The first step Arthur needed to take to fulfill his new goal was to obtain an official alchemy license. To create a soul splinter, Arthur required a lot of System credits- at least five million if he was being conservative, which was four more than he currently owned. As much as he might dislike it, that meant that he would need to become an alchemy factory until he accrued the necessary funds. Lacking an alchemy license would eat up his profits fast if he didn't get it out of the way first.

  Thankfully, the test, at least for clearance up to the uncommon rank, was fairly easy to pass. After registering for it, three thousand credits were deducted from his account, and he was sent a device that he had to use to record himself creating the randomly selected recipe they were testing him with. The subject of his assignment was a common-ranked sleeping potion that provided you a dreamless sleep, and though he'd never seen its like before, the recipe was fairly easy to follow through and used the four-tailed watercress he'd already become familiar with.

  In total, from registering to receiving his license, Arthur took less time than he normally spent preparing one of his more extravagant meals. The license was a single fine line of print on his seller account that told everyone he'd been officially cleared for the sale of all potions of uncommon rank and below. As much as Arthur was growing to hate the System store, he couldn't deny that it was incredibly efficient. Following that, Arthur looked through all the upgraded seller plans available for purchase. No way would he continue to allow them to gouge him of fifteen percent of his profits on every sale.

  Eventually, Arthur found the perfect plan for him. It was on the cheaper side but still came up to a hefty 250,000 credits. The plan was good for a year and meant that he'd only pay twenty-five credits per item he sold, regardless of how much he priced them at, deducted from the 250,000 he'd paid for the plan. That covered him for ten thousand items, a number he didn't see himself meeting by the time the year was out.

  Unfortunately, he wouldn't be reimbursed for any of his invested cash if he didn't manage to make the most of his paid advance, but he could live with that. With the numbers Arthur was planning on moving, the plan would pay for itself multiple times over. Arthur checked the time. It was nearing six pm, almost time for his daily meeting with Iris. Well... calling it a meeting wasn't exactly accurate when they weren't really talking per se.

  Arthur went upstairs to his bedroom and got comfortable before pulling a thick leather tome from his storage ring. The book was something Iris had left for Arthur in the cottage, along with instructions on how to use it. The Secret Notebook was a product that was extremely popular with young lovers; only the one Iris had given him had been personally modified with expensive enhancements that increased its maximum distance by multiple lightyears. Whatever you wrote in one notebook would appear in its sister pair, which Iris had naturally kept for herself.

  While it was normally used as a novel way to flirt with your partner, Arthur and Iris had been using it over the past few days as their only means of communication. Arthur opened the book up to a fresh page. Normally, Iris was the one to initiate their talks, but Arthur was too excited today to delay any longer.

  Arthur: Hey Iris. I've got a massive favour to ask of you.

  It took less than ten seconds to get a response, and Arthur smiled as he imagined how the powerful seer must have been waiting for him with the book open in her hands.

  Iris: What is it?

  Arthur deliberated how he should do this but ultimately decided to just jump straight to the point.

  Arthur: You know that aunt of yours you were complaining about? The clingy one that's also a phoenix. Do you think you could get me some of her blood?

  It took a lot longer than usual for Iris to reply, and he could tell that his message had thrown her for a loop.

  Iris: Arthur, you know if anyone ever gets their hands on my book, they're gonna think I'm dating some strange psychopath, right? Either that or I've got some weird blood fetish stuff going on. I'm guessing this has something to do with that store you just opened up.

  Arthur: How do you know about that already? Have you been stalking me?

  Iris: Maybe. You still haven't answered my question.

  Arthur: Well, it's not really connected to my store.

  Iris: Do I even want to know what you're going to use it for? Please don't tell me you were planning to just chug it down.

  Arthur grinned. He could feel the amused exasperation in her voice. Literally, in fact. Transmitting emotional intent was one of the main selling points of The Secret Notebooks and was the main reason why the company was so successful. Arthur was a little miffed at how little Iris thought of his dietary choices, but on second thoughts realised that his girlfriend might be onto something here. He was literally half beast. Drinking the phoenix blood might actually be kind of good for my health. How did I not think of that myself?

  Iris: I just gave you an idea, didn't I? Please don't drink any phoenix blood, at least not without a competent healer around. It's going to be hard enough introducing you to my parents without having to explain that you've transformed into a flaming chicken.

  Arthur chuckled. Would he turn into a regular-sized chicken or a massive one?

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  Arthur: Stop messing with me. The most I'll get are probably some flame wings, which, on second thoughts, are cool as hell.

  Iris: You still haven't told me what you need it for.

  Arthur: You know that gigantic spider I told you about. The one that did some pretty nifty space magic. I've decided to start the process of making it a soul splinter a little earlier than I planned for.

  The book glowed faintly for a second, an indicator that they'd burnt through twenty-five percent of their conversation time already. Arthur didn't know exactly how far away Iris currently was, but the exorbitant cost of sending these messages meant they were limited to around three thousand words a day. It sounded like a lot, but Arthur had learnt just how quickly a thousand words could go by when you were having fun. Iris had told him the System had its own messaging software for those with tier-3 access, but he neither had the required access nor was the communication as secure as his notebook.

