A speedy pursuit and frequent projectiles with the power of Expend behind them kept Francesca on the backfoot. She struggled to mount an offense while focusing on fleeing and defending. It meant Nil burned through his stores swiftly but worried that letting the battle drag on wasn’t in his best interests. Supercharging durability momentarily slowed the bleeding, but several streams of crimson now flowed from the many lacerations covering his...
2024-05-12 17:13:57 +0000 UTC View Post[Apologies for the unannounced 1 week absence. It was just a crappy few days with Caitlin's pregnancy symptoms and me being down with major asthma issues. I'll make up for it with bonus chapters over the coming days. Caitlin is still out of commission and will take another week or so before she is back on the editing horse but I'll attempt a deluge of content with multiple chapters a day. Thanks for understanding.]
The announcer’s spi...
“Nil!” Adam beckoned Nil over when he arrived at Wilson Ludus Wembley. It was the day of his match, and it wasn’t until four in the afternoon. So, he had arrived after a long morning of exercising and cultivating. The latter left him reinvigorated instead of tired, and he could feel his Finesse attribute on the verge of a breakthrough.
“Fancy seeing you here, Adam,” Nil said, shaking the giant brute’s hands. He had tiny bony ...
2024-05-03 09:45:00 +0000 UTC View PostThings were comfortable with Katherine. It felt like getting together for dinner with a good friend that ended with incredible sex. The physical side of things was excellent, and the empathic link he felt during the activity only made things better. The pair shared their pleasure, and Nil had never enjoyed such an electric sensation before. It was one of the reasons why he struggled to end things with her. At the same time, he wo...
2024-05-01 09:51:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Department of Dungeon Studies just went live on Amazon and Audible! If you have a Kindle Unlimited membership, I'd very much appreciate it a download. It helps immensely with the algorithm.
The belt Nil received from Symbiotech fit snugly. After finishing at Symbiotech, he returned to the scrapyard. Andrew and Susan joined him a moment later. Neither told him where the secret base of their operations was. It wasn’t that they didn’t trust him. Instead, the pair worried about Shina tailing him or Katherine accidentally reading his mind during sex. Nil often felt a deep link with her while in the throes of passion. It heightened...
2024-04-29 19:00:33 +0000 UTC View PostAfter the usual morning exercise and a shower, Nil visited the scrapyard. It was a planned visit, and he was annoyed that Andrew hadn’t warned him about Susan’s presence. Nil had bought breakfast sandwiches for them on the way—one for Andrew and three for himself. He gave her one out of his share.
“It’s alright,” Susan said, hugging Nil. “I won’t tell Katherine anything. We haven’t seen much of each other ever since the...
2024-04-28 06:52:50 +0000 UTC View PostEveryone had told Nil that only Schema-recorded training manuals could be brought to Earth from the Nexus Market. Except for soul weapons, everything purchased from it was for quests, and the Nexus stored it when the Summoned returned to their home world. Apparently, the Moon Rabbit Emporium had the ability to overcome such limitations.
The clothing, healing serum, and burn ointment remained with the Nexus. However, the black lacquer cas...
2024-04-25 17:04:27 +0000 UTC View Post“What would you like out of your spirit companion, Mr Roy?” The shop assistant asked.
“That’s an excellent question,” Nil answered, thoughtfully studying the eggs in front of him. No light leaked through the shell, and he saw no notable patterns. However, a few stood out. A couple were smooth and matte, like they’d sat in running water for a long. One appeared to be made out of tangled roots, and another was spiky and a...
2024-04-24 18:18:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe Nexus Market was everything Nil imagined and more. It resembled a gigantic, multi-storeyed mall with a strong medieval theme. Summoned of all shapes and sizes walked the balconies and halls. Colorful and carefully designed shopfronts with beautiful men and women beckoned them in.
“Artisans from the Control Worlds dominate most of Nexus Market,” Layla had told him. “Their products might be outside of your budget, though. You’l...
2024-04-22 18:58:05 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Song Yi’s ‘technique’ ended, nothing remained of the enemy. She had destroyed the estate’s road-facing side, the road, a part of the mountain, the Cursed Ones, and the agents of the Scourge. It wasn’t just destruction that lay ahead. Flora rapidly grew from all disintegrated surfaces. The new immortal brought death and destruction and life, too.
