Collect the World (A LitRPG Adventure, Book 1), page 1
Collect the World
BY CAMERON MILAN
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 1
Human Domain, Adira.
As one of the core regions of human civilization, Adira had a population of 200 million and was famed for its trade and commerce. In a recent edition of a popular magazine targeting tourists, Adira was ranked second in a list of the top ten safest regions for humans. Rifts posed some danger, though adventurers had conquered Adira’s Rifts lifetimes ago, commercializing and publicizing all their information.
Near Adira’s eastern border lay a cluster of Rifts for adventurers above level 100. Here, a transparent barrier surrounded an unusual forest. Each tree had red vein-like patterns, with smoldering embers for leaves. The temperature was so hot you could cook an egg on a rock. This place was a Rift called the Crimson Howler Den and was home to human-sized wolves. They usually roamed in packs and were notoriously difficult for rookies to handle.
At this moment, on the outskirts of the forest in a large clearing, two elven girls in their late teens were fighting against a pack of Crimson Howlers. Flames covered the wolves’ bodies as they darted around, attacking and retreating in tandem. The skills at their disposal included Fireball, Fire Pillar, and Fire Ring, yet even with such an explosive arsenal, they couldn’t take down the elven twins.
Annallee, the older twin, jumped, twisted, and spun around as her duel short swords sliced through the wolves’ bodies. Her waist-length silver hair trailed behind her as she chained one movement into the next, eclipsing the wolves in both agility and speed.
Elora, on the other hand, fought in a completely different manner. She shared the same features as her sister, except that her hair only reached her neck, but she swung around a spiked club like a maniac while sporting a sadistic grin. Strangely, her attacks left no wounds on the wolves, yet they collapsed and writhed on the ground, squealing.
Elora’s innate gift was a bit eccentric. It caused her attacks to not inflict damage, and instead heal. No matter how powerful or sharp the weapon, it only served to increase the amount restored. Unfortunately for others, her innate gift also increased the amount of pain she caused. Elora found this to be a positive, however. While healing enemies seemed counter-intuitive, the pain accompanied by her attacks incapacitated most monsters, after which Annallee ended their lives.
Like this, the twins wiped out the wolves one by one without much of a fight. Each kill gave experience and loot, but as they’d used Monster Bait earlier, they didn’t have time to pick up the drops, so items littered the battlefield.
[Rare] Monster Bait
Description: An enchanted candle with the ability to attract monsters below level 200 within a 1,000-foot radius. Lasts 30 minutes and disappears after use.
During the fight, not even a hundred feet from the battlefield, sat Keith, a teenage human boy. With cyan-colored hair parted in the middle, a low ponytail in the back, two stripes of orange and yellow on the left, and a clipped-on accessory with colorful feathers on the right, his hair was a work of art. The white silk robes with cyan borders, spotless white boots, and exotic sash spoke volumes about Keith’s sense of style.
As for his face, his eyes matched his hair color, while his eyebrows were sharp and his jaw straight. Currently, the teenager reclined on a fancy chair underneath an enchanted umbrella with the ability to cool its surroundings. Sheltered from the heat, he casually interacted with a rectangular object in his lap. Commonly known as a magic tablet, the device weighed less than a pound and was as thin as a knife.
Keith’s magic tablet was one of the few mythic grade magic tablets on the market and cost an absurd number of gold coins. Ever since he’d acquired it, it had been something he couldn’t live without.
While Keith’s sisters fought, he browsed through the auction house page, trying to make money by buying low and selling high. He’d connected his warehouse back home with the tablet, so any items purchased would appear there. It was simply impossible to set up a teleportation array within the handheld tablet, as there was no room to store the mana required to teleport things. Usually, the items would appear at a public storage facility, where you’d have to pick them up personally. A private warehouse with a teleportation array installed was something only the wealthy could do.
After purchasing an epic grade sword with decent properties someone had posted under market price, and relisting it, Keith suddenly heard a sound that caused him to shudder.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Goosebumps ran down Keith’s arms. He could ignore the wolves’ yelps and squeals with no problem, yet this sound was something he couldn’t tolerate. Twisting in his chair, Keith looked over at a broad-shouldered man resting against a boulder. The bald, square-faced man was savoring a jawbreaker with a contented expression. Keith’s eyebrows furrowed, and just as he was about to snap, he observed Uncle Doven’s silly expression once more, then shook his head and returned his attention to the magic tablet.
Right then, Keith noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned as a boy around his age passed through the water-like spatial barrier and entered the Rift. The youth had short black hair and wore leather armor, with a longsword at his hip. The teenager’s expression was stern and focused, as if he carried a great burden. Regardless, Keith cast Inspect out of habit, conveniently forgetting how rude it was to do so.
