Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Vivi had lost, but she could not resign!

Through his pain, Alexander took that in with grim pleasure. He’d attacked her lung on purpose.

His tail reformed and snapped out like a lance, aiming to penetrate her head and kill her on the spot. He was sluggish, exhausted, and injured, but still moving faster than any pre-System human.

Vivi barely managed to dodge. Completely out of mana, she tilted her head to the side and fell on her back. The tail carved a deep wound on her left cheek, exposing the mouth and bone underneath. It then reared back for another strike. Vivi was on the ground now. She couldn’t dodge, and she couldn’t resign.

She gritted her teeth. An explosion went off inside her head. Her eyes instantly lost all light as she slumped down, losing consciousness. She had fried random things inside her head hoping the healers could save her, because she had no other choice.

Since she lost consciousness, the battle was over.

However, Alexander’s tail pierced at her head again. He didn’t care about the tournament. His goal was to murder her. The judges and healers were too far away to react in time.

Nobody could save her.

A man-shaped meteor suddenly tore through the protective energy wall and crashed into the stage, shattering Alexander’s tail just before it pierced through Vivi’s eye. Jack Rust stood there, tall and proud. The air around him fluctuated with palpable violence. His eyes shone like fire as he glared down Alexander from right in front of his face.

“She lost consciousness. Fuck off,” he said with barely restrained fury.

“Hmph. I didn’t notice. What do you care, American?”

“I told you to fuck off.”

Not only had they slept together last night, but Vivi was Jack’s friend and a close ally. He would be damned if he just stood by and watched her get murdered like this.

In fact, he had already been flying over before Vivi lost consciousness. It was only the brief delay brought by her action that allowed him to reach in time. Three healers arrived just after him and were already pouring their power on Vivi.

Alexander snorted again but did not move back. His cold eyes met Jack’s.

It was the first time Jack saw Alexander from up-close. He was a stout man, big and stocky. His clean-shaven face was wide with heavy features, and as his ice disappeared, it revealed a loose shirt underneath. He reminded Jack a bit of Hugo, the slavic man who had been keeping watch on his mother; the first person he’d ever killed.

However, Alexander’s most striking feature were his eyes. They were a cold, icy blue, and they stared in a way that Jack had never witnessed before. It was like he was staring down a machine; a cold-blooded, highly-trained killer. These eyes chilled him to the bone.

Of course, Jack had never lost a stare-off since the System arrived. His glare punched through Alexander’s brain, promising violence. Jack, too, was a highly-skilled killer. Maybe he wasn’t cold-blooded, but in this case, that made him even more dangerous.

“Stop!” a commanding voice came from above as the head judge swooped in between them. A gust of wind pushed them both back, making them turn to look at her. “The fight is over. Retreat.”

“He interfered. That is against the rules,” Alexander said. “He should be disqualified.”

“He tried to kill a downed opponent. That is against the rules,” Jack echoed. “He should be disqualified.”

“That was an accident. We cannot demand that our fighters have perfect awareness in every possible scenario. There is a margin of error,” the head judge told Jack before turning to Alexander. “Jack Rust intervened after the battle was over. That is also punishable, but not by disqualification. You get one strike. However”—she turned back to Jack— “since you already have more strikes from the first phase of the tournament, I have to—”

“I say we let him stay,” another voice came from the top of the stands. It was Rufus Emberheart, who had appeared outside the curtain at some point. Everyone turned to look at him. “He did invade the arena, but since his actions led to better adherence of the rules, I would argue that it is excusable. I believe nobody disagrees.”

Jack frowned for a moment before realizing what was happening. Rufus wanted to fight and destroy him publicly in the tournament. He wanted to truly cement his position as number one, and if Jack got disqualified now, some people wouldn’t be convinced of Rufus’s supremacy.

The head judge looked around, and indeed, nobody questioned Rufus’s judgment. Why would they? It was to everyone’s benefit.

