Monsters and Legends: A LitRPG Cultivation Saga (Infinite Realm Book 1) Read online

  INFINITE REALM

  VOLUME I

  BY IVAN KAL

  Copyright © 2021 by Ivan Kal

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  If you liked this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Reviews are appreciated!

  Sign up to my mailing list to be notified when a new book is released: Mailing List

  Contact the author:

  https://www.ivan-kal.com/

  Patreon

  Discord

  Facebook.com/ivankalauthor

  [email protected]

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE – An End and a Beginning – Part One

  PROLOGUE II – An End and a Beginning – Part Two

  CHAPTER 1 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 2 – PAST – Zach

  CHAPTER 3 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 4 – PAST – Zach

  CHAPTER 5 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 6 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 7 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 8 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 9 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 10 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 11 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 12 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 13 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 14 – PAST – Zach

  CHAPTER 15 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 16 – PAST – Zach

  CHAPTER 17 – PAST – Zach

  CHAPTER 18 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 19 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 20 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 21 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 22 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 23 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 24 – PAST – Zach

  CHAPTER 25 – PAST – Zach

  CHAPTER 26 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 27 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 28 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 29 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 30 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 31 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 32 – PRESENT - Ryun

  CHAPTER 33 – PRESENT — Anrosh

  CHAPTER 34 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 35 – PAST –Ryun

  CHAPTER 36 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 37 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 38 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 39 – PRESENT — Ryun

  CHAPTER 40 – PRESENT - Ryun

  CHAPTER 41 – PRESENT — Zach

  CHAPTER 42 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 43 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 44 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 45 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 46 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 47 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 48 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 49 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 50 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 51 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 52 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 53 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 54 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 55 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 56 – PRESENT – Reyla

  CHAPTER 57 – PRESENT – Reyla

  CHAPTER 58 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 59 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 60 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 61 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 62 – PAST – Zach

  CHAPTER 63 – PAST – Zach

  CHAPTER 64 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 65 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 66 – PRESENT – Reyla

  CHAPTER 67 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 68 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 69 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 70 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 71 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 72 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 73 – PRESENT – Ryun

  INTERLUDE – PRESENT – THREE MONSTERS

  CHAPTER 74 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 75 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 76 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 77 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 78 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 79 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 80 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 81 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 82 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 83 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 84 – PRESENT – Reyla

  CHAPTER 85 – PRESENT – Reyla

  CHAPTER 86 – PRESENT – Zach

  CHAPTER 87 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 88 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 89 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 90 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 91 – PRESENT – Ryun

  INTERLUDE- PRESENT – Viper

  CHAPTER 92 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 93 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 94 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 95 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 96 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 97 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 98 – PRESENT – Reyla

  INTERLUDE – PRESENT – Viper II

  INTERLUDE – PRESENT – Viper III

  CHAPTER 99 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 100 – PAST – Ryun

  CHAPTER 101 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 102 – PRESENT – Ryun

  INTERLUDE – PRESENT – Viper IV

  CHAPTER 103 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 104 – PRESENT – Anrosh

  CHAPTER 105 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 106 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 107 – PRESENT – Reyla

  INTERLUDE – Kri I

  INTERLUDE – The Wandering Drake I

  CHAPTER 108 – PRESENT – Ryun

  CHAPTER 109 – PRESENT – Ryun

  PROLOGUE – An End and a Beginning – Part One

  PRESENT - Ryun

  In the beginning, or at least something resembling a beginning, there were only the Three: entities born out of nothing and everything, existing in the void that contained everything. The Three had always existed, or if they’d had a birth, they did not remember it. The Three did not know of a time when they had not been in one another’s presence. They existed for time beyond counting, and in that time they had done many things: argued about the nature of their existence, fought, loved, hated, and ignored one another. In time, they devised games to occupy themselves. Yet over the ages, they grew bored of it all. They knew one another as well as they knew themselves, and so there were no longer any surprises, as each could anticipate the others’ actions—until, one day, an idea struck them at the same time, a way to break the monotony and boredom.

  They discussed the best way to proceed, argued about the details of their plan, but eventually decided that a few practice runs was the best way to proceed,
so that they could learn, and adjust before enacting their idea. And so the Three joined their powers and brought into existence reality itself. Infinite universes, in countless forms with unending iterations of every universe. It took them some time to get it right, but eventually they manipulated this new reality to give birth to life in its immeasurable variants and shapes. Over countless ages they watched over it, refining and manipulating life to create more and more interesting beings. Testing and playing with the beings they created.

