Defiance of the Fall: A LitRPG Adventure

by TheFirstDefier

  Zac nodded after some hesitation and followed them. His guard was up, though, ready to bring out [Verun’s Bite] at a moment’s notice. These people were real cultivators who had done the so-called Tutorial. Even Ogras didn’t know exactly what benefits you could get in there, but from all accounts, they were substantial. He knew his level likely was far above everyone here, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t pose a threat. They might have received bonus attributes, titles or extraordinary skills in the Tutorial, things that could even out the odds.

  “Winterleaf Village is built upon the remnants of our ancestral home before the fall. We were lucky at least to retain most of our structures. Many towns in the area were pushed together into a confusing mess by the System, which severely harmed their cooperation. It’s thanks to our unity that so many of our clan members are still alive, even with the changes constantly testing us.”

  Zac’s heartbeat sped up as he finally was starting to get some information about the world. His words painted a somber picture, but he was mentally prepared that there would be widespread death and tragedy. Even if no incursion was nearby, he knew that just the wildlife would create problems.

  “Are there any human settlements in the area?” Zac asked. That was the priority. He still didn’t have a picture of just how the reshuffling of the world worked, but perhaps humans had already started to map the locations of their old towns. They still should have technology such as aircrafts that they could use to scout, even though such tools didn’t provide experience when killing monsters.

  “The closest one is a four-day journey from here. We don’t have any contact with them, though, as that place is chaotic and dangerous. No offense,” the hunter answered.

  “What do you mean?” Zac asked with a sinking feeling.

  “The settlement is run by a man named Roger. He has set himself up as a warlord and rules with an iron fist. Mutilated corpses adorn his walls at all times, and he is known to have kidnapped many women. He even tried to kidnap a few female Ishiate, but stopped after furious revenge from us.

  “Still, he is very strong with a few powerful followers, so no one in the area dares to escalate the conflict with them. We keep our distance and put patrols to make sure that they don’t approach, and luckily, they keep to themselves mostly,” the beastkin answered solemnly.

  Zac was disappointed when he heard the news. He would have to check things out himself to make sure, but he leaned toward believing the humanoid. Since the beginning of the apocalypse, he knew that some people would use the fall of order as an excuse to live out their twisted fantasies. That someone wanted to play emperor sounded not only believable, but expected.

  He asked a few more questions as he walked alongside the beastmen toward a large structure. As he looked around, he didn’t see many structures that stood out. The only building he recognized was the [F-Grade General Store] that the System provided. He didn’t sense any arrays gathering energy in the area either, and the ambient Cosmic Energy was actually far lower here compared to how it was on his island.

  He hadn’t realized how large the difference was from living on top of a so-called Nexus Vein, but his island must seem like a paradise to cultivators. Even better were the mountains, which finally were starting to become habitable again, as the poison was mostly cleared out. He reaffirmed his decision to keep his portal closed until at least his beast horde quest was completed and his position as Lord was solidified.

  As he walked, he became more and more confused as to how they could afford the huge expense of the Teleportation Array. Zac only was able to afford it due to the Nexus Crystal mine, and the monster horde gave him an absurd number of Nexus Coins.

  But from what he had seen so far, nothing really made these people stand out. Certainly, the village was decent-sized, and quite a few of these fawn-people looked like adept warriors. But unless they’d recently found some extremely valuable treasure, they must have collected much of their wealth to construct it.

  It didn’t take long after they sat down at a round table that he found out the reason behind its construction.

  “I am not used to small talk, so I will immediately get to the point, Zac. The reason we spent most of our resources on the Teleportation Array was that we’re in desperate need of assistance.”

  96

  Terror of the Mountains

  “Assistance?” Zac asked skeptically.

  “As you know, wildlife is quickly changing. A beast has appeared in the mountains, and we fear it will evolve soon if left alone. It has started hunting citizens of Winterleaf Village and the neighboring settlements. In the beginning, it was just for food, but lately, it seems it hunts us for Cosmic Energy judging by the numbers it’s killed. The people are unable or unwilling to join us in fighting it.

  “Most of the other citizens in neighboring settlements feel they can simply leave the forests if it gets too dangerous. But this is our ancestral home. We can’t just abandon it. That’s why we pooled our resources in order to find new allies through the teleportation array,” Selas said, with multiple eyes staring hopefully at Zac.

  “If the monster is causing trouble for your town, why don’t you buy protective arrays?” Zac questioned. A beast evolving seemed troublesome, but they could just trap it with an array and then throw something like a Thunder Punishment at it. Zac doubted even the Fiend Wolf would survive if it got stuck in the middle of that crazy lightning barrage. For the money they’d spent on a teleportation array, they could have blasted even Zac to Kingdom Come.

  The townspeople glanced, confused, at their leader, who only looked a bit depressed.

  “Unfortunately, my achievements in the Tutorial weren’t enough to unlock those items. I have a quest to unlock it, but it is far outside the scope of what Winterleaf Village can handle at the moment, much more difficult than simply killing the beast,” he explained.

