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HS Chapter 30:

//extra chapter day

Chapter 30:

Alice was not sure how to process the turbulent set of emotions and thoughts swirling through her mind. There was too much in flux, too much confusion, too many things that had just been thrown at her out of the blue for her to really feel like she had her feet underneath her. And now, as this woman revealed herself and ran into Titus, Alice was even less sure.

The stranger hugged him while he stood there awkwardly, his arms outstretched, a sp...

EV B2 Chapter 7:

EV B2 Chapter 7:

As I walked, I thought. Getting my old team back together didn't seem possible, which meant I would need at least some kind of new party. Helga and Jonas were apparently still together, so I started heading in their direction. The locator indicated they were in the same general area, and Amelia gave me similar directions when I thought of them. Astrid, though, was in the opposite direction.

It only took me a few hours to find Helga and Jonas, but when I...

HS Chapter 29:

Chapter 29:

Titus looked up into Alice's face and struggled to read her emotions. There was predominantly confusion, but under that, there was a certain amount of anger and betrayal, a hurt look in her eyes as if he had wronged her. Titus supposed maybe he had. But beneath it all, in the set of her shoulders, in the way she hunched, he could tell that above everything, she was afraid.

She had done an astounding job at hiding it for the last couple of days. But this seemed to have ...

HS Chapter 28:

Chapter 28:

Titus looked down at Alice where she sat in the center of her ritual circle. The weird glowing lights from the lines she had drawn on the ground unnerved him slightly. It was something he had never seen before. Not in his very long life. And, well, it was only one of many things that had changed recently, but he was starting to get a little concerned.

Was she going to answer him, he wondered? Speaking a fourth time didn't seem like it would get her attent...

EV B2 Chapter 6:

EV B2 Chapter 6:

 I managed to weasel out of kneecapping Phil the Gnome's competitor by the time I left the shop with a locator amulet in hand. Somehow, I managed to end up in the exact situation I was planning on avoiding by coming to Phil the Gnomes. I now owed a minor favor, backed by Loki. It was... not ideal, but I didn't really see any other real option. It wasn't a large favor, and I held onto hope that I could pay it back in cash, even with interest. But that didn't seem li...

EV B2 Chapter 5:

B2 Chapter 5:

It only took a few minutes for me to understand what I was doing wrong. Immediately after receiving my minimal reward of a single coin, I went over to the nearest tavern and got a drink. Not because I really needed to spend the money the second I found it, but rather because I wanted to listen in. Apparently, the nearest tavern was obviously the most logical place to go, as many of the people there were coming directly from the challenge with their team. The turnover was r...

HS Chapter 27:

Chapter 27:

Congratulations. You are the first warlock in the history of the system. We wish you and your Bondholder a long and fruitful relationship. Close communication between Pact Bonds is essential for the success of this class. Please perform the [Communion] ritual at your earliest convenience.

Alice read the message and looked around. She felt a connection with something, a sensation and emotions at the back of her mind that she couldn't decipher. It wasn't...

HS Chapter 26:

Chapter 26:

Alice was so surprised that she let out an involuntary cry of triumph. She'd done it. She'd broken through. She had understood something about herself. She wasn't exactly sure what she'd done, but it seemed like a big deal, getting an upgrade and a class to boot. She was going to be useful, powerful, strong. And she was only the third person in the world to do it.

Titus and then one of the other 18 had beaten her to it. Presumably, if it had been possible in t...

HS Chapter 25:

Chapter 25:

At Alice's feet, Titus remained disturbingly still. She shook him but didn't take her eyes off the dead kraken that was tilting their boat dangerously. He didn't respond. She looked down and saw his eyes were closed, but even as she pressed her fingers to his throat, she knew he was fine. He had a pulse, and his body was burning bright, but black veins were tracing from the wound in his foot. The fucking thing was poisonous.

Alice looked around and found the satchel th...

HS Chapter 24:

Chapter 24:

In a blind panic, Alice fired a mana bolt directly at the creature's beak. The shimmering haze of magic glanced off its black carapace mouth. Though it didn't break the shell as she had hoped, it wasn't entirely ineffective. The bolt continued forward, striking the main body of the baby Kraken and sizzling its rubbery flesh.

Titus put aside his ax and stabbed with his new enchanted pilum. He had rushed up to the monster and stabbed at the webbing between its long, tent...

