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Chapter 480 - Breakfast of Champions

Lily and the twins scrunch their faces, painful expressions appearing on them. Their postures wobble, and their control of mana wavers, caused by the effects of the disruptive field and something else.

My domain encompasses them, smaller but more powerful, declaring anything related to mana within it under my control.

“It’s trying to communicate with me,” Lily groans, picking up first. “It sounds just like my dad…”

Working together, the twins also regain their co...

Chapter 479 - Chained Beast

The feeling of danger keeps increasing until it feels nearly physical, like I can touch it, sense it on my skin. It makes the hair on the back of my head stand and goosebumps cover my forearms. That feeling is akin to crawling into the cave of a beast, moving in on your knees and pulling yourself ahead. Knowing you should stop and run, yet you continue, ignoring scraped skin from your knees and palms and the trail of blood you leave behind.

As the fights become dangerous, we push just l...

Chapter 478 - The pain... it’s unbearable.

After getting stomped by that demon, I remain sitting, replaying our fight and even take some notes onto the mana stone I have with me. Some of these things will be very useful for my minion.

While doing this, I reflect on our situation, trying to recall and visualize all those rivers of molten material in. There is a suspicion I have and if I'm right, there are big channels in the rock around us through which this molten river or rivers flow. I also have confirmed that some of them are...

Chapter 477 - Green acid

The Rotlings are a constant reminder of the dangers of the mines we are traveling through. The deeper we delve, the more of them appear, and I could swear they have some sort of Hive Mind or skill-sharing ability.

If you kill one with lightning, the rest become that tiny bit more resistant to the lightning.

Of course, each one might have a different level of resistance, and I could be wrong. But I prefer to assume the worst, so that’s the option I go with.

For the first ti...

Chapter 476 - About time to leave

A few hours later we reach one of the bigger caves after the Witch punctures a hole through the wall towards it, avoiding the cave-in. That hole is probably as long as a football stadium, and I watch her the entire time she does so, Mais quietly walking behind her.

She stops in front of the wall and taps on it with her finger, sending a ripple through the stone. Affected rock seems like it melts and starts behaving like water, controlled by her will. It moves to the sides, it swirls, it...

Chapter 475 - Know your place

(Why are the monsters not trying to cause a cave in? So deep underground we would be screwed,) Dennis wonders as we stop because of yet another cave-in.

(They are attempting. There are some monsters trying to weaken the rock around us, but the Witch is fighting against it by solidifying it,) I give him an answer and look back at another molten river we just passed over. It moves as quickly as the first one, and I think I have noticed something suspicious abou...

Audiobook 2 is finally out!

Later than expected, but the second audiobook is finally out and it's longer than the first one! While the first one was 18 hours, the second is 23 hours long.

Some of you asked me when it's coming out, so I hope everyone gets the info this way.

Edit: lol, I forgot to give url - https://www.audible.com/pd/Hell-Difficulty-Tutorial-2-Audiobook/B0DJFT98Z3

The po...

Chapter 474 - Relentless passage of time

There are a few payments to be made, some final checks, and confirmations—just the kind of annoying tasks the twins insisted on handling themselves.

After that, trailing behind the main group, we pass through a door carved into the rock and enter a wide tunnel with a low ceiling. Soon, the space opens up, revealing a massive hollow within the mountain.

That hole is as wide as a city block, with stairs carved into its side that spiral down. These stairs are wide enough for two pe...

Chapter 473 - The Witch

Days pass by quickly. Mana training, getting taught and then killed by Whitey, giving pointers to Lily and to the twins.

There isn’t any talk anymore about having them swap difficulty. Even when they are not combining their forces to fight, they are dangerous. They do not flinch when they get hurt. They are quick and much more experienced now when it comes to combat. Surprisingly, they are also very patient and don’t mind initiating longer battles, gradually building up their advant...

Chapter 472 - Not a very reasonable person

Our fort is a nice place, not that far away from Hollowgate. Thanks to the big window-sized hole I made in one of the walls of my room, I have quite a nice view of it.

At night, with the purple nebula and countless stars above, I’d even say it’s quite pleasant, especially with the city lights below.

The place belonged to a group called… I forgot. Anyway, it's Angry Kittens, a small group with a few dozen members but suspiciously rich. After taking over, everyone who disliked...

