of these weapons.”
“Really? Whatever! Just hurry and pick something. If that really was a scream—and there are monsters as that notification said, then I don’t want to be caught with my panties down.”
My right eyebrow rose, and she just shrugged.
“What’s that big sword over there?”
“That? It’s a nodachi. It’s heavy like you wouldn’t believe and has a thick blade.”
“Have you ever used it?”
She shook her head. “You need some serious power in your arms to use that thing. I can’t even lift the weapon from the display to clean it.”
I stepped closer to inspect it. The scabbard was reddish, and it radiated some ominous Enma. I didn’t like it at all, but if something screamed danger right at me, I had to go for it. I looked over to her, and she shrugged.
“Can I?”
“Sure, whatever. If you can wield that thing, more power to you.”
I grinned as I opened the display, picked the weapon up, and weighed it in my arms. To my surprise, it didn’t feel heavier than any other sword I’d ever held in my hands.
“I thought you said it was heavy?”
“I need to inspect you more closely once you’re back. You sure got some strength in those skinny arms,” she muttered.
“Whatever.” I laughed. “Pick something for yourself and one for Sandro, then go find him. I’m running ahead.”
Just as I exited the room, a notification window popped up.
Notification:
ITEM RECEIVED:
NAME: Nodachi Of The Blossom Tree
PHYSICAL ATTACK: 37
ENMA ATTACK: 14
“More of these damned windows. Physical Attack and Enma Attack, huh? Let’s check the status quickly.”
Status:
NAME: Viktor
AGE: 31
LEVEL: 1, REALM: 1, RANK: 2
HEALTH: 250
ENMA: 90
SPEED: 1.1
PHYSICAL ATTACK: 92
ENMA ATTACK: 64
DEFENSE: 40
ENMA SHIELD: 150
“What’s wrong?” Melina asked as I stood there in the hallway.
“Nothing, sorry. I was just in thought for a second.”
I stormed off, holding the sword in my right hand at an angle where the blade pointed at the floor behind me, and ran. Sandro appeared around the corner and almost bumped into me. He earned himself a slap for it, but I stormed past him.
“Go to the weapons room and protect Melina with your life!”
My heart thumped in my chest like mad. The anticipation of battle made my soul throb. It was so familiar yet so distant since I had no memories, but the soul remembered.
I stopped at the entrance to the front yard and glared at the sky. It was dark mixed in with hints of orange and red. This didn’t look and feel good at all. What the hell were those Gods playing at?
I took in a deep breath and unsheathed the weapon to have a better look and see if I’d be able to swing it with ease. The nodachi was quite heavy, to be honest. It hadn’t felt that way during my run here, but now that it wasn’t sheathed anymore, I was having second thoughts. I might have just made a mistake by choosing this weapon.
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, pushing all negative thoughts from my mind, when yet another notification popped up.
Notification:
HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETED:
Acquire Proficiency Stat
PROFICIENCIES UNLOCKED:
1. Two-Handed Weapon – Level 1 – 0.0%
2. Sword Fighting – Level 1 – 0.0%
3. Nodachi – Level 1 – 0.0%
NOTE: Every increase in level adds to Attacks,
Speed, and Accuracy.
The message was accompanied by a slight glow that lasted for several seconds before it dissipated back into the world around me. One thing I noticed was that the sword felt slightly lighter in my hands. So the more I used it, the easier the handling would become?
I sighed and listened. There was nothing out there, no screams, no sirens, no fighting, and no—well, nothing. I pulled the sword up over my shoulder, still holding it with my right hand, as I moved toward the gate. The cobbled ground was still in place, and not a single stone had shaken free during the earthquake. I looked around, and everything else seemed to be in place as well. How strange.
The shimmering dome appeared out of nowhere as I walked up to the gate, forcing me to stop. I pulled back slightly and stared at the wall. I prodded it with the sheath, but nothing happened. Nothing except that my sheath was pulled outside.
“What the hell?”
