As the crew crept toward the demon’s glade, Edge reviewed their plan one final time.
They would open with an alpha strike, hitting the monster with their strongest ranged attacks before it knew they were there. Fortunately, Fox had a magitech device that could cloak the crew’s presence during the approach. Its reservoir of silver aether would only last twenty seconds, and the effect would end the moment that someone attacked, but the tool would let them get into position, ready thei...
2025-03-18 17:00:12 +0000 UTC
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As the crew began the second half of their day, they speculated on the theme of the Savage Garden while battling their way through the maze.
Lilly thought it was an homage to the primal law of the jungle—survival of the fittest in its purest, most brutal distillation of every creature for itself. Snake held a slightly different view. He believed that the dungeon was a gigantic kodoku jar. “It’s a term from ancient Japanese mythology,” he explained.
“A kodoku jar is a cla...
2025-03-17 17:02:01 +0000 UTC
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150 feet. Come on, Pax. Don’t let me down. Just when Nick was certain that he had found a spectacularly dramatic way to kill himself, the crimson forcefield flickered and then faded away. He let out a shuddering sigh, but his ordeal wasn’t over yet.
He had almost reached the machine mounted to the ceiling, but his momentum had begun to slow. More critically, despite Devin’s remarkable launch, Nick was off target by about fifty feet. I’m so close, but I’m not going...
2025-03-17 17:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Edge stared down at the monster’s gory remains. He did his best to stoically endure the pain of his wounds until the grenade’s effects wore off and Regeneration kicked in, providing blessed relief to his seared skin.
Everyone walked into the center of the clearing, then Snake looked at him and said, “That wasn’t what I was expecting. It’s dead and you’re not, so you got the most important part right. Effective use of resources and solid judgement regarding how much punishmen...
2025-03-17 17:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Edge reached down and detached his chakram from his toolbelt.
He ignited his core and cast Elemental Blade, visualizing the magic suffusing the bladed ring instead of forming an iceblade from his palm. As the frigid mana flowed out of his hands to coat the bone-and-brass loop with a billowing layer of frost, Mel raised her throwing axe and Jumo conjured a Piercing Javelin.
When the obsidian weapon was fully manifested, Jumo gave the signal. Axe, javelin, and chakram went streaking...
2025-03-16 16:17:39 +0000 UTC
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Edge had been fascinated by Lilly’s magitech boltcaster ever since he had first laid eyes on it in the Mortium exchange. He watched closely as she engaged the boar monster—thrilled to finally get a chance to see the weapon in action.
True to its name, a boltcaster fired bolts that were similar to a crossbow’s. However, the magical weapon was rather different in design. Its body was a cylinder with a handle on one side, a trigger on the other, and a hole set into the business end.<...
2025-03-15 19:56:24 +0000 UTC
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Hey, just wanted to drop a quick update. After talking with my publisher, we decided to release Skill-Eater before Labyrinth of the Mad God. To help get some more of the chapters proofread, I'm starting an event. Until it's over, at least one chapter will come out every day. If you happen to catch any typos, overused words and phrases, or anything else that could be better, please let me know. Thanks for everything, I couldn't do it without you!
2025-03-14 17:02:01 +0000 UTC
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Although Nick was terrified, he trusted his friend’s judgment. Instead of panicking, he followed Devin’s command, shutting his eyes tight and pressing his lips together.
A bare heartbeat later, searing heat engulfed him as Devin activated Flashfire Pulse. He sent the flames flying for the spot where the creepers emerged from the earth, catching Nick’s legs in the periphery of the blast. It hurt like hell but didn’t do any serious damage, burning away the vines in the process.
2025-03-14 17:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Five minutes later, Tessa flashed a hand signal, and everyone froze in place. She had detected something ahead and needed to investigate before they came any closer.
She walked out a few feet in front of Jumo, then came to a stop and ignited her core. Swirls of mana gathered around her eyes, then spread across her nose and ears. Tessa peered into the distance, then deactivated her skill and whispered, “I can sense two monsters. For some reason, they’re fighting each other. It should...
2025-03-14 17:00:07 +0000 UTC
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With that, everyone moved into formation, drew their weapons, and started walking down the path.
