A Tales of Demons and Gods inspired Gamer System in Worm, SI-OC
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Gamer of Capes and Worms
- Created
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- Incomplete
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- Recent readers
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- Threadmarks
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Statistics (9 threadmarks, 21k words)
User Total Slycerr 9
Gamer of Capes and Worms 1
New
Slycerr
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
- 30
- Likes received
- 343
Let your thoughts flow through you, like a leaf through the wind.
Mind like a still pond, serene and reflective.
Don't think about a pink elephant.
…
"That wasn't in the book, was it?"
My calm state completely broken, I open my eyes to look at the book beside me.
The title read [Meditating for Dummies], and while it wasn't very flattering, I was grasping at flies at this point and catching nothing.
Sitting in the still somewhat unfamiliar room, I can't help but lament what my life has become.
Getting transported into what I once thought was just a very depressing story and de-aged to 17 wasn't my version of a good time though.
What did make it a little bit better was the gift I got with it though.
[Initializing integration of Gamer System 4.0 into Chosen User]
[…]
[Integration Complete.]
[Choosing starting Template]
[…]
[…]
[Template chosen: Nie Li (Tales of Demons and Gods)]
[Integrating Template]
[…No compatibility issues found]
[…]
[…]
[Template integration complete]
[Tales of Demons and Gods Skill Tree Unlocked.]
[Status]
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered / [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 3
Body Force: 31
Money: $5437
That was the first thing I saw when I woke up.
Now, like most avid fanfic readers, at first I was ecstatic. Like, who doesn't want to become a [Gamer]?
That joy slowly faded the longer I went without receiving any skills and found no way to increase or even feel my Soul Force.
Hell, the only thing I've been doing these last two weeks is going to the gym, which is the only thing that made something increase on my status page.
And buying books on meditation and reading online to get any idea of how to increase my Soul Force.
I can't even feel it.
I've been playing hide and seek with something that should be fucking obvious, considering I didn't have it before.
At least my bank account transferred with me to this godforsaken place and rent was already paid for a few months, because if I was going to need to find a job with all that's happening,
I'm gonna have an aneurysm.
I don't know what kind of being picked me and set me up in this world, or what exactly it wants me to do, but since there wasn't even a note or a message in the system it stuck me with, then I can just assume it wants me to do what I would do naturally in the situation it put me in.
*piep pip piep pip*
In my rumination on the clusterfuck that is my life right now, my alarm warns me I need to get going for boxing classes.
20 minutes later, I arrive at The Furious Boxing Gym. It wasn't a big place, but that was fine. I could just do the workout the coach gave me in the beginning until it didn't strain me anymore, and ask someone to spar at the end for a bit.
By now, I'd gotten into a rhythm that calmed me more than any meditation session ever did.
Doing my movement drills and focusing on my footwork sharpened my mind like few things could.
So it shouldn't have surprised me that the notification I'd been waiting two weeks for finally appeared in front of me.
[You grasped your Soul Force for the first time! +5 SF!]
[Skill Created! 'Moving Meditation' Unlocked]
The first thing that came over me was shock, and then elation that I'd finally created a skill.
The second thing that happened… was me tripping over the equipment I was using and falling flat on my face.
"What was that?!"
Pushing myself off the ground, I answered the big man that came powerwalking over.
"I fell, coach!"
Now in front of me, the man crouched and pushed his face so close to me I thought he was going to headbutt me.
"And why, for god's sake, did you do that, Brooks!"
"I was distracted, coach!"
"Distracted?! Why would you do that, for Christ's sake, Brooks!"
"I don't know, coach!"
"Well now that you're on the ground anyway, because you apparently love it so much you don't even know why you kissed it—give me twenty and continue your workout plan!"
"Yes, coach!"
If you couldn't tell, the coach of this place is a military man…
That wasn't, sadly, the only time I fell, and I think I broke my personal record for pushups in a day.
It also probably—maybe—not a good idea to end my training session with a few spars.
If it wasn't obvious with that decision that I don't have a lot of brain cells, then doing that reduced that already low number even lower.
Moving Meditation levelled up twice thought!
I was even debating with myself whether I should jog back to my apartment, but my body was firmly against that idea.
Thinking over whether I should listen to it, or go try for some more skill gains, I didn't notice the coach walking toward me.
"Brooks, you okay today? I know we go hard in this gym, but at the end of your sparring I couldn't help but be a bit worried."
A warm feeling came up in my chest at that—it feels good to have someone worry for you.
"I'm okay, coach. There's just been a lot going on in my life right now that I have to figure out. It distracted me today more than normal."
That didn't really alleviate his worry apparently, but he didn't inquire further.
"Okay then. If you want to talk about it, then my door is always open. While I know you aren't as troubled as some of the youth that comes here, I don't want you to join them in their circumstances. This city has enough of them already."
"I will if I need to, coach." And I give him a smile, hoping to convey my understanding of the offer.
It appears he got that, and ended the conversation with, "Good. And call me Mr. Laborn when your session is done—I'm not drilling you into the ground outside of training."
Letting out a laugh at that, I can't help but say with a small salute, "HAH. You got it, Mr. Laborn. Sir!"
He walks off after that, grumbling about disobedient youth and rebellious youngsters, but I saw the small smile he tried to hide.
Getting on the bus, I look over my first skill.
[Moving Meditation - Lvl. 3]
Meditation doesn't always have to be sitting still and trying to think of nothing. Some people need to get moving to reach that special state of mind.
You are one of them.
Allows you to enter a meditative state even while moving your body.
Increases Soul Force gain by 1.5%
It even increases Soul Force?!
…
Would it be weird if I started running up and down the bus?
It definitely would be weird…
Could I try to feel my Soul Force now?
Closing my eyes and focusing on my breathing, I try to feel the energy.
And while I couldn't feel it on the ride home, I somehow felt like I was getting closer to grasping it than I ever was.
I wanted to start immediately after eating, but tiredness hit me and I decided it's better to give my body the rest it clearly asked for.
Falling into my bed, it didn't even take 10 seconds for sleep to take me.
Waking up refreshed, I had a quick breakfast and did a small workout more focused on flexibility.
[Body Force +1]
Yes!
It's only one point, but progress is progress. When my Body Force reaches 100, I will officially be a Bronze 1-Star Fighter. I'm hoping there's a reward waiting behind it.
[Received a Quest]*
Quest: Become a Fighter!
Reach Body Force 100.
Reward: [Skill]
Accept Quest? Yes/No
My first Quest!
I really wanted to start on that quest, but my body was tired and needed rest. It was vexing, but I wasn't 100% sure my body was changed to become more like a gamer character, besides the obvious system.
I still got tired, still felt my body burn after a workout. I couldn't risk being injured in this hellhole I called home.
After all, living in the Cape Capital of a world that is being controlled by a shadow organization and threatened by a depressed space worm isn't that great for my health—physical or mental.
This brought me back to my previous dilemma: stay inside or go outside.
I'm not that social a person… I mean, I can talk with people just fine, but I firmly fall in the introverted category.
And considering my rather abysmal showing yesterday at the gym and how exhausted I felt, I don't think Mr. Laborn would like to see me working out so soon.
…
Who am I kidding—I already decided before I even clearly thought about my options.
Going back to my bed and finding a comfortable position to sit, I focus on my body, looking for that elusive energy.
It's weird, nothing really changed from my previous meditation attempts. I focused less on my breath maybe, and I could feel every movement of my body a bit more clearly.
But there wasn't anything I actively changed about my approach.
So imagine my surprise when, not even 30 minutes later, a wisp of something was felt inside.
Sadly, the moment I shifted my focus, it disappeared.
This did prove to become a familiar pattern. I finally had something to focus on in these sessions, which appeared to make all the difference.
Each attempt to feel my Soul became shorter and shorter—from 30 minutes to 25, to 20, to 10, to 5.
With each try, my excitement became stronger and stronger, but at the same time more focused.
My mind was made up apparently—I will grasp that energy today.
*grumble grumble*
After some food…
-----
Putting my empty instant noodle cup into the trashcan, I cleaned my face up a bit and got back to the grind.
Somehow, I felt that my next attempt was going to be successful.
Sitting on my bed, my breath was even, my body still.
The sounds from outside faded away, and the only thing I perceived… what I could perceive… was my body.
The energy, my Soul Force, appeared again, around my navel.
I held in my excitement that previously got the better of me every time and kept focus on my breath and movement.
Slowly, the energy started to spread—or maybe my awareness of it did.
It felt like it was flowing out from my navel, going toward my heart and into my head and limbs.
Carefully, I shifted my focus toward it, approaching it like a scared animal.
Ever so slowly, my concentration moved until it was fully on my Soul, and I could finally attempt the next step.
I grabbed it.
*Gasp*
The feeling of touching my Soul Force was indescribable—it was like before, I was only half complete and didn't realize it.
I wanted to bask in that feeling.
My system didn't let me.
[Skill Created! 'Soul Force Manipulation' Unlocked]
[Skill Created! 'Meditation' Unlocked]
Opening the notifications, I look at my two new skills.
[Soul Force Manipulation – Lvl. 1]
The art of moving and controlling your own Soul Energy.
[Meditation – Lvl. 1]
Meditation is all about connection with something—from everything to yourself or the world around you.
Or in this case, your Soul.
Increase Soul Force gain by 1%
Soul Force Manipulation was pretty simple and didn't give any bonuses, but every game knew that control of your own energy pool was paramount and something to continue training in.
Meditation was what I expected it would be from the info I got from [Moving Meditation], though the bonus was stronger in the former.
Suddenly, another notification popped up in the corner of my eye. Opening it, saying I was surprised would have been an understatement.
[You have 2 Meditation Skills. Do you wish to fuse them? Yes/No]
What?
Uh… should I? I don't think the system would give me the option if it wasn't to my benefit, and I couldn't deny that my curiosity also played a large part in it.
Clicking Yes, the next pop-ups felt like there was a lot more going on behind my system and its processes than I was previously aware of.
That wasn't much, to be fair, but I found it noteworthy enough.
[Fusion of 'Meditation' and 'Moving Meditation'…]
['Meditation' is a higher-ranked Skill. 'Meditation' chosen as Primary Skill]
[Fusing 'Meditation' and 'Moving Meditation'…]
[Fusion Complete!]
[Meditation – Lvl. 2]
Meditation is all about connection with something—from everything to yourself or the world around you.
Or in this case, your Soul.
Increase Soul Force gain by 2%
While in movement and meditative state, increase Soul Force gain by 1%
Well damn…
The flavor text stayed the same, but now I could train my body while also training my Soul. This would massively increase my training speed.
I could maybe even become a Spiritualist in a reasonable time!
[Received a Quest]*
Quest: My Soul is My Strength!
Become a Bronze 1-Star Demon Spiritualist in 3 months' time.
Reward: [Cultivation Technique]
Accept Quest: Yes/No
I never clicked Yes so fast.
Being a Demon Spiritualist is what being a cultivator in Tales of Demons and Gods is all about, and probably where most of my strength is going to come from.
Seeing a path toward actually meaning something in this place, I fully dive back into meditation and can't wait for tomorrow so I can go work out again.
Chad the grinder would be proud.
Mind like a still pond, serene and reflective.
Don't think about a pink elephant.
…
"That wasn't in the book, was it?"
My calm state completely broken, I open my eyes to look at the book beside me.
The title read [Meditating for Dummies], and while it wasn't very flattering, I was grasping at flies at this point and catching nothing.
Sitting in the still somewhat unfamiliar room, I can't help but lament what my life has become.
Getting transported into what I once thought was just a very depressing story and de-aged to 17 wasn't my version of a good time though.
What did make it a little bit better was the gift I got with it though.
[Initializing integration of Gamer System 4.0 into Chosen User]
[…]
[Integration Complete.]
[Choosing starting Template]
[…]
[…]
[Template chosen: Nie Li (Tales of Demons and Gods)]
[Integrating Template]
[…No compatibility issues found]
[…]
[…]
[Template integration complete]
[Tales of Demons and Gods Skill Tree Unlocked.]
[Status]
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered / [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 3
Body Force: 31
Money: $5437
That was the first thing I saw when I woke up.
Now, like most avid fanfic readers, at first I was ecstatic. Like, who doesn't want to become a [Gamer]?
That joy slowly faded the longer I went without receiving any skills and found no way to increase or even feel my Soul Force.
Hell, the only thing I've been doing these last two weeks is going to the gym, which is the only thing that made something increase on my status page.
And buying books on meditation and reading online to get any idea of how to increase my Soul Force.
I can't even feel it.
I've been playing hide and seek with something that should be fucking obvious, considering I didn't have it before.
At least my bank account transferred with me to this godforsaken place and rent was already paid for a few months, because if I was going to need to find a job with all that's happening,
I'm gonna have an aneurysm.
I don't know what kind of being picked me and set me up in this world, or what exactly it wants me to do, but since there wasn't even a note or a message in the system it stuck me with, then I can just assume it wants me to do what I would do naturally in the situation it put me in.
*piep pip piep pip*
In my rumination on the clusterfuck that is my life right now, my alarm warns me I need to get going for boxing classes.
20 minutes later, I arrive at The Furious Boxing Gym. It wasn't a big place, but that was fine. I could just do the workout the coach gave me in the beginning until it didn't strain me anymore, and ask someone to spar at the end for a bit.
By now, I'd gotten into a rhythm that calmed me more than any meditation session ever did.
Doing my movement drills and focusing on my footwork sharpened my mind like few things could.
So it shouldn't have surprised me that the notification I'd been waiting two weeks for finally appeared in front of me.
[You grasped your Soul Force for the first time! +5 SF!]
[Skill Created! 'Moving Meditation' Unlocked]
The first thing that came over me was shock, and then elation that I'd finally created a skill.
The second thing that happened… was me tripping over the equipment I was using and falling flat on my face.
"What was that?!"
Pushing myself off the ground, I answered the big man that came powerwalking over.
"I fell, coach!"
Now in front of me, the man crouched and pushed his face so close to me I thought he was going to headbutt me.
"And why, for god's sake, did you do that, Brooks!"
"I was distracted, coach!"
"Distracted?! Why would you do that, for Christ's sake, Brooks!"
"I don't know, coach!"
"Well now that you're on the ground anyway, because you apparently love it so much you don't even know why you kissed it—give me twenty and continue your workout plan!"
"Yes, coach!"
If you couldn't tell, the coach of this place is a military man…
That wasn't, sadly, the only time I fell, and I think I broke my personal record for pushups in a day.
It also probably—maybe—not a good idea to end my training session with a few spars.
If it wasn't obvious with that decision that I don't have a lot of brain cells, then doing that reduced that already low number even lower.
Moving Meditation levelled up twice thought!
I was even debating with myself whether I should jog back to my apartment, but my body was firmly against that idea.
Thinking over whether I should listen to it, or go try for some more skill gains, I didn't notice the coach walking toward me.
"Brooks, you okay today? I know we go hard in this gym, but at the end of your sparring I couldn't help but be a bit worried."
A warm feeling came up in my chest at that—it feels good to have someone worry for you.
"I'm okay, coach. There's just been a lot going on in my life right now that I have to figure out. It distracted me today more than normal."
That didn't really alleviate his worry apparently, but he didn't inquire further.
"Okay then. If you want to talk about it, then my door is always open. While I know you aren't as troubled as some of the youth that comes here, I don't want you to join them in their circumstances. This city has enough of them already."
"I will if I need to, coach." And I give him a smile, hoping to convey my understanding of the offer.
It appears he got that, and ended the conversation with, "Good. And call me Mr. Laborn when your session is done—I'm not drilling you into the ground outside of training."
Letting out a laugh at that, I can't help but say with a small salute, "HAH. You got it, Mr. Laborn. Sir!"
He walks off after that, grumbling about disobedient youth and rebellious youngsters, but I saw the small smile he tried to hide.
Getting on the bus, I look over my first skill.
[Moving Meditation - Lvl. 3]
Meditation doesn't always have to be sitting still and trying to think of nothing. Some people need to get moving to reach that special state of mind.
You are one of them.
Allows you to enter a meditative state even while moving your body.
Increases Soul Force gain by 1.5%
It even increases Soul Force?!
…
Would it be weird if I started running up and down the bus?
It definitely would be weird…
Could I try to feel my Soul Force now?
Closing my eyes and focusing on my breathing, I try to feel the energy.
And while I couldn't feel it on the ride home, I somehow felt like I was getting closer to grasping it than I ever was.
I wanted to start immediately after eating, but tiredness hit me and I decided it's better to give my body the rest it clearly asked for.
Falling into my bed, it didn't even take 10 seconds for sleep to take me.
Waking up refreshed, I had a quick breakfast and did a small workout more focused on flexibility.
[Body Force +1]
Yes!
It's only one point, but progress is progress. When my Body Force reaches 100, I will officially be a Bronze 1-Star Fighter. I'm hoping there's a reward waiting behind it.
[Received a Quest]*
Quest: Become a Fighter!
Reach Body Force 100.
Reward: [Skill]
Accept Quest? Yes/No
My first Quest!
I really wanted to start on that quest, but my body was tired and needed rest. It was vexing, but I wasn't 100% sure my body was changed to become more like a gamer character, besides the obvious system.
I still got tired, still felt my body burn after a workout. I couldn't risk being injured in this hellhole I called home.
After all, living in the Cape Capital of a world that is being controlled by a shadow organization and threatened by a depressed space worm isn't that great for my health—physical or mental.
This brought me back to my previous dilemma: stay inside or go outside.
I'm not that social a person… I mean, I can talk with people just fine, but I firmly fall in the introverted category.
And considering my rather abysmal showing yesterday at the gym and how exhausted I felt, I don't think Mr. Laborn would like to see me working out so soon.
…
Who am I kidding—I already decided before I even clearly thought about my options.
Going back to my bed and finding a comfortable position to sit, I focus on my body, looking for that elusive energy.
It's weird, nothing really changed from my previous meditation attempts. I focused less on my breath maybe, and I could feel every movement of my body a bit more clearly.
But there wasn't anything I actively changed about my approach.
So imagine my surprise when, not even 30 minutes later, a wisp of something was felt inside.
Sadly, the moment I shifted my focus, it disappeared.
This did prove to become a familiar pattern. I finally had something to focus on in these sessions, which appeared to make all the difference.
Each attempt to feel my Soul became shorter and shorter—from 30 minutes to 25, to 20, to 10, to 5.
With each try, my excitement became stronger and stronger, but at the same time more focused.
My mind was made up apparently—I will grasp that energy today.
*grumble grumble*
After some food…
-----
Putting my empty instant noodle cup into the trashcan, I cleaned my face up a bit and got back to the grind.
Somehow, I felt that my next attempt was going to be successful.
Sitting on my bed, my breath was even, my body still.
The sounds from outside faded away, and the only thing I perceived… what I could perceive… was my body.
The energy, my Soul Force, appeared again, around my navel.
I held in my excitement that previously got the better of me every time and kept focus on my breath and movement.
Slowly, the energy started to spread—or maybe my awareness of it did.
It felt like it was flowing out from my navel, going toward my heart and into my head and limbs.
Carefully, I shifted my focus toward it, approaching it like a scared animal.
Ever so slowly, my concentration moved until it was fully on my Soul, and I could finally attempt the next step.
I grabbed it.
*Gasp*
The feeling of touching my Soul Force was indescribable—it was like before, I was only half complete and didn't realize it.
I wanted to bask in that feeling.
My system didn't let me.
[Skill Created! 'Soul Force Manipulation' Unlocked]
[Skill Created! 'Meditation' Unlocked]
Opening the notifications, I look at my two new skills.
[Soul Force Manipulation – Lvl. 1]
The art of moving and controlling your own Soul Energy.
[Meditation – Lvl. 1]
Meditation is all about connection with something—from everything to yourself or the world around you.
Or in this case, your Soul.
Increase Soul Force gain by 1%
Soul Force Manipulation was pretty simple and didn't give any bonuses, but every game knew that control of your own energy pool was paramount and something to continue training in.
Meditation was what I expected it would be from the info I got from [Moving Meditation], though the bonus was stronger in the former.
Suddenly, another notification popped up in the corner of my eye. Opening it, saying I was surprised would have been an understatement.
[You have 2 Meditation Skills. Do you wish to fuse them? Yes/No]
What?
Uh… should I? I don't think the system would give me the option if it wasn't to my benefit, and I couldn't deny that my curiosity also played a large part in it.
Clicking Yes, the next pop-ups felt like there was a lot more going on behind my system and its processes than I was previously aware of.
That wasn't much, to be fair, but I found it noteworthy enough.
[Fusion of 'Meditation' and 'Moving Meditation'…]
['Meditation' is a higher-ranked Skill. 'Meditation' chosen as Primary Skill]
[Fusing 'Meditation' and 'Moving Meditation'…]
[Fusion Complete!]
[Meditation – Lvl. 2]
Meditation is all about connection with something—from everything to yourself or the world around you.
Or in this case, your Soul.
Increase Soul Force gain by 2%
While in movement and meditative state, increase Soul Force gain by 1%
Well damn…
The flavor text stayed the same, but now I could train my body while also training my Soul. This would massively increase my training speed.
I could maybe even become a Spiritualist in a reasonable time!
[Received a Quest]*
Quest: My Soul is My Strength!
Become a Bronze 1-Star Demon Spiritualist in 3 months' time.
Reward: [Cultivation Technique]
Accept Quest: Yes/No
I never clicked Yes so fast.
Being a Demon Spiritualist is what being a cultivator in Tales of Demons and Gods is all about, and probably where most of my strength is going to come from.
Seeing a path toward actually meaning something in this place, I fully dive back into meditation and can't wait for tomorrow so I can go work out again.
Chad the grinder would be proud.
Last edited:
Gamer of Capes and Worms 2
New
Slycerr
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
- 30
- Likes received
- 343
Having 2 Quests I can complete now gave me a more visible path to follow.
Obviously, I will focus my attention on 'My Soul is My Strength' as it has a time limit.
The only reason I can imagine one quest having a limit and the other not is that the limited Quest has a better reward.
So that's how my new schedule began.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday I went to the boxing gym and worked out while trying to meditate (not while sparring—I learned my lesson the first time).
The other days were fully spent meditating at home to the absolute possible minute. I did take breaks in between meditating though—sitting still so much has a way of making you go stir-crazy.
Normally, you'd assume being constantly on the move would be the better option, but it's damn hard to stay in a meditative state while working out or going on a run with all the noise around you.
Not that it isn't getting easier with every level up, but just sitting at home made entering that mindset a lot easier, even if I couldn't hold it as long as I would've liked.
A month went by like that. Having just finished my workout in the gym, I looked at my progress in the locker room.
[Status]
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered/ [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 33
Body Force: 53
Money: $5021
It's solid progress. Normally I would be worried that succeeding the quest would be very close to the deadline, but the skill level-ups should increase my gains.
Talking about skills, they also got a nice bump.
Meditation Lvl. 13
Meditation is all about connection with something—from everything to yourself or the world around you.
Or in this case, your Soul.
Increases Soul Force gain by 13%
While in movement and meditative state, increases Soul Force gain by 6.5%
11 level-ups wasn't that bad. I would've wished for more, of course, but my System apparently didn't come with a growth boost.
Soul Manipulation was lagging behind at lvl 5, but the skill was too low to do anything with, and I didn't have the time to play with it and level it up.
Cleaning up and going out of the locker room, I saw that Coach Laborn was talking with a big Black young man I hadn't seen in the gym.
Seeing me walk away, Mr. Laborn signaled me to come over, and after a second of thinking it over, I went towards them.
"Yes? What is it, Coach?"
With a small scowl, he replied, "What did I tell you about calling me Coach?"
"To only call you that when in training, Coach," I answered. I knew the next training session would be hell, but I couldn't help but needle the old man a bit.
That he only grumbled a bit just told me he was in a good mood for some reason.
"Youngsters these days, no respect." Taking a small breath, he continued,
"Anyway, this here is my son Brian. He thought it was finally time to come back to the gym for once."
At that, I looked to the man who apparently was the son of my trainer.
As I previously mentioned, he's a big man—probably nearing six and a half feet—and has the well-built physique that tells me martial arts runs in the family. He has a big jaw and that rugged look.
