Apocalypse rebirth a lit.., p.1
Apocalypse Rebirth: A LitRPG Adventure, page 1
Apocalypse Rebirth
Book I
Yorth
MoonQuill™
Copyright © 2025 Yorth
Apocalypse Rebirth
Book I
All rights reserved.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarities to real persons, living or dead, are coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Any use of this publication to teach, modify, improve, or train generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author and publisher reserve all rights to license any use of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
ISBN: 979-8-88993-060-0
Written by Yorth
Illustrations by Fernando Granea
Published 2025 by MoonQuill™
Arlington, VA
www.moonquill.com
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
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
Interlude I
Interlude 2
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
Interlude 3
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
Interlude 4
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Interlude 5
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
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Chapter 1
Amidst the grandeur of his sprawling tent, where Lord Thorian had once strategized his battles and barked orders to his soldiers, now lay his broken and impaled body. A vicious spear had mercilessly pierced through his stomach, rendering him incapable of making even the most basic movements. The deadly weapon had destroyed his dantian, the vital energy center of his body, leaving him writhing in excruciating pain.
As he glared at the two culprits, Lord Thorian’s eyes brimmed with fury and disgust. He was about to unleash his wrath upon them when an old man with a long, white beard entered through the scorched entrance of the tent, interrupting his thoughts.
“Even you, great-uncle?” Thorian’s eyes filled with a sense of profound betrayal.
Unable to bear the weight of this terrible reality, he cast his gaze upwards. The roof was rich with the blue flags of their army, bearing the sigil of a sword and a lion that symbolized their family. However, most of them now fluttered in tatters, burned by his own fire.
“I’m sorry, my lord, but you have grown too ambitious.” The old man’s voice, deep and wise, reverberated through the tent. He walked towards his two accomplices through the ashes of the luxurious rugs that once adorned the floor. “Daring to bare your fangs at the royal family was truly a foolish thing to do.”
Hearing the remorseful tone coloring his great-uncle’s voice filled Thorian with rage. His eyes stared swords and spears at the man he’d once considered his mentor.
“The capital was in our sight!” He coughed up blood, but his rage remained unquenched. “Our epithet—the great Steelblade name—would have been etched into the history books to be remembered for a thousand years!”
A man with a half-burned black beard and a stature that towered over the rest cast a pitying gaze at Thorian. “Your speeches are magnificent even on your deathbed, my lord.”
The man was adorned in black-and-gold-plated armor. Perhaps it was that darkness that hid the ashes from Thorian’s previous attacks. “It is a shame that very same tongue of yours spelled your eventual doom,” he added solemnly.
“Let’s end this farce.”
The other man, with a clean-shaven face, raised his spear. His wounds were no less than those of the black-bearded man, with his left shoulder’s skin burned and his flesh darkened. He was poised to deliver the final blow, but the old man intervened.
“Don’t be hasty, General. Let us enjoy our final moments with our lord,” he said gently, smiling at Thorian. “My lord, in your quest to achieve history and honor, you have forgotten your own men. You waged a brutal war against the capital with no sympathy for the soldiers who lost their friends, for the men who lost their families, for the wives who lost their husbands—”
“Aldrich!” Thorian growled. He turned his attention to the stoic faces of his betrayers, and to his own surprise, his rage gave way to uncontrollable laughter. “What did they promise you?” he asked with a low voice, eyeing them with suspicion. “Was it money? Land? Power? Or was it perhaps… the county?”
Aldrich’s slight smirk told Thorian everything he needed to know.
“I see. So that’s what it was.”
The men stood silent as they looked at each other. Their eyes told the full story. After a few seconds, Aldrich finally opened his mouth. “Any last words, my lord?”
Thorian’s eyes threatened to close as the bags beneath them grew dark and hollow. “Yes…” he said, his words slow and labored. “Please, come closer.”
The black-bearded man let out a mocking laugh tinged with disbelief. “To think the day would come when I would see the lion of the lowlands grow so weak,” he sneered.
The old man joined him in his mirth, his tone more gentle but no less amused. “Our lord is weary and tired. Let us listen to his will.”
As Aldrich approached Thorian, triumph evident on his face, the two men followed closely behind. However, upon spying Thorian’s lips twisting into a knowing grin, Aldrich’s expression stiffened in shock.
