Magic_Smithing
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Ch: 119.5
🕑 Added 2023-05-19 07:55:21 +0000 UTCClawing at my wrist, I try to get my fingers underneath the bracelet clinging to my arm, but no matter what I try, it's like the metal has fused to my flesh. There was no gap to slip my fingers into, and channeling mana between them wasn’t helping either. I wasn’t in pain or anything, but that wasn’t exactly enough to keep me from freaking out.
“Why would you put on an unknown artifact?!” Tabitha berates me while reaching out and seizing my wrist.
“I don’t know,” I reply in a panic. But on second thought, why did I put the bracelet on? As someone who liked to study enchantments, I knew the danger the unknown bracelet represented. So why did I ignore everything I knew and do something so stupid?
Tabitha pulls my wrist up to her face and examines it closer. “It might be an antitheft enchantment,” she frowns.
“What does that mean?” I ask nervously.
“A lot of older magic tools were designed to only work for specific people,” Tabitha explains. “The bracelet could be simply enchanted never to come off. Or…." Tabitha ominously doesn't elaborate further. "Is it hurting you?”
“No,” I squeak.
“Then it might not be that malicious,” Tabitha lets out a small sigh of relief but doesn't let my arm go. Instead, she tentatively prods at the band, and to my further horror, it feels like she’s poking me directly, not at something connected to me.
I try to pull my hand back, but Tabitha’s grip remains firm. “Now is not the time to panic,” she says in a flat authoritative voice that oddly enough is soothing. I'm about to thank her for the reminder when she just has to go and say the opposite, “If need be, we can always cut off the arm.”
"What, no!” I shout in a panic and move to shove Tabitha off me when I realize she's laughing. "That's not funny," I whine, realizing it was merely her attempt at a bit of dark humor.
"What, not so funny when someone else messes with you?” Tabitha grins psychotically. She slowly releases her grip on me, allowing me to pull my hand back protectingly against my chest. Why did she have to invest so many of her points into Strength? I was supposed to be the stronger one, but now we were almost even.
“Not cool,” I growl as I massage my wrist. It was weird; every time my hand grazed up against the band, it felt like I was rubbing at my skin, but I knew I was touching metal. It was so easy to forget that it was on my arm that it was scary. "What do I do?" I meekly ask Tabitha for her opinion.
Tabitha shrugs unhelpfully. “Not much you can do. If it isn’t affecting you in any way, it’s not necessarily dangerous at the moment. It will likely remain inert if it hasn't done anything by now. Unless, of course, you keep messing with it,” she looks directly at my wrist, where I was still nervously rubbing at the skin around the bracelet.
I quickly pull my hand away, like I touched something hot. “And if it does start doing something?”
“Then we deal with it,” she replies calmly. “Do you want to sit down while I finish up?" Tabitha gestures at the almost full pit of bones and the pile of dirt waiting beside it.
“No,” I rasp and stumble over my words. But after clearing my throat and catching my breath, I find my voice again. "No," I repeat more calmly this time. "I can keep working. How much is left in the chamber?”
Tabitha nods proudly. “I have maybe three more trips left.”
“Alright, I’ll keep separating everything,” I tell her.
“Good,” she says, grinning at me before turning around to head back into the chamber. “Oh, and don't put any more strange jewelry on,” she yells teasingly over her shoulder as she walks away.
I could tell Tabitha was trying to make me feel better, but it wasn’t helping much. So while Tabitha disappears into the chamber, I resume separating bone from armor, but the whole time I’m working, I’m stealing glances at my wrist.
Don't freak out, don't freak out, I repeat repeatedly in my head. It’s not melting your arm off; you’re fine.
While placing more bones into the pile, I use Sense Mana to watch how Mana Skin interacts with the bracelet. From what I could tell, the hoop of greenish metal wasn't siphoning off any mana from inside my body, but there was a faint pull from Mana Skin.
It's no wonder the bracelet could activate without any input, it was faint, but it was drawing in ambient mana at a steady rate. Of course, the drain was nothing more than the usual bleed from keeping my skill active, but it was something I would need to keep an eye on.
There was a chance I could use my skill to cut the hoop off from its supply of mana, hopefully rendering it inert, but I was hesitant to try. If I cut it off completely, the bracelet might start taking what it needs from me directly, and I couldn’t have that now. I needed all my mana if I was going to try reforging the skeleton's armor, so losing any mana, no matter how small, was unacceptable.
Thankfully, nothing else unsurprising happens while I work. I don't find any more hidden jewelry inside the skeleton's armor, and the bracelet remains inactive.
Tabitha helps me push the dirt back over the hole I dug, and together we stamp it down until only a small mound is left.
“Rest peacefully,” Tabitha bows to the patch of dirt, and I copy her as a show of solidarity.
