Forged By The Apocalypse - A LitRPG With Draconic Potential

The moment of the Shift, Julianna had been forced into a position of command and the pressure had never stopped cooking her. She had been working as a manager in a fairly popular pub as the countdown began. Panic set in and the place cleared out quickly. So quickly, in fact, that appliances were left burning. She had seen no better place to wait out the end of the world than behind a bar, but it was a moment of hunger which changed everything.

Right as the world was changing, Julianna opened the door to the kitchen. She knew now that the sudden influx of mana, power and other, stranger energies to the world had likely saved her life. In the moment, all she knew were flames. What should have been her death was instead a firestorm which scoured away everything which came before. With brutal clarity, Julianna saw the foundations which the new world would be built upon. Instead of dying in the conflagration, the flames were gathered into a magical crystal and Julianna claimed the Aspect of Fire for herself.

The next few weeks had been chaotic. The small pocket of civilization which had been brought with the people had middling infrastructure and an unsure populace. Somehow, despite her best efforts, Julianna fell into a leadership role. Mostly due to the fact that she couldn’t handle being told what to do by passive observers. She remade herself multiple times over in that period, trying to cement her path forward in a confusing new reality.

Newtown was the constant. A small chunk of an English city, randomly pulled to another part of the country. When the first of the monster attacks came, any semblance of normality fell away. Having risen to the occasion alongside very few others - Frederick, Gaz, Stephanie, - the fire mage found all eyes on her for direction. She and Frederick received a quest, and the rest was history.

Quest - Make Your Mark

The Shift is a time of confusion and doubt for all, but those who are quickest to embrace change are the best leaders. Having shown yourself capable of adapting, you may now prove you have the ability to help others adapt.

Create, maintain and defend a town with a population of over 3000

Reward: Random Aspect based on performance

Valuable resources generated in the area, based on performance

Random equipment awarded based on performance

It hadn’t been easy, but it had been exhilarating in so many ways. She could shoot fireballs from her hands, for god's sake. Unlike most, she put some of her attribute points into Mental and Will, which not just made her fire skills more potent, but her own thoughts also. There were definitely benefits to the new way of things, it was just also a lot of stress. The town creation had been simple enough, and the population was already over the needed amount for the next upgrade.

One issue plagued her, however. A single level twenty could easily tear through whatever walls or defences they had set up to protect the population of Newtown. It was expensive to use the System interface for anything, especially things which were previously undeveloped on Earth. Walls were simple, and could be easily rearranged afterwards. Force Fields to defend against magical attacks? Not so cheap or easy.

Things weren’t perfect, but of course when it rains, it pours. It was bound to happen eventually, but someone had been murdered in Newtown. For a brief, hopeful moment, Julianna had tricked herself into thinking that humanity could focus on the larger issues at hand but that had clearly been childish. Just as she was dealing with the first actual murder in her small town for the first time, a new issue reared its head.

This one was even closer to her largest fear. Someone was fighting Gaz? She certainly didn’t need whatever this was. Some random kid had come running to tell her that there was a fight happening at the East entrance, and that Gaz had been stopped in some way. Julianna decided to see it with her own eyes rather than waiting. Leaving Frederick with the task of figuring something out about the murder, Julianna went to the commotion.

The scene she found was immediately worrying. Three guardsmen were laid out, clearly unconscious while Gaz, the second or third strongest fighter in Newtown, was bound by ropes which seemed to be made of uncontained neon. She decided to be forceful, but had to be careful not to make things worse. Her bow appeared in her hand all the same, an arrow of flame flickering between her fingers.

“You don’t have to hurt anyone. Let him go or we’re going to have to get a little more serious,” Julianna warned, fingering the bowstring. A man in a plain cloak had entered the town, ignoring the guard’s calls to stop. When he had completely brushed off their attempts to stop him, she had been called. The guards were all at least level fifteen at this point, so the danger was clear.

“I’m not here for a fight, I’m just trying to help.” The voice was softer than Julianna expected given the dangerous bundles of energy floating in the air around him. “I believe you’ve had some bloodshed here?” Wishing she wasn’t the one who had to deal with this shit, Julianna forced a smile to her face, practice from working in customer service.

Suddenly, there were far too many eyes. The event from last night hadn’t been made public. Her every instinct was telling her that this pale young man with his wizardly clothing was dangerous in a way that made the murder yesterday seem paltry by comparison. “Sounds like people jumped the gun here, shall we go somewhere to speak?”

——————————————

Julianna was shivering, something she hadn’t done since she had embraced the flame. Confidence had rarely been a problem for her throughout her twenty seven years on Earth, but right now she was shaken. She felt small, as she had in those first days before the way forward became clear. The man before her was like a giant monolith, dredging up every feeling of uncertainty and fear from those early days in his shadow.

He was calm, but she had seen a trickle of what he was capable of. From the energy which surrounded him, the only thing stopping him from ripping the fledgling town apart was his own whims. There was a density and a… reality to his power which made her own strength feel like a sputtering ember.

Julianna was sitting in her large chair in what had been the main office of some now abandoned enterprise. It felt far too big for her, right now. She winced as she realised this monster's first look at her city had been a failure of the guards, and apparently he also knew about the murder. Professionalism was still the way to go. “What can you do for me?”

