Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 191: Introductions

Brock was pretty proud of himself. He had saved his little crab bros.

Dying to bone monsters all the time just wasn’t good. Therefore, Brock had gathered them up and taught them how to defend themselves.

First came training. He taught the crabs how to raise their pincers, not to snip pebbles off the walls, but to defend themselves against predators. After all, even though they were far weaker than the bone monsters, they had much room to grow! Since Brock had taken over as their big bro, he couldn’t just let them waste their potential.

Then came grouping up. By themselves, the crabs were too weak. No amount of training would let them defend against the bone monsters—at least, not in any reasonable time frame. However, they were also far more than their predators. Just touring the corridors alone was stupid.

Starting from the first crab—the one he wrestled into little brohood—Brock ventured into the corridors to find more of them. He was followed by an ever rising number of obedient crabs. Every time they met a new one, his little bros would quickly convince the new crab that Brock was their big bro. Brock’s little squad grew until it was nowhere near a squad anymore, and was instead hundreds of crabs rushing over each other in their haste to receive the teachings of their big bro.

Brock held lectures and work-out sessions. He had the crabs lift and spar against each other. He had them run up and down the corridors and walls. He taught them how to fight as a group, separating into smaller squads to surround their predator, burying it under sheer numbers. Even how to send out one crab as bait to lure the bone monsters into ambushes. Finally, he also taught them how to scout for approaching bone monsters.

They weren’t bad bros. In fact, they were excellent. Obedient, smart, and thirsty for knowledge. They made him so proud.

The crab training took one day. When Brock was done with them, the crabs had evolved from harmless crustaceans to hardened veterans. They had scouts, hit squads, and battle formations. They could hatch proper plans, protect their own, recruit and train new crabs, and gradually expand throughout the stone corridors.

They were set to conquer the labyrinth, forever banishing the bone monsters. Brock had started a war.

But it was war against oppression, so it was fine.

After the bro bootcamp was over, the crabs accompanied Brock to the guardian’s gate. They knew where it was, obviously, and took him there by the fastest route.

En route, they also defeated two bone monsters! Brock was so proud.

And then, completely accidentally, they ran into girl bro and dog bro! Brock had so much to show them. He had gotten much stronger. He had trained all these little bros.

They seemed surprised, which was odd, but Brock didn’t give it much thought. He also noticed they seemed scared when he first found them. They must have been having a terrible time in the crab bro labyrinth. Thankfully, Brock was here now. As their big bro—he was Big Bro’s first little bro, so he had seniority—he would protect them.

After girl bro and dog bro joined his group, Brock led everyone to the Guardian. Nothing much happened in the meantime. Any bone monsters were quickly assaulted and overrun by crabs, with their bones taken along as war trophies.

Soon, the walls were pitch black, and the sound of faraway voices began to reach their ears. Brock raised a hand. “Stop,” he commanded, and all the crabs came to a halt.

Big Bro had taught him to think before acting. Now, as much as he wanted to introduce these little bros to their Big Big Bro, he knew it would be a bad idea. There were more people up ahead. Strong people. If anything went wrong, his little bros would be in trouble, and he would have dragged his big bro into it as well.

That shouldn’t happen.

Brock waved goodbye to his little bros. Manly tears sparkled in his eyes. They had grown so much—they didn’t even need him anymore.

He shook the pincers of each and every one of them, then wrapped them into a group hug. Finally, he waved as the crabs disappeared around the corner, off to conquer their little corner of the world and manifest their full potential.

They grew up so fast…

“Nauja,” Dog Bro said, “I think we just witnessed a fate-turning event for Labyrinth Ring…”

“I don’t even know what to say anymore…” Girl Bro shook her head. Brock knew why Girl Bro was lost for words. She did not understand the concept of bro yet. Neither did Dog Bro. But, as their big bro, Brock would make sure they understood. It was his duty.

After all, if he could handle a hundred crab bros, why not Dog Bro and Girl Bro?

***

When Jack entered the chamber, it felt like surfacing out of water. He hadn’t even realized how confined he felt inside the labyrinth’s tight corridors.

The guardian’s gates were a set of giant bronze doors. Each rose a hundred feet, all the way to the ceiling of this stone chamber, taking up the entire far wall. Torches dotted the other walls in regular intervals, forming a grid that stretched over the entire chamber.

The chamber itself was round in shape—save for the straight far wall. Twelve exits led back into the labyrinth, leaving a hundred-foot-radius empty circle in the midst, where cultivators gathered in anticipation of the battle.

There were around a dozen people present in the chamber—though none of the other lords. Jack quickly scanned them all. Most were at or near the peak of the E-Grade. They wore mainly armor or flowing robes that didn’t obstruct movement, and they belonged to all sorts of species and factions.

One of them was the ice witch that belonged to Longsword’s team. She was speaking to someone else, but quickly broke off when Longsword appeared and came to greet him. Besides her, Jack saw a genderless stone golem, a snakeman, a humanoid woman with draconic features, as well as a man with gills and fins. The rest were all humans.

