Defiance of the Fall: A LitRPG Adventure

by TheFirstDefier

  As he started despairing over what to do, the familiar sight of the magical pond entered his vision. He lacked the luxury of having time to think things through, and immediately jumped into the azure water. He would have to risk meeting a pond monster, as even a few more breaths of that poison would kill him.

  He planned to swim down to the bottom of the lake and hopefully find a passage down into the mountain. Since the water was crammed full of Cosmic Energy, Zac guessed it was connected to the crystal mine somehow. But he only managed to swim for ten seconds deeper into the pond before his whole body felt like it was on fire. It was the water, as it seeped into his body through his wounds and perhaps even his pores.

  The heat quickly became unbearable, but it only kept building up. Meanwhile, his insides were churning from the poison, only adding to his misery. Zac’s whole body started to swell up, and in seconds, looked completely bloated. His whole skin was red, and if he weren’t underwater, he’d likely be steaming from the heat.

  Zac felt hopeless and desperate. It was heartbreaking to think that he actually managed to defy all odds and beat the incursion, only to end up in this situation. He had killed the four heralds personally and even helped set the stage for the general’s death by destroying all his protective treasures and forcing him to expend all his energy in the fight. Almost two months of ceaseless life-and-death struggles, only to explode from over-ingesting super-water.

  Completely unreconciled, Zac made one desperate attempt to survive. He grabbed one of the fruits from his pouch and tore into it with his teeth. An unimaginably sweet taste exploded in his mouth and made him almost forget that he was dying. It was by far the tastiest thing he had ever eaten, and it felt like he was munching on something that gods feasted on in ancient stories. As he swallowed it, a fresh cooling sensation entered his body, immediately sweeping the poison away.

  He devoured the fruit completely, apart from some juices that leaked into the water, completely frenzied from the taste. He even accidentally swallowed some water with the fruit as he forgot himself from the otherworldly deliciousness. The cooling sensation spread throughout his extremities as he feasted, and actually started combating the burning sensation from the magical water.

  Zac was relieved, as it looked like his gambit had been successful. But the relief didn’t last for long, as his body quickly started to go from blazing hot to freezing cold, over and over again in quick succession. Two forces were fighting for supremacy, and the ravaged battlefield was Zac’s body.

  Even though he was underwater, he couldn’t stop himself from desperately screaming in pain, with even more water filling his lungs. He couldn’t even register it, as the pain was all-consuming, far worse than getting burned or stabbed in his chest. With every change in his body, it felt like his cells were melted down into a puddle, then frozen solid again by the freezing cold of the fruit.

  Zac sensed that his spirit could collapse at any moment, and every second felt like an eternity for him. Soon he couldn’t take it anymore and brought out a dagger from his pouch. With his last energy, he stabbed it toward his throat, hoping to quickly end the suffering.

  The dagger tore into his throat and then sank to the bottom of the lake as Zac let go with relief. He felt a sting of shame when thinking of his family that he never was able to save, but he felt they would understand if they knew what he was going through.

  But the sweet release of death didn’t arrive. The wound closed with visible speed, and soon his neck was as good as new. Zac despaired, not knowing what to do. His body wouldn’t listen to his commands anymore, and his brain was overtaxed by the pain signals bombarding his synapses.

  The continuous changes in his body kept on going, uncaring about Zac’s plight. Finally, his eyes rolled up into his head as he passed out into blissful darkness, and as he fainted, his body slowly kept descending into the depths.

  64

  Taking Stock

  With a scream, Zac woke up from his head hitting a sharp rock formation. Groggily, he tried to orient himself and found that he was bobbing about in the azure water in a cave. Afraid that the burning pain would start again, he quickly scrambled up on a piece of dry land.

  His body felt surprisingly good after all it had gone through. The mental scar from remembering the excruciating pain was far worse compared to anything his body was actually experiencing right now. Just thinking about it caused his hands to shake and almost made him cry. That had been too harrowing, far worse than risking his life in any of the fights or the pain from getting wounded.

  It took some time for him to regather his wits before he finally looked at his surroundings. He was currently in a decently large cave that was ten by twenty meters. Almost half of it was submerged in the azure water, and the other half was crammed full of subterranean plants. It made sense, as Zac had never encountered any tunnel or cave with a density of Cosmic Energy that could compare to where he was.

  It was as though the boost from the crystal mines below had fused with the boost of the lake and created something even more intense in the enclosed space of the cavern. Zac was unsure of how he had gotten here. After snatching the fruits, he had fled the purple cloud of death and jumped into the mysterious pond. After that, everything had turned fuzzy, apart from the very real memory of the pain.

  He could only guess that some stream had brought him down into the depths of the mountain while the Fruit of Ascension kept him alive. Even though he felt generally restored, he wasn’t ready to set out, as there were many things he needed to check out after the cataclysmic final battle.

