A/N: Wow, 1,000. My chapter count officially has a comma in it. A crazy milestone I never imagined I'd reach when I began writing DotF years ago. Millions of words, made possible only thanks to the support of you guys. So a huge thank you everyone who's supporting the series, here and on Amazon/audible.
Life is weird that way. I never imagined how the direction of my life would change so completely by uploading a couple of chapters on RoyalRoad during a summer b...
2022-12-14 19:01:10 +0000 UTC
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A/N 2023-03-30: Chapter 1/2 of today (doing a double chapter release today. Next one in an hour or two.
For next month, normal release schedule, except no chapters April 12-14.
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Zac felt a palpable sense of déjà vu as he looked at the golden storm outside. At least his situation wasn't quite as bad as when he fell into the Twilight Chasm. For one, he still had all his limbs. Secondly, the environment was act...
2022-12-13 18:16:26 +0000 UTC
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The Calamity was the same place where Zac had an opportunity to build his manor. But 'The Storm' he'd seen the first time was a special zone at the outer edges of the ancient chaotic anomaly, and it only cost 25 Mana a day to keep your manor there.
Meanwhile, the Calamity was a Red Zone, where the teleporter took you further inside. It cost a whopping 250 Mana a day to visit, making it one of the most expensive regular zones in the whole Perennial Vastness. Even then, it was still at th...
2022-12-12 19:50:24 +0000 UTC
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Zac looked at the distant ghost temple with desire burning in his heart. He could feel how fate was gathering within, and the special sense he'd gained from his huge accumulation of Luck indicated a powerful treasure was waiting within.
But how do you take something out from a temple that only existed in your heart? He'd tried entering the subsidiary temples multiple times on the way up. But any time he came in contact while running [Void Zone], the temple disappeared. ...
2022-12-09 18:24:57 +0000 UTC
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The boost to Zac's attributes was mostly expected, though the new improvement to Base Attributes was a welcome surprise. The increases didn't change much for Zac by this point, but you obviously wouldn't say no to free power. Unfortunately, awakening a constitution didn't provide a Title, just like his Soul Cultivation and Technique hadn't.
Some gains were benefits on their own. Besides, Zac guessed these specialized forms of cultivation weren't really part of the System's training regi...
2022-12-08 19:26:29 +0000 UTC
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Suffering was a constant companion on the journey of Body Refinement. The agony Zac had to endure to forcibly push through three layers of the [Void Vajra Sublimation] in a couple of years would've been enough to break the spirits of most cultivators. Yet that was nothing compared to the pain that now wracked his body.
Millions of tendrils burrowed into him like flesh-eating maggots, each one a stab at body, mind, and heart. The jabs chipped away at Zac's conviction and...
2022-12-08 10:54:46 +0000 UTC
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Unfortunately no chapter today. I'll be flying back to Sweden, traveling for the better part of the day. And it's time to admit to myself I'm not a global jetsetter who can get a bunch of work done on airplanes and in lounges. I'll do one morning and evening chapter tomorrow instead.
2022-12-07 08:04:52 +0000 UTC
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Zac released a long pent-up sigh of relief as he stumbled out of the teleportation array, appearing in Vastness City. The gate closed behind him, and Zac was finally free from that wretched place. Only then did he truly realize just how grimy he was. He was covered almost from head to toe in blood and corruption and literally oozed sinister energies into his surroundings. The angry scars on his body almost glowed as well.
A few people curiously looked over as Zac appeared, but seeing a ...
2022-12-06 19:02:55 +0000 UTC
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The lightning struck the mound every twenty minutes, so it wouldn't be long. However, Zac and the others were forced to continuously back further and further away. The mound's aura was continuously rising, creating a domain that even Zac had trouble dealing with. No wonder lightning had to strike so often. If it didn't, this place would unleash surges twice an hour. Or possibly generate something even worse.
Zac wasn't even sure what would happen if he struck the mound while it containe...
2022-12-05 18:22:14 +0000 UTC
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The trio slowly moved away from the scorched battleground, unwilling to stay and afraid to run too quickly and trigger another event. Yet even after ten minutes, the surroundings showed no inclination of going out of control again, which allowed them to breathe out in relief.
"The lightning really saved our bacon there," Ogras frowned. "Were we just lucky, or was that by design?"
"It should be by design, right?" Zac said. "Otherwise, this place would be a deathtrap rather than a p...
2022-12-02 17:39:37 +0000 UTC
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Zac almost felt like the wet black soil beneath his feet tried to drag him under, trapping him in an early grave. But he plugged forward into the unknown, his eyes sweeping back and forth in search of Sinner Mounds.
