– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 77 –
Terry calmly remained where he was while paying attention to the approaching mana signatures.
He felt weird.
Not because he had killed the mana martialists that had transparently tried to rob him, but because he was aware that he was in the process of taking a page out of Apex’s playbook.
Terry was not sure how to feel about that.
If I want to leave this secret realm the normal...
2023-10-14 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 32 –
Terry glanced back for one last look at the endless white.
“...your time is up.” The monotone voice echoed in his head.
Soon after, Terry found himself sitting on a platform in his little cavern again. His eyes first darted towards the dried-up mana-infused liquid that had surrounded the platform before.
“Not dried up,” muttered Terry. “Used up? Or pulled elsewhere…...
2023-10-07 00:02:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 16 –
As soon as the duo from the Icy Dew Mountain had departed into the passages of their choice, Terry was left alone in the cavern.
Terry exhaled loudly in a sigh of growing annoyance. “Never thought I’d miss the ghouly Alricks as company. These battle-crazed martialists are driving me insane. Even being stuck alone in a dungeon would be better than this.”
He slowly walked towards the last op...
2023-09-30 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 16 –
After the altar’s spatial transfer, Terry found himself alone in a small cavern.
“Welcome, challenger of the trials.” An androgynous voice echoed from the walls.
“Huh?” Terry whipped his head around to find a translucent projection of a person in martialist robes. Terry wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be a woman or a man, but the lip movements matched the words from the voice.
2023-09-23 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 16 –
Terry stood high up in the sky and observed the altar below.
[Rafael, why?] Terry sent his thought transmission. His eyes were glued to the felan with the leopard appearance that was fighting below.
The mana resonance of a giant white wolf rampaged through a group of martialists that challenged Rafael for possession of the altar.
“It’s possible he doesn’t hear me.” Terry muttered t...
2023-09-16 00:02:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 5 –
“Mana-crazed lunatics, the lot of them.” Terry grumbled to himself while walking away from the entourage from the Icy Dew Mountain.
“Hold it right there!” reverberated a shout in a familiar voice.
“What?!” roared Terry. He turned around with an ill temper. He knew that this was another cultivator from the Icy Dew Mountain because he had already sensed the man’s mana sig...
2023-09-09 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 5 –
Terry was standing in the oasis water on transfixed boots. He involuntarily burped. “Oof… I feel so full.”
Terry had not left the oasis area. He had looked around meticulously and gathered information. He had learned and confirmed many things. Most important of all, he was alone in the area ever since the female martial cultivator had left.
Terry had a good idea, why no one else had arrived...
2023-09-02 00:00:01 +0000 UTC
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– Beginning of Arc 6, Heretical Style –
– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 97 –
Terry stared at the entrance where Rafael had disappeared. Terry’s mind understood that he was now trapped in this secret realm and that he would have to remain here until the realm opened up again.
Even worse was that Terry required one of the magic tickets to leave the realm. Even though many people were able to enter with a single ticket,...
2023-08-26 00:00:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –
“YES!” Rafael balled his fists and pumped them in the air.
“We made it…” Terry was more reserved in his exclamation. More relieved than cheerful. He inhaled deeply and looked up. The sky was an odd shade of yellow. There were several small moons visible in it.
Okay, definitely not Thanatos anymore. Good, but this place feels so strange…
Terry tentatively bursted hi...
2023-08-18 23:59:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –
Fate was completely taken off-guard by Terry’s flight. Her blue eyes quivered while staring at the location where the human had still stood a moment before.
“I should have known this would happen,” cursed Xuan. “He thought we’re here to get revenge.”
Fate woke up from her daze. “Why…? Want to… pay… back… debts. Terry… benefactor.”
Xuan grimaced at Fate’s unf...
2023-08-11 23:59:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –
Terry deactivated the Immovable Object spell on the door and began pulling on it with his bidirectional attraction inscription without slowing down.
As soon as the door was closed, Terry activated his compressed spellwork to lock the door for good. He would have liked to steal the key and use that, but he did not have the time to rummage through the guard’s pockets.
Rafael ha...
2023-08-04 23:59:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –
[What now?] Rafael had arrived next to Terry.
[Now, we need another distraction.] Terry stepped a few meters away.
While the security guards thought he was trying to get a better look at the situation, Terry secretly transfixed a part of a guard’s armor for a brief moment.
The guard stumbled over his own feet, which caused him to be just one moment late for stopping a mana martialist...
2023-07-28 23:59:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –
“Hrgh…” Muffled sounds of struggle were echoing in the tunnels within the Proving Grounds.
Two Thanatos soldiers looked at each other and communicated their intentions with hand signals. They quietly unsheathed their swords and slowly walked around the corner.
“What the…” The soldiers stared with horror at the sight of a woman drinking the blood of another Thanatos soldier. ...
2023-07-22 00:00:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –
Terry sensed the mana signatures and slowed down. Them again?
“Anything wrong?” The security guards turned around to look at Terry, who had slowed down.
“I’m not sure…” Terry replied honestly.
It was good when his acting role and his real thoughts overlapped. Despite all the lessons he could draw from the Warlord, the Preacher, or even from the Divine Hammer, Terry...
2023-07-14 23:59:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –
Terry clenched his fists and took a deep breath. He was more nervous than on any day in the Proving Grounds. Most days, Terry felt comfortable holding his own in a fight, but his current plan required something else. Something he hated.
Persuasion.
Deception.
Deceptive persuasion.
Terry would have loved to follow the Veilbinder’s example, but he was v...
