Pioneer of the Abyss - Chapter 63

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Don't mind this. It's so that free readers can't see half the chapter when the chapter eventually becomes patron only.

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For those of you who are reading this on a website that is not Patreon, please stop. You're reading a pirated version. Instead, if you would be so kind, please click on the table of contents link below and go to my Patreon instead. Or even read it off of Royal Road, which is free.

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Table of Contents

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A couple things to note.

Interestingly enough, the overall average rating of Pioneer is doing quite well on Royal Road. Although the advanced scores are doing poorly. But that's because there's only a single advanced review on the story made by a reader who doesn't like livestream-centered stories.

And the other thing I wanted to mention was that a lot of people on Royal Road seem to be drastically underestimating how rare Bloodliners are.

So I edited chapter two to specify that there are only a few dozen amongst the trillions of people in the Alliance who have an awakened Bloodline. And this chapter that I just posted, chapter 63, also mentions that there are only about 50 total Bloodliners in the entire Alliance out of trillions of people.

That should put it into perspective clearly.

Click the following link for the 1424 word chapter 63:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qjTgOKBE0oaDW6YurZMrjgAZ_SEODx8Max5hFYrJivY/edit?usp=sharing

Or you can read the unformatted version below:

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Aqua

After that awkwardness, the tour guide insists on taking me to a different broken dungeon. Which is that large mountain floating in the middle of the water looking incredibly bizarre. Then he proceeds to hunt quite a few monsters in the place with his large group while repeatedly looking at me as if trying to gauge my reactions.

Reactions that I have to admit are rather lackluster.

Doesn’t help that my default expression is a lazy one, but if I’m being honest with myself, I have no interest in joining this group of his. Maybe I might help them once in a blue moon if they look like they need it, but they’re just too weak.

I could single-handedly kill every last one of them without much trouble after all.

Fortunately, the tour guide seems to realize this as well along with my disinterest as he doesn’t even ask me to join in the end. He just says to think about his offer before the group leaves to go to the Hunter’s City.

I purse my lips while watching them go from the mountain, then I glance back at the castle.

Hmm… there are still some monsters left in there that I need to hunt. But my mana levels are too low right now.

I guess I’ll leave them for tomorrow.

With that thought in mind, I head back to the Hunter’s City as well, going straight to the Hunter’s Guild. Where I shock more of the people there with a haul even larger than last time, making quite a few of the harvesters in the warehouse begin looking at me with an expression of fear and dread on their faces.

Of course, I ignore all that as I take my earnings – which is another thirteen thousand something crowns – and leave the place behind to go back to the inn.

Then I sleep for the night after eating before getting up in the next morning, doing my usual routine, and going on three jobs. One of which is another modeling job for Spring outfits this time, the second is the last recording session wrapping up the music video, and the third is the first official filming session for the drama.

A filming session that goes surprisingly well. Probably because the character I’m playing is so similar to me.

Thanks to that I don’t get even a single NG.

Which in and of itself makes me wonder a little if the director is partially trying to make the character based off of me or something.

I wouldn’t be very surprised about that if it’s the case. What with how well-known I’ve become at this point.

The granddaughter of the General of the Alliance’s Military, one of the current most watched Pioneers, and the only Bloodliner with more than one Bloodliner out of about fifty total Bloodliners within the entire Alliance of trillions of people. And on top of that, I’m a Bloodliner of two of the most powerful Bloodlines amongst the Bloodlines in the Alliance.

Just my name alone will probably skyrocket this drama’s viewership.

Also, through the few hours I spend on set filming, I meet several other actors and actresses. Building some connections with people whose names I don’t remember.

But that’s fine, because Rhett does remember them. And if I ever have to talk to them again, I will probably vaguely recognize their appearance and can connect the dots from there. Plus identify them.

Mostly that last part.

On another note, when I get back to Ocean and briefly check my emails, I surprisingly find one from the blubbery general. And what’s in it is actually… unexpected.

Apparently he’s saying he feels really bad, but he had no choice as even after twenty years the other Bloodliners of the family wouldn’t accept me. And that they only decided to accept me after realizing I wasn’t of the Kraken Bloodline.

That I had a different Bloodline altogether, which I didn’t realize anyone figured out.

And it was only after that did they allow the document being submitted to officially add me to the Orcayne family.

After reading through all that mess, I decide to just ignore it and continue to where I’m currently heading.

Back to the castle I go!

I want to deal with those last couple places I missed yesterday because of the tour guide’s group.

Honestly, I didn’t really want them finding out about how I was the one who cleared the castle. It’s why I went outside the castle from the back and went around to meet them so that they wouldn’t see me leaving the castle.

But that failed miserably when they spotted a corpse, and the tour guide saw the injury on its face.

Well, whatever. It’s not like I could hide that forever.

The tour guide was saying he and his group were managing the broken dungeons. Which means he was going to be going through the different broken dungeons one by one with them over time.

And it’ll be pretty obvious when I start clearing several of them out what’s going on. Especially as my level continues to rise.

So I’ll be attracting attention regardless.

I let out a sigh at that thought before continuing towards the castle. Only to traverse through the place when I make it to the broken dungeon, eventually finding my way to the throne room.

A place I sensed quite a bit of mana when I was last here.

Which means there’s some sort of mage type monster inside.

That’s the entire reason I decided not to check the place out yesterday. And even when we passed by it as a group yesterday leaving the dungeon, the others took an entirely different route out of the broken dungeon just to avoid getting near the throne room.

No doubt because of the mana emanating from it.

[Boss?]

[Did another boss level monster take over the broken dungeon?]

[Probably.]

[didn’t I read somewhere that broken dungeons can empower the monsters that live in their core room?]

“Yes, they can,” I absentmindedly answer the question in the chat while narrowing my eyes at the large double doors.

And this room is most likely the core room of the broken dungeon.

Since the room is going to be flooded just like the rest of the castle, it has to be an aquatic monster. But since it’s a mage type monster I’m not sure what it’ll be.

I haven’t run into a mage type monster yet. One that specializes largely in magical attacks.

They’re not common after all. Only found in places absolutely brimming in mana.

It takes a lot of mana just to make a regular boss level monster after all, much less one that uses mana as its main method of attack.

So after waiting a few seconds outside of the throne room and taking a deep breath, I move forwards and push the large doors open. Which actually doesn’t make much of any noise. Likely because it’s underwater and the water is smoothing out the hinges. Or something like that.

What I find inside of the throne room though sends a slight chill down my spine.

The monster is that of a massive octopus with its entire body draped over the front of the throne room, spanning across the entire width of the room and more as the tentacles continue onto the walls and ceilings from the front wall. But what’s more disturbing about the monster is that each tentacle is tipped with a face instead of a claw.

A face of a monster or other fish.

Fortunately there aren’t any human faces. Probably because this thing hasn’t killed any humans.

But there are quite a few skeletons lying around the throne room, many of which seem like they may belong to the faces on its tentacles.

Worst of all, the thing is emanating more mana than anything I’ve seen before as I identify it to see its terrifying level.

[Deepsea Crowned Faceeater – Level 40]

My eyes narrow as the large yet thin eyes of the octopus turn towards me along with all the face tentacles attached to its body. Which number in the several dozen range. Probably one for every monster it’s killed since evolving into this mess.

Out of nowhere, a large mouth filled with circular rings of razor sharp teeth one row after another appears right beneath its eyes that immediately begins to suck water towards it.

And it’s trying to eat me.

No surprise there.