Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Two people faced each other in a spacious backyard. The wind caressed the grass under their feet, while the blue sky was framed by distant mountains. The breeze blew gently.

Ebele stood with her legs spread apart and her arms raised—the combat stance she was most familiar with. Opposite her, Jack stood with his arms behind his back, looking completely relaxed. Only the faint smirk on his face betrayed his happiness.

“Begin,” he said.

Ebele shouted and charged forth. Her feet took her across the grass to reach him quickly. A jab flew out, which Jack calmly leaned back to avoid. The first jab was followed by three more, which Jack effortlessly floated around. Ebele feinted a kick to his thigh, then swept in to smash him in the face. Jack raised a hand to tap hers, sending it slightly off course. He then grabbed her wrist and tossed her away.

“Again,” he said.

This was a form of sparring. Of course, Jack and Ebele were at completely different levels of power, but Jack had used the Concept of Time to slow himself down a thousandfold, bringing their speed and awareness to similar levels. He couldn’t do anything about his overwhelming advantage in power or durability, but that was fine. This was about technique.

Of course, even in just technique, there could be no real comparison between the two. It didn’t matter how slow Jack made himself. He’d been fighting for his life bare-fisted since before Ebele was born. He had battled a wide array of opponents across the universe, studied in various factions with various teachers, and had even been kickstarted in combat skills by the System.

Most importantly, his Dao of the Fist had reached such an advanced level that he no longer needed martial arts—his understanding of the Fist was deep enough that all the right movements flowed instinctively out of him. Even excluding the difference in cultivation, there was no martial artist on Earth that could face him on equal grounds. Jack was qualified to teach Ebele’s teachers, let alone her.

However, this wasn’t just about teaching.

Jack bent his body, letting Ebele roll over his back and awkwardly land behind him. When she tried to catch him with a roundhouse kick, he just grabbed her ankle and pushed her back. “Again!”

There was a certain excitement to sparring with your child. Her moves weren’t bad. Every time she demonstrated her skills or tried a novel approach, Jack felt proud. This was his daughter, following the same path as him.

Ebele steadied herself and pouted. She was competitive. She didn’t like to lose. For years she’d fantasized about sparring against her father and showing him how good she had become, but she never imagined the difference would be this large.

She flew in again, her moves fiercer this time. Her punches were like thunderbolts, her kicks like swords. Jack calmly defended against everything, demonstrating faults in her technique that she didn’t even know were there. She was panting, but he wasn’t even breaking a sweat.

Ebele grew irritated. She leaned heavier into offense, giving him openings to counterattack because she knew he wouldn’t. Her teachers would have frowned at this, but she didn’t care, she just wanted to land one attack. She dove into his guard, shooting a straight punch at his abdomen.

Surprisingly, he didn’t dodge. Her little fist landed against his stomach, but it felt like she’d punched a wall. Before she could retreat, his arm came around, pulling her into a hug. “Mff,” she said. Jack laughed out loud.

“That’s enough,” he said, letting her go with a smile. “You win.”

“Hmph!” She crossed her arms. “That doesn’t count! You let me!”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

“You weren’t supposed to let me. I want to earn it!”

Jack smiled, lowering his body a bit more to be at eye level. “It’s not about earning anything,” he said. “It’s about getting better. And, you’re pretty good! I’m proud of you.”

He tussled her hair. If it was anyone else or any other time, she would have bitten their hand off. Now, however, she didn’t even notice. She was busy being stunned. Dad…is proud of me?

He is proud of me!

Against her will, a large smile formed on her face. “Thanks,” was all she managed to say, but Jack only laughed, straightening up again.

“Martial arts lose their significance the more you cultivate, but they are the foundation on which Physical Daos are built. They help you find the way through the lower Grades. The better you understand them, the smoother your road will be.”

“I know that!” Ebele hurried to exclaim. “Master Meredith says the same! Just…in more words.”

Jack smiled. “I wouldn’t expect any less. All your teachers are qualified people. However, Ebele, Vivi tells me you’ve been pushing yourself a lot lately.”

“Mm.” She looked down. “I just wanted to become strong, like you. To protect Mom. Is it that bad?”

Jack sighed. “I am the last person who should advise you against pushing yourself. However, you got it wrong. Cultivation is all about the Dao, and the Dao is all about understanding the world. If you really want to reach far in the future, overworking yourself right now is counterproductive. You’re only six—”

“Six and a half!”

“Right. Six and a half. This is the time for you to be a child. Martial arts and preparing yourself for cultivation are good, but you shouldn’t focus too much on them yet. Otherwise, when the time comes to really cultivate, you will discover that your foundation has gaps. You should embrace all parts of life, not deny them—even the ones which seem useless.”

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She pouted. “But I don’t want to be a child. I want to be strong!”

“Every strong person was a child once. Don’t be in a rush. You’ll get there when you get there.”

“But—”

“Unless you think you know better than me, of course. In that case, feel free to ruin your future by pushing yourself too hard too early.”

Ebele looked up to find her father’s strict gaze. “Sorry,” she said, not quite knowing what she was apologizing for. “I… I’ll try.”

Jack remained silent for a moment, not acknowledging her response. Finally, he sighed. “You know I love you, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Good. Then, you listen to me, okay? No more overworking. There’ll be plenty of time for that once you grow older. For now, just be a good girl and follow the schedule your teachers give you. Okay?”

