Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 115: The Plight of the Fair Way

“Well?” Vlossana asked, jumping on a crate that lay by the side. Jack’s room, the currently unused cargo hold, didn’t have much in the way of furniture; just the hammock he’d made in the back, a chair and table that Vashter had brought him on the second day, and some old crates by the side. It was on one of those crates that Vlossana had jumped, staring at him with bright eyes. Her shirt was the same color as her eyes—sapphire—and her long skirt the same as her hair—purple.

“Well, what?”

“Well, why did you give the captain a fake name?”

“Hey!”

As an immortal, captain Dordok could stretch his senses farther than should be possible. He could spy on everyone in the ship if he wanted to. And, though he had assured Jack that he wasn’t going to do that… Well, if he did, how would anyone know?

Vlossana laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ve been traveling on the Ram for a month now. Dordok isn’t the sort of person who would eavesdrop on others. He may look tough, but he’s actually a big softie!”

Jack wasn’t sure if he would classify the hulking cyclops captain as a softie.

“Fine,” he said, accepting that Vlossana wouldn’t drop the subject. “How do you know I didn’t give you a fake name?”

“Because I was a random girl in the elevator line.”

“So? Do you never lie to strangers?”

“Oh, come on, Jack,” she said, letting herself drop to a seated position. “I could understand lying to the captain and me both. But only to me? That’s so far-fetched. Any reason that would make you lie to me would apply tenfold to the crew of the Trampling Ram.”

Jack sighed inwardly. Vlossana may be childishly excited, but she was not an idiot. “Maybe I lie to strangers for fun,” he tried weakly, but not even he believed himself. Vlossana raised a brow.

“Really? Then I should let the captain know. I’m sure he’d love to know your hobbies.”

Jack looked at her, then sighed. “Don’t call me Jack, even in private,” he said. “It might slip out in public.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m good with secrets.” She leaned forward, her eyes full of expectation. “So? What are you hiding? Are there people after you? Are you a criminal? Are people hunting you out of jealousy? Dad told me you were integrated very recently, and you’re already E-Grade. Oh, I know! Did you steal from someone important in Pearl Bay and are now trying to abscond with the treasure? Or did you…kill someone?”

Her eyes widened in fear. She took a step back.

“Of course not. What are you thinking?” Jack replied out of reflex. “Hmm. Well, actually, I did kill someone, but it’s not what it sounds like. I had no choice.”

“That’s what they always say.”

“No, really! I… There was a person who was my enemy, and I had to kill him or he would do terrible things to the people I care about.”

“I see. And then?”

“Well, his family wasn’t too happy about it.”

“Really? Who would have thought?”

“Hey, no sass here. I’m telling a story.”

“I’ll try!” she replied, laughing. Jack shot her a glare before continuing. That also gave him time to think. He had to phrase things in a way that wouldn’t sound too vague, but which also wouldn’t give her enough clues to connect him with the Animal Kingdom’s scions.

“So, I had to run away from them. Though I’m strong, there are some real monsters on my planet, and the guy I killed just happened to be their relative. An ally promised to keep my family safe for a while, but…” He shook his head for dramatic effect. “...that protection will not last long. That is why I am touring the galaxy now. I must get strong enough to face my enemies, and fast, or everyone I know will die.”

“Oh, wow.” Vlossana gasped, her eyes wide as saucers. “Wait. You aren’t lying to me again, are you?”

“Everything I said was the truth.” Not the complete truth, but the truth regardless.

“Hmm…” She hummed, inspecting him. She then turned her gaze to Brock, who crossed his arms and stared back at her.

“Okay, I believe you,” she finally said, bubbling with energy. “You have quite the weight on your shoulders. How are you holding up? Are you stressed? Afraid? Anxious?”

He laughed at her ill-timed excitement, then took a moment to think about it. His expression sombered.

“I am not sure, honestly,” he finally replied. “I suppose I should feel all those things, but I don’t; not really. I’m already doing my best. I guess worrying about it will change nothing.”

“I see. Were you always like that?”

He thought about it. “No, not always.”

