Shirtaloon

Chapter 599: A Lesson of Days Gone

In the aftermath of the fighting, a small army of gold and silver rankers were sweeping the area for escape tunnels, traps and anyone who had managed to hide away. The adventurers were a combined force of the Sapphire Crown guild, who served the royal family, and Amouz family members. The Amouz family had volunteered in numbers that surprised even Liara, whose husband was born into it.

Killian Laurent had taken the place of Havi Estos in being chained to a thick metal pole with a suppre...

Chapter 598: The Making of That Man

Havi Estos was not used to feeling insignificant. His connections spanned from the very top of society to the very bottom, and he was valuable enough to both that he had secured his position as the consummate middleman. He was also a successful former silver-rank adventurer. Perhaps not from a top guild, but certainly from a respectable one, and any adventurer that could hold their own in Rimaros was worthy of note.

After emerging from Asano’s portal, Havi took an icy shower, then fou...

Chapter 597: More Than Just a Name

The streets of Livaros were thronging with people as the central areas were overtaken by a sprawling street festival. The market district was the heart of the post-surge celebrations, but it extended into the boutique store ward and even the Adventure Society campus. Tables had been brought out and food stalls were everywhere, while the Magic Society had released thousands of colour-changing paper lanterns that were drifting over the streets, illuminating everything in myriad colours.

J...

Chapter 596: What She Was Willing to Do

“Now that Dawn has scarpered,” Jason said, “I’m half of a mind to do the same. Bottle up the pagoda, portal out and bunk off. No one would notice, right?”

Jason and his friends were sitting around a long table eating lunch.

"Of course, someone would notice," Rufus said. "There are twelve people observing the building right now."

“Seventeen,” Jason and Estella corrected simultaneously before glancing at each other briefly.

“The point is,” Rufus said, �...

Chapter 595: Don't Show Up to the Fancy Party in Shorts

After a lengthy seclusion in his cloud house, still presenting itself as a pagoda, Jason was finally open to meeting with at least some of the people clamouring for his attention. There was no shortage of them, following his series of ostentatious displays, ranging from the opportunistic to the concerned. Not concerned for Jason, for the most part, but about him.

Of those that were seeking Jason’s attention, the better-informed ones had chosen to make use of people J...

Chapter 594: Goodbyes

Jason and Dawn were standing in front of the arch that would take them out of his soul space and back into normal reality.

“Worried about giving up god-like power?” Dawn asked.

“Oddly, no. I feel like maybe not having limits isn’t so good for my mentality. I think I’m starting to understand why the World-Phoenix wanted to keep you grounded with mortal sensibility.”

Unhappiness crossed Dawn's face and uncertainty entered her body language. It startled Jason becaus...

Chapter 593: Astral Emperor

Jason’s astral throne was a hammock chair. He made a spreading gesture and it became a hanging chair with room for two.

“Join me, Space Princess?”

Dawn shook her head as they sat together. The chair swivelled to face the wall behind them, which was the back wall of the lengthy hall. The wall sank into the floor, opening up to give them a view of Jason’s soul space island. A pleasant breeze wafted in.

“Hey,” Jason said thoughtfully. “I can’t penetrate a soul, ...

Chapter 592: Why Anyone Would Pick You

The elevating platform stopped at the top floor of the pagoda, depositing Jason and Dawn at one end of a long throne room. Dawn turned to look at Jason.

“I know,” he said, wilting with shame.

They looked to the far end of the room, both taking on surprised expressions as they saw the throne itself. The room around it was ostentatious and perfectly designed for pomp and ceremony, with decorative weapon racks and tapestries depicting Jason doing better in certain fights than he ...

Chapter 591: What Light Does

“It changed again,” Jason said, looking around his soul space. “Not that I wasn’t expecting it. It’s been changing on the regular, and with losing the bridge and the door, plus gaining the throne and the…”

He sensed strange energies centred on Dawn. She had let go of his hand and staggered, trying to stay on her feet. Jason felt something inside of her, like an unplugged cable, trying to attach itself to the energy of their environment, which was comprised of his soul.

Chapter 590: A King Needs a Throne

Rufus had instilled in Jason an appreciation for the fundamentals of training. Since those first days in Greenstone, Jason's life had been storms of activity, followed by downtime for various reasons. Whether it was waiting for the Reaper trials to begin or staying with family in a world that ostensibly lacked magic and monsters, there were periods when Jason was not constantly caught up in the fight.

