In the end, there were no assassination attempts made through the night. When the announcement came, Erani, who was the last one on watch, woke everyone up so we could read it.
CONQUEROR’S TOURNEY OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Thank you to all participants so far. As of the writing of this announcement, a total of ninety-one individuals have officially been entered into its running. With two more challenges to be offered, we predict a tourney with a first round conducted as...
2024-04-06 12:00:09 +0000 UTC
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The man who’d just been threatening my life knelt on the ground before the woman whose life I’d saved.
“Lady Magdalene Peersguard,” he said. “W-what can I do for you today, on this fine morning?”
I turned to her. “So that’s why you didn’t want to tell me your name.”
“You’ve been found out, I see,” she said, looking between me and the other man wearing Dark Plate—the iron titan.
“Yeah, I—wait, how did you know I wasn’t...
2024-04-04 12:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Entismo glanced around the ruined town.
Oh, no, this has gone terribly wrong.
That Demon had gone on a horrible killing spree, ending in the deaths of at least a dozen Humans now. It’d run off into the alleyways right afterward, so Entismo couldn’t even find it anymore!
And the Goblins…Ugh, that plan had totally backfired, as well. The moment they realized the Humans in the town wanted to kill them as well as the Demon, they became impossible to contr...
2024-03-28 12:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Xhag’duul hid in an alleyway in a dark, dangerous city. He could feel the Spell that’d summoned him forcing him to return to his prison now that the immediate danger was over. That Human that’d been chasing him had lost him, and for a little while afterward, Xhag’duul had been able to retain control of his body. He’d made it all the way out of the town walls and even killed a few monsters—some big dark beasts that spewed out annoying smoke—before the Spell started to kick in and...
2024-03-24 12:00:09 +0000 UTC
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I stared at the man wearing Dark Plate, who looked at me with an equally cautious stance.
For once, I completely understood what Erani had always talked about regarding me looking like I was straight out of a monster manual. The darkness emanating from the man’s helmet hid his face from my view, the way his voice echoed out of the steel plate sounding inhuman, leading to the only hint that the man was a person at all being his general stature and proportions.
And even that part ...
2024-03-20 12:00:13 +0000 UTC
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The massive bald guy stared down at me with a furious expression, ready to attack me. So he thought I was an iron titan, huh? Add him to the list, I supposed.
But then, this guy was different from the others. Namely, he wasn’t pissing his pants with fear. He actually wanted to talk. Well, he wanted to kick the shit out of me, it looked like, but presumably that would also involve some number of words being exchanged.
So then, if he wasn’t going to run away the moment ...
2024-03-17 00:00:04 +0000 UTC
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I did eventually find the woman in armor. As the crowd thinned out and I retraced my steps, I spotted her standing on a dune, staring out into the distance. Once again, there were a few people milling about and gazing up at her, but I supposed it would make sense, considering she looked quite dramatic looking out over the horizon like that, like she was on some sort of mission.
I climbed the same dune up to the stop to stand next to her, and realized she must’ve been up here to try an...
2024-03-13 12:00:13 +0000 UTC
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It took about ten minutes to get three crystals for each of us. Not much time at all—we just needed to walk a little bit out from the walls, get up onto the highest dune, spot some crystals from there, and split up to grab them.
That said, while we did only need ten minutes to get all of our crystals, the announcement detailing the challenge went out in five. So as we walked back into town, we saw countless adventurers flooding into the desert, sprinting down the roads or through the ...
2024-03-08 10:00:09 +0000 UTC
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We didn’t anticipate grabbing up enough crystals to complete the challenge to be difficult at all.
I finished explaining to Erani and we woke up Sylvie and Ainash still with a good few minutes to spare before the challenge was technically assigned, meaning not a single person would be out there to compete with.
Sylvie was, of course, curious about where I got my information when I told her I suddenly knew exactly what the challenge would be before it was assigned, but I waved he...
2024-03-03 13:00:07 +0000 UTC
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2024-02-29 13:00:09 +0000 UTC
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I ended up getting a crash course on the current knowledge surrounding Ray of Frost. This was the Spell Erani had originally planned on taking at Level 10, so she had quite a few thoughts on the Upgrade choice.
“Now, Quindrex’s second Sorcerer build, which was centered around crowd control, took Piercing Ray and used it alongside Explosive Firebolt to offer severe firepower against any sort of grouped-up enemy. However, another scholar named Perito Pontifix argued that it was optima...
