Forged By The Apocalypse - A LitRPG With Draconic Potential

The first cavern of enemies was only enough to get me a single level. Naea was better off with my achievement increasing her experience gains. For the most part, she stuck as support but I had no worries about her ability to look after herself. Even with my various buffs, she was by no means lagging behind. When we used Battle Bond, the gap shrunk to basically nothing.

We became two purifiers, scouring a disease from the land beneath our home. Respite became harder and harder to find as we pushed on. The unknowable complex of bulbous caverns continued deeper into the earth, the floors and tunnels sloping downwards without fail. The paths between caverns were thankfully short compared to the first we had taken.

My rate of personal progress started to slow after I gained another level. This time, all twenty points went into Mental. In just under an hour, I had filled the vessel within my core over and over. The speed had quickly diminished, however. Were enemy levels not the be all and end all for experience gained? Well, it’s called experience. Trying not to forget I had a search engine on wings around, I asked Naea.

She looked thoughtful before nodding. “The higher we go in levels, the more the effort of the fight matters compared to the enemy itself.” We were taking a break to catch our breath in a small bubble between caverns. On either side were defeated groups of Dark Young. The twisted Dao within the creatures was putrid to Naea’s senses. Rather than sit in the nasty smells, we backtracked slightly.

We discussed the mechanisms behind growth for a while. I took the time to get a fair few questions out of my system, even though most didn’t receive complete answers. Naea wasn’t sure what the level distinctions between grades were. Neither did she know whether everyone received the same free points from levelling. Monsters gained wildly variable attributes when they levelled up.

“What about moving up a grade? My free points per level jumped quite a lot. How do they get worked out?” I didn’t expect a System-based response, so I was surprised when Naea’s eye lit up as they usually did when receiving new information.

“Every creature has a base attribute level. They’re personal, but each species has an average. For humans, it’s four. Stormborn, probably the same, because,” Naea leaned in. “Each grade doubles the free points per level. Your base is ten because of achievements, so you get twenty. You lucky boy, you.”

I frowned and nodded. I wasn’t displeased, just thoughtful. “Without my achievements, I’d have only gained… twenty four points since moving up a grade. Instead, I’ve had eighty. With all the hidden percentages, my Mental attribute is twice as potent as it says on paper, with the rest not far behind.”

“Mhm,” Naea mumbled. Her mouth was full with a protein bar. I still had a bunch of food from the café as I didn’t need to eat nearly as much to stay full. Naea just snacked because she was bored, a trait I’d never developed myself. Still full, she spoke through the food. “Monthsta.”

“Chew your food and shut up,” I teased. With my attributes as high as they were, it had been a while since I jumped in capability like I just had. When I had raised my Fortitude and Speed earlier, the jump wasn’t as noticeable because I had already been working with equivalent abilities due to Infusion. However, I had just added an extra fifteen percent or so to my primary attribute and it felt damn good.

My pathways felt lined with porcelain, the mana which raced through them a velvet river under my skin. My inner world was all storms and smoke, but that’s what it was supposed to look like. Slowly, I was covering the entirety with fertile ground as the rains brought flowery fields to life all over. The crackling energy of the Hurricane Heart hung high above the planet, a facsimile sun made of lightning and thunder. My soul would soon be ready. A growl from within the volcano suggested I hurry.

I opened my eyes and shook my head. The impatience characterised by the dragon was my own and controlling it was as simple as changing my mindset. Getting ahead of myself would only get me killed or tortured by the System again. I reached a new balance with my abilities after the level up quickly, old hat at the feeling now. “Ready?” I asked.

“Let’s do this,” Naea replied, drawing the Chibizashi. The Yo Staff rarely left my side these days and I gathered it from across my legs. The magical item was an interesting creation and using it as a kind of resistor for my mana was a part of my exercises and meditations. Being able to perfectly move mana through the weapon was as much a part of my fighting style as Infusion.

The next cavern was much like the previous four. As we pushed through the terrible monsters, I was never so glad for my lack of eyesight. Being able to sense mana meant the creatures appeared as a smudge of dirty magic. Much preferred to getting a headache when my eyes tried to work out what they were supposed to look like. The Dark Young weren’t supposed to look like anything. They weren’t supposed to exist.

I didn’t have high hopes for an attractive mother behind the scenes.

After the fifth cavern, the stench was becoming uncomfortable even for me. We were definitely getting close. There were two entrances to this space, the way we came in and the next tunnel. From the waves of foetid Dao belching out of the room, you’d get no prizes for guessing it was our destination. I rolled my neck. “Highway to hell, baby.”

“Ooh! Why do I know about a band called Acey deecy?”