Edge soon learned that the visibility varied depending on what was growing nearby. The spaces around the larger trunks were less crowded, while the rest of the zone was covered with dense vegetation. Although they could only see it from time to time, the towering bamboo wall was on their left, giving them one reliable landmark to help navigate the twisting confines of the Savage Garden.
<...
2025-03-13 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“I don’t suppose that whatever you’re planning is ready to go?” Devin frowned as the army of streaking stones drew closer by the heartbeat. “I’d rather not have my first meteor shower wind up being quite so literal.”
“No.” Nick laughed. “It’s going to take a while longer. At least until the combat phase begins.”
“I had a feeling you were going to say that.” Devin sighed. “Good luck, man. This is really going to suck.”
That was all the time for...
2025-03-12 17:00:08 +0000 UTC
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After Fox, Mel, and Snake disappeared through the fog door, it was Edge’s turn to enter. As Trapper’s crew offered words of encouragement, he braced himself—ready to take his first step into the deadly dungeon known as the Savage Garden. He approached the doorway set into the living wall of the edifice, waved farewell to his friends, then stepped past the threshold.
The fog caressed his skin—a momentary chill before the oppressive heat returned in full force. When the world of l...
2025-03-11 17:00:38 +0000 UTC
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With that, the voice in his ear was gone, leaving Nick alone with his thoughts once more.
A part of him was afraid that Pax was using him as a pawn in a game of gods far beyond his understanding. But her advice had helped him on the previous floor, and he knew that whatever was going on, this was his best chance of making it to the tower’s roof in one piece.
He wished that he could tell Devin what he’d heard, but Nick took Pax’s warning to heart. When the fourth stage began,...
2025-03-10 17:00:14 +0000 UTC
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Edge’s explanation seemed to satisfy everyone.
They spent the next half hour discussing their primary formation, then moved on to contingencies for how they would respond to a wide range of potential threats. Everyone was fluent with the hand signals that most hunters used in the field, so they could communicate without making noise while they were in sight of one another.
They were packing an impressive selection of consumable items and magitech gear in their kits. Device...
2025-03-10 17:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Twenty minutes later, the final beast died, spasming as Nick’s ray drilled a hole through its heart.
Winning the fight had required every trick he had learned on his adventures to date. But at last, the magma eels were no more, and the trial was complete. The voice of the Administrator resounded from above, and it sounded distinctly frustrated this time around.
“Stage two has been successfully completed. You have demonstrated an unexpected resilience to extreme weather...
2025-03-07 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Edge took a nap to recover some stamina, then got ready to enter the dungeon.
He performed a full inspection of his gear, making sure that everything was in good repair and ready to use at a moment’s notice. Then he repacked his kit, memorized the location of each consumable, and strapped his naginata across his back.
When he was done, he stopped by the wagon to refill his Disruption Grenade with a fresh charge of copper-grade aether. Refueling the device drained most of the cre...
2025-03-07 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Edge Shadow Stepped, and the world turned to smoke and mist.
The skill naturally accelerated the movement of his body, and he Leapt to travel even faster, using his shadow form to obscure its use from the deputies’ view. He landed in front of the golem before it reached the trees, rematerializing with his naginata raised over one shoulder.
He brought the weapon down in a screaming arc, with the full Power of his body behind it. Part of the way through, he Double Slashed, causing...
2025-03-06 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Over the next four hours, Nick and Devin leapt for their lives, enduring the toughest environmental challenge they’d experienced to date.
It was unbearably hot down in the crater, hopping from rock to rock while making sure not to breathe any poison gas in the process. Despite the discomfort and the tension evoked from knowing that a single false step would end in a lava bath, Nick was able to unpack the dynamics of his situation through trial and error as the minutes ticked past.
...
2025-03-05 18:00:09 +0000 UTC
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A runner came to a skidding stop beside the wagon, raising her voice over the clamor as the members of the expedition readied themselves for combat.
She paused long enough to share what she knew before darting off again. The scouts had sensed a large pack of late stage-two predators stalking the caravan, and everyone needed to be ready to defend themselves at a moment’s notice. Edge grimaced when he heard the news. He had no desire whatsoever to fight on uneven ground with such poor v...
2025-03-04 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
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By now, Nick was adapting to these abrupt changes to his environment.
