elra

An Otherworldly Scholar - 171

“The Greyfangs want Wolf to join their ranks,” Pyrra said, her voice quivering under the influence of mana exhaustion. For a moment, I saw Elincia worried for the kids, but the illusion only lasted an instant. Pyrrah was concerned, but I wasn’t sure if her concern was aimed at Wolf.

The warriors stopped packing the testing equipment and focused on the conversation. Pyrrah shivered. Her face was pale, almost translucent, but her teeth stopped chattering. I expected to feel regret f...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 170

Ginz’s fingers gleamed with mana. The iron ingot in his hands heated until it became soft like putty. He tore a small portion of metal and molded it into a short cylinder. Then, he squashed it and started again. Three times, Ginz kneaded the iron until he was satisfied with the result. He summoned a mana caliper out of thin air and measured the base diameter before working the tip. Ginz’s eyes were lost in space as if he were looking at an invisible System prompt, and he grinned. Finally,...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 169

Ilya and I sat outside the tent, sipping tea from our enchanted mugs. Besides fighting the occasional wave of undead, there wasn’t much to do in Umolo, so I focused on enchanting. Carved in the mug's base was a Fire enchantment. With a little bit of mana, we could warm up the contents without the need to start a fire. There was a difference between the things I could enchant and those I should. At full power, I could make a Fire rune to boil water, but it wouldn’t be safe to touch, and wo...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 168

The gunshot drowned out the sounds of the battle. The slug shattered the Ghoul’s mask, and blood trails fell through the cracks. Wolf kept the shotgun shouldered but pulled back at the last moment. The window had closed. A fireball hit the Ghoul’s side, catching its attention. The creature looked around in confusion until its eyes met the Aias Sword. Just as the Ghoul charged toward Firana, Ilya’s magic arrow struck its hind leg. The Ghoul roared in distress, dazed and thrashing the haz...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 167

The sound of the horn came down from the citadel. All movement on the camp stopped. Everyone held their breath. The horn blew for the second time and the tension broke. Some orcs of the Teal Moon tribe rushed to the entrance of the underground refuge while those who were fitted to combat escorted them. No undead came down from the sky, however, I felt an eerie sensation coming from the forest.

I left Dassyra’s tent and walked in the opposite direction of the orc crowd. I was ready to ...

Artwork - Shu & Loki

this one is a banger

An Otherworldly Scholar - 166

“You are a smart girl, Ilya,” I said as we walked to the well in the main square.

“And you are about to ask me something outrageous, right?” Ilya raised an eyebrow as she struggled against the orc-sized bucket. She sighed. “Scholars are all the same.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Even after all these months, Ilya was the same distrustful gnome, but she was right. I was about to ask her something outrageous. Ilya let out a groan and balanced the empty bucket on her head...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 165

The Warchief looked down on the main square. His hair was gray, yet it fell in abundance over his shoulders like a white lion’s mane. His face was covered in old scars and wrinkles, and his left tusk was broken and replaced with a silver tip, but his body still had the vitality of an adult orc. Golden rings covered his fingers, and the golden pelt of a strange beast covered his shoulders.

The other orcs revered him.

“Wolf, son of Dassyra. You are strong, and your strange art d...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 164

The pack of orcs guided us through the Farlands, always going north. We followed the same path I had taken with Elincia during our herb-gathering expedition, but instead of going west and sticking to the mountain, we turned to the east, deeper into the Farlands. Little One guided us through hidden paths through the forest and the mountains. Soon, I realized the orcs had a road network. Some roads were wide enough for carriages, and others were little more than animal trails.

We covered ...

September (2024) Bonus Chapter

Since she had become corrupted, Astrid had thought about many things. The lack of an intrusive presence constantly whispering in her ear allowed her to focus on her thoughts. Not having to travel around the continent to accomplish an obscure mission given by the System also helped. With this new freedom, however, came uncertainty. What was she supposed to do now? Since the night she turned fifteen, she had been living on autopilot, following the System's commands and fulfilling its demands wi...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 163

The Lich’s arm exploded but my mana barrier stopped the shrapnel. Beneath the hardened chitin and bark-like skin, muscle and bone protruded from the wound. Green blood spurted from the wound. I couldn’t tell if the Lich felt pain but he stumbled back, speechless. Maybe he was merely shocked by the violence of the explosion.

Maybe the smart move was to give him the Access Rune, but I had sworn to protect the orphanage. After Janus’ betrayal, a harsh realization had settled in. I ne...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 162

The Lich’s threat lingered against the silence.

 If I turn you, I fear our chubby little yellow friend might strip you of your skills. I would prefer you give me that Access Rune while you live. 

The Lich getting my Access Rune would be disastrous for Farcrest and the kingdom. However, the only thing I could think about was the underlying mystery. The existence of the System Avatar was supposed to be a secret, even for the Zealots. The System was supposed to b...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 161

The pods throbbed. Vague figures moved inside the cloudy liquid. I used my mana sense to see through the crimson membrane but couldn’t see inside. The environment mana stung my skin like tiny grains of sand in a storm. Under my mana sense, the root-monolith where the clumps of pods hung shone like a lighthouse. Pure mana rushed through the roots into the pods. There were hundreds of them, some the size of a human, others barely larger than an apple—ready to hatch.

