Andrew Thompson
Stories
8
Chapters
3,542
Words
1.4 M
Comments
0
Reading
4 d, 23 h
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There was nothing glorious in the way Dallion had become level five—he hadn’t bested the mountain, nor had he achieved a bone crushing victory. Even so, he was remarkably pleased with the result. Reaching this level had proved to be far more difficult than he had expected; it definitely wasn’t as simple as computer games back on Earth had made it out to be. Now, finally, he almost had what it took to challenge the village chief. Only one last step remained. When given up the choice of what to…-
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Fighting the colossus with a dartbow and buckler turned out more difficult than Dallion thought. The more he tried to increase the distance, the more the guardian shortened it, moving as fast as Dallion himself. For every shot that hit the guardian, three were deflected, for every four that hit only one dealt actual damage. Minutes in, the boy decided to resort to the good old methods of dealing with colossuses—a buckler to the head. Initially, Dallion thought that the guardian would block this as well,…
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The rectangle illuminated the room. Never had Dallion been so glad to be in this small dark room. Finally, he could catch his breath without worrying that a ten-foot hand would slap him on the head… along with the rest of the mountain. No wonder the soldiers treated all the volunteers differently. Compared to the “fully awakened” they probably were like kittens in a tiger’s den. Thinking back, maybe Dallion could have been a tad overconfident in his abilities. The limiting echo created by the…
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Size really wasn’t considered a factor in the awakened state. Dallion had fought large creatures, enormous creatures, large creatures that could become enormous upon merging in a group, and now—gigantic creatures. The challenge limitation made so much more sense now. Without a ranged weapon there would be no way to defeat the guardian, although maybe Gloria might have a chance with her acrobatics skills. “If I don’t get any new skills at the end of this combat, there’s no justice in this…
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The rectangle brought a smile to Dallion’s face. For one thing he knew every “achievement” rectangle to be associated with a stat boost—mind in this case, judging by the wording of the text. Also, described as both reckless and collected, created an interesting existential paradox. Would the two qualities cancel each other out? Or would they complement each other in some strange and peculiar way? Hopefully, time would tell. Dallion didn’t have to wait for long. The moment he tapped away the…
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The day passed in the medieval equivalent of partying, very much like the time Dallion had first awakened. There was lots of food, by local standards, a healthy number of people, as well as lots of talk and laughter. However, it also seemed different. Lacking the echo, Dallion could feel the fakeness of it all, as if he had been put in a tv drama in which everyone played their own roles. The smiles seemed fake, the questions seemed shallow, even the people’s reactions appeared predictable, almost…
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“Return to your village with the Archduke’s thanks,” Dame Vesivua said with the dignity of a bored city official. Just like at the previous village, there was no fanfare, no trumpets, or speeches, not even any medals of recognition. The only reward was a purse of coins for the village chief, given to Veil. The notion that the chief had gained more out of this than Dallion himself burned the boy up inside. What calmed him down was the knowing that there wasn’t anything much to spend the money on…
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The mood on the way back was very different from what it had been getting here. The further the party went, the happier and more relieved the volunteers became. People smiled more, joked about during food breaks, even started sharing things from their lives. The soldiers, in contrast, became more and more cranky. For them, each step was taking them closer to the crowded, smelly barracks of their garrison. Training had also changed focus. A day ago, the volunteers grumbled each time they had to face a…
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“You’re lucky you aren’t part of my troops,” Dame Vesuvia went on. “Rushing towards a chainling with that level of training. If it wasn’t for the Cleric, you’d have been a pile of charred flesh.” Dallion kept quiet. He’d only been part of the hunting party for several days, and already he felt like some things never changed. After the fighting was over, several people had received praise from the Dame as well as some monetary rewards. It came as no surprise for Gloria to be in that…
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The chainling jumped away from Dallion, just in time to avoid a series of glowing red knives that hit the ground. “I told you to run.” The Cleric said a short distance away, holding several throwing knives. That was both impressive and unexpected. If anything, Dallion thought of him more as a quarterstaff fighter. Barely had the Cleric made his move than another party emerged. Appearing out of thin air, Dame Vesuvia swung her weapon at the chainling. Faster than the eye could follow, her sword struck…
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