Beginner Quest: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 1) Read online

  “In that case, I’ll give you some very basics about both bodies you’ll get to choose from. It will be your choice from there on, young cultivator.”

  “Cultivator, huh? I want you to tell me who it is that gave me another chance.”

  “No one, Viktor. Pure chance. A roll of the dice, if you will. You were randomly chosen by the Gods to be brought back to life and participate if you wished to do so. If you want to know which God exactly, you’ll have to ask them yourself if you garner enough favor.”

  I growled and screamed inwardly, trying to force myself to wake up. But I wasn’t waking up. This was all too real no matter how I looked at it. Games of Gods. Death and revival. Revenge and the loss of everything I had. The pull of the unknown was too strong for me. I wanted to take what was owed to me!

  “Do it, please. I want to go down to that new world.”

  “Very well, Viktor. Place your palms gently against my back and close your eyes. I will then proceed with giving you information on the chosen world. You will feel sick and nauseous, so try to focus. Your previous world and this one are far from the same, as there are many things you couldn’t even dream of that you’ll see here, young cultivator.”

  I nodded and took a deep breath subconsciously despite the fact he said I didn’t need to breathe anymore. His words were mostly lost on me, as I remembered nothing of my previous life.

  My hands passed through the shadow and struck something solid. Hundreds, no, thousands of tiny pinpricks struck my skin, connecting me to the deity. A wave of pain shot up my arms and into my chest. I wanted to scream and pull back, but I couldn’t. I was stuck in place.

  “Relax your mind and let it all flow, Viktor. It will only last several seconds.”

  I wanted to speak and tell him he could shove it somewhere, but I couldn’t even think clearly as countless images passed before me. Mechanical beasts, flying transporters, buildings that reached for the sky, people with different skin colors wearing clothes even more different than what we used to wear. Some were half-naked, while others wore strange-looking armor and weapons. People played things that were called sports; wars, great bombs and explosions, and cities where millions lived.

  My hands suddenly released, and I pulled away, the wave of pain dissipating along with the images.

  “The… hell was… that?” I cursed, trying to steady myself as pain turned to numbness and then quickly exhilaration.

  I had just received the equivalent of a treasure trove of information on how the world looked, functioned, and rolled. Shit, I was already using their way of thought and expression. What else would I be using by the time I regained my power?

  “That’s just a part of the full knowledge of your new world, Viktor. Give it time to settle, but you’d better adjust as soon as possible. The game is just about to start.”

  I nodded, fully aware of what this might mean. More suffering and more things that could go wrong, but I was ready for it.

  “I know, Krajolik. Tell me, though, how can I get my revenge doing this?”

  “Simple. Become strong enough and win over the others. You’ll get your wish granted no matter what it is.”

  “In that case, prepare to see me soon enough, Krajolik. I can promise you one thing. I’ll be the hardest worker out there, you can count on that.”

  “That’s what I thought. Now, please choose one of the two candidates I picked out for you. They’re good matches, but you need to decide in the next minute or their bodies will die and we might lose the window of opportunity.”

  “Can’t I see them?”

  Krajolik shook his head. “You can’t, I’m sorry. I’m not allowed to show you.”

  “Pick me a body that’s closest to my old one and with the greatest affinity for cultivating that Enma stuff.”

  “Are you sure that is what you wish?”

  I nodded.

  “In that case, we have thirty seconds left. I will now provide some basic background information about the two bodies in question. Choose wisely.”

  Time seemed to freeze as his hand reached out for me. Two paragraphs floated right in front of me, one to the left, and one to the right. I first stared at the left one.

  Life in imminent danger: The wife and child were accidentally killed by gang members.

  Owed money to a local gangster.

  Very high tolerance for pain and excellent cultivation capabilities.

  I looked to the one on the right and read that one next.

  Life in imminent danger: Rich local entrepreneur.

  Married with two children. Stuck in a burning car.

  Very high cultivation capabilities.

  I didn’t even need to think about it. Sure, I felt bad for the guy’s family, but I couldn’t start a new life by taking care of someone else’s children and wife. It felt… wrong? I would have to abandon the family at some point if I wanted my revenge. That would be the same as leaving them to their fate. No, I wasn’t going to do that.

  “First option. I want to take revenge without having any extra baggage around.”

  “Very well, Viktor. Please accept the choice on the left. Remember, you’re on your own from now on. I wish you a good and long life, and may you get what you wish for.”

  I nodded and grinned at the left option, but nothing happened. What did he say? Accept it? But how? I stared at the left choice and waited eagerly for what was going to happen, but nothing did. Having nothing to lose, I spoke.

  “I accept the left choice.”

  The whole space suddenly ceased to exist, and what little light there was faded along with my consciousness as the image blinked and then disappeared.

  “Good luck, Viktor. You’ll need it.”

  Chapter Two

  A faint tingling sensation registered in my body as I heard noises echo around me. I tried to move my fingers, my hands, my toes, and my legs. Everything ached so bad that I felt as if I’d been battered for hours. My muscles were on fire and I couldn’t breathe.

  “Fuuh—fuh,” I wheezed and let out a gasp as I stirred on the ground, trying to roll over onto my side.

