The Apocalypse Grinder (LitRPG Apocalypse, Timeloop)

Chapter 220: Accidental success


Unfortunately it wasn't that easy to throw off the ship. Even as he ran down the street, darting to and fro, it tracked him with utmost precision.

Staying out in the open wasn't going to work. Ronan looked at the houses and buildings around him, searching for an opportunity to throw off his pursuer. His gaze travelled upwards to the flat roofs of the buildings. A plan was taking shape in his mind, but he needed more information to put it into action.

For now, he would settle for some breathing room. He suddenly cut to the right and made a beeline for the gate of the nearest house. Without waiting to see if it would open automatically, he launched a mana bolt ahead of himself and punched his way through it with magic strike.

The rubble fell around him as he entered the building. It was plain, with little in the way of furnishing or any kind of detail that might indicate the purpose of the room. He did, however, spot a staircase in the corner, which he immediately ran for.

Ronan leapt up the stairs three at a time and managed to reach the second floor in just a few seconds. There was a raised section of the floor which looked suspiciously like a bed, but there were no covers on it. He ignored the spartan customs of the Grathen and looked around the room. No windows, or anything to give him an idea of what the ship was doing.

At the very least, he knew his opponent was in the same situation. Except the soldier had the advantage of knowing which building Ronan had run into. He felt the mana in the air shift and cursed under his breath.

He rushed at the nearest wall that wasn't facing the street and smashed his fist into it, empowering the blow with magic strike and surging strikes just in case the first punch failed to break through. He didn't need it in the end, but he was glad he took the precaution.

No sooner had he taken his second step through the hole in the wall and into the next building did a flash of white tear through the room behind him, leaving nothing behind but smouldering rubble where the building had been. Through the hole in the wall, he looked up into the sky and saw the ship hovering about twenty metres above the roofs of the buildings. He needed it to come lower.

Ronan launched a mana bolt up at the ship and then retreated further inside. He immediately ran at the wall ahead and smashed through it, doing the same with the next two buildings. On the last break, he ran through into the room and was greeted with a squeal of terror.

Glancing in the direction of the noise he saw a grathen wearing a red uniform crouched in the corner, covering something. His eye twitched as he met the terrified alien's gaze. It didn't move from whatever it was hiding from him. He heard another squeal.

A child.

Ronan shook his head. He was a piece of shit, but he wasn't a monster. He rushed forwards, smashing through the wall and continuing on his advance. When he had broken through about ten walls, he heard another boom and knew the ship had obliterated a second building.

Looking back through the makeshift tunnel he'd made, the destroyed building looked to be around six houses behind him. They had no idea how far he'd gone. If they wanted to find out, they would be forced to fly lower and look through the gap.

He looked around the room he was in for another staircase leading upwards. There wasn't one. He had an easy fix. Crouching low, he gathered his mana and then jumped as hard as he could into the ceiling, punching upwards as he reached it.

The flimsy material blew apart as he struck it and he flew right through the hole he'd created. The light of the twin suns hit his face as he soared into the air and then began to fall. When he touched down against the roof of the house he immediately started to look around in search of the ship.

He found it flying below the roof-level of the street, near the hole it had made by destroying one of the buildings. Whoever was flying it had fallen into his trap.

Ronan conjured a short-spear and started running. He needed to reach the ship before it realised he had disappeared and flew upwards again. This was the only chance he'd get—they wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.

He made it two-thirds of the way to the ship before it started to rise into the air again. He cursed, knowing time was running out, and quickened his pace.

The speed of the ship meant it was going to get into the air before Ronan reached it. There was only one way he would bring it down. He took a deep breath and cocked his arm back behind his head. The conjured short-spear in his hands was far from a javelin, but it would have to do.

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Gathering a tiny amount of mana in his arm, Ronan stepped into the roof and whipped it forwards, pushing the mana out of his hand as he released the javelin, blasting it forwards with twice the force of a bullet.

The mana construct rocketed forwards, tearing through the air towards the ship. He saw the jets opening up at the base of the ship and felt the energy travelling towards them. A smile crossed his lips when he realised he had beaten them.

With a loud bang the spear smashed into the hull of the ship, denting the entire side inwards. Then there was a screeching noise as it tore through the metal, arcane piercing strike doing its job exceptionally. He lost sight of the spear as it entered the ship, but heard another bang as it crashed into the opposite side of the hull.