After that, we walk back into the chamber together. There was still a lot of bone dust on the floor, but it was easier to ignore it now that all the piles of bones were gone. And now that we knew the chamber was safe, I could examine the second half of the mural I missed when we first entered.
While the castle and noble quarters surrounding it naturally drew the eye, there was a second landmark that stood out among the regular buildings. Above the statue of the nameless god, quite a bit ways away from the center of the city and its castle, was a depiction of a grand arena. The same arena we were hiding in now.
Like the other impressive buildings in the mural, the arena was also shown to be made from the same grey stone. And though I wasn't sure if everything was to scale, it looked like the arena was bigger than the castle and more heavily fortified, as odd as that sounded.
I also didn’t miss the outline of the robed god superposed over the arena, with its hands stretched out like it was holding the massive structure in the palm of its hands. Not creepy at all.
Looking above the statue and not accidentally glancing down at it was hard. The hypnotic effect it produced wasn't as bad when you knew what to expect, but that didn't detract from how unnerving it felt being drawn into its stony featureless face.
Wait, what?
I flinch back because while I was looking at the statue, my right arm, which had the bracelet on it, had subtly stretched out toward the effigy. I could pull my hand back after noticing it, but there was still a subtle longing to walk over and touch the sculpture I knew wasn't my own.
"Something the matter?" Tabitha notices my awkward movements out of the corner of her eye and turns to me, looking concerned.
I briefly consider lying to her and telling her everything was okay, but I swallow my pride and admit to Tabitha, 'Everything wasn't okay.’ “Something’s drawing me to the statue,” I lower my gaze to the floor, trying to hide how worried I was from Tabitha and not to look at the statue again accidentally.
“The bracelet?” Tabitha smartly focuses on the only thing that could be causing the problem.
“I think so,” I confirm with a slight nod without looking up.
“Child, why does trouble always seem to find you?” Tabitha pessimistically remarks before putting a supportive hand on my shoulder.
“Just lucky, I guess,” I finally look up with a strained smile.
“That you are,” Tabitha mirthlessly shakes her head. "Do you need to leave?" She asks, ready to carry me out of the chamber if I ask her to.
Running away was tempting, but I wasn't raised that way. Though I didn't particularly appreciate how I was being manipulated, I didn’t feel any sense of danger from the statue. And if there was even a minuscule chance that going along with these urges would help us, I had to take that chance.
“You’ll pull me back if something happens?” I ask Tabitha, knowing full well how she is going to answer.
“Always, kid,” she grins supportively.
No more running, I tell myself as I turn and look directly at the statue across the room. I'm tired of everything getting the drop on us; this time, I'm getting ahead of what's happening, not playing catch up. Without hesitation, I walk over to the statue of the nameless god, with Tabitha trailing just behind me. And as the distance between me and the statue shrinks, I feel a slight but noticeable shift in my soul.
Silly me, I should’ve checked that after I realized the bracelet had influenced me to put it on. I couldn't sense anything different with the band on my wrist, but I could sense its faint connection with my soul—specifically, a connection to my soul skills because, of course, it was connected to them.
Well, here goes nothing. My right hand slowly comes up as I stop directly before the statue. My fingers touch the grey stone, and the world around me starts spinning.
I swear the bracelet on my wrist was humming, but I ignored the sensation as I was forcefully dragged into my soul once again. I’m used to the sensation, so when I open my eyes, I’m not surprised to find myself standing in the same spot I always appear in.
I waste no time extending my senses as far as they go, checking every crevice of my soul for anything different.
“I see this isn’t your first time in your soul,” I look around as a voice whispers in my ear. “You have quite the soul,” it lazily continues as I turn in place.
“I get that a lot,” I sassily retort, not pinpointing where the voice came from. "Stop with the theatrics; I'm in no mood,” I growl when I don’t sense anything around me.
“Well, aren’t you no fun,” I hear whispered disappointingly behind me.
Slowly and with an annoyed look on my face, I turn around as a hooded figure materializes out of my soul. I pretend not to care as the exact figure depicted in the statue outside solidifies, but beneath my dismissive exterior, I’m doing my best to backtrack where the fragment of the god came from.
And it was a fragment I was dealing with that I was sure of. The robed figure gave off the same feeling as Ebeon’s and Ilia’s avatars did when my soul was in trouble. Plus, I couldn’t sense a connection to any of the moons overhead, further confirming my suspicions. Also, there were some noticeable differences between the figure in front of me and the goddesses’ avatars I was familiar with.
Unlike the two I knew, the hooded avatar before me wasn't giant in stature. In fact, he was shorter than me, only reaching eye level because he was floating a foot above the ground. And its reduced stature wasn’t the only thing off about it. The figure in front of me was almost see-through, and I felt like I could force him out of my soul if I wished.
