"System, what can be done to permanently sunder this world from Earth?" asked Serlv, after I'd given her a brief description of what I knew of the Law.
ding
Information: No information available.
"If it had a good understanding of interdimensional travel, it wouldn't have struggled to open the original portals," I pointed out. "And would likely have given them better security."
"True. System, are you able to block future portals from Earth, and to secure...
2023-01-06 05:55:26 +0000 UTC
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"Please state the materials required for a type four soul interfacing crystal, an omnipresent thaumic projector and a universal multiplexer," I asked the fabricator, causing Serlv to peer at me in confusion. "Yes, I know I keep saying please. Politeness doesn't cost me anything."
"It's not that. Rather, were you not unconscious when Blobby told us of the parts we required?"
I blinked as I considered where, exactly, I'd heard that list. I was reasonably sure that I hadn't....
2023-01-03 06:42:32 +0000 UTC
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Mystery floated around the reception room of their new house, getting another language lesson from Kellela. For some reason, the white-haired girl had joined in, seemingly eager to spend time around Mystery, but she hadn't really added much. Trying to learn a language without being able to interact with her tutors was hard, and beyond learning more nouns, Mystery didn't want to claim much advancement. She certainly had no idea of the grammar. She consoled herself with the fact that she was st...
2023-01-02 06:20:18 +0000 UTC
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Sir Reginald Doombringer The Hundred And Ninth was having a bad day. That fact had nothing to do with his name, which was completely deliberate; he'd paid quite a lot of money to a temple to have his boring given name changed to that, mostly because he thought it would look good on his wanted posters. Of course, the temple couldn't grant him a peerage, so 'Sir' was actually his first name, 'Ninth' his last, and ' Reginald Doombringer The Hundred And' just a collection of middle names.
T...
2023-01-01 17:26:05 +0000 UTC
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I felt a bit stupid for worrying that Serlv was talking about me. Of course not-Blobby was the obvious choice; to the best of my knowledge, she was currently the only living being on the world based on a dungeon core, which seemed like a damn big advantage for hooking up to a subsidiary core. Although, why exactly Erryn had ever felt the need to shove a dungeon core into a slime, I'd never know.
Or maybe I would, if I asked not-Blobby in an hour's time.
This repair job wa...
2023-01-01 17:22:19 +0000 UTC
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"The model of memory core used by the System?" I tried.
"Identifier 'System' unknown."
"The big computer in the room two floors down?"
"Fourteen items on floor E match identifier 'big computer'. Additional parameters required."
"The biggest one!"
"Schematics unavailable."
Did that mean it didn't know which one was biggest, or it did, but didn't know which model memory core it used?
"Why don't we head back to the control room and ask for more details o...
2023-01-01 17:21:29 +0000 UTC
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"What are you doing?" asked Krana from behind me, finally stirring.
"The portals Earth used to attack are still open. We need to close them, or otherwise ensure they can't be used to inflict further harm."
"Attack?" he asked, obviously confused. "Wasn't there... an... accident?"
His speech slowed as the Law flickered again. Apparently the Law had edited out the fact the damage had been deliberate.
"Accident, then. Whatever damaged the System, we need to prevent a repea...
2023-01-01 17:20:47 +0000 UTC
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I’m back at last. Sorry for the silence; I’ve been away for Christmas and new year, and found myself unexpectedly blocked from logging into patreon on my laptop. (And scribblehub, for some reason… Royalroad and discord continued to work fine.) I’ve been posting the chapters on schedule on discord, but I know not everyone has an account over there, or has enabled the patreon integration, so here’s the chapter dump I owe. I’ll need to sort out something separate for anyone ...
2023-01-01 17:19:27 +0000 UTC
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Achievement unlocked: [Curiosity].
Curiosity (Uncommon)
Not all answers can be looked up in a book or acquired from a master. Sometimes, you have to accept that nobody knows. But while you accepted that, you didn't let it stop you, and worked it out for yourself instead. Provides improved memory and a 30% bonus to reading speed.
"That's an interesting bonus compared to my other achievements," thought Mystery, now safely back in the womb, "but I'm not ...
2022-12-19 05:51:36 +0000 UTC
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Sorry for the delay. I’m still ill, and keep oversleeping.
I’m not used to this… I don’t normally get ill, and when I do, it’s never usually for more than a day or two. Now I’ve lost an entire week. :(
No screaming came from the murderer as the flames consumed him. Instead, he just turned and looked at me in silence, even as through [Mana Sight] I watched his eyes shrivel up in his head.
And then I saw the wisps of soul affinit...
