cerim

Chapter 451 - White Whale

Five hours of testing my new skill give me some basic ideas of what has changed.

I still can place anchors, and I need to place them either very close to my body or within my activated domain. The same as before, it doesn’t change even with the crown activated.

The change is that these anchors are much more durable, and I think if I use the right amount of mana, they should easily last for weeks and probably even months without crumbling. Sure, they will still somewhat vulnerabl...

Chapter 450 - Hiding under blankie

Changing my handler? There is no fucking way.

Lady Handler is someone I will stick with until the very end, yup.

I was angry at her? When? Who? Such bullshit, I would never do that.

Anyway. I take a few steps and rest my back against the cold wall, finding myself back on the Entrance floor. 

It’s better than being on the 1st floor, and the reason is I didn’t reach the “checkpoint” so I will have to start over.

I slide down to the ground, and as durin...

Chapter 449 - Something you are addicted to

For the first time, that Champion down in the hole seems to bear a different emotion than his usual lazy confidence. It’s not anger, it’s not even surprise. He just seems genuinely curious, his eyes ticking between me and the part of his bond that is unsealed.

Neither of us moves closer to the hole. I know for sure that if I enter it, I won’t be able to exit; it’s made just like that. It’s not because of the mana, no, it’s something entirely else I cannot understand yet. Out...

Chapter 448 - A deal

Tess joins me as I sit to the side, looking at the group. She sighs.

“I might have fucked up,” she admits with that huge bruise around her eye.

“Did you?”

“Yes. Tell me, Nat, do you think I’m a bad person?”

“Not really, just a bit twisted like everyone here.”

“But I should control myself better, I should…”

I interrupt her then and ask, “Tess, you would say I’m bad with people, right?”

She doesn’t mind the interruption a...

Chapter 447 - Do you wish to kill me?

As Izzy said, everyone’s emotions are amplified and it's fascinating to watch the changes.

Sophie becomes more protective of Izzy and much more aggressive towards anyone who tries to put her sister even into a little bit of danger.

Min-Jae is more prickly and defensive every time he's put into a situation where he feels underneath a person.

Aaron and Dennis distance themselves from the others, the two of them constantly exchanging messages.

Izzy quietly endures it al...

Chapter 446 - Can you promise?

The question I have is how the spear compares to voidsteel and weapons made of it? Maybe voidsteel is better against physical stuff and this is good against mana stuff?

I also feel a tiniest bit cheated. Yes, in the moment of naivety, I hoped for an arcane item because of the base of the weapon. But damn, that's kind of dumb, I still have trouble understanding damaged arcane items so it would be way too much. Just the fact that with such short preparation and in such an extremely janky ...

Chapter 445 - Stranded

The way across the bridge is the same as before - an uneasy feeling and darkness below, with something touching our feet. This time, no one dies, having experienced it before helps. It doesn’t change the fact that when we cross, everyone exhales, clothes sticking to their bodies, covered in cold sweat.

We reach SDAT and on our way there, we kill a few monsters. Mostly these spiders who make such thin yet powerful threads. Most of them are well into the 200s and seem to be the sneaky t...

Chapter 444 - Lord Champion

"If you truly understood what this place was, you wouldn’t be standing so close to the edge," the Champion warns us.

Something in his voice makes all of us react and take just a half step away from the hole.

He continues, "You’re not the first to visit. The others… well, let’s just say they were less interesting." There is that small smile on his face as he casually sits down there.

There is something about his voice, about that confidence that makes me nervous, but ...

Chapter 443 - Welcome

The passengers Tess’ [Farsight] spotted were killed by monsters that move even around here. Tiny bug-like things that like to cling to the walls and spread some invisible gas-like poison.

It's powerful enough to slowly kill people close to level 200 and even over it if you stay longer in it or if it's more concentrated.

At first, you only feel a bit lightheaded; later, you have trouble breathing, and in the end, you find yourself unable to breathe. Your che...

