While crossing through a busy, multi-block urban tree area, Thumper activated Silent Presence.
He used his Path Energy and Personal Parameters to spread the quiet and subtle Path Magic around his Domain, designating us – his party and Melody Eclipse – as the beneficiaries. With little cost to him, our existence together winked out of the perception of the mortals. As we reached the next street, I watched vehicles drive by with flashing red-blue lights while making shrill siren noise...
2025-08-23 01:49:47 +0000 UTC
View Post
Thumper and Merlin led us into a large multi-story mall, a concentrated marketplace housed within a uniquely designed series of interconnected structures. The way it flowed, with open spaces in the middle and shops on the sides of the walkways, was novel. As we maneuvered through throngs of shoppers on our way to a place called the movie theaters, we easily garnered attention from the mortals.
Grimmy and Doomie stood out the most. But so did Thumper with his royal features out in the op...
2025-08-23 01:48:40 +0000 UTC
View Post
There was a significant difference between my party before the ceremony and my party afterward.
The synchrony was so sharp, so stellar, I could shut all of my senses and know with one hundred percent certainty where and what my new nomad family was doing. In return, they knew what I was doing as I stood on the cliff with griffins circling above and cool gusts sending the colorful sea-grass below wavering like a watery surface.
Merlin joined my side. There was a weight on his soul,...
2025-08-23 01:47:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
We left the clinic behind. We left Steel Blitz City behind. We made our way through multiple forests, over little mountains, and across a diminutive ocean of the small World Realm. It didn’t take us long to find our next Portal in the middle of some prairies.
A squad of adventurers was preparing to enter the Challenge Realm when our arrival shocked them out of their formation. I didn’t blame them. All of us could move at sonic speeds even while regressed by our own Personal Paramete...
2025-08-23 01:46:27 +0000 UTC
View Post
“It’s me, Arden,” I said warmly.
“What? Really! You’re alive!”
Fritz, the manic receptionist manager, blitzed me. Or he tried to while moving incredibly slow. I stood still for a long time and received the bubbly elf’s hug.
“My goodness! You’ve grown! And you have some, um, scary friends there! We thought the worst. But it seems like you’ve lucked out.” He winked at me before saying in a low voice: “You’re one of them, aren’t you? A, uh, Pathwalke...
2025-08-23 01:45:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
We went off the beaten route after leaving behind the Crossroads Citadel Realm.
I hadn’t bothered looking at the Realm Verse Compass. My connection to the ancestral roots was far stronger now. My untapped potential as a nomad had expanded, leading us on a more scenic tour across the Realm Verse.
While also avoiding ambushes.
I didn’t like the idea of fighting while Locked at Level 101. That would be a waste of potential gains.
“Are you sure we’re going the righ...
2025-08-23 01:43:50 +0000 UTC
View Post
[Grimmy, “It’s Okay If I’m Little,” Pathwalker Veteran (Female, Half-Goblin)
Path of the Little Fighter: 101 (Locked)
Domain: Personal Parameters (Rare), Guardian Sphere (Rare), Enhanced Knighthood (Rare).
Path Magic: Path Energy (Epic), Path Sword (Epic), Steel Skin (Exquisite), Strike Wall (Exquisite), Path Body (Rare), Sword Step (Rare), Blade Sense (Uncommon).
2025-08-23 01:43:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Took you long enough,” Merlin said, his voice the first to greet me as I awoke. “Watch it. The first moment of being a Veteran is trippy. It’s like having your sixth sense turn from an innie to an outie.”
“Dude, no, that’s a terrible description,” Thumper muttered, getting into an argument with the dwelf as their voices registered with values.
Every word was tracked and counted for. I knew the exact decibel of every uttered syllable somehow. I also knew the degree...
2025-08-23 01:42:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
[Welcome, Pathwalker, to your Veteran Placement Quest! The Realm Verse System will test you to verify if you are worthy to advance!]
[And boom, bam, wham, you pass!]
“System, stop playing with me,” I grunted, shifting my weight slightly, the mud slurping at my boots making squelching sounds.
All around me were the wicked woods of my soul meditation journey. Chilly fingers of mist grasped around me. Skeletal tree...
2025-08-23 01:40:55 +0000 UTC
View Post
I sat back while Merlin raged for ten minutes. I didn’t blame him. Combining powers from our Path Magic was already unheard of. Combining four that were Rare Quality to make one enormous power that was Epic Quality was so absurd it sounded fictional.
I had a hunch about why this was happening to me. It had something to do with my blackouts and being a nomad, enabling me to slip past certain parameters after extreme exposures to stress and success, making my life as a Slayer a massive ...
