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The Netherborne: Harbinger of Destruction [An OP Isekai LitRPG]

XKARNATION

36. Secrets of Void Magic

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Even Victor was starting to fear Alice. And that was a good thing. He wanted her to be self-sufficient without his constant protection in the future. Since, sometimes, he would need her to solve an issue, or he might be off somewhere else. 'I would say Alice is a weak point of mine... but keeping her alive is much more important than anyone else to me at the moment. Which is a rather sad thing to realise if I think about it...'

Victor silently floated beside Alice as she annihilated everything in her path. However, Victor toggled on his [Annihliating Aura] while Alice slept and used [Consume] on everything she killed. Exp just didn't seem to have much effect on him compared to the massive benefits it brought Alice, so it was better she got some more levels.

They were making their way through the thirtieth floor at a record speed. Victor didn't know how far Alice's various skills had levelled, but she even slept with her [Float] skill running and had zero issues zooming around and even keeping up with Genus.

The first floor of the Grand Dungeon had been an endless meadow. The following nine were country-sized graveyards overflowing with hoards of undead that reeked of dark attribute mana like a foul stench. Then came the ten ocean floors, followed by ten desert biomes of various sand colours ranging from a dull grey to a vibrant purple. A part of Victor really enjoyed those floors due to the unique scenery he had never witnessed on Earth. If not for the dragons finally beginning their chase and Alice's protests at having to eat more sandworms, he would have loved staying a little longer and enjoying the lava beaches.

But to be fair... the thirtieth floor was no better than those previous floors. Endless tunnels and caverns of volcanic rock filled with strange lizards and bats the size of houses attacked them from the shadows and crevices without hesitation like a mindless mob.

"Thank god for Wiggles," Genus muttered as he flew alongside the pair. "If not for this tunnel he made us, it would take years to navigate this place." Victor didn't reply but silently nodded. He had sent Wiggles on ahead while they rested on the desert floors, and the undead earthworm had created a path between each floor's tower. But even with this direct tunnel, it still took a day or so to traverse the immense caves.

Victor decided to remain invisible most of the time, but he showed himself to Genus and told him his name was Victor a few floors ago after Alice accidentally let his name slip. Alice, however, had no issue with keeping track of him despite his stealth with her [Void Eye] skill. Victor hadn't thought about the skill before, but it held deep connotations. Before, he had absolute faith in his stealth skill, but if somehow another person had a similar skill as Alice, he would be discovered before he could attack. 'But on the flip side, Alice can spot any other void creatures and let me know about them before they kill me... assuming there are any other void creatures on the mortal plane and they aren't all just lurking below.' Victor thought back to the phrase ignorance is bliss. Seeing what creeps below the world's surface makes everything on the surface seem insignificant. He had only caught a glimpse of a fellow void creature, that weird eldritch whale that swam below his cage, and just from that short interaction, he knew that whale could eat Hyveth Arcspace as if she was a mere slug. 'Currently, Hyveth is the strongest thing I have witnessed on this planet, but now that I think about it, she was living outside the dragon's main stronghold. Was she an outcast or just not powerful enough to be allowed near the dungeon?' Again another question was added to his growing list of concerns.

Victor was broken from his trail of thought as something massive smashed through the tunnel wall. It was a cursed mixture between a bat and a fire lizard. It stood around Genus's height, with red scales and leathery bat wings. However, unlike Genus, its head was that of a bat with a small mouth and beady black eyes.

"Ugly fucker!" Alice shouted as she clapped her hands together. A hairline crack in the world that shouldn't be possible manifested, and the creature was cut cleanly in half down the middle, and the two halves fell apart with a thud. Victor got a perfect view of the creature's anatomy as he felt a small amount of himself vanish. He casually cast [Consume], and that lost part of himself reappeared.

"You know..." Genus gulped as the group flew over the corpse. "...that shouldn't be possible right?"

"Hmmm?" Alice innocently hummed a pleasant tune, "Whatever do you mean, mighty dragon?" She turned to him and grinned, which was rather sinister, with her void [Mana Shield] coating her skin and leaving only her eyes and mouth visible. "Scared? Of little old me? How cute."

"Don't mess with me. I have lived a long time, and not even my mother could just clap her hands and erase something from existence! Only a god-like entity can do that, and I've watched you over the past few weeks. Although your growth has been impressive, it shouldn't allow you to do something a thousand-year-old dragon could only dream of."

"Okay, okay, relax, old man." Alice had spent a few weeks conversing with the golden dragon, and they had gotten closer alongside her improved relationship with Victor. She even agreed to help Genus on his quest to reclaim the dragon throne. It all sounded rather grand and exciting. Also, she was never one to turn down free experience points for those that defied her. Victor called her a battle junky, but she preferred the term Pink Demon. Or at least that's what Genus had been calling her.

Alice decided to humour the dragon as they continued their monotonous task of flying down a straight tunnel for a thousand miles. "You may not know much about human magic or the system." She chuckled, "And neither do I, to be honest, but I have found some interesting things recently." Alice summoned some mana to her hand and watched it dance along her palm. "We are told the system is everything; it's what gives us magic and the ability to command the will of the world. But obviously, that's horse shit. You and Victor can use magic without the system's intervention."

"But I have the system, just a very lacklustre version compared to you..." Victor countered from the shadows.

Alice turned toward where Victor was with her [Void Eye], which she kept active as much as possible, "You told me your system doesn't upgrade your skills when they reach level ten?"

"Should they?" Victor checked his list of skills. Almost all of them had reached level ten, but nothing had changed.

"Yes." Alice nodded to herself, "Or at least mine do. This makes me suspect that your version of the system is basically pointless. You also told me that gaining levels and exp doesn't unlock any new skills or classes like mine. So that begs the question, why? Why do you have a system in the first place?" She then pointed at Genus, "When Genus doesn't? No offence, but in our terms, you are both creatures, monsters, whatever you want to call it. The system was invented to give us weaker races a chance to fight against you two with magic. What it lets us do, however, is not real magic."

"Let me demonstrate," Alice said as she summoned a beautiful orange [Fireball]. "The system upgraded this skill when I hit level ten, but I can still use the original spell. Anyway, that's not important. What is this flame made of?" She asked and looked between her two students.

"Mana." Genus replied, "Perfect mana, might I add. Although, of course, when I breathe flames, it comes from my body, so the mana has some impurities... but that fireball is near perfect."

"Exactly, it is made of mana." Alice then seamlessly changed the fireball into a javelin of crystal blue ice. "Now?"

"Still mana." Genus said, "And perfect again."

Alice nodded, "Okay and if I now infuse more of my mana to make this a void element attack, what happens?" Mana surged down Alice's arm, and her blessings and class warped that mana to take on the void element.

Genus's rainbow eyes shifted as he tracked the mana change and frowned. "It's still pure mana, nothing like the feeling I got from the spell you used earlier."

"I knew it!" Alice exclaimed as she cancelled out the spell with a mere thought. "The system just manipulates pure mana into something like fire, ice or, in this case, void. Now, this raises some questions. Such as, why not let humans use all elements? Why do we need a blessing from spirits or classes? Anyway, I am getting off-topic. Genus, you asked how I could clap that fire lizard bat thing to the next life?"

Genus nodded.

"Because I used actual magic and not just artificially manipulated mana. Void magic has the property of deleting anything it comes in contact with. Now I'm not one hundred percent sure, but the fake void magic provided by the system constructed from mana shouldn't be able to replicate what I did. But..."

Alice waggled her finger. "The system has to honour my class's feature, [True Damage], which lets me ignore magical defences, so here's my theory... when I use the new skill I gained recently with my new class, that lets me channel real void magic through Victor and combine it with [True Damage]. The system intervenes and ensures my void magic ignores magical defence. How?" Alice shrugged, "I don't know, but it's helpful."

"Are there any restrictions to that spell?" Genus had a slight fear in his voice. Skills and spells that can ignore magical defence aren't unheard of, but an attack that ignores magical defence and deletes anything it touches? How could he survive such a thing? He was a rather large target, after all...

