Jake stared up at the puzzle door, no one answering his inquiry right away. He could get why it could be a bit unsetting to chat with the guy who had nearly just killed someone, but in Jake’s defense, the guy hadn’t died. The lack of a notification confirmed that, and Jake was pretty sure people were healed when exiting.
“Uhm, it’s a magic puzzle of sorts,” some young man finally answered. He looked rather unassuming, and while Jake had seen him before as one of the observers,...
2021-08-23 11:01:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake was in a hurry to get back to the Count’s chamber, as he had a bad feeling in his gut. And no, it wasn’t from just being the center of attention and feeling like that time when he was a kid and was in a school play, with all the parents staring at him. Instead, this kind of bad feeling was the kind he got when someone was about to steal his shit.
Okay, it was only was like that in retrospect. Because when Jake made it through the trap-room and into the chamber, he saw the state...
2021-08-22 10:57:14 +0000 UTC
View Post
Fucking shitty bullshit boss, Jake thought as he chased after the damn vampire Count. It had been barely a second ahead of him, but that second meant that when he reached the entrance to the trap room, the damn barrier was back, blocking his way. It had a slight red glow now, and there was no illusionary barrier trying to conceal it either… in other words, it was just there to slow him down.
Jake fired explosive arrows to blow it up, and while that process only took about ten...
2021-08-20 11:05:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
The vampire Count was truly a peculiar creature. He moved and acted like a fully intelligent and relatively competent fighter. It nearly fooled Jake into believing that he was fighting a smart enemy and not an absolute moron. However, the illusion was dispelled every time the Count opened his mouth.
”This is the part where you fall down and bleed to death!” the vampire yelled as he fired out a crimson wave of energy. Jake dodged it easily, taking far more mental damage than physical...
2021-08-19 11:04:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sylphie had a lot of things she liked. She liked tasty things, her mom and dad, Uncle, biggest bird Stormild, shiny things, whooshing stuff, tasty things, whacking stuff. Oh, and tasty things. As for things she didn’t like? Those were there too.
She didn’t like all kinds of bad guys. Eagles were baddies, that was for sure. Anyone Uncle didn’t like were bad also. Oh, and those bad monkey-things that kept throwing around smelly stuff. Those were super baddies for sure, also.
N...
2021-08-18 11:02:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
Carmen sprinted through the mist-filled halls, smashing down any damn ghoul in the way. It reminded her a bit of the good old days of the tutorial where she smashed zombies day in and day out. She snickered as she turned another corner, and before the ghoul could react, she dropkicked it square in the face, smashing its head between her heavy boots and the wall. She identified the undead-like thing with an oddly squishy head as she leaped back and landed on the ground.
[Vampiric...
2021-08-17 11:02:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Many would say that in a Treasure Hunt with high rarity items spread throughout a large area, one should not stay in a single place for a prolonged period to procure things that didn’t even count as items. Most would argue that was a waste of time. But to Jake, the true treasure was not the huge metal gate: it was the sense of victory he got when the first door finally fell off the hinges and slammed into the ground, making the entire archive s...
2021-08-16 10:59:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake searched his inventory and found a stone chair he had swiped before. He summoned it and sat back as he listened to the projection talk. This wasn’t a case like in the Undergrowth dungeon and that Altmar elf. This was just a recording, nothing more, nothing less.
“This place is – or perhaps was – once called Yalsten. We were always a secluded small world with few exits or entrances since this place was created. For many years it was a paradise. A place of study and learn...
2021-08-15 10:59:18 +0000 UTC
View Post
”I fucking hate curses,” Jake muttered out loud as he got up. It had taken nearly an hour to fully eliminate the energies in his body, and he had only been up in those dark clouds for a minute or two. Shit, he had even lost over a thousand health during the process. When he imagined what was further up, he shuddered.
Seeing that traveling up the side of the mountain wasn’t an option, he went for just traveling inside it. Before that, however, he took all the plant boxes on the bal...
2021-08-13 11:02:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake sprinted through the mist, Sylphie flying along with him. His Sphere of Perception was a bit over 300 meters in radius as he scanned the area at the ground level and even scanned to see if anything was hidden beneath. With his eyes, he scouted the area ahead, seeing movement here and there within the mist. It was incredibly subtle shifts in the background, a bit of mist not moving as uniformly as the rest, or it swaying in a too predictable pattern.
Yet, he wasn’t aware exactly o...
