Zogarth

Chapter 234 - Questionable Choices

Jake bent his back as he avoided a wooden spear trying to impale him from behind, and in a spinning motion, cut the Deepdweller that attacked him in two with his scimitar. The kill didn’t even make any of the other Deepdwellers hesitate as they came bearing down on him.

He released a wave of arcane mana with a scoff, pushing back the closest Deepdwellers as he once more turned to kill the Fungalmancers. The hulking abomination Fungalmancer attacked him in response, its figure now near...

Chapter 233 - Evil Incarnate

You have entered the dungeon: Undergrowth of the Deepdwellers

Objective: Lay your hand upon the Heart of the Undergrowth

Jake came to and opened his eyes just as the message appeared. He quickly skimmed it and frowned. This was the first time the dungeon didn’t tell him just to go kill a big boss. Instead, he had to touch some Heart? He assumed it was a figurative thing, but with magic, he could totally see some massive beating...

Chapter 232 - Nanoblade

Jake was sure Arnold was just joking when he asked Jake to make bombs, especially with the deadpan delivery. It turns out the man was earnest, as he scurried over and picked up a box of tennis ball-sized metal orbs.

He also spotted something on the table he recognized. It was a sword with pink-purple lines running through it, and on closer inspection, it indeed was one of the many swords he had experimented on and had transmuted with Arcane Conductivity.

While he did remember hand...

Chapter 231 - Man Cave(s)

”We’ll need to build it deeper. There is no way the ceiling of the cellar can take that kind of toxic exposure. Even if we put some serious enchants on the floorboards, they will eventually lose effect as they are slowly corroded, and the stronger you get, the faster we will need to keep reapplying the enchants,” Hank explained as he shook his head.

”How deep do you reckon?” Jake asked. ”It would be best if we can still keep the lab within the area affected by the Pylon to f...

Chapter 230 - This Chapter Contains Alchemy

Sylphie had once more been a bit mad when Jake had sent her away to spend some time with her parents, but today was one of those days where having a bird sitting around just wasn’t feasible. The reason for this was simple… today would be the day he would craft his first uncommon-rarity Necrotic Poison. He could feel it. At least that’s what he kept telling himself as he felt the same the day before.

Another two weeks had passed, and it had now been nearly a month since the World C...

Chapter 229 - A Healthy Diet

Lavender, Evergreen Grass, a lot of mana and a bit of love, and you have a perfectly healthy potion. It seemed simple on paper, but there was a bit of work going into it. The mana-control aspect of the crafting process was something that could always be improved, and the more you trained, the better your potions would inadvertently get. While there was a cap caused by the ingredients and your own stats, it wasn’t one Jake could ever feasibly reach.

He did improve a whole lot, though. ...

Intermission 6 - William (3/3)

Conflict resolution is by many professionals considered an art that few will ever master. From smaller group projects to large enterprises, in the end, everything is made up of humans that have to interact for the cogs to turn. And when that happens, some friction is inevitable.

And that is in a school or corporate setting. In most cases, the worst-case scenario is just a lost job or a reprimand from upper management. However, In this new world, where a conflict would often spiral into ...

Intermission 6 - William (2/3)

A few weeks later, a trio of a small girl, a young man, and a woman walked through the streets of the now broken city. The girl ran around far faster than a typical child normally could, showing that her physique would clearly be considered supernatural by pre-system standards.

The teenager was smiling cheekily as he chatted with the woman. That is until the girl ran up to him, holding a small object in her hand, that with a second look, was clearly a broken dagger handle.

“Look...

Intermission 6 - William (1/3)

Kim Eunseo. Commonly just called Kim or Kimmie by her friends. To him, however, she was Ms. Kim.

In his life, William had only ever suffered defeat before three people. Himself, due to his own ignorance, Ms. Kim, who was the only psychologist to ever truly figure him out, and… that time.

Anyway, this was why she was the first one he wanted to find upon his return to Earth. A return that went as one expected.

His new ‘master’ sent him off from whatever void he ...

Chapter 228 - A Question of Morality

Jake sat on the steps leading up to his lodge, looking at the weird banana time tree as he spoke with Villy.

His theory that gods truly had no idea what happened inside the World Congress turned out to be entirely accurate. The system just simply didn’t allow them to peak or communicate with their blessed ones in any way during the Congress, and the only way for them to find out afterward was to be told. That, or use some serious mental magic on the person, but gods couldn’t do that...

