LiseEclaire

Leveling up the World (Chapter 144)

The city of Nerosal had experienced much during its existence. Long before the succession wars, back when it was a small hamlet between domains, people used to go there to smuggle, trade, or settle duels without fear of breaking laws or arrangements. As it grew into a city, it changed owners many...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 143)

After the last of the evening clients had gone, Dallion was back in his room. It was the same as every night. His head was cleaned and put away, Dallion’s clothes were carefully folded—with the exception of the armor shirt that was at Eury for mending—the floor was meticulously cleaned, and...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 142)

No single incident started the brawl. One moment everyone was on edge, watching the two furies exchange blows faster than even the average awakened could see. Then, a second later, everyone joined in the brawl. It was just like the song that Dallion’s father constantly listened to: it was like ...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 141)

“Are you sure about this?” Dallion asked.

When Jiroh had said he might have to go through a lot to reclaim his stolen gear, he didn’t think this was what she had in mind. He had suspected it might be dangerous, risky even, but he didn’t think that the plan would involve storming a t...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 140)

Back on Earth, everyone would be on their phones right in an urgent frenzy to get support, find information, or let the authorities know. There would be a lot of fuss, arguments, and frantic discussions of what should be done. Jiroh did none of that. The instant Dallion uttered the words, the fur...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 139)

Work was slow and uneventful. The morning’s events had brought in a few more people, mostly from the guild, but on the whole, there were two improvements and about a dozen mendings. The gains were far from what they had been when Dallion had started, but he didn’t mind. If anything, he welcom...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 138)

Back on Earth there were hundreds of descriptions of nymphs, from the Greek interpretations to modern artists. Given the creature that stood before Dallion, none of the art did her justice. Slender almost to the extreme, the nymph had an ethereal quality to her, as if she were completely surround...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 137)

The celebratory feast was of epic proportions. It was the guildmaster’s rule that after a mission of major significance, including rescuing guild members, the entire guild would transform into a giant party house of sorts. Every guild member was invited to join the feast, regardless if they par...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 136)

Watching a person fight to escape the effects of a chainling was like watching someone try to break a really large balloon from the inside without having anything sharp at hand. Each chord Dallion played made an area of the creature’s silhouette thinner, though still not enough for its prisoner...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 135)

MINOR WOUND

Your health has decreased by 5%

Dallion winced as one of the paws stretching from the chainling’s body slashed his right side. Unable to attack him through direct means, the creature had resolved to launching strands and appen...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 134)

Dallion could feel the bloodlust directed towards him, yet failed to see any creature. It was as if an invisible presence was following him, keeping just out of sight, while determined to attack at the first given opportunity. By the looks of it, Nox was able to feel the presence as well. With a ...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 133)

It took a while for Vend and Dallion to reach the gate area to the next level. The entire time Vend didn’t say a word, keeping an eye both on Dallion and the equine. It was obvious he didn’t approve of the draw; it was more uncertainty than anger, although Dallion had still detected a modicum...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 16)

Back when I was a ship, I rarely thought about the significance of comm privileges. During most of my service, I’d had a direct channel to HQ and Command, though using it to send complaints and requests was the same as shooting a laser beam at a black hole. Maybe that was why I considered any c...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 132)

Using music skills continuously was more difficult than originally imagined. Using it to focus on a creature or two was fine, even interesting. Doing so non-stop in an environment that was full of living creatures was painful, to say the least.

After five minutes, Dallion felt as if his tem...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 131)

The creatures’ class was enough to frighten anyone. As far as the world was concerned, the star was the antithesis of the Seven Moons. Said to be weaker than any of them, the star was way stronger than anything else in existence and the malice to crush anything it was given the opportunity to. ...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 130)

The further down they went, the more terrified Nox became. Dallion could feel the crackling’s fear, yet wasn’t able to do anything about it. He was definitely not going to link his awakening room, not with so many people here, not to mention the unspecified threat that had already caused seve...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 129)

Walking through the sphere item’s level was like walking through an awakened area—the distances were large and the threats made use of the environment. Three things became clear very early on. The thirst was that the creatures were much more intelligent, merging and breaking up in a way to ga...

Leveling up he World (Chapter 128)

“Sorry I’m late.” Dallion rushed into the guild building. “There were some issues at the inn, so I—” he suddenly stopped.

From his school experience back on Earth, Dallion expected a sigh, some sort of minor grumbling, or at the very least a remark about how he’d arrived late ...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 127)

The second exploration mission was much less eventful than the first. Unlike last time, three of the four levels had been cleared, leaving Dallion’s party to mop up things. Like last time, Dallion had been paired with Janna and Kallan. Unlike then, he had left his harpsisword for a shield—aft...

Leveling up the World (Ctapter 126)

Companion armor, as Dallion found out, turned out to have the exact meaning he feared. When he had initially asked Nil, the old echo had paused for ten full seconds before going ahead with the explanation. Apparently, a few centuries of having armor with companion guardians in them had been extre...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 15)

People found staying in a dark room terrifying. To me, it felt just like home. Three hours and twelve minutes had passed since Sim had ordered a full power shutdown, and no one was any closer to finding a solution to our problem. My suit was largely powered down, leaving me only with comms and li...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 125)

Dallion slid his fingers along the blade of the golden harpsisword. His improved senses made him awake of the fine craftsmanship that had gone into its forging. It was as if his fingers were sliding along air. And still, it didn’t feel like his harpsisword. There was something inalienably forei...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 124)

Another gorgon? Dallion wondered as they were escorted to the general’s private quarters. The fury had returned with the exact same facial expression she had left with and cordially invited Arthurows and Dallion to follow.

The inside corridor was even more luxurious than the lobb...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 123)

Dallion had gotten in a number of fights, mostly back on Earth. However, he had never been mugged before. He knew friends who had been, and from what they had told him, it was very much unlike what was depicted in shows and comics. The only talk that had taken place was after they’d received a ...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 122)

The money from the guild job was considerably more than what Dallion earned at the inn. Back in Dherma village, the amount would have been considered impressive, verging on unimaginable. Here, Dallion could live a comfortable life… unless he wanted to get any awakened goods or gear. Then, it be...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 121)

The difference between success and failure was like day and night. In his mind, Dallion considered both his sphere item experiences to be the same. In both instances he had failed to reach the point he should have, while those accompanying him hadn’t. In terms of the guild’s reaction, though�...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 120)

The Mirror Widow landed on the floor. Unable to gain an advantage in the air, the crystal beetle had resorted to true and tried methods—using brute strength against a significantly smaller enemy. Opening its wing cases, it attacked Kallan with both wings, aiming to slice the shield and its owne...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 119)

A blade of air split the air, inches away from Dallion’s toes. If Kallan’s shout hadn’t caused him to momentarily freeze, he would have received considerable damage, possibly even a fatal wound.

Instantly Dallion jumped back. A deep cut was visible on the crystal floor, several feet l...

Quod Olim Erat: The Cassandrian Theory (Chapter 14)

No one knew how life formed on planets. As humanity expanded, the myriad of theories of the past had been disproved and replaced by new ones. To this day, there was no single principle that scientists could point at and determine with certainty whether a planet with conditions for life had a high...

Leveling up the World (Chapter 118)

Flashbacks of Dallion’s encounter with the chainling passed through his mind. That had been the first time he had gone into the wilderness, and the first time he had seen actual death. One thing about awakened battles was that despite the hardships and the danger of having one’s abilities sea...