Alice grinned, tore her sights away from Genus, and kept flying down the tunnel. "Wouldn't you like to know..." She shouted back jokingly, "But a girl never reveals her secrets~."

Victor watched her fly away and thought deeply about what she said. If the system was all a lie, was there a way for him to train his skills? Dragons slept in mana-rich areas to grow in power... did he have to consume more? 'No. Consuming never gave me any power-ups. Actually, now that I think about it. Why can't I use void magic? Only [Shadow Magic X] is listed in my skills list, but no Void Magic?'

"What would happen if I just tried to use it?"

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37. Ancient Devourer

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A NOTE FROM XKARNATION

Shoutout to a fellow authors amazon release! Book 2 of the Hedge Wizard released yesterday, go check it out!

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After reaching level 500, Victor confirmed with almost certainty that the system was a lie... or at least his version was.

"Yeah, I got nothing! No new class or evolution," Victor shouted as he unleashed a semi-charged [Doom Ray] at an enormous intelligent willow tree with a craving for flesh, setting it ablaze. Before encountering this behemoth of a monster, Victor was starting to think Alice and him could deal with anything, but it was only the fiftieth floor, and they had encountered trouble.

The Fleshtrees, as they had chosen to name them, were resistant to almost every element and could regenerate in seconds. One-shotting them was their only option, but high-powered spells that could instantly kill a tree the size of a skyscraper were few and far between... and when thousands of them populated a continent-sized forest shooting off high-tier spells left and right was not ideal. But they had little choice as the dragons were rapidly approaching, and they needed to keep moving forward.

The fiftieth floor was basically a dense marshland with the occasional open space. Fleshtree's of various sizes inhabited the biome. Victor had seen willow trees back on earth and had always admired the chaotic way their branches grew out, shrouded in dense green leaves that hung down like a depressed teen's haircut. But with the bark black and the leaves a mixture of red and grey, the place had a grim atmosphere.

In the far distance, shrouded by fog, Victor could see a towering willow tree-themed tower lined with pulsating red vines like blood vessels, but in their path were Fleshtree's so tall they touched the top of the floor's dome. One Fleshtree must have consumed or concealed the glowstone sun as the place was bathed in total darkness. Nevertheless, the group had managed to travel unmolested for the most part, with Henry riding on the back of the dragon Alice used to use as a mount.

Meanwhile, Wiggles happily churned through the Fleshtree's exposed roots down below the murky depths of the marshland as Victor, Alice and Genus flew overhead.

As the group passed by the aflame Fleshtree from Victor's [Doom Ray], they confronted a literal wall of Fleshtree's between them and the next floor's tower. "I refuse to believe any Delving team could get through this!" Henry cried from atop the black dragon mount. The blood-red leaves of the closest Fleshtree swayed to the side, and the bark split vertically and exposed a wall of sap with a scarlet eye floating in it.

The eye that would dwarf Genus turned and stared right at Henry, who had just shouted. "Cover him!" Alice called as she put herself between the murderous tree and Henry. But, of course, their lives did not really matter due to them being undead. Still, Victor wished to conserve his stat points where possible and resurrecting an over-levelled Apocalypse Horseman and a smashed-up zombie dragon would not be cheap.

Before anyone could even react, thousands of black vines coated in toxins erupted from the ground below Henry and clasped around the dragon mount's legs and tail. Alice wasted no time and set the vines alight with the upgraded version of her fireball spell, [Hellfire]. The dense mana shield that coated the vines evaporated away due to Alice's [True Damage] that ignored the magical defences and directly burned the vines. The purplish inferno drilled down the vines and spread towards the main body. The ancient Fleshtree saw the threat coming, so it used [Geokinesis] to manipulate the terrain and form a physical stone barrier between its burning vines and its main body.

The dense mana shield surrounding Alice flickered as her mana reserves bottomed out. Despite levelling into the 90s and investing most of her unspent points into her INT stat, hurling high-tier magic at trees for days had taken everything out of her.

Genus flew below Alice and let her rest for a moment on his back. But, unfortunately, while Alice was out of commission for a moment, the other ancient Fleshtree's forming the wall between them and the tower had awoken and stared at Genus with their alien eyes.

Genus took in a massive gulp of air as his belly inflated and glowed; golden fire escaped between his teeth before he opened up his maw and unleashed a devastating attack. Golden fire engulfed the thousands of vines rearing to strike, their mana shielders flickering under the assault. They shot up, but the majority failed to reach Genus as he tried to fly higher, but eventually, the floor's dome was only a few meters overhead. Despite the immense distance, the vines closed in within seconds.

Before they seized Genus, Victor appeared from stealth, severed them all with a swipe from his claws, and froze the tips with [Freezing Cone] just for good measure to stop them from regenerating.

"Looks like there's no other way..." Victor sighed as he began charging up a [Doom Ray] at around 10% capacity. A million stat points vanished into the abyss of the spell's fuel.

"Is there really no other way we can get through? We have been blasting holes through all the obstacles so far, and that just gives the dragons chasing us a clear path forward, just like the tunnels Wiggles made through the cave floors." So Alice said from atop Genus's back. She had her [Fly] skill active to avoid plunging to her death as she used [Meditation] to rapidly regenerate mana at the cost of her defensive capabilities.

Victor used his black ocean network and confirmed a dragon noble family was only three floors behind. They didn't have to waste any energy on clearing out the monsters and simply followed their trail of destruction, and if Victor blasted these Fleshtrees to make a city-sized hole, the dragons would have another already cleared route to take and gain on them.

With a sigh, Victor continued to charge the spell and aimed it. "What can I do? My skills all rely on assassinating, army building or total annihilation. These trees have far too much defence for my [Annihilating Aura], and their dense [Mana Shield] and bark protect them from my [Freezing Cone] and [Shadow Magic].

The sky distorted due to the flashing purple lighting that crackled around Victor's extended claw. Mana streams funnelled into the spell and began rapidly burning Victor's hand, and his life force surged to defend his body from evaporating.

"Fine," Alice said and turned to watch the light show. She ensured her [Void Eye] was active as it reduced the world's brightness.

"Three... two... one..." Victor counted down for everyone's sake. "Fire." He unleashed the spell, and the entire floor became daytime. An arc of purple lightning discharged across the sky. The Fleshtrees all slammed shut their bark eyelids to protect their vulnerable eyes and deployed their [Mana Shields] at maximum power. They lit up like Christmas trees with red mana dancing across their surface. The [Doom Ray] blasted into them with the force of a nuke combined with the wrath of Zeus.

The entire dungeon floor shuddered as dust plumed into the sky alongside thousands of shards of bark and residual mana. Yet as the smoke cleared, the Fleshtree's were still standing, and the stadium-sized hole in one of them was rapidly closing.

"Do we rush it?" Genus said, getting in position to fly through the gap before it closed, "This could be a good chance and give us some room between the dragons and us."

"No, stop." Victor looked closely, "Those darn trees didn't even feel a thing."

Alice nodded with her [Mana Sight] and [Void Eye] skills active. "That is an illusion spell, not a real opening. I am willing to bet they used some life-saving skill to avoid that attack, or perhaps they are just that sturdy? Would match up with what we have seen so far." Alice put her hands on her hips and sighed. "If only you could use void magic." She eyed Victor as he floated there silently, "I mean, you are a creature from the void. How come you can't use it?"

Victor prepared another [Doom Ray] before the Fleshtree's recovered and sent more roots. "Alice, we have gone over this. The system is not here to help me. It's here to restrain me. If I can somehow break free of its clutches or regain my true body, I could obliterate these Fleshtrees without issue. But for now, I will have to work with what I got access to... have you recovered?"

Alice responded by coating herself in her void armour and floating in the air. "I recovered enough mana to use a few void spells with your help." Then, she said, "But the simple fact is those Fleshtrees are so titanic that a single spell can't take them out in one go, and they regenerate in seconds. Could we use Wiggles to sneak under them?"

