As the crew crept toward the demon’s glade, Edge reviewed their plan one final time.
They would open with an alpha strike, hitting the monster with their strongest ranged attacks before it knew they were there. Fortunately, Fox had a magitech device that could cloak the crew’s presence ...
2025-03-18 17:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostAs the crew began the second half of their day, they speculated on the theme of the Savage Garden while battling their way through the maze.
Lilly thought it was an homage to the primal law of the jungle—survival of the fittest in its purest, most brutal distillation of every creature for...
2025-03-17 17:02:01 +0000 UTC View Post150 feet. Come on, Pax. Don’t let me down. Just when Nick was certain that he had found a spectacularly dramatic way to kill himself, the crimson forcefield flickered and then faded away. He let out a shuddering sigh, but his ordeal wasn’t over yet.
He had almost reached the ma...
2025-03-17 17:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostEdge stared down at the monster’s gory remains. He did his best to stoically endure the pain of his wounds until the grenade’s effects wore off and Regeneration kicked in, providing blessed relief to his seared skin.
Everyone walked into the center of the clearing, then Snake looked at ...
2025-03-17 17:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostEdge reached down and detached his chakram from his toolbelt.
He ignited his core and cast Elemental Blade, visualizing the magic suffusing the bladed ring instead of forming an iceblade from his palm. As the frigid mana flowed out of his hands to coat the bone-and-brass loop with a billowi...
2025-03-16 16:17:39 +0000 UTC View PostEdge had been fascinated by Lilly’s magitech boltcaster ever since he had first laid eyes on it in the Mortium exchange. He watched closely as she engaged the boar monster—thrilled to finally get a chance to see the weapon in action.
True to its name, a boltcaster fired bolts that were ...
2025-03-15 19:56:24 +0000 UTC View PostHey, just wanted to drop a quick update. After talking with my publisher, we decided to release Skill-Eater before Labyrinth of the Mad God. To help get some more of the chapters proofread, I'm starting an event. Until it's over, at least one chapter will come out every day. If you happen to catc...
2025-03-14 17:02:01 +0000 UTC View PostAlthough Nick was terrified, he trusted his friend’s judgment. Instead of panicking, he followed Devin’s command, shutting his eyes tight and pressing his lips together.
A bare heartbeat later, searing heat engulfed him as Devin activated Flashfire Pulse. He sent the flames flying for t...
2025-03-14 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostFive minutes later, Tessa flashed a hand signal, and everyone froze in place. She had detected something ahead and needed to investigate before they came any closer.
She walked out a few feet in front of Jumo, then came to a stop and ignited her core. Swirls of mana gathered around her eyes...
2025-03-14 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostWith that, everyone moved into formation, drew their weapons, and started walking down the path.
Edge soon learned that the visibility varied depending on what was growing nearby. The spaces around the larger trunks were less crowded, while the rest of the zone was covered with dense vegeta...
2025-03-13 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“I don’t suppose that whatever you’re planning is ready to go?” Devin frowned as the army of streaking stones drew closer by the heartbeat. “I’d rather not have my first meteor shower wind up being quite so literal.”
“No.” Nick laughed. “It’s going to take a while long...
2025-03-12 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostAfter Fox, Mel, and Snake disappeared through the fog door, it was Edge’s turn to enter. As Trapper’s crew offered words of encouragement, he braced himself—ready to take his first step into the deadly dungeon known as the Savage Garden. He approached the doorway set into the living wall of...
2025-03-11 17:00:38 +0000 UTC View PostWith that, the voice in his ear was gone, leaving Nick alone with his thoughts once more.
A part of him was afraid that Pax was using him as a pawn in a game of gods far beyond his understanding. But her advice had helped him on the previous floor, and he knew that whatever was going on, th...
2025-03-10 17:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostEdge’s explanation seemed to satisfy everyone.
They spent the next half hour discussing their primary formation, then moved on to contingencies for how they would respond to a wide range of potential threats. Everyone was fluent with the hand signals that most hunters used in the field, s...