HS Chapter 23:

Chapter 23:

After that exchange, the conversation dried up, leaving Alice and Titus to their own devices. After a few minutes underway, Alice got up and wandered around the ship. Or was it a boat? She didn't know the right terminology, but luckily, there wasn't anyone around to offend. Titus didn't seem to be too picky, even if he had gotten into the captain role a little bit.

She explored the insides and the few rooms there were, finding a large floppy sun hat made of some sort o...

EV B2 Chapter 4:

EV B2 Chapter 4:

The prompt soon faded away from my vision, and I looked around, seeing that nothing had changed. I was still standing in the middle of the forest. The bodies were still there. I looked around, trying to see where the next quest giver was. I wasn’t even sure how to exit the scenario.

After a few minutes of nothing happening, I made my way back to the little farmstead and eventually to the village, where people were rebuilding. There were a few burned h...

EV B2 Chapter 3:

As I chopped wood, I had more time than I wanted to think. The stack seemingly went on for hours, even though I powered through it at a superhuman rate that even a team of five ordinary men would have struggled to keep up with. I never ran out of work to do, and the sun slowly dipped beneath the horizon.

Haldor's daughter, who was young and beautiful, came out to greet me. She looked like some modern girl with a skincare routine and clearly ate well enough to grow to a full f...

HS Chapter 22:

Chapter 22:

Alice stopped Titus from scrolling when he hit an object of interest. "Damn it," she said. "The Wand of Fireball costs 20,000 credits. I don't know if I have enough to buy anything interesting."

Titus muttered, "You could try to negotiate, but I don't think you really need a Wand of Fireball."

"Yeah, but it would be nice to get something useful," Alice complained.

"Okay. Why don't you get some sort of healing pill or something like that?" Titus said. "It se...

EV B2 Chapter 2:

EV B2 Chapter 2:

The next morning, I scarfed down breakfast and immediately left for the town. As I walked through the many paved streets, I studied every face carefully, searching for any bit of recognition, but not a single flicker. I didn’t see any familiar faces either, which gave me a little bit of solace.

I wondered about last night when I had gone to sleep. I had been exhausted. Not only had I just come from a battlefield where I had been betrayed in one of the most devas...

HS Chapter 21:

Chapter 21:

Alice started to have her doubts as they approached the shop. It took a while for her to see it, but there was indeed a sign. It was in Spanish, but Titus claimed it said they had reached the consortium. However, it was no fancy temple or grand monastery. Instead, it looked like a hole-in-the-wall tourist trap that sold tchotchkes, port, and postcards—certainly not a place where people would find anything truly interesting.

Titus, though, didn't seem put out. Despite...

EV B2 Chapter 1:

/// We're back!

EV B2 Chapter 1:

The second time I died... Well, that wasn’t entirely a fair statement. I’d died many, many more times than just twice. But this was the second time I died for real, from a real life. I didn’t even see the feasting halls of the Lesser Hall of Valhalla. No, it wasn’t long before I was staring up at a cheering crowd as Baldur gave a speech similar to the one Thor had given before.

I breathed heavily, slightly wounded in a few spots but r...

HS Chapter 20:

Chapter 20:

The trip into the seaside city was only briefly interrupted by the appearance of an evil black hellhound-looking creature with a missing front paw. The identification said it was a [Dip - lvl 9].

Titus made Alice fight it alone, but she was allowed to borrow the shovel this time. Holding it with both hands, she kept the dog at a distance. Whenever it got close, she stabbed at its nose, which appeared to be very sensitive. Each time she struck, it would...

HS Chapter 19:

Chapter 19:

At her warning, Titus leaped back, drawing his knife in one hand and his ax in the other. The shovel was left strapped to his pack, resting on the ledge far away.

They looked up as the statue of the beautiful angel shifted slightly. Alice was amazed as the thing seemed to come alive. It started with a simple twitch of its hand, and now its arms moved into a slightly more natural position from the awkward, graceful positioning to a steadier one. The wings fluttered and ...

HS Chapter 18:

Chapter 18:

Not caring about safety laws, Alice sprawled out in the long back seat of the SUV, doing her best to doze off with her extra hoodie rolled up as a pillow against the door handle. It was easier than it probably should have been. Every once in a while, the car stopped, and Titus got out to fight something, but it never took very long, and they moved again quickly. The constant changing of directions as he navigated through a jam of streets was a little jarring, but the driving...

