Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

They walked into the third room, more out of curiosity than anything. To their surprise, it was almost empty. The only feature was a pedestal in the middle, around which was drawn an intricate magic circle. A single pebble stood on the pedestal. The moment they entered, the pebble cracked open to reveal a mouth, and its booming voice washed over them.

“Welcome, monsters! Experience my three trials of Will to—”

“Franky?” the Stone’s voice echoed in Jack’s mind. A moment later, surprise turned into joy. “Franky!! It’s you!”

Jack laughed. He summoned the Stone from his inner world, covering it in a bubble of stable space to save it from the pressure. “Franky!!” the Stone exclaimed again as it appeared, falling to the ground and rolling towards the pedestal.

The pebble paused. “Stone?” it muttered, then again, “Stone!”

The pebble fell off its pedestal, and it too rolled on the ground, crashing into the Stone in what could charitably be described as a hug. All sense of awe was cut short as the two pebbles rolled around each other, talking excitedly and enjoying their reunion.

“And that’s how I graduated Daddy’s teachings! I then spent the last three hundred million years guarding this chamber,” Franky said. His voice was slightly deeper than the Stone’s. “It was a bit boring. I started talking to myself.”

“Oh my gods, me too!” the Stone exclaimed. “I was riding that broken meteor shuttle for like a billion years!”

“At least you had a view,” Franky said, spinning towards the brown walls around him.

“Yeah, well, all views grow tiring after a while,” the Stone replied. “Oh! These are my friends, Jack and Brock. There’s a turtle and a second Jack, too, but they’re inside the first Jack.”

“Like when Daddy inserted those devices into us to measure our properties?”

“Kind of!”

“It really isn’t,” Jack said. “Hi, Franky. Nice to meet you.”

“Very nice to meet you too! Thank you for taking care of my brother.”

“It was mostly me taking care of them,” the Stone said, then lowered its voice to a whisper—which Jack could still hear. “You can’t imagine how stupid kids can be. They’d have died a hundred times over if not for me. They don’t even know the arts, can you believe that?”

“Ah, yes, the folly of youth,” Franky replied all too sagely.

“We’re still here,” Jack reminded them. Both stones hopped in surprise, rising a few inches off the ground. Franky cried out as if suddenly remembering something.

“Oh no, my speech!” he exclaimed. “I’ve been practicing for half a billion years, I must get it right!” He quickly rolled back to his pedestal, then hopped up on it. “Ahem.” He cleared his non-existent throat. “Welcome, monsters! Experience my three trials of Will to—”

“We’re kind of getting ready to go,” Jack tried to interrupt politely. “We were thinking if you wanted to come with us?”

“I have prepared this speech for half a billion years. Nobody goes anywhere until I say it at least once.”

“...Fine,” Jack replied. Franky’s voice boomed again.

“Welcome, monsters! Experience my three trials of Will to sharpen your willpower and earn the qualifications to pursue the peak of Dao. These trials have been meticulously forged by our creators and ancestors, the Gods of the universe, so first you must kowtow eleven times in respect!”

“Very nice speech, Franky,” Jack said, clapping.

Brock agreed. “I can tell you practiced it. Sent shivers down my spine.”

“Really?” Franky exclaimed. “Wait, I mean, you must kowtow eleven times to receive my trials!”

“How long do these trials take?” Jack asked.

“A hundred years each.”

“Yeah, we don’t have time for that unfortunately.”

Franky’s mood dropped like a sailor who couldn’t swim.

“But we can return later!” Jack continued, and the pebble perked up again.

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Yay! I mean, that’s excellent, young monster. You have permission to postpone the three trials of Will.”

“See?” the Stone said, hopping up and down in excitement. “I told you they’re great!”

“They do seem…delectable,” Franky answered, trying really hard to maintain his imposing facade. “So, um, you mentioned following you somewhere?”

“That’s right,” Jack said. “We’re about to leave this place and the Space Monster World to join a war going on outside. We’ll also check on your father in the Canal below. Last we saw of him, he was fighting an Overlord.” �

“Daddy is also an Overlord,” Franky replied with pride. “He will win, I know it!”

“I’m beginning to hope so as well, though the other guy wasn’t bad either.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Franky exclaimed. He fell down, rolled next to the Stone, then both of them turned into rays of light which shot into Jack’s abdomen.

“...That was weird,” Jack said. “I didn’t let them in.”

Brock shrugged. “Talking stones. Anyway. We’re going?”

“Yeah.”

They left the now-empty Will chamber behind. All treasures in the Cultivation chamber had been used up by Jack’s back-to-back breakthroughs, but the manuals of the Dao room remained. “We should borrow these,” Jack said. “After the Crusade, we can return them.”