Chapter 227 - Shopping Spree

The World Congress had only lasted about 10 hours total but had without a doubt been a defining moment for the enlightened races of Earth. Most of the powerhouses of the planet met, and alliances, truces, trade agreements, defensive pacts, or just generally friendly relations were established between many factions.

To distinguish a ”winner,” if one may, would be difficult. While Jake and Haven had gotten all the voting results, they wanted and managed to secure both Herbs and the Tr...

Chapter 226 - World Congress: Final Talks

The vote for the System Event came and went, all the different factions once more back on their respective platforms. There were a few last-moment speeches, but everyone knew that people had already decided by now what they wanted or made other commitments.

In the end, the vote for the System Event quietly came to an end, as Jake just hoped that things would indeed go as he planned. Treasure Hunt let’s gooo!

The vote for System Event has concluded!

Chapter 225 - World Congress: Master Negotiator

Okay, Jake did fuck up one thing during – or after, really – the discussion with Sword Saint. Jake liked walking off after getting the last word in, as he felt like it was the easiest way to come out on top of a discussion and because it allowed him not to need any more arguments.

This resulted in Jake leaving behind two undead with no one really talking to them, as Jacob and the City Lord were already doing their own thing.

It wasn’t like he could walk back in either. Both ...

Chapter 224 - World Congress: Challenge

If one called the discussions for those damn materials heated – a vote where Herb truly was the only worthy choice – then the current discussion revolving around the System Event was absolutely blazing.

At least many cities needed some of the same materials, plus the angle of potential trading. It meant that there was at least a strong desire for consensus. However, for this vote, everyone went straight for what played into the strengths and desires of their own city.

The unde...

Chapter 223 - World Congress: System Events

”System Events are exactly as the name suggests events put on by the system itself. More often than not, they offer great rewards but equally great risks. Well, as a new universe, you may get some safer versions. Events can be pretty much anything and are great ways to challenge yourself and achieve a breakthrough to the next level for many mortals and even gods. They can even offer things one cannot find out in the multiverse. As I told you, I got my Bloodline through an Event, so that sho...

Chapter 222 - World Congress: On The Flip Of A Coin

The second vote quickly approached its end, and by now, there was quite a bit of nervousness going around. The last hour had contained plenty of closed-door deals and under-the-table agreements on what to vote for.

Miranda told Jake that she and Lillian had gone to reaffirm the vote for herbs with those who promised it before. She even went as far as making binding system agreements with them, not allowing them just to make empty promises.

With the many votes of Haven and at least...

Chapter 221 - World Congress: "Confrontations"

Jake had always liked to play strategy games, mainly those of the good old 4X genre. 4X was an abbreviation of Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate, and was in 90% of cases, macro gameplay and economy ruled as one of the most important aspects. While they weren’t the most realistic, he and Casper had spent many hours nerding out over making optimal builds and strategies, and one of the most important factors was always location.

In these games, the resources you had available near...

Chapter 220 - World Congress: A Quick Vote

Jake didn’t know why, but he got a faint feeling that he maybe should have told Miranda that a good third of the first ten Pylons were claimed by family or old friends. Perhaps it was her very sarcastic tone… nah, it can’t be that.

Alright, I did kind of drop the ball on that one, Jake had to admit, as he scratched the back of his head a bit embarrassed. It was a bit of a dickmove not to inform her beforehand, but in Jake’s defense, he didn’t know that Casper...

Chapter 219 - World Congress: Reunion

After the first half an hour, four people found themselves within one of the closed-off platforms that belonged to a city. It was at the table belonging to Haven with the sound-proofing barrier active. Even sight into the area was disrupted, making anything less than a Sphere of Perception unable to pierce inside. One could still see out, but not in.

In there was a reunion of sorts. Bertram and Jacob sat together with Casper and Jake, making it quite the unlikely group. Them entering th...

Chapter 218 - World Congress: Friendly Talks

”Should we not be out attempting to sway the vote for World Leader?” Jacob was asked by the middle-aged trade manager he had brought along for the Congress. Maria and Bertram also looked at him questioningly.

