MagnusGrey

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 40: Tutorial (Ten Days Earlier)

The next time that Edge opened his eyes, he found himself on the other side of the galaxy, wearing a body that wasn’t his own.

It took him a moment to realize that he was looking out through the eyeballs of a puppet that had been cloned for his exclusive use. His new home for the duration of his stay on Ord. 

Although you were allowed to select the gender, the appearance of each puppet was randomly generated, and they all began their runs at age twenty-five. He had been luc...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 39: Backstory (One Year Earlier)

The story of how Edge wound up on the most dangerous planet in inhabited space had begun a little over one year ago.

Back then, he was drifting through life in an endless daze, every bland day the same as the last. His tepid existence was defined by his meaningless job. His impact on the world was no more substantial than the shadow he cast.

Day by day, Edge had grown ever more dissatisfied with AI-governed society. His only escape was the Prison World broadcasts. The thousands of...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 38: Conceal

Edge shut out his awareness of the monsters converging on his position. Ignored the pounding of his heart and the electric cascade of adrenaline flowing through his veins.

He forced himself to look away, pouring every scrap of his attention into scanning the ground by his boots. There was no way that he could spot a beast using a stealth skill with his current perception. But that wasn’t the only way to figure out where it was.

He studied the layout of the intertwining branches ...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 37: Spawn

Since he had a pretty good idea of where he was by this point, Edge was able to find the river without too much trouble.

He spent the next few hours crossing the wetlands and found himself standing beside its muddy banks by the time that the sun was directly overhead. That was easy enough, but where do I go from here?

There were two bridges across the river that he knew of, but only one was safe to cross. The other had been gradually falling apart for years. He’d heard ...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 36: Deception

Edge began by reviewing everything that he knew about cores.

He had been following the Prison World broadcasts for decades, with each tourist’s puppet serving as a channel for the feed. As a result, he knew a lot about how basic cores functioned, and many of the common variants too. 

Power cores are a type of magtech known as living artifacts. Machines capable of refining themselves over time. Cores grant incredible power as they evolve, doled out at key milestones known as...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 35: Buffalo

Three hours later, Edge found himself hiding within a mound of tall grass.

He was careful not to move a muscle or make a sound while the buffalo crossed the plains a hundred yards ahead. It was a sizable herd, big enough to make the ground tremble beneath his boots. By his count, there were twenty stage-one adults, seven stage-zero calves, and a stage-two bull leading the march. 

While buffalo weren’t predators, they were one of the most dangerous beasts on the plains, espe...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 34: Perception

Now that he’d had time to think the matter through, Edge was confident that his strategy was sound. Until he evolved Skill-Eater to mid stage-one, he would use the points he gained from cycling-up to improve his energetic attributes.

He needed to ramp up the power of his skills, and he needed to generate enough mana to use them whenever he wanted.

None of that had changed. Coming close to death more times than he could count on one hand had, however, broadened his perspective. G...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 33: Aftermath

While it had been touch and go for a while, today had been a good day.

Edge would celebrate his victory in the morning. But not just yet. In that moment, his exhaustion caught up with him, leaving black spots dancing before his eyes.

His shoulders sagged as the adrenaline faded away, bringing the pain of his wounds back in full force. It would be a while before he had enough mana to power regeneration, which meant that he would have to tend to his injuries the old...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 32: Upgrade

The instant that the vines met, they began to merge, melding into one another like they were made of soft clay. Edge was surprised to learn that he could feel the skill gaining experience as the process continued.

The magic contained within entangle grew stronger. A sensation like water pouring into a cup. He sensed that when the cup was full, its contents would reach critical mass, and the skill would change on a fundamental level.

Since he had...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 31: Entangle

When Edge hopped back to avoid a thrusting spike, the next set of vines was already waiting. The beast had entangled the ground behind his back when he couldn’t afford to look away, giving him no chance to dodge.

Before his boots hit the ground, his body was wrapped up tight. Bound head to toe with no hope of escape. I stepped right into that one. I should have seen it coming. At least these vines don’t have any thorns.

