With a sickening crack, Lament’s tip broke through the beast’s skull and continued on into the brain shielded beneath. The monster squirmed and squealed as the final vestiges of its life left its eyes, and sunset oozed from its many wounds, clumping its fur and reeking strongly of iron. As the Alpha wriggled its final time before falling limp, Brock sighed.
Another dead end. The beast was incapable of speech. Hell, it seemed to be barely intelligent at all. It was like talking t...
2022-04-11 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“So, uh… can you… speak?” Brock’s voice echoed through the desert, the landscape shaded by the rustling canopy high overhead and the breeze uncomfortably warm on his skin.
In response to his words, it stared at him, unmoving. A single hump adorned its back.
“Speak!” He stepped forward, trying to scare the creature into action. There was still no reply. He may as well have been talking to a statue.
Brock rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing. It had ta...
2022-04-08 11:00:05 +0000 UTC
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All around, in every direction, she could see rubble and corpses. She could hear the sobs of the fearful and the cries of the wounded carried along the air, cutting through the dust floating in the skies. Within her aura range, she sensed dozens of auras winking out every few seconds, and a few dozen more who weren’t far off.
To her side, she heard Harry shudder out a breath and she glanced over. Almost hesitantly, he took a step forward, and another, until he was at the front of thei...
2022-04-06 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Birds chirped. Leaves rustled. The sounds of the fauna intertwined with that of flora and created a choir of nature, disrupted only by the noise of Mio’s footfalls on loam. In silence, her eyes traced the forms of small avian creatures as they fluttered among the branches alongside dozens of various mammals.
Just through her aura senses, she could tell they weren’t monsters, but true animals. They were getting exceedingly rare these days.
It wasn’t really a surprise, however...
2022-04-04 11:00:06 +0000 UTC
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It was only his third time in New Paris, yet Brock found himself becoming increasingly familiar with the winding streets of the city. Compared to his first visit however, many buildings were in far better condition, having been painted over, repaired, or were just completely demolished and in the process of being replaced.
He assumed stats afforded the ability for such speed in construction.
By extension, he caught less people sleeping on the pathways and in the alleys. It was pro...
2022-04-01 10:01:02 +0000 UTC
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Coughing up a thick glob of gunk, Fon groaned, and her weighted eyelids inched open. Her body felt better than it ever had before, refined and boundless with energy. Her muscles felt sinuous and smooth, and her organs warmed her insides pleasantly as they pulsated with newfound vigour.
Although, for some reason, she felt immensely… sticky?
Groaning once more, Fon got to a seated position and looked at herself. Her eyes widened and she did a double take. Her face fell.
2022-03-30 10:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Bolo Maghreb clicked his tongue as the transport truck rumbled toward the horizon and into obscurity. With his enhanced eyesight, he could see the man lying atop it with perfect clarity. Of course, that also extended to the middle finger that was held up and aimed his way. He scoffed, but otherwise took no offense.
In fact, he found it quite amusing.
With his calloused thumb, he rubbed the handle of his gun. The metal was rough and worn and was warm to the touch. It was his great-...
2022-03-28 10:01:02 +0000 UTC
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“This is fucking insane.”
Brock crouched low, his form hidden by the edge of the rocky outcropping he was stationed upon. The sun shone high in the sky, and not a single cloud dotted the blue expanse. Beneath him was a stretch of plains, populated by sparse shrubbery and grasses. Monsters galloped around, feasting upon the flora under them, and the calls of birds settled the place into tranquillity.
Far in the distance, an armoured transport unit was approaching. The ...
2022-03-25 10:01:01 +0000 UTC
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The shadows rippled and Brock rose up alongside Mio. The sun shone high in the sky, portraying signs of midday. The air was crisp and warm, and among the walled off horizon of New Paris, Brock recognised the shifting mass of fog that surrounded the city. The Eiffel Tower peaked high in the sky, seeming to pierce past the heavens.
Tens of thousands of kilometres were rendered ineffectual by Mio’s shadow jumping. Brock gazed out over the familiar sight of Paris, admiring the city and dr...
2022-03-23 10:01:02 +0000 UTC
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Yawning, James kicked the sheets off him and took a moment to savour the chill morning breeze. His skin tingled, and he furrowed his brows as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. It hadn’t been a colder day in months. Hell, the immense heat was why he’d bothered to fix everyone’s air conditioners in the first place. He glanced to the fabric on his window that was meant to keep the heat out.
Maybe I should take it off. And turn the air conditioner off too…
He only sta...