It's his eyes, however, that unnerve me a bit—they have a calculating look for some reason…
Is it that weird that his dad introduces somebody to him?
He gave me what I think is a friendly smile and greeted me with his hand extended.
"Brian Laborn. Nice to meet you. It doesn't happen often that my dad feels the need to introduce me to someone in the gym. Well, I know most of them already from the past, haha."
Brian Laborn… Why is that name familiar?
Anyway, I shook his hand and introduced myself.
"Haha. Yeah, I've been coming here for the last two months. I'm William Brooks, but call me Liam."
After giving me a strong handshake, he looked back at his father.
"Well anyway, Dad, I gotta go again. I need to go pick up Aisha."
At the name, I saw a hint of sadness in Mr. Laborn's eyes, but it was gone as fast as it appeared.
"Yeah, you go do that."
At the rather abrupt ending of the conversation, everyone went their separate ways.
On the way home I couldn't help but think back to my short talk with the two men, and why Brian's name was so familiar.
And than it clicked.
A big black young man, a physique that was made for fighting…
And last but not least, his name… Brian Laborn and the name Aisha…
I just met Grue, leader of the Undersiders, or in the future anyway, considering I haven't heard anything on them online yet.
And I have been training under his father the last two months…
Just sitting there, I let all that wash over me.
To be fair, while I don't know how many people have the last name Laborn, I would have never linked the man with Grue.
After all, Coach Laborn looks like the typical white construction worker—maybe a bit more built and fit than that because of his boxing.
Going home, I don't even go into meditation immediately like I normally do. I just take a drink out of my fridge, noting that I'll need to go grocery shopping soon, and just sit in my kitchen.
…
I just met a cape…
While normally people would assume you'd immediately recognize a named character, I've already been here two months and this is the first time I've seen one up close.
Yes, I've seen some of New Wave fly over some buildings before, but I don't really count that.
I live in downtown where capes don't really patrol. The only reason gang violence is so low here is because it's a somewhat better neighborhood in the Merchant territory.
Yes, they have those, even if not a lot.
It's too nice to peddle drugs on the street, but just not nice enough to be worth stealing.
That's also the reason there aren't a lot of patrols in the area. So far as I know, there have only been three in the last two months—and I missed all of those.
After the knowledge that I've met my first cape (that I know of) has set in, I make a quick meal for myself and go back to the grind.
The next few weeks when I'm at the gym, I see Brian more and more. Sometimes just walking around speaking with some people, other times we train at the same time, but we never really talk to each other except for greetings and goodbyes.
Is it because I know that he's a cape that I'm so hyper-aware of him, or does he just have that presence?
I mean, you need quite some charisma to keep a bunch of teenagers in a cape group, shadow boss or not. And smarts too, to survive so long as a cape like Grue did.
And he was active—even if not in Brockton Bay itself. The man was a known man-for-hire in New York, though so far as I know, he isn't currently involved with the Adepts, as I know he will be for a short period.
One time, when I had just finished my workout and was in the locker room, I saw Brian in there just getting ready to train.
"Sup, Brian."
Somewhat surprised—he didn't hear me come in—he looked back and gave me a friendly smile.
"What's good, Liam? Just done?"
"Yeah, I wanted to get home before rush hour."
Nodding with an 'ah of understanding,' he replied.
"Anyway, now that I got you—do you want to go bowling with some of the guys from the gym this Saturday?"
At the rather abrupt invitation, I needed a second to process this. I couldn't help but question it.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Brian, but where does this suddenly come from? You've known me for a few weeks now and never really started a conversation with me, so this is a bit out of nowhere."
He let out a small smile at that, and even seemed a little embarrassed.
"Well, to be honest with you, man. My dad asked me to invite you. He's worried since he sees you so much at the gym but doesn't see you interact with the people here much except for sparring."
Now I had that look of understanding on my face—so it was Mr. Laborn that basically asked me.
"Ah, well in that case, I'd be happy to join if I'm welcome. I basically just moved here and don't know the city that well."
At that, he looked rather shocked.
"I didn't know you were new to the city. Do you know The Dancing Bowling Ball? No? Wait, let's exchange numbers and I'll send you the address."
After that exchange, we did a bit more small talk before he needed to go train and I needed to catch my bus.
On the bus, I reviewed the conversation in my head. Brian seemed truthful, and if it was a lie, it was one too easily checked with just a short talk with Mr. Laborn.
It's true that right now I don't really have a social life, and while not completely happy, I am fine with it—I never was the outgoing type.
This does give me the opportunity to get close to a cape for my eventual debut in this Hero and Villain world.
It also wouldn't be amiss to go and get to know the people from the gym better.
Getting off at my stop, I walked the last bit home and stepped into my apartment.
Putting my gym clothes in the wash, I made a quick egg on toast and went back to meditating.
It's starting to become easier and easier to get into a meditative state, now not even taking a minute.
Granted, the moving version of it still isn't easy, but getting into the 'zone' is becoming more consistent by the day. And I'm dreaming that one day I will never leave that state of pure peace and focus.
It does sometimes get boring though—in the beginning, just seeing my Soul Force move was fascinating, but it's kinda terrifying how fast humans can get used to something.
But for good things and bad.
Trying to use Soul Manipulation in this state has a chance of pulling me out of [Meditation], but somehow I'm feeling pretty confident today.
Using Soul Manipulation feels weird to me. Trying to move my Soul Energy one way can feel so much more difficult than another.
I've been mostly trying to move it in more difficult directions, but today I wanna see if I can basically try to push it in the way it already wants to go.
Grabbing my Soul Force, it feels like I'm basically feeding a rope into something.
Following the energy and gradually speeding up appears to make it more active.
Seeing something new happen, my concentration peaks—and so did apparently something else.
*Ping ping ping*
Being abruptly yanked out of my meditative state is always going to be jarring, but seeing 3 notifications pop up brings my mood right back up.
[Meditation has leveled up!]
[Soul Manipulation has leveled up 2x]
[Skill Created! 'Soul Circulation' Unlocked]
Soul Circulation Lvl. 1
The natural flow of Soul Force through the body has many benefits. That doesn't mean it can't be improved though.
While active, increases Soul Force gain by 5%
What?! This is huge! 5% at Lvl. 1 is insane.
Kicking myself mentally for not trying this earlier, I do the mental math on when I can activate everything at once.
That would be… 24.5% faster Soul Force gain. That's not bad considering I'm basically flying in blind. Maybe I have some more wiggle room than I thought before.
But I can't get complacent—I still need to put my all into completing my quests. It isn't good to get cocky now when I still haven't arrived at the starting line of being a cape.
Getting back on the grind, I meditate for a few more hours and make dinner. After that, I watch some videos online and go to bed.
Before Morpheus takes me, a thought came to me.
What should my cape name be?
AN: No really, what should it be? Because I have no idea. Half the time my writing does whatever it wants and doesn't follow the little bit of plotline I had prepared.
ANN: I've been messing with some AI stuff to help with correcting some spelling and grammar mistakes an it's been kicking me in the genitals.
I think I have nice middle ground now where it's actually useful and I can focus on writing the story without going over it with a comb (which I'm very bad at)
Again, sorry for the many changes, still in the figuring everything out fase.
Next Chapter will be posted friday!
Obviously, I will focus my attention on 'My Soul is My Strength' as it has a time limit.
The only reason I can imagine one quest having a limit and the other not is that the limited Quest has a better reward.
So that's how my new schedule began.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday I went to the boxing gym and worked out while trying to meditate (not while sparring—I learned my lesson the first time).
The other days were fully spent meditating at home to the absolute possible minute. I did take breaks in between meditating though—sitting still so much has a way of making you go stir-crazy.
Normally, you'd assume being constantly on the move would be the better option, but it's damn hard to stay in a meditative state while working out or going on a run with all the noise around you.
Not that it isn't getting easier with every level up, but just sitting at home made entering that mindset a lot easier, even if I couldn't hold it as long as I would've liked.
A month went by like that. Having just finished my workout in the gym, I looked at my progress in the locker room.
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered/ [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 33
Body Force: 53
Money: $5021
It's solid progress. Normally I would be worried that succeeding the quest would be very close to the deadline, but the skill level-ups should increase my gains.
Talking about skills, they also got a nice bump.
Meditation Lvl. 13
Meditation is all about connection with something—from everything to yourself or the world around you.
Or in this case, your Soul.
Increases Soul Force gain by 13%
While in movement and meditative state, increases Soul Force gain by 6.5%
11 level-ups wasn't that bad. I would've wished for more, of course, but my System apparently didn't come with a growth boost.
Soul Manipulation was lagging behind at lvl 5, but the skill was too low to do anything with, and I didn't have the time to play with it and level it up.
Cleaning up and going out of the locker room, I saw that Coach Laborn was talking with a big Black young man I hadn't seen in the gym.
Seeing me walk away, Mr. Laborn signaled me to come over, and after a second of thinking it over, I went towards them.
"Yes? What is it, Coach?"
With a small scowl, he replied, "What did I tell you about calling me Coach?"
"To only call you that when in training, Coach," I answered. I knew the next training session would be hell, but I couldn't help but needle the old man a bit.
That he only grumbled a bit just told me he was in a good mood for some reason.
"Youngsters these days, no respect." Taking a small breath, he continued,
"Anyway, this here is my son Brian. He thought it was finally time to come back to the gym for once."
At that, I looked to the man who apparently was the son of my trainer.
As I previously mentioned, he's a big man—probably nearing six and a half feet—and has the well-built physique that tells me martial arts runs in the family. He has a big jaw and that rugged look.
It's his eyes, however, that unnerve me a bit—they have a calculating look for some reason…
Is it that weird that his dad introduces somebody to him?
He gave me what I think is a friendly smile and greeted me with his hand extended.
"Brian Laborn. Nice to meet you. It doesn't happen often that my dad feels the need to introduce me to someone in the gym. Well, I know most of them already from the past, haha."
Brian Laborn… Why is that name familiar?
Anyway, I shook his hand and introduced myself.
"Haha. Yeah, I've been coming here for the last two months. I'm William Brooks, but call me Liam."
After giving me a strong handshake, he looked back at his father.
"Well anyway, Dad, I gotta go again. I need to go pick up Aisha."
At the name, I saw a hint of sadness in Mr. Laborn's eyes, but it was gone as fast as it appeared.
"Yeah, you go do that."
At the rather abrupt ending of the conversation, everyone went their separate ways.
On the way home I couldn't help but think back to my short talk with the two men, and why Brian's name was so familiar.
And than it clicked.
A big black young man, a physique that was made for fighting…
And last but not least, his name… Brian Laborn and the name Aisha…
I just met Grue, leader of the Undersiders, or in the future anyway, considering I haven't heard anything on them online yet.
And I have been training under his father the last two months…
Just sitting there, I let all that wash over me.
To be fair, while I don't know how many people have the last name Laborn, I would have never linked the man with Grue.
After all, Coach Laborn looks like the typical white construction worker—maybe a bit more built and fit than that because of his boxing.
Going home, I don't even go into meditation immediately like I normally do. I just take a drink out of my fridge, noting that I'll need to go grocery shopping soon, and just sit in my kitchen.
…
I just met a cape…
While normally people would assume you'd immediately recognize a named character, I've already been here two months and this is the first time I've seen one up close.
Yes, I've seen some of New Wave fly over some buildings before, but I don't really count that.
I live in downtown where capes don't really patrol. The only reason gang violence is so low here is because it's a somewhat better neighborhood in the Merchant territory.
Yes, they have those, even if not a lot.
It's too nice to peddle drugs on the street, but just not nice enough to be worth stealing.
That's also the reason there aren't a lot of patrols in the area. So far as I know, there have only been three in the last two months—and I missed all of those.
After the knowledge that I've met my first cape (that I know of) has set in, I make a quick meal for myself and go back to the grind.
The next few weeks when I'm at the gym, I see Brian more and more. Sometimes just walking around speaking with some people, other times we train at the same time, but we never really talk to each other except for greetings and goodbyes.
Is it because I know that he's a cape that I'm so hyper-aware of him, or does he just have that presence?
I mean, you need quite some charisma to keep a bunch of teenagers in a cape group, shadow boss or not. And smarts too, to survive so long as a cape like Grue did.
And he was active—even if not in Brockton Bay itself. The man was a known man-for-hire in New York, though so far as I know, he isn't currently involved with the Adepts, as I know he will be for a short period.
One time, when I had just finished my workout and was in the locker room, I saw Brian in there just getting ready to train.
"Sup, Brian."
Somewhat surprised—he didn't hear me come in—he looked back and gave me a friendly smile.
"What's good, Liam? Just done?"
"Yeah, I wanted to get home before rush hour."
Nodding with an 'ah of understanding,' he replied.
"Anyway, now that I got you—do you want to go bowling with some of the guys from the gym this Saturday?"
At the rather abrupt invitation, I needed a second to process this. I couldn't help but question it.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Brian, but where does this suddenly come from? You've known me for a few weeks now and never really started a conversation with me, so this is a bit out of nowhere."
He let out a small smile at that, and even seemed a little embarrassed.
"Well, to be honest with you, man. My dad asked me to invite you. He's worried since he sees you so much at the gym but doesn't see you interact with the people here much except for sparring."
Now I had that look of understanding on my face—so it was Mr. Laborn that basically asked me.
"Ah, well in that case, I'd be happy to join if I'm welcome. I basically just moved here and don't know the city that well."
At that, he looked rather shocked.
"I didn't know you were new to the city. Do you know The Dancing Bowling Ball? No? Wait, let's exchange numbers and I'll send you the address."
After that exchange, we did a bit more small talk before he needed to go train and I needed to catch my bus.
On the bus, I reviewed the conversation in my head. Brian seemed truthful, and if it was a lie, it was one too easily checked with just a short talk with Mr. Laborn.
It's true that right now I don't really have a social life, and while not completely happy, I am fine with it—I never was the outgoing type.
This does give me the opportunity to get close to a cape for my eventual debut in this Hero and Villain world.
It also wouldn't be amiss to go and get to know the people from the gym better.
Getting off at my stop, I walked the last bit home and stepped into my apartment.
Putting my gym clothes in the wash, I made a quick egg on toast and went back to meditating.
It's starting to become easier and easier to get into a meditative state, now not even taking a minute.
Granted, the moving version of it still isn't easy, but getting into the 'zone' is becoming more consistent by the day. And I'm dreaming that one day I will never leave that state of pure peace and focus.
It does sometimes get boring though—in the beginning, just seeing my Soul Force move was fascinating, but it's kinda terrifying how fast humans can get used to something.
But for good things and bad.
Trying to use Soul Manipulation in this state has a chance of pulling me out of [Meditation], but somehow I'm feeling pretty confident today.
Using Soul Manipulation feels weird to me. Trying to move my Soul Energy one way can feel so much more difficult than another.
I've been mostly trying to move it in more difficult directions, but today I wanna see if I can basically try to push it in the way it already wants to go.
Grabbing my Soul Force, it feels like I'm basically feeding a rope into something.
Following the energy and gradually speeding up appears to make it more active.
Seeing something new happen, my concentration peaks—and so did apparently something else.
*Ping ping ping*
Being abruptly yanked out of my meditative state is always going to be jarring, but seeing 3 notifications pop up brings my mood right back up.
[Meditation has leveled up!]
[Soul Manipulation has leveled up 2x]
[Skill Created! 'Soul Circulation' Unlocked]
Soul Circulation Lvl. 1
The natural flow of Soul Force through the body has many benefits. That doesn't mean it can't be improved though.
While active, increases Soul Force gain by 5%
What?! This is huge! 5% at Lvl. 1 is insane.
Kicking myself mentally for not trying this earlier, I do the mental math on when I can activate everything at once.
That would be… 24.5% faster Soul Force gain. That's not bad considering I'm basically flying in blind. Maybe I have some more wiggle room than I thought before.
But I can't get complacent—I still need to put my all into completing my quests. It isn't good to get cocky now when I still haven't arrived at the starting line of being a cape.
Getting back on the grind, I meditate for a few more hours and make dinner. After that, I watch some videos online and go to bed.
Before Morpheus takes me, a thought came to me.
What should my cape name be?
AN: No really, what should it be? Because I have no idea. Half the time my writing does whatever it wants and doesn't follow the little bit of plotline I had prepared.
ANN: I've been messing with some AI stuff to help with correcting some spelling and grammar mistakes an it's been kicking me in the genitals.
I think I have nice middle ground now where it's actually useful and I can focus on writing the story without going over it with a comb (which I'm very bad at)
Again, sorry for the many changes, still in the figuring everything out fase.
Next Chapter will be posted friday!
Last edited:
Gamer of Capes and Worms 3
New
Slycerr
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
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- 343
The week came and went by fast as usual
[Meditation] broke Lvl 15, [Soul Manipulation] had the most growth in 4 level-ups and became Lvl 11.
[Soul Circulation] was right behind [Soul Manipulation] with 3 level-ups and was sitting at Lvl. 4 with a 20% bonus.
That made my max Soul Force gain at a 42.5%, a big difference since a week ago.
But today was the day I went out with Brian and some people from the gym.
And I can't deny that I'm somewhat nervous; most people who knew me said I was a very sociable person. But the ones who truly knew me would have said that that would be true for one day of the week, and the rest of it you didn't hear from him again.
But a part was also excited to have friends again. I was, at the end, still a human being and humans were a social animal, even if I needed less than most people.
My day went mostly as normal.
I woke up and did my flexibility routine—a flexible muscle was a strong muscle, after all.
The rest of the day I just Meditated and scrolled through my phone in between.
[Soul Force +1!]
At that pop-up, I decided I meditated enough for today; it was already in the afternoon and I still needed to eat dinner and make myself ready to go out.
Dinner was pretty simple, just chicken with rice, steamed vegetables, and some curry sauce.
I wouldn't say I was a great cook, but living alone for 3 months and counting had a way of teaching you stuff.
It was that or takeout, and my bank account wouldn't survive that long if I went that route.
Speaking of money, if my powers weren't going to provide a way to make money any time soon, I was going to have to find a job…
Please hear me, Being that put me here… don't make me look and apply for jobs, anything but that!
My moment of dread completed for the week, I cleaned myself up and put some of my nicer clothes on.
Putting the address of the Bowling Alley in showed me the 35 minutes that it previously said it was going to take.
The time when you put something in Google Maps in a city could differ quite massively if you're unlucky.
Fortunately, this wasn't the case.
The journey there was uneventful, leaving me even 10 minutes early.
So imagine my surprise when I wasn't the first one here.
"Sup Brian, you've been waiting long?"
At the mention of his name, he looked up from his phone and gave a friendly smile. A handshake later and he answered my greeting.
"No, arrived like 5 minutes before you. Living with my dad has a way of making you punctual."
A small laugh came out of me. I can definitely see Mr. Laborn drilling his children the military way.
"Yeah, I can imagine that. If he is anything like at the gym at home, I can guess living with him wasn't easy."
"HAH, you don't have to tell me. The day I turned 18 was the day I moved out, had everything already planned beforehand."
A small frown and what I think was some sadness appeared on his face.
"I know my dad loves us—for all he is hard on us, he never really punished us, or at least very hard. I just wish he would've been a little easier on my sister. The girl is in her rebellious phase and making me clean up her messes."
"That bad?"
"Pfft, like you wouldn't believe. She's a smart girl but a stubborn one. She lives with our mother now, but I'm trying to get guardianship so she doesn't have to stay there."
At the end, he apparently realized he was going into some pretty personal details. He even looked a bit surprised at revealing so much.
"So what about you, liking the city so far?"
Seeing the subject change for what it is, I just go along with it and reply.
"Haven't seen much yet, I'm not the most outgoing person. So except looking from the bus and the area around the gym, I don't know much."
Surprised, he asks, "Really? Not even the Boardwalk?"
At that, I roll my eyes.
"Well of course the Boardwalk I went to, I'm not a savage."
With a grin, he needles me.
"Well I don't know about that. So far, anyone knows you train like you're possessed and leave right after. Some of the people there are pretty curious about you."
Leaning in like he's going to whisper a secret.
"Some even think you have a dream of going professional. Not that you're anywhere close to that, but maybe I can convince my dad to sign you up for an Amateur Tournament in a few months."
Surprised, I'm speechless for a bit. Is that what it looks like? Like I want to make boxing my career?
"Well, that wasn't my intention, although I can't say it doesn't have an appeal. I just want to get in shape and have a way to defend myself."
At the mention of defending yourself, Brian is a lot more serious.
"While boxing is good, relying on it isn't in your best interest. A knife or even a gun would be better. Well, if you can run, then running is always better."
A bit taken aback by the sudden mood shift, I try to answer with my reasoning.
"I don't know where and how to get a gun, and if I'm caught with a knife I shouldn't have, then my living situation can become… complicated."
At my answer, Brian questions further.
"Complicated how?"
Maybe he sees in my expression that he overstepped a bit, but I can see the concern in his eyes and decide to at least give him a vague half-truth answer.
"My parents aren't in the picture a lot. It works for us, even though I do miss them sometimes. I don't think the cops would appreciate it."
Understanding overcomes him, and while I don't think he actually understands anything, he apparently has experience with difficult living arrangements.
"Well, if you need anything, I could probably help you get some protection. You seem like a good enough guy to offer you that at least."
At the somewhat poorly landed joke, we keep the rest of the conversation light until the rest of the guys, and one of their girlfriends, join us for bowling.
The rest of the night was nice. One of the guys named Kevin was apparently a really good bowler, so he beat us soundly.
I was 3rd, right behind Brian, around the middle of the 7 of us, which I was fine with.
I mostly talked with Matt, who was a quiet one who apparently liked reading, which we bonded over.
Then we had Johnathan, or rather 'Johnny,' who was a boisterous dude, taking last place in good humor.
And the couple Leia and Spencer—I didn't really talk with them much as they were much too preoccupied with each other and I didn't really want to go in between them.
The night ended on a good note and Ian even asked if we could talk some more after the training Monday.
Going back was, while not a quiet affair with the gunshots and sirens in the distance, uneventful.
Cleaning myself up, I immediately went to bed. No matter how fun it was, I was not made for loud places…
The next 2 weeks went by pretty fast, if I do say so myself. Level-ups were slow but steady.
[Meditation] was at 17, [Soul Manipulation] at 13, and [Soul Circulation] was hanging at 9.
The latter became much more difficult to level than I expected.
So that was what I was focusing the most on the last 2 days.
Sitting on my bed, I willed my Soul Force to move faster in my body. It was unbelievably difficult for such a low-level skill, but I didn't get here by wishing my problems away.
Maybe I should try that?
Shaking my head a little, I focus back on the task at hand… with a little prayer at the end.
I will never know if that is what did it or not, but not soon after, a notification popped up with multiple following after.
[Soul Manipulation has leveled up]
[Soul Circulation has leveled up]
[Soul Circulation has reached the current Max level.]
[To reach higher levels in 'Soul Circulation,' please reach the requirements.]
This is new. Opening up the skill doesn't appear to give me much info.
Soul Circulation Lvl. 10 (Current Max)
The natural flow of Soul Force through the body has many benefits; that doesn't mean it can't be improved though.
While active, increases Soul Force gain by 50%
requirement not met to elevate Max Level (0/1)
Well… at least I know it's just one requirement instead of something stupid like five or something.
The frustration doesn't leave though; I need all the help I can get to reach Bronze Star-1 and now one of those ways is cut off.
[Status]
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered/ [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 69
Body Force: 76
Money: $4829
Looking at my status, a little bit of pride comes to me.
I worked hard to get this far—months of work are in those two numbers.
Three if you count the decreasing money in my bank account, *snort*
With one month until the deadline of the 'My Soul is My Strength!' Quest, I still think I'm cutting it close. But I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll make it.
With a Cultivation Technique in my hands, my Soul Force gain should speed up massively.
Then, once I reach the Silver Rank, I can fuse with a Demon Spirit and actually go out and be a Hero.
Question is—how the hell do I get a Demon Spirit? But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
…
…
I was half expecting my system to give me a Quest anyway…
…
…
Huh. Good to know.
My frustration and the Level limit of [Soul Circulation] still with me but more subdued, I go back to the grind.
I still have other skills that can level, after all.
