The world came back into focus, a slow shift from complete black oblivion to a mere gray obscurity.
Adon only knew when he was aware of himself again.
I was knocked out, he thought, dimly aware that the impact to his human form’s head had somehow rendered him unconscious. He was also aware that he had reverted to his butterfly form in unconsciousness—because, well, ...
2025-06-10 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostGoldie clung to the nameless knight’s shoulder, her deepening fear and desperation manifest in the frantic grip of her body.
She felt the man wince. He was already on edge, standing near the sheer drop that led from the tunnel’s entrance down into a seemingly bottomless black pit. Even for a professional soldier, he had endured a lot. It probably made him even more uneasy having a big...
2025-06-06 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostAs Adon flew after Rosslyn, only half-aware of all that he was doing, his body transformed almost by itself.
On some level, he knew that his flimsy butterfly form was not strong enough to do anything for the falling Princess. Lightweight though Rosslyn appeared to be relative to other humans, it was still probably physically impossible for his butterfly body to support her weight, even wi...
2025-06-06 02:46:02 +0000 UTC View PostZora let out a sigh and rested her back against a tree.
“Time for a rest?” Alice asked.
“I think so,” Zora said. “Since the System, sometimes I feel like I could walk forever. Then I remember that forever is a very long time. My energy isn’t what it might be.”
“We’ve been walking for weeks now,” Alice said quietly. “We take little breaks, but… ...
2025-06-05 21:59:19 +0000 UTC View PostCara sat with her head clutched in her hands, waiting for her neck to finish reattaching.
After the fall—it was impossible to know how far it had been, because mountains were taller than they had been before the System, but one of her comrades had estimated it had been at least 15,000 feet—she would have died, if not for the fact that she was a Wendigo. Blunt force alone could not kil...
2025-05-31 04:09:23 +0000 UTC View PostAs Adon drew closer to the wall where he had left his friends, he noticed that ants were everywhere on the walls of the level. They had abandoned their underground bases and tunnels completely, and they now swarmed across any solid surface.
A few dozen of them had concentrated themselves where his friends had been, and they formed a sort of dogpile on top of the space. Adon could tell tha...
2025-05-26 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostAdon’s mind struggled to process what he was seeing as a new world unfolded itself before him.
The real world, his hard-working brain reminded him. Mental magic was still active, accelerating his thought processes and pushing him toward conclusions and further activity rather than stunned stillness. It was still shocking to see all of reality rapidly change around him, but he w...
2025-05-22 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostAdon reformed his radar version of Telepathy again, this time taking care to make it as far-reaching and unobtrusive as possible.
And he held the field in check for a few seconds, thinking.
If this crazy idea he had in his head was correct, the spider might be looking down, directly at the party, at this very moment.
If it’s really up there, I have to confirm it without ...
2025-05-21 21:29:09 +0000 UTC View PostWhat’s that? Adon sent.
He transmitted the words without shifting his body to see what Samson saw.
He would not yet take his limbs away from Goldie. He was still pouring healing mana into her. He was not certain if it was making a difference now, but Adon did not want to do anything less than a hundred percent to speed her recovery. At some point, he would probably have t...
2025-05-20 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostHow is that possible? the butterfly wondered for a wild, mad moment.
But of course it wasn’t possible. Adon knew he had not actually killed two knights—or any knights. He tried to center himself, remain calm. He couldn’t afford to be slow or naive right now. He couldn’t spend too much time on reflection or trying to understand what was going on. He needed to thin...
2025-05-19 03:44:35 +0000 UTC View PostWith the words that left the Panther Queen’s mouth, much was resolved in a single sentence.
Much was also gained.
[Required conditions met…. Sublime achievement accomplished! New Title unlocked: One-Man Army!]
James flicked the announcement away mentally, but the Panther Queen’s words coupled with the System acknowledgement could not fail to bring a smil...
2025-05-17 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe Panther Queen’s aura spiked, and James’s body threw itself backward instinctively.
A moment later, a long claw stabbed through the space where he had been. The Queen was not truly attacking yet, though. Her body was spasming and writhing, every muscle shaking, as her flesh bulged and twisted beneath her fur.
Final form, then, James thought.
Not every monster...
2025-05-15 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostInside James’s body, strange and titanic shifts occurred.
Bones fractured and reformed, sharp and thick fragments of them migrating through dense and tough flesh or swam through his bloodstream until they drew close to the silk-producing glands.
At the same time, he poured a significant investment of Mana and Stamina into those glands, generating a copious amount of extremely dura...
2025-05-13 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAs Adon zipped through the air, the spiders’ telepathic voices only seemed to draw further away.
I don’t know what’s doing this, Samson sent in a frenzied tone. Something has ahold of mama, and it had me for a second, too. I grabbed hold of her as soon as I got close to her in the air, and whatever it was let me go. But not her.
Sammy, if it let you go, y...
2025-05-11 03:55:23 +0000 UTC View PostJames descended, his movements slow and stately at first, and then sudden and violent.
He really did not think the Panther Queen should be a challenge to defeat, considering how simple her abilities were. His “Avenger” Title from Vidarr had also been active this whole time, since the Queen and the Panther Army were the aggressors here. James could still feel his power surging slightly...
2025-05-11 00:27:04 +0000 UTC View PostMina was floating in the air, considering her next target, when she saw and felt something in the distance, and her heart skipped a beat.