When the room started shining before revealing a new location, he didn’t waste a second. He started scanning his surroundings, ready to unravel the nature of the challenge and come up with a plan the moment that he knew what he was dealing with.
The first thing that he noticed was that instead of being placed on open terrain this time around, he was surrounded by curved sheets of glossy black stone. There was ...
2025-03-03 18:00:15 +0000 UTC
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When Edge opened his eyes, the navy blue of a predawn sky met his gaze.
He slipped out of his bedroll, repacked his gear, then sat down beside his friends while Violet cooked breakfast over the firepit. As he dug into the bowl of spiced porridge she handed him a few minutes later, he turned his thoughts to the jungle looming in the distance.
The caravan was nearing the southeastern border of the Ivory Plains. In another hour, the wagon train would reach the borderlands and enter t...
2025-03-03 18:00:14 +0000 UTC
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Gram gave the order, and the wagons came to a stop an hour before sunset. In part to give everyone a chance to get situated before they lost the light, but mostly to maintain enough distance that the expedition didn’t have to worry about beasts living in the high-threat biome sensing their presence and attacking during the night.
After checking in with Tessa and Mel, Edge spent the rest of the evening enjoying the company of Trapper’s crew. This was their last full day together. Onc...
2025-02-28 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
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2025-02-28 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
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About an hour after lunch, Edge felt a tingling sensation building around his temples.
This time around, he knew what it meant. “Sakura, is that you? I didn’t expect to hear from you again so soon.” He assumed that she was just checking in, but it turned out that his new partner had something far more urgent to convey.
“Edge. There’s no time to waste. A living storm is crossing the grasslands, and it’s headed your way. The scouts will probably notice before much lo...
2025-02-27 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Nick and Devin sliced the trunks into even segments, finished stripping the branches, then carved two grooves into the end of each log so they would form a rigid framework when stacked. Then they laid them down two at a time, building up the walls until they were about six feet high.
Taking the time to make sure that everything fit together without any gaps, while racing the fall of night and the blizzard that was was brewing in the distance, was nerve-wracking. But as the final sliver ...
2025-02-26 18:00:08 +0000 UTC
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The Ivory Plains were vibrant in the last weeks of summer. Hoots and caws resounded on all sides, as the creatures that called Ord home feasted on the biome’s abundance in preparation for the lean days ahead.
Most of the bigger beasts were laying low, waiting for the strange procession to roll past before coming out of hiding. But there were plenty of smaller critters to be found. The air was filled with butterflies and songbirds, complimenting the ceaseless roar of the wind stirring ...
2025-02-25 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
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“And there it is.” Devin winked and then brandished his axe. “Whenever something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. It’s Devin’s second law of the System.”
Before Nick could ask what the first law was, a voice rang out from above—addressing them directly instead of communicating via the floating displays. It sounded vaguely synthetic but was far more lifelike than any construct Nick had encountered before.
“Attention intruder-participants. The param...
2025-02-24 18:00:14 +0000 UTC
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Now that he had met the members of his dungeon-clearing team, Edge decided to finish touring the various organizations filling the green. It was a rare chance to see the town’s elite forces assembled in the same location and a valuable opportunity to learn more about them.
The treasure hunters were the third smallest group, with roughly double the members of the manslayers and shadowkillers. Their nickname was the lootfinders. They weren’t as powerful or as well-geared as the combat...
2025-02-24 18:00:10 +0000 UTC
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There was a bright flash of light and an abrupt sense of motion, like he was sliding along a vast sheet of ice. When the world congealed and his vision stopped swimming, Nick found himself standing inside a gigantic white room—the largest enclosure he had ever seen, not counting the second floor of the tower.
He was relieved to discover that Devin was standing at his side, and disappointed to learn that Veronica, Shuan, and Sophia were nowhere to be found. He just hoped that everyone ...
2025-02-21 18:00:37 +0000 UTC
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Trapper’s crew awoke before dawn.
While Edge took out the trash, Jumo locked the sliding-wall panels and latched the windows, and the women moved supplies into the wagon. Everyone was excited—eager to join the dungeon-clearing expedition. In part because of what it meant for the town, but mostly because of the opportunity to fuel their own advancement.
Since they still had a few hours before they were scheduled to gather on the public green, the hunters took the time to make s...
2025-02-21 18:00:08 +0000 UTC
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