While the situation was le...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 30: Combo

Until three seconds ago, Edge’s body had always been solid. But that was no longer the case.

Turning into shadows was incredibly bizarre, not to mention the most magical event of his life. But now wasn’t the right time to explore the strange experience.

With no time to waste, he flowed behind the closet beast. The one with the wounded arm and rank-two entangle. The instant that he was in position, Edge deactivated shadow step and sent man...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 29: Nymph

Acting on instinct, Edge leapt to one side, just in time to keep the next set of vines from tripping him up.

Ah, hell. The one underground has entangle too. He kept moving, changing direction unpredictably, as more and more creepers burst free from the soil.

The wounded beast came for him as he dodged like mad. It opened a mouth full of needle-sharp teeth and hissed, eager to settle the score. Edge didn’t give it the chance. He judged the angle of its approach and then ...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 28: Native

Edge didn’t realize that he could run any faster. But apparently, he could.

He charged, heading straight for the beast standing beside the boulder. As the world around him became a liquid blur of color and motion, everything that he knew about his assailants came back to him in the blink of an eye.

He had studied and drilled, memorizing the profiles of hundreds of beasts. The long training that Edge had undergone before purchasing his puppet paid for itself in that moment.

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 27: Burrow

To get a better view of the region, Edge stepped out of the tall grass and cut across a field of pink and blue wildflowers. They had a spicy aroma that he found quite pleasant. While he walked, he started looking around to see what he could reach before he lost the light.

He needed to cross into another sub-biome if possible. Staying in the grasslands after dark was a bad idea. It would be far too easy for a predator to approach him unaware. 

By now, the shadows were growing ...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 26: Boom

Edge’s body went soaring into the cave half a heartbeat before the world disappeared in an ocean of crackling light.

Boom!

The thunder was so intense that it blew out his eardrums, leaving him deaf before regeneration kicked in. The shockwave sent him rolling along the cavern floor, until he struck the far wall and came to a stop in a jumbled tangle of limbs.

In that moment, he was convinced that he’d been hit. That he’d taken enough dama...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 25: Storm

The clouds’ rapid advance and unnatural radiance let Edge know what he was dealing with. It was a type of natural disaster that he’d studied before coming to Ord, but never thought he would experience firsthand. 

He started running as fast as he could, sprinting toward the fingers for everything he was worth. Adrenaline flooded his veins like a damn bursting. His heart hammered in his chest and his breath came fast and shallow.

He wouldn’t have been so afraid if an ordi...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 24: Horizon

Edge watched the sunrise over the plains, then carefully climbed out of the tree. He made sure that nothing nasty was lurking nearby, then continued his journey to town. He was still absorbing everything that had happened the night before and he wondered what the day held in store. 

He knew the grove well enough to find a stream that ran along one side. Fast running water that was safe to drink without boiling it. He drank his fill, refilled his canteen, then washed the gore and gr...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 23: Aurora

Sometime later, a thin band of neon began glowing along the northern skyline. A curved slice of crimson that grew bigger and brighter with every second that passed. 

The light wasn’t the sunrise, which wouldn’t happen for another half hour or so. It was something that Edge had heard about but had never seen with his own eyes. It must be the red-shield aurora.

He drank in the sight as the resplendent ruby field began stretching its way toward him, soon covering th...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 22: Memories

Ten minutes later, Edge found himself standing on the highest branch that would support his weight. A place out of sight from the animals prowling the ground below. While he was by no means safe up here, it was the closest that he was going to get.

After he got used to his perch, he cast his gaze into the distance, enjoying the last fading glory of a spectacular sunset. He ran his eyes across bands of crimson and gold merging into the canopy below his boots, which was rolling like waves...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 21: Shelter

Now that he had won his first true battle, followed by the best meal of his life, Edge stopped to inspect the clearing before he was ready to move on.

It didn’t take long. There wasn’t anything growing nearby other than moss and a few scattered ferns. The mana-seed must have been claiming the lion’s share of the available nutrients. It’s probably what created the clearing to begin with.  