Victor debated the idea, but one check on his undead pet sunk the idea before it could even fly. "Sadly, no, Wiggles is currently fighting the middle Fleshtree's roots and is losing. I am expending a lot of life force to regenerate him right now, but it's worth it to keep those roots from attacking us."

Victor scanned the surroundings, and after confirming the Fleshtrees were still recovering, he gestured to Alice, "Create a path through the middle Fleshtrees [Mana Shield] with a large void empowered [Fireball]. I will then force my way inside and explode them from within. I believe that the eye is a weak point." Victor then turned to Genus, "Get ready to dive bomb through the gap, this time, it will be a real path, and we can use this to buy us some time. I refuse to believe the dragons hot on our tail can deal with this situation so easily."

Genus huffed in agreement as he lacked the energy to respond. They had been up for days at this point, as every inch of these last few floors had been crawling with carnivorous plants that tried to swallow them at every opportunity.

From Genus's perspective, Victor vanished, but he could feel the considerable mana fluctuations surrounding the area where he disappeared. Alice directed him with her [Void Eye], "He is approaching the Fleshtrees eye very quickly. I'll fire before he gets out of my [Void Link] skills range." It was the skill Alice had acquired upon accepting the [Friend of the Void] class. It allowed her to access some void affinity while Victor was nearby.

Everything from then on happened quickly. Victor and Alice had practised this particular spell combination, so they both performed their roles without communicating. Alice summoned a [Fireball], increased its size to a few meters in diameter and held it over her head. After attracting the Fleshtree's interest as all their eyes turned to her, she hurled it at the middle one. "Nice defence, but can you dodge this?" Alice sneered as the void-empowered orb sailed through the sky.

The Fleshtree seemed to foresee its impending doom as it tried to sacrifice its titanic branches. The sound of wood creaking as the branches that could belong to a world tree swung in the way and evaporated in the [Fireball]'s path. The void affinity simply deleted all it came in contact with, although the [Fireball] deflated in size with every impact.

Luckily Alice had made it large enough as it reached the main body after blasting through over ten branches. The Fleshtree shut its vertical bark eyelid as a last-ditch attempt... But to Alice's relief, the fireball evaporated the scarlet mana shield, punched straight through the eyelid, and exposed the floating eye below.

Alice then saw in her [Void Eye] the shadow of Victor sneak through the gap before the Fleshtree's mana shield repaired itself. What occurred seconds later was the Fleshtree's realization that Victor was inside its eye as it pulsated before exploding in a brilliant explosion of pure white. Genus didn't waste a second and dive-bombed through the explosion. Steaming hot sap splashed them as they soared through, but both Alice and Genus's mana shields kept them dry and safe from the heat.

"By the Goddess!" Alice shouted as she looked over her shoulder and saw the smouldering mess of the Fleshtree begin to regrow, "Are they even killable?"

[Ancient Devourer defeated! Exp awarded to all party members...]

[Contribution has been calculated at 10%]

[Exp awarded: 10% of total gain.]

"Wait, we killed it?" Alice exclaimed as another screen appeared before her eyes.

[You have reached level 100]

[Evolution to High Human has commenced]

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38. Midas Touch

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Victor was a little taken aback when all of Alice's magic ceased, including her flight and mana shield. She had been gliding just above Genus's back as she slammed into him with a disgusting crunch. Despite her high stats, Genus was traveling at over a hundred miles an hour as they raced away from the Fleshtree's behind them and towards the next floor's tower. Her face mashed into Genus's scaled back with the force of a semi-truck, and her rag doll body rolled off his wings with blood trailing from her broken nose as she plunged to the ground. Although the group had passed the thousand-meter-tall Fleshtree's behind them, there were still thousands of smaller ones between them and the next tower. As Alice descended, a surge of vines rose from the swamps like flesh-hungry vipers awaiting the falling snack.

Victor would have dived down to help somehow, but a dense ball of mana suddenly surrounded Alice. It was so thick that Victor could see the mana as it became a solid turquoise substance that enveloped Alice like a bubble.

"What's happening, Genus?" Victor asked the most magically inclined creature he knew. Although Victor's mana detection skills were excellent due to how mana affected his life force, like detecting a coming storm due to lower wind pressure or smelling something from far away. Unfortunately, Victor severely lacked knowledge related to mana since he never used the stuff. Nevertheless, despite his lack of knowledge, his system somehow converted his life force into mana and did all the spell-casting for him.

"Evolving..." Genus replied with a grumble, "And not a good time for it." The mighty noble dragon flared his maw and unleashed golden hellfire upon the numerous Fleshtree's dotting the swampy lands below. "We need to protect her while the evolution occurs," Genus growled as his body began glowing with power; mana danced across his golden scales in myriad rainbows streaks. His wings spread out to their maximum wingspan, and then he opened his mouth and commanded in an ancient tongue that Victor's language ability helpfully translated for him.

"Greater reality manipulation, Midas Touch."

Genus then flapped his mighty wings, and golden flakes rained down upon the land. Victor made sure to float out of the way as he was far below the dragon, 'Huh, interesting. This spell is the first time I've encountered such a wide-area attack. It seems I continue to find new counters to my stealth skill every week.' The golden flakes slowly cascaded down like snowflakes on a cold Christmas morning. Unfortunately, the vines seemed oblivious to approaching ancient dragon magic and surged upwards anyway - and every time a golden flake so much as grazed passed a vine, it shattered its mana shield and turned it into a piece of golden artwork.

"Wow," Victor mumbled as he watched many miles of swampland transform into a golden paradise. Genus's spell didn't even spare the Fleshtrees from the onslaught. The seemingly harmless flakes punched through the dense red mana shields of the Fleshtree and transformed their black bark into pure gold. "I suppose the main counter to this spell is the long wind-up time and how slow the flakes move..." Victor noted as he watched the devastation. Despite how overpowered Victor found the Fleshtrees to be for only fifty-floor monsters, he had to admit the inability to move made them weak to many spells and tactics. 'If I didn't have to bring anyone with me, I could just stealth and float right past these Fleshtrees and blast a hole through that wall or use [Spirit Movement] at maximum power to slip right through.'

While watching the unimaginable display of magic occurring before him, A thought crossed Victor's mind, "Why didn't you use this spell before? We could have saved countless hours."

Although Genus heavily focused on casting his grand magic, he still managed to sneak out an answer through clenched teeth: "I will need to rest for three days after this spell finishes. If not for Alice going through an evolution, I wouldn't dare use a spell that leaves me so vulnerable."

Victor groaned. That was never good news, especially with the noble dragons hot on their trail. 'Hopefully, the Fleshtree wall will provide us with some time... but if all the noble dragons can unleash some crazy spell like Genus is right now, then we might be in trouble...' Victor entered the black sea within his mind. He then focused on the many undead critters dotted around the previous floors. 'Those dragons should be approaching the 47th-floor tower...' Victor had managed to raise a few Fleshtrees as undead, making them even more sinister than before; however, apart from being surveillance, an unmoving undead tree lacked usability.

Victor felt his view warp as he used one of the many features of his maxed-out [Raise Undead] skill and looked through the eye of a Fleshtree. He had only used this spell once to scout out the Delving party back in the cursed forest, and that had been through a humanoid creature, a goblin. Taking over the perspective of an eldritch tree with a hunger for flesh was far different. Victor could feel the world around him through the roots and buried vines. He had felt a similar sensation when he used to go to the beach and bury his toes in the sand. 'That's tolerable, but what the hell am I supposed to do with this point of view?' He forced the Fleshtree to open its bark, and the light blinded him briefly. 'Okay, so the Fleshtree's eyes are very vulnerable to light. That is interesting to know...' The sap surrounding the eye made the view blurry, like looking underwater or through a pickle jar, but he could make out the shadow of dragons flying overhead. 'Alright, they are about a day's travel behind us.' Victor canceled the view and returned to his main body.

