Everyone had been so stunned they'd forgotten about Zane.
Then the shouts started up again.
"The new lad's challenging Orin?!"
"Zane's strong, but he's just an Ascendant. He's not even got a Bone, has he?"
"The Barbarian Sage—he's gone mad this time!"
Some other voices popped up too, though.
"I wouldn't coun...
2024-10-27 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post“All the Faction’s best will be here, crowded ‘round,” said the Sage, looking around, hands on hips. “Waiting their turn—seems like we’ve just come in time for the Minor Gods’ show!”
He whistled as he surveyed the crowd. He waved and grinned at a few of the elders there.
“That lass there—see the Giantess?...
2024-10-24 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a typical night these days. Cross-legged under a full moon around a crackling campfire, a blanket of mist shrouding the chaos far below. Chowing down on juicy raw drake leg.
Fluffy was looking at Zane, making begging noises. They sounded like glass shattering, mixed with the howls of the damned. Zane frowned at her. She gave him a l...
2024-10-23 01:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostShe showed up in a form-fitting red dress—which, with her form, was quite a sight. Normally she turned heads down the street wherever she went, but now she stunned anyone who looked at her, including Zane.
She was even more gorgeous than normal. He wondered what the occasion was.
She strode up to him with purpose and greeted ...
2024-10-22 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostIt seemed only then that Vadros started to appreciate the danger he was in.
The Prince was now the one with whiplash—he whirled around, pale eyes bloodshot, trying to find a way out, finding none. Whirling on Zane now, staring like he couldn't believe—would've never thought a creature like Zane could outmaneuver him.
And al...
2024-10-21 01:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostThis fellow was so pale it was like he'd never seen the sun. Hairless, with beady red eyes, sunken cheeks.
But what drew Zane’s attention was his aura.
It smoldered in the astral plane, casting a billowing shadow whose bleak fingers reached halfway across the cage. Some strange power ran dense through the Prince’s ve...
2024-10-17 01:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a violent next few minutes.
Chains crashed about, wrestling down the Cobra. Stormfire and Void Rot clawed at each other in bursts that shook the cage. The Monster’s tail spikes slashed the air, leaving bubbling hissing scars wherever it passed…
Zane took a battering.
His skin steamed all over, exposing t...
2024-10-16 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostIt was said that one bite from that Serpent was enough to kill a Minor God. That was how it got its name.
Godsbane Cobra (Monster Lord)
Essence Level 542
It was so massive it couldn't rear up to its full height in the space of the cage—sixty feet in the air, a mountainous shadow looming over ...
2024-10-15 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post“That tip right there? That's made of the horn of the Titan Rhino,” said the Barbarian Sage proudly. “Beauty, ain't she?”
Zane nodded. His eyes never left it.
“Sacred Bones spike the powers of Spirit Weapons too! Some Skills, they make a hell of a lot stronger. Although…” the Barbarian Sage chuckled. “Can’t sh...
2024-10-14 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostIt struck him like a stampede.
It wasn't just one King Ursa—it was the King and its ancestors poured into one monstrous force. Not one avalanche but an avalanche of avalanches, slamming into Zane at once.
It took him off his feet—for just a fraction of a second.
It was his new reaction time that saved him. There was a...
2024-10-13 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostThese past few months Evan had been learning a lot in the Constellation Order. He'd gotten up to Ascension, made new friends, and mastered most of the arts of cake-making. There were a few small bumps—a few of the Outer Faction Chosen had tried to bully him at first.
But Evan had stood up for himself and made himself be brave, just...
2024-10-10 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostThat night around the campfire, the Barbarian Sage threw Zane a little celebration feast. He took out some strange-smelling green legs of meat, a rare drop of some True God chimera. It was some of the most essence-rich stuff Zane had ever tasted.
Level up!
Essence Level 425 -> 426
<... 2024-10-09 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostIt wasn't possible. Gorthak felt no essence—no Law, not even the hint of a domain! What was that man punching with?
Then the man moved. And Gorthak saw a layer of distortion over his knuckles.
It stopped the Monster dead.
Reality would only waver like that if burdened with a massive amount of power.
But there was ...
2024-10-08 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post"It's time to face the kind of thing that'll attack your home in nine years' time," said the Barbarian Sage.
Zane perked up at that.
"It's time to put your training to the test."
Their destination was halfway across the Barbarian Sage's home planet. They bounded between the peaks, going miles at a time. No one...
2024-10-07 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Added:
“Cranky little thing. But it tends the pond well, maintains the Tears of Boreas. You’ve just got to make it respect you—then it’ll leave you be.”
Also—changed it so the Growth stimulus % are cumulative, covering Zane’s entire body! Before, it referred to how stimulated each indi...
