JaceVAmor

Chapter 199: The Pacific Republic

When Platinum met with the leader of the Pacific Republic that had formed on the West Coast, she expected a clever wordsmith capable of winning people over through political negotiations and the like. A politician who gave rousing speeches or a salesman that wheeled and dealed would have been much more like Neon than what she found.

General McCallister wasn’t just giving himself a title after the assimilation began by calling himself a general. He had earned the role long before mana ...

Chapter 198: Road Tripping

Neon had no idea what he was in for. A storm was cooking. He should have had an inkling that it would be coming, since he had been the root cause of its development, but he was blissfully ignorant. Even if he was anticipating it to some extent, he couldn’t be prepared for the full consequences of his actions.

Platinum was dutifully making her way back to the city he had christened Neon Park. Once she returned to her home, she planned to take out all of her built up frustrations on the...

Chapter 197: Projections

Coop continued to be amazed by the settlement’s upgrade. He was leaning one hand against the civilization shard with Jones by his side. The old caretaker was gazing at his own status as the pair theorized how the passive bonuses gained by Ghost Reef would improve their territory. It wasn’t completely unlike the discussions they shared when they were planning the very first upgrades for the settlement. It made Coop strangely nostalgic.

The catalog of City titles was a reward that had...

Chapter 196: The Thunderwall

Coop stepped into the citadel that protected Ghost Reef’s civilization shard and found Jones patiently waiting on one of the smooth stone benches with some surprising company at his side. Derek had joined the old caretaker, and despite the two having what Coop assumed were completely mismatched personalities, they were engaged in what appeared to be a productive conversation. Jones had Derek nodding with wide eyes as he explained how one of the berms adjacent to the citadel was full of yell...

Chapter 195: Rehab

The Corozal Mender had already checked on Coop’s wounds, but by the time he reached her, he had naturally healed everything that she could have treated. He assumed defeating the Icon had allowed his improved Reaper title to fully restore his health in spite of the apparition’s Soul Burn. However, the physical debuffs remained, and he didn’t want to risk fighting more High Priests while hobbled by the injuries that they represented. Unfortunately, all of the debuffs were beyond even the ...

Chapter 194: Homecoming

Coop felt pride swell in his chest as he watched the horizon from the bow of Windchaser. He balanced himself against the breeze with one hand holding a taut rope while his other shielded his eyes from the sea spray. His injuries wouldn’t prevent him from eagerly anticipating the sight of his home.

The old ship cut through the ocean at a steady pace, pushed forward by the phantom pirates that maintained the sails. In the distance, Ghost Reef’s stone walls slowly climbed into...

Chapter 193: Placid Lake

Mr. Gibson had gone by his last name exclusively ever since entering college as a 17 year old kid. Like so many other young people, when he had the chance to reinvent himself after leaving home to attend a university, he took it, shedding the first name that had defined his youth. College was a good time. He had many fond memories and he made valuable connections that led him on a fortunate journey to an extremely early retirement.

Mr. Gibson was responsible for one of the earliest matc...

Chapter 192: Human Spirit

Coop woke up with a start after a dreamless sleep. He found himself lying on his back, alone, in the partially collapsed cavern. He was feeling exhausted, as if he had been on an intense bender the likes of which were only depicted in movies for comedic effect.

“Ugh…” He groaned as he tried lifting a hand to his forehead, but his arm didn’t react the way he expected, staying limp at his side, stinging with pins and needles.

The ground all around him was stained with dried ...

Chapter 191: Inevitable Conclusion

Coop’s feet were rooted in place in the instant that Inheritance of the Mists took effect. The skill’s buffs and debuffs were applied, and his mind raced through his updated status. Time seemingly froze in comparison. The Icon of Mana paused its rotation, anticipating an action from Coop with his sudden change in posture, but it would be left confused for the moment.

While the pair of combatants were dancing to the death, the piles of sand had continued to grow. They were scattered ...

Chapter 190: Outmatched

Coop rolled onto his side, letting the momentum of his fall carry him over, and forced himself upright as quickly as he could. Slamming his hand onto the solid sand-packed ground, he propelled himself all the way back to his feet and leaned into a combat-ready stance: low and loose with his battle axe held behind his right hip. The sand responded with an uninterrupted audible droning, but the Icon of Mana remained absent from his field of view.

He had fallen a few hundred feet from the ...