His eyes wandered across the landscape. The next floor's tower loomed over them a mere mile away. Surrounding the tower was a grey swamp with bright red Fleshtrees around a few meters tall dotting the landscape. Their willow branches twisted and turned as they focused on Alice with red alien eyes. A perpetual fog blanketed the land, and with the wall of titanic Fleshtrees that they had just broken through surrounding the tower in an enclosing circle, Victor felt somewhat trapped.

A shill scream brought Victor's attention back to Alice. Bubbles rose from her mouth as she thrashed around. Her eyes were wide open as the mana bubble shifted from a lovely turquoise to a grim black.

"Is this normal?" Victor asked the rainbow dragon a hundred meters above his head. The mana-coating Genus began to falter, and through the cracks in the beautiful rainbow sheen, Victor saw something... 'Is that his bare skin? Where did his scales go... oh.' Victor watched in horror as Genus concluded his spell, and as the rainbow mana dissipated, he emerged as a completely white lizard. It reminded Victor of those hairless cats people used to own back on Earth. 'He consumed his scales to produce that spell. Were those golden flakes, perhaps his scales?' Victor felt those questions were more suited for another time. Genus seemed beyond exhausted as he hung his head low and even his mana shield flickered out of existence. The dragon shifted his head with great effort and observed Alice. His eyes danced in their usual crystal brilliance as he spoke, "Yes, that is normal. Evolution requires the body to be rebuilt. The evolved version of a species is not even comparable to the original. In fact, they are so different they can't even mate with their previous species..."

"Alright, sure. But why has the mana turned black, and why is there pink floating around there now?"

Genus frowned as he scrutinized the rapidly changing ball of mana. Not only had it become a deep black like a starless sky, but now streaks of pink were streaking through it like shooting stars blooming into roses. And then, the mana bubble began to expand rapidly like the sun does before collapsing and going supernova. "Is that also normal?" Victor questioned as he hovered backward. The mana bubble devoured all it came into contact with. Alice had fallen close to the floor before the mana bubble had appeared, so it only had to expand a little before it began consuming the golden landscape left in the wake of Genus's spell. As the bubble greedily swallowed the golden land, flakes of gold were added to the mix and floated around, turning the mana bubble into a snow globe of golden flakes and pink roses.

"That can't be good..."

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The Netherborne: Harbinger of Destruction [An OP Isekai LitRPG]

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39. Human Mana Blob

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A NOTE FROM XKARNATION

SHOUTOUT TIME!

Fishbowl [A Superpower Fantasy]

A superpower fantasy from the perspective of a goldfish.

Arthur Penfish is a mere fish with hopes of a humble yet worthwhile life. Unfortunately, that all changes when he jumps out of his fishbowl, killing himself. For some reason, he finds himself in a human body. He encounters a world torn between citizens, a Hero agency, sinister beings, and organizations who want no part of the aforementioned, but he doesn't care about them.

All Arthur wants is to place his previous owner into a fishbowl; it doesn't matter if that boy is the son of a renowned Hero. Or even the fact that people think he's the supposed "Wanderer," no matter what... He will put his owner into a fishbowl.

Evolution Complete

Alice awoke on a hardwood bed with those ominous words dancing in her vision. She rolled her head to the side, and the words followed before flashing once and then vanishing. Alice blinked in confusion. "What the..." she glanced around the simple wooden hut she was lying in "...hell happened? Why am I in a hut?" She quickly pushed herself up, swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

"No pain?" If the information about her evolution was accurate, how did she feel better than ever? "I expected at least some muscle ache after evolving, but I feel fantastic!" Alice straightened her back and let out a satisfying groan as she stretched her arms over her head.

Feeling refreshed, she surveyed the hut. It was a simple single wooden room with a door, a bed with no cushion or blanket and a window shutter. Nothing else. "Wait, shouldn't it be dark in here?" To Alice, it was only a little dim, but the distinct lack of an open window meant she was definitely using some type of magic. "How curious." She looked down at her body and gasped. She brought her hands up to her chest, "No way..." Apart from the obvious shock of being completely naked, she saw notable improvements in her figure. She brought her hand up for inspection and found her nails had extended a little more and were still pitch black.

"Damn, these look sharp now." She could practically see the sheen on the blade of her nails. With some hesitance, she poked herself and felt no pain. "Huh?" She pushed harder and harder; her pale skin, which looked so delicate, held strong until it finally gave way, and the tip of her nail dug in. "Still no pain?" It was a surreal experience for her body to act so differently... "Wait, why is no blood coming out of the wound?" Alice inspected the small hole in her hand, but nothing was leaking. She shook her hand like a wet towel but still nothing.

Alice knew many of her questions would be answered if she opened her status page, but she almost didn't want to know. "Come on, Alice, it can't be that bad. It's not like you transformed into a demon overnight... right? Just open it!" The command was on the tip of her tongue when the whole hut shook, not like an earthquake, but rather like how a ship crests over a monstrous wave on the open seas. She stumbled back and fell onto the wooden bed as the whole hut tilted and swayed as if it were suspended.

"What the..." Alice said while gripping the bed for support. So far in her life, this was the most bizarre few minutes after waking up she had ever experienced. As the hut finally stopped swinging, she heard a monstrous roar that shook the hut's flimsy walls. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous," Alice said as she stood back up. "Status!"

Before her page appeared, a flurry of log messages flashed past her eyes.

Congratulations, mortal, for reaching level 100.

Creating a summary of your life for optimal evolution.

[Race]

Human

???

[Classes]

Friend of the Void

Black Mage

Apprentice Merchant

[Blessings/Affinities]

Darkness

Void

[Hidden Titles]

Pink Demon - Bestowed by a noble dragon

You are of an unknown race in the system database. Basic improvements based on analysis commence.

Mortal Body -> Basic Mana Body.

Incorporating blessings. Basic Mana Body switch to Darkness affinity.

Void affinity cannot be safely added. Creating unique skill: [Void Form]

Upgrading subclass: Apprentice Merchant -> Monarch of Gold.

New unique spell: [Inferior Midas Touch]

[Name: Alice]

[Race: ???]

[Body: Darkness Mana Body]

[Level: 100]

[STR: 118, DEX: 130, CON: 137, INT: 248, WIS: 240]

[Unspent points: 3]

(Dulled Emotions)

[Blessing: Darkness]

[Class: Friend of the Void]

[Sub Class: Monarch of Gold]

[Divine Mission: None]

[Skills]

[...]

[Class Skills]

[Void Form]

[Stealth V]

[Hellfire III]

[Ice Bolt IX]

[Mana Shield IX]

[Float V]

[Mana Sight IV]

[Telekinesis III]

[Void Eye III]

[Sub Class Skills]

[Inferior Midas Touch]

[Fast Counting I]

[Identify I]

Alice clicked on her new body type without wasting time due to the hut still shaking from continuous roars.

[Darkness Mana Body]

After reaching level 100, you have shed your mortal flesh and become a being of mana. Your body is now a dense mana construct that does not require anything to function other than mana. If an area lacks mana, a high food and water intake will be needed to compensate. Your lifespan has also drastically increased.

"So I am some kind of mana blob in human shape? Is that why I shed no blood when I injured myself?" Alice read over the description and nodded to herself. Apart from the Darkness attribute part, it was the same as other high humans reported. "Some of the high humans lived for hundreds of years... I wonder if there's a way I can obtain true immortality?" Alice decided to think about that later and continued scrolling down the list.

"Oh." She put her hands on her neck and felt a distinct lack of a slave collar. Of course, once she had invested heavily in her CON stat, she barely felt the metal collar, but she was officially free with the (Slave) debuff gone. A weird feeling rose in her chest, followed by a wave of relief. That part of her life was finally over. She smiled, relishing in the moment for a second before pressing on her new sub-class.

[Sub Class: Monarch of Gold]

You absorbed an altered reality created by ancient dragon magic during your ascension. Due to this, your subclass was updated, and you now have dominion over gold.

