Nil only used Absorb during his descent when necessary. Sliding down the smoother cliff faces while activating and deactivating Anti-Friction Lattice was a lot more fun. Source Gauntlets’ fingertips helped him slow down when necessary and adjust angles. Supercharged toughness ensured his shoulder, elbow, and spine didn’t suffer any pulls, strains, or worse injuries. The exercise was Master ...
2024-10-10 04:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostUnlike the ludus’s training spaces, the Onyx Dragon Academy’s training areas didn’t have a lot of security. Either altitude or the caverns containing the spaces gave them privacy. Master Seer insisted on using the crater at the top. Warm-up involved scaling the mountain’s side. As instructed by his teacher, Nil didn’t use Expend. However, he didn’t hesitate to use Toggled Supercharg...
2024-10-09 04:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“The usual, Master Roy?” The fishmonger asked. After regular weekly meetings, they’d grown comfortable around each other. She was among the few people in the Onyx Dragon Academy’s vicinity who addressed him with a title. Only Control World residents seem to receive such respect.
“Yes, please,” Nil replied. “Master Seer can’t start his week without steamed toothfish?”
... 2024-10-08 05:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Nil read the name ‘Ashe Fall, ’ he expected a volcanic planet where soot and grey regularly rained from the sky, and a giant towered over all. Instead, after a voyage through several Beacon Worlds and waygates, he found himself approaching a rogue planet under the canopy of a giant ash tree that defied all laws of physics. A complex network of branches covered the entire planet. Giant ...
2024-10-07 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m giving all of you the same job,” Layla said, addressing the Death Gauntlet team, Cara Sue, and Zora. Besides the five of them, Susan and Andrew were also in attendance. “Get involved in all events with Cleansing Tickets as prizes. We need at least four. All who succeed will win a Silver Ascension Token, Ten Schema Tokens, and Five Thousand Credits. You might even earn bonuses.” 2024-10-07 04:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Brutal Battery has progressed to Bronze 0!
Absorb has progressed to Bronze 0!
Expend has progressed to Bronze 0!
Your capacity has grown. Whenever you empty your stores, energy regenerates to fifteen percent. The restoration occurs over one second once every half an hour. Otherwise, it takes a minute.
The notification appeared as soon as Nil w...
2024-10-06 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostYou have received 1 Bronze Ascension Token, 10 Schema Tokens, and 2000 Schema Credits for winning three Death Gauntlet matches and contributing to the recovery of valued realms.
Victory also comes with promotion to the Bronze Gauntlet. Ascension to Bronze Realm will mark the acceptance of the promotion. If you fail to ascend in six months, you will need to w...
2024-10-06 05:47:50 +0000 UTC View PostEnergy Instinct told Nil that Meatball was doing her job well. He didn’t know whether the Cursed One still managed to keep track of her, but the creature was at least a couple of hundred meters away and moving farther by the second. Pietro couldn’t absorb the monster’s heart and power up without catching up to it or finding an opening.
Before Nil could push the advantage, more Curse...
2024-10-05 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View Post“It’s a good day to die!”
Nil did his best to ignore the announcer and focus on Energy Instinct. The game plan hadn’t changed. He needed to track down the Cursed One and take it out before Pietro could find it. He also needed a decent sense of the arena. Nil had rushed it while facing Jaqueline because of her incredible mobility. As far as he knew, his current opponent had no such...
2024-10-05 07:03:16 +0000 UTC View PostDespite the loss of ten days of training time, Nil felt ready when he entered the arena’s backroom. The seemingly endless structure was a city in itself. The walls curved, forming a large ring, and felt like the inside of a Coliseum-like structure, except Nil had no access to the central area. He weaved past the stone structures, occasionally scanning for the ceiling that seemed forever beyon...
2024-10-04 14:52:15 +0000 UTC View Post“You what?!” Nil exclaimed, bewildered, as his eyes shot between Udit and Emily. After welcoming him home and celebrating his good health with dinner together, they sent Sam away for a sleepover. The Forge’s in-house doctor had twin boys of the same age, and they had become good friends. The family didn’t mind welcoming Sam on short notice. “How did this happen? How can you be this st...
2024-10-04 04:44:55 +0000 UTC View PostThe world was blurry when Nil opened his eyes. It felt like he’d been asleep for an eternity. His eyes didn’t just need to adjust to the light but refocus as well. His head felt fuzzy as well. More accurately, it was like someone had forced an immersion blender through his right eye socket before scrambling his skull’s contents. When his vision finally focused, he found all his dinner gue...
2024-10-03 14:38:23 +0000 UTC View Post“This is where I started off,” Nil said, pointing to the longest section of the kitchen. Four cooks worked on it. “It's called garde manger. The far end is making the snacks we just ate. The next one over is where our cold vegetarian starters and elements will be made. Then we have Alan and Steve making the hot veggies that’ll go on all our hot dishes. I know they look like twins but th...
2024-10-03 06:22:21 +0000 UTC View PostTwo weeks passed before Nil, his friends, and family got the time to go out together. He recovered from his injury in the meantime and also finished consuming the Mind pill. Unfortunately, it only netted him an additional rank in the attribute. Low potential came with severe drawbacks. It wasn’t just that his Mind grew at an abysmal rate; the forums claimed that he likely got less return on i...
2024-10-02 17:53:25 +0000 UTC View PostNil joined his friends for breakfast after his morning cultivation and technique practice session. He had also added memory games and mental exercises to the mix, having taken the Mind Pill after his last match. It had sat unused for quite some time, and Nil wanted to prepare himself for the next time he faced the terrifying school of magic. Watcher also theorized that additional Mind would als...