Before I could mov...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 160

The Blood Eagles dove upon us like arrows against the clear sky. [Awareness] sharpened my eyesight. Opaque, worn-out chestnut feathers covered their bodies. Despite the signs of decay, their beaks and talons were deep crimson, like they had dipped in fresh blood. Their eyes were hollow, and patches of putrid flesh were visible between the plumage. On their backs, Undead Orcs clung to their feathers, weapons drawn.

We ran across the thicket, but the eagles were faster. They flew over our...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 159

The world was completely still. The first rays of the sun emerged from behind the eastern mountains, the sky was clear for the first time in weeks, and the cold air seeped through my Warm Blanket. I refueled the Warm Stones in the middle of our hideout. The natural stone wall blocked the freezing wind from the snowy mountains, and the dense foliage covered us from any flying undead prowling around. In any other situation, the calm would have been reassuring, but a silent forest felt dangerous...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 158

Access. Special Rune. Rank I. [Identify]: A set of credentials issued by Admin001 with the purpose of accessing the System’s back end. For the love of all that is holy, Robert Clarke, don’t lose it, or we will all be in hot water.

The last snippet worried me. I was far from ready to tinker with the System’s code. There was too much at stake. One wrong rune and the fabric of society would collapse; without the System’s support, Farmer’s yields would be halved, Alchemists could...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 157

Wolf took the plunge and embraced the System. A green and golden aura surrounded him, traveling across his limbs and energizing dormant mana channels. Before any of us could react, the aura disappeared, and Wolf was bound to the System. He blinked, confused. From his perspective, minutes passed inside the trance, but for us, it had only been a second.

“Wolf, you…” Ilya muttered, but her words died against the cold wind.

Wolf turned around and summoned his Character Sheet. Fo...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 156

Ilya collapsed, her back hitting the snow with a soft thud. She reached down with trembling fingers and clutched the black dart embedded in her stomach. Her face twisted in pain, and her eyes wide with shock.

“Take cover!” I rushed to her side, grabbing her by the jacket and dragging her behind the pine trunk. The dart was thin, with a serrated body, and coated in a dark substance. I didn’t need to be an expert to know it was poisoned. Ilya’s breaths weakened, and her skin paled...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 155

The night was harsh; the snowfall had left a meter of snow, and we could barely get a moment of rest. The forest seemed to “move”. The Forest Warden’s roots spread under our feet like the appendages of a deep sea creature while endless flocks of Wraiths, Undead Harpies, and Blood Hawks passed over our heads. Their screeches tore the calm of the night sky, and even after they disappeared far south and east, we couldn’t sleep.

The monsters missed us, but the night couldn’t have ...

August (2024) Bonus Chapter

Glopfinger - Part 2/2

August Bonus Chapter

“Well, if it isn’t the Scholar who keeps putting strange ideas in my Firana’s head.”

Nothing like waking up to Glopfinger’s snorting laugh. My arms were strapped down, and my head was spinning. I just hoped Glopfinger wouldn’t start with a villainous tirade until my head settled down, but he wasn't going to give me the courtesy.

“As you can see, my servant has captured you,” he boasted in his v...

July (2024) Bonus Chapter

Glopfinger - Part 1/2

I wondered how many parties the nobles usually held. Since the feast, I had been jumping from one celebration to the next nonstop, to the point that they became mixed in my mind like a single continuous blur. The latest festivity was about some holiday I had never heard of, over some historical event I never knew happened.

“What is this party all about again?” I asked.

“No clue,” she replied.

More proof that this whole par...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 154

Dozens of bees skittered over the root system, but unlike those at home, these were the size of big dogs, and they didn’t seem happy about our presence. Their elongated bodies were covered in black and orange fur except for their abdomens, which looked like shiny black armor plates. They had sharp, black eyes, strong legs, and knife-like stingers. On top of their bodies were two pairs of beautiful translucent wings that weren’t strong enough to fly but allowed them to jump short distances...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 153

The bloom opened, revealing a translucent red pod crossed by vein-like structures and filled with a cloudy liquid. My mana sense couldn’t penetrate its surface, and it looked like a patch of void against the background of rich colors. Two Undead Black Wolves and two Undead Harpies stood guard around the pod, all under level five.

I cast [Identify], but despite the [Consulting Detective] title I had gotten during the feast and its promised improved descriptions, the System prompt was l...

Announcement

Hey everyone, hope you are doing well!

I'll be super busy today, so the chapter will come tomorrow (Saturday 24).

Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for the continuing support!

See y'all tomorrow.

An Otherworldly Scholar - 152

AN: edits

_____

The Monster Surge got worse. Over the mountain range, a black storm cloud curled into a vortex and stationed over Farcrest. Dark and viscous mana particles charged the air and obscured the vision. I could barely see the outline of Ilya’s back in front of me. The storm wasn’t a natural phenomenon but an area spell—two area spells, to be precise.

I used Identify.

[Black Storm]

The spell, however, didn’t discriminate friend f...

An Otherworldly Scholar - 151

Janus sublimated into a mist of black particles, and the magical chains holding him down fell to the ground. [Awareness] enhanced my senses but anticipating Janus’ point of exit was impossible. The chains coiled around my chest and dragged me near Captain Kiln just as Janus rematerialized by the opposite end of the alley. Despite the strength of the chains, they were gentle and caused me no harm.

I used [Identify].

Chains of Light. [Identify] The signature skill of the R...