Alice blinked many times at the floating screen. "Ancient dragon magic? Altered reality? What in the Goddess is this thing talking about?" Alice wracked her brain, but the last thing she remembered was helping kill one of those Fleshtrees and getting the level 100 notification before promptly passing out.

Deciding to fish for more clues, she jumped down to the Subclass skills, "Why does my new skill not have a level? Does that mean it can't be upgraded like my Fireball spell?" She tapped the skill, and some information appeared.

[Inferior Midas Touch]

A unique skill that attempts to mimic the ancient dragon magic spell: Greater reality manipulation, Midas Touch. It allows the user to turn anything they touch into gold, but due to its inferior nature, it has a major side effect.

"Which is?" Alice frowned and tapped the screen, but it refused to elaborate on the major side effect. "Alright, that spell is being ignored for now. But I wonder if it works with my [True Damage] trait?" Alice decided to test that theory some other time as she was deeply interested in what the [Void Form] skill could do.

[Void Form]

Become one with the void. Has tremendous side effects.

"Right." Alice rolled her eyes, swiped the screen away in irritation, and decided it was time to work out what was happening outside. She marched over to the door, but her hand paused. "I have no clothes on... darn if only I had some- wait." Alice realized she could use her [Mana Shield] spell at maximum strength to coat herself in Darkness affinity mana. She activated the spell and felt surprised at how mana flowed out of her body from everywhere. "Oh, right... mana body. I am literally all mana now." Darkness wrapped her form, leaving only her head exposed as she pushed open the door and received a face full of freezing cold air.

Squinting her eyes, Alice surveyed the surroundings and was once again confused. The hut was built upon a large wooden platform consisting of many brown wooden logs side by side, fused together by ice. Alice could tell from a glance that the ice was the same magical ice Victor produced with his spell. Walking out onto the platform, she decided to use [Float] as her bare feet might slip on the frost-covered logs. "Evolved, but still need shoes." Alice muttered, "Ridiculous."

A large gust of wind whipping her from both sides made her look up. Two titanic-sized dragons, even bigger than Genus, were flying overhead. Their scales had that same chrome shine as Genus, but they were black scaled. Alice almost summoned a [Hellfire] spell to her hand, but upon closer inspection, she noticed that many vines were wrapped around their limbs and tail and were attached to the log platform. "Are they carrying this?"

"Oh, Alice." A voice she knew all too well came from behind the hut. "You are awake."

"Genus?" Alice turned on her heel and looked up. "AH?" Towering over the hut was a bone-white snake-like creature. If not for his rainbow eyes and similar head shape, Alice would never be able to recognize him as a dragon.

"What the hell happened? Where are we?" Alice blurted out, "And why do you look like a hairless cat?"

Genus chuckled and gestured with a nod of his head for her to come around to his side. Then, as she floated around, he explained. "I used a spell that comes with major side effects while you were asleep..."

Alice's blood ran cold. Both her new spells warned of side effects, one major and the other tremendous. If a major side effect turned a mighty golden dragon into a hairless cat with wings, then what would happen due to a tremendous side effect?

"Don't worry." Genus tracked Alice as she circled the wooden hut and saw her expression change, "My scales grow back."

Alice paused and met his eyes, "H-huh? They do? That's good... you look ridiculous!" She continued floating while chuckling to herself.

The dragon snake frowned. "Luckily, they do, but it takes a while. About a week at most, but with rest, they return faster. Hence this wonderful contraption Victor built for us." Genus slapped his tail, causing the log platform to shudder. "Now, this is travelling in style! We should have made one earlier... although we didn't have any undead large enough to carry me."

"Yea, so about that-" Alice began, but Genus cut her off. "While you were sleeping, we were attacked by the scouts from the noble families. Victor made hilariously short work of them, and now they serve us."

"So those roars?" Alice questioned. Unless Genus had been yawning extra loud, she couldn't understand where they had come from.

"Take a look for yourself." Genus whipped his head to the left, and Alice followed his eyes, "It's rather entertaining how they keep coming."

Alice floated to the side and couldn't help but marvel at the view. They flew amongst fluffy white clouds. Occasionally she saw through a gap and caught a glimpse at the endless ice below. "An artic floor? Did the roars come from down there?-" The clouds surrounding the platform briefly lit up as purple lighting flashed across the sky, followed by thunder.

A second roar that sounded far more primal and dragon-like rang below, and through a gap in the clouds, Alice saw a smoke trail following a snow-white scaled dragon spiralling down towards the ice. Seconds later, the dragon slammed into an ice sheet with a thump she could hear even from here, causing a crater and spiderweb cracks to appear for miles.

"That must have hurt." Genus chuckled from the side. Alice had to agree, assuming that the white dragon was still alive.

"Oh, Alice."

Alice stumbled back as an enormous shadowy head with many blue eyes appeared only a meter before her. "Let's talk."

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XKARNATION

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17.10.2022, 02:17

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Tree Demon

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Bio: I like reincarnation stories a little too much

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40. Imposter

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A NOTE FROM XKARNATION

Shoutout!

Damsels Gone Wild - [A litRPG Action/Comedy]

It was only after Ray died, that he found a life worth living.

Ray was just going through the motions when his life ended. Stuck playing a Damsel-in-Distress NPC in the world's most popular MMO - he had pretty much given up on achieving anything with his life.

But when his lunch blows up and traps him in game, he quickly finds himself at odds with the players, the other actors, and the mega-corporation whose plans he may have just ruined.

Within days, the Damsel NPC known as Ray is enemy number one, hunted day and night.

Can Ray survive the hunt?

Only by forming new friendships, a world-class guild, and becoming the baddest bitch in the game.

Because he's only got one more chance to live…

"Let's talk."

Despite Victor's somewhat serious tone, Alice did not feel threatened. Instead, she felt comforted that Victor was still around. "What about?" Alice asked with a smile as she crossed her arms.

Victor's many blue eyes that floated aimlessly around his shadowy mass all stared at her, but she was used to his intense gaze.

"Congratulations on your evolution, but are you still... you?"

Victor let the words hang in the air as Alice's brain froze. She felt different, sure. But that was expected after evolving into a higher lifeform. She took a hesitant step back and looked at her arms wrapped in darkness. 'Am I still me? What defines me as me? That flesh suit I was born with or my thoughts and feelings? Do I have a soul?'

"Alice, you need to understand..." Victor's tone turned deadly serious. "You may not remember how you evolved, but I do. I watched as you were ripped apart, piece by piece until nothing was left. You died, Alice. The Alice I know is gone. You are something else, a mere mockery of her."

"No, no, no, what do you mean I died?" Alice stuttered as many thoughts raced through her mind. 'I passed out and woke up on a bed with an improved body... what is he talking about. I died? Ripped apart?'

"What are you. Think about it." Victor floated there, and his presence weighed on Alice far more than before. In all their time together, Victor had never accused or threatened her over anything. Being looked at like an imposter rekindled the fact Victor was a void creature that could obliterate her with a single spell, and it sent shivers down her spine.

Genus remained silent on the side despite the tension and watched Alice with his rainbow eyes as if looking for a single fault in her character. 'What am I?' That thought ran through her mind in endless cycles as she stood there staring at her potential death. Her path to greatness had only just begun. She needed to convince Victor that she was still her... 'But how?'

Alice thought back on her status screen. "I am a Darkness Mana Body..." She hesitantly responded. It sounded wrong now that she said it out loud. What even was a Mana Body? Also, her race still showed question marks on the status screen. Not even the system knew what she truly was; maybe she was some mere mockery of her past self.

"So the system claims." Victor persisted, "And what is a Darkness Mana Body exactly? Think about it. Is there a physical stone inside you holding that mana body together? What keeps you in that shape? If you were truly a mana body, couldn't you take any shape or form?" Victor took a deep sigh and then continued. "I always thought of the system as an add-on. An extension of one's self, and with its intervention, it could forcefully upgrade or improve a lifeform. But you have reached the supposed peak of evolution according to the system. You have become pure system. There is nothing of you that remains... the system is what binds you together, maintains your form."

