Aura Farming (Apocalypse LitRPG) [BOOK ONE COMPLETE]

Even as his stomach dropped and his heart lurched, John's brain kicked into overdrive.

Pragmatically, he could still wait out the situation from here and see how it all played out. He had supplies, and an ostensibly safe place. A ping of Mana Sense surpassed what he was seeing on the cameras—there were more monsters than the security feed could see—and a few applications of Soul Vision revealed that the threats ranged from green to yellow. The thing looming right outside the door of the safe room was a green. That wasn't good. But it clearly hadn't a way to get inside, and didn't seem inclined to bring reinforcements. He could probably survive here.

Morally, though, that decision would be more than a bit questionable. Leaving three other humans to their fate seemed too cold. Considering he hadn't come close to another person since leaving behind that fast food cashier to lure away the monster after her, and any other sightings had been rare and only ever from a distance, he was starting to think the planet's population had dropped drastically in the last twelve hours. He hadn't even seen many animals, come to think of it. Just those parrots. For the sake of humanity's survival, it could end up being important to preserve as many lives as possible.

They were clearly somewhat combat-capable, too. Looking at the armour and weapons they'd picked up, he figured it wasn't entirely through luck that they'd made it this far. They probably had some monster kills under their belts. There was a chance that strength in numbers would come into play, and they'd be able to face more dangerous opponents as a group than he would alone. Anything that heightened his chances of survival had to come under consideration.

Most of all, he had to think about the cool factor. What would earn him the most Aura in this situation? Sitting by and doing nothing seemed like the cowardly option. But the familiar anxiety gnawing at the base of his stomach told him that none of the skills or Skills he'd picked up would translate to suddenly becoming a social savant. Bumbling his way through an awkward conversation seemed like a surefire way to haemorrhage Aura. Bantering with monsters that couldn't talk back or laugh at him was one thing. People were another matter entirely.

But did he have to talk to them at all? Multiple movie genres used the mysterious stranger trope for a reason, after all. If he stayed stoic and aloof to cover up how little he wanted to actually talk to them, he could probably still look cool.

However, that still left him open to awkward body language and other embarrassing mishaps. He could trip at an inopportune moment. A bit of monster blood could stain his face or clothes in an ignominious way. Or they could just straight up see through his awkwardness, not buying the enigmatic lone warrior act for even a moment.

Trying to be optimistic about the situation, he figured Ninja would afford him some style points. He hadn't had much chance to test out the practiced warrior-like grace that came with the Skill since he'd been running for his life at the time, but he knew he naturally defaulted to prowling around now, new instincts telling him to keep to the shadows. That would go a long way towards fulfilling the mysterious archetype and offsetting the awkwardness he felt. Combine that with Shadow Stream to set up a magic ninja persona, and they'd surely be impressed, as long as he kept his mouth shut as much as possible.

Mana Blade and Soul Arrow would hopefully dazzle them too. Judging by the regular weapons they all clutched, they hadn't received any magical upgrades. Or if they had, it was something less obvious. Using Soul Vision in their direction yielded different results to the monsters, and he didn't know how to judge it just yet. Did silver mean they were regular humans? Or was there something else to it?

Regardless, he was starting to build a little confidence. Thoughts of humiliation still buzzed around in his brain like wasps harassing him, but he fought them off with memories of the somewhat cool things he'd already done today. Less than twenty-four hours ago, the thought of John Woods slaying half a dozen monsters would have seemed laughable. If someone told him this morning he was destined to be wielding a magic sword and firing magic arrows around, he would've called them crazy.

If all that was possible, maybe he could interact with some other human beings without it going dreadfully wrong. Besides, maybe impressing them with his cool magic shit would gain him more Aura. He had to test it out, at least.

John stared at the monitors, watching the monsters prowl around the house. With his Mana Sense, he counted eleven of them inside, though only nine were presently on the screens. Eight, if one didn't count the glittery one that was preventing a camera from getting a good picture of it. More roamed throughout his range.

