A Dragonslayer's Peerless Regression - Chapter 10

Warning This fiction contains:

Graphic Violence Profanity Sensitive Content

Summary – Level 1:

Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.

Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.

Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.

Did I mention that there will be math?

Summary – Level 2:

Okay, but what are you in for, really?

Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.

...

What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?

Yes!

Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–

Now!

Okay, okay!

The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?

Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?

Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.

POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.

Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.

Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.

There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.

The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.

The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!

Part 1:

On April 3rd, 2019, there was a virus outbreak and the cities were besieged with zombies.

A month later, on the national road outside H City, Shen Shian carried a heavy sword and walked around the vehicles abandoned everywhere.

“Don’t make trouble,” he said while turning back. “Keep up, the sky is becoming dark.”

“Hey!” A child who looked to be only four or five years old answered. He slashed the sword in his hand and cut the head of a zombie. Then he reached in and pulled out a marble-sized transparent crystal.

After rubbing it a few times on his clothes, he carried a Tang Sword that was half the height of an adult human and ran to Shen Shian.

“An An, I’ll give it to you!”

Part 2:

Shen Shian picked up a miserable puppy with dirty and knotty fur and a terrible smell.

The first time he brought the dog into the spirit spring, the dog turned into a child.

The second time the child was brought into the spirit spring, he turned into a man.

On the edge of the misty spring, Shen Shian looked at the man swimming and asked with a frown, “Can you change back?”

“Why?”

Shen Shian pursed his lips. “…You will eat too much.”

The man wrapped himself in a bath towel and emerged from the space with the Tang sword. After a short while, he inserted the sword into the grass and handed Shen Shian a handful of sparkling crystals.

“I might eat more but I am also more capable!”

- Description from Novelupdates

Gary Smith arrived in a peculiar world of beastmasters, where an ancient taboo was reborn from the depth of time, and an evil god was lurking.In this world, birds and beasts, rivers and mountains, even elements could spawn spiritual power and turn into pet beasts. Among them, the powerful ones became ecological niches by themselves, radiating secret realm ecosystems such as the Yellow Spring, Skeleton Kingdom, Succubus Nest, and Kingdom of the Sky Tree, nurturing countless followers.The beastmasters make contracts with the pet beasts, nurture them, and control the spiritual power.After witnessing the “Taboo Sun” event, Gary Smith obtained the ability to extract materials from everything in the world and compile “Secret Food”.Through the Evolutionary Secret Food, the combination of “The Shattered Dusk World” + “Ancient Dragon’s Dead Egg” results in the Feast of the End. When the pet beast consumes it, it evolves into the Dusk Dragon God. The Dusk Domain erodes the world, turning into the God at the end of time.The Skill Secret Food allows the pet beasts to plunder skills from everything, becoming omniscient and omnipotent. The Sacrificial Secret Food snatches the taboo time, sacrifices the ancient beings, and blasphemes against the gods.His style of beast control also started to become peculiar.There is the Spider Shadow that devours ancient dragons and weaves dreams of all lives with its threads, the Red Master that pollutes the multiverse, and the Devourer of the Realms, who consumes worlds...In response to this, he explained, “My pet beasts are just a bit peculiar. They really are not evil gods!”

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