A/N: Hey guys, seriously panicking right now. I just realised the month is almost over, and yet we are nowhere near where I wanted to be by this time. I'm hesitant to just up the pace again as I still haven't written the final chapters, so it might hurt my back log. But there is a chapter I wanted to be out before this month is out. It's a make or break chapter for the story, so I wanted it out of the way early, but damn, it will take some more time. Me thinks th...
2025-07-21 15:13:45 +0000 UTC
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Rafe's mind raced. His formerly unresponsive mind raced as he considered the implications. His mother was alive. She was in a position of power in perhaps the strongest organisation on Earth currently.
He was getting an invitation to some kind of auction. Maybe it was a way for him to return to Earth?
This will be a virtual auction attended by only individuals with enough tutorial points or credits. Note that individuals, not organisations, are being invited, though ...
2025-07-19 15:47:08 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Allow me to apologise. This chapter was misscheduled. It was supposed to come out yesterday, but I noticed well close to morning hours I'd made a mistake. Well we'll just push Friday's chapter to Saturday or Sunday I guess. Enjoy.
Of course Barbara's clothing had to be addressed as well, which was why Thea had brought the new power suit. It was a staple of official authority even before the system, and it would contin...
2025-07-18 15:30:32 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Not my best work, but oh well. Anyway, I've had a terrible one and a half weeks, but as of today, I'm happy to proclaim everything is settled. I'm hoping to get back into the writing starting right now. I have less than two weeks to finish drafting the end game for this arc. And now that I've taken a whole one week of break time, I might even write a bit of volume three before going on hiatus, and I will probably share it with you guys. Wish me luc...
2025-07-16 16:13:42 +0000 UTC
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A month after the apocalypse came to Earth, Thea found herself walking next to the half robot man. His second eye became inorganic eventually, and she discovered his whole skeleton became metallic also, even though his skin in some parts seemed normal. Apparently he had a constitution stat since he was a rare ranked tank soon to be epic, but said stat was not basic like all her stats.
She wondered what that information meant, his constitution stat not being basic?
For example she ...
2025-07-15 15:28:38 +0000 UTC
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A/N: So I might just change Patreon to five chapters a week from now on. Maybe the added pressure will force me to write faster. Although RR will continue to be four chapters for now. Anyway, Monday to Friday chapters at least for the foreseeable future.
Rafael did not appear for training. He was always on time before, but almost an hour later on this particular day, he was nowhere to be seen. Helare kept shooting glances towards his rest area, ...
2025-07-14 15:00:16 +0000 UTC
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A/N: I know some people have complained about these kinds of chapters being like filler, and I agree to a certain extent. Which is why I had planned not to use this and two others. Unfortunately, I had a terrible week in which I didn't write a single thing. I'm still hoping to finish drafting this volume this month, but I wasted a whole week. And ...
2025-07-13 15:11:03 +0000 UTC
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She tried to keep herself positive, Filoria did, but deep down she had known there was a chance. Could she truly land a hit even on a somewhat weakened Collab?
A few questions to Hestus had had the gnomish merchant confessing he'd skimped on the stat dampeners. Rafael had known this, and he'd apparently encouraged Hestus in his thievery. These dampeners reduced an E grade's stats by half. Half the stats of a peak E grade did not equal to the stats of a peak F grade. Not even close...
2025-07-11 15:09:04 +0000 UTC
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Filoria had not felt so happy after Rafael's ominous words. She couldn't tell why she thought those words were ominous. Her and Helare might have their differences, but this was surely not one of them.
The boy was planning something. Something that would leave them both devastated.
She needed to tell someone. She needed to tell Helare.
But Helare seemed to know too. When the princess sparred with the boy that evening, their interaction was more subdued than it ha...
2025-07-09 14:44:49 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday (new schedule).
After his impressive fights with Collab, the boy always went to train with Helare. For some reason, those moments caused a pang in Filoria's heart. She had come to the compound hoping she'd get the chance to fight the boy again and show everyone he'd just been lucky with their last match. He'd avoided her so far.
And at some point, she had started to think it wasn't fair. He for...