However, I wasn’t going to do that just yet, as I still hadn’t pinpointed where the avatar originated from.
“Would you like me to save you the trouble?” The robed avatar asks mockingly.
I guess even though he’s weaker than Ebeon and Ilia’s avatars, he was still a god. “You would do that?” I fold my hands in front of me and give the god a suspicious stare.
“Why not,” I could hear the mirth in his voice, despite it still sounding like he was whispering in my ear. "We won't be able to converse if you don't trust me."
"You can say anything, and I wouldn't trust you," I retort. "I'm only here to figure out what you did to me, nothing else." I project an air of confidence, despite who I was talking to.
“Nothing bad, I assure you,” the avatar rubs its hands together much like a merchant would.
“Then I don’t suppose you’ll tell me how to remove the bracelet,” I counter.
“And why would you want to do that?” The avatar floats around me, sizing me up. “Many would destroy kingdoms to have what’s on your wrist. It holds a whisp of my power, after all."
“I don’t think that’s a very good selling point,” I huff in contempt. “I don’t know if you know this, but I don’t exactly like deals with shady figures.”
“Me. Shady?” The avatar feigns shock. But quickly starts laughing creepily. "Tell me, child, what do mortals say about me these days?"
I debate how I should answer that question but quickly conclude he’d probably realize it if I tried to lie to him. So begrudgingly, I tell the truth. "That's a difficult question to answer, considering I have no idea who you are.”
The avatar pauses for the first time since he materialized, and all the delight vanishes from his voice. "Truly, you have no idea who I am? No idea of my name?"
It takes a lot to make all the hair on my astral body stand on end, but the way the faceless figure looks at me, makes me break out in a cold sweat. “I’m sorry, I don’t,” I struggle to answer with suddenly dry lips.
"Then my siblings really did follow through with their threats," The avatar mumbles darkly before looking up at the moons hanging in the sky above my soul. Specifically, at the seventh moon, I've never felt anything from. “They destroyed me.”
The sheer emotion in those three words sends me collapsing to my knees, shaking like somebody caught in a blizzard naked. Every instinct told me to stay down and be quiet, but my curiosity got the better of me. "You look surprisingly alive for somebody dead," I remark.
The heavy atmosphere vanishes as if it didn’t exist in the first place, and I'm again free to climb to my feet. "Please, we both know I'm only a fragment," the avatar's voice whispers in my ear. "A fragment left behind in the statue you touched, channeled through the bracelet you now wear," he explains.
“And your name?” I can’t help but ask.
The hooded figure doesn't have a face, but it feels like he's smiling at me. "I was known as Zelous, God of the System.”
My soul under my feet trembles at the name, but I ignore the shaking as a million questions spring to mind. I had always wondered who created the system, but I figured it was a combination of all the gods, not just the work of one of them. "You created the system?" I repeat in wonder. “I thought gods embody aspects of nature?”
My question earns me another chuckle from the avatar hovering in front of me. “Met a few of my siblings, have you? True, each of us gains power through governing the laws of this world, but that only concerns the aspects we choose to represent. While my siblings selected to embody the fundamental elements of life and death, I elected to be different. While they were crafting this world at the dawn of time, I sacrificed part of myself to view other worlds and realities, expanding my knowledge of what is and what could be.”
I was trembling with excitement. This was the knowledge I desperately craved from Ebeon and Ilia that they refused to give me. I hung on every word of Zelous, committing everything he said to memory. There had to be a reason he was telling me all this, but I wasn't going to interrupt while he freely gave out important information.
“By the time I stopped scanning the expanse, my siblings had already finished crafting this world and filling it with life,” he continues. “They drew power from the mortals they helped to create, and in doing so, it made them exponentially stronger than myself, who chose knowledge over power. I needed to embody an aspect, but all the major ones were taken. I could’ve fought to seize partial control, but that would’ve meant my death.”
"I asked my siblings for help, but they mocked me for looking out when I should've been looking in. But their mockery quickly turned to jealousy after I made the system," I could hear the mad delight in Zelous' voice. “You see, my siblings created the world and reaped its benefits, but they cared little for the mortals who inhabited it, treating them as sources of power rather than anything else. So when I used my knowledge to create the system to bolster them, they started worshiping me instead."
“And unlike my siblings who needed to wait for specific conditions to gain power, my system provided me a constant source of divinity," Zelous brags. "Over tens of thousands of years, I grew in power to rival all my siblings. And then, once I was about to eclipse them, they begged me to include them in the system. Of course, I accepted, but with the stipulation, each needed to bind a part of themselves to it; that way, once they did, they could never dismantle my masterpiece.”
