Amari's Ascension A Cultivation Litrpg Apocalypse Adventure

I made my way back to my cultivation chamber and settled in for some meditation. Meditation was never my thing but ever since the tutorial I found oddly calming. The energy in my chamber was much more dense now as well. It wasn't quite at the level of the tutorial's chambers but it felt like I could breathe normally. My cultivation session was disrupted around two hours later when someone knocked on the door. I took a second to wake up and made my way outside. When I opened the door I found a plainclothes guard with a rifle slung over his shoulder. The man looked to be in his late twenties with dirty blonde hair and tanned skin.

"Um, Amar—I mean Mr. Jackson the representative from the United World Government has returned. We have not granted them access to the building as Christopher felt you would rather be notified first."

I had to hold back a chuckle at the "Mr.Jackson". The man was nervous. "Perfect. I will go down and meet them. You can let them into one of the side rooms on the first floor. If we have any refreshments please provide something for them."

He nodded and left the room. I waited a few minutes to give him a head start and then made my way down. The transition from the upper floors to the lower levels was like entering a new world. I am not sure who did it but someone had started redesigning. Several new paintings were hanging through the halls I could see from the elevator some of which I was sure came from a museum. They had that old look to them. Seeing them there was a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, they weren't mine and were probably one of a kind on the other hand they didn't technically belong to anyone anymore. I pushed the thought out of my mind as the elevator stopped on the bottom floor. A guard led me to the room where I found a long table with Christopher and Saanite on one side with an empty seat.

The other side of the table had four people. Three were dressed like members of a SWAT Team while the fourth wore a very nice business suit. This person was older probably in their late forties and was the picture of a silver fox. He was lightly tanned with just a bit of white in his dark hair. He looked like his last few weeks were a vacation instead of the apocalypse. I sensed no energy from him at all. As far as I could tell he had no weapons on him either yet he looked like he was in complete control. I looked over at Christopher who seemed relaxed at first glance but was nervous. Saanite was unreadable which was reassuring. I took the open seat and smiled at the quartet.

"Ah, I take it that you are the leader of Amara? It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance" The man smiled and looked me up and down. The way his eyes traveled along my body nearly made me shiver. It was like he was appraising me and I couldn't tell if he was doing so as a potential threat or something else.

"I am. My name is Amari, Amari Jackson. I am told that you wanted to speak with me." I steepled my fingers as I finished.

"I did indeed. We wanted to accomplish two things today. First, we wanted to formally invite you to an upcoming event. The UWG is putting on an auction and gala where we will discuss key information about the future of our planet. The invitation is for both you and a small group of individuals. It will take place two weeks from now at the former United Nations Headquarters."

I nodded. "I see that's fine with me. I will attend I assume that the building is a short journey from here?"

"Yes, it should take you a day or two to travel by foot so I would recommend you make arrangements well in advance. As for the second thing we wanted to verify some information with you. We are of course prepared to offer you information in exchange." I nodded and he continued. "We have it on a reliable authority that there has been an event that a significant portion of humanity from throughout the world was invited to. This event is commonly referred to as the tutorial. Can you confirm that you were a participant?"

I nodded. "The tutorial lasted a month during which we were sent to different locations to complete various assignments. The majority that I had were fighting-related. Which I am sure you can imagine why." I gestured to the back wall and the world outside.

"That lines up with what other sources have said. You are capable of cultivating as well. Do you have a cultivation manual separate from the basic one?"

"I do. I earned it as one of my rewards."

"Have you completed any of the quests required to become a System-recognized Governor?"

I stared at him for a moment as I considered how to answer that question. "I don't have any quests like that due to my performance in the tutorial."

For a moment genuine surprise passed across his face. He wiped it away less than a second later. "I see, That is fascinating. Can you show proof in the form of your tutorial titles?"

I nodded and quickly revealed the "Chosen" and "Tutorial" titles. I couldn't hide the latter's details but it wasn't that big a deal. The "pinnacle" title was more important anyway. He got the far-away look and then visibly grimaced.

"Your performance had to have been rather impressive to earn something like this."

