aldur9090

Chapter 38 - Terrible Odds

Lan had often wondered what exactly the monsters in the tutorial were. Did they respawn like humans did? Could they level up? Could they die?

He glanced up at the Vesper Inferno and wondered about these things.

So far, he had yet to meet a monster with sentience or initiative. Although the ant queen had come close, she had still remained in her little throne room, waiting for their arrival. And this thing was no different.

Even though Lan stood less than five metres from the...

Chapter 37 - The Path of least Resistance

To say climbing back up to the throne room was difficult would be the understatement of the century.

Lan had wedged his knees against the freezing, icy rock and shimmied up the tight shaft for over half an hour before he finally made it out. When he arrived at the exit, his legs were scraped raw, and his hands stung furiously.

After pushing the cover aside, Lan peered out into the empty cavern. The densely packed stone spikes growing from the floor were utterly decimated, leaving ...

Chapter 36 - The Price Of A Smile (Part 4)

"Student?" Lan spat out the word like it was revolting to the taste. "Who would be your student?"

The old man smirked, "You will." He said it with such absolute confidence Lan almost believed it to be true.

Lan glanced at the unconscious girl, trying to figure out the old man's angle, "What…."

"You want to ask why, yes?" The old man said smugly, pulling out a chair and sitting opposite Lan, who nodded half-heartedly.

"It's simple, really, I saw you sneak in here, and...

Chapter 35 - The Price Of A Smile (Part 3)

Something about the quiet city streets was almost scarier than the boneyard. Where there should have been people, there was nothing but desolate silence.

In the dead of night, as Lan strolled through the city, he was alone. It was almost apocalyptic; there was no nightlife, bustling bars or late buses. Everything was quiet and shut down. Which presented a massive stumbling block to Lan.

'How can I steal something if all the shops are closed?'

He wandered between towering blo...

Chapter 34 - The Price Of A Smile (Part 2)

Lan and Bo devoured the bread in seconds, too hungry to savour it. Even though the bread was stale, it tasted like ambrosia. Every mouthful was heaven, every bite a miracle.

It was around midday, so the bus wasn't as cold as the previous night. But even then, their breath fogged up as they sat huddled together.

Neither could remember the last time they were truly warm. Or rather, they didn't want to remember.

"Did you steal from Mary again?" Bo asked suspiciously, only feeli...

Chapter 33 - The Price Of A Smile (Part 1)

The District – 7 years before the tutorial began

Lan and Bo had a secret spot that only they knew. Past the edge of the District, in the boneyard, where the skeletons of vehicles are left to rot after being picked clean.

Their secret spot is a bus tipped on its side and stripped of its engine and seats. It isn’t a bus that will ever move again, considered broken and worthless. But to them, it was home.

The ancient glass windows creaked as Lan walked over...

Chapter 32 - No Guardian? (Edited!)

Before letting go of the wall and jumping into the icy water, Lan wanted to try something. So far, he had succeeded in containing fire and water within mana, so logically, the same should be possible with air.

Since, despite his affinity with water, he couldn't breathe under it, having extra air when he went and fought whatever was down in the lake could be key.

As he tried creating a sphere to contain air, he found it relatively straightforward. The only problem was that he could...

Chapter 31 - The Sixth Step

The train thundered on down the tracks, gradually drawing closer to the two massive stone doors at the end of the tunnel. The doors slowly opened wide as it neared, and the train passed through, barrelling on into oblivion.

When he passed through the doors, Lan vanished. His whole world went dark, and suddenly he was ported to the next step. It was a feeling he had grown accustomed to lately, so the strange, weightless limbo didn’t scare him as much as it once had.

But as he tra...

Chapter 30 - Meanwhile, in the Throne-room

Sleeping was hard for Lan. He had never particularly enjoyed it, owing to the fact that most of his dreams were plagued by visions of things he couldn't have. Money, a family, a childhood. He had always kind of wanted a dog, but that wasn't possible. Not for him.

And when he would wake, and his desires disappeared into the night, leaving him with the harsh reality of his life, Lan always felt slightly empty. Almost like he had been cheated by his own imagination.

He supposed that ...

Chapter 29 - The Station

Lan held his hand in the furnace and watched as his fuel ticked down. He had killed so many worms that it was an insignificant change, and he wasn't worried about running out of fuel anytime soon.

After the first 1000 units of fuel disappeared into the train, the furnace started to glow, and a notification popped up.

1000 units of fuel deposited — 5000 are required to reach the station due to the added cargo.

1000/5000

However, This ...

Book Idea (Partial joke)

I have been late uploading chapters lately, so while I edit chapters 29 and 30, here's a concept I came up with on a whim:

The Dao of Bread

Even should the sky fall.

The Bread shall rise.

· Cultivation comes to the modern world and the mc, a baker who is deeply involved in the artisanal way of making bread, suddenly awakens to the Dao of Bread.

· He bakes bread of various strange shapes and sizes to ...

New Covers

Please let me know what covers everyone likes :)

Chapter 28 - The One, True, King (Revised)

Welcome, Challenger. The Fifth Step is yours to overcome.

Lan was shocked awake by the booming voice, sitting up and slamming his head off a coal shovel hanging from a hook on the train's wall. It rang with a low thrum as he clutched his head and curled up in a ball.

The train has much distance to cover, and time is pressing. Deep within the bowels of the earth lies the first giant's throne room. To pass on to the next step, reach her thro...