The Bloodless Legend: A LitRPG Apocalypse

After a finger-licking lunch of pies, pastries, jams, and roasted mushrooms, Kai scampered back to his wooden deck. He had been putting this off for a while. For the first time in days Kai was alone again. While he mostly trusted Algrom, he had seen greed in the Vanarian’s eyes.

Kai had noticed an additional item in his inventory when reclaiming remains on the battlefield. Since then it had been on his mind. Based on the name, either Altair Sol’s heritage crystal had created it, Kura had, or some combination of that. However his leading theory was that Arcturus had slipped it into his ring at some point, considering Hafez could supposedly send crystals straight to Kura, perhaps Arcturus could send items too.

Starforger’s Legacy.

Details: An ancient tome, detailing the uses of Starforges.

Rarity: Ancient (3)

Kai trembled with anticipation. Had something about his soul or aura been familiar to Arcturus? The memory forger had seen his memories, which meant he had witnessed Kai meeting the Starforger. That’s probably a rare occurrence, did he give this to me hoping for freedom in the future? Or perhaps it’s a trap by Hafez? His curiosity got the better of him and his exploration senses were tingling.

Withdraw.

A shining white light coalesced into a tome in his open hands. The thick cover was a luxurious midnight purple. Any caution he had was replaced with excitement as his trembling fingers caressed the copper filigree on the cover. It depicted what appeared to be a sun, surrounded by planets.

Kai tried to open the tome — gently at first, then with less respect and more force. It didn’t budge.

Maybe the tome only recognises certain people or auras? He channelled aura into the tome until it was soaked. The thick clasps on the sides popped open, releasing the smell of old parchment, which made him nostalgic about his time in the monastery library.

The first page simply read: Legacy of a Starforger. Turning the page, words faded in like living ink. Step one: Reclaim the Starforge. What exactly is a Starforge? The only structure Kai recalled seeing in the heritage crystal mindscape was the crystal sandstone Rubik's Cube-like building. He turned the page, it was empty. He gently turned a few more pages before flicking through them. Why are they all empty?

He grinned when he reached a page titled: Blueprints. But there were no other words, would he need the Starforge first? He flipped through even more blank pages till he came upon the back of the tome. Stardust velvet contained nine indents, three amethyst crystals nestled in the top row, the middle row contained one emerald crystal, and the last row was empty.

3 Waystone Crystals

Details: Channel aura for 10 minutes to open a wormhole to Starforge U74SF000001 for 10 minutes.

Charges: 1/1

Recharge: 10 days.

Return Crystal

Details: Channel aura for 10 minutes to reopen a nearby collapsed wormhole.

Charges: 1/1

Recharge: 10 days.

He smiled with relief, letting out a breath he didn’t notice he was holding. Well, finding the Starforge will be easy if I can just open a wormhole to it. But with limited charges, he would need to be careful about when and how often to use it. Are wormholes even safe? He had a gut feeling it would take him to the space island he witnessed from his heritage crystal. In which case he figured it should be safe, at least he had some idea of what to expect.

Kai plucked a Waystone Crystal from the tome and twirled it in his fingers, watching rays of purple light refract over plants and the wooden floor like lilac petals.

He channelled aura into the Waystone Crystal and watched intently, waiting for something to happen. At the one-minute mark a pop echoed, disrupting the silence as a rent in space the size of a grape ripped into existence. Kai jumped, his sudden loss in focus made the wormhole shrink like a dried raisin starved of moisture.

He hastily channelled more aura, his reserves draining. Sweat was in his eye, but he dared not move to wipe it. Gradually the wormhole grew in size until all colour was drained from the amethyst crystal, leaving it clear. He inspected the wormhole while returning the crystal and tome to Kura.

Wormhole to Starforge U74SF000001

10 minutes remain

He gaped at the wormhole, an undulating portal through reality like a window to another world. He cautiously peered through at different angles, unable to tell if it was the same place he’d visited. The landmass had been obliterated. Floating in space a hundred feet away was a familiar-looking sandstone Rubik's Cube. It lay dead-still, its runes emitting a dull light — that has to be the Starforge. Debris, ice and chunks of rock orbited around it like ancient sentries occasionally bumping into each other.

Light from distant suns rippled through massive shards of chromatic ice that circled the Starforge like halos of blue fire. One thing was for sure, a long, long time had passed since Altair Sol, or anyone was probably here. How was he supposed to get to the Starforge safely?

8 minutes remain

Kai bit his lip. His eyes hastily sifted through the contents of the wormhole. Grass and plants looked frozen in time, perfectly preserved in space, he had no idea how. A glint caught his eye as a body orbited into view from behind the Starforge. He strained his eyes, it was motionless, perhaps a corpse; either way it resembled the elder Starforger, though it was hard to see.

Kai gulped, his eyes wide. He couldn’t imagine a being that could hurl suns losing a fight, let alone dying. What had happened, where was Altair? What secrets did the body and the Starforge hold?

6 minutes remain

He was running low on time and didn’t want to waste charges from the other crystals unnecessarily.

He gently attempted to put his hand through the wormhole, but met some resistance, like an invisible membrane. Brushing against it, cold seeped into his hands, frosting them like glass. That’s not good.