It was both annoying and liberating that they hadn't managed to find any information crystals on Sinner's Lament over the past years. That wasn't to say no one had visited the area, just that none of those selling information packages had one for sale when they passed. It wa...
2022-12-01 16:53:37 +0000 UTC
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A storm raged in Zac's heart upon hearing Ventus' grim proclamation of his demise. Even if Zac wasn't particularly close to Ventus, he didn't wish death upon him. But the fact that the elf, who was more powerful than virtually all of his followers, believed himself to be facing death was horrifying.
Where did that leave the rest? Was he sending Emily, Joanna, and the others to their death?
"How could you even calculate something like that?" Zac asked. "That place shouldn't be so e...
2022-11-30 19:01:38 +0000 UTC
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Zac didn't know whether he should be happy or disappointed after having toured Vastness City for three days. Altogether, he'd managed to attract 38 challenges, just 17 more than he received in an hour before the warning went out. And only 4 of those were on the third day.
Certainly, the global message warned of a Draugr, meaning he could always turn into his human form and continue. But Zac wasn't in a hurry. Vastness City had quickly been vacated in the first hours after the missions d...
2022-11-29 17:33:03 +0000 UTC
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"What the hell!" Zac swore, feeling he'd just lost his winning ticket as he glared at Null on his arm. "Did you guys do this?!"
"It wasn't us," Null said. "High-echelon cultivators can send global messages for 3,000 Mana. Looks like you really annoyed someone."
"Someone wasted 3,000 Mana just to ruin my plan?" Zac exclaimed. "Was it those Grand Firmament guys?"
"Sender is anonymous, and the voice you heard is randomized," Null giggled. "If you want to know, you just have to ...
2022-11-28 20:17:10 +0000 UTC
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Reminder: Next chapter March 15!
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Zac's bones groaned under the burgeoning pressure as the stellar wrath of his opponent consumed the whole arena. Her radiant shroud had already spread to the very edges of the arena, and the blue sky had been turned into a star-spangled black. But it in no way resembled a calm summer's night. Instead, the lights felt like barely contained conflagrations holding the wrath of the Heavens.
The chains of ...
2022-11-25 18:25:57 +0000 UTC
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Null had called Vastness City a Green Zone, which meant the Red Zone Ogras mentioned probably was a region with far laxer rules. As expected, Catheya immediately confirmed his guess.
"Green zones, like this city, disallow killing even during duels. There are a bunch of other restrictions as well, which is why I had to trick those fools earlier into challenging me one after another. For someone like you, you can just pick ten unlucky people and beat them up every month. But after that, y...
2022-11-24 18:26:20 +0000 UTC
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"You were here already?" Zac exclaimed while Catheya looked around warily.
"Who?"
"You know my friend from the Tower of Eternity," Zac explained.
"He's got a token as well? How?" Catheya muttered as she looked around. "And why are you skulking around in the shadows?"
"I figured it would be useful if at least one of us didn't create a large number of enmities the moment we arrived," Ogras said, still not emerging from wherever he hid. "Seeing as I could sneak inside by ...
2022-11-23 18:06:00 +0000 UTC
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Zac didn't immediately head out to explore Vastness City. He first spent a few minutes just standing in place, letting his heart return to the Void to avoid any lingering or hidden effects from the overpowering Dharmic pressure. He also activated [Void Zone], resetting his state even further.
"What now? How can I find the others?" Zac asked after having grounded himself.
"Two ways," Null said. "If your friends arrived at the same time as you, they'll appear here s...
2022-11-22 18:36:06 +0000 UTC
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The air rippled as opposing concepts clashed. The golden cloud originally moved in a lazy rotation around the peak of Mount Illumination, like the wheel of Samsara slowly being turned by the river of fate.
Zac's Branch of the War Axe acted like an accelerant, kicking up unstable gusts around him. Simultaneously, the Dharmic pressure lessened on him as the call of the Sangha grew more chaotic through the filter of Conflict. However, Zac frowned upon seeing the effect was limited. The env...
2022-11-21 21:26:41 +0000 UTC
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A towering mountain clad in a shroud of green, with a golden cloud circulating its peak. Mount Illumination.
As far as Zac could tell, it was simply the best option available, with the battlefield being the second option. The Storm sounded interesting, but he wasn't creating a Chaos Core. He had already given up on forming a Cosmic Core based on the concepts of Chaos in favor of his Trinity Core held together by the Void, and he wasn't about to give up on the solution he'd found.
...
