LiseEclaire

Leveling up the World (Chapter 13)

“Darude!” Dallion shouted as he rushed forward, pushing Gloria to the side.

He had already seen the giant green cone covering them both as well as the footprints telling him how to evade it. This time he had also seen a series of orange footprints. Diverging from the others, the orange markers went to Gloria, suggesting that would protect her as well. Either that, or meant that the path was more dangerous. Either way, Dallion decided to act.

The days of training had allowed hi...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 12)

You are in a small Awakening shrine.

Complete the trial to improve your destiny!

Unlike the awakened rooms in the past this one was open. In fact, it wasn’t so much a room than an open space surrounded by six columns. Bluish-white sky continued to the horizon above a ground of grey rock. There was no sun that could be seen, although Dallion could swear he almost saw the outlines of several moons in the whiteness above.

Leveling up the World (Chapter 11)

Sneaking out of home, as Dallion found out, was the most difficult challenge he had faced so far. Finding himself in a strange new world with weird magic abilities, one would have expected fending off monsters or exploring dungeons to be the most challenging. Trying to sneak out unnoticed of a two-room house with a squeaky floor, proved to be an even greater feat.

Back in his previous life, this wouldn’t have been an issue. With his parents working late most of the time, Dallion could...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 10)

Seeing the village chief’s granddaughter wasn’t on the top of Dallion’s list. In fact, after what they had subjected him and his mother to, he didn’t want to have anything to do with the entire Luor family. His previous self might have accepted the cruelty and arrogance as a sad fact of life, but the Dallion who had come from Earth, didn’t.

“The ring suits you well,” the boy said. It was the first snarky comment he could make, only then noticing that the girl was actually ...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 9)

Time slow, as the name suggested, allowed a person to experience the passage of time much faster than everyone else. Games and movies illustrated that by allowing characters to perform actions within the fraction of a second while their opponents stood helplessly like statues. In practice, the experience was very different.

The time slow effects allowed Dallion to analyze the situation and make a better decision while not being under pressure. However, they did not make him faster, he h...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 8)

Labyrinths came in different shapes and sizes. The oldest was said to have been built in Egypt and so complicated that no one at the time could complete it without the key. Dallion had completed a lot of labyrinth puzzles as a child. It was his passion earning him several rewards, including second place at the regional’s Labyrinth Solving tournament.

This labyrinth was different from any Dallion had seen in a number of ways. For starters, its shape was highly irregular—there were no...

Rush to Level 0: The Game (Chapter 14)

Some say that in the old days, game design wasn’t even a discipline. The early pioneers were building their own software and hardware themselves. Designers must have been quite the experts, learning through brute force and repetition, knowing everything that composed the end result. Today, game design, like almost everything else, was pure theory—people in a small room, following predictions and behavior models created by AIs, linking elements they did not create to achieve an expected re...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 7)

The more Dallion learned about awakening in this new world, the more its limitations became clear. For starters it was not possible to use the ability at will. Although invisible the stress on the body was extreme, and a day of light activity, or better yet rest, was highly recommended. Dallion had discovered that the hard way when he had attempted to improve a broken chair shortly after the chief’s trial. Not only was he unable to enter the chair’s state, but he had fainted immediately a...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 6)

You have impressed the Ring Guardian with your behavior!

The Colossus has granted you a future boon.

In the blink of an eye Dallion found himself back in the hall of the village chief. The ring was still in his hand, only it was no longer ordinary metal. The surface had become the color of warm bronze, and that wasn’t the only change. Looking at it, Dallion could swear that it had become thinner, more refined, better suited...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 5)

RING GUARDIAN

Species: COLOSSUS

Class: BRONZE

Statistics:

• Health: 75%

Skills: UNKNOWN

Weak Spots: UNKNOWN

Twenty-five percent with one hit? Dallion wondered. It felt suspiciously easy, to the point he feared it might be a lie. There was no way his mother could lose to a four-hit enemy.

