Kernoel77

Chapter 160: A Coward and Some Ice

Chapter 160: A Coward and Some Ice

/Hey everyone and welcome back to this system sucks! Today’s topic? Getting mana affinities to stick.

Last time, we covered how to get an affinity on your mana, by throwing it through a conversion thingy. Somehow, that seems to fix things right up. Of course, it only took mages a whole fecking load of time to figure it all out, but we got our progress and nowadays you need none of the theory and all of the practice.

But let’s...

Chapter 159: A Little Help

Chapter 159: A Little Help

Seeing an old lady carry someone so easily threw Mercury off for all of two seconds, until he remembered that by now, he probably wouldn’t exactly have a lot of trouble carrying Zyl either. Well, as long as the man didn’t turn into his dragon form.

Thinking of that, Mercury was slightly confused. Despite all of the commotion, he hadn’t seen a single person at the ball turn into a full-on dragon. Sure, there had been a fair share of wings...

Chapter 158: Causing a little Havoc

Chapter 158: Causing a little Havoc

Things began happening very, very rapidly. Mercury felt his fur stand on end as adrenaline flooded his body. He banished all fear from his mind.

There was maybe half a second where <Adaptable> set in, having his fur grow shorter to match the  rising temperatures in the room. The air around Zyl, who Mercury was standing quite close, was beginning to warp from the heat, occasionally lighting up in bright flashes of plasma. 2023-08-19 01:16:59 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 157: Party Crashing

Chapter 157: Party Crashing

Berthorn found himself panicked.

Now, to be fair, there was not much special about that. He tended to panic fairly quickly.

Despite that, he felt his heart rate spike once again. It had beat faster when his sister engaged the scion. He had imagined scenarios in which she would fail, he would lose face, and that was that. The reputation of their family could swiftly be squashed.

There had also been a chance of someone else interven...

Chapter 156: Dragons

Chapter 156: Dragons

Days passed. The dragons’ most skillful crafters came together, working on an item of power. The greatest smiths, to forge the metal, enchanters, to carve runes for channels of power, artificers, drawing out plans and plotting. Leatherworkers to prepare grips and wrappings, carvers to do the fine details, and so on and so forth.

Dozens of them, the best of the best, worked with a single spark, a bit of crystalline magic. It was so dense that it al...

Chapter 155: Little Plots

Chapter 155: Little Plots

/There are many events I consider tragic in my life, but perhaps the hardest one to stomach was the breaking of Trinitarum, the greatest Mages’ Tower of all time.

I am old now. I know much about magic that people will never find even when they dedicate their life to its study. I have cast spells that others would consider myths, and I have created wonders that wouldn’t be misplaced in the times when divines still walked the earth. Despite t...

Chapter 154: Dealing with Spies

Chapter 154: Dealing with Spies

Staying at Zyl’s the second time was even nicer than the first. It was also different, in a lot of ways.

He and Zyl didn’t sleep in the same room yet, but they were a lot closer. A lot of time was just spent chatting between the two. Zyl, especially, needed it. He was still somewhat fragile, needing to stay in bed a lot, and occasionally, Mercury would help him walk with a little bit of <Telekinesis>.

The days went by quie...

Chapter 153: Mercury and Zyl

Chapter 153: Mercury and Zyl

“Hey Zyl,” Mercury said.

For a moment, the dragon felt his heart drop. He just sat there, mouth agape, staring at the mopaaw in his doorframe. Leon flashed a bright smile.

“I’ll leave you two to reunite. Be back in a moment,” the butler said, then headed off, perhaps to find a vase.

Mercury was holding flowers after all. A whole bouquet of them. Zyl’s eyes simply slowly drifted over the cat.

“Um, sorry for the...

Chapter 152: Destinations

Chapter 152: Destinations

Mercury paused, his eyes slowly trailing from the bit of spittle up to the person who’d spat at him. Then he kind of just stared for a minute. It was an older man, wearing a brown shirt, and pants which seemed a little too wide at the waist. His hair was scraggly and his eyes sunken.

“Sorry? What was that for?” Mercury asked, not bothering to hide his ability to speak.

“Oh, so the lil’ kin can open its fecking mouth? Got some bl...

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Hey everyone! I thought this might be needing a post by me lmao. I realized that quite a few of my patreon fellas may no longer be looking at my posts on RR.

So. I started a second story! Like, a month ago. Yes, this update is late, I'm a bit dumb xD

Don't worry, Mercury is continuing at the same pace as always. This is something I found myself with the headspace and motivation to do, because I felt good about the idea. Mercury will keep up 1 chapter per week every week! 