As for the beast, the weasel’s body held nothing of value beyond its ...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 20: Mushroom

Edge stepped over the cooling corpse and walked over to the mushroom growing in the middle of the glade. He was relieved to see that it hadn’t been harmed during the battle. Now that the adrenaline flowing through his veins was fading away, the scent was utterly intoxicating. 

The richest magic that he’d ever seen was swirling around the cap, magicytes congealing as they were drawn down into the seed. It was weird and beautiful. Mystical and entrancing.

He was curious how...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 19: Battle

The instant that mana went surging out of Edge’s core and into his arm, the beast’s eyes snapped open.

He wasn’t sure if he’d given himself away after all or was just plain unlucky. Either way, the result was the same. The weasel screamed in outrage while pulling its body back. His knife went lashing out, so quick that the blade was reduced to a metallic blur before his eyes.

The beast was fast, but slash was faster. The weasel’s hasty maneuver saved its...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 18: Weasel

Edge stepped beneath the canopy, his excitement growing by the heartbeat. It was cool within the trees’ deep shade, towering growths with rich red bark and deep purple leaves.

It was hard to concentrate with the seed’s aroma urging him on, compelling him to claim the prize for his own. He forced himself to remain vigilant. To scan his surroundings for dangerous creatures, hazardous terrain, and other lethal threats.

Giving in to such distractions was a recipe for disaster. The...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 17: Hunt

While he walked, Edge reviewed what little he knew of his situation.

In addition to cutting off all long-range communication and transportation, the unprecedented disaster had reshaped the planet. It carved out swaths of terrain from across the globe and wove them together like a patchwork quilt, including high-threat regions from beyond the frontier.

Within a matter of hours, the calamity had divided the factions, destroyed entire ecosystems, and upended the status quo. If rumor ...

[Skill-Eater] Chapter 16: Light

With a groan of exertion, Edge scaled the final stretch of slope leading to the grasslands.

When he took that last step out of the ravine, the walls of earth fell away. He grinned as the Ivory Plains appeared before his gaze. Puffy white clouds danced across the azure heavens, the prairie stretching out in every direction for as far as his eyes could see.

Although he was far from safe, leaving those lightless, monster-ridden depths felt like stepping out of a nightmare and into a ...

[LotMG3] Chapter 15: Specimen Refinement

Since he hadn’t been able to learn much except that the constructs needed mana to perform a variety of functions, Nick put the body back into his bag. He intended to collect more if the opportunity presented itself, as he had a hunch that they’d eventually prove to be valuable in one way or another.

While he waited to make sure that the rats were really gone, he spent the next few minutes wondering how the rest of his team was doing. He wasn’t too afraid for Veronica, Sophia, or D...

[LotMG3] Concept Art Chapters 10-14

[LotMG3] Chapter 14: Escape

A hundred feet ahead was an intersection, where a tunnel leading deeper into the interior crossed the ring running along the outside of the floor. Better still, there were some massive pieces of rubble scattered across the junction, including a big rock that went up almost all the way up to the ceiling.

There were two directions for Nick to flee, in addition to the nearby rooms. But he had something else in mind rather than picking a path and sprinting like mad. A way to use this opport...

[LotMG3] Chapter 13: Bite

Apparently, the constructs’ bites were even more dangerous than he’d realized, even if their bodies were weak. He was lucky that it hadn’t been worse. The wound hurt like hell, but it wasn’t deep enough to impede his movement. It shouldn’t pose a problem, but the damage to his boot was another matter.

Nick’s boots were only common items. While they were durable, they didn’t feature the self-maintenance modification that his best gear had. They wouldn’t repair themselves ...

[LotMG3] Chapter 12: Construct

After a good five minutes of long-distance surveillance, Nick was ready to leave. Picking up some random cookware wasn’t worth the risk of alerting the construct to his presence. Just before he lowered his spyglass, the gear-rat turned to face him.

When he saw what it was holding between its paws, he stopped dead in his tracks and his adrenaline began to flow. Because the little brass beast was in the middle of devouring a wedge of cheddar cheese. The same cheese that Kerry had given ...