2022-12-16 08:06:19 +0000 UTC
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"Earth is very possibly planning to destroy the System via the portals it's using to keep the connection open," I told the inanimate door of the ark. It didn't respond. It wasn't as if I could help even if it let me in, but maybe it would at least understand my warning?
"And By 'Earth' I mean 'realm beta'," I added, just in case that helped.
I'd bet it would let me in if I said I intended to reattach all of Earth. In light of recent events, I'd never been more tempted. If it wasn'...
2022-12-13 08:55:43 +0000 UTC
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Still ill, but lying around in bed just made me feel worse, so here's me trying to be constructive instead.
The [Lieutenant] inspected the still-mummified intruder, who had turned an interesting shade of blue overnight. The assassin himself had fallen sullen and still, aside from the occasional involuntary shiver.
"Guild of assassins," declared the [Lieutenant], pointing at a tattoo at the base of the intruder's spine after rolling him over. "Looks like someone's...
2022-12-12 15:16:56 +0000 UTC
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"(What the hell did you do?)" asked the person projected onto the display, who was not the Gregory Charles I was used to. Not because Gregory was unavailable at short notice this time, but because I'd apparently neglected my geology. Now Gregory wouldn't be available at any notice, having been forced to resign by the weight of public outcry. His choice to let me test the monster-core-powered light crystal had backfired on him badly.
The bomb could erase a town, Grover ...
2022-12-09 05:50:41 +0000 UTC
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I stood, silently seething. I wasn't the only one, either. I'd never been great at reading dragon expressions, as inhuman as they were, but I knew Serlv's anger when I saw it. When I felt it. The ambient air temperature dropped like a stone for reasons that had nothing to do with the prison of ice she'd erected to ensure the dying didn't spread the plague further. Even the herd of centaur, mourning as they were, backed away from her.
"We will reach the next one in time," she st...
2022-12-06 05:43:56 +0000 UTC
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Many a thesis had been written about the optimal application of wards. What would be the perfect combination of triggers and reactions? Was there a perfect combination?
Keying off hostility sounded good in principle, but it would happily let in mindless monsters, or even someone trespassing for the thrill of it rather than ill intent. Conversely, if an argument between spouses got too heated, they could find themselves unceremoniously defenestrated from their own home.
Tr...
2022-12-05 05:56:57 +0000 UTC
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"The anomaly has ended," stated Serlv.
"That was even quicker than last time. Maybe their equipment isn't completely repaired?"
"I do not know. Let us check the area and then seek Horail."
They certainly seemed determined. Me forcibly shutting them down last time should have let them know in no uncertain terms that they weren't welcome, yet they were back in a matter of days.
We arrived in the area minutes later, a desert towards the south of the continent. As usual, t...
2022-12-02 06:04:20 +0000 UTC
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"(We still have no idea who tried to open that portal, or where from,)" said Gregory on the other side of the interdimensional rift that Darren had casually torn in our respective universes. "(We had more luck with Maximilian, though.)"
"(Oh?)" asked Harry, looking suddenly interested.
"(Not that I'd have believed any of this, if I wasn't discussing it with someone standing in another universe. Maximilian is an alias. He was born as William John Taylor. In eighteen-forty-three.)"<...
2022-11-29 06:08:00 +0000 UTC
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"I feel indecent," said Kellela, looking down at her ankles.
"Really? It's your ankles you're worried about?" asked Hayedalf incredulously, as the other men in the audience seemed unsure if they were supposed to be averting their eyes.
"I need to build up to the rest," replied Kellela, trying to ignore the breeze she could feel across the tops of her thighs, and even parts of her bum. Given the usual modesty of high fashion and her typical choices of ankle-length robes, <...
2022-11-28 05:57:03 +0000 UTC
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Posting separately from today’s chapter, so it can be public.
As I mentioned a few months ago, I don’t like the idea of a patreon that does nothing more than contain a fixed count of advanced chapters, because such a setup punishes people for subscribing. Hence I try to run a faster release rate, or extra side stories, or exclusive extra stories. (Yes, unborn hero will hit royal road eventually, but not until it’s completely finished here. Also, it may do a 3 month stint on KU in ...
2022-11-25 07:23:37 +0000 UTC
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Grover boggled at my request.
"Please tell me you haven't tried to build something like that on your own?"
I briefly recalled the crater where my new house had once stood. Or, more accurately, slouched.
"No..." I answered honestly. After all, I'd only used a level one monster core.
Grover narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Well, maybe I built something that bore a slight resemblance. I used a level one monster core."
Grover sighed. "That won't have m...
2022-11-25 06:01:04 +0000 UTC
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"Just... rats?" asked Abigail.