2024-02-28 13:00:13 +0000 UTC
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Sitting upright in the bed we’d rented, I sat and meditated. I had 3 Stat Points and a Spell Upgrade waiting to be assigned, plus the more general improvement of a Soft Cap increase, meaning I could train most of my Spells up one more Rank basically for free.
Once ten minutes had passed sitting idle in the room, I opened up the Upgrade for Ray of Frost.
Choose one Upgrade for Ray of Frost:
Piercing Ray
—
2024-02-27 13:00:08 +0000 UTC
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In the few moments that passed before the wave of monsters got to us—this one being the largest by far, consisting of the hundreds that had starting coming for us from off in the horizon back when the battle started—I dug into my pocket and drew out a small round stone.
It was my Curse Spell Crystal, the one I’d need to Upgrade my two still-unimproved Spells. Ray of Frost and Curse of Echoes were still stuck at Rank 9, meaning I was able to invest this Spell Crystal into either. O...
2024-02-23 13:00:11 +0000 UTC
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As I backed away from the charging Sand Stompers, I took distinct notice of the fact that the person in plate armor didn’t take effort to retreat, themself. Instead, once the Sand Stompers got close enough, they stood fast and held their ground. Another thing I took notice of was how their hands were completely empty. And, I realized, they didn’t have a single weapon sheathed anywhere on their body. Unless they were concealing a pair of daggers somewhere in that bulky suit of metal.
2024-02-19 13:00:11 +0000 UTC
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In the distance, I spotted a couple Sand Stompers wandering the dunes.
Perfect. Monster territory. Let’s go that way.
Quite simply, I’d have rather dealt with some monsters that could kill me than more adventurers. I’d forgotten how infuriating dealing with people in a competitive environment like this could be. At least when it was one on one, I could just focus on taking down the person in front of me, but when it was something like this, with hundreds of people a...
2024-02-15 13:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Erani, Sylvie, Ainash, and I stood outside the city walls, gazing out into the desert. Our job was to find and retrieve one desert crystal of each primary color they appeared in—red, yellow, and blue. And, of course, each of us needed to accomplish that task, meaning we’d actually need four of each of those colors—one for each of us. So, we’d have to come out here to grab them.
Only, there was an issue.
“Do you even see one crystal out there?” I asked, hand ov...
2024-02-11 13:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Sylvie did, indeed, puke all over the floor. She’d collapsed onto the hard ground the moment we arrived in the desert cave we housed our Beacon Anchor Point in, and after a few moments of groaning and moaning, she coughed up a pool of yellowish liquid full of chunks.
I took a deep breath to calm my own stomach, leaning on the cave wall. “Ugh, I hoped it wouldn’t be as bad this time.”
“What was that voice as we left?” Erani grunted. “Was that…Entismo?”
“I ...
2024-02-08 13:00:08 +0000 UTC
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After Aliss left, we took Sylvie with us out of town and toward the Goblin forest. Despite Sylvie’s best efforts, we never did figure out what Aliss had been doing this whole time, but she assured us up and down that there was nothing dangerous going on and that she was fine, so we reluctantly headed out. Plus, Sylvie was starting to get sleepy-drunk, so we didn’t have much of a choice if we wanted to teleport out tonight.
“So, where are we going?” she slurred as we made our way...
2024-02-06 13:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Xhag’duul stared at a Human in a damp, dark room. Streams of light were let through the open door, the silhouette of a man standing within.
“D-Demon!” he shouted.
A half dozen ideas for what to do ran through Xhag’duul’s mind, none of him he could enact. Attack and kill him. No, he was forbidden due to his summoner’s orders. Plus, if this Human had a Class, there was a possibility he’d be overpowered regardless. Flee. Forbidden as well. Threaten...
2024-02-02 13:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Sylvie stood in the middle of Boy’s living room, staring at Aliss. “Where in flames have you been?!”
“Who are these two?” Aliss asked, nodding to me and Erani. Neither of us were in our typical disguise, so she didn’t recognize us.
Sylvie audibly groaned, clearly annoyed that she’d have to play into our lie. “This is Arlan and Erani, they’re friends of Annor and Eita. Okay, shake hands, bow heads, exchange your philosophies on life, whatever, you’re acquainted....
