A certain temple
The manifestation of the flower eliminates my eye, half my brain, and a fair portion of my skull, but I’ve survived worse. Without a mind, I have a soul; without a soul, I have a mind. Until my enemy slaughters both, I’ll live.
And I refuse to let him do that. I haven’t survived this long to go down to a nobody.
“Do you have a name?” I ask, ripping myself from the flowers once more. They haven’t stopped moving, a...
2023-07-19 10:33:41 +0000 UTC
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We stand there for a brief, awkward handful of seconds. Sierra already has her staff in hand. Adrian reacts slower, but he summons the water again.
I have Wraithfire at the tip of my fingers, but I can tell what the item Kirin is holding is. I don’t even need Appraise to identify the bomb, but I use it anyway.
Saturation Bomb
Category: 3
Tier: Gold
Tier increased wi...
2023-07-19 01:50:28 +0000 UTC
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No revelation comes to me over the following few days. No matter how much I try to force my way through the threads, I can’t force the system to show me more. My amalgam remains frustratingly lesser; the excision is keenly felt.
We’ve settle into a routine—Adrian transports us, then me, then Sierra, and then we walk. There’s not much to see around here, unfortunately. The Wastelands are, well, wastelands, and that’s before considering the damages Sersui has inflicted upon them...
2023-07-17 09:48:59 +0000 UTC
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Now that I don’t have a squishy human to keep alive, I can explore the paths offered to me to my heart’s content. There is power beyond anything I can currently access here; the three properly-formed Titan paths that my previous venture offered me are proof enough of that.
This is, I realize, the first time I’ve been alone in my nullspace.
And I am alone. Thanks to the sudden surge of Titan energy alongside Sierra’s plight last time, I didn’t even realize, but R...
2023-07-16 08:53:40 +0000 UTC
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Adrian can only manage to keep his skills up for a couple of hours, even with rest. Missing a soul is apparently even more of a detriment than I thought it was. We trace our way through the remnants of the Wastelands, alternating between Adrian’s Hydrokinesis skill, my Bloodpath, and walking to navigate.
Though Adrian doesn’t have the Tsunami special skill to work with, it turns out that he can use his water control...
2023-07-11 09:09:53 +0000 UTC
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Adrian sucks in a deep breath, and Sierra follows suit.
The Titan’s pressure got to them, but it barely affected me. My pressure nearly crushed them.
I’ve been unlike any human since the day I was born. I know that. There has never been a point where the race section on my status has displayed anything other than ???. Still, I was growing used to being one of them. Hiding EV3’s face with Evelyn’s became so necessary to survival that I have come to accept the latte...
2023-07-10 08:23:26 +0000 UTC
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“Proto-Titan,” I say, trying the word out on my tongue. “That’s what Rin called the baby one.”
“The system is saying you could become a Titan,” Sierra says. She sounds partway between horrified and intrigued. I don’t know which one I should be feeling.
I frown. The new class is incredibly sparse on details. It doesn’t tell me any stat bonuses, nor does it explain any skills. It’s at level ten already, too—by the time I got my primary class that high, I had at...
2023-07-07 08:19:50 +0000 UTC
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The Wastelands, 13:15:14
Equalize works beyond my wildest dreams.
Equalize (Legendary)
Tier: Tourmaline
To move the immovable, you will become unstoppable.
This skill’s duration is inversely proportional to the power you obtain. Equalize’s cooldown is directly proportional to the power you obtain.
Magic floods me. I thought I knew what...
2023-07-03 09:01:21 +0000 UTC
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PT-31
[Clearance class 2 required to view. Your clearance class is: 4.]
Alternate Designations: Inome, the Proto-Titan of Time
Category: 5
Alignment: Titan
Containment Status: Irrelevant
Description: PT-31 was designated Inome, the Proto-Titan of Time. Due to the artificial nature of Proto-Titans as well as the relatively low power cap of t...
2023-07-02 11:20:44 +0000 UTC
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Hi! This isn't the book you signed up to read, but I'm really excited to announce its release!
Also: due to an unfortunate series of bad ratings on release, the book's overall rating is quite low, hurting its visibility in the eyes of the almighty algorithm, so I'd like to make a special request--if you could give the book a rating, that would be fantastic. You don't need to buy it to do so, but if it sounds interesting, you can always download it on KU for free or get ...
2023-07-01 06:48:20 +0000 UTC
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There are far too many moving parts in this battle, and I suspect that I’m far from seeing the last of it.
