Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Name: Jack Rust

Species: Human, Earth-387

Faction: -

Grade: F

Class: Pugilist (Elite)

Level: 15

Strength: 38

Dexterity: 48

Constitution: 38

Mental: 9

Will: 7

Skills: Fist Fighting (II), Drill (I)

What? This is impossible!

There were so many high numbers. When his Physical broke into three sub-stats, he expected his 38 points to be divided, not tripled.

What does this mean? Did I become three times stronger? And this Dexterity…

He didn’t feel three times stronger than before. A bit, sure, but not to such a degree. What does this mean?

Thankfully, Jack was a scientist—he almost had a PhD, too.

Maybe a point in Physical always meant a point in each of the stats. It’s the same thing. Nothing changed; I just saw a simplified version so far.

This hypothesis was based on little, but it made sense. The System wouldn’t just triple his power for no reason.

Still, why is Dexterity so much higher? Is it because of the High Speed Bush?

Unlike his other stats, he did feel faster than before, more flexible, more in command of his body. It had to have been the bush, unless the ice pond’s bonuses were skewed towards Dexterity, which shouldn’t be the case; he hadn’t noticed an imbalance before, but he could feel it now.

Huh. Then, why did my Physical remain at 38 after the bush bonus? Maybe it’s not the average, but the minimum? Or some other, more complicated function?

In any case, he could see the utility of breaking down the stats. Keeping things simple at first was nice, but a stat imbalance would be hard to depict in a single number. Plus, if Jack’s suspicions were correct, this would allow for greater customization of himself.

There was a question mark on how exactly his points would be distributed now. Would he still get two per Level, or six? And if it was six, did that mean he could put six into Mental, for example?

I probably still get two points as I did before, but if I want to put one point into the physical substats, it becomes three subpoints to allocate however I want.

Only that made sense, so it had to be true.

In the end, he didn’t intend to scrutinize the System’s choices. It was seemingly omniscient and omnipotent. It should have its reasons for everything. Still, he wouldn’t be surprised if the professor had already released a peer-reviewed publication criticizing the System’s procedures by the time he returned to civilization.

He chuckled.

She can handle herself…probably.

It was a grim thought. Not all people were as equipped as him to handle a global overhaul…but then again, neither was he. The professor was a genius. She’d pull through.

Jack snapped out of his thoughts, and the clearing was as quiet and empty as ever. That was lucky; he’d overstayed his welcome while high. He didn’t know how long the vision took in real time, but he must have been idling here for at least twenty minutes.

Minutes…

Another sobering realization. He hadn’t considered time in minutes for…a while. The sun’s position had been enough.

Done reminiscing, Jack decided it was time to get going. He’d already taken everything he could from the bush, and there was nothing else in the clearing anymore.

His feet took him into the bushes and up a hill, heading in the familiar direction of his cave. He still had to go into the pond again to see if he could take any extra steps—or rather, how many.

Midway to the cave, he stopped. Yes, he had to try the ice pond…but he really wanted to see the effects of Drill. He was far enough from the clearing now. Nothing was following him.

Clenching his fist, he shot it at a random tree trunk.

The moment they made impact, he sensed the change. His punch was so straight and controlled that no energy escaped the point of impact; instead, its entire momentum bypassed the tree’s surface and exploded slightly deeper, not mitigated at all by the hard bark.

The entire tree shook; leaves fell from its branches, and the trunk itself groaned and cracked from the inside.

Jack stared at his fist in surprise, then grinned. Its next target would be an earth bear and its stupidly hard magic fur.

***

There were a few more things to settle, but they all went by quickly.

The ice pond was the first; after submerging his entire body into it for the first time and withstanding the ensuing agony, the cold closed his wounds, healing him completely in the span of a few minutes. For the zillionth time, Jack thanked his lucky stars for spawning this gift of the Gods beside him.

Due to his increased stats, he also managed to take another two steps into the ice pond. It was great progress! He was now at two thirds of the way to the waterfall. As he’d approached, he could now better estimate it would take him thirteen steps, and he’d made nine.

One last thing was left, and that was to test his strength.

I hope all that pain bears fruit… he thought, walking outside his cave and surveying the poor rocks and trees.

He had earned four Levels for beating the goblins. He’d also taken two steps into the ice pond, each giving him a point in Physical—or, to be more precise, in each of his new physical stats—so his stats had risen by the equivalent of five Levels. Moreover, he hadn’t really measured himself in a human scale in…a long time. Probably since the System came.

He itched to know how strong he was.

With a stupid grin, he stood before a boulder that reached up to his waist. There was no way a pre-System human could lift this thing. Jack bent his knees, grabbed it by the edges, and lifted with his waist.

“Heave-ho!”

The boulder shot up.

“Wha—”

He let it fall, and it did with a massive thud that shook the night forest. “What the…” he repeated, looking at his own two hands. “Did I do that?”

