Sultan was relaxed and confident as he studied the masked Chosen of the Malefic Viper. A powerful man worth working with. He had done his research before coming and believed he had an understanding of the man.As a Chosen, he would naturally be a reflection of his Patron, so with the limited information on the Progenitor himself, he instead studied his god and the Order his god was in charge of. He studied customs and the ethos of the Order. Their logos and foundational pathos—or lack thereof. Instead, there seemed to be a focus on each being taking charge of their own destiny, with morals judged based on how powerful a person was. To do harm upon those weaker than yourself was no sin, but a right. For Sultan to find a worthy partner that was compatible with him in this new world would be difficult, but he believed the Chosen would be his best shot.Going into it with honesty would no doubt be the best strategy. Lies would eventually be picked apart, and half-truths would only serve t

The situation was just a tiny bit tenser after Jake took out the trash. He was considering if they should slap on a charge for contaminating Haven with toxic waste, but held back. During the brief intermission, the two women had exited the cabin. They now stood behind Sultan as if seeking protection from him, both looking terrified.Miranda cleared her voice, bringing the attention back to her even if Sultan still threw glances at Jake. He didn’t seem mad or offended at all, but borderline elated."Needless to say, we reserve any right to dish out punishment as we see fit," Miranda said. “If it is decided by the leadership of Haven—especially Lord Thayne—to deliver the aforementioned punishment, then that is something you will have to accept.”"Naturally," Sultan agreed, his smile now back.He seemed less stressed than before despite just losing two of his "bodyguards." Not much bodyguarding going on, honestly, as those two had been weak. Jake guessed they were the kinds of casters wh

Jake made his way back to Haven with only a few stops on the way. Arnold was still trying to improve the Nanoblade, and Hank was still busy, so Jake didn’t need to meet anyone. Instead, he just checked in from a distance.He left Miranda, Lillian, and Neil behind with Sultan to figure out some final things. Nothing major—just where he could set up shop, and for him to sell some stuff to those three too. Jake wasn’t afraid of Sultan causing trouble, even if he was the strongest person at the Fort now. After all he’d gone through to get in the good graces of Jake, that would just be moronic.The only one who followed him was Sylphie. She was also a happy little hawk, as Jake had bought a dozen of those Beast Pellets as the final thing before he left. Sylphie wanted them all right away but had only gotten one. So Jake shouldn’t spoil her too much. A little was okay, though.Once he got back, the first thing he did was switch out his two chestpieces. He gained 150 Toughness and 75 Enduran

Jake sat with a book in one hand, skimming through it as he stroked Sylphie’s feathers with the other. She lay napping on his lap, seemingly very content with the situation. She had been working hard as always, based on how she’d managed to bring back the core of a D-grade monkey. He felt an odd sense of pride that she’d managed to solo kill D-grades while still not a full-fledged D-grade herself.She was getting there, though.[Sylphian Eyas – lvl 91]Considering how she only spent a bit of time every day hunting, it was impressive how she still got more than a level every two days. Hawkie had leveled far slower than she had. Of course, Sylphie could just sleep and reach level 100, but her hunting sped it up by quite a bit. Visually, she seemed to have settled on her “final form,” so to say.A bit smaller than Hawkie, a good deal smaller than Mystie, and overall just a cute, cuddly, green, feathery ball of death. Others perhaps looked at her as something other than the adorable littl

Jake returned to his lodge as if nothing had happened. Barely any time had passed in the real world during his journey through time and space. It had been another great showcase of the higher level of power, even if it all had gone past fast, and to be honest, not much had happened. Besides, it wasn’t like just seeing someone summon a huge barrier taught Jake how to. If it did, wouldn’t the easiest way to make new powerhouses just involve participating in movie marathons?No, the reason why the Path of the Heretic-Chosen skill was so good was that Jake could directly experience everything from all points of view. He could feel the flow of the energy, and it was even partly adapted to his body. It was a shortcut to an upgrade, and pretty much explained exactly what he had to understand and do. That didn’t mean Jake always got it—he nearly hadn’t with Palate—but it was an incredibly useful experience. Shit, even if he had failed to comprehend Palate, he would still have gotten hints or