Serene lake. Picturesque forest. Cozy hut, with the smell of roasting meat wafting out through the slightly open door.
Freddy turned around, failing to find the portal he had just stepped through.
His heart was beating out of his chest. Sweat pooled all across his body. A deep, surging sickness gnawed at his guts, chewing him up from the inside. He forced himself to calm...
2025-02-11 19:24:48 +0000 UTC View Post[AUTHOR'S NOTE]
My head hurts. I'm exhausted
A few miles away from Valhalla, in the middle of the desolate woods, a loud puff of air echoed between the trees as a buck-naked man with black, web-shaped burns all across his body appeared out of nowhere.
Mark collapsed to the ground, groaning and shouting as he felt his essence progress erode and his soul twist itself into a temporary seal. He desperately gritted his teeth, but t...
2025-01-31 13:43:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is a mirror of the update post so you don't have to visit Royal Road:
Before I get started, quick disclaimer: the story isn't ending or being dropped or anything like that. Don't worry. Everything is fine. For now. And that's kind of where this update comes in. I'll explain.
In just a little bit over a month from now, 1% Lifesteal is going to stub since it's finally going up o...
2025-01-30 14:14:39 +0000 UTC View PostFreddy sprinted through the hallway, asking anyone he came across whether they spotted Lucas.
His peers had no idea where he was.
His trainers had no clue where he’d gone.
And perhaps most frighteningly of all…
He wasn’t the only person missing.
“Lucas?” the woman asked. “I… I don’t know. I’m looking for my husband. J...
2025-01-29 14:37:59 +0000 UTC View Post“Who the hell are you!? Get out of my damn office!” Thor shouted as he threw a stapler at Freddy, hitting him square in the chest.
Freddy gave him an unamused look.
Thor cracked a cheeky smile. “Hey there Freddy. Love the cut. And the style. And the uh… well, you’re a whole new character now, aren’t you? Damn, you really took this PR shit seriously, huh?”
F...
2025-01-24 15:36:33 +0000 UTC View PostEveryone liked money. Even those who pretended like they didn’t still enjoyed things money could buy.
When Freddy bought a round of drinks for everyone at that bar, he hadn’t expected much to come of it. It was such a small gesture that it could barely even be called a favor.
And yet, even he could tell that the people there saw him in an ever so slightly better l...
2025-01-22 18:38:40 +0000 UTC View PostNot everyone was capable of coping with the terrors of human cruelty. Even when Valhalla’s raids went perfectly, there was always a large number of people who needed a drink. Or two. Or enough to knock them out.
While Travis had something of a reputation as a ferocious fighter, he was the delicate sort. His heart tore apart whenever he saw horrible things being done to innocents. ...
2025-01-17 19:18:48 +0000 UTC View PostCharlie King watched from his perch on a nearby building as Freddy Cliff proceeded to completely obliterate the defenses of their raid target in a single move.
He watched the shockwave travel through the first floor, witnessing the windows shatter one after another.
Slowly, the bow he had pulled taut, ready to shoot anyone trying to escape, loosened in his grip. “Jesus...
2025-01-14 16:36:27 +0000 UTC View PostFreddy held on to what was left of his arm, sighing and extracting the spark of undeath from his storage ring.
Surrounded by a sea of monster corpses, he had no shortage of fresh meat to feed the ball of flesh.
Be it Ten Thousand Wet Hells or the newly upgraded Tsunami Strike, both were highly self-destructive. Tsunami Strike in particular was a nightmare to use. Even with a s...
2025-01-09 17:18:47 +0000 UTC View Post[Author's Note]
Yeah, about that confidence. Lmao. Suffice it to say this was the single worst illness I've ever had in my life. Not only wasn't it close to ending last Saturday, it had been only starting.
41° C (105° F) fever, hacking coughs, nose bleeds, stomach ache, headache, constant dehydration, you name it. One hell of a rodeo. Wife had it even worse, had to drive her to the...
As per the title, I had spent my jolly holly Christmas time bed-locked and fighting a pretty extreme fever. My wife had it even worse.
Thought I could crank some words out today at least, but no, the brain fog has been so thick I can barely think, let alone focus on work. At any rate, I'm rather confident that it's finished. I haven't had a fever all day, and I feel a bit better overall....
Freddy woke up.
There was no alarm shackled around his head. Yet, a single look at the clock confirmed he had woken up on time.
Whether it was just conditioning, or his body had finally settled on the exact amount of sleep it needed, every single day, he would wake up after roughly four and a half hours of sleep, with a five-minute margin of error.
The sheets...
2024-12-20 20:08:07 +0000 UTC View PostFreddy swung the door open, walked into Thor’s office, and sat on the chair right in front of Big Man himself.
“Hey there, Fred,” Thor greeted him with a raised eyebrow. “You need something?”
“I cleared them,” he said.
“You cleared what?”
“The realms you tasked me with clearing, of course.”
Thor froze, staring at Freddy’s face fo...
2024-12-16 16:38:39 +0000 UTC View PostBloodshed sat on the ground, surrounded by the five vials.
Freddy waited a bit further away from it, quietly watching the process.
After a few minutes of focusing, Bloodshed finally raised its head. It lifted its bony arms, and with a burst of its will, the vials cracked apart, and the blood floated out from within.
The viscous, shimmering liquid washed over ...
2024-12-13 14:41:40 +0000 UTC View PostFive vials of blood waited on the stony ground below Freddy’s feet.
Bloodshed stood, clearly agitated, as it moved its bony claws over the vials.