Of factions, he finally learned some more B-Grade ones. The stone golem belonged to Titan Mountain. The draconic woman, to Dragon Valley. The merfolk, to Deep Sea Shrine.

With the Animal Kingdom, Wide Swirls, and Exploding Sun, he now knew six of them. Three to go.

The moment Jack, Lord Longsword, and Bocor entered the chamber, all conversation hushed, and all eyes turned to them.

“Lord Longsword,” a few people said, approaching and nodding deeply.

“My friends,” Longsword greeted everyone, laughing and shaking their hands. “I’m glad to see you made it. Did you have any luck?”

A few people had smiles on their faces. Others, presumably the ones who hadn’t found a trial, looked disappointed. It seemed that the labyrinth wasn’t too generous.

Suddenly, however, he felt out of his depth. The cultivators who made it here were the galaxy’s cream of the crop. These were talented scions of B-Grade factions, disciples of high-level cultivators, or otherwise privileged prodigies.

Jack, in comparison, was just…Jack.

Alone as he was, without Brock, Gan Salin, Nauja, or anyone else, he suddenly felt vulnerable. Like he didn’t fit.

These cultivators all had carefully-crafted upbringing. They socialized like nobles. Longsword quickly joined their “dance,” laughing and chatting in groups, moving along like a social butterfly. These were all powerful people, and their interactions were an intense, jovial procedure that Jack had trouble following.

Even Bocor joined them, not forgetting to throw Jack a final glare. Longsword, on the other hand, just ignored him. He had realized by now that Jack was never going to become an ally.

Jack was left alone for a moment. Though he had arrived with Longsword, the others saw how the Lord paid him no attention, so they followed suit.

“Hello.” A woman approached him, in direct spite of his previous thoughts. Her smile was bright. “My name is Leafborn.”

Human (Earth-74), Level 119

Faction: Wide Swirls (B-Grade)

Title: Sixth Ring Conqueror

She was from the same faction as Longsword, but speaking to Jack meant that she and the Lord were on bad terms. Everyone else took note of that.

“I’m Jack Rust. Nice to meet you,” Jack replied politely.

Funnily enough, Jack had been in such settings before. Back when he was a PhD student, he often saw professors interacting with each other, and he engaged in these social settings himself every time he attended a conference. Those times were very similar to what he now saw—except these people had their PhD’s in fighting, not science.

Though, wizards may qualify for science, too.

In any case, Jack did not enjoy this very much. There was joy to be found in these social dances, which is why they occurred, but he now followed the path of the fist. Convoluted matters didn’t fit him.

Therefore, he simply remained polite and tried to make friends.

Leafborn, the human woman who’d first approached him, introduced him to the stone golem and the snakeman—who seemed like a nice person, in spite of all fantasy stereotypes against his species.

Jack made polite conversation, keeping some distance. He wanted to make friends, but he didn’t want to get swept up in anyone’s political games. The conversation still taught him a lot of things about the universe and its peculiarities—along with how unusual it was for someone so recently Integrated to get this far.

Thankfully, he didn’t stay there for long. Soon after Jack’s group, another group arrived at the chamber: the Exploding Sun Lady’s.

Again, everyone paused. Some people went over to greet her, while others returned to their conversations. Jack approached her, too, as did Lord Longsword.

“Priya,” Longsword said with a beaming smile. “You are fast.”

“Not as fast as you,” she replied. “Getting in early has its benefits.” She was a woman in her twenties, with tanned skin and white strips wrapped around her wrists, like those a fighter would wear. She wore a red flowing robe that left her fit arms exposed, and her eyes were sharp as she took in Longsword.

Beside her was a fat man with a large smile, who instantly created a friendly impression in Jack’s mind. There was also a captivating woman with long silver hair, whose eyes pierced Jack like a moon beam. All three were humans of the Exploding Sun faction.

“This is Jack Rust,” Longsword introduced Jack, mentioning him directly for the first time since arriving. “We met in the labyrinth, and we helped each other make it through.”

“Jack Rust?” Priya’s eyes focused on him. “Why is your name familiar?”

“During my Integration, a member of your faction became my master. Master Shol. I believe he was a deacon?”

Her eyes lit up. “Ah, of course! Brother Shol has spoken about you. It’s impressive that you made it here, Jack, but don’t worry; I will protect you from here on out.”

“Thank you, but I believe I can protect myself,” he replied. Her kind eyes turned intrigued, and her smile didn’t falter, but grew.

“So be it, then. I look forward to fighting by your side.”

Inwardly, he heaved a sigh of relief. On the outside, he smiled confidently. “Likewise.”

“And, let’s have a chat later, okay? There will be plenty of time.”

His smile widened. “Sure.” He looked forward to hearing about the Exploding Sun—and his master. With any luck, they might even help him save Earth.

Raucous laughter came from the side as the fat man approached. “What a brave brother!” he shouted, stretching out a hand. “Let’s get along, brother Jack. The name’s Chotu—Chotu Malhotra. And the beauty here is Kareena.” He motioned at the long-haired woman, who raised a brow at him.

“I can introduce myself, Chotu.”

“Blame me for wanting to help.”

“In any case, I’m Kareena.” She turned to Jack. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” he replied.

