Randy was standing hunched over his friends with a half-drawn, flickering mana arrow in his bow. Blood trickled down his arms from deep gashes in his shoulders left by stray Clay Goblin claws. He was breathing heavily, begging his exhausted body to pull the bowstring back one last time.
Because if he didn't, all three of them were going to...
2025-09-25 06:04:05 +0000 UTC View Post[Evolution to Necroplague Slime (Rare Variant) is complete]
[Pending experience can now be distributed]
[Necroplague Slime] has leveled up: 25 -> 32.
Xen awoke to the darkness of the lake, with only the system messages floating in his mind to let him know he wasn't dead. Wel...
2025-09-22 10:57:31 +0000 UTC View PostXen drifted down into the lake's depths among a landslide of rubble. Twisting his body, he looked up at the surface above him and watched in awe as dozens of monsters' silhouettes thrashed around desperately as their bodies reacted with the water, boiling the lake into steam.
Ah, it's so beautiful, Xen thought, spreading out his a...
2025-09-18 09:18:15 +0000 UTC View PostIt took a while for Randy's world to stop spinning. As an archer, it had been a long time since he had experienced mana deprivation to this extreme a degree, and he was using every ounce of strength he had left to keep himself upright. Even now, his vision was blurred, and the edges darkened. Such a state would be suitable for a patient in a Hun...
2025-09-16 07:25:15 +0000 UTC View Post[Devour in progress…]
[Devour Complete]
You absorbed 50% of the Clay Orc's memories.
You have unlocked the [Clay Orc] form.
The stream of system messages suddenly paused, which Xen found strange. Shaking his head to dispel the truly intense instincts an...
2025-09-11 05:54:51 +0000 UTC View PostXen already had a bad feeling about what the Underworld Orc's roar entailed by the twitching corpse in his hand; however, his fears were further brought to light when the massive form of the Underworld Orc stood from its crude throne after finishing its cavern-shaking roar.
It towered over its kin at an impressive eight feet tall. But unli...
2025-09-09 04:38:02 +0000 UTC View PostHello, I'm about to board a flight to Dragon Con which will last until the 3rd so there will be no chapters for a week or so. Sorry for the delay and hope to see some of you there! Stop by the Aethon booth if you want to say hi! :)
2025-08-28 06:23:35 +0000 UTC View PostRandy clambered over the rough stone of the lake's shoreline and crouched beside Valoria. "She's not breathing," he said after placing a finger under her nose. Checking her pulse next, he grimaced. "No pulse either. Shit, Vesper, cover me. I need to give her CPR."
Vesper nodded and straightened up with his one dagger in hand.
Red lig...
2025-08-26 07:03:02 +0000 UTC View Post"I don't think Gerald's coming, Valoria," Randy said. "I've activated a distress beacon, so what we need to do now is try to survive as long as possible." The problem was that he was already getting exhausted.
Valoria glanced down from the hole in the ceiling and looked incredibly distressed. "How long will it take for someone to rescue us...
2025-08-21 06:59:45 +0000 UTC View PostAfter fighting off the initial group of Clay Goblins, Xen spent a few minutes observing the humans fighting as a party.
The number one thing he learned from the fight was that, individually, they were quite weak, but by working together, they covered each other's weaknesses. Despite there being only three of them and their levels not being...
2025-08-19 06:46:39 +0000 UTC View PostRandy ducked and shielded his face from the blast of rock. The entire cavern trembled from the impact, almost causing him to lose his footing.
"What was that?!" Randy shouted, but the question was asked more out of shock than from needing an answer. He knew who the culprit had been, as he had seen Gerald empowering his sword with mana befo...
2025-08-14 06:08:15 +0000 UTC View PostYou have killed an opponent.
Experience split between [Necrovore Slime] and [Human] form.
[Necrovore Slime] has leveled up: 20 -> 21.
[Human] has leveled up: 15 -> 16.
Xen had been happy to take the lead for many reasons, and this was one of them—...
2025-08-12 07:49:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe intense humidity of the third floor of the dungeon made Randy's clothes stick to his skin, and the problem was exacerbated by the front line of their group, the Spellblade they had met on the dunes, effortlessly charging on ahead through the muddy forest at a pace that was hard to follow. Glancing to his side, he saw Valoria, who was panting...
2025-08-07 05:13:32 +0000 UTC View PostXen had mixed feelings about the development. He hadn't been lying when he said he worked better alone, as his shapeshifting capabilities were severely crippled when others were around him.
Yet on the other hand, he wasn't in a position to say no. Before getting in range, he had appraised them and knew that their levels dwarfed his, as did...
2025-08-05 06:37:21 +0000 UTC View PostRandy shivered from the extreme cold of the Death Desert, despite his efforts to keep warm by wearing a thick coat. It was almost as if the chill had a magical debuff, helping it creep into every crevice of his body, freezing him down to the bone.
His gaze was locked onto the strike team in the distance that had made it to the entrance of ...
2025-08-03 07:56:01 +0000 UTC View PostRandy let out a groan and shut his laptop. If he had to spend another second looking at his half-written thesis due in a week, he was going to tear out his hair.
