All Chapters of The Succubus: Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
23 chapters
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Are they special?Matt tried them on and couldn't see anything different about them. Knowing those two, though, he trusted they were useful. Even if just as normal gloves, he'd cherish everything they gave him. Because of them, he had a chance at true freedom. Even before the sponsorship and as strangers, they’d treated him better than most people in his life.Matt repacked the items and went to retrieve his skill shard from his pad but came to the realization he didn't have anything flat and hard enough to pry the back off. After scouring the room and finding nothing, he briefly debated smashing the pad to get the back off to get his skill shard out.Opting instead to be reasonable, he trekked over to the dining car and, finding it empty, grabbed a pre-packaged meal and utensils. After eating, he dumped his tray into the disposable rack while pocketing the unused knife.Back in his cabin, the pilfered knife was used to get the pad open and retrieve the skill shard.With it in hand, M
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4Durham and the PlayPen were still a day out when Matt felt the final jolt in his spirit that signaled [Cracked Phantom Armor] reached his core spirit.The skill’s structure stuck out to him in his spirit. Like an infinitely complex 3D blueprint, it sat waiting to be used, begging Matt to try out the skill.His first skill.Knowing he couldn’t test the skill was eating him alive. Using a skill outside of designated areas was automatically considered a hostile action. No one wanted a stray [Fireball] to burn down a building or injure someone, so cities enforced a blanket ban on the activation of all combat related skills. Sadly, that included even defensive skills. Matt had checked, twice.Resigned to having to wait until he reached the PlayPen and their training grounds to see what his skill could do, Matt tried to relax. But after the last year and a half at Benny's, he could scarcely remember what free time was. Without another outlet for his attention, he just pondered his new ski
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He could only assume all spending was like throwing away spare change to the Tier 15.All the purchases were absorbed into the ring on his finger. When Darius asked, Griff said, “It’s a spatial ring. Can’t use one till your Tier 15 because of the strain it puts on your spirit. But, damn, are they useful. Don’t worry too much, you'll get there one day.”Matt felt that by the end of the shopping trip, he and Darius were far closer from the constantly shared looks of envy and awe at Griff’s spending.Finally, after what felt like hours, they boarded a small, sleek boat.Once the boat was underway, Griff talked more about the PlayPen. “So, you’re both sponsored and on The Path, which has some benefits and limitations.”At their questioning looks, Griff continued, “You get better discounts and top priority at all facilities on the island and preferential treatment in most larger establishments throughout the Empire. The limitations are all about ‘The Curve’ and teaming up with others outsi
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The admin process was easy enough. At one point, the clerk had them fill out identification cards. When giving the forms to Matt and Darius, he stressed that, if anything was wrong, it would be years of work to change, and this information took precedence over any other.Matt noticed Darius inputting a different last name. He didn’t feel it was necessary but assumed there was a story behind Darius’s actions. Not that he would press the other teen on it.Arriving off-cycle, Matt even got a delve slot for the next morning. After being assigned a room, he quickly went to a general store he’d seen on the way to the admin building. The place was massive and seemed to sell anything Matt could think of.With only minimal searching, he found the pads and discovered they only sold a single model. Looking at the specs, it truly was better than anything on the open market. The pad was faster and more efficient than even the latest model on the local markets, let alone his current refurbished pad
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Buttering up the person he was about to make a massive purchase from felt like a smart move, so he tried to flatter the man. He had enough practice with having to serve all the customers who worked at Benny's.“Yeah, the guy wanted to have a heavier blade. Not a huge difference, but enough that it’s been sitting there a while. Not many styles need a heavy blade that’s not a bastard sword or greatsword.“If you like it, I’ll cut a thousand off the price. Even throw in a sheath for it.”The discount brought it down to the same price as the other weapon. Matt liked this blade slightly more than the shorter one, so that made the choice easier. He used blades balanced worse at Benny’s, so it wouldn’t be hard to change his style. The sheath was nice, but he would only use it while traveling as he wouldn't enter the rift without his weapon at the ready.Still seeing Matt hesitating, Tun said, “Why don’t you take it and test it out a bit. There’s a small sparring room over here.”Small was an
