Zogarth
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Chapter 888 - Pillow Talk
🕑 Added 2024-04-08 10:42:10 +0000 UTC”But it’s actually just pure mana?” Carmen asked, still not entirely believing Jake’s claims. ”Definitely didn’t feel like mana.”
”Pure arcane mana,” Jake corrected her. ”The stable variant, that is.”
”Hm, the stabby ones did feel borderline identical to the exploding ones… though the exploding ones maybe felt a bit more aggressive in nature?” she pondered aloud.
”They are definitely more aggressive, hence why they wanna explode,” Jake smiled teasingly as he turned his head and looked at Carmen, who was lying with her hands behind her pillow, staring at the ceiling.
The two of them were currently at Carmen’s place in Nevermore City, inside one of the private residences available only to top members. As someone who had been able to attend the get-together for those who did well on the Leaderboards, Carmen was naturally viewed as a top member. Then again, even if she had done horribly, the mere fact she was a Runemaiden of Valdemar was already enough to get her this designation.
Their duel in the arena had gone on for a few more minutes, but ultimately, there was little progress on either side. Jake could do some minor damage here and there, but Carmen was self-healing quite well. At the same time, Carmen couldn’t land any good hits on Jake. Finding a winner would have required them to keep going until one of them ran out of resources, and while Jake didn’t doubt the crowd would have enjoyed that, Jake and Carmen couldn’t be bothered.
Without any skills, their resources would have lasted for hours, and who really had the time for that? Sure, they could have switched over to using skills, but the arena spar wasn’t a real fight, and if Jake was being honest, he didn’t want to reveal his skills in front of a crowd.
After their fight, they had naturally both been a bit worked up and decided to go to Carmen’s place to ”compare notes” and ”reflect on their battle.” Which was definitely what they did. Definitely. Why else would they now both be lying naked in the bed?
”Maybe I should also work on getting an arcane affinity,” Carmen muttered. ”Then again, the only two people I know with one are you and Eron… well, besides the gods and stuff.”
”It isn’t like arcane affinities are necessarily better either,” Jake shrugged. ”They just seem like that because the affinity naturally fits the person who made it extremely well. Look at Sylphie; she just has the ”basic” wind affinity, and I sure as hell wouldn’t call that weak.”
”Pretty sure she has more than just basic wind. I heard something about Sylphs being a thing, and I’m pretty sure she’s related to those,” Carmen pointed out.
”Still just wind affinity,” Jake shook his head as he sat up. ”Maybe empowered a bit and of a certain flavor, but it’s still wind magic.”
”Hm, I guess you’re right,” Carmen relented as she looked deep in thought.
”Honestly, I’m more curious as to how exactly your level of durability even makes sense,” Jake said as he leaned over and poked her arm. ”Feels and looks like soft human skin, but it felt like striking metal whenever I hit it.”
Carmen didn’t even comment on his pokes as she also sat up. ”I guess it’s a mix between reacting to what is considered attacks and not attacks mixed with… what did you call it again? System-fuckery? Yeah, that thing.”
”Huh. Well, thank fuck for system-fuckery, then. I assume this is also why you can move normally despite your durability and tough skin? I would assume it to be less flexible by default.”
”Probably,” Carmen semi-agreed as she opened and closed a fist. ”It’s pretty sweet, though. I used to be really careful when fighting, and I had to make sure not to take any hits… now, I can take quite a beating without much struggle while giving plenty more back.”
”That actually got me thinking… this Runemaiden stuff also empowered your internals, right?” Jake asked curiously.
”Yep, it’s all-around,” she said with a grin. ”Though some parts are more affected than others. My bones and skin more than anything else. So, pro-tip: if you ever need to kill another Runemaiden, aim for the eyes. That’s probably our biggest weakness.”
”Thanks for the tip, but I was more thinking: how nerfed were you in our little spar? I remember you using a lot of boosting skills that took a heavy load on your body, and these must be a fuckload more powerful now, right?”
”You bet my boosting skills are a fuckload better now,” Carmen grinned. ”But I’m not gonna act like I would have had an advantage with boosting skills. Sure, mine may have been better than yours, but I’m not confident they would have allowed me to land anything decisive. Besides, you would also have way stronger offenses if that happened, and while I’m tough, I’m not invincible. Using boosting skills too much also negatively affects my durability; I learned that the hard way quite a few times in Nevermore.”
”I see, I see,” Jake nodded. ”Say, is it okay for you to be sharing details about Runemaidens like this?”
”Who cares? Valdemar sure as fuck doesn’t strike me as the sort of guy who would,” Carmen shrugged unbothered before turning a bit more serious. ”He does seriously want you to join Valhal, by the way. Gudrun is also entirely on board, and after your Leaderboards placement, I doubt anyone would dare protest.”
