Modern Awakening - A cultivation, LitRPG, apocalyptic novel

The greed problem couldn't be worse.

There were only four Pioneer spots in each age group. If someone from your age group, competing in the same stat, had a clear advantage in participation points over you, why would you help kill the golem? First, you would kill that participant. However, the attacking force would decrease whether you succeeded or died in retaliation.

At worst, if you weren't confident in killing the top achiever, you could just not help kill the golem or assist it in killing everyone else. Once everyone was dead, the fight would reset, giving you another shot at receiving the Pioneer Achievement.

It was also possible for multiple weaklings to gang up on the strong. However, that would also affect the entire attacking force no matter who won.

Unless Shen was missing something, greed made this stage simply impossible.

On the positive side, if it ever looked like they would win, it would let Shen select the winners of his age group. Scott would never become a Pioneer. Alicia would. Shen didn't much care about anyone else.

Tutorial - Final Stage - Final Boss

There will be a new attempt at killing the final boss in ten seconds.

Do you want to join?

He didn't want to join. He wanted to sit down and cultivate. He needed to cement his gains of the last stages and finally check how the agility upgrades had affected his cultivation. They had three months, so he was confident they couldn't win on the first try.

But just in case he was overestimating the boss or underestimating the mortals, he said, "Yes."

The blue circle on the group opened up. The same happened to everyone he could see. They all wanted to be in the first fight.

The golem kept still, making no move whatsoever to attack them. After the chaos of the arena, it was almost disappointing.

Shen looked for Alicia first. She was seven circles to his right, also looking around for him. They smiled at each other, and he was moving toward her when Evelyn stepped in-between.

"We need to talk," she said.

Shen could guess the content of the talk. "No," he said immediately. "Alicia will become a Pioneer. That means you will not."

Alicia was his friend, and he would help her. She wasn't perfect, of course, but who was?

"This is about the future of humankind, not friendship," Evelyn insisted. "I'm the best pick. I have a powerful and wealthy family that will help me build an organization for everyone's benefit. If you let friendship get on the way, you may doom all of us."

Shen looked at her in silence for a few moments before replying. "I don't believe you're this naive, Evelyn Kora Livingston. If your family is so powerful, you don't need the Achievement to build anything. You planned to do so before you knew about Achievements, which proves it's not required, only desirable. Therefore, we both know someone other than you taking the Achievement will not doom humankind. If you came to me with such a pitiful tale, you are questioning my capability to see through this pathetic ruse. At the very least, you are calling me a fool."

Affirming that Alicia becoming a Pioneer would doom humanity was absurd that it actually made Shen angry.

"You offended me with your test before," he continued, controlling his feelings. Showing emotion was showing weakness. "Now, you insult my intelligence with this conversation. Alicia will win—"

"By my own means," Alicia interrupted. She had approached while they talked, and they both turned to look at her. "I want the best to win. We can agree not to kill or plot against each other, and whoever gets the most participation points gets the Achievement."

"Deal," Evelyn said at once, then turned to Shen. "Will you respect our agreement?"

"Do I look like someone who would disrespect my friend's Path?" he asked, further irritated. Once again, she offended his honor and integrity.

"That's not an answer," Evelyn pushed.

"But it's all you'll get from me," he replied, then turned to Alicia and walked closer to her, completely ignoring Evelyn. "How are you?" He softened his voice.

Alicia glanced at Evelyn, then shrugged and turned her back to the other girl. She and Shen started walking.

"You won't believe it!" Alicia said excitedly. "I'm creative! Real creative! And I kick ass in putting my knowledge to good use. I got first in two magic stages! So many points! I reached E+ magic!"

He smiled. "You did better than me. I only got first in one agility stage."

"What? Really. Holy damn, I'm the shit, ain't I?" She forced an arrogant laugh, and he couldn't help but chuckle. "But what was that talk about a Path again? I heard you talk about it before, and when I learned my Concept of Destruction, I did something kind of lame." She flushed. "I may or may not have gotten all pumped up and told myself I'm walking the Path of Selective Destruction or something."

The earth shook. Shen turned in time to see the golem kick someone in full plate armor, who was holding two tower shields.

The kick was fast. Faster than Shen was when giving his everything. The enormous metallic foot struck the defender head-on.

Shen had expected the man to be thrown away. Instead, he became paste as the kick pushed the front part toward its back. Shen barely saw bits of what looked like ground meat leave through the armor's openings before everything turned into light, and the man reappeared in a distant circle.

To the man's credit, he had hit a weak spot, and the golem's HP decreased by 100—only to regenerate that much over the next ten seconds.

As Shen had guessed, D- strength and agility were a much more significant challenge than the system had suggested. They would need tactics he was finding hard to produce even with the Concept of War.

Silence descended upon everyone as they realized the same thing.