Two hopeful eyes look at her from underneath messy dark hair. Damn, Julianna started, he can’t be much more than twenty one. How hard have the last few weeks been for him? Yet, that thought seemed completely at odds with the ancient power which seeped from his every moment. There was a thrill in his voice as he answered. “Oh, so much.”

————————————————

I have to give it to Grant, he was right, these people would have completely shit themselves if he walked in. It was decided that Tom should be the liaison between The Ascent and Newtown, as his Dao and demeanour would be the least threatening. He doubted it would matter now that he saw Newtown. As no one here had a Dao of their own, all they could sense was the strength, not the flavour. Tom couldn’t help shaking his head as he wandered into the town. He had to stop himself from chuckling at the ineffectual barriers placed to stop intruders, and how much less they would help against the actual leader of The Ascent.

That made him a little sad, but he promised himself he would get the chance to make people here smile with his magic later. The task for now was more important. While The Ascent may very well be the strongest collection of people on the planet, that wasn’t a guarantee, nor would it last forever. No matter Grant’s trajectory, an individual was only as powerful as their foundations. Without a support base, The Ascent would never grow.

Tom didn’t know where he wanted his path to take him, but he was sure he wanted it to be parallel to Grant’s. Grant had shown Tom a future when he had been content with simply existing. For that, Tom would be forever grateful. His time in the dungeon had not only made me powerful, it had moulded him anew. He could be confident. He could help. Finally, he thought.

Tom would never forget Jason, and the fact that he had simply got stir-crazy before he was ready to join him. Would Tom have been able to keep him safe if he had joined him upon entering the dungeon, or would he have just been another body for Grant to eventually find? He didn’t know, and the question would always eat at his mind a little. If Tom could make it safer for other people to find their path and reach at least the wonder of being a Grade One, the aspirant mage would do whatever he was able to.

Can’t leave any rats in the basement, though. The wonders of a high Mental attribute meant that Tom could easily let my thoughts wander without a break in conversation. After entering Newtown, he had sought out the woman Grant had told him to find, Julianna. “Before we get into some of the things I can offer, we should focus on the most serious matter. There was a murder here yesterday.”

The woman sitting opposite Tom looked exhausted in a way that only powerful women deserved to look. Her dark skin contrasted nicely with the white shirt she wore and Tom was once again glad he was no longer so easily distracted. She sighed, that weariness Tom felt increasing. “How do you even know about that? Who are you people?”

“My name is Tom, and if you really want to know how I know, a fairy told me.” The smirked as she gave me the exact look he expected. She wouldn’t believe that story until she met Naea herself, most likely, but it was entirely worth the credibility hit. It had surprised Grant almost as much as Tom when the quest had appeared in Tom’s vision instead of his.

Quest - Save the Town

A monster lies in the shadows of Newtown, and the populace is unprepared and unable to deal with it. Protect them from this menace.

Reward: Random Aspect based on performance

There was no question on whether he would do it, but the mere fact the System was pushing him towards something he had no business with beyond curiosity was, in itself, curious. Tom wanted to learn more about the System, and this was at least a chance to get another data point, and he could help people at the same time.

“It’s true but I can see you won’t believe me.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter how I know, does it?”

“It does if you were the one that committed the murder,” the woman retorted. Tom blinked. So much for a high Mental attribute, he walked himself right into that one. Tom threw his hands up in defeat while showing the quest screen to her. Now it was her turn to blink in surprise. “I had only learned how to do that yesterday,” Tom said, before adding, “I learned that from a fairy, too, actually.”

This time, Julianna was markedly less dismissive, which was good. Naea had asked very nicely whether Tom would try to make friends for her. He had told her it was best to make them herself, but that he would put in a good word. The town leader, at least Tom assumed that’s who she was, seemed to relax a little. “You’re really here to help?”

The question seemed to hold a weight he couldn’t quite understand, though if he tried, Tom thought he could guess at its origin. “It’s been stressful and tough since everything changed, hasn’t it?” Taking a page from Grant’s book, Tom mentally reached into his inventory and produced a warm pot of tea, two mugs and poured one for himself. Grant used the System like it had always been there, and it made him seem more knowledgeable than he maybe was. Tom would mimic that. “Would you like one?”

The woman frowned for a moment, apparently not believing what she was seeing, before laughing loudly. She laughed for so long and so hard that even Tom was able to figure out it wasn’t his joke that set her off. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she apologised while catching her breath, “it’s just… so simple.”

The tea in front of Tom started to boil within the cup, and his Dao reacted to the rising temperature in the room. There was no thermostat malfunction, this was something grander. He wasn’t sure what exactly had inspired it, but knew right away what was happening. Tom made a promise to himself and to Julianna silently that he wouldn’t let anyone know her Dao breakthrough had been inspired by a cup of tea.

“I am the flame,” she whispered before igniting like she had been covered in accelerant. Tom flinched and moved to assist by instinct but then his own Dao whispered that everything was alright. Her lack of screams wasn’t because the oxygen had ignited already, but because she was fine. Energy surged from the woman, reaching closer towards where Tom’s sat, and he smiled. She had unlocked her Dao, and become a Grade One, just like that.

That should make things easier, hopefully.

It was not quite how they had planned to help Newtown, but it was a brilliant start. Tom might not be sure what he wanted from The Ascent, but he knew what he owed Grant. While Grant was away, it was up to Tom and the others to make the guild a place worth returning to. Creating good relations with the closest town was necessary.

Along with making sure that town didn’t fall apart before he got back.