A grim thought occurred to him. There was always a chance more and more monsters would show up. If he left it too long, the situation out there was equally likely to get worse as it was to get better. Causing a ruckus would attract more, but if the humans down there drew attention to themselves with their heroic final stand, the monsters might flock here anyway. Would they leave after, or would some of them wonder why the cloak monster was lingering in the master bedroom?

It was a dizzying conundrum.

The three humans were huddled close together, whispering, while the centipede monster reared up atop the pool table, its antennae twitching left to right, searching. The man was speaking frantically, gesturing wildly. The smaller woman in the plate armour seemed to be hissing back at him, while the taller woman in her chain mail was speaking through a clenched jaw, looking back and forth between her two companions with pleading eyes. It was a small wonder they hadn't given themselves away.

Deciding it would be possible to go out and intervene without embarrassing himself was all well and good, but he also had to take into account his chances of surviving the act. If these three were too weak, they'd be a burden. It was a horrible thought to have, but it was the truth. He was no powerhouse himself, not yet, but he was getting to a level of competence where he felt he could protect himself somewhat. Could he protect three people weaker than him? It didn't seem likely.

Forced to his feet by nervous energy, he paced back and forth in front of the monitors, keeping one eye on the feed as he thought. He didn't want to let them die. He didn't want to get himself killed. Doing nothing would feel like a dick move. Dying would feel even worse. The continued survival of humanity surely had to be a major priority. The continued survival of John Woods also ranked up there pretty highly, in his own estimation.

And throughout all that, he had to take Aura into account. There were potential losses and gains either way.

This dichotomy chased itself around in his mind. Long seconds stretched. The monsters patrolled around the house, prowling, alert, but they didn't seem to be versed in the ways of properly searching. If they straight up just weren't very smart, that could be a boon for him and his potential allies. Thinking back, nothing he'd faced had displayed particularly keen intelligence. Even the toughest fight so far had involved a monster that just leapt at him over and over, its only variation being in how it tried to predict where he would dodge.

John came to a stop, his fingers flexing at his sides. At this point, he was overthinking things. Stalling on a decision.

He closed his eyes and summoned the Aura menu, opening up everything he could to assess his options.

Increase Vitality (Level 2 -> Level 3): 400 Aura

Increase Strength (Level 2 -> Level 3): 400 Aura

Increase Agility (Level 2 -> Level 3): 400 Aura

Increase Mind (Level 2 -> Level 3): 400 Aura

Increase Arcane (Level 1 -> Level 2): 200 Aura

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Increase Talent (Level 1 -> Level 2): 200 Aura

Unlock Inventory: 10000 Aura

Upgrade Mana Sense (Level 0 -> Level 1): 500 Aura

Upgrade Soul Vision (Level 0 -> Level 1): 500 Aura

Upgrade Rest (Level 0 -> Level 1): 500 Aura

Upgrade Shadow Stream (Level 1 -> Level 2): 1000 Aura

Upgrade Mana Blade (Level 1 -> Level 2): 1000 Aura

Upgrade Soul Arrow (Level 1 -> Level 2): 1000 Aura

Upgrade Ninja (Level 1 -> Level 2): 1000 Aura

Upgrade Duellist (Level 1 -> Level 2): 1000 Aura

Upgrade Marksman (Level 1 -> Level 2): 1000 Aura

View Spell Menu

View Skill Menu

Level 0 Spells:

Sparks: 200 Aura

Purify Water: 200 Aura

Level 1 Spells:

Fireball: 500 Aura

Wind Shear: 500 Aura

Electric Shock: 500 Aura

Aqua Shot: 500 Aura

Rock Shield: 500 Aura

Flash Freeze: 500 Aura

Light Burst: 500 Aura

Level 0 Skills:

First Aid: 200 Aura

Navigation: 200 Aura

Forage: 200 Aura

Build Fire: 200 Aura

Find Water: 200 Aura

Level 1 Skills:

Second Wind: 500 Aura

Limit Break: 500 Aura

Accelerate: 500 Aura

Insight: 500 Aura

Suppress Soul: 500 Aura

Grappler: 500 Aura

Striker: 500 Aura

Current Aura: 400

Reading through all that, he took a deep breath to centre himself. It was a respectable repertoire. He'd put together a decently versatile build so far, he felt, and he still had possibilities on the table if things went pear-shaped.

