The world came back into focus, a slow shift from complete black oblivion to a mere gray obscurity.
Adon only knew when he was aware of himself again.
I was knocked out, he thought, dimly aware that the impact to his human form’s head had somehow rendered him unconscious. He was also aware that he had reverted to his butterfly form in unconsciousness—because, well, of course he had. His Transformations took will and mana and physical energy to maintain. He ha...
2025-06-10 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Goldie clung to the nameless knight’s shoulder, her deepening fear and desperation manifest in the frantic grip of her body.
She felt the man wince. He was already on edge, standing near the sheer drop that led from the tunnel’s entrance down into a seemingly bottomless black pit. Even for a professional soldier, he had endured a lot. It probably made him even more uneasy having a big spider making these small but violent moves right beside his neck.
Goldie forced herself to r...
2025-06-06 14:00:13 +0000 UTC
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As Adon flew after Rosslyn, only half-aware of all that he was doing, his body transformed almost by itself.
On some level, he knew that his flimsy butterfly form was not strong enough to do anything for the falling Princess. Lightweight though Rosslyn appeared to be relative to other humans, it was still probably physically impossible for his butterfly body to support her weight, even with all of the mana that he had available to him.
Transformation worked more smoothly and effor...
2025-06-06 02:46:02 +0000 UTC
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Zora let out a sigh and rested her back against a tree.
“Time for a rest?” Alice asked.
“I think so,” Zora said. “Since the System, sometimes I feel like I could walk forever. Then I remember that forever is a very long time. My energy isn’t what it might be.”
“We’ve been walking for weeks now,” Alice said quietly. “We take little breaks, but… are we getting to a point where it makes sense for us to give up?”
Zora gave her a sharp loo...
2025-06-05 21:59:19 +0000 UTC
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Cara sat with her head clutched in her hands, waiting for her neck to finish reattaching.
After the fall—it was impossible to know how far it had been, because mountains were taller than they had been before the System, but one of her comrades had estimated it had been at least 15,000 feet—she would have died, if not for the fact that she was a Wendigo. Blunt force alone could not kill Cara. Not anymore.
She had shattered to pieces on the ground when she landed, but it had onl...
2025-05-31 04:09:23 +0000 UTC
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As Adon drew closer to the wall where he had left his friends, he noticed that ants were everywhere on the walls of the level. They had abandoned their underground bases and tunnels completely, and they now swarmed across any solid surface.
A few dozen of them had concentrated themselves where his friends had been, and they formed a sort of dogpile on top of the space. Adon could tell that the spiders were still there and alive. Not only could he sense them with Telepathy, but he could ...
2025-05-26 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Adon’s mind struggled to process what he was seeing as a new world unfolded itself before him.
The real world, his hard-working brain reminded him. Mental magic was still active, accelerating his thought processes and pushing him toward conclusions and further activity rather than stunned stillness. It was still shocking to see all of reality rapidly change around him, but he would not be paralyzed by it for more than a fraction of a second.
They were not out of the woo...
2025-05-22 15:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Adon reformed his radar version of Telepathy again, this time taking care to make it as far-reaching and unobtrusive as possible.
And he held the field in check for a few seconds, thinking.
If this crazy idea he had in his head was correct, the spider might be looking down, directly at the party, at this very moment.
If it’s really up there, I have to confirm it without letting it know that I know. It can control what everyone sees, so having the element of surprise if...
2025-05-21 21:29:09 +0000 UTC
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What’s that? Adon sent.
He transmitted the words without shifting his body to see what Samson saw.
He would not yet take his limbs away from Goldie. He was still pouring healing mana into her. He was not certain if it was making a difference now, but Adon did not want to do anything less than a hundred percent to speed her recovery. At some point, he would probably have to leave the spiders alone here, either to go and explain things more fully to Rosslyn and the party,...
2025-05-20 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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How is that possible? the butterfly wondered for a wild, mad moment.
But of course it wasn’t possible. Adon knew he had not actually killed two knights—or any knights. He tried to center himself, remain calm. He couldn’t afford to be slow or naive right now. He couldn’t spend too much time on reflection or trying to understand what was going on. He needed to think faster than he had ever thought before, and take immediate action. He could feel his survival was ...
2025-05-19 03:44:35 +0000 UTC
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With the words that left the Panther Queen’s mouth, much was resolved in a single sentence.
Much was also gained.