”I know he’s interested,” Jake just smiled, not really touching on the subject further. Even if he trusted Carmen, he wouldn’t share with her details about how his relationship with the Malefic Viper truly was. The fewer knew about his status as a Heretic-Chosen, the better.
”Personally… I don’t really think you should join,” Carmen said after a few seconds.
”Hm?” Jake exclaimed, surprised.
”Think about it. If you join, you’ll likely be made the Chosen of Valdemar, or at least someone with a higher position than me, which will make things really fucking awkward. Moreover… I wouldn’t want the competition,” she said, smiling during the last part.
”You’re aiming to become Valdemar’s Chosen?” Jake asked.
”Sure as fuck giving it a shot. I need to if I want to even try and keep up with all of you other damn monsters… seriously, why the fuck are so many of the strongest people in this generation from Earth?”
”Not a clue,” Jake smiled, shaking his head, at least happy to know others shared those feelings.
”It’s just weird,” Carmen sighed.
The two of them didn’t say more as they were silent for a while. After a bit, Jake took out the disc he had been handed by the Demon Prince, having decided to read it over. Carmen saw him take it out, Jake having already explained to her earlier he planned on spending a few days in the Valhal compound, partly to study this disc.
Seemingly not wanting to disturb him, Carmen got dressed and went out into the courtyard of her personal residence to do some training. Jake got curious and decided to see how she was training before he fully immersed his mind in the disc.
He saw her take up a position in the middle of a small open area as she closed her eyes and took deep breaths. Then, her eyes shot open as she punched forward, followed by several more strikes into thin air. She barely moved faster than a regular pre-system human as she boxed with a seemingly invisible opponent, and she even dodged and weaved in between unseen blows. After about a minute, Jake realized something. The way she moved, dodged, struck… was similar to their spar. Not in that it was the general moves, but the entire flow was recognizable.
She’s shadowboxing a version of me? Jake questioned as he looked at her practice a bit longer. Even from within the building, he could feel the odd energy surrounding Carmen and her intense and unbroken focus as she was entirely immersed in her imagined fight. Some pretty powerful concepts were also at play, and Jake even felt some faint energy come out of the ground beneath her. With a second inspection, he noticed that the huge magic circle spanning the entirety of Valhal’s compound faintly responded, a small part of it active, seemingly facilitating and assisting in training like this.
It really is a peak faction for fighting fanatics, huh, Jake thought with a light smile. With things like this and the archery range, maybe Jake should just see if he could join Valhal as an honorary member. Or, at the very least, blackmail Villy into giving him cool stuff like the archery range.
He really wanted an archery range.
Jake looked on only a bit more before he decided it was time to focus on his own matters. Delving into the disc, Jake began to study the proposed ritual by the Demon Prince, and his first impression was that it felt… kind of familiar? It definitely had many conceptual aspects in common with some of the rituals Jake had done before. There was also a lot of new to it, though, and it was a more complex ritual than anything Jake had ever done before. Besides maybe the one that helped birth Vesperia, however, that ritual had been one that required several stages and whatnot, while this ritual would be a one-and-done.
He also saw that he would not be doing this ritual alone. Several C-grade demons would assist him, but Jake would be the main maestro. The conductor who controlled everything. It was a bit similar to the ritual he had done with Mystie and Hawkie to help hatch Sylphie. This one would require the other helpers to do quite a bit more than Hawkie and Jake had to back then, but everything would be up to the discretion of Jake.
In fact, Jake was pretty quickly beginning to understand why the Demon Prince had asked him. This ritual was not one created to be performed by a C-grade, especially not a mid-tier C-grade. Moreover, based on Jake’s analysis, the person performing the ritual had to be within only a dozen or so levels of the Demon Prince, or it simply wouldn’t work due to the disparity in quality. While each grade was a massive jump, each level within every grade was also a small step, and having someone atop the staircase try to do this ritual wouldn’t lead to any good results for the demon.
Coupled with the extreme requirements of the ritual master – the one in charge of the ritual – Jake could see how it would be difficult to find someone qualified. It was also easy to see, especially when the Demon Prince also factored in Jake’s identity as the Harbinger of Primeval Origins, that Jake seemed like perhaps the best choice in the multiverse. And while the process of creating creatures like Vesperia was a lot simpler than most probably expected, it still wasn’t easy.
With all of this in mind, one ultimate question remained: did Jake have confidence in pulling off this proposed ritual?
Well, he would give it at least a fifty-fifty. It was definitely harder than anything he had ever done before, but Jake had also grown a lot stronger since he last did any major rituals, outside of the one with the Twinhead Ogre, but that was more fucking up an existing ritual circle.
