Bacon Macleod

B2 Chapter 254: Confinement, pt. 1

Kaius’s vision fuzzed as he fell in and out of consciousness. He was being carried, slung roughly over someone’s shoulder.

Everything ached—the remnants of his Health were not enough to fully recover from the beatdown he had just suffered. It was only by the blaring insistence of his Glass Mind that he had the wherewithal to stay limp and silent.

No need to let his captors know he was awake, even if it was only barely. 

Through half-lidded eyes, he watched black-b...

B2 Chapter 253: Watchers in the Wings, Finale

Staring down at the stride-long length of the greatsword that was sticking out of his stomach, Kaius wondered how he got here. 

It seemed more than a little unfair that going out of his way to kill powerful monsters that were a threat to the people of Deadacre had led to a sword sticking out of his gut.

Then the stinging heat kicked in, and with it came fury. 

He knew he should be saving his spells—knew he should hoard them for if they were captured. Yet, if he d...

B2 Chapter 252: Watchers in the Wings, pt. 1

*Ding! You have been afflicted by Gravebound Slumber - Poison, Dream, Tier 2*

Kaius stared down at the dart in his chest, struggling to process what it was doing there. 

It was a small thing—really just a weighted needle with a few fins to stabilise it in flight. 

Then he noticed the creeping numbness that was slowly seeping across his chest—a circle barely a thumb width wide. It was joined by an insidious fatigue—one that felt soft and comfor...

B2 Chapter 251: Bonefields, Finale

Heart thumping in his chest, Kaius shut out the pain of his injuries.

Agonous it might have been, the pain was drowned out by the roaring heat of his fury. He would not be cowed by simple pain—he would not be bested by something little better than a mangy dog-thing.

Hoarsely crying out, he ignored the feeling of his shattered bones punching through his skin as he twisted, driving the point of his sword deep into a gap between the bone plates that covered the biter’s che...

B2 Chapter 250: Bonefields, pt. 4

Kaius raced through the air, riding a wave of force as he held A Father’s Gift at the ready—aiming to impale the first bone biter he could. Howling laughter bubbled up from his chest, the simple exhilaration of flying across the plateau spiking his heart rate and amplifying the hunger he felt for the blood that was about to be spilled.

Life truly was about the simple things.

Twice, a pair of solar rays shot over his head—momentarily blinding two of the front runners. The cra...

B2 Chapter 249: Bonefields, pt. 3

From where he was sitting in the autumn sun, Porkchop lurched to his feet—head snapping to stare out over the cliff at the far end of the plateau, into the Bonefields.

“They’re coming. I can hear them.” he said, voice broadcast widely so that Ianmus would hear him too.

Kaius was on his feet in a second. It had been nearly an hour since they had used an alchemical tonic to make their bait rapidly decay, and after the first ten minutes they had relaxed as the smell had stemm...

B2 Chapter 247: Bonefields, pt. 1 (real)

A/N: I made a booboo again and accidentally queued 248, so tomorrows chapter comes today lol. If you've already read 248, this goes before it. if you havent, its right before this one on Patreon

Their walk from Deadacre was a long one—filled with cold wind and frigid rain. The waxed canvas cloaks they had to keep off the weather helped, but it didn’t make the late autumn climate pleasant.

Thankfully, with their stats and gear, unpleasant was all it was. A mild...

B2 Chapter 248: Bonefields, pt. 1 (actually part 2)

A/N: I messed up ordering, so 247 (the previous chapter) has been posted directly after this if you see this chapter first.

Exiting the pathway that led them through the monoliths that dotted the exterior of the Bonefields, Kaius looked at the plateau that opened up before them with a pleased expression on his face.

It would be a good battleground—as good as he had hoped it would be, from the scryed map they had purchased.

Rectangular, the stretch of dust...

B2 Chapter 246: Intertwined Plans

Thumping down the heavy bestiary he had found in the stacks—one of a dozen copies for the local threats—Kaius brushed off the dust and thumbed through its pages, coming to a stop when he reached the entry on bone-biters.

A quick read confirmed what he had hoped.

“Here,” he said, leaning back away from the book so that Ianmus could peer at the page. 

“They’re carrion eaters, among other things.” he pointed to the relevant line. “Might be a way to bait the...

B2 Chapter 245: Sequential Improvements, Finale

Standing before Rieker and his team, Kaius took in the stream of options that coursed passed his vision.

His fourth spell, coming straight off the back of his third. He’d been looking forward to this selection—the type of fighter that he was, he’d been certain that an additional avenue through which to advance, manoeuvre, and retreat would improve his lethality almost as much as his Drakthar spells would.