“Yes,” Brock agreed. “We’ll ask for Stone Daddy Bro’s permission as well, if he’s still alive. They’re his.”

“Of course. But please, can you not call him that?”

“Why?”

“It’s creepy.”

“Nothing creepy about a stone daddy.”

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The two stocked up on top-level cultivation manuals, finally emptying the third room as well. Only the decorations were left behind, forming a neat pile in a corner of the room. They could have rearranged them, but the Stone Scholar would probably want to do that himself, if he still lived.

Then, Jack and Brock dove into the hole in the ground and let themselves fall. Gravity took the reins immediately. They accelerated far faster than normal, becoming a pair of meteors which crashed through the twelve layers of clouds. Finally, darkness appeared below them, and they seared right through. Nothing showed up to obstruct them. In moments, they’d reached the Dark Canal again, and both stopped their ascent right on the pyramid’s top, a shockwave spreading widely from their halted momentum.

It wasn’t empty.

Two people sat cross-legged, meditating side-by-side. Great Silver and the Stone Scholar, both looking healthy. Their eyes snapped open as Jack and Brock appeared.

“You’re reckless,” Great Silver said slowly. “Your disguise broke, yet you still came here instead of trying to run away.”

“I prefer to call it daring,” Jack replied with a smile. He landed smoothly on the pyramid’s ceiling, Brock right behind him.

“Daddy!” Two voices rang out as the Stone and Franky leapt out of Jack’s body and into the Stone Scholar’s embrace. He caught them both in confusion. “Franky? What are you doing here?” he exclaimed. “And…Stone! You returned!”

“That’s right! Jack and Brock are my friends, they brought me here.”

The Stone Scholar looked at Jack again, his motionless stone eyes betraying nothing. He rose to his feet, placing both stones in his pocket. They screamed like children going down the slide. “Change of plans, Overlord,” he said. “I will not stay neutral. These people brought back my wayward child—if you decide to kill them, I will battle you to the death.”

Great Silver didn’t reply immediately. His draconic eyes were glued on Jack’s abdomen, from where the two stones had jumped out. He clearly sensed something was wrong, yet couldn’t quite place it.

Finally, he withdrew his gaze, turning it to the Stone Scholar. “These people took advantage of Fiend King’s moment of weakness to ruin him. As this world’s sole remaining Overlord, I hold the right to judge their fate. If you stand against me, Scholar, then you may also suffer. You can fight me, but not my army.”

Jack frowned, then spread his perception much farther than he’d previously been able to. A dozen Autarchs were arrayed on the stone island beyond the pyramid. The Grand Elders of both Overlord factions were present, both at the peak A-Grade, flanked by a gathering of Elders of various levels. They were an imposing force. Clearly, they had ways to know Fiend King had perished, and they expected Jack and Brock’s arrival. The dead Overlord’s underlings now followed Great Silver.

If Jack had only broken into the A-Grade, he couldn’t have handled this gathering of enemies. Even if the Stone Scholar held back Great Silver, they’d still be hard-pressed to escape. Now, however, things were different. Jack hadn’t just reached the A-Grade—he’d stepped into a whole new realm.

He smiled.

The Stone Scholar snorted. “I’ve already stated my intentions, Great Silver. Do you really want to make me your enemy?”

“I haven’t decided yet. If I do want to kill them, however, you cannot stop me.”

“Then I guess we have to find out.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Jack said, suddenly appearing between the two Overlords. They recoiled, eyes wide open in surprise. They hadn’t sensed his teleportation despite being an entire large realm over him. This should have been impossible.

Jack took in the stunned, wary looks of both Overlords. He smiled. “Thank you for the offer, Stone Scholar, but your assistance isn’t needed.” He then turned to Great Silver, speaking from barely a few feet away. “You, all those Elders, all the forces of the Space Monster World… I don’t need any help. I can kill all of you by myself.”

A wind of darkness blew, gently crossing the silence. No one spoke for a moment. I can kill all of you by myself. Jack’s words were too stunning, his proclamation too great, his challenge too arrogant. Great Silver locked eyes with him. Jack saw the changes in his gaze. The dragon realized he couldn’t read Jack’s aura, realized he couldn’t measure his true depth.

Great Silver’s gaze softened, and for a moment, he seemed so old.

“Are you really as powerful as you say?” he asked.

Jack smiled. The Overlords, the Elders, the disciples, every single eye was glued on him. “See for yourself,” he said, releasing his aura. For a moment, he became the center of the world. A gentle ripple spread from him, not oppressive in the slightest, but awe-inspiring as if gazing at a God. Everyone froze in shock.