2022-11-18 18:16:29 +0000 UTC
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Null's explanation was music to Zac's ears. This was exactly what he'd hoped for. The opportunities and various treasure realms would certainly be useful, but Zac was more interested in the aspect of providence. Being able to use the energy of the world to contain and nurture his core while it was being built was a huge advantage for someone like him.
A cultivator would gradually form their core naturally by rotating their manual and making small adjustments. It was almost like a fetus ...
2022-11-17 18:00:35 +0000 UTC
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The whole square shuddered at his words, and Zac looked around with alarm as he felt Fate gather around him like when he uttered the word 'Ultom.' It wasn't just the world, either. Each one of the pillars had hummed into life, and Zac found himself awash with terrifying truths far beyond what he could handle.
Seventeen distinct Daos flooded the square, and Zac found himself an unwilling witness to a tremendous clash urged on by a torrent of Fate. Zac didn't know if the energies tried to...
2022-11-16 18:09:13 +0000 UTC
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The message stopped playing, leaving a pregnant pause in the room.
"What a fine mess," Laz Tem'Zul eventually sighed, his eyes turning to Tavza.
He wasn't the only one. Everyone's eyes were on her, expressions ranging from annoyance to bemusement. Furthermore, she'd bet her cultivation that Kator would be grinning ear to ear if the Reavers had expressions to gauge. Tavza took the looks in stride, knowing this day was coming since that little troublemaker had absconded.
"I ad...
2022-11-09 19:07:52 +0000 UTC
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The moment Zac infused his energy into the Tablet, a deep hum like the moving of tectonic plates filled his ears as a series of runes sprouted around him. A storm of Cosmic Energy gathered above, almost covering the whole compound. It raged and roiled, and it only got worse when Ogras activated his token. It was almost like the sky was trying to eat itself.
Zac hadn't expected such a scene from activating the token, and he shared a look with Ogras.
"See you on the other side." the...
2022-11-08 17:32:35 +0000 UTC
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A spiritual nudge dragged Zac out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see Vilari walk over.
"It's nice to see you again," Zac smiled, and he felt an odd yet comforting sensation as a consciousness wrapped itself around him in a spiritual embrace.
"Likewise," Vilari smiled, stopping in front of him. "I've missed home."
"Things have changed a lot since you left," Zac said. "The undead population has quintupled. Pika and her husband are working in the Atwood Academy, overseein...
2022-11-07 18:04:43 +0000 UTC
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"Why are we going here?" Carl asked, warily looking at Ogras.
"You're the one who said you had to speak with the Lord immediately," Ogras said with a roll of his eyes. "That your happiness depended on it. And this is where he went, apparently, leaving the boring stuff to me."
"But this place is trouble," Carl muttered. "I can sense it."
"What trouble," Ogras scoffed. "The Ruthless Heavens shrouds us, and we're stronger than any warriors on this planet."
"But h...
2022-11-04 18:14:55 +0000 UTC
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A/N: For those who didn't notice, yesterday's chappy had some details altered, and a v2 was posted. For those who can't be bothered to re-read, the explanation is repeated below.
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So, I kind of messed up the number of layers of the Trial. It was originally six (as described when Zac first received the trial), with one secret layer planned for when Zac entered.
I kind of forgot about the <...
2022-11-03 18:27:52 +0000 UTC
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A/N: This is not an accidental double-post. This is a re-post with significant enough changes to warrant a ping. An explanation at the end if you want to know the changes but don't want to scour through the chapter.
Also: Blood Force is now called Vigor.
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Zac continued through the Gate of Life like a bulldozer. As expected, the fourth trial was the realm of man. He was met with innumerable familiar fa...
2022-11-02 17:40:14 +0000 UTC
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A/N: November chappies, here we go! Thank you all for resubbing- and welcome new Patrons!
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Soon enough, Zac appeared in Rebirth City. Today, it was a sprawling settlement only dwarfed by Port Atwood and a few other cities on Earth. It was the de-facto capital of Ensolus even if Sandy, the second Stargazer recruited to administrate, and the Nexus Hub were still located over at Fort Atwood.
It was a natural consequence of its proximi...
2022-11-01 17:25:18 +0000 UTC
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A/N: As promised, an update on my schedule.
Editing and plotting days in November will be 10,11,14,15.
There will be no editing days in December. Instead, I'll take a Christmas break as usual, starting on December 23. Chapters start up again on Jan 9th.
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"Thought you'd want to stay to the very end, looting and pillaging," Zac commented.
"Things grew too dangerous. Had to sac...
2022-10-31 17:28:58 +0000 UTC
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