Raine’s heart rate spiked, adrenalin and agony coursing through his veins in equal measure. Everything hurt, but the pain brought him to life. It urged him forward, and he embraced it.
He slowed his pace briefly, using the force of the roar to push forward until he found his balance again. Then, he angled forward until he could have touched the ground with a hand and sprinted, each step boosted to its utmost.
His vision began to constrict into hyper-focus; a death sentence...
2024-11-23 20:15:32 +0000 UTC
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Unbalanced but retaining his forward momentum toward the curved tunnel, Raine veered to the side. His legs burned and his knees roared in protest as he tried to correct without falling. Realizing he wasn’t going to make it, he threw his weight in the direction he was falling and jumped. His feet landed on the wall and he kept right on running, burning a point of Discipline with every step.
He blazed through the curved tunnel, and when it straightened before entering the larger cavern,...
2024-11-23 20:14:34 +0000 UTC
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Coming to his feet, Raine spun to the entrance. His eyes were trained on the obscuring darkness that hid an enemy more than capable of killing him. When it failed to come rocketing out of the cave and sweep him into the air where he would be helplessly murdered, he shook his head, mumbling curses under his breath.
I should have known it wouldn’t be so easy. Level twenty-seven though?! That’s total sharkshit.
Raine had come prepared to face the monsters he knew inhabit...
2024-11-23 20:13:42 +0000 UTC
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Raine made his way to the northern outskirts of Vile Peak Town. The comforting buzz, whirrs, and bangs of machines could be heard long before his destination came into view. Rounding the last bend, a squat log cabin came into view. It was out in the open and half of its length had been converted into a covered workshop. The ground was littered with tools and several Gromglenns bustled about, their tiny, attribute-enhanced bodies a blur.
They were one of the more intelligent races in Zio...
2024-11-23 20:12:18 +0000 UTC
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Raine glided through the gates and into town. He nodded at the guards who didn’t bar his path. His mood couldn’t possibly be better. Not only did he get to have a thrilling fight, he also managed to deal a crippling blow to Righteous, and made a great impression on a very promising potential recruit. The only thing bringing down his cheer was the complete lack of decent drops from the thugs. There were only three tutorial pieces, and those were the best items.
He shrugged off the mi...
2024-11-23 20:11:03 +0000 UTC
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As Raine spun sideways after bouncing off the Great Eagle, he caught a flash of sunlight reflecting in his peripheral vision. His eyesight was still blurry, but the pinprick of light, and the fact he hadn't seen Froust in several seconds, caused alarm bells to ring in his skull. He threw himself to the side the instant one of his feet hit the ground.
Froust adjusted the angle of his stab, unerringly tracking Raine, though unable to keep up with his speed. The great sword's tip skidded a...
2024-11-16 00:29:04 +0000 UTC
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The narrow road meandered through the foothills until eventually weaving deeper into the mountains. It wound back and forth at the mercy of steep rocky cliffs, following the Sinner’s River uphill. Occasionally, as the path rounded a bend, Vile Peak Town could be spied before the landscape obscured it once more.
The sun was directly overhead, no longer hiding behind the towering slopes. Raine only slowed long enough to avoid the largest flocks of raptors, cutting down the stragglers wi...
2024-11-16 00:25:37 +0000 UTC
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Raine continued coaching them for another two hours before calling it quits, “Alright. That's enough training. Bring back the equipment you borrowed.”
TwistedReligion held his borrowed wand behind his back, “What?! You're not going to let us use them anymore?”
Raine rolled his eyes, “Who said that? You can use whatever you want.”
One piece at a time, Raine dropped and organized the tutorial gear he'd looted from various donors. He made a separate pile for the bet...
2024-11-16 00:20:36 +0000 UTC
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The moment Cynthya’s AR gave her the green light about Morty integrating with the house, she presented the pre-prepared contract for the sale. Raine was just as eager to seal the deal. He sold enough stock to complete the purchase of both houses, and pay the first month's salary for his new employees.
Cynthya stayed long enough to transfer the authentication procedures into his name, then hustled out with an excuse of another appointment that magically presented itself. No doubt she w...
2024-11-16 00:19:15 +0000 UTC
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Browsing the limited information available on the house Morty chose for them, Raine's brows drew in, wrinkling his forehead.
If Morty has grand designs to kick off the second AI wars, this will be the perfect place to start. Well, no point getting excited until I see it for myself.
Raine chose one of the residences for Richtor's friends, familiar with the area from the past. He flicked the file back to his scheming AI, “Morty, contact the brokers for this one and the lo...
