This poll takes place after Chapter 59 - The Next Choice. Cast your votes here for which choice Paradox should pick for his level 20 reward. I can't fit the descriptions of the abilities into the poll, so you'll have to look over them in chapter 59 itself. The op...
2021-04-18 02:16:19 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a strange sight, though not one that I hadn’t seen before. More than once, I had found myself stuck within a sacred slow-spot when the Great Core’s fields shifted unexpectedly, causing the world outside to move far faster than I - or, rather, causing me to move far slower th...
2021-04-18 02:12:32 +0000 UTC View PostThe thought-light flickered, revealing what I wished to know.
Core Skill: [Chrono Fire].
Description: The Flame That Would Consume Time Itself.
Some of it, anyway. Just as it had with [The Endless Cycle] 2021-04-18 00:07:41 +0000 UTC View Post
The bad-thing closed its mouth around me, and I found myself pulling free from my scale-flesh once more.
And again.
Again.
Again.
My failures - our failures - repeated ad nauseum, each loss pouring into the next. My frustration mounted, and it showed. E...
2021-04-16 02:33:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe Coreless continued to jabber at one another as I hissed at the fire-water. It bubbled back at me, little bits of itself popping upwards from the depths, but I was no more able to understand what that meant than I could truly understand the noises of the Coreless. It could have mean...
2021-04-15 03:23:28 +0000 UTC View PostValera couldn’t help but let a smile creep onto her face. It was only natural, she thought, after everything that had happened in the short while since they had defeated the Flame Salamanders.
She couldn’t help but feel just a little smug - like a proud parent, almos...
2021-04-14 03:45:15 +0000 UTC View PostIt didn’t take much longer.
With four angry Coreless against one weakened bad-thing - even as strong of a bad-thing as it was - the outcome was already decided. The Coreless were flagging, brought low by exhaustion, but their enemy was far worse.
The venom that I had spre...
2021-04-10 22:18:27 +0000 UTC View PostSorry about the delay, just finished up this one and about to write another one to post in a bit. Assuming I don't suddenly go braindead there should be another chapter up fairly soon.
Mana flowed through me in what felt like a never-ending torrent, burning its way through ...
2021-04-10 21:02:20 +0000 UTC View PostIgnoring the stone-tendril bad-thing’s corpse as it continued to leak its fluids, I focused, pulling on my reservoirs just as I had in my last life - for now, at least.
I had let everything play out just as it had previously - warning the Coreless about Will’s potential death...
2021-04-09 03:43:17 +0000 UTC View PostThe Coreless erupted into quiet conversation around me, jabbering on with their unintelligible noises. Still, I waited, allowing them time to prepare for the challenge ahead. I was well aware of how dangerous flame-gaze bad-things were. And two of them? If I had been forced to choose t...
2021-04-07 21:37:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe quiet sounds of the Coreless as they followed behind me were pleasing, a welcome difference from my previous life. Then, only the sounds of my own blood had pounded in my ears, mixed with the hissing of my scale-flesh as it lost the battle against [Molten Bite] and...
2021-04-06 19:16:37 +0000 UTC View PostThis was supposed to be Saturday's chapter, but I had some trouble writing it. Sorry for the late upload. On the other hand, it's a bit longer than normal chapters, so hopefully that makes up for the delay a bit.
Doran leaned over, keeping watch on the monster from the corn...
2021-04-05 03:17:08 +0000 UTC View PostIt was over.
There was a point when that became the only conclusion - like when I had been suspended within my threads of red, bleeding out my last as I hung from the Aridae's strings. Then, I had given up entirely. I had believed myself lost.
Now, though I knew that I ...
2021-04-03 02:20:46 +0000 UTC View PostMy head drooped against the stone, and I almost let it stay there.
Almost.
It would have been easy to let things end there; to say that I had tried my hardest in this life. After all, there was always the next one. I could always try again. Not now, but later. When I wasn't...
2021-04-01 23:42:24 +0000 UTC View PostA line of fire-pain cut across my tail. My blood, blackened by [Poisonous Blood], began to empty out onto the stone behind me. For a moment, I didn't react. I just stared, fixated on the place where the lowest part of my tail had once been. It was just...gone....
