Luke eased himself down to the nearest shelf to rest and recover. His HP was dangerously low, not only from the King’s attacks, but from his followers and the toxic aura surrounding him.
As it turned out, Luke’s [Poison Eater] title didn’t work on the King’s aura.
Without any new wounds to deal with, the [Golden Ginger Pill] performed its prescribed magic. His supercharged HP regeneration beat out the numerous wounds and even the poison coursing through...
2024-05-18 21:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Luke wrung out his cloak while Jimmy looked nervously at him. The pool of water shimmered nearby, casting odd shadows on the cavern walls.
At least it was clean water, Luke thought.
Jimmy edged back toward the water. “This is as far as I can take you. I can feel the King’s Authority from here. You should have no problem finding him.”
Luke nodded and reached into one of his pockets, pulling out a small packet with a tiny lump in it. He ...
2024-05-17 21:00:02 +0000 UTC
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James Candle sat atop a throne of polished bone, crossing one ankle over his knee and casting an avuncular grin at the kneeling masses of loyal new family members.
Quest: Mutalyst Mob
As the first and strongest cannibal, your Ascension into a Mutalyst is nearly complete. Gather those of like temperament and the Iron Crown will shelter you from the Company and its machinations. Succeed in thwarting the Company’s assessment, and the...
2024-05-14 21:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Tumbling through the air, Luke plummeted into the yawning abyss of darkness. He bumped and skidded off the side of the massive pit, sending rocks and dirt flying, before he slipped entirely out of reach of the wall.
Luke strained to concentrate on his gravity powers. He had attached to that ledge entirely by accident, without even thinking.
For a moment, his fingers buzzed with bluish gravity mana before the energy broke apart into dark motes before his eyes.
2024-05-11 21:00:01 +0000 UTC
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“We would be allies then, I take it,” Luke said.
The Dragon gave him an odd look. “In the loosest of definitions. I would like to consider us… friends.”
That surprised Luke. He tried the thought on for size. “I could do with a friend,” Luke told him, extending his hand.
The Dragon looked at him, a faint tension bleeding out of his shoulders. Had he been unsure of Luke’s response? He certainly seemed more relaxed as he stuck out his own han...
2024-05-10 21:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Luke stepped through the swirling vortex of darkness and into the Discordant Dragon’s domain.
Any hope of sauntering, head held high, into the Dragon’s home at the heart of a supermassive black hole was stymied by the fact that the world shifted and rolled nearly 90 degrees toward the sky.
Luke appeared to be coming out of the well, his hands flapped uselessly at the stone sides and he only managed to pull himself up by sheer luck because the damned vortex ...
2024-05-07 21:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Though Luke originally wanted to use the unusual-rarity plates to create an enchantment, he needed another 128LP first. That way, he could test his theory.
Since a simple augmentation gave him 64LP, the equivalent of slaying a level 25 monster, he assumed it would be a walk in the park to get 128LP.
Luke had turned to creating flux en masse from the storeroom. He quickly found that it was such a small amount of LP that he only received a notification for 1 meas...
2024-05-04 21:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Looking around at all the books and scrolls, Luke realized that the Gordian was now in his possession. He didn’t need to pilfer every book from this room, though he did take a few of the runic books that had been particularly helpful in solving the latest puzzle.
The Gordian had plenty of those, and doubtless he would discover many more before long. He wanted to be ready.
Luke took a deep breath and stepped through the gateway. As much as he wished it would w...
2024-05-03 21:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Luke opened his eyes, surprised that he was still alive. The obelisk’s orb of light had gone dull and listless. The obelisk cracked open along its middle. The entire room stretched to either side as the two halves of the obelisk moved apart from one another.
A thin membrane of light sprang up between them, forming a gateway in the center of the room.
Challenge Quest Completed: Containment Breach
The Gordian before you is badly dama...
2024-04-30 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Luke hauled both bodies to the ground, rolling to get leverage on Yind’s bulky form and topple her to the side. The cat-like drake scrabbled, made a sound a lot like a yowl, and then collapsed to the side, crushing Luke’s arm with a spike of pain.
It wasn’t broken, it just hurt like hell. It was like getting his arm pinned under a motorcycle.
“Don’t!” Luke warned them urgently. “Whatever killed your master is still active!”
A ring of runes, made ...
