Alan Pioneer News

  “And we’re here again with more Pioneer News!!!” Allan exclaims with a wide smile as the screen behind him changes. “Of course, by now the only Pioneer anyone in our sector of the Alliance cares about is our lovely Aqua! So let’s get right into the news!”

  The screen begins to show Aqua as she looks at a large crab monster from on top of its body. All while controlling the deeper water pressure her skill lets her create to wrap around parts of the massive crab and crush those parts one after another.

  Gradually killing the crab by water pressure alone.

  “Aqua has been hunting larger monsters one after another for weeks now, all while training her latest skill,” Allan says as Aqua sits down on the crab’s head with her hands in her pockets and begins trying to create an abyssal servant out of the creature. “And with every monster hunted, her level increases, and so does her army of abyssal servants.”

  “Her increased army size doesn’t seem to help her all that much though,” Rodrick says when the two hosts see Aqua succeeding in creating an abyssal servant out of the crab.

  “She only has a certain amount of mana after all,” Alan says while narrowing his eyes. “No matter how many abyssal servants she has to choose from, she can only summon a certain number of them with the amount of mana she has.”

  “What do you think her current goal is?” Rodrick asks while glancing at Allan.

  “Amassing as much power as she can before taking on that quasi creature the locals of Oceana are so worried about,” Alan answers without taking his eyes from the screen, where Aqua can be seen riding on the crab out of the coral reef she was in and in the direction of the next subject of her hunt. “Leveling up and gathering stronger abyssal creatures to fight against the monster as she does so.”

  “In that case, how bout we make a bet?” Rodrick says as he narrows his eyes a little at Allan.

  Allan blinks before grinning at him and asking, “Don’t you remember the last time we had a bet? Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Of course,” Rodrick agrees without hesitation. “Because this time I’m the one proposing the bet.”

  “Then what bet are you proposing?” Allan asks with his eyes squinting a little in his suspicion.

  What is he up to?

  Rodrick’s face doesn’t give anything away for him, so Allan isn’t sure exactly what he’s planning.

  Is he trying to get revenge for our last bet?

  Technically both Allan and Rodrick lost their last bet, but since Allan worded the bet the way he did, he still came out on top. Getting exactly what he wanted in the end.

  So Rodrick might be trying to do something similar this time by proposing the bet himself.

  “How about we bet on whether Aqua will manage to extract an abyssal servant out of the quasi when she defeats it?” Rodrick suggests, making Allan blink in surprise for a moment.

  Then Allan narrows his eyes at his friend and says, “Alright. Which side will you take?”

  “I bet Aqua will get the quasi as an abyssal servant,” Rodrick declares with absolute confidence.

  Allan stares at him for a few seconds before turning to look at the screen. At which point he thinks about the previous monsters she’s turned into abyssal servants.

  The higher the monsters level compared to her own seems to have an effect on her success rate, so it entirely depends on when she decides to challenge the monster…

  He continues staring at the screen for a while, only to turn back towards Rodrick again.

  But even if she tries to fight it while above the monster’s own level, there’s still a high chance it might fail.

  With that in mind, he decides to go with his gut as he asks, “What are we putting up for the bet?”

  “If I win, you never bring up any incident of me sleeping outside in any way ever again and you’ll have to sleep outside for two nights,” Rodrick says with a grin. “But if you win, I’ll give you that.”

  Allan’s eyes narrow as he asks, “You mean it?”

  Rodrick’s grin grows even wider when he says, “I do.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “You have a deal,” Allan says while reaching over and shaking Rodrick’s hand. “If you win, I’ll sleep outside for two nights and will ever bring that up again. But if I win, you better be ready to give it to me.”

  “Of course,” Rodrick declares, his grin unchanging.

  Aqua

  Hmm…

  I raise a brow as I read the messages in the livestream chat.

  [Allan and Rodrick are doing something stupid again.]

  [I can’t believe they’re betting on Aqua again.]

  [Rodrick hasn’t learned his lesson yet it seems.]

  [Rodrick was the one who suggested the bet this time, actually.]

  [Really? Has he lost it?]

  [Probably.]

  [he lost it long ago when he slept outside under a rock]

  [true.]

  [They’re betting on if Aqua will be able to make an abyssal servant out of the quasi when she kills it.]

