dragonheartednovels

[NR] What Happens When Lines Are Broken - Chapter 278

Still, this view into the System’s limits has little short-term value besides proving his path has a chance. Not a small thing, but not a certainty. It will take more testing to actually prove one way or another. Though if Jason was to be honest with himself, it wouldn’t be certain right until he tries it for real. After all, who knows how the System will react? All he can do for now is continue testing things out.

Which Jason does for the rest of the morning. In the end, he manages...

[Archived Short Story] Hidden Colors and His Eye

I first met Him on the way home. It was well after night had fallen, but not in some dark alley. In fact, it happened in a well lit convenience store. He was the only other person besides the cashier, so I decided to avoid Him. Apparently that just wasn’t in the cards though, as we both ended up in the fridge section.

I had been looking for something fresher to eat than a cup of noodles or some such. No clue why He ended up there, except maybe He had been targeting me from the start. ...

[D'sP] And He Wasn't Alone - Chapter 127

Finished with the randomness, Doyle turns his attention to creating his first boss. He doesn’t know what to do, but he has a clue. Mainly in the fact that it was displayed in place of his usual random monster choice. ‘[System, I would like to designate my kobold leader as a boss.]’

Of course, while this technically works, it isn’t that easy. Instead of the system doing it all for him, he gets a metaphorical kick to the mind that forces him to look somewhere within himself that D...

[D'sP] Just Let The Kobolds Do It - Chapter 126

Seeing this the much more expensive assassin vine starts to make ever more sense. Not that he plans to use them on this floor. That can come later. For now, he decides on a small wolf pack. Ten dungeon wolves for 500 points, five stone wolves to act as mounts for Her companions for 375, and five wind wolves priced at another 375 for a total of 1250 points.

At this point, though, Doyle really doesn’t feel the need to add more monsters. Though he does chuckle to himself when he realizes...

[NR] Testing the System's Response - Chapter 277

Jason would have had to worry about his bones as well if it wasn’t for his system granted skeletal system. Though he does make note that he should look into strengthening them, anyway. Especially since he plans to work on his strength during his coming journey.

However, that can wait for later. All the nearby scamps besides the first he had attacked are now either dead or in hiding. Along the path Jason had taken eight lay dead. There were a few that escaped and of course a bunch furt...

[NR] Balsa Bones - Chapter 276

Out of the well kept shed comes scampering a lizard. Smaller than your average dog, but larger than your average cat. The scales across most of the body are quite fine, but grow in size and roughness up across the back. On those larger scales, the lizard’s special color pattern is much easier to see. Overall, a muddy brown, but across the entire body random scales will be brightly colored.

The lizardkin smiles as the lizard buts its head against her leg. She bends down and strokes it ...

[D'sP] The Cost Of A Boss - Chapter 125

{Fifth floor dimensionally anchored

World Energy cap +3000 [Constitution(30) * 100]

Fifth floor spending limit set to 10500 [Previous floor’s limit(7800) + Intelligence(27) * 100]

First boss monster unlocked for use

Monster level cap updated

Quintessence debt paid back by 5}

Doyle nods, ‘Nothing out of the ordinary. Though it looks like the system replaced the new monster option with the boss monster unlock. Also, it doesn’t say that the boss was unlo...

[NR] I Love The Scamps, But Can You Kill A Few? - Chapter 275

Religious questions aside though, Jason had a new thing to do for the day. It wasn’t even lunch yet, and his plans to stay in and rest were down the hole. Instead, it would be a thrilling day of walking around and looking for plants and animals to observe. Though that did bring up the question of if pets would have been infiltrated by the System. Animals controlled by a Tamer or Summoner would likely be, if only because part of the skill there probably comes from the Systems manipulations. ...

[NR] There Are Natural Lines - Chapter 274

Next morning Jason wakes up and shakes his head. ‘I should look into the sleep option. The time ratio between NeoRealm and irl is nice, but doubling it would be better. Though I do wonder how it works. In fact, why haven’t I questioned it before?’

Then he stands up and ignores the question.

Out in the den, a decent breakfast of fried noodles and vegetables is being served up. Jason joins them, but the meal is silent. A comfortable silence as everyone has something to do this...

[D'sP] The Start Of Her Troubles - Chapter 124

As the group leaves the dungeon, Doyle is laughing. For the first time, his monsters provided a real challenge for the group. Sure, other times they would face difficulties. But this was the closest to death any of them had come except for Sammy, and her thing was a fluke. Though the question is why. He turns to Ally, ‘So what’s up with the wolves being so effective against them?’