“I could literally hear you say that wrong somehow. I’ll show you when I can.” I looked at Naea with a wry smirk. I wouldn’t be able to see it, but she could. “I promise.” Naea smacked my arm for making fun. Promises are serious stuff to fairies after all. I meant it, though. Having something to look forward to made it possible to step into the dark in the first place. Sinèad will love her.

Thinking of my youngest sister ignited the fire. The careful containment of my Dao was shattered and my aura pushed out like a roar. “Weren’t we being quiet?” Naea asked with amusement and relief, finally using her Dao to block out the sinister whispers and stink of the broodmother. My slip of concentration had ruined our careful planning but we were close enough it didn’t matter. The previous battles had been fought with a hand behind our backs, unwilling to use too much Dao in case we incited the big lady herself.

Our tandem auras rang out in concert now. In a heckling retort, a foul mixture of broken Dao was thrown back at us. We both gagged. Even heading in the creature’s direction was a fight. My semi-permanent smirk became a snarl. Naea and I didn’t back down from fights. You can ask the Storm Dragon.

Mercifully, or perhaps not, the tunnel was another short one. We emerged into an absolutely massive space. We must be under the desert somewhere, I mused. Was this place the source of the danger I had sensed out in the sands? There were multiple Dark Young in the huge bowl of the room. I stamped hard and tried to get a full look at the place.

No chance. Even with my monstrous Mental attribute fueling my mana, there was a limit to its strength. The huge room was over a kilometre of empty space like a hill’s worth of dirt and rock had simply vanished to make space. There was no time to scout further as the first of the Dark Young came crashing through the darkness in search of my delicious Dao.

Monster - Dark Young - Level 42

Monster - Dark Young - Level 43

Monster - Dark Young - Level 46

Each and every minion in the place was stronger than any we had seen before. Naea took the initiative and true light appeared in the cave. The sharp contrast might have been blinding before the System, but my faculties were made of sturdy stuff these days. Magic stuff. As a streak of lightning, Naea chained between the incoming Dark Young.

With each swing of the Chibizashi, multiple enemies suffered. The creatures weren’t completely mindless but their clumsy dodges weren’t enough to deal with the uncertain length of the sword. After stunning a group with a lightning-covered charge of her body, she began slicing away with abandon. Her skill in swordplay hadn’t improved much, but her attributes had and they more than covered the gaps in her form.

I leapt into the air to join Naea, planning to smash the largest Dark Young I could see with my initial attack. The first of Naea’s enemies was defeated before I landed. There was a scream from deeper in the cavern as the progeny fell. It wasn’t audible to the ears but my very soul shuddered away from its rage. For an instant, I was completely removed from the System’s power as the connection between my body and soul slipped.

The moment passed quickly but it was enough to put me in a bad spot. The massive lump of energy which grabbed me felt like maggots crawling on the skin of my neck. I blasted my body with Infusion, stacking three on top of each other quickly before whipping my Dao through the creature. Whatever limb it grabbed me with exploded, the higher quality of my Dao both a fuel and anathema to the creature at the same time.

I slew this one, and another screech rocked my spirit. I jumped over to Naea, using a thick Dao aura to defend the pair of us. For the first time in a long time, I drew a ranged projectile. I hadn’t found much use for the Storm Arrows so far as they didn’t fit with my fighting style. With the huge space and large numbers, I thought it made sense to give them a try.

I channelled mana into the arrow, colouring the magic with Harmony of the Storm. The sturdy yet mundane arrow suddenly lived up to its namesake as it buzzed with voltaic energies. It lit up the room as I launched it, illuminating the many dozens of Dark Young still shambling towards us. When the arrow landed, a colossal explosion ripped into the rock of the wall and I flinched a little. The cavern held firm as an electrical whirlwind tore against the side opposite.

While my mana wasn’t able to see all the way across the underground space, my eyes could. I desperately wished to be mistaken as my eyes fought to make sense of what was clearly the progenitor of these foul abominations. A gargantuan mass of flesh, pitch black in places, bright violet in others, extricated itself from a wall like a bruise ripping itself from skin. The broodmother itself, I presumed. As much as I didn’t want to, I needed to know.

Boss Monster - Shub-Nagorath, Mother Of Gluttony - Level 69

The thing was big. At least as big as the Scorepion Manager, probably even larger than that. Where light hit the creature, orifices of every shape and function could be spotted. They variously performed their main function, or violently flouted biological norms to do otherwise. Mouths screamed and vomited while the… other holes did their thing. Long spindles and jowls hung from its body, dripping fluids. If these are her babies then are those-

“Nope.” I decided.

“Nope,” Naea agreed.