2024-11-16 00:18:17 +0000 UTC
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Knowing the guards would aggro if he threw the little man while inside the town, regardless of the bug, Raine kept up his pace. Due to the difference in attributes, Richtor’s friends had to run to keep up. Whether out of inquisitiveness, concern for their friend still slung over Raine’s shoulder, or because they had nowhere else to go, they scuttled behind him like ducklings waddling after their mother.
MercilessLee followed as well, spewing profanities, and promises of pain, tortur...
2024-11-16 00:16:36 +0000 UTC
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[Achievement for first player to reach level ten! One additional skill point dropped]
Raine’s hand shot out and snatched up the dropped skill point in the perfect parody of a bullet shrimp. When he confirmed his free skill point count was sitting at two, he happily pulled out the equipment from the crog chieftain that he couldn't previously equip and donned them one at a time.
[Superior Scaled Pauldrons - Common Grey - LVL 10: (DEF ...
2024-11-08 10:54:49 +0000 UTC
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Richtor KongRu
- Dawson Creek Town -
[Regional System Announcement: Congratulations, Alaric for being the first player to reach level 10]
[World System Announcement: Congratulations, Alaric for being the first player to reach level 10]
Grifden’s shock couldn’t have been more complete; his jaw fell and hung open until he leaped to his feet and shouted, his voice echo...
2024-11-08 10:52:34 +0000 UTC
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With nothing left to do in Torell’s Cave, and the crogs dead for another fourteen hours, it was time for Raine to leave. His steps were quick, fueled by a desire to move beyond the newbie, Mirror Lake Zone. As he stepped outside, he was greeted by a deep gloom that had settled over the lakeside. A full moon refracted brilliantly off the gently lapping waves of the great lake, illuminating the world in dancing shadows and shades of violet from the glowing moss and mushrooms that dominated th...
2024-11-08 10:50:28 +0000 UTC
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If not for the preparations he made before the fight, Raine would have died in seconds. Instead of unleashing a barrage of Water Blasts, all the summoned crogs except one lost their minds as they dove with ravenous hunger upon the steaks he left scattered at the arena’s edge. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough of the disgusting meat to go around and with how quickly level ten crogs could eat, he only had a few seconds to deal with as many of the casters as possible.
He munched down ...
2024-11-08 10:49:18 +0000 UTC
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Once the decision was made, Raine set about preparing the optimal battlefield. He clearly remembered the boss would call any surviving crogs in the village to come to his aid, so his first order of business was clearing them out.
For the most part, the level ten beasts were distant enough from each other to avoid pulling two at a time. There were, however, several larger buildings that rested above the water on long stilts. Inside, multiple groups of two would need to be dealt with. The...
2024-11-08 10:48:29 +0000 UTC
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Wait… what just happened? I'm not in combat yet and I didn't attack, so how did the roulette activate?
A moment after he stopped to think, the axe vanished. He crouched behind a clump of marsh stalks and reviewed everything that occurred right before the axe appeared, but for the life of him, he couldn't understand what happened.
After wasting a few precious minutes with no results, he pushed on toward the nearest group of crogs once more. It would certainly be he...
2024-11-08 10:47:25 +0000 UTC
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Jiran couldn't match the speed of the tier nine's foul mana. Thankfully, he didn't need to match it, he only needed to beat it. When he first acquired Armament, the storage space was no larger than his fist. With each bit of mana added, its internal volume expanded to compensate. As that mana was used, the space remained the same size.
Since it directly overlapped reality, any point Armament could reach, so could all his skills. Elemental Castigation created a flic...
2024-11-02 00:55:21 +0000 UTC
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Jiran's Teleportation brought him halfway to the battle overhead. He didn't immediately close the distance. Not only did he need several seconds for his Teleportation to be available again, he was also hoping to spot a weakness or chance to surprise the two. It never even crossed his mind that Lenton might not be able to handle the two Templari. In Jiran’s mind, the old bastard was the very definition of a legend.
Lenton casually swiped a hand at one of his two opponents, releasing an...
2024-10-30 21:40:33 +0000 UTC
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Note from the author: For those of you reading via email, there was supposed to be an image of Jiran’s new Body of Mana in that last chapter. It’s not loading on Patreon, so here is a direct link to copy/paste into your browser if you didn’t see it. https://imgur.com/dA71sjA
Jiran was annoyed. The feeling suffused his awareness, but fell short of true annoyance as he currently had no body to ...