2024-10-02 14:21:10 +0000 UTC View PostLight leaked through the bottom of Susan’s door, but no one answered when Nil knocked.
“Do you think she’s out?” Selia asked, her words heavy with concern.
“Who goes out with music playing?” Nil pressed his ear to the door. “She might be in trouble. Attacked. Poisoned. Anything is possible with the Symbiotech fuckers.”
“What are you thinking?” Selia frowned...
2024-10-02 06:21:00 +0000 UTC View PostSelia’s match dragged on for far longer than her last.
During later conversations, Isabella revealed that she based her opponent suggestion on the battle royale qualifiers. Selia’s body was on the brink of collapse. Symbiotech’s experiments and an overtuned ability were a horrid combination. Yet she had bested Adam without suffering any major injuries.
The past nin...
2024-10-01 15:51:54 +0000 UTC View PostNil failed to suppress his screams as the healers and medical staff in the arena’s backrooms worked on his injuries. They had offered to sedate him using drugs or a sleep spell but claimed waking up would be a slow process. He wished to be done and back home as soon as possible and instructed them to use just enough to numb him. Unfortunately, the local anesthetics weren’t particularly usef...
2024-10-01 08:38:23 +0000 UTC View PostA skinny, luminous tether connected Jaqueline’s knife hilt to an unknown garment under her dress. The orange and yellow contents of the Cursed One’s heart seemed to flow through it, twisting and pulsing. The multicolored flecks of light that Energy Instinct highlighted when detecting Cursed Energy danced around the woman and seemed to seep directly into her body.
The look of fat...
2024-09-30 14:43:25 +0000 UTC View Post“It's a good day to die but an even better to purge corruption from the multiverse!” The announcer exclaimed. Her voice seemed to echo and resonate through the arena even though it only rang in the fighters’ heads. “Kalighat was once a realm of great warriors. The rule of the strong led them far, but somewhere along the way, they sought strength from the wrong sources. The darkness foun...
2024-09-30 09:01:48 +0000 UTC View Post“Is Selia okay?” Susan asked after breakfast on Saturday morning. Selia kissed Nil after finishing her meal and departed. The woman hadn’t said much about the recent Symbiotech developments around anyone but Nil. Her unusual silence hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“None of this can be easy for her,” Shawn commented. He lazily moved the last of his oatmeal around his bowl. “Firs...
2024-09-29 16:05:09 +0000 UTC View PostEven though the arena construct had fixed Shawn’s injuries and removed all poison from him, he still felt rough after the experience. He accepted his congratulations and departed. Nil saw pink and purple flecks around Shawn after the match. He breathed it, and the same presence polluted the channels in his body. It didn’t take Nil long to deduce that Furball had somehow poisoned Shawn using...
2024-09-29 06:36:47 +0000 UTC View PostApocalypse Arena had brought the fighters to a giant port city built around a bay. The waterfront curved around a thin stretch of sand. Several piers and docks extended into the water, far from the show. Luminescent moss, other flora, and moonlight illuminated the soon-to-be battlefield.
The two challengers started on opposite ends of the bay. If one were to draw a line between thei...
2024-09-28 16:20:41 +0000 UTC View Post“What the hell?” Zora’s mouth fell agape. Two portals opened on either side of her, and new weapons emerged. They shot the first at her target.
Nil continued his sprint toward Zora. The incoming and prepared projectiles didn’t deter him. Energy Instinct warned him of the arcane effects. He sensed two lightning enchantments, one first and another that felt familiar, but he struggle...
2024-09-28 11:13:06 +0000 UTC View PostMeatball was ecstatic to be back in her garden. During their absence, the new saplings had gained several inches. Some of the first sprouts were almost a foot tall and had woody stalks. Luminous silver veins ran up a couple of them. The rest emitted green and gold. The Ironroot Whelp excitedly zoomed around them, and Nil could feel a subtle pulse of energy radiating from her. It was whatever fu...
2024-09-27 15:57:52 +0000 UTC View PostThe meeting lasted for just over an hour, and then Layla excused the Death Gauntlet Team—Nil didn’t like it even though it was succinct and explained their purpose in a few hours. She kept CIT back to discuss the nitty gritty of their investigation. Susan joined them to get up to date with their current operation. She hadn’t climbed high through the Metropolitan Police Force’s ranks, bu...
2024-09-27 05:40:13 +0000 UTC View PostYou have received 500 Schema Credits for completing your quest.
The Control Worlds are thankful for your efforts and risking your life to save valuable artisans, even though their survival wasn’t necessary for the quest’s success. Your bonus includes access to special tutors, vendors, and artisans in the Nexus Market and vouchers to spend as you please. ...
2024-09-26 17:33:47 +0000 UTC View PostNeither Nil nor Selia liked the idea of sitting back and letting everyone else fight. The ship’s crew and remaining soldiers were more than capable of getting the cargo, survivors, and children on the airship. Meanwhile, no one but the pair had the power to get behind cover, wreak havoc, and get out safely when things got out of control. It didn’t matter if they got lost and couldn’t make...
2024-09-26 06:57:56 +0000 UTC View Post“How?” Sakura asked, wide-eyed and looking between the dead Cursed One and a pair of beasts. One’s posterior hung out of the cave wall, and the other appeared eviscerated. “I expected you to keep that thing busy until we finished up. It’s Bronze Realm, you know.”
Nil shrugged. “I hit it and hit it and hit it until I didn’t have to hit it anymore.”
Carmen let out a ...
2024-09-25 16:02:52 +0000 UTC View Post