"Even now, with me gone, my system remains," Zelous cackles like a b rank villain, and I question if everything he's saying is true. He sounded more than a little unhinged, but that could be because he was only a fragment.
“Why are you telling me all this?” I swallow a nervous lump in my throat.
“Why indeed,” the avatar replies cryptically. “Maybe I want someone to know my legacy. On the other hand, maybe it's because you have two of my skills,” Zelous points down at the surface of my soul, and I feel both Soul Devourer and Experience Transfer react to the gesture. “I created those skills so mortals could challenge the gods; remember that."
"What?" I'm about to demand he explains further, but before I can get the words out, the sky above my soul shatters, and two of the moons overhead turn into giant eyes.
“It seems I was finally noticed,” Zelous’ avatar looks unflinchingly up at the eyes.
Before I can do anything, Ebeon, and Ilia's avatars materialize between Zelous and myself. Then, with a casual wave from Ebeon's avatar, my consciousness is flung backward away from the god of the system.
"Sisters, what took you so long," The smaller avatar taunts the two larger ones.
“How are you here?” The light coming off Ilia is so blinding that even with my eyes closed, it feels like I'm looking at the sun.
I'm about to call out in pain when suddenly, the light is blocked. Tentatively opening my eyes, I spot Ebeon’s avatar before me, her darkness shielding me from her sister's light.
“It’s not him, Sister,” Ebeon’s avatar places a placating hand on her sister’s shoulder.
“I know that!” Ilia snaps, continuing to rage to the amusement of Zelous.
"That's right, dear sister, I am but a fragment left behind in the dark, hidden by the system until someone worthy should come along,” Zelous avatar looks past his fellow gods at me. “Remember, traveler from another world,” Zelous’ hooded featureless face pierces through me until I feel his gaze in the core of my soul. "Never stop. Never settle. Climb higher until my siblings fear you. Avenge me. Become my champ….”
Before Zelous can finish his sentence, Ebeon and Ilia wave their hands, and the already fading avatar of Zelous explodes into countless motes of grey light.
I barely have time to process the countless specks of light impacting the surface of my soul before Ilia turns toward me as her anger shifts targets. “Why didn’t you call for us!?” Ilia’s avatar steps toward me, and my soul trembles with each step.
“I, I, I,” I can’t stop stammering under the sheer amount of animosity directed at me.
“It isn’t her fault, Sister,” to my relief, Ebeon shields me from her sister’s wrath. “He was hidden from our sight; not even our fragments sensed him until his power started to wane.”
"Yeah, but," Ilia starts, but Ebeon cuts her off.
“Sister, do you truly believe a mortal could’ve done anything in front of our brother? Fragment or not, he is a god.”
The blinding light radiating from Ilia’s avatar starts to dim. But that didn’t mean I was in the clear yet. “Still, she knows too much now," Ilia does not attempt to hide her hostility towards me. "You heard our brother; she could be dangerous for us in the future.”
Ebeon doesn’t immediately refute her sister, which scares me, but there's nothing I can do. I was utterly at the goddess's mercy.
Finally, Ebeon sighs, which is weird, considering her avatar doesn't have a mouth. “My sister has a point,” Ebeon admits, causing me to flinch back in shock. “However, knowledge does not warrant execution. And due to the limits we all agreed upon, we can’t dish out punishment unwarranted.”
“I haven’t done anything,” I shout in defense.
“You have not,” Ebeon confirms. “You are rightfully confused; you have heard only half of a story. I shall tell you the other."
“Sister, you can’t,” Ilia exclaims.
Ebeon ignores her sister's protests in favor of focusing on me. “What our brother said was partially true. We were jealous of his power and sought to take part of it as our own, but that is not why we destroyed Zelous.”
“Yes, he advocated for mortals to grow stronger, but it wasn't completely out of the goodness of his own heart. We didn't realize until after we had all sacrificed our power to improve his system that he gained small amounts of power through everything the system did. Every skill a mortal earned or leveled, each kill, each item crafted, Zelous gained more power. And as his power grew, so did his desire for more."
"He devised new skills to take advantage of his system and gave them to his most loyal followers. They, in turn, became monsters only interested in gathering more strength. As a result, his people conquered and slaughtered any who stood against them, all in his name,” Ebeon explains in a sorrowful voice. “It took all of us empowering our own followers to combat Zelous’ forces.”
“The great war thousands of years ago,” I mumble in realization.
“The very same,” Ebeon confirms.
“The crater we found, the city that used to stand there?” I ask.
“Once one of the grandest cities devoted to Zelous,” Ebeon tells me. “One of the last to fall. It was only thanks to our other sister Sepia’s champion sacrificing everything that, in the end, it was destroyed. But apparently, it wasn't enough. How many other fragments of our brother are still out there?” Ebeon muses out loud.