2022-03-21 10:01:01 +0000 UTC
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As Brock sighed, shadows rose up to consume the two of them. Silently, he sheathed Lament and considered the ensuing chat he was about to have with his elder sister. There wasn’t really much that could be said, he supposed. A ‘sorry’, and ‘it’s ok’ could constitute the entire conversation perfectly.
Still, he knew it was best if he didn’t leave the details of their departure to fester like last time. The guilt of it all had been a pretty heavy weight on Brock’s shoulders...
2022-03-18 10:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Brock stood atop the tallest building in Meiyo, gazing down upon the city’s residents as they went about their days, laughing and enjoying the new life they’d found here. The breeze lapped against his face, its soft caress almost comforting as he considered the height between him and the ground. While he seemed to have a penchant for falling off of buildings, he felt he needed some solitude right now.
The building itself was entirely uninhabited, still being under construction and n...
2022-03-16 10:01:01 +0000 UTC
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His meeting with Hiroto was unfortunately unfruitful. While the man had indeed heard of many reports of Tyrants - and even rare cases of Alphas - appearing across the continent, he had nothing on the location of Sources. Hell, he hadn’t even known what a Source was until Brock had explained it to him.
It did mean that Brock could now go and seek out the roaming Alphas that had seemed to have begun appearing, though there was still no certainty that any of them would be able to speak. ...
2022-03-14 10:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Brock stared up to the ceiling and sunk into his hospital bed a little further. Three months. Three. That was all he had left until he died, and even then, it was only an estimate. According to the doctor, if he got seriously injured and ‘strained his lifeforce’, it’d be even shorter.
It was rather comedic, he felt. He’d survived a fall from a building, survived being torn in half, survived the jungle, the Sky Bandit, even Gor’eth Kung, yet now, he was going to wither...
2022-03-11 10:01:01 +0000 UTC
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The crowd fell dead silent as the sound of fist on face echoed outward and Asahi shot backwards. His body skipped over the sand like a pebble on water, again and again and again before finally skidding to a stop over twenty meters away from where he had been hit. No one dared to move; not the announcer, not the crowd, not even Fon.
“Huh.” In the oppressive quiet, Brock’s voice reached everyone’s ears seamlessly. With raised brows, he rolled his shoulders and scratched the back o...
2022-03-09 10:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Brock’s gaze was clouded as he walked. Amongst the bustle of the streets, he silently considered what Donte had relayed to him. The information on enchanting was… somewhat illuminating. Brock didn’t really understand what he had said, but it was of help to him, nonetheless.
‘Aura is much like wielding a rifle.’ He had said, gesturing as if he had been holding one. ‘To use it effectively, you need a strong will and a steady hand. I’m not too sure of the process...
2022-03-07 10:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Brock couldn’t help but be wary of every shadow he saw as he trotted back to the hospital. Sure, none of them seemed to have aura flowing up out of them, but he was still paranoid, nonetheless. Idly, he itched his scabbing flank wounds. Yeah. I’m never gonna feel safe around a shadow again.
As the chirps of birds and rustles of canopies soothed his caution, his thoughts turned to the pleasant surprise he’d had only a half hour prior. It was good to speak with Ari again, a...
2022-03-04 10:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Entirely random, but it was my birthday yesterday!
**
The voice was familiar. One deep and marred by age. Hiroto.
As time seemed to slow for him, Brock’s eyes flickered down the dagger travelling toward his demise. His Intelligence worked overtime to predict the amount of time he had before it landed, and when it finally got a result, he wasn’t happy.
One second... Shit.
His aura increased in intensity, Brock squeezing out as much potential ...
2022-03-02 10:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Jane cracked a small grin, and Brock gave her the finger. Slowly, he felt his racing heartrate calm and his stress peter out. He had dreaded this reunion for so long, though he assumed it had slipped his mind during all of the… events that had happened in the meantime. But now that he had gotten his apology out, it all faded away, and he was left with simply being content.
“You worry about things too much,” Jane started, rolling her shoulders and earning a series of satisfying pop...
2022-02-28 10:00:03 +0000 UTC
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The eerie silence that bathed the hallway certainly didn’t help his nerves. He knew exactly where Jane’s room was, his memory immaculate, yet he couldn’t help but take a few wrong turns along the way. He was scared, he admitted it. So very scared.
He had fought beasts twice his level, ones that even exceeded his Grade. He had had an arm savagely ripped off combat and slain a man that had threatened to render humanity extinct. His power was above most on this planet, even while he ...