Over these last fifty years, he had definitely progressed a lot when it came to ritualism. In addition, he specialized in Soul Ritualism, which this ritual definitely fell under. From his analysis, the primary bottleneck with this ritual also wasn’t pure skill or the knowledge of the ritual master but as much the insane minimum requirement of control and stats. There was a lot of powerful energy to keep track of at once, and some of this energy would be related to the Cerulean Devil. Most wouldn’t even dare try and touch anything related to a god… but Jake didn’t really care overly much.
One annoying thing did become clear, though.
I’ll need to throw in some Jake Juice as a binding agent of sorts, he noted to himself. Not a lot of it, just enough to nudge things to merge together. Maybe other alchemists or ritual experts could find some way to make them merge without this method, but Jake sure as hell didn’t know any. With what he was reading from the disc provided by the Demon Prince, the demons sure didn’t have any set plans either but would ”leave the merging process entirely up the Chosen’s discretion.”
A nice way of asking him to please figure out how to do it.
He already had a rough idea what kind of approach he wanted to take after just checking over all the information once, but he still had to fully familiarize himself with the role of every one of his would-be assistants and get a comprehensive understanding of everything that would go down. At least one good enough so that he could handle everything that went wrong on the fly by following his instincts.
Jake did also have to consider the-
”Damn, you’re deep, you’ve been at it for hours,” Carmen’s voice interrupted Jake’s train of thought as he opened his eyes and stared into Carmen’s that were right in front of his face.
”I’m focused,” Jake smiled as he didn’t move. ”And for the record, I did see you coming.”
”Sure as hell didn’t react.”
”Why would I?” Jake kept smiling.
”Out of politeness?” Carmen shot back, leaning slightly closer. ”Maybe I wanted something?”
”And what may you want?”
Carmen smiled deeply as she leaned in and whispered in his ear: ”I want you to touch me… with Touch of the Malefic Viper.”
Jake’s smile faded as the mood quickly died, and Carmen leaned back with a big grin on her face. ”More specifically, I want to see if you can get through my defenses.”
”I see you’ve upped your game when it comes to mental attacks,” Jake said as he pushed her off the bed with a small push.
She landed easily on her feet, still grinning. ”Or maybe the target was just too susceptible to this particular kind of attack. Now, are you up for it?”
”Alright, but it isn’t my fault if I melt a limb off,” Jake sighed as he also finally got off the bed and got dressed.
”Eh, I can always get a new one,” Carmen shrugged. ”By the way, have you learned to pop out new limbs yet? I nearly could before my Runemaiden Ritual, but my body is a bit harder to heal now, mainly because of how damn resistant it is to pretty much all kinds of energies.”
”I think I’m pretty close if I use a healing potion,” Jake answered. ”Though I tend to avoid losing limbs in the first place. Also, can we talk about how little sense it makes that healing a damn hole in my chest seems easier than a severed hand? I know why it works like that with the Soulshape and all, but still, it’s weird, right?”
”Weird for sure, and no one else seems to think so,” Carmen sighed as the two of them walked outside into the small courtyard.
”Truly indoctrinated by the power of system-fuckery,” Jake joined her in sighing. ”Now, are you ready to have your arm melted off? I have been meaning to test my newly improved skills with acids using Touch, and this seems like a prime opportunity.”
”Give it your worst,” Carmen said as they both sat down with their legs crossed as she stretched out her arm.
Jake put both hands around her forearm as he looked at her. ”Ready?”
”Already told you,” she said unbothered.
”Here we go then,” Jake said as he activated the skill.
Runes lit up all over Carmen’s body as he did so, and he felt the sheer resistance as his hands began to glow dark green. A crackling sound echoed throughout the courtyard as he saw Carmen grimace, the runes shining brighter and brighter by the second as Jake kept pouring in the energy, her skin turning a shade darker.
Jake felt the resistance grow but after an assuring look from Carmen, he kept going. Her arm was definitely slowly getting affected as the runes absorbed more and more of the deadly energy, but Jake just kept pushing on harder and harder. He kept going for nearly half a minute until suddenly, Jake felt all the resistance disappear as all the runes in her arm fractured.
”Oh shi-” Carmen tried to exclaim but never got further as something that should perhaps have been predicable happened.
Her entire arm exploded, launching Jake and Carmen away from each other, splattering blood all over both of them. Jake even had to react at the very last moment by using Eternal Shadow as bone fragments flew for him, each of them giving off an intense sense of danger as he felt like each of them could have pierced pretty damn deep.
As the dust settled, Jake saw Carmen stand back up, missing her left arm at her shoulder, with cracks forming from her shoulder down her upper body. A bit of poison had even leaked in, but he felt it quickly be consumed as only the runes on her body had been destroyed.