Freddy gulped, nervously waiting for the verdict.
“Master,” Bloodshed finally spoke after minutes of looking over the blood. “This is an invaluable resource.”
“What is that even?” he asked.
Freddy walked into Thor’s office, and as soon as the two men made eye contact, they both sighed.
“Welcome back,” Thor said, raising his eyebrows with a strained smile. “How is your friend?”
“She’s”—he gestured in a so-so motion—”muttering sometimes. Not quite there to… being there, but I can see subtle improvement.”
“Don’t lose hope,” Thor...
2024-12-07 16:38:54 +0000 UTC View Post[AUTHOR'S NOTE]
Yellow there, fellas!
Sorry for the skipped chapter upload, I am currently moving and it's a fucking pain in my goddamn ass. I thought I'd have more time to crank some chapters out, but I don't have a desk for my PC in my new apartment and the internet guys haven't yet come to install the fucking modem and I'm pissed. I had to take my PC back to my old apartment where ...
Back when Freddy was sixteen, while still working in the warehouse, he mostly kept to himself. Stack boxes, sort items, take inventory. Stack boxes, sort items, take inventory.
Stack boxes.
Sort items.
Take inventory.
Day in. Day out. Over and over again.
But in hindsight, if he had to choose between working as a cashier or manning the warehouse, ...
2024-11-26 12:45:41 +0000 UTC View PostNoah held his hand on Sophia’s head, slowly observing whatever was happening within.
Freddy stood to the side, anxiously watching the examination.
Throughout the whole thing, Sophia merely sat in her wheelchair, her one arm twisted in a strange fashion and her expression slack.
Finally, after half an hour of work, Noah finally gasped and released his grip. ...
2024-11-23 18:24:19 +0000 UTC View Post[AUTHOR'S NOTE]
Hello there, boys and gals!
You might have noticed that I ended up skipping an upload last week, so I'd like to apologize for that! The recent chapters have been quite chunky and rather difficult to write, which has made it a bit tough to keep up. That being said, I assure you that my pace hasn't changed much, if at all. The chapters are just a lot longer than usual. <...
2024-11-18 15:07:21 +0000 UTC View PostFreddy gently knocked on the door. A voice reached from within the room. “Please, enter.”
He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. He walked into the room and closed the door behind him, arriving at his first-ever therapy session with a mental health professional.
The office was a clean, tidy place. Seated on a wooden chair right beside a couch was an orderly, older...
2024-11-12 22:25:22 +0000 UTC View PostWhile Thor maintained the stance that Freddy was to keep an open mind and listen, the man never dictated what he should do. In fact, in many cases, all Thor did was point an issue out and force him to come up with a solution on his own.
There was a reason to teach like this; Freddy wasn’t a child—he was already a peak two-star; for better or worse, people only got that far by doing
Thor wasn’t a soft man, and he certainly wasn’t a gentle trainer. While the man’s assistance was priceless, his methods were brutal, and he had no qualms about using force to reshape Freddy’s foundation.
Freddy was no stranger to pain. He could handle a beating or tough training. Yet, many of Thor's suggestions and most of the man’s guidance struck where it hurt the most...
2024-11-05 14:26:09 +0000 UTC View PostIn the private section of Valhalla’s headquarters, a shirtless Freddy stood in the middle of a testing chamber. From impact alloy targets to dummies to other training equipment, this was the most richly equipped training room he’d ever seen.
Thor finally entered the room after leaving to fetch something and approached him. “How are you feeling today?”
“I’m in peak ...
2024-10-31 18:20:56 +0000 UTC View PostFreddy watched Thor’s reaction. Just judging by the man’s facial expressions, it was obvious in just what order the pieces were setting.
The man’s eyes first widened when he realized that, because Freddy’s talent works on plants, he had access to practically infinite supreme-quality healing. Then his eyes shot wide open as he realized the implications this had for training and tem...
2024-10-30 14:20:47 +0000 UTC View PostFreddy sat in Thor’s office, maintaining a neutral expression. He had just finished retelling the events inside the dungeon. Of course, this was a very… redacted version of the real story.
Freddy and Lucas went into the dungeon. There, they were attacked by a group of assassins. Freddy kicked their ass and left the dungeon. He used his trenchcoat’s tracking feature as “proof...
2024-10-28 16:18:05 +0000 UTC View PostHellen screamed as she jumped to her feet, nearly running out of the room. Some sort of strange, ethereal light had appeared above her unconscious son, and a moment later, a small pouch dropped on his lap. She instinctually lunged for the bag and grabbed it. Something clinked inside it, almost sounding like a handful of coins.
Still panicked, she ran up to the window, opened it, and...
2024-10-22 16:34:01 +0000 UTC View PostFreddy watched the crimson red pool on Lucas’s throat. The sight of it made the world slow to a crawl. “No!” he shouted as he launched himself forward, pushing past several soldiers trying to stab him.
He picked Lucas up before he could fall to the ground and held him, checking the wound.
The cut was long and deep. It was bleeding incredibly fast. Freddy scrambled to slo...
2024-10-18 16:12:05 +0000 UTC View PostAtop the tower, Freddy swung a large ballista bolt around, pushing off a number of men who were trying to climb up, cracking skulls and shattering bones in the process.
The ballista bolt was pretty much just a large spear of pure metal. But Freddy was using it more like a big metal stick to whack the men whenever they popped up.
From the very moment he had stepped into the dun...
2024-10-15 14:48:40 +0000 UTC View Post