Despite its sudden shift, the Titan—Proto-Titan, according to Rin—cannot reposition as fast as she apparently can.
“Rin,” I say neutrally, remaining calm for lack of a better emotion to take on. “You followed me.”
“I did not,” she replies, her face twisting. “I followed the fucking Titan signature.”
I look at her carefully. I expect to feel r...
2023-06-30 09:50:34 +0000 UTC
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Power infuses my body, but I can already tell that this is not a fight I can win through overwhelming firepower. My attributes are far higher than they have any right to be, and ascending to Category 1 has done nothing but enhance every aspect of myself, but I face down a being infused with the power of the Titans. Even if it is merely a mockery fueled by ritual sacrifice, the raw power of the strongest beings to walk this planet is something that nobody can ignore. Not even me.
2023-06-29 10:39:50 +0000 UTC
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An Unnamed Anomalous Fragment
Rin does not know how long it has been since she entered here. Hours, certainly. Sy’s ghost keeps her company, his bound soul speaking to her through his phylactery, but she can tell that the mere act of communication strains him. Until his body is restored—a process which could take months, given their status at the UCC—she will have to feed him mana just to keep some fragment of him conscious. She can’t guarantee it’ll ...
2023-06-26 10:14:17 +0000 UTC
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My decision feels like a mistake before the item is even finished activating, but I know it is what I have to do.
As I am right now, I can’t kill the incoming bastardization of a monster. Hells, I don’t know the first thing about this new, nascent Titan, but I know one thing.
In comparison to a true Titan, the thing that just broke the anomalous fragment we were in is nothing.
Sersui is hundreds of miles away. The Titan Caller in my hands gives me an impression of just w...
2023-06-22 10:23:27 +0000 UTC
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The first word that comes my mind is fuck.
The second, mysteriously, is incomplete, and I’m left scrambling to figure out why as the impression fades.
A single moment seems to stretch out into infinity as reality shatters and the endless emptiness of the void encroaches on our slice of reality, granting me more time than I would ever want to stare into the face of my death.
It hurts to look at, but the Titan’s visage draws my eye and holds it, trapping ...
2023-06-21 10:14:56 +0000 UTC
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“I still don’t like this,” Zil says. “She could backstab you at any moment.”
“And I’d kill her. I’m not finding a compelling reason to care,” I reply. “Hurry up.”
Ashley remains silent.
Though it cost my Soulshard Rifle a handful of charges to break Zil out of his cage, he apparently has enough knowledge from his Halcyon days to unlock Ashley’s cell. It took some convincing for him.
Honestly, I’m not entirely convinced myself for entirely diff...
2023-06-19 00:48:39 +0000 UTC
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Anomalous Fragment 010-WHITESTAR (alias “Imprisonment Area — Grey”)
Azaril Halcyon watches his cousin from the wrong side of a containment cell and sighs.
"Arthur,” he says impassively. “You look sick.”
He doesn’t, of course, but Arthur’s always reacted harshly to having his appearance insulted.
This time, he barely budges. Zil raises an eyebrow.
“I have little time for your games,” Arthur says.
“What are you here for,...
2023-06-17 01:27:53 +0000 UTC
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???
Adrian wakes to the uncomfortably familiar sensation of being buried alive. For a minute that stretches on far too long, memories flash through his mind.
“Help me,” Jasmine screams out, reaching for her lover’s hand. Adrian reaches back, and they clasp hands just as the rest of the building collapses on them.
The only part of her the search and rescue team finds is her hand, still cupped in Adrian’s.
“Help me!” a l...
2023-06-13 09:25:18 +0000 UTC
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Anomalous Fragment 001-CALLEN
“Run the data back,” Specialist Alexander Callen says, snapping his fingers.
The air hisses at him.
“Hurry,” he snaps, glaring at the wall. He flicks an index finger, and the entire wall shudders as he Realigns its insides. He’s been told it’s quite a painful process.
Not that the demon held within can voice its displeasure. Once he acts, it will be subdued until Alexander gives it another orde...
2023-06-11 05:24:38 +0000 UTC
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Sudden changes of scenery have become commonplace recently, but this one is more offputting than the rest. The lurching sensation that teleportation gives doesn’t let up as we enter, and I quickly realize that’s because we’re still moving.
Not that you’d think that if you just saw where we are. Claustrophobic wooden walls surround us on all sides, the surface a wild mixture of wood types that seem to meld in and out of each other with no sense of reason or rhyme.
Beyond th...