  In the end they realized that for all that there was, and a countless amount of beings for them to watch, patterns emerged, and again their boredom returned. Seeing that they had reached the limit of what this reality could offer them, they decided that it was time for them to move on to the next stage. They had prepared to wipe out all of reality in order to craft a new and improved version, and to pick those worthy from the doomed reality and allow them a chance for survival. A test. They crafted a system, the Framework, and they began testing it. As with all things, it took them a while to get it right. But finally they had a Framework that would allow the races to gain more power in order to survive and thrive, which would introduce more chaos to entertain them. Each of the Three fashioned one facet of the final Framework, and all three of them gave a sliver of themselves to give birth to a being whose job was to watch over the Framework and deal with the mortal beings. Then they picked nine worthy races across the reality which was soon to be destroyed, and they chose nine iterations of each race across the multiverse.

  And to them they gave the Framework, and the Infinite Realm.

  ***

  Ryun sat on the flat top of the mountain looking at the sky. It was a beautiful day; the sky was blue and the sun shone radiantly down on to the Earth. He cast his eyes into the distance, and took in the endless ocean stretching in front of him. He was so high up that his improved eyes could see the curvature of the Earth clearly. If this was the world of before the Framework, he would not have been able to take in such a sight, as he would’ve frozen to death or died from the lack of air. But that world was dead, and he was not who he used to be. The sight around him was, in a single word, wondrous. It did not look at all like the world was about to end.

  He used a mental command, and a screen flashed in front of his eyes.

  Time to the end of the world: 00 hours 09 minutes. Rankers, be ready for transport to the Infinite Realm.

  It would not be long now.

  He wondered what the next world was going to be like. Would it be like Earth from before the Framework, or perhaps the jumbled mess that it had become after? In the end, it would not matter much to Ryun. He had accomplished his goal here and looked forward to see what is to come. He had picked this location because of its view; he wanted to have at least one pleasant memory of this world before he moved on to the next. Still, he should’ve known better, the fates would not allow him peace.

  The six people reached the top of the mountain he sat on. He had believed that they would not get here in time when he had felt them first take step onto the mountain. But it looked like the power they had gained in the last few months was far greater than he had assumed, and they were faster than he thought they would be. He had watched the Ranker list carefully over the last few days—once he had figured out what was happening, of course. He had been surprised that they would attempt something like this—he would’ve thought that they would find it abhorrent—but it seemed like they wanted him dead more than they cared about their ideals. Of course, in the end, it would not be enough. It never was.

  Not even here, at the end, would they abandon their quest for revenge. Ryun didn’t really hold it against them; after all, he did deserve it. From their point of view at least.

  Ryun sighed and stood up, abandoning the view and turning around to gaze at the six. They stood there glaring at him with hate in their eyes, their gear resplendent in the midday sun, their weapons held at the ready. They were already standing in formation, three in front, two behind them, with their last member standing at the back. Ryun wondered why they put their most powerful front-line fighter at the back, but he did not dwell on that for long. The time when he had to worry about tricks and traps had passed. There was nothing on the face of this world that could kill him now.

  “So, you have come for me, here at the end,” Ryun commented.

  “Not even the end of the world will save you from justice, monster,” the woman in the front spat at him. Gloria Hightower was one of the most powerful Classers on Earth—she had always been in the top one hundred on the Ranker list. Still, she had been in her forties when the Framework had arrived, and even with the slowed aging that came with those high levels, her silver hair betrayed her age, even though her high vitality made her skin look smooth and soft. She wore high-quality armor, and held a long, awakened two-hander, a unique weapon.

  Ryun cast his eyes to the others, recognizing them all. The fact that they were the last people on the list made it easier. The two men standing next to her were Marcus and John Grisom, twins who were considered the two most powerful spear users on the planet. Wearing their dark red cloth garments and holding their awakened spears at the ready made them look intimidating to most. Behind them were Nkiruka Bezi and Anastasia Sokolova, top Ranking mages, their robes moving softly in the wind as orbs of power hovered over their palms. And lastly there was the man wearing a light, white suit of armor that contrasted his dark skin, holding a sword that resembled an oversized katana: Zacharia Gardner. Seeing his eyes peeking out of his dreadlocks made Ryun feel an echo in his heart, but it was an old pain. Ryun had long since buried it deep. Or rather it had been a long time since he felt anything at all.

  There was a finality to their eyes. They had come here for his head, and they would not be dissuaded from their path. That was something that Ryun could respect.