Ally frowns, ‘That is a good question, and the system doesn’t seem to want to fill us in. It isn�...

[D'sP] That Hurt More Than Just Pride - Chapter 123

Ace claps his hands, “All that aside, we should probably go and check on whatever the first monsters will be on the floor. If it seems troublesome, we are out of here. No questions asked.”

Jack rolls his eyes but stays quiet. No one else wanting to speak up the group goes down the stairs. The portal to the next floor is right where they expected it, so they all head on through.

After they familiarize themselves with the entrance room Ruby frowns. “I don’t see any dirt or p...

[NR] Show Me The Status! - Chapter 273

Gregor shrugs, “Anyway, this is just the System rewarding you for the quest and providing you an incentive to follow through on the dungeon once you are there.”

Jason raises an eyebrow, “So what I’m reading into this is there is some kind of catch to the dungeon?”

Gregor chuckles, “Why yes, yes, there is a catch. I’m not going to tell you what it is of course. That would ruin the fun.”

Jason rolls his eyes, “So I noticed that while I have the tougher side o...

[NR] It's Been A While - Chapter 272

Jason frowns, “Wait a second. If they can’t tell the level of other monsters, how do they know when one is about to hit the fourth bottleneck?”

Gregor rolls his eyes, “The same way they will be figuring out that you are at the same level of power. The fourth break might not be as big a jump in power as the third, but there is certainly a ramp up in power there. While a fourth break monster might not be able to rule the area by itself, they could take control with even a moderate...

[D'sP] Oh Look, More Loot - Chapter 122

Ace sighs, “The only problem with magical mining is the fact that it doubles the difficulty of advancing. Not only do you need to train the mining skill, but your magical skill as well. Though that is for the future. Right now I would really like to learn how many ore deposits there actually are and maybe find out if there is a new floor. With a death the possibility is there.”

The others agree with him and the group moves on. Up and down stairs, back and forth as they stumble into ...

[NR] Name It With A Portmanteau! - Chapter 271

Jason nods, “So what are we going to be facing at the end of this journey? Of course a dungeon, but any specifics you want to share?”

Gregor shrugs, “You wanted a bunch of things. None of them are hard on their own, but together it limits us a little. You wanted the monsters to be susceptible to sneak attacks, yet not intelligent. A little hard as the easiest things to target, especially at the level of skill shown by Rosha, will be humanoid in form. After all, you know your own w...

[NR] Magic Map Functionality - Chapter 270

Gregor laughs, “I’m glad you have a good head on your shoulders. Way too many travellers seem to think that the trip to 25 is still the early levels. Even with the whole not dying thing you have going on a decent number of you guys can’t manage to beat a true dungeon. Level 25 is a watershed moment for dungeon bosses.”

Jason nods, “So, I’m sure at least Courtney knows what you mean. I however am a bit in the dark.”

Gregor shrugs, “To end up as a true dunge...

[D'sP] A Goat Drops Some Loot - Chapter 121

Ace nods, “Being reckless at this point is stupid. I don’t think we are even at the point of being above pre-system human potential. Maybe as a whole our stats are better than possible, but no one stat is beyond what an Olympic athlete or some such would be capable of. Mind you, that still puts those in our settlement, especially us founders, at the edge of magic-less human potential, but that’s life now.”

“Now they didn’t go any further than this. With good reason, mind you...

[D'sP] 11 Coppers - Chapter 120

Doyle laughs, ‘Even if for every hundred points of world energy I use on it, I save only a single point that is still better than nothing. It would also give me something to do with the excess regen when my pool is full.’

Ally shakes her head, ‘Yeah, don’t do that. Either spend it on expanding your territory like you’ve been doing or let it dissipate. While the sudden glut of power you get from something like a person, dying will vanish before it can do any good, the excess fr...

[NR] How About Monsters We Are Strong Against - Chapter 269

After dinner, Gregor tells the group to stay in the den. “I have a map, but it is currently in my library. As Jason learned earlier today, there is not much space in there at all. Just stick tight and I will bring it out here so I can show you what is up.”

It takes him a minute, but soon enough Gregor is back with a large sheet of vellum and spreads it out. As soon as the sheet is flat, the markings on the surface come to life and a shockingly accurate looking map is projected just ...

[NR] Split The Party? - Chapter 268

Sure, the fact that his lines aren’t one solid structure and instead string makes the metaphor a little strained. All that matters though is if it makes sense to Jason. Plus, it isn’t like you can’t braid the roots of a cultivated plant. But what makes up the outer wall? It can’t be Qi because that would turn the Energy into Qi at the far ends.