“Have you heard anything about Minerva?” Longsword asked Priya. Minerva was the Hand of God Lady. “If you’re here, I assume…”

“She should be arriving soon,” Priya responded. “We ran into her in the labyrinth, actually. It should be any moment now.”

On cue, three more forms appeared from the side corridor. All three wore black, and all were peak E-Grades from the Hand of God, but they belonged to different species.

At the front walked a tall, slender woman with pale skin, thin features, and dark hair that reached below her shoulders. Her black gown reached her ankles, and there was a certain gravitas to her steps, like she commanded the very earth she walked on, along with everyone’s attention.

Longsword and Priya approached her at once to exchange greetings.

Following Lady Minerva were two people; one was a tall, slim man with light green skin, who had the ears of a deer. He wore a long, brown robe, while his eyes were slightly farther apart than a human’s.

Dryad, Level 124

Faction: Hand of God (B-Grade)

Title: Sixth Ring Conqueror

Jack was intrigued, but his attention was instantly stolen by the second follower of Lady Minerva.

This was a pale-skinned man with black eyes, clad in a formal black suit that seemed completely out of place in Trial Planet. To Jack’s surprise, he knew this man, all the way from Earth.

He was Vocrich, the Hand of God representative on Earth, the one who hosted the Integration Auction and later turned a blind eye to the Animal Kingdom’s excessive bullying.

“Shit,” Jack said.

After the initial surprise, he realized that Vocrich being here made sense. He was at the peak E-Grade, had never revealed a Ring Conqueror title, and had good standing with his faction, since he was sent to oversee Earth’s Integration. He had probably secured a good reward after selling out Jack, too.

Come to think of it, Nauja had also mentioned the Hand of God having someone with darkness powers in Space Ring.

The two of them immediately locked eyes. If anything, Vocrich seemed more surprised than Jack himself, and walked over to meet him.

“Jack Rust,” he said, looking him up and down. “Seeing you here was the last thing I expected.”

“Yeah. I’m not dead yet. Surprise.”

“It is.” Vocrich smirked. “And I have to admit, your progress is superb. If we didn’t have a rule against accepting wanted criminals of any B-Grade faction, I might have invited you into Hand of God.”

“I would refuse,” Jack replied with a smile of his own. “You left me to die at the end of the Tournament. I thought you were supposed to observe the rules.”

Vocrich frowned. “That was business. What fool expects the rules to actually be followed?”

“Yeah, I know now. Doesn’t mean it’s right. Just to be clear, I don’t hold too much of a grudge, but… Well, a little bit. I believe an apology would go a long way.”

Vocrich laughed. “You know, you are actually the reason I’m here in the first place. The business deal I made with the Animal Kingdom gave me the capital to join Lady Minerva’s team—and, if not for some unforeseen circumstances, we would have a lot more Hand of God members here.”

Jack looked around. Besides the three of them, he actually couldn't see anyone from the Hand of God.

He also had a sneaking suspicion that the “unforeseen circumstances” were him entering—and revealing—the Ancient ruins. Gan Salin had mentioned that the Hand of God members in Trial Planet started asking strange questions right about then. Given the gravity of the System’s announcement, it wouldn’t surprise Jack if the Hand of God had pulled most of their people from the Garden Assault to focus on finding the ruins.

“I’m glad my near-death helped you, Vocrich,” he said.

“Me too, my friend. Let’s stay out of each other’s way, okay?”

“We’ll see.”

With a final smile, Vocrich walked away. He actually seemed to be in a good mood—the polar opposite of Jack’s.

Guess I’m enemies with two Lords already. Nice. At least the Exploding Sun people seem nice.

“Your attention, everyone,” Lady Minerva spoke up, finally done with greetings. Her voice was light, intense, and faintly bored, as if addressing these cultivators was a chore. “Since all Lords are present and we have enough people, we will move to fight the Guardian immediately. It will take some days for a new Guardian to be created, so anyone who arrives here later will have the opportunity to enter Garden Ring as well.”

Everyone murmured in agreement. Jack, however, had a thought.

“Excuse me,” he asked, raising his hand, “this might be a given for everyone else, but I suppose we will all fight the Guardian together to get the Seventh Ring Conqueror title, right? In that case, will the people who arrive later get it as well?”

Lady Minerva stared at him for a moment before responding. “Everyone present will assist in taking down the Guardian. Even we Lords cannot handle it ourselves—though we will weaken it for you. As for anyone who arrives later, no, they will not get the title. Entering Garden Ring is more than enough for them.”

Jack hesitated. That meant his friends, who weren’t here yet, would miss out. However, he couldn’t exactly ask everyone to wait, could he? Especially since the majority of this group were either neutral towards him or enemies.

At that moment, however, one more group entered the chamber from behind Lady Minerva. It was Gan Salin, Nauja, and—bless the gods and all that was holy—Brock.

Jack felt such relief at seeing his brorilla safe and sound. Brock gave him a thumbs-up while Gan Salin waved intently.

Jack turned back to the Lady. “Nevermind,” he said. “All good. Let’s fight.”