Aster Loka

August 2022 Preview Epub

The epub of this month's RoyalRoad chapters (119-132).

Pausing.

Aster here, in a rather miserable puddle. :(

While I've been striving to still write chapters even in the midst of the summer madness, I'm entirely dissatisfied with their quality. I technically have around 10k worth of chapters written, but they're just... bad.  

I'm also sick at the moment, have a mild fever and sore throat. Reaaally hoping it doesn't get any worse. Fingers crossed.

I am therefore going to pause billing for august. I don't feel confident in my ability...

Chapter 165 (Laurence)

[Note: Chapter 163 has been renamed to Chapter 162, as Chapter 153 (Riana) has been shifted up to 164. If you haven't read Chapter 163 (V2), it is new and was posted simultaneously with this chapter. Apologies for any confusion!]

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They stopped as soon as they were out of the corrosive lake to recover and replenish their diminished health, mana, and ...

Chapter 163 (v2)

"Anything good?" Gordon asked as Levi stared into his system interface.

"Yeah. Very interesting stuff here. One physical attacker, one tank. Their mana gains are ridiculous." As he was speaking he named the more standard one Iris, and the second Lash. It seemed appropriate.

"How ridiculous?"

"One hundred twenty per point. And as if that isn't enough, this one," he patted Lash's side, "also can co-opt other minions. We'll have to see if that extends to dungeon minions, or onl...

Lash and Iris

Chapter 162 (Laurence)

Laurence led the way, setting the pace as fast as they could maintain. Perhaps a bit higher, a few times.

As they got used to each other the traveling went easier, the group steadily warming up to one another. Despite their longstanding internet rivalry, the Frires and Doom Raiders had a lot in common. Two days of traveling together in a tight pack built a surprising level of camaraderie.

After the initial awkward silences and introductions, by the end of the first day they'd begu...

Chapter 161

Levi snapped his eyes closed and took quick stock of his situation. Unable to move, but aware of the battle once again.

Something was attached to his face, claws gripping each side of his head. Between the closeness of the creature and the tightness of the Soul-Seeker's tendrils wrapping around his body, he found he was panting for breath as he strained against the restraints holding him immobile, barely able to get enough air.

"Tink?" he managed to gasp out.

The object pres...

Chapter 160

The soul-seeker shuddered as Skarm impacted. It tried to whirl on this new attacker, but Levi took advantage of its momentary distraction to step forward into its reach and stab upward with a Beast Bite. The attack cost a lot of mana to sustain, but as long as he maintained the bite it would serve as a grip very few creatures could break out of. At least until they were higher level than Levi himself.

Now with two holds on the eye, one from the shadowy tendril trailing from its back now...

Chapter 159

Levi highly doubted that ever before had anyone constructed a pair of anti-soul-seeker goggles out of a pair of Destruction tokens and a shadevine. And... to be entirely honest, there was probably a good reason for that.

While elemental dungeon tokens were vaguely translucent, they also glowed. It strained his eyes to try to peer beyond the mana-saturated token, and shadevine's branching body twisted around his eyes and the side of his head made him feel vaguely claustrophobic and restr...

July 2022 Preview Epub

The epub of this month's RoyalRoad chapters (106-118).

Frosty

Chapter 159

Levi slammed his eyes shut, trying to preserve the memory of what the room had looked like and to protect himself if either of the Soul-Seekers turned their gazes away from their minions.

The glitterlings swarmed and he was fighting blind, all sound and motion and chaos. Having the soul-seeker bosses backed up with swarms and their own illusionists made for a terrifyingly dangerous combination.

Dungeons were always dangerous, but this one was treading the edge of more. Levi himsel...

Chapter 158

The remainder of the Control dungeon was challenging, as usual for the rapidly-leveling dungeons, but until they reached the final room of its second floor they'd only lost Firelord and Flomper. Well, technically they'd lost Firelord twice, and Frosty once, but after using their revives the others would have to wait.

The mazelike first floor of the dungeon had been pitted with traps and spikes, all concealed or mimicked by the succession of hidden Mirror Sprites who stalked the halls. A...

Chapter 157

Naturally, Levi’s first move was to max Pack Leader.

There was no other ability that called to him the same way, that was so clearly essential to his future plans of leading an army of monsters and demons into battle. And this time when he put the point in he could've sworn he actually felt it. As though something actually changed within him, the dramatic broadening of potential as new connections opened and his comprehension expanded.

He instantly went from having 15 max minion...

Chapter 156

A few days later, Skarm and Two both reached their second thresholds within three fights of each other.

Levi held off until they reached the third treasure room, midway through the second floor of the dungeon, before immersing himself in their ability upgrade options. It wouldn't be a good idea to stand around distracted in any dungeon, especially now that their levels were inching up closer to closing the gap. While Levi himself remained level 14, their loop of dungeons was leveling ra...

Chapter 155

Pierce the super-massive centipede may be fast, but he was not stealthy. He increased the overall speed of the procession to the point where Levi could actually move at a decent pace without worrying about leaving anyone behind, but he made Maggie look downright sneaky.

Maggie left a trail of wilted grass or softened pavement in her wake, which was one thing. But as much trouble as it had been shepherding the ogres carefully through cities, Pierce was…

Well, after the f...

Chapter 154 (Laurence)

The Doom Raider contingent ended up being Laurence himself, Bradley, and Xander. Tom Arlin had volunteered, but was unanimously voted down. This was going to be a dangerous run and he was still a minor.