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A flat voice called out, “Please, hold still. Defensive skill test engaging.” A bladed arm extended from the ceiling and proceeded to swipe at Matt’s chest. The strikes started feather-light and slowly increased in force until Matt was afraid it would pierce [Cracked Phantom Armor] and carve him up. He could actually feel the skills structure in his spirit destabilize as the hits grew in strength.When Matt was about to stop the test, finally, the blade pierced the misty armor and was retracted before it could touch him.“Physical slash testing complete. Analyzing results… Results determined. Skill will protect up to low Tier 2 slashing attacks. Any attacks that break through will have damage reduced by that flat rate. Please, increase mastery with skill or increase mana expenditure to increase the effect.”Matt was elated. One mana a second was a lot of mana for his Tier, and it showed he would be near-invincible in the Tier 1 rift. Even better, the Tier 2 rift would only be half as
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With the same repeating pattern of one, three, then five goblins. The first three sets of rooms offered no challenge to Matt. The only improvement the third set had was they wore clothes not quite thick enough to call armor.On the fourth set of goblins, Matt got his first challenge. This single goblin was a bit faster, no longer hunched, and of a slightly heavier build. It was also not as mindlessly aggressive as Matt tested it. To his relief, he discovered it wasn't trained just better with its decision making.The room with five of that type of goblins got bloody. Matt was flanked by the little green monsters, and while his reach and reflexes were still better than the monsters, it took effort to kill them without being hurt. It was the first time Matt felt his swordsmanship abilities pushed inside the rift.Two of the three that came straight on were taken out easily, but Matt had to deflect the last's dagger, stepping in and kneeing the goblin in the chest and sending it stumblin
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This rift also could reward delvers with a few ingots of perfectly pure metals. Usually, only copper and iron, but there was the chance for steel or aluminum. The smiths prized these drops because they were easier to enchant when forging Tier 3 and above blades. Or at least the guide said so. Matt knew nothing about smithing or crafting skills.The iron weapons he had collected along the way were just melted and sold as mundane building materials. The Empire paid for the scraps, believing there was no reason to have expensive mines ruining land for mundane metals when most low Tier rifts created them endlessly for free.Matt approached the area of distortion next to the exit rift. It was a purple color to his spiritual sense. He wasn't sure if that was because of the item contained within or it was just random. The guide had said nothing about that.After taking a deep breath and crossing his fingers for good luck, he sent a pulse of his mana at the small field. It shimmered before a
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With red cheeks, Melinda raised her cup. “Here's to growing up poor and fixating on the money.”Everyone, including Matt, drank to that.Matt broke the silence after that. He wanted to follow up on that statement. “I grew up in an orphanage after a rift break. What about y'all?”That seemed to ruin the mood even more. It was Mathew who answered this time, “Same with us, and a lot of the sponsored folk here. The Junipers haven't been doing their damn job, and rift breaks are at an all-time high. They should be…”Before Mathew could continue, Melinda covered his mouth. “Yes, we were orphaned as well, but talking bad about the nobility isn't smart without the power to defend yourself. DO NOT get us all in trouble, Mathew.”That finally stopped Mathew's struggles. Sam said, “My evasion instructor said he heard rumors the issue was being passed up.”Mathew scoffed around Melinda’s covering hand. “That means we'll see results in twenty years if we are lucky. All the nobility are above Tier
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Matt hesitated to share his failure, but he got the feeling they were honest and kind, so he decided to share a little. “No. Our orphanage was so overcrowded we all got Awakened at thirteen and pushed out.”All three winced. “It wouldn't have been that bad. They did what they could to ensure we got some face time with guilds and corporations even before going to the Awakening Center. I almost got recruited to a guild, but my Tier 1 Talent is—”Sam chimed in, “You don't have to say more.”“Nah, it's okay. My Talent is…limiting. Yeah, ‘limiting’ is the best word for it. It really restricts my cultivation, and that broke my provisional contract. Luckily, the recruiter was a good guy and helped me find a way forward. I just needed to make money, then buy a delve slot. So, I got a shitty job at a shitty inn. Worked there for over a year, then Dena and Eric walked in.”Matt had their attention now. “They were Tier 5s and stronger than anyone I’d ever met at the time. But they were kind.” He