Torith a litrpg adventur.., p.10
Torith: A LitRPG Adventure (System Universe Book 2), page 10
The skinny man answered. “Y-yes… Well, n-no… Uh, you weren’t joking about wanting platinum rank, were you?”
“No.”
The man sighed. “I’m sorry about my previous arrogance, sir. Soon, I will have a temporary gold badge for you. I would like to give you an official one, but I can’t go against guild rules.”
Derek frowned at that. “What do you mean?”
“You have proven yourself to be more than worthy of gold-ranked. However, for it to be official, you must complete at least two silver-ranked missions. Before that, you will not be allowed to take on gold-ranked missions.”
Derek let out a breath. “So much trouble.” He shook his head. “Well, let’s go see some missions. I really want to get this done today.”
With that, the duo left the training area, leaving Russell alone to pander to the four witnesses.
Francesco led Derek to a room within the Adventurer’s Guild. It was nearly the same as the room where he had met the man in the first place. The difference was that there were thick binders all around.
“All the missions that are upfront are here, too,” Francesco said. He walked over to one of the binders and dropped it on the table in front of them. “This binder has all the silver-ranked missions that are upfront. It also has some that have yet to be added—missions that are still being vetted.” He opened the binder to the front page and slid it over towards Derek.
Derek took the binder and flipped through the missions. There was nothing in it that caught his eye or even seemed the least bit challenging. Finally, his eyes landed on one of the missions towards the back. “Uh… I’m pretty sure I already completed this one.” He pointed at the description.
“Hmm?” Francesco took the binder and read the mission. “This mission was submitted a few weeks ago. A bandit camp was spotted a couple of days away from the city, and some citizens were able to make it back to the city and report it. You’re saying that you completed it? How?” He eyed Derek.
“I’ve only been in Torith for a couple of days now. My route to the city took me on a path that was being patrolled by bandits. My group took care of the ambush quite easily. Afterward, we made a detour to the camp itself. It was relatively big for a bandit camp, but it didn’t take much effort to eliminate. We brought the captives along with us,” Derek said.
“Is there anyone who can confirm this?” the man asked.
“Uh… Bronson was a part of my group. And there are the captives that scattered as soon as they arrived in the city. The guards that were on duty when we arrived took a report from Bronson, so they can confirm, too.”
“Captain Bronson? From House Gracefall?” Francesco asked.
“That’s the one. Good guy. He puts that meathead you got conducting your exams to shame,” Derek replied.
“I will send someone to verify everything. If it all comes back as you have said, you will only need to complete one mission. Is there one you would like to complete?”
Derek took the binder back and kept flipping through it. Eventually, his eyes landed on a hunting mission. He pointed at it. “Where is this?”
Francesco eyed the mission. “It’s about a week’s travel past the city. Before you reach the mountain. There are a bunch of the little creatures wandering around the area. They are easy enough to fight. Nobody has taken the mission because of its closeness to the mountain and distance away from the city.”
“What does the mountain have to do with anything?”
“It’s a dangerous area, not unlike the forest opposite it. Except the forest doesn’t really get dangerous until you venture deep into it. The mountain range has higher-level monsters wandering around it. Of course, those monsters are nothing for a gold-ranked adventurer,” the man explained.
“So, there’s unlikely to be anyone at or around the area? You know, to help an adventurer if he were to get in trouble?” Derek asked.
“Exactly.”
“Alright, I’ll go ahead and take this mission. I should have it completed in a couple days. Hell, I might make it back by the end of the day. I am quite fast.” Derek smiled.
Francesco nodded. “Very well. I should have the other mission verified by the time you get back. Happy hunting.” The man stood and put out his hand.
Derek shook hands. Francesco led Derek back to the front of the guild. Derek nodded at Nia, then left the establishment.
Outside the Adventurer’s Guild, Derek tried to contact Silvi. To his surprise, it worked. ‘Can you hear me? Hello?’
‘What?’ Her annoyed voice entered his thoughts.