2021-03-31 21:21:53 +0000 UTC View PostMy fangs dripped with fire-pain, but it was bearable now - not comfortable, but it no longer caused my scale-flesh to helplessly dry, nor my mind to cry out. Tiny flames and waves of heat sparked from my scale-flesh in a never-ending torrent, held steady by the increased capacity and a...
2021-03-30 14:19:38 +0000 UTC View PostI wasn’t sure how long it took for me to awaken, to break away from the bad-dreams that the heat had forced me into.
It was long enough, I knew. Long enough for my scale-flesh to feel all but dried out, for my mouth to run dry of all moisture except the fluid that [...
2021-03-28 01:37:18 +0000 UTC View PostI slipped between the wall-cracks as the sounds grew nearer, covering the gap in its surface with a weak illusion; as low on light as I was, it wouldn’t have held up to close scrutiny.
It didn’t need to.
The bad-things thundered through the tunnel, generating the sound ...
2021-03-26 21:42:26 +0000 UTC View PostThe thought-light flickered.
Blooded Trait Upgrade Progress: 1/20
Again.
Blooded Trait Upgrade Progress: 2/20
Again.
Blooded Trait Upgrade Progress: 3/20
And again and again, until it...
2021-03-25 15:12:32 +0000 UTC View PostI slipped through the backlines of the gathered bad-things. Cloaked by [Illusion Spark] as I was, I wasn’t even noticed. It was an agonizing sensation, sliding my length between the tiny gaps that existed amongst the tides of bad-things. I was forced to twis...
2021-03-24 16:42:09 +0000 UTC View PostA wave of fire-pain pressed against my scale-flesh, centering itself on the Great Core’s likeness upon my head-scales. I twisted and writhed, slithering painfully away from the edges of the gathered bad-things.
My grip on [Illusion Spark] flickered and...
2021-03-23 15:15:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe Coreless each made their noises at the sight, competing with the gnashing of the bad-things’ mandibles in a useless competition of noise. Rather than waste my time with that, I remained silent. Instead, my length worked its way down the female Coreless’ side. All the while, I k...
2021-03-20 16:42:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe Coreless turned to look at me as one, taking in the splendor of my accomplishment. I glowed with mana-light, my scale-flesh covered in the same shades as the ore-flesh around which I wrapped.
They each made their own noises of what I assumed to be praise and astonishment. Wai...
2021-03-19 17:07:56 +0000 UTC View PostMy head bobbed in time with my happiness, independent of my conscious control. The Coreless continued to jabber away at me as I waited for the reservoirs within my scales to fill themselves again. This time, it felt far slower.
It wasn’t, I was sure. But I was eager to try agai...
2021-03-18 19:57:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe female-who-was-not-Needle had finally stopped scratching away at my head-scales and making her incessant noises. A few minutes had been enough; her shoulders had slowly lost much of the tension that had held them tight, though her eyes had never lost the sadness that dwelled within...
2021-03-17 22:37:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe bad-things swarmed over Will, working their way through the cracks of his ore-flesh skin. Finally, he toppled.
Finally, he died.
I lowered my head in respect for a moment, letting out a mournful hiss. Beside me, the other Coreless did the same. Turning, I twisted my way...
2021-03-16 20:43:23 +0000 UTC View Post“What is the greatest danger that humanity faces?” his father asked. It was a strange question; it was one that everyone knew the answer to. Even Erik, at the age of ten, was well aware of it.
“The Dungeons,” he answered confidently.
“Wrong,” his father responde...
2021-03-14 18:49:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe bad-things’ mandibles click-clacked as one, snapping together in shared anticipation. The Coreless shouted, pointing and jabbering at one another even more, as if they were competing with the bad-things in the field of unnecessary noises.
We moved up the hanging thread fast...
2021-03-13 19:23:32 +0000 UTC View PostI balked in horror, pulling as far back as I could without losing grip on my perch. Involuntarily, my tongue slipped from my mouth in a defiant hiss. It, too, was horrified.
“Do you think that we could sell this thing?” the male-who-was-not-repentant made a few noises, holdin...
2021-03-11 17:21:24 +0000 UTC View PostI pulled free from who I had been; I pulled free from the fear of returning to what had been. I pulled free from the trappings and chains that held me.
I found my freedom from fear.
In that single moment, I defeated the Aridae once and for all.
There would be...
2021-03-08 23:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post