”You okay?” Jake asked as he himself was uninjured after he had his Eternal Shadow take the brunt of the explosion.
”I’m all right,” Carmen said, grinning as she looked at her missing left arm. ”Get it? All right.”
”That joke was bad, and you should feel bad,” Jake said, as he nevertheless failed to hold himself back from smiling. ”Did you at least learn something useful?”
”Not to let people with glowing hands touch me for too long at a time,” Carmen said as she took out a health potion and consumed it as she looked at her right arm. ”Wanna try again? I kinda wanna see if I can actively resist it…”
Jake looked at her for a moment incredulously before just shrugging. ”Sure, you even got two legs, and I have plenty of mana to spare.”
”Glad to see we’re on the same page,” Carmen smiled, seeming almost excited at the prospect.
Comments
Rezkin
The funny thing is we can actually heal from a hole in our upper torso. Now under certain conditions, like somehow surviving said wound probably some medical help to and it not being to massive let's say a gun wound. But we can't heal and regrow a new limb so not completely nonsensical.
Blaq Jesus
You are not alone in thinking that way, trust.
chump1999
I'm in it for the ritual. Kind of wanted him to chat with a certain snakey primordial about it. That aside, I've always disliked Carmen. Even moreso when it became a friends with benefits thing. I would have preferred literally any other chapter than that.
Endless Nature
Thx for the chapter
kapat
I’m excited about this ritual I love when Jake does ritual stuff
Sam
The first mention I can find of someone else calling him Harbinger is when he fought the Benevolent Monk the second time and was given a message at the end. I am trying to find where Miranda gets her C rank profession because I have a vague memory of it mentioning Harbinger of Primeval Origins but I don't remember for sure.
Jason Davis
Found it... Chapter 688. She gave up all ability to do magic when she became a true Runemaiden.
Numbzy
I mean, new lineages have the "Lineage Progenitor" to give them that little boost to power. Sylvie has it.
Baged
Yea... I almost lost my mind, when Cecil got into the mix, and I haven't read anything past the point where Villy got shoed up, with White hair, looking generic, my mind when blank, trying to forget the hole manga
Omar Jimenez
Thank you! But it really does just make me chuckle when it happens, because it’s ALWAYS Oscar 🤷🏽♂️ Anyway, I’ve read the books but have steered clear of the Dresden fandom for years now. What’s this about Harry time traveling?
Jeff McCulley
Pretty sure she’s going to be the Queen Bee (pun intended) on Earth, and the damn termites are going to run to do whatever she says. That said, I think that long post suggests that Vesperia runs on pure instinct one helluva a lot more than she’s demonstrated that she does.
Jeff McCulley
Sorry. My eyesight is declining. Fixed.
Jeff McCulley
Sounds like the Dresden Files TV show.
Josh Hietpas
I thought she was Italian or some thing tbh. Idk why
Josh Hietpas
I think they mean right away or in a short period of time. Jake can heal it himself given hours by using the passive health he gains from his surroundings and such, but its faster to just slam a health potion. Like sure, you can get high by sitting in a hotboxed room given enough time, but its faster just to smoke. Know what i mean?
nooneknows777
how arethey getting away with that its bullshit
Ty Cooper
I like the c-grade lineage idea but you know they would be more than elated and half hoping they make him into something of an amazingly strong variant. Power trumps all.
Ty Cooper
I think it will turn to a touch primal origins
Ty Cooper
Looking forward to it! He even admitted he'd need to use some Jake Juice.
Ty Cooper
So what Carmen is American?
Ty Cooper
Hey they signed a waiver
Anthony Smith
The person heading up the web comic lost his job. He didn't read the source material and zogarth didn't get asked for his input.
Hayden Leech
Prima time!!! Oh man I didn’t think of that! Fuck up Hakans attempt to fight the Prima! That’s epic man, great thought.
Hayden Leech
Vladmeer!!! Hahahaha Thick Russian accent.
Bobby B
Where in the world 😉
Blank
Hey zogarth didn't Jake upgrade his blood of the malefic viper skill to allow his blood to more effectively regenerate health and restore limbs even without a potion? Just reread chapter 142 "what is a health potion" Jake could watch the hand visibly regrow almost instantly.of his hand after drinking a presumably health potion. He did this in D-grade so shouldn't it be even faster after becoming c-grade?
Omar Jimenez
There’s a flying bug called Cecil… Don’t know how to feel about that. Not you Jeff, it was some other dude. Also, a small note. Not sure why, but my name is very commonly mistaken for Oscar. It’s not btw 😂
Jeff McCulley
Omar, if the other time was me (I don’t remember) it was out of sheer sarcasm at the trope. Which is almost as trite as “Jake is time traveling First Sage”, or “Harry Dresden is time traveling OG Merlin”.
