For just a heartbeat Eric wondered if Doom Flurry would allow him to do the unthinkable, and cleave through even mithril mail links. Before immediately reigning in that mad impulse, recalling how close he had come to pushing himself too far with Cleaving Blow such a short while ago.
Maybe after a good night’s rest, he would dare that madness. He could only hope it would bea easier with a perk he had already System-fused to his skill. A perk that fit his chosen weapon so very well.
...
2022-09-27 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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As if in a trance, Eric continued to embrace the dance of steel, flowing effortlessly into the farmost training chamber he and Sam had made such frequent use of, before allowing himself to cut loose and move like he had never dared before.
Racing forward with a roar, swinging his blade with the weight and fury of countless Sylvan swordsmen who had come before him, at one with the echoes of their struggles against opponents kitted in impossibly resilient mail so like Scar’s own, knowin...
2022-09-26 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Eric, Eric! Get the hell up, please!”
Eric shivered at the distant sound of panic in his young friend’s voice. That, more than anything else, forced him to lurch up and open his eyes… before crashing over with dizziness, feeling as if an added weight was now burdening his soul.
Before remembering that he had just finished securing a mail hauberk made up of spiritual energy as much as a silvered steel alloy he had, for half a second, thought must be mithril, so filled with...
2022-09-23 04:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Eric’s heart burned with the desire to purge the entire world of those sneering goblinoid bastards so gleefully doing all they could to enslave all of humanity in their carefully connived debt traps.
Just thinking of them filled him with fire.
It was only when Sam whistled nervously and Pavel flinched that he snapped back into the moment. “Sorry. Just thinking of a certain group of over enthusiastic bankers I really, really, want to have a heart-to-heart with.”
Sam sno...
2022-09-22 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Eric couldn’t help but flash a grin as Pavel gave him the strangest look, before his happy demeanor turned to an angry frown.
“Eric?”
“Damn.”
“What’s wrong?” The near legless Pavel winced. “Seeing as my life is literally in your hands...”
Eric sighed. “Even though it’s in my ES Space, the interface isn’t letting me claim the mystic armor or swords of Scar’s cronies. It says I’ll jeopardize my cultivation base if I try to claim those artifa...
2022-09-21 03:59:59 +0000 UTC
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Eric lurched up with a gasp, his soul screaming with such horror that he thought he’d go mad with terror as dark fingers scrabbled within his very soul…
Before his head bumped against the necromantic bone cage covered in spiky ribs and tusks he must have summoned while hovering between life and death, his ES Space and Adept tier Flesh Sculpting allowing him to do in a fever dream what Sam had made clear few necromancers were capable of doing at all.
Eric shuddered with dreadfu...
2022-09-20 04:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Eric spent long moments trembling with awe and wonder in the highest tree branches within the grove by his cultivation cave, still a good mile from the cultivators, doing all he could to steady himself as he spent a few minutes in careful cultivation, truly feeling the flow of fiery Qi surging through his meridian channels like never before as newfound spiritual vitality surged through him, like a freshly brewed cup of coffee filling him with added vigor.
His eyes lit with manic glee as...
2022-09-19 03:59:59 +0000 UTC
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Level 30 cultivators. Fuck!
Eric could think of only one reason why a level 30 anyone would be entering this realm, especially if they were knowledgeable enough to have clearly found a backdoor way around the level 10 Class limit for any adventurer.
They were here for the same prizes that Eric was.
And somehow Eric was as certain as the twisting feeling in his gut that these assholes were here for none other than the highest tier spirit fruit Eric had hoped to one d...
2022-09-16 04:00:00 +0000 UTC
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“You ready, Sam?”
Eric’s young friend grinned, gearing fully up in a patchwork affair of mercenary armor they had adjusted to fit Samuel’s steadily blossoming frame. Thanks to sparring with saber, pilum, and cultivation, his strength was increasing at a phenomenal rate compared to any mortal, for all that it could so easily be mistaken for a late growth spurt. All that aside, Eric was just happy to see his cheerful friend so vibrant and healthy, now looking far more like a high ...
2022-09-15 04:01:01 +0000 UTC
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“So it seems my unexpected student has ascended beyond all expectation,” said the smiling white-robed elder, radiating such benevolence with his smile when Eric found himself in a lotus position, surrounded by young cultivators with exotic tints to their skin, nearly all of them with upswept ears of varying lengths, and some with ears just like his own. All were strikingly beautiful, possessing perfectly symmetrical features without blemish or flaw. And not one of them even acknowledged h...