Knowing he was strong was one thing. Actually comparing himself to the pre-System him was a different matter altogether. More real.

He flexed his fists, sensing the raw power that lay within, just waiting for him to direct it. Without thinking, he turned and punched a tree. Its entire trunk shook, leaves fell from above, and a few birds that perched on its branches hurried to fly away.

Jack’s hand was unhurt.

He jumped on the tree. Each leap could easily reach the lower branches, and his agility was such that he felt certain he would never fall, even if he didn’t have the terrible gripping power that he currently possessed.

Letting himself drop, he somersaulted once in mid-air before landing on his feet. It was easy.

“Wow…” he exclaimed breathlessly.

He thought back to the pain, the panic, the anguish he forced himself through to survive. Every fight brought him close to death, starting from that very first goblin, but he always survived. The goblin shaman had almost destroyed him, but he’d prevailed.

It had been hell, and it still was—but not for nothing. With danger came power.

Now, he was no longer weak, no longer helpless. He wasn’t a pest that had to hide from little goblins. He was a strong player in this dungeon. He’d earned it.

Jack clenched his fist tight, and the relief that flooded him was enough to almost bring tears to his eyes. He tightened his lips and nodded to himself.

But this wouldn’t the end. There were the bears to fight, and the monkeys, and the damn wolf that saw him as a bug. Outside this dungeon, there was a wide world, too. Gone were the days of endlessly toiling away on a lab table.

Jack always yearned to feel alive. His wish had been granted. An entire planet waited for him after he conquered this dungeon, an entire galaxy, even, full of mystery and power for him to grasp, and he had a headstart. He was so excited he got goosebumps.

The bald man had been at the C-Grade. The Animal Kingdom, the power that now apparently controlled Earth, was B-Grade. Jack didn’t know what exactly those meant, but he would reach that level of power himself, and then, even higher. There was so much to learn, so much to discover, so much to experience. He would go all-out in a world that finally fit him. He would thrive. He would live.

He could see the path. F, E, D, C, B…and A. Sleep with the lights on, world. Jack Rust is coming.

However, long dreams would have to wait. First came the bears, then the dungeon, and then the world.

Jack chuckled and shook his head as he walked back to his cave.

How far I’ve come, and how far there is to go.

Satisfied from a day and night full of rewards, and filled with dreams for the future, Jack went to sleep. The night was still young, after all, and he deserved to rest well for once. A few hours after the sun rose, Jack was already crossing the forest towards the bear territory. They would have the honor of being his next opponents—or prey.

His fists itched to face a bear head-on, but he kept himself in check for now. Even the weakest earth bear was at Level 13, and though he could probably take it, every close battle carried a substantial risk of death. There was no need to throw his life away.

Stronger, faster, and harder than ever, Jack fell into a routine he knew well. He crafted a trusty stone hammer—heavier than the previous one—and snuck around the edges of bear territory, aiming for weaker specimens.

The worst part about traveling this area of the forest were the carcasses. Not the eaten ones—bears left little behind—but the ones that had been broken for sport. Earth bears were quite sadistic, apparently. That was bad for the nearby wildlife and good for Jack, because it meant he could keep killing them without moral remorse.

He averted his sight and kept going. Unfortunately, the bears had a slim population, so it took him a long time to finally find one. When he did, he paused; it was Level 15.

Normally, he would have let this go and looked for another bear. However, he’d already spent a good chunk of time looking.

Earth Bear, Level 15

Bears are omnivorous creatures that stand at the apex of most food chains. Earth bears, in particular, are a stronger, highly territorial variant. They can use very limited earth magic, and the rocky parts of their fur can be used to craft F-Grade weapons and armor.

Earth Bears are most commonly found in the Ursus Forests of planet Ursi.

Jack was a biologist that focused on evolution. He knew about bears. The normal kind—the non-magical ones—were not territorial, unlike what the System suggested. However, he could adapt his knowledge.

Since these bears were territorial, and given the places at which he’d located them so far, he assumed that they’d split their wider territory into chunks, and each bear got one chunk. That was why he’d spent so long looking for one; he’d been searching the chunks where he’d already killed a bear.

Due to his job, Jack had visited this reserve many times, enough to know its general layout by heart. He understood the size of the bear area. Assuming all chunks were similar in size, he estimated there were thirteen to sixteen earth bears. That wasn’t much; it also meant he’d probably run out of low-level bears and have to dive deeper soon.

He still hadn’t seen the bear boss or any stronger variant than the earth bear, but all in due time. Jack was finally ahead of the curve, and he’d take full advantage of it.

The clock was still running. He wasn’t going to search the entire area for a slightly weaker bear. Level 15 would do.