2024-10-30 21:06:07 +0000 UTC
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Mayalyn Aloyhee
Mayalyn burst into the dimly lit room amidst a shower of splinters. Despite her speed and Obfustication, she was plucked from the air, helpless as a cub swaddled in blankets. She immediately regretted her hasty choice. Olive’s scream had contained so much pain that it overwhelmed her reason. It was too late now, she was caught, and at the mercy of someone far more powerful than her.
The first thing Mayalyn noticed abou...
2024-10-30 20:35:20 +0000 UTC
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Oliviala Le'Cruex
Olive was rattled awake. The chains binding her wrists and ankles yanked her back and forth. She cried out in surprise, the sound swallowed by the dark room.
Her Manabody gained control of her so she wouldn’t continue swinging until her momentum died naturally. With her senses dampened and her aura restrained, she couldn’t tell exactly what caused her to start shaking in the first place. Raised in a palace easily the equal to the G...
2024-10-30 19:35:05 +0000 UTC
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Jiran's grin turned feral as he caught the Templari’s punch in the palm of his gauntlet. Without mana to fuel Forcing and boost their movements, the tier nines no longer held the advantage in raw speed.
“Retrea—”
Jiran's return punch landed in the man's throat. A burst of Mana Venom shot from his knuckles, seeping deep into his neck where it split in two. Half shot into his brain, the other into his manapool. Their leader's eyes rolled back and he collapse...
2024-10-30 19:10:51 +0000 UTC
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Jiran Teleported, pulling himself through a synapse until his stomach heaved uncontrollably from pushing too far. When he emerged, the ball of condensed hydrogen and oxygen Armament prepared in advance detonated, sending him hurtling through the air. His aura’s grasp against the framework crumbled space as he tore himself forward.
All the while, Foresight's warning that he was going the wrong direction blared louder and louder down his spin...
2024-10-30 18:27:57 +0000 UTC
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As he always did when logging in outside of a safe zone, Raine checked his surroundings immediately. The game was 'nice enough' to supply players with a five-second window of invulnerability upon logging in, but there were numerous ways around that.
Upon seeing no threats, he checked his new contact to find a name he instantly recognized: Morok the Viper. Not that he had earned the moniker yet, his name was merely Morok. There was no way it could be anyone else though.
In the past...
2024-10-25 21:42:31 +0000 UTC
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Raine crouched low behind a bush just thick enough to break line of sight with the duo of crogs up ahead. He had advanced steadily through the outer ranks of scouts, these final two the last line before reaching the stronger beasts residing on the outskirts of the village itself.
Greater Aspect of the Werewolf ticked a final time, bringing him back to fifty percent health. Making one last sweep of the area, Raine threw a rock, smacking one of the crogs upside the h...
2024-10-25 21:40:58 +0000 UTC
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Mirror Lake Town - ‘The Boisterous Man’
"Boss! Y-you're back early," Goruut—the boisterous man—shook like a leaf as he addressed a human wall of muscle.
With blond hair, green eyes, and a massive frame, the boss struck an imposing figure as he confidently swaggered past a shop entrance to tower over Goruut, "Are you trying to say it should have taken me longer to reach level two?" The huge man squinted, causing Goruut's spin...
2024-10-25 21:39:33 +0000 UTC
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[Tutorial Metal Helm - Dull Trash: (DEF + 4) (PHY + 1) (Durability 15/15)]
[Tutorial Metal Plate - Dull Trash: (DEF + 4) (PHY + 1) (Durability 15/15)]
[Tutorial Metal Vambrace - Dull Trash: (DEF + 4) (PHY + 1) (Durability 15/15)]
The rest of the gear was lighter variants of the same equipment, or duplicates. In all, Raine received fifteen pieces from the swindlers. Physique directly increased...
2024-10-25 21:37:51 +0000 UTC
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[Greater Aspect of the Werewolf (Lustrous Blue): When reduced below 50% HP (Greater Werewolf’s Regeneration) will activate, restoring 10% HP per 5 seconds]
Raine was stunned as he read the description, not believing what he was seeing. The original aspect he came here to get (one of the best known early-game aspects) only started regeneration at 25% HP and restored 5% every 5 seconds. This upgraded version was so much better, he was st...
2024-10-25 21:32:49 +0000 UTC
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Raine backpedaled, dodging the monstrous golem’s swing by the slimmest margin. Wind rushed over his skin from the passing fist, causing a smile to split his face as the thrill of an intense fight sent tingles through his limbs. Even after years of playing, he found himself enamored with ZL's realism.
The golem turned from the momentum of its missed attack. A fist the size of Raine's chest flew in a backhand swing as it came all the way around to face him once more. Raine pivoted on hi...
2024-10-11 23:00:36 +0000 UTC
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