The word Overdrive reverberated across Edge’s soul like a bell, ringing on and on.
He was drawn inside his core as searing heat and a rumbling roar began building beyond the boundary of his central chamber, heralding an immense and inscrutable force rising from the abyss to appear beside Skill-Eater.
Incandescent pressure was building with every beat of his heart, like la...
2025-08-14 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNick paused for the span of a breath, taking in his titanic foe while deciding how to engage it.
He still couldn’t believe that he was about to battle the colossal creature with the sword in his hand, but by this point in his adventures, he’d grown used to attempting feats that would have been insane by the standards of his old life. This one is insane by the standards of my new l...
2025-08-13 17:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostBy now, every jailbird who was still outside the base had realized something was wrong. A half dozen convicts converged on Edge’s team from three sides, although the forest of stone spikes was slowing them down since they weren’t standing near the shattered section.
In the distance, he could see Ripper’s crew returning, having lost one member during their battle with the goat monste...
2025-08-13 17:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostTen Minutes Earlier
Edge’s crew skulked within the shadows as the cacophony of combat reverberated down the tunnel.
They were ready to charge in and ambush the Claws, but forced themselves to wait until the monster made its appearance. Sasha held one of his hands and Mel clasped the other. Both women squeezed tight whenever screams reached their ears, knowing that...
2025-08-12 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostNick cut down the slicers while Sarah and Bret took out a flock of stingers attacking from above.
In the periphery of his vision, Devin was in the middle of a brutal battle with a basher. He was ready to conjure another Mana Dart to help his friend the moment an opening appeared, but the blond warrior didn’t need his assistance.
Devin waited for the elite beast to attack with its ...
2025-08-11 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostTrapper awoke to adrenaline-soaked voices sounding the alarm and frantic footsteps echoing off the stone walls. For a bewildering moment, she was stuck in the borderlands between dreams and the waking world, stepping from one nightmare straight into another.
“They’re coming!” one of the lookouts yelled. “The Claws’ strike force is beginning its assault!” The warriors went runn...
2025-08-11 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostEdge sprinted down a winding series of stone tunnels, racing to save Trapper’s team.
When he checked in with Gauge Depth, the skill let him know he was drawing near the surface at last. By this point, the hunters were crossing through the passageways running below the mountain, which were extensive but not nearly as tricky to traverse as the Deep-Gill Grottos. Now they needed to figure ...
2025-08-08 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostPaul was one hell of a sniper. Every shot he fired was powerful and precise. His arrows planted themselves in a bug’s eye, joint, or vital organ with every beat of Nick’s heart. But that was only part of what the curly-haired archer could do. Every now and again, he shot a missile that was infused with potent disabling magic.
Paul’s abilities had improved considerably since their ar...
2025-08-08 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“So, what’s the plan?” Mel asked when the crew stopped to catch their breath.
Sasha was having a hard time maintaining the intense pace, since everyone else was stage two and had superior physical attributes. They decided to hold a brief strategy session while she recovered.
“It depends on which group we run into first,” Edge replied. “We will reinforce Trapper’s team ...
2025-08-07 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Edge woke up, Lilly was still standing watch and everyone else was asleep.
He was feeling restless, so he decided to stretch his legs while scouting the next few caverns. If he discovered anything dangerous, he could start working out a strategy to deal with the problem, shaving some time off their journey.
His plan fell apart five minutes later.
The moment Edge set foot ...
2025-08-06 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostNick leapt from his rocky perch, landed on the canyon floor, and sprinted across the ice, following the path highlighted by Tactical Command so he didn’t have to worry about friendly fire.
As the rest of his party fell into formation beside him, they kept Blend on while threading their way through the battalion of slicers assaulting the fortified hillocks.
Along the way, Nick spot...
2025-08-06 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostEdge stepped into his core with a smile on his face—excited by the prospect of combining two great skills to make something even better and free up a slot in the process.
He walked across the workshop filling his central chamber and took a seat in his father’s armchair, contemplating his plan while gazing at the pair of floating eyeballs playing in his village. He had a hunch...
2025-08-05 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostNow that the battle was over and everyone had consolidated their gains, there was one last thing Edge’s crew needed to do before they left the Deep-Gill Grottos—harvest the remains of the colossal catfish.
Time was of the essence, but Trapper’s team had been hiding under the mountain for weeks, and that much meat could feed a lot of hungry mouths. Additionally, collecting some high-...
2025-08-04 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThanks to Blend into the Background, the canyon appeared empty other than the siege engines lining the rim, but that was far from the case—a fact the Armada Wurm became aware of when Kenji’s voice rang out across the battlefield. “It’s time! Begin the first phase!”
With those words, every catapult, ballista, and mangonel arranged along the ravine took aim and fired, filling the ...
2025-08-04 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Edge returned to his body, the gatekeeper was barely hanging on. The giant catfish was spasming and shaking—blind eyes wide with horror.
He put the wounded beast out of its misery, pried his legs free from its scales, then watched as the ice encasing the carcass made it rise to the surface where it would be easy to reach. He was exhausted and elated by the hard-won victory, but he ...