He climbed a tree and held his stone hammer at the ready. The bear didn’t come by, of course, and Jack scowled as he rushed to another branch, keeping tabs of the bear’s location by its growls and other sounds.

Two hours later, after failing yet another branch ambush, his patience was growing thin.

Why wait for hours when I can just kick its ass?

Because I might lose, he replied, quickly regaining himself. He wasn’t rash or stupid; and, even if on the clock, rushing things would bring ugly consequences. He was nowhere near the king of the forest.

Another hour later, as the sun had reached its peak, Jack suddenly heard the bear approach. He tensed up in joy. It’s happening!

A brown shape with yellow splotches came under his branch, its wide ass swerving from side to side as it walked. Jack fell.

Bonk.

He stood over its headless corpse for a bit, frowning. This felt quite anti-climactic…

Not even a level-up... Fine. I’ll find a Level 14 or less and try to fight it.

Since he now understood how their territories worked, he could start from the ones at the edge of the bear area, which, according to game logic, would have the weakest bears.

It worked! Only half an hour later, Jack parted the leaves of a bush to spy on a Level 14 behemoth. It was busy stomping a bunny’s corpse to death.

At least eat it, you fat prick.

Coincidentally, this was the same bear that had chased him down before—he would recognize it everywhere. Jack felt his spirit burn at the thought of finally taking revenge.

He set the stone hammer aside and cracked his neck, then his knuckles as he prepared himself for a good fight. Ambushes were easy but time-consuming, and he didn’t want to waste hours on each bear. With some luck, he could take one down without major injuries—and, if not, he was confident in escaping. He’d done it with half the stats.

Now ready, Jack bumped his fists together one more time, then calmly walked towards the bear. When he stepped on dry wood, it turned to look, yellow eyes scanning the forest and easily spotting him. It growled. Jack held its gaze and grinned.

The bear was confused, now. It recognized this creature, but last time, it had run away. Everything tried to escape when it growled. What was this?

Jack stepped between the trees and approached the bear. They weren’t in any sort of clearing, so the terrain would only help him.

The bear growled again and charged. Jack charged right back, releasing a roar of his own.

Jack saw an enraged behemoth charge right at him, fangs wide and claws racing to tear him apart. For a moment, he reconsidered all his life choices; then, he realized that the bear was slow. Too slow.

It lunged at him, but he jumped to its side. The bear rose on two feet to rip him apart.

He ducked under a hairy arm, then another. Jaws snapped shut before his face but couldn’t touch him. He swerved aside, dodging a blow before stabbing two quick jabs into the bear’s fur. Like last time, a yellow patch rose to meet him.

This time, however, the yellow patch was ineffective. Jack felt the difference. His fist slammed into protected fur and sent the impact through it, directly onto the bear’s skin. He couldn’t go deeper yet, unfortunately, but this was already a massive improvement.

The bear growled as it stepped back, falling on all fours. It eyed him warily; the impact had clearly hurt it.

Jack didn’t eye anything warily; he only attacked harder.

This time, he was on the offensive. Blow after blow rained on the bear. Each of his attacks couldn’t hurt it too much, but when they stockpiled, the weight became unbearable.

The bear frothed at the mouth as it fought back. Claws, jaws, even the back of paws and body slams came his way, but Jack dodged it all. After consuming the High Speed Bush, speed was his specialty, and it was also this bear’s weakness.

He grinned as he realized what was happening.

In game terminology, this bear was a slow tank, and he had both the speed to dodge everything and the skills to decimate it gradually. Thanks to Drill and the High Speed Bush, he countered the bears completely.

That’s not to say it was easy. Each of the bear’s strikes were cataclysmic, and though they were slow to Jack’s eyes, a pre-System human couldn’t even see them coming. For Jack, dodging one attack was easy, but the more the bear attacked, the higher his chance of making a mistake.

He kept his cool. He danced around the bear, gracefully weaving between attacks as he landed his own. His brain was honed and at maximum capacity the entire time.

The fight took place at great speed but still lasted more than three minutes. Jack didn’t make a single mistake.

Eventually, the bear slowed down. Jack’s punches increased in strength and volume, and slowly, the large beast was taken down. Its head finally slammed against the ground, leaving Jack panting, sweaty, and victorious.

He raised a fist into the air and roared his triumph.

“Fuck yeah!”

He had finally defeated an earth bear, these devils, for the first time!

No level-up yet, but they would come. Now that he knew he could handle it, Jack’s hunting speed would increase by many times. The fight required his full focus, but it wasn’t too difficult. He hadn’t even come close to getting hit. He could easily be consistent for that long.

Grinning and leaving his stone hammer in that random bush, Jack went on with his hunting. The earth bears of the Greenway natural reserve were quickly whittled down, from the weakest to the strongest. Over the next twenty-four hours, eight more monster bears lost their lives to the forest’s rising star.

Until, on the ninth bear, the rising star met the king.