AN: We're almost to the good bit and into the actual 'being a gamer' bit, except praising the grinder of grinds, Chad the Chaddest.
We can't forget that.
It's a smaller chapter, which I'm not too happy about, but it was that or writing myself into a bind.
For those of you that are very perceptive (and can read my mind), I left a little hint there on how the System handles Quests.
Because this chapter was a little bit shorter, I thought I'd give a bit of explanation about the Rankings in the ToDaG Cultivation System:
Bronze:
100 Body Force / Soul Force = 1 Star
200 BF / SF = 2 Star
300 BF / SF = 3 Star
400 BF / SF = 4 Star
500 BF / SF = 5 Star
Silver you reach at 1,000, and every star higher is 1,000 more
Gold is the same but 10,000
Black-Gold is 100,000
Legend is 1,000,000
Also, fun fact (not for MC's opponents): 1 Body Force is 1 pound of an overhead squat…
Make of that what you will…
Anyway, till next time.
[Meditation] broke Lvl 15, [Soul Manipulation] had the most growth in 4 level-ups and became Lvl 11.
[Soul Circulation] was right behind [Soul Manipulation] with 3 level-ups and was sitting at Lvl. 4 with a 20% bonus.
That made my max Soul Force gain at a 42.5%, a big difference since a week ago.
But today was the day I went out with Brian and some people from the gym.
And I can't deny that I'm somewhat nervous; most people who knew me said I was a very sociable person. But the ones who truly knew me would have said that that would be true for one day of the week, and the rest of it you didn't hear from him again.
But a part was also excited to have friends again. I was, at the end, still a human being and humans were a social animal, even if I needed less than most people.
My day went mostly as normal.
I woke up and did my flexibility routine—a flexible muscle was a strong muscle, after all.
The rest of the day I just Meditated and scrolled through my phone in between.
[Soul Force +1!]
At that pop-up, I decided I meditated enough for today; it was already in the afternoon and I still needed to eat dinner and make myself ready to go out.
Dinner was pretty simple, just chicken with rice, steamed vegetables, and some curry sauce.
I wouldn't say I was a great cook, but living alone for 3 months and counting had a way of teaching you stuff.
It was that or takeout, and my bank account wouldn't survive that long if I went that route.
Speaking of money, if my powers weren't going to provide a way to make money any time soon, I was going to have to find a job…
Please hear me, Being that put me here… don't make me look and apply for jobs, anything but that!
My moment of dread completed for the week, I cleaned myself up and put some of my nicer clothes on.
Putting the address of the Bowling Alley in showed me the 35 minutes that it previously said it was going to take.
The time when you put something in Google Maps in a city could differ quite massively if you're unlucky.
Fortunately, this wasn't the case.
The journey there was uneventful, leaving me even 10 minutes early.
So imagine my surprise when I wasn't the first one here.
"Sup Brian, you've been waiting long?"
At the mention of his name, he looked up from his phone and gave a friendly smile. A handshake later and he answered my greeting.
"No, arrived like 5 minutes before you. Living with my dad has a way of making you punctual."
A small laugh came out of me. I can definitely see Mr. Laborn drilling his children the military way.
"Yeah, I can imagine that. If he is anything like at the gym at home, I can guess living with him wasn't easy."
"HAH, you don't have to tell me. The day I turned 18 was the day I moved out, had everything already planned beforehand."
A small frown and what I think was some sadness appeared on his face.
"I know my dad loves us—for all he is hard on us, he never really punished us, or at least very hard. I just wish he would've been a little easier on my sister. The girl is in her rebellious phase and making me clean up her messes."
"That bad?"
"Pfft, like you wouldn't believe. She's a smart girl but a stubborn one. She lives with our mother now, but I'm trying to get guardianship so she doesn't have to stay there."
At the end, he apparently realized he was going into some pretty personal details. He even looked a bit surprised at revealing so much.
"So what about you, liking the city so far?"
Seeing the subject change for what it is, I just go along with it and reply.
"Haven't seen much yet, I'm not the most outgoing person. So except looking from the bus and the area around the gym, I don't know much."
Surprised, he asks, "Really? Not even the Boardwalk?"
At that, I roll my eyes.
"Well of course the Boardwalk I went to, I'm not a savage."
With a grin, he needles me.
"Well I don't know about that. So far, anyone knows you train like you're possessed and leave right after. Some of the people there are pretty curious about you."
Leaning in like he's going to whisper a secret.
"Some even think you have a dream of going professional. Not that you're anywhere close to that, but maybe I can convince my dad to sign you up for an Amateur Tournament in a few months."
Surprised, I'm speechless for a bit. Is that what it looks like? Like I want to make boxing my career?
"Well, that wasn't my intention, although I can't say it doesn't have an appeal. I just want to get in shape and have a way to defend myself."
At the mention of defending yourself, Brian is a lot more serious.
"While boxing is good, relying on it isn't in your best interest. A knife or even a gun would be better. Well, if you can run, then running is always better."
A bit taken aback by the sudden mood shift, I try to answer with my reasoning.
"I don't know where and how to get a gun, and if I'm caught with a knife I shouldn't have, then my living situation can become… complicated."
At my answer, Brian questions further.
"Complicated how?"
Maybe he sees in my expression that he overstepped a bit, but I can see the concern in his eyes and decide to at least give him a vague half-truth answer.
"My parents aren't in the picture a lot. It works for us, even though I do miss them sometimes. I don't think the cops would appreciate it."
Understanding overcomes him, and while I don't think he actually understands anything, he apparently has experience with difficult living arrangements.
"Well, if you need anything, I could probably help you get some protection. You seem like a good enough guy to offer you that at least."
At the somewhat poorly landed joke, we keep the rest of the conversation light until the rest of the guys, and one of their girlfriends, join us for bowling.
The rest of the night was nice. One of the guys named Kevin was apparently a really good bowler, so he beat us soundly.
I was 3rd, right behind Brian, around the middle of the 7 of us, which I was fine with.
I mostly talked with Matt, who was a quiet one who apparently liked reading, which we bonded over.
Then we had Johnathan, or rather 'Johnny,' who was a boisterous dude, taking last place in good humor.
And the couple Leia and Spencer—I didn't really talk with them much as they were much too preoccupied with each other and I didn't really want to go in between them.
The night ended on a good note and Ian even asked if we could talk some more after the training Monday.
Going back was, while not a quiet affair with the gunshots and sirens in the distance, uneventful.
Cleaning myself up, I immediately went to bed. No matter how fun it was, I was not made for loud places…
The next 2 weeks went by pretty fast, if I do say so myself. Level-ups were slow but steady.
[Meditation] was at 17, [Soul Manipulation] at 13, and [Soul Circulation] was hanging at 9.
The latter became much more difficult to level than I expected.
So that was what I was focusing the most on the last 2 days.
Sitting on my bed, I willed my Soul Force to move faster in my body. It was unbelievably difficult for such a low-level skill, but I didn't get here by wishing my problems away.
Maybe I should try that?
Shaking my head a little, I focus back on the task at hand… with a little prayer at the end.
I will never know if that is what did it or not, but not soon after, a notification popped up with multiple following after.
[Soul Manipulation has leveled up]
[Soul Circulation has leveled up]
[Soul Circulation has reached the current Max level.]
[To reach higher levels in 'Soul Circulation,' please reach the requirements.]
This is new. Opening up the skill doesn't appear to give me much info.
Soul Circulation Lvl. 10 (Current Max)
The natural flow of Soul Force through the body has many benefits; that doesn't mean it can't be improved though.
While active, increases Soul Force gain by 50%
requirement not met to elevate Max Level (0/1)
Well… at least I know it's just one requirement instead of something stupid like five or something.
The frustration doesn't leave though; I need all the help I can get to reach Bronze Star-1 and now one of those ways is cut off.
[Status]
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered/ [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 69
Body Force: 76
Money: $4829
Looking at my status, a little bit of pride comes to me.
I worked hard to get this far—months of work are in those two numbers.
Three if you count the decreasing money in my bank account, *snort*
With one month until the deadline of the 'My Soul is My Strength!' Quest, I still think I'm cutting it close. But I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll make it.
With a Cultivation Technique in my hands, my Soul Force gain should speed up massively.
Then, once I reach the Silver Rank, I can fuse with a Demon Spirit and actually go out and be a Hero.
Question is—how the hell do I get a Demon Spirit? But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
…
…
I was half expecting my system to give me a Quest anyway…
…
…
Huh. Good to know.
My frustration and the Level limit of [Soul Circulation] still with me but more subdued, I go back to the grind.
I still have other skills that can level, after all.
AN: We're almost to the good bit and into the actual 'being a gamer' bit, except praising the grinder of grinds, Chad the Chaddest.
We can't forget that.
It's a smaller chapter, which I'm not too happy about, but it was that or writing myself into a bind.
For those of you that are very perceptive (and can read my mind), I left a little hint there on how the System handles Quests.
Because this chapter was a little bit shorter, I thought I'd give a bit of explanation about the Rankings in the ToDaG Cultivation System:
Bronze:
100 Body Force / Soul Force = 1 Star
200 BF / SF = 2 Star
300 BF / SF = 3 Star
400 BF / SF = 4 Star
500 BF / SF = 5 Star
Silver you reach at 1,000, and every star higher is 1,000 more
Gold is the same but 10,000
Black-Gold is 100,000
Legend is 1,000,000
Also, fun fact (not for MC's opponents): 1 Body Force is 1 pound of an overhead squat…
Make of that what you will…
Anyway, till next time.
Gamer of Capes and Worms 4
New
Slycerr
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
- 30
- Likes received
- 343
[Soul Force +1 SF]
[Soul Force has reached 100!]
[You have become a Bronze 1-Star Demon Spiritualist!]
[Class changed to 'Demon Spiritualist']
[Quest: My Soul is My Strength is Completed]
Made it. With two days left, I finished my most important Quest.
Quest: My Soul is My Strength!
Become a Bronze 1-Star Demon Spiritualist in 3 months' time.
Reward: [Cultivation Technique]
Accept Reward?
I clicked Accept faster than the Flash can move. Immediately after, the screen disappeared and a book appeared on my lap.
It looked old. The leather that bound it appeared to almost crumble.
Carefully, I reached to grab it, but the moment I touched it, a screen popped out of it.
The text took my breath away.
Do you wish to learn the [Heavenly God Technique]?
Yes/No
The most broken of cultivation techniques there is—the ability to hold 7 Demon Spirits and, when cultivated to completion, able to cultivate any technique for its benefits.
I was always hoping that this is the technique I would get. It's one of the reasons I've been pushing myself so hard.
Clicking yes, knowledge streamed into my mind, almost feeling like a sort of enlightenment.
When I look back at my lap, I see the book has disappeared, like those Skill Books in fanfictions.
But except on how to cultivate it, it also gave me the reason why [Soul Circulation] didn't level up after Lvl. 10.
Because I didn't have enough knowledge about cultivation—because that was what the skill was.
Me cultivating.
Looking at the screen of the technique, my eyes widen even further.
Heavenly God Technique (Chapter 1)
The Heavenly Dao way shines. Heaven shrouds but cannot contain. The Great Dao envelops but cannot dispute. Know all, perhaps, perhaps not.
This technique allows you to cultivate until the Demigod Rank
Able to hold 7 Demon Spirits
Able to cultivate other cultivation techniques with the same attribute as current Demon Spirits the user holds
Increases Soul Force Density
Increases absorption efficiency to 100% of cultivation medicine
Allows user to train Body Force while in use (1/4th of total Soul Force gain)
That's a lot of things that I can do, although the technique seems to have changed a bit.
Instead of waiting until I completed the full technique (and wasn't that a bummer—that I only got Chapter 1) to cultivate any technique I come across.
It's now limited to what Demon Spirits I hold. But I can also start cultivating it immediately.
Most of the information on it I already knew, though some was speculated and wasn't sure it was exclusive to the Heavenly God Technique.
Like the density of Nie Li's Soul Force, it was assumed because it took that much longer to cultivate and being able to fight above his weight class.
...
Or would that be Cultivation class?
Anyway, the most useful benefit Heavenly God gave me was the ability to train my body with my breath while cultivating.
…
That's literally what it says in the book, 'using the heart to refine the breath, then using the breath to refine the body.'
Here, read it.
Right there.
...
Why am I trying to show something to myself...
Anyway, the SF Density was also going to be useful once I have combat techniques that use Soul Energy.
And while the medicine benefit was handy, it was currently completely useless.
The Heavenly God even had a few other basic techniques in it.
But before I try for those, let's take this bad boy for a spin, shall we?
Breathing like the instructions say, immediately I feel like my Soul Force wants to go into certain directions, using Soul Circulation and Soul Manipulation to speed the process along.
[Ping]
In
[Ping] [Ping]
Out
[Ping] [Ping]
In
[Ping]
Out
After one full cycle, I let my concentration slip and focus on the annoying pop-ups.
They're irritating, but at the same time, they train my focus.
After all, if I can't ignore something like that in a safe environment, then I don't have any business being a cape.
Opening them all up, I'm bombarded with notifications.
[Soul Circulation has Leveled Up!]
[Soul Manipulation has Leveled Up!]
[Soul Circulation has Leveled Up!]
[Soul Force +1]
[Soul Manipulation has Leveled Up!]
[Meditation has Leveled Up!]
Just one Circulation brought those kinds of benefits already.
To be clear though, I'm not stupid enough to think those gains will continue that fast.
But for the time being, I will enjoy it.
Looking at my phone to see how late it is, my eyes widen uncontrollably.
"I'm gonna be late for training!"
Jumping out of my bed and almost landing on my face.
I was like a hurricane through my apartment, trying to get ready and not be too late to catch the bus.
Luckily, I made it in time, but I would've never guessed cultivating the Heavenly God
Technique would have taken me so out of it. Hopefully I'll get used to it or something.
On the bus, I still had a little bit of time to at least look at the 'side' skills the Heavenly God mentions.
Soul Reinforcement was pretty obvious in what it does—strengthening my body with Soul Energy and enhancing my speed and agility, my strength and endurance.
The other, probably harder skill to master but no less essential, was Soul Sense.
The ability to sense the Soul and Soul Force of others from a distance.
This one will be very important for me in my hero career. Sensing a few people in a dark alley will clue me in that something suspicious is going on.
Or in a rescue operation, sensing people could mean life or death for some people.
Thinking about what I could all do with my future and current skills and imagining scenarios where they'd be useful made time move faster than I expected.
Because in what felt like 5 minutes, I was already at my stop.
Walking towards the gym, I heard someone calling my name from behind me.
"Hey Liam! Going to the gym?"
Turning around, I saw Matt run towards me.
"Sup Matt, yeah, I almost missed my bus getting here."
"Me too. By the way, have you read that story I linked you? What do you think?"
Grinning while we step into the gym, I answer.
"Yeah I did. It's good, but a little too dark for my tastes—I like my adventure and fluff stories more."
At the mention of fluff, he puts on a fake disgusted face and replies like I'm beneath him.
"Fluff?! How dare you, good sir! A story needs darkness, strife, a will to go on!"
"Pfft, yeah. Why don't you yell that to the rest of the gym?"
At that, Matt starts looking around, wide-eyed. Of course, no one was looking at us. In here, if you're not focusing on your training, then you're not actually training.
He turns back toward me with a face I can't decide is of disbelief or embarrassment.
"Hey! That's not nice." Smirking, I shot back.
"Well, you should've known."
"I know you for 4 days!"
Walking into the locker room, I think for a moment before I reply.
"That's long enough."
"It isn't!"
Bantering some more and preparing for practice, we then focus on our training and barely talk to each other except between breaks.
Matt mostly comes to the gym Mondays and Fridays. So he's the one I'll probably hang out the most with. Plus, having the same hobbies is nice.
Sadly, the fanfic section of this world is mostly capes making out with each other...
Also, considering we're around the 2010s, fanfics can still be pretty chuuni...
Johnny comes in on Fridays only—apparently, he also plays high school football... which I can see.
Dude is built like a brick house.
Kevin, Spencer, and Leia come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I'm not expecting to see them much.
Once I heard that, I asked how Matt knew them, and apparently, they all went to the same school and try to hang out.
As for Brian, he comes periodically. He mentioned at bowling he is now training at an MMA gym, but comes back to his dad's gym sometimes to catch up with people and keep his boxing skills sharp.
After the workout, which was getting easier, so I should talk with Coach Laborn about that,
Matt came to me a bit nervously.
"Hey Liam, would you maybe like to go to the boardwalk this Saturday with me?"
A bit weirded out by how shy he was being—it was almost as if he was...
"Uh... before I say anything, this isn't a date thing, right? Because I don't swing that way..."
Eyes widening and mouth open, he yells out surprised.
"What?! No! What made you think I was gay?!?!"
Looking at him with an eyebrow raised.
"You ask me all shy and fidgeting if I wanna hang out with you in a popular dating spot. I'd rather be blunt now IF you were gay and raise your hopes up.
And even if you were, I wouldn't look at you differently, dude."
At the end, I add a little bit extra.
"Well, unless you're coming after my ass, in which case I would be a bit weirded out, to be honest."
...
Huh, I think his jaw is about to fall off.
"Wha-, Whu-, I'm not gay!"
Smirking, I reply.
"In that case, I'm good for Saturday."
Imitating the fish very well, I don't think he knows what to feel right now.
He takes a deep breath and just goes: "I'll see you Saturday at the start of the boardwalk."
And leaves.
...
Rude.
Going back home was a normal affair. I came home, I showered, ate, and cultivated.
It was the next day that was a bit more exciting.
Waking up, I did my morning ritual of a small workout and a small breakfast with some extra fruit.
Going for the couch for a change instead of my bed, I recall the knowledge of one of the skills.
Soul Reinforcement—deciding to go with the more difficult skill.
Reinforcement was a combination between Soul Circulation and Manipulation.
I needed to circulate the energy, but use Manipulation to basically 'spread out' my Soul Force through my muscles, bones, and organs.
It felt a bit like unraveling a crumbled-up paper, spreading out but not as smooth as it was supposed to.
Eventually though, after many tries, I did get it.
[Soul Manipulation leveled up]
[Soul Manipulation leveled up]
[Skill Created! 'Soul Reinforcement' Unlocked]
Soul Reinforcement Lvl. 1
The use of Soul Force and reinforcing your body with it—a must for every Cultivator.
Adds 1% of Soul Force toward Body Force while in use.
A very weak skill right now, but I can see how it's a must-have for every Cultivator like it said. It definitely has a lot of potential.
It also explains why Body Tempering was discarded later in the journey of immortality.
Not focusing on my new skill, I immediately try and get the other skill.
Soul Sense was something completely different from Soul Reinforcement.
If the latter was about Soul Manipulation inside the body, this one was all about it being outside of it.
The difficulty of the skill wasn't so much in performing it, as the mental gymnastics I had to do to convince myself that part of my being was supposed to go outside my body.
This wasn't really a thing of continuously trying until you get it right, and more needing a 'Eureka!' moment.
And Eureka I did…
That sounded dirty for some reason.
[Soul Manipulation leveled up]
[Skill Created! 'Soul Sense' Unlocked]
Soul Sense Lvl. 1
The ability to sense Soul Energy outside the body.
Current distance: 3 ft
…
Soul Sense was weird. It wasn't like I could see that radius of 3 feet, but I was aware of it—was the best I could explain it.
Playing with the new skills was pretty fun though.
Trying to move with them was difficult but doable—Soul Sense was a doozy though.
So that is what I did for the next 2 days: trying to move with, and level up, those 2 skills in between cultivation.
Until Friday in the afternoon, another few pop-ups came.
[Soul Force +1!]
[Body Force +1!]
[You have reached 100 in Body Force!]
[You are now a 1-Star Bronze Fighter]
[You can change your Class to Fighter]
[Demon Spiritualist is a higher-ranked Class than Fighter. Do you wish to change it?]
[Quest Completed!]*
Clicking no on changing my class—I haven't checked on what Demon Spiritualist does yet, but I wasn't going to change it for Fighter any time.
Opening up my quest.
*Quest: Become a Fighter!
Reach Body Force 100.
Reward: [Skill]
Accept Reward? Yes/No
Clicking yes on this one, a book appeared on my lap again.
And when I touched it, my smile widened so much even the Joker would be unnerved.
After all, the skill this book gave me was…
Do you wish to learn the Skill [ID Create/Destroy]?
Ooooh—let's fucking go.
[Soul Force has reached 100!]
[You have become a Bronze 1-Star Demon Spiritualist!]
[Class changed to 'Demon Spiritualist']
[Quest: My Soul is My Strength is Completed]
Made it. With two days left, I finished my most important Quest.
Quest: My Soul is My Strength!
Become a Bronze 1-Star Demon Spiritualist in 3 months' time.
Reward: [Cultivation Technique]
Accept Reward?
I clicked Accept faster than the Flash can move. Immediately after, the screen disappeared and a book appeared on my lap.
It looked old. The leather that bound it appeared to almost crumble.
Carefully, I reached to grab it, but the moment I touched it, a screen popped out of it.
The text took my breath away.
Do you wish to learn the [Heavenly God Technique]?
Yes/No
The most broken of cultivation techniques there is—the ability to hold 7 Demon Spirits and, when cultivated to completion, able to cultivate any technique for its benefits.
I was always hoping that this is the technique I would get. It's one of the reasons I've been pushing myself so hard.
Clicking yes, knowledge streamed into my mind, almost feeling like a sort of enlightenment.
When I look back at my lap, I see the book has disappeared, like those Skill Books in fanfictions.
But except on how to cultivate it, it also gave me the reason why [Soul Circulation] didn't level up after Lvl. 10.
Because I didn't have enough knowledge about cultivation—because that was what the skill was.
Me cultivating.
Looking at the screen of the technique, my eyes widen even further.
Heavenly God Technique (Chapter 1)
The Heavenly Dao way shines. Heaven shrouds but cannot contain. The Great Dao envelops but cannot dispute. Know all, perhaps, perhaps not.
This technique allows you to cultivate until the Demigod Rank
Able to hold 7 Demon Spirits
Able to cultivate other cultivation techniques with the same attribute as current Demon Spirits the user holds
Increases Soul Force Density
Increases absorption efficiency to 100% of cultivation medicine
Allows user to train Body Force while in use (1/4th of total Soul Force gain)
That's a lot of things that I can do, although the technique seems to have changed a bit.
Instead of waiting until I completed the full technique (and wasn't that a bummer—that I only got Chapter 1) to cultivate any technique I come across.
It's now limited to what Demon Spirits I hold. But I can also start cultivating it immediately.
Most of the information on it I already knew, though some was speculated and wasn't sure it was exclusive to the Heavenly God Technique.
Like the density of Nie Li's Soul Force, it was assumed because it took that much longer to cultivate and being able to fight above his weight class.
...
Or would that be Cultivation class?
Anyway, the most useful benefit Heavenly God gave me was the ability to train my body with my breath while cultivating.
…
That's literally what it says in the book, 'using the heart to refine the breath, then using the breath to refine the body.'
Here, read it.
Right there.
...
Why am I trying to show something to myself...
Anyway, the SF Density was also going to be useful once I have combat techniques that use Soul Energy.
And while the medicine benefit was handy, it was currently completely useless.
The Heavenly God even had a few other basic techniques in it.
But before I try for those, let's take this bad boy for a spin, shall we?
Breathing like the instructions say, immediately I feel like my Soul Force wants to go into certain directions, using Soul Circulation and Soul Manipulation to speed the process along.
[Ping]
In
[Ping] [Ping]
Out
[Ping] [Ping]
In
[Ping]
Out
After one full cycle, I let my concentration slip and focus on the annoying pop-ups.
They're irritating, but at the same time, they train my focus.
After all, if I can't ignore something like that in a safe environment, then I don't have any business being a cape.
Opening them all up, I'm bombarded with notifications.
[Soul Circulation has Leveled Up!]
[Soul Manipulation has Leveled Up!]
[Soul Circulation has Leveled Up!]
[Soul Force +1]
[Soul Manipulation has Leveled Up!]
[Meditation has Leveled Up!]
Just one Circulation brought those kinds of benefits already.
To be clear though, I'm not stupid enough to think those gains will continue that fast.
But for the time being, I will enjoy it.