  Time to the end of the world: 00 hours 06 minutes. Rankers, be ready for transport to the Infinite Realm.

  There was not much time left. For a moment, he considered stalling, but he dismissed the thought immediately. He could see it in their eyes that they would not let him. With an inward sigh he summoned his own awakened object, a long and thin double-edged sword resembling a jian. The six stiffened and prepared to attack, but he didn’t give them the chance.

  [Inevitable Step]

  And he was among them, standing just next to Gloria. Ryun did not know what the name of her Class was, he didn’t care enough to remember it, but he had fought her often enough to know her abilities and skills. He slashed to the side with a simple |Cut|. His sword glowed with an eerie green light and was met with her own, and the shimmering gold field that surrounded her blade met his sword and countered his attack. But even with his |Cut| countered, his physical stats were too much, and the golden light cracked and shattered, allowing his sword to smash into hers. He felt her using more skills to counter him, but it was useless. His sword moved without stopping, sending her flying backward and into John Grisom.

  Ryun stepped back and allowed Marcus Grisom’s spear to pass harmlessly through the space where his head used to be. He spun around, the glowing threads in his vision guided his movements. He followed them until he was turned to face the spearman, and then he stepped off the path the threads showed, stabbing forward instead with his sword. The spearman blurred, using a movement ability of some kind and pulled his spear back in time to block Ryun’s attack.

  But his paltry strength was barely enough to move Ryun’s sword a bit off target. The blade sunk into the spearman’s shoulder and Ryun took a deep breath, getting into the breathing form for his base technique, {Tranquil Mantle}. Qi inside of his core flowed through his body and into his arm, and a shimmering light enveloped the sword as he prepared to slash upward and cut the man’s head off. Before he had a chance, however, a ball of crimson fire smashed into him, making him take a step to the side. His sword ripped out of the spearman’s shoulder, leaving a large gash. Thankfully, Ryun’s black robes were enchanted with prot
ection and the fire did little to him. Keeping up his breathing form, Ryun empowered his entire body, pushing himself to even greater limits than his base stats allowed. A spear of ice flew toward his head and he stepped forward, evaded it and used [Inevitable Step] to close the distance with Marcus again. He felt Nkiruka use some kind of a slowing ability, but his step could not be stopped—it was inevitable. The air around him shifted as the distance disappeared between him and Marcus. With his Qi coursing through his veins, empowering him, he activated his skill |Greater Cut|. His sword exploded with green light, and a spectral blade extended from his sword, extending his range.

  Marcus’s eyes opened wide, and Ryun saw him trying to use his abilities and skills to escape, but it was too late. His spectral blade cut through him from the left hip to the right lower ribs. His body parted and the two halves fell to the ground. A pained cry sounded somewhere behind him, but Ryun gave it no heed. He felt the vibrations in the air and knew that Gloria was charging at his back. He activated his ability [Bringer of Sorrow], and a wave of emotion exploded from him, hitting everyone in his vicinity. He saw the two mages falter as they prepared to throw spells at him, their eyes watered and their chests constricted. He turned around and followed the threads that only he could see with his sword meeting the overhead attack from Gloria.

  Her two-hander had a golden spectral blade extending from it, similar to what he had used just a moment ago. Her |Great Slash| smashed into his sword, which was strengthened with his Qi and glowing softly with a silver light. The ground beneath his feet cracked and splintered as his body was driven down by the force of the attack, but he did not bend. A spear flashed from around her side, a weeping spearman thrusting at Ryun’s heart. With a mental effort and an intake of air, Ryun kept Qi running throughout his body, keeping his technique active and his stats boosted by it. He moved out of the way, even as he pushed the great sword back with a monstrous burst of strength.

  Then a dragon made out of crimson fire was flew straight at his head and Ryun grew tired of playing. He switched his breathing form and the {Tranquil Mantle} winked out. With a pause of his breath, his Qi was charged, and in the next moment he unleashed his fruit technique: {Final End} roared into existence, a silver wave of Qi that could not be stopped and that expanded in a sphere around him. The dragon winked out and as it was blown away, Gloria’s sword cracked and shattered, followed by her armor and then finally her body, which splintered in a shower of blood and bone blasting back away from Ryun and showering John Grisom in her gore as the wave reached him. He saw the man’s spear shatter and he heard the bones in his arms break as he was blown back. John was lucky; he had been far enough away from Ryun to survive. The blast carried over further, weakening as it expanded and staggered the two mages, sending them to the ground. With an [Inevitable Step], Ryun was above John, and before the blood-covered man could even register what was happening, he was decapitated.