2025-07-07 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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It was the labour of more than two days before he was ready to start consuming his first soul nurturing treasure.
Name: Divine ray seed (common, F grade)
Apparently, the sunflower seed like natural treasures were called Divine ray seeds, and he had to take a few handfuls of them at once. They had a neutral energy that was similar to the composition of soul cores. These natural treasures were overflowing with soul energy.
These kinds of natural treasures prod...
2025-07-05 15:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Maybe it was a lucky thing Helare had told him about the cores at everyone's being when she had. Because soul cultivation was all about improving the core. Once one was able to sense it of course.
It was more involved than that. There was an escalating difficulty that had to do with exercising the whole schema and feeding it but that was only possible when the schema became visible. Most people couldn't cultivate souls as early as Rafe because they were not able to sense their souls.&nb...
2025-07-04 15:00:09 +0000 UTC
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It was two days later when Helare finally got to continue the lesson on veils for him. The one she'd started almost two weeks ago by then. It was just just in time too, because Rafe had only a few days left on Primus, by his reckoning.
“To recap, veils were once part of auras, and they are something new. Something introduced by the coming of the system to the multiverse,” she explained.
Rafe nodded along, already aware of this particular information.
“There are more th...
2025-07-03 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Before he sparred with Helare, he had his first semi-real bout with Collab. Collab was using his sword, and Rafe was using his hands. The only way Rafe knew how to train someone was how both Liam and Noid had approached his early training.
He'd probably need new training methods of his own soon, but for someone who never went through training with Skyholm this method would work. No techniques, minimal stats, minimal skills. It was just the basics, building up foundations.
He'd had...
2025-07-02 15:00:11 +0000 UTC
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A/N: I will be taking a break once this volume is complete, hopefully next month, so this should serve as an early hiatus notice. To that end, I'm going to be increasing the frequency of chapter releases. Will do five this week starting today because I'm doing a bonus chapter on RR. Then maybe we will go four a week but that is very likely to increase as I finish writing the last few chapters of this volume (don't yet know how many more chapters are left...
2025-07-01 15:00:16 +0000 UTC
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Helare came back before the training that afternoon. Well, afternoon was relative. This was a land of perpetual day. Although there was no sun in the sky, it was always light out, except when it was cloudy.
After Helare left, Rafe checked to make sure there was no one watching, then he opened his inventory screen again. He took something out, used his status display skill to study it. He shook his head, knowing it would work for her.
Then he worked. He only had a few hours. He wor...
2025-06-29 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“To understand it, you must start with aura. Or aura skills, as the system now classifies them,” Helare said.
Her subtly expressed vitriol for the system had yet to subside. It made sense. Rafe was unsure about the system too these days. It appeared to be on his side, but was it really?
How stranding him on this broken world could be considered being on his side, Rafe had no idea. He had no idea what the system wanted from him.
Rafe nodded for Helare to go with the lesso...
2025-06-27 15:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Helare came to him once she finished her work for the day. She looked to be in some sort of rush.
“You'll be training with Collab today, won't you?” she asked.
Rafe blinked at her. “Yes…” he answered, not quite able to hide his questioning intent.
“Great. More competition for your limited attention,” Helare muttered. A private thought that had escaped. And she hadn't noticed. Rafe decided he wouldn't be the one to inform her.
“You're going to be trainin...
2025-06-25 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“Are you planning to give it to me as a gift?” Helare asked.
“Huh? As a gift?” Rafe asked in turn.
“It is a special item,” the princess clarified.
“And it might be expensive,” Rafe told her. “Expensive enough to compensate the losses you've suffered because of me destroying a whole shipment of products, and messing with the mine.”
Helare glared, but Rafe had the feeling the scary expression wasn't aimed at him.
“Hestus! That little —”
2025-06-23 15:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Rafe didn't know how long he had been out, but he was sure the room should not be as big as it appeared.
With his vision swimming and hazy, he figured maybe he wasn't as back to it as he'd thought. Until he started hearing things. Like the rhythmic breathing of someone sleeping.
It was physically impossible for two people to sleep comfortably in his little tent together. He had even made sure there was no bed there. This comfort he was feeling was definitely strange.
