“Now!” Captain Jeremy Jackson ordered his team using holo-chat.
Initially, the transition to using the interface was difficult. They were accustomed to audio only communications and by default, holo-chat blocked one's field of view with video.
However, Renner eventually discovered that they could customize every aspect of the interface and its tools. They were able to shrink, move, and change the opacity of the video feed, until it was even more useful than their old ele...
2024-12-23 00:47:55 +0000 UTC
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Blake descended the basement stairs, alone.
He had sent Montgomery and Jeff to the walls while they waited for their classes. They had initially protested the order, until he gave them the confiscated rifles. After that, they readily agreed.
Meanwhile, his brother went to his alchemy workshop, while his mother headed upstairs to her office to watch the news.
He paused for a moment at the bottom of the dimly lit stairs. His footsteps echoed across the stone-floore...
2024-12-15 23:21:11 +0000 UTC
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Blake paused as he tried to think of a solution. “Do the materials have to come from a specific level one scenario, or will any of them work?”
“I don’t know,” Jordan admitted.
I need to talk to someone who does.
Blake piled his confiscated firearms on the ground, and for the first time in weeks, summoned his companion. A portal swirled before them, and his companion appeared out of it. A moment later, the spatial distortion disappeared, and his companion a...
2024-12-13 22:08:56 +0000 UTC
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I’ve got to get them out of here.
Blake was all but invulnerable to the cops. However, his family and faction members within the town were not. Before the SWAT team could descend on their ropes, Blake leapt into the air. As he rose, he cast Gale toward the ground and propelled himself even higher. He ignored the sudden message from Montgomery, and instructed the interface to suppress all notifications for the next five minutes. Finally, when he was only fifteen feet from the ...
2024-12-13 01:06:32 +0000 UTC
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Peter Summers: Blake! I need you to take your brother and mother and run!
Huh?
Blake groggily wiped the sleep from his eyes as he sat up in his bed. Through the window, the faint light of dawn illuminated his bedroom. He involuntarily yawned and then slowly reread the message his father had sent him.
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Huh? What’s going on?
Peter Summers: The cops are here! You need ...
2024-12-10 21:09:53 +0000 UTC
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Blake released a pulse of Mind Sense to ensure the Lupus remained alone. When he was certain no other monsters were close enough to overhear, even with their sensitive ears, he charged chi into the tip of his arrow, pulled back the string of the bow, and released it.
The projectile cut the air at close to the speed of sound, and with Adjustable Dampen Sound active, his prey remained unaware of its incoming death. A split second later, Blake heard a wet squelch, and then a muffled explos...
2024-12-09 22:29:17 +0000 UTC
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“It’s going to cost how much?” Blake blurted in disbelief as he sat in the weekly holo-meeting.
His mother’s mouth twisted and she confirmed the number. “According to the interface, the shield generator will require one point five billion nano.”
“Is that going to be a problem?” Jessica asked from behind her desk in Phoenix.
Blake ran a hand through his long, messy hair and took a deep breath. “Well, no, but I didn’t think it would be so expensive. It does...
2024-12-03 19:48:10 +0000 UTC
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Blake patiently waited on the thick tree branch, over forty feet in the air. By now, his scent had wafted down to the level three Lupus, and it was only a matter of time before they investigated in the morning light.
Let’s see what these arrows can do.
Initially, Blake was tempted to increase the difficulty of his current scenario to level four, as he had done the day before. However, before he risked his life to that degree, he needed to see how well his new arro...
2024-12-01 21:25:12 +0000 UTC
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“So? How is it?” Peter asked his son as he leaned against the freshly cleaned kitchen countertop.
Blake slowly chewed the roast his father had prepared and considered how to not hurt his father’s feelings. He took a swig from his coffee to wash down the stringy meat, and offered his review. “It’s got a good flavor.”
Peter’s eyes lit up, and he grinned.
“Although,” Blake hesitated. “It’s a bit dry.”
“Oh.” After the criticism, his father’s s...
2024-11-29 21:45:48 +0000 UTC
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Rajesh sat patiently opposite Zahir in his dorm room, and awaited an answer.
Once he had returned home to Arizona State University in Phoenix, he had immediately cornered his fellow graduate student. Rajesh had chosen the young man to be his first recruit specifically for his dominant traits - trust and loyalty.
The same flaws as Blake.
During the pause, he considered the enigma.
After Blake transferred the nanomachines to his body months ago...