[Required conditions met…. Sublime achievement accomplished! New Title unlocked: One-Man Army!]
James flicked the announcement away mentally, but the Panther Queen’s words coupled with the System acknowledgement could not fail to bring a smile to his face.
He could also feel that the System wanted to send him level up announcements—...
2025-05-17 13:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The Panther Queen’s aura spiked, and James’s body threw itself backward instinctively.
A moment later, a long claw stabbed through the space where he had been. The Queen was not truly attacking yet, though. Her body was spasming and writhing, every muscle shaking, as her flesh bulged and twisted beneath her fur.
Final form, then, James thought.
Not every monster—or even every Ruler—had it, but he had seen it before. The Spider Queen had transformed into a de...
2025-05-15 12:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Inside James’s body, strange and titanic shifts occurred.
Bones fractured and reformed, sharp and thick fragments of them migrating through dense and tough flesh or swam through his bloodstream until they drew close to the silk-producing glands.
At the same time, he poured a significant investment of Mana and Stamina into those glands, generating a copious amount of extremely durable, sticky, and flexible silk.
With Full Body Control, he ordered the bone shards into the si...
2025-05-13 12:00:05 +0000 UTC
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As Adon zipped through the air, the spiders’ telepathic voices only seemed to draw further away.
I don’t know what’s doing this, Samson sent in a frenzied tone. Something has ahold of mama, and it had me for a second, too. I grabbed hold of her as soon as I got close to her in the air, and whatever it was let me go. But not her.
Sammy, if it let you go, you should jump off! Goldie shouted telepathically. Get back to the cliffside so Adon only h...
2025-05-11 03:55:23 +0000 UTC
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James descended, his movements slow and stately at first, and then sudden and violent.
He really did not think the Panther Queen should be a challenge to defeat, considering how simple her abilities were. His “Avenger” Title from Vidarr had also been active this whole time, since the Queen and the Panther Army were the aggressors here. James could still feel his power surging slightly as a result.
[Avenger: A god of vengeance is defined by his grudges, as are his faith...
2025-05-11 00:27:04 +0000 UTC
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Mina was floating in the air, considering her next target, when she saw and felt something in the distance, and her heart skipped a beat.
Something was moving. Mina could feel it, moving into her Zone of Enchantment, rippling with overflowing energy with every step forward. It was larger than most of the Pantherfolk and distinctly more powerful.
The Queen!
Mina swallowed as she realized what was coming.
Oh no, we’re in trouble…
She was surprised that James wa...
2025-05-06 14:25:20 +0000 UTC
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The Panther Queen sat at a long table in her tent, a banquet set before her.
Noise drifted to her ears that seemed to come from outside the tent. From somewhere else entirely, perhaps.
“Murder and mayhem?” she murmured, confused. “I hear the sounds of it outside, do I not?” She sounded almost drugged as she spoke.
“All is well, my Queen,” murmured a sycophantic human in a collar next to her throne.
One of her generals proposed a toast before she could give ...
2025-05-06 13:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Far above, invisible to all those struggling in the mingled blood and soil below, Mina bore witness as the Panther Army slaughtered itself under the darkness of the new moon.
She was grateful that the night was lit only by stars and the occasional magical burst of fire or lightning, for the scene was grisly. Every minute, scores of Pantherfolk died brutally at the hands of their brethren. Their blood and struggle turned the ground beneath their feet into a horrendous muck that trapped t...
2025-05-05 13:25:47 +0000 UTC
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“Adon, I appreciate your detective work, and I have no doubt that it is fine deduction,” Rosslyn said. “Believe me, I recall your resourcefulness well.” She gave him a thin smile, and Adon felt her remembering the bittersweet discovery of Celeste’s betrayal. “That said, I do not believe it would be wise to further alarm the remaining members of our party by interrogating them. We should instead focus on clearing this level of the dungeon quickly. When we move on to the next level,...
2025-05-05 01:55:56 +0000 UTC
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While half the knights, Rosslyn, and the young lords slept, Adon diligently searched his memory banks.
This time was not like other memory searches he had performed in the past. Then, he had been looking for specific details—a location, an event, a magical technique, a piece of evidence of some idea he wanted to demonstrate.
Now, he was looking for something more along the lines of an evidence-shaped absence. A hole in his recollections. A place where something was not,...
2025-05-05 01:53:04 +0000 UTC
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If Adon had teeth, he would have been grinding them at the sudden and—in his mind—probably unjustified interruption.
