30 – Preparations
They proceeded with caution towards the small opening at the base of the hole in the mountain, where the path they were walking on seemed to abruptly end. It didn’t slow them down for even a second though, for the illusion of a rock barring their way was entirely tec...
2024-02-16 18:34:12 +0000 UTC
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29 – Hollow
The great mountain cut the sky with its sharp edge, a towering structure of stone and metal, and its tip shone in the light of the twin stars. The party reached its base, crossing the great frozen lake and the wind-swept tundra.
Ishrin studied the mountain with much mo...
2024-02-15 13:37:01 +0000 UTC
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28 – Ice realm
Ishrin did have special means, but they were much more limited than he was willing to admit due to his low power level. As they waited for night to fall, he took stock of what he had in his inventory, gathered some materials nearby—making use of his enhanced senses to s...
2024-02-14 14:17:48 +0000 UTC
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27 – Special means
The light of the midday sun glistened on the slightly wet skin of a lone frog, basking in the half-shade of the little glade it had come to call its home. Above it, thick and large leaves still dripping with dew provided it with shelter, and the ground below was dark ...
2024-02-13 13:29:19 +0000 UTC
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26 – Riddle quest
Melina was like a storm on a clear day when she finally met with her two teammates. They were talking animatedly when she arrived, something about the best monsters to use as fuel for a ritual she had never heard of before. But her dark mood got their attention, and as...
2024-02-12 14:29:44 +0000 UTC
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25 – Simmering rage
Cyborgs at the guild. The new guild master. Lisette. Melina. The volcano realm and the other, unknown one about to open. His not-dead wife. The multiverse. Was Mekano alive? Was Albert watching him?
One thing was clear: Ishrin needed more power than a mere Tier...
2024-02-11 14:00:33 +0000 UTC
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24 – Party
Ishrin tried asking around the guild, in hopes of obtaining some information about the expedition, but all he got were rumors. The official version was not for the low-rankers, it seemed, and without Melina to vouch for him there was no way he was getting preferential treatme...
2024-02-10 14:00:54 +0000 UTC
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23 – Tier 2
Ishrin seized control of the energies he had gathered in the dungeon. He had kept them from entering his core to delay his Tier-up, and now it was finally time.
“Lisette is going to be so mad at you!” Melina said with a chuckle. “But do go on!”
Shit,<...
2024-02-09 16:12:19 +0000 UTC
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22 – Existential talks
The Derillomouf was ready, at least according to the little notification that reached Ishrin’s guild token. It was with a skip in his steps, then, that he went to the guild to fetch it. Since he was there, he also turned in the cores and monster parts he didn’...
2024-02-08 15:35:35 +0000 UTC
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21 – Friendship
“How strong do you think I am?” Ishrin asked as he finished up the last touches for the ritual. Gore and blood was everywhere, even on his usually immaculate clothes. “Right now, I mean.”
“With the pixie, impossible to say,” Lisette said with a shrug. ...
2024-02-07 23:34:13 +0000 UTC
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20 – Dungeon
Ishrin studied the complex lines on the floor of his room at the inn. Every inch of the space was filled with diagrams, and the diagrams were merely a projection of the ritual they were supposed to represent. Even so, they occupied the whole floor with their complex structu...
2024-02-06 23:21:21 +0000 UTC
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19 – Friendly advice
The shimmering powder flew through the air, orbiting around Ishrin’s body like a trail of stars. All around him, gleaming in the morning light like dew on thin blades of grass, precious jewels and magical items had been carefully placed on the ground and in the ai...
2024-02-06 23:21:05 +0000 UTC
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18 – Dinner together
The town square was actually not on any of the main two roads that connected the Guild to the gates. In fact, if one looked at the city from above, it became evident that while the Guild occupied a central location, the square was hidden in a clutter of old building...
2024-02-06 23:20:49 +0000 UTC
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17 – Selling and buying
The dwarf took out a pair of spectacles and began to study the core, rolling it over in his meaty hands that were a tad too big for his stature. They looked more like the hands of a blacksmith than those of a merchant. He was hunched over the core to the point of...
2024-02-06 23:20:35 +0000 UTC
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16 – First quest
Having no armor, Ishrin had to enchant his clothes as best he could so he wouldn’t feel completely naked and without protection. He did it by consuming the broken lizardman armor and weapons he still carried around in his inventory, along with the mostly useless core ...