Chapter 189: Field Test

“I guess it’s been a while since one of these guys showed up.” Coop sighed, resigned to the fact that another Icon of Mana had revealed itself to the planet.

Given that Coop hadn’t been the one to trigger the Icon, its appearance was probably a bad sign. Maybe an extremely bad sign. The Eradication Protocol was meant to be something to worry about years in the future, but if Icons of Mana were already casually introducing themselves to the planet, it might be closer than anyone ...

Chapter 188: Firefighting

Coop double-checked the temple at the top of Huracan’s pyramid, seeking hidden loot that may have been squirreled away within. He wouldn’t be a proper scavenger if he left anything of value behind, but there was nothing that immediately caught his attention.

The High Priest had created a modest throne room with a crudely forged seat opposite the main shrine entrance and little else. Other than the snuffed out living flame suspended in an oversized black stone brazier above the pit f...

Chapter 187: Scorched Valley

Coop was absolutely drenched in sweat. He shook his arms with his wrists loose in an effort to drip dry, but the movement barely had any effect. He gave up the futile effort with a sigh. The sweltering heat generated by Huracan’s abilities lingered in the valley even after the High Priest’s demise. The baked ground emanated heat like an oven was embedded below. It seemed as though it would take some time before the temperature returned to normal, but normal wasn’t particularly appetizin...

Chapter 186: The Living Flame

Coop passed through the superheated wind barrier without so much as flinching. To be honest, the wind was extraordinarily uncomfortable, but compared to so many other trials and tribulations, it was a fleeting annoyance. The heat didn’t threaten his health pool, so it was something easily withstood. Coop could feel his hair whipping in the wind, singing at the tips, but his steps were steady. The discomfort wasn’t that the wind was hot enough to ignite grains of sand that were stripped fr...

Chapter 185: Huracan

“Who dares to approach my realm?” A voice echoed from the fiery gateway, but the fog merely swirled around the temple, lingering in silence. Coop didn’t dignify the haughty veiled threat with a response.

The deep voice was followed by a growl of frustration, coming from deeper within the temple at the top of the Mayan pyramid. Coop was prepared to enter the building directly, but a moment after the voice escaped, the man himself stepped beyond the threshold, presenting a black sil...

Chapter 184: Gate of Hell

Corozal was buzzing with activity. Previously, the quiet town had remained relatively unencumbered by external threats, skirting the edge of outright conflict after mana’s arrival through clever tactics and initial luck. Neither the Primal Constructs nor the Cult of Chakyum had truly subjugated the area because there just wasn’t much for either force to target. A few old geezers, as they described themselves, with barely any levels had no value to the experience obsessed priests. At the s...

Chapter 183: Fizzies

Marcus held his glowing weapon tight with one hand as it dripped with golden mana. Thick drops of metallic liquid leaked through his fingers and he could feel the power flow up his arm and into his shoulder until it warmed his chest. The radiating heat was a welcome contrast to the cold ocean spray that had been constantly battering them on their journey. The golden rod shimmered in the night, sending a gentle light across the deck of the ship that revealed all of the struggles they were endu...

Chapter 182: Neptune's Bridge

Neptune’s Bridge was a monument of system reliant construction. The Sapphire Armada had built an unusual city completely unlike anything that previously existed on Earth. The city was built in the center of a long bridge that crossed into the open ocean. The separation of the Florida peninsula from the mainland of the former United States had been undersold by those who described the distance in words. There was no sign of land on either horizon, north or south, unless perched among the tal...

Chapter 181: Devourer

Coop drifted away from the High Priest’s hidden base in a commandeered rowboat. The watercraft had been pulled ashore near the wooden dock and secured by a frayed piece of rope that practically disintegrated upon touch. Coop finished the job by tearing the tattered line and dragging the boat into the edge of the water. He gingerly stepped inside, testing the partially rotted wooden planks before fully committing his weight to the vessel. The boat had been neglected for some time, showing si...

Chapter 180: Mad Science

Coop stifled his celebration after handily defeating the mushroom boss. For a moment he was on the verge of forgetting the purpose of his trip into the caverns, giddy with his exploits against what had, on paper, seemed like an oppressive opponent. But conquering such a challenge hadn’t been the reason he was exploring the dank darkness in the first place.

A High Priest of the Cult of Chakyum was supposed to be making the cave system their sanctuary. As he shook off the dust that clun...