2021-08-12 11:00:42 +0000 UTC
View Post
The mist rolled over the hills as the vast open plains that were otherwise desolate suddenly saw movement. First, a figure appeared, a hawk still on his shoulder. Then, another person appeared a second later, and within two minutes, over fifty people stood there.
Jake saw Miranda had entered with both the slave woman and the thief. He wasn’t sure what she had done, but both seemed to be under her charge for now. As far as he could tell, it wasn’t any kind of slave contract or someth...
2021-08-11 11:00:55 +0000 UTC
View Post
Man, people can get so tense sometimes, Jake thought as all the people looked his way. Most of them even had their weapons drawn! Even Neil and his party looked on the edge, and only Sultan and Arnold were rather unaffected by the entire situation. Well, Arnold did look up from his tablet, frowned briefly, and just looked back down.
Miranda threw him a glance he couldn’t quite read, but he did get the faint feeling that he should maybe tone it down a little. He did so, and as...
2021-08-10 10:54:35 +0000 UTC
View Post
System Announcement:
The Treasure Hunt Special Event will commence in: 23:14:53
All qualified participants will be invited at the allotted time. Those within the territory of a Pylon will be able to enter together, while any not within a Pylon’s territory will enter as individuals by default.
Neil, Christen, Eleanor, Silas, and Levi were all chatting in the room, waiting for the rest to arrive. It was right next to the new...
2021-08-09 10:56:31 +0000 UTC
View Post
While Jake was working on his elixirs in a trance-like state, everyone else around the globe also progressed. Parties dove in dungeons, hunted down more and more powerful beasts and crafted items more potent than anything they had ever created before.
Every single day more D-grade appeared, and in these last two weeks, it was easily in the triple digits every single day. At this point, Neil and his party had also all managed to reach D-grade and begun hunting as a group to get in a few ...
2021-08-08 11:06:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake had wanted to get transmuting nearly right away after he regenerated his resources but found that the bow looked a bit… sluggish? It was no longer glowing, and the gems also looked completely inert. He came to realize he would need to give the poor bow a break before he began changing stuff. So he put it in his spatial storage and found that it could luckily still restore its mana within there.
He considered what to do, and with his proximity to the Fort, he decided to check ther...
2021-08-06 11:00:25 +0000 UTC
View Post
Trying to explain to two anxious hawks that their daughter was just relaxing with a Primordial that also happened to be a living natural disaster wasn’t the easiest. They seemed more than a bit worried, but Jake kept assuring them it would all be fine. It did help that Sylphie was still on top of his head, looking to be asleep.
Anyway, the two of them got the gist of it quite quickly and overall seemed to be approving of the entire situation even if it wasn’t optimal. They did get t...
2021-08-05 10:52:24 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake had signed quite a few contracts during his life. It had been a staple of his pre-system work, and of course, when you made large and important purchases such as a car or a home, you had to sign. So he knew a bit about signing stuff, and there were a few things one had to always remember.
First and foremost was naturally to spend an unreasonable amount of time practicing your signature solely not to be embarrassed when you sign like a kid during an important business meeting or whe...
2021-08-04 11:03:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake felt it before he saw her. A new presence appeared a split second before she was fully back. A small bird appeared back on top of his head, having shifted from a sitting to a standing position.
“Welcome back, Sylphie,” Jake said with a smile as he inspected the hawk.
[Sylphian Eyas – lvl 100]
Well, okay, not a hawk but an eyas, I guess. Level 100 and still a little kid, heh,” Jake thought, chuckling internally.
Hawkie and Mystie a...
2021-08-03 10:55:38 +0000 UTC
View Post
The group of four – three hawks and a human – arrived safely back at Haven. Sylphie stuck to Jake the entire time as he carried her on the flight. She was awfully quiet the whole way, and he was pretty worried about her.
Once they got back, she didn’t leave him but stayed cradled in his arms. Jake just sighed as he went to his porch and sat down. The two parent-birds joined him as they also looked worriedly at Sylphie. Nobody said anything, Perhaps it was just Jake being callous, ...
2021-08-02 10:54:53 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake felt a lot better as he stared at the downed Goldsun Eagle Prima before him. The eagle’s one wing lay on the ground beside it, and its radiant feathers were now no longer glowing. He had called for the birds to come and finish it off, as quite frankly, Jake had no desire to.
He hadn’t enjoyed the fight at all, only the purpose behind it. The Eagle Prima hadn’t been powerful enough for him to feel challenged, and this was the kind of fight he would usually try to avoid or fini...
