A/N: Heya! Just a pre-warning that I may have to take a day or two off posting to do some irl work that I've been needing to get finished, but IF I'm still able to post tomorrow/the day after I will and I definitely will be back to my regularly scheduled posting by Sunday at the latest. Much love, and thanks so much for reading and supporting me, and enjoy today's chapter!
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Monsters, unsurprisingly, were pretty easy to encounter in this place. The...
2024-06-13 18:23:45 +0000 UTC
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Ever tried to find a single imp in a dungeon completely full of ‘em?
Turns out it wasn’t as hard as Markus envisioned it being. Not even remotely so.
“Yeah, I think I know who you’re talking about. Why the fuck are you looking for him?” he was asked the moment he found a lone worker, a bipedal furred thing with four arms that almost resembled a tiger, pulling a cart with two arms as she crossed the other pair over her chest. “He steal somet...
2024-06-12 22:09:27 +0000 UTC
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[C Grade Fledgling Tri Core (Caustic, Flame, Frost) absorbed. Would you like to affix this core to a slot (2/4), or would you like to affix it to your weapon? (0/1).]
Affix it to the weapon… what would that even do? A C Grade core was more valuable than any he currently had, and Markus was sure that having a core that covered multiple elements would most likely not only confer him some good passives but also allow him to generate all kinds of mana....
2024-06-11 20:29:50 +0000 UTC
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“Please… please fuck off.”
Only five minutes ago he was knocking against the great glowing doors of heaven, and in the time that’d passed since, these rich fucks would not for the life of Markus stop badgering him.
Or for the death of him. Hell, he probably could’ve expired right here and these dopey idiots would stand and make offers to his corpse instead.
Daven was repeatedly trying to heal Markus with magic, but for as mu...
2024-06-10 17:31:14 +0000 UTC
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Markus didn’t know that he was using a skill, not really, not until the blood started to tear from the creature’s neck of its own accord, until the laceration deepened and grew yet more thick as the trimander struggled and strained, not until what had began as a deep cut transmuted into a gaping wound threatening to decapitate the trimander’s flaming head entirely.
With each ounce of blood that flew from the hideous creature, more of it pooled and coagulated around Markus, ...
2024-06-09 17:00:19 +0000 UTC
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“I don’t know, hide?!”
Markus could barely think. Massive reptillian monster was staring at him hungrily, all three heads trained directly on him. This one was live, energised, feral. In the background, numbers were still being incrementally shouted in a sickening, arrhythmic pulse that substituted the beat of his own heart.
Chaos thundered through his skull as he gripped his weapon harder. He still wasn’t used to the feel of this thing, but with Overcharge a...
2024-06-08 15:09:36 +0000 UTC
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Markus hastily distributed points into his attributes as the cart roughly bumped the uneven surface below, the group of them being dragged along with no approximation of a destination in sight, only whatever their imaginations could conjure.
“I was right. I told you, I was right…” Daven muttered.
Another man sobbed freely. A woman whispered soothing words to another.
Markus blocked it all out. He focussed on the screen in front of him.
...
2024-06-07 13:46:26 +0000 UTC
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“Fucking hated that bitch,” Cyrus grumbled.
Markus immediately spat out his drink as he tried not to choke laughing, his [Meditation] aura completely fading. He’d been attempting to use the Meditation feature of Respite to focus on speeding the recovery of some of his more severe injuries, but now his concentration was completely shattered.
“Wh-whoa,” he managed between coughs. “Where the fuck did that come from? What happened to shining ...
2024-06-06 14:42:05 +0000 UTC
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Markus didn’t even know there were training rooms until now. He’d also expected them to be teleported right there, but instead, Maesha the Sword God simply said she would ‘lead the way’ and took off walking.
Markus had to jog to keep up with her, and yet she looked to be taking a simple stroll. It boggled his mind, but he supposed everything about gods was confusing in some way or another.
It didn’t take them too long to arrive, Markus struggling not to pan...
2024-06-05 15:17:37 +0000 UTC
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“What’s your name?” the small goddess asked, stroking Ember as she spoke.
“Markus.”
“Does it have a meaning?” When Markus only blinked, she elaborated. “Your name. Does it mean anything?”
“Means my mom liked the name Markus,” Markus shrugged.
She snickered. “I suppose that makes sense. Mine doesn’t mean anything either. My name’s Serena.” Suddenly, she patted the bed beside her. “Come! Sit. You look exhausted....
2024-06-04 13:55:36 +0000 UTC
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“You Drathok’s new punching bag?” the blacksmith sneered, large tusks jutting from his maw as he looked Markus over, who despite the potent effects of the healing potion, still looked like he’d recently gone twelve rounds with Rocky.
