AN: In Chapter 194, I wrongly implied only one year had passed since the Lich's Monster Surge. Actually, they are approaching the second anniversary of that event. My apologies.
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The orc miners celebrated our return like we had just slain a dragon. Astrid and Ash enjoyed the attention while I snuck around the group to talk to the pit boss. I told him about the Stonemason Ant nest near the mine and recommended abandoning the northern tunnels until Elincia’s ant repellant was ...
2025-01-22 02:33:35 +0000 UTC
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“I don’t want it!” Astrid said, covering her head with both hands.
“You have to use it,” I replied.
“It’s uncomfortable!”
“It’s mandatory!”
I had lobbied for the usage of safety helmets since the opening of the mine, and an obstinate beastfolk woman wouldn’t undermine my efforts. Orcs wouldn’t even use helmets to fight against Crystalboar Matriarchs, and forcing them to use the helmets to mine had been near impossible. Despite my influence, th...
2025-01-18 03:54:37 +0000 UTC
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A world away, lost among the Appalachian Mountains, was a small cabin with moss-covered shingles, a porch, a chimney, and a shed on the side. There was nothing outstanding about the cabin other than the fact such a simple house belonged to an old eccentric millionaire. The interior was as unremarkable as the outside, save for a minor detail. Hundreds of paper sheets written in an otherworldly language covered the dining room table.
The writing belonged to the common language of the King...
2025-01-15 02:15:40 +0000 UTC
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I was used to kids growing up. Graduations have been a yearly staple since my days as a teaching assistant. However, a part of me wanted the older kids to remain at the orphanage for a few more years. I didn’t voice my feelings so as not to make the kids change their minds regarding the Imperial Academy—Firana, more than anyone else, would change her mind to accommodate my wishes—but Elincia quickly detected something was wrong with me.
“You did enough,” Elincia said, her head...
2025-01-11 00:20:58 +0000 UTC
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The letter slipped through Ilya’s fingers. Her hands trembled, and she had to take a deep breath to remain in control. I could almost hear her heart hammering against her chest.
“There must be a mistake. I’m not Imperial Cadet material,” she muttered.
I grabbed the letter from the kitchen floor.
By the command of His Imperial Heir, Prince Andrew, Duke of Abria.
To Ilya of Farcrest.
With the Imperial Council's approval and recog...
2025-01-08 01:42:50 +0000 UTC
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“Take care, Slimebrains!” Astrid shouted, on the verge of tears.
“Take care, Fleabag!” Risha replied before entering the manor.
Astrid’s special day had quickly turned sour by Risha’s departure. She clutched the dagger—her early birthday present—and the farewell letter. Astrid had kept it to herself, but without Risha, she felt alone. Astrid did not get along particularly well with any of the orphans. She blamed her gloomy nature and a face that said ‘go away’....
2025-01-05 19:53:19 +0000 UTC
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Whiteleaf Manor was three hours by foot from Farcrest. The old cobbled road turned east through a path between steep hills into the Farlands, went low into the valley, and climbed the western hill into the hamlet’s main building. The ruined manor, now overgrown by weeds and bramble, was located on the slope of the hill, dominating the small valley. Hidden among the wild plants were twelve oaks with white leaves.
The Marquis had given me a plot of land in the middle of the Farlands wit...
2025-01-04 00:38:05 +0000 UTC
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I woke up to the warm spring breeze and the softness of Elincia’s bed. The sun was high in the sky. The room smelled like lavender, old books, and soap. I took a deep breath. After a month of roaming the Farlands, I thought this was the smell of heaven. Being alive felt great. It was the third time I cheated death, and I hoped it would be the last. I wasn’t a superstitious person but deep down I knew there wasn’t going to be a fourth time.
I stretched my back and pulled the blanke...
2024-12-31 22:03:52 +0000 UTC
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I stood before the Ebros soldiers. The golden armor of Prince Adrien’s elite troops gleamed under the spring sun. By their side stood the Farcrest Guardsmen wearing tunics with the colors of the Marquis—red and black—above their chainmail. Behind the soldiers, the nobles exchanged confused glances. I was supposed to be dead.
Janus paled as the Marquis whispered something to his ear.
“Robert Clarke, you are under arrest for the murder of Izabeka Kiln!” Janus shouted. The ...
2024-12-29 05:13:30 +0000 UTC
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Hey, everyone! Hope y'all having a good time!
I wanted to thank you for joining me on this literary adventure. It's been quite a ride since I started publishing back in May last year, and we still have a long(?) way to go. From now on, I can only promise to continue doing my best to write a good story. I hope you'll like what I have in store for our beloved characters.
