Antler roaches were the bugs Aaron had been bursting apart atop the mountain, and now he had a hundred of their eggs stored away in his pouch. They were apparently industrious little workers if tamed correctly from hatching. Of course, Aaron didn’t know how that was supposed to help him; he just hoped that his pouch’s ability to stop things from spoiling also extended to stopping the eggs from hatching. Not that he couldn’t take on a hundred of the little guys, but he certainly didn’t...
2025-07-11 19:46:48 +0000 UTC
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He had done it, he had formed mana anchors at his fists. Now, he would be able to use his new gloves properly, and their enchantment wouldn’t go to waste. Though in truth, that was an after thought. The real revelation was the two anchors secured to his fists. Through them, he would be able to channel denser, more powerful mana, and do it far more efficiently than he had before.
With this, he could complete the technique shown to him by the ogre, and employ far more power in his...
2025-07-11 19:46:08 +0000 UTC
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Leaving his mediation, Aaron felt more at one with his mana than ever before. He felt like he had gained considerable insights, but he hadn’t had the breakthrough he had been hoping for. Not yet, at least.
However, it certainly wasn’t anything to get hung up over, and he decided it was time to go test himself against another trial. After all, he had something to work towards.
The two best options to test himself against were clearly the Trial of Dominance and the Trial of the ...
2025-07-11 19:45:28 +0000 UTC
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His strides took him further. If he had been a superpowered man leaping through the desert dunes before, he was now a giant, bounding across them effortlessly. In fact, his power and energy efficiency had increased so much from his previous attempt that he didn’t even bother waiting for the signs of the worm attacks, instead choosing to simply leap across the runes at such speed that they never got a chance to attack.
Unsurprisingly, the shadow still outpaced him. It must have slowed ...
2025-07-11 19:44:55 +0000 UTC
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Fast Food [ Common ] Some like to take more time and care with their culinary pursuits—you’re not one of those people. Passively, decreases the preparation time and cooking of all ingredients of E grade and below.
Dubious Mixture [ Uncommon ] You might think your creations are edible, but few others do. When activated, all dishes cooked of D grade and below provide additional buffs to the chef, while providing additional negative debuffs to anyone who consum...
2025-07-11 19:44:19 +0000 UTC
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His increased Perception sharpened his awareness of everything around him. At his level, the Stat was far from groundbreaking in the greater scheme of things. However, Aaron had been working with a handicap this entire time, training himself to pick up on the smallest of tells with almost no System assistance. Now, he had just tripled his Perception Stat, and he could feel the difference.
His memory was still lacking, and perhaps halving his free points into Perception and Intelligence ...
2025-07-11 19:43:39 +0000 UTC
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“So, c’mon bossman. Lemme hear them Skills you got!”
Mind Master [ Rare ] You are the master of your temple, and your temple is your mind. Passively, constructs mental defenses to block out all forms of mental attacks. This Skill is affected by Willpower and is considerably more effective against mental attacks coming from an attacker of equal grade to the user or below.
Mental Riposte [ Rare ] You stand on guard against mental attackers, ready...
2025-07-11 19:43:02 +0000 UTC
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He died in excruciating pain. But this death had been different. His improved Willpower and the help of the stew allowed him to narrow down and focus on the intrusive powers in a way that he simply hadn’t been capable of before.
Willpower wasn’t just a defensive Stat against mind powers, or an offensive Stat for different Classes that relied on it. But it provided some kind of insight into your own mind, psyche, and strength of character, Aaron realized. He had become better at unde...
2025-07-11 19:42:24 +0000 UTC
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Experimental Cook [ Common ] Who needs recipes anyway? Passively improves the bonuses provided by dishes that don’t follow recipes.
Line Cook [ Common ] Technique and skill are overrated. You get the job done, and that’s good enough. Passively decreases cook time for dishes you created of E grade and below.
Unpicky Eater [ Common ] No need for Michelin Stars around here. As long as it’s food, it goes down the trap. Passively provides...
2025-07-11 19:41:31 +0000 UTC
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Stepping through the doorway into the Crafting Station, Aaron’s eyes widened at the room that just went on and on. It was by far the largest of the rooms so far, and looked like a huge warehouse, or a jumbo jet hangar, and the same ominous purple torchlights from the hallway dotted its walls.
So, these were the options I had?
His jaw fell agape. He hadn’t actually had any issues becoming some kind of monster chef when he was first offered the Profession, since h...
2025-07-11 19:40:41 +0000 UTC
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Not wanting to miss out on an opportunity to meet a god, Aaron accepted Oozagh’s offer.