The ship flew backwards with the momentum of the spear and crashed into the building behind it. A shower of rubble and dust burst outwards as the building blew apart from the impact. Ronan had stopped to admire the effectiveness of his throw but realised he couldn't waste this chance to finish off the final member of the trio.

Rushing towards the gap between the buildings he took the bow out of his inventory. As he reached the edge of the buildings he had already formed an arrow between his two fingers, resting it against the prongs on the handle. He used enchant - explosion on the arrow and let it fly.

The ship was stuttering, rocks flying as the jets repeatedly pulsed in an effort to take to the skies once more. The arrow sailed through the hole in the hull that his spear-throw had opened. A second later the hull burst outwards as it exploded.

A jet of blue fire roared out of the hole in the hull. The ship remained intact but was knocked out of the building it had been embedded in and fell into the rubble below. Ronan heard a grunt from inside. A charred arm emerged, grabbing onto the hull.

Afterwards, the burned figure of the final captain hauled itself out of the wrecked ship. Ronan wasted no time in forming another arrow, taking aim at his weakened opponent. It was time to end this charade.

The arrow flew with a twang, enchanted with explosion and empowered with arcane piercing strike. The captain felt its approach and cursed, attempting to roll out of its path. The Agrathen was too slow.

With a soft thud the arrow pierced its neck just below the jaw, exploding a fraction of a second after it struck the skin. Ronan didn't need to wait for the smoke to clear to know that he'd killed the bastard. He had a notification to prove it.

You have killed [Gorbak 7 - Agrathen Captain Lv.103] and [Gurkrar 6 - Agrathen Captain Lv.104]!

Enemy killed with a critical hit, 1.5x Experience gained!

+158 Bronze Credits

+248 Copper Credits

+39 [Bow] Mastery

+12 [Bow I] Mastery

+16 [Stamina IV] Mastery

+9 [Stamina V] Mastery

+3 [Mana IV] Mastery

+28 [Mana V] Mastery

+16 [Health III] Mastery

+4 [Health IV] Mastery

+11 [Dagger I] Mastery

+19 [Sword III] Mastery

+22 [Sword IV] Mastery

+27 [Spear III] Mastery

+18 [Perception II] Mastery

+21 [Critical I] Mastery

+39 [Pain III] Mastery

+17 [Enchant] Mastery

+Alloyed Laser Rifle Lv.100 (Epic)

+Burned Agrathen Captain Uniform Lv.100 (Rare)

+Elite Shard Lv.94 (Energy)

+Elite Shard Lv.102 (Body)

+Agrathen Planetary Link Lv.100 (Epic)

You have leveled up to Lv.103!

You have leveled up to Lv.104!

You have leveled up to Lv.105!

You have leveled up to Lv.106!

You have been restored!

+20 Vitality

+20 Endurance

+8 Wisdom

+8 Intelligence

+12 Acuity

+664 Free Stat Points

You have reached the mastery cap for [Bow]!

Bow has evolved to Bow I!

Bow recoil is infinitesimally reduced. Wear and tear on bows happens infinitesimally slower. Adverse effects are infinitesimally less impactful on bow shots.

You have reached the mastery cap for [Stamina]!

Stamina IV has evolved to Stamina V!

All stamina costs are reduced by a moderate amount. Whenever you expend stamina to activate a skill or item, regain 12% of the expended stamina. Efficacy of endurance +15%

You have reached the mastery cap for [Mana]!

Mana IV has evolved to Mana V!

Mana costs for skills are reduced by a moderate amount. Activation and channeling times for skills which cost mana are reduced. Wisdom potency +14%. Wisdom efficacy +20%

You have reached the mastery cap for [Health]!

Health III has evolved to Health IV!

All health costs are reduced moderately. Vitality efficacy +20%. Vitality potency +9%

You have reached the mastery cap for [Sword]!

Sword III has evolved to Sword IV!

Weight and balance penalties for all swords are reduced moderately. When inflicting [Bleeding] with swords, gain a 7% chance to inflict a second instance of [Bleeding] for 65% of the damage as the first. Natural sword talent is multiplied by 1.35x

Ronan's main takeaway from this was that he had finally obtained tier 5 in a mastery. Two at that. He was about to dismiss the notifications to assign his stat points and inspect the strange loot when he realised there was another group of notifications awaiting his attention.

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