2025-08-23 01:39:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
[Congrats! Your Great Skill evolved! From Tiny Cutie Vengeance to Mini Murderess Comeuppance!]
[Mini Murderess Comeuppance: Level 31 (Rare): Across the Realm Verse, half-gobs are considered to be among the ‘lesser’ folks. You might have to stack yourself on top of a mountain of bodies to prove that you’re not. With this, address a perceived wrong by greatly boosting your strength, speed, dexterity, and deadliness.] [Cost:...
2025-08-23 01:37:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
I woke up like I’d been dead for countless years. No armor adorned my body. Underneath my back, something soft and magical supported me with an enchanted blanket covering on top. My environment wasn’t just clean, it was luxurious, and it felt safe enough.
As my awareness stirred further from the black unconscious depths, my body remained slow and somewhat unresponsive. My energy moved sluggishly. My soul was under pressure. It took me a minute to realize the Doom Brand was still in ...
2025-08-23 01:36:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
Him and some others. That's right y'all. It's finally time for Arden to advance. Grade up. Upgrade. Evolve. Whatever.
Also, the next chapters will close out Book 3 of Path of the Slayer. The ending is pretty chaotic. Maybe even a lot to take in. Enjoy!
2025-08-23 01:34:42 +0000 UTC
View Post
Every Demigod pulled back their power, Douglas especially.
“There is no Covenant Prince,” Pyra growled, but with less heat, her molten eyes twitching with wariness.
“And there is no war in Ba Sing Se.” The so-called Covenant Prince laughed as he bounced in his seat. “But seriously, you guys should be careful with whom you try to bully. There are certain crazy powers that’ll boost me against higher Grades. I could’ve flattened you Demigods into paste and put the Godde...
2025-08-15 15:40:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
“He spent forty quadrillion credits on reviving a damn ratkin!” roared one of Douglas’s associates across the card table from him.
As a Challenge Floor Administrator and the Diamond Castle Master, Douglas did his best to uphold some decorum no matter who he was around or where he went across the Realm Verse System. Even when he felt like bursting out in outrage as well, the Demigod calmly placed down a card and tapped his finger for the dealer to flick another card in his directio...
2025-08-15 15:38:42 +0000 UTC
View Post
Even though I couldn’t move, I was aware, and through my peripherals I sensed she was there with us. A big She. The God-Queen.
I couldn’t see her exactly. Nothing about her presence gave much away. Yet, I imagined her extending down her hand or her finger or the tip of her cosmic nail to touch Zez.
I imagined her returning his little soul to his body, and doing so warmly, eagerly even, because I was calling for her aid. I wouldn’t have this token if she hadn’t been looking...
2025-08-15 15:35:30 +0000 UTC
View Post
Xavier turned his fear into last-ditch anger.
He ignored the hundreds of corpses of his comrades. He ignored the dying cry of the last Rank 5 monster getting slaughtered by Grimmy. He put all of his attention on the bone sword he gripped in both hands like a longsword.
I activated Slaughterhouse Avatar again, but for Version [2].
From behind me, a thick and heavy chain with a cruel butcher’s hook slithered over my shoulder, along my right arm, and settled into my metallic ...
2025-08-15 15:33:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Xavier realized too late that striking down Doomie by himself wasn’t possible. Not with the limited time he had. She was beyond the Dragon Princess Doom Brand. She was beyond my Slayer Intent.
Doomie was probably beyond the parameters, a power that wasn’t strictly regulated by the Realm Verse System. There was no knowing how far the doom avatar could grow, but she simply shrugged off the strikes from the Legendary Veteran until he realized his attention should be back on me.
B...
2025-08-15 15:30:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Where are your Young Pathwalkers?” I demanded. “Tell me, and I might consider letting you die a painless death.”
He had no idea how much of a mercy that was.
Slaughter’s laughter hit a higher metallic pitch from behind me, her ghoulish body of chains and hooks rattling. She remained a constant presence that further empowered my hellish and destructive tendencies.
Other than Slaughter, the enigmatic doom avatar snapped her gaze from me to Slaughter and then back to...
2025-08-15 15:28:38 +0000 UTC
View Post
I tossed my arm cannons behind me and thrust my veteran slicers at the defiled nomad’s face.
Unlike the prior woman, this one still had most of his robed clothing, even if it singed and ragged. His defiled Path Energy raged with palpable and crushing power, and his every movement was fast and competent, easily dodging my first attack.
He replied with a darkened punch filled with defiled magic. A blast of magnetic lightning expanding out from my armored chest helped slow it down ...
2025-08-15 15:25:30 +0000 UTC
View Post
An intense force erupted from around Merlin. Tangible sparks of complex spellcraft appeared in the air around his head. I could feel the dwelf wizard rewriting reality from being near him, as if I was getting a glimpse of his own rune-work.