2023-07-07 23:59:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –
“Lady Beatrice!” a man dressed in the clothes of a butler entered the room and waited at the entrance.
A woman with a light scar on her face lifted her head. “What? You know I don’t like to be disturbed in the morning. I have many meetings to attend to later.”
“There is an irregularity with one of our targets in the Proving Grounds,” said the butler.
Beatrice pushed her p...
2023-06-30 23:59:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –
In the twilight of the approaching dawn, Fate grabbed her mage staff and followed the path that her magic revealed to her. She knew that there was still a soldier between her and her destination, but she could not see the person. Even though the guard was hidden, Fate confidently aimed her spell according to her latest scrying.
*Thud* The sound of someone falling to the floor echoed quietly i...
2023-06-23 23:59:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 85 –
“The spear,” said Xuan.
Terry had tried to avoid using expensive items. In fact, he had tried to avoid using items in general. He kept some in his storage bracelet, but did his best to not use them in battle. He had already learned that Xuan always knew which items Terry had used in the battles before.
Unfortunately, sometimes, Terry couldn’t avoid it. Sometimes, Terry needed a magic w...
2023-06-16 23:59:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 70 –
Terry and Rafael were trapped in the arena battle with Xuan. While Terry was still feeling okay without sleep or food, he could already see that Rafael was doing less than well.
[What were you talking about when you said that you wouldn’t make it in time?] asked Terry.
Terry and Rafael had used their time to exchange information. Initially, they had tried to come up with ideas to overcome ...
2023-06-09 20:43:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 68 –
[Shit, I have bad news.] Rafael’s voice arrived in Terry’s head. [Perhaps alternating wins was not the best idea this time. If my sources are correct, we’re probably going to lose our current streaks.]
[What’s going on?] Terry replied with a look of confusion. He had barely left his cell when Rafael’s thought transmission arrived.
Terry was not sure what Rafael could be worried abo...
2023-06-03 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 44 –
“Finally…” Terry exclaimed quietly while navigating the Liquify Earth spell structure around the corner. He had grown very frustrated with adjusting the wand’s targeting.
The directional mana lines that Lori had carved into the wand were suited for all reasonable scenarios.
Unfortunately, Terry’s use case was entirely unreasonable. Who would ever think of having to use a w...
2023-05-27 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 29 –
[So we can use this to coordinate?] Terry focused on the communication talisman while following the soldiers back to his cell. [And you created it just like that? With that belt?]
[Are you already impressed with how amazing I am?] The boisterous voice of Rafael replied in Terry’s mind. [That’s right, your granddaddy is amazing.]
“My what?” Terry was having second thoughts about his n...
2023-05-20 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 24 –
Terry stepped into the arena. The image in his eyes overlaid with the mana he had felt earlier and confirmed his suspicions. Even if it had not been for the similarity in mana signature, the shimmering combat robes were enough to tell Terry that this was going to be annoying.
Sun and a golden crow again… Terry felt a headache coming.
“Finally.” The young mana martialist smirke...
2023-05-13 00:02:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 7 –
Terry stepped into the arena. He was getting used to the cheering in the background whenever he entered. Terry told himself that he should tune the audience out, but he could not hide the smile on his face. It felt good to have people shouting their support for you.
Still, Terry did not forget his arena routine. He emitted a thin trail of mana and sent it towards the entrances for contestants. The ...
2023-05-06 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 96 –
“Do you need a hand with the healing?”
Terry jerked his head around so fast that his ribs shot out a painful reminder of their broken state. “Huh?”
“I asked if you need a hand with the healing,” the match’s overseer repeated patiently. Terry’s battle had been the last for the day under her watch, and she had taken it upon herself to guide Terry to the contestant barracks. “I...
2023-04-28 19:39:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 96 –
“You’ve done better,” said Damian with reluctant praise. “I’m looking forward to your performance today. I’ll be watching.”
Okay? Terry was not sure how to respond. This was the first time that Damian had visited him before the battles started.
“If you make it through the day with your winning streak intact, then I’ll have your first item waiting for you,” co...
2023-04-22 00:02:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 91 –
Terry sat in his cell and focused on the prickling sensation in his mind. For the past weeks, Terry had made it a point to take time to practice his mana control beyond the mana-blocking effect of his cage.
To Terry’s amazement, the sensation became more and more detailed. If Terry closed his eyes, he could still sense the area outside. It wasn’t like eyesight. It wasn’t like hi...
2023-04-15 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 75 –
Terry sat leaning against the transparent walls in his inner cell. His face was as pale as the pages in his notebooks. He was still bleeding. He had ripped strips of cloth from his shirt and trousers and tried to stop the bleeding by pressing on the wound. It did not work as well as Terry would have wished for.
Terry had pleaded with the overseer assistants to at least give him some thread and a ne...
2023-04-08 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 66 –
Terry and Nash had fought together for days. To Terry’s disappointment, there had been no further opportunity to increase the alliance members until now.
All of their opponents had insisted on fighting. Some appeared to look down on the alliance idea and wanted to prove themselves alone in the arena. Some seemed suspicious of allying with unknown contestants. Most were too full of themselves to c...
2023-03-31 23:59:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 52 –
Space distorted near the camp of the lizans, and a tall figure appeared. Glowing blue eyes danced over the mana signatures of the lizans and then rested with shock on the giant wyvern corpse that had become frozen in ice. The lizan woman grabbed her mage staff tighter and the soft skin shining through between the dull black scales turned a shade lighter.
A loud exchange of hissing sounds washed ove...
2023-03-25 00:59:01 +0000 UTC
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