She sighed. “Okay,” she finally said, and Jack pulled her into an embrace again. With all her eloquence and maturity, it was hard to remember he was speaking to a six-year-old child.

Six and a half, he corrected himself, smiling. “Oh. Lunch is almost ready,” he said. “Let’s go find your mother.”

She cheered. “Okay!

***

Vivi and Ebele weren’t the only people Jack wanted to see.

As night was falling, he pushed open the door of a little cottage in the woods. “Mom?” he called out. “I’m here!”

A white-haired head poked out of a corridor. “Jack!” the professor exclaimed, rushing over to hug him. She seemed older than Jack remembered. Her hair had turned completely white, her eyes were tired, and many more wrinkles filled her face. Even for someone as experienced as her, running an entire planet was stressful.

It wasn’t the first time Jack saw her, of course. He made sure to visit at least every two days.

“I’m glad you’re still safe,” she said, drawing back to take a better look at him.

He laughed. “I’m fine, Mom. Even if every gang on the planet teamed up, I could beat them with a single finger.”

“I know that, but a mother can’t help but worry.”

Jack’s heart warmed up. He used to call her Professor in the past—a habit he’d picked up since joining university, a joke which stuck around. However, after everything that happened with Eric and reuniting with his family, Jack felt a new attachment to familial bonds. Calling her anything other than Mom was stupid; he realized now that he only did so in the past to create some distance between them, as young people unconsciously liked to do.

But Jack, while young for a cultivator, was now thirty-five years old and a planetarch. The antiques of youth no longer suited him.

“How is my grand-daughter?” Margaret asked—that was her name, Margaret Rust.

“She’s good,” Jack replied as he followed her deeper into the house.

“Did you tell her to stop being hard on herself?”

“I tried.”

“And?”

“I think she got it.”

Margaret smiled to herself. “You were the same way, you know. Once you got an idea inside your head, you wouldn’t listen to anyone. Only your father could somehow persuade you.”

“Yeah… I can see the similarity.”

“Did you know I built a memorial for him? A big statue on a small uninhabited island nearby. It’s called Rust Island now. I even moved over his grave—I figure it’s more special than just another tablet at the Valville Cemetery.”

“Oh? Do I hear a little illusion of grandeur?”

She playfully rolled her eyes. “Oh, grow up, Jack. I used to rule the planet—honoring my late husband and your father is natural. He would have loved the change—always liked to be a little extra.”

“I remember.” He laughed. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. The System gave us many resources, and so did you. Though I’ll never reach the D-Grade, extending my life by a few decades is possible.”

“I’m glad, but that’s not what I meant.”

She glanced at him, falling into an armchair she’d had brought over from their house in Valville. Jack sat on an equally familiar couch. “I’m coping,” Margaret finally admitted. “I miss working, sometimes, but I have to admit that running a planet in wartime almost broke me. That, and also…” She shook her head. “In any case, I am no longer fit to lead. I’m old. It’s much better for Vivi to take over, let her shape the planet as she wants and get the people familiar with it. After all, I’ll be dead soon, but she’ll stick around for centuries in the least.”

Jack shook his head. “It’s a pity the System didn’t arrive a few decades earlier. With your talent, you might have reached the D-Grade.”

“If the System arrived earlier, you wouldn’t be there, and we’d all be either dead or slaves.”

“Who knows? Maybe someone else would have taken my place.”

“Maybe… Well, enough with those subjects. Tea?”

“Yes, please.”

He didn’t need to sleep, and she could go without it for a day. Jack stayed with his mother deep into the night. He also inwardly pledged to visit as often as possible.

After he left Earth this time, who knew how long it would be before he could return. Vivi and Ebele would still be here, but his mother… No one could tell. These might be their final days together. He wanted to cherish them.

Such was the life of a cultivator: lonely and isolated. Losing track of time. Even if he used the Concept of Time to encapsulate the entire Forest of the Strong in a time distortion and stretch out the remaining few days until he had to leave, he could at most make them into a couple weeks.

It was cruelly short.

***

The Spoon Squad was crossing the sea between galaxies, approaching the Milky Way at a speed vastly surpassing that of light.

“We’re making good pace!” Sovereign Heavenly Spoon exclaimed, observing the star map projection. “I thought it would take us a week, but it looks like we’ll have arrived in just five days! Good job, Bottomless.”

“Thank you,” the cloaked form replied.

Another person approached them—a homeless-looking man with tattered clothes and crooked yellow teeth. The Sage. “I had a sudden premonition,” he said.

“Oh?” the sovereign replied. “Did someone find us?”

“I’m not sure… But, I think it will be safer if we take a small detour.”

He pointed at the astral map, using his Dao to draw a new trajectory for their ship.

The sovereign raised a brow. “Are you sure? That seems like we’re just flying in circles. It will extend our trip by three days.”

“That’s my suggestion. I can’t really explain it—if you would rather continue in a straight line, we can.”

The sovereign shook his head. “It’s fine. You’re our diviner—trusting your intuition is only proper. Besides, three days is a cheap price to pay for our increased safety. Take the new route, Bottomless.”

The cloaked form did not reply, but the ship subtly changed directions, adopting a new trajectory towards the Milky Way which seemed needlessly long.

The Sage smiled as he returned to his seat. You’re welcome, Jack.

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