JaceVAmor

[Status]

Hello lovely people!

I expect to temporarily pause the patreon at the end of Book 7 (in approximately one month). Sorry! I don't want to, but I think it'll be the responsible thing to do.

Why? I hurt my back pretty badly a couple weeks ago. I was totally incapacitated for the first 5 or so days, just lying face down in bed trying not to breath too deeply to avoid back spasms. I couldn't even sleep because it was like I was being constantly tased. Worst experience of my life...

Chapter 288: The Congo Basin

The Nyiragongo shard had fostered an enormous settlement within its territory. Over the course of the assimilation, its original residents had been bolstered by massive migrations of people, the extent to which Coop would have had trouble imagining them. They mostly came from the nearer portions of West Africa, before and after the Siege Event, where an insufficient number of civilization shards to represent the human population had appeared.

The survivors from nations all th...

Chapter 287: Master of Carnage

Before Coop discovered Nyiragongo, he encountered an army.

He stood still, observing from a distance as he tried to come to terms with the scale of conflict that was occurring across the planet. By this point, he expected to have grown numb to the expansive forces established by the Primal Constructs, but he was also inevitably surprised by humanity’s capacity for adaptation and survival.

Warriors stretched across the horizon, organized into their smaller s...

Chapter 286: The Assembly

Coop hummed to himself, unable to contain his delight, before summoning an Apparition to momentarily possess his form and empower him while demolishing another set of Primal Constructs.

His heavy morning star cracked as if shedding its ethereal shell, turning into a translucent weapon of black void and glittering stars that was cold within his palms. Coop was already swinging the weapon through his mists, challenging the invaders for the control point that they desperately he...

Chapter 285: Slapboxing

Safiri set his jaw as he crossed into the glowing ring, solidified determination emanating from each of his steps. Violating the threshold was a clear point of no return, but he hadn’t traveled across the Underlayer, leaving their main army behind, to back down from a challenge of his own making at the last second.

His bare chest was already slicked with sweat from the exertion of his trip, but his breathing was steady and his focus at its peak. He hopped on his toes, danci...

Chapter 284: Beneath the Saharan Sea

“Haah…” Coop slowly exhaled, observing the shimmering horizon while acknowledging the feeling of reluctance that crept into his subconscious like a growing shadow. 

Crossing through the Underlayer on his own felt lonelier than ever. Knowing that he was leaving such a supportive system behind made the sense of isolation that much more distinct. Coop already missed the uniquely helpful guides that had turned his trip through Europe into a personalized tour, complete ...

Chapter 283: The Tip of a Spear

“Ahh..” Coop sighed, letting a bit of tension exit his chest. “I miss the beach.”

It had been an extraordinarily busy second week of the Underlayer Event, not that Coop had expected any less when he first entered the underground. The Underlayer was actually living up to the standard set by the Siege Event after what Ghost Reef saw as an unsatisfying start, with invaders galore to defeat. It was exactly the type of gauntlet he had dreamed of.

Commissio...

Chapter 282: The Difference of Ambition

An endless expanse of dirt stretched across the interior of the planet, adding another plane to the basics of geography. The subterranean level was essentially undisturbed by anything except a corrosive breeze of mana, though the invaders had been content to temporarily make themselves comfortable with the system’s permission.

The Underlayer wasn’t entirely featureless, but specific characteristics were difficult to distinguish without closer inspection. When compared to ...

Chapter 281: Bureaucracy

“You there! What do you think you’re doing?” The voice of a man pierced through the renewed silence of the Underlayer once the sounds of combat faded. The man seemed to be the leader of a little group that had spectated as Coop fought. Coop watched them from his peripheral vision, still undecided on how to interact with their unusual posturing.

“This is a restricted area, and you are not a registered actor! Why was I not informed of this operation?” The man huffed, ...

Chapter 280: The Famine Beast

As the Revenant of Ghost Reef moved into European territory, the alien invasions were falling like dominoes. Loch Bridge had been reclaimed in short order and Glenveagh was cleared almost immediately afterwards thanks to the settlements’ relative proximity. Following the second settlement, a mere handful of additional mistjumps carried Coop to yet another set of control points. This time, there were about 250,000 Elite Primal Constructs split between the four fortresses housing the objectiv...