The Frires provided four of their own, nearly half their guild. Frire Duck, who Laurence had already met; Jeff Harrison, a level 8 ranger-fighter; 'Podge' whose real name was Mike Rodger, a level 9 fighter; and Eric Steele, also a level 9 fighter, but the best equipped out of the group.<...

Official Discord Server Invite

I've got it linked in a random chapter somewhere too, but since I keep forgetting to promo it here's a link in case you want to come hang out.

Once in, just let me know that you're a supporter and I'll give you the appropriate roles to access spoiler discussions, or feel free to chat about the RR chapters in the general areas. 

Chapter 153 (Riana)

“What are you supposed to wear to a magical monster dungeon?” The wide-eyed teen currently wore a Magical Girl Erudita cosplay, clutching a cheap Power Wand between her pink-gloved hands as she stared up at Riana. “I don't have any armor."

"Well, what class do you want?"

"Mage, of course, but..."

"No buts. I'll see to it you get your chance. If you have any questions after the program, just come find me and I promise I'll answer any questions you have."

"What kin...

Chapter 152

The next dungeon in the loop was Lightning type, one of the rarer ones that Levi didn't have much experience with. There hadn't been many of them in the areas he'd been posted, and they were kind of treated as a joke. Lightning powers were pretty much the definition of 'flash without substance'.

The Stunning Wave skill was a perfect example of that. Lightning had stun properties, yes. Its special abilities could be very helpful. But they tended to be wild. Undirected. Any time you set o...

June 2022 Preview Epub

The epub of this month's RoyalRoad chapters (93-105).

Chapter 151 (Levi; Laurence)

"Your turn."

They'd just reached the next dungeon on their route - a basic Destruction one - and Levi smiled at Gordon's look of uncertainty.

"You said you wanted to face adversity, right? What better way than to take the lead in this next battle?"

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that much adversity."

"Got to start somewhere, and you're not allowed to back down. Time to make good on that promise.”

Gordon pressed his lips tight together, inhaled deeply, and...

New temporary tier: Summer-Only

First, thank you for all the well-wishes and support. I understand that it's a bit difficult to justify paying full price for half the content, so I've added a temporary tier for the next three months at $4.50 for new chapters only. It will not include the backlog, but if you're a previous subscriber and want to reread send me a message and I'll see what I can do.

Sorry for the flood of non-story today, I promise I'll do my very best to get a chapter out tonight for y'all. 

June-August Notice

Hello! Aster here to ramble on about my life a bit. :)

I have a very busy schedule at my main job during the summer - tourist season gets insanely hectic and I normally block out those months as non-writing months due to mental strain and exhaustion. 

But right now I'm fully dedicated to finishing at least book 1 of Re: System before the year is out, and I have no desire to spend months stalled. Therefore, I'm making the difficult decision to try and continue...

Chapter 150

Control. One of Levi's least favourite dungeon types, but a necessary encounter if he wanted to properly prepare. He wasn't sure of all the specifics of crafting the Summoner evolution item, but he knew that all Tamer class upgrades require Control tokens predominantly among their ingredients. Both summoners he'd spoken with in the first timeline had complained about it.

Fortunately, this Control dungeon was much less dangerous than the first he'd entered. That one had eschewed all crea...

Chapter 149

[Note: I have adjusted the specifics of dungeon leveling speeds mentioned in chapter 143. Due to a miscalculation in my original numbers, it would have required around 90 years to reach where they should be in 8. That has been corrected. xD The updated theoretical maximum for dungeons run every day for three months is level 20, not level 6.] 

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"I was thinking Rocky."

Gordon ran beside Levi, his stamina draw a little high, but improving. He regularly...

Chapter 148 (Laurence)

Laurence knocked on the door.

No response.

He wished he still had a working phone, but his had given up its last ghost days ago. The sacrifices one must make for magic.

"Come on, Rachel, it's me."

He knocked again, more insistent, then pressed his ear against the door.

This time heard a distant squeak. Then, a grumbled, "Coming!"

Rachel opened the door, then blinked and stared as though unsure what she was seeing.

Laurence glanced up at her name hover...

Chapter 147

Levi jumped forward, his health nearing full though it continued to dip as it struggled to deal with the three remaining centipede legs still impaled through him. He didn't have time to pull them out and deal with the resulting health drop at the moment.

Gordon cast Dismay. This was too powerful of a potential ally to pass up.

Two's continued stealth attacks and Skarm's nimble slashing along its back, combined with Maggie's searing fire and Shadevine's subtle drain to drop it by a...

Chapter 146

Level 3+
(Stone Centipede)
Health 48%

Levi backed away from the thrashing centipede, his mana expended, breathing hard. He didn't think he could make much headway against the monstrous centipede without being able to activate his manablades, so it was time to return his attention to overseeing those who still could deal damage. He'd made a big enough dent that he felt confident of their chances.

Between Maggie, Shadevine and...

Chapter 145

The Stone Centipede boss was absolutely massive. Not simply an upsized version of the eight-foot sort like Cen and Centoo, instead it had coils upon coils sprawled out behind it, significantly longer than Maggie. Its front section reared up to twice Levi's height and at least five or six times that much length, bladed legs raised ready to stab.

The room itself was even bigger, walls towering so high above them that they dwarfed even the monstrous centipede, making the entire room feel o...