2024-02-06 23:20:19 +0000 UTC
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15 – After heal
Ishrin disappeared into one of the rooms at the back of the guild and did not emerge for a long time. Melina had delivered the ingredients in record time, but time was ticking and slowly running out while Ishrin had to figure out how to replace a few of the more uncommon...
2024-02-06 23:19:44 +0000 UTC
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14 – Dead matter
Liù glowed brighter than a miniature sun. Goddard’s eyes, up until now full of rage and greed, suddenly turned downwards like those of a beaten dog. Raw, pure fear was all that could be seen in them.
Then, a shift happened. They became filled with the mad, desp...
2024-02-06 23:19:25 +0000 UTC
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13 – Problems at the threshold
Ishrin was waiting in the common room at the ground floor of the guild, where a veritable mass of adventurers dressed in all sorts of queer and colorful attires were busy showcasing the goods most of their hard-earned money usually went to buying: alcohol ...
2024-02-06 23:18:57 +0000 UTC
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12 – Machinations
The night came and went, and the trio found themselves sitting at a shady bar early in the morning. The structure was a wooden thing, plopped against the protective wall that surrounded Noctis. It was located in a side of the city that was close enough to the mountains...
2024-02-06 23:18:37 +0000 UTC
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11 – Explosive non-solutions
Liù darted up and into the canopy above, her little wings fluttering in the air and her face scrunched up in effort and worry. Ishrin, meanwhile, was more preoccupied by the buildup of magic he felt to his side, where Lisette had placed herself right betwee...
2024-02-06 23:05:11 +0000 UTC
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10 – Paranoia
Ishrin was feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day when they met again the next morning. Lisette too was looking amped up and ready, dressed in sharp blacks and armed to the teeth. She seemed to make an impression on little Liù who, despite her initial misgivings, g...
2024-02-06 23:04:51 +0000 UTC
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09 – Farcast trouble
Ishrin stood in the middle of the ritual, feet wide open with the large Tier 4 healing attuned mana core on the ground between them. He studied the shape of the ritual one last time, then flexed his mind and will.
With a word of power, the treasures at the edg...
2024-02-06 23:04:25 +0000 UTC
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08 – Orb of cracked sky
Melina left to fetch the item she promised would create a mirror space, safe for Ishrin to perform his ritual away from prying eyes and incidentally also used for guild evaluations of power. She claimed she hadn’t brought it with her because it was very valuabl...
2024-02-06 14:39:43 +0000 UTC
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07 – Negotiations
Liù decided that she had had enough for the night and flew away. On the way to the window, however, she heard a commotion behind her and got distracted. A small fight had broken out in the tavern, right where she was hiding. She kept flying but also tried to keep an e...
2024-02-06 13:05:39 +0000 UTC
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06 – Investigator Liù
Closer to the city, the fields grew smaller and closer together. The patches of wild lands and forest left over from the expansion of the agricultural fields became a rarity, and the windmills were often accompanied by lone manors inhabited by wealthy farmers. Thi...
2024-02-05 14:54:46 +0000 UTC
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05 – Rescue sacrifice
It was still the dead of night, when sounds reached Ishrin’s ears and roused him from his fugue state. As his brain spun up to gear, he looked around and studied the dark surroundings. The moon was gone, hidden by a thick layer of black clouds that had covered th...
2024-02-05 14:54:17 +0000 UTC
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04 – Towards the city
Sleeping on a branch was very uncomfortable, and a Tier 1 body was not sturdy enough to ignore the consequences of that and the muscle pain. Ishrin woke up groggy and tired for the first time in a long time, his very first morning in this new life of his. He stretc...
2024-02-05 14:53:59 +0000 UTC
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03 – Pixie girl
Ishrin knew many magical spells from his past life, but most of them were locked beyond strict requirements he did not meet. The same went with rituals, most of which required materials or raw power he simply did not have. This was not to say that he could do nothing. Al...
2024-02-05 14:08:03 +0000 UTC
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02 – Powerlessness
Ishrin popped into existence in the middle of a forest. It was sudden,; the appearance of his body made of matter that was not there before, and his mind was yanked into it without warning or fanfare.
The first thing he felt was how weak a mana-less and magic-le...
2024-02-03 17:53:27 +0000 UTC
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Hi everyone, it's RejectHumanity (AKA Luca) here. Welcome to the first chapter of my new novel, due to release on Royal Road on February 7th. Thank you for being my patrons, and enjoy the early release. I really hope you'll like it!
01 – Deal with God
“This has to work,” The m...
2024-02-02 14:28:32 +0000 UTC
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