"You were saying something about a Path of Selective Destruction?" he asked Alicia.

"Holy fuck. How can we kill that?" She took a while to recompose herself and did so in a very fatalistic manner. "Guess we just lose, huh? Yeah, Path. It just felt right to use the word, but I'm afraid of having messed up. Can you explain this stuff to me?"

No one made any moves to approach the golem again. Everyone was locked in conversation. It gave Alicia and him the time they needed.

"Sure," he said and was about to start when he realized something. "Actually, do you mind if I share the information for everyone first and discuss particularities with you later?"

She looked at him as if he had grown another head. "Dude, I saw you fight. I know you have secrets that put you ahead of everyone else. Why would you possibly give up on that advantage?"

'And that is what places the cultivators of the Eternal Empire above mortals,' he thought sadly.

It had felt liberating to realize his people weren't just power-hungry mortals, yet it also pained him that this was the default state of humans without a wise leader that focused on honor.

Were they nothing more than animals ruled by their instinct deep down?

He sighed. "In the Eter— In my hometown, there was a rule that demanded any cultivator to be taught the basics if they lacked someone to teach them. No one here but me is a cultivator, but you're all touching on Concepts, and doing that without any idea of what they are doing is dangerous. A Path changes you. You all deserve to know it, and honor demands I do it.

"I might lose some advantages by doing this, but I want to help humankind survive too. There's also a practical side. Letting everyone know about it might give them some insights to help us win this fight."

Alicia took a few moments to reply. "Fuck, you don't mess around with this honor of yours, do you?"

"No, I don't," he replied seriously. However, he didn't tell her that he did question what that honor was when it demanded him to obey orders to kill innocent people.

"Well, go ahead. Let's see big teacher Shen in action."

He shook his head at her playfulness and used the Lion's Roar. "Hello, everyone!" he yelled. The stage was huge, but there was no sound except people's voices. His technique easily overwhelmed their voices and made everyone hear him. "I have privileged information about Concepts that I think might help. I will now share them with you."

That caught their attention. Some people approached, while others looked at him with suspicions. He barely heard someone question who he was. He would not waste any time proving himself. If they didn't want to hear, they were free to ignore him.

"Concepts are part of a larger whole, the Laws of Reality," he started. "Why do cells pile up to create larger organisms? Why can oxygen be burned to produce fire? Why can a bird flap its wings and achieve flight? All that is determined by the Laws that define our very existence.

"Everything is defined by Laws. The Laws of Fire define how fire works. The Laws of Water state how water behaves. The Laws of Spacetime forbids two things from occupying the same place at the same time.

"You have seen similar laws before. The laws of physics explain physics. The laws of thermo... Thermo..." He looked at Alicia, and she whispered the word to him. "Thermodynamics explains how thermodynamics work. They are rules that cannot be broken, for breaking them is going against reality itself." Alicia whispered something else to him. "Oh, human laws can be imperfect sometimes, but only because we don't know everything about reality. It's our fault we don't understand things correctly. The Laws of Reality are absolute.

"I spoke of fire and water, but when we deal with the Laws that govern everything, we aren't just dealing with isolated elements or objects. The Laws of Fire won't be found only where there is fire. The Laws define actions, reactions, and emotions too.

"For instance, the Laws of Fire contain the Concept of Explosions. Wherever there is an explosion, the Laws of Fire will help determine what should happen. And it's not only physical explosions. Someone with an explosive personality is also being affected by the Laws of Fire.

"I don't mean being affected as in an infection. The Laws simply determine what an explosive personality is. If the sum of your existence ends up being explosive, it's not because the Laws made you so. The Laws will only determine what that explosiveness is, how it works.

"We all touched on Concepts to reach the E-rank. I'm sure you felt it was connected to something grander. That something is the Laws where the Concept comes from.

"I have touched on the Concept of Sharpness, and it's connected to the Laws of the Spear.

"The wisest among you will notice that sharpness isn't exclusive to a spear. You are right. Some Concepts aren't exclusive to specific Laws.

"A sword can be sharp too, and other things can explode. You can find the Concept of Sharpness in both the Laws of Spear and the Laws of Sword, among others.

"All sharp objects are defined by all Laws containing the Concept of Sharpness.

"How does that work?—you might ask. This is my spear." He pushed it ahead of himself.

"Because it exists, it's being defined by all the Laws of Reality. Without the Laws of Spacetime, it would be amorphous, have no boundaries, and exist outside time. We can't even imagine that.

"Because its spearhead is sharp, it's being defined by the Concept of Sharpness. All Concepts of Sharpness coming from all Laws are affecting and helping define it, including the Laws of the Sword.

"However, this is a spear. It's the physical manifestation of the Laws of the Spear. Therefore, said Laws will have a greater hold over it and define it better. You might not understand how the sharpness of a spearhead and the sharpness of a blade differ, but that is relevant to our next topic, Paths.