Looking at my phone to see how late it is, my eyes widen uncontrollably.
"I'm gonna be late for training!"
Jumping out of my bed and almost landing on my face.
I was like a hurricane through my apartment, trying to get ready and not be too late to catch the bus.
Luckily, I made it in time, but I would've never guessed cultivating the Heavenly God
Technique would have taken me so out of it. Hopefully I'll get used to it or something.
On the bus, I still had a little bit of time to at least look at the 'side' skills the Heavenly God mentions.
Soul Reinforcement was pretty obvious in what it does—strengthening my body with Soul Energy and enhancing my speed and agility, my strength and endurance.
The other, probably harder skill to master but no less essential, was Soul Sense.
The ability to sense the Soul and Soul Force of others from a distance.
This one will be very important for me in my hero career. Sensing a few people in a dark alley will clue me in that something suspicious is going on.
Or in a rescue operation, sensing people could mean life or death for some people.
Thinking about what I could all do with my future and current skills and imagining scenarios where they'd be useful made time move faster than I expected.
Because in what felt like 5 minutes, I was already at my stop.
Walking towards the gym, I heard someone calling my name from behind me.
"Hey Liam! Going to the gym?"
Turning around, I saw Matt run towards me.
"Sup Matt, yeah, I almost missed my bus getting here."
"Me too. By the way, have you read that story I linked you? What do you think?"
Grinning while we step into the gym, I answer.
"Yeah I did. It's good, but a little too dark for my tastes—I like my adventure and fluff stories more."
At the mention of fluff, he puts on a fake disgusted face and replies like I'm beneath him.
"Fluff?! How dare you, good sir! A story needs darkness, strife, a will to go on!"
"Pfft, yeah. Why don't you yell that to the rest of the gym?"
At that, Matt starts looking around, wide-eyed. Of course, no one was looking at us. In here, if you're not focusing on your training, then you're not actually training.
He turns back toward me with a face I can't decide is of disbelief or embarrassment.
"Hey! That's not nice." Smirking, I shot back.
"Well, you should've known."
"I know you for 4 days!"
Walking into the locker room, I think for a moment before I reply.
"That's long enough."
"It isn't!"
Bantering some more and preparing for practice, we then focus on our training and barely talk to each other except between breaks.
Matt mostly comes to the gym Mondays and Fridays. So he's the one I'll probably hang out the most with. Plus, having the same hobbies is nice.
Sadly, the fanfic section of this world is mostly capes making out with each other...
Also, considering we're around the 2010s, fanfics can still be pretty chuuni...
Johnny comes in on Fridays only—apparently, he also plays high school football... which I can see.
Dude is built like a brick house.
Kevin, Spencer, and Leia come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I'm not expecting to see them much.
Once I heard that, I asked how Matt knew them, and apparently, they all went to the same school and try to hang out.
As for Brian, he comes periodically. He mentioned at bowling he is now training at an MMA gym, but comes back to his dad's gym sometimes to catch up with people and keep his boxing skills sharp.
After the workout, which was getting easier, so I should talk with Coach Laborn about that,
Matt came to me a bit nervously.
"Hey Liam, would you maybe like to go to the boardwalk this Saturday with me?"
A bit weirded out by how shy he was being—it was almost as if he was...
"Uh... before I say anything, this isn't a date thing, right? Because I don't swing that way..."
Eyes widening and mouth open, he yells out surprised.
"What?! No! What made you think I was gay?!?!"
Looking at him with an eyebrow raised.
"You ask me all shy and fidgeting if I wanna hang out with you in a popular dating spot. I'd rather be blunt now IF you were gay and raise your hopes up.
And even if you were, I wouldn't look at you differently, dude."
At the end, I add a little bit extra.
"Well, unless you're coming after my ass, in which case I would be a bit weirded out, to be honest."
...
Huh, I think his jaw is about to fall off.
"Wha-, Whu-, I'm not gay!"
Smirking, I reply.
"In that case, I'm good for Saturday."
Imitating the fish very well, I don't think he knows what to feel right now.
He takes a deep breath and just goes: "I'll see you Saturday at the start of the boardwalk."
And leaves.
...
Rude.
Going back home was a normal affair. I came home, I showered, ate, and cultivated.
It was the next day that was a bit more exciting.
Waking up, I did my morning ritual of a small workout and a small breakfast with some extra fruit.
Going for the couch for a change instead of my bed, I recall the knowledge of one of the skills.
Soul Reinforcement—deciding to go with the more difficult skill.
Reinforcement was a combination between Soul Circulation and Manipulation.
I needed to circulate the energy, but use Manipulation to basically 'spread out' my Soul Force through my muscles, bones, and organs.
It felt a bit like unraveling a crumbled-up paper, spreading out but not as smooth as it was supposed to.
Eventually though, after many tries, I did get it.
[Soul Manipulation leveled up]
[Soul Manipulation leveled up]
[Skill Created! 'Soul Reinforcement' Unlocked]
Soul Reinforcement Lvl. 1
The use of Soul Force and reinforcing your body with it—a must for every Cultivator.
Adds 1% of Soul Force toward Body Force while in use.
A very weak skill right now, but I can see how it's a must-have for every Cultivator like it said. It definitely has a lot of potential.
It also explains why Body Tempering was discarded later in the journey of immortality.
Not focusing on my new skill, I immediately try and get the other skill.
Soul Sense was something completely different from Soul Reinforcement.
If the latter was about Soul Manipulation inside the body, this one was all about it being outside of it.
The difficulty of the skill wasn't so much in performing it, as the mental gymnastics I had to do to convince myself that part of my being was supposed to go outside my body.
This wasn't really a thing of continuously trying until you get it right, and more needing a 'Eureka!' moment.
And Eureka I did…
That sounded dirty for some reason.
[Soul Manipulation leveled up]
[Skill Created! 'Soul Sense' Unlocked]
Soul Sense Lvl. 1
The ability to sense Soul Energy outside the body.
Current distance: 3 ft
…
Soul Sense was weird. It wasn't like I could see that radius of 3 feet, but I was aware of it—was the best I could explain it.
Playing with the new skills was pretty fun though.
Trying to move with them was difficult but doable—Soul Sense was a doozy though.
So that is what I did for the next 2 days: trying to move with, and level up, those 2 skills in between cultivation.
Until Friday in the afternoon, another few pop-ups came.
[Soul Force +1!]
[Body Force +1!]
[You have reached 100 in Body Force!]
[You are now a 1-Star Bronze Fighter]
[You can change your Class to Fighter]
[Demon Spiritualist is a higher-ranked Class than Fighter. Do you wish to change it?]
[Quest Completed!]*
Clicking no on changing my class—I haven't checked on what Demon Spiritualist does yet, but I wasn't going to change it for Fighter any time.
Opening up my quest.
*Quest: Become a Fighter!
Reach Body Force 100.
Reward: [Skill]
Accept Reward? Yes/No
Clicking yes on this one, a book appeared on my lap again.
And when I touched it, my smile widened so much even the Joker would be unnerved.
After all, the skill this book gave me was…
Do you wish to learn the Skill [ID Create/Destroy]?
Ooooh—let's fucking go.
Last edited:
Gamer of Capes and Worms 5
New
Slycerr
Making the rounds.
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[Skill Created! 'IR Create/Destroy' Unlocked]
IR Create/Destroy Lvl. MAX
One of the classic skills of the gamer, in name if not in function.
Allows the user to create Imaginary Realms to go in and explore.
Current Realms available: Undeath
The bread and butter of Gamers, Dungeons. Or in my case, Realms.
And I meant that quite literally, because if I'm right, then I will never have to find a job again.
Wait…
Does that mean my prayers were answered? Or was this already part of my system?
No, calm down Liam, you're counting horses before you got them.
…
I also need to prepare before jumping into the realm—some weapons and first aid will not be amiss.
So the first thing I do is go to the drugstore to buy a first aid kit. Seventy bucks lighter and a little bit more sure of myself, I head to the nearest department store and buy a fireman's axe.
It's the deadliest thing I can buy without drawing any attention.
Getting home, I watch some videos on how to use my first aid kit. Better safe than sorry.
Prepping myself, I have a kitchen knife tucked into my belt, first aid in my backpack with some extra bandages and secured so it doesn't move as much, and the axe in my hand.
Activating my skill, a screen appears.
Which Realm would you like to create?
Options: Undeath
Choosing Undeath, I appear back in my apartment.
The only reason I know it's my apartment is because the layout looks the same; otherwise, I would think there hasn't been someone here in decades.
The furniture is rotted, there is a small plant growing out of the sink, and there is dust everywhere.
Going towards the hall, I see my front door is off its hinges and on the ground.
Walking over it and into the hall proper, the downtrodden and aged look continues.
Walking slowly and carefully, I move towards the stairs.
The door to the stairwell seems to still be intact. Trying to open it is difficult, and when I look at the hinges, I can see why.
They're so orange that they look more rust than the steel they're supposed to be.
Giving it another attempt to move it open, and failing, I don't see any other choice than kicking it down.
Even with all the training I did these last few months, it still took half a dozen kicks until I heard the screech and it fell down.
Waiting for any chance something might come towards me, I wait a few minutes.
When nothing comes running, I go down the stairs.
When I'm on the ground floor, I again need to kick the door open.
Waiting again and being ready to bolt back or destroy the realm, I let out a sigh when nothing comes after the sound.
On one hand, this is good—it means I won't be overrun anytime soon, and I can take my time going over this place.
On the other, my body is working on full adrenaline right now and it's mentally exhausting being so high on alert.
At least the door of the building was off its hinges. As I walked out of the building, I saw it.
A zombie.
About a hundred feet from the building entrance was a rotten corpse just standing in the middle of the road.
It wasn't looking at me, but I could still see the whitish-green flesh hanging on its crumbling clothes.
Mentally preparing myself for being so close to the gruesome sight, I hold my axe tighter.
Moving slowly towards the dead creature, the first thing was something I hadn't prepared myself for—something I really should have seen coming.
Or smelled, rather.
And oh god, was it disgusting. I once had to clean an animal corpse up from the road, but this was a hundred times worse.
Back then I was barely holding in the need to puke.
This time I wasn't so lucky.
Barely not puking on my clothes, I was hanging over myself and I was so happy I had a light meal instead of a bigger one.
Sadly, I couldn't puke my guts out in peace.
"Guuuuh"—because the zombie heard me.
Looking at it from the corner of my eye, I saw it coming towards me fast.
Eyes widening and in a panic, I started to run away.
Spitting out the taste of puke and looking behind me, I realized that the zombie wasn't actually that fast—more like a fast walking speed than the full-on run it felt like.
Wiping my mouth on my shirt, I mentally prepared myself.
The zombie was now thirty feet from me and coming fast.
So I set my stance, axe ready to swing, and waited.
Anticipating when the zombie came in my range from experience in months of sparring.
I swung.
And hit it right in the head. And it fell down.
Just like that.
At the rather anticlimactic ending, I just stood there.
And then the smell hit me again.
"Uegh, uegh." Running out of the smell zone, I looked at my handi—or axe work.
One hit, clean to the side of the head and firmly stuck in it.
Taking out a bottle of water from the side of my backpack, I cleaned my mouth as best I could.
Then taking one big breath, I ran over my slain enemy and yanked out my axe before running away from it again.
Having everything with me again and not being in a place that makes cleaning toilets at Chipotle smell refreshing.
I looked at the notification that was bothering me in the corner of my eye.
[You have slain a zombie!]
[$8 added to your bank account.]
Joker smile back in place, I already know what I'll be doing when I'm not cultivating.
Watch out world, because William the Zombie Slayer is in town.
Doing a quick reset of going home and changing my shirt, and cleaning my axe while I'm at it.
I also take a second shirt and basically douse it with perfume before letting it hang around my neck.
The next time I find a zombie, I can just cover my nose with it and try to overpower the smell as much as I can.
Going back in the Undead Realm, I start at the exact same spot.
While I'm pretty sure I clicked the screen from the other side of my kitchen.
Interesting.
Keeping that bit of information in the back of my head.
I again do the trek downstairs, the doors that were kicked open back on their rusted hinges.
As I do everything that I did before, with a little bit less caution than is probably smart, I come back to my first opponent.
The zombie on the street.
The exact. Same. One.
So the realm resets environment and monsters completely. I wonder if loot would be the same.
Putting my perfumed shirt over my nose, I again slowly and quietly walk over to the undead creature.
This time I don't puke my guts out, and while the smell is still there, it's so faint I can ignore it easily.
This time going for an overhand swing, I raise the axe, and with a small hmp swing downwards.
It, of course, hits—there wasn't any chance of me missing that.
It folds easily, falling down and pulling me with it a little bit before the axe loosens and becomes free from the head.
[You have slain a zombie!]
[$5 added to your bank account.]
It again only gives me some money, but maybe that's fair for a creature this weak.
I probably wouldn't like what it gives anyway.
Cleaning the axe with a spare cloth I brought, I walk further from my 'spawn point'.
The next zombie I meet was from an alley, and this one was already looking in my direction.
Seeing me, it bolts as fast as it can towards me.
Trying to think of a quick plan basically comes down to me waiting and timing a front kick to the zombie's center and swinging my axe when it's down.
[You have slain a zombie!]
[$7 added to your bank account.]
Clean and quick.
Well… not 'clean', but you get the point.
The next dozen zombies met the same fate. Some I could sneak attack, but most were in alleys and already looking at me.
With those plus the 3 zombies beforehand, I already made close to 150 bucks, and it hasn't even been 30 minutes yet.
So getting back to work, I spend the next few hours looking for and killing the walking dead and earning my pocket money for the week.
There were a few close calls where there was more than one zombie and I had to do the equivalent of CoD kiting and hitting them in the legs to slow them down.
Apparently, axes get stuck a lot in zombie heads… who knew about that?
I'd probably have been better with a blunt weapon or something, but for now, the axe worked and I didn't want to reset again when I was in the swing of things.
Get it? Swing of things? Like I'm swinging my axe…
Tough crowd…
That crowd being myself…
Because that's what I'm doing… talking to myself…
I'd say I need a life, but no one here has one!
Badum tish!
…
Deciding that after the next couple of zombies I'd call it a day, I went further in.
Killing the next one in an alley.
[You have slain a zombie!]
[$8 added to your bank account.]
A chill suddenly went along my spine.
Looking around, I saw nothing except dirt and trash.
GAAAAAH!
Shocked and spooked, I looked up, and what greeted me made me pale.
Because a zombie was falling down on me.
Taking three steps back, the thing just missed me.
But instead of splatting and dying like I hoped, it just took a second and jumped at me.
Holding the axe in front of me, I used its momentum against it and threw it over me against the wall.
Not planned at all but happy it's there, it just happened that a big trash can was under where I threw the creature, making it fall in it.
Quickly, I tried to leave the realm, but…
[You cannot leave a realm while in combat.]
Goddammit!
This wasn't the time!
Thinking quickly, I ran towards the trash can where the zombie fell in and prepared myself to swing as hard as I could.
The timing couldn't have been more perfect. The moment I was there, it stood up, its upper body showing.
I swung for its head,
And missed.
The creature dodged, making me still hit it, but in its shoulder.
It was still a devastating attack—I knew because of the scream of pain it yelled.
GAH AAAAAAAH!
Or rage, that could be it too.
With the axe still in my hand but having no give for making it detach from the dickhead, I used it to keep its claws away from me.
Putting my hand at the end of the axe, I used my other to reach for my knife.
We were in a stalemate.
It tried to reach me and claw my neck out, pushing into the axe and making its wound worse. But I couldn't finish it off.
If I tried to get my axe back, I would lose my only barrier against it.
If I tried to finish it with my knife, I would have to discard the axe altogether to reach it.
So the only thing I could do was hold on for dear life and wait until it exhausted itself…
It took 10 minutes to reach that point, where it wasn't trying to reach me.
Well, it was still trying, but the blood loss and the shoulder wound—now extending into its chest—prevented it from doing anything.
Then, with determination, I moved as swiftly as I could.
Pushing the axe to the side, I used the knife and with one step and thrust, thrust the knife into its eye socket.
Immediately I abandoned my position and left the knife in it, but that apparently wasn't needed.
Because it was already dead.
[You have slain a ghoul!]
[$54 added to your bank account.]
[You have gained 2 Healing Pills.]
Healing Pills
Heals superficial to light wounds.
Heavenly God Bonus: Heals light to medium wounds
Leave, leave, leave!
Appearing back into my apartment, I just fall to the floor like a sack of bones.
With the adrenaline leaving me, I started to understand what almost happened.
Had I been a few seconds slower to react, then the ghoul would have landed on top of me.
Had it not yelled out… It would have landed on top of me.
Had it landed on top of me… I would've died.
And then the fight…
The whole thing was surrounded by luck.
Had it run at me instead of jumping, I wouldn't have had the instinct to throw it and instead would have been waving my axe around like an idiot trying to keep it away from me.
That that trash can was there was also luck—it gave me the few seconds to get my bearings and come up with a, now admittedly hairy and risky, plan.
…
I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon. The near-death experience is just too vivid right now.
Cleaning myself up a bit first, I check my equipment and clothes and find two small balls wrapped like candy in my pocket.
Those must have been the Healing Pills the ghoul gave me.
Looking at the description the system left me, I was pleasantly surprised the Heavenly God Technique included healing pills into its effect.
Setting the pills aside, I cleaned up everything I used in the dungeon and went in for a long warm shower.
Sitting on my couch, I went over what needed to be done to be more secure and confident for the next time I go into the dungeon.
Not that it'll be anytime soon.
First things first.
My Soul Reinforcement is too low. So low, in fact, I didn't even bother to use it.
And while I did use Soul Sense, it was also basically useless—the 9 feet it has now is unacceptable now that I know what awaits me in the ID.
The axe was also a mistake—not in the sense that I shouldn't have bought a weapon, but in the sense I bought the wrong weapon.
Next time I'm bringing a metal bat.
And my skills will be much higher leveled.
Next time I will be prepared.
AN: Wel wasn't that a lot of things in one chapter, at least that was what it felt like to me.
We had the excitement of using a classic gamer skill with the confidence to match. Only for that confidence to crash into terror as Liam experienced his first fight to the death, and is at the same time the first fight in this story portrayed.
then we have the realisation that this is in fact NOT a game and real life, and there are no second chances.
What do you think? Let me know what you liked and disliked, want more of or want nothing like that ever again.
Also got my first bit of feedback, which was... weird. I get were they come from, but at the same time I can't change a lot because I have written some chapters for a rainy day.
So I took the middle ground and changed what I could without needing to rework a lot of writing.
'ID Create/Destroy Lvl. MAX' was changed to 'IR Create/Destroy Lvl. MAX'
One of the classic skills of the gamer, in name if not in function.
Allows the user to create Imaginary Realms to go in and explore.
Current Realms available: Undeath
The bread and butter of Gamers, Dungeons. Or in my case, Realms.
And I meant that quite literally, because if I'm right, then I will never have to find a job again.
Wait…
Does that mean my prayers were answered? Or was this already part of my system?
No, calm down Liam, you're counting horses before you got them.
…
I also need to prepare before jumping into the realm—some weapons and first aid will not be amiss.
So the first thing I do is go to the drugstore to buy a first aid kit. Seventy bucks lighter and a little bit more sure of myself, I head to the nearest department store and buy a fireman's axe.
It's the deadliest thing I can buy without drawing any attention.
Getting home, I watch some videos on how to use my first aid kit. Better safe than sorry.
Prepping myself, I have a kitchen knife tucked into my belt, first aid in my backpack with some extra bandages and secured so it doesn't move as much, and the axe in my hand.
Activating my skill, a screen appears.
Which Realm would you like to create?
Options: Undeath
Choosing Undeath, I appear back in my apartment.
The only reason I know it's my apartment is because the layout looks the same; otherwise, I would think there hasn't been someone here in decades.
The furniture is rotted, there is a small plant growing out of the sink, and there is dust everywhere.
Going towards the hall, I see my front door is off its hinges and on the ground.
Walking over it and into the hall proper, the downtrodden and aged look continues.
Walking slowly and carefully, I move towards the stairs.
The door to the stairwell seems to still be intact. Trying to open it is difficult, and when I look at the hinges, I can see why.
They're so orange that they look more rust than the steel they're supposed to be.
Giving it another attempt to move it open, and failing, I don't see any other choice than kicking it down.
Even with all the training I did these last few months, it still took half a dozen kicks until I heard the screech and it fell down.
Waiting for any chance something might come towards me, I wait a few minutes.
When nothing comes running, I go down the stairs.
When I'm on the ground floor, I again need to kick the door open.
Waiting again and being ready to bolt back or destroy the realm, I let out a sigh when nothing comes after the sound.
On one hand, this is good—it means I won't be overrun anytime soon, and I can take my time going over this place.
On the other, my body is working on full adrenaline right now and it's mentally exhausting being so high on alert.
At least the door of the building was off its hinges. As I walked out of the building, I saw it.
A zombie.
About a hundred feet from the building entrance was a rotten corpse just standing in the middle of the road.
It wasn't looking at me, but I could still see the whitish-green flesh hanging on its crumbling clothes.
Mentally preparing myself for being so close to the gruesome sight, I hold my axe tighter.
Moving slowly towards the dead creature, the first thing was something I hadn't prepared myself for—something I really should have seen coming.
Or smelled, rather.
And oh god, was it disgusting. I once had to clean an animal corpse up from the road, but this was a hundred times worse.
Back then I was barely holding in the need to puke.
This time I wasn't so lucky.
Barely not puking on my clothes, I was hanging over myself and I was so happy I had a light meal instead of a bigger one.
Sadly, I couldn't puke my guts out in peace.
"Guuuuh"—because the zombie heard me.
Looking at it from the corner of my eye, I saw it coming towards me fast.
Eyes widening and in a panic, I started to run away.
Spitting out the taste of puke and looking behind me, I realized that the zombie wasn't actually that fast—more like a fast walking speed than the full-on run it felt like.
Wiping my mouth on my shirt, I mentally prepared myself.
The zombie was now thirty feet from me and coming fast.
So I set my stance, axe ready to swing, and waited.
Anticipating when the zombie came in my range from experience in months of sparring.
I swung.
And hit it right in the head. And it fell down.
Just like that.
At the rather anticlimactic ending, I just stood there.
And then the smell hit me again.
"Uegh, uegh." Running out of the smell zone, I looked at my handi—or axe work.
One hit, clean to the side of the head and firmly stuck in it.
Taking out a bottle of water from the side of my backpack, I cleaned my mouth as best I could.
Then taking one big breath, I ran over my slain enemy and yanked out my axe before running away from it again.
Having everything with me again and not being in a place that makes cleaning toilets at Chipotle smell refreshing.
I looked at the notification that was bothering me in the corner of my eye.
[You have slain a zombie!]
[$8 added to your bank account.]
Joker smile back in place, I already know what I'll be doing when I'm not cultivating.
Watch out world, because William the Zombie Slayer is in town.
Doing a quick reset of going home and changing my shirt, and cleaning my axe while I'm at it.
I also take a second shirt and basically douse it with perfume before letting it hang around my neck.
The next time I find a zombie, I can just cover my nose with it and try to overpower the smell as much as I can.
Going back in the Undead Realm, I start at the exact same spot.
While I'm pretty sure I clicked the screen from the other side of my kitchen.
Interesting.
Keeping that bit of information in the back of my head.
I again do the trek downstairs, the doors that were kicked open back on their rusted hinges.
As I do everything that I did before, with a little bit less caution than is probably smart, I come back to my first opponent.
The zombie on the street.
The exact. Same. One.
So the realm resets environment and monsters completely. I wonder if loot would be the same.
Putting my perfumed shirt over my nose, I again slowly and quietly walk over to the undead creature.
This time I don't puke my guts out, and while the smell is still there, it's so faint I can ignore it easily.
This time going for an overhand swing, I raise the axe, and with a small hmp swing downwards.
It, of course, hits—there wasn't any chance of me missing that.
It folds easily, falling down and pulling me with it a little bit before the axe loosens and becomes free from the head.
[You have slain a zombie!]
[$5 added to your bank account.]
It again only gives me some money, but maybe that's fair for a creature this weak.
I probably wouldn't like what it gives anyway.