[Rare] Inspect - Level 252
Description: Consume mana to learn information about a target. No cooldown. Information acquired depends on the user’s Intelligence. Details learned increase with level.
[Zachery Turner]
Level: 163
Age: 18
Titles: Stubborn, Avenger, Righteous, +3 others
Health: 1,125/1,125
Mana: 400/400
Strength: 284
Agility: 292
Intelligence: 105
Vitality: 199
Endurance: 206
Skills: Sword Mastery, Quick Movements, Parry, +23 others
Zachery’s information surprised Keith. Usually, a person graduating high school had a level of around 100. To be level 163 at eighteen years old meant Zachery was among the strongest of his age group. Keith himself was only level 112.
Wait, the Avenger title? I wonder what happened, Keith mused.
Zachery surveyed his surroundings with a hand on the hilt of his sword, prepared to draw it at a moment’s notice. His serious expression collapsed after locking eyes with Keith. The umbrella and expensive-looking chair stood out like a sore thumb. Then there was Keith’s flamboyant outfit and hairstyle. He’d walked into a Rift, not a spa, right?
Zachery looked past Keith’s small resort to the elven twins fighting against the horde of Crimson Howlers, then back to Keith with a now irritated look. A moment later, Zachery walked over. “What are you doing here?”
“Accompanying my sisters.” Keith pointed to the elven twins with a smile.
“Oh.” Zachery took a deep breath to calm his emotions before glancing at Keith’s uncle. “Is he your bodyguard, then?”
From Zachery’s tone and posture, Keith could tell that Zachery thought poorly of him. Confused, Keith answered, “Sorta. My mom doesn’t let me leave the house without protection.”
Zachery suddenly spotted Keith’s magic tablet and his expression twisted. “Must be nice having money. You can hire a bodyguard to follow you everywhere and afford whatever you want. When others need to risk their lives for gold, you can just sit back and be lazy!”
Zachery’s abrupt outburst left Keith stunned. How was he supposed to respond to that?
Abruptly, Uncle Doven towered over Zachery, his massive figure blocking out the sun. There was a loud crack as the jawbreaker in his mouth split in half. The sound, combined with Uncle Doven’s imposing presence, shook Zachery awake. Realizing that he had lost control, Zachery apologized with a single word, gave Keith one last glance, then turned and made his way into the burning forest.
Keith watched as Zachery disappeared, commenting, “That was weird.”
Uncle Doven scratched his head with a silly smile. “Little Keith, should I kill him?”
“What? No!” Keith was startled. “You can’t just kill someone over a little argument.”
“Oh.” Uncle Doven blinked innocently. “Then when?”
Keith rolled his eyes. “Never, or at least only in self-defense, and that’s if you have no other choice.”
“Oh, okay.”
Uncle Doven went back to his rock and resumed savoring his jawbreaker while Keith looked down at his tablet. Feeling particularly bewildered over his encounter with Zachery, he thought back to Zachery’s Avenger title. Curious to learn more, Keith closed out of the auction house page and opened another containing a database restricted to the police. He had access thanks to his mom’s connections, so he could look up Zachery’s history in a matter of seconds.
Chapter 2
Keith placed the magic tablet aside a few minutes later, and rubbed his forehead as he ignored the clacking sound coming from his uncle. To sum it up, Zachery’s parents worked for the Mercenary Guild and took on degrading jobs such as powerleveling or bodyguarding. They funneled their earnings into their son’s education.
All sorts of renowned tutors had trained Zachery since he was a toddler, so it was no wonder he had such stats and skills at his age. Keith guessed Zachery was an Epic grade adventurer. Since he was only eighteen years old, that made him a genius.
The System had a universal grading system, which went rare, epic, legendary, and mythic. If you could beat a graded monster that was at or above your level by yourself, the System would give you a title according to the grade of the monster you killed. These titles signified a person’s combat potential.
Generally, a rare grade adventurer wasn’t anything special. Anybody could reach that grade with significant training. Epic grade adventurers were a cut above rare grade, having a comprehensive understanding of combat. To become a legendary grade adventurer wasn’t something hard work could achieve. It required talent. And a mythic grade adventurer was the pinnacle. They could fight ten legendary grade adventurers and emerge victorious.
Keith was overwhelmed with emotion after reading Zachery’s file. Much like his mother did for him, the Turners did everything they could to improve Zachery’s life. It was a heartwarming story, at least, until disaster struck.