“Very well,” she finally agreed. “Jack Rust, you are let off with a warning. Alexander Petrovic, you too. Please return to your seats.”

Jack met Rufus’s stare. He only found arrogance there. Certainty of victory.

“Also, Jack Rust,” the head judge said again, drawing his attention, “why is it that every time something happens, it is always you?”

Her exasperation seemed genuine, but Jack didn’t care much. He disliked her already.

“Guess I’m a troublemaker, chief,” he responded, shrugging. He then jumped back to his seat. Sadaka and the other members of Flame River thanked him profusely, their words filled with guilt. When he faced Alexander, they had been ready to jump into the arena if the Ice Peak joined, but that didn’t come to pass.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jack said. “As I said, I’m just a troublemaker.”

His attention wasn’t on them. He was eagerly watching Vivi. The healers kept pumping magic into her. Eventually, her eyelids fluttered, and her eyes opened slowly. She had a hushed conversation with the head healer, probably asking if she was okay, then the healer nodded and let her go.

Vivi wobbled to the stairs. Eventually, she reached the others between a crowd that parted to let her pass. She might have lost, but her resolve at the end had garnered everyone’s respect.

The people of Flame River fell on her the moment she arrived. A few moments later, she pushed past them to collapse in her seat.

“Are you okay?” Jack asked. After all, who knew what brain injuries were treatable by magic.

“Physically? Yes,” she replied tiredly. “Mentally? Not at all. I lost, Jack. Flame River lost.”

“Nothing is over yet.”

“I know. But it fucking hurts.”

“Yeah... I know it’s hard, but you are strong. I believe you can recover.”

She clenched her fists. Jack nodded but didn’t say anything more. He could understand what she was going through, more or less. It sucked, but in the end, it was her battle to fight. She would either pull through or wouldn’t. He couldn’t help.

The Sage and Dorman didn’t offer any words of comfort either, besides the polite ones. Surprisingly, neither did Edgar.

“What are you guys planning to do now?” Jack asked. “The fights are over.”

“I think I’ll relax a bit,” Edgar replied, leaning back in his seat. He seemed over his defeat already, and his eyes were already twinkling with new ideas. “Now that I don’t have to fight anymore, I don’t have to train all the time… Not to mention that my master is off-limits, like my house. Oh, I have to pack up, too. Where are you staying?” he asked Sadaka.

“The Jade Skin hotel,” the man replied. “We can get you a room.”

“Yeah, that would be great.”

“I will relax as well,” the Sage said. “Maybe go watch the waves until nightfall… Yes, that would be nice.”

“You would watch the waves for hours?” Edgar raised a brow. “They’re just waves.”

“They hide very interesting patterns, young wizard. Predicting them is difficult. Perhaps you would benefit from the practice, too.”

“Ah no; as I said, no training today.”

“Same for me,” Vivi added, letting out a sigh. “I must find a way to deal with the public relations mess of my defeat.”

“It’s not that bad, Vivi,” Sadaka told her. “Everyone saw how hard you fought and how strong you are. Maybe you lost, but you honored the Flame River’s reputation.”

“Hmm, true,” she replied, already deep in thought. “Maybe we could twist this into us being the underdogs? Everyone loves the underdogs.”

“That’s the spirit!”

Jack raised a brow at her scheming, then glanced at Dorman, who was staring right back at him. They were two of the four remaining finalists. They had a one in three chance of fighting tomorrow.

“I will go train,” Jack said. “You should do the same, Dorman. I don’t want to kick your ass too easily.”

“You wouldn’t even be able to touch me,” the Asian teen shot back.

“Heh. We’ll see about that. If you get matched against Rufus, I really won’t have the opportunity to touch you.”

“I will win the tournament. It doesn’t matter who my opponent is.”

Jack smiled as he stood. “Anyway, see you guys. I have to go now.”

“Oh, really?” Vivi said, raising a brow. She was clearly still distraught, but she kept it for herself. “Do you have a date?”

Jack laughed. “Little blue men are not my cup of tea.”