Cleaning the axe with a spare cloth I brought, I walk further from my 'spawn point'.
The next zombie I meet was from an alley, and this one was already looking in my direction.
Seeing me, it bolts as fast as it can towards me.
Trying to think of a quick plan basically comes down to me waiting and timing a front kick to the zombie's center and swinging my axe when it's down.
[You have slain a zombie!]
[$7 added to your bank account.]
Clean and quick.
Well… not 'clean', but you get the point.
The next dozen zombies met the same fate. Some I could sneak attack, but most were in alleys and already looking at me.
With those plus the 3 zombies beforehand, I already made close to 150 bucks, and it hasn't even been 30 minutes yet.
So getting back to work, I spend the next few hours looking for and killing the walking dead and earning my pocket money for the week.
There were a few close calls where there was more than one zombie and I had to do the equivalent of CoD kiting and hitting them in the legs to slow them down.
Apparently, axes get stuck a lot in zombie heads… who knew about that?
I'd probably have been better with a blunt weapon or something, but for now, the axe worked and I didn't want to reset again when I was in the swing of things.
Get it? Swing of things? Like I'm swinging my axe…
Tough crowd…
That crowd being myself…
Because that's what I'm doing… talking to myself…
I'd say I need a life, but no one here has one!
Badum tish!
…
Deciding that after the next couple of zombies I'd call it a day, I went further in.
Killing the next one in an alley.
[You have slain a zombie!]
[$8 added to your bank account.]
A chill suddenly went along my spine.
Looking around, I saw nothing except dirt and trash.
GAAAAAH!
Shocked and spooked, I looked up, and what greeted me made me pale.
Because a zombie was falling down on me.
Taking three steps back, the thing just missed me.
But instead of splatting and dying like I hoped, it just took a second and jumped at me.
Holding the axe in front of me, I used its momentum against it and threw it over me against the wall.
Not planned at all but happy it's there, it just happened that a big trash can was under where I threw the creature, making it fall in it.
Quickly, I tried to leave the realm, but…
[You cannot leave a realm while in combat.]
Goddammit!
This wasn't the time!
Thinking quickly, I ran towards the trash can where the zombie fell in and prepared myself to swing as hard as I could.
The timing couldn't have been more perfect. The moment I was there, it stood up, its upper body showing.
I swung for its head,
And missed.
The creature dodged, making me still hit it, but in its shoulder.
It was still a devastating attack—I knew because of the scream of pain it yelled.
GAH AAAAAAAH!
Or rage, that could be it too.
With the axe still in my hand but having no give for making it detach from the dickhead, I used it to keep its claws away from me.
Putting my hand at the end of the axe, I used my other to reach for my knife.
We were in a stalemate.
It tried to reach me and claw my neck out, pushing into the axe and making its wound worse. But I couldn't finish it off.
If I tried to get my axe back, I would lose my only barrier against it.
If I tried to finish it with my knife, I would have to discard the axe altogether to reach it.
So the only thing I could do was hold on for dear life and wait until it exhausted itself…
It took 10 minutes to reach that point, where it wasn't trying to reach me.
Well, it was still trying, but the blood loss and the shoulder wound—now extending into its chest—prevented it from doing anything.
Then, with determination, I moved as swiftly as I could.
Pushing the axe to the side, I used the knife and with one step and thrust, thrust the knife into its eye socket.
Immediately I abandoned my position and left the knife in it, but that apparently wasn't needed.
Because it was already dead.
[You have slain a ghoul!]
[$54 added to your bank account.]
[You have gained 2 Healing Pills.]
Healing Pills
Heals superficial to light wounds.
Heavenly God Bonus: Heals light to medium wounds
Leave, leave, leave!
Appearing back into my apartment, I just fall to the floor like a sack of bones.
With the adrenaline leaving me, I started to understand what almost happened.
Had I been a few seconds slower to react, then the ghoul would have landed on top of me.
Had it not yelled out… It would have landed on top of me.
Had it landed on top of me… I would've died.
And then the fight…
The whole thing was surrounded by luck.
Had it run at me instead of jumping, I wouldn't have had the instinct to throw it and instead would have been waving my axe around like an idiot trying to keep it away from me.
That that trash can was there was also luck—it gave me the few seconds to get my bearings and come up with a, now admittedly hairy and risky, plan.
…
I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon. The near-death experience is just too vivid right now.
Cleaning myself up a bit first, I check my equipment and clothes and find two small balls wrapped like candy in my pocket.
Those must have been the Healing Pills the ghoul gave me.
Looking at the description the system left me, I was pleasantly surprised the Heavenly God Technique included healing pills into its effect.
Setting the pills aside, I cleaned up everything I used in the dungeon and went in for a long warm shower.
Sitting on my couch, I went over what needed to be done to be more secure and confident for the next time I go into the dungeon.
Not that it'll be anytime soon.
First things first.
My Soul Reinforcement is too low. So low, in fact, I didn't even bother to use it.
And while I did use Soul Sense, it was also basically useless—the 9 feet it has now is unacceptable now that I know what awaits me in the ID.
The axe was also a mistake—not in the sense that I shouldn't have bought a weapon, but in the sense I bought the wrong weapon.
Next time I'm bringing a metal bat.
And my skills will be much higher leveled.
Next time I will be prepared.
AN: Wel wasn't that a lot of things in one chapter, at least that was what it felt like to me.
We had the excitement of using a classic gamer skill with the confidence to match. Only for that confidence to crash into terror as Liam experienced his first fight to the death, and is at the same time the first fight in this story portrayed.
then we have the realisation that this is in fact NOT a game and real life, and there are no second chances.
What do you think? Let me know what you liked and disliked, want more of or want nothing like that ever again.
Also got my first bit of feedback, which was... weird. I get were they come from, but at the same time I can't change a lot because I have written some chapters for a rainy day.
So I took the middle ground and changed what I could without needing to rework a lot of writing.
'ID Create/Destroy Lvl. MAX' was changed to 'IR Create/Destroy Lvl. MAX'
Last edited:
Gamer of Capes and Worms 6
New
Slycerr
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
- 30
- Likes received
- 343
-Matt McCartney-
Waiting always made him nervous.
Waiting for school to end, waiting for the bullies to come.
Waiting for friends to leave him.
To be fair, the last one hasn't happened in a while.
His boxing friend group started with just Spencer recommending it, to fight off the bullies and gain a bit more confidence in himself.
Ironically, the boxing gym did help with the bullies, but not because he fought them off.
No, that was because of the friends he made there. They found him familiar, and when he told them which school he was going to and why he was there, they stood up for him.
Spencer and Leia were from the drama club and asked him to help with writing and correcting spelling or grammar mistakes, making it so he could sit with them now at lunch.
Johnathan, or John or Johnny, helped with keeping the jockeys away from him. As a thanks, he helped him with homework and understanding lessons, although sadly it wasn't enough to not make him repeat a year.
Which doesn't make Johnny stupid, he just wasn't book smart and he knew it irritated him to no end.
But he never acted that frustration on him, which he appreciated.
Kevin was just that 'everybody likes him' guy, a bit oblivious maybe, considering he didn't know anybody was being bullied in the school. But he was the type of guy you couldn't stay mad at.
As for Brian,
He listened.
You could talk about anything with him and he would listen, maybe not enthusiastically, but he asked questions and let you get it out of your system, good or bad topics,
He listened.
You did have to worry when you talked about anything martial arts related, then the two roles of speaker and listener could change pretty fast.
He was certain the group would have been disbanded when they finished high school (well except Johnny), but here they are, months later and still hanging out regularly.
And then Liam came into the mix.
Brian was honest with them and said his dad asked him to invite Liam, they were okay with it.
It wasn't a bad deal, if it clicked then they had a possible new friend and made Mr. Laborn happy.
If it didn't, well then they could at least say they tried and it didn't work out.
That does make him wonder if Mr. Laborn had anything to do with his current friend group…
Looking at his phone for the time, it was 5 minutes before the agreed upon time.
"Hey Matt! How are ya!"
"WAH!" Turning around, I glared at Liam.
"Don't scare me like that!"
Looking confused and abashed, he answered,
"Sorry, it wasn't my intention to scare you."
Glare slowly disappearing, I just huff and wave my hand.
"S'fine. Anyway, anything you'd like to do today?"
Grinning at me, Liam just shrugs. "Not really, you're the one who invited me and I didn't know if you had something in mind."
Cheeks reddening in embarrassment, I voiced my plan.
"Well, I was thinking of just going for a walk on the boardwalk and maybe visiting the bookshop here, maybe grab a bite later."
Putting his hands in his pockets and looking completely at ease, he smirks.
"S'fine by me, maybe stop by the sports store while we're at it."
Confused, I replied, "What you need there? New boxing gloves?"
"Nah, I want a metal bat for at home, there's been an attempted break-in at one of the apartments and I want something to defend myself."
Bleaching a bit at that, I asked, "What happened?"
Another shrug, acting completely nonchalant, but I could see something in his eyes.
"It was apparently pretty close, but the moment the robber saw the light go on in the room, they bolted. So it was probably a druggie wanting some cash but not yet gone far enough to kill or hurt someone over it."
Grimacing, I remember what kind of city I live in. That story happens far too often, but there is little that can be done about it, and the police just take your information and throw it in the trash on the way out.
Seeing my expression, Liam just gestures that he appreciates the worry but wants to leave the subject.
So we walk and talk around the boardwalk, over boxing and reading, over the bowling we did last week, over anything really.
And that is where Liam is good at, going with any topic and talking with you about it.
That isn't to say he knows everything; if he doesn't know he will just tell you and say to keep talking about it if you want to.
And that is what makes Liam fun.
Because while Brian listens, Liam listens and is interested.
So we talk, mostly about fantasy stories; he recommends stories online and I recommend books.
At the end, we ate at Fugly Bob's and were about to leave when a floating girl with her companions came in.
Glory Girl came in with her sister and Panacea and the ward Gallant.
"Come on Ames! That guy had it coming! You should know to not be aggressive in front of a cape! Should I have not stopped that fight from happening then?!"
Speaking loudly and with animated hand motions, Victoria Dallon, better known as Glory
Girl, told her sister for anyone to hear.
With an exasperated breath, her sister answered, "No Vicky, what I'm telling you was to let
Gallant handle it because he is better at defusing… which you know by the way."
With a "Hmpf," Vicky turned away from Panacea with her arms crossed.
Meanwhile, Gallant was in between them trying to ironically… defuse the situation of the sisters arguing.
"Hehe, now now Ladies, what do you guys want to eat? Today is on me, okay?"
That brought the sisters back to where they were and they saw all the people staring at them.
And as professional capes… they just ignored us and went to order.
Looking back at Liam, I saw him being really focused on the heroes; there was even a moment when his staring was so much that Gallant started looking at us.
"First time seeing New Wave and Gallant?"
Turning back towards me, a bit confused, he took a second and replied.
"Oh? Yeah, first time. Up close anyway, I've probably seen Glory Girl flying in the distance."
"Really? You live close to New Wave?"
Amused, he shrugs.
"Don't think so? I live in the nice part of the Merchants; if New Wave was close by, I would think they'd have cleaned that part up already."
"True, I didn't even know the Merchants had a nice part haha."
Joking and bantering, we left Fugly Bob's, not realizing Gallant was looking at us on the way out.
Not that much later, Liam and I parted ways and went back home.
Today was a fun day.
-William Brooks-
It's been a month since my last, and first, dungeon run.
The first thing on my to-do list was already done.
Get a metal bat.
My stats and skills are also steadily improving.
[Status]
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered/ [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 162
Body Force: 135
Money: $4525
Soul Force had the biggest increase with 53 points, and Body Force at 35 points.
My cultivation speed was steadily improving; while before 50% looked fast, I was now sitting on 130% without the movement bonus of meditation, which itself was another 12.5%.
I've also dropped training in the gym on Wednesday to do more traditional cultivation.
Technically with the Heavenly God Technique, I don't need to physically work out anymore, but the gym gives me more than just that.
For one, I'm actually learning how to fight there, plus it's basically my only social interaction I have except for the get-togethers I have with Matt and the group.
Soul Sense has also leveled up nicely.
Soul Sense Lvl. 17
The ability to sense Soul Energy outside the body.
Current distance: 51 ft
It's the skill that leveled up the most, probably because I've tried to never not have it on.
Now I shouldn't be surprise-attacked anymore by a koala-dropping ghoul.
Soul Reinforcement is another skill I focused a lot of my time on; this one was harder to level because it still requires some amount of focus, but I suspect that another week and I can go back into the dungeon again with this skill a useable part of my arsenal.
Not to say that it doesn't already give a considerable boost.
Soul Reinforcement Lvl. 11
The use of Soul Force and reinforcing your body with it, a must for every Cultivator.
Adds 11% of Soul Force towards Body Force while in use.
Right now that's an extra 16 points to my Body Force making me technically halfway into Bronze Star-2 of the Fighter Rank.
Which doesn't sound like a lot, but with good technique that bit can add a massive difference.
Or
You could use the force multiplier known as 'baseball bat'.
With all that, Soul Manipulation is going up bit by bit in the background, sitting at Lvl. 29.
I think it's high enough to try some techniques I've known from the story Tales of Demons and Gods where the base of my power came from, like the Secret Soul Techniques.
I'll probably need to practice on zombies first before I use it in the real world though. After all, Shen Yue used it to overpower Nie Li in the beginning of the story and was worried he would actually try and kill him.
My Soul Realm is much stronger and I'm in a world where nobody even has Soul Force or barely anything, because I could still sense them with Soul Sense.
Other than that, it's maybe a good time to start seriously researching this city and its power players.
So, getting a pen and paper, I use my phone to research my city.
The results were… worrying.
First, the Merchants. So far I found they are just a group of drug dealers backed by a few capes.
Skidmark isn't that dangerous by himself for me; his power basically lets him deflect things weakly. And while it theoretically could be stacked to increase the force it deflects back, he hasn't shown any sign of doing that the last few years.
He's basically as dangerous as a normal guy, but probably with a gun.
Squealer is a tragic tale, or maybe a fortunate one in a tragic setting, because the moment people hear of a tinker they try everything to snatch them up.
Because while the Merchants are bad, they are infinitely better to be under than the Nazi regime if you don't believe in it, or Lung's tyrannical rule.
Still, if I can get her out of that situation, then I will.
Then we have Mush, which I almost have pity for.
To have the power to become a trash monster is at the same time a lucky pick in this city, but besides being a Case 53, one of the worst powers you can have.
Useful, but disgusting.
As for Trainwreck and Scrub, so far I can remember they only join the Merchants after the Leviathan attack.
The other powers in this city are much more powerful and numerous, both in capes and gang members.
So much research that after 30 minutes, my head actually starts to hurt.
Research done for today, both because I'm tired, and because I'm disturbed.
Putting on the TV for some background noise, I go to the kitchen to make myself some tea.
Waiting for the water to boil, I hear the TV suddenly change from the program it was on.
Going back to look, my face pales and my mouth opens in shock for a second before a guilty sigh of relief comes over me.
In big black letters with a red background, four words flash on the screen.
ENDBRINGER ALERT IN MADISON!
I completely forgot about the Simurgh attack in Madison.
The attack that would bring The Travelers to Earth-B and make them Simurgh Bombs at the same time, and create another S-Class threat in Noelle's power.
Watching the news, one brave or suicidal reporter is standing at the meeting place of all the capes that is rapidly filling up.
But despite all that I can see, and the knowledge that thousands of people will die and millions will be ruined,
One question keeps coming back to the front of my mind.
Could I have prevented this?
AN: This chapter was a rollercoaster for me. At first I thought meeting between Matt and Liam was a good opportunity for an interlude, to see if I could do a good job with it or not.
Do tell me if I did btw, does he feel different from Liam's thoughts? I think he does.
I also tried to write the conversation differently; did you guys like it? Or should I go back to how I wrote them before?
Then we came to the downhill part, Liam's POV was tough—not it being him per se, but more of what the fuck am I going to make him do that is helpful but not the same thing as I did before.
So I made him do research that I realized halfway would be a massive info dump and had to change it to something else. This is where the Endbringer comes in, Simurgh right before Christmas.
I even have a reason why Liam doesn't think or talk about the holidays. That I had totally planned beforehand…
PS. Also, it's my birthday!
Waiting always made him nervous.
Waiting for school to end, waiting for the bullies to come.
Waiting for friends to leave him.
To be fair, the last one hasn't happened in a while.
His boxing friend group started with just Spencer recommending it, to fight off the bullies and gain a bit more confidence in himself.
Ironically, the boxing gym did help with the bullies, but not because he fought them off.
No, that was because of the friends he made there. They found him familiar, and when he told them which school he was going to and why he was there, they stood up for him.
Spencer and Leia were from the drama club and asked him to help with writing and correcting spelling or grammar mistakes, making it so he could sit with them now at lunch.
Johnathan, or John or Johnny, helped with keeping the jockeys away from him. As a thanks, he helped him with homework and understanding lessons, although sadly it wasn't enough to not make him repeat a year.
Which doesn't make Johnny stupid, he just wasn't book smart and he knew it irritated him to no end.
But he never acted that frustration on him, which he appreciated.
Kevin was just that 'everybody likes him' guy, a bit oblivious maybe, considering he didn't know anybody was being bullied in the school. But he was the type of guy you couldn't stay mad at.
As for Brian,
He listened.
You could talk about anything with him and he would listen, maybe not enthusiastically, but he asked questions and let you get it out of your system, good or bad topics,
He listened.
You did have to worry when you talked about anything martial arts related, then the two roles of speaker and listener could change pretty fast.
He was certain the group would have been disbanded when they finished high school (well except Johnny), but here they are, months later and still hanging out regularly.
And then Liam came into the mix.
Brian was honest with them and said his dad asked him to invite Liam, they were okay with it.
It wasn't a bad deal, if it clicked then they had a possible new friend and made Mr. Laborn happy.
If it didn't, well then they could at least say they tried and it didn't work out.
That does make him wonder if Mr. Laborn had anything to do with his current friend group…
Looking at his phone for the time, it was 5 minutes before the agreed upon time.
"Hey Matt! How are ya!"
"WAH!" Turning around, I glared at Liam.
"Don't scare me like that!"
Looking confused and abashed, he answered,
"Sorry, it wasn't my intention to scare you."
Glare slowly disappearing, I just huff and wave my hand.
"S'fine. Anyway, anything you'd like to do today?"
Grinning at me, Liam just shrugs. "Not really, you're the one who invited me and I didn't know if you had something in mind."
Cheeks reddening in embarrassment, I voiced my plan.
"Well, I was thinking of just going for a walk on the boardwalk and maybe visiting the bookshop here, maybe grab a bite later."
Putting his hands in his pockets and looking completely at ease, he smirks.
"S'fine by me, maybe stop by the sports store while we're at it."
Confused, I replied, "What you need there? New boxing gloves?"
"Nah, I want a metal bat for at home, there's been an attempted break-in at one of the apartments and I want something to defend myself."
Bleaching a bit at that, I asked, "What happened?"
Another shrug, acting completely nonchalant, but I could see something in his eyes.
"It was apparently pretty close, but the moment the robber saw the light go on in the room, they bolted. So it was probably a druggie wanting some cash but not yet gone far enough to kill or hurt someone over it."
Grimacing, I remember what kind of city I live in. That story happens far too often, but there is little that can be done about it, and the police just take your information and throw it in the trash on the way out.
Seeing my expression, Liam just gestures that he appreciates the worry but wants to leave the subject.
So we walk and talk around the boardwalk, over boxing and reading, over the bowling we did last week, over anything really.
And that is where Liam is good at, going with any topic and talking with you about it.
That isn't to say he knows everything; if he doesn't know he will just tell you and say to keep talking about it if you want to.
And that is what makes Liam fun.
Because while Brian listens, Liam listens and is interested.
So we talk, mostly about fantasy stories; he recommends stories online and I recommend books.
At the end, we ate at Fugly Bob's and were about to leave when a floating girl with her companions came in.
Glory Girl came in with her sister and Panacea and the ward Gallant.
"Come on Ames! That guy had it coming! You should know to not be aggressive in front of a cape! Should I have not stopped that fight from happening then?!"
Speaking loudly and with animated hand motions, Victoria Dallon, better known as Glory
Girl, told her sister for anyone to hear.
With an exasperated breath, her sister answered, "No Vicky, what I'm telling you was to let
Gallant handle it because he is better at defusing… which you know by the way."
With a "Hmpf," Vicky turned away from Panacea with her arms crossed.
Meanwhile, Gallant was in between them trying to ironically… defuse the situation of the sisters arguing.
"Hehe, now now Ladies, what do you guys want to eat? Today is on me, okay?"
That brought the sisters back to where they were and they saw all the people staring at them.
And as professional capes… they just ignored us and went to order.
Looking back at Liam, I saw him being really focused on the heroes; there was even a moment when his staring was so much that Gallant started looking at us.
"First time seeing New Wave and Gallant?"
Turning back towards me, a bit confused, he took a second and replied.
"Oh? Yeah, first time. Up close anyway, I've probably seen Glory Girl flying in the distance."
"Really? You live close to New Wave?"
Amused, he shrugs.
"Don't think so? I live in the nice part of the Merchants; if New Wave was close by, I would think they'd have cleaned that part up already."
"True, I didn't even know the Merchants had a nice part haha."
Joking and bantering, we left Fugly Bob's, not realizing Gallant was looking at us on the way out.
Not that much later, Liam and I parted ways and went back home.
Today was a fun day.
-William Brooks-
It's been a month since my last, and first, dungeon run.
The first thing on my to-do list was already done.
Get a metal bat.
My stats and skills are also steadily improving.
[Status]
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered/ [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 162
Body Force: 135
Money: $4525
Soul Force had the biggest increase with 53 points, and Body Force at 35 points.
My cultivation speed was steadily improving; while before 50% looked fast, I was now sitting on 130% without the movement bonus of meditation, which itself was another 12.5%.
I've also dropped training in the gym on Wednesday to do more traditional cultivation.
Technically with the Heavenly God Technique, I don't need to physically work out anymore, but the gym gives me more than just that.
For one, I'm actually learning how to fight there, plus it's basically my only social interaction I have except for the get-togethers I have with Matt and the group.
Soul Sense has also leveled up nicely.
Soul Sense Lvl. 17
The ability to sense Soul Energy outside the body.
Current distance: 51 ft
It's the skill that leveled up the most, probably because I've tried to never not have it on.
Now I shouldn't be surprise-attacked anymore by a koala-dropping ghoul.
Soul Reinforcement is another skill I focused a lot of my time on; this one was harder to level because it still requires some amount of focus, but I suspect that another week and I can go back into the dungeon again with this skill a useable part of my arsenal.
Not to say that it doesn't already give a considerable boost.
Soul Reinforcement Lvl. 11
The use of Soul Force and reinforcing your body with it, a must for every Cultivator.
Adds 11% of Soul Force towards Body Force while in use.
Right now that's an extra 16 points to my Body Force making me technically halfway into Bronze Star-2 of the Fighter Rank.
Which doesn't sound like a lot, but with good technique that bit can add a massive difference.
Or
You could use the force multiplier known as 'baseball bat'.
With all that, Soul Manipulation is going up bit by bit in the background, sitting at Lvl. 29.
I think it's high enough to try some techniques I've known from the story Tales of Demons and Gods where the base of my power came from, like the Secret Soul Techniques.
I'll probably need to practice on zombies first before I use it in the real world though. After all, Shen Yue used it to overpower Nie Li in the beginning of the story and was worried he would actually try and kill him.
My Soul Realm is much stronger and I'm in a world where nobody even has Soul Force or barely anything, because I could still sense them with Soul Sense.
Other than that, it's maybe a good time to start seriously researching this city and its power players.
So, getting a pen and paper, I use my phone to research my city.
The results were… worrying.
First, the Merchants. So far I found they are just a group of drug dealers backed by a few capes.
Skidmark isn't that dangerous by himself for me; his power basically lets him deflect things weakly. And while it theoretically could be stacked to increase the force it deflects back, he hasn't shown any sign of doing that the last few years.
He's basically as dangerous as a normal guy, but probably with a gun.