Judging by the options provided, he’d been correct.

Trussant�...

B2 Chapter 244: Sequential Improvements, pt. 2

Rieker let out a barking snarl, his plated boot cracking the tiled stone floor of the training hall with the force of his charge.

Even laden down by his heavy plate the guildmaster was fast—but not so fast that Kaius couldn’t track him. He knew that the man was slowing himself, holding back so that he could actually put up a fight.

The recent spars with Rieker still felt like he was facing up against the siege ogre once again. Every trick he pulled, every burst of strength and...

B2 Chapter 243: Sequential Improvements, pt. 1

Rieker was already waiting for them when they entered the underground training hall. He stood casually, arms crossed over a shirt that was suited to a day at the markets, shooting them an easy grin.

“Well, lads, I hope you’re ready for a rough couple of weeks—you’re all at a precipice, and I intend to push you over it before your next mission,” the guildmaster said, a glint in the man’s eyes setting Kaius’s heart racing.

He smirked back, rolling his shoulders to read...

B2 Chapter 242: Elder Blood

Sitting cross legged in the middle of his team’s dimensional tent, Kaius stared down at his blade. 

Porkchop and Ianmus watched on in reverent silence as he swept his hand across its length, feeling the hunger with which its surface tore into the heat of his body.

A Father’s Gift, his most prized possession. A gift for reaching the age at which the system integrated with him fully. One that he now knew that his father had been preparing for for far longer than he had ever...

B2 Chapter 241: Princely Payment

Kaius and his team sat in a loose circle in their room at the Stables, staring at the pile of new equipment that was arrayed in front of them. 

Their journey back from the battle with the drake had been an easy one—with their newfound strength they’d been left well enough alone by the vast majority of monsters that roved the wilds. The few that were too stupid to know better were dealt with easily. It seemed even the rising aggression of the local monsters had a limit.

At...

Interlude 4: The Oriole

“Hells, Grave-eye, what the fuck kind of job was this? I know it paid well, but the drake was level one-hundred-and-seven? Are you trying to get me killed? Sending me to watch some team of scions like that?” Ingle raved, pacing back and forth through his office.

Tuning out the rest of the woman’s nonsensical ranting, Grave-eye was of half a mind to have Gorm kill her, just for the sheer impudence of daring to take that tone with him.

Alas, the woman was too strong—and too ...

B2 Chapter 240: Beast Lore

After waking with the rising dawn, Kaius pushed his way out of the tent they had pitched right by the site of their battle and set about making breakfast. His companions were still dozing, sleep claiming them deeply after the rigours of their midnight soiree with the drake.

Fetching another cut of meat from the body of the drake, he decided to pair it with some bread and scrambled eggs. A simple meal, but one that would be relatively easy to make.

He prepared an extra serving—it...

B2 Chapter 239: Team Gains

Gold light filled the gully, thrown off by the burning logs that were slowly reducing themselves to embers a good two hundred strides down its length. The flames threw the corpse of the drake into relief, silhouetting it in shadow.

Kaius searched for a target to practice his latest skill on, eyes piercing the gloom with ease. There was plenty of stone around, but even he wasn’t reckless enough to think hacking at boulders with an explosive skill was a good idea. Even if he was protect...

B2 Chapter 238: Fourth Skill

Kaius revelled in the rush of strength that welled up from his soul—and the joy at having seized his next skill.

He took a moment to just let it wash over him, eyes drifting closed as the sensations of his body being remoulded and shaped according to the system’s will coursed through him from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.

Fifteen levels—an immense achievement for a single battle by any reasonable means, but not his greatest. The pleasure of having his capabili...

B2 Chapter 237: Drake, Finale

Kaius flickered in and out of the world as he charged towards the drake, his brother at his side and a screaming challenge on his lips. It was in a dire state. Half its body had been left paralysed and numb from the smoking canal that Ianmus had bored through its skull, blood poured from a dozen sword and claw wounds, and its back had been scorched until its ribs and spine had been bared to the world.

Reacting to their advance, the drake raked its good arm against the crevasse floor—a...

B2 Chapter 236: Drake, pt. 3

Leashed lightning faded, the white light of dawn retreating from the forest gully. In the flickering orange light of the raging flames, Kaius saw the devastation he had wrought. Blackened scales peeled back from weeping flesh—clear fluid dripping from the cauterised ring that circled the beast’s neck.

A moment later the drake recovered from his onslaught and roared. Battered and bleeding, charred and smoking, it called its defiance to the heavens above.