Alice just stood there stunned. She had no idea what to say.

"If the system vanished tomorrow. Would you remain?" This was Victor's concern. He was getting increasingly worried about how much authority this system had over the world. As a creature from the void, he knew his place. He was their enemy. The world, and the lifeblood of the system, mana, naturally opposed his existence. "My existence and origin confuse me greatly, but there may be a day I stand against whatever controls the system or the system itself. When that day comes, can you stand by my side, Alice? Will the system use you against me?"

Alice looked straight into his eyes, "I don't know."

"Then do we continue-"

"But I don't care." Alice ruthlessly cut him off. "Whatever the system says, I am me. Whether I am a blob of mana with human emotions or my soul has been reborn, I make my own decisions. Whatever happens, I am staying right here. With you." The expression of self-doubt vanished, and Alice had a ruthless grin. "You ask if we continue? Fuck yes, we do. That Goddess has some questions to answer, and there's no better way to reach her than to bang down her front door."

"The Goddess resided at the bottom of the dungeon?" Victor couldn't help but ask. Back on Earth, the consensus was that the gods lorded over the mortals from above the clouds, but on this planet, the gods hid down below?

Alice shrugged as the darkness that wrapped her form swirled around her as she hovered a foot off the wooden platform. "Maybe, maybe not. It's all legends and rumours at the end of the day. No way to tell if we don't make it down there." Alice then grinned. "Now tell me where is something I can kill. Got some things I want to test."

"You know." Genus lowered his head between the pair and watched them both with his eyes, "You two become more similar every day."

The two exchanged a look and laughed. Then, Genus gestured for them to leave with his paw, "I need some rest, or my beautiful scales will never return."

"Alright, come with me. I will explain everything on the way." Victor cast his stealth skill, and Alice had no issues with following him as she activated her [Void Eye]. With a wave of goodbye to Genus, Alice divebombed off the side of the floating platform. As they shot down towards the snow dragon that had crash-landed, Victor began explaining.

"You passed out right as we were about to leave the 50th floor. At first, we had no idea what happened to you, but before we could do anything, you began your evolution process. I won't go into too many details, but it was ugly."

Hearing about her evolution process reminded Alice that one thing had bugged her. "Do you know anything about greater reality manipulation?" Alice shouted over the wind that howled in her ears as they rapidly descended. Despite the arctic conditions, she felt perfectly warm. 'I guess there are some benefits to becoming a mana blob.' Alice thought to herself.

"Yes, Genus used a spell to protect you from the Fleshtrees while you were obliterated by the system and turned into... whatever you are now. Anyway, that's not important. What's important is that you started evolving over a week or so ago. It's hard to tell down here."

"It took that long?" There were few records or even rumours about evolution, but due to human greed and the desire to be something greater, the tales of becoming a higher lifeform were widespread and often wrong. This was mainly because, much to the general population's confusion, the Delvers who managed to evolve usually decided to remain and live in the dungeon. 'I always found that bizarre, but now I'm a mana blob, I understand my fellow mana blob people's woes. The feeling of this dense mana is intoxicating.' Alice almost jiggled in excitement at how refreshing the mana on the lowest floors must be. 'I can also imagine how suffocating returning to the surface must feel. It's not even that nice up there, considering everyone would harass you daily for information about being a higher being. Much nicer to stay down here.'

Alice's wandering mind was brought back when Victor answered. "Yes, it took that long." He sighed, similar to annoyed parents after a tiring outing. It was long and deep, filled with annoyance and exhaustion. 'Can a void creature even get stressed or tired?' Alice thought with amusement.

"So there I was, with a stupid dragon that had decided to make himself useless by casting some overly fancy but ultimately pointless ancient dragon magic and a girl that decided to die and then be reborn in a terrifying display of the system's capabilities. Not to sound dramatic... But we were surrounded on all sides by mountain-sized carnivorous Fleshtrees and innumerable vines that were relentlessly trying to drag you away the second I looked away." Victor approached the snow dragon's corpse that had smashed a tunnel into the ice with only the tail and two legs poking out. Despite the violent impact and horrendous burn marks covering its left flank. Alice could tell from a glance that this snow-white dragon was of similar size and shape to the female silver dragon that died outside the jail cell.

"So they caught up to us, huh," Alice noted, and Victor nodded. "Annoyingly, the dragons have been assaulting us over the last week. This is the twentieth one I've killed." Victor materialized from stealth. Despite the dragon's leg being three times taller than her, Victor towered over the corpse and had to bend down slightly to touch it with his claw. Alice then saw in her [Void Eye] a giant blob of energy fleeing the corpse and entering Victor.

As Victor cast his [Raise Undead] spell, he continued, "In fact, they caught up to us during my three-day battle, and it was only thanks to their corpses that I could get you and Genus out of there. Those flying platforms were easy enough to make. I just needed something powerful enough to lift them with Genus's weight. He is one heavy boy."

Alice giggled at that comment. Today had been a weird one, but she was feeling much better. Trying to ignore the fast winds that kicked up loose snow and rustled her hair, Alice asked, "So what's next?"

"To be perfectly honest." Victor floated back as the snow dragon's muscles spasmed back to life and ruthlessly broke itself out of the ice. "Getting to the bottom of the dungeon is only a matter of time. I have a fleet of undead dragons and a hundred million lifeforce to play with. My only real concern is keeping Genus fed as it's been a week, and we have only made it down one floor, and I have seen nothing but ice."

"So what has he been eating..."

Victor pointed to the dragon's corpse.

Alice held back her disgust at the idea of Genus eating his own kind and decided to change the topic. "So we are on the 52nd floor then?" Alice pondered as she looked around. All she could see for thousands of miles was flat ice with the occasional ridge here and there.

"Yep, it took four days of constant flying to traverse the 51st floor, so I suspect it will take another week for this one. I have said it before, and I will repeat it, I refuse to believe normal people ever got to the bottom of a Grand Dungeon. It would have taken lifetimes to cover this distance and the distance we will need to cover on foot."

"Who said they were normal?" Alice said, "The other well-known Grand Dungeon is in the centre of the mystic lands. Nobody over there is normal."

Victor paused for a while and seemed to be focusing on something else. Alice gave him space for a few minutes and chose to scroll through her menus again.

Eventually, Victor turned to face her, his many eyes floating around as the newly risen snow dragon rose to its full height, stretched out its wings and towered over him with flakes of ice sliding off its scales. "Speaking of the mystical lands..." He said, and Alice raised a brow. Anything involving the mystic lands was always trouble. "A fancy-looking convoy bearing a flag that Toby claims belongs to the Mystical Realm has just arrived at the outskirts of the cursed forest."

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19.10.2022, 02:37

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41. Necron Toll Road

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A NOTE FROM XKARNATION

Shoutout!

Nine Steps To Godhood - An Epic Progression Fantasy

This is a quest for godhood set in a medieval setting inspired by Cradle and Malazan.

Eve whistled a cheerful tune as she strolled down a well-trodden path into the cursed forest. The gates of the Empire's capital city loomed behind her and in the far distance was a long line of merchants' carriages waiting to enter. Although the Empire lacked the need for trade, this particular winter had been rough on their farms, so much to their humiliation, they relied on Eshnar and their bountiful lands to make the difference. So naturally, Eshnar charged a premium for that food, which Eve and many others had felt, with even a simple loaf of bread costing three more coppers than last year.

But despite the misery of the commoners, Eve was in a fantastic mood. She almost couldn't help herself from raising her right hand and checking out the three golden rings that populated her fingers. Each one had a different gem that signified its spatial storage size and purpose.

"Good morning, Eve," Zedd said as he emerged out of a cloud of black smoke and combed back his disordered hair. "You sure are in a good mood today."