  Name: Zachary Atwood

  Level: 36

  Class: [F-Rare] Hatchetman

  Race: [E] Human

  Alignment: [Earth] Human

  Titles: Born for Carnage, Ultimate Reaper, Luck of the Draw, Giantsbane, Disciple of David, Overpowered, Slayer of Leviathans, Adventurer, Demon Slayer, Full of Class, Rarified Being, Trailblazer, Child of Dao, The Big 500, Planetary Aegis, One Against Many

  Dao: Seed of Heaviness – Early

  Strength: 189

  Dexterity: 69

  Endurance: 130

  Vitality: 84

  Intelligence: 57

  Wisdom: 57

  Luck: 77

  Free Points: 3

  Nexus Coins: 746,317

  The first thing he noticed was that his Strength now was at a full 189 points, having increased by 14 points since he last checked. He had actually broken past his limit of 175 points and could only attribute it to the fact that he’d luckily evolved to an E-ranked human according to his status page, whatever that meant. He did a quick check all over his body and was relieved to find there were no wings or other new appendages that suddenly grew on him. He even checked between his legs and was half disappointed and half relieved that no evolutions had taken place there as well.

  He didn’t really feel any different, but he guessed that he would find out sooner or later what it meant to get a higher race class. He at least knew it helped him increase the limit of his attributes, which was one of his most important goals.

  He had also gained two new titles, and he brought up the title menu to check them out.

  [One Against Many: Fight against 500 warriors of the same tier and survive. Endurance +10]

  [Planetary Aegis: First to stop an incursion in world. All stats +5, All stats +5%]

  The first one was not bad, a nifty reward for staying alive through those odds. He guessed that there were tiers to that title, and he’d have gotten a better one if he’d actually defeated them rather than fleeing after throwing out a bunch of poison.

  The second was even better and was the fifth one he possessed that gave a percent boost to all stats. The title didn’t mention anything about solo kill like some of his other titles, and he wondered if it was because he wasn’t the one who actually killed the general.

  He couldn’t be bothered about that mysterious demon right now, even if he could speak the human language and seemingly had hel
ped him. Zac was sure the demon had survived from how he had acted before disappearing. Since there only were so many places to go on the island, Zac figured he’d find him sooner or later and get his answers then.

  After having checked the titles, he closed the panel and did some mental calculations. He realized that he actually had missed out on another three points of Strength when he turned level 36. He still received the stats from the new title, though, which confused him a bit, as he should have received the title before he evolved and broke his attribute cap.

  He was also a bit surprised with the number of Nexus Coins he amassed from the battle. He had gained roughly 150,000 from his whole day on the battlefield. While it was not a small amount by any means, it still didn’t feel like it added up. That poison cloud should have killed hundreds, if not thousands, in the valley. Only the strongest combatants had been right by the tree, while the rest were spread out through the valley. Perhaps a few of the speedier ones had managed to escape; there couldn’t be too many survivors with how rapidly the purple cloud had expanded.

  Zac shuddered at the thought of having poisoned hundreds of beings to death but forcibly threw the thought into the back of his mind. Either all those kills didn’t actually improve his level or give him coins, or they all were still alive.

  Zac was convinced that they’d died from the poison. Just one breath of the poison cloud made him, who had over 100 Endurance, keel over, and he couldn’t imagine normal demons or monkeys surviving that. Furthermore, he had seen the horrified looks on their faces when they saw the billowing purple clouds.

  Zac briefly considered trying to swim through the pond to get back into the valley, but soon perished the thought. Even if he managed to actually swim through the water now, the poison might still be up there.

  Suddenly, a thought popped up into his mind, and he opened the quest screen.

  Active Quests:

  Dynamic Quests:

  Off With Their Heads (Unique): Kill the four heralds and the general of an incursion within 3 months. Reward: 10 E-Grade Nexus Crystals, E-Grade equipment, unique building depending on performance. (5/5) [COMPLETE]

  Incursion Master (Unique): Close or conquer incursion and protect outpost from denizens of other alignments for 3 months. Reward: 5 E-Grade Nexus Crystals, outpost upgraded to town, status upgraded to Lord. (0/3) [43:12:32:11]

  Class Quests:

  Forester’s Constitution (Class): Fight in the forests, be one with nature. Reward: Forester’s Constitution Skill. (8/30)

  Loamwalker (Class): Walk a thousand kilometers touching the earth. Reward: Loamwalker Skill. (0/1,000)

  Zac sighed in relief, as the first incursion quest finally could be confirmed as complete. This had been his goal since Abby’s warning, and it was thankfully done with after almost two horrible months. He already had been pretty sure he completed it the moment the general got impaled, but it was nice to finally see it set in stone.

  He was also relieved to see that the quest said [COMPLETE] instead of just disappearing, as that meant the System hadn’t spit out the reward somewhere while he was unconscious. As one of the rewards was related to his outpost, he assumed he would have to get back to his camp to collect them.

  The next quest had gotten a timer just like the limited quest. If he read it correctly, he either had to finish it within forty-three days or something would happen in forty-three days.

  Finally, he was surprised to see that the Loamwalker hadn’t progressed at all since he got it. He wasn’t exactly sure how far he ran yesterday, but he had been pushing it pretty hard with his inhuman stats for a few hours, so he felt that he should at least have run a marathon on the mountain slopes. And walking on a mountain should constitute touching earth in any sense of the word.