"Yup," I confirmed. "The only souls within my sensory range were rat-shaped. So unless there was someone there without a soul, or they could hide it somehow, just rats. I assume Maximilian does have a soul?"
"Whatever suspicions I've had about him, I can't say I've devoted any time to the question of his soul," replied Harry. "I don't even know what it is that skill shows you."
It wasn't a surprise that Harry didn't believe in the dangers of so...
2022-11-22 05:47:12 +0000 UTC
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"And that concludes my report," finished the voice of a youthful girl, the source hidden away in a deep hooded cloak despite the fact she was indoors, seated at a desk in her room in Karn's Vigil's only inn. It wasn't exactly a tourist town, so accommodations were limited.
"I see," replied another voice, this one emanating from an earring, placed on the desk in front of her. "So they have already discovered this generation's [Hero]. It seems that this cycle will be unusual in many respe...
2022-11-21 06:18:39 +0000 UTC
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"It has closed once more," stated Serlv while we were still mid-flight. A desolate, grey landscape was beneath us, stretching to the horizon in all directions, with no signs of life. If I remembered my geography correctly, it was known as the Scar.
The first time I heard of it—way back on my first trip to Dawnhold—I'd guessed meteor impact. That seemed harder to believe seeing it in person. A meteor crater had no reason to be lifeless after all this time, but also the sheer size mad...
2022-11-18 06:08:04 +0000 UTC
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Strictly speaking, I'm two patreons short of the next bonus chapter, but there was an oversized donation that I'm going to count as three. Thanks.
Rose sat completely still, in a very different sort of shock from that caused by her earlier battle. Platus and Melody sat on either side of her at a round conference table, both as pale as porcelain. Kellela and Hayedalf were doing better, being used to a life around high-ranking nobles, but the [Lieutenant] was looking com...
2022-11-17 06:29:47 +0000 UTC
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We flew to the coordinates of the mana anomaly anyway; the messages Serlv received never explicitly mentioned portals, so it was possible it was something different. And if it had been a portal, it was possible someone came through and it closed immediately behind them. We needed to check it out.
The anomaly was located in a mountainous region north of the ark. The area was completely barren, and we found nothing there. If they'd sent through an unmanned, automated drone, it was possibl...
2022-11-15 05:53:00 +0000 UTC
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Autumn passed with nothing much of interest happening. There were no signs of new parties visiting from Earth, and Gregory Charles hadn't had anything to share in our regular communications either. If anyone else on Earth was building portal equipment, they were keeping it quiet.
Trade was going fine, though. We gave them monster cores, they gave us knowledge and equipment. More knowledge and equipment than we could usefully process, but there was no harm in having a stockpile.
My...
2022-11-11 06:08:04 +0000 UTC
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I collected a few more skill levels throughout the tournament, but by far the most substantial was during a bout with a dogkin [Grey Archer].
For some reason, he started the fight with his bow slung across his back and his hands empty. Had he completed a mage class? I didn't want to spoil the surprise, so I didn't appraise him, but he hadn't used magic in previous bouts, and magic would be unusual for a beastkin.
He'd proven himself the sort of person who couldn't resist shouting ...
2022-11-08 05:45:40 +0000 UTC
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"You almost died! I don't see what's so funny," complained Cluma.
"Sorry. That was just... It was just funny. Trust me."
"Why?"
"It just was!"
Yes, I wasn't making a great argument, especially since I suspected my shoulder was dislocated, but I was still right. It was funny.
There had been a ding at the end there. What rewards did I get?
Skill [Dislocation] advanced to level 16
Really? That was all? Somewhat appropriate, giv...
2022-11-04 05:56:56 +0000 UTC
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I couldn't put off visiting the institute forever. I travelled there the next day, holding my tongue about my trip to the great dungeon while making empty platitudes about looking into solutions to the Law. It wasn't like I'd drawn a complete blank; I had two avenues of exploration. Waiting for Erryn to heal, and the crystal in the great dungeon core room. Neither were good options, but they were options. I wasn't completely floundering.
If nothing else, I needed to po...
2022-11-01 05:45:14 +0000 UTC
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"Huh?" I asked pointlessly.
"What?"
"Apparently, I've started forming a new skill. Wonder what it is? (Grenadier) or something?"
Grenades should come in under thrown weapon proficiency, though, which already existed. I was fairly sure I'd always thrown the things with unnatural accuracy. Something to do with magical weapons? It was a pain the new skills didn't tell you what they were.
"(Grenadier?) As in someone who throws grenades? Sounds more like a class than a skil...
2022-10-28 04:48:40 +0000 UTC
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