I steepled my fingers and leaned forward. "You mentioned that you would provide information for us as well. What can you tell us about how the world shifted after we left?"

"Of course, the System's arrival caused near-global collapse. Most of Earth's satellites were either lost or destroyed most technological objects more advanced than the average car stopped working overnight. The world's major weapons were lost and I am sure you are aware that killing something with guns or explosives from the old world does not earn you spiritual energy. You may not be aware that we have begun recreating the internet or an interconnected repository of knowledge to be accurate."

"Am I to assume that you won't be sharing that information with everyone to begin with?"

He chuckled. "At the moment we will keep the information within our circle of interest but we will share it as soon as we are able. We have a working theory that our new planet is divided into three larger continents. Unfortunately without satellites, we are unable to confirm this."

I nodded. "Alright is there anything else that we can do for you?"

"There is one more thing. There will be an announcement at the end of the gala. One that we would like for all of the exceptional cultivators to be there for. We would appreciate it if you and yours pay special attention to it. Of course, we would ask that you show proper restraint."

I squinted at the unsaid statement. "I see. Well, I will be sure to attend. If there is nothing else I would recommend you make your way back now. I wouldn't want you to get caught by a roaming group of monsters."

"Of course, Of course. Once again I thank you for giving us your time and hospitality. We will leave you now." The man stood up and soon after the three SWAT members followed. I watched them leave the room and then through the front door before I relaxed.

"I feel like that auction is going to be a trap of some kind. Of course, they might have some fun things for sale."

"It would also be an opportunity to meet with other important people. Especially if we believe they have some way to communicate with people who are further away." Christopher added.

"Do you think I should go alone? If word gets out about what happened with the commonwealth I probably won't be able to travel freely."

"I don't think you should since you will be representing Amara but you are the boss and stronger than the rest of us. It might hurt you more to be forced to travel with people weaker than you."

I sighed and stood up. "Prepare a potential group of three to five. If they are willing I will let them join but make sure they are aware of what they will be walking into."

"And if no one is interested?"

I shrugged and made to leave. "Then I will go alone. I am going to start searching for people who might be a good fit to join me in the future. I have read more than enough books and played more than a few video games about solo adventurers. No way I am going to get stuck on that lonesome road." Before I could decide what to do next a trio of guards ran up to me. They looked utterly exhausted, their clothes were torn in several places, and one of them had their right arm hanging loosely at their side.

"Excuse me but we have a major problem. One of the scouting parties decided to go a bit further than the usual hunting ground and came across a forested region. They went in but didn't come out. When we went in after them we were attacked by massive hornet-like creatures. We barely managed to escape."

I pulled out a pill bottle from my bag and handed one to each of them. "Alright, how far away were you exactly? Did you see how many of the hornets there were? Or what levels they were?"

The next one to speak was an Asian woman whose name I hadn't managed to remember. "No, no they were much stronger and faster than us so maybe around levels seven through ten but I can't be sure. I think their stingers used poison of some kind. I was able to take a cure pill to deal with it when I was stung."

I nodded and turned to Christopher. "Bring all the other groups in until I take care of this. If I am not back within three or four days keep everyone below level three inside." I gave a few more orders before I broke out into a dead sprint. I tore through the training area and into the northern portions of my territory. The city rapidly turned into a forest before I slowed down. It only took me a few minutes to find where the battle took place. The blood was disconcerting but the lack of hornet bodies only made me feel worse. I wasn't in the mood to play it safe so I activated Psychic Aegis. The bubble shield formed and I rushed forward.

I ran for less than ten minutes when the sound of wings filled the air. The noise made my skin crawl. When I saw the "hornet" I realized that was a load of bullshit. The bugs were the size of a dog with four wings and a wicked black stinger that was as long as a sword. The creature had three beady red eyes that made my skin crawl. As soon as I saw the ugly things I unleashed my aura in its entirety. It was like a damn burst and an ocean of power flooded out from me. The world around us seemed to shake and the bugs moved as if trapped in an invisible wind. I closed my eyes for a second to take in the sensation of being free. The fresh air of not worrying about someone else being trapped. Once the moment had passed I opened my eyes and began my attack.