It was in those times that Jason turned back to the training fundamentals in earnest. ...

Chapter 589: Deeds of Legend

Liara’s family was sitting around a dining table filled with food. Liara had a glower as Baseph held her hand under the table, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

“…little did I know that your mother had leaked information about my route to use me as bait to try and catch some Builder cultists,” Jason said, continuing his story.

“She didn’t!” Zareen said with a laugh.

“Oh, she did. Except it wasn’t Builder cultists that ambushed me, but Purity fanatics.” 2022-01-20 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 588: Recalibrate Their Expectations

“I want to try opening up some portals,” Jason said as Carlos was about to leave after his latest treatment session. They were standing in the vast atrium, by the large double doors that served as the main entrance.

“I would strongly advise against it,” Carlos told him. “You are largely recovered, but if you push too hard, you could backslide. Keep doing the mana circulation exercises and use your non-dimensional powers. Anything that touches the astral will likely exacerbate ...

Chapter 587: A Gentleman Doesn't Tell

Carlos turned his attention to Jason as he sat down opposite him. He hadn’t done more than glance at Jason since coming in, his attention arrested by Dawn. Even with his senses diminished, he could see that Jason was not in a good way. His skin was off colour and he was still emaciated, as he had been the last time they saw one another. He would have expected more recovery, deducing that what he had heard about Jason further injuring himself was true.

Although his condition was poor, ...

Chapter 586: A Power That Did Not Belong to the World

Carlos was nervous as he moved through the cloud pagoda. Jason’s familiar was clearly hostile, even as it guided him, and he worried that the entire building would be as well. He could sense its power, dormant for the moment but he had already had a taste of the power it could call on. That had only been a small, reflexive thing; he had no interest in being on the receiving end of dedicated hostility.

The last time Carlos had seen him, Jason had barely the strength to lift his own hea...

Chapter 585: Dodging the Topic

"The fact that the Builder's forces effectively abandoned the Storm Kingdom as a battlefront weeks ago has lessened the local pandemonium," Dawn said.

“Things are a little more hectic elsewhere,” Humphrey added. “The Builder’s forces staging a complete and immediate withdrawal is causing confusion and havoc elsewhere. Welcome confusion, but people don’t know what’s going on or why.”

“The Adventure Society is sending out messages as fast as they can open water links...

Chapter 584: Mythmaking was Within Expectation

When Jason woke up, everything ached. Dawn had helped him recover a little, but then he went and used some of the authority he had before trading the rest away. The after-effects made his entire body feel like it had cramped up, leaving whatever he had instead of muscles feeling like a taught rubber band.

Jason pushed himself out of his cloud bed with a grunt and tried walking around the room to loosen up. His body said no, so he compromised and hobbled around the room, trying to loosen...

Chapter 583: Flavours of Authority

Jason and Farrah were standing at the balustrade of a balcony, looking out over the water as the sky grew dark.

“You know there’s going to be an inquisition waiting for you when you leave this cloud house,” she said. “Probably the most polite inquisition ever held, but some very powerful people will have some very pressing questions.”

“I know. Dawn has gone off to lay some groundwork but they’ve already been knocking at my door. I’ve been leaving Shade to deal with...

Chapter 582: Quite Enough Transcendent Beings

“That looks good,” Jason said, eyeing off the pink liquid in the delicate crystal bottle. It was sitting on the low table in front of the cloud couch where Jason and Dawn were still sitting, outside of Jason’s pagoda. Jason’s own drink was a tall bottle where the liquid rested in rainbow layers, magically enchanted to retain the separation when poured into a glass.

“You just want to drink anything colourful,” Dawn responded.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“If ...

Chapter 581: No Points of Conflict

Jason’s cloud house had undergone yet another transformation when he accidentally spent some of the authority he had taken from the Builder on it. It was currently in the form of a pagoda made from smoky crystal, which was dark but for speckles of gold, silver and blue light dancing within it. It was the same as the pagodas at the heart of Jason’s permanent spirit domains on Earth.

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• You have infused the [Cloud Flask] with authority possess...
  2022-01-10 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post