2024-11-27 20:15:52 +0000 UTC
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“Ah. You are finally here. You can free me now,” Rajesh said, his voice echoed off the stone walls of the jail cell.
“Once I hear your side, maybe,” he hedged. “I’ve already heard from Montgomery and Jeff.”
“Then you must know that I was forced to attack the wayward pack for our survival. It was the…”
Blake raised his hand to forestall his protest of innocence.
So he did leave her.
“Hold up. Tell me everything that happened fr...
2024-11-26 00:08:27 +0000 UTC
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“Justice for Dahteste!”
“Justice for Dahteste!”
Great they’re drunk.
The inebriated crowd was riled. Fumes of alcohol wafted from their mouths, and reminded Blake of the bar.
He sent a quick message to his mother to inform her of his arrival.
After a few moments of listening to them chant the phrase, Blake stepped before them, and raised his hands in the air to signal silence. They, of course, ignored him, and he was forced to shout to be...
2024-11-25 21:52:09 +0000 UTC
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Blake crouched silently on his branch. Only an hour remained before first light when he unexpectedly received a message from his mother.
Donna Summers: Blake, please call me asap!
That can’t be good.
Blake had been about to assassinate his next target, but paused in his attempt. Instead, he activated his newly evolved Adjustable Dampen Sound and called his mother through holochat. As he did so, he kept one eye on the Lupus, f...
2024-11-22 18:55:12 +0000 UTC
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Blake cast Mind Sense again and winced after what felt like a spike was hammered into his brain. Blood dripped from his nose, and he absently wiped it away as he faced the oncoming group and slowly backed away.
According to his second scan with the spell, seven Lupus would converge on him in the next five seconds. He quickly searched for a way to defeat them or escape, but without his vision, he came up empty. Suddenly, his back hit a tree and he smiled as an idea formed.
Blake be...
2024-11-20 16:42:17 +0000 UTC
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To Blake’s relief, either his math was wrong, or his injury was not as severe as he feared. After only a scant forty-five minutes of hiding, he regained partial use of his arm. Now, thirty minutes after that point, the limb was almost completely healed.
Unfortunately, he would soon need to test its stability in combat.
For the last fifteen minutes, Blake watched as patrols appeared beneath him. He could do nothing to block his scent from being carried away by the wind, and while...
2024-11-17 18:58:10 +0000 UTC
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Blake hurried down the isthmus between water-filled gravel pits to reach the Lupus scenario. The portal sat outside the small town of Snowflake in an industrial area where workers used heavy machinery to load gravel onto trucks.
On his way through their private property, he was once again spotted by a machine operator. Blake glanced over his shoulder as he sped along the land bridge to see the man’s reaction. The worker stumbled from the backhoe and began to waddle towards him, ...
2024-11-13 19:01:59 +0000 UTC
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“So,” Montgomery leaned forward across the table. “How bulletproof are you now?”
Blake sat across from his old friend inside the cookhouse while they ate. Rajesh, Jeff, and Dahteste all perked up at the question, and all eyes fell on Blake. Based on their eager expressions, Blake immediately guessed that a bet was involved. Before he answered, he quickly checked his attributes to refresh his memory.
Attributes - Increased by 72%
Ph...
2024-11-11 18:23:45 +0000 UTC
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Captain Jeremy Jackson shifted anxiously in his seat within the heavily guarded room. While he waited in trepidation for his boss, Scott Peters, to return, he mentally reviewed the series of events which put him in his current situation.
Almost a week ago, Sergeant Godfrey’s rifle malfunctioned halfway through his mission. Like Jeremy, he was forced to defend himself with his knife and barely survived. Godfrey’s firearm was irrevocably damaged in the altercation, and he was forced t...
2024-11-04 13:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Hello everyone,
I have been in a writing slump for the last month, and have barely written anything. That was fine for a while, as I was ten chapters ahead of the release. However, I now only have a single chapter for next week. I believe that I am coming out of the funk and will be able to start writing again, however, I can not guarantee it. Also, my parents are flying in and visiting this week, which may also delay writing.
Because of this, I have reduced the price of the Pat...
2024-11-01 23:27:58 +0000 UTC
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Blake stalked through the forest with Dampen Sound active. He had already used Mind Sense to locate the pack of Lupus and now focused on his ambush. The Aether based spell easily hid the crunch of leaves and branches from the creature's delicate ears.
Unfortunately, it did nothing for his scent.
The wind, which had been sporadic since he stepped through the portal, suddenly switched direction, and two of the five wolf-like monsters abruptly raised their snouts to sniff the a...