According to the police report, the Turners had wanted to hire Orland Cruz, a formidable legendary grade sword master above level 300, who happened to have a training slot available. To pay his fee, the Turners took a dangerous job near the demon domain. Though it was currently peacetime, minor skirmishes between demons and humans still occurred. On that job, the Turners died.
The latest report in Zachery’s profile stated he had stopped going to school and had been missing ever since. That was months ago.
Keith felt saddened when a thought struck him. Why was Zachery out here in the wilds of Adira? This wasn’t the sort of place an eighteen-year-old adventurer should be, especially alone. And why did Zachery have the Avenger title? There was no mention of the demon who’d killed his parents, so how could he possibly have hunted down the killer?
“It can’t be!” Keith exclaimed aloud. It was ridiculous, but maybe Zachery wanted to annihilate the entire demon race? Who did he think he was? Demons were notorious for their violent behavior, so it wasn’t uncommon for other species to hate them. If Zachery wanted to eradicate them, did he think he was some kind of hero?
Keith couldn’t imagine the sorrow and rage Zachery felt. He thought it was okay to punish the killers for their crimes, yet that didn’t extend to the rest of demonkind. They were innocent.
Putting that theory aside, Keith guessed Zachery must’ve been training like crazy out in the wild. It was a miracle he was still alive, though Keith felt it was only a matter of time before Zachery made a fatal mistake.
Sighing, Keith wondered if he should help.
His mother was a drinking buddy of Adventurer University’s principal. As humanity’s number one school, it only accepted the best of the best. The minimum requirement for entry was to be epic grade. Unfortunately, Keith guessed Zachery lacked the connections to register.
All Keith had to do was mention Zachery’s situation to his mom. The problem was, what if Zachery became strong enough to massacre the demon race to satisfy his vengeance? While Keith didn’t feel comfortable with that, he couldn’t just leave the guy to die out here in the wild now that he’d encountered him.
“Hey, lil’ bro.”
A feminine voice pulled Keith away from his thoughts. Startled, he looked up and found Annallee and Elora standing next to him. When Annallee saw she had Keith’s attention, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Just a small problem.” Keith shook his head. “Are you done fighting?”
“Yep!” Annallee stretched her arms. “It was a good workout.”
Keith rolled his eyes at her remark. Only a barbarian would think slaughtering a horde of monsters for an hour was a workout. She was an elf, wasn’t she? Why couldn’t she be more gentle?
“What are you thinking about?” Annallee suddenly squeezed Keith’s shoulder with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
“Ow, ow, ow!” Keith squirmed in his chair. Sure enough, her strength rivalled that of a barbarian.
“Hmph!” Annallee pulled back her hand after realizing she’d used too much power on her weak little brother.
At this moment, Elora gently tugged at Keith’s robe. Keith smiled warmly at Elora with brotherly love. Look how kind and sweet Elora was. Compared to a certain barbarian who shall not be named, it was day and night.
“Dirty,” Elora said, pointing at her clothes covered in sweat and wolf blood. He immediately knew what she wanted. Sporting a grin, Keith activated one of the rings on his fingers. Although you couldn’t tell, he was wearing a complete set of equipment, including ten rings, two earrings, and a necklace. Keith usually set his combat equipment to invisible, or else nobody could see his outfits. Even so, they still gave their effects.
[Epic] Cleanliness Ring
Description: Grants the wearer the Purify skill while equipped.
[Epic] Purify
Description: Consume 5 mana to clean everything within 10 feet. 1-minute cooldown.
A gentle pulse covered everything within ten feet of Keith. Like snow under the sun, the blood and sweat covering the twins dissipated into nothing. Even their hair and skin shone with a brighter glow, as if they had turned a year younger.
While the Cleanliness ring provided no combat power whatsoever, it was just as rare as a legendary grade weapon. Rich and powerful women purchased any that popped on to the market. Keith had been lucky enough to snatch one off the auction house as soon as it appeared.
“Who was that guy earlier? He seemed hostile.” Annallee inspected her armor with a satisfied nod. At her side, Elora squinted, appearing interested.
“Oh, it’s a depressing—” Keith was just about to share what he’d learned about Zachery when a giant fireball exploded some forty feet from where they were. Dirt and dust flew everywhere as Keith’s party looked over.
“Speak of the devil,” Keith exclaimed as he watched Zachery sprint out of the hellish forest at full speed, followed by a monstrous wolf the size of an ogre.
[Epic, Elemental, Rift Boss] Enkindled Wolf King – Level 150
Health: 1,400/2,500
“He went to the Rift Boss?!” Keith jumped off the chair, now fully alert. Unlike the wolves Annallee and Elora had fought earlier, flames covered this wolf from head to toe, while its mane burned yellow with tendrils of fire coiling high into the air.
