Misbegotten Memories

Chapter 147

Breakfast was rice porridge topped with salted fish and pickled vegetables. Cubes of watermelon were available as a treat. Hector found himself competing with Sam to eat as much of the fruit as possible. Their rivalry fell apart when the servant refilled the bowl they were taking from.

“I can’t eat that much,” Sam muttered, low enough that Master Percival wouldn’t hear.

Lunc...

Chapter 146

Hector wasn’t even sure he needed to escape. Maybe this was just a tournament of foreign Xian as had been advertised. That just didn’t seem likely to him. Why would they host it on the property of the Lord Platinum? She was suppressing the barracks instead of the tower.

Unless the evil lord had stopped turning people into elixirs, Hector didn’t think the participants of this tournam...

Chapter 145

Hector put away the donated resources with steely determination. Swallow a piece of fat the size of a knuckle. Wash it down with a sip of burning liquid. Grimace and blink the tears from his eyes while he visualized harsh smoke pouring out of his mouth and nostrils. How did Volithur drink so much of this crap? It was pure poison.

Effective, though. His energy levels rose and fell, a victi...

Chapter 144

He drank a bottle of wine and cultivated chaos even though it was the middle of the night. Though he’d intended the case of wine to power his domain improvements, he much preferred using it to speed through the cold forged method of body enhancement. He decided not to sleep that night even though his soul very much became exhausted from the demands placed upon it. His mind and body were suffi...

Chapter 143

The level six Xian shopkeeper smiled broadly at his entrance, causing Hector a spike of concern. There was something predatory there. “Hello, Master Sirius.”

“Why if it isn’t the Stalwart Xian himself.”

Hector winced. “You watch television?”

“It’s something to pass the time. Needless to say, Hector, you’ve impressed me. Are you interested in going to Tian?�...

Chapter 142

As he got onto the circumnavigating train, Hector found a familiar face. It was at the same height as his own even though he was standing while the other’s body was sitting. “Good to see you again, Xian. Is your woman friend well?”

“She returned to Maya to grieve. Thank you for everything you did that day.”

The Titan who had guided him to the medical center and then stood ...

Chapter 141

Hector focused on increasing his energy levels for three weeks, then after that ran the dungeon once a week. He kept to the easy run through the ravine. Though he didn’t form a team, he no longer made his runs alone. Within the community of delvers, he was the infamous Stalwart Xian who destroyed unstoppable behemoths and casually shrugged off miasma poisoning. Every time he went inside, his ...

Chapter 140

They took everything that remained of Rodrick. Body and personal effects. All of it had to be destroyed to prevent the toxic miasma from polluting anything else.

The two of them held each other on the floor for hours, crying as bodies bustled around them. Hector would have left long before to grieve in private, but he could not leave Zelda and she would not leave the last place their frie...

Chapter 139

Hector looked at Rodrick held before him in a princess carry. His friend was gasping for air and coughing up blood and phlegm and miasmic fluid. An anteater of epic proportions stood between them and medical attention. His brow drew down.

“Zelda, hold onto Rod. I’m going to toss the two of you through the exit.”

“Hector… it’s not safe in the tunnel. You saw what the beas...

Chapter 138

They were two weeks out from their next group dungeon run when a universal alert appeared in the System interface.

UNIVERSAL ALERT

Incoming miasma surge.

Dungeon payout rate increased to 80,000 credits per delve.

Fight for humanity.

Rodrick and Zelda appeared fifteen minutes after the notification ...

Chapter 137

Their next group dungeon run proved remarkably successful. Conrad took them to a short ridge inside that was both a hotbed of activity and somewhere they could rapidly escape if necessary. Zelda and Hector slayed the flying beasts that swarmed them from all directions. Conrad and Rodrick took care of the land based monsters climbing up to reach them.

Hundreds of monsters died trying to re...

Chapter 136

The Dream Engine was dead. Its components had worn down until a critical fault caused a cascade of failures. For the first time in over thirty years, no human in the entire multiverse was receiving dreams. And due to the Dream Engine being viewed as an utter failure, another would never be built. An era had ended.

At least that was the version of events he managed to extract from Riley ov...

Chapter 135

Three days after his dungeon runs, Hector discovered fresh bruises on Riley. He avoided speaking of them until they were safely away from the public.

“Who did that?”

Riley shrunk away from him. “Spicy room.”

“I thought you weren’t going to do those anymore.”

“I… I didn’t mean to.”

“You didn’t mean to? That’s not something you can do on a...

Chapter 134

“What are your energy reserves at, Hector?”

“I’m fully topped up.”

“Good,” Conrad said. Zelda was at twenty percent and Rodrick just eighteen.

Rodrick apparently didn’t like the implied criticism. “What about you?”

“Forty-eight percent this morning.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Rodrick looked like he was about to have an aneurysm.

�...

Chapter 133

Riley would have agreed to absolutely anything to get a regular client who didn’t abuse her, Hector was sure. He felt like he’d taken advantage of her desperation even though he was trying to work for her benefit. “Let’s start with aura cultivation. Do you know what that is?”

“Aura is the blocking,” she said.

“Right, your aura can be a barrier around your body. But i...

Chapter 132

Rodrick had his hand over Hector’s mouth in an instant. “Don’t say that word! Holy Uncle, are you trying to get us kicked out?”

“And what would you call it?”

“It’s a brothel, Hector. Please.”

Humility and Charity. Shit. Why did he bother giving away money and deliver food if he was going to humiliate himself by letting Rod drag him to a business full of prost...

Chapter 131

The transition from ‘I feel nothing’ to ‘uh oh’ happened quite abruptly. Hector had been staring at the ceiling of his capsule in boredom when he decided to shift onto his side. The motion made him momentarily imagine himself as a massive ship at sea that foolishly decided to flop onto its side. Hector stared at the mattress beside him, wondering if he had turned into the Titanic. He br...

Chapter 130

Hector hit the streets with a sigh. His bed called to him though it was only mid-afternoon, promising it would be just as good to think about humility and charity instead of acting those virtues out. He stamped down the lazy thought. He would cultivate through his actions.

To that end, Hector walked towards a nearby slum. He’d passed it often on the frequent runs aroun...

Chapter 129

Zelda crashed to the ground beside him. “It’s time to retreat. We’re just wasting energy.”

“How much do you have left?”

“Maybe five percent,” she answered.

Hector hid his annoyance. He suspected that Conrad would be far more useful than the Arahants against this opponent. A grenade, maybe a barrage of incendiary bullets from his pistol, and this mantis wouldn�...

Chapter 128

Hector dressed, ate breakfast, and drank five expensive teas while waiting for the rest of his group. Rodrick was the first to arrive, wearing his usual armor and with a cheap armband light on each arm. He cheerfully took a seat. “Did you get your energy reserves up?”

“They’re about where I need them,” he lied. Nineteen percent at level five was like having thirty-eight percent ...

Chapter 127

He drank the first bottle of wine in its entirety that night. It was potent in terms of its alcohol content, its cosmic energy levels, and its harsh flavor. He woke at his usual time and began the day with chaos cultivation. Then he drank the second bottle at breakfast.

“Hey there, Hector! You were serious about relaxing for a few days.”

“Hey, Rod. Hey, Zelda.”

Rodrick...

Chapter 126

Hector studied his gains. He had managed to achieve an improvement of point one in mind, point two in aura, and point one in domain.

Survey Results

Type: Xian

Level: 4

Body: 4

Mind: 3.0

Aura: 2.7

Domain: 2.5

Energy Reserve...