2024-10-06 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostPlanet Explosion was another short hop away. This one was a desert planet—a few lakes dotting long stretches of sand. The sun beat down heavy overhead.
There were no dunes here. Gravity flattened them all into hard-packed sand, like a race-track.
This planet's core came from a Neutron Star, said the Barbarian Sage. Some of the dens...
2024-10-03 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostPlanet Press was just a short teleport away.
It was much less barren than Planet Pull—it actually seemed a real planet, with circular oceans running between sprawling land-masses, some fuzzy with greenery, others great swathes of desert. Zane saw a few volcanoes near the poles.
There were even some folk living here, Zane saw, as th...
2024-10-02 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post"I like to keep it simple with names. Call it like I see it."
The Sage grinned.
"How fast you progress and how strong you become is in your hands now, Zane. In Heaven-grade things get serious fast."
Zane nodded. Noughtfire had said something like this too.
"All those level-ups you just had, this past week? The...
2024-10-01 01:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostZane could stomach a lot. And it was clear the Barbarian Sage was investing a great deal into him, and he was grateful. It was a huge gift.
Still, though...
He eyed the giant blocks, blinking.
All that in a week?
…Added together, they appeared to be several times the size of him.
Then he shrugged. ...
2024-09-30 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostTitan Rhino’s Lung Chunk [Sky (S)]
The bloody chunk let out so much aura it was like radioactive material in the astral plane.
Casually the Barbarian Sage tossed it at Zane.
Then—“I’ve got to check up on a few pets,” he said. “There's also a few Monsters imprisoned around these parts which cou...
2024-09-29 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Bonus Chapter!
//
Inner Systems
Steelheart Conclave
It was common practice among the Steelheart Conclave's Inner Disciples to use their moons as a training ground.
So it was the case with the Chosen Bol of the Mithril Golem Bloodline—#7 all-...
2024-09-27 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostAs the Barbarian Sage saw Zane ascend the steps, he was puffed full of confidence.
Zane would do well, he knew. The lad took stupid well to the Titan Rhino’s blood. You came across these cases sometimes, especially in folk from Ur-Planets. They called them ‘super-responders’—every drop of Bloodline seemed to have several time...
2024-09-26 01:30:04 +0000 UTC View PostThere was a giant stele next to the hammer with names etched down the front of it—six columns, each with 50 names.
The columns were titled, “Ascendant. Minor God. True God. Empyrean.”
Next to each name was a recording—some read “2 AU or 3 AU.”
“What does AU stand for?” said Zane.
“That’s Apocalypse Uni...
2024-09-25 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostZane and his friends were just back for the weekend, but they agreed they would at least make this a monthly thing. Long-distance teleports like this were very expensive, but Reina was happy to foot the bill.
***
There were some other World Rankers back on Earth. A bunch of Earth’s heroes had the same idea—they'd come home ...
2024-09-24 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostAvery handed Zane an Interspatial Ring.
“What’s in it,” said Zane, inspecting it.
“20,000 sky-grade stones,” she said, patting the ring.
“…What.”
“It's a long story.”
She then explained the long story, to all their consternation.
Now she was quite rich. So rich she wasn't ...
2024-09-23 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Edited a mistake in the last chapter, here's the corrected version:
“Now let us speak of your future. You stand at the peak of Tier 4 now—that is, Heavenly Stormfire. After you break through…” said Noughtfire.
A new foundation flickered to life. Thicker than all the res...
2024-09-22 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostHe opened the letter. There stood the Barbarian Sage behind a shattered coffee table. He grinned and waved a broken-off table leg. Zane waved back.
“Zane!” said the Sage cheerfully. “You haven't forgotten about me, have you?”
Zane had just been thinking about him actually.
“It's high time you got over here,” said th...
2024-09-19 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostThere wasn’t a person still seated. Dragon-kin were clutching their heads; phoenix-kin were shaking each other, the lower stands were cheering and stamping so loud they threatened to bring down the stadium. Drinks were flying, hats were flying, shoes were flying, streamers were popping mid-air, showering flaming confetti—it was rank pandemon...
2024-09-18 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe chains exploded with Stormfire. Plumes that burst halfway up the stadium—for a moment Throck was lost in the light of Destruction.
Then they descended on the ape-man, and feasted.
He howled—tried struggling against the onslaught, tried bringing his strength to bear—but for all his muscles, he couldn’t move an inch. <...
2024-09-17 01:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Book 3 (up to Chapter 263) comes out today on Kindle! Woo
//
Even standing there, their powers were suppressed. Swallowed up by greater fire. A hail of...
2024-09-16 01:30:02 +0000 UTC View Post