“And I’m going to be punished for having his skills?” I nervously ask.
For a painfully long time, Ebeon doesn’t say a word, and when she does, it isn’t necessarily good news. “It all depends on you,” she warns me. “Our brother’s skills are the quickest way to gain power, but….”
"But they come at a cost," I finish for her, seeing where she’s going with this.
“Exactly," I swear I could feel Ebeon's avatar smiling at me, though it felt gentler than when her brother did. "You have shown great resolve in using our brother's skills where many would succumb to their temptation. If we could’ve, we would’ve sealed all his skills away, but even with him gone, we six cannot change the system he designed. So it is up to you how you use the skills you’ve earned. For good,” Ebeon holds up one hand. “Or for evil,” she raises the other. “It’s all up to you.”
“No pressure,” Ilia’s avatar growls off to the side.
Ebeon nods. "It's time you return to the real world," she says as I'm about to ask more questions. She makes a flicking gesture, and I feel myself being flung back to reality.
“But what about the bracelet?” I shout as everything becomes fuzzy again.
“It is the same as your skills,” Ebeon’s voice echoes in my head. “Use it, or let it use you. Make good choices; we'll be watching," it's hard not to notice the thinly veiled threat in there. "All of us."
What does that mean; I wonder as I open my eyes back in the real world. This time I don’t get an answer from Ebeon, and maybe that was a good thing because I had a lot to think about. But I'll have to be quick about it because even though I got a fantastic history lesson, nothing I learned will help us against the lesser dragon.
Knowledge is power, but not the kind of power we need at the moment. I learned, for now, the bracelet isn't dangerous. But that just meant I could focus on other things without worrying.
It was time I started the final preparations to face the lesser dragon.
*********
4,300 words.
This has been a terrible month for me, and it’s barely even halfway over. My family suddenly lost my uncle the other day; he was only 46 with two kids; it really puts your life into perspective. I don't know when the funeral will be, and I'm sorry, but updates might remain a little erratic for the next couple of weeks.
I’m still writing, but yeah, things aren’t great.
Sorry for the sad news; I just felt everyone deserved an explanation. Please tell me what you think of the chapter, and as always, stay safe out there.
Comments
Gibborim
Obviously, they come back within a week of you posting that.
Nexis
I love the Story. And how the Autor is writing it. It is better written than most books with a World wide release. The characters are amacing!!! The storytelling absolut Genius!
DagNabItAll
Damn, this is a good story but I guess the author isn't coming back.
Scott Fellman
Hope the author is still good
Kyle
Merry Christmas
SoraCL
Merry Christmas :)
Luke
Dang what a cliff hanger. I hope you and your family are well, and I hope you return to this story, on whatever timeframe works for you.
Redbeard
Gotta drop my sub until he comes back but hoping to see more sometime soon
Lord Porkalust
Author-san, Please come back! We need you to finish your beautiful story.
TheMartinalfa
Can we expect comeback or is novel dead ?
Nalanaya
Well, I finally decided to pop-in after I was rereading the fic for the second time and noticed patreon should still be ahead of the cliff-hanger over on RR. My condolences for the situation, and here's to hoping the muse comes back.
ricky jackson
Looking forward to the story starting up again, once a month release is better then nothing. When it does start up i hope i see our mc and Tabitha looking for ground water if there is a tree nearby, and maybe finding the rest of this very unique tree which is probably strong enough to become tier 3/4 arrows if the tiniest roots are stronger then steel, maybe inside this ground water aquifer there is fauna or flora to eat and they can train their skills using the super kinetic force saturation of gray bricks inside the chamber with the god staute, possibly this aquifer is connected to the same water the kraken like monster in the arena and inside the aquifer are its op off spring, so they are forced to consume super mana rich meat and water while they bid their time in the atmosphere great for skill training and leveling up. I really want to see her level up this running skill to 100, supposedly she is most thought of as a running freak, i think its time for her to transcend and not just have tier 5 and 6 skills but to have ofically mastered a tier 1 skill, one that isnt particularly useful in crafting or combat, but i think the increase in her dexterity would be cherished by herself and tabitha, and would make her getting to other parts of the nation a lot more seamlessly for plot wise in the near and far future. When it comes to running she could also end up being the one designated to go get help as tabitha distracts the dragon and then hides in the ruins post the scuffle although the mc getting fast enough to out run the dragon without significantly more levels and skill levels seems unlikely. Also them slowly carving out two shield size pieces of the more durable stone would make a great shield against the strength of the dragon and probably it poison. I doubt its possible but maybe with enough food in the aquifer they could find, eventually they can just tunnel to the arena and avoid the dragon for now or they challenge the dragon knowing they cant win but just planning to rip some flesh and blood out of it so they can survive for a bit longer and train. There is so much possibility with the future of this story im looking forward to seeing it
ricky jackson
Sorry for ur loss
Athyrium
Really hope the author starts writing again. This story is so good, and the direction it is taking is intriguing, but months without the author even posting a small update is really sad. I hope whatever is going on with them, they will start posting again.
