The Prima was sent flying back as Jake’s hand exploded in an assault of arcane mana the same moment he punched it. Its silly belief in Jake playing it smart had clearly backfired on it, as Jake was more than happy to be risky. The reason he had held back before was due to the uncertainty of what it was cooking up, but now… now he knew he could face it head-on.His opponent got up with a nosebleed, looking more than a little pissed as it zoomed forward. Jake was ready as he met it; he had also decided to now hold nothing back.More energy than ever began streaming from his pores until the ground cracked beneath his feet. The internal flow of his energy sped up to new levels as his body began overflowing with power. He hadn’t done it many times since reaching D-grade, but damn, did he love the feeling.Limit break at 10% had been active the entire fight, but now he pushed it to 20%. All his capabilities instantly increased as he clashed with the beast.He had lost his primary melee weap

Jake, Miranda, Lillian, and Neil all stood at the lodge as the timer ticked down.The question of who would attend the World Congress had never been an issue for Jake. In fact, he didn’t have any input at all; he’d left it all up to Miranda to handle. The only ones he could possibly bring along were birds, and birds weren’t known to be great political negotiators. Or maybe they were? Mystie did come off as very smart, even by human standards…Either way, Miranda managed to fire off a few quick bullet points in the final seconds. Mainly: avoid fighting, politics and good relations first, no starting wars, let her take charge of the primary negotiations, no killing other City Lords and/or owners, and other such essential things.When the timer reached zero, Jake and Miranda both got the option to join along with the ability to invite up to two people total. Neil and Lillian were naturally chosen.With everything in order, they accepted and disappeared from the valley.Jake appeared with

After the first half an hour, four people found themselves within one of the closed-off platforms that belonged to a city. It was at the table belonging to Haven with the sound-proofing barrier active. Even sight into the area was disrupted, making anything less than a Sphere of Perception unable to pierce inside. One could still see out, but not in.In there was a reunion of sorts. Bertram and Jacob sat together with Casper and Jake, making it quite the unlikely group. Them entering the barrier had already grabbed plenty of attention.Undead and the Augur of the Holy Church meeting together with the first man to claim a Pylon? Very suspicious, and undoubtedly many theories were already being conjured up. Theories instantly debunked if anyone actually managed to peer inside…"I think the use of Credits will become far more normal with time, especially as we open up to the wider multiverse,” Jacob said amid their usual bantering. “The merchants naturally also push it as their skills in

Jake had always liked to play strategy games, mainly those of the good old 4X genre. 4X was an abbreviation of Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate, and featured, in ninety percent of cases, macro-gameplay and economics in a leading role. While they weren’t the most realistic, he and Casper had spent many hours nerding out over making optimal builds and strategies, and one of the most important factors was always location.In these games, the resources you had available were nearly entirely dependent on the starting location. In any given session, you might start near valuable metals or expensive crystals, a forest for logging, or a seaside with great fishing possibilities.The placement of the Pylons was a bit of the same. Most, if not all citizens preferred to be within the scope of the Pylon for obvious reasons. It increased experience gain for noncombat-related activities, and the City Lord also wanted it for all their skills to work properly.This meant that unless you had va

"System Events are exactly as the name suggests—events put on by the system itself," the Malefic Viper had explained to Jake long ago. “More often than not, they offer great rewards but equally great risks. Well, as a new universe, you may get some safer versions. Events can be pretty much anything and are great ways to challenge yourself and achieve a breakthrough to the next level for many mortals and even gods. They can even offer things one cannot find out in the multiverse. As I told you, I got my Bloodline through an Event, so that should put things into perspective. They can also offer titles, items, and all sorts of things. I wouldn’t count on any Events you experience in your early days to offer anything overly great, as I have yet to hear of any Bloodline-granting Events for anyone below C-grade. Also, as your events will likely be of the safer variant, it won’t offer the best there is. Danger and opportunity are intrinsically linked, after all.”Actually, the tutorial had b