Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

After the goblin tribe was defeated, Jack lay on the grass, struggling to take in his rewards. He couldn’t sleep here. He needed to move.

He’d gotten four Levels at once. This was a massive bonus, and it indicated that there was something else at play besides the experience from individual monsters. Maybe the monster group counted as a big monster itself?

He’d also gotten the High Speed Bush, the resource guarded by the goblin tribe. Finally, the System had informed him that he could now choose a Class—and, knowing video games, this should be a bonus even greater than the four Levels.

Jack lay on the grass for a while, letting his tension die down before he stood. Pivoting around himself, he made way for the High Speed Bush.

From up-close, this bush looked pretty natural. It was a short, wide one, with a multitude of branches extending from a barely-visible trunk in its center. The leaves were laid on thick, and they were long, thin, and seemingly soft. When he reached out to touch one, it bent easily under his fingers and graced them with a thin, slippery coating.

This coating was the bush’s excrement, which apparently made the goblins high. Jack looked at his finger for a moment, then licked it.

It didn’t taste like much; it was similar to thin oil. He waited for a moment, but nothing happened. This quantity obviously wasn’t enough for someone of his size—and stats.

Sighing in resignation, Jack plucked a few leaves off the bush and licked them one-by-one. It was a weird thing to do, but he couldn’t just sit around. His battle against the tribe hadn’t been discreet, and there was no telling what manner of creature was already galloping this way.

Just as Jack considered that maybe he had misunderstood something, a blue screen appeared with a ding.

High Speed Bush bonus acquired!

He frowned. Well, what is it?

He opened his status screen but saw no changes besides those he already knew.

Name: Jack Rust

Species: Human, Earth-387

Faction: -

Grade: F

Level: 15

Physical: 38

Mental: 9

Will: 7

Skills: Fist Fighting (II)

His Physical was still climbing to the heavens, but these were just the points from the four level-ups. Where did the bush’s bonus go?

He considered it, still chewing on a leaf.

Maybe the bonus was too small to count as a full point? Like, 0.4 Physical or something? But that’s so little… It can’t be right. All this for a quarter of a level’s worth? The ice pond has given me seven points already, and it can provide at least double overall. I know it’s E-Grade, while the bush is F-Grade, but I refuse to believe the difference is that large.

Maybe it compounds as I consume more leaves? I’m not the slightest bit high yet.

He licked a couple more leaves, then sucked on a few more. No more status screens came, but he didn’t mind that much. Points were just numbers; he had a fist, and the fist was always stronger than math. The professor might disagree, but if so, she should go fight a goblin tribe.

Jack giggled at the thought of the elderly lady lecturing the goblins.

Right. It’s okay, my bushy friend. You can keep your extra points. Maybe you need them more than I do. I mean, licking any more leaves would be inappropriate, right?

Giggling again, Jack decided to explore his Class choices. He’d planned to retreat and do this at the cave, but why? If there was a reason, he couldn’t remember it, so it didn’t matter.

Level 15 reached. Congratulations! Class System unlocked. Please choose your Class:

Jack took in the wall of text and giggled. He liked reading. He squinted as he approached the screens, his nose almost touching them, and he tried to make out the letters.

He struggled to focus, for some reason, but it didn’t matter. Why hurry?

Goblin Fighter: Goblins are genetically engineered lifeforms that make for great first enemies. They are usually slain by the native species during a planet’s Integration, but when they aren’t, they proliferate rapidly. If left unattended, goblins can span planet-wide empires, with peak specimens even reaching the D-Grade in power.

Goblin fighters rove the cosmos while destroying goblin infestations, as well as any of the many variants. They are perfectly equipped to locate, investigate, and exterminate them, and they are rewarded handsomely for their services.

Goblin fighter sounded cool! But also dumb. He didn’t want to spend his life hunting stupid, annoying goblins.

Survivor (Elite): Survivors specialize in withstanding extreme environments. They usually act by themselves, exploring desolate planets, infiltrating monster-infested biomes, and expertly treading the razor-sharp edge between life and death.

Survivors don’t always succeed in their endeavors, but they almost always escape with their lives. Adapting is their second nature.

“Where there is life, there is opportunity.”

Elite. That was a new word. Well, not quite, but it was new for the System. In video games, elite meant strong. The System was like a video game. One plus one equals two.

The first paragraph excited Jack tremendously. He almost chose it on the spot before reading the next one, too. He scowled.

I don’t want to be a turtle. I want to fight!

He remembered the burning of his body as steel flooded his veins, the razor-sharp awareness that came with life-or-death battles, the sweet release of violence when he was at the good end of it. The feeling of being completely one with himself, in his element, vibing.

He giggled. Just thinking about it had gotten him fired up again.

Escaping from the bear had been fun too, but not as fun as punching the shit out of things.

Then again, Jack didn’t want to die, either. His entire reason for trying so hard was to survive—and, taking things one step further, did he want to become a punching monster? Or was he, at heart, a survivor? Maybe most Survivors were weak and failed often, but he could be strong!

Pugilist (Elite): Pugilists are one of the few F-grade combat classes ranked as Elite. This adjustment was made to reflect their tiny proportion compared to other classes, as well as the difficulty of reaching Level 15 as an unarmed, non-magical combatant.

Pugilists are devastating in close combat, an advantage counterweighed by their lacking survivability. Their battles are simple, straight-forward, and barbaric. When a pugilist enters the fray, there are no half-measures; it is victory or death.

