Tsaimath

Chapter 663

As I walked down the stairs to the platform on which my visitors had been fighting for my entertainment, the air started to stir and shift. It wasn’t just the air of intimidation I tried to project with my calm, unhurried approach, it was also a huge amount of Ice Astral Power I had drawn from the Nexus, some of it manifesting as fog, the rest just there, ready for me to use. The few spellcasters that had survived the previous encounters started to look pale and one of them decided to strik...

Chapter 662

Observing the Travellers as they cautiously made their way up the stairs, only to realise that they were in full view of my Throne, without any cover nearby and freeze was quite amusing. To be fair, they were in a pretty rough spot, climbing the tower had been rather difficult, the various enemies and traps that had barred their way leaving a number of them dead and the rest either wounded, exhausted or both. And now, they were here, at the top of my tower, the lightly armoured scout that had...

Interlude: Challenging the Tower

“What on earth is he talking about?” Clavran asked one of his fellow Korbal, as Howardlight finished his challenge to the dark-cloaked guardian that had stepped forward to meet their attack. From the sound of it, it was Morgana but it was difficult to say, the voice matched, but the appearance was completely concealed by a dark cloak and Observe was similarly blocked. It was as if the opponent wasn’t even there, making it hard to guess what was going on.

“No idea,” the heavily...

Chapter 661

I was somewhat amused when I realised that I actually recognised the leader of this motley band of adventurers. Or rather, of Travellers, for I was now completely convinced that they all were from beyond, just like me.

Controlling the simulacrum, I moved it forward, making sure that the cloak of twilight concealed the statue both physically and magically, trying to make it appear like it was actually me who was challenging them at the bottom of my tower.

Howardlight stepped forwar...

Chapter 660

A cloying, almost overpowering presence seeped out of the Soul Prison, wrapping itself around Lenore and me, the two of us separate once more. The presence was faintly familiar and I intellectually knew it was the Nidhögg, free of its prison thanks to our efforts, but that knowledge and familiarity didn’t help too much. Every instinct in my body, every coherent thought, screamed a warning at me, quivering in fear of the incredibly powerful predator.

For a moment, I couldn’t even th...

Chapter 639

• AN: Gah, I'm an idiot...
• This chapter should have been the one right after Sigmir fell in battle. And I derped, not uploading it. 

Tears were still streaming down my face, as I was shunted into my capsule space, my mind whirling from what had just happened. How could Sigmir be dead?!

Unwilling to believe what I had seen, I quickly pulled up the recording, quickly skipping past the fragmented images recorded during my Avatar form and to t...

Interlude: Assault on the Citadel

Looking up, into the massive mountains surrounding them, Clavran could only shake his head. Just a week ago, he had been fighting in the Arena of the White Tower, fighting to entertain the masses and nobility. And then, all of a sudden, things had gone to the devil, when a small, oh-so-inconspicuous, notification told the entire World of Mundus that someone had decided to go all four horsemen on the world and call in the apocalypse, or something along those lines.

Given that the notific...

Chapter 659

Gently touching the Soul Prison, I felt the power pulsing within. The difference was incredible, from the faint, almost extinguished presence it had when I first got it, to the palpable sense of power it now emanated, there was just no comparison. Sending out a tendril of mental energy, I established a connection, the Nidhogg’s presence leaving me stunned for a brief moment, as I struggled to comprehend the greeting it had sent me.

As always, communication with it was a massive headac...

Chapter 658

• AN: This should have gone up yesterday but somehow, Patreon ate the scheduling. No idea. Anyway, enjoy :D

Slowly shaking my head, I blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the spots shimmering in my eyes. These had to be wholly psychosomatic, the radiant attack that had scorched my simulacrum had been some two dozen kilometres away after all, but that didn’t change their presence.

Leaning back, I mentally went through the events, trying to get a...

Interlude: White Friday

At the edge of the Elven Forest, where the dryad-bound giant trees of their home have to give way to the smaller, ordinary trees that grow near the slopes of the Mountains of Ice, a small army is marching out of an emerald-green opening within one of the trees. Four abreast, they march, quickly forming up and starting their way towards the nearby mountains.

They have to march, none of the elven mounts are suitable for extended operation in the Mountains of Ice but that doesn’t mean mu...