- Elra
2024-12-27 00:27:11 +0000 UTC
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Firana pushed forward and executed a surprising diagonal slash. Our blades clashed. Firana aimed a wind-blow at my leg, but I foresaw her movement before she even used the skill and countered with one of my own. The wind bursts collided midway, canceling each other out.
With the corner of my eye, I saw Zaon performing a surrounding maneuver. I stomped on the ground, and a sandstone spike emerged between Firana’s feet. The girl jumped back, drawing a wide arch into the air. I sto...
2024-12-26 16:12:24 +0000 UTC
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“I’m old, and I’m dying,” the soft voice said.
The Fountain burned like a sun in an underground cave. Occasionally, mana flares shot from the Fountain’s corona. It didn’t seem like it was dying.
“Are you the Fountain?”
“I am who I am, but outsiders like you have called me that before.”
The soft voice drifted like it was about to fall asleep, and the presence weakened. I looked around and scanned the void. There was no o...
2024-12-22 17:33:35 +0000 UTC
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After Janus’ betrayal, I swore to be less naive; however, I didn’t count on Hallas letting the Lich control his body and feeding the Warden with the Holone Grapes.
Perhaps it was the Avatar’s fault for giving me subpar runes to fight against the Lich. My father’s words echoed in my mind. You can’t blame others for your own mistakes. I had been overconfident, and now I was wagering our future to a hunch. Maybe, just maybe, if I lost my Class, I would get a p...
2024-12-19 16:13:55 +0000 UTC
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All around me, the Thorned Saplings withered. The green pod throbbed, and the mana wave immobilized me as if I had fallen into a frozen lake. A shadow moved inside the hazy liquid. Mana currents swirled around the Warden’s Cloister, visible even to the naked eye.
Hallas collapsed, and his body rolled by the pod’s side, but the vines cushioned the fall. His face had the paleness of death, yet [Foresight] told me he was still alive. Whether the Lich had taken advantage of his st...
2024-12-15 07:02:08 +0000 UTC
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The kids shifted nervously. The elven city was too silent for a monster lair, and the wooden platforms and resin pathways suspended over our heads created too many blind spots. I expected Gloomstalkers and Mana Stingers to rain down from the ceiling the moment we put a foot inside the Warden’s Tree, but the welcoming committee was nowhere to be found.
I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching us.
“Either this is a trap, or we killed every monster in the Lich...
2024-12-12 07:19:40 +0000 UTC
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The cloak fell back, revealing a familiar face.
“Izabeka!” I raised my voice, but my body froze.
It couldn’t be. Janus had chased me into the Farlands, which meant Izabeka had been defeated. Janus wouldn’t let a witness live.
I examined her face. There was no sign she had been turned into undead, no mortal paleness, no putrefied meat, nor that unnatural stiffness. The campfire sputtered. Undead didn't light bonfires either.
“You died,” I said.
2024-12-09 07:27:26 +0000 UTC
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We hunkered down behind a fallen tree. A hundred meters down the forest slope, past a rocky creek, three Greyfang warriors stood unnaturally still. Their coal-black skin made them look like charred stone golems. A subtle magic barrier covered them all over their hardened skin.
“A faint strand of mana is coming from their heads,” Ilya whispered.
“You can see it?” I asked.
A self-sufficient smile appeared on Ilya’s face when she saw my surprised expression. The...
2024-12-06 06:14:15 +0000 UTC
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Hey y'all!
For the past three days, I've been experiencing flu symptoms and a lot of headaches, so chapters will be delayed this week. Chapters 182 and 183 will be posted on Thursday and Sunday instead of the usual Tuesday-Friday.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Have a nice week!
2024-12-04 22:35:29 +0000 UTC
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The Lich’s forces were starting to recover. Undead and Chrysalimorphs patrolled the Farlands. It wasn’t hard to guess what they were looking for—the Access Rune.
I used [Mirage] and [Dome of Silence] and turned us into silent shadows. I could conceal everyone in a two-and-a-half sphere radius while keeping my mana regeneration above the skill-draining rate. However, keeping seven people inside the spell area took more work than expected. We decided to avoid the orc's hidden ...
2024-12-01 05:36:17 +0000 UTC
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Risha put his backpack over his shoulders, shield and spear on his back, and stepped outside of the manor.
The first light of the day appeared behind the mountains. Winter was gone, but the orphanage’s backyard was completely still. He took a deep breath, the fresh morning air filling his lungs. Risha absorbed the view with a nostalgic feeling stuck to his throat: the farm plot, the chicken coop, the well, the old shed. It would be a while until he returned. If he ever did.
“T...