Jeff McCulley
Nah. He’s going to wind up with four extra arms. Then Jake says, “Hold on, I got this…”
Jeff McCulley
She’s giving an arm and a leg to learn!
Jeff McCulley
Where is Carmen’s an Diego?
Jeff McCulley
I’m actually waiting for the “All the demons contractually owe Jake”, but also “Are royally pissed of at Jake” for the ritual coming off successfully—just not the way they’d expected. Or hoped.
Jeff McCulley
Change her name to Matti?
nooneknows777
I just wanted to ask did you give approval for the comic adaptation of your novel on webtoon? because your stuff is realy good and honestly its kind of insulting the way theyve treated it so far I was shocked at how bad it is Im sorry for any offense but seriously wtf!!!
MrCynical
Isn't Eron 100% health. No mana and no stamina, just health? And he still has his arcane affinity.
Ben Heystek
I like that theory
Anthony Smith
She did indeed get rid of her mana for more stamina.
Michael Lambus
That was vladmeer
Jason Davis
Maybe I should also work on getting an arcane affinity,” Carmen muttered — didn’t she do something that turned her mana into stamina?
Daniel Hamilton
Everyone else watching horrified 🫣
David Thomas
Those two would be the worst double dates ever
austin kutz
You'd probably do crazy shit too if even the most powerful godess risked having her guts exploded every time you had sex
SmokeJam
Alright, amputee fetish is just slightly weird :D
Joseph Wang
It's to purify a demon's bloodline, basically upgrade their race into a higher tier. The problem is that this would usually be done at a higher rank probably A-rank or even S-rank as set up to become a god, but the Cerulian demon guy wants to get it done at C-rank.
evan maples
Jake is so going to fuck up the ritual and summon a damn arch angel that proceeds to murder every demon in the room
Hayden Leech
Because they want to fight as c grades? Won’t they thing take them back to g grade? Like it did in the actual dungeon?
Hayden Leech
❤️❤️❤️
Chase Burton
Thanks for the chapter!
Hayden Leech
Synergy!
Kaibutsu
If that was a bad joke here is even worse: She can't be all right because she is woman, and women don't have any rights.
Matthew Lemon
...wtf💀
Baged
Cecil was a refence to the made up flying bug they have add' to the PH manga... If you haven' read it, then dont.... You will die inside when you see how they have made Villy look like..... Do you self the favor and take my Word for it.
Matthew Lemon
Yay!
Arkenian
He also used Jake juice fighting valdemar and making the marble. I think its possible he used a little making eternal hunger and didn't notice when caught up in the curse. I think it is possible for this ritual that it works out more or less as intended, because in theory the prince is seeking an origin and jake isnt going to use more jake juice than he has to, but we don't know enough about the origins of demons to predict it.
joel southard
Nice thank you for the chapter
Decibel790
"It isn't like arcane affinities are necessary better either" Should be changed to necessarily, and thanks for the chapter!
KenTX325
I’m imagining Vesperia showing up in 93rd universe with a bad ass army of hornet warriors and guardians. Then imagine storing them in Sandy. Sandy warps in, past defenses, and spits out an army of angry hornets and bees. And yeah Vesperia probably gets her own planet as part of Jake’s future empire. But this kinda thing might be a B grade thing.
Lawrence Dillon
Jakes a pervert i feel like bad things happen when they eliminate all 4 limbs
Hunter Thornton
Welp Carmen has gone from Runemaiden to Masochistmaiden. I’m afraid of who Jake’s gonna corrupt next, but I’m looking forward to forward to what logic he breaks with the demon ritual. Let chaos reign
Josh Keane
Tftc! Just a heads up "predictable" is spelled wrong towards the end of the chapter.
Numbzy
He brought back the lineage, not the original S-Grade of said lineage. No chance he brings back the original demon lord. Maybe creates a new variant but at C-Grade.
Frederik
yeah but he brought her back as a C grade with a slightly different personality so I wouldnt Count that as a true resurection but I can totaly see him bringing the devil back maby as somesort of uniqe lifeform that dosnt become a god but a real devil instead of just a got that calls him self devil (like the system recognizes him as something different then a god but on the same power scale as a god)
deus vault
who came up with the ritual, and why?