  After a brief hesitation, he took off his shoes and threw them into his bag. He was reminded of the man in the vision and could only try copying him. Perhaps his soles had to actually physically touch the earth for it to count, and if true, he wondered what that meant when using the skill in the future. Would he become a barefoot warrior in the future just like the axe-man? At least his Endurance was high enough that his soles wouldn’t get cut or damaged, even if walking around on glass shards.

  Satisfied that he had gone through everything for now, he brought out some food and water. He was generally happy with the progression, but also a bit pissed off that that harrowing experience in the water hadn’t done anything except boost his Race a level.

  From how precious the Fruit of Ascension appeared, he thought that the fruit alone would be enough to ascend a stage, but with the harrowing molding his body had gone through, he figured he should at least have been awarded some bonus attributes or a title. He wondered if the System had a complaint department he could contact, as its rewards weren’t balanced.

  Internally grumbling, he tore into a piece of dried meat, and he was surprised to see that his appetite was simply monstrous, and he ate a couple of kilos of meat before he felt satiated. Looking at his slightly protruding belly, he wondered if evolving his race meant that he got a separate dimension tucked into his stomach.

  Finally all set, he stood up and ventured out. He had, after some deliberation, chosen to head into the tunnels instead, as he simply refused to enter that water again. He refilled his canteen, though, just for emergencies.

  The cave he was in was connected to the larger tunnel system, he found out after some traveling. Only a small hole was open, though, and Zac was forced to cut his way out with a sword. As he worked with the sword, he felt that his body was more coordinated than ever, as every muscle was working in perfect harmony. He wasn’t really stronger or more agile, but rather had greater control of his body. Normally, he would think that it was due to increased Dexterity, but the change was too large that just a few extra points from his new title couldn’t cover it. He guessed instead that it was another advantage of being an evolved human.

  After some hesitation, he carved out a couple of boulders from a nearby wall and covered up the path again. That secret cave would be an excellent cultivation cave in the future, and he didn’t want a salamander or wandering demon to ruin it.

  Perhaps it wouldn’t be useful for himself, but maybe for his sister or Hannah if he managed to bring them back to the island. Now that the demon threat was taken care of, he needed to actually start preparing for the future.

  At least he hoped that the demon threat was over, but he couldn’t be sure. He never got any indication of what would happen when he finally killed the heralds and the general. There should be quite a few demons still around even after the huge battle. There had been at least a thousand demons in the mountains, but even if all of them died, there should be hundreds in the tunnels. Add to that the demon town and the roving parties, and most demons should still be around.

  Putting the matter aside, Zac pushed forward in the tunnels. Soon he found a familiar cave, whose tunnels led to the demon mining operation. After a brief hesitation, he headed over there to check things out. As he walked, he heard absolutely no sound of activity, which could only be considered a good sign.

  The mining tunnels were completely deserted, as he’d hoped, with not a single demon in sight. As he continued on, he soon exited the cave entrance he had seen the demons use daily. Still, he didn’t see a single demon anywhere. A few sacks and tools were thrown here and there, hinting at a hasty escape.

  More importantly, for the first time since he woke up on this hellish island, there was no huge red glaring pillar shooting into the sky. The incursion was simply gone.

  But that didn’t mean his work was over.

  65

  First Contact

  With a spring in his steps he hadn’t felt for a long time, Zac moved along the road toward the location of the now-gone incursion. He was planning on heading back to his campsite to complete his quest, but first, he wanted to check things out and make sure that the demons were truly gone.

  He moved along the path leading to the
fortified city, meeting no resistance on the way. Soon he reached the forest edge close to the town; any further, and he would be exposed due to all the vegetation having been cut down to supply the construction.

  He hunkered down and stared at the town for a good while, trying to see any signs of demons. The good news was that the previously well-manned walls were completely deserted. Not a single guard was patrolling along the wall walk, and the towers were empty. The bad news was that he saw a few lines of smoke rising from the inner parts of the town.

  After some hesitation, he decided to take a closer look. The lines of smoke might just be left-behind fires, and if there actually were demons here, they must be disorganized for some reason. He briskly jogged over to the fortifications, and with a few tugs, pulled himself up along the wall. He didn’t encounter any arrays impeding his path either, making him wonder if demons couldn’t use them for some reason. He hadn’t seen them use a single one so far, after all, unless inscriptions on tools could be called arrays.

  He looked out over the demon town and found it more or less deserted. He was disappointed to see that there actually were a few demons milling about, but they looked listless and without direction.

  He also noticed that the town had grown considerably since he had seen it the first time a few weeks ago. Most of the military-looking rectangular buildings were gone, replaced with structures of various sizes and designs. It almost looked like a medieval town by now rather than a military base. But the craftsmanship and cleanliness were far greater compared to some old city, and no garbage or excrement lined the sidewalks. Perhaps the large barracks were only temporary housing they used while they constructed the real city.