  I opened my mouth and took my first breath in this new world, but my eyes were still closed. My left eye hurt and I couldn’t open it. Only the right one moved but only slightly. Not that it was in any better shape than the left.

  It was the dead of the night, but still somehow bright at the same time. The scent of sewage hung in the air, and there was dirt all around me, even inside me from the way I felt. What little I could open my right eye caused pain comparable to tearing stitches as my eyelids separated.

  A pair of shoes stood next to me and… five more nearby. All pointed toward me as if they were standing and watching what was going on with my body. A sudden bright light assailed my one good eye. I squinted it closed, but the pain was gone, and it didn’t bother me anymore. It fluttered open and I could see better than moments before.

  The closest pair of shoes stirred, and they moved slightly closer. The right one suddenly shot out and struck me in the chest before I could even move.

  “Urgh,” I slurred as all the breath was knocked out of me. Shit, this wasn’t what I imagined my reincarnation to be. Not even close.

  Words sat on the tip of my tongue, wanting to be released, but I couldn’t speak. The shoe came flying in again, kicking me for the second time, and just elicited a grunt. It was thick and heavy, especially at the tip. It was comparable to being hit by a piece of metal. The blow itself wasn’t hard, but the tip of the shoe hurt like a bastard.

  My ears rang like mad, and I could only hear the faintest of whispers. I rolled my head slightly to stare up at the person who kicked me. It was a man in his forties. His hair was slick with sweat that went along well with his red face. He seemed out of breath as he said something, but it was lost on me, as I couldn’t hear shit. My ears hurt so bad, almost as if someone had been poking the insides with a sharp piece of—anything, really.

  I closed my eyes and lay there, focus
ing on myself and my surroundings. I didn’t have a single meridian open and thus no veins. No wonder I wasn’t feeling any Enma in the ground or the air. I pulled my right index finger close to my mouth and bit down hard, ripping off a piece of skin, and ground it hard against my left wrist, focusing intently.

  “Fuck? What’s this fucker doing? Is he insane?”

  His voice. It was too high in pitch and annoying. I wanted to get up and shove my fist down his throat, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have an ounce of power. At least not yet. And how did I know what I was doing? Why would a sane man be biting his finger?

  My left wrist burned with an intensity just like my memory of when my body exploded back on my previous world. I focused hard and thought about opening the first meridian. A surge of power gathered at the spot and burst open, splattering me with what little blood there was in my body. A pain so surreal flooded me as if someone had ripped the skin off my hand and ripped my vein wide open.

  I bit through the pain and focused, closing my eyes and gritting my teeth. I didn’t even think about the goons around me; this was far worse than anything they could have done. Pain on a spiritual level was far worse than that of the physical.

  The slightly familiar feeling of Enma trickling in washed over me. My life force activated, and the first meridian burned into existence. The vein snapped several inches from the meridian, not allowing me to go any further. I barely felt any blood left inside me. If I didn’t focus hard enough and concentrate on the single, thin Enma vein, then I was going to die before I even had the chance to make my comeback.

  The man bent down and pulled me up to sit against the wall. At least I thought it was a wall. It was cold and pushed hard against my back, yet I felt comfort knowing it was there. At least no one would attack me from behind if I sat there like this.

  A hand grabbed my chin and pushed my head up, forcing me to look the man in the eyes. I could barely see, but what I did wasn’t looking too good. He grinned wolfishly, almost as if itching to get his hands on me.

  His breath stank to high heaven. According to my memories, it was a thing called a cigar and could even cause cancer. Were these people so stupid to use such dangerous substances? It sure looked like it.

  “So? What do we have here?” The man snickered as he pushed my head against the wall.

  A shot of pain registered in the back of my mind, but I had to be honest and say that I barely felt it in comparison to opening my first meridian. It was so much worse in any way imaginable.

  Wait, I could also do this differently. Why burn my own life force to open the meridian? This was frowned upon by the other sets, but they weren’t here right now, or were they?

  “Come… closer,” I whispered as a thought raced through my mind.

  I was out of life force, but I still had some fight left in me. The man narrowed his eyes on me and leaned in closer, obviously wanting to hear what I had to say. The stench coming off him made me want to vomit. Sweat and strong perfume now mixed together with the cigar stench, causing my gag reflex to spin out of control.

  “Huh? What are you saying, you bastard? Are you finally going to tell us where the fucking money is?”

  I nodded slowly, hoping he would be stupid and hungry enough to do as I wanted.

  “Come… closer,” I whispered again.

  It was even weaker than the first time. He dropped to one knee and leaned his head next to mine, his ear next to my mouth. My hand shot out and grabbed the knife from his side. I pulled the blade back and stabbed him in the ribs, once, twice, three times. A gush of hot, thick liquid covered my hand.

  The man looked down at me and dropped to both knees as if not able to understand what just happened. His body and the dumpster next to us mostly blocked the view to the others, so they probably hadn’t noticed what I just did. Or at least I hoped so, or I’d be dead.