  [isn’t that just gambling? no one knows if she’ll actually get it or not.]

  [I hope she does.]

  Those two are betting on my activities again.

  Then again, a lot of people bet on my activities nowadays. Which isn’t all that surprising considering how high profile my activities are nowadays.

  I yawn at that thought before lying down on top of the dead maw that I swapped with the crab I just got as soon as I got outside into a place large enough to hold it. With the dead maw just casually carrying me through the ocean floor towards my next hunt.

  From what I understand, this Allan and Rodrick duo did a bet before about what my Bloodline was. Which led to a tie that eventually favored the Allan guy.

  As for what exactly they had to do when they lost, I’m not actually sure since I didn’t pay enough attention to them.

  But I do know it had something to do with living under a rock for some reason.

  Rocks aren’t comfortable places to sleep though. So I wouldn’t suggest doing that.

  And I would know.

  I’ve slept on too many rocks to count in my time before arriving at the cities on Oceana after all.

  Even the dead maw that I’m lying down on right now isn’t exactly comfortable.

  Still. It doesn’t really matter.

  I just need to continue pushing on until I dominate this planet entirely. Level-wise, at least.

  Honestly, I have no interest in becoming the ruler of the planet. All I want is permission from the System to leave the planet.

  And to get that I have to become the highest level being on the planet.

  Which means becoming its leader in the eyes of the Alliance and the System.

  Although considering how having such a large level gap between me and everyone else will pretty much make me the undisputed ruler in a way regardless, I guess it doesn’t really change much.

  With that thought in mind, I go ahead and continue training my latest skill. All while pulling up my skills list to look at the description of Pressure of the Abyss.

  [REQUESTING SKILLS: USER AQUA AZURANTH]

  [14 SKILLS RETRIEVED]

  [MORE THAN THREE SKILLS DETECTED]

  [ALL SKILLS CONDENSED]

  [Skill 1: Abyssal Kraken’s Embrace]

  [Skill 2: Hydrokinetic Wrath]

  [Skill 3: Call of the Abyss]

  [Skill 4: Abyssal Kraken’s Partial Shift]

  [Skill 5: Pressure of the Abyss]

  [Description: Pressure of the Abyss allows the user to increase the water pressure in the area five meters around them to the water pressure of the upper depths of the Abyss itself. Additionally, the range of the skill increases by another five meters for every 100 points in Magical Strength the user has. Furthermore, the water pressure of the skill will increase to different levels of the Abyss depending on the user’s Magical Strength.]

  [Cost: Pressure of the Abyss costs one mana for every five seconds the skill is active. However, the time every point of mana lasts increases by five seconds for every 100 points in Magical Strength the user has.]

  [Cooldown: Pressure of the Abyss has no cooldown.]

  [Skill 6: Abyssal Reversal]

  [Skill 7: Maw of the Abyssal Kraken]

  [Skill 8: Devourer of the Abyss]

  [Skill 9: Converging Maelstrom]

  [Skill 10: Abyssal Ruler]

  [Skill 11: Light of the Abyss]

  [Skill 12: Claw of the Abyssal Kraken]

  [Skill 13: Ink of the Abyssal Kraken]

  [Skill 14: Abyss]

  [END SKILLS]

  I’ve only expanded the skill’s range by five meters so far from the original range of the skill. And it hasn’t grown in pressure yet at all.

  It’s kind of annoying that the skill only says that it’ll grow in pressure at different points depending on my Magical Strength stat instead of directly stating a number. Like it does for the range.

  Either way, I need to focus a bit more on increasing my Magical Strength stat to better use these two skills.

  Pressure of the Abyss and Abyss.

  Because both of them will be incredibly useful as I get higher in level.

  Patreon Link - Read up to 20 chapters ahead for and , 8 chapters ahead for and , up to 13 chapters ahead for , up to 25 chapters ahead for as of posting this chapter, up to 60 chapters (almost an entire book) as of posting this chapter ahead for , up to 33 or so chapters as of posting this chapter ahead for , up to 35 chapters as of posting this chapter ahead for , gain access to the chapters of all of my new series that aren't on Royal Road yet, and gain discord benefits by becoming a Patron.

  Discord Invite