Even though Nil was eager to ask Song Yi about what she had just done, he kept...
2024-04-19 20:28:59 +0000 UTC View PostIt wasn’t long before the attackers emerged from the treeline. The clear sky and unusually bright moonlight made it impossible for them to conceal themselves on the arid road. A pair of Cursed Ones identical to the specimen they just fought led the group. Smaller, great-dane-sized creatures followed them, followed by armored or robed individuals with the locals’ features followed them. They carried a variety of weapons, and given their pac...
2024-04-18 14:42:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe beast struck much harder than the specimen from his first quest. However, Nil had grown significantly since. The blow barely filling Brutal Battery’s stores halfway was a testament to how much stronger he was now. Supercharging durability gave him some degree of security as he grabbed the creature’s extended arm and struck the elbow. Instead of punching or releasing energy as the usual explosion, he emitted it from the outer edge of hi...
2024-04-17 15:36:25 +0000 UTC View PostFirst thing on Monday morning, Nil opened the quest list. His next Gauntlet of Ten match was the following Monday, and he wanted to gain a few attributes and ability ranks before it. Isabella had warned him that the arena construct would put him up against even stronger opponents since his Spark had reached Iron-Eight. Since training wasn’t getting him the desired results, Nil hoped a quest would do the job. He also wanted to visit the Nexus...
2024-04-16 18:46:47 +0000 UTC View Post“What’s this job, Sunil?” Udit asked when he and his son were alone. A door separated them from Emily, but both men knew that it wouldn’t keep her from eavesdropping if she wished.
“I’ll be moving to a new ludus soon,” Nil answered. “It's a brand new outfit created and operated by the Nexus for its Earth-side agents. They need civilians for some staff openings, and since they don’t have any recruiters or connections for...
2024-04-16 08:30:36 +0000 UTC View Post“Do you want to wait a bit, or should we just do it?” Aria asked during their journey back to the City of Ygg.
“Wait for what?” Nox asked, not looking up from his work. He was in the middle of sketching a new spell diagram. The journal was nearly full, and he needed a new one to develop the temporal spell.
Spell weaving was a lengthy process and especially complicated since all of Nox’s magic involved covering new g...
2024-04-15 13:47:05 +0000 UTC View PostMight: Iron 2
Finesse: Iron 4
Mind: Mortal 9
Spark: Iron 8
Brutal Battery: Iron 2
Absorb: Iron 2
Expend: Iron 3
Toggled Supercharging: Mortal 8
Energy Instinct: Mortal 9 2024-04-14 15:10:59 +0000 UTC View Post
“I know you’ve been working hard to ignore the visage, but we need it for this,” Andrew said.
It was Saturday evening, and Nil had arrived at the scrapyard a couple of hours before Katherine and Susan. The pair didn’t yet know about the sabotage, and Nil wrestled with the decision of whether to tell them—especially Katherine. She was already disillusioned with the Nexus’ quest, and Nil believed she only continued becaus...
2024-04-13 18:08:59 +0000 UTC View PostNil took the day after the match for himself. Katherine wanted to meet, Andrew wanted to hang out, and his family wished to spend time with him, too. He told them all that he needed some time to himself and took a train into Central London.
Unlike his peers, who spent most of their earnings after paying Ludus fees on luxuries and buying designer clothes, bags, or shoes, Nil maintained a vice-like grip on his money. Some used their ...
2024-04-12 17:37:21 +0000 UTC View PostBrutal Battery had a twentieth of its maximum stores remaining. Thanks to his growing Spark score, it was no insignificant amount. However, it wasn’t enough for victory. The wounds running along his neck, arms, and shoulders continued to endlessly trickly blood. Nil could already feel a chill, and keeping his vision focused was a challenge. He didn’t have much time left until consciousness left him or he was forced to surrender. Neither th...
2024-04-11 18:21:04 +0000 UTC View PostNil got the opportunity to see the Scourge Champion before the quest’s end. Susan didn’t let him join the fight, but when chaos rained on the red light district, everyone climbed onto the hideout’s roof and watched the battle.
