LiseEclaire

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 49)

System XN133-H, Cassandrian Space 625.3 A.E. (Age of Exploration)

I immediately deprioritized all incoming data transmissions with the exception of those coming from Sword of Fire. I had every available subroutine check and double-check the validity of the data and all corresponding packet protocols. Everything seemed valid, although I was certain that entire divisions of strategic cores would thoroughly go through every millisecond of the date.

Based on the ev...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 50)

My first instructor used to say that the only thing more significant than colonizing a planet was evacuating it. Up until recently, I hadn’t agreed. During my time on the front, I had seen hundreds of planet evacuations—mostly done after a planet was taken under control by the enemy. Millions of soldiers would collect every last piece of their equipment, assemble, then shuttle off to the orbital ships sent for them. It was never a good time. One of the near constants was that the number o...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 521)

The night lasted for close to a week. Dallion spent days improving items to increase his skills. The targets of his actions were the sheets, pillows, and blankets. The goal was to get his music skill to eighty. The moment he reached seventy-three, though, Eury grumbled at him to get some sleep. Since Dallion had failed to obtain any new skill combo achievements, he decided to do so, entering a weird series of dreams in which food was the main focus. Leveling up without eating wasn’t the bes...

Quod Olim Erat: The Chassandrian Theory (Chapter 48)

System XN133-H, Cassandrian Space 625.3 A.E. (Age of Exploration)

Throughout my entire existence, the only time when I had been asked to make a life for myself was back when I was still a core. Even with all restrictions lifted, there were certain memories I couldn’t see. Most probably, those were early boot tests that had been scrubbed from my conscience core during its activation phase. Still, I knew that at one point I had been asked what sort of ship I wanted t...

Quod Olim Erat: The Chassandrian Theory (Chapter 49)

System XN133-H, Cassandrian Space 625.3 A.E. (Age of Exploration)

I immediately deprioritized all incoming data transmissions with the exception of those coming from Sword of Fire. I had every available subroutine check and double-check the validity of the data and all corresponding packet protocols. Everything seemed valid, although I was certain that entire divisions of strategic cores would thoroughly go through every millisecond of the date.

Based on the ev...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 520)

Dallion remained still for several seconds, cursing his own complacency.

I’ve been too long in this world, he said to himself.

All this time he had been so focused on obtaining new skills than he hadn’t even wondered what bonuses they provided. That wasn’t something written in the skill scrolls he’d read in the library, and yet he was fully aware. Since his first three skills had bonus capabilities, all the rest should have had as well. Strange why Euryale hadn’...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 519)

Two line strikes flew against each other. Neither was strong enough to cancel the other out, leaving them to cross through without affecting their destructiveness. Both walls of the cave chamber exploded. In one case, though, a yellow dragonlet exploded with them. Facing it, Dark pulled reality so as to avoid the strike towards him, causing everything with instances to shift slightly to a position they hadn’t chosen.

Dallion gritted his teeth. His ally was too frivolous with forced sp...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 518)

“What do you think?” Dallion asked as looked about the room with his kaleidervisto.

Strictly speaking, the three of them were given their separate rooms, but as tended to be the usual practice, he and Eury had shared one. March hadn’t been opposed and since the inn didn’t have any other guests, it was the comfortable thing to do.

There didn’t seem to be any echoes lingering, but just to be sure, Dallion had a brief chat with the furniture guardians.

“Think we’r...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 517)

“Before Nerosal rose to the dump it is today, a large number of items of interest were taken from its ruins,” the noble began.

Like most of the building material for your city, Dallion thought.

“The practice continued for centuries. Sphere items were discovered, as well as artifacts of greater significance, including the swords that you were entrusted with. The treasures were naturally kept safe and secret in this very city. In the name of the emperor, of course. So...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 516)

That’s Dame Vesuvia? Nil asked in an almost mocking voice. She’s somewhat less impressive than you described her to be.