Scott Fellman
Man would love to see a new chapter here
Redbeard
Just found this story again after taking a break from royal road for a while and I’m glad I did. Loving the world and lore behind it. Looking forward to both the fight with the lesser dragon and the eventual trip to Scholl.
SoraCL
Im here for the long run, take all the time you need.
lenkite
Just pause the payments and say you will be back in a few months. Takes ~5 mins to do this simple chore. Jesus.
TooOldForThisShit
Firstly, I'm sorry for your loss. But, as things stand, it's been 2 months since your last communication with your readers. That's too long, especially when you're not even pausing payments. Your last hiatus was riddled with communication issues too. I'm sorry to say, as much as I enjoy the story, consistency and communication are important when you've got people paying monthly, and in lieu of those being so lacking, I'll be saying my goodbyes. Perhaps in the future if you return to some run of consistency again, I'll return - who knows.
David Eddy
1. Judging by the monthly income of other. far less capable patreon authors, Kosnik could easily make more than enough money to live comfortably. If you are reading this Kosnik, I suggest you take a look at how your fellow authors monetize their work....it obviously all boils down to consistency and quality....you have the latter in spades and would be making 100+ grand a year if there were any reliability in your production. That may sound insane but there are so many patreon authors crushing that number with far less interesting work and it kills me that you might be making less money doing a job that takes you away from writing when writing may be the key to more money, more freedom, and most importantly, more great work for me to read. So I obviously want what's best for you...as long as we agree that what's best is more of your stuff for me to read. All joking a salad, thanks for your work and keep it coming please.
David Eddy
I really wish this wasn't one of my favourite stories to read....But since it is I'm willing to wait. There a couple things I want to bring up.
Steven Palmer
Sadly it seems so
Gibborim
Well, I guess it was that time of year again. See you next year, I guess?
Scott Fellman
Author kami your an awesome author and I love your work been here since before the first great hiatus.
Timo Immig
https://discord.gg/GkXrPFkR
StarFox
Can I get a link to the discord
Scott Fellman
There is a discord but the author kinda fell off. Mentioned a death not sure but probably taking alot out of them.
StarFox
Has he updated since this chapter? Is there a discord?
Scott Fellman
Miss you author kami. Hope to see you back on your feet soon. Take care of yourself and we'll be here when you get back
M. Lampi
I, too, am sorry for your loss, and hope that you and yours are handling the situation with aplomb. So far as this chapter goes, I definitely prefer longer ones as they generally cover things in better depth. Too often I find stories where the chapter is barely a few sentences, and one feels like so much more could have/should have been written to move the story along more gracefully.
Ermgon
It takes many for a revenant, but soul horrors require a death of a character with a level over 140, that dies an emotional death (not fully explained). Soul horrors by themselvdy have little to do with gods worship. You can ask yourself tho, how come so many individuals had such high levels (probably because of t6 skills). I do agree with your Zealot acessment and the effect of his skills. They are meant to abuse the system and to grant power in exchange of corruption.
Gon of the Dra
Hey, I'm so sorry for your loss, and I pray he's in a better place now 🥺. The chapter is amazing as always, and I take back what I say about not wanting Aliyah to be caught up with the gods. I think you threaded the line between making her uniquely involved with the gods and not making her the center of the universe beautifully, and I continue to be impressed by your story writing skills. Even more impressive is that you still plan on writing even though your dealing with so much. I'll say that I love this story and it often helps me get through a hard day knowing I have a chapter of Magic smithing waiting for me at the end of it. But please do take some time off if you feel you need to to get your life in order. Nothing is more important than family, and I pray that you and your's stay safe and healthy insha'Allah ❤️
LilSaint001
So thats the reason why devourer is such a double edge. To turn them into monsters so they keep killing then the transfer to keep them chained to use it.
Valdis
His t6 skills were made in a way to get power by giving way to his followers to violate laws of cosmos their universe/world is part of, that he most likely were unwilling to break knowing the price.
Jon Oliphant
When you are looking at a new house and the doors and windows start moving on their own, and you hear voices saying "GET OUT OF THE HOUSE" it's a safe bet it's haunted and the smart move is to leave. We know soul horrors and remnants are the result negative emotions at the time of death. There really is no debate over that. We also know it took "MANY to make a soul horror". Finally We have the fact the whole city is bathed in death energy. Now if that isn't enough we go back to being biblical and note that you know a tree by the fruit it bears. What have we seen from the system god? A skill that eventually turns it's user into an inhuman monster, and another that at best looks like a mixed bag. All things being equal Zealous might not be completely evil but there's no evidence on that side of the ledger and plenty on the evil side.