"Of course I am." Eve stopped admiring her latest purchase and put her hands behind her head as she continued her walk. "Why would I not be happy? My debts are all paid off, and we got another lucrative mission from the guild master. Life has never been so good."

"True. Shame Sam can't come with us today since his master called for him to deal with some situation in the Mystical Realm, but at least we can meet up with Rock again. Assuming he even remembers us, can never tell what that dumb golem is thinking." Zedd fell in stride beside Eve and twirled a black dagger around his finger as he talked, "I see you got some new gear since we last met up."

Eve nodded and hummed a pleasant tune. She wasn't in the mood for small talk today, especially with Zedd. Although they were in the same party, Zedd had a dark side that Eve didn't appreciate, making him a little awkward to be around. In the past, whenever they had planned to meet up somewhere, she always received the same story about how he was busy, yet the next day some noble was found assassinated. The first few times, Eve tossed it up to a coincidence since the Empire had some of the most ruthless politics on the continent where every noble house had to watch their backs, so a few deaths here and there were to be expected. But after years of the same pattern occurring, Eve had concluded that Zedd had a partial role in some or even all of those murders, making him a dangerous person to hang around. But, alas, he was one of the best scouts in the Empire, and the guild had teamed them together long ago, and it had just stayed this way for many years.

Zedd knew her all too well and returned to the shadows. He was also a man of few words, so they both appreciated the mutual silence as it would be a long walk to the south.

Although the air still had a slight chill, the harshest winter months had passed, and spring was now in full bloom. Another sign of winter ending was the return of the guilds scum to the forest's bounds. As Eve and Zedd fearlessly walked deeper into the cursed forest, many small groups of children and teens with wooden or bronze plates dangling from their necks via a coarse rope were busy picking various herbs for beginner guild quests. They curiously watched as the pair passed. Some whispered about them and their rank; others elected to judge silently. Eve had long gotten used to being treated like a walking celebrity, as she was one of the hundred or so Adamantite Delvers in the entire Empire.

Ignoring the low-ranked children, Eve continued deeper into the cursed forest. As the sparse trees got closer together and the thicket of the forest got denser, Eve began to pick up speed. Using combat or movement spells in or near the Empire was illegal, so Eve always put enough distance between herself and any witnesses before activating her various movement spells.

Mana trickled down to her limbs to power her spells. Her muscles bulged slightly and glowed red as she upped her pace. Soon the trees whizzed by her, and the foliage was a mere blur beneath her feet. Every few hours, she would summon food or water from a storage ring with a green stone that kept organic material fresh, perfect for storing ready-made meals.

Before she knew it, darkness blanketed the forest. The day shifted to night with the passing of hours, usually travelling during the night was dangerous, but Eve had yet to run into a single monster... the cursed forest had remained as dead as last time. "Do you need to rest, Zedd? I could go for another few hours." Eve said the first words in twelve hours to her travelling companion, and within a second, the rogue appeared beside her, casually running without any buffs yet matching her speed.

"No. But there is something bizarre up ahead. Around a mile in front of us is a dirt road."

"A dirt road?" Eve asked with disbelief. She had never heard of anything other than untamed wilderness and monsters in the cursed forest. The idea of something man-made, like a dirt road, baffled her. "You sure?"

"And that's not all. I saw something even more ridiculous," Zedd said mysteriously but refused to elaborate.

Eve focused more power on her legs and ran even faster. As an Adamantite Delver, she had seen some of the craziest things this world had to offer, but Zedd had definitely seen worse. Despite their long relationship, they had never joined a system party together and kept their level and class secret. Eve was obviously curious about Zedd's true might, but she liked staying alive, and it seemed anyone who knew his secrets had never lived for very long.

Soon enough, Eve saw the sight Zedd had described. The dense forest had been cleaved through with a dirt road. It was nothing impressive, about wide enough to allow two large carriages to pass side by side, although it was slightly sloped with trenches along the sides for rainwater which was a nice touch that was missing on a lot of the less used paths.

Now other than its unusual location, a dirt road in the middle of the forest wouldn't faze Eve or Zedd, but a question immediately answered was how it got here.

There was a horde of goblins at the end of the road. Some hacked away at the foliage in their warpath with cleavers and axes, while others smashed and compacted the dirt with large hammers. They were silent and efficient, working in perfect harmony as they constructed the dirt road towards the Empire, one step at a time.

Eve and Zedd emerged from the foliage and made themselves known with an awkward cough. The duo could slaughter these goblins in seconds, so they decided to confirm if they were working for the zombie merchants they had befriended down to the south first. A goblin wearing a makeshift robe of grass standing on a cart pulled by two undead horses noticed the two humans. Without delay, he hopped off his throne and strolled over to them.

"Howdy, humans! You must pay one bronze if you want to use Necron's new toll road." The goblin stood a meter away and held out his hand, palm up. Then, after a few seconds, he gestured with his bone fingers for them to pay up. "Not going to use the road? That is fine, but travel should be far easier on a lovely flat surface like this instead of shoving through the forest like some barbarian. Don't you agree?"

"Do you work for Toby or Andrew?" Zedd questioned as he dropped two copper coins into the goblin's waiting palm.

The goblin pocketed the coins into a small leather pouch hanging from its ribs. "Oh, you know his excellency, Sir Andrew? Yes, we work under him. He is the director of finance and development for Necron. Now you two seem rather capable. If you plan to go at full speed, please keep to the right side of the road. Have a pleasant and safe journey, and thanks for choosing to travel with Necron!" Without another word, the goblin returned to his work, whatever that may be.

Eve shrugged and walked past the goblins that were busy at work. For many miles ahead was a perfectly straight road, "With this, we should be able to reach there by morning. Ready?"

"Always," Zedd said as he vanished and Eve felt something speed past her. "Bastard," Eve muttered as she willed her tiring muscles back into action. To Eve's great surprise, the road was lit with the occasional glowing rock placed upon wooden poles that cast their soft blue hue for a few meters around them. They were the layman glowstone, producing far less light but were also a lot cheaper. Another surprise was under each of these light posts was a waiting goblin kitted out in crude armour and holding a spear of wood with a sharpened metal tip. Nothing impressive but for the average traveller, knowing the road was guarded made it even more valuable, even if the guards were undead.

The skeleton goblins didn't even react as she sped past. Hours passed by as the sun crested the horizon once more. Then, as Eve devoured her breakfast, the road ended and entered a large clearing. She skidded to a halt and scrutinised the land. The cleared area was at least the size of a city. She saw goblins dragging wood or hauling chopped trees on carts and then trekking back towards the centre where a wooden town stood.

Eve watched the little worker goblins for a few seconds in silent amazement. The Empire and the human realm had long outlawed necromancy, but seeing how efficient they worked made her think about how humanity had missed out on an opportunity. Eve continued to follow the dirt path that led all the way to the town gate. Two zombie ogres wielding clubs stood like statues. As Eve approached, they crossed their clubs in an X shape. "State your name and business. Necron is not currently expecting guests."

"We come on official guild business from the Empire. The merchants guild has sent us to discuss a potential partnership..." Eve's eyes wandered past the guards as she noticed a carriage that was partially obscured by a building. But the matt black material, lack of windows and scarlet eye emblem were all Eve needed to know the occupant's identity.

Zedd appeared beside her, briefly startling the guards. "You noticed them?"

Eve nodded. "Why the hell is vampire nobility here?"

A NOTE FROM XKARNATION

Sorry for the kinda filler chapter, a LOT more action in the next one! See you then :)

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21.10.2022, 03:37

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42. Merchant Guild's Letter

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A NOTE FROM XKARNATION

A great dragon evolution novel, where the MC is made of ice cream.

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A building exploded in a hail of wood with such force the pieces smashed the nearby buildings, and some wooden chunks even embedded into the town's wooden walls, a mere meter away from the orc guards' heads.