Sean Casey
I thought his was more a physical manifestation of fighting spirit
Lucas Benda
Correction "Jake but both hands around her forearm as he looked at her" *put Thanks for the chapter!
wartgalore
Thanks for the chapter! I'm a little confused by the sudden shift in setting. When Jake is meditating about the ritual and Carmen walks in on him, mid conversation, he is suddenly pushing her off the bed 😁
austin kutz
Her runemaiden ritual just made her into the ultimate submissive masochist (for jake) Her insides are even reinforced so he can give her a pounding as hard as he wants, and via the power of system fuckery, so long as he doesn't use any skills and their stats are at least somewhat at parity, and she won't take any damage no matter how tough the sex is Is this why valdemar came up with the ritual? Because he couldn't bang without exploding girls anymore?
Ty Cooper
I think Eternal Hunger used Jake juice but he didn't know he had said Jake juice till pollin dust bee Queen ritual. Kinda like he had hints of his arcane affinity before he realized he had it.
Ty Cooper
Having a disorganized and mentally freed planet should totally mess up the primal guardian situation on EH's home planet
Charles Torry
Jake already bought back a lost queen lineage. I wouldn't go doubting him on this ritual.
Ty Cooper
With Jake finally getting to say the "that was bad and you should feel bad" line
Julian
I guess it's true that if you do it too much your arm will fall of.
liquid_helix
Let’s play the explody limb game!
Ty Cooper
I think it has to do with reading the soul. Like how everyone used to call Jake the hunter. Imo
Kevin
You’re right that is weird. It was probably just an oversight by Zogarth. I’m not sure if I want fights where they can have their entire arm blown off like 5 times and just ignore all of it, so I like this shift back to it still being hard to regenerate.
Michael
She'd probably have asked Jake for hatchlings
Ty Cooper
Yep, doubt that the gold dragon princess would have played like this.
Ty Cooper
I know Carmen's cousin talked about her as a paraplay prostitute but didn't think she'd try it out. Lol
Kevin
The colosseum would have also reduced their levels and removed Carmen’s ruinmaden body.
patrick__starz
Probably because Jake has forgotten about it in his storage device, like he does with most things hahaha
Reno
Oh crap. "Most skills will also be restricted". I read that as "normalised", but it could mean "disabled"
Reno
Chapter 783: [Emblem of the Grand Champion (Mythical)] – An emblem infused with the powers and concepts of the Colosseum of Mortals, given only to those deemed worthy. This Emblem can create a replica of the Colosseum of Mortals arena within a virtual space for individuals to duel one another. Allows the user to choose two targets who must consent to take part in a duel within the virtual space. Those entering will leave their true bodies defenseless during the duel period. All levels and stats of those entering will be normalized. Most skills and abilities will also be restricted. Dying within the virtual space will have no negative consequences. As the owner, you can always observe the inside of the Emblem of the Grand Champion. Cooldown period: 1 hour.
Reno
Something you can use to duel at full power once an hour. It equalises stats and fixes you up when you get out. Maybe wouldn't fix bloodline backlash, but it's supposed to fix everything else. I don't know which chapter it was.
Nick Elliott
Not only Jake. Me too. What was his mythical collesium reward again? I have a vague memory of a pocket training arena?
Nick Elliott
Yeah. Carmen was only able to handle Valdemar blood because of her exposure to Jake and his natural aura resistance bleed.
Omar Jimenez
Checked book 6. Jake used the Nalkar Vampire Heart, a catalyst rock thing, the root, the chimera weapon and the scimitar of cursed huger (that he’d previously transmuted with Touch). Didn’t see anything about a weird energy, or a strange feeling of emptiness, or something to allude to Jake juice, but maybe I missed it 🤷🏽♂️
Sam
No, I just reread that section and he was never called a harbinger of primeval origins during the chosen ceremony or the gift giving or the meeting with the three sets of gods
Michael Lambus
Jake forgot
DDHG
Man first fighting and now limb exploding. Thank goodness for system fuckery, otherwise Carmen and Jake wouldn't be able to flirt in such a strange way.
Darthnarciss
A large part of it is Jake himself. Eversmiles Initial plan, and the way things should have gone, was the metal mage would have killed everyone in his group, and them been a plague on the rest of the planet. Scoring Eversmile a bunch of Karma to play/experiment with, and Records. But because Jake woke himself up, and Bloodlines are beyond the System, it threw everything out of wack. Jake's rise to power directly affected the Records of those he either directly or indirectly saved, and everyone from Earth got a boost due to being from the same planet as Jake. Similar to how all humans have an echo of Valdemars Records.
Brandon Dorrough
They had to reveal it because of the bee ritual. They had to show off her and sandy so he's known as that
Brandon Turner
Oh are we about to see Jake's first mythical of the malefic viper skill
Omar Jimenez
True resurrection has been discussed as being very, very rare. And always in a top down situation. Like when Eversmile brought back William. I doubt Jake has the reserves of juice at C-grade to bring back a god.
BumAssBumAss
Wasn't Jake juice unintentionally used when creating eternal hunger?