2025-08-01 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostNick turned and left the battlefield while Team Earth made their final preparations.
Kenji had asked him to keep an eye on the group that was luring the wurm into position, in case they ran into trouble and needed someone to pull their bacon out of the fire. The pull-team had already drawn the boss’s attention, keeping it in a holding pattern a few miles out until everything was ready.<...
2025-08-01 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Edge stepped inside the gatekeeper’s core, he observed the damage his ultimate had inflicted.
The animals were gone and the forest was dry—like the area had suffered a prolonged drought. He still didn’t fully understand what happened to a core when a skill was ripped free from its socket, but since he only stole powers from creatures he intended to kill, the mystery didn’t ma...
2025-07-31 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostOver the course of the last exchange, an idea had come to him—a way of getting close enough to land some heavy hits and take control over the momentum of the battle.
Since it involved catching the big beast by surprise, Edge was only going to get one shot at this, and he couldn’t afford to fuck it up. He waited for an opening to appear and sprang into motion—every scrap of concentra...
2025-07-30 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostNick spent the rest of the day vigorously conditioning his attributes while refining his plans.
Every time he came up with a new idea, he used Theater of the Mind’s Eye to shadowbox against the Armada Wurm and its horde of beasts, although his visualization involved a lot of guesswork since he hadn’t seen them fight before.
Its army looks tough, but I’m confident we can ha...
2025-07-30 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe swarm of lampreys spread out after detaching from the catfish’s belly, slithering toward the crew in a pulsating wave of slimy bodies. Within a handful of heartbeats, the hunters would be surrounded by an army of bloodsucking beasts—forced to dodge the gatekeeper’s blasts while fending off attacks from all sides.
“Run!” Edge yelled. “We need to come up with a plan and try ...
2025-07-29 17:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostNick made his way over to Devin’s campsite, where everyone on the wurm-killing team had agreed to meet up.
Devin and V were already there, laughing and flirting as they maintained their gear. Those two seem closer than ever. I wonder if they had a psychic experience like what happened with me and Liz. He decided to ask Devin about it when they had some privacy, then walked over...
2025-07-28 17:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostNo sooner had those words left Edge’s lips than a surging spray shot out from the surface of the lake.
He threw himself to one side at the last possible moment, evading the gatekeeper’s greeting with inches to spare. He ran away from his crew, preventing them from being caught in the crossfire while he processed the dynamics of his situation.
The beast adjusted its aim and rampe...
2025-07-28 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostAs they approached the exit to the Deep-Gill Grottos, Edge’s crew made rapid progress, following the magicytes upstream as they climbed through a steep series of tunnels and caverns.
Gauge Depth informed him they were drawing near the surface, and when the mushrooms disappeared even though the hunters hadn’t entered a new sub-biome, he knew they had arrived at the borderlands ringing ...
2025-07-25 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAs he ran, Nick took in the gorgeous panorama stretching from horizon to horizon, working his way around the lake while contemplating the battle to come.
Dealing with the Armada Wurm and its horde of defenders posed a unique challenge, but after thinking the matter through, he was confident they would prevail. He just prayed Team Earth could beat the burrowing behemoth without losing anyo...
2025-07-25 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostToday had been incredibly rewarding, and it wasn’t over yet.
While they were looking for a sheltered location to camp for the night, Sasha spotted a sealed chest embedded into the ceiling of an enclosure that was packed full of carnivorous fungi. These mushrooms weren’t beasts and couldn’t uproot themselves, but they could extend their stalks a considerable distance to strike with i...
2025-07-24 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Edge Absorbed the spider’s copy of Shadow Step, it filled his avatar’s cup to the brim.
Nerves alight with the rush that always came when taking another big step down the long road to power, he popped into his central chamber to watch his first Rare skill advance. The small shadow man was shining like the sun, making him easy to spot for a change.
When the transformation wa...
2025-07-23 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNick woke up late the next morning, sleeping in for the first time he could remember.
He hiked down to the riverbank to wash up, then helped himself to a heaping pile of fried potatoes from the communal kitchen Kenji had set up inside the hollow mesa. When he was done eating, he toured the base camp. He spent the better part of an hour introducing himself to the people who were destined t...
2025-07-23 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAn hour after they stopped to eat lunch, Edge’s team was ambushed by their first pack of predators that weren’t walking mushrooms—vicious cave spiders that were almost as big as Blue.
The damned things were terrifying and would have been a nightmare to deal with even without their skills. With them, they were some of the most dangerous beasts he’d ever encountered.
In additi...
2025-07-22 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSakura stood in front of the generator that powered Puppet Town’s Dome with a frown on her face.
Although the magitech device seemed to be working properly and she couldn’t detect any sign of tampering, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong—a pervasive unease that had only grown stronger as time went by.
She had already shared her concerns with Dialla and E...
2025-07-21 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostNick plopped down on a rock and turned to face Devin and Veronica. His friends were sitting so close their hips were touching, and it was clear their relationship had deepened since arriving on Earth.
Good for them. He smiled at the sight. For a long moment, no one said a word, enjoying each other’s company while savoring the fact that despite the myriad obstacles thrown in the...
2025-07-21 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post