Crisis during a breakthrough.
Viers was familiar with this trope from the xianxia novels. The MC had to deal with the bullshit the universe threw at him. Sometimes with a proper setup, sometimes the universe did it just for the hell of it.
Either way, Viers made preparations for it. For the cliché.
Not only on this occasion but the previous breakthrough too. Only, in the past, there were no incidents during his breakthroughs to Level 1,2, and 3.
But at 4, I guess ...
2024-04-26 01:51:10 +0000 UTC
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“Halt!”
The one with the sharpest senses among them said and gestured with his fist. The rest, trusting his ability, stopped advancing.
“That way, I feel someone’s presence.”
He pointed to the right, where the group could see a house seemingly made inside a tree. The chimney was billowing out smoke.
“And from the left. I see something. A creature I’ve never seen before.”
“Is it dangerous?” The leader asked.
“Haven't a clue.”
...
2024-04-21 20:26:26 +0000 UTC
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Dia was living a plant’s life.
She was basking in the warm light coming from the giant sunflowers, drinking the refreshing clear water, and her roots soaking in nutrients from delicious monsters freshly killed.
This is how life should be, Dia thought occasionally.
“...Eh?”
Suddenly, she felt it.
Almost at the same time, spatial tears appeared in several places in the Biome.
And people were coming in uninvited.
“W-who are these people!...
2024-04-16 22:00:54 +0000 UTC
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No Pain No Gain Arte was the longest training commitment Viers had made so far. Roughly three years of constant, painful training. If he stopped halfway, his efforts so far would have gone down the drain.
Such a massive waste of time, effort, and resources was something Viers couldn't abide. He pondered his decision long and hard before committing because failure was not an option.
As depicted in the Arte's name, the gain was similarly large. Viers' way of cultivation was the purs...
2024-04-13 02:59:53 +0000 UTC
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Viridis, Dia's Biome and Viers' homebase.
A few days after the Arcanum Club's first meeting and establishment. In this green paradise, a farewell was happening.
"Uuuu… Luca will be lonely."
Luca the dark purple-haired girl with a darkness 5 affinity was crying during the send-off. Gwen, who was her age, tried to calm her friend.
"Don't worry, little swan, you'll be fine," Viers patted the little girl's head.
Unlike the others who would be going to Sinclair, Luc...
2024-04-10 05:58:55 +0000 UTC
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"I see you are all confused," Viers smirked.
"Nope, not at all. This is just another one of your antics," Paina denied it. She would not give Viers the satisfaction.
"A question Lord Viers," Farley asked as she sat. "Who are the others? By my count, there are even more than I know."
"I was wondering about that too," Clarissa said. "First there are the five of us, then Boram, the Blood Church girl, the girl that fell for your fake handsome face, but who else? Did you give the...
2024-04-06 09:39:03 +0000 UTC
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Jessica found herself in august company.
She was just a mediocre Level 3 Pathseeker not long ago. Those with more talent than her became Level 3 decades earlier. But now, she had a place in a gathering of great figures.
Is Kira also here? Viers did say he and Kira learned from the same teacher…
Things were changing a little too fast for the single mother. Viers said he would show the way. Jessica was in a wild ride but she knew it was also the chance of a lifetime...
2024-04-02 04:47:08 +0000 UTC
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"Look, it's Prince Croix!"
"Yay! He's come to play!"
"Prince's dragon is here too!"
Croix's appearance was welcomed by a gaggle of kids who proceeded to swarm him.
"Hahaha, hello everyone. How are you all? Good?"
"Sto-bekk always rainy!"
"Yeah, Billy caught a cold 'cause he was playing in the rain."
"Oh, that's not good. You gotta take good care of yourself."
In a break between his training, Croix visited the children slaves that Marvin brought ...
2024-03-29 04:39:41 +0000 UTC
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Since Farley had gotten her new body after being a soul for so long, she began wearing a mask when going outside.
Paina was the same. The reason being they had become a touch too pretty.
As Pathseeker grew stronger, their lifespan extended. Their aging was also slowing down. In female Pathseekers, their beauty was also enhanced by the magic inside them, which was why high-level female Pathseekers usually possessed a high standard of beauty.
For male Pathseekers, they also ha...
2024-03-25 14:26:18 +0000 UTC
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"I urge you to reconsider. Such an opportunity is too precious to waste."
"Thank you for your wisdom, Pastor, but my mind is made up. I have other considerations," Viers turned to Alfred. "Boram will go. He can stay beside the prince closer than you. As bodyguards go, you can vouch for his strength, yes?"
The two tried to reverse Viers' decision but he wouldn't budge.
"...How do I tell His Highness," Alfred scratched his head. "Oh, right, Pastor Hugh, you wish to meet with H...