John Looney
I mean Valds transcendence is basically an arcane stamina and if a primordial can do it why not people infused with Jake records lmao
Ben Heystek
I'm guessing he brings back the demon that was tied to the ancient pieces somehow, or summons one form some prison or something that has been long trapped and forgotten about from long ago
Nick Elliott
Yay Monday! Thanks for the chapter. There's a part of me that mourns how OP Jake always was compared with his earth buddies. And I know his records are off charts and his Bloodline is a system hack. But does feel like more and more are rivalling him in skills and power in their own way/paths. That said I don't mind when it's SS or Carmen because I trust them. And it's understandable as one is transcendent and other also successfully consumed primordial blood. I know Jake is also probably more firmly on path to Godhood with his records base and path and myriad other things. And his synergy with class and profession is also extremely high. And what we don't know about his true race and links to system/FS. But I did used to really enjoy how easily he would trick/exploit/outsmart them jn their duels Previously . With some cocky quips. And if the fact that he managed to draw blood with his stable mana was supposed to be majorly significant I didn't quite feel that. So perhaps it wasn't meant to be. Which make the spar even more equal.
Phasmatic7
Nah don't be sorry bro, just wasn't sure if it was on purpose lol
JJB4345_80_815
Sorry, I just didn't want to make 2 separate posts today. I always put in a thanks for the chappy in a reply 'cause to me it kinda saves space. The rest was me being a little lazy and a lot tired and distracted with other stuff and just throwing it out there with the thank you post willy nilly.
Joanna Newhard
Ground wasps exist so some wasps dig.
Sam Rosenberg
Uhhh… kinky I guess
Reno
This is sweet, but why aren't they using Jake's mythical reward from the Colosseum? The Valhal compound seems like a safe space to go all out in the imaginary arena, all without the risk of someone snooping.
daniel gager
Lol this just confirms it that those two match so well
Sam
How could they say anything about it? Only Villy knew anything about it, right? And he didn't mention it.
Aurelius
They may have said something about it at the big chosen reveal right before nevermore
Phasmatic7
Did you say that as a reply on purpose?
JJB4345_80_815
Yes, Thank you for the chappy, Zogarth! Friendly possible edit: Well, he would give it a least a fifty-fifty. --> ...give it at least... Also, I remembering when Jake was traveling inside Sandy while on Earth that he repeatedly severed off his hand over and over again, which Villy actually teased him about self-mutilation. Jake was doing that to regrow his hand more quickly. Also, going through Minaga's challenge dungeon I think at one point he had to sacrifice an arm to stay alive and regrew that pretty quickly. It just seems a little weird how Jake is complaining that it takes longer to regrow a hand than a heart? I'm probably missing something or not understanding something that I should?
Michael
And now the pseudo masochism begins to test out resistance and other things
Omar Jimenez
Currently, we don’t know anything about the Cerulian Devil besides their name, so Cecil is just as legitimate a result of a Jake juice boosted ritual as anything else 🤷🏽♂️
Sam
Does anyone remember how people know about the Harbinger of Primeval Origins since Jake didn't choose that upgrade?
Trugath
I hope she gets it down before Jake makes a carry Carmen pun
Baged
He becomes a totally new person and starts to call himself Cecil😔
Phasmatic7
Thankies for the chapie zogie
Zizawah
It isn’t like arcane affinities are necessary better either,” — necessarily Thanks!
Namorat
I really miss Vesperia ^^
THOMAS ROGERS
Tftc
Omar Jimenez
Jake juice has been used three times that I recall: Sylphie’s egg ritual, Sandy’s meteor natural treasure, and Vesperia’s egg. We don’t know if Sylphie was male or female while in her egg, Sandy was asexual before and after consuming the meteor, and Vesperia came from a Pollendust Bee QUEEN egg. I’m going to guess the Demon Prince stays a dude. I will say that this is the second time someone has responded to my comments about the upcoming ritual with talk about the Prince getting gender bent… Odd.
Star
"hands behind her pillow" - maybe not a native English speaker, but I can imagine under the pillow, above the head, on top of pillow.... but not behind. Also, her skin behaves as non-Newtonian fluid? Interesting :)
Mohammed Sheekh
remember when simulator jake knew real jake was watching him? something like that,
ChRiAn
I have disturbing flashbacks to one of her cousins comments...
Sean Casey
ARCANE STAMINA GOGOGO. TYFTC
ChRiAn
Isn't that more or less what he does with Villy on a semi regular basis?
ChRiAn
Isn't that more or less what he does with Villy on a semi regular basis?
Naotsugu97
Cheers!
ChRiAn
What are the odds he will come out as a demon princess on the other end?