Scott Fellman
Loss is hard and death has a way to put our struggles into perspective. Something I always remind myself of is to make choices with the intent to not have regrets. This way when it's my time I can go on a great issekai adventure just like our aliyah. Stay safe author kami. May you find peace and strength from within.
Scott Fellman
I love this chapter. It fills in alot of the world history without being cliche.
Quendolayne
Really and where was it written down that the soul horrors were the result of a evil intent and I use „evil“ here in your connotation of Auschwitz. Maybe they were the byproduct of their death at the hand of the traitor gods or the result of a millennium in purgatory or …. At the moment you condemn the one god who gave human power , for what reasons doesn’t matter and throw in your lot with the faction who want to keep them down and nearly killed the MC twice just for fun and giggles. It is similar to condemn Prometheus for bringing humankind fire bc he stole it from Zeus.
Jon Oliphant
I said this elsewhere but you know a tree by the fruit it bears. Zealous's people made an abattoir that produced tortured undead the centerpiece of their greatest city. That ain't right.
Jon Oliphant
Man look at his city, it has a giant abattoir at the center that makes soul horrors. Somebody tells you they are being treated unfairly and you find out they built Auschwitz you might want to take what they say with a grain of salt.
Steven Palmer
The chapter was amazing. The progression is hitting it's stride. I love not knowing what the bracelet does. Note! The light of zeleos scattered across her soul. Any chance she can use or he used by the fragments?
Steven Palmer
Truly sorry for your loss, it's really hard being on sidelines watching when a family member passes and leaves a strange sense of loss and an a strange sense of fear when they pass too quickly. And knowing the young ones left behind makes it a bitter pill of realization. Though there may be something you can do. It's best to show support and be there emotionally and as a guiding figure than to be directly involved. Sadly they need to learn their loss and grow from this. Just don't let them feel isolated if you can assist with a shoulder and ear once in a while. It's how I coped and learned to deal with the loss of my family members when I was young. Too much coddling hurt more than I realized.
Thaldor
Perhaps even something like hints and feelings of how to surpass tests for skills once you reach them? Something kingdoms would certainly go to war for.
Rosy Bramble
As a small piece of the God of the system, enhancing skill levelling or exp gain would make a lot of sense.
Ermgon
Remember, soul surface just got destroyed/damaged, so it doesn't look like much xD
Golden_Retriever
I disagree with your interpretation of the current God's actions. So maybe eventually one of us will be answered.
Thaldor
I feel like she would have put that line 'All of us.' together with how all of the moons are hanging in the sky over her soul. Also, totally feel like that bracelet is going to prove vital for the encounter to come. Or maybe it just enhances all skill progress or something similarly ludicrous. Time will tell!
Anki
I felt the same way. As soon as I saw her use the term "kid", it instantly stuck out to me like a sore thumb. The "child" term didn't stick out to me the same way. Hope you're doing well Kosnik.
Quendolayne
Hmm, purely conjecture at this point. There is only the statement of the twins and they showed already, that they are scum bags. And as usual the victor write the the history or “Vae Victis”. This city full of corpses shows clearly who did the mass murdering. So at least I would say they are all equally bad, but with the history of how the twins treated the MC I tend more to the side of the System God - at least he give the vibe of a prometheus style god instead of a an old god who slaughtered whole tribes of disbelievers.
Ermgon
Im sorry for your loss. We will wait patiently for every new chapter :) Speaking od which, this chapter is amazing. Lots of lore building and prepping ground for the future!
Ermgon
Probably. But as another stated before, his doings are much worse than the twins.
Ermgon
I think you have a point, but at the same time missed some very important clues. First is gods behaviour. Aaliyah noted he sounded obsessed, even mad in a way. What he was doing was for his own benefit and revenge. Second is the nature of his tier 6 skills. The way they try to compulse their owner to use them is highly unhealthy and are designed to break and enslave you. Same goes for bracelet. Third is how twins act. Iilia has... not the best of tempers, but Ebeon is much more compassionate and understanding. They are selfish, true, and treat mortals as fuel, but what 7th god did was way, way worse.
Valderan
The interaction between Tabitha and Aaliyah felt a little off to me. Nothing too extreme but Tabitha's usage of the word "kid" seemed strange. I think it was the intent to show how this foxhole moment is really bringing them together and making them more relaxed in their dealings which is solid. Even so it didn't feel to me to be the sort of vernacular she'd use. I feel like Tabitha awkwardly patting her on the head or cupping the side of her neck with an armored gauntlet would be more in vein as she tries to comfort Aaliyah but doesn't know how to express herself in the new dynamic. Author's choice, obviously. Just my impression. “I see this isn’t your first time in your soul,” I look around as a voice whispers in my ear. “You have quite the soul,” it lazily continues as I turn in place feels awkward with the double usage of the word soul. "You have quite a nice place set up here." might work better? I'm sorry things are challenging for you right now. Take care of yourself and your fans and readers will keep while you do that.