But he would have been the only one, it seemed.
“Well, I am always ready for a strategy discussion,” Rosslyn replied evenly.
William nodded.
Frederick said, “Excellent,” and beamed as if he had no idea that he and his brother and the spiders might have been interrupting anything.
We can continue this later, then, Rosslyn added to Adon i...
2025-05-05 01:37:37 +0000 UTC
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Hours passed while Thane was in his silent but unpleasant sleep.
The sun had time to set, and its dying light had time to fade, until the sky turned almost completely black.
That night, a new moon rose for the first time that month.
The Panther Army had known it was coming. They watched the skies whenever they were moving by night, as they had done for a small part of the journey here—force marching at night was possible for creatures like the Pantherfolk, though the human...
2025-05-04 15:02:41 +0000 UTC
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At the same time that James was flying toward the battleground, the Panther Army was marching there, double time.
Panther Warrior Thane Crowstrike was one of the unfortunate many who were participating in this long forced march. It had sounded good at this point. They would take out the force that had apparently been whittling down their numbers little by little over the last couple of weeks. The pads on his feet ached with each step he took by this point. But he had it on good authorit...
2025-05-02 18:14:59 +0000 UTC
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The group planned out watches for that sleep time.
No one knew whether it was day or night beyond the confines of the dungeon anymore, and the artificial sun outside was probably still shining, though it was impossible to see through the densely packed mass of bodies in the cave opening. So, their “night” was simply whenever everyone was tired and it was time to sleep.
After a long day of fighting, including a surprise attack after the ants discovered them in their hiding plac...
2025-05-01 13:34:29 +0000 UTC
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Adon shot forward impossibly quickly, faster than was physically possible, in theory, even with his mana-enhanced wings. He could sense the surprise in the spiders behind him at the speed with which his glowing body receded into the space ahead of them.
The butterfly was already putting to use one of the new Skills he had acquired, Rapid Movement I. Every flap of his wings moved him roughly an additional twenty-five percent further than it normally would, using this Skill. With that eff...
2025-05-01 13:32:51 +0000 UTC
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Nice, was the first thought that came to mind as Adon reviewed his Status screen.
It exceeded his expectations, especially in the all-important area of mana.
User: Adon, Mystic Crystal Butterfly
Age: 2 months
Sex: Male
Status
Health: 500/500
Mana: 27,000/27,000
Strength: 1000
Agility: 10,000
Perception: 3000
Dexterity: 6000
Constitution: 1000
Intelligence: 12,000
Will: 15,000
Charisma: 6000
<...
2025-04-29 13:26:18 +0000 UTC
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After only another second or two of hesitation, the spiders began moving, skittering away from William’s body at a pace that would have impressed a professional sprinter.
Adon felt their slight apprehension at leaving William behind, but it was mixed with a confidence that Adon would take care of their comrade—and a healthy dose of fear for their own safety.
The spiders knew the danger that they were all in, just as well as the butterfly did.
Adon could tell, without loo...
2025-04-29 13:19:19 +0000 UTC
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“Three days,” James said definitively.
The Council was gathered around James’s living room in person for their final meeting before the battle would take place.
It was the second night after his Dreamwalking experience with Doppelganger and Roscuro. He had just checked the locations of the Panther Army again. They had recalled their raiders from the surrounding countryside the previous day, so this had been their first full day of travel. They had marched at what Doppelgange...
2025-04-26 02:43:55 +0000 UTC
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How goes the mission? James sent upon accepting telepathic contact.
I greet the Progenitor, Doppelganger sent telepathically. The mission… proceeds. The Soul Eater Orb and I wished to update you on the most recent developments.
James sensed the slightest reluctance in the Doppelganger’s voice, but before he could pry into that, Roscuro added his own voice to the telepathic channel.
I have unlocked a new Skill, master—and I can increase my...
2025-04-25 02:26:29 +0000 UTC
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Adon managed to react quickly, having already begun charging mana when he noticed that William was doing the same. Specifically, the butterfly reinforced himself with mana spread throughout his body—though the movement of energy was rushed and haphazard, and hence unlikely to negate the damage completely.
He hoped his friends were doing the same, but Adon could not know immediately. The brightness of the explosion had blinded him—perhaps even damaged his vision—so that he only kne...
2025-04-22 00:19:46 +0000 UTC
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