How could he travel that distance to the Starforge and back before becoming a frozen corpse? Wouldn’t he just float away? Perhaps he could pull the body towards him with a long rope? Either way, he wasn’t going to just jump in. Only a fool tests the depths of a river with both feet.

Thus far he’d been unable to absorb aura that matched his soul’s affinities, and had been reliant on aura crystals and his soul’s natural regeneration over time. Kai tried to pull in aura through the wormhole but the membrane seemed to block his efforts.

4 minutes remain

Kai sucked in his teeth, stupid timer, okay let’s move a little faster, what if I just put my hand in? Not expecting more than the coldness of space, he pushed his hand through the membrane, and it popped like a bubble.

The wormhole roared to life like an injured beast, trying to suck him into its hungry void. Agony tore through him, ripping a scream from his throat as his skin burnt from frost. He reflexively applied a coat of aura over his entire body which slowed the freezing process. His numb body was tugged towards the wormhole as a pie he was saving for later rushed past him into the howling vortex.

The wormhole was inches from his face. Increase, he thought, maximising his body weight. His momentum stopped. He took a shaky breath, competing with the wormhole for oxygen as his understanding of space deepened.

He thickened his coat of aura and trudged backwards several steps. His aura reserves drained rapidly and his muscles burned with strain while his teeth chattered from the cold.

The suction power had weakened at this distance and he could just focus on surviving, but refused to waste this opportunity. Standing still, he faced the wormhole and tried once more to absorb aura. For the first time he truly tasted the flavours of the cosmos, gravity, space and stars. His eyes rolled into the back of his head despite the terrifying situation. The sensation coursing through his veins was sublime and he greedily ripped rivers of dense aura through the wormhole that must have been saturating for hundreds or thousands of years. His soul rotated, refined, and compressed the aura. Like two beasts trying to consume each other, Kai and the wormhole roared in defiance as they tried to tear each other apart, a storm of wind and aura snapping between them.

3 minutes remain

He could do this; he just had to hold out a little longer. Then he heard a voice behind him that made his blood run even colder.

“Woah! What’s that?” Matt exclaimed, rushing into the room, curiosity blazing in his eyes.

“NO! Don’t com—”

Matt’s curiosity was snuffed out, his eyes widening in terror as he hurtled towards the sucking void, a screaming blur of black and white fur.

Panic jolted and warmed Kai’s numb body into action. He leapt off the floor with such force that the floorboards cracked. He intercepted, snatching Matt out of the air and pulling him into a bear hug as Kai spun out of control, dragged towards the roaring void. He slammed both feet into fractured floorboards, skidding across them. His Hotplates flared with black scales, but splinters still pierced his bare feet.

2 minutes remain

He clung to Matt, continuing to thicken his aura; his head flared in pain as his depleting reserves caused a massive headache while he tried to keep them both in place. He gasped for air, deprived of oxygen while debris and leaves tore past them.

Kai was inches from the wormhole. Matt’s ears were flat, frosted lips quivering, claws dug through Kai’s shirt into his chest, however Matt did not cry. Kai forcefully attempted to coat Matt in aura, anything that he could sink it into, like clothes to increase weight. He screamed out in pain as damaged floorboards started ripping up, slamming into his back and inching them towards oblivion.

1 minutes remain

Kai sunk his feet down further into the wood as if it was beach sand. If he moved he would slip on the blood from his own feet and they would spiral into space and die. Grasping at straws, his oxygen-deprived brain reflexively transitioned into a defensive state that focused on being still, wasting no movements and only rebuffing attacks. What he couldn’t dodge, he decreased the weight of when it collided with his body. He could feel a stack of planks and small furniture pressed against his back. Cold sweat poured down his face as he stared into oblivion.

He was flooded with relief when the starving abyss mercifully closed moments before his aura ran dry. The wormhole snapped shut like a beast shredding paper.

Kai and Matt collapsed with their backs to the floor. The room was a complete wreck.

Kai stared up at the sun-dappled canopy while panting for breath. A moment later, Matt stood over him, glaring while brushing frost off his fur.

“That was amazing! How are you so fearless?” Matt rasped.

Kai let out a nervous laugh, he was expecting to be shouted at. The Rakin had proven surprisingly resilient.

“I was afraid,” Kai said.

Matt frowned so hard that frost snapped off his eyebrows. “How can you be brave if you are afraid?”

“That is the only time you can be br-brave,” Kai said. Matt’s face remained sceptical.

“Being brave doesn’t mean you don’t feel fear, it just means finding a way through, to act despite the fear,” Kai said slowly as he read a new notification.

-Soul aura-

Soul: F-Awakened (Late)

Affinity: Cosmic, Gravity, Hydrokinesis, Martial.

Sphere of influence: 9 feet

Details: Amount of aura, density, circulation speed, and recovery.

Kai grinned. His soul had advanced another step, from middle to late and was almost at E-grade. He could also feel how this had improved his Weight Surge aura trait even further. When his soul was in the early stages he would have estimated he could increase the weight of something by several times, now it felt like that had doubled.

Kai raised his hand towards the sky. Every strike from me is like getting hit by a dozen people in the same spot at the same time, and that’s not even including my technique and body grade.