Crossroads: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 3) Page 2

  “How long do you need?” Melina asked as she cast her buffs on me.

  “Let me climb this damn thing and I’ll tell you,” I replied as I pushed off with my legs and jumped up to a thick branch, grabbed it with my hand, and pulled myself up.

  I climbed several more branches, which were all equally thick and easy to reach, but the view didn’t change much. It was a jungle down to the first half of the zone, and beyond that, it was all water. I looked down at where Melina was sitting, just to check up on her, and seeing everything was alright, I went even further while trying to spot anything of interest.

  “There you are, huh?” I whispered as I spotted what looked like a cavern entrance, just as Veles had told me.

  A group of monsters roamed the entrance. They looked like big spiders, at least several feet high and even more in length. The monsters skittered on their legs and bumped into each other, slamming their black carapaces together.

  “She’s not gonna like this,” I muttered. “Not at all.

  Most of the jungle area was hidden from view by more tall trees and lush vegetation. It was a real jungle in every sense of the word, and I did not doubt that greater dangers lurked around than damn spiders.

  I dropped down the thick branches and landed next to Melina, who looked at me half-absently.

  “Where were you—so—long?” she whispered. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, and she didn’t look quite well. I frowned.

  “What is it? Why do you look as if—?”

  I didn’t even manage to finish asking her my question as something slithered away from behind her. I darted forward, grabbing the snake by its head. The damn thing was as thick as my leg, and there was no way I could handle it well, so I crushed the neck and ripped the head off.

  “Something bit—me, I—think,” she wheezed.

  “Damn it! Don’t you have any skills you can use?”

  She nodded and tried to put up her hand, but she couldn’t. It was one of those things I hated about her skills, as she needed to have her hand raised.

  “I can’t—move.”

  I grabbed her hand and slowly put it up the way she always did. Green light enveloped her hand and traveled down her body. The rigid posture she was in suddenly dissipated, and she sat there in a visibly better state. The beads of sweat evaporated, and she gasped for air.

  “Hey, what was it? Poison?”

  She darted to her feet and dropped to her knees by the bushes, projectile hurling whatever it was she’d eaten earlier. I rushed over to her and grabbed for her long hair, pushing it aside so she wouldn’t get it dirty, and then pulled a bottle of water from my subspace.

  “Shit! That thing bit my back when you disappeared up the first branch!”

  “Sorry, I—yeah, maybe it would be best you go home?”

  “And leave you to yourself? You’d die the first damn day without me!”

  Her jab didn’t hurt because I didn’t care about what she had to say when she was angry. And nowadays that was most of the time.

  “Trickle some Enma into your surroundings and feel for anything with a signature. Keep it running at all times, and you’ll be able to tell if there’s something close.”

  “Give me a sec. I need to recast my buffs and heal up. That damn thing had drained a third of my life by the time you came down. Good thing I had this white fur shawl on.”

  “You’re welcome, love,” I chirped and put my arm around her. “Come on, I’ll put up a wider sensor field. You just keep up a small one.”

  She wanted to say something but bit her lip and looked away as we started walking. Her hand moved up, and she started fanning herself with the war fan; not the way I’d use it, but whatever.

  “Thanks,” she muttered but didn’t meet my eyes.

  “Huh? What was that?” I asked, playing on her pride. “Was that a ‘thank you, my love’ or just a ‘meh, thanks’?”

  “Thank you, my love!” she hissed and jumped me, putting her lips on mine. “Was this what you wanted to hear? Sorry that I’ve been a bitch lately, but I can’t help it!”

  I put my arm around her and hugged her tightly.

  “You know we can talk, right? Even if we’re amidst a damn—shit! There’s a score of Enma signatures closing in on us. They’re coming from the cavern.”

  She darted to her feet and readied herself to fight. I did the same and held out my halberd to the side, ready to slice into whatever appeared.

  “How big?”

  “Small. Maybe it’s the spiders I saw from up there.”

  “Wait, what? Spiders? Viktor!”

  “Sorry, I forgot to mention them earlier.”

  A mass of Enma gathered around Melina’s fan and shot outward into the treeline and thick brush ahead of us. It was a pure wave of Enma that sliced through anything not strong enough to withstand it. I did the only reasonable thing that I could in such a situation.

  Damage Notification:

  You have used << SHOCKWAVE >>

  You have used 50 Enma.

  You have inflicted 3,142 damage to Pit Spider.

  You have inflicted 3,087 damage to Pit Spider.

  You have…

  The shockwave traveled a good twenty paces until it hit the first target and released only what could be described as kinetic energy in a large radius around the first target. I loved the skill, but it wasn’t the best when it came to an area of effect. The blast wave centered on the target that was hit, so whenever it was a monster ahead of the mob, the radius was much smaller than if I had charged in. Still, the two attacks decimated the attackers. Several dozen were all that were left.

  I waited until the first spider came through and into swinging range.

  Damage Notification:

  You have used << SWIPE >>

  You have used 20 Enma.

  You have inflicted 3,877 damage to Pit Spider.

  You have inflicted 4,014 damage to Pit Spider.