Chapter 279: Rock Climbers

A trio of explorers made a temporary camp beneath the edifice of another enormous column that connected the Underlayer’s surface with its ceiling. At a glance, Coop could tell they were experienced and determined. Though they were in an unfamiliar place, they didn’t seem lost.

They rested around their crackling fire, made in more traditional ways that didn’t require magic, using materials provided by themselves. The orange glow from the small flames made the campfire se...

Chapter 278: Fork in the Road

It didn’t take long before Coop was presented with another fork in the road. Despite the compelling advice granted by Neon Park’s leadership, he ended up having to make his own decisions soon enough.

“Figures.” He mumbled to himself. No matter how much he desired to embrace the mindless grinds, he sometimes had to use his brain.

The Underlayer blurred time and distance more than the manipulations of mana already had, but he was still confident in his ...

Chapter 277: The Heavy Hand of Ghost Reef

The color of Neon Park’s final control point was transitioning away from the sinister red that represented the Primal Construct invasion, gradually softening as swirls of soothing blue mixed into the glowing illumination.

Rather than a blend of colors, the blue and red each cast a weak haze along the rings on their own, like two separate flashlights of cosmetic light powered independently of each other. The red glimmer was fading while the blue was energized. If the lights ...

Chapter 276: Diplomacy of the Mists

Coop took a second to appreciate the light show. It seemed like it was always the little things that brought him happiness, and this was no exception. The lustrous sprites shimmered before they faded into the Underlayer after he harmlessly swatted a reflexive attack away.

He was already in a pretty good mood after adopting a new strategy with Inheritance of the Mists. No longer was the advanced skill exclusively an ultimate move that he could only reasonably use for the concl...

Chapter 275: Initial Assessments

Platinum’s fuming gaze was fixed on the single exposed control point that Neon Park had managed to reveal. The glowing arena was no longer protected by the alien fortifications of the Primal Constructs, the metal walls having been torn down, but that was only a small consolation given its current state.

Her brows were furrowed and she clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth as she replayed the battles in her head, unable to suppress her agitation. A flame of frustr...

Chapter 274: Divine Spark

For what purpose did he need power? What was his goal? Coop had his current answer at the forefront of his mind, immersed as he was in developing his mastery over Inheritance of the Mists. There was nothing he wanted more than to smash his current target - simple and to the point.

Every fiber of his being was focused on his current action. Despite all of his combat sense, the messiness of the surrounding battle, his broader concerns for his allies, his own progress, the state...

Chapter 273: King of the Hill

Without the bolstering power of Inheritance of the Mists, Coop spent triple the amount of time to defeat one third of the equivalent number of enemies. It wasn’t exactly a fair comparison, considering his personal capabilities were diminished by the previous expenditure due to simple fatigue, but the broader conclusion was the same.

Finding a way to effectively weave Inheritance into his regular tactics was a worthy goal with the potential to yield exceptional results above...

Chapter 272: Ragnarok

Landing in the dirt, scanning the area, then throwing a spear as far as possible was a series of actions that were becoming so rote, Coop’s brain was practically switched off while he went through the process. The unwavering Underlayer lacked the personality that made local trips on the surface more engaging. There were no interesting stories being told by local flora and fauna, no hints of previous action in decaying ruins, and no real suggestion of future prospects. As far as Coop could t...

Chapter 271: Vindictive Heavens

Ethereal feathers buffeted the stagnant air of the Underlayer, forcing a rush of wind across the soil-covered ground. Small vortices of turbulence, created in the wake, lifted handfuls of dirt before redistributing them back to the surface. A powerful flap of angelic wings generated a burst of speed that propelled the Holy Avenger Spear and its wielder forward.

The blessed weapon punched through the metal shield of an alien defender with a crunch, bypassing the meager resista...

Chapter 270: Dispersive Prisms

A thick sheet of illuminated mana slammed into the ground, embedding itself firmly in the soil like a road block. The barrier formed a bullet-proof shield in the nick of time, absorbing a dozen piercing shots from the firing squad of Elite Spite Constructs as they sent another volley into the desperate human defenders downrange from their position.

The deadly projectiles bounced off the glowing plate, ricocheting into the soft dirt with dinging reverberations, failing to reac...