"What a nightmare," he muttered, taking off his glasses and rubbing his tired eyes. Spinning his chair, he put his glasses back on and lazily switched on his TV for some easy stim...
2025-07-31 04:20:37 +0000 UTC View PostPlease choose a class from the following options: [Mage], [Priest], [Archer], [Juggernaut], or [Spellblade].
Xen recognized all of the options instantly. They were all the classes he had devoured so far.
"System, why do I have class options?" Xen asked. "Don't I already have the Shapeshifter class?"
[Hu...
2025-07-29 08:39:45 +0000 UTC View PostSarah was a mess—everyone was. While she sat against a pillar in the crypt's main room with her heart pounding in her chest, she saw out of the corner of her eye Aria pacing the room—her form barely illuminated by one of Jill's many fireballs. The fire mage in question looked pale and was being supported by Devon. No doubt she was suffering ...
2025-07-27 11:51:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe irony of the situation wasn't lost on Xen. He had berated the now-absorbed Brandon for reacting strangely to his response, but he couldn't help but stand there, baffled.
"Did you just respond to me?" Xen said slowly.
"Yes," the Living Armor replied. Its hollow voice, laced with mana, tickled his mana sen...
2025-07-24 06:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostBrandon would rub his eyes in disbelief if he could move his arms. While calling out to Joe, he had wondered if the bastard had died under the shower of rubble as he remained motionless and unresponsive. Yet, after his party members had abandoned him, a dark purple and black slime emerged from Joe's helmet and was now rolling along the floor. 2025-07-23 06:45:36 +0000 UTC View Post
For a moment, Xen worried he had angered the Living Armor enough by destroying its home. However, as the Living Armor slowly turned to face the destroyed corridor, those worries faded. Its focus seemed to be on Aria, who had just shot the arrow.
"What?" Aria seemed to mutter in disbelief. "Why is it aggroing from that?"
A question ev...
2025-07-22 06:30:50 +0000 UTC View Post"You're a fucking liar!" Sarah erupted, screaming at Xen with everything she had.
Xen blinked, his bafflement obscured behind the helmet. From his understanding, the word "liar" was a label applied to those who said something untrue. Yet, everything he just said had been extracted directly from Jonathan's memories. The only way he could be...
2025-07-20 10:27:31 +0000 UTC View PostXen knew it. They were all after him, or at least they were after 'Joe', the first body he had overtaken. Considering they had chased him this far, they were unlikely to let him go that easily. Whether they wanted to kill him for revenge or drag him back to their guilds for questioning, he had no idea.
But like a cornered beast, h...
2025-07-17 05:19:40 +0000 UTC View Post[Evolution to Undead Mage (D) is complete. As a reward for reaching D grade in your Undead Mage form, you have been rewarded a suitable new skill and passive]
Xen awoke to a system message hanging in his vision. It quickly vanished, only to be replaced by a pair of new messages.
Skill Unlocked: [Necrotic Puls...
2025-07-15 05:44:44 +0000 UTC View PostSarah mulled over Jill's suggestion for a while.
"A necromancer?" she said, tapping her chin. "It's certainly possible. Jonathan claimed Joe was dead, which isn't a mistake a healer would usually make. So either Joe himself was a necromancer, or there was one standing nearby that I didn't notice. It would also explain why Joe's eyes looked...
2025-07-10 06:03:28 +0000 UTC View Post"Gerald and the naked man are not here," Brandon said as he stood in a dungeon corridor soaked with blood. Remnants of the Iron Legion's aura flickered across his body as he glanced around.
"Neither are the wolf corpses we had gathered," Aria the archer added as she circled an overturned wooden cart.
Sarah looked between them and the...
2025-07-08 03:32:00 +0000 UTC View PostXen squinted at the system message floating above the monster's head.
[Living Armor (??)]
"No displayed level," Xen had never seen that before. Was it because his human form lacked magic stats, or was it because the monster's level was so much higher than his that he was unable to discern it? "System," he whispered, ...
2025-07-03 07:06:23 +0000 UTC View PostIn the pitch-black darkness of the dungeon, Xen tried to drag Alex deeper into the dungeon with little success. His skeletal body weighed far less than the heavily armored human, and he struggled to get a good grip with his bony fingers.
"This isn't working," Xen grumbled, letting the body fall to the stone floor of the crypt with a clunk....
2025-07-03 07:01:53 +0000 UTC View PostXen dropped what was left of the archer's half-eaten corpse and darted forward into the darkness, yet the beam of light coming from the warrior easily followed him.
"Why are you running, little doggy?" the warrior shouted as he charged toward him. "Scared of a fight?"
Xen was actually testing the range of the light beam.
Do...
2025-07-03 06:56:34 +0000 UTC View PostXen's muscles tensed as he prepared to leap. He was prowling softly on the very edge of the light as it floated over the magic-resistant cloak he had left on the ground by the pillar. He had repositioned to be almost behind them, as he knew the warrior would be leading the group from the front.
His target? The priest managing the light orb...
2025-07-03 06:51:01 +0000 UTC View Post