2024-01-29 13:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Teleportation using the Beacon was different from teleportation using a circle in terms of feeling. It was more ‘unstable,’ in whatever way teleportation could feel like that—I arrived slightly off-balance, disoriented, and most importantly, absolutely sick to my stomach. The moment I saw the Goblins’ forest around me, I immediately lurched over, almost certain I was about to puke my guts up. A glance at Erani told me she felt similarly.
“Do not feel good at all!” A...
2024-01-27 13:00:06 +0000 UTC
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A Devil sat at a desk in a damp, dark room.
This room, though, was different. Its walls were made of wood—a strange substance that didn’t exist in the Underworld—and it was absurdly cluttered and messy compared to the standards of his birthplace. But, really, the Devil didn’t mind the mess. If it were cleaner, it might remind him too much of his old home.
His summoner, Aliss, had given him a few more allowances since his initial summoning. Specifically, she’d removed th...
2024-01-25 14:26:19 +0000 UTC
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Erani, Ainash, and I stood in the nighttime roads with the courier, who apparently had a message from Sylvie.
“So, what is it?” I asked.
“She says,” the courier said, showing us the paper in her hand, “‘Hey, currently kinda in the middle of a financial crisis. Shit’s going down. Anyway, I can’t really afford much, so hopefully you can come pick me up from Salvation and take me to Precipice? I know you two are probably busy with your terrorism or whatever, but here...
2024-01-22 13:00:15 +0000 UTC
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Pike walked around the sand dunes, retrieving all of his lost weapons. In the meantime, I looked back to Ainash. “Are you okay?”
After a moment, she finally answered. “...Human beat me. Did not win.”
“You passed the test,” I said. “All you needed to do was fight well enough, and you did. So you’re good; you’re a citizen now, and all that.”
“But in real fight, that Human would kill me.”
“Don’t ...
2024-01-19 12:00:08 +0000 UTC
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The “inspector”—Pike Pinesteel, victor of the third Conqueror’s Tourney, apparently—charged at Ainash, wielding the glowing daggers that’d just appeared in his hands. She instantly readopted her fighting stance, waiting for him to get within range.
But before he even got halfway to her, he planted his foot on the ground and spun around, using the extreme force to thwip one of the knives at her. It moved at lightning speed, to the point where even I, who had two casts of Expe...
2024-01-17 12:00:06 +0000 UTC
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After signing up for the tournament, we then went to a nearby government office that the recruiter had pointed us to. The walk there was slightly confusing, but having slightly flawed directions was better than having none at all, so we got there relatively quickly.
Inside, we were guided to an empty side-office once we told them what we were here for, where we sat and waited. The room had only a desk and a few chairs inside, light coming from a small window placed in the wall.
Ev...
2024-01-15 13:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Standing in the middle of the run-down city streets, the woman blinked, looking us up and down after my declaration of interest in this tournament she’d been talking about.
“You wanna know more?” she asked.
“‘Course we do,” I said, stepping forward. “We’ve been trying to find a place where we can get more information on it. You can point us in the direction of where we can sign up?”
“I’ll walk you there personally. I get paid commission,” she said wit...
2024-01-12 13:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Over the rest of that afternoon and night, we traveled through the desert to Precipice, the capital city. I passively practiced Noxious Grasp the whole time as I watched the sky darken, day shifting to night once more in this timeline.
I’d spoken with Index about more in-depth details regarding this Beacon thing that I’d only just recently figured out, and it seemed like the best plan of action would be to go into the city, get set up there, and then come back out to the desert late...
2024-01-10 09:59:43 +0000 UTC
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As we sat in the back of the carriage, separated from the driver up front, I heard a sudden voice.
“Hey, Arlan,” Erani said, “do you mind asking Index to help me with something?”
“Hm?” I asked. “Sure. What’s up?”
Erani paused for a moment, like she was suddenly reconsidering. She’d been silent ever since she got back her memories, which I’d assumed was because she’d been looking them over and deciding which Firebolt Upgrade to finally take. Seemed lik...
2024-01-06 13:58:23 +0000 UTC
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And then I was back, sitting in the back of a carriage driving peacefully through the sandy dunes.
The first thing I did was check my XP.
Currently at 1.87k/3.5k, huh? Not bad.
“Not bad at all,” Index commented, “considering you started out at basically 0 XP. At your current Level, trying to get half of your XP requirement in a single day should typically cost you your life. Which it did.”
A life well spent, I thought back with a sigh. There w...
2024-01-04 14:01:11 +0000 UTC
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