  They carried on talking for a while longer, Iris advising him on how to maximise the power of ritual magic as well as the common pitfalls most beginners fell into when trying to cast it. Ritual magic differed from normal skills in that they demanded far more control and were exceedingly costly to cast. It was also pay to win; the more money you threw at it, the better your results would be. In other words, Arthur was positive his first foray into ritual magic would be met with resounding success.

  Before he knew it, their conversation was drawing to a close, and Arthur cursed the notebook's inability to charge itself from an active external ether supply. It would have been perfect if not for that one small caveat. Instead, he had to wait the twenty-odd hours it would take to generate its own proprietary energy source before he could have another conversation.

  Iris: That reminds me. Now that you've become a member of the Guild of Fringe Walkers, it's about time you start increasing your level. Fallen world creatures, at least the ones that remain on their own planets, should provide enough energy for you to grow at a reasonable rate, even with your legendary class. There's no reason to slow down anymore, at least until you hit the level 180 to 90 range, though I expect it might take you years to reach that point.

  That had been Arthur's plan already, but it was nice to get confirmation from someone who knew what they were talking about. With his current level and legendary class, Arthur's soul was now robust enough that it would take some exceedingly fatal circumstances for him to gain any more titles, which left him with the traditional routes to growing stronger. Well, I've got slots for two more monster cores to consume, but it'll take me some time to find the right creature.

  Arthur had briefly thought about buying the most powerful core he could from the System store or asking Iris to source one but eventually decided against it. His soul affinity told him in no uncertain terms that trying to consume the cores of mythical beasts who'd crossed the level 300 barrier would kill him just as surely as jumping into a black hole would. There was a reason why wealthy beast tamers couldn't stuff their pets with apocalypse cores and create divine beasts that could shake the very fabric of reality. There were rules to a beast's power progression, and while they could be bent, they couldn't be broken.

  Their conversation lasted another five minutes, moving onto more light-hearted topics. He learnt what to expect from Fallen worlds, the exact precautions he'd need to take. Iris also told him that a plan to deal with the lich queen was finally in the works, though she suspected it was merely a front to get more powerful aliens on the planet to hunt Arthur.

  Iris: One last thing before I go. The Goldleaf Spire is set to open up soon. We received entry tickets as part of our reward for killing the Bloodbeasts.

  Arthur: The Goldleaf Spire? That's the first I've heard of it. Is it like a Locus of Power?

  Iris: Yeah, sorry. That's my fault. With all the chaos in my last few weeks on Earth, it completely slipped my mind. As for what it is, it's similar to a Locus of Power in that everyone covets entry into one. It's a hidden realm that opens up once every century with a level limit of 250. Six months, Arthur.

  The notebook flashed red. They had less than fifty words left for today.

  Iris: Make Wovan. Power level in Fallen worlds as much as you can. I want you stronger than an apocalypse beast in six months tim-

  The message cut off there, but Arthur knew what she was trying to tell him. A massive opportunity to grow stronger was coming up, and he needed to be powerful enough to make the most out of this opportunity. What level do I need to reach before I can stop hiding? Arthur didn't know, but he'd make sure he got there eventually. Creating Wovan would be the first step of many, and he'd make sure it'd be the best damn step he'd ever taken. Now that he'd secured a line for the phoenix blood, it was time to source the other ingredients.

  The Hivemind spider had been a terrifying space mage, and the only reason Arthur had won that fight was because he'd been a terrible match-up for the monster. The spider had possessed truly devastating magic; only Arthur's durability had saved him from an instantaneous death. In his experience, monsters tended to specialise, often more so than sapient kind. On the flip side, that meant they also possessed glaring weaknesses. case in point: Wovan with his abysmal physical stats and terrible survivability.

  The exceptions to this were apocalypse beasts, monsters who broke the rule of balance as Arthur had started to call it. They specialised to the extreme and suffered from none of the detriments of such a build. Arthur looked at Wovan's monster core and grinned. The title he had strived the hardest to gain before unlocking a class, Source of Vitality, had been obtained by fulfilling the impossible requirement of 1,000 vitality before reaching level 100. To call it the cornerstone of his power would be no exaggeration.

  There was one aspect of it, however, that had seen very little use.

  Wovan was a hive mind consisting of hundreds of thousands of smaller spiders. After doing some research into the species, Arthur had learnt that every single spider constituting it counted as its true form. What would happen when you faced a hive mind of innumerable monsters, only they didn't possess the weakness inherent to their race? You'd attack with a massive AoE spell, the tried and tested method of dealing with such creatures, and watch in despair as they came out completely unscathed, each and every spider possessing more health than their team's greatest tanker.

  A monster that put apocalypse beasts to shame; that was what he would make Wovan, a creature that would inspire terror in the hearts of every being in the multiverse, whose birth would shake the balance of power across all realms, big or small.

  A monster that even I would have no hopes of defeating, regardless of how strong I may become.

  Etherious: The Locus of Power has gone live. As a self published author doing everything myself, my novels success lies entirely on my shoulders. As such, the first day of a books launch is by far the most important time that determines how well my book will do.

  Here

  Here

  Here

  ?Goodreads

  Here and read 8 chapters ahead.

  Patreon