I woke up slowly, taking a few seconds to recall where I was, why there was a sleeping catgirl clamped onto one of my arms, and the general condition of the universe.
... That had certainly been an experience.
The world's best massage, Cluma had described it as, and I had to agree completely. It had certainly been relaxing. So much s...
2022-10-25 04:40:00 +0000 UTC View PostThis is the last of the chapter drop. Next Unbound Soul chapter will be 23rd September. (Unborn Hero will continue as normal on Mondays.)
Cara sat in the on-site monitoring room, watching her display. Radiation levels both inside and outside the shell were normal, but that was expected. She'd be very worried if they start...
2022-09-07 05:43:46 +0000 UTC View PostThis side story takes place some time after chapter 168, but before 191.
A very excited Darren was running in circles outside his village hut, watched by his grinning parents.
"How'd he wrangle a magic teacher, anyway?" asked David. "Is Kari coming back?"
"No, it's Kranakellicium," answered Lucy.
David t...
2022-08-04 04:36:51 +0000 UTC View PostSurprise bonus side story for lonely dungeon.
In the crushing depths of the ocean, far out of sight of the sun above, a foreign mana rolled over the rocky floor, subtly changing it. From all directions it came, in a rapidly shrinking noose. The point it encircled was nothing special. Scattered nearby were the bones of the...
2022-06-22 07:43:06 +0000 UTC View Post"Mum, dad, I have an announcement!"
I carefully put down my book and looked up at my little bundle of hyperactivity as she came rushing in through our front door, having spent the day doing who knows what. I still wasn't used to her pitch-black hair, darker even than my own, nor her piercing violet eyes, but at least I knew with certainty ...
2022-03-30 04:49:56 +0000 UTC View PostTylor clambered onto a cart, and from there to the roof of his shack, tucking himself into a small overhang where beams crossed at the peak. His position was slightly obscured, but was still plainly visible from the road, which would normally make it a very poor choice for a game of hide and seek.
Games of hide and seek when Darren was see...
2022-03-23 06:14:52 +0000 UTC View PostKatie peered at her new skill choices, while the elderly fox-kin stood watching her with blank expressions. Her order not to treat her with respect had at least got them up off their knees, but they gave the distinct impression that they would continue standing there until they starved unless Katie either left or gave them orders to eat.
<...
2022-03-16 06:44:49 +0000 UTC View PostKatie stood in front of the window, looking out over the chapel. The shouty-mage had barely moved, the months of time spent in this world of horrors taking up a few sparse seconds back in the real world. If that world was any more real than this one in the first place.
Given the conspicuous changes to her appearance, she'd dithered trying ...
2022-03-14 05:40:47 +0000 UTC View Post"So... the slime behaves like a beastkin in heat, except all the time?" asked Cluma, her innocence rapidly dwindling.
"Yes, pretty much."
"And you can... what? feel it? Because of the thing that left you in hospital last year?"
"Usually no, unless I deliberately try, but we're close enough together right now t...
2022-03-11 06:14:15 +0000 UTC View PostOnto the alternate endings. This side story starts after Katie's return to the real world, on her respawn after the mages of the capital blasted her and the fox-kin.
Katie respawned in the ruins of the chapel, at the edge of the pile of rubble that was the only indication that a vast structure once stood there. Human corp...
2022-03-10 06:35:59 +0000 UTC View PostA slight pause in her breathing was the only clue Katie had given that she'd woken up. Someone was in her room; someone deliberately trying to be silent. There were no footfalls, rustling of clothing or sounds of breathing, but the floor had creaked. Having slept in this room since starting university, Katie was intimately familiar with the nois...
2022-03-09 05:41:47 +0000 UTC View PostHassok, wearing my bracelet, inspected my and Cluma's new armour sets. "I could probably forge some chain mail to give additional protection to the joints, but if I attach it to the leather as-is, it would tear out in no time. We'd need to redesign the entire outfit to have proper anchor points. And if you're assuming it's a solution that wouldn...
2022-03-08 05:50:47 +0000 UTC View PostI took a step in a direction that any compass would struggle with, but that led directly from the demon lord's lair to the fox-kin temple. I didn't particularly need to do this there, but having the priestesses around would help.
The hall was occupied only with a single priestess, praying to my shrine in silence. Her older brother was sick...
2022-03-07 06:21:08 +0000 UTC View Post"What in the blazes?" exclaimed Adele, circling me and Cluma in disbelief. She lifted my arms, flexed my joints and generally poked and prodded all over before clicking her tongue. "Those were new this winter! How'd they get torn up this badly? I can't fix this with [Mend]."
"We hit floor twenty, and dire wolf leather couldn't stand up to ...
2022-03-04 06:39:13 +0000 UTC View PostA new level meant new skill options, and the knight brigade was still a minute or so away. Taking formless would be a good plan before they arrived, but what new options did I have?
Omnipotence: As you will it, so shall it be.
Omniscience: All things are known.
I dismissed the message with a sigh before trying again.