Chapter 179: Mushroom Mystic

An ethereal battle axe slashed through the dank cave air as Coop wielded his newest weapon against the horde of mushroom monsters. Swirling trails of turbulence twisted in the soup of dust, mist, and darkness, chasing the double-sided two-hander as another Elite Sporeguard was cleaved in half by the gleaming edge. As the monster’s life escaped from the severed stem, its torso collapsed with a wheeze, still grasping with pointed claws as it fell. Coop allowed the momentum from his backswing ...

Chapter 178: Fungal Folly

Even though Coop had avoided wandering into a dead end by employing Fog of War and Presence of Mind to map his route, he still found himself at an impasse. The final chamber was large enough to have confused his makeshift mini-map, tricking his distracted mind into believing that it continued further underground. Every other route was a proper dead-end, filled with nothing by mushrooms and moths. This one was more of the same, but rather than a simple damp cave it was a palatial reliquary of ...

Chapter 177: The Butterfly Cave

Coop fell into the abyss. The wind rushing past his ears was the only indication that he was moving, otherwise it felt like he was simply floating in an empty void. His eyes gradually adjusted to the gloom as he squinted into the darkness. The light from the surface hardly penetrated beyond the boundary of the cave entrance, but Coop was able to make out some of the obscured features within.

The walls widened beyond the breach in the surface and revealed the full extent of the dim caver...

Chapter 176: Felix and Friends

Coop was feeling pretty proud of himself. He had successfully made some new friends, in spite of a rough start, and their strength was definitely impressive. They were already leading him through the jungle on yet another hike, but this time he had been assured that they would take him to the stronghold of a High Priest.

Upon landing in Belize, Coop had suspected that he would need to make a spectacle of himself in order to get the attention of the Cult of Chakyum. That way he wouldn’...

Chapter 175: Fading Sun

Juliana was lost in thought. She stared into the flickering flames of the tiny campfire with a gaze full of smoldering intensity. Her face was a portrait of exhaustion that somehow managed to hide her internal despair, but her eyes told the whole story. They focused on the fire as if the embers could give her the unasked answers that dominated her inner monologue. The wet twigs they had used to start the fire quietly popped and crackled as they burned, but she didn’t receive any words of wi...

Chapter 174: The Crossroads

Coop spent another warm night sleeping in a gently swaying hammock. In all honesty, he wouldn't have minded if the pattern continued throughout his journey. Working hard in the day, navigating difficult terrain and fighting Primal Constructs followed by pleasantly calm nights, but the odds were against maintaining such a consistent schedule. While he was on his expedition, sleep would be something he embraced when he had the opportunity, and it was unlikely that the chances would keep coming....

Chapter 173: The Green Sea

The tracker needed a few minutes to come back to his senses after witnessing Coop deal with something that had haunted the region as easily as taking out the trash. The appearance of Field Boss level monsters had been the end of the humans’ ability to freely navigate the wild areas, forcing them to bunker down or accept that they needed civilization shards to claim territory. They lived in fear of a Field Boss encroaching on their camps and ultimately ending their struggle to survive. In co...

Chapter 172: The Heavy Void

In the morning, Coop was treated to a simple breakfast made by someone with nearly 500 levels in cooking. They gave him two plates. The first had scrambled eggs, refried beans, and a salsa on the side, while the other had a small stack of warm flour tortillas. The cook warned him to take it easy with the salsa as it might be too spicy for him. Naturally, Coop treated the warning as a challenge.

The meal sounded basic, but once he took the first bite he practically lost control of his bo...

Chapter 171: Corozal

Coop spent a warm night in Corozal. Compared to Ghost Reef, the weather was just a little too hot and a little too humid, but the atmosphere was unexpectedly comfortable. Coop liked the vibes.

Fernando introduced Coop to the other residents, bringing him to the cafeteria they used as a gathering point. There weren’t many people, but they had all developed exceptional talents through professions alone. They each proudly explained their roles as they introduced themselves. A tiny old la...

Chapter 170: Ensnared

Coop was hanging upside down, held up by a nearly invisible string that wrapped around one of his ankles. Rubbing the back of his head with one hand, he resummoned his dropped sword into his other, angry that he had been ensnared by a trap and frustrated that he hadn’t even been able to hang onto his weapon when caught by surprise. He had no idea what kind of monster, human or alien, had set such a strong snare, but he didn’t like that he hadn’t been able to react to an ambush, no matte...