Something was moving. Mina could feel it, moving into her Zone of Enchantment, rippling with overflowing energy with every step forward. It was larger than most of the Pantherfolk and distinctly more powerful.
The Queen!
Mina swallowed as sh...
2025-05-06 14:25:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe Panther Queen sat at a long table in her tent, a banquet set before her.
Noise drifted to her ears that seemed to come from outside the tent. From somewhere else entirely, perhaps.
“Murder and mayhem?” she murmured, confused. “I hear the sounds of it outside, do I not?” She sounded almost drugged as she spoke.
“All is well, my Queen,” murmured a sycophantic hum...
2025-05-06 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostFar above, invisible to all those struggling in the mingled blood and soil below, Mina bore witness as the Panther Army slaughtered itself under the darkness of the new moon.
She was grateful that the night was lit only by stars and the occasional magical burst of fire or lightning, for the scene was grisly. Every minute, scores of Pantherfolk died brutally at the hands of their brethren....
2025-05-05 13:25:47 +0000 UTC View Post“Adon, I appreciate your detective work, and I have no doubt that it is fine deduction,” Rosslyn said. “Believe me, I recall your resourcefulness well.” She gave him a thin smile, and Adon felt her remembering the bittersweet discovery of Celeste’s betrayal. “That said, I do not believe it would be wise to further alarm the remaining members of our party by interrogating them. We sh...
2025-05-05 01:55:56 +0000 UTC View PostWhile half the knights, Rosslyn, and the young lords slept, Adon diligently searched his memory banks.
This time was not like other memory searches he had performed in the past. Then, he had been looking for specific details—a location, an event, a magical technique, a piece of evidence of some idea he wanted to demonstrate.
Now, he was looking for something more along the lines o...
2025-05-05 01:53:04 +0000 UTC View PostIf Adon had teeth, he would have been grinding them at the sudden and—in his mind—probably unjustified interruption.
But he would have been the only one, it seemed.
“Well, I am always ready for a strategy discussion,” Rosslyn replied evenly.
William nodded.
Frederick said, “Excellent,” and beamed as if he had no idea that he and his brother and the spiders mi...
2025-05-05 01:37:37 +0000 UTC View PostHours passed while Thane was in his silent but unpleasant sleep.
The sun had time to set, and its dying light had time to fade, until the sky turned almost completely black.
That night, a new moon rose for the first time that month.
The Panther Army had known it was coming. They watched the skies whenever they were moving by night, as they had done for a small part of the jour...
2025-05-04 15:02:41 +0000 UTC View PostAt the same time that James was flying toward the battleground, the Panther Army was marching there, double time.
Panther Warrior Thane Crowstrike was one of the unfortunate many who were participating in this long forced march. It had sounded good at this point. They would take out the force that had apparently been whittling down their numbers little by little over the last couple of we...
2025-05-02 18:14:59 +0000 UTC View PostThe group planned out watches for that sleep time.
No one knew whether it was day or night beyond the confines of the dungeon anymore, and the artificial sun outside was probably still shining, though it was impossible to see through the densely packed mass of bodies in the cave opening. So, their “night” was simply whenever everyone was tired and it was time to sleep.
After a l...
2025-05-01 13:34:29 +0000 UTC View PostAdon shot forward impossibly quickly, faster than was physically possible, in theory, even with his mana-enhanced wings. He could sense the surprise in the spiders behind him at the speed with which his glowing body receded into the space ahead of them.
The butterfly was already putting to use one of the new Skills he had acquired, Rapid Movement I. Every flap of his wings moved him rough...
2025-05-01 13:32:51 +0000 UTC View PostNice, was the first thought that came to mind as Adon reviewed his Status screen.
It exceeded his expectations, especially in the all-important area of mana.
User: Adon, Mystic Crystal Butterfly
Age: 2 months
Sex: Male
Status
Health: 500/500
Mana: 27,000/27,000
Strength: 1000
Agility: 10,000
Perception: 3000
Dexterity: 6...
2025-04-29 13:26:18 +0000 UTC View PostAfter only another second or two of hesitation, the spiders began moving, skittering away from William’s body at a pace that would have impressed a professional sprinter.
Adon felt their slight apprehension at leaving William behind, but it was mixed with a confidence that Adon would take care of their comrade—and a healthy dose of fear for their own safety.
The spiders knew the...
2025-04-29 13:19:19 +0000 UTC View Post“Three days,” James said definitively.
The Council was gathered around James’s living room in person for their final meeting before the battle would take place.
It was the second night after his Dreamwalking experience with Doppelganger and Roscuro. He had just checked the locations of the Panther Army again. They had recalled their raiders from the surrounding countryside the...
2025-04-26 02:43:55 +0000 UTC View PostHow goes the mission? James sent upon accepting telepathic contact.
I greet the Progenitor, Doppelganger sent telepathically. The mission… proceeds. The Soul Eater Orb and I wished to update you on the most recent developments.
James sensed the slightest reluctance in the Doppelganger’s voice, but before he could pry into that, Roscuro added his own vo...
2025-04-25 02:26:29 +0000 UTC View PostAdon managed to react quickly, having already begun charging mana when he noticed that William was doing the same. Specifically, the butterfly reinforced himself with mana spread throughout his body—though the movement of energy was rushed and haphazard, and hence unlikely to negate the damage completely.
He hoped his friends were doing the same, but Adon could not know immediately. The...
2025-04-22 00:19:46 +0000 UTC View Post