The group skirted the edges of the forest, trying to gauge how far the poisonous fog spread and how dangerous it truly was. It did not take long to realize the truth. The entire forest was toxic territory.
Luke stepped inside several times to test it. His resistance held, which was good, but he could tell the air was more than just poison. There were hallucinogens mixed in, soporific agents, and other substances that burned the eyes, scorched the lungs, and dried the throat from the ins...
2025-12-24 04:51:09 +0000 UTC
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“I’ll have to explain a few things about where we are,” Luke continued. “By the way, you once said you grow stronger with beast cores, right? I have a few.”
The wyvern hatchling studied the tent with open curiosity.
“It’s bigger than the one you have in your lair.”
“The one in my bedroom? Yeah. It’s definitely bigger. And it’s not pink.”
“This one doesn’t have the nice decorations your sister used to add. Those corpses, to make it look more ...
2025-12-24 04:49:13 +0000 UTC
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Luke leapt onto a massive branch, his body far too light for someone carrying that many weapons and intentions. The landing was almost silent, just a faint tremor rippling through the wood beneath his feet. He did not slow down. If anything, he accelerated, pushing off again and weaving through the trunks as if the terrain belonged to him.
“Hey! I’m not that agile, don’t just take off like that!” Layla shouted, her voice echoing from several yards below.
Luke ignored her. ...
2025-12-22 16:58:11 +0000 UTC
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Luke had managed to enter the temple that now served as the headquarters for the military forces stationed in that dimension. The structure was ancient, far too solid to have been built as a mere outpost. The stone walls bore marks of heat and pressure, as if they had been shaped rather than carved.
The day before, when he had used his rank skill on Peter, he had absorbed part of the temple’s structural knowledge: main corridors, watch points, restricted zones. Even so, walking throug...
2025-12-22 16:08:01 +0000 UTC
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Luke held the assassin’s blade, its tip still slick with poison, and turned back toward his cauldron.
“Assassins?” Layla whispered.
“Yes, Layla. There’s a dead guy right next to you,” he replied, stirring the brew without looking up.
“What are you doing?”
“Finishing the potion. Bottling it.”
“Have you lost your mind? You should be out there warning someone strong.”
“You hear people screaming and dying out there?” he asked calmly....
2025-12-22 16:06:22 +0000 UTC
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Luke sat inside the tent, his posture relaxed as he watched through Officer Peter’s eyes using Soul Infiltration. The officer was inside the massive temple which, from what Luke could see, had been converted into a military camp and operations base. Only authorized personnel were allowed up the steps. The place functioned like a fortress, housing the army’s most trusted forces.
“I knew it. The moment everything went wrong in this place, I knew something wasn’t right. This is you...
2025-12-22 07:22:07 +0000 UTC
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Layla sat alone in a quiet office in Maine, fingers folded tightly in her lap. She was nervous. The man she had been speaking with had left the room a few minutes earlier, and she knew that silence well. It meant he was double-checking her background, making sure every detail lined up, deciding how politely to say no.
When he came back in, Layla lifted her gaze and put on her smile. It was practiced, artificial, but as pleasant as she could make it.
“I’m sorry,” the man said...
2025-12-22 07:20:38 +0000 UTC
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Luke walked alongside the group of soldiers he had run into. From what he had gathered, they were returning from a reconnaissance mission.
“Those damn Ardan Order bastards,” Isolde spat, clutching her wound. “They caught us off guard with their bombs.”
“So this place has been at war for a few weeks,” Luke murmured.
“We’ve been fighting each other for months,” Hugo replied, “but everything really went to hell this past week.”
Two of them kept their...
2025-12-22 07:19:12 +0000 UTC
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At race level five, Angie unlocked another Ancient-rarity skill.
[Celestial Wings I (Ancient)]: The angel learns to lighten the weight of her wings and adjust the rhythm of flight. The wings become 50% lighter, and flight efficiency increases by 50%, allowing double the flight time.
“That’s a seriously powerful skill,” Luke commented.
Angie nodded, clearly proud.
Another Ancient skill at level five? Her race was completely broken in that...
2025-12-22 07:18:02 +0000 UTC
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“Oh, they don’t know. The hammer strikes, the hammer sharpens. Lava can only be worked in one place.”
“Yes. Always in that place. The place where not even her light can reach.”
The third demon tilted his head, eyes gleaming with something between contempt and satisfaction.
“They don’t know. They don’t know anything.”
The metallic clang of impact shattered the murmurs.
Luke was already moving.
The kukris were solid in his hands when the fir...