2024-04-27 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Luke mentally swiped through the notifications until he came to the two important ones.
Level Up! Your [Thief] Class has reached Level 36.
Stat points earned: +4 Strength, +6 Dexterity, +2 Perception, +2 Vitality, +2 Free Points.
Level Up! Your [Human (F-Grade)] Race has reached Level 25.
Stat points earned: +3 All Stats, +1 Fate, +2 Free Points.
Luke wa...
2024-04-26 20:00:01 +0000 UTC
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It took Alfair several hours to drag Yindferl away from the patch of shadow Luke’s body left behind.
The shadow drake sulked the whole way. He couldn’t blame her, but at the same time he wondered if she would mourn Alfair’s death half as much as a man she only just met.
She had been his spectral familiar for over 2 years now, and he still sometimes wondered whether she acknowledged him as her master.
It was obvious after the first few days that she saw Luk...
2024-04-23 22:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Throughout all the battle and crafting, Luke rose through the levels with blistering speed. Those latest kills pushed him over another skill selection hump.
You have defeated [Lupine Beastman - Level 40]. Extra experience gained for slaying an enemy above your level.
You have defeated [Lupine Beastman - Level 41]. Extra experience gained for slaying an enemy above your level.
You have defeated [Leonid Beastman - Level 37...
2024-04-20 20:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“Nearly done!” Alfair called out, hunched over the burbling contraption full of colorful fluids in glass-fronted steel-cased pipes.
“We can’t hold them forever, Alfair!” Luke called, darting to intercept a lion-maned creature that stood at least 8-feet tall and wielded a pair of sickles in his muscled furry arms.
Dodging aside at the last moment, Luke triggered [Perfect Dodge]. The boost to his speed allowed him to perform a quick two-prong attack on the leo...
2024-04-19 20:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Hadron Riser, hands clasped behind his back, paced up and down the line of kneeling men. “I will ask once more and only once more. Somebody had to see something. Who killed Eli? His body was torn to shreds. You do not do that and get away unseen. Each of you were on duty that night, TELL ME WHO IT WAS!”
The men flinched at the sudden spittle flying from Hadron’s lips, but none of them knew anything. They repeated the same story as before.
All w...
2024-04-17 20:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Luke went to work crafting the next conduit rune. The horned horrors had dropped some high-flux equipment, so he had more flux than what he knew to do with at the moment.
If he had more time, maybe he could try out some new things, but he needed to prioritize getting back into the Gordian.
Luke was so preoccupied with his urgency to get back into the Gordian that his focus wasn’t completely concentrated on his first attempt at the conduit rune.
The flux...
2024-04-16 20:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Luke quickly found another horned horror and hunkered down behind a stalagmite the size of a Buick.
Yindferl sidled up alongside him, as silent as a shadow. Her every motion made Luke feel like a clumsy toddler, even though Dexterity was his highest stat.
“Watch this,” he whispered, summoning an Echo out of the pitch of shadow at his feet.
Yindferl looked at it rising out of the ground, then put a massive shovel-sized paw on its head and forced it bac...
2024-04-13 20:00:01 +0000 UTC
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“I could get used to this!” Luke said, watching Yindferl leap from the shadow of a tentacled horror and sink her teeth into its rubbery hide. It let loose a shrill scream, flailed around, and then fell to the ground where it was easily dispatched by Luke’s twin swords and Yindferl’s razor-sharp claws.
The twisting halls right outside the library were teeming with all sorts of monsters. Thankfully, none of them were quite as high level as the thurskite.
...
2024-04-12 20:00:01 +0000 UTC
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“I’d like to work with you,” Luke offered, motioning to the table Alfair was at. “To fix the Gordian.”
The Shadow Drake snorted a curl of black shadowy flame. Luke could feel the heat even across the room.
He was curious about Yindferl’s level, but he didn’t risk examining the drake too closely. Tigers, panthers, and the like were already dangerous enough back on Earth.
A huge drake empowered by stats? She might easily be able to claw him to ribbons.
...
2024-04-10 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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When Luke didn’t immediately shake his hand, the elf looked at it, then back at him. “They don’t handshake where you’re from? I’m pretty sure that’s universal for people with arms and hands.”
Luke’s hand eased off his weapon. It could be just a trick to get him unarmed, so he swapped the dagger between hands and shook the elf’s hand heartily.
