Sandy was definitely the most lopsided creature Jake had ever come across. Okay, maybe something like the Termite Hive Queen was equally lopsided, but Sandy was definitely so specialized and weird that it boggled his mind.Most creatures Jake knew could fight. Like, fighting was a basic skill of the multiverse, right? Jake had yet to come across a single C-grade that couldn’t at least fight back in some way. But Sandy? Sandy and fighting were not a thing at all.And yet, out of every C-grade, Jake did not want to mess with Sandy and make the worm an enemy. Because he was damn sure that would only result in everything he held dear getting eaten and the worm flying away unbothered.Sandy was good at three things. Like a sand worm, a Cosmic Genesis Worm was incredibly good at moving about. Jake thought his new Wings skill was good at escaping, but Sandy had several skills that allowed escape.Second, Sandy was incredibly resilient. The rock-like hide was not for show, and Jake found that

When fighting a larger foe, one had to always make use of that against them. The shark’s size made it far stronger in direct clashes, but Jake’s smaller size offered him more mobility to maneuver around the shark.Not that the shark was slow. It did not only use its body but its magic to move in unpredictable ways. Jake had to constantly adapt, as the entire body of the beast was its weapon. Teeth-like scales protruded from its skin, all angled to cut him simply by brushing against the body of the beast. This meant that Jake had to constantly back away and make sure only his weapons touched his opponent. To make matters worse, the Razorstream part of the shark’s name was not a joke. The currents of water around the shark cut him as though they were filled with tiny razorblades, putting a constant strain on his Scales of the Malefic Viper.The passive barrier from Arcane Awakening also helped—a skill he had been forced to use right off the bat to just put up a fight. Fully activated, t

Jake was absolutely certain of one thing: two identical Bloodlines could not exist. Even if someone with a Bloodline had a child, the child would have their own Bloodline with its own unique signature. One would be able to feel the difference between two family members even if the effects of their Bloodlines were identical.But the old man had the exact same Bloodline as Villy. Jake completely zoned out of their discussion as he tried to figure out how the hell this was possible. It was impossible for the Viper to somehow be the kid of this old man, and one could not give their Bloodlines to others, as the Bloodline resided in the Truesoul. Only the system could give a Bloodline, the Viper had said. So Jake saw only one explanation.The Viper had gained this old man’s Bloodline sometime after he had died. Assuming the Viper had been truthful when he said he got his Bloodline after reaching godhood, then it had to be a lot of time afterward. However, this also raised some questions. Ha

As Jake and Sandy continued their journey over the ocean, Jake worked on the upcoming battle. His talk with Villy about the First Sage had been enlightening, and the upgraded Blood of the Malefic Viper would surely help with what he wanted to do. However, it was far from enough.Unique Lifeforms were annoying opponents; Jake had no doubt about that. This particular Unique Lifeform he would encounter was one of ash and space magic, as far as he could tell. It did not have a physical body but was more like a living domain. The domain was its Soulshape and seemed to encompass a large area, allowing the Ashen Phantom Devourer to move its body—ash—anywhere within it. The domain itself could also move at a fast speed if it so desired, making it a truly nightmarish being to face.There was probably more to its abilities, but Jake got enough of an idea of what he was facing just from what he had heard so far. What he was facing would effectively be a giant elemental without many of the usual

The days passed one by one as Earth had finally begun finding some semblance of stability. Settlements and larger cities had survived the many beasts attacking and made adequate defenses in preparation for more attacks. Some cities still fell here and there, but for the most part, there was peace.Some smaller teleportation networks had even appeared, linking allied cities to one another. The Holy Church had some up and running relatively fast, allowing them to quickly move between their cities to assist in case of attacks. They were working towards something, and none knew exactly what it was, but it did include many high-level members of the Church making their way back to Sanctdomo—likely one of the reasons they had rushed to reestablish a teleportation network. Out of all the factions, the Court of Shadows was perhaps the most effective, primarily with their ability to quickly link not necessarily allied cities, but locations of different networks close to each other, and then jus