2022-09-14 04:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Sam gazed at a bemused-looking Eric for long moments. “You now have stats in the 70s.”
Eric slowly nodded. “A couple of them, yes.”
“And 67 Quickness. Just how fast can you...” Sam blinked then froze, feeling the blunt flat of Eric’s blade now resting on his shoulder.
From behind him.
Sam spun around, an awed look on his face. “Shit. Eric. I… I actually felt the wind of your passage. There’s dust in the air from how quick you moved your feet. But I ...
2022-09-13 04:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Congratulations! You have fully cleansed your 11th Meridian Gateway! Rank 11 Basic Fire Cultivation achieved!
Eric couldn’t help flashing a pleased grin when he finally got the message he had feared never seeing, just a few panicked weeks ago.
Now, he delighted in the feel of strength and potency flowing through his veins in a way that felt so clean, so natural, and so very different than the abrupt increases to his stats that System titles and skill advances had earned...
2022-09-12 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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A yawning Samuel favored Eric with a puzzled frown when he saw him striking a summoned carcass with fists and spear.
“Eric, it’s the middle of the night! What are you doing?” Sam's eyes widened at the sound of Eric’s fists pounding in to the monstrous rib cage of the beast before him. A beast that had been toughened the way corpses primed for necromancy effortlessly were for him. Yet despite that, it was the massive ribs that popped to his blows, to the disbelieving gaze of the ...
2022-09-09 04:00:04 +0000 UTC
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For long moments Eric, still perfectly aware of the rustling branches heavy with magical fruit all around him, and the massive boar glaring at him from a safe distance away, just stared at his Interface sheet, surprised despite himself by just how far he had come.
It wasn’t that long ago that he had been a broken young man covered in scars, just a single vicious rat bite away from death, with a Strength and Vitality of 8, and a face so hideous only a mother could love. Though not his ...
2022-09-08 04:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“Eric, what happened? Wow, you look… intense, my friend.”
A smiling Sam measured him with a concerned gaze as Eric wordlessly handed the now full storage pouch, brimming with the choicest cuts from their kills and plenty of organ meat for his friend’s super nutritious sauces. Eric kept all the rest, perfect for zombified future cannon batteries and bulwarks, in his own ES Space storage. He presented his friend as well with some sprigs of lemon grass, shallots, and several other ...
2022-09-07 04:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“Eric, thank god, you’re alive!” Sam gushed with a heartfelt smile. “Jeezus, whatever the hell you did, don’t do that again!”
Eric smirked. “Yeah, trust me, I don’t plan on repeating that anytime soon.”
His friend’s gentle grin was filled with unmistakable concern as he handed Eric a pewter cup full of water that tasted like sweetest ambrosia to Eric’s parched throat.
“What happened?”
Eric flashed his friend a sad smile. “I played the fool, ...
2022-09-06 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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For the following week Eric continued to train by forging himself in the crucible of battle for quick skill-ups and plenty of potency to use clearing ever more meridian channels. He regularly alternated saber for javelin, eager to bring that skill and all its potential to journeyman status and beyond. Because with his bow out of his reach and peril just a single class evolution away, he needed every ranged advantage he could get.
Quick clean kills also meant less time hunting and more t...
2022-09-05 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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You have critically struck Spirit Boar.
Spirit Boar is crippled!
Apprentice Iado has leveled up!
Eric flashed a fierce smile as he switched saber for fists once more, getting ever closer to that sweet, sweet breakthrough, before pushing all such thoughts out of mind, all his focus on slipping past goaring tusks and evading snapping teeth, getting ever better at anticipating his opponent’s hooves and, increasingly, forcing his target off balance w...
2022-09-02 04:01:01 +0000 UTC
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“Eric! Jeezus, bro! That fucker sent you flying I don’t know how many yards! I’m surprised you’re even alive!” Sam said, looking up from the massive corps blocking the front entrance, his face absolutely lighting up when Eric casually saluted upon catching Sam’s gaze.
Eric winced and forced a chuckle, gazing once more at the mastodon-sized behemoth tusker he really had been incredibly lucky to put down, one tusk sheered off by his Deathblaze II, every other injury...
2022-09-01 04:01:03 +0000 UTC
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Eric’s world narrowed to just himself, and the titanic beast with tusks of blue flame, charging his way.
