Silverdawn

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 52

Okay… fuck this. 

Seriously. Fuck this shit.

Whoever the fuck thought it’d be a good idea to stick him in this situation was a rampant fucking sadist who deserved more than anything to fucking die.

…oh yeah, Drathok.

What was he doing?

He’d teleported ove...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 51

Markus squared his shoulders as he assessed the threat in front of him. He knew the monster before him, the altok, as Randall had called him, better than he knew any enemy he’d ever faced before now.

He almost knew him too well.

Markus knew that even with his increased speed and strength, their physical stats...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 50

“Hi! I’m Markus. I’m twenty-two years old. Aries. You probably know me from my latest and greatest hits, such as ‘Decapitated Twenty Times’, or ‘Skull Crushed into the Floor Repeatedly’! I’m here now to debut my latest and greatest single, ‘Brain Contusion, Big Confusion, Balls Cru—”

“Your father left.”

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 49

Markus watched as the monster grimaced around the blade piercing the outermost layer of his gut. He struggled, pushed as he attempted to keep the pressure up, to drive the broken blade further…

The monster grabbed the glaive with both hands and began to bend it… Markus held on for dear life, but only found himself being pulled f...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 48

Markus’ head returned to his body before it could begin to roll.

Decapitation wasn’t something he was getting used to any time soon… 

Fuck! Decapitation isn’t something you’re getting used to?! Big fucking surprise! Big fu—

And he was gone again.

And back.

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 47

Gate opened. 

Whatever was coming out sounded terrifying. The grating of metal against stone rang out in Markus’ brain as the new challenger approached, the dragging of their weapon a new and  dissonant chime against a backdrop of bedlam. 

The crowd didn’t roar with the same enthusiasm a...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 46

The time came.

Markus wasn’t ready, and that was as ready as he was gonna get.

“I’ll be here when you get back,” Rika had told him.

She’d said other things. They’d left an impression somewhere in his mind, but he couldn’t quite remember the words.

He was sure she’d be okay. They...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 45

“Man, they really left a book like this lying around?”

“I don’t think they’re that worried about security,” Rika shrugged. “Those barriers are the real deal. I couldn’t even take your note past a certain threshold. I had to hide it in a vase and come back and check it a few times just to make sure I knew what I was l...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 44

Contrary to Markus’ mounting skepticism, Rika actually returned with genuinely useful books.

Before that, however, Markus was left with about an hour to himself. He had three and a half until his fight, and the time he was left alone in his cell he mainly spent planning. Better that than curling up in a ball, and he ...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 43

Markus made his way to the blacksmith only to find the boar man missing. There was an unfinished weapon sitting across on a workbench, billows filling the place with smoke, and a feeling of unspoken continuity to the place that was eventually made sensical when he noticed a certain younger bipedal boar managing the forge, much skinnier than the ...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 42

“So… you just want me to hit you?” Lexi asked.

“Yeah. I’m not gonna be able to use whatever spell you teach me unless I have Shock Mana in my body.”

“Is that so?” Lexi titled her head at him. “I don’t know if I have different mana types in my body. I think I just convert my energy into spells. I don�...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 41

“What did you pick?”

“A good class,” Markus said, staring directly past Drathok. “Something that would actually match my natural aptitudes AND my other existing abilities and also—”

“You picked Dark Knight, didn’t you?”

“...shut the fuck up.”

Markus had, in fact, picked ...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 40

“Is reading comprehension not your forte?” Drathok asked, eyeing him with a sneer.

“There’s like… a hundred different classes here. More.” Markus blinked, still able to see the black and blue screens behind his eyelids. “Wanna tell me how to narrow it down, or something?”

“Try using discernment.”

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 39

Wasn’t long until the pair of them were whisked out of the arena, Drathok grabbing Markus and teleporting him away before he could so much as blink, not even bothering to bow to the crowd as he usually did. When they manifested into reality once more, they were in what looked to be an office room.

It looked… dishevelled. Markus ...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 38

The raptor gnawing his leg was barrelled and smashed into by a flaming helldog, who promptly sunk its teeth into the creature and began to tear out its throat.

Ember. Good dog.

Markus felt the crystal still burning in his hand as the canine jumped out of it and began her assault, pulling the raptor off of Markus and sha...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 37

Okay so you know those big fucking raptor things from Jurrasic Park?

Imagine if one of those split in half right in front of you, and then two separate big fucking raptor things were stood where there was previously only one.

And now imagine the process repeated again.

And again....

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 36

To Rika’s credit, she calmed down pretty quickly concerning Ember, and that was probably because Ember was the most docile sweet cuddly flaming helldog in all of creation.

Still she kept her distance. Markus had felt the same way once, but that giant pup nearly ripped his arm off, so he felt a tad more justified in i...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 35

“What am I, your fuckin’ secretary? Come see for yourself.”

Markus hoisted himself to his feet and began to lumber his way across the room, listless motions propelled by a small, barely nourished seed of fortitude.

He needed to get his head back in the game. Yeah, what had happened had been fucked up. No, he hadn�...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 34

“Jeez, Drathok really gives you free run of this place, huh?” Abrah whistled, staring over Rika’s sleeping form for a little longer than Markus liked. “You’d almost think you were his guest, the shit he lets you get away with.”

“I doubt he even knows about this, assuming ‘this’ is even anything.”

<...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 33

Right after pointing out Markus’ room, tiger girl did a spin at the sound of a loud snore and immediately noticed Cyrus dozing away on his own super plush bed.

“So is everyone just living like kings down here, or…”

“Just some of us,” Markus said, wiping sleep from his eyes as he turned to s...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 32

“Blunt my weapon.”

Cyrus took Markus’ glaive and put a protective sheen of magic over the blade in the same way he just had his own sword and hand axe. 

“You ready?” Cyrus asked, raising his blade, preparing to touch it against Markus’.

Markus didn’t respond. He only advanced, thrusting h...

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Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 31

“Hey, why are you here? Answer me.”

“Come in and I’ll tell you,” Serena said, tapping the bedpost, eyes a bright amethyst. “You’re not just going to stand out there all day until I leave, are you?”

“Grr…” Markus sauntered back into his cell, slumping to the floor, back against the wall. He didn’t...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 30

Drathok fell back into his desk, papers scattering everywhere as the oak split beneath him and he tumbled straight through it. 

“You dared…”

Drathok clutched his eye with one hand as he scrambled back to his feet, biting his tongue to prevent himself from crying out in pain. By the time he’d turned to face ...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 29

[Name: Markus Brown]

[Class: Otherworlder (Earth) (Tier: Novice 44)]

[Health: 890/1070]

[Mana: 7908/5590]

[Strength: 80 (+30)]

[Agility: 80 (+30)]

[Arcana: 20]

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 28

Opening specially reinforced chests with mastercrafted locks turned out to be a lot harder than Markus anticipated. Melting the lock did nothing, whether he tried flame or acid, and attempting to freeze off the hinges was also a total no-go. 

He tried pulling the lock off, prizing it with his blade, and even manifesting his man...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 27

Okay Markus. Massive regenerating plant monster. If you stand still for too long, it’s gonna grab you from every angle and choke you to death.

You know what that means?

“Fucking move!” the imp screamed from beside him, pushing him to the side as it ran out the range of the vines, dropping the che...

Harmless Human Sacrifice (Mana Devourer) - 26

I’ve been waiting. Waiting for so long…

Days. Weeks. Years. Eons… it’s all the same down here. Any and all approximations of time are immaterial in this place. 

Unable to move more than a few feet at any given time, unable to breathe without lungs to carry air, unable to do anything bu...