I could never be a wizard, but part of me still wondered if I could use warlock spells if I learned enough from watching Merlin in action.
The wizard stepped to the edge and thrust his hand forward. Small sparks of fire appeared around his arm,...
2025-08-15 15:22:57 +0000 UTC
View Post
Doomie stepped out of me with a simple swing of her leg followed by the other. For the first time I’d ever met her, the doom avatar didn’t watch me obsessively. Her shaded eyes glanced around our location as she fanned her dragon wings from behind her back.
She was still small relative to most humanoids, standing only five-foot-three, but the weight of her was immense. Her presence visibly warped reality around the outline of her dark and doom-filled body like a tidal whirlpool.
...
2025-08-15 15:18:28 +0000 UTC
View Post
Wolfie bounded up and yipped at me quietly before lapping at my face. Knowing what he wanted, I summoned Sabretooth.
The Wolfe Shade shifted from his bestial form to his more humanoid form. He hopped onto Sabretooth’s back and started her up while I provided a zap of energy directly to her frame.
With a guttural bellow and a small shockwave of chilly magic, my Giant Hunter Autocycle came to life.
“Wolfie, Sabretooth, Shadow Clones, go find me the tallest elevation you ca...
2025-08-15 15:06:18 +0000 UTC
View Post
Many of my powers pushed to the forefront from my profile, passives and actives combined. My Path Energy went down a decent chunk, but nowhere near bottoming out.
The battle to come would be too suitable for me to risk hitting 0% Path Energy. I would have to be a dumbass or truly unlucky.
Based on the droves of Rank 5 defiled guards throwing themselves at my squad, the start of our long awaited Royal Quest was going to be a fortunately fun one.
With a devilish smile across m...
2025-08-15 15:04:32 +0000 UTC
View Post
I slowly made my way over to Sharia and Zez. “Your thoughts, my Veterans?”
The ratkin Bard remained curled up in his wife’s lap and unresponsive. He was definitely gnawing on something cheese-related and had lost himself in it.
“Can we adopt you into our family?” Sharia asked, the housewife reaching out to grip my arm gently. “You wouldn’t have to worry about cleaning a thing if you can cook for us like this every now and then. I’m great at cleaning.”
I sho...
2025-08-15 15:02:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
We had thirty-seven days until the Grand Generational Passing. Only six days remained before the citadel tour needed to end.
Yet, I was more relaxed than usual as I returned to the halcyon floor in the Crossroads Citadel Realm. I brushed past the notifications in my System Log, observed the egg yolk sunrise on the horizon, and swept my senses for anything dangerous afoot.
Nothing struck me as out of place before I entered the oneness state, my powers syncing up gently with the les...
2025-08-15 15:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Well, guys, we're getting closer to the end of Path of the Slayer 3, and ever closer to the Grand Generational Passing and all the madness that will ensue. But first, we got to handle a little quest from a "little" princess. The Royal Quest!
With all the build up that went into this event, I think I did a decent job writing it. Prepare yourselves. It's going to show Arden the Nomad at his most raw. He and some others will also get their moment to shine. And their moments to risk it all ...
2025-08-15 14:27:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
As we set our souffles into the oven and prayed that they would workout, Chef had us stop at one table to sample different wines. We’d worked on this periodically while getting brief notes on how to differentiate what we taste. He’d even opened up various casks of whiskey, gin, and other drinks that went with particular dishes.
I had to put a hard order on Grimmy to spit most of her drinks out.
The alcohol was all Rank 5, and they all hit hard. If it weren’t for Slayer Inten...
2025-08-09 00:59:51 +0000 UTC
View Post
After a few hours of marching and slaughtering various jungle monstrosities, the cold, thick rain didn’t let up, but we found a clearing that led to a massive waterfall. Over the edge was an unfathomably deep gorge filled with thick, cold mist.
Panning my view toward the corner where the drop off met the rushing river water, there was a large and cozy cabin with waterproof fire torches lit. A powerful and tasty scent pierced through the rain and grabbed me by my nostrils, and I didn...
2025-08-09 00:55:22 +0000 UTC
View Post
While I stood back and watched Grimmy go on the offensive, Paige replied by slamming the butt of her staff into the muddy earth. A shockwave pushed aside heaps of mud and rain in all directions while aimed to smash the devoted Little Fighter back.
It would’ve worked, if it weren’t for Grimmy’s Great Skill: Invincibility Framer Dance.
With one tuck-and-roll, she phased through the shockwave, but not as cleanly as she might’ve hoped. A portion of the blast snagged her leg an...
2025-08-09 00:53:32 +0000 UTC
View Post