2024-03-21 02:29:45 +0000 UTC
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"What a dump! It stinks like fish."
"Austen, you're being rude."
Overlooking the Shore, there were two people. One was an older man with a wise and dignified demeanor, while the other was a male teen; his hair was white, and his eyes golden. They were dressed in the ordinary garb of a traveler.
"But Pastor Hugh-"
"We are all equal under the eyes of the Radiant Lady. They are all people like us, but less fortunate. It is our duty to alleviate their suffering and give gu...
2024-03-16 12:39:42 +0000 UTC
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Stormberg.
In the breakfast room in the countess' mansion, only the sounds of utensils could be heard as the aunt and nephew were having their first meal of the day.
Even though the ice had melted between them yesterday, so to speak, it was as if things had gone back to their first meeting.
Falmerion had already eaten his fill and slept by curling his body on the table. The dragon had always eaten a lot. His preference was meat, barbequed by his own fire.
"Umm, Aunt-"<...
2024-03-12 18:29:17 +0000 UTC
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The Mualammu Kingdom was wrecked because of the offshoot of the Deep Dweller God. It couldn't be helped. Arsène, monster form or not, was just a Level 3, he couldn't escape the monster with the strength equivalent to Level 5 cleanly. By using the kingdom as a shield, he was able to survive. The kingdom didn't even know the truth of it. They thought it was a random attack from a monster.
Because of me, a lot of people died again. I really am a scum.
Viers felt clearly the...
2024-03-09 11:07:57 +0000 UTC
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The sea was freaking scary.
This came from Arsène who had Viers' memories of playing Subnautica so he knew his shit.
In an effort to escape his pursuers, Orca-Arsène went to a danger zone, the closest one from the Mualammu Kingdom.
Since antiquity, people have always feared the unknown. Darkness represented much of that, that was why children feared the dark and even after they grew up, that primal instinct never truly went away.
The Dark Zone was aptly named.
...
2024-03-04 12:38:10 +0000 UTC
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Arsène went to the underwater kingdom under the cover of a Devadom Orca whom Uraj, a simple Merman soldier, managed to tame, a feat not heard of in the last one hundred years.
With the might of his partner, not unlike Croix and his dragon, Uraj's reputation and his lot in life improved sharply. It hadn't been that long since everything seemed to be going his way so he was still in the high period, drunk on the newfound power and glory.
Meanwhile, Arsène made various actions behi...
2024-02-28 10:53:49 +0000 UTC
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The circumstances of Croix and his party's departure from Liapris were night and day compared to their arrival. The elves regarded them as saviors now. Croix accepted their well-wishes humbly despite rumors of him being a member of the royal family had been circulating. It couldn't be helped, a dragon was too conspicuous.
The elves conveyed their gratitude with more than words. Croix received valuable gifts that would bolster the young Pathseeker's growth. Of course, Croix was not the o...
2024-02-24 04:03:37 +0000 UTC
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Viers had an enlightening experience reading his newest soul.
After Fajrin's less-than-satisfactory performance in the Aletro's trials, he had a pretty miserable time in his cult. He was forced to do many chores and dangerous missions. This went on for months.
Oh, the woe of being a corporate slave. Always have to do what your boss tells you… I feel you, Fajrin. This is why I'm not working for other people. I'm my own boss.
He went from place to place until ended ...
2024-02-19 23:17:55 +0000 UTC
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Piercing through the trees' canopy with his Euryale Sight, Viers saw a red dragon engaging a flying spider in showy aerial combat.
He didn't expect for Ydris to lose so it got a worry spike out of him. The elder elf talked big of how he would win. What a failure. He expected Boram and the group to run away like hell after sensing the dark elf's spider-shaped Arte went in their direction. Turned out his other disciple had quite the trump card.
So, the little dragon became big a...
2024-02-15 22:41:50 +0000 UTC
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"No need."
A towering and commanding voice answered Viers' demand.
"Elder Ydris?" The female elf elder didn't expect the old elder who had been silent all this time to respond.
His next action was similarly out of expectation; he attacked the other two elders with a green energy blast from his hands.
"Aghh… W-why?"
The two elders were incapacitated. After the injury they sustained, moss grew from the root walls to hold them in place.
The old elder transfo...
2024-02-10 21:14:35 +0000 UTC
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Body Pathseekers had no particular affinity to a certain element, therefore they hardly used fireballs or wind blades in combat.
But they could use martial arts to great effectiveness. Body-forging methods also worked especially well for them. There were advantages and disadvantages but that didn't mean body Pathseekers were weaker than the more common element-using Pathseekers.
Viers knew this well. From works like Kengan, Kenichi, Baki, Tekken, and Street Fighting, he had seen h...