2025-12-20 06:19:16 +0000 UTC
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Luke moved carefully through the area, eyes sharp, tracking every detail around him. The space felt too still, as if the dimension itself were watching his movements. Even so, he needed to test his limits while he was here.
“I’m going to try placing a portal.”
He raised his right hand, focus narrowing to his palm as magic responded to his will.
[Teleportation Circle 2 activated]
A bluish glow flared instantly, arcane symbols forming in the air before stabilizing ...
2025-12-20 06:17:37 +0000 UTC
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[You have acquired the Class Skill: Weak Telekinesis]
The true art of witchcraft is diving deep into what actually interests you. And this interested me.
“Telekinesis?” Artemis said.
She was looking at Luke’s screen through his thoughts. One of the perks, according to her, of having an E-Rank soul. To him, it felt more like a curse. Especially because she could also push images back into his mind. And every time he let her, she made a point of...
2025-12-20 06:15:51 +0000 UTC
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Charlie was bathing outdoors. With Angie’s help, she had tied pieces of cloth between trees and wooden stakes, forming a makeshift enclosure so no one could see from a distance. Bathing was something she genuinely enjoyed. Almost a hobby. It made her feel alive.
She scooped water from a barrel with a bucket and poured it over herself, feeling it run across her skin. As a vampire, her sense of touch had returned. It was nothing like when she had been a skeleton, and that difference mat...
2025-12-20 06:14:31 +0000 UTC
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“And how exactly do I enter the rift through these… unofficial means?” Luke asked Greta.
Now that he knew the theme of the dimensional rift was tied to the forge of a demon blacksmith, most of the puzzle Azazel wanted him to solve had already fallen into place. Luke was almost certain the demon wanted him to find something inside the rift. That something could be anything. A stone. A plant. An object. Or maybe just a conversation with the right person.
When it came to riddle...
2025-12-20 06:13:17 +0000 UTC
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They walked past the Mercenary Guild. Companies could hire mercenaries, and even military forces outsourced work to them. From what Luke had learned, mercenaries were divided into three main roles: Hunters, Gatherers, and Miners.
Miners and Gatherers specialized in resource acquisition and terrain assessment, each within their own field of expertise. Everything had value. Ore, trees, plants, timber, even rare crystals that formed naturally underground, all of it used for forging or alch...
2025-12-17 07:51:09 +0000 UTC
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Jonathan was inside Tobias’s laboratory, the domain of the one who occupied the Twelfth Seat of the Reaper Court. Grandmaster Dmitri had left him there while attending to other matters for the Church of Lasiurus.
More than twelve hours had passed since Jonathan had been forced to read ancient documents and study without pause. In one corner of the room stood the lich. The creature sent chills down Jonathan’s spine. Tobias muttered strange things to himself, fragments of thought spok...
2025-12-17 07:48:09 +0000 UTC
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Now that Angie had reached class level 8, she could finally use the equipment. At that same level, new skill options had appeared, and she had already made her choice.
[Critical Pierce (Uncommon)]: The Valkyrie adjusts the balance of her spear and executes a precise strike, capable of piercing defenses and striking vital points with an increased chance to land a critical hit.
Charlie pulled her mouth away from Luke’s neck.
“Did you manage it?” he asked...
2025-12-17 07:46:36 +0000 UTC
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Luke studied all five skills.
[Earth Ball (Common)]: Compacts earth particles into a heavy sphere. Upon impact, it breaks apart in a solid collision, scattering fragments that can slightly destabilize the target.
[Water Ball (Common)]: Forms a sphere of pressurized water. When it hits, it bursts with concussive force, briefly throwing off the target’s balance.
[Wind Ball (Common)]: Concentrates wind energy into a light, fast-moving...
2025-12-17 07:45:16 +0000 UTC
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Angie’s interface was still open in front of him.
“They’re all solid skills, each one leaning toward a different fighting style.”
[Wild Punch] would come into play if she ever had to throw her spear, giving her a way to defend herself while unarmed.
[Weak Intimidating Shout] was clearly a debuff, something meant to pressure enemies rather than deal direct damage.
[Brutal Headbutt] was another offensive option, but Luke struggled to see much practical value in i...
2025-12-17 07:43:54 +0000 UTC
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As he walked, Luke reviewed the two skills Angie had gained. At level three of her class, she had received a skill that felt familiar, one Charlie already possessed.
[Battle Roar (Uncommon)]: Let out a powerful shout that temporarily boosts physical strength, amplifying melee attack damage and enhancing actions that require brute force.
At level one of her race, she had unlocked another skill he recognized immediately.
[Demonic Servant Perception (Un...