It wasn’t only Jack’s aura, which overwhelmed even Great Silver’s. His body became momentarily transparent. An entire universe was revealed within—planets of organs, a sun for a heart, rivers of stars as blood, and bones of glowing light. The darkness of the Dark Canal parted, receding from Jack as if touching anathema, and a wave of worship spread around him, extending for untold miles.

Jack recovered his aura, hiding it completely again. He didn’t need it anymore. His calm smile had never faltered, yet everyone around him was stunned. Great Silver shivered. In the face of Jack’s divinity, the draconic majesty he took such pride in was nothing but a party trick.

“Who are you?” he whispered.

“I’m Jack Rust,” Jack replied. “My body is a universe, and I am a fist.” He walked right up to Great Silver, who took a step backward instinctively. “You were looking for the power to contest the Immortals, a hope to rise against them,” Jack declared calmly. “I am that hope. You have seen what I am, what I can do. Stand by my side, Great Silver, and lead all monsters to war for me. The Immortals will destroy all of us sooner or later. Only together can we resist. Join the battle.”

Monsters respected strength. Great Silver didn’t know how his own power measured against Jack’s, only that Jack had stepped into a cultivation realm nobody had heard about before. He felt like an idiot. The doors to the realm above A-Grade, the ones he’d been trying to break open for millions of years, simply lay on a different path. They were on a junction he’d already walked past. He understood now why he’d never succeeded, and that it was impossible for an Archon, any Archon, to advance ever again.

But not to Jack Rust. His road…was limitless.

Great Silver bent his front legs, bowing to Jack. The Elders all around were shocked, but they understood. They bowed in turn. So did the Stone Scholar, motivated by instincts deeper than he thought he possessed. For a moment, every head besides Brock’s was bowed at Jack.

“You are not a monster like us, but we revere strength above all,” Great Silver said, evidently emotional. “Please, allow this old dragon to pledge his life to you. I will follow you to the end of the world, and so will all the monsters under my command. As the sole Overlord of the Space Monster World, I offer you our complete and unquestionable allegiance.”

Jack smiled. He reached down to raise Great Silver from his bow. “I don’t need anyone’s allegiance,” he said. “How about we become allies?”

The dragon shivered. “I could do that,” he replied. Then, as if struck by some ancient instinct, he turned to the sky and roared, spreading his wings to create gales. All monsters around him roared as well, their voices joined in one, unified cry which parted the darkness and reached the heavens.

“To war!” Great Silver roared.

“To war!” everyone else replied, and for a moment, it felt like the entire Space Monster World was with them.

Jack smiled as he turned to the Stone Scholar. His question went unspoken.

“I cannot join,” the Scholar said. “My mission is to guard the Hall of Trials’ seventh floor. I cannot leave. Besides, I would be useless—my power deteriorates the farther away I get from the Hall.”

Jack nodded. “That’s fine. I can take you back up there in a bit. The Fiend King tore down all decorations, but I’ve left them all back so you can rearrange them. It could be a nice pastime.”

“Thank you!” the Stone Scholar exclaimed. “And, if I may ask for one more thing…” He reached into his pockets, removing both the Stone and Franky. “Can you take my children along? I cannot leave, but they can…and a life following you will be much more fulfilling than anything I could offer them.”

Jack smiled sadly. “Yes.”

“Thank you…” the Scholar said, his voice breaking despite being made of stone. The two stones protested, but he took them aside to speak to them.

“Oh my Gods, oh my Gods!” Fiend Prince exclaimed from the side—the disciple group was also present, just insignificant compared to all those Elders. “We’re going into the outside world, this is so exciting! Hey, Jack—does this mean I can become your disciple?”

Jack laughed. “Don’t you mind that I killed your father?”

“He died because he was weak. I’m sad about it, of course, but there wasn’t much love between us. It’ll pass.”

Jack nodded, then shook his head in disbelief. In truth, Fiend Prince had negligible chances to follow in Jack’s footsteps. His talent was not high enough, at least not right now.

However, he liked this guy. He could help him along. And, besides, he might have a chance if they found a way to perfect his inner world despite lacking a tenth Dao Fruit. He’d look for such an alternative anyway to help Brock, who certainly possessed the potential to walk the same road as Jack.

Actually, Brock would be fine either way. Reverting one’s cultivation to the B-Grade and re-trying the breakthrough was possible. Older cultivators wouldn’t be able to do it, as their potential had already run out, but it would be easy for Brock. Once they had a few spare years, Jack was confident Brock would achieve his own special realm, equal to Jack’s Universe of the Body.

Fiend Prince would struggle in comparison, but he looked so damn eager.

“Whatever,” he said, laughing. “Yeah, sure. You can become my first disciple.”

The monster shone like a beacon of joy. He jumped into the air and pumped his fist. “Alright!”