I couldn’t see anything past the shimmeri
ng light, nothing but the general outline of the park beyond. Was this some sort of… pocket-space? It felt eerily familiar. Just like most things from my previous life. It slowly started to bother me.
An idea struck me. I pulled the sword back, turned the flat side around, and swung through the barrier. The sword definitely struck something as it paused and then deflected back inside.
“Here goes,” I whispered as I stepped several feet to the left of whatever it was that stood there, and passed through the barrier.
A flash of blinding light struck me for a brief moment, and the image became as clear as glass. I was standing outside the ryokan and staring at a horde of monsters just as a wooden club came swinging at my head.
I put my free hand up instinctively and blocked the attack.
Damage Notification:
You have received 3 damage from Common Kobold.
“What the hell are you little bastards?” I cursed and swung the sword downwards. The little grayish creature darted out of the way and rolled around. Three more spotted me and started moving my way.
“You can’t afford to screw around, Viktor,” Scar’s familiar voice rang out in my mind. “Those things are spirit creatures but with a physical body. They can harm you if you’re not careful enough.”
“How dangerous are they?” I asked as I stepped aside and dodged another blow, then kicked out and struck the creature in the neck. Its head snapped back, and it dropped to its knees. Dead. I looked down at the kobold and spat as another damage notification appeared.
Damage Notification:
You have inflicted 55 damage to Common Kobold.
The head was small and almost blocky, and it had long, thin arms. The chest wasn’t much bigger than the head. It was barely thirty inches tall, but I knew it could be deadly given time and numbers. The tail was short but pointy and covered in tiny scales, just like the rest of its body.
“Not really dangerous, but there are a lot of them, so watch your back.”
I nodded and looked up as a chime rang out in my mind. The quest notification appeared in my periphery and changed slightly.
Notification:
BEGINNER’S CHAIN QUEST
CHAIN 1: Kill 5 Common Kobolds
COMPLETION: 1/5
“Kobolds, huh?” I muttered and readied myself for the three incoming little buggers.
“I guess that’s what the system said, but they sure are damn ugly.”
I rolled my eyes as a new pop-up appeared.
==== ===== ===== ===== ===== ====: === === Monster Scan === ===
==== ===== ===== ===== ===== ====
NAME: Common Kobold
RANK: 1, Common
HEALTH: 20
ENMA: 10
SPEED: 1.0
Physical Attack: 4: Enma Attack: 0
DEFENSE: 0
ENMA SHIELD: 0
===== ===== ===== ===== ===== =====
===== ===== ===== ===== =====
“You’re not helping much, Scar.”
“But I wasn’t trying to be helpful at all,” Scar snorted. “Why would I be? You’re the one who owes me, not the other way around.”
“About that, you’ll have to tell me how we died and stuff. I have no idea what happened.”
I pulled my sword back and swung as the three came into striking distance. They must have misjudged the reach of my sword and paid the price as they tried to jump out of the way but couldn’t. Their bodies hit the ground and skidded to a halt. I leaned in closer before they disappeared, and noticed something. All of them were slightly different. Not one of the four had looked identical to the others.
I looked around as they disappeared, seeing I wasn’t in immediate danger. The same thing was happening all over the park, where people ran around, brawling with the kobolds. Some had better luck, others worse.
To my surprise, the nasty things kept on appearing no matter how many died. Men, women, and even children were going at it, kicking, biting, hitting, and launching themselves at the things. They were small but quick, and to those who weren’t brave enough to stand their ground, the nasty things managed to get some attacks in.
“Any idea why they keep coming back?” I asked as I walked toward a lone kobold.
It turned its small, beady eyes on me and charged, holding its club high overhead. I didn’t even bother swinging my sword. I kicked out again and sent the thing flying into a parked car. It slammed into the front of the vehicle and stopped moving before it exploded in a fine mist.
A new chime rang out.
Notification:
BEGINNER’S CHAIN QUEST
CHAIN 1: Kill 5 Common Kobolds
COMPLETION: 5/5
To my surprise, I didn’t get any kind of reward, if games from this world were something to go by. Not that it mattered. As long as we could progress with this quest chain and get the tower entry at the end, all would be good. Or at least that was what I thought. I had no idea what the tower would give me, but if it was the end reward, then it’d better be good.
