All Chapters of Reborn as the Apocalypse Master: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
10 chapters
Just a Number
"Drop the bag right there." Charles Winthrop wiped a smear of glowing blue blood from his silver gauntlet. "We are done with the first floor."Kai let the canvas sack slip from his shoulders, hitting the carvenThe canvas straps had rubbed the skin right off his collarbone. His chest heaved as he sucked in the cavern air. His muscles cramped and spasmed from hauling two hundred pounds of monster parts for six straight hours.“Ahh” . Kai groaned, forcing himself to stand straight despite the agony radiating down his back. “Just get the core and get out” he thought "My share." Kai held out a calloused hand. "The guild contract said one low grade beast core for carrying your harvest."Charles threw his head back and laughed. "A core for a trash tier porter?" Charles sneered. "You are out of your mind.""We had a signed agreement." Kai kept his hand extended. "I did the heavy lifting. I butchered the Varnids. I earned my pay.""Guild contracts protect real citizens." Natalie Pier
Life as a Rift Master
Kai sucked in a violent breath of air. He thrust his hands to his chest. He expected to feel wet blood and shattered ribs.His fingers met smooth unblemished skin. His cheap cotton shirt was gone. He wore a simple black tunic woven from a strange silken material.I am intact. Kai dragged his hands across his torso. The scythe tore me apart. I felt my spine snap.Phantom pain lanced through his nervous system. His stomach heaved, he rolled onto his side and dry heaved against the polished black stone. His brain still processed the trauma of being cut in half.A sharp chime rang inside his skull. The sound resembled striking glass.[Host Assimilation Successful. Welcome to the Dungeon.]A translucent blue screen floated inches from his face. White text scrolled across the glowing panel.Kai scrambled backward. His bare feet scraped against the floor. He scanned his surroundings while his heart hammered against his ribs.He was no longer in the freezing cavern. The damp walls and
It Is I
[Alert. Intruders detected.]A viewing window popped up in the center of the room. It showed a live feed of the first floor cavern.The glowing blue exit portal flickered. Five figures stepped through the magical gate. They wore steel armor and carried massive battle axes.Kai leaned closer to the floating screen. He recognized the dented gray armor of the lead warrior. He recognized the arrogant swagger of the archer trailing behind.They were the Iron Vipers.Kai felt his blood run cold. His hands curled into tight fists. He remembered their faces perfectly.“Three months ago” Kai stared at the monitor. “I carried their gear through a poison swamp rift”They used him as bait to distract a venomous serpent. The serpent bit Kai in the leg. The venom burned through his veins for days. The Iron Vipers laughed at his agony.They refused to pay his contract. They beat him in the streets and threw him into an alley to die. They told him he was nothing."Look at this mess." The le
The Harvest
"Get down from there right now." Zoey pointed a trembling finger at the monster. "This is a trick."Kai sat on the back of the Malakor. He looked down at the broken squad."You are a porter." Zoe raised his voice. "You carry bags. You do not command floor bosses."Kai rested his hands against the plates of the beast. The obsidian shell felt warm."You found a taming artifact." Zoey took a step forward. He tried to project authority. "You stole it from the Silver Fangs. Hand it over to me.""You are in no position to issue orders." Kai kept his voice even."I am a ranked Awakened." Zoey glared at him. "You are an unawakened rat. The Guild laws dictate you surrender all high tier loot to a sanctioned squad."Kai laughed. The sound echoed in the quiet cavern."The Guild laws do not reach this deep." Kai looked around the stone walls. "This is my domain.""If you do not hand over the artifact I will report you to the city guard." Zoey ignored him. "They will execute you in the public squa
The Vanguard
"Initiate the avatar projection." Kai shifted the canvas sack onto his right shoulder. "I need to hit the market before the Guild registers the Vipers as missing."He walked toward the glowing blue portal at the end of the cavern. He prepared to step out of the rift and back into the human city.A sharp chime rang inside his skull. The system interrupted his departure.[Alert. Avatar projection initiated. The Master's true body will enter a dormant state while the avatar is active.]Kai stopped walking. He lowered the sack to the stone floor."Define a dormant state." Kai demanded.[Your physical vessel will sleep inside the Sanctum. Your consciousness will transfer to a new avatar constructed outside the portal.][Warning. It is highly advised to secure the domain before departure. A dormant core cannot issue active defensive commands.]Kai considered the risk. His physical body would sleep unprotected on the floor next to the red crystal.If an elite squad breached the lower floors