2024-02-06 21:05:45 +0000 UTC
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Viers knew he would meet Jessica again after Croix told him the monster problem came from the direction of the elf forest. The last time he saw Jessica was when she tried to find the elves to cure her son who got injured in a fight between Level 5s.
But the true reason for his surety was because of the white card he gave to Jessica.
It was no ordinary white card, it contained a little bit of Viers' soul. It had a number of uses, such as allowing Viers to sense the location of one....
2024-02-01 18:24:47 +0000 UTC
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Am I dead?
Jessica's consciousness was in darkness, slowly sinking. Memories of her life were rising up from below as bubbles. The good and the bad. Happiness and sadness. Meetings and partings.
Yet she felt strangely peaceful.
So tired… Falling asleep like this might not be so bad…
A memory bubble floated before her, showing the face of a smiling boy.
Tim! No, no yet. I must not die here. If I die, who does he have left? I cannot die ye...
2024-01-28 16:54:15 +0000 UTC
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“Watch out!”
The ambush caught them off guard and only one reacted to it. Jessica placed her body between Viers and the new threat coming from behind. She didn't know Viers was someone she had met before -because of a different face and everything- but she risked life and limb for her allies nonetheless.
It was a big, colorful spider, seemingly a mix of a hundred colors. Jessica tried to punch it away but when her fist made contact, it went through. The part that she hit becam...
2024-01-24 19:38:56 +0000 UTC
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In the Fellowship of the Ring, men, an elf, a dwarf, hobbits, and a wizard set off from Rivendell to Mordor for the sake of destroying the iconic ring.
In Viers’ case, there was a lack of dwarves and hobbits but all the men and elves in their party were kind of wizards so one could argue it might be pretty even overall? Viers decided to think so. Also, their destination was not as far as Mordor and certainly the journey’s conclusion wouldn't take multiple books with the thickness to...
2024-01-20 16:14:05 +0000 UTC
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Viers beheld the majesty and grandeur of the spirit forest of Liapris which the elves had made their home with his own eyes.
The outer forest was pretty ordinary. The elves weaved their obfuscation magic, turning that place into their first line of defense. The real elven forest was where Viers was now.
The big trees with living places inside, the atmosphere, the pretty spirit lights, the abundance of mana, all came together in harmony. There was also a sense of ancientness in the...
2024-01-16 17:42:54 +0000 UTC
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The gang traveled under a rainy autumn sky. Rain would fall regularly, sometimes a short drizzle, other times a squall. The weather wasn't cooperating but the trip had to be made. The muddy road, flooding river, and monsters became complications that sapped their stamina.
“This monster is sick too. No doubt we’re going in the right direction.”
Croix looked ahead under a light rain, the silhouette of a forest could be seen at a distance.
“The elves are famously insula...
2024-01-11 23:05:50 +0000 UTC
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The matter of the mine and its right of ownership was bulldozed when Croix gave a visit to the Spears of Fury School with a writ signed by the Countess of Stormberg herself. According to a treaty from some decades past, the mine was located in the countess’ territory.
The Spears of Fury headmaster conceded politely and with tack. The matter seemed resolved and Croix looked happy.
“Beware of saboteurs,” Viers warned. He was familiar with how the story most likely would develo...
2024-01-08 12:30:29 +0000 UTC
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“Alchemy? I’m a fighter, Viers. Tinkering with medicine and stuff isn't my thing.”
“Never too late to start. Besides, don't you want to try something new? Perhaps you’ll enjoy it,” Viers persuaded.
“But…”
“Hear me out. The alchemy in this book is not your usual alchemy. Remember Aravin? The harem guy with a loli spiritual teacher inside him? That guy possessed the alchemy sage manual, supposedly a legendary lost art from the Eastern Continent where the lo...
2024-01-04 13:27:07 +0000 UTC
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Croix’s tenure at the Shore continued.
He juggled between improving himself and rebuilding the village. His progress was… decent. It was above average, but not monstrously groundbreaking. Croix’s fire affinity was 4, quite good but lacking compared to fire 5. Honestly, Viers didn't see the signs that he would become a top-class Pathseeker or legendary king.
Still, he had an honest heart and the correct attitude. However, Viers knew the subpar start didn't mean they would be ...
2023-12-28 05:44:34 +0000 UTC
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“The village is almost out of food. The monsters and animals we hunted will dry up in a few days. The village chief told me they usually stockpile some during the good days for emergencies but the surpluses didn't survive the tidal wave. There’s some good news at least. The fish are starting to return, but there is only so much they can get with poles. They need boats and nets.”
“And?” Viers listened to Croix’s analysis.
“We need to trade, buy foodstuffs and other ne...
2023-12-22 16:15:54 +0000 UTC
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