Squealer is a tragic tale, or maybe a fortunate one in a tragic setting, because the moment people hear of a tinker they try everything to snatch them up.
Because while the Merchants are bad, they are infinitely better to be under than the Nazi regime if you don't believe in it, or Lung's tyrannical rule.
Still, if I can get her out of that situation, then I will.
Then we have Mush, which I almost have pity for.
To have the power to become a trash monster is at the same time a lucky pick in this city, but besides being a Case 53, one of the worst powers you can have.
Useful, but disgusting.
As for Trainwreck and Scrub, so far I can remember they only join the Merchants after the Leviathan attack.
The other powers in this city are much more powerful and numerous, both in capes and gang members.
So much research that after 30 minutes, my head actually starts to hurt.
Research done for today, both because I'm tired, and because I'm disturbed.
Putting on the TV for some background noise, I go to the kitchen to make myself some tea.
Waiting for the water to boil, I hear the TV suddenly change from the program it was on.
Going back to look, my face pales and my mouth opens in shock for a second before a guilty sigh of relief comes over me.
In big black letters with a red background, four words flash on the screen.
ENDBRINGER ALERT IN MADISON!
I completely forgot about the Simurgh attack in Madison.
The attack that would bring The Travelers to Earth-B and make them Simurgh Bombs at the same time, and create another S-Class threat in Noelle's power.
Watching the news, one brave or suicidal reporter is standing at the meeting place of all the capes that is rapidly filling up.
But despite all that I can see, and the knowledge that thousands of people will die and millions will be ruined,
One question keeps coming back to the front of my mind.
Could I have prevented this?
AN: This chapter was a rollercoaster for me. At first I thought meeting between Matt and Liam was a good opportunity for an interlude, to see if I could do a good job with it or not.
Do tell me if I did btw, does he feel different from Liam's thoughts? I think he does.
I also tried to write the conversation differently; did you guys like it? Or should I go back to how I wrote them before?
Then we came to the downhill part, Liam's POV was tough—not it being him per se, but more of what the fuck am I going to make him do that is helpful but not the same thing as I did before.
So I made him do research that I realized halfway would be a massive info dump and had to change it to something else. This is where the Endbringer comes in, Simurgh right before Christmas.
I even have a reason why Liam doesn't think or talk about the holidays. That I had totally planned beforehand…
PS. Also, it's my birthday!
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Gamer of Capes and Worms 7
New
Slycerr
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
- 30
- Likes received
- 343
I watched the news about Madison and the Simurgh until I was too tired to stay awake.
When I woke up, I read the news online, the cape dead rate was at a 52% rate.
And they say it's one of the better fights they had.
Scion even showed up fairly early in the fight, and this was still considered good…
It put things in perspective, and it also made me realize something.
That I couldn't have changed anything, or at least not in the long run.
So what if I told them, if I even found a way to contact Cauldron and changed what happened to Madison.
Best case scenario, the Simurgh was killed, and then the next Endbringer came next in line.
One I knew even less about, where no tactics were made for, and where my knowledge would do nothing against.
Hell, I don't even know if I'm a blind spot or not, I assume so because I haven't had a visit from Hat Lady yet, but it could just be that the Path says it isn't time yet.
The only thing that would change anything was strength, which I had almost nothing of right now.
So with a new intensity, I trained and cultivated.
I made a notebook and wrote all that I could remember from Worm, something I should've done a long time ago and I can't help but curse at myself for getting excited with the chance of powers and probably already having forgotten information that could have helped.
I also looked around for some tear-resistant clothes, the closest thing I could find in a week?
Jeans.
Not the pants, but the material itself is generally very tear-resistant, so I bought a jacket and pants that did cost a pretty penny.
Other than that, I bought biker padding and a helmet to absorb some blows, and I should be set defensively.
Normally I wouldn't bother with a helmet because of visibility, but with Soul Sense that wasn't a worry.
Being ready for the place, I went into the Undead Realm with three goals in mind.
Try to use my Soul Force more offensively. Get more combat experience and finally,
make money.
…
A man's gotta eat, okay…
Going down the apartment like I did the first two times, I saw my first victim.
The zombie had no idea it was going to become a test subject.
To be fair, I don't think it has an idea of anything…
Stopping about 15 ft away from it with the zombie having its back to me.
I readied my soul force, and instead of keeping it contained I pushed it out towards the undead with the mental image of surrounding and crushing it.
The effect was immediate.
It didn't pop or really fall to the ground. It was more like its strings were cut and it fell limp.
[You have slain a zombie!]
[$5 added to your bank account.]
[Skill Created! 'Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive)' Unlocked!]
Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive) Lvl. 1
Standard Soul techniques that every Demon Spiritualist should know.
This Skill only has Attacking Techniques.
That was... very easy, I even got a skill out of it which I wasn't expecting.
I mean, I'll take it. But my feelings are mixed on it.
Looking at my reserves, I see that that attack did take a chunk out of it. I did use my full power on it, so maybe that's what I should be working on.
So that's what I did, the next dozen zombies were to see how much pressure it took.
To kill one zombie took about 30% of the current maximum pressure, and about 15% for them to basically stand still and pummel them with my bat.
I also noticed that if they were bunched together it was easier on my reserves, but the pressure needed to be a bit higher so it evened out.
Two different directions was doable but strenuous, three was next to impossible currently.
The gains made the headache I got from it worth it though.
[Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive) level increased!]
[Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive) level increased!]
[Soul Manipulation level increased!]
[Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive) level increased!]
[Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive) level increased!]
[Soul Manipulation level increased!]
[Soul Sense Level Increased!]
The Secret Soul Techniques levelled the most of course.
Soul Manipulation is as steady as ever and Soul Sense broke Lvl 20.
Looking at my reserves, I see I only have half left.
Deciding to find an open area and finding myself on the street, I sit down, put my bat beside me, and cultivate to regain some Soul Energy.
This way I shouldn't be ambushed by anything from above again.
And it's a good thing I did, because in my sensing range something came at me pretty fast.
Opening my eyes, 7 ft from me, a ghoul was just about to jump me.
Rolling to the side, I was right on time because I could feel the ghoul's claws scrape against my back.
Looking at the creature, I used all the soul pressure I had and saw it buckle, but not fall.
Reaching for the bat, I was shocked when I felt the ghoul still move towards me.
Admittedly at a much slower speed, but moving all the same.
Readying myself for another jump and to hit it with my full force.
I was rewarded with the ghoul going straight for my face.
Anticipating the distance, I swung with all my might plus Soul Reinforcement and crushed its skull as it fell on the ground.
[You have slain a ghoul!]
[$68 added to your bank account.]
[You have gained 1 Healing Pill.]
Looking at the indented head of the ghoul, I can't help but wonder if it's normal that the sight of something so gruesome shouldn't make me puke, the change seems too fast.
But sadly, I can't afford to look a gift horse in the mouth. If something so disgusting doesn't make me flinch, then little will.
Which is a good thing, sadly. One day I hope to kill the Slaughterhouse 9, and Bonesaw's creations will probably still test me.
Thinking over my last few fights, I have a feeling it wouldn't take so long anymore when I can finish this floor.
Just when I finished this thought, a pop-up came up.
[Received a Quest]*
[Received a Quest]*
Quest: First clear!
Clear the Undeath Realm.
Reward: [Item]
Accept Quest: Yes/No
Quest: Kill your First Boss!
Kill enough monsters for the Boss to spawn, and kill it.
Reward: [Skill]
Accept Quest: Yes/No
Clicking yes to both quests, I went a bit up the street to regain my Soul Reserves, this time I kept standing.
I won that fight with the ghoul, but sitting down to be more comfortable was a habit that made that fight harder than it needed to be.
After filling my reserves back up, I just kept walking and killing zombies as that appeared to be the only way to summon ghouls.
It took 5 more ghouls for the difficulty to increase again.
Because this time it wasn't a singular one that found me.
Seeing 2 run towards me, I already knew this was going to be a pain in the ass.
Instead of using my Soul Pressure on both of the ghouls, I only used it on one of them, making them stagger and not double team me.
Then, I did my now signature head smash.
Sadly, this was the first time I got unlucky and anticipated distance wrong, so instead of the head I hit its shoulder.
This made it still combatable, but one of its arms was useless now.
Switching the targets for the Soul Pressure, I put my focus on the second one coming for a bite of me.
This time, I didn't miss, and crushed its head. And feeling the injured one coming towards my back, I dashed towards the side as I saw the ghoul fly next to me.
When it lands, I'm already on it and hit its neck, making it go down again.
I step on it to keep it down and pummel its skull with all my might.
Only when the pop-up comes do I stop.
[You have slain a ghoul! 2x]
[$68 added to your bank account.]
[$77 added to your bank account.]
[You have gained 1 Healing Pill.]
[You have gained 2 Healing Pills.]
[Soul Reinforcement level increased!]
That fight went fairly well, staggering them made the fight much easier than it otherwise would be, I took a serious hit to my reserves but that's better than it being on my body I would say.
I am getting tired though, so I think I'm going to leave it at this and come back tomorrow.
[Do you wish to leave the Undeath Realm? Yes/No]
Clicking 'Yes' I appear back in my apartment, I put my bat and knife to the side and take off my gear.
Looking at my jacket, I see that while it wasn't a full tear, the place where the ghoul hit me does look a bit rough. If I didn't put that on it would've gone right through my clothing and probably injured me.
Thanking my preparation, I put everything away and go shower.
After it, I cultivate for an hour or two and go to bed.
The next day I skip training in the gym and cultivate for half a day before going back in the Undead Realm.
This I do until Thursday and I get quite a bit of cash, my cultivation is a bit slower, but from this month I need to pay myself for the apartment and necessities.
[Status]
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered / [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 176
Body Force: 141
Money: $6356
I made about 2000 dollars in 4 days, making expenses for this month paid for.
Every time I fought multiple ghouls though, I stopped directly after because it was still too tiring on me and my Soul Energy.
But yesterday something changed.
Meditation leveled up to Lvl. 25.
Meditation Lvl. 25
Meditation is all about connection with something, from everything to yourself or the world around you.
Or in this case, your Soul.
Increase Soul Force gain by 25%.
While in movement and meditative state, increase Soul Force gain by 12.5%.
Can enter meditative state anytime.
I can now be always in a meditative state.
This not only makes it so I can get 25% more gain on my Soul Force, which just refills my reserves when they're not full,
it also gives me a constant state of calm and peace that I sorely needed these last few days.
Because not a few days have passed since Christmas.
A holiday you're supposed to spend with family…
Family that isn't here…
Shaking my head to get away from those thoughts, I focus back on what this means in battle.
This means that I now have to worry less about Soul Force use and don't have to meditate after every fight.
So joining the Undeath Realm, I murder my way until groups of ghouls come.
At this point they aren't even that difficult anymore.
They always jump to attack and never defend themselves, making them almost trivial.
The only difficulty is making sure only one of them attacks at a time, which requires a bit of improvisation with the Secret Soul Techniques.
It did give quite a few levels to it and Soul Manipulation when I figured out how to do two different amounts of pressure on different targets.
I took down three groups of three that way before a notification appeared in front of me.
[The Boss has appeared, and it's coming for you.]
It didn't even take five seconds before I heard a scream that made my body freeze for a second.
Immediately after, something came into my Soul Sense range from the side, and if I didn't duck to the front, it would have taken me to the ground.
Rolling and getting up as fast as I could, I look at it with wide eyes.
It was on all fours like all ghouls, but instead of the bony frame, it had a lot more muscles.
Its claws were also much longer and had a reddish-black tint to them.
Those were the only things I could observe before it yelled again and my body froze.
Seeing it sprint at me, I used my full Soul Pressure on it, and it barely slowed down.
It was just slow enough that I could roll back and kick it in its stomach when it flew over me.
Standing back up, I turned to the creature and saw its many teeth that were in a permanent smile.
Getting in my stance, I waited for it to come to me.
Seeing it running and jumping to attack me, I couldn't help but smile a bit.
Turning to smash its head in, it did something that I have seen no monster do yet.
It blocked.
With its arm, it blocked the strike and was on top of me.
Then it started tearing at my arms and biting my helmet.
Taking the kitchen knife out of my belt, I started stabbing its belly and tried to get it off me.
After what felt like an eternity, it finally jumped off me.
Scrambling back up, I saw it holding its stomach with the arm I hit with my bat.
Quickly taking out a healing pill from my pocket, I popped it into my mouth before really looking at my injuries.
I couldn't afford to have my attention away from the muscled undead.
Feeling more tired than I have ever been, I tried something desperate.
Instead of using pressure, I sharpened my Soul Energy and shot it towards the ghoul.
Suddenly it's holding its head, and without thinking, I sprint over towards it to stab it to death.
Getting on top of it, it seems to snap out of it, going back to trying to cut me with its claws and trying to bite me in the shoulder instead of my head.
But I have the advantageous position and stab it from under its jaw, turning it like I'm training to make a brain slushie.
After an uncomfortable amount of time, it slowly goes limp, and I get a notification that is followed by even more of them.
What also appears suddenly is a chest that comes straight from a fantasy game about 5ft away from me.
…
I did not scream or yelp when it appeared. Anyone who says so is a lying liar who only lies.
…
Anyway, I first looked at the notifications.
[You have slain a Nightmarish Ghoul!]
[$756 added to your bank account.]
[You have gained the 'Nightmare Ghoul' Demon Spirit.]
[Secret Soul Techniques has leveled up! 3x.]
[Soul Manipulation has leveled up! 3x.]
[Soul Reinforcement has leveled up! 2x.]
The pearl appeared next to the body; it had this black and red pattern to it that just screamed EVIL at you.
Looking at the other notifications, they were about my completed quests.
Quest: First clear!
Clear the Undeath Realm.
Reward: [Item]
Accept Reward: Yes/No
Quest: Kill your First Boss!
Kill enough monsters for the Boss to spawn, and kill it.
Reward: [Skill]
Accept Reward: Yes/No
Clicking yes to both, a book and a ring appear in my hands.
Seeing the ring, my eyes widen and an uncontrollable grin appears on my face.
Immediately putting the ring on my finger, a notification pops up and my face begins to hurt from how hard I'm smiling.
[Spatial Ring equipped.]
[Inventory Unlocked.]
[Current Inventory: 5m³.]
Putting in some Soul Energy in the ring, an empty space appears in my mind.
Picking a Healing Pill, I will it into my inventory, and it disappears from my hand into the space.
Quickly pulling everything into it, I can now be ready to fight anytime.
Looking for the Skill book, I realize that in my excitement for my inventory I also put it into it.
Taking it out, the screen to learn it appears.
[Do you wish to learn the Skill [Inscriptions: Enchanting]? Yes/No.]
Oh damn, that could massively increase my combat potential.
Also, looking at my gear, it wouldn't be amiss for the next set to be tougher.
Clicking yes, knowledge enters my mind.
[Skill Created! 'Inscriptions: Enchanting' Unlocked!]
Inscriptions: Enchanting Lvl 1
The art of inscribing something is as old as time itself. At the same time, this means the possibilities are also endless.
It's on you to find them.
Enchanting is weird. It's a language, but not.
It's a weird combination of a language like Chinese or Japanese, with different combinations of symbols meaning different things, but with a lot of math.
And between all the confusion, there is a strange amount of sense in it.
Determined to try it out later, I go to the chest that appeared.
Opening it up, there isn't a lot in it, but what's in it is great.
There is a pill bottle with 3 pills in it, some money, and another Skill book.
Taking the Skill book, it asks me if I want to learn it:
[Do you wish to learn the Skill [Divine Streaming]? Yes/No.]
Confused, because I can't remember this one, and it isn't obvious at what it does at first glance, I click yes.
[Skill Created! 'Divine Streaming' Unlocked!]
Divine Streaming Lvl. 1
The perfect escape technique, turning yourself into light and increasing your speed to match.
But this skill isn't about how fast you can be, but about how good you are at being fast.
The fuck?
AN: 150 watchers?! you guys are awesome, I'm honeslty kind of shocked we got there that fast.
As for the spacing problem in the chapters, I honeslty don't know how to completly fix it, copy/paste does weird things to it. And while I fixed it a little bit, some just refuse to be fixed or need to be deleted, which I'm hesitant to do.
Anyway, I'm grateful to all that read my story and comment on it. And they do help btw, some discussion about the story is always welcomed, I write from chapter to chapter, so any ideas or changes you'd like could actually appear in the story.
This isn't a guarantee that they will be implemented though, but I will listen at least.
When I woke up, I read the news online, the cape dead rate was at a 52% rate.
And they say it's one of the better fights they had.
Scion even showed up fairly early in the fight, and this was still considered good…
It put things in perspective, and it also made me realize something.
That I couldn't have changed anything, or at least not in the long run.
So what if I told them, if I even found a way to contact Cauldron and changed what happened to Madison.
Best case scenario, the Simurgh was killed, and then the next Endbringer came next in line.
One I knew even less about, where no tactics were made for, and where my knowledge would do nothing against.
Hell, I don't even know if I'm a blind spot or not, I assume so because I haven't had a visit from Hat Lady yet, but it could just be that the Path says it isn't time yet.
The only thing that would change anything was strength, which I had almost nothing of right now.
So with a new intensity, I trained and cultivated.
I made a notebook and wrote all that I could remember from Worm, something I should've done a long time ago and I can't help but curse at myself for getting excited with the chance of powers and probably already having forgotten information that could have helped.
I also looked around for some tear-resistant clothes, the closest thing I could find in a week?
Jeans.
Not the pants, but the material itself is generally very tear-resistant, so I bought a jacket and pants that did cost a pretty penny.
Other than that, I bought biker padding and a helmet to absorb some blows, and I should be set defensively.
Normally I wouldn't bother with a helmet because of visibility, but with Soul Sense that wasn't a worry.
Being ready for the place, I went into the Undead Realm with three goals in mind.
Try to use my Soul Force more offensively. Get more combat experience and finally,
make money.
…
A man's gotta eat, okay…
Going down the apartment like I did the first two times, I saw my first victim.
The zombie had no idea it was going to become a test subject.
To be fair, I don't think it has an idea of anything…
Stopping about 15 ft away from it with the zombie having its back to me.
I readied my soul force, and instead of keeping it contained I pushed it out towards the undead with the mental image of surrounding and crushing it.
The effect was immediate.
It didn't pop or really fall to the ground. It was more like its strings were cut and it fell limp.
[You have slain a zombie!]
[$5 added to your bank account.]
[Skill Created! 'Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive)' Unlocked!]
Standard Soul techniques that every Demon Spiritualist should know.
This Skill only has Attacking Techniques.
That was... very easy, I even got a skill out of it which I wasn't expecting.
I mean, I'll take it. But my feelings are mixed on it.
Looking at my reserves, I see that that attack did take a chunk out of it. I did use my full power on it, so maybe that's what I should be working on.
So that's what I did, the next dozen zombies were to see how much pressure it took.
To kill one zombie took about 30% of the current maximum pressure, and about 15% for them to basically stand still and pummel them with my bat.
I also noticed that if they were bunched together it was easier on my reserves, but the pressure needed to be a bit higher so it evened out.
Two different directions was doable but strenuous, three was next to impossible currently.
The gains made the headache I got from it worth it though.
[Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive) level increased!]
[Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive) level increased!]
[Soul Manipulation level increased!]
[Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive) level increased!]
[Secret Soul Techniques (Offensive) level increased!]
[Soul Manipulation level increased!]
[Soul Sense Level Increased!]
The Secret Soul Techniques levelled the most of course.
Soul Manipulation is as steady as ever and Soul Sense broke Lvl 20.
Looking at my reserves, I see I only have half left.
Deciding to find an open area and finding myself on the street, I sit down, put my bat beside me, and cultivate to regain some Soul Energy.
This way I shouldn't be ambushed by anything from above again.
And it's a good thing I did, because in my sensing range something came at me pretty fast.
Opening my eyes, 7 ft from me, a ghoul was just about to jump me.
Rolling to the side, I was right on time because I could feel the ghoul's claws scrape against my back.
Looking at the creature, I used all the soul pressure I had and saw it buckle, but not fall.
Reaching for the bat, I was shocked when I felt the ghoul still move towards me.
Admittedly at a much slower speed, but moving all the same.
Readying myself for another jump and to hit it with my full force.
I was rewarded with the ghoul going straight for my face.
Anticipating the distance, I swung with all my might plus Soul Reinforcement and crushed its skull as it fell on the ground.
[You have slain a ghoul!]
[$68 added to your bank account.]
[You have gained 1 Healing Pill.]
Looking at the indented head of the ghoul, I can't help but wonder if it's normal that the sight of something so gruesome shouldn't make me puke, the change seems too fast.
But sadly, I can't afford to look a gift horse in the mouth. If something so disgusting doesn't make me flinch, then little will.
Which is a good thing, sadly. One day I hope to kill the Slaughterhouse 9, and Bonesaw's creations will probably still test me.
Thinking over my last few fights, I have a feeling it wouldn't take so long anymore when I can finish this floor.
Just when I finished this thought, a pop-up came up.
[Received a Quest]*
[Received a Quest]*
Quest: First clear!
Clear the Undeath Realm.
Reward: [Item]
Accept Quest: Yes/No
Quest: Kill your First Boss!
Kill enough monsters for the Boss to spawn, and kill it.
Reward: [Skill]
Accept Quest: Yes/No
Clicking yes to both quests, I went a bit up the street to regain my Soul Reserves, this time I kept standing.
I won that fight with the ghoul, but sitting down to be more comfortable was a habit that made that fight harder than it needed to be.
After filling my reserves back up, I just kept walking and killing zombies as that appeared to be the only way to summon ghouls.
It took 5 more ghouls for the difficulty to increase again.
Because this time it wasn't a singular one that found me.
Seeing 2 run towards me, I already knew this was going to be a pain in the ass.
Instead of using my Soul Pressure on both of the ghouls, I only used it on one of them, making them stagger and not double team me.
Then, I did my now signature head smash.
Sadly, this was the first time I got unlucky and anticipated distance wrong, so instead of the head I hit its shoulder.
This made it still combatable, but one of its arms was useless now.
Switching the targets for the Soul Pressure, I put my focus on the second one coming for a bite of me.
This time, I didn't miss, and crushed its head. And feeling the injured one coming towards my back, I dashed towards the side as I saw the ghoul fly next to me.
When it lands, I'm already on it and hit its neck, making it go down again.
I step on it to keep it down and pummel its skull with all my might.
Only when the pop-up comes do I stop.
[You have slain a ghoul! 2x]
[$68 added to your bank account.]
[$77 added to your bank account.]
[You have gained 1 Healing Pill.]
[You have gained 2 Healing Pills.]
[Soul Reinforcement level increased!]
That fight went fairly well, staggering them made the fight much easier than it otherwise would be, I took a serious hit to my reserves but that's better than it being on my body I would say.
I am getting tired though, so I think I'm going to leave it at this and come back tomorrow.
[Do you wish to leave the Undeath Realm? Yes/No]
Clicking 'Yes' I appear back in my apartment, I put my bat and knife to the side and take off my gear.
Looking at my jacket, I see that while it wasn't a full tear, the place where the ghoul hit me does look a bit rough. If I didn't put that on it would've gone right through my clothing and probably injured me.
Thanking my preparation, I put everything away and go shower.
After it, I cultivate for an hour or two and go to bed.
The next day I skip training in the gym and cultivate for half a day before going back in the Undead Realm.
This I do until Thursday and I get quite a bit of cash, my cultivation is a bit slower, but from this month I need to pay myself for the apartment and necessities.
[Status]
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered / [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 176
Body Force: 141
Money: $6356
I made about 2000 dollars in 4 days, making expenses for this month paid for.
Every time I fought multiple ghouls though, I stopped directly after because it was still too tiring on me and my Soul Energy.
But yesterday something changed.
Meditation leveled up to Lvl. 25.
Meditation Lvl. 25
Meditation is all about connection with something, from everything to yourself or the world around you.
Or in this case, your Soul.
Increase Soul Force gain by 25%.
While in movement and meditative state, increase Soul Force gain by 12.5%.
Can enter meditative state anytime.
I can now be always in a meditative state.
This not only makes it so I can get 25% more gain on my Soul Force, which just refills my reserves when they're not full,
it also gives me a constant state of calm and peace that I sorely needed these last few days.