‘Where are you right now?’ he asked.
‘Merchant district. Pastry shop. Eating,’ she replied.
Of course, he thought. ‘I’m heading out of the city for a bit. I may be back today, but I might be gone until tomorrow. Do you want to come?’
‘Food?’ she asked.
‘No. No food. Just hunting,’ he said.
‘I stay. Protect the mount. Eat food,’ Silvi answered.
‘Okay. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Take good care of Thomas.’ Derek stopped the transmission and headed towards the city exit.
Outside the city, Derek followed the path around. He could see the distant mountain range in front of him. He had chosen this mission for two reasons. The first was literally just to get an official badge, but the second was to do something that he had been thinking about for a while now.
Soon, he took off towards the mountain at a blistering pace. The distance to the target may take a normal silver- or gold-ranked adventurer a week or more of travel, but with his speed, he planned on arriving before nightfall.
It was the first time since his enormous stat increase that he could run all-out without having to wait for someone. His speed actually surprised him. The only unfortunate thing about it was that his boots were basically being ground to a pulp. With a sigh, he removed his shoes and kept running.
It was well before nightfall when Derek arrived at his hunting grounds. The beasts he was looking for were toadstools with purple and white caps. Their height reached just below his knees.
With Derek’s senses, it was not long before he found a group of them. His mission was to bring 15 corpses back to the Adventurer’s Guild. Apparently, they were great ingredients for Alchemists to use.
Before hunting them, Derek decided it was time to learn a skill that he had been putting off because of the off chance he could find a Weaponsmith to upgrade or make him a new weapon. Alas, there was nobody with the talent to do so at Torith. Derek focused on the General Skill.
Would you like to learn Unarmed Combat Mastery?
Yes.
Unarmed Combat Mastery Learned Successfully.
Skill Points Remaining: 13
After learning the skill, Derek checked out his status.
Status
Personal Information
Name: Derek Hunt
Age: 30
Level: 76
Experience: 365,118/590,000
Class: Legend of the Void (Legendary)
Race: Human (Modified)
Health: 7250
Mana: 5000
Stamina: 7150
Stats:
Strength: 700
Dexterity: 500
Endurance: 715
Vitality: 725
Intelligence: 500
Wisdom: 500
Stat Points Remaining: 40
Contracts
Silvi (Bonded Beast)
Stella Brighton (Crown Restaurant)
Francesco Jaccobs (Torith Adventurer’s Guild)
View Status
View Contract
View Contract
Skills
Absolute Nullify Lv. 1, Chain Lightning Lv. 9, Channel Void Lv. 8, Cure Toxin Lv. 4, Dismantle Lv. 12, Greater Meditation Lv. 3, Heavy Weapons Mastery Lv. 18, Identify Lv. 15, Magic Resistance Lv. 10, Multi-Strike Lv. 1, Physical Resistance Lv. 1, Rejuvenation Lv. 9, Sweeping Slash Lv. 18, Unarmed Combat Mastery Lv. 1, Void Call Lv. 2, Void Sense Lv. 2, Void Shift Lv. 3, Void Storage Lv. N/A
Skill Points Remaining: 13
Skill Upgrade Points Remaining: 4
Achievements
Greater Giant Slayer, Jack of All, Lesser Dungeon Explorer, Lesser Enigma, Lesser Slayer of the Unknown, Magical Glass Cannon, Meat Shield, Lesser Explorer, Offensive Powerhouse
Surprised, Derek had to look at his status again. When did I turn 30? Apparently, sometime within the last couple of weeks Derek had a birthday. Well, like they say. It’s all downhill from here.
After settling on his new skill, Derek ran over to the first group of Poison Fengs. The fight wasn’t climactic as the mushrooms were weak enough for bronze-ranked adventurers to kill. The problem with them was that they always traveled in a group. Which was no problem for Derek at all.