Chapter 657

A frown creased my forehead, as I was looking down at the elvish army. I couldn’t believe that they would be this reckless and predictable, simply marching up the valley without taking any additional precautions. Sure, they had deployed a company of scouts, some of whom had been torn apart by the Wargs we had sent out, but that was it, at least that was all I could detect from afar. Trusting such a simple measure would be foolish beyond all belief and yet, they appeared to have done just th...

Chapter 656

Observing by myself, the images were even clearer than seen in the memory of the Nevermore. It truly was an army that made its way up the mountains and, almost certainly, towards my valley. Seen from above, it was a disciplined group of elves, though curiously, they neither had the giant avians we had seen them ride before nor did they have those riding cats. It was purely an infantry force, without even wagons to carry supplies. But then, given the wide availability of magic bags, that shoul...

Chapter 655

After five days of hard work, the valley had completely changed once again. Not only were there creatures roaming around the valley, but there were even multiple walls protecting the perimeter and the individual pillars. That, together with the glittering web of Astral Power in the air, from which occasionally a bit of diamond dust dropped, gave the entire place a somewhat magical feel. Standing at the top of my tower, I couldn’t help but be proud of my accomplishment.

As I was watchi...

Chapter 654

After knowing that I might, eventually, get a veritable host of spirit-infused Ice constructs, I had a wide smile on my face. Maybe, for once, we wouldn’t be hopelessly outnumbered. But before I could begin working on those constructs, I had some other work to do. In the meantime, Lenore was training that first spirit while trying to understand if there was some drawback to giving them bodies. For example, if I were to permanently lose that portion of Astral Power, I would most certainly no...

Chapter 653

It took me a few seconds to recover after seeing those two boxes. I could easily accept the title, and it even tickled me that I had gained it, though I had no idea what it would actually do. It wasn’t as if the glacial valley I had just claimed was filled with subjects to lord over, if I was lucky there were a couple of lichen remaining after the intense Wild Magic of the last week, everything else had either fled or died.

But the other box, that might be a problem. I was nearly cert...

Chapter 652

After a good rest, the world had changed quite a bit. Looking from above, we could see that the surging levels of Wild Magic had stabilised, effectively turning the valley below into a quite lethal area that would tear apart pretty much anything entering it. On the outskirts, we might be able to survive and work with the power but we could only guess how intense the power deeper in the valley would be. There was simply too much going on for us to see.

“We can work from the outside in,...

Chapter 651

As the giant Yeti died, power surged through the glacier, flooding the entire valley. It was a wild mix of Astral Power, enough to turn visible to the naked eye, to say nothing of our special sight. Reaching out, we tried to take control of the power, to harness it for our own needs, only to realise that the flood was too wild and powerful. This was no tame pond, like the Grandmother had set up in Neyto, this was a riptide, strong enough to wash away any fortification trying to break the surg...

Chapter 650

Given that the small Yeti, for a given value of small, were again charging in our direction, Ylva and I started to retreat. Without the cover of the mist, we couldn’t conceal ourselves any longer, making us sitting ducks for these physically powerful foes.

As we were running away, I kept manipulating the glacier beneath us, pulling a few spikes up to delay their approach but given their sheer number and the width of their attack, there was no way to stop them from getting to us. Pushi...

Chapter 649

Moments after the first Yeti died, it started to dissipate into Astral Power, a disgusting mix of tainted power that made me nauseous to my core. I could easily identify the base types of it, Ice, Wind and Darkness, all bound up in a strange way that I couldn’t quite identify.

The body hadn’t fully evaporated when I heard distant howls of rage and hunger but far more concerning was that I could also feel more presences in the mist, presences that were far closer. The distant enemies...

Chapter 648

The glacier housing the Nexus was eerily silent. Dense fog turned the visibility to nearly zero and a cold wind swept through it at all times. How the fog could linger, despite the wind, I had no clue but maybe, the sensation of the cold wind, or maybe even the fog, were caused by the uncontrolled Ice Astral Power constantly flowing out of the Nexus, turning the entire area in one of Wild Magic. Here, the normal laws governing reality were partially suspended and magic ruled, potentially turn...