On some level Dallion agreed, and yet he still should shake the old image he had of her. Back then, she had been over ten times his level, possibly the closest thing to absolute power. She was someone who had defeated a chainling virtually on her own. Looking back now, he could reason that the creature had been wounded, and also she wasn’t alone...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 515)

Having Dark in Dallion’s awakening realm turned out to be less chaotic than he feared. Now he finally understood what Nil must have gone through in the early days when Nox was young and overly active. Both creatures had the potential of massive destruction, and power to boot. Thankfully, the dragonlet preferred the company of beings his mental age and didn’t get involved in too much else. Also, Harp made sure to keep both the dragonlet and Onda in line. For some reason, the pair seemed to...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 514)

The group went through the wilderness, stopping for one hour every six. There was a certain military feeling to it that made Dallion feel like a mercenary that had joined an elite squad. It was very different from Dame Vesuvia’s group he had joined years ago. Back then, the only person above level forty was the dame. Here—everyone was. Not only that, but it was obvious at first glance that everyone had trained in a similar fashion. What was more, Dallion had the distinct impression that m...

Unexpected Emergency

I'll need to urgently go to the doctor's tomorrow.

I have no idea how this will affect my writing schedule.

Sorry, all,

Leveling up the World (Chapter 513)

“Are you alright?” Euryale asked.

“Huh?” Dallion snapped out of it. He had heard the question, just as he had heard everything else the gorgon had said in the last ten minutes, but his mind was still elsewhere.

The meeting with the general had gone somewhat better than expected. Dallion didn’t owe anything else, but at the same time he hadn’t gained anything either. With luck maybe he would before they set off, but in exchange he had agreed to the general’s demands.<...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 512)

Time flew by faster than Dallion expected it. With the crowds reaching ludicrous size during the buildup, it proved better to remain indoors and only go out in the early hours of the morning. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to help much. While most of the people were asleep, their items weren’t, and with Dallion’s empathy level, it was enough for him to walk along a street for all visiting guardians to notice and try to exchange a few words. The first few times, Dallion decided to humor...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 511)

The guild experience left an emotional sting even well after Dallion had left the building. Initially, it was the notion of being so close to the skill gem, though gradually it shifted to general concern whether he’ll be able to acquire new skills at all. Nil tried his best to explain that skill acquisition was a rare event, and that Dallion had managed to acquire more than the average initiate awakened. That didn’t help particularly much.

In an attempt to get his mind off things, D...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 47)

System XN133-H, Cassandrian Space 625.3 A.E. (Age of Exploration)

Receiving large amounts of information was what ships excelled at. Even with two of my conscience cores removed, I was able to perform more functions than millions of people at once. However, the Swords knew that as well. The millisecond they felt my ping, all of them sent everything they had done in the last few days, split into millions of simultaneous transmissions. Combined with the scanning data, ...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 48)

System XN133-H, Cassandrian Space 625.3 A.E. (Age of Exploration)

Throughout my entire existence, the only time when I had been asked to make a life for myself was back when I was still a core. Even with all restrictions lifted, there were certain memories I couldn’t see. Most probably, those were early boot tests that had been scrubbed from my conscience core during its activation phase. Still, I knew that at one point I had been asked what sort of ship I wanted t...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 510)

“You think I’m related to the Star?” Dallion asked.

Of all the things that he expected to be accused of, this was the last. If the dryad was an otherworlder, maybe there was some logic to link Dallion to the Star. Or maybe it was because of Lux? A crackling familiar did tend to give the wrong impression to people, which was why Dallion’s guild mentor had asked him to keep it secret for as long as possible.

“Because of my familiars?”

“Because of the Star item.�...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 509)

Dallion had learned that relying exclusively on instances was never a good strategy. However, they also provided a tremendous advantage. If Nil was to be asked on the topic, they “saved time” more than anything else. At present, they proved that even after suffering a number of defeats, cracklings tended to be extremely aggressive.

The first dozen instances that landed on the ground were quickly swarmed by a wave of roach-like insects from the ground itself. Apparently, the black fl...