Derek finished hunting the monsters in less than an hour. It would have been much quicker, but he had to spend some time finding them. Once finished, it was time for Derek’s other task. He took off, closing in on the mountain range.
Finally close to the mountains, Derek checked his surroundings. Other than some birds and other beasts, he sensed nothing. Just to make sure he was alone, he ran far off the path to the mountains until he was in a desolate area.
Finally, he sat with his back against a boulder and channeled the void through himself. With the void threatening to explode inside of him, he triggered the skill. Void Call. The purple energy gathered in his upper body, then exploded out. Shooting a beam of light in the sky.
The light shined like a beacon, which was why he found a place so far out of the way, and why he was happy that he made it there before sundown. After a few moments, the beacon dissipated, and Derek was out of mana.
The instant loss of mana caused his head to throb. He quickly slipped into meditation to increase his recovery. Soon, all his reserves were filled up. The only thing left for him to do was wait.
14 HUNTING
Derek removed the shirt Brandi had made for him while he waited. There was no sense in ruining one of his only good shirts. He didn’t bother to put on any of his armor—his main armor was still damaged from the fight with the first Acidic Ghoul. Plus, his skin and bones had already been pushed to an entirely different level since then.
Derek stared at the sky where the void beam had disappeared, waiting for the spider web-like cracks to come. Finally, after three or so minutes, the hammering sound came. The dull thud sounded like he was in a smithy, but the smiths were working on a hollow drum. His gaze sharpened in anticipation of what was to come.
As the thundering drums increased, the crack finally appeared. The blue sky broke, line after line appearing. Derek waited and waited. Finally, he furrowed his brows in confusion. The beast had already taken over twice the amount of time to appear than the one he slaughtered previously.
Derek focused his Void Sense into his eyes. The small spider webs in the sky brightened like a flare of the sun. The void leaked out of each one, but they were healing. The Void Beast wasn’t doing enough to break through. In fact, if this went on any longer, Derek figured the beast would run out of strength, and the sky would heal itself completely. He could not have that.
Derek, using his immense strength, shot off the ground like a rocket. Upon reaching the cracks in the sky, he entered Void Shift. Everything slowed, and the cracks stopped healing. Surprisingly, the dull thuds continued from behind the cracks. I’m definitely going to have to experiment with that, he thought.
Derek reached out and pulled himself up to the cracks in the sky. Taking his hand, he jabbed his fingers between fractures, then pulled. It was odd holding a piece of the sky in his hand. He studied the shard, then released it. It stayed where he let it go and floated beside him. Again, he gripped another shard and pulled.
After removing a few pieces, he could finally see clearly into the void tunnel. He shuddered, thinking about his time spent inside, and unconsciously moved back before getting ahold of himself. As long as I stay out here, it can’t hurt me, he thought. Wait, I can get out whenever I want with my control over the void. With that comforting thought, he moved closer again.
Inside the tunnel, the Void Beast moved, peering through the hold Derek had made. The same piercing crimson eyes stared death at Derek. The razor-like claws reached through the widened fracture and ripped at the sky. I guess that’s my cue. Derek released Void Shift and fell. He landed on one knee on the ground below and gazed up. The pieces of the sky glistened as they crumbled and disappeared.
It was enough. Now that the beast could get his claws through the cracks, it had no problem coming out. Derek waited for the beast to appear, ready to test his unarmed skills. Finally, the creature pulled itself out and fell… Face-first onto a stone.
Derek’s jaw hung open, shocked. He slowly walked up to the Void Beast. Blood pooled out of the beast’s mouth. Derek reached down. It’s not dead, just unconscious… He shook his head and studied the creature. It was no doubt a Void Beast, but it was barely a few feet tall. It seemed like he had summoned a young beast this time.
At that time, the beast regained consciousness. It jumped up from its position and looked around. Its eyes landed on Derek. Shooting forward, it pulled back its clawed hand for a slash. Derek slowly raised his arm and took the strike. It didn’t even leave a mark on his forearm. This time, he felt like he was the Void Beast, and his opponent was him from before.