Chapter 151: Lesson

Chapter 151: Lesson

/The Hunter had failed to kill the Thing, and their compass pointed elsewhere. They nursed themselves back to health, and went back to the hunt. But it was no longer as satisfying as it had been.

Failure. They’d never encountered it before. Yet a single one was already bitter and infuriating.

It made them more ruthless on their future hunts. Each success only made them feel further inadequate. They used serrated daggers, cruel traps, and vici...

Chapter 150: Promise to a Bishop

Chapter 150: Promise to a Bishop

The bishop’s face turned red with fury as he pushed himself off the doorframe. Immediately, Appy whispered to Mercury about the older man’s stats. He had low strength and dexterity, but a surprisingly high agility score, and probably decent vitality. Maybe he’d even used to wield a sword or at least dagger, some time ago.

Now however, he was busy trying to make himself look intimidating. Mercury even felt another tendril reach out ...

Chapter 149: Old Friends

Chapter 149: Old Friends

The rest of his dream was spent calmly. He told Uunrahzil some of his stories. The new people he’d met, and the fact that he finally found one of his companions again. His plans of meeting everyone in Stormbraver, and the fact that he probably had a few people to tell he was still alive.

Mercury still had absolutely no idea where there had been assassins after him in the first place, but he could only wager that it was one of the nobles he pis...

Chapter 148: Star of Hope

Chapter 148: Star of Hope

/Names are curious things, and their importance in different cultures is even more curious.

To the golems, your surname is everything. Whatever your parents call you is little more than a noise to get your attention. What matters is whether you are of the lower crust, or of the bedrock, for example. You may earn a good surname, yet some people still judge you by your birth.

Elves are also picky about their names. Often, they will tell you...

Chapter 147: Boy Cat and Scientist

Chapter 147: Boy Cat and Scientist

/The oceans are deep, dark and treacherous. Lady Gahna and Lord Leyvo may protect those who sail across it, if their mood is right, but rarely will they extend their protections beyond the depths. Down there, it is lawless.

Most surface dwelling species rarely venture deep into the oceans and their eternal war. The only humanoid species able to live there are the sipisc. They have evolved to fit the unique circumstances, and more detai...

Side Story: Uunrahzil’s Memories

Side Story: Uunrahzil’s Memories

Old Uunrahzil liked going through their memories. Times had been beautiful back in the day. Back when their memory was not yet patchy, back when they wouldn’t grow wahc so often. Now, they were dreaming, but there was none to dream with, and they indulge their myriad self, diving into the past.

There had been so very many of their people. A conclave of weavers, with schools full of students, and cities woven from dreams. Fields which...

Chapter 146: Evolution part 3

Chapter 146: Evolution part 3

/On its last nameless day, the Thing had committed unspeakable acts of violence upon the demons. For a rather short time, that is.

The rulers of the demon cities are there for many reasons. Partially to decide on legislations, partially to have a name given to each city, but mainly to protect it from outsiders. That day, the Thing came face to face with one of said rulers. Which one perhaps matters little.

Whoever it was, they claimed...

Chapter 145: Enjoying the Calm

Chapter 145: Enjoying the Calm

Mercury woke up early the next day. He’d slept better than in ages. There were no nightmares to haunt him, no bog to trap him, no nexus to test him. It was just lights out. His dreamscape was still being changed by whatever happened after he’d killed the Heart of the Starving Dream, so he didn’t pop up there, either.

He decided to take the morning slow. He slowly convinced his eyes to open, blinking away the dreariness. Then, he hopped outside ...

Side Story: Walking Disasters

Side Story: Walking Disasters

Walking Disasters. Now that was a name and a half. Zyl scoffed at the alias in his status screen. They hadn’t really done all that much to deserve it.

Glancing over at the other two, he saw them looking aside innocently. Otto was chewing on a sandwich from his inventory, and Lucia was absently playing with wisps of fire in her hands. He shook his head at the sight.

“Am I the only one with a new alias?”

“No,” Lucia shoo...

Chapter 144: Back Home

Chapter 144: Back Home

Mercury could tell that there were dozens of notifications waiting for him in the system, but he pushed them all aside. They were still there, ready for him to check at a moment's notice, but he was a bit busy at the moment.

As the world crumbled around him, Mercury gazed at the spectacle. He was there to see a star die, even if it was in a dream, and the destruction was beautiful.