Though Luke could feel no ill-will behind the man’s calm and placid purple irises, his experience wi...
2024-04-09 19:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Luke was committed to venturing deeper into the Gordian. He had one sealing rune down, and many more to go.
There was no telling how many more platforms he had to fix, or if the other sections had the same layout. He didn’t have time to check every single hallway.
It’s really too bad I don’t. I wouldn’t mind exploring every nook and cranny of the Gordian dungeon, Luke thought.
Just counting the few he came across, there were 5 different p...
2024-04-06 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Nobody is going to hurt you,” John said soothingly to the young, bedraggled man. “Our group, Havenholm, has laid claim to this area. You happen to be in it. We’re not claiming you. You are free to join or leave, but we need to explore every bit of our territory to keep it clear of monsters, understand?”
The young man with oily black hair glared at him. “Yeah? What’s it worth to you?”
Dexter sighed and leaned against the crumbling archw...
2024-04-05 19:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Though it felt like he was crawling over shards of broken glass that were inside him, Luke made it to the vortex just as the pool began to froth and churn once more.
Reaching up with a shadow-darkened dagger, Luke severed the tether once again. Despite his weakness, it was significantly easier. Either because of his jump in levels, or the shrinking vortex of corruption just above him.
As the tether fell like a line of heavy smoke, the waters stilled.
Lu...
2024-04-03 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Examining the creature didn’t do Luke any favors.
[Thurskite - Level ??]
Luke didn’t like his odds, but he had plenty of shadowy corners and enough room to maneuver that he felt reliably certain he could dodge most of its attacks.
That was until some of the flooding water caused a piece of junk to clank slightly against the wall to his right.
In an eyeblink, the thurskite snapped its long sinuous neck and let out a beam of water so com...
2024-04-02 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Luke didn’t know what to expect, but he certainly never expected to find himself in the middle of a hallway upon entering the Gordian. Tall windows showed impossible landscapes beyond.
Twisting pillars of dark stone stood stark sentinel against a sky bathed in prismatic cosmic radiation. Colored clouds boiled and scudded across the scintillating roof of the world.
Luke knew without a shadow of a doubt that if he went out there, he would be killed. And for some reaso...
2024-03-30 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Johnathan Case rubbed his temples and did his best to keep his face impassive. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t endeavor to strengthen ourselves,” he said, for what felt like the 30th time. “All I’m saying is that we should proceed cautiously. Subjugating people does not tend to go over very well with morale, which you’ve put me in charge of if you recall.”
“And you are doing a fine job,” Marcy said, baring her teeth in a predatory gleam. “But your purview...
2024-03-29 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Luke carefully looked over the choices for his profession’s class evolution, paying particular attention to the number of stats awarded per level. That would be one of the most important factors for him.
Every book he read told him that the quantity of stats was a telltale sign of both rarity and strength.
He had been fortunate to gain a profession evolution so swiftly. No doubt owing to his unusually high Fate stat. If not for defeating that auditor so many times, ...
2024-03-27 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Now able to exclusively find large quantities of flux, Luke’s days and levels passed in a blur. By the end of his first week in the assessment test, the slow-motion explosion of the Gordian had reached halfway across the room.
It had progressed faster than Luke expected.
The larger it became, the faster it seemed to grow, as if it was feeding off its own destructive power. Despite that, he felt confident that he could stymie its advance. And it was finally time to d...
2024-03-26 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Luke found some solace in the fact that his crafting attempt had at least been successful.
He had something to show for his effort, even if he had nearly failed and wasted an excessive amount of flux and mana. More importantly, he had gained experience. Not enough for another level in Apprentice Runegraver, but it brought him closer all the same.
Having rested long enough to recover his MP to nearly full, he wandered back into the storage room, inspecting the barrels ...
2024-03-25 17:00:01 +0000 UTC
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The addition of a Dunamis rank below Luke’s race was new, signifying that it was clearly important enough to track on its own.
So that’s my rank, but what’s it do? Luke found himself asking again as he returned to the storeroom. He knelt by the [Flux Satchel (Fire)] he had made prior to his Ascension.
Even without him there to power the rune, it had siphoned up some of the fire flux on the floorboards.
Luke wasn’t skilled enough yet to make recu...
2024-03-24 17:00:31 +0000 UTC
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