The Guild Confrontation
The black armored vehicle crushed the loose gravel of the courtyard. The engine roared over the noise of the training hunters.Kai cut the ignition. Silence fell over the compound.Dozens of hunters stopped their sparring matches. They lowered their weapons. They stared at the machine.A vehicle of this caliber cost millions. They expected a guild master to step out. They expected royalty.Kai pushed the door open. His boots hit the cobblestone.He wore the combat coat. The fabric absorbed the sunlight. A steel blade rested against his thigh.A hunter in the front row gasped. "That is the slum porter.""The one Charles hired yesterday?" Another hunter asked.Kai ignored the whispers. He walked toward the main guild hall.Yesterday he entered this courtyard through the service gate. He walked with his head down. Hunters shoved him into the mud and spat on his shoes.Today the crowd parted like water. The hunters who abused him stepped back. They hid behind their peers. They recognized
The Ranked Divide
A blue screen hovered in his vision. Kai read the system notification.[Combat action registered. Five mana expended.]His strike against the veteran cost him everything. His human vessel possessed a strict limit.[Select regeneration path. Passive Human Regeneration or Indirect Rift Channeling.]"Explain the difference." Kai spoke quietly.[Human regeneration recovers one point per hour. Indirect Rift Channeling links your avatar to the core.][Note. Rift mana possesses higher density compared to individual mana. Recovery is instant.]"Are there drawbacks to the link?" Kai asked.[Drawing Rift mana risks exposing your true nature to high tier detection skills. Guild sensors track internal capacity.]Kai did not care about guild sensors. He needed the power to survive the anomaly."Select Rift Channeling." Kai commanded the system.[Path locked.]His interface updated immediately. The numbers shifted on the screen.[Personal Mana: 0/5 (50/50)]He was a defective Awakened with zero int
The Stalling Floor
"Move your boots or I will trample you." A heavy armored shoulder slammed into Kai. "The prime spawns are mine."Kai stepped aside as hundreds of guild hunters poured through the glowing portal. They spilled out of the rift and onto a vast plain of cracked gray mud. The stagnant air smelled of rotten earth and standing water.This was the first floor of Kakosa D. It lacked the claustrophobic cavern walls of a standard rift. The dead plain stretched toward a distant horizon swallowed by thick white fog."Formation break." A squad leader yelled over the stampede of heavy boots. "Fan out and secure the perimeter before we engage."The hunters ignored the tactical command. Greed possessed them. They scattered across the barren wasteland and chased after the native fauna.Mud Scuttlers infested the plain. They were unarmored arthropods the size of large hounds. Their gray carapaces resembled wet clay, and their mandibles clicked against steel armor without leaving a scratch.The Awakened s
The Attrition Snare
"Push through the bottleneck before the others takes the prime spawns." A heavily armored brute shoved past Kai on the dark stairwell.Kai braced his boots against the stone, letting the eager hunters rush downward into the gloom. He did not mind the aggression. The fools wanted to be the first to die, and he was happy to let them clear the path.The dry air of the upper plain vanished, and a suffocating stench of rotting vegetation and stagnant water replaced it. The climate shift was jarring, proving the chaotic nature of rift geography.The bottom of the staircase opened into a cavern flooded with dark green sludge. Twisted mangrove roots breached the surface like grasping fingers. Thick moss hung from the ceiling, obscuring the true height of the chamber."They are not stopping." Lyra stood beside Kai, watching the mob of hunters sprint directly off the final step.The Awakened carried their arrogance from the first floor. They expected another easy slaughter against weak beasts,
Ranked Boundary
"Form groups of five or you stay behind." A veteran hunter blocked the rusted iron archway marking the end of the second floor. Kai wiped dark swamp sludge from his combat coat and ignored the veteran. He walked straight toward the threshold. "Did you hear me?" The veteran slammed the butt of his iron mace against the stone floor. "Half the hunters died in that mud trap. Unranked citizens need a dedicated mage and a healer to survive the third tier. You lack both." "I don't need their dead weight ." Kai did not break his stride. "Step aside." Sera and Lyra followed close behind his boots. The remaining hunters in the cavern laughed at the trio. Over half of the original assault force had perished or retreated in the swamp. The survivors possessed raw combat experience and zero tolerance for arrogance. "Let the arrogant fool die." A rogue sharpened his iron daggers against a whetstone. "The floor will claim them in ten minutes." Kai pushed the doors open. The humid stench of the s