Yatagarasu
I love carmen lmao she loses an arm and makes a bad pun about it 😂
Sachieiel
Arcane affinities aren't tied to a specific resource. Jake primarily applies his to mana because it's the resource he understands the most. Note that Eron has one but only possesses vital energy.
ChRiAn
Is he already making changes? Last we saw he was still in scouting mode. Prima time seems like a far better moment to trigger karmic comeback.
Steven Myer
Zogarth, when you have a sex scene I don't think that's the type of explosion people are looking to read, my word!
Tyler S.
Wonder how El'hack is liking all the changes William is making to his planet
Olof Karlsson
Thanks for the chapter!
Hayden Leech
I can totally see Villy just casually dropping some great cosmic truth on Jake to test if he has a flat immunity to losing forbidden knowledge or if it’s just the first sage he is allowed to remember.
Phillip Hazlett
TFTC :)
Hayden Leech
“Maybe I should also work on getting an arcane affinity,” How? She turned her mana pool into stamina? Unless you can get arcane stamina.
Omar Jimenez
Really looking forward to see what the latest Jake Juice shenanigans will result in. Somehow I don’t expect that the Demon Prince is going to get exactly what he asked for. Something better, for sure, but what?
Kai Strohmeier
TYFTC jake but both hands -> put both hands
Chris Lowe
Carmen and Ilea Spears would get along well.
Mohammed Sheekh
would be awesome if Jakes perception can break the fourth wall and he just looks at a random direction to greet us lol
Matthias
Tftc
Hayden Leech
I’ve been thinking about how vesperia might manifest in the 93rd universe. Vesperia is coming to the 93rd universe soon and my belief is that she won’t settle on earth. Ectognamorphs are fundamentally hardwired for: “Queens tending to the young. Warriors fighting in wars. Digging. Expansion. Domination.” It’s The fundamental commands of vesperias most central records. “the source of something. It’s purest beginning” It’s their path, it’s what they are. Ectognas are not like enlightened. They can’t help but consume as much as they can reach and keep reaching for more. *it’s their path* What Jake saw at was at the heart of their *origin* Which is why I can’t see vesperia settling on earth. She would either have to expand to consume earth which I don’t think either Jake nor vesp would want or choose not to follow her path and “limit her hive” probably wrecking her path and condemning her to c grade forever. So how would a wasp hive manifest? Presumably on some random planet, I put forth El Hakans planet as an example but people didn’t like it *shrug*. do wasps burrow? Like the termite hive burrowing to the central pylon? I don’t think so. Wasps build nests ON things. You’ve mentioned great trees that seem to reach past the sky, maybe her hive could grow on one of those. Or maybe (seems like b grade) her hive could be like a massive space station, a colossal wasp hive/battle station even that can orbit whatever world her hive is assaulting/relocate itself to fresh resources? Organic Point defense turrets provided by other ectognas that live in her hive? Acid attacked that are more effective against Equipment/automata? Great formations and other static defenses? Can she make alliances with other true royal lines/ask for queens to inhabit her hive? I’d imagine having a bunch of those extreme perception dragonflies around the hive would be extraordinarily useful both for defending against/spotting the stealth assassination types that are uniquely dangerous to the endless empire (kill the queen kill the hive) and spotting valuable targets on the planet below for vesperia to drop wasp armies on and bring back to the hive. Wasps are her assault force right? Those basically clear the land of native monsters, beasts and enlightened species before the bees move in and colonize the world/build the infrastructure that turns the planet into a hive that she can make use of right? What does that look like? Does she spread her hive through entire planets like the Isoptera or does she have a central hive that she uses her wasps to strip whole worlds of all its resources to bring back to to the hive and improve it into a singular super fortress? How varied are her drones? Can she make stealth wasps? Long distance observer wasps? Healer bees? Suicide bomb wasps/one time sting suicide super venomous wasps? What about bees? Is she producing a kind of honey or Royal Jelly that she can use to heal/grow? So many questions! I think vesperia is the character I’m most excited to see again. Hands down.
Lizy Flore
Thank you :)
Hodge Wasson
I mean, blowing her arm up does seem like the kind of foreplay Carmen would be into. Jake better watch out or she's going to be even more ready to go than before round 1.
Luis Cruz
God they're just the perfect kind of crazy for each other.
Nate Green
"but everything would be up to the discression of Jake." ->discretion
Zogarth
Fix
Dawn cat
Thanks for the chapter
Specter
Thank you! discression -> discretion
Dave
TFTC
Strato Junon
Oof that's gruesome . Thanks for chapter
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Xander Cadence
Tftc, fuck those orange bastards
Robert Gallup
TFTC!
Jelani Willock
TYFTC
Exaiter
Thanks ☺️