  You have…

  The pit spiders screeched and skittered around on their eight bladelike limbs. Ground spewed in all directions as they tried to get around us, but Melina’s weapon was great at this kind of thing. Most of her attacks were range based, and area of effect at that. Enma spewed from her fan and encircled us, creating a short-lived cyclone that shredded the nearest spiders.

  Limbs, bladelike growths, and body parts flew outward in all directions before the cyclone died out, leaving only a handful of the critters behind. I darted in and slashed with the halberd, cutting through the legs of one and into the body of another just as several strands of Enma exited Melina’s fan and pierced the remaining spiders.

  I grinned as I pulled my halberd free and wiped it across the grass to get the gooey blood off.

  “You’re quite strong,” I said casually. “Almost frighteningly so.”

  She shrugged and let out a chuckle, acting all innocent. I loved when she did that in such situations.

  “Not nearly as strong as someone I know.”

  I winked and blew her a kiss as she stuck her tongue out playfully.

  “There she is,” I said cheerfully. “There’s the girl I fell in love with.”

  “How about you loot the bodies instead of teasing me. I’m exhausted from the paralysis poison earlier.”

  I got to it, as I knew she wouldn’t. The spiders didn’t drop anything at all but a single kind of item: a sort of a poison-green stone. I had no idea what they were for, but they would serve for something, I guessed. It took me a good hour to clean them all, and Melina had taken a nap in the meantime. She was snoring softly until I woke her up.

  “What did we get?” was the first thing she asked. I guessed she was just like me in a way.

  “Nothing important. Let’s get to the cave next after you re-buff us both.”

  She nodded and wiped the drool off her chin, then started using her skills one after the other. They lasted for an hour and roughly added double the power of what I already had. The woman really was good to have aroun
d.

  “Do you want to regenerate your Enma first?”

  She shook her head and just looked at me cheerfully. Something had happened during the snake attack, maybe some soul-searching, or whatever it was, but I could see the hint of who she had been when we met again.

  “No, I’m good. I’ll be full again by the time we get back, thanks to the Enma regen buff.”

  “I gotta say that I like that one just as much as the rest,” I replied honestly. As long as the buff was on, it would be highly unlikely that I’d ever run out of it even if I used all my skills.

  “See? You just need me and no one else. It’s just as it should have been from the start: just the two of us.”

  I nodded. She was right to a degree. All I needed was her, though it was fun having the others around sometimes. Especially so that she didn’t have to cook or clean.

  I grew silent as my sensory skill forced me to concentrate harder than I wanted to. There were so many signatures, but most of them were just insects or small animals. Far too small to do any harm. We still remained vigilant. I didn’t want to be caught off guard like last time.

  The grass was dense, and in more cases than one, it cut into my shield. This was the first time that I saw that nature itself was against us. If this was how zone four worked, then who knew just what the higher-level zones would do to us.

  “How is your shield holding up?” I asked as we neared the cavern entrance. A mass of spiders appeared out of nowhere again, but it wasn’t nearly as large as the first group that attacked us.

  “Good. I’m full.”

  I nodded and readied myself before I charged headfirst into the throng of critters, slashing and hacking them apart. It took me a minute, after which I was getting antsy to move ahead. I wanted to finish my first tower, and if I didn’t go down into the cavern, I would never do so.

  “Stay close behind me and watch your back. If I say run, you run the hell out of there and port back home. Understood?”

  “Hell no!” she hissed.

  “Hell yes, or you’re staying outside! There’s no room for discussion, Melina! I can’t fight at my best if I’m worried about you!”

  “Alright then. But you gotta promise me that you won’t do anything really stupid.”

  “When have you ever seen me do anything stupid?”

  “Pfft! Never, except for every damn time you did something stupid!”

  “Well, you’d better get used to it, then, love. Come on, move your ass. I want to go home.”

  I took out a flare from my subspace and activated it as I moved deeper underground. It wouldn’t last long, only five minutes give or take, so we needed to hurry. The cavern entrance was wide enough for the snake from last time to pass through, but the corridor was much narrower. A strange glowing moss grew on the ceiling and the walls and was more effective the further we went to the point that I could see where I was going after we walked for three minutes. I still held on to the flare, just in case.

  “How much further do you think we need to go?” Melina whispered.

  I shook my head, sure she could see it in the dim light of the glowing moss. Strangely, there was no smell present. Nothing at all, which begged the question: could the moss be used as a purifier? Which was a stupid question, as I was deep underground, but still, it was going to be interesting to try it all out.

  “I feel that the corridor is going to widen out pretty soon,” I replied with a whisper that was barely as loud as hers. To my surprise, it resounded pretty loud and created a mini echo. I stopped and put my hand up, then pressed my free index finger to my lips. She nodded and visibly tensed as her hand clenched around the war fan.

  I had a tingling sensation running up and down my body as we kept descending. It was hard to explain, but I knew it was part of my natural instinct. The tingling either was trying to warn me about possible danger or that we were approaching the end destination.

  A light much brighter than anything I’d seen in the corridor flooded the entrance and came from ahead. A single Enma signature resonated from up ahead, something with power rivaling my own. Maybe it was even stronger.