Derek laughed and covered his palm in the void. He pushed forward, slapping the chest of the creature. Like that, blood shot out of its mouth, and it fell over, dead. Well, that was… interesting. Derek looked at the corpse. I wonder how much Stella will give me for this. She had told him that the stronger the Void Beast, the better it tasted, but maybe one as young as this would be a delicacy. He stored the remains in his bracelet and sat back down against the boulder.
He wanted to farm a few of these beasts. They had great value to others, and he had an easy way to attract them. Also, he wanted a fight. A real fight. He had survived on Earth by fighting creatures and invaders over and over. He had thought he would be able to embrace a peaceful and worry-free life, but deep down, fighting for his life over and over had changed him. Thus far, the only thing that did not die instantly in a fight was a Void Beast.
He wasn’t quite craving for a fight; he didn’t need to fight, but he wanted to fight. He could do without fighting, but there was a little itch that he wanted to scratch. And he had a way to bring a fight to himself at any time, so why not use it?
Derek channeled the void through his body again and cast Void Call. The beam shot up, and the same process repeated. He waited.
This time, he didn’t have to wait long as in mere moments, the thundering sound rang out. Maybe the first call gathered some close, so this one was already there. The sky cracked, this time at a much more rapid pace—even faster than the first beast he summoned. Derek tensed, giddy for a real fight. I wonder if this one is going to be as strong as the one that freed me from the void.
He stood and readied himself for a fight. The thunder sounded again, and massive fissures appeared in the sky. Derek gulped, hoping he hadn’t bitten off more than he could chew. He waited for the claws to tear through and rip the shards away, but what happened made him even more excited.
Instead of the Void Beast removing the shards piece by piece, the thunder rang out, this time even louder than before. The impact from within the tunnel struck the shards again. This time, the shards came loose and burst from the sky. They flew through the air at an outrageous speed until they disintegrated like all the others before.
A massive clawed hand reached out of the fissure before grabbing onto the side of the hole. A foot followed, then a head, then a torso. The Void Beast’s whole body was out, but its hand still gripped the side of the fissure. It dangled there, gazing around the area before its crimson eyes landed on Derek.
I really hope that this beast isn’t the parent of the one before, he thought, but there was no way for him to know. Their gazes locked, and the beast let go. It fell to the ground, landing without so much as a bend in its legs.
Derek wasn’t scared of fighting the creature, though. He still had the void that had been able to penetrate everything it came into contact with, regardless of its defenses. He was raring to go. He had only had one decent fight since he arrived in this world, so it was funny that his second decent fight was going to be with the same kind of creature. It seems that the only danger to me is myself, literally. Derek laughed as he waited for the creature to make the first move.
This Void Beast was a whole two heads taller than the first one he summoned. It was ripped, its muscles seemingly on the verge of bursting through its skin. The razor claws on the tips of its fingers were double the length of the previous beast. I’m going to put my Vitality to work today. Derek stared at the beast with a smile on his face. I bet Stella will pay a premium for this thing. I’ll probably get a membership as soon as I show it to her.
Instead of launching towards him as the other beasts had, the giant of a beast moved towards the rock with blood on it. It reached its claws down and scratched the blood-covered stone, leaving deep tears inside. Then it raised a bloodied, stone-covered claw and opened its mouth, presenting rows of spear-like fangs for Derek to see. It ran the claw over its tongue and closed its mouth, shutting its eyes in the process.
When it reopened its eyes, its gaze had changed from the aggressive gaze of a beast to a gaze of anger. It lifted its foot and brought it down on the stone, shattering it in the process. Then it turned. It slowly crept closer and closer to Derek, inspecting him with its rage-filled eyes.
The Void Beast stopped three meters away, looking Derek up and down. The rage in its eyes turned to disdain as it snorted. It was the same Jace had given him before they fought. It was a gaze that Derek loved nothing more than breaking, and his smile grew wider.