“Fist means power.”

This was exciting. The pugilist’s description seemed underwhelming compared to the others, but Jack’s blood boiled as he read it. He needed no fanfare, no flowery words; simple meant strong. The straight-forwardness drew him in, the hidden resolve behind these seemingly simple words.

Fist means power. He savored the phrase. He liked it.

A corner of his mind whispered that the pugilist seemed suicidal, and Jack’s main drive was survival. Punching was fun, but it wasn’t the main goal.

Everything else in his mind resisted that thought. Punching was the goal. In a moment of clarity, he realized that survival had been the starting point and a handy excuse, but at the core of his being, he just loved to fight.

Jack Rust willed himself into a Pugilist.

Congratulations! You are now a Pugilist (Elite).

Yay!

Physical subcategories unlocked: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution. Stats distributed.

Class Skill unlocked: Drill (I). More Class Skills will be unlocked at regular Level intervals.

Drill (I): Passive Skill. Your punches now carry a hint of drilling power, letting them penetrate hard defenses.

Woo! New stats! New skills! Armored magic bears, here I come!

If the System still followed video games, Strength represented his muscle mass, Dexterity his fine control over said muscle mass, and Constitution his ability to withstand damage.

However, just as Jack willed the blue screens away, his world changed.

He was no longer in a forest. He wasn’t on Earth, either. An endless expanse stretched before him, a desert of tremendous proportions. Purple sand reached the horizon, and the sun burned so hot that he questioned how he wasn’t on fire yet.

Looking down, Jack knew the answer. He had no body.

A loud growl drew his attention, a sound loud enough to burst his eardrums, if he still had any. His gaze met a colossal serpent, a form resembling a bipedal, spiked crocodile. His eyes widened.

Godzilla!?

Lizard Titan, Level ??? (C-Grade)

C-Grade!?

Jack paled further. He couldn’t even see its level, but C-Grade now felt so far beyond him. Just how wide were the gulfs between Grades!?

The massive beast was tall like a mountain. However, why was it growling? Jack squinted, and there, before its feet, stood a human. He was tiny—normal-sized, but tiny compared to the beast.

Jack quickly scanned him as well.

Human (Earth-4), Level ??? (C-Grade)

Faction: Exploding Sun

Title: Eighth Ring Conqueror

Exploding Sun? Eighth Ring Conqueror?

Jack didn’t understand anything.

This man was bald with plain features, donned elegant yellow clothes, and wore a red cape. However, his simple face seemed chiseled in stone as he looked up. Facing the full brunt of the beast’s fury, he only clenched his fist. He opened his mouth, and his words fell on Jack’s ears like thunder.

“Fist means power.”

He jumped up, hundreds of feet into the air. Sand and rock crumbled below his feet, and from the distance, Jack could only stare.

The man reached the height of the beast’s chest and punched out. It was just a simple punch. Yet, the moment his arm completed its motion, a storm of violence erupted. The sky shook and the earth rumbled from the momentum of this one punch, and as it met the beast’s colossal, scaly chest, both exploded.

One punch drilled through the beast, mincing scales, flesh, and bones alike. It wasn’t merely a fist, but an irresistible force of nature.

This is a real punch.

The scene replayed itself in Jack’s mind, ten times, a hundred times. He saw this ideal punch stab through the air and drill into the beast’s body, saw how everything worked. It wasn’t just a punch; there was something more, something so much more.

At some indeterminate point, it clicked.

Jack had a sudden realization. Understanding dawned on him, and the next moment, it receded, as if he wasn’t able to utilize it yet. It retreated into the depths of his mind and locked itself there, waiting, slumbering.

The essence of what a fist was, and what it could be. An insight greater than anything he’d ever comprehended before, an understanding so gigantic and world-breaking it should have been impossible. He couldn’t fathom it yet, but when he could, it would already be inside him, shining like a beacon.

When he exited his own mind and returned to the purple desert, time seemed frozen still.

A large hole had been punched clean through the beast’s chest, wide enough to fit a house, perfectly round, and completely empty. As the large body began to collapse, the man looked at his fist and shook his head.

“Still not enough,” he muttered.

The vision disappeared. Jack was back in the forest, but all vestiges of highness had evaporated from his system. He was covered in cold sweat, shivering, and his eyes were wide as saucers.

“What the fuck was that…” he whispered.

C-Grade… Holy hell, those guys are gods.

It was nothing like the movies. He’d felt the man’s power in his soul, comprehended the seeming invincibility of the giant beast. Seeing superheroes on-screen was completely different than experiencing their power first-hand.

Jack sat on his butt, then looked at his own fist. He managed to clench it.

“Is that…a pugilist?” he wondered aloud. The shock in his voice turned to awe. “Such power… If I can have it too, how amazing would that be?”

His feelings wavered. He was overtaken by childish excitement and equally childish fear. He had no doubt that the vision he’d seen was real. Those things existed. The monsters in the dark were part of his world now, and he had the strength to fight them—no, he didn’t have it yet, but he could earn it.

The Class hadn’t given him extra muscles but something so much better.

Now shivering from excitement, Jack regained his bearings. He stared at the bush accusingly.

I must be careful… Even with 38 Physical, I still lost my mind a bit. Oh, right! My Physical was broken into Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. I wonder how much I have.

He opened his status screen and immediately gasped.

What? That high? This is impossible!