Broken Core [LitRPG • Cultivation • Post Apocalyptic • Romance]

Stomach growling, James closed his eyes and focused his senses on his surroundings. The blood would draw the attention of the other Forsaken soon enough. Even now, he could hear the scratching of claws growing ever closer. His rebar felt heavy in his hands as he thought through what was happening.

I have some unknown knowledge coming to me. I heal rapidly and without using Aether. Pain isn't as bad as it used to be, and I can somehow see souls and absorb them. What the hell does Soul Strength mean?

Slowing his breathing, he fell into meditation that he had perfected over the years. His racing thoughts slowed and when he opened his eyes, he found clarity. He needed to get away from the bodies and into a secure building. He also needed to find a source of food and water.

Those were his three priorities if he was going to survive and figure out what was happening with his body. Curiosity made him touch his stomach and his core. It was still shattered but in the very center of its remains, a flickering ember was growing. It was no bigger than the nail of his pinky and glowed white, just like the Forsaken.

Another mystery.

Looking up and down the street, he listened to the approaching claws. They were coming from everywhere and he made his choice. He didn't know how to get out of the ancient city, but he knew if he followed one of the streets to the end, he should find the city edges.

Cardinal directions didn't mean anything and with that thought, he headed north. The broken streets shifted underfoot as he walked. Uneven stone made him stumble and he was forced to use the rebar to brace himself. The rust and flaky metal dug into his hand, filling the air with a cloying scent.

He managed to cross two blocks before the cackling laughter of the hounds started up. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched as seven of the monsters fought one another for the corpses he had left behind.

Goosebumps rising on his arms, he pressed on before more could join the hunt. Another two blocks away, he found an old building that wasn't filled with rubble. Slipping through the cracked door, he took a deep breath and scanned the interior.

Claws had shredded walls and the floor from its previous inhabitant. The sun barely let in enough light through the broken windows to see the bones in the corner. The pile was large, announcing the home of an experienced hunter.

Gulping, he sniffed the air a few times and found the scent of the Forsaken diminished. The natural scent of death that the Forsaken were known for was nearly absent and only the scent of decaying bones and flesh reached him.

Whatever lived here is gone.

With that simple thought, he walked fully into the room. At the edges of the space, he found discarded ancient technology that hadn't corroded away. He knew what some of it was from museums, and he recognized computers and keyboards. Stories had it that humans used to work in offices, utilizing the machines to make their lives easier.

Chairs were barely more than splintered remains with rotten fabric. Two out of a dozen desks were still functional against the back wall, blocking the stairs leading up into the building. The space was large enough for a pack of the hounds to share if they could work together.

This place will work for now. I need to explore further up and see if I can't find a safe place to rest.

Gripping his rebar tighter, he moved to the desks and tested their sturdiness. The wood didn't crack or break apart as he put pressure on them, but it did groan, making him wince.

As quickly as he could, he climbed over and entered the stairwell. Darkness surrounded him as he ran one hand along the wall while ascending. The stairs switched back, bringing him to the second floor and into the light from the windows.

Blood stains coated the ground and walls. Small holes dominated the wall with some of them showing small metal projectiles still encased in the stone. What was once likely wallpaper had deteriorated to the point that it was only remnants of color.

More computers and desks dominated the space. Skeletons were scattered around moldy dividers that separated the desks into their own small boxes. Holes were sprinkled throughout the dividers in no discernable pattern and several of the skeletons sat on chairs, hunched over on the desks.

What happened here? I have never explored the buildings before. The skeletons are clearly human and from the Great War that rent the world.

Walking through the room, he opened drawers as carefully as he could. Paper notebooks were breaking down and rotting and he was unable to collect them. Wood chipped off into his hands as he closed the drawers, and more than one handle broke off.

The stairs continued, leading higher into the building, but he wasn't done exploring the floor he was on. The edges of the room had individual offices behind broken glass windows. In one of them, he found a bedroll with a skeleton and blood stains. The fabric was moldy, but serviceable.

At least I have that if needed.

Checking the rest of the offices, he didn't find anything apart from several mushrooms claiming one of the desks. He didn't know if they were poisonous or not, but he was beyond hungry and started picking them.

Within minutes, he had dozens of the small white mushrooms. Their frilled undersides held hints of dust and spores, and their heads were so small that he could eat all of them and likely still be hungry.

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Popping one into his mouth, he found them to be sweet and tangy. But it wasn't until a message appeared in his mind that he started to worry.

New skill: Poison Resistance: Level 1/10

New skill: Rot Resistance: Level 1/10

New skill: Corruption Resistance: Level 1/10

Blinking wildly at all of the notifications, he chewed slowly and swallowed. The moment the mushroom hit his stomach, pain lanced through his body, and he sunk to his knees. The skin on his arms started to break down, turning black with a pungent smell.

Whatever skill was healing him, fought against the rot, rebuilding his body faster than the mushroom could kill him. He had to clench his mouth shut as tight as possible to stop from screaming as the rest of the mushrooms tumbled from his arms.

What the hell is happening? Is everything going to try and kill me?

Minutes passed before another notification came through.

