Ser Patrick Pent

058 Death is Just a Choice

I’d experienced Byron’s [Frost Aura] enough times to recognize it. But, he wasn’t supposed to find us this fast!

Hey! It seems you are afraid.

+1 has been added to all stats.

The message repeated as if a single [Fear] stack was nowhere near enough.

Three more figures appeared behind Byron, including a large four-legged creature which soon outpaced him.

A howl resounded across the corridor, compounding the chill in my veins....

057 Meat Grinder

“Seal the door, Paz!” Nicola said, tossing empty potion bottles aside.

“It won’t budge,” he answered. “I think it’s busted!”

“You mean, you busted it?!”

“Those blame games of yours won't help beat chimeras!”

I opened my inventory and scoured with frantic eyes through the item slots.

The weapon I required was nowhere to be found. I was sure I had stored it close to the top. And, hadn’t I retrieved stuff from my inventory in the p...

056 Sea Locust Chickens

We spent the next two days in a nearly endless cycle of eating, grinding, and sleeping.

Two new breeds of chimera appeared as we delved further into the Labyrinth: A Scorpion Goat hybrid with the head of a goat fixed squarely on the body of the arachnid; and a Sea Locust Chicken Chimera, which ran on six legs, clucked, and sported a segmented body equipped with powerful forearms.

Naturally, the sea locust chicken was the more dangerous of the two.

We’d run into a brood of ...

055 System Error

[System] boxes hovered atop a pyramid, fading in and out of existence in rapid sequence—faster than a human eye could blink.

A multitude of screens exploded into being in one second, only to vanish the next and be replaced by an even greater number.

Many of the blue boxes glitched in place, creating visual phenomena that threatened to damage the eyes. A section of the boxes, suppressed by the others, glowed an ominous red. Caution signs dotted their surface. 

I hated ...

054 The Way-Keeping Boss

“Are you crazy?” I yelled as the noxious mist wafted over our group.

“I am,” Paz said with crossed arms. “And, you are not crazy enough. You wish to avoid facing Byron until we are strong enough to match him. Yet, you cower away from other chances of growth.”

“We are not ready!”

“And, we’d never be if you maintain that mindset.” Paz loosened his shoulders. “Special bosses offer some of the best loot in the dungeon. I’m not passing that up.”

...

053 Routes and Choices

Paz pushed Nicola out of the way.

The spears riddled him, punching large holes into his body. Blood splattered the floor in showers and sprayed onto the wall.

Despite the brutal trauma, Paz didn’t keel over. Not immediately, at least. He wavered as his health bar zeroed out. And then, he fell. First to his knees, then to his face. Blood dribbled out of his mouth.

“Um, you alright, big guy?” I asked.

Paz didn’t answer.

Nicola clasped her palms over her mou...

052 Chimera

As expected, the spectators loved Nicola.

Petals and wolf whistles bombarded us as we made our way past a gloomy Ezin to the entrance of the Labyrinth.

The adulation diminished somewhat on the revelation of our levels. Numbers this low didn’t fill the gamblers with confidence. But, the bookies could shove their odds up their asses for all I cared. Our lives were worth more than a handful of silver.

Nicola swayed drunkenly on her feet and steadied herself on my sleeve. A go...

051 Dungeon Diver

The Skeelien Labyrinth consisted of a flattened disk, formed out of sand, with a depressed entrance connected to a short flight of stairs.

The black spire—its most imposing feature—protruded from the center of the disk. The spire narrowed to a needlepoint that never stopped being distressing to look at. Space warped around the sharpened point in strange ways, visible even in the poor light of night.

A large crowd occupied the rooftops, balconies, and stone steps that framed mo...

050 The Calm Before the Storm

We recovered incredible loot from the adventurers, a trait that made fights with rankers more profitable than killing monsters.

Aside from the loot they had stolen from the Primal Rock Lurker, the enemy party carried a load of potions, monster cores, gear, and beddings among themselves.

Paz kept the Greater monster core but abandoned the Rock Heart, which I promptly offered to Nicola. The rest we split among ourselves, especially the potions, which would have cost me an arm and a ...

049 Death, Quickest Mercy

My heart thumped violently in my chest.

If the enemy party expected to be hunted and retaliated against, they didn’t show it.