Realizing that the creature had been holding back, in more ways than one.
Then again, so had he.
You have critically struck you foe!
The porker squeeled before the flash of plasma, doing all it could to gore Eric with its closest tusk. And though it failed to fatally swipe Eric with its stump, the skull that clipped him was more than enough to ...
2022-08-31 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Eric! I sensed it! Shit, Eric, I...for a second there, I felt the sludge in my veins move!”
Eric silently dipped his head. “Take slow, steady breaths, and focus on your cycling. Try to stay with me, no matter how much your channels itch and tingle. Only pull away if you start to feel a sharp pain.”
“Eric, what are you talking about?”
Eric chuckled. “Brace yourself, buddy. I’m about to tap into the storm.”
Closing his eyes once more, Eric t...
2022-08-30 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Eric woke up with a gasp, heart pounding, the echo of his sister’s terrified cry shivering across his soul.
Congratulations! You have successfully forged a Blood Pact against targets one realm distant!
You are now Oathbound to destroy your target. Glitz: Level 29 Goblin Assassin/Sniper within 1 year, or suffer Severe Penalties!
You have plus 2 to all Skill checks and saving throws against your target for the duration of your oath! ...
2022-08-29 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Eric flashed a pleased smile as he felt a fresh surge of spiritual heat blaze away at a particularly stubborn blockage until it finally burst, spending long moments visualizing those thick chunks of waste being immolated by white hot flame and breaking down to finer and finer particles, ugly knots of essence broken down at last into their spiritual components to be absorbed and recycled, the excess secreted as waste that made an intently studying Sam wrinkle his nose, even as Eric ...
2022-08-26 04:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“No shit, talk about Flesh Sculpting! You really are a natural. You know that, Eric?” Sam declared, gazing with genuine admiration at the massive wall of toughened flesh they could now use for their training.
Eric grinned. “It helps if you have an Extra Storage Space tied to your soul, and I have dozens, maybe hundreds of hours I’ve spent practicing shaping and infusing bodies with whatever energy allows me to shape them like clay in my mind’s eye. I might not know ...
2022-08-25 04:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Eric raised a cautionary finger at the sudden look of unbridled hope in his young friend’s gaze. “I can’t make any promises, Sam. I’ll do my best to help you, but I have absolutely no idea what your configuration looks like. I’m hoping that when we party up, maybe I can get a sense of it. But unless you have a twelve meridian configuration like mine...”
Those words earned a startled look from Samuel.
“Are you serious?” Sam sputtered in mock outrage. “Y...
2022-08-24 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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"So, you’re not going to teach me how to use your wand?”
Eric peered thoughtfully at the young man gazing so intently at him from the other side of the crackling fire, gnawing anxiously on a well-cooked rib. Sam looked surprisingly comfortable wearing perhaps crudely made but at least functional rawhide armor, thanks to Eric’s ability to shape and preserve remains in his storage. The boy’s own increasingly tattered attire was drying on twine serving as a clothes line,...
2022-08-23 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Eric did his best to quell the anxious, desperate hope welling in his soul as he darted back inside the cavern, pausing only long enough to assure that the wards would hold. And maybe there was a wild look in his eyes, Eric would concede that, but the look Samuel gave him, an odd mixture of fear and wonder, was not what he had expected.
“Sam, the cultivation manual, where is it?”
“Eric, what’s wrong? You’re covered in… shit, shit, did you have a breakthrough...
2022-08-22 04:01:03 +0000 UTC
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For all the confidence he had projected the night before, Eric had to fight back the wave of anxiety threatening to drown him as he glared at the wand in his hand by dawn’s early light.
He took deep breaths, seeking calmness, doing his best to center himself as he put into practice the lessons from the cultivation manual that had sparked such grand hopes before one roadblock after another present themselves. Regardless, the tips on meditation and achieving a state of zen we...
2022-08-19 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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"Wait, are you serious? You spent half a million credits on a wand? That would have been 2 million bucks in 2020 dollars! And you don’t even now how to use it? Why? I mean, just...why?”
Eric sighed. “Care to guess how many opportunities I had to actually train with anyone? Anyone that wasn’t already in someone else's pocket, forced to follow orders to teach no wildcard like me who hadn't accepted anyone as my master and wasn't already doomed to a substandard class any...
2022-08-18 04:01:00 +0000 UTC
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