The street was pretty wide and led toward residential buildings on one side, while the other led towards the main road we’d driven last night. A small playground was over to my right with one of those kids’ playhouses you could climb on and go down the slide.
I ran over and climbed on top, then looked around. The road was shredded in places, and deep gashes ran across the length. Part of the residential building across the street looked as if it had been torn off by a gigantic hand. The utility poles crackled, at least those that still stood, but there was no electricity running through. No, I felt a trace of Enma radiating from them instead, but why? Electricity wasn’t Enma, but they were both sources of power, so maybe that was why?
A cry from the left drew my attention. One of the younger teens who were busy fighting the small creatures fell to his back as two of the little monsters jumped atop him and started pummeling his arms with clubs.
I rolled my eyes and jumped off the small house. My hand dropped to the ground and wrapped around a pebble. I pulled my arm back and hurled it as hard as I could. A blueish afterglow remained where the stone traveled and entered the creature’s back, then exited through its chest and hit a tree some ten steps further. The creature disintegrated into dust as the other one turned to see who killed its companion when another stone struck right between its eyes.
A group of young men and women appeared off to my left. They held bats, crowbars, axes, and even large tools in their hands.
“Charge!” the one at the front yelled, holding a baseball club in his right hand.
They plunged into the kobolds and started working on them with whatever they had on hand. I stood there and smirked. This wasn’t even half so bad. If ordinary people could battle monsters, then I’d been worried for nothing. But it also meant that everyone would be able to progress as fast.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked. “What’s with these things?”
“What do you mean?” Scar asked. “They’re just the first wave. It’s only logical they’re weak.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?”
“What else do you want to hear me say? It’s not like I have an idea about what the hell is going on!”
“Viktor, you’re as dumb as you look. Have you forgotten about beast waves?”
“Wait, what are those?”
“Oh dear lord,” Scar muttered. “Well, they basically were waves of creatures that mutated into monsters and attacked towns, cities, even sects. You used to be able to stop them with a single swipe of your weapon. It’s only logical you didn’t think anything of them and do the same now again with these kobolds.”
I sighed and turned toward the ryokan. The shimmering dome was still there, and for some reason, the things weren’t able to get inside. Two of them were busy hitting the shimmering field with their clubs, but all they did was hurt themselves. The two dropped on their backs and started screeching, then slapping each other.
I was so underwhe
lmed by what I was seeing that I had no words to describe it. And there I thought I was going to get my hands dirty and have to fight something wicked and strong. Strangely, though, the nodachi felt good in my hand. It was a two-handed weapon but rather light for one. And why were the creatures turning to dust?
I let out a deep sigh and looked around again. The group of teens cheered as they quickly took care of the group of kobolds and jumped around, danced, and laughed.
I closed my eyes and cursed. Melina and Sandro needed this too. I turned toward the dome and made my way back. I needed to get them in case there was a limit to these things.
“Melina!” I yelled just as I appeared in the yard. I was stopped by a blow to my side.
“Oh! Shit! Sorry!” she hissed. “Did I hurt you?”
“No, you didn’t,” I wheezed through clenched teeth. “Why the hell did you hit me?”
“I—you know! I can’t see outside, but I feel there are things out there. I thought you were one of those monsters the quest mentioned.”
I shook my right arm and stretched it as she plunged her face into her open palms.
“Hey, it’s alright, don’t worry,” I whispered. “As for the monsters, they’re weak and small, but I’ve got a feeling they’re just the first of many. We need to get out there and have you two kill five of the things each.”
“Boss, do you think we can manage?” Sandro asked.
I turned to my other side and nodded. “Yeah, you can. A good kick is already enough. That spear-thing will be overkill in comparison.”
“Boss, this is no spear, this is a naginata. The blade is almost as long as an ordinary sword’s,” he protested.
Beginner Quest: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 1) Page 7