Instinctively, he channeled mana into his eyes and scanned Thorian’s body. There was a turbulent mass of orange-and-white mana concentrating on his mana heart, threatening to break it into a thousand shards.
“Run!” Aldrich’s face contorted in horror while the two men stood dazed and confused. However, the terrible realization was for naught. The ball of fire expanded with Thorian as its center, and the three men were burned into nothingness before any thought could cross their minds.
The fire did not extinguish after the betrayers were reduced to ashes, instead expanding with fervor as it consumed the entire Steelblade army camp. Its flames blazed with such intensity and radiance that the people of the capital were convinced a third sun had risen.
✽✽✽
As Thorian gradually regained consciousness, he became aware of muffled noises that pulled him out of the darkness of the void. His mind was a blank slate, devoid of any thoughts or memories. It was like waking up from a long night’s sleep after dreaming an entire lifetime.
After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted to the new environment, and he could see the damp, rocky ceiling above him. Confusion sank over him for a moment before the memories of the past flooded back into his mind.
Wait, he thought in shock. How am I alive?
He could clearly remember the faces of the three men who betrayed him—his marshal, his grand general, and even his great-uncle. They and who-knows-who-else had conspired with the dogs of the royal family and betrayed him when the crown was within their reach. One final battle was all they’d needed to take control of the capital, and the remaining regions would have fallen right after.
Good thing I kept Sun Sacrifice a secret.
Thorian laughed to himself, remembering the look of pure horror on Aldrich’s face. Sun Sacrifice, his self-destruction skill, had unleashed a power several times stronger than anything he had ever wielded before. By breaking his mana heart and releasing all the mana in his body, Thorian knew that none of his former allies could have survived the attack.
“But to think I would live too.” Thorian cackled at the thought of his betrayers’ plans all crumbling to ruins. “I, Thorian Steelblade, stand victorious!”
However, something felt wrong.
As Thorian looked at the rocky ceiling, he soon understood that he was in a dark cave. He stood and looked around to learn what was happening only to find himself surrounded by white-furred, wolf-like monsters.
“White kobloids?” Thorian frowned. “What am I doing amidst such weak and disgusting creatures?”
No matter how much he strained his brain, he could not come up with a reason for his stay in this cave. To make matters even more confusing, white kobloids were monsters that mostly appeared in the fens and the forests of Shelderwood, not the midlands where the capital was located.
Thorian clicked his tongue. “No matter. Let us get rid of these weaklings before we proceed any further.” Acting on instinct, he reached for the mana heart in his chest and squeezed it, hoping to activate a spell.
However, nothing happened.
He did not understand what was going on, and neither did the small white kobloids. They looked at him with open confusion before carrying on with what they had been doing—mainly sleeping and playing around.
Is it because I destroyed my mana heart?
Such thoughts swirled in his mind before he looked down at his hand. To be more precise, he looked down to what he thought to be his hand but was now closer to a paw.
What?
Thorian inspected his body with ever-growing terror. There was fur everywhere—white fur. It was on his arms, his legs, his stomach, and his chest. With the thought solidifying itself in his mind and his heart beating louder than war drums, Thorian succumbed to the one thing he trusted more than even his own eyes.
Display panel, he commanded mentally.
Ding!
Race: White Kobloid
Lifespan: 40 years
Level: 1/15 (XP: 0/10)
Stats:
Strength: 8
Agility: 8
Constitution: 6
Mana: 3
Skills:
Minor Moon Boost (passive)
Chapter 2
Thorian’s mind blanked as he looked at the proof that was laid bare before him. I… What does this mean? How?!
He stared at his own body in shock for a full minute. The white fur, his hairy and paw-like hands, his skeletal structure—all of it was unfamiliar to him. It was as if his soul had been ripped from his original body and shoved into this new one.
As rage bubbled inside his heart, Thorian took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. At least I am alive… Somehow, even after Sun Sacrifice, I was given another chance.
Thorian remembered the face of Aldrich as he screamed in horror, and a warm breeze cooled his raging heart. Even if he’d changed species, he was alive, and they were ash, burned by the flames of their greed.
The now-white kobloid cackled at the strange turn of fate. However, as he looked back at his own body, he couldn’t help but click his tongue.
Did it have to be a white kobloid? Couldn’t I have reincarnated in a stronger monster’s body?