2024-11-01 13:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“So, how long until you can make it?” Blake leaned in, excited.
“Dude. I already told you, I don’t know,” replied Oliver.
“Come on, you must have some idea.”
Oliver shook his head. “Look, all I’ve made so far is low level stamina potions. All they can do is raise your Physical Stamina by one for an hour. After I make like a hundred of them, I can move on to the magical variety. When I ‘master’ those,” Oliver used air quotes. “I’ve got four other f...
2024-10-30 13:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Blake swiftly thrust his chi empowered spear forward. The glowing tip penetrated through the Mander’s Hardened Shell, and sank deep into its chest. He yanked sideways on the shaft until the metal tip shredded the beast's heart, then extracted his weapon.
The last living Mander finally recovered from Blake’s Mind Blast and began to cast a spell. He lunged toward the final monster and threw his weapon. A moment later, his spear sank deep into its open mouth and ended its life.
<...
2024-10-28 13:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Blake shoveled the last piece of bacon into his mouth before Montgomery could steal it. His friend absently reached for another slice and was surprised when the plate was empty. Montgomery frowned at Blake’s smug grin and then extended his arm towards Jeff’s plate.
Jeff slapped his hand out of the way with a growl and pulled the food closer to himself.
Peter laughed at the display. “We have plenty of bacon if you want seconds, Montgomery.”
“Oh, no thank you,...
2024-10-25 13:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Captain Jeremy Jackson shifted impatiently at the kitchen table in their Pinetop rental while Captain Jacob Roberts led the debriefing. He only half paid attention to what was said as he absently fingered his new ring, consumed by self-reflection.
The jewelry was his reward for completing what the ‘Architect’ called a ‘scenario’. It was currently useless to him, as he had no access to spells, and only increased his Magic Power by one point. He was glad it was a plain gold ...
2024-10-23 13:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Jessica Nguyen: I believe I am almost there. I just passed a cut up tree.
Blake immediately dismissed the message, to focus on the battle. He was still within the Arachne scenario, although he had killed the queen and collected his level one reward hours ago.
However, just because the objective was completed did not mean all enemies suddenly disappeared. The free nano was too hard to pass up, and Blake had spent the last few hours slaughtering the...
2024-10-21 13:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Blake slowed his old diesel truck to a crawl as he navigated the potholes in the rutted forest road. He sat almost thirty minutes north of Payson, Arizona, just below the Mogollon Rim. The Rim was the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau, and jutted upwards over a thousand feet into the sky for over two hundred miles.
The cliff-face itself was relatively sparse of vegetation, but above and beneath it grew lush evergreens that climbed over a hundred feet high. Blake was a qu...
2024-10-18 13:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“I’m so glad you could make it!” Blake greeted his friend with excitement, as Rajesh stepped out of his car.
The Indian ex grad student nodded and tried to pierce through the darkness to see their budding town. Blake shined his flashlight on their destination, the cookhouse in the distance. Faint light escaped through the curtains over paneless windows.
“We already started dinner, but the food’s still warm if you want some.”
“I already ate,” Rajes...
2024-10-16 13:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Over the next twenty minutes, Blake explained everything to the new recruits. Since they were already aware of his fugitive status, he clarified exactly why he and his brother were wanted by the police. Although, he decided not to mention the officer he had killed.
Thankfully, Jerome remained silent the entire time as he cradled his injured hand.
When he was done, he invited all but the injured man to the Collective and then their faction. Blake did not want to waste his time on s...
2024-10-14 13:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Blake savored each bite of his father’s new cuisine at a table in the cookhouse. It not only granted him a temporary one point increase to his Physical Stamina, but tasted amazing as well. He swallowed the bite and shook his head.
“This is amazing, dad.”
Peter smiled, proud of his creation. “The key is in the spices and texture. You’re only allowed to deviate from the recipe so far before it no longer gives you attributes. But, if you give it a dash of seasoning, and fla...
2024-10-11 13:00:46 +0000 UTC
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Blake woke and noticed a blinking alert in the corner of his vision.
Ugh… I feel like shit. What happened?
Suddenly, his heart raced as everything came rushing back. He attempted to roll on his side, but instead yelped in pain. The spearhead, still embedded within his right shoulder, moved, and widened his wound.
Blake gently tried to extract the spear, but it remained lodged, and received only agony for his efforts. He craned his neck to inspect the wound, ...
2024-10-09 13:00:11 +0000 UTC
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