2022-02-25 10:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Sleep. The blissful ignorance of nothingness. The acceptance of its null embrace. It was dark all around him, yet Brock had never felt so calm in his life. He could feel that it was time for him to awake soon, the distant sensation of chilled air and worn fabric brushing against his skin as his consciousness slowly slipped back into his body.
So calm, so tranquil. There truly was nothing else like slee-
“Oi. Wake up.”
“FUCK!” Brock shot up and out of bed, rolling off...
2022-02-23 10:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“So,” Fon’s voice rang out beside him, and Brock glanced over, “what’d you think?”
Silently, he scratched his chin. What did he think? Briefly, several images of the chasm and its depths flashed in his mind, sensations and emotions too. Among those, the familiar yet altered feel of his aura was prevalent. He was already well aware it was he who had created the chasm and its mysterious contents – the former was readily obvious – but still, it was good to...
2022-02-21 10:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Fatigue and exhaustion; these two factors led to one simple result.
Populating the silence with a heaving sigh, Brock climbed the stone staircase, the weakened forms of Harry and Fon tucked under each arm. Slowly, he was leaving the darkness and danger behind him. He could see the small outpost looming above, the brilliant blue sky even higher above that. By his estimations, he’d reach the top of the chasm in a few minutes.
With an unimpressed expression on his face, he glanced ...
2022-02-17 22:01:01 +0000 UTC
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The sheer scale of the earthen rift made it appear far closer than it actually was. It was still only a distance of a few kilometres away from the town, but each step felt endlessly longer than it needed to be. A ways ahead, the unmoving corpse of Gor’eth Kung loomed, his previously molten body having cooled and settled to an ashy grey substance.
Idly, Brock wondered if they could mine him too.
With the rate of their jogging, the group was due to arrive in only...
2022-02-15 22:01:00 +0000 UTC
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“Maryanne, can you pass the ketchup?” A man, not much younger than herself, asked with a smile. She had known him for a few months now – Alex was his name – and she was fairly certain he was interested in her. She shuddered. Romantically interested in her.
Either way, she muttered the condiment’s true name – tomato sauce – under her breath and fished it out of one of the packs laid nearby them. It was just one thing among many in there: preservables, salts, season...
2022-02-13 22:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Contrary to what he’d thought the night would be like, it was relatively warm, making the experience of sleeping in a stone shack far better than the one he had had in this town prior. For the most part, the blanket was entirely ineffective, and he could still feel the wind crisply against his skin, but it wasn’t that bad.
The house itself though, it was terrible.
After staying to see the sunset to its finale, Brock had parted ways with Fon and Harry, with the former ...
2022-02-10 22:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“Brock?” A small hand waved past his face, and he flinched, abruptly coming back to the real world. He glanced at Margo who was looking to him with furrowed brows and apologised. She waved away his simple ‘sorry’ and beamed, “So, what do you think of the name?”
Briefly, he spared another look at the chasm and among the darkness, he also noticed a small earthen structure built onto the edge of one side. He met Margo’s eyes and shrugged, “Sounds… I dunno. Good?”
...
2022-02-08 22:00:03 +0000 UTC
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As the sun rose on a new day, Brock rested in the seating of his favourite bakery, a Danish in hand and many more in his stomach. Each bite rewarded him with a burst of sweet custard, tickling his taste buds and skyrocketing his cholesterol. He didn’t mind, however, as the food was just too good.
It had been nice to catch up with Carrie, with them having had quite an illuminating talk the day before. While the info about how the System’s levelling could work –
2022-02-06 22:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Frustratingly enough, Brock was forced to wait in the waiting room to visit either of them, as currently they already had visitors, probably other warriors paying their respects, if he had to guess. Sure, he could probably move so fast that they wouldn’t even notice him sneak in, but he didn’t want to be the guy that always shed rules cause just he was powerful enough to.
So, he sat and waited amongst the coughing and lightly injured crowd who were awaiting their own check-ups. He h...
2022-02-03 22:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The meeting between the two men ended a little while later, with both participants appearing particularly satisfied afterwards. As Brock left Beatrice’s Bakery after bidding the woman herself a goodbye, he glanced down to the inert remains of his bracer. A quick flex showed that the blade no longer had any length to release and all that lay on the underside was frayed wire.
Fortunately, before they both departed, Hiroto – or the ‘Patriarch’ to many – had noticed the situation ...
2022-02-02 22:00:03 +0000 UTC
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