2025-12-17 07:41:59 +0000 UTC
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Luke opened his eyes to find a figure staring down at him.
“Good morning, my love.”
My love…?
“Morning, Charlie.”
She was sitting there inside his tent, waiting for him.
Back when she was just an armored skeleton, she used to do this all the time, standing watch while I slept. But that was during the tutorial, and she didn’t speak back then. Now that she does… it feels a little strange. Still, it’s fine. It’s not like I’m normal e...
2025-12-15 20:19:35 +0000 UTC
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Jonathan knelt on the cold stone floor, his knees pressed against ancient rock as he struggled to keep his breathing steady. The silence around him felt oppressive, as if even the air demanded caution before being drawn into his lungs. When he finally lifted his face to look at the being before him, the shock hit instantly.
It wasn’t human.
Jonathan’s heart lurched, a sharp tremor rippling through his body. This wasn’t just fear. It ran deeper than that, something instinctiv...
2025-12-15 20:17:26 +0000 UTC
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Luke and his group continued along the forest road. Along the way, they passed a weathered wooden sign warning that it was dangerous to proceed on foot due to wolves.
“Ordinary people would’ve been torn apart by a single one of those,” Luke muttered after reading it.
About an hour later, they ran into more wolves.
Angie moved first.
She struck one head-on, driving the spear cleanly into its eye, then flowing into a second thrust at the neck. Her movements were gr...
2025-12-15 20:15:53 +0000 UTC
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They moved through the forest together, the fog thick but manageable.
“My dear husband, I heard something,” Charlie said.
She possessed an extremely useful skill.
[Enhanced Senses (Uncommon)]: All five senses are heightened. Vision and smell reach absolute precision within a radius of up to 2 km.
She had learned to control it, filtering and narrowing the range. Otherwise, speaking near her would be unbearable, every sound amplified to an overwhelmi...
2025-12-15 20:14:01 +0000 UTC
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Luke reached the plaza and spotted a familiar figure sitting on one of the benches. Eleanor.
“Am I late?”
“You’re late… again,” she replied without looking up.
“I had a few things to take care of. Bought what I needed for traveling, even got my ship passage.”
“We barely survived one insane adventure and you’re already throwing yourself into another.”
“Well, you’re here in the New World too, aren’t you?” he teased.
She pulled a ...
2025-12-15 20:11:08 +0000 UTC
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Luke had a plan. During the four months he’d spent apart from Charlie, he’d thought carefully about how to handle things when they met again. He knew she had feelings for him. His intention was to sit down with her and have a long, honest conversation, to explain that what she felt might be a kind of intense admiration, mixed with gratitude for having been saved.
But in the very first seconds after their reunion, she managed to shatter every argument he’d prepared. Fresh from hibe...
2025-12-15 20:08:41 +0000 UTC
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Jonathan leaned against the balcony railing, watching the heavy sky hanging over the city. The black clouds looked frozen in place, as if held there by some invisible force. Rain fell relentlessly. It always did. A full month had passed since he’d left the tutorial, and even in that short span, everything about him had changed.
He was no longer the same person.
His tongue slid slowly across his mouth, brushing against the fangs that were now part of him. The motion was unconscio...
2025-12-12 20:38:23 +0000 UTC
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Eleanor slipped the note Luke had left with the waiter into her purse. She would find a way to mess with him later. Maybe when she and the others went to his place, she’d casually bring up the story of James, that bastard. The thought made her laugh for a moment.
Better not. That story was far too valuable to waste so easily.
As she turned toward the elevator, she spotted someone who made her stop short. A woman stood there wearing a dress, but at her waist hung a sword...
2025-12-12 20:35:44 +0000 UTC
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Four months. That was how long Luke allowed himself to stay with the Baumann family, a conscious attempt to reclaim at least part of the time he had lost with them. It was also four months spent researching everything he could about the New World, about how Familiars truly worked, and even dipping into his considerable fortune to buy seeds.
Seeds for plants used as ingredients in healing potions.
Every week, boxes arrived at his door. Seeds, foul-smelling liquids, even honey. If t...
2025-12-12 20:34:24 +0000 UTC
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Jonathan saw the god who had entered the space alongside the Guide.
The being was gray-brown in color, its face marked by four eyes. It had no fur anywhere on its body and wore nothing but a pair of pants, not even shoes. Its feet resembled the talons of an eagle. Its head looked like something caught between a bat and a spider, perhaps a grotesque fusion of both. One arm ended in long, claw-like fingers. From its back jutted wings, but they were nothing like normal wings. There was no ...
2025-12-12 20:33:05 +0000 UTC
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