T...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 4)

The hall that Dallion found himself in was very different from the one he had been moments ago. All furniture and people had vanished, leaving nothing but silvery glittering walls behind. The only source of light was a floating blue rectangle, identical to the one he had seen in the closed room earlier today.

The RING is Level 3

So, this is to be awakened? Dallion thought.

Curiosity made him look down at his clothes. They were ...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 3)

The contrast between the village chief’s home and the rest of the houses was like between yellow and black. Rising three and a half floors above everything else, it was larger than Dallion’s entire garden, made entirely of polished white granite. A blue tile path led through the double iron door to an inner courtyard where a few people were waiting.

In the past, according to Dallion’s grandfather, it was traditional for an elder or family member to accompany the awakened. The vill...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 2)

Awakening, as Dallion learned, was a huge deal. The village his “family” was from, had less than a dozen awakend, half of which were well beyond their sixties. The rest were part of the village chief’s family, which made sense come to think about it. Among other things, awakening brought with it a huge status boost, thus Dallion was enjoying a meal—the local equivalent of a feast—at his home surrounded by family, friends, and neighbors. The food was on the plain side, but he had an ...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 1)

The first thing that Dallian saw after opening his eyes was the floor. The second was a blue glowing rectangle floating in a small empty room. Confusion surged, twisting his forehead until a series of wavy lines appeared.

This doesn’t make sense, Dallian thought.

The last thing he remembered was returning to his dorm and stumbling into bed. There had been a wild party, wilder than he would have liked. Arriving at college was considered a big deal, making it impossible f...

Thank you all!

Hello!

I hope you are well, and my best wishes to all!

The year is nearing a close. A lot has happened, but above all I’d like to thank all of you for being here. Your presence helped me push through some issues and keep writing. On the way, I tried a few new things (some successful, others not do). Knowing you were there kept me going.

In thanks, starting next year (tomorrow), a new daily series will begin in addition to Quod and Rush. This will be a...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 2)

Virgo Training Station — 707.1 A.E. (Age of Expansion)

It was a matter of principle for cadets to avoid the Commandant’s office. Eighty-three percent of them only got to see it once, on the day they got their permanent fleet commission. So far, I’d been here nine times, and only one of them was for a commendation.

“Take a seat, Elcy,” the man said with a pre-emptive sigh.

“Thank you, sir.” I sat in the single chair the room offered.

�...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 3)

Eight battleships surrounded the battleship, placed in strategic positions a short distance away. I noticed one more patrolling the system. As far as I could tell all of them were Taurus class, built exclusively to defend deep space stations. Their standard armament included five hundred launchable mine clusters, seventy thousand missiles, at least a few hundred of which were with artefact heads.

As Ve flew by one of the battleships a series of probe protocols bypassed my software defen...

Rush to Level 0: The Game (Chapter 13)

Two gremlins appeared above me as I reached for the ledge. By now, I had become so accustomed that I didn’t even blink. Two arrows zipped past me, hitting each gremlin in the throat. The creatures let out gurgling sounds, then collapsed. With luck, they wouldn’t bleed up the stone platform.

“All clear!” I shouted. “Are you close to the next deleveling?”

“I’m fine,” he mumbled. Despite what was claimed about lower-levels, he was touchy on the subject. “Climb up ...

Rush to Level 0: The Game (Chapter 14)

Some say that in the old days, game design wasn’t even a discipline. The early pioneers were building their own software and hardware themselves. Designers must have been quite the experts, learning through brute force and repetition, knowing everything that composed the end result. Today, game design, like almost everything else, was pure theory—people in a small room, following predictions and behavior models created by AIs, linking elements they did not create to achieve an expected re...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 1)

Tauciu System, Resha Colony — 707.1 A.E. (Age of Expansion)

“You sure you don’t want a bite?” Bethine offered.

It reminded me of the many suppers we’d had back when she was a child. Back then she’d always offer me part of her meal, because “her food tasted the best of all.” Those were endearing times, when everyone still lived at Sev’s house. Now, only he remained, even if recent events had brought them closer.