Maybe h...
2025-06-21 15:00:06 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Well, we are deep in the fun and games act now. Just wanted to say, enjoy these low stakes chapters for a bit. We are very close to the midpoint of this volume and thus, fair warning, there might be some misery porn in the near future. Enjoy the fun while it lasts. Cheers.
Rafe could suddenly feel everything. The concentration potion was no longer in his system. And he could feel his soul and body burning.
And there was the strange way essence was flowi...
2025-06-19 15:00:09 +0000 UTC
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New insights detected.
Insight Into Spatial rends (beginner).
That was…typical. Typically annoying. It was also to be expected, everything considered.
Your insight into Spatial rends has grown…
Insight into Spatial rends.
(beginner>>Intermediate)
Your insight into spatial rends has been judged to be at the elite tier.
Rafe blinked at the notifications....
2025-06-17 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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A/N: And we are at one hundred. I want to thank you guys for supporting me. Without you, I wouldn't have made it this far into this journey. Enjoy.
“...what?” Rafe couldn't help but ask.
The system didn't track tr...
2025-06-15 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Rafe hit the red-hot metal. Again. He hit it, trying to temper it, to shape it to his liking.
Insights. He had had them within his soul for weeks. He had seen them growing, but he hadn't yet allowed himself to feel them, to use them.
First, an insight into sharpness. He had decided three would be enough for his initial step into conceptualisation.
Sharpness was the first insight he'd chosen. He wondered if it was a problem that he knew exactly what he wanted. From what he un...
2025-06-13 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Helare could not believe she had needed an excuse to see Rafael. She did not want to appear desperate. But was she? Was she desperate to see him?
He was too busy the day after the fight. She could see the clatter around him. Of moulds and tools and half finished things of metal. And he looked tired. She could see it in the few sloppy products he made at times. And the area around him was uncomfortable, being as it was too hot for her blue blood. It was like he was working on three...
2025-06-11 16:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Rafe swished to the left, narrowly avoiding a vertical slash that would have bisected a lesser warrior. The struggle was almost real in these instances. She had somehow improved over tens of minutes of Rafe dancing around her.
His stamina was flagging.
One of his disadvantages when compared to higher leveled warriors was the resources. Normally, his low stats did not matter in a fight. When you considered that he had less innate healing via his health pool though. And less s...
2025-06-09 16:00:09 +0000 UTC
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A spar with the girl who'd almost killed him once? Rafe decided it was as good a time as any to have a bit of revenge.
Of course one thing Rafe was determined to do was not show off just how skilled he was. He couldn't expose any more of his techniques. He couldn't blatantly show any combat skills.
He tightened his hold on his aura skill. Hestus suspected him, but no one else had felt the full extent of his aura. It was imperative he keep it that way.
He wondered what ...
2025-06-07 15:00:06 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Hey everyone. I just wanted to inform y'all that an idea I've been playing around with crystallized today. There is every chance I'ma be writing it soon. It's going to be a comedy. I just need to build up my backlog on my main story. The Wandering Sword will probably take me years to finish, so a shorter project will do me good. I don't plan to start drafting until next month at the earliest, as I find it better to give the story time to grow in my head and ...
2025-06-05 15:00:13 +0000 UTC
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When next Rafe woke up, he was a Burned blacksmith. Just one of millions of metalworkers the leadership had requisitioned to work on thousands of secret projects.
It turned out the last stand of the Earth Elemenoids had saved them. The Earth users had sent their golem, which Rafe believed had had an aura approaching the peak of the D grade, to the Ma’la kingdom. It had been an unstoppable force.
That was when the Burned had realised the Ma'la hadn't been exhausted as they had th...
2025-06-03 15:00:12 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Tired of this set up act. Let's just jump into fun and games. Warning that there might be some romance-y subplots, but definitely no harem in case you think I could betray you like that. Just believe I have a plan for the plot developments that are going to occur in the next few chapters. Thank you for reading.
A man sat at a round table. He was one of thirty people, dressed in large billowing cloaks and favouring large white beards and white hair. And their faces w...
2025-05-31 15:52:08 +0000 UTC
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