  Zac was surprised but careful not to let anything show on his face. He had no idea that different Nexus Nodes possessed a different collection of options. It wasn’t anything Ogras or the others had mentioned either. He thought that the System was uncharacteristically generous by allowing him to buy things such as the Thunder Punishment and the arrays. But perhaps it was because of his achievements. It was either that or the fact that he’d gained his town by defeating an incursion instead of getting it in the Tutorial.

  He sighed and looked around the table. He could sympathize with these people, but he was not some savior who had time to go around and save the villages. His goal was simple: find his hometown and his family. It was already a daunting enough task without making detours all the time. He was about to reject their request for assistance, but a window popping up stopped him in his tracks.

  [New Active Quest: Monster hunt (Normal): Slay the beast in the mountains. No assistance allowed. Reward: [F-Grade Automatic Map] (0/1)]

  This development surprised him. Was anyone simply able to give out quests? But it didn’t look like it was something the people around the table did, as they were simply looking at him hopefully. He guessed that it likely was the System that wanted to force him to fight the beast.

  “The beast is not only a threat to us, but to all the settlements in the area. Both Ishiate and human lives are at stake,” another person added, taking Zac’s silence as hesitation.

  “Have you heard about something called an Automatic Map?” Zac suddenly asked, confusing the people at the table, who looked at each other.

  “I know!” one of the younger people suddenly piped up. “I heard about it in the Tutorial. It’s a spiritual map that shows the area around you almost no matter where you are. It marks any settlements and towns on itself. The better the grade, the more detailed it is, and the larger area it covers.”

  Zac started to get eager, as this was something that would be really useful for him in his travels. He felt a bit helpless that the System once again dangled something he needed in front of his nose, but was starting to feel that was simply how it operate
d. Unless the rewards were tempting enough, many wouldn’t risk their lives.

  “What type of animal is it?” Zac probed.

  “It is a mutated mink. It is around three meters long and extremely aggressive. We have tried to kill it, but it’s extremely nimble. It sneaks into the towns at night and kills until it is discovered, and is gone before we can mount an effective counter,” Selas answered with a sigh.

  “And its level?”

  “Last time it was spotted, it was level 68. That was five days ago. It might have gained a level or two since, as it levels up quite quickly.”

  Zac mulled over what to do. The animal sounded strong, but not overly so. He possessed his new weapon and the Seed of Sharpness, which increased his lethality quite a bit against solo enemies. The monster wasn’t evolved either, and wouldn’t be anywhere as strong as the Fiend Wolf he’d fought recently. But it wasn’t some weakling if multiple villages couldn’t kill it, and he needed to solo kill it to receive the map.

  The deer-people thought Zac’s silence was an expression of hesitance, and Selas added some incentives.

  “Of course, we don’t expect you to do this for free. I gained two spots to the worldwide treasure hunt in three months during the Tutorial. I am willing to cede one of those spots to your town if you decide to help us,” the leader added with a serious face.

  “Treasure hunt?” Zac asked, confused.

  “It is a limited event the System arranges seven months after the fall, where participants will be teleported to some unknown area like with the Tutorial. It was possible to gain entrance tokens to the event during the Tutorial, but it was notoriously hard,” the leader explained, and couldn’t help but straighten his back as he did. “It contains various valuables, from gear to herbs. There’s even limited titles available inside, from what the pixies said.”

  “Can anyone go?” Zac asked, interested, as it sounded like a pretty amazing opportunity. He was ahead of the curve in terms of power, and there likely weren’t many places on Earth where he could keep his empowerment going. This event sounded like a good opportunity that normally wouldn’t have anything to do with him since he wasn’t a cultivator.

  “Anyone can go as long as one is a native of this planet and has an entrance token. I believe it will be the first gathering of the elites of all the races.”

  The slot was something he would definitely want. He should be able to sell it for a great sum even if he didn’t end up using it. The map itself was reason enough for him to fight the super-mink, and this was a great bonus. Still, he wouldn’t jump into it blindly and asked some more questions about the monster. Finally satisfied, he was ready to set out, not wanting to waste any more time.

  “Okay, deal. Lead me to its den,” Zac said as he stood up.

  However, none of the beastmen stood up, and instead glanced at each other doubtfully.

  “We… um… appreciate your enthusiasm, but killing this beast will take the cooperation and planning of a few villages. We are not ready to challenge it from our end,” the old huntsman said with some hesitation.

  “I need to observe its habitat and hopefully its power personally to report back home; otherwise, they will not send manpower here through the portal.” Zac decided to lie. It felt like too much of a bother to convince the group that he was powerful enough to do this alone.

  Still, no one seemed ready to set out and just looked down with troubled faces. Finally, Selas sighed and stood up.

  “I will lead you to its habitat. But beware, it is extremely fast. If it targets us, I will only be able to protect myself, if even that,” he said. It looked like many of the other beastmen in the meeting were about to protest, but he silenced them with a wave of his hands.

  “Give me ten minutes, and we will set out.”

  Soon the two walked along a path in the forest, heading toward one of the mountains in the vicinity. It was believed the mink lived by a river that ran through the mountain, claiming the area as its habitat.