2025-03-10 17:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostTwenty minutes later, the final beast died, spasming as Nick’s ray drilled a hole through its heart.
Winning the fight had required every trick he had learned on his adventures to date. But at last, the magma eels were no more, and the trial was complete. The voice of the Administrator re...
2025-03-07 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostEdge took a nap to recover some stamina, then got ready to enter the dungeon.
He performed a full inspection of his gear, making sure that everything was in good repair and ready to use at a moment’s notice. Then he repacked his kit, memorized the location of each consumable, and strapped...
2025-03-07 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostEdge Shadow Stepped, and the world turned to smoke and mist.
The skill naturally accelerated the movement of his body, and he Leapt to travel even faster, using his shadow form to obscure its use from the deputies’ view. He landed in front of the golem before it reached the trees, remater...
2025-03-06 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostOver the next four hours, Nick and Devin leapt for their lives, enduring the toughest environmental challenge they’d experienced to date.
It was unbearably hot down in the crater, hopping from rock to rock while making sure not to breathe any poison gas in the process. Despite the discomf...
2025-03-05 18:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostA runner came to a skidding stop beside the wagon, raising her voice over the clamor as the members of the expedition readied themselves for combat.
She paused long enough to share what she knew before darting off again. The scouts had sensed a large pack of late stage-two predators stalkin...
2025-03-04 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostBy now, Nick was adapting to these abrupt changes to his environment.
When the room started shining before revealing a new location, he didn’t waste a second. He started scanning his surroundings, ready to unravel the nature of the challenge and come up with a plan the moment that he knew...
2025-03-03 18:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Edge opened his eyes, the navy blue of a predawn sky met his gaze.
He slipped out of his bedroll, repacked his gear, then sat down beside his friends while Violet cooked breakfast over the firepit. As he dug into the bowl of spiced porridge she handed him a few minutes later, he turned...
2025-03-03 18:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostGram gave the order, and the wagons came to a stop an hour before sunset. In part to give everyone a chance to get situated before they lost the light, but mostly to maintain enough distance that the expedition didn’t have to worry about beasts living in the high-threat biome sensing their pres...
2025-02-28 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostAbout an hour after lunch, Edge felt a tingling sensation building around his temples.
This time around, he knew what it meant. “Sakura, is that you? I didn’t expect to hear from you again so soon.” He assumed that she was just checking in, but it turned out that his new partner had s...
2025-02-27 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNick and Devin sliced the trunks into even segments, finished stripping the branches, then carved two grooves into the end of each log so they would form a rigid framework when stacked. Then they laid them down two at a time, building up the walls until they were about six feet high.
Taking...
2025-02-26 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe Ivory Plains were vibrant in the last weeks of summer. Hoots and caws resounded on all sides, as the creatures that called Ord home feasted on the biome’s abundance in preparation for the lean days ahead.
Most of the bigger beasts were laying low, waiting for the strange procession to...
2025-02-25 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“And there it is.” Devin winked and then brandished his axe. “Whenever something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. It’s Devin’s second law of the System.”
Before Nick could ask what the first law was, a voice rang out from above—addressing them directly instead of com...
2025-02-24 18:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostNow that he had met the members of his dungeon-clearing team, Edge decided to finish touring the various organizations filling the green. It was a rare chance to see the town’s elite forces assembled in the same location and a valuable opportunity to learn more about them.
The treasure hu...
2025-02-24 18:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostThere was a bright flash of light and an abrupt sense of motion, like he was sliding along a vast sheet of ice. When the world congealed and his vision stopped swimming, Nick found himself standing inside a gigantic white room—the largest enclosure he had ever seen, not counting the second floo...
2025-02-21 18:00:37 +0000 UTC View PostTrapper’s crew awoke before dawn.
While Edge took out the trash, Jumo locked the sliding-wall panels and latched the windows, and the women moved supplies into the wagon. Everyone was excited—eager to join the dungeon-clearing expedition. In part because of what it meant for the town, b...
2025-02-21 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post