Jason focuses on the raging river of Energy his core connects to and attempts to view where it goes from liquid to thread. A difficult t...

[D'sP] Jamie Takes It Hard - Chapter 119

The spear dude and the other martial arts guy both stood there stunned that someone in the group had actually died. The lady is taking it better as she had a more realistic view of their abilities from the outset. But it is Mr. Stansible who is taking it the best. While it had changed in his later years, for the first decade of his time as a judge, the death penalty was still very much a thing. He might have never needed to judge such a case, but he had been ready for it. Seeing one of his ow...

[NR] Unexpected Ease - Chapter 267

Of course, the author of the notes didn’t just leave things at that. It is just the needed part to make the information all come together was of course in a different location than what it went with. The author’s method of growing his Energy was treating the process like digging a ditch off of a river. The more that was dug out the more would come through. What is important about that isn’t the actual visualization, but rather the fact that a visualization worked. You have to find somet...

[NR] The Notes - Chapter 266

The third example in the book covers an area the size of a town and requires a moderately sized Energy font. It has an effect that is both the simplest and yet at the same time most useful for the people able to afford these things. All the ritual does is keep track of when sapients enter and leave the area it covers.

What raises this above similar things is how encompassing it is. Doesn’t matter if someone walks in, sneaks in, or teleports in. The ritual can detect the intrusion. Eve...

[D'sP] Well That Happened - Chapter 118

Mr. Stansible stashes the potion away, “Now let us continue on our way. The next floor is where we might actually start finding new stuff. Though I guess technically this potion thing might be new as well.”

Everyone else in the party is fine with this, and they head through the portal. On the other side Jamie frowns, “I can feel some kobold minds above and in front of us and right below us is a collection of minds that nearly aren’t. It isn’t like the mind of a young animal or...

[D'sP] Potion Observation - Chapter 117

The visiting delvers stand on the wooden platform just inside of the second floor’s forest room. Mr. Stansible stares long and hard at the plateau across the way before sighing. “While it would be nice to get up there for the herbs that isn’t in the cards today. Plus, we don’t have any method of getting through the cliff. Weird as it sounds they weren’t lying when they told me the cliff won’t let anyone climb all the way with their stamina. We would need something like a stamina r...

[NR] Not Feng Shui - Chapter 265

After a little more back and forth with Gregor, Jason heads back to his room to read the book, Insights into the TriPower Crafting Methods. Not just the section on Energy though, but rather he plans to skim over the first two parts as well. If only to get a feel for how the author likes to write down his knowledge.

Though right from the introduction, things get interesting. “To any who may be silly enough to read this book. Know well that I don’t actually bother with using ...

[NR] Tiny Library - Chapter 264

Gregor shrugs, “You might be right. It would make some sense if the System couldn’t. If only because I doubt there would be so many examples in history of someone who goes against the System,”

Jason shakes his head, “Past examples, especially if they all come from before travellers started to pop up, aren’t exactly things you can go off of. Our appearance is basically the start of a new age for the System with how much it pays attention to us. Things that the System might have...

[D'sP] Having Jamie Along Is Practically Cheating - Chapter 116

Mr. Stansible stands toward the back of the group as one of the two ladies is field stripping a goat with her kukri. The rest of the goats in the room start to fade away, but the one being worked on sticks around until she has finished with the current cut of meat. She packs the meat into a container. Mr. Stansible nods, “So what is your opinion on the drops?”

The lady stands up and stretches before answering him. “The monsters can of course drop things that aren’t available nor...

[NR] Realization Crystallization - Chapter 263

“In fact!”, Jason laughs, “In fact, the fact so few things use Energy is proof that the System actively works against it. Of course, the System can’t tell people not to use it. Otherwise everyone and their uncle would give Energy a try.”

“Anyway, through that purity I have observed my body as a void. Unless something is actively trying to view inside my body, there isn’t anything except the threads. The thing is, I don’t just believe this about my body, but rather all tr...

[NR] Secret Of The Magnifying Glass - Chapter 262

Gregor shakes his head, “Back to the void, I guess. You have a messed up cultivation method.”

Jason laughs, “I guess we get to use the special magnifying glass.”

Gregor laughs with him but then shakes his head, “That’s actually a regular magnifying glass. It’s just that anytime someone gets to see all my tools laid out, they assume it is something special, so I’ve started to go along with it. Still, I’ve seen enough with the last one to say I can’t really see a...