  As they walked, Zac learned various things of interest. The history of the Ishiate was quite interesting. Apparently, their society had been on the cusp of industrialization when they got integrated into the Multiverse along with Earth. However, their society held nature in high regard and even saw the forests and mountains as their gods.

  It caused a schism between those who chose to live as one with nature and those who embraced technological progress. Conflict was common lately between the two camps, one trying to stop the desecration of their gods, the other trying to move their race forward. Winterleaf Village was part of the former group, consisting mainly of simple hunters and foragers. Zac believed that this lifestyle likely helped them survive far better in this new reality than the average people of Earth.

  He also learned that apart from humans and the beastmen, there was at least one more race that got thrown into the mix. However, Selas didn’t know much about them, as he had never seen them himself. From the description, they sounded like humanoid insects, and they kept to themselves. They made no contact with the other two races, from what the hunter knew, and they were extremely territorial. Anything that came close to their hives was met with furious and unrelenting violence.

  There also wasn’t any incursion in the vicinity, and Selas had only heard about their existence from the lessons in the Tutorial. That gave Zac some hope that they weren’t peppered across the globe, so his hometown could very well be in a more peaceful area as well. If he had to choose between the wildlife and the organized forces of the incursions as an enemy, he’d pick the stupid beasts every time.

  He also tried asking some questions about the Tutorial, but Selas clearly grew suspicious from the questions. Zac didn’t want to broadcast the fact that he, or his “faction,” didn’t know anything about the Tutorial, and could only put those questions aside for the moment. Soon they arrived at the foot of the mountains and could see the river cutting a path through it.

  “We really shouldn’t venture further in than this, my friend. There have been multiple reports about the beast in this area, and it could pop up at any moment as long as we walk along the river.”

  Zac nodded and took out [Verun’s Bite] from his pouch. This was the second time he properly glanced at it.

  The axe was slightly larger compared to the military axes of the demons, and the adjective that would best describe it was primal. It had a large, almost straight edge that ran roughly forty centimeters long, moving some ways alongside the handle. The metal of the head looked worn, with multiple scratches and imperfections. However, Zac knew that the edge was razor sharp after testing it out a bit before.

  On top of the head, there were grisly teeth of some unknown beast embedded that were blackened and serrated. The same type of teeth were fastened at the bottom of the slightly uneven handle. The handle itself was made of some wood and almost fully wrapped in coarse leather. All in all, it looked like something Zac imagined an orc war-chief would use, and it even emitted an air of danger.

  Selas backed away warily as he saw Zac arm himself.

  “What are you doing, human? You can’t possibly be…”

  “I am heading in. Please do not follow me. Anyone that approaches me during battle will be considered an enemy, and I will attack,” Zac said as he unleashed his presence.

  The hunter was clearly shocked by the terrifying force that suddenly was gushing out of Zac, as he further backed away. After making sure that the Ishiate wasn’t following, he simply nodded and headed toward the river, each step moving him over five meters away.

  Soon he was walking alongside the water, carefully on the lookout for any type of domicile like a cavern. The beast was quite large, and it shouldn’t be too hard to find as long as it stayed somewhere close to the river.

  A tingling of danger made him instinctually swing his left hand back as he moved his head sideways. The punch resulted in a deep thud, and Zac was actually pushed forward a bit as he heard a pained yelp. He quickly turned around and saw that
his target had found him instead.

  The huge mink stood a few meters away from him, a bit hesitant now that its ambush had failed. Zac wouldn’t give up this opportunity and quickly charged up [Chop] while swinging down his weapon. The teeth fastened on the axe possessed a magical effect, making it almost sound like the axe growled as it ripped through the air.

  The mink was elusive, and it felt like it didn’t contain a single bone in its body as it dodged the swing, jumping between outcroppings along the rock wall. Zac grunted and copied five large edges to his axe. The new Cosmic Energy blades looked a bit different now that they copied [Verun’s Bite] instead of the old blade.

  In an almost impossibly quick manner, he threw out the five blades, both trying to hit the animal and any places where it could try to dodge. Their distance wasn’t too large, and five blades each five meters long covered a huge area, cutting off all paths of retreat for the beast. It managed to dodge four of the blades, but the fifth slammed into its front leg, cutting a deep gash.

  With a pained screech, it fell down toward the ground, and Zac immediately used [Loamwalker]. As the beast was falling, an axe imbued with the Dao of Sharpness rose to meet it. And just like that, the terror of the area was slain.

  97

  Freedom

  Zac looked down at the slain beast, very satisfied with his new axe. The swing had almost fully decapitated the monster, and he swiftly cut the last pieces off with another swing, bringing the progress in his class quest to one. He realized that he didn’t really need to use Dao of Sharpness on an enemy of this level; his new axe alone was sharp enough on its own.

  Since it was only an F-grade item, he had been afraid it wouldn’t be too strong in the beginning, even though it was a Spirit Tool. But he quickly realized that he was worried about nothing. Its edge was far sharper compared to his old axes, and it had no problem accommodating his power.