"Okay," he whispered. "Okay."

Whatever he ended up doing, he needed to make plans.

~~~

When the safe room door opened, inky shadows spilled out into the master bedroom. The cloak monster had rushed for the door the moment it had unsealed, but retreated with a cat-like hiss when it saw the roiling wave of darkness.

John took that as confirmation that it couldn't see through his Shadow Stream. He'd been concerned, since the creature itself was pretty shadowy, with some kind of darkness effect hiding its face beneath the hood.

Swapping to Soul Arrow, he took aim, drew, and loosed. Marksman kicked in, and his spell flew true, spearing right through the monster's hooded face.

The cloak monster was thrown back into the wall by the force of the attack. The Soul Arrow briefly lit up the space inside its hood, where an emaciated black face had its jaw stretched in a silent scream. The arrow had pierced right through its eye. A stream of runny purple fluid poured from the wound, and it only got worse when the arrow faded, leaving behind a gaping hole. With the arrow gone, though, its face plunged back into darkness.

John's new Ninja instincts kicked in, and he darted swiftly away from the spot he'd just been in, making sure not to rush.

A second later, the cloak monster threw itself at the spot where the arrow had come from. It plunged into the darkness, only to sail through empty air and slam into the wall on the opposite side of the safe room. It left a splatter of fluid.

John considered shutting it in there, but didn't want to give up his hiding spot in case he was forced to retreat back up here. Another Soul Arrow speared through its torso, spraying more fluid, and it gave a screeching hiss, once again flying for the spot he'd now vacated. It whistled furiously when it merely hit another wall.

Keeping low, he quickly swapped back to Shadow Stream. Darkness billowed out from his hands. He had it at the maximum power it would give, dumping incredible volumes of oily clouds every moment. In what felt like no time, the master bedroom was filling up with shadows, a black line climbing the walls like the room was flooding.

From here, the world was greyscale, but at least he could see. The cloak monster thrashed around, disoriented in the darkness. He waited for the entire room to be full of darkness before he loosed another arrow. The shadows wouldn't leave until he cut his connection to them.

With Marksman rummaging around in whatever part of his brain was in charge of hand-eye coordination, it was impossible to miss from so close. His third arrow impaled its other eye. Its responding whistle was shrill, and he could see fluid pouring down its face as it flew for him once more.

This time, he didn't run. Instead, he switched to Mana Blade and let the instincts and skills imparted by Duellist and Ninja guide him. He pivoted to the side and let it past him, then followed, striking like a viper.

His Mana Blade stabbed through the place where he now knew its skull would be. It gave no hiss. No whistle. Its body simply went limp.

+400 Aura

John whirled on the spot, sending a glare at the space where he imagined whatever entity coordinated the Aura system watched over his shoulder.

"How the fuck was that worth only 400 Aura? The monster had a green soul! That's like a level above what I've killed so far!"

There was no response. Frankly, he was surprised he didn't get a deduction for that outburst. He looked around at the greyscale world as if to find the source of his frustration, and the answer came to him when he saw the monster's rapidly rotting corpse:

They were completely hidden in the shadows right now. Anything cool he did was invisible to anyone but him. Even though only a monster had been around to witness his feats in previous confrontations, that was apparently enough. Or because it was out in the open and had the potential to be seen, like when he was gaining Aura by walking casually through dangerous areas.

The Aura system had rewarded him for killing the monster because presumably it was cool to kill a monster no matter whether anyone saw it go down. It was kind of like bragging about improbable deeds. If no one saw you do it, they weren't going to believe you. Only the corpse was undeniable, and if the story you told was far-fetched enough, they might think you were just lying or exaggerating.

Or maybe he was completely wrong, and something else was at play here. This was only one data point, after all. Not enough to make conclusions.

Still.

Fuck youuuuuu, he thought.

Rolling his shoulders, he delved briefly into the Aura system. There was one Skill that sounded particularly useful in this situation.

Accelerate unlocked!

-500 Aura

Then he made his way to the door. He had monsters to kill, and he was going to do it in style.