Chapter 269: Imperfections

A clump of dirt, around the size of a quarter, bounced against a haphazardly stacked pile of similarly shaped chunks before tumbling down the side. Coop had one hand planted on the ground while he sat, sifting across the surface of the earth with his other. The larger clods crumbled in his hand, giving him more appropriately sized ammunition for his little game.

“I wonder what Shane is making everyone do.” He muttered, feeling lonely again now that he had no enemies to ki...

Chapter 268: The Azure Colossus

Time spent alone in the Underlayer was like being placed in some sort of stasis. Coop felt as though reality had broken as he landed on the same dirt plain over and over. Each massive mistjump failed to break him out of the illusion. No matter how hard he threw his spear, fully incorporating all of his ridiculous Strength while shifting the rest of his bonus stats with Mindbender, he ended up in the same place. Everytime he landed, he was vaguely surprised he didn’t see his own footprints s...

Chapter 267: Recalibration

Coop felt unsatisfied. If he was going to eschew any modesty and embrace the most ambitious of his aspirations, he would need to rise to the occasion in a way that was currently impossible for him.

His first battles in the Underlayer Event revealed multiple problems with his typical straightforward approach. It wasn’t that he was ineffective in defeating monsters, as that absolutely wasn’t the case, but his overall approach would need to change if he wanted to fulfill his...

Chapter 266: First to Fall

Specks of soil swirled around Coop’s feet after he disturbed the pristine earth with his sudden appearance. Behind him, a blank canvas of untouched loam stretched to the horizon of the Underlayer, passed over by his long mistjump. Ahead, the endless expanse of repetitive dirt plains reached out like a stagnant sea of black and deep browns, barely reflecting the mysteriously sourceless light. It was a whole bunch of unoccupied emptiness, yet another abyss.

It had only taken ...

Chapter 265: The Strongest Mascot

Coop was sitting cross-legged in the fluffy dirt with a playful frown plastered onto his face. The unused Champion was doing his best to pout dramatically and make his supposed grievances apparent. He was situated in the middle of the furthest control point, arms folded across his chest, openly sulking while the threatening red lights slowly transitioned to a less harsh shade of blue.

A crowd of defenders had assembled within the artificial confines of the final control point...

Chapter 264: The Final Wave

With the settlement safely in the hands of the nonhuman residents and no Icon of Mana to hunt down, Coop would be able to fix his attention on the Underlayer Event itself. The meteor mountain wasn’t going anywhere, so like on the surface, he put it out of his mind and concentrated on the battles to come. Maybe, when the event was concluded, he would take a touristic trip to the bottom of the meteor mountain, just to satisfy his curiosity. As far as they could tell, there wasn’t much else ...

Chapter 263: Tabula Rasa

“You sure you’re okay?” Coop tried confirming, not for the first time.

Grizz put a scarred hand on the shoulder of the fragile seeming member of his little group in solidarity, supporting Dan as the mana guide gulped and nodded that he really was alright. Coop tilted his head to the side, trying to get a read on the guide. 

“Don’t worry, Champ.” The older veteran spoke on behalf of the scout. “Dan’s a soldier.” He concluded, and Cap bow...

Chapter 262: A Small Step

The Champion of Ghost Reef would be the first on Earth to step foot in the Underlayer. He had demanded the maiden voyage for himself in a rare demonstration of his authority. Coop was leading the way, not out of a sense of pride, but because he wanted to make sure it was safe before all of his friends arrived. The position was less of a privilege and more of a nuclear first strike. Any ambushes or other deceptions would be met with overwhelming force on his part. Something inside him almost w...

Chapter 261: Gangs of Neon Park

A crisp spring breeze carried the sweet scent of maple sap through the hilly woods. Lush greenery, freshly sprouting, decorated the damp ground. The vibrant color was punctuated with radiant wildflowers and shaded by scattered, unsullied canopies. The enveloping buzz of cicadas droned on, the insects completely indifferent toward the intruders to the area, unlike just about everything else.

There were no monsters lingering in the settlement territory, controlled as it was, no...

Chapter 260: Warchiefs

A lonely track, made from the footprints of a single individual, was gradually being swept away. Dry, scouring winds erased any evidence of travel, preventing anyone from following, not that there was anyone that would be brave enough to try. At the end of the trail, a solitary figure slowly trekked across rippled sand dunes, unhurried, and confident that they would arrive on time. They followed a perfectly straight line with the destination never in doubt despite the lack of landmarks and th...