The Nexus had fulfilled Sakura’s wishes. She no longer needed to carry dozens of blades because she now had a soul weapon. Initially, it looked like nothing more than a black hilt with a diamond-shaped guar...
2024-04-10 09:08:51 +0000 UTC View PostThe brothel’s interior was dark and silent. The air smelled of roses, honey, and spice. Nil’s sensitive nose picked up a sweaty odor, and something rank underneath. It reminded him of sewage. Since everybody on the streets and balconies was focused on the fiery orange glow in the darkening evening sky, no one saw Nil scale the side of the building. Clotheslines crisscrossed the flat roof, and colorful dresses, skirts, blouses, and a...
2024-04-09 17:22:44 +0000 UTC View PostMuch to Nil’s delight, three out of four people he requested for the quest answered his call. He, the old mage, and the assistants that summoned him stood just outside the intricately drawn magic circle, waiting for the others to arrive. Several warped relics, aether gems, and more littered the ground. They had invested a significant amount in the Summoning.
Katherine appeared a couple of minutes after him, doing up her form-fitting na...
2024-04-09 05:47:58 +0000 UTC View PostIn the middle of the Bronze Realm, Katherine had only three feats—two from ascension and once from converting accumulated Cursed Energy. Nil had almost twice as many. If it weren’t for Haunting Visage, he would almost be thankful for his greedy, unformed soul weapon. His first and pre-existing feat did nothing besides occasionally warn him of danger and make him aware of anomalous energies.
It had its uses, but in Nil’s eyes,...
2024-04-08 08:35:03 +0000 UTC View Post“I don’t know, man,” Andrew said, eyes focused on his aetherscreen as he checked on his bug. He had received a blip of a signal the night before but wasn’t around to capitalize on the opening. Now, Nil didn’t know what Andrew was doing, but it looked entertaining. “I would’ve picked Brutal Amplification if I were you.”
“It's a good ability, but I have enough offense for the Iron Gauntlet,” Nil replied, watching his fr...
2024-04-07 19:05:16 +0000 UTC View Post“This isn’t working out, Festus. You’re out.”
“What?!” Bunty struggled not to yell down the headset. “What the fuck do you mean I’m out? I made this channel. I am the fucking channel. You can’t just kick me out.”
“You started the channel. Then you fucked off for six months, and we kept things afloat and made it into something that’s actually making money. The last thing we need is for you to fuc...
2024-04-07 05:57:13 +0000 UTC View Post“All of this is incredible,” Layla said, reading through the notes her pink clone had compiled during their one-hour-long conversation. She had watched the battle royale, and the thing with Fatima had surprised her. After spending a day trying to get Fatima from the arena construct for study and failing, she sent Nil a quest-free summon. He told her everything he saw with Energy Instinct and then learned from Selia. The stack of papers was...
2024-04-06 17:50:10 +0000 UTC View Post“Baba!” Nil caught his father while he was walking to the bus stop outside his work. It was the day after the battle royale, and he hadn't returned to the ludus yet. Meeting his father took priority, so he took the train to South Harrow, where Andrew picked him up. Then, they drove straight to the Harrow Council offices. “Would you like a ride? Andy is parked right around the corner.”
“That would be great,” Udit said, looking...
2024-04-06 06:01:19 +0000 UTC View PostDon't meet your heroes.
The old adage confused Nil. He started off worshipping Adrian ‘Wildshape’ Wilson. Then, as he got older, the Gold Realm star’s business activities and political standing put him off the man. As Adrian addressed and spoke to them almost as equals, Nil couldn't help but feel starstruck. Nil’s heart raced, cheeks flushed, and he struggled not to grin like a moron.
“I know it sounds like I say...
2024-04-05 18:20:30 +0000 UTC View PostApocalypse Arena opened the winner's banqueting hall not long after Andrew and company departed, letting Nil flee the journalist and most sponsors. It only allowed successful participants, current arena fighters, and retired fighters who made it to the silver gauntlet and above. At first, the only participants were the people who got through the battle royale and area-control matches. Then, winners of the solo and duo combat tournaments starte...
2024-04-05 05:52:09 +0000 UTC View Post