The silver line he carved into the sky was expanded, eating ...

Chapter 143: Last Stand

Chapter 143: Last Stand

He didn't have the time or luxury to read through the stats he gained, but a quick glance told him <Vast Mind> had levelled up to 5. A new quest rang out, this one in his mind, rather than as a notification.

-

[Main Quest: "Lady of a starving Star" (Chain <3>)

Condition: After making it through the treacherous mansion, the individual has finally reached the last lady of the court. This final foe stands between you and the ...

Chapter 142: Past the Golden Days

Chapter 142: Past the Golden Days

/The Thing eventually arrived on a red wasteland. It had grown larger during its journey through the ocean, engorging itself on leviathans. Its grey skin had become covered in thin, slick, glistening scales, its feet sprouting webbing. But when its many legs finally found land again, it shook off the water and glanced around.

By now, the Thing was much more adaptable. Its eyes grew lids again as it made its way onto land. The scales sto...

Chapter 141: Rewards

Chapter 141: Rewards

Now then, what should he evolve first? Wait, did he even have enough points for both evolutions? <Appraisal>?

[<Sneak> evolution cost: 300 Skill points. <Steady Heart> evolution cost: 700 Skill points.]

He barely had enough then.

"Evolve <Sneak>," Mercury said.

[Evolution confirmed. Engaging. Please pick an option to evolve the Skill into. The price will be the same, no matter which you choose.]

[1. <Stealth&g...

Chapter 140: A step towards Freedom

Chapter 140: A step towards Freedom

Walking along the island was strange. There would be long stretches of silence, with nothing at all around him, before violence suddenly came crashing in. The nexus seemed to favour hordes, sometimes conjuring creatures which even tore each other apart, and the longer Mercury walked, the stranger they got.

First, the creatures had entire limbs become entirely blades, then it started spawning in more and more grotesque creatures. Things lacking b...

Chapter 139: A Miscalculation

Chapter 139: A Miscalculation

/Once the Thing was becoming more aware of its surroundings, it questioned a lot of what it saw. Why did so many of the creatures it ate attempt to escape, when clearly there was no hope there? Did it perhaps inspire the same terror in them, which it had felt at the Hunter's hands?

If so, was that right?

The Thing never finished that thought any further, too preoccupied with devouring its prey. It still was dominated by instinct and emotion, but...

Chapter 138: Destination

Chapter 138: Destination

/What really is Exp?

Clearly, it is something we need to become better, to improve ourselves. It is to us as mastery is to our skills, something we gain to level, to evolve, to grow and improve. But what is it?

Of course, the most immediately obvious answer would be experience, or experience points. But regardless of whether that is what the abbreviation truly means, it would not be an answer to the question. After all, Exp is gained through many act...

Chapter 137: Lost in Thoughts

Chapter 137: Lost in Thoughts

For having nearly died at the start of this ashen adventure, Mercury's latest couple days had been excessively boring. He'd met who Jirluc called their "crafter", a tall orc woman by the name of Larash. Back in her village she used to do just about everything; she'd started off making prosthetics, but there were only so many limbs one needed to replace, and eventually she branched out into general crafting, learning from whoever would teach her.

Appar...

Chapter 136: Reunion

Chapter 136: Reunion

Ruvah listened to Mercury quite closely. Mercury decided to leave out most of the parts before he was transported to this world, but his newfound friend didn't seem to mind very much. Instead, Ruvah seemed quite interested when he, his pronouns had changed again, heard that people could escape from a blood eclipse. It gave him some hope that perhaps, a few people form his droplet were still alive.

It was a fairly vain hope, with very little success of being tr...

Chapter 135: All that Glitters

Chapter 135: All that Glitters

Jirluc was looking at the mopaaw in front of him confusedly. How had it - he, Jirluc corrected, survived for so long in the wasteland? Finding a way of getting water was enough to kill most people who survived getting through the rifts. Some got lucky and found him, others had their own abilities, but befriending a creature made solely from water was beyond strange.

Additionally, Mercury, as he called himself, did not even appear very strong. Certain...

Chapter 134: Talking it out

Chapter 134: Talking it out

For some time, Mercury's journey was uneventful. Twice, storms of ash whipped across the landscape, forcing its denizens to seek shelter or be swept away, and twice, Mercury defended the little cracks and crevices he hid in.

He also started to communicate with his watery companion far better. The two had grown closer in general, looking out for each other, and making sure they stayed alive. Somehow, the water seemed to have a much better sens...