They talked in hushed voices around their campfire but ate and polished their gear with unbothered ease. They probably felt safe in the fact that they possessed two Rangers, and true enough—just like Nicola had said—one of them sat high on a tree to serve as a lookout.

I headed in that direction.

The enemy party made small talk, mostly abo...

Important Notice

I apologize for my absence. Life threw a few problems my way at once, making it hard to focus on writing. To that end, I am slowing down to a three chapter a week schedule (M-W-F).

I'll post whatever edited backlog I have available in the meantime and figure out a way to compensate all patrons. Thank you for your patience.

048 Kill Steal

Kill steal.

The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. I stood at the edge of the shelf and watched the broken Primal Rock Lurker, unable to loot it for the sweet rewards we deserved.

Paz put my emotions into words. “Oi. What the fuck?”

A party of three rankers marched out of cover in the direction of our cave. One of them had a shield strapped to his back, while the other wore a bow. The final member carried nothing save for the robes on her back—a Warlock then.

047 Rock Falls Everyone Dies

I barely read the notification. The Primal Rock Lurker hurled a boulder at us from its own arm, scattering our party.

I snuck behind a tree with the help of [Stealth] and dodged the gravel that tumbled around me.

Somewhere off to my right, Nicola screamed. “Are you out of your mind, Paz? Why didn’t you warn us about this?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Paz said, punctuated by boisterous laughter. “You should have seen the look on your face!”

A second th...

046 Understanding the Dao

The next day, we went out to clear more Rock Lurkers.

The instant we arrived at the spawn point, a dozen Rock Lurkers threw themselves at us. The sudden ferocity of the ambush surprised me, but the monsters couldn’t keep up with three determined rankers.

We ground for levels until our stamina depleted, and then we retreated a few paces to catch our breaths.

Paz stared down at his muscular torso, which glistened with mud and sweat. “Any moment now. I can feel it. I think ...

045 Power Initialization

Paz’s idea of a training ground was a small swamp sequestered in Dreadwood about a day’s walk away from Skeelie.

We’d gathered our meager possessions and struck out at midnight, an hour when even the most daring adventurers retreated to their chambers. Paz’s eyesight worked fine in the dark, as did mine. But, Nicola had to rely on her [Eldritch Eyeball] technique.

Paz had given two reasons for his hour of choice.

Firstly, we couldn’t rule out the chance that Byron ...

044 Hitmen

“First off, Byron’s a Guardian,” she explained to Paz and I, who had taken seats on the bed. “It means we can reasonably expect him to focus on Strength and Endurance above all other stats.”

“He’s also silver-ranked,” Paz added with glee, “which means unlike the rest of us wankers, he has a stat cap of thirty.”

A vein throbbed in my head. “How are the ranks divided?”

My teammates looked at me like I had asked a stupid question, in the same vein as whe...

043 Statuseses

“We need a plan.”

Nicola and Paz glanced up at me, from their spots around the table.

I’d convened the first official meeting of our party in the inn I’d rented. Nicola didn’t have a place to stay anyway, and Paz seemed keen to follow along.

The innkeeper had eyed us with suspicion at our initial appearance, but he kept his nose out of our business, choosing instead to focus on the other patrons in the room.

Paz emptied his tankard of its contents, then slamm...

042 DPP

To Byron’s credit, he swung back near instantly.

A punch sailed past the tip of my nose, bringing with it enough force to shatter a face.

I pivoted and slammed my foot into his jaw. He barely even moved. Recoil traveled down my leg, no different from kicking an armored tank.

I’d known from the outset that I couldn’t hurt Byron. Not with my paltry Strength, and definitely not as a level 15 Assassin.

That didn’t stop me.

Byron’s companions yelled from beh...

041 Escalation

The genial, old clerk brought two boys to meet us, both dark-haired and dark-skinned, ages ten and twelve respectively judging by their appearance.

Nicola brightened up the moment they entered and rushed out of her seat to hug them. They returned the hug, making jokes about how she had visited just last week.

However, my eyes caught their muted elation. It was in the way they exchanged glances with each other and smiled at their sister’s doting. Neither of them possessed the exu...

040 The Archon Bank

I helped Nicola to a seat by a fountain.