  “You… fucker! You little… shit!” he cursed through labored breathing. Blood bubbled in his mouth, and more blood flowed down his side and onto the dirty pavement. Blood gushed from his mouth as he tried to speak further but couldn’t. I must have punctured his lung with a lucky strike, but I was proud of it. He’d die a slow and horrible death as he choked on blood. Damn bastard, kicking a man to death just after he was reborn. What kind of manners was that?

  “I said come closer so I can kill you,” I whispered again, but this time just loud enough so he could hear me.

  The man tried to get up or push himself off me, but my hand shot up again, and the knife entered his chest. Blood gushed from the wound and bathed my right hand again. I cupped it slightly next to the wound and gathered blood for several seconds, then poured it out over my burning meridian.

  An intense surge of power shot up through my left arm and entered my body. I knew the wounds this body sustained wouldn’t heal so fast, but I was finally able to draw on a tiny amount of Enma.

  The dying man finally keeled over and slammed into the wall, a permanent stare on his face that could chill to the bone. The four pairs of feet shuffled over quickly, and one of the men almost lunged to catch the falling man. He pulled the dying bastard off me and dropped him by instinct, noticing the blood all over his expensive-looking white shirt.

  “You! What did you do?” the man cried as he pointed his index finger at me.

  His face turned into a permanent silent scream as I flicked my wrist and the dagger plunged into his neck to the hilt. The other three men were distracted for a crucial moment, almost as if deliberating joining in on the scuffle or to run. They had no idea what was going on beyond the fact that one moment I was dead, and now two of their people lay on the ground, bleeding to death while I wasn’t.

  I still sat with my back leaning against the cold, dirty wall with a broad grin on my face and two of my assailants dead. Now that was what I called a comeback.

  “You want… some too?” I hissed as I pushed myself off the ground.

  It was hard to stand, even more so as everything ached like a bastard, but I leaned against the dumpster and caught myself for a moment, breathing in and out slowly as I pulled at the Enma around me and from the two dying men.

  No one moved even an inch as I stood there wobbling on my feet and grinning as if all of this was just a joke to me. I made a step toward the one in the center, causing him to flinch. He narrowed his eyes at me when I made another step, and another.

  The two men behind him flinched and stepped back, hissing among themselves and whispering about something I couldn’t make out. My ears still hurt like mad, and all I could really hear was a loud ringing.

  “How come you’re… I’m sure you died earlier! You shouldn’t be able to move or fight back! You’re dead!” the one in the middle cried as his eyes bulged outward.

  He was slightly better dressed and had several expensive-looking rings on his fingers. Was he their boss? Maybe. The circumference of his gut and the way he held himself told me he probably was.

  “You have no idea what… dead even means!”

  The rage I felt while with Krajolik rose to the surface as my mind did a thing on its own and flooded me with images, thoughts, memories, and the horrible feeling of pain. I suddenly remembered all the time spent with the body’s previous owner and his family and one of the two men behind the fat guy. He’d caused the death if my memories didn’t lie.

  “We never did anything to them, you bastard! Why would we?” he snapped and put his hand up, pointing at me. “Would you give us the money if you had nothing else to lose?”

  The two men behind him hesitated for a brief moment, but I decided it instead of them. Leaning on my good leg, I lunged at the man on my left and thrust my left hand right at his throat. An audible crack made the other thug wince, and he stepped back again, turned around, and ran as a hollow scream left his mouth.

  “Fuck! You’re not paying me near enough to do this shit! Go fight…”

  Whatever was to come next out of his mouth died there as I pulled a dagger from the dying man’s side and t
hrew it at the running thug. It struck him in the nape of his neck and slid in as if it were butter. The fleeing thug dropped and skidded to a halt several steps further, slamming his head into the corner of a wall.

  “Why aren’t you running?” I asked, trying to sound as normal as I could.

  My voice was strange and I still had some trouble breathing. It didn’t sound anything like me in my previous life and would probably take a while to get used to. Not that it mattered. I’d survived my first encounter with this world’s thugs, and now I was going to make the terms.

  The thug stood there on shaky feet, but he wasn’t even trying to say anything. I walked over and stopped right in front of him, looking him over from top to bottom, and then I took a glance at my own body. We were about the same build and height. Sure, his clothes were a little larger than I needed due to his gut, but they were clean and in pristine condition.

  “I-I! You don’t want to kill me!” the man finally stammered as he was about to fall to his knees. I caught him and winced as I had to hold his weight up. Fat bastard needed to eat less!

  “I won’t, but I need to… something from you.”

  The bastard stopped shaking as if hearing the words “I forgive you,” but we were far from it.

  “Yeah, whatever you want, man! What do you reckon?”

  “Your clothes. I want to wear your clothes,” I said barely loud enough for him to hear me.

  “Wh-what? I didn’t hear… did you just say clothes?” he stammered.

  I nodded. “I want your clothes and your glasses.”

  He looked down at my rags and then at his own, then shook his head and started undressing as he murmured something. Luckily for me, there was a broken bicycle lying around, so we put his clothes on there so as not to get them dirty from all the blood and filth around. Wait, bicycle?

  “What the hell is that thing?” I whispered, not caring if he’d be able to hear me. “A bicycle?”