Chapter 442 - Something real like that

Flashback - Tess Hansen

The tall blonde girl patiently listens to her mom, who is yelling. There are a few bruises on her face, but her mom dismisses them as she always does. Instead, insults are thrown at the girl, and gradually her mom starts shrieking louder and louder.

There is no point in explaining, no point in justifications, the girl knows. Her mom just wouldn’t understand.

“You will stay locked in your room until I tell you to leave. And I swear...

Chapter 441 - That's what I want

I send some mana into the defenses to continue to power the field, and through the hallway on the crashed Deathtrap, I reach the deck that is now the side of the ship.

(Stay inside,) is the message I send through the link Group 4 has.

As I reach them, they are all still inside and further back, watching other people who stare into the darkness.

Someone uses an item, and it flies through the door and lights up the area, throwing moving shadows on what appears to...

Chapter 440 - Arrival at the destination

Looking at these two, I take a step and grab one of my manabloc chairs. Lately, I have been testing longer-lasting mana constructs and quite successfully. The chair still holds strong even after a few days.

There are just small pieces missing on the legs. As if something took a few snake-mouth sized bites.

I plop into the chair, cross my legs, and look at the duo. What should I do with them? I promised Tess to hold her promise but I could probably beat them up a bit. The way they ...

Chapter 439 - Thylarin brothers

The guides cannot tell me anything about how to control Deathrap nor how to use the control panel. Even getting access is difficult and just looking into it I have to go around, wasting time and mana.

It's just that access to the controls won’t be granted to just anyone, and guides seem to bear some kind of mark. A mark that makes it easier for them to control the flying trainship thing and it also doesn't allow them to do certain things. Otherwise, they go kaboom.

What comes to...

Chapter 438 - SDAT

POV Kim Min-Jae

“That idiot! We need more testing!” Sophie shouts, and together we rush to the railing to watch what happens next.

I've seen it before, the other passengers ground to nothing by this white sand. I still remember the screams and the image of their flesh being torn.

But it doesn’t happen to Nat.

Before hitting the sand, he slows down and then gently lands on it. He then stands there, butt naked, and watches as the wind brings a huge...

Chapter 437 - On the sand

A burst of mana surges from me and crashes against the barrier. For a moment, they collide like a tidal wave crashing against a solid surface. My mana constantly shifts its frequency, and in the end, it overwhelms the barrier.

 Like a bubble, the barrier bursts open, with tiny particles of blue mana falling all around

Sensing the broken barrier, the fight stops for a brief moment, and all eyes turn to me.

Blood drips from my body due to the wounds and damage caused by t...

Chapter 436 - Storm approaching

Wile the guide works, I observe his movement. There are twenty of us inside the room and thirty more outside. The entire group 4 is inside as well, together with one of three passengers with 2 question marks.

[Ashenfoot Shaman - lvl ??]

He is the vyssari, and like the ones from before, he is short with scaly legs. Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be anything special about him.

I could probably probe him more, but something like that is quite rude, often cons...

Book 4 cover

Hey! I just realized I shared these covers on Discord but not here. Ehm... so yea!

What you're looking at are two variations of the Book 4 cover - the only difference is the color of the shirt.

I might commission a small change later (like having the shirt match the one on the Book 2 and Book 3 covers), so the cover might change a little.

The scene on the cover shows Nat during his duel against the cowardly Savant.

PS: No spoilers, please, this is shown to all member...

Chapter 435 - Fucked-up situation

(We need at least 3 guides to stay alive. They won’t be able to change shifts and ergo sleep or rest, but it’s something they would be able to deal with,) Tess says.

(Wouldn’t one or two be enough?) Sophie asks.

Tess shakes her head and continues to talk through the link, (I spoke with them along with some of the others, and they said it’s impossible for a longer time. The protective enchantments seem to be special. They also refuse to have us he...