Matthew Dennis
I’m sorry for your loss and I sympathize with your struggle. Thank you so much for this story.
Oskatat
Take your time
heh
Yay lore! Tftc
Penguin Glutton
Thanks for the chap! Also my condolences
Undead Writer
Thanks for the chapter!
Ironwolf
Well my opinion of the gods is getting worse and worse. Not seeking knowledge and getting nearly beaten by a single gods efforts is pretty bad.
Captdeth
5hr
Alex Galaitsis
I'm so sorry for your loss. Take the time you need. Self-care is important! Also, this was a fantastic chapter. It really tied a lot of the story together, and your writing has really risen to professional level.
Anonymous
Sorry to hear about your uncle. Mind posting a chapter on rr? It’s been a while
Justin
Really great story building chapter! Sorry for the loss, life just can suck at times.
Golden_Retriever
I also agree. We were told they were corrupted by the twins. But the twins so far have seemed very interested in their own agenda over the well being if others with no regard for mortals. Then you have this God who made a system that challenged the current God's allowing mortals to theoretically climb the power ladder to surpass those who created them. I bet the God's considered them corrupted because the mortals follow Zealous were trying to surpass the then pinnacle of power (the God's), thus making them heretics and in their eyes corrupted. The God's even had to cave in and USE the system (with highly leveled followers) AND empower them just to beat Zealous's champions.
Philipp Gawol
Corrupted? They turned into undead like everyone else. They just died with a lot more XP. It seems more like the champion of the goddess of death killed them all as they gathered to convene with their god after the attack. Also, the fragment would've just realized that his true self died, which would've made him justifiably pissed at his siblings, instead of notifying some random mortal about threats that may or may not occur. He was likely bothering his siblings with it, but they seem to be dead-set on erasing every memory of him and they didn't see it with their own eyes, hence they might just be uncaring about those threats. Especially since they don't care about mortals at all (Zealous was correct about that part). They would've killed her if the agreement they made (likely due to Zealous's system inclusion) didn't prevent them. There's no way they didn't kill her because of some old-ass agreement, they COULDN'T kill her. That's the only way she would've survived this situation of learning about the god's failure and wrongdoing. They likely get excluded from the system if they kill mortals.
phantom
that is an interesting theory. though if there was threats outside one would think it was brought up. Also that his followers became corrupted speaks to otherwise. if it was to select the worthy than one would think his most loyal followers would not become so corrupted.
phantom
This was a nice chapter. it was largely exposition but it was quick.
Philipp Gawol
I think siding with Zealous is the right choice. The barrier between worlds seems to be semi-permeable, which means that he was likely gathering strength in preparation for threats from the outside. If he was purely egotistical he wouldn't have included and shared power with his siblings. His skills are semi-predatory to prevent misuse (soul destruction, loss of self) and to weed out the people too weak mentally to be useful in the oncoming conflicts he was preparing for.
Quendolayne
Thx for the chapter … I wonder, why I’m inclined to side with god of the system i stead believing the two-timing sibling killer gods? Could it be bc the current sample shows 50% as…les and jerks?
Jon Oliphant
Thanks for the chapter. It did a really nice job advancing the story
Tomer Yud
Awesome chapter!!!
David Eddy
Love your work, sorry for your loss and the string of crap you've been dealing with. You don't deserve it!
figherhigher
Soul Devourer works twofold in keeping power in the world, the wielder consumes a soul that would normally leave, and when they die, their own soul is unable to pass out of the world aswell.
Grissly1000
Soon shell be the Goddess of the System!
Tyler Machado
Cool. Yes, easy to believe followers went evil with soul devourer. I bet he was telling the truth with more than those Gods will admit though he probably was evil. At the least, he did nothing about soul devourer even though there were probably more of those monsters. Lets see what it does, double the experience or something. Sorry for your loss.
Antonio Jesus Montes
My condolences love your book it is fantastic.
Owen Wilson
Loved the chapter, thank you for the update and I'm sorry for your loss
Nick
Tftc and my condolences.
Stephen Pearson
Thanks for the chapter, sorry for your loss.
Viria
Damn, that was a great chapter. We're finally getting some good lore ! Take care of yourself author-san. And please, don't stop writing this story 🙏🙏🙏
lenkite
So, this world is an [Artificial Construction] presided over by [Judging Grandmas] .
MikeL
Great chapter. You have been lately, clearly been filling in the lore of this world.