Thorian opened his system panel and focused on the skill displayed at the bottom.
Minor Moon Boost (passive)
Description: As a creature attuned to the moon, you gain power in its presence. Strength and Agility are boosted by 25% at night.
It is indeed as useless of a skill as I remembered. Thorian grimaced as he thought, What use is there for such a thing when the night passes so swiftly?
He furrowed what used to be his eyebrows as his mind turned over what to do next. Some of the other monsters littered about looked at him with curious interest, but he paid them no heed.
There’s no use sitting here thinking. I need to see what’s happening outside.
Thorian made his way to the entrance of the cave, each step carrying the confidence and bearing of a lord. Some of the kobloids sneered and growled at him for displaying such arrogance, but Thorian didn’t feel the need to even acknowledge their presence.
It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the new light when he walked outside. In front of him was a clearing with fairly tall grass and green shrubbery. The vibrant and healthy colors told Thorian that it was the middle of spring.
A smile parted his lips as he remembered the days before the apocalypse had happened. Now that I think of it, it was spring when it happened. Almost ten years ago…
He lifted his face to the sky to bask in the warmth of the sun and abruptly froze.
What in the world? Where is the second one?
Thorian gawked at the absurd vision laying above him. Ever since the apocalypse had begun with the introduction of the so-called “system,” a second sun had stood alongside their old one. Ten years later, the dual stars had become a natural and welcome sight.
What’s happening? Did I go back to before the apocalypse? No, I cannot be hasty in my assumptions. This could be a completely different world.
Thorian went back inside the cave, a frown marring his expression. His mind was a storm of warring thoughts and doubts. If this was a different world, then there wasn’t much he could do. However, if he had indeed gone back in time, then a host of opportunities and risks had presented themselves to him.
I did hear rumors about monsters appearing even before the apocalypse began. If I did truly go back in time, then it should happen very soon.
Whether this was a different world or the past he once lived, Thorian needed to go out and explore. Staying in this dark cave without any knowledge of the outside world would drive him mad.
But I can’t do it now. Thorian clenched his fangs. If I meet other monsters, I will be at a great disadvantage when the moon is not shining.
He cursed his fate for having reincarnated into a monster with such a glaring weakness but then took a deep breath. For now, the wisest choice would be to sit and wait for the sun to set.
After a few minutes of sitting amongst the noisy monsters playing around, Thorian tapped his feet in annoyance. If only I could meditate and cultivate my Qi. This would be a perfect time for it.
Then, the most outlandish idea took form in his mind.
Surely it won’t work, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
With hesitant movements, Thorian sat down in a lotus position. While the other white kobloids stared at him in confusion, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly but with practiced ease, he performed the breathing technique he had been using for almost five years. Minutes passed and he could not feel any change.
As I thought, it doesn’t seem to work.
Even as doubts crept into his heart, Thorian continued to practice his breathing technique. Since there wasn’t much else for him to do, he didn’t feel that it was time wasted.
After half an hour had gone and passed, he finally felt the ether in the air slowly breaking through his Qi paths.
What in the seven hells? I have never seen paths this filthy and clogged.
For a second, Thorian was about to stop his breathing cycle and curse aloud. In the ten years that he had spent practicing, training, and teaching, he had never seen a body with this much filth inside of it.
With any luck, I’ll still reach the first realm in this session.
Even though this body was not the best suited for cultivation, happiness stole across his heart. One could only meditate for a single session each day; such were the rules enforced by the gods. Even the royals and imperials with their most luxurious cultivation halls could only meditate for six hours a day. A normal person without access to any facilities could only meditate for two. If this was another world that played by similar rules, then Thorian was glad that he hadn’t wasted precious days and months before discovering that he could cultivate. However, if he had truly gone back in time, then this was a boon that could not be ascribed a price.
Minutes soon turned into hours as Thorian pushed the ether around him through his clogged and filthy Qi paths. His meditation felt like chiseling through stone with a blunt pickaxe, as he struggled to clear his blocked Qi channels using the natural energy of the world.
Just as his session was about to end, ether finally fully cracked through Thorian’s Qi path and broke into his dantian. Once it reached its natural destination, it transformed from pure ether to a Qi that was truly his own.
Congratulations, you have unlocked the Cultivation System.
Display panel.