“...something like that,” Markus shrugged, wandering into the large, open-plan forge and leaning against a support beam. He simply waited for the creature to finish his task for a moment, eventually growing interested enough in the hammer...
2024-06-04 13:47:01 +0000 UTC
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Markus had been about to pass out when he felt a pair of hands around his chest hoisting him back to his feet.
“Good fight…” Drathok whispered into his ear, before turning to bow to the audience.
[D Grade Life Mana Absorbed.]
In the couple seconds of contact they’d shared, Markus had received some energy from Drathok, probably just enough to stop him from going into shock. He was still bleeding profusely, but at least had enough ...
2024-06-04 13:39:40 +0000 UTC
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Markus felt the air slicing right past his shoulder, but the blade never made contact. With an explosion of pain and power, he forced the goblins away with intangible, spiritual force, a white-blue energy emanating from him as he clutched his axe hard, fresh blood leaking onto the handle.
[Mana Capacity at 366%. Overcharge, E Grade is in effect. Growth increased. All physical stats temporarily increased by 75. Physical damage resistance increased.]
[
2024-06-03 17:59:33 +0000 UTC
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Seven of the bastards. God, his luck was fucking blessed. Barely crawled out of bed and he’d been dragged here with nothing but his fists!
They didn’t charge him immediately, though. They gave him that at least. Whether intentional or not, the goblins waited for the fanfare to mount even higher, sizing him up as the announcer continued to hype Markus’ appearance, recounting the battle he’d had with the bulleater, embellishing it a little, even, all for the ...
2024-06-02 13:51:13 +0000 UTC
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Picking a path between the three he'd been offered wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
The first option was straightforward, offering easily applicable crowd control in return for a small quantity of mana. It sounded easily applicable and fairly useful, especially if combined with higher grades of Frost Mana.
Then there was the Frost Barrier. That one was more easily discounted. Markus was sure that most things in this world could kill him in a couple of hits as i...
2024-06-01 12:51:53 +0000 UTC
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Well, that could’ve gone worse.
Maxen wasn’t a crack dealer. What he did end up being was a brothel owner. He found Markus’ power interesting, and hoped to use his ability to transfer mana to invigorate his workers with incredible energy, ensuring they could continue to see clients, perform shows, and generally be available near enough twenty-four hours a day for as long as humanly possible.
As Markus understood it, the most valued courtesans w...
2024-05-31 13:50:01 +0000 UTC
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“Hello, mortal. Have I come at a bad time?”
Markus stared up at the glowing golden paragon of divine energy stood before him, then glanced back at the flaming helldog that had tried to kill him not minutes before. He sighed.
“Nope. Now’s a good time. Sorry the place is a mess. Haven’t had a chance to clean up recently, and the maid’s not due for another week.”
Markus gestured to the small cell around him, covered in shards of broken plate and his...
2024-05-31 13:46:03 +0000 UTC
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[Hellhound. Essence Attunement: Fire/???. Level: ??. Threat level: Extremely High.]
The dog growled as it sized him up, two horns shooting out from its head radiating in a golden glow, complete with patterns that reminded him of his glaive when freshly imbued. Weird. Very weird…
He didn’t get long to think about it as the dog lunged in his direction. He thanked Heavenly Fuck that he felt well-rested enough to move properly, barely dodging as the cre...
2024-05-31 13:43:11 +0000 UTC
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[Name: Markus Brown]
[Class: Otherworlder (Earth) (Tier: Novice 8)]
[Health: 253/340]
[Mana: 832/430]
[Strength: 48 (+30)]
[Agility: 42 (+30)]
[Arcana: 6]
[Constitution: 49 (+30)]
[Spirit: 17]
[???: 0]
Markus’ stomach growled as he too...
2024-05-31 13:39:48 +0000 UTC
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Gods were now fighting over Markus. On the matter of whether he should feel flattered or terrified, ‘terrified’ was looking to be the stronger adjective.
As many as six different voices had piped up in the last few moments expressing some level of interest over hiring Markus following his defeat of the monster. All of these voices emanated from high-class looking box seats, and all of them carried that same affectation of power and status that one might expect of a...
2024-05-31 13:37:05 +0000 UTC
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[Prolonged contact established. Would you like to drain this creature’s essence?]
It was exactly the prompt he’d been looking for. Markus selected ‘yes’ with a scream of force, all the while clamping himself to the creature’s leg as it tried to kick and flail him off of it.
[Mana Drain initialised. Transferring essence. D Grade Blood Mana, D Grade Ice Mana, E Grade Spirit Mana, and D Grade Life Mana are currently being syphoned.
2024-05-31 13:33:39 +0000 UTC
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