“Sure.” I glanced at m...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 2)

Virgo Training Station — 707.1 A.E. (Age of Expansion)

It was a matter of principle for cadets to avoid the Commandant’s office. Eighty-three percent of them only got to see it once, on the day they got their permanent fleet commission. So far, I’d been here nine times, and only one of them was for a commendation.

“Take a seat, Elcy,” the man said with a pre-emptive sigh.

“Thank you, sir.” I sat in the single chair the room offered.

�...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 1)

Tauciu System, Resha Colony — 707.1 A.E. (Age of Expansion)

“You sure you don’t want a bite?” Bethine offered.

It reminded me of the many suppers we’d had back when she was a child. Back then she’d always offer me part of her meal, because “her food tasted the best of all.” Those were endearing times, when everyone still lived at Sev’s house. Now, only he remained, even if recent events had brought them closer.

“Sure.” I glanced at m...

Rush to Level 0: (Chapter 12)

“Good to go?” Goth glanced at me. More a reminder than a question, telling me that there was a while to go until I earned my pay.

Three more beasts were down, allowing us to open the antechamber. Unlike with the first beast, I had managed to suppress the screaming urge to cast any more spells. That had made the process longer and much more traumatizing, but at least I hadn’t gained any experience from the battles.

“Ready.” I closed my status window and joined Goth by the...

Rush to Level 0: The Game (Chapter 11)

Appearing in a new place felt strange. Not the usual game teleportation I was used to; my surroundings twisted like tangled pieces of thread, only to untangle again seconds later, weaving something entirely new. The new location was indoors, though far less spacious or impressive than the Depository hall. The first description that came to mind was a stoic stone cellar with one wall missing. There were no statues or furniture of any kind. The only light came from outside, through the missing ...

Quod Olim Erat: Bonus 30

Rush to Level 0: The Game (Chapter 10)

It was still dark when I logged off. According to my phone, only thirty-one minutes had passed, but that wasn’t the amount of time that had really gone by. Hours gone in seconds… there were apps that promised that. Approved by the Software Safety Commission, they were available for purchase anywhere online and supposedly granted users thirty extra hours in a day to spend on exams, taxes, and entertainment. I had tried them a few times—enough to learn that they were total crap. The part ...

Rush to Level 0: The Game (Chapter 13 - Preview)

Hello, all!

Here’s some more Rush. Before I post the link, a word about Quod. As you’ve seen by the teaser post, Quod 3 is starting, so expect chapters of that to start soon. One question, though. Would you prefer the raws be posted as links (as up to now) or as block texts (as the clean posts here)?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Prologue Teaser)

Coffee never was my thing. It was the first thing I’d tried after I got used to my human form, and also the first I decided I could do without. After my last nanite upgrade I could even identify its chemical composition. Recent developments on the Scuu front had forced massive changes in all front-line protocols. There were even more changes underway, slowly creeping through the layers of bureaucracy.

“Anything else you’d like?” a young waiter asked.

He was slightly older ...

Rush to Level 0: The Game (Chapter 9)

My father used to define people as either rich or poor. According to him, the only way out of poverty was to become rich, which was a goal he had obsessively chased for several years. I could say that the first years of my life had been charmed—I never wanted for anything, enjoying things that passed as luxuries. A few years later, he fell off the corporate ladder he had started to climb, dropping me and my family to the statistically more prevalent lower class.

FlickerFlacker was th...

Rush to Level 0 (Chapter 8)

Seventeen e-muggings, two new avatar murders, and two hundred and twelve cases of identity theft. Skimming through daily news articles had always been a mix of guilty pleasure and adrenaline. Waiting in the middle of the night in a no-camera neighborhood was one of the few things that could get my mind off real life crime. According to some know-it-all bloggers, areas with fewer cameras were supposed to be safer for normal people. Their argument was that increased crime would force the city t...