She grasped her head, breathing in sharp huffs. “I don't know what came over me. They’re going to try to kill me now, won’t they? What do I do? Where do I go?”

I said nothing and wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

Nicola shivered. “Heralds. I think I’m going to be sick. Who do they think they are to keep hurting people? I just wanted to keep my head down. I didn’t ask for any of this!”

She yelled into her palms....

039 Second Strike

The hairs rose on the back of my neck. “I don’t understand.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do,” Ezin said with a smile that lacked any warmth whatsoever. “Nicola here told me about your run-in with the Wood Elves. I am finding it hard to believe they were in the wrong.”

“That kind of accusation—” Nicola said.

“Quiet, child,” Ezin countered. The simple order stopped her in her tracks.

Mathideus stroked his chin. “What level are you, Damien?”

“H...

038 Ezin

The quest system didn’t fire all through that night or the next morning either.

I lay awake in bed, frowning at the Spirit orbs in my Inventory. The icon bore a bold x2, numerical proof of the onus hanging over my head.

I hated this—hated having my well-being tied to quest completion. However, 999 homunculi had died for a chance to be in my shoes. Whining like this did them a disservice.

A knock resounded on the door. “Breakfast, sir, if you choose.”

My stomach...

037 Three is a Crowd

“Y-you . . . k-killed him,” Mathideus said, holding a hand to his head.

“Gladly,” Beelith replied. She wrung her arms of bloody matter and shifted back into a fully human appearance. “If this farce is over, we will take our leave.”

“But, Ezin . . .”

“That’s your problem now,” Byron said, pushing off from the wall where he had watched the spectacle. “You chose to become an officiator. It’s your job to inform him and bury the body.” He nodded at Bee...

036 Duelist

The already quiet tavern grew deathly still. No one so much as twitched.

“A discernment skill?” one of the Red Wyrm casters said, breath misting from the chill. “Those are exclusive to the caster class.” He smirked at the woman, thoroughly enjoying the scene. “How did someone like you manage to miss the culprit?”

“I wasn’t looking,” Beelith hissed. “All I know is that the discernment triggered my skill.” She glared again at the patrons of the tavern. “Is no...

035 The Naked Bard

I walked into the Naked Bard, one hour later than Nicola had suggested.

I’d taken a hot bath and changed into a set of soft, clean linens. Vizhima had actual plumbing!. . . which was nice, though it seemed to work via monster cores in a way I couldn’t understand.

No showers, sadly, though I’d take what I could get. The hot bath helped soothe my nerves and renew my confidence. Not the best of buffs, but I needed whatever courage I could muster.

The interior of the Naked...

034 New Quest!

I lay in a jail cell two hours later, bored out of my mind. The customs officers had detained us, pending the arrival of a representative from the Adventurers’ Guild to plead our case.

The arrest brought an abrupt end to my journey through Dreadwood. Rather anticlimactic, not that I was complaining. Crouching tigers and hidden monkeys withered beneath my blade, but human bureaucracy could never be dismayed.

Plus one for humanity!

I rolled over on the mattress and stared at...

033 Skeelie

The Primal Dread Monkey dropped some impressive loot.

I received a monkey tail from it, alongside a monster core and two lengths of chain, all of Greater rank.

The chain weapons piqued my curiosity. I held them in both hands, barely noticing their weight.

Chains of the Combat Ape [Greater].

A melee-type weapon, with a specialty in short and medium-ranged combat. Each length of chain can be attached to a blade to increase its damage. 2024-01-30 19:22:51 +0000 UTC View Post

032 Recovery

Who’s a winner?

You, that’s who!

You have participated in the killing of Primal Dread Monkey. An appropriate amount of XP has been allocated, per your contribution.

Level up!

You are now level 15.

Visit the status screen to allocate your free stat points.

You have unlocked a new bonus technique as a reward for reaching this level.

031 Monkeying Around

I wasn’t a frontline fighter, so I scrambled for cover. But, that left Ben as the only one with the capacity to weather aggro.

He fought valiantly, but the gap between monster and man was just too vast. Within the first exchange, he lost a third of his HP. A moment later, his health meter dipped into the red as the monster won a glancing hit with its chains.

Nicola chipped in at that moment, raising a tentacle around the monkey. The scout captain barked orders, and her four surv...