Gradually, the ogre shadow appeared before him in the obsidian hallway, and then color gradually filled it. Within seconds, the silhouette transformed from a shadow to a rather large ogre dressed in a skimpy loincloth. Tattoos marked most of its rough skin, and piercings dotted its lips, nose, and ears.
Aaron’s eyes widened. Was he really standing before a real god? A real god that looked l...
2025-07-11 19:40:03 +0000 UTC
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“Elite?” Douglas exclaimed, almost choking on the word.
“Yeah, so?”
“You seriously expect me to believe you had two Elite Skill options available on just your second unlock?”
“Didn’t I mention that before?” Aaron said as he practiced running up the walls and jumping with his new tabi shoes. “These things aren’t half bad,” he added as he landed.
“Oh, whatever. I should stop trying to make sense of your nonsense. None of it follows any rules of ...
2025-07-11 19:39:27 +0000 UTC
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Talia Rhineheart stood upon a grotesque, monstrous corpse riddled by boils and odd growths. Her long, blonde hair whipped against the mismatch of plate armor that clad her body as ribbons of power washed over her. In her hands, she held a sceptre in one and a shield in the other.
As two more snouted monsters like the one she stood over climbed out of the barrow she was staring down, she activated some kind of Skill, and a partially transparent avatar appeared over her body. The avatar a...
2025-07-11 06:54:58 +0000 UTC
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Aaron could feel the energy flowing through his veins. But it was unstable. Failing to find proper purchase as it traveled through him. With a guiding hand, he could aid the stamina flowing through him, ensuring it reached its destination more efficiently.
But he needed to push beyond that.
Aaron believed this possible. He had seen the orcs do it. Not only that, but skills required a large amount of stamina, so surely it was possible. However, he quickly found that his stami...
2025-07-11 06:53:45 +0000 UTC
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Thanks to his gains from fighting the orcs, Aaron had just the idea for what trial he wanted to attempt as he approached the dial. His goal of leaving here empowered felt more real than ever.
Entering the trial, the shadow of Yendal the Empty-Handed appeared beside Aaron, looking as smug as ever as the Trial of Travels began.
Immediately, he activated [ Relentless Scourge ], lowering into a sprinter's pose. “We’ll see how smug you look when I win this thing.”
The...
2025-07-11 01:10:28 +0000 UTC
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Energized Haymaker [ Uncommon ] Why strike the enemy many times, when one sufficiently powerful strike will do the job? When activated, Energized Haymaker floods the desired fist with energy, delivering a devastating blow that can pierce even the strongest of defenses.
Feather Step [ Uncommon ] On your feet, you’re as light as a feather. When activated, Feather Step lightens the weight of your steps to almost nothing, without affecting the weight you put behin...
2025-07-11 01:08:21 +0000 UTC
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He entered the trial, and as usual, he challenged the orc tribe, and out came the champion. Before the battle started, he spotted the shadow and gave it a wink. The fight began with Aaron dodging blows and conserving energy. He held back, waiting for the attack that had bewildered him for so long. Only [ Relentless Scourge ] was activated, so that he could conserve Mana, and therefore, energy.
After the mirror images failed to distract Aaron and a quick exchange ended with the orc on th...
2025-07-11 01:06:30 +0000 UTC
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As it turned out, he could indeed simply challenge the orc chieftain every time. Barging into the tribe and trying to find the chief didn’t work and only got him killed, but if he just stood outside and shouted challenge, the leader would come out to meet his challenge after about ten minutes. The orcs couldn’t understand his words, and he couldn’t understand theirs, but apparently, the language of a challenge was universal enough that they understood him.
The first few trie...
2025-07-11 00:57:30 +0000 UTC
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The first thing Aaron sensed under the influence of the Focus Stone was his mana, followed quickly by what he now recognized as his Stamina and Vitality. His Vitality pulsed with his heartbeat, coursing through his body in waves. His Stamina was more stable, suffusing his whole body like water. There was a subtle tension to it though, as though rather than water, it was gasoline, just waiting for a spark to ignite it. He guessed that this was what the orcs were using to accelerate their attac...
2025-07-11 00:56:42 +0000 UTC
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“So, is it just gonna be you and me hanging out this whole time, Douglas?” Aaron asked as he practiced, swinging his stabby fists through the air.
“Like I said, this place is a reward for the top tutorial rankers of your sector.”
“Oh, right. So, where are they?”
“The Tutorial lasts for 3 months, but in this space, time is dilated, so you have a year before the Tutorial finishes and those from your sector enter en masse. It’s technically possible for some of t...