2023-06-09 09:19:26 +0000 UTC
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An Unnamed Anomalous Fragment
Rin emerges into the fragment clutching her chest, gasping for breath. She can still feel the demonic corruption seeping into her skin, the way the divine light seared her from the inside out as her blood rebelled against itself. Even with all her protections, her blood boiled and her skin burned.
She is high Category 1, on the edge of breaching Category 2. Sy’s midway into Category 2. Before that—that monster tore her ap...
2023-06-07 09:42:21 +0000 UTC
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By placing all of my unspent stat points into my Magic (Power) attribute, I increase it from an already-powerful 58 to 94, easily my highest stat.
This place has the limit of Category 2, I know. That means that I am against people with classes that have the potential to be up to level 299, which theoretically vastly outclasses me as I am right now.
But if they had one of those, they would only need to send one person.
I may only be Category 0, but at level 5...
2023-06-06 07:50:30 +0000 UTC
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Teleportation doesn’t work the same way across every skill or ritual, I’m quickly realizing. The ride into the Wastelands is as instantaneous as the other teleportations I’ve experienced, but it’s a lot rougher, as if my insides have been scrambled, taken apart, and put back together in the span of a microsecond.
The other three stumble as they appear, but I manage to keep myself steady.
My attributes are ridiculously high now, and slightly lopsided at that. My Min...
2023-06-03 07:52:44 +0000 UTC
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“I’m impressed,” I say. “The kingdom of Tsubera already set standards low, but this is truly desolate.”
“In fairness,” Sierra replies, “The Whitestar Kingdom is not exactly known for their wealth, and the Wastelands in particular are generally regarded in the same manner as an exclusion zone. It stands to reason that the towns leading to it are in similarly poor shape.”
“Exclusion zone?”
“Means ‘stay-the-fuck-out,’ usually,” Adrian supplies.
...
2023-06-01 07:47:49 +0000 UTC
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“And I’m a fucking Cat 5,” Adrian says. “That’s bullshit.”
Zil shrugs. “You can doubt me, boy, but that’ll go away right quick when you see what they’re doing.”
“I still don’t—“
“Hey,” I tell Adrian. “We’re not exactly alone on this train, so let’s table that, yeah? You’re going to spend the next however many hours complaining about how you can’t trust Zil. Sure. I’ll kill him if he steps out of line.”
I don’t even need <...
2023-05-31 07:31:12 +0000 UTC
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Adrian draws his sword, his low-level Warrior class still enabling him to quickly unleash his blade despite the general lack of skills it must have.
The voice, still at a distance where I can associate with an owner, just laughs. “Come on, Adrian boy. You know you can’t hurt me with that toy.”
“Fuck off, Zil,” the Warrior spits. “Evelyn, be ready to drop it.”
The laugh repeats, louder this time, and Adrian backs up a step, still gripping his sword so t...
2023-05-30 02:43:04 +0000 UTC
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Cloaking sucks. I know it’s not real cloaking, and both Adrian and Sierra have thoroughly expounded on how much this is supposed to be irritating, but it’s incredibly counterintuitive. Though the train is largely empty, there’s still a few people alongside the conductor and whoever else is necessary to keep it going.
None of us know how to drive a train, so the option of killing everyone else is out. Plus, Sierra and Adrian told me that slaughtering innocents is “wrong” and th...
2023-05-27 09:56:24 +0000 UTC
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All attributes increased by 31.
You have gained 93 stat points.
General Affinity advanced to level 3!
All skills vastly enhanced. List abridged for brevity.
Special skill Carnelian Domain advanced to Silver!
Bronze tier skills have been elevated to level 25 Silver tier.
Silver tier skills have been elevated to Gold.
Gold tier ...
2023-05-26 08:16:28 +0000 UTC
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Hidden Objective: Giantkiller [COMPLETE]
You have killed a being that is more than 100 levels higher than you.
Reward: Trait enhanced - Relentless
Now applies in situations where your opponent’s Category outclasses yours.
Hidden Objective: Early Domain [COMPLETE]
Despite only being Category 0, you have managed to summon a domain without annihilatin...
2023-05-23 08:22:06 +0000 UTC
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The hidden objective I received didn’t grant me anything. Nothing I can track, at least. Maybe it’s part of a larger objective that I don’t have access to yet. Something that my divine passenger can detect, maybe?
It irritates me, but the power of the Unique skill I’ve just received more than makes up for it.
One of a kind, huh? The thought amuses me, honestly.
“Something funny?” Adrian asks.
I look at him, tilting my head. Just a week ago, he defi...
2023-05-21 09:41:10 +0000 UTC
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