"Can you help us?" One of the zombie orcs asked Eve, and she agreed. After all, she was also curious about what was going on. "Zedd- oh." Unsurprisingly the rogue was long gone. Only a gust of black smoke wafted in the air beside her. Wanting to not be left behind, Eve compelled her exhausted body to move. Red mana coated her muscles as she dashed forward and past the zombie orcs.

As Eve rounded the corner with a skid, she saw gems of various colours through a half-destroyed building's roof. Rock turned his titanic body, and Eve saw him rapidly rotate his torso and smash something she couldn't see. But whatever he hit seemed to fight back with immense force. Rock's entire three-meter-tall body rocked backwards, and he collapsed onto his back, destroying another building and shaking the ground.

"Leave! You are not welcome here in Necron!" Eve heard a familiar man shout across the ruined town. "The master has permitted me to vanquish your kind from our lands!"

Andrew emerged from a wrecked building. It was the port-bellied merchant who had happily sold her an ice sculpture for a friendly price and promised another the next time she came. When Eve had last spoken with him, Andrew had seemed a jolly fellow overall, but he appeared royally pissed right now. His face was dark, and his expression cold. Shadows danced around his body, and purple lightning crackled above his palms.

According to Zedd, she should not underestimate the zombie merchants, but she doubted they could stand up to vampires. Eve had only encountered a vampire once, and it had destroyed a small human town singlehandedly. She was a platinum Delver at the time, two ranks below her current, and it took her entire team to take the vampire down. Although they had many weaknesses, they were fast, strong, cunning and wielded weird blood magic that was hard to predict.

Andrew seemed unaware of the mighty foe he faced as he waltzed into the town square, palms facing the sky and lightning crackling between his fingertips. "Come foul fiend, let us see who's the real king of the undead."

Something moved so fast it was a mere blur, a flash of silver and Andrews's head tumbled to the floor with a sickening thud. Eve tracked the blur and spotted a man appear in the shade of a still-standing wooden building with the sign "Necron Inn." He was a man of tall stature with pale white skin, trimmed brown hair in a hideous bowl cut and a rapier by his side. The vampire calmly switched his target and glared at Eve with scarlet eyes.

Eve immediately dived into the sunlight. She had learned from her last encounter with this mystical race that they were very wary of sunlight. It didn't cause them any direct harm, but it weakened them considerably.

Eve rolled, a flash of whistling silver passed by where her neck once was, and an irritated vampire appeared only a meter away from her in the shade of the half-destroyed building. "A worthy opponent." The vampire snarled in an indescribable accent.

Before Eve could even react, the vampire vanished, and the tip of his rapier found itself between her eyes. However, to the vampire's surprise, Eve grinned and muttered, "Gotcha," as her bikini armour activated and an orange glow flashed and absorbed the hit. Eve didn't waste a second. She reached up and gripped the blade, and with burning red mana coating her grip, she snapped the rapier in two.

The vampire looked stunned for a second, "You-" before he could finish, an arc of purple lightning narrowly missed Eve's head and smacked the vampire in the jaw. The vampire stumbled back with a feral scream and clawed at the charred flesh and exposed bone.

"How are you alive?" The vampire snarled as it lept back into the shadows like a startled cat. Once in the safety of darkness, Eve watched in wonder as the vampire's flesh knitted itself together, convulsed and rapidly healed back to normal. It was both disgusting and genuinely miraculous to watch.

Eve compelled her exhausted body to move and backed away, never taking her eyes off the vampire. "Andrew." She half said over her shoulder, "What's going on?"

Andrew stood beside her, his head under his arm like a ball. A tendril of shadow seemed to be running from his neck stump to his detached head that was dripping green gunk onto the floor. "No idea. These bastards showed up unannounced, and my master demanded I attempt diplomatic relations with them. I thought it might work out; they look human enough and could speak fine; it's just a shame... they only demanded from us, no offer of trade. They wanted everything here, including us and also demanded human rations."

Andrew then laughed manically as he walked towards the vampire. "Luckily, the master blessed me with overwhelming power on this fine day." Andrew didn't even charge up his spell, and like a demi-god, he hurled a bolt of purple lightning so powerful it blinded Eve. An eruption of noise and heat flooded the air, and as Eve blinked away the burning light, she witnessed a flaming crater where the vampire had once been.

"Ah..." Andrew stared dumbly at the scene, "There goes the post office. Hmm, what a shame. We had just got the bone network setup." Andrew let out a tired sigh before he attempted to fuse his head back into place. Eve debated helping him, but it looked far too gruesome to get up close.

"So, was that the only one?" Eve asked.

"No, there was one or two more..." Andrew muttered as he looked in the direction he could hear fighting. He gestured with his now reattached head to follow him, and the two briskly walked to the other side of the square. Rock had recovered and was back on his hind legs, with a very battered vampire underfoot. Bob, the dwarf skeleton chef, sauntered towards the trapped vampire while juggling three knives. Without mercy, he accurately threw each one. Two of them pinned the vampire's hands to the dirt, while the third dug into the vampire's skull, causing it to squeal. "Fry it," Bob said emotionlessly.

Toby pointed his index finger at the knife embedded in the vampire's head and used it as a lightning conductor as he fired a purple lightning spell. The vampire released one final scream as his brain became boiling sludge.

Andrew sheepishly turned to Eve and rubbed the back of his neck. "Haha... we should have done that. Much errrr cleaner? Less property damage?"

"What in the high hell was that, Andrew? I could feel the heat wave from here?" Toby walked over with heavy steps. Eve hadn't felt it before, but Toby was genuinely intimidating. His grey eyes spoke of murder in cold blood, his arms were beefy, and his shoulders broad. A straw hat of poor quality sat happily on his head, obscuring his black hair.

Toby walked past Andrew and knocked him on the way, causing Andrew to stagger back a step or two. "T-toby man, it's not that bad... we can fix it, okay?"

Toby poked his head around the corner of the half-destroyed building and whistled. "Well... there goes a week of work. Awesome. Great. Good stuff." The monstrous zombie, who matched even the ogres in size that stood dumbly on the side, came back and patted Andrew on the shoulder. "This is why I am head of security, and you are the trading guy. You, my good man, have absolutely ZERO FIGHTING SENSE." Toby pulled back his fist and struck Andrew in the face, sending him spiralling back and skidding a few meters in the dirt.

"We work for a fucking eldritch creature, Andrew. I just shot lightning out of my hands like it was nothing. Do you understand? Do you? Hey!" Toby lumbered over and grabbed the fat zombie by the scruff of his shirt. "No more mistakes. Understood? You are immortal. There is no need for you to blow up three entire buildings. Alright? We are a team, you and me. Let's do our parts, ay?" Toby hauled the fat merchant up, plopped him on his feet and slapped him twice. "Now look lively. There's work for you to do."

Zedd popped into existence with a third vampire dead in his hand with a black dagger wedged in its skull. He casually dumped it on the floor, "One escaped. Three in total, including human slaves in the carriage. Likely used as a portable food supply." Zedd looked to Eve, "I will head back and report vampire activity to the guild immediately. For vampires of this calibre to be this far north is highly unusual. You stay here and complete our original mission."

Eve hated being bossed around, but she had to admit Zedd could move disturbingly fast. In fact, she bet Zedd could reach the guild by tonight. "Alright. Take care." Eve didn't even get to wave him off as he vanished. Taking the vampire corpses with him.

Toby muttered something about enforcing the perimeter as he strolled off towards the town gate. Leaving Eve and a stunned Andrew in the destroyed town square.

To Andrew's credit, he quickly recovered and returned to the jolly persona that Eve was used to before. "Miss Eve, you said you had some business to conduct here? I hope it's more reasonable than our previous guest's demands?"

Eve smiled. "I believe you will find my deal very interesting." She summoned a parchment from her spatial ring and handed it to Andrew.

Andrew gave the contents a look over and laughed. "Oh certainly, Miss Eve, this is very interesting indeed. I didn't think the merchants guild would make a move this fast... but why does it say here the guild master wants to meet the necromancer?"

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Chapter 1484 - ccd

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