HS Chapter 17:

Chapter 17:

Alice didn't end up leading the way, but she did point out directions from the passenger seat of the little golf cart they used. She indicated the turns they needed to take on the path. As they rode in silence, the weak headlights illuminated the way ahead. They stopped once in a while for Titus to absolutely flatten any enemy that got in their way.

It was perhaps inefficient for him to take care of them, but Alice was just so done. The emotional turmoil, long day, rep...

HS Chapter 16:

Chapter 16:

"Doesn't that sound a little powerful for a first class?" Alice asked after Titus finished reading the description. "I mean, even the name 'Eternal Predator' sounds like final boss status."

Titus just shrugged. "You're asking the wrong person. It does sound awesome, though."

"That's true. It seems like we need to find enchanted weapons for you, and you need to learn how to make mystical traps. Assuming that's not flavor text." Alice mused. "Not sure how much the ...

HS Chapter 15:

Chapter 15:

"If that stupid meathead block of muscles had just done his job, everything would be fine," Alice told herself as she wiped her eyes again. If he had just rushed her to the place, he could have even run in front of her while she drove the cart.

Just because she had a concussion didn't mean she couldn't drive a golf cart. They only went fifteen miles an hour. It wasn't like she was driving a tank or flying a plane. It wasn't that complicated. He should have listened to ...

HS Chapter 14:

Chapter 14:

Titus stood awkwardly next to the golf cart they had been using to grab repair materials. He didn't know what to do with his hands as he watched Alice stare forlornly at the building as it started to burn. He wanted to wrap her in a hug and tell her everything would be all right, but that'd be weird. His usual methods of comforting were something he was a bit out of practice with, but they were all for long-time friends or people he treated like family. Honestly, he had just...

HS Chapter 13:

Chapter 13:

By the time they finally reached the warehouse where all the extra equipment was kept, Alice's hair was plastered to her face with sweat. Her borrowed shirt had a rip on the side, and her jeans had a couple of holes at the knees. The few cuts she had received were cleaned up, and luckily, she had avoided her hair being singed, if just barely. The second-degree burn she had on her left hand was healing but was taking a while and hurt whenever she tried to grab anything with i...

HS Chapter 12:

Chapter 12:

They finally found the golf cart tractor-looking hybrid that Alice saw many of the campus employees and groundskeepers riding around in. It was off to the side of the loading bay, where trucks could go back in to be unloaded. There was a little garage, and the keys turned the battery right on. Titus had them zipping down the cart path to the campus network of bike paths at a comfortable fifteen miles an hour. There was plenty of space in the back for all the equipment she ne...

HS Chapter 11:

Chapter 11:

Alice slowly came to in the dim light of the room, the faint illumination barely bothering her eyes. The threads of mana around her shed a slight glow, allowing her to almost see in the dark. Titus's voice came from behind her, and she was grateful he was out of view.

"Is this going to be a common thing?"

"What?" Alice asked, her mind confused and still moving at half speed, though not quite as bad as it had been this morning.

"You falling unconscious. It f...

HS Chapter 10:

Chapter 10:

Alice pored over the list of skills. It all fit on one page, and she didn't have to scroll at all. But her options kind of made sense, given what she'd been up to. She'd certainly done a lot less fighting than Titus had, and he was choosing his third skill, not a second. So maybe she would get more and stronger options as she leveled up, too.

Besides, having more options didn't mean they were necessarily better options. She had enough problems choosing fr...

EV Epilogue:

Epilogue:

Loki gave his trademark sly smile when his favorite Valkyrie walked into the lounge a few minutes after his most recent champion left. She gave him a hard look, an expression that was wholly unsuited for her soft and gentle face.

"You know, I had my doubts when you had me bend the rules to bring him here," she said.

Loki knew this and just nodded. She wasn't his servant. She was just a partner—a lesser partner, of course, but a business partner and sometimes a fr...

EV Chapter 64:

Chapter 64:

"Hello again, Miles," Mary's musical voice echoed around me. Her words fell on deaf ears though as I looked around.

The world around me had faded into shadowy shapes. And I was having trouble seeing where I was. My soul had left my body, which lay beneath me. I looked over to where Alana's form had been. I was so focused that I didn't respond.

Mary waved her hand, and I could see all around me. Thousands of Valkyries were scattered around the field of battle, off...