Because not a few days have passed since Christmas.
A holiday you're supposed to spend with family…
Family that isn't here…
Shaking my head to get away from those thoughts, I focus back on what this means in battle.
This means that I now have to worry less about Soul Force use and don't have to meditate after every fight.
So joining the Undeath Realm, I murder my way until groups of ghouls come.
At this point they aren't even that difficult anymore.
They always jump to attack and never defend themselves, making them almost trivial.
The only difficulty is making sure only one of them attacks at a time, which requires a bit of improvisation with the Secret Soul Techniques.
It did give quite a few levels to it and Soul Manipulation when I figured out how to do two different amounts of pressure on different targets.
I took down three groups of three that way before a notification appeared in front of me.
[The Boss has appeared, and it's coming for you.]
It didn't even take five seconds before I heard a scream that made my body freeze for a second.
Immediately after, something came into my Soul Sense range from the side, and if I didn't duck to the front, it would have taken me to the ground.
Rolling and getting up as fast as I could, I look at it with wide eyes.
It was on all fours like all ghouls, but instead of the bony frame, it had a lot more muscles.
Its claws were also much longer and had a reddish-black tint to them.
Those were the only things I could observe before it yelled again and my body froze.
Seeing it sprint at me, I used my full Soul Pressure on it, and it barely slowed down.
It was just slow enough that I could roll back and kick it in its stomach when it flew over me.
Standing back up, I turned to the creature and saw its many teeth that were in a permanent smile.
Getting in my stance, I waited for it to come to me.
Seeing it running and jumping to attack me, I couldn't help but smile a bit.
Turning to smash its head in, it did something that I have seen no monster do yet.
It blocked.
With its arm, it blocked the strike and was on top of me.
Then it started tearing at my arms and biting my helmet.
Taking the kitchen knife out of my belt, I started stabbing its belly and tried to get it off me.
After what felt like an eternity, it finally jumped off me.
Scrambling back up, I saw it holding its stomach with the arm I hit with my bat.
Quickly taking out a healing pill from my pocket, I popped it into my mouth before really looking at my injuries.
I couldn't afford to have my attention away from the muscled undead.
Feeling more tired than I have ever been, I tried something desperate.
Instead of using pressure, I sharpened my Soul Energy and shot it towards the ghoul.
Suddenly it's holding its head, and without thinking, I sprint over towards it to stab it to death.
Getting on top of it, it seems to snap out of it, going back to trying to cut me with its claws and trying to bite me in the shoulder instead of my head.
But I have the advantageous position and stab it from under its jaw, turning it like I'm training to make a brain slushie.
After an uncomfortable amount of time, it slowly goes limp, and I get a notification that is followed by even more of them.
What also appears suddenly is a chest that comes straight from a fantasy game about 5ft away from me.
…
I did not scream or yelp when it appeared. Anyone who says so is a lying liar who only lies.
…
Anyway, I first looked at the notifications.
[You have slain a Nightmarish Ghoul!]
[$756 added to your bank account.]
[You have gained the 'Nightmare Ghoul' Demon Spirit.]
[Secret Soul Techniques has leveled up! 3x.]
[Soul Manipulation has leveled up! 3x.]
[Soul Reinforcement has leveled up! 2x.]
The pearl appeared next to the body; it had this black and red pattern to it that just screamed EVIL at you.
Looking at the other notifications, they were about my completed quests.
Quest: First clear!
Clear the Undeath Realm.
Reward: [Item]
Accept Reward: Yes/No
Quest: Kill your First Boss!
Kill enough monsters for the Boss to spawn, and kill it.
Reward: [Skill]
Accept Reward: Yes/No
Clicking yes to both, a book and a ring appear in my hands.
Seeing the ring, my eyes widen and an uncontrollable grin appears on my face.
Immediately putting the ring on my finger, a notification pops up and my face begins to hurt from how hard I'm smiling.
[Spatial Ring equipped.]
[Inventory Unlocked.]
[Current Inventory: 5m³.]
Putting in some Soul Energy in the ring, an empty space appears in my mind.
Picking a Healing Pill, I will it into my inventory, and it disappears from my hand into the space.
Quickly pulling everything into it, I can now be ready to fight anytime.
Looking for the Skill book, I realize that in my excitement for my inventory I also put it into it.
Taking it out, the screen to learn it appears.
[Do you wish to learn the Skill [Inscriptions: Enchanting]? Yes/No.]
Oh damn, that could massively increase my combat potential.
Also, looking at my gear, it wouldn't be amiss for the next set to be tougher.
Clicking yes, knowledge enters my mind.
[Skill Created! 'Inscriptions: Enchanting' Unlocked!]
Inscriptions: Enchanting Lvl 1
The art of inscribing something is as old as time itself. At the same time, this means the possibilities are also endless.
It's on you to find them.
Enchanting is weird. It's a language, but not.
It's a weird combination of a language like Chinese or Japanese, with different combinations of symbols meaning different things, but with a lot of math.
And between all the confusion, there is a strange amount of sense in it.
Determined to try it out later, I go to the chest that appeared.
Opening it up, there isn't a lot in it, but what's in it is great.
There is a pill bottle with 3 pills in it, some money, and another Skill book.
Taking the Skill book, it asks me if I want to learn it:
[Do you wish to learn the Skill [Divine Streaming]? Yes/No.]
Confused, because I can't remember this one, and it isn't obvious at what it does at first glance, I click yes.
[Skill Created! 'Divine Streaming' Unlocked!]
Divine Streaming Lvl. 1
The perfect escape technique, turning yourself into light and increasing your speed to match.
But this skill isn't about how fast you can be, but about how good you are at being fast.
The fuck?
AN: 150 watchers?! you guys are awesome, I'm honeslty kind of shocked we got there that fast.
As for the spacing problem in the chapters, I honeslty don't know how to completly fix it, copy/paste does weird things to it. And while I fixed it a little bit, some just refuse to be fixed or need to be deleted, which I'm hesitant to do.
Anyway, I'm grateful to all that read my story and comment on it. And they do help btw, some discussion about the story is always welcomed, I write from chapter to chapter, so any ideas or changes you'd like could actually appear in the story.
This isn't a guarantee that they will be implemented though, but I will listen at least.
Last edited:
Gamer of Capes and Worms 8
New
Slycerr
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
- 30
- Likes received
- 343
Sitting in my kitchen, I look at the screen that dumbfounded me.
Divine Streaming
The perfect escape technique, turning yourself into light and increasing your speed to match.
But this skill isn't about how fast you can be, but about how good you are at being fast.
This skill shouldn't have been given this early, moving at the speed of light is insane no matter what you think.
So I tested it, and I found my answer.
Divine Streaming is fucking expensive. Like taking half of my reserves after one use kind of expensive.
But considering it is basically teleportation, maybe it isn't. But I get why it's called an escape technique instead of a movement one.
Doesn't mean I'm not going to try and make it one eventually. I could probably do it if my
Soul Manipulation is high enough.
But the skill isn't, ironically, the thing my mind is on.
No, those are for the pill bottle in front of me.
Cultivation Pills
Speeds up the cultivation speed by 2.5x
Heavenly God Bonus: cultivation speed is 5x
Duration: 12h
If I take last month as a base, which was around 30 points in Soul Force, I'd get 150 Soul
Force every month if I had enough of them.
With Heavenly God I'd also get a fourth of that in Body Force, which is a better return than going to the boxing gym 3 times a week.
The catch is that I need to clear the Undead Realm every time to get it.
And with how the fight with the Nightmarish Ghoul went, I don't think the current me can defeat it every time.
My gear will certainly not survive it.
The jean jacket is destroyed, together with the armor underneath it. My metal bat is also slightly dented, so I don't know how long that's gonna hold up.
I could bring my axe now with me because of the inventory I got.
I think that made me feel the most like a gamer. It's also a pretty funny pastime if I'm bored, putting things in and pulling things out of it.
Sadly, I'd still need to be able to physically lift it to put it in there, but considering my future growth speed I'm not too fussed about it.
But back to the cultivation pills. I need as many as I can get my hands on, but with the gear I have now, I can't be certain I'll survive getting them.
Which means to me, that I need new gear, new protection.
That brought the idea of getting a costume and enchanting it.
And that's the crux of the matter—where do I get one and how will I enchant it?
I need a Soul Energy rich liquid to enchant.
And the only available liquid that meets those criteria is my blood.
Which is grim if you ask me.
So now I was thinking I should focus on cultivation or try and make some inscriptions for potential outfits.
Wait, Liam, you're being stupid. You first need a costume before you can enchant it.
Where to get the costume though?
My first thought was Parian, but I don't know if she does commissions. A quick Google says that no, she doesn't do cape costumes.
She does do normal ones though, so maybe I can convince her if she knows I can enchant clothes.
A cloth-based cape would be interested in that, right?
She only takes requests from PHO though, so I made an account and sent a message.
But not to Parian, because I need to do something very important before that.
I need to verify that I'm a cape to the dragon lady herself.
♦ Private message from YoungMaster69:
YoungMaster69:
Dear TinMother,
I wanted to ask you if you could verify I'm a cape on PHO.
The video of me using my power is attached to this message.
Kind regards,
Unnamed Cape
The video I made was of me using my inventory. I thought it was the easiest to show from my power, except turning into light or showing her the IR Create/Destroy skill.
Not even 5 minutes later, I got a reply.
♦ Private message from TinMother:
TinMother:
Dear YoungMaster69,
Your request, after checking for any tampering of the video, is accepted.
I would advise you to contact the nearest PRT for help, as statistically solo capes sadly don't last long.
I hope you stay safe.
Kind regards,
TinMother
That was quick, or was that slow? With Dragon, you can't really tell.
Having the credentials will hopefully help my attempt with Parian.
♦ Private message from YoungMaster69:
YoungMaster69:
Hello Parian,
I want to commission a costume with you, a cape costume preferably.
And while I know you do not do those, I think my power of enchanting clothes would interest you enough to at least open a conversation with you.
Kind regards,
Unnamed cape
Message sent, I now need to choose between making some inscription designs or cultivating.
I know cultivating would be the smarter choice, but the inscriptions are like a puzzle right in front of me, begging to be solved.
Taking a pen and paper, I create an inscription.
The Skill gave me knowledge, characters I could combine into shapes to create effects. I'm certain that the few dozens of characters are just the beginning.
Combining the characters or patterns felt easy, my mind coming up with different solutions to create something greater than its parts.
They're all theoretical now of course, but I've got a good feeling about most of the ones I've made.
Looking at the clock, I see it's already an hour later.
Making some food, I go back to the drawing table until it's late in the night.
Realizing that I need to go to bed or ruin my sleep schedule, I take one quick look at my PHO and see that Parian has sent me back a message.
♦ Private message from Parian:
Parian:
YoungMaster69,
I'm sorry to say that I will not go into collaboration with you, no matter how interesting your power would work with mine.
As for cape costumes, those are primarily made with armored or military-grade materials, which I don't have access to.
So even if I wanted to make cape outfits, I don't have the materials for them.
If you still wish for something, I'd be happy to make it for you and continue to work together on something not involving powers.
Kind regards,
Parian
Disappointed, I close my messages.
This wasn't unexpected, if the reasons she gave were true or not, I wouldn't know. But Parian in the stories from my world was always known to be skittish about other capes.
That she didn't immediately block me was a good sign that she wasn't unreasonable.
I could still commission a costume from her, but it just wouldn't be as durable as I had hoped.
Going to sleep with disappointment wasn't what I had hoped to end such an eventful day, but I guess you can't choose what life throws at you, just how you take it.
Going to sleep, I think about what I can do tomorrow.
The next day is a Friday, which I decide was not another day I was going to skip the gym.
Power-wise, it probably would be better to just completely stop going, but mental health-wise it was a good idea to keep going, I thought.
I did buy a pretty expensive fountain pen to write with my blood for inscriptions.
…
That's a pretty morbid sentence…
Who am I? Heir of Slytherin?
Opening the door from the gym, I see it's fairly quiet for a Friday.
Going into the locker room, I unexpectedly find Brian getting ready.
"Sup Brian, how ya doing?"
He snaps his neck towards me, surprising me.
"Liam!" he exclaims. "I was about to call you to see if everything was fine. You haven't been to the gym and my dad was getting worried."
Looking at him a bit weird, I answer him "Yeah, I just had something come up, why wouldn't something be fine?"
Looking at me exasperated, he explains, "The guy that comes regularly, at the same time for 5 months, comes to the gym to train like death is coming for him, suddenly doesn't come with no notice… and you ask why my dad would be worried?"
Scratching the back of my head in embarrassment, "Well, if you say it like that…"
Giving me a dead stare, he suddenly turns serious and asks, "Are you in trouble?"
Now bewildered, I can't help but question him in turn. "Wait what? Why would I be in trouble?"
At that, he just says one sentence.
"This is Brockton Bay."
Pointing my finger up, wanting to disabuse the notion, I come up short and just slowly lower my hand.
"Point." I say.
He just nods, but asks me again. "So, are you in trouble?" with a serious look on his face.
And I realize, that if I had a problem with some gangster, the chance they would be attacked by Grue in the future isn't zero.
Luckily, this isn't the case.
"Nah man, I've just been studying for my GED. I don't go to school." I answer.
Blinking, I can clearly see on his face he didn't expect that.
"I didn't know that you were homeschooled…"
Shrugging, I just say, "Didn't come up in conversation, also don't really like to talk about schooling in general."
Now he's the one with his finger up and pointing, but not coming up with anything to say except "Point."
Conversation becomes more normal after that and we start our training.
It's becoming easier and easier, the Heavenly God making sure my body doesn't lag behind as much as with most other cultivators.
I always wondered why only MCs do body and normal cultivation at the same time—it seems like an obvious advantage to have, you just have to train more.
But I get now that this is also the reason why it is so rare.
Because you need to train twice as much. The time you use to train your body up so you're invincible in your realm can just be used to advance said realm.
It's no use being unbeatable in the Black-Gold rank if, with the same amount of time, you could have reached the Legend rank.
Another reason why my technique's name is so appropriate.
Heavenly God indeed.
But benefits aside, this does make it more difficult to hide my progress. It doesn't matter how much I sandbag it if I suddenly am not winded or sweating from a workout that, two weeks ago, I was.
Mid-training, Matt joins us, we only nod instead of talk to each other.
If there is one thing the coaches here dislike more than guys having no respect for them, it's them not focusing on their training.
So, after I'm done, I take my time showering and getting ready so I catch Matt before I go.
"Sup Matt, how ya doing?" I ask.
"Sup Liam, good. You?" while taking stuff out of his locker.
"Yeah good, have been studying for my GEDs, so it can be I don't come to the boxing gym that often." I reply.
He looks a bit down with that, before brightening up.
"You need help with that? I'm pretty good at studying, if I do say so myself."
Well, that would defeat the purpose of not going to the gym.
"No thanks, I study better alone."
His shoulders sag and he has a crushed expression at that.
What are you? A puppy?
"You do know you can just text me if you want to hang out, right? I'm not disappearing from the Earth. I won't answer when I'm studying though."
Mostly because technically, I will be disappearing from this Earth and won't have signal.
But he doesn't need to know that.
Brightening up again, Matt replies with an "Oh, okay!"
A little bit more small talk, and we go our separate ways—me back home and him to the showers.
At home, I do a little bit more research.
Like, how much blood do you give at the donation center? Or how long blood stays good?
What can you do to minimize the side effects of donating blood?
…
If there was an FBI agent looking at my searches, then he would think I'm going to do a good cause or am a psychopath.
I also look up designs for costumes. I want something Xianxia-themed, so I'm mostly looking at ancient Chinese clothes.
A Hanfu is what I come up with, preferably with some leather accents and protection. Boots would also need to be custom, I think.
As for a mask, I'm looking for something like those porcelain masks… but not made of porcelain because they are too breakable.
I want it to be clean but give it a bit of that 'young master' vibe, but still be combat-capable.
I don't know what colors or patterns I want it to be, but that I'm mostly going to leave to Parian.
Sending a PM with my ideas and pictures I found online, along with yes, I would still like to work with her on it even without the cape materials.
At the end of the day, I cultivate some more before watching some videos and going to sleep.
AN: Well, we have some cultivation bits, conversation bits, my first go at something PHO related, and cape preparation bits.
IRL has been a bit hectic for me, and I'm trying to fit writing in it because I'm trying to get better at it.
That's why I've been trying to build a nest egg for myself in case something gets in the way of writing, but that means I need to do more writing now, which doesn't always work.
In short, I just want to thank you all that enjoy my story and leave positive comments, they really boost my mood and drive
ANN: Most of the time I write my ANs when I finish writing the chapter, so if it feels like I wrote the same thing in them, it probably means the AN was written some time apart, that doesn't mean the message aren't still valid.
You guys are awesome.
Divine Streaming
The perfect escape technique, turning yourself into light and increasing your speed to match.
But this skill isn't about how fast you can be, but about how good you are at being fast.
This skill shouldn't have been given this early, moving at the speed of light is insane no matter what you think.
So I tested it, and I found my answer.
Divine Streaming is fucking expensive. Like taking half of my reserves after one use kind of expensive.
But considering it is basically teleportation, maybe it isn't. But I get why it's called an escape technique instead of a movement one.
Doesn't mean I'm not going to try and make it one eventually. I could probably do it if my
Soul Manipulation is high enough.
But the skill isn't, ironically, the thing my mind is on.
No, those are for the pill bottle in front of me.
Cultivation Pills
Speeds up the cultivation speed by 2.5x
Heavenly God Bonus: cultivation speed is 5x
Duration: 12h
If I take last month as a base, which was around 30 points in Soul Force, I'd get 150 Soul
Force every month if I had enough of them.
With Heavenly God I'd also get a fourth of that in Body Force, which is a better return than going to the boxing gym 3 times a week.
The catch is that I need to clear the Undead Realm every time to get it.
And with how the fight with the Nightmarish Ghoul went, I don't think the current me can defeat it every time.
My gear will certainly not survive it.
The jean jacket is destroyed, together with the armor underneath it. My metal bat is also slightly dented, so I don't know how long that's gonna hold up.
I could bring my axe now with me because of the inventory I got.
I think that made me feel the most like a gamer. It's also a pretty funny pastime if I'm bored, putting things in and pulling things out of it.
Sadly, I'd still need to be able to physically lift it to put it in there, but considering my future growth speed I'm not too fussed about it.
But back to the cultivation pills. I need as many as I can get my hands on, but with the gear I have now, I can't be certain I'll survive getting them.
Which means to me, that I need new gear, new protection.
That brought the idea of getting a costume and enchanting it.
And that's the crux of the matter—where do I get one and how will I enchant it?
I need a Soul Energy rich liquid to enchant.
And the only available liquid that meets those criteria is my blood.
Which is grim if you ask me.
So now I was thinking I should focus on cultivation or try and make some inscriptions for potential outfits.
Wait, Liam, you're being stupid. You first need a costume before you can enchant it.
Where to get the costume though?
My first thought was Parian, but I don't know if she does commissions. A quick Google says that no, she doesn't do cape costumes.
She does do normal ones though, so maybe I can convince her if she knows I can enchant clothes.
A cloth-based cape would be interested in that, right?
She only takes requests from PHO though, so I made an account and sent a message.
But not to Parian, because I need to do something very important before that.
I need to verify that I'm a cape to the dragon lady herself.
■
♦ Private message from YoungMaster69:
YoungMaster69:
Dear TinMother,
I wanted to ask you if you could verify I'm a cape on PHO.
The video of me using my power is attached to this message.
Kind regards,
Unnamed Cape
The video I made was of me using my inventory. I thought it was the easiest to show from my power, except turning into light or showing her the IR Create/Destroy skill.
Not even 5 minutes later, I got a reply.
■
♦ Private message from TinMother:
TinMother:
Dear YoungMaster69,
Your request, after checking for any tampering of the video, is accepted.
I would advise you to contact the nearest PRT for help, as statistically solo capes sadly don't last long.
I hope you stay safe.
Kind regards,
TinMother
That was quick, or was that slow? With Dragon, you can't really tell.
Having the credentials will hopefully help my attempt with Parian.
■
♦ Private message from YoungMaster69:
YoungMaster69:
Hello Parian,
I want to commission a costume with you, a cape costume preferably.
And while I know you do not do those, I think my power of enchanting clothes would interest you enough to at least open a conversation with you.
Kind regards,
Unnamed cape
Message sent, I now need to choose between making some inscription designs or cultivating.
I know cultivating would be the smarter choice, but the inscriptions are like a puzzle right in front of me, begging to be solved.
Taking a pen and paper, I create an inscription.
The Skill gave me knowledge, characters I could combine into shapes to create effects. I'm certain that the few dozens of characters are just the beginning.
Combining the characters or patterns felt easy, my mind coming up with different solutions to create something greater than its parts.
They're all theoretical now of course, but I've got a good feeling about most of the ones I've made.
Looking at the clock, I see it's already an hour later.
Making some food, I go back to the drawing table until it's late in the night.
Realizing that I need to go to bed or ruin my sleep schedule, I take one quick look at my PHO and see that Parian has sent me back a message.
■
♦ Private message from Parian:
Parian:
YoungMaster69,
I'm sorry to say that I will not go into collaboration with you, no matter how interesting your power would work with mine.
As for cape costumes, those are primarily made with armored or military-grade materials, which I don't have access to.
So even if I wanted to make cape outfits, I don't have the materials for them.
If you still wish for something, I'd be happy to make it for you and continue to work together on something not involving powers.
Kind regards,
Parian
Disappointed, I close my messages.
This wasn't unexpected, if the reasons she gave were true or not, I wouldn't know. But Parian in the stories from my world was always known to be skittish about other capes.
That she didn't immediately block me was a good sign that she wasn't unreasonable.
I could still commission a costume from her, but it just wouldn't be as durable as I had hoped.
Going to sleep with disappointment wasn't what I had hoped to end such an eventful day, but I guess you can't choose what life throws at you, just how you take it.
Going to sleep, I think about what I can do tomorrow.
The next day is a Friday, which I decide was not another day I was going to skip the gym.
Power-wise, it probably would be better to just completely stop going, but mental health-wise it was a good idea to keep going, I thought.
I did buy a pretty expensive fountain pen to write with my blood for inscriptions.
…
That's a pretty morbid sentence…
Who am I? Heir of Slytherin?
Opening the door from the gym, I see it's fairly quiet for a Friday.
Going into the locker room, I unexpectedly find Brian getting ready.
"Sup Brian, how ya doing?"
He snaps his neck towards me, surprising me.
"Liam!" he exclaims. "I was about to call you to see if everything was fine. You haven't been to the gym and my dad was getting worried."
Looking at him a bit weird, I answer him "Yeah, I just had something come up, why wouldn't something be fine?"
Looking at me exasperated, he explains, "The guy that comes regularly, at the same time for 5 months, comes to the gym to train like death is coming for him, suddenly doesn't come with no notice… and you ask why my dad would be worried?"
Scratching the back of my head in embarrassment, "Well, if you say it like that…"
Giving me a dead stare, he suddenly turns serious and asks, "Are you in trouble?"
Now bewildered, I can't help but question him in turn. "Wait what? Why would I be in trouble?"
At that, he just says one sentence.
"This is Brockton Bay."
Pointing my finger up, wanting to disabuse the notion, I come up short and just slowly lower my hand.
"Point." I say.
He just nods, but asks me again. "So, are you in trouble?" with a serious look on his face.
And I realize, that if I had a problem with some gangster, the chance they would be attacked by Grue in the future isn't zero.
Luckily, this isn't the case.
"Nah man, I've just been studying for my GED. I don't go to school." I answer.
Blinking, I can clearly see on his face he didn't expect that.
"I didn't know that you were homeschooled…"
Shrugging, I just say, "Didn't come up in conversation, also don't really like to talk about schooling in general."
Now he's the one with his finger up and pointing, but not coming up with anything to say except "Point."
Conversation becomes more normal after that and we start our training.
It's becoming easier and easier, the Heavenly God making sure my body doesn't lag behind as much as with most other cultivators.
I always wondered why only MCs do body and normal cultivation at the same time—it seems like an obvious advantage to have, you just have to train more.