Chapter 471 - One Hundredth Time

Even though the metals Dennis and Aaron brought back are only of epic rarity, I’m happy with them. I long since learned that sometimes a nice complementary metal with good properties is better than one of higher rarity. Sometimes.

The lights around me turn on again, a dozen thermal cubes lighting up my underground lab. My crown hovering over the metal bust with plenty of inscriptions floats back over my head.

My baby, my precious. The crown is now a deep blue, with faint traces ...

Chapter 470 - Gravelhands

POV Dennis Dalton

Using [Haste], I reach the top of the building where Aaron is already waiting. Like me, he’s wearing clothes woven with experimental threads made from an alloy of multiple metals Nat spun. These threads allow us to block our mana signatures much more efficiently, as well as hide heat and signs of movement, from footsteps to disturbed air.

Just these damned modified clothes are considered of mid-epic rarity, similar to the masks...

Chapter 469 - Awakening

After Dennis and Aaron return, I give all of them an explanation of what happened. Lily is listening especially carefully as someone who will soon enter Beyond.

Telling her about the trial is impossible, as the system censors it, but Beyond information seems to be allowed, so I tell her anything that comes to mind.

“So you don’t know how to clear the 1st floor of the dungeon and enter the second?” she asks.

“Yup, no idea at all. The plan is to reach the safe zone, le...

Chapter 468 - More fitting expression

Taking a few steps closer and to the side, I finally see what the TV screen shows. It’s the fight against lurker Whitey from my first-person point of view.

“Just come here and sit, don’t sneak around,” the man waves his hand at me. I notice how slim and smooth it looks.

Not hesitating much longer, I reach the edge of the hill and think of creating a similar chair made of mana, but before I can do that, another white plastic chair appears next to the first one. When I sit d...

Chapter 467 - Knowledge

The feeling of pulling descends upon me, and I leave the 1st floor of Beyond.

With all the items that are piled up from dozens of lurkers and the first expedition I joined, and the ones Whitey killed before. There are so many they are just piled up and tied with clothes I tore and tied together, plus some threads I made of mana.

I was able to do it as not that many lurkers attacked me. At most, groups of three that I dealt with with some effort, or sometimes just one or two.

Chapter 466 - All out

I don’t hesitate even for a moment and go all out.

Ley Lines shoot all over the place, deploying the structure I was preparing in my mind ever since I returned to Beyond. Dozens of threads all over the place, creating a three-dimensional web and pathways I can teleport or send mana through.

The entirety of my body mana compresses, turning black, the ever-so-familiar feeling flowing through my body. Something I haven’t sensed in a while. Whitey doesn’t use mana, so it’s no ...

Chapter 465 - Challenge

Jean then takes a step and grabs Luna in his massive hands, lifting the golden retriever so he can look into her eyes.

Luna calmly returns that gaze. “You will either let me down, or I will bite you, smelly human.”

Leticia rushes closer, putting her hand on Jean’s massive forearm. “CarrotCake—ehm, sorry, Jean, please let Luna go before she gets angry.”

It’s easily noticeable that Luna is already growing, and I remember her figure from when she was as big as a h...

Chapter 464 - Luna

Everyone evacuates the vicinity as the giant and Jean crash, their surroundings turning into craters and a storm of shockwaves.

Jean this time takes some hits in exchange for delivering his own. Each of his punches tears his flesh, skin, blood spraying into the air as his body is unable to endure the sheer power of his own attacks.

Surprisingly, his bones endure, none of them breaking even as the giant pummels him down, some mana surrounding these massive fists.

There is als...

Chapter 463 - Lurkers everywhere

The muscleman, annoying boy healer, Leticia, and good girl Luna are also marked by the fight. Well, other than the boy who looks like he came from a walk. The big musclehead has his hand and forearms terribly burned, but he doesn’t seem to mind and is even smiling brightly.

“What a fight! That little man sure packed some heat!” As he talks, I watch burns on his arms heal even without any support from the boy.

His natural regeneration might be even higher than Lily’s. I sti...

Chapter 462 - Specter

The dreary silence continues even as we are halfway towards the area I consider Whitey’s territory.

There is no wind down here, or at least not on this floor, so the trees or grass do not even move. Everything just stands still, damaged, overgrown by vegetation, or thrown all around by different kinds of attacks.

Luna continues to run first, the golden retriever moving extremely quickly and nimbly, her smart eyes scanning the area and sometimes pausing and sniffing before we con...

Chapter 461 - Allies?