"A Path is one's past, present, and future; the journey and the destination; their most intimate truth and aspirations," he quoted his teacher.

"You are your Path, and your Path is you. You shape it, and in doing so, you create a form that you'll be hard-pressed not to take.

"The easiest way to explain your Path is as if you're pulling Concepts and throwing them into yourself to help define yourself, including your personality, power, and future.

"Paths are made of foundational and secondary Concepts. When you touched on a Concept for the first time, you laid it as the foundation of your Path.

"Foundational Concepts are always affecting you.

"I told you I touched on the Concept of Sharpness from the Laws of the Spear. That gave me knowledge and perspective that helps me in battle, but I'm also being affected by it every minute of my life. I'm becoming sharper somehow. Both Sharpness and the Spear affect my thought process and personality.

"That is more akin to an infection. However, the Concepts and Laws wouldn't affect me like this if I didn't take them into my Path. I alone chose to make them a part of my Path, and thus, a part of myself.

"Secondary Concepts can be used freely but will affect you much less, or not even affect you at all. You can draw from them to do what you want, but they are not a fundamental part of your Path, so they don't define you fundamentally.

"Being fundamentally defined by a Concept have far-reaching implications. I got enlightened on the Concept of Sharpness from the Laws of the Spear. It is a foundational Concept of my Path, and it comes from the Laws of the Spear.

"I said you are your Path and your Path is you. Thus, the Laws of Spear are now a fundamental part of me in a way.

"That is crucial because of the rules regulating Concept usage when you are as weak as we are. The first rule is that you can only use a Concept on the physical manifestation of the Laws where the Concept comes from.

"For instance, I can use the Concept of Sharpness on my spear. The spear is the physical representation of the Laws of the Spear. Therefore, it is allowed.

"I also know the Concept of Zephyr that comes from the Laws of Wind. It is a secondary Concept of mine. I can use it on the air, the physical manifestation of the Laws of Wind.

"Theoretically, I could not use the Concept of Zephyr on my spear. Zephyr comes from the wind, not the spear.

"However, the second rule, which overrides the first, is that you can also use the Concepts in your Path on yourself.

"I can use both Zephyr and Sharpness on myself.

"But I just told you how the Laws of the Spear are part of me. Therefore, I can also use all the Concepts in my Path on my spear, including Zephyr."

He felt he was repeating himself a little too much, but it was better than to leave any questions.

"I cannot, however, use Sharpness on the air around me because the Laws of Wind are only affecting me through a secondary Concept. I would be able to do it if one of my foundational Concepts came from the Laws of Wind, but that is not the case.

"Another example to finish this topic: let's suppose you touched on the Concept of Coldness from the Laws of Ice and made it a foundational Concept. That means you can only use it on ice or yourself.

"Therefore, if you want to freeze someone using the Concept of Coldness, you'll need to, at the very least, produce ice dust around the target to be the focus of the Concept of Coldness and affect your mark.

"Of course, as you grow stronger, some boundaries grow or disappear. New rules supersede the previous two.

"The third rule is that you can use a Concept on anything that is under the influence of that Concept. However, it requires a lot more power and insight than any of us have.

"For instance, when I grow strong enough, I'll also be able to use the Concept of Sharpness on a sword. It will not be nearly as effective as if I were affecting a spear, but it will make the blade sharper.

"Now, if you picked a Concept or a Law you don't want as your Path's foundation, you can turn it into a secondary Concept. That is something that you'll know how to do instinctively as you meditate on your Path. However, I only recommend doing that if you have another Concept ready to become your foundation. I don't know why, but leaving the foundations of your Path empty can cause adverse effects."

Defining the heavens demanding you to pick a foundation or suffer terrible consequences as "adverse effects" was the understatement of the year. However, he didn't know if other people would pass through that too, or just Fate Origin cultivators like him.

"You can have more than one foundational Concept, but I don't know whether it comes with advantages or disadvantages.

"The more Concepts you have in your Path, the harder it'll be for you to progress later, but I don't know why or how that works.

"I do know that at some point, we'll need to get enlightenment about Laws rather than Concepts. That is much harder. It will significantly expand our power and capabilities.

"This is all I wanted to share with you.

"Pick your Concepts well. Think of your Path. Who are you, what do you want to accomplish, who do you want to be?

"And a personal tip: keep your Concepts under control. Exert your will upon them. Don't let them define you beyond what you're willing to.

"Treading a Path is a privilege and a requirement to grow more powerful, but it risks molding you into something you would rather not.

"Control yourself and your Path.

"I wish someone had told me that before."

Shen finished his "lesson" with that. He was sure he hadn't explained everything perfectly, but he had done his best.

He turned to Alicia and asked, "Any questions?"