2021-08-01 10:59:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sylphie hated herself. She was a really bad hawk and hadn’t done as she was told. Her mom and dad had repeatedly told her to be careful around those things called natural treasures, but she couldn’t hold herself back when she felt it. She hadn’t listened… and it had gotten them all killed.
She even tried to run as they told her, but she couldn’t even do that! Another of those big eagles came and hurt her and made her fly back to her parents. Their own small eagle was jeering a...
2021-07-30 10:53:31 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake hummed as he finished up another batch of elixirs. It had been a few days since he got the new skill and the Pride upgrade, and he had spent this time practicing that skill and doing alchemy. He hadn’t used that teaching skill at all. Mainly because he hadn’t spoken or interacted with anyone.
His practice with Pride of the Malefic Viper has been pretty simple. Infusing his presence with mana came naturally to him due to the instinctive knowledge from the skill, and the effect w...
2021-07-29 11:01:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
After a good conversation with his resident god, nothing was better than a new skill selection.
Jake did want to use Path of the Heretical Chosen right away again, but the skill didn’t respond. He assumed he didn’t meet that magical unknown threshold, as it didn’t feel like the skill had a cooldown or some other limitation.
Jake had gotten some inspiration besides Pride. Especially the moment all those magic attacks had hit the scales of the Viper gave him some food for thou...
2021-07-28 10:56:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake returned to his lodge as if nothing had happened. Barely any time had passed in the real world during his journey through time and space. It had been another great showcase of the higher level of power, even if it all had gone past fast, and to be honest, not much had happened. Besides, it wasn’t like just seeing someone summon a huge barrier taught Jake how to. If it did, wouldn’t the easiest way to make new powerhouses be just to have them participate in movie marathons.
No, ...
2021-07-27 10:52:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake opened up his system menu and went through all the stuff.
He had saved up a stupid amount of Free Points. 220 of them, to be exact. He should have probably just tossed them where they belonged, to begin with, but hey, better late than ever. As to where they belonged?
All to perception!
Heck, if Jake were to do another of those weird Legacy trips from his Path of the Heretic-Chosen, it would be silly not to have as much perception as possible to experience it fully. At l...
2021-07-26 10:56:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake sat with a book in one hand, skimming through it as he stroked Sylphie’s feathers with the other. She lay napping on his lap, seemingly very content with the situation. She had been working hard as always based on how she managed to bring back the core of a D-grade monkey. He felt an odd sense of pride that she managed to solo kill D-grades while still not a fully-fledged D-grade herself.
She was getting there, though.
[Sylphian Eyas – lvl 91]
Consi...
2021-07-25 10:51:40 +0000 UTC
View Post
Poisons? Now, Poisons were easy mode. That’s where Jake quickly found his footing and created some cool stuff right away. It felt natural to him, and he had so many skills to make it easier. Sure, there were many things he couldn’t make, but he was pretty confident in his abilities.
Potions? Still kind of easy. Especially mana potions. Heck, all the three fundamentals potions weren’t that complicated, and Jake had that shit down to a science by now. At least he felt like he did, a...
2021-07-23 10:54:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake made his way back to Haven with only a few stops on the way. Arnold was still trying to improve the Nanoblade, and Hank was still busy, so Jake didn’t need to meet anyone but just checked in from a distance.
He left behind Miranda, Lillian, and Neil with Sultan to figure out some final things. Nothing major, just where he could set up shop, and for him to sell some stuff to those three too. Jake wasn’t afraid of him causing trouble even if Sultan was the strongest person at the...
2021-07-22 10:58:59 +0000 UTC
View Post
Jake didn’t know what to expect. He expected Sultan to have some good stuff considering his status as a D-grade merchant who had been around the place, but exactly how good he wasn’t sure. This was the first real merchant he had ever encountered, after all. For the Record, Jake hadn’t looted anything off the two D-grade women. Their equipment wasn’t actual gear, playing into his suspicion they were truly just there for show. Sultan no doubt kept all their stuff himself at usual times....
2021-07-21 10:55:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
The situation was just a tiny bit tenser after Jake took out the trash. He considering if they should slap on a charge for contaminating Haven with toxic waste but held himself back. During the brief intermission, the two women had exited the cabin. They now actually stood behind Sultan as if seeking protection from him, both looking terrified.
Miranda cleared her voice, bringing the attention back to her even if Sultan still threw glances at Jake. He didn’t seem mad or offended at al...
2021-07-20 10:54:37 +0000 UTC
View Post