“Are round 5 people all weirdos?” Spacewolf attacks me.

The little jerk likes to stay near that mountain of muscles, and as we sit there and plan, he becomes braver and braver. He’s already attacked others like that, and now I’m his target.

Some of his confidence might be bought by his worth as well. He introduces himself as a healer.

I just look at him and don’t bother answering.

“You’re wearing that mask, Savant’s sitting off to the side, and ever sin...

Chapter 460 - What a beautiful day

“I want to change handler,” I tell her and wait for a pop-up message.

“It doesn’t work at this place,” she sighs and points at the storage cubes I brought here. “White sand was made by a powerful Absolute long ago. It was his way of dealing with annoying mana users and later modified and used to trap Champion Caius and many more. You surely must know how dangerous it could be if someone used it on the Entrance floor.”

“There are people with damaged arcane weapons a...

Chapter 459 - On the schedule

For two to three days, I hunt around the camp and try to do side quests that could gain me some stay tokens.

With the twins, we experiment a bit and came up with a way to make some items to sell for extra shards, gaining me around 15 thousand more and some for the twins as well as I make multiple versions of each item. It takes plenty of attempts and failures, but the boys are eager to make some shards, already spending their share to buy themselves some stuff.

Lily and Biscuit se...

Chapter 458 - The Arm Collector

The twins continue to use their [Connection] in front of me with the goal of connecting to my simple mana orb and taking over or changing the settings on it.

I made it as simple as possible, with two modes: floating still and spinning. That is something I have “coded” into it.

Later, we will try it with different skills as well, but for now, I watch how they do so.

On my hand, I also have the echo gauntlet. It has allowed me to copy that weird blood...

Chapter 457 - Show them

The first test of the giga web made with the help of [Ley Line] was a huge success!

I didn’t die.

That’s it.

There is no need to talk about what happened. I’m sure the next attempt will work out! I just need to iron out some… things.

I’m also kind of amazed by my new passive. Even with all that… happened… I didn’t even break a sweat. There was barely any strain on my mind, and I think that part excites me more than the results of t...

Chapter 456 - Like in the movies

“Nat, please put on your shirt,” Dennis complains.

Unfazed, I continue to mimic the stances Lissandra taught me.

“It would get dirty,” I answer simply.

“There might be dangerous predators in the area,” Aaron says with a serious tone.

“Huh? There is not, I would sense it.”

“Is he making fun of us?” Aaron asks, turning to his brother.

“He can’t be like that, right? He must be trolling us.”

I ignore the twins and continue. The i...

Chapter 455 - Seventh variation

“I already modified my arm, I mostly used that Champion’s bone as inspiration. It’s the toughest body part I have met so far! Of course, I was unable to modify my arm to the same extent, but look!”

Lily then takes the dagger made of white sand, the one she didn’t sell yet. She sends a bit of her mana through, activating it, and then slashes down into her forearm, the blade stopping at the bone.

She doesn’t even heal right away, and as her blood drips down, she looks up...

Chapter 454 - Shaping the Invisible

In the end, I decide to go with

Passive Skill: Mana-Fortified Mind (Low Arcane) - The user's mind becomes an impenetrable fortress, fortified by impossibly complex mana weaves. This passive grants immense resistance to all forms of mental attacks, including illusions, mind control, and psychic attacks. Additionally, the passive allows the user's mind to endure the immense strain of using powerful skills and traits.

It's shameful to admit, but as of late, ...

Chapter 453 - One of us

Passive Skill: Mana Pulse Circulation (Low Arcane)
The user's mana pathways are not only enhanced but supercharged with pulsating mana, passively optimizing all their physiological functions. This results in vastly increased stamina, increased energy reserves, and near instantaneous healing of minor to moderate injuries. The effects scale exponentially with mana, and the constant high-speed circulation of mana through the brain grants heightened cognitive clarity....

Chapter 452 - A lot of shards

[Ley Line - lvl 9 > Ley Line - lvl 10]

[Ley Line - lvl 10 > Ley Line - lvl 11]

[Ley Line - lvl 11 > Ley Line - lvl 12]

[Ley Line - lvl 12 > Ley Line - lvl 13]

[Ley Line - lvl 13 > Ley Line - lvl 14]

A bit more testing with my skill revealed the difference between [Tether] and [Ley Line].

Where the main thing of 2024-09-23 08:19:53 +0000 UTC View Post