2024-11-29 22:14:08 +0000 UTC
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The orc caravan walked for two days without stopping for rest. The Energy Potion carried me through the first day of marching, but the effect dissipated by the second night. I must’ve collapsed in the middle of the road because when I opened my eyes, I was loaded into a cart with the wounded. Kara walked by the cart’s side, casting worried glances at me. It was still night, and [Foresight]’s inner clock informed me that only a few hours had passed.
Thanks to [Invigoration], ...
2024-11-27 20:51:54 +0000 UTC
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The citadel exploded, and blocks of stone showered all across Umolo. A chunk of the citadel hit the wall near the outer camp, and the rain of rock and dust obscured my view of the night sky. I covered my eyes. Debris fell on the outer camp, but other than a few collapsed tents, nobody was wounded.
The tiny patch of Corruption on my chest dug into my flesh.
The Black Spire rose like a thorn from the mountainside.
“The Greyfangs are going nuts! They are attacking the b...
2024-11-24 02:11:46 +0000 UTC
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The orbs cast light on the battlefield as the Mana Stingers poured from the hole in the ground. The black and orange insect wave marched into the camp, but a mass of Gloomstalkers, Spriggans, and Chrysalimorphs crowded the bulwarks as they tried to penetrate the barrier. The Mana Stingers spread out around the flanks. They reached the spiked wall in an instant and used their hooked legs to climb the wood.
Hundreds and hundreds of Mana Stingers climbed the eastern wall. My heart skipped ...
2024-11-20 17:14:33 +0000 UTC
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Ilya scanned the forest line from the top of the wooden platform. Although she looked minuscule next to the orc archers, her black armor and long enchanted rifle gave her a fierce look. Zaon remained seated, back against the parapet, and eyes closed. I couldn’t hear him, but his lips moved fast as he recited a litany. Hallas and Pyrrah channeled their spirit animals, following the track of the monster wave.
Firana stood next to me, humming a song. She had brought Ginz’s last-m...
2024-11-15 22:24:18 +0000 UTC
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As soon as we arrived at the outer camp I had a bad feeling. The camp was in disarray, which was uncharacteristic for orcs. However, as much as I examined our surroundings, there was no sign of monsters.
Ilya guided us to the central square. It seemed to be an orc custom to have a clear space in the center of their camp. We encountered the elders giving orders to their subordinates, but there was no semblance of unity. Each tribe seemed to be securing its area, disregarding the ov...
2024-11-12 21:49:39 +0000 UTC
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Far into the forest, the mysterious tree stood like a silent colossus dominating the valley. The canopy stretched wide, casting a massive shadow on the mountainside. It wasn’t a species I’d seen before but it looked vaguely like an oak. The leaves were green despite the winter season, with strong secondary branches that could host a whole village.
I glanced in awe. The tree was far behind the hills, yet it rose over everything. It was hard to guess its size without a known landmark,...
2024-11-09 17:22:07 +0000 UTC
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“I know that man. He’s the Lich,” I said.
The System Avatar intruded into my memories, and it felt like acquiring a new skill. My brain was pressed and squeezed, flattened and built again. I wanted to puke, and I would do it if I were in my actual body, but everything around me was just a vision of the System. The sun disappeared, and stone walls grew around us. We were inside a cave. The ceiling was five or six meters above our heads, but we weren’t all that deep. The light of ...
2024-11-05 23:04:45 +0000 UTC
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The Man in Yellow sat cross-legged behind the bamboo bars. His yellow shirt was smeared with mud, the left sleeve was torn, and his tortoiseshell glasses were crooked. His arms were scrapped as if he had been dragged through the dirt. The beginning of his adventure in this world had not been smooth. He had arrived in a dangerous world where humans weren’t the dominant species but mice hiding in caves, and the System wasn’t a thing yet.
Two warriors guarded the bamboo prison, seeming...
2024-11-03 02:26:52 +0000 UTC
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“The mana from a Hermit’s Gold doesn’t come from the System,” the tall man said as he turned the crank of the press. The metal crushed the yellow fruit, sending a stream of sweet juices down the receptacle into a glass flask. He wasn’t preparing breakfast, though. The press was coated in spells, and not even the tiniest speck of mana escaped the alchemical process.
The boy waited until the tall man finished collecting the pulp and skin of the Hermit’s Gold fruit—because th...
2024-10-31 16:40:08 +0000 UTC
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I threw a cloak over my head and followed Pyrrah outside the tent. The camp was in complete darkness. Guards were stationed near the main square, outside the chieftains’ tents, and around the camp. Most of the night watchmen were posted on the wall, in case of a night raid. We slipped unnoticed through the Teal Moon camp.
Orcs couldn’t see in darkness, and they didn't have System detection skills. I couldn’t confidently say the same about the Greyfangs. So far, I’d seen th...
2024-10-30 03:40:58 +0000 UTC
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