Chapter 647

It was quite amusing, travelling through the Mountains of Ice was just as dangerous as travelling through the elven realm, maybe even more so. The elven forest had required us to conceal ourselves constantly and as long as we managed to stay hidden, and avoided their greatest strength by keeping away from the trees, there was little that could challenge us.

On the other hand, the Mountains of Ice housed a wide variety of monsters, all with their own territorial instincts and we had litt...

Chapter 646

Looking at our chosen mountain from the air, I felt even better than before. Lenore was carrying me in my Hallow, as the sun was still shining and thus there were no shadows for me to step into at altitude so I couldn’t glide. We approached from the North and it felt like that slope was the most suitable. The foot of the mountain was covered in low brush, with some tall grass and ferns growing further up until only a bit of moss and lichen grew on the sparse rock. Finally, the peak of the m...

Chapter 645

It almost felt odd, putting my feet back on the ground after five days of constant flight. After we had destroyed the dryad and the forest around her burrow, the three of us had decided that landing might allow the elves to trace us, something we wanted to avoid.  Lenore agreed with me that the trees most likely used vibrations in the ground and direct touch to detect anomalies and thus, staying away from the ground became paramount.

That led to a slightly amusing shift system, whe...

Chapter 644

With a step into the shadows, I disappeared from the area devastated by the Nidhögg’s flames. Everything I had planned to accomplish was done and I had even gained a point in Darkness-magic from messing around with the immense amount of power left after the feeding. In addition, killing the dryad and helping the Nidhögg consume those acres of land had somehow netted me enough EXP to push me to level hundred fifty-eight. A pleasant surprise but not a tremendously impactful one.

Appea...

Trailer: Call of the Crusade

Everyone walks their own Road to Purgatory

But sometimes, a Call is made and all Roads must bend to follow the same direction…

In a dark forest, a lonely, black-clad figure is slowly walking, until the figure stops in the middle of a clearing. With a wave of a dainty, pale-blue hand, five massive trees around the clearing start to glow with a malevolent, blood-red colour, slowly pulsing to an unheard beat.

The figure starts to laugh softly...

Chapter 643

Letting the Darkness around me dissipate a little, I let myself sink down to the ground. While the aftermath of the Nidhögg’s devastation wasn’t as welcoming and homely as the frozen wastes left after the ice storm we had conjured had faded, but the darkness wasn’t too bad. It was quiet and solemn, nothing around to disturb me.

There was no life in a massive radius, nothing I could see, just enough magic to soon turn into an area of Wild Magic. Only, for now, all that magic was s...

WO, Ch. 138 - The Northern Forest

As we travelled north, the days quickly became noticeably colder. In just the week we had moved out of the Coronal Mountains and into the northern forests, I had gone from casually wearing a t-shirt and not feeling overly cold to either wearing the coat Cynthia had gifted me or some other long-sleeved top. Part of that was due to the constant wind, blowing through the forest from the north, but it wasn’t just the wind, the temperature itself had gone down, too.

When I asked Kedrik abo...

Chapter 642

“There seems to be nothing around here,” Lenore mused, her mental voice filled with disbelief. I could empathize with her, seeing the massive tree and the empty meadow around it didn’t invoke images of an incredibly important sanctuary and yet, it was exactly what we were looking at.

It had taken us the entire day and most of the night to cross the distance to the dryad in control over this stretch of forest, carefully following the magic traces and making sure that none of us eve...

Chapter 641

“How exhausted are you?” I asked Ylva, knowing that she had to be running on fumes by now. She had fought just as hard as Lenore and I had and now she was even carrying me to safety.

“And how are you flying in the first place?” I added, my curiosity pushing past the grief, if only for a moment.

“We are pack, acknowledged by the Ancestor,” Ylva replied as if those words explained everything.

“So?” I pushed, unwilling to give up just like that, “What does it ...

Chapter 640

After about two hours, the siren’s call of the capsule proved too strong for me to resist. Those lingering traces, those memories and even the sharp, immediate pain I had been feeling while on Mundus, all those things proving and reminding me of my relationship with Sigmir, I wanted to feel them. Outside the capsule, the pain was dull and blunt, making the experience not as immediate and almost unreal. It just wasn’t enough.

Delving into my capsule space, I still felt tha...