They controlled several Pylons already, had many votes between them, and an Augur with frankly overpowered skills for convincing people. Yet Jacob did not look like he carried any intentions towards securing votes for World Leader.

“It’s too soon, and there are far to...

Chapter 217 - The World Congress Begins

<AUTHOR NOTE>

The time for this author to go on break has come ladies and gentlemen.

Info: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50576113

As for why we go on break with this chapter for the Hunter tier and no weekend chapters? Because it is either on this one that I feel doesn't end on too much of a cliff or what will likely be in the middle of the congress. I feel like this way we ...

Chapter 216 - Calm Before the Politics

He wasn’t sure if he should be disappointed or not as he entered the central temple. The inside sloped down a bit as he entered a small underground chamber – a perfect place for a secret treasure vault.

What he found instead was just a damn bush… tree… thing. As he looked at it, he actually found it a bit odd that his Sagacity of the Malefic Viper didn’t toss out a snippet of knowledge. His Herbology skill was also not giving him any idea what the hell he was looking at.

Chapter 215 - Fragmented

BOOM!

The Prima was sent flying back as Jake’s hand exploding in an assault of arcane mana the same moment he punched it. It’s silly belief in Jake playing it smart clearly backfiring on it, as Jake was more than happy to be risky. The reason he had held back before was due to the uncertainty of what it was cooking up, but now… now he knew he could face it head-on.

His opponent got up with a nosebleed, looking more than a little pissed as it zoomed forward. ...

Chapter 214 - Enjoyment

There was going to be more monkey business going on.

Once more, the Prima was fighting in a way that just didn’t make any logical sense. It took far more damage than Jake with every exchange; in fact, it was even worse for the Prima now that it had changed back to its golden form. It relied on magic and ranged combat, which was a-okay with Jake.

Its magic was something he was getting very used to, even if it did spice it up sometimes. At times, random areas around him would sudd...

Chapter 213 - Monkey Business

The arrow slowly emerged from his palm as he focused on the monkey in the distance. He had a feeling that it knew he was there, just not where exactly he was hiding. It was just sitting on top of its temple, inviting him to attack - something Jake would gladly do and even open with his most decisive blow possible.

On a side note, Jake had tried to use Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter with his new Splitting Arrow, and it still didn’t work. He couldn’t split an arrow fired with Arcane Po...

Chapter 212 - City/Monkey Management

Jake sat on the ground as he breathed in heavily, waiting for his left arm to regrow. His right eye was also still a bit blurry after being regenerated, as it turned out that taking a blast of force to the face resulted in quite a lot of it being funneled into the holes in the mask. He was lucky his head was tilted so he only lost one of them.

He was also, of course, half-naked from most of his armor being shredded or blown apart, a lot of the damage done by his own explosions of arcane...

Chapter 211 - Matriarchs

A massive crash sounded out throughout the forest as a tree nearly 300 meters tall toppled over. The wooden behemoth that would ordinarily be borderline impossible to take down looked old and worn, its bark with many black rotten spots throughout, especially in the section that had been broken as a massive tail smashed into it.

Dust and soil flew up everywhere before being cleared by an explosion caused by a blast of force and an arcane arrow colliding. Blood was sizzling on the ground ...

Chapter 210 - Rules of Monkey Hunting

There are a few rules one must remember when invading an ancient temple and the surrounding area run by supernatural many-tailed monkeys that can use weird weight magic. Forgetting these rules may lead to being covered in unnaturally heavy feces or just be smashed or cut up by a monkey tail.

The first rule was to stay high and avoid the ground. Being able to move in three dimensions against enemies unable to fly was an incredible advantage and made it far easier to deal with issues aris...

Chapter 209 - Worthy Opponents

Jake opened his hand as he let the body fall, the dark green glow of Touch of the Malefic Viper fading. The body that fell was that of a monkey with a black handprint on its neck and its body already half rotten. When it hit the ground, it slugged together as its insides were already decayed and turned to mush.

*You have slain [Tri-Lighttail Dervish – lvl 128] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*

Its killer took out a heali...

Chapter 208 - Dervish

<AUTHOR NOTE>

Announcement of going on a break from the 10th to 24th of May: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50576113

<AUTHOR NOTE OVER>

Sometimes in life, one must take the good with the bad, and disappointment was an unavoidable element of existence. To be honest, Jake shouldn’t really have been disappointed, though,...