Before Irin had her chance to launch into a lengthy explanation about the demon race, Meira entered the living room. The high elf instantly spotted the succubus and smiled. “Irin! It’s great you could come over so fast.”To Jake’s surprise, Meira went over and hugged the succubus, who happily returned the gesture. After their brief hug, Meira joined Jake on one of the couches and Irin sat down on another. Jake noticed that the two of them made some small talk while being all smiles.Okay, they have definitely gotten closer during my absence, Jake noted. It was honestly good to see that Meira had made some more friends. Jake also didn’t doubt that Irin would gladly make friends with Meira, if only for pragmatic and selfish reasons, as surely it would only be beneficial to be friends with the Chosen of Duskleaf.With everyone settled down, they finally got back to business.The succubus looked at Jake and asked, “So, I’m just going to assume you aren’t that aware of how the demon race a

Jake hadn’t been back to his own universe for over three years, and if he was being perfectly honest, he wasn’t looking forward to what Haven had become in his absence. He was afraid it had changed more than he liked, and he especially feared learning what had happened with his good old lodge. He was pretty sure Miranda or someone else had taken care of it during his absence to make sure it wasn’t too horrible, but what if they had turned it into a tourist destination or something? Fuck, maybe someone had constructed a viewing deck overlooking it!He could totally see that happening, especially with Miranda in Nevermore herself. Actually… who was even in charge of Haven right now? Lillian and Miranda were usually the ones doing everything, but neither of them were there. Maybe Hank? Jake sure as hell hoped it wasn’t just some random person Arthur had put in charge.These were just some of the thoughts Jake had as he went through the void. The only change he knew of for sure was the te

"You got stuck?” Jake asked.“I got stuck,” Sandy confirmed.“Really stuck?”“If I didn’t want to break anything and make people mad kind of stuck.”“So really stuck.” Jake sighed while staring at Sandy, now back at full size, lying on what looked like a giant mattress. Meanwhile, Arnold was busy operating some control panel as what looked like lasers shot over Sandy’s thick skin here and there. Jake felt quite a few more devices at work, too, ninety percent of which lay beyond his understanding.“In my defense, he cheated,” Sandy said, protecting themselves.“You entered my workshop without permission and triggered the automatic defenses, then proceeded to escape those, forcing me to step in personally,” Arnold said, not even looking up from the screen.“You still cheated.”“I only disrupted your application of personal spatial shrinkage, forcing you to expand within a limited space while jamming that frequency of space magic.”“And how is that not cheating?” Sandy kept complaining,

"It was far more powerful than our initial assessments,” the middle-aged vampire said in a serious tone as he reported to the raid organizer. “I believe it possesses a Nascent Dragon’s Heart, too, which is what ultimately led to our defeat. We may need to reconsider our approach or reach out for assistance.”“I see,” the organizer said as she wrote in her report. “Did you get any indication of the beast’s inclinations for the upcoming event?”“Nothing concrete, but what little interaction we did have made it clear the wyvern is incredibly arrogant. I have a hard time seeing it submit even to a far more powerful being, and with its aggressive nature… I believe leaving it be is far too risky.”“Very well,” the organizer said with a nod. “I will refer it to the upper brass. Now go to your team… I reckon they need you right now.”“Thank you,” the middle-aged vampire said as he stood up. “But... once more, I must warn you. The wyvern is far more powerful than we believed, so make sure not

Jake rarely felt nervous these days. He was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, Harbinger of Primeval Origins, and now even the top performer on the Nevermore Leaderboards. Yet he couldn’t deny his own trepidations before arriving at Skyggen.There was no doubt that Jake was a pretty sucky son and now also uncle. Even before the system, he had been bad at calling home or visiting often enough, and with the initiation, he had become far worse. What made Jake feel even worse about everything was how he didn’t really feel that bad for not visiting as often. The mere knowledge that they were doing well was enough for him.The words his father had offered him before his last departure also helped a lot, having pretty much given Jake permission not to worry about them. There was also the fact that Caleb was with them at all times and would ensure they were kept safe alongside Maja and Adam—his wife and son, also known as Jake’s sister-in-law and nephew.Mixed in with his slight anxiety was a l