  I put up my hand again and showed her a single finger, then pointed ahead and spread my hands to show there was a big monster ahead. She stared at me and frowned.

  “What the hell are you waving your hands about for?”

  Her voice reverberated around us and echoed down into the cavern. The presence moved slightly and then went back again to its original position. I let out a sigh and shook my head.

  “Really? After I tell you to be quiet, you go around and yell?”

  “You’re yelling just like I did a moment ago!”

  “Women,” I grunted and turned around, not wanting to argue with her. “I’ll move in and engage whatever it is. Once it has its focus on me, you can join in on the battle from afar. Make sure you stay close to the entrance so you can escape.”

  “Hey,” she snapped and stared at me. “Don’t you be yelling and all angry at me, husband. Now let me kiss you for good luck. If we make it out of here, I’ll give you something else tonight.”

  “You’d better keep your promise, as I’ve been on a dry spell lately,” I joked.

  She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  “Just go before I change my mind already.”

  She couldn’t help but chuckle as I turned around and walked down the last several steps before I entered the gigantic cavern. Sitting in the far end corner was a gigantic spider, at least five times as tall as I was, with a body the size of three tyranitaurs. Next to him was an orb that glowed red. A fiery red orb that was beckoning for me to come and get it. I didn’t need anyone to tell me twice.

  Chapter Three

  I wasn’t quite sure how to tackle the gigantic spider, but something told me it wouldn’t matter if I had a plan or not. Those legs were as tall as trees and all sharp and shiny. The ceiling wasn’t as tall, which worked in my favor. If it couldn’t rise to its full height, I’d be able to chip away at its life.

  I took a deep breath and focused on the creature that just stood there, observing me with a hundred fist-sized eyes. None of them blinked, and not a single one looked away. I did the same and stared back hard, inspecting what my opponent had in store for me.

  MONSTER SCAN

  NAME: Pit Boss

  RANK: 10, Guardian

  HEALTH: 50,000/50,000

  ENMA: 5,000

  SPEED: 1.5

  PHYSICAL ATTACK: 1,000

  ENMA ATTACK: 2,500

  DEFENSE: 1,000

  ENMA SHIELD: 50,000/50,000

  I brought up my stats quickly to calculate how many hits I’d need to bring that thing down and was quite surprised by how far I’d come over the last weeks since getting a slight buff from both Veles’s power going up and from Scar, who had become stronger. I didn’t know the exact way it was calculated, but it didn’t really matter to me.

  STATUS

  NAME: Viktor

  AGE: 31

  LEVEL: 24, REALM: 2, RANK: 2

  HEALTH: 5069

  ENMA: 1,347

  SPEED: 2.5 + 0.6

  PHYSICAL ATTACK: 2,348 + 704

  ENMA ATTACK: 1,571 + 472

  BREAK: 1,038 + 536

  REFLECT: 1.90

  ABSORB: 1.74

  DEFENSE: 1,232

  ENMA SHIELD: 4,107

  What I did know was that the numbers that had a + in front of them were buffs from Melina or from others. All of my stats were calculated into a single number: passives, achievements, goddess buff, etc.

  “I’ve hit three thousand attack, Mel. I think this spider shouldn’t prove to be a big deal. Two minutes tops?”

  “Want to bet?”

  “On what?”

  “Oh, you know, on that thing you like to do.”

  “And if I lose?”

  “Then you do my thing, you know, the one I like where it tickles?”

  I smirked and shook my head. How was it that she could chang
e her attitude so quickly and even think of naughty things when we were faced with possible death? At least I liked her honesty and straightforward attitude.

  “Whatever. Make sure I don’t die if you can help it, alright?”

  She blew me a kiss and waved me off as I made my way toward the spider. It still stood there, unmoving and staring at me. The eyes moved ever so slightly as I came closer, but it still just stood there as if protecting the glowing orb.

  “If the mountain doesn’t want to—oh shit!” I hissed as two of its front legs shot outward and snapped at the ground mere inches from my feet. The front legs were fully stretched out, so I knew it couldn’t get any closer from where it stood. Was it warning me? Whatever the deal, I used the damn chance with gusto.

  My halberd swung backward as I activated one of my favorite skills: Bash. The weapon glowed and shot outward, hitting the front right leg with incredible precision.

  Damage Notification:

  You have inflicted 8,580 damage to Pit Boss.

  The monster reared back on the rest of its long legs and darted forward, jabbing the lone frontal limb at my chest. I had no time to change weapons, so I blocked with the halberd, but it still hurt like a bitch.

  Damage Notification:

  You have received 412 damage from Pit Boss.

  I grunted at the amount of damage the monster had caused with an ordinary attack. What’s more, my defense was much higher than it had been, yet it still dished out some good punishment.

  The damaged limb hung from cartilage and a thin bone. I pulled the sword from my subspace and hurled it right at the limb, cutting through the thin strip and what little bone held it up. The front leg dropped, and the boss screeched a horrible and nasty sound that grated my ears.

  I darted inside its reach and went for another limb on the same side. I’d come up with a good idea, and I planned to put it in action.