“Then, what changed?”

The System did. My entire world. My perspective.

“My Dao, I guess,” he replied, looking at his hands. He clenched them. “A fist does not worry. It only advances. It conquers.”

“Sounds like quite a fist.”

“It is mine.” He shrugged. “And the farther I go, the stronger it becomes.”

“Hmm. Cryptic. I like that.” She jumped upright, leaping to the next crate and balancing on its edge. “So, what’s your plan? To get stronger fast, I mean.”

“Travel the galaxy. Try to get a Trial Planet token, if possible.” He shrugged. Of course, he already had two Trial Planet tokens. He just wasn’t willing to share the information. “Otherwise, I can just throw myself in dangerous situations and hope I survive. Opportunity comes with danger.”

“You know what else comes with danger? Death.”

“I’ve been through worse.” He shrugged again. “What about you? What are you doing?”

“That’s a personal question, isn’t it?” He glared at her until she laughed. “Okay, okay, I was just joking. I’m… Well, I guess I’m just being my father’s daughter. Following him around on business.”

“How come? You’re already E-Grade. You can do whatever you like.”

“I can, but this is a good opportunity to see the world outside my home planet,” she replied, sitting back down and propping her chin in both her palms. “Traveling off-planet is very dangerous. All sorts of things could happen. Now that my father has to report to the Animal Kingdom office in the Belarian Outpost, it’s a good chance for me to follow and see what the galaxy looks like under his protection.”

“His protection? He’s only F-Grade.”

“He’s a Count. Captain Dordok has sworn to protect us with his life.”

“I see,” Jack replied, eyes widening in realization. “And you can’t teleport because he’s only F-Grade. That’s why you have to ride a starship.”

“Exactly,” she replied sadly. “My father is the only F-Grade high noble on the continent, but the Animal Kingdom requested him personally. They did it to shame us. To make the Fair Way continent look weak.”

“That’s not very nice.”

“It isn’t, no.” She shook her head. Suddenly, her eyes were filled with joy again. “On the bright side, it means I can travel with safety, comfort, and for free! The Viceroy’s paying for our trip, obviously.”

“A silver lining.”

“Exactly!”

Jack stayed quiet for a moment. “What’s your Dao?” he finally asked.

“Excuse me?”

“I told you my Dao. Isn’t it fair that you do the same?”

“No you didn’t.”

“It’s the fist. I thought that much was clear.”

She mumbled something. “Yeah, okay, it was,” she replied, then looked up. She seemed apprehensive. “Why do you want to know?”

“I’m simply curious. How did a girl full of joy and excitement like you manage to reach Level 49, let alone form a Dao Seed?”

He really was curious. Back on Earth, reaching Level 49 took the apex of skill and sacrifice. There was a difference between Earth and the galaxy, sure, but seeing such a seemingly immature girl reach such heights… It contrasted hard with what he knew.

Vlossana looked at him like he was an idiot. “I reached Level 49 with experience balls, of course.”

“Yeah, but do you mean to tell me you fought nothing? No monsters, no enemies, absolutely nothing?”

“I mean… I do have a Physical instructor,” she muttered. “But my Dao is not combat-oriented. Why would I fight anyone?”

Jack nodded. “Of course,” he replied. “We don’t have many of those on my planet. Integration favors combat.”

“Oh, I can imagine! Goblins jumping out of bushes, meteors raining from the sky, dragons roaring from volcanoes… It must have been really scary!”

“Well, it wasn’t exactly like that, but yes. It was scary.”

“Ohhh… Well, non-combat Classes advance differently. We just have to apply our Dao to its field. Someone with the Dao of Management, for example, just needs to manage people effectively and grow their skills, and then bam, they level up.”

“That’s handy. So no danger of death everyday.”

“No…but in return, progress is slower.” She shrugged. Her eyes suddenly glimmered like she’d gotten a puppy and was dying to show it to someone. “Well, since you ask, I follow the Dao of Joy! You may see me as too excited right now, childish even, but that’s only because I’m missing some Dao Roots. When my set is complete, I will be the greatest Countess ever!”