The hornets were fast but had no mental defenses to speak of. I unleashed a barrage of mental attacks on the hornets before they could properly adjust to my killing intent. The first two hornets fell almost immediately but the third narrowly dodged and shot toward me like a bullet. I took a step back and unleashed Psychic Blast. The indigo beam washed over the hornet and it dropped like a stone. Its kill energy filled me less than a second later. I took a deep breath and prepared to draw my aura inside again but quickly thought against it. As far as I understood it I was alone in the forest. Even if I wasn't anyone should have a luck stat high enough to warn them from getting too close to me. The dangerous part was suddenly unleashing it. I considered it for another second before leaving it alone.

I laughed and pushed forward. I ran across another five of the hornets but the battle more or less went the same. The hornets weren't intelligent so their attack patterns were rather easy to predict. On top of that, they weren't strong enough to get through my barrier. I was slowly reaching the next level which increased my excitement for the battle. Despite that, I couldn't get over the sense of foreboding in my heart. I hadn't seen any signs of the other group. There weren't any signs of a battle either so they had either managed to escape or the hornets had carried them away for some reason. The fact that none of them had even tried to capture me made me think the former was more likely. Or rather made me hope it was the truth. I pushed further into the forest until I came across a hive the size of a mountain. It looked like someone had designed an ant farm underground and then pulled it up and flipped it over. The whole thing made my skin crawl and every part of me wanted to just blow it up. Of course, I had no way of doing that so I made my way to the closest entrance.

I entered the cave system and sighed. It was like I had been returned to the first days of the tutorial only this time I was alone. I was also a lot stronger than back then. My killing intent also behaved differently. It bounced off the walls and rebounded upon itself over and over again. I was forced to pull it in when the loop became so intense that it made my chest ache. A few minutes later the ground began to tremble and a hornet stepped into my path. Unlike a proper hornet, this one had no wings and four scythe-like arms. It had four eyes on its head and its entire body looked to be covered in stone instead of an exoskeleton.

"Can you understand me?" I asked though part of me was pretty sure that the thing wasn't aware and that it definitely couldn't speak. Sure enough, the bug rushed me with all four of its scythe arms raised. I unleashed Psionic Rain. The mental attack shot through the bug's outer armor as if it weren't there. Kill energy surged and the bug collapsed. I stared at it in confusion. It wasn't that it had weak mental defenses, instead, it was like it had none at all. There was no resistance to the attack almost as if it wanted to die or that it wasn't sentient to begin with. I tentatively walked around the corpse just in case it was only playing dead but nothing happened. The rest of the tunnel was empty but that did nothing for my mood. A pervasive sense of unease filled the tunnel and I was about to start circulating my tao when I felt Intellect Fortress activate. The drain it placed on both my energy wasn't bad but it was enough to make me pick up the pace. I sped through the tunnels for what felt like an hour before I came across a room filled with a grey murky liquid.

The liquid was in a vertical that stunk of death and decay. I knelt and summoned a rock from my bag. As soon as I dropped it into the vat it began to dissolve. The process took less than three seconds and made my skin crawl. A creeping thought formed in the back of my mind one that I had to work to force down. There was no use in getting distracted. I couldn't and shouldn't assume anything. I left the acid pit behind and picked another tunnel. I traveled for ten minutes before I came across another room. This one was as big as a high school gymnasium with oblong pods hanging off the ceiling. The pods were made out of a dark purple material that dripped with liquid. The whole thing made me want to puke. I couldn't even count how many pods there were. I was just about to leave when I heard a tearing sound. I ducked behind a pillar and watched as a hornet the size of a puppy fell out and onto the ground. It took me a second to process what I had just seen. This was a birthing chamber. A chill went along my spine and I unleashed Psionic Rain and Psychic Blast. The chamber was washed with indigo light as I blasted each pod. Kill energy flowed into me so regularly that it was impossible to track which pods had a creature that could die and which didn't. Not that I cared. My mind had gone blank except for the desire to kill all of the bugs.