The cry of hatred and f...

B2 Chapter 235: Drake, pt. 2

The night was almost pitch black, the thin waning moon providing only the barest slivers of light. 

Thankfully, Kaius had his Truesight, and the pervasive gloom of the forest was lit up in grey toned hues that hid nothing from his eyes. 

Their rush through the trees had been as fast as they could make it—there was only a few hours between when the drake retired and when it would begin its nightly patrol of its territory. A tight timeline for them to get set up and ...

B2 Chapter 234: Drake, pt. 1

Kaius crouched on a branch halfway up a large pine tree, holding one hand to the rough bark of the trunk to steady himself as it swayed gently in the breeze. 

Jutting out from the top of one of the taller hills that dotted the forest, it served as a perfect vantage point to watch his prey.

Their journey to the small woods had taken them a couple of weeks, with a smattering of beast fights and skill levels to tide them over. It was an easy trip, especially with the bubbling ex...

B2 Chapter 233: King of the Jungle

Grave-eye watched the team enter the guildhall. 

His room was utterly inadequate—who the hell used pine for flooring? Was the owner born in a barn? Unfortunately, it was the only place available on short notice that had a view of the guildhall from its window.

Like every day, they entered shortly after the morning bell—and like every day, he expected he wouldn’t see them leaving until dusk.

It was…unbelievably suspicious. They had to think him a fool. 

B2 Chapter 232: Communique 

Leaning back into the plush padding of their chosen booth at the Stables, Kaius let out a soft goan as he drank deeply from his tankard.

The malty beer did much to soothe his bone deep exhaustion, but it wasn’t a cure all. 

Every fibre of his body felt wrung out—beaten, shredded, and abused. His mana circuits ached, something he hadn’t even realised was possible. Turns out, if you spend a few weeks doing little else than casting, drinking mana potions, and insc...

B2 Chapter 231: Pursuit of Mastery

Standing in the underground training hall, Kaius looked over at the field of stone pillars that was arrayed before him.

Rieker had set them up for them—made of some sort of material that was resistant to resonance, and well grounded, they served as durable targets for him to practice influencing his spells with his Will.

The first week had been an exercise in frustration, especially since Ianmus had had a much easier time with using his own Will to influence his abilities. The m...

B2 Chapter 230: Thy Strength…, Finale

Still lying prone on the cold stone floor of the Trial of Will, Porkchop huffed in amusement as Kaius smiled wide at his achievement.

“You got it? That's great! What’re you waiting for?” Kaius asked hurriedly.

“Nothing—I’m going to initiate it now, there’s no need to risk giving someone even more time to secure that Honour.” Porkchop replied, still feeling that now familiar pang of anxiety at the thought of losing the system’s reward.

Kaius nodded,...

B2 Chapter 229: Thy Strength…, pt. 2

Porkchop took another step, grunting in discomfort as the weight increased again, joined by a baleful scream that stabbed into his ears.

Kaius’s constant attention flowed through their bond. His worry, and his pride. It was a muted thing though, easily pushed to the background. His bond-brother knew that he had made his choice, and respected it.

Porkchop was coming to the end of his second revolution, each step arduous as he kept his measured pace.

This was nowhere close t...

B2 Chapter 228: Thy Strength…, pt. 1

Porkchop pricked his ears, the guild administrators’ words grabbing at his attention. 

Pushing against the delicate wooden floors—ever careful to avoid gouging the expensive materials that two-legs seemed inordinately fascinated with—he rose to his haunches.

The Trial of Will? What could that be? It certainly sounded like the kind of thing that could help him push through the final blasted barrier that had been haunting him.

Ever since that delicious fight ...

B2 Chapter 227: Payment, Finale

Ro cleared her throat, pulling Kaius’s attention away from the sample materials he had found resonated with his blade.

“Now, as we mentioned earlier—it makes sense for you to invest in your blade, but not to the extent of ignoring all else. Once you’ve gotten that first material, we’ll have to insist on you upgrading your armour.” the guild manager said, giving him a firm look.

Kaius nodded, in easy agreement.

“I know—I am set on that bone, but I'll have to b...

B2 Chapter 226: Payment, pt. 3

Staring at a case of what looked to be easily over a hundred vials of materials was rather overwhelming, especially when he had no easy way to tell which one would be the material that Kaius’s sword hungered for.

If it even was just a single material—for all he knew there could be multiple. Kaius hoped so—knowing that all it would take to upgrade his blade was a few missions would take a load off his mind, and would exponentially increase his effectiveness in battle.

Using h...