Zagrinth

Chapter 18 – Trouble Comes in Threes

Hadron Riser knelt by the brown and darkened bloodstain on the second floor of the tower his brother was last seen entering.

He brushed his calloused fingertips against the stone. Dried blood flaked off at his touch.

Ben…

Fierce, cold anger welled up in Hadron’s chest. Without looking up, he said, “Who did this?”

A nervous voice cleared its throat. He was clearly afraid of what Hadron would do to him. Then again, the penalty for not answer...

Chapter 17 – Favor

Luke quickly discovered that using his ability to manipulate shadows drained his mana, but it was small. Which was a good thing because his MP was simply pathetic.

He experimented with manipulating the shadows to wrap around himself, to go almost entirely invisible. The few people still awake at night and patrolling didn’t stand a chance at seeing him.

Luke had chosen Rogue over Mage. While he still stood by that decision, he couldn’t help but feel a child-like se...

Chapter 16 – Perception Check

Luke bustled around the room collecting his throwing knives and looting the three bodies that had just tried to kill him. He felt no remorse for his actions, which was a worrying development considering his kill count was now up to 4.

At the moment, he was far more concerned with surviving the night. Likely, a significant degree of shock was involved.

As he looted them, he looked over his notifications to relieve that itching sensation at the back of his mind that wou...

Chapter 15 – Divergence

Slipping a throwing knife out from his belt, Luke took aim and threw the weapon at the lamp holder’s hand as he rolled out of bed.

There was a muffled curse and a shatter of glass, followed by a faint crackle of light as whatever powered the magical lantern broke.

Velvet-black darkness descended on the room, but there was just enough light for Luke to see. Unlike the two murderers, whose night vision was ruined by the lantern they held, Luke had kept one eye closed ...

Chapter 14 – Loyalties III

The rest of the day passed in a blur.

There were countless people to meet and greet. Groups were formed for hunting and training.

Luke watched the complicated dance as either Henry or Marcy managed to break up Luke’s group enough to make sure they were always outnumbered but not so much that they felt cut off and surrounded.

It was, Luke realized, a masterful manipulation.

And the worst part was, it all made perfectly logical sense. Healers were grouped ...

Chapter 12 – Loyalties

This wasn’t how anybody would have expected their night to end, but it was better than being in the middle of a monster’s guts.

Fed and resting, the group finally relaxed for the first time that day. They had hardly gone a mile by Luke’s guess, but it would have to do. If anybody else was following them, they would have a hard time tracking them.

He wasn’t a skilled huntsman by any estimation, but there were very few markers that would tell of their passing. And those that...

Chapter 13 – Loyalties II

After Marcy’s coup de grâce, there was no move for Luke to take that wouldn’t seem unreasonable or petulant. That was her superpower. She could make you feel like such a horrible person that you bent yourself into knots.

She didn’t have to torture you if you did it to yourself.

So he gave curt responses when necessary and otherwise kept his space. His thoughts moved towards his next move, where he might go off to hunt monsters on his own. Surely this place had more...

Chapter 11 – On the Move

The monsters didn’t have much on them. More nondescript monster meat and nothing else. Luke wondered if the Rogue knew what they dropped and hadn’t bothered to loot them.

When they arrived back at the upper floor, everybody was up, including the Gladiator, minus one arm. She looked forlornly at her shield, then at the mace on her hip.

She might not be able to use a mace and shield again, but at least she was alive.

Tracy’s eyes were glazed as she glanced at them, hardl...

Chapter 10 – Mistakes

“Ed, I need you to stay right here,” Luke whispered harshly.

“What, why?” Luke could practically hear the gears grinding, then meshing smoothly into place. “Oh. I get it. I’m bait, right?”

Luke didn’t have time to spell it out for Edgar, nor did he particularly want to. If the Archer wanted to learn, this was one way to do it.

Slipping away on the balls of his feet, Luke drifted between two tall stacks of crates and moldering linen coverings opposi...

Chapter 9 – Mending Fences

Luke hurried down the steps as his shadow lengthened out ahead of him. The sun was already trending toward the horizon, and the darkness of the next floor was even more complete than he had remembered.

The shattered window, partially blocked by debris, let in a long fat line of golden light that everybody was keen to stay out of yet close to at the same time. Luke found it surprisingly easy to see with what little light they had and made it down the crumbling steps on John�...

Chapter 8 – Loot that body

“What can we do to save Tracy?” John asked, sitting down beside Luke. There was plenty of space to either side of him.

Nobody wanted to be near him.

Even Edgar, who seemed to think highly of his performance, wasn’t making any attempt to get closer to him.

Luke crossed his arms and turned his head down just enough that his hood shadowed the upper part of his face.

“I don’t know,” Alice said, staring at her stained hands. “I’m not a doctor, n...

Chapter 7 – A Brush with Death

Luke mulled over the varying amounts behind his experience gains.

Even if every higher monster level netted a huge amount more experience than the previous in some sort of logarithmic scale, that still didn’t explain how three monsters were equivalent to the single one that Luke defeated.

That left three options: the experience was split as the notification flat-out said it was, monsters that were turned into red-eyed creatures granted a large experience boost, or s...

Chapter 6 – Coaching

Heart pounding, Luke was still riding high on adrenaline from the battle. That was probably for the best, considering that at any moment, those flying monsters could swoop back in through the tower’s open pillars on the top floor.

He kept a watch out for any incoming threats while moving with haste. Luke looted the body of every slain monster there, hoping to find some more useful items.

He would use anything and everything he could get his hands on. They weren’t ...

Chapter 5 – First Blood

The wind roared in his ears as Luke fell towards the ground far below.

Cursing furiously, Luke tried to orient himself, but it was not an easy thing to do when he was falling toward his imminent death.

Another dire bat swooped through the air, this one’s eyes glowing a hateful red as it crashed into Luke, intending to pin him to the side of the tower.

Spotting an oversized window, Luke rolled as soon as the creature crashed him into the stone, but before it co...

Chapter 4 – Survival of the Fittest

One moment Luke was standing in the small, odd office and the next he was in an open-air tower with arched walls that let out onto a breathtaking view of ruins, mountains, valleys, plains, and forests in different directions.

It looked like a kingdom of great beauty that had fallen to seed thousands of years ago.

A breeze whipped around the tower, ruffling his black cloak. The brisk, fresh air filled his lungs.

He wasn’t used to it, not where he lived and work...

Chapter 3 - Power Unlocked

Class unlocked: Rogue.

Knowledge flooded Luke’s mind, full of newfound skills and abilities. If there was any doubt about the System left in Luke, it was gone when he unlocked Rogue.

With surprising eagerness, he immediately looked over the incoming prompts. What was he going to get next?

Am I actually enjoying myself? Luke thought, incredulous.

He was, and as he looked at the flood of information coming in, he couldn’t have w...

Chapter 2 – Hired by the Multiverse

Uplift of the 17th Universe confirmed.

The Company welcomes you to the Multiverse, new hire!

Your onboarding and integration will begin momentarily.

The ancient oaken door opened, and a young woman stepped out wearing something that looked a lot like business casual crossed with a Greek chiton. “Mister Solus, Luke Solus?” she asked with a glowing smile that dazzled Luke.

“That’s me,” he said automa...

Chapter 1 – TGIF

Luke leaned back in his office chair and pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes until spots of light blossomed in his vision.

He couldn’t wait to escape the office. Just a few more boring hours, and he would be free. Every week started and ended like this, with Friday being the worst day of them all.

He suppressed a groan. The open office plan made sure that Johnathan Case, Luke’s pseudo boss-slash-mentor, would come around to see if he could help Luke out with whatev...