Poison Resistance: Level 2/10

Rot Resistance: Level 2/10

Corruption Resistance: Level 2/10

Toxin levels in body are currently four percent. Emergency initialization sixty percent.

What the fuck am I supposed to do with that knowledge?

Another dozen minutes passed before the rot stopped and his pain faded away. His growling stomach reminded him that he was still painfully hungry, but when he glanced at the mushrooms, his face paled.

They better not be my only choice…

Climbing back to his feet, he staggered and nearly fell back down. His blood felt like it was on fire as it coursed through his body.

Must be the corruption.

Biting back the pain, he staggered out of the office and into the main room. He needed water still, or something that could keep him hydrated. He knew there would be nothing in the city, unless it rained recently, and he was lucky enough to find a puddle.

The pain in his body slowly faded as he headed to the stairs. Walking up to the next floor, he found more offices, only these ones weren't broken and blood stained. The concrete was cracked, but not enough to compromise the floor below it.

What happened on the previous floor that didn't happen here?

Frowning, he searched the floor and found an abundance of the white mushrooms. He could technically eat them, and he had a feeling if he did, he would eventually become immune to their nature. But he also didn't want to nearly die after every bite.

He didn't bother picking them at the moment, instead, letting them grow in case he needed them in the future. The wooden desks they were eating were nearly decomposed, and he was lucky to find them alive still.

Returning to the stairs, he found the next floor was the open roof. But to get to it, he had to disassemble a barricade of fragile wood and metal. Wooden spikes greeted him after that, decomposed and easy to break. Once he finally stepped foot onto the roof, he found a living space filled with skeletons. From kids and babies, all the way to adults, everyone had died while trying to survive the Great War.

He didn't know what to say upon seeing so much death and desperation. The world had come a long way since the war. A few hundred years had passed since the world was rent and the cultivators rose to power. He was among the ones that won the war. Or at least, he was until his core was shattered.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he listened to the sounds of the Forsaken shift around the city. Claws scraping and growls filled the air now that he was outside. The rich scent of blood wafted on the breeze, likely coming from the massacre of hounds down the street.

Opening his eyes, he found that he had a reason to smile. Sitting in the middle of the roof were four rain barrels and if the sun was shining on them properly, they held water.

Stepping up to them, he avoided the bones and peered into the blue, plastic barrels. Then his heart stopped. A layer of taint was floating on the surface of the water. Mixed in were larva from some sort of bug that were on the verge of hatching. Their parents weren't around, thankfully.

Frowning, he turned away from what he had hoped would be his answer to survival. He didn't know how often it rained, but if he learned, he would clean the barrels as best he could and start using them.

A cackle filled the air from the street below him. Heart pounding, he peered over the edge of the building and watched as a hound crawled through the broken window of the first floor.

He had no way to escape without going through the monster. With his rebar in hand, he returned to the third floor and prepared himself. He could handle one Forsaken.

Luna Rys crouched on the edge of the cliff. Her ears twitched in the wind as the scent of her prey was near. For years, her people had lived off anything that lived. Her chosen weapon, a spear, made from the bone of a towering Forsaken.

Her tail helped her balance as she peered over the twenty-foot drop. The trees below her were filled with green leaves, hiding the Forsaken that she was hunting. Her dantian thrummed with power as she prepared to drop on her unsuspecting prey.

She was a hunter. One of the most important people in her village. Ever since the Great War transformed the world and separated her people from the humans, they had lived as nomads, moving around the world. The Fenrir were powerful and filled with pride and only she felt different.

What else is in the world?

She had asked herself that question time and time again. She didn't want to fall into the rut that her parents had adopted. The world was vast and filled with not only humans, but other demi-humans that were in hiding. The humans and their sects dominated the world, but they weren't the only ones that cultivated. They were just the only ones that had the security of numbers and strength against the Forsaken.

Gripping her spear, she dropped from the cliff. Qi flooded her body as she absorbed the landing while barely disturbing the dust in the air. Her prey was a rabbit with a large horn, standing three feet tall.

Its meat was succulent and tasty and would feed her and her people for a week. This was her responsibility, her purpose given to her by her people.

Stalking through the forest, she never disturbed the leaves and twigs. The Qi in her body erased her scent and her footsteps as she followed the tracks left by the Horned Rabbit. Its hopping steps covered five feet at a time, but its passage through the brush and trees left many broken branches and disturbed markings.

An hour passed as she progressed slowly. With each sniff of the air, she shifted her path through the forest. Another ten minutes later, she found her mark.

The rabbit was covered in soft, black fur that denoted it as one of the Forsaken. Why all of the monsters were black was a mystery that she would never solve. What she did know was that they could be killed and eaten, just like anything else alive in the world.

Raising her spear, she prepared to strike. Qi swirled in her dantian, filling her limbs with power as her weapon started to glow. With a simple push of her dantian, she blurred across the ground and impaled the monster through the heart. Twisting her weapon, she opened the wound further before withdrawing and watching it fall as a corpse.

Too easy. There has to be something in the world worth living for. I can't keep living in the past with my people. I want more. Much more.