But I get now that this is also the reason why it is so rare.
Because you need to train twice as much. The time you use to train your body up so you're invincible in your realm can just be used to advance said realm.
It's no use being unbeatable in the Black-Gold rank if, with the same amount of time, you could have reached the Legend rank.
Another reason why my technique's name is so appropriate.
Heavenly God indeed.
But benefits aside, this does make it more difficult to hide my progress. It doesn't matter how much I sandbag it if I suddenly am not winded or sweating from a workout that, two weeks ago, I was.
Mid-training, Matt joins us, we only nod instead of talk to each other.
If there is one thing the coaches here dislike more than guys having no respect for them, it's them not focusing on their training.
So, after I'm done, I take my time showering and getting ready so I catch Matt before I go.
"Sup Matt, how ya doing?" I ask.
"Sup Liam, good. You?" while taking stuff out of his locker.
"Yeah good, have been studying for my GEDs, so it can be I don't come to the boxing gym that often." I reply.
He looks a bit down with that, before brightening up.
"You need help with that? I'm pretty good at studying, if I do say so myself."
Well, that would defeat the purpose of not going to the gym.
"No thanks, I study better alone."
His shoulders sag and he has a crushed expression at that.
What are you? A puppy?
"You do know you can just text me if you want to hang out, right? I'm not disappearing from the Earth. I won't answer when I'm studying though."
Mostly because technically, I will be disappearing from this Earth and won't have signal.
But he doesn't need to know that.
Brightening up again, Matt replies with an "Oh, okay!"
A little bit more small talk, and we go our separate ways—me back home and him to the showers.
At home, I do a little bit more research.
Like, how much blood do you give at the donation center? Or how long blood stays good?
What can you do to minimize the side effects of donating blood?
…
If there was an FBI agent looking at my searches, then he would think I'm going to do a good cause or am a psychopath.
I also look up designs for costumes. I want something Xianxia-themed, so I'm mostly looking at ancient Chinese clothes.
A Hanfu is what I come up with, preferably with some leather accents and protection. Boots would also need to be custom, I think.
As for a mask, I'm looking for something like those porcelain masks… but not made of porcelain because they are too breakable.
I want it to be clean but give it a bit of that 'young master' vibe, but still be combat-capable.
I don't know what colors or patterns I want it to be, but that I'm mostly going to leave to Parian.
Sending a PM with my ideas and pictures I found online, along with yes, I would still like to work with her on it even without the cape materials.
At the end of the day, I cultivate some more before watching some videos and going to sleep.
AN: Well, we have some cultivation bits, conversation bits, my first go at something PHO related, and cape preparation bits.
IRL has been a bit hectic for me, and I'm trying to fit writing in it because I'm trying to get better at it.
That's why I've been trying to build a nest egg for myself in case something gets in the way of writing, but that means I need to do more writing now, which doesn't always work.
In short, I just want to thank you all that enjoy my story and leave positive comments, they really boost my mood and drive
ANN: Most of the time I write my ANs when I finish writing the chapter, so if it feels like I wrote the same thing in them, it probably means the AN was written some time apart, that doesn't mean the message aren't still valid.
You guys are awesome.
Last edited:
Gamer of Capes and Worms 9
New
Slycerr
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
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- Likes received
- 343
The cultivation pills changed a lot. The 3 days I used them, my cultivation rose by a whole 12 points!
The back and forth between me and Parian also continued.
At first, she said again that she doesn't do cape costumes. But I replied by saying she doesn't do those because of the materials she doesn't have, which I didn't mind.
Now, the only way out of making me my costume would be admitting she lied to me, possibly angering me. This, in turn, would make her an enemy in her mind.
I, of course, wouldn't act like that, but she doesn't know that.
Maybe if I was a real young master, I can already imagine how that would turn out.
"How dare you deny me? I, your father, will teach you a lesson and make you kowtow to me like a dog!"
And then I would be beat up by 3 big fluffy teddy bears and slowly choked to death by my own clothes.
Eventually, she agreed to make me one full costume, but no contact besides online will be held. She will give me clear instructions to follow for fitting, and if they don't fit there will be no return policy.
I was fine with that, so I put in the deposit of 1000 bucks and was told the process should take about 2 weeks.
This does put me out of armor, so I did the sensible thing and bought a couple more jean jackets and motorbike armor from different stores, bought some extra baseball bats that I could store in my spatial ring while I was at it.
I also went to the second-hand store and purchased a lot of clothes to practice my enchanting on.
Spare armor it is. I still need it to not burn up when I need it—better use some useless clothes to test it on.
So now I was at home, about to cut myself because I needed my blood to enchant.
Having a bowl under my wrist and a healing pill at the ready, I just bite the bullet and cut myself.
When my blood fills the bowl about a finger knuckle deep, I take the healing pill and watch, fascinated, as the wound closes up in seconds.
Taking a sip from the grape juice I had prepared, I now have everything I need.
Taking a syringe and sucking up the blood and putting it in the fountain pen, I start to draw an inscription on a white shirt that is meant to make it more tear-resistant.
It's a combination of symbols and circles meaning connection and stasis—this should make it harder to be cut as the threads want to stay as they are.
After 5 minutes of drawing, I now have an inscription that covers the whole back of the shirt.
Pushing some Soul Energy into it, the pattern starts to glow a little bit.
Pulling on the threads shows they are more resistant to tearing, but before I could call it a success, the inscription intensifies in glow the more I try to destroy the shirt.
Seeing how the Soul Energy moves inside is fascinating—how it handles the symbols and circulates inside the pattern.
When it's at its absolute limit, the inscription burns up and disappears.
Along with the shirt.
Panicking, the shirt becomes a small fire, and smoke starts building in my apartment.
Quickly running to my sink, I throw the shirt in and under water before running to my window to let the smoke clear and prevent my smoke alarm from going off.
Looking at the notebook where I copied the design, I see where the burning of the pattern started and try to figure out what went wrong.
Was it because I only used circles? While the threads were only in straight lines? Would rectangles solve that problem?
Making a new inscription with the info I got, I took a new shirt and started drawing.
This time it seems to work for longer, but the resistance is also lower. Putting the shirt in the 'kinda success' pile, I tried something else and put the circles in straight lines.
This process of failure and maybe successes took about 2 hours and 10 burned shirts before I got towards something I was willing to call a success.
The pattern used mostly circles and a few rectangles that went through them to mean another kind of connection, with symbols mostly around them to complete the inscription.
I stabbed the successful shirt with a knife and it didn't tear.
My table still has a small knife hole in it, but the shirt was fine.
Finally, I take a break and look at the notifications that wanted to interrupt my focus.
[Inscriptions: Enchanting has leveled up!]
[Soul Manipulation Leveled up!]
[Soul Sense Leveled up!]
[Inscriptions: Enchanting has leveled up! 6x]
[Soul Manipulation Leveled up!]
[Inscriptions: Enchanting has leveled up!]
That's some decent progress for just one successful pattern—also for one that should be relatively basic.
The process did help me figure out some general rules about inscription-making.
I should probably look into some durable paper for battle scrolls.
But first, my armor.
Taking a blue jeans jacket and laying it on the table, I start drawing the inscription.
The final product looked like I went over it with a fine sharpie, and the blood darkened considerably on the dense fabric, almost making it look black instead of red.
But when I put some Soul Force into it, the pattern started to emit a crimson glow that looked absolutely awesome.
Now I needed to see if the inscription worked the same on shirts as it did on pants, so taking a random pair of pants I bought, I drew the inscription on one of the legs and activated it.
The enchanting looked fine, but testing it made it pretty obvious that the other leg was weaker for some reason.
Maybe because the effect was spread differently?
Inscribing the other leg fixed the problem, but after 10 seconds the area where the effects meet was starting to burn up.
…
Right where my crotch and ass basically…
So… we need to fix that.
A bit of finagling and another process of partial successes and burnt clothes.
I now had functional tear-resistant pants that didn't burn up my ass and balls.
Looking at the inscriptions on the back pockets that basically acted as stabilizers, the piece of
clothing now had 4 patterns on it.
It could be this was even sturdier than the jackets, but I've been on this almost 4 hours now and I seriously need a break.
Making something to drink and eat, I debate on what I will do the rest of the day.
Making more inscriptions is off the table, I've done that enough for now and need to release some tension. And now that I think about it,
There is no better way to do that than fight something.
At the same time, I could test out my new armor and get some more money and pills.
Next move decided, I finish my meal and get myself ready to go in the Undead Realm.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I think I look damn fine.
The blue jeans give some uniformity that gets broken up by the inscriptions. Together with the army boots and scratched helmet I bought, it makes me look more like a delinquent than a hero though.
Activating my IR Create/Destroy skill, I noticed something was added.
[Current Realms available: Undeath, Orchid City Ruins]
A new realm was added called the Orchid City Ruins Realm.
Despite me wanting to immediately go in it, I stayed my hand. I barely fought off the Undeath boss, there is no way I'm ready for the next floor.
That doesn't mean I can't theorize about it.
Obviously, the name should clue me in to something. Otherwise, the name would be as vague as the Undeath Realm. I just can't point my finger on it.
The urge to explore is strong, but this voice in the back of my mind is saying that if I can't even breeze through the Undeath Realm, going into the next is a death wish.
So reluctantly, I choose the Undeath Realm.
Fighting the zombies feels almost easy now, not having to worry that they could bite or scratch me with my armor. It makes them feel trivial, like I'm just collecting money on the way.
The ghouls are in the same boat, the Secret Soul Techniques making them immobile with Pressure, and the Soul Force spike I used on the boss completely knocks them out of the fight.
I'm basically playing whack-a-mole right now instead of the fights I was coming for.
Still satisfying though.
Until the message came that I was equally dreading and hoping for.
[The Boss has appeared, and it's coming for you.]
Immediately on high alert, I stretch my senses as much as I can.
This time the boss comes from the right, going full sprint and on all fours.
I start moving, not really trying to keep my distance but not wanting to stay still, and preparing a Soul Spike.
The muscled ghoul comes in range of me and jumps, arms trying to grab me.
At that moment I change direction and fire the spike at it.
Attacked in midair, it yells and tries to clutch its head instead of putting its arms to land properly.
It falls on the concrete, rolling for a few feet further.
In the meantime, I was already running towards it, ready to pummel its skull in.
Recovering faster than the previous time, it has just enough time to put a limb in front of my club. The arm shatters, but enraged now, it seemingly ignores its injury and jumps for me again.
This time the ghoul is too close for me to dodge, and it's on top of me again like the previous time.
The difference this time is that my jacket is strong enough to not be destroyed, and it's unable to make me bleed like last time.
It tries to bite into my helmet. Sadly for it, that was the one piece of armor I had that was already strong enough to survive its onslaught; the only thing it's doing is scratching it.
Inventorying my bag, and taking out my knife, I start stabbing it in its side.
It doesn't take long for it to become weak enough for me to throw it off of me.
Putting my full Soul Pressure on it makes it buckle. I don't stand idle though, running towards the monster when it's weakened.
I take out my axe instead of my bat and prepare to strike it at its neck.
This time it doesn't do a blocking maneuver and lets me cleave off its head clean.
[You have slain 'Nightmarish Ghoul']
[$689 added to your bank account]
[You have gained 2 Cultivation Pills]
[Secret Soul Techniques has leveled up!]
[Soul Manipulation has leveled up!]
[Soul Reinforcement has leveled up!]
Grinning at seeing my loot appear now in my inventory, I can't help but be very satisfied about how the fight went.
With the information I have from my previous fight with the boss and my new armor, the fight went better than I could have hoped.
The thing jumped me again, which is an annoying realization, but I had full trust in my enchanting to not have to panic like last time.
The inventory also helped immensely. Not having to worry overly about keeping my weapons in hand, I could just equip or unequip them whenever I want.
All in all, I'm happy with how the fight went. There are still areas I could improve, but that opinion will not disappear anytime soon anyway, so no need to dwell on it too much.
Again, a chest appeared next to the corpse.
Looking at the body, I wonder if I could use the black thick liquid for inscriptions, and if I even wanted to risk touching it.
The answer to that second part is a decisive 'no'.
Opening the chest, the only thing I see is a small glass pill bottle—no skill book this time.
Looking inside the bottle I see 5 pills.
[You have gained 5 Cultivation Pills]
I now had enough Cultivation Pills to last me a week, guaranteeing I will reach Bronze 2-Star this week, and maybe even be halfway into 3-Star.
Heck, if I could continue that pace, I could reach Silver Rank in half a year!
[Received a Quest!]
[Received a Quest!]
Already knowing what one quest is about, but wondering about the second one, I opened both of them.
Quest: My Soul is my Strength (2)
Become a Silver 1-Star Demon Spiritualist in 6 months' time.
Reward: [Demon Spirit]
Accept Quest: Yes/No
Become a real Demon Spiritualist boy!
Hold a Demon Spirit in your Soul Sea.
Reward: [Item]
Accept Quest: Yes/No
As I thought, one of the quests was to reach the Silver Rank.
Strange that the system considers holding a Demon Spirit difficult enough to require a quest on its own.
In Tales of Demons and Gods, that was basic knowledge that was taught very early in class.
Heck, children could do it.
Maybe because it's just that significant a step?
…
It probably isn't a bad idea to at least play with my Soul Force a bit every day to see what it could do…
Just to be sure.
Accepting both quests, I return home and end my day.
AN: I've picked up my 3DS again and started playing Ocarina of Time since the first time my mom bought it for me 14 years ago (thats the date from the last save file). I'm gonna finish the game this time, since back then I was an idiot 11 year old and didn't read any dialogue an got so far with just pure stubbornness (which I'm honeslt suprised by).
As for this chapter, we take a spin at Inscriptions enchanting and what all goes into it.
We also got 2 new quests to complete, do you guys have any idea what the rewards would be? leave your guess in the comments.
The back and forth between me and Parian also continued.
At first, she said again that she doesn't do cape costumes. But I replied by saying she doesn't do those because of the materials she doesn't have, which I didn't mind.
Now, the only way out of making me my costume would be admitting she lied to me, possibly angering me. This, in turn, would make her an enemy in her mind.
I, of course, wouldn't act like that, but she doesn't know that.
Maybe if I was a real young master, I can already imagine how that would turn out.
"How dare you deny me? I, your father, will teach you a lesson and make you kowtow to me like a dog!"
And then I would be beat up by 3 big fluffy teddy bears and slowly choked to death by my own clothes.
Eventually, she agreed to make me one full costume, but no contact besides online will be held. She will give me clear instructions to follow for fitting, and if they don't fit there will be no return policy.
I was fine with that, so I put in the deposit of 1000 bucks and was told the process should take about 2 weeks.
This does put me out of armor, so I did the sensible thing and bought a couple more jean jackets and motorbike armor from different stores, bought some extra baseball bats that I could store in my spatial ring while I was at it.
I also went to the second-hand store and purchased a lot of clothes to practice my enchanting on.
Spare armor it is. I still need it to not burn up when I need it—better use some useless clothes to test it on.
So now I was at home, about to cut myself because I needed my blood to enchant.
Having a bowl under my wrist and a healing pill at the ready, I just bite the bullet and cut myself.
When my blood fills the bowl about a finger knuckle deep, I take the healing pill and watch, fascinated, as the wound closes up in seconds.
Taking a sip from the grape juice I had prepared, I now have everything I need.
Taking a syringe and sucking up the blood and putting it in the fountain pen, I start to draw an inscription on a white shirt that is meant to make it more tear-resistant.
It's a combination of symbols and circles meaning connection and stasis—this should make it harder to be cut as the threads want to stay as they are.
After 5 minutes of drawing, I now have an inscription that covers the whole back of the shirt.
Pushing some Soul Energy into it, the pattern starts to glow a little bit.
Pulling on the threads shows they are more resistant to tearing, but before I could call it a success, the inscription intensifies in glow the more I try to destroy the shirt.
Seeing how the Soul Energy moves inside is fascinating—how it handles the symbols and circulates inside the pattern.
When it's at its absolute limit, the inscription burns up and disappears.
Along with the shirt.
Panicking, the shirt becomes a small fire, and smoke starts building in my apartment.
Quickly running to my sink, I throw the shirt in and under water before running to my window to let the smoke clear and prevent my smoke alarm from going off.
Looking at the notebook where I copied the design, I see where the burning of the pattern started and try to figure out what went wrong.
Was it because I only used circles? While the threads were only in straight lines? Would rectangles solve that problem?
Making a new inscription with the info I got, I took a new shirt and started drawing.
This time it seems to work for longer, but the resistance is also lower. Putting the shirt in the 'kinda success' pile, I tried something else and put the circles in straight lines.
This process of failure and maybe successes took about 2 hours and 10 burned shirts before I got towards something I was willing to call a success.
The pattern used mostly circles and a few rectangles that went through them to mean another kind of connection, with symbols mostly around them to complete the inscription.
I stabbed the successful shirt with a knife and it didn't tear.
My table still has a small knife hole in it, but the shirt was fine.
Finally, I take a break and look at the notifications that wanted to interrupt my focus.
[Inscriptions: Enchanting has leveled up!]
[Soul Manipulation Leveled up!]
[Soul Sense Leveled up!]
[Inscriptions: Enchanting has leveled up! 6x]
[Soul Manipulation Leveled up!]
[Inscriptions: Enchanting has leveled up!]
That's some decent progress for just one successful pattern—also for one that should be relatively basic.
The process did help me figure out some general rules about inscription-making.
I should probably look into some durable paper for battle scrolls.
But first, my armor.
Taking a blue jeans jacket and laying it on the table, I start drawing the inscription.
The final product looked like I went over it with a fine sharpie, and the blood darkened considerably on the dense fabric, almost making it look black instead of red.
But when I put some Soul Force into it, the pattern started to emit a crimson glow that looked absolutely awesome.
Now I needed to see if the inscription worked the same on shirts as it did on pants, so taking a random pair of pants I bought, I drew the inscription on one of the legs and activated it.
The enchanting looked fine, but testing it made it pretty obvious that the other leg was weaker for some reason.
Maybe because the effect was spread differently?
Inscribing the other leg fixed the problem, but after 10 seconds the area where the effects meet was starting to burn up.
…
Right where my crotch and ass basically…
So… we need to fix that.
A bit of finagling and another process of partial successes and burnt clothes.
I now had functional tear-resistant pants that didn't burn up my ass and balls.
Looking at the inscriptions on the back pockets that basically acted as stabilizers, the piece of
clothing now had 4 patterns on it.
It could be this was even sturdier than the jackets, but I've been on this almost 4 hours now and I seriously need a break.
Making something to drink and eat, I debate on what I will do the rest of the day.
Making more inscriptions is off the table, I've done that enough for now and need to release some tension. And now that I think about it,
There is no better way to do that than fight something.
At the same time, I could test out my new armor and get some more money and pills.
Next move decided, I finish my meal and get myself ready to go in the Undead Realm.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I think I look damn fine.
The blue jeans give some uniformity that gets broken up by the inscriptions. Together with the army boots and scratched helmet I bought, it makes me look more like a delinquent than a hero though.
Activating my IR Create/Destroy skill, I noticed something was added.
[Current Realms available: Undeath, Orchid City Ruins]
A new realm was added called the Orchid City Ruins Realm.
Despite me wanting to immediately go in it, I stayed my hand. I barely fought off the Undeath boss, there is no way I'm ready for the next floor.
That doesn't mean I can't theorize about it.
Obviously, the name should clue me in to something. Otherwise, the name would be as vague as the Undeath Realm. I just can't point my finger on it.
The urge to explore is strong, but this voice in the back of my mind is saying that if I can't even breeze through the Undeath Realm, going into the next is a death wish.
So reluctantly, I choose the Undeath Realm.
Fighting the zombies feels almost easy now, not having to worry that they could bite or scratch me with my armor. It makes them feel trivial, like I'm just collecting money on the way.
The ghouls are in the same boat, the Secret Soul Techniques making them immobile with Pressure, and the Soul Force spike I used on the boss completely knocks them out of the fight.
I'm basically playing whack-a-mole right now instead of the fights I was coming for.
Still satisfying though.
Until the message came that I was equally dreading and hoping for.
[The Boss has appeared, and it's coming for you.]
Immediately on high alert, I stretch my senses as much as I can.
This time the boss comes from the right, going full sprint and on all fours.
I start moving, not really trying to keep my distance but not wanting to stay still, and preparing a Soul Spike.
The muscled ghoul comes in range of me and jumps, arms trying to grab me.
At that moment I change direction and fire the spike at it.
Attacked in midair, it yells and tries to clutch its head instead of putting its arms to land properly.
It falls on the concrete, rolling for a few feet further.
In the meantime, I was already running towards it, ready to pummel its skull in.
Recovering faster than the previous time, it has just enough time to put a limb in front of my club. The arm shatters, but enraged now, it seemingly ignores its injury and jumps for me again.
This time the ghoul is too close for me to dodge, and it's on top of me again like the previous time.
The difference this time is that my jacket is strong enough to not be destroyed, and it's unable to make me bleed like last time.
It tries to bite into my helmet. Sadly for it, that was the one piece of armor I had that was already strong enough to survive its onslaught; the only thing it's doing is scratching it.
Inventorying my bag, and taking out my knife, I start stabbing it in its side.
It doesn't take long for it to become weak enough for me to throw it off of me.
Putting my full Soul Pressure on it makes it buckle. I don't stand idle though, running towards the monster when it's weakened.
I take out my axe instead of my bat and prepare to strike it at its neck.
This time it doesn't do a blocking maneuver and lets me cleave off its head clean.
[You have slain 'Nightmarish Ghoul']
[$689 added to your bank account]
[You have gained 2 Cultivation Pills]
[Secret Soul Techniques has leveled up!]
[Soul Manipulation has leveled up!]
[Soul Reinforcement has leveled up!]
Grinning at seeing my loot appear now in my inventory, I can't help but be very satisfied about how the fight went.
With the information I have from my previous fight with the boss and my new armor, the fight went better than I could have hoped.
The thing jumped me again, which is an annoying realization, but I had full trust in my enchanting to not have to panic like last time.
The inventory also helped immensely. Not having to worry overly about keeping my weapons in hand, I could just equip or unequip them whenever I want.
All in all, I'm happy with how the fight went. There are still areas I could improve, but that opinion will not disappear anytime soon anyway, so no need to dwell on it too much.
Again, a chest appeared next to the corpse.
Looking at the body, I wonder if I could use the black thick liquid for inscriptions, and if I even wanted to risk touching it.
The answer to that second part is a decisive 'no'.
Opening the chest, the only thing I see is a small glass pill bottle—no skill book this time.
Looking inside the bottle I see 5 pills.
[You have gained 5 Cultivation Pills]
I now had enough Cultivation Pills to last me a week, guaranteeing I will reach Bronze 2-Star this week, and maybe even be halfway into 3-Star.
Heck, if I could continue that pace, I could reach Silver Rank in half a year!
[Received a Quest!]
[Received a Quest!]
Already knowing what one quest is about, but wondering about the second one, I opened both of them.
Quest: My Soul is my Strength (2)
Become a Silver 1-Star Demon Spiritualist in 6 months' time.
Reward: [Demon Spirit]
Accept Quest: Yes/No
Become a real Demon Spiritualist boy!
Hold a Demon Spirit in your Soul Sea.
Reward: [Item]
Accept Quest: Yes/No
As I thought, one of the quests was to reach the Silver Rank.
Strange that the system considers holding a Demon Spirit difficult enough to require a quest on its own.
In Tales of Demons and Gods, that was basic knowledge that was taught very early in class.
Heck, children could do it.
Maybe because it's just that significant a step?
…
It probably isn't a bad idea to at least play with my Soul Force a bit every day to see what it could do…
Just to be sure.
Accepting both quests, I return home and end my day.
AN: I've picked up my 3DS again and started playing Ocarina of Time since the first time my mom bought it for me 14 years ago (thats the date from the last save file). I'm gonna finish the game this time, since back then I was an idiot 11 year old and didn't read any dialogue an got so far with just pure stubbornness (which I'm honeslt suprised by).
As for this chapter, we take a spin at Inscriptions enchanting and what all goes into it.
We also got 2 new quests to complete, do you guys have any idea what the rewards would be? leave your guess in the comments.