2025-07-11 00:54:01 +0000 UTC
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For his first attempt after dying in the swamp, Aaron didn’t follow the majestic figure. However, that decision didn’t prove any better. Not far ahead of where he and the shadow had turned toward the swamp, a werewolf ambush had been lying in wait. There was nothing he could do; they were upon him in seconds.
Perhaps there was another route through to the finish, but Aaron had a feeling he was supposed to follow the shadow. Besides, perhaps the swamp was just the challenge he needed...
2025-07-11 00:53:11 +0000 UTC
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If I can’t outrun them, I’ll have to fight them, Aaron thought as he widened his footing into a fighting stance.
Unfortunately, he could tell from even a cursory glance that these attackers were no mages who lacked physical traits. These attackers were freaking werewolves, and they were big and strong, towering over him with muscles rippling through their fur.
“Alright then, come and get it,” he sighed as the avalanche of attackers closed in on him from all ...
2025-07-11 00:52:26 +0000 UTC
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Evasion [ Common ] Evade attacks with more oomph than simply stepping aside. When activated, Evade sends the user 1 meter in any direction at a speed affected by their Agility and Strength.
Unstoppable Combo [ Common ] Never give your enemies a chance to breathe. When activated, Unstoppable Combo chains your unarmed strikes into a deadly barrage of attacks, increasing their speed by 1% for each strike added to the combination. Any interruption to the combination...
2025-07-11 00:51:13 +0000 UTC
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This continued on for another dozen deaths before Aaron was even able to dodge the first attack, which he managed by entering the trial whilst diving to his right.
A couple more deaths later, and he was able not just to activate his [ Thick Skinned ] skill, but land into a roll and get back to his feet before the second fireball incinerated him. This was where it got hard. The mage wasn’t some preprogrammed dummy he could memorize. Even if he managed to dodge th...
2025-07-11 00:47:08 +0000 UTC
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Aaron sat cross-legged in the hallway before the trial selection stone. He had died fifteen times over the last few hours and had nothing to show for it. But he wasn’t about to give up. However, it was becoming clear that he wouldn’t be able to just mindlessly bash his head against the trials and expect to defeat them. He needed to take stock of his situation and come up with some kind of plan.
I bet he’s watching, and I bet he’s loving this.
Aaron gritted his tee...
2025-07-11 00:26:08 +0000 UTC
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The gazes of two gods were locked on the thousands of tiny, holographic screens that were spread across a wall. Each screen followed a different person as the final pre-integration moments of the hundredth and first universe neared their end.
“Oh, this is going to be good—my very own tutorial. It only took three hundred and fifty thousand years to get here,” said Voghillia Vorg Valvoria, nervously rubbing her bluish-white hands.
Passing the myriad of near-death experiences t...
2025-07-10 23:39:27 +0000 UTC
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The fluctuations of strange energy had grown stronger as they neared the collection of floating rocks scattered like an asteroid field—save they behaved most like bobbing buoys.
As they approached, Abe realized it was more than just strange energy. Something was trying to conceal or twist its presence into something else.
Worse still, there was something out there. The banshee elites had spotted whatever it was when they entered the area. What they had seen was like some kind of...
2024-07-15 01:36:48 +0000 UTC
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Abe clapped and whistled as the ghouls and skeletons hurriedly stocked the ship. He didn’t want to seem impatient, but he was. And besides, these things need to be done as soon as possible.
Tapping his foot against the ground, Abe scanned the cave's entrance. Viara had left to gather some of her elites, and they couldn't leave without them. The scouts made traveling the Vale considerably safer.
Nudging at his senses, Abe knew the strange energy signal wasn’t too far, and if t...
2024-07-10 23:51:57 +0000 UTC
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After leaving the colosseum below, Abe circled their new base. The guests mostly cleared out after he announced his takeover. Seizing a few dozen Astral vessels was tempting, and their owners weren’t particularly strong, but he didn’t need to risk pissing off any more entities from across the planes.
There was even accommodation built into the subterranean compound. Some of the more daring guests decided to stay in and wait to find out how at all boiled over. And since they we...
2024-06-28 20:06:57 +0000 UTC
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A foul, stinking mist spread out from Gurgle as he pecked forward, sending the jeering crowd into overdrive.
Barred metal separated the colosseum observers, and they made for the perfect environment for Abe’s abilities.
Sending his tendrils shooting out in all directions, Abe took hold of the bars and flung himself around, keeping his distance from the abomination at the center. He wanted to see what this thing was capable of before engaging. But the giant, two-head bird didn’...
2024-06-18 22:13:30 +0000 UTC
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