Zeth stood in front of the two guards sitting at the desk, awaiting their response.
“And what do you have to report?” the one named Kirik asked, not looking very interested.
“Right, so, about a month ago, my dad was murdered. There was a group of Wicked thralls arrested for the crime already, and I do believe they did it, but I...
2024-09-25 14:34:58 +0000 UTC View PostStanding in the middle of the clearing in the woods, Zeth pointed at the demon. “You stay here. Defend yourself from wild monsters if necessary, but don’t make a ruckus. And don’t fight humans; just hide from them.”
“And if the situation becomes such that I cannot hide any longer?” the demon asked. “Do I fight in that case?...
2024-09-24 23:