<... 2022-03-03 06:25:29 +0000 UTC View PostI gave a nod to the helpful guard as I entered the town, ambling down the street. He had no more clue what I was than anyone else, but as before, as long as I wasn't human, he didn't seem to care. I might even have got in if I was human. He hadn't seemed particularly hostile to the concept. At this point, relationships between the two l...
2022-03-02 06:08:56 +0000 UTC View PostName: Peter
Species: Human
Age: 14
Class: Eldritch Mage (Level 21/83)
Class History: [Commoner 10] [Apprentice Mage 10] [Body Mage 20] [Spatial Mage 15] [Apprentice Fighter 7]
Soul Points: 2
Health: 237/250
Stamina: 570.00/570.00
Mana: 720.00/720....
The schedule for March will continue with 2x unbound soul and 3x fetch quest per week until fetch quest completes halfway through the month, then switch to 3x unbound soul.
What was I supposed to do here? Should I join in on either side? I'd like to claim the conflict had nothing to do with me and reverse cour...
2022-02-28 06:34:33 +0000 UTC View PostThe schedule for March will continue with 2x unbound soul and 3x fetch quest per week until fetch quest completes halfway through the month, then switch to 3x unbound soul.
An advantage of needing to communicate by writing was that the twins could throw in an occasional picture when needed, and I found myself staring at a...
2022-02-25 06:09:30 +0000 UTC View PostThey didn't hold still. Without any audible commands, the raiding party fluidly switched as one to using fatal tactics. Fireballs splashed uselessly against my scales, blades shattered and arrows bounced off harmlessly.
The bulkiest of the bandits launched a great overhead swing of a massive two-handed axe. I caught the blade with one hand...
2022-02-24 06:13:38 +0000 UTC View PostNo-one asked what I was doing in the small village. The group simply knelt and waited for instructions. So I gave them some.
"Don't treat me as anyone special. Just act normal," I commanded, ignoring the contradiction. "I'm just here to repair your protective shrine."
"I... But..." stammered one of them in confusion. A group of five,...
2022-02-23 06:53:26 +0000 UTC View Postding
Working...
I was glad I'd included my eye in the impromptu biological reconnaissance drone, because [Mana Sight] was blind even when used from the inside. There was simply no mana to see. Not that eyesight was much better; the only light was an odd blue glow, and even that seemed to be fading.
"What did you ...
2022-02-22 06:12:50 +0000 UTC View Post"I suppose that explains the intensity of your arrival," muttered the dragon, insofar as anything that came out of a creature that size could be described as a mutter. "But how? You should not yet possess that knowledge. You destroyed the humans' summoning circle. They have no method by which to attempt to send you home, nor have you shown any t...
2022-02-21 06:32:38 +0000 UTC View PostFor the next four days, me and Cluma trained against the white mambas of floor sixteen and the faster black mambas of floor seventeen in the Serpent Isle dungeon. We could learn from each fight, while the mambas could only build up experience within a single encounter, and we quickly came up with tactics to deal with their sensory abilities.
... 2022-02-18 05:53:40 +0000 UTC View PostIt didn't take long to find another burnt village, the resulting side quest offering exactly the same set of rewards as last time and granting me another class level. Finally, it was time to go home. Full of longing to finally see my family and friends once more, to sleep in a decent bed and eat proper food, I ignored my newly available skill ev...
2022-02-17 06:19:20 +0000 UTC View PostI hovered in the air, my weary wings screaming at me about their misuse, but the demon lord still hadn't budged a centimetre from where he was pinned in place. He hadn't even taken the communications orb from me, leaving me holding the damn thing. My wings really weren't built for hovering.
No, forget it. If I was going to be up s...
2022-02-16 05:47:08 +0000 UTC View PostFloor sixteen was populated by relatively small white mambas. They were never more than a metre long, but they were fast and came in large groups. Unfortunately, just like the dart snakes of floor nine, they could sense Cluma's footsteps. In fact, they were worse, because when she jumped, they always seemed able to guess the direction.
Eve...
2022-02-15 06:06:53 +0000 UTC View PostI hovered somewhere below cloud level, although with all the smoke, it was getting hard to tell where the clouds actually started. They were a matching dark shade of grey, so they kinda blurred together. At least the clouds smelt better, and their colour suggested that the fires would be put out soon.
I'd stupidly thought Ortho's claims of...
2022-02-14 06:06:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe boss turned out to consist of a level twenty prismatic serpent brood-mother, a pair of level fourteen prismatic serpents and ten level eight prismatic serpent spawnlings. No individual monsters stronger than the anaconda emperor we'd already beaten, but this one had backup. As with the goblin leaders back in Dawnhold, the brood-mother gave a...
2022-02-11 05:34:29 +0000 UTC View PostThe humans were, as expected, unhappy. Nevertheless, Ortho's glare was keeping them under some semblance of control while the letter had been brought to a different building for a careful inspection.
"So, the demon lord was right in front of you, and instead of slaying the evil monster, you stopped for a chat?" exclaimed Craig incredulousl...
2022-02-10 06:31:01 +0000 UTC View Post