“A set of Dao Roots!?” Jack’s eyes widened. “How will you form a Dao Tree like that!? I thought anything above one was very risky.”

“My Dao is not intended to reach the D-Grade.” She shook her head with a sad smile. “In our entire continent, only the Viceroy has reached that level. There’s no way I could do it. Collecting a few Dao Roots and becoming a fine Countess would be more than enough for me. I will make all my people happy!”

“If you want to make people happy, why not the Dao of Happiness?”

Vlossana’s face soured. Jack felt that he’d said something wrong. He hurried to change the subject.

“Anyway, um… Is that all you wanted?”

“Yeah!” She flashed him a bright smile, recovering instantly from the previous sourness. “Information and a chat. Cultivating alone can be so boring sometimes… We should chat more often, if you don’t mind. Which you don’t. Right?”

“Sure,” Jack replied. He meant it. Though he had to be careful not to expose his connection with Earth, he had to admit that cultivating alone for a week had been…tiresome. Even the occasional chores he had to do were beginning to seem like fun breaks.

Plus, Vlossana was fun. Her joy was contagious—as was apt, given her Dao. Even Brock seemed happy, and his number of thrown poops so far was zero.

“I’ll be going now,” Vlossana said, hopping off her crate. “See you later, Jack.”

“Can you please call me Jared?”

“No.” She laughed and left. Purple hair drifting behind her was the last thing he saw before she closed the door, and Jack was once again alone with Brock, closed in a barely illuminated room with no windows—only a fool would expose their cargo hold to potential thieves, and crates had no need to see the view.

Hmm. Should I try meditating in the main room? he asked himself, but left that thought for later. He had something more important to consider now.

His conversation with Vlossana had reminded him that, outside this isolated starship, the world was still turning. The Animal Kingdom’s machinations were reaching beyond Earth. Who knows what was happening on that planet.

He needed to get strong fast.

I’ve stabilized enough, he decided, face tightening in seriousness. It was time to explore his new Dao Vision.

***

Harambe watched the little humans training in front of his bananarm tree with disinterest. Their forms were perfect, their stances balanced. He had already shown them everything once. There was nothing more he could—

One human bent a bit, making the push-ups easier. Harambe growled instantly, scaring the offender back in line. He snorted, crossing his large, burly arms and throwing a bananarm at her head as punishment. It bounced off into the grass.

Why couldn’t these humans follow instructions?

Times were…confusing for Harambe. He was the Big Bro around here, but even he didn’t understand everything. Humans came occasionally to take bananarms. Others joined his forest gym, begging him to train them. There was a terrifying metal human wandering the woods, and a weak little human ordering others around. There was also a magic human occasionally coming to the forest to talk by himself.

Harambe didn’t understand much of that. He let them be, anyway. He could sense that they meant good. And, most importantly, he trusted Jack Rust, the human Big Bro.

Enough to entrust his only son to him. Compared to that, letting these human little bros into his forest was nothing.

A void appeared in Harambe’s heart, and his eyes were suddenly tinged with sadness. He had given away his own son to another man. He missed him so much. But it had to be done. Brorillas must be strong, and Jack Rust could make Harambe’s son stronger than Harambe ever could.

So why did he feel so sad?

He was worried, too. There had been no news of Jack Rust or his son for a long time. The magic human and the frail human had come to Harambe some days ago, saying that Jack and Brock went on a trip and would be back eventually…but what if something went wrong? What if he had sent his own son to die alone?

It had to be done, he reassured himself. Brorillas are strong. Son will surpass father, and father will be proud. Strength then is more important than sadness now… Even if Aya worries. Even if I, Harambe, worry.

No. Brock will return. He is strong. And Jack Rust is strong. We are bros. Bros must believe in bros.

There was something gradually developing inside Harambe. It felt like a thought that kept coming back, stronger every time. Stronger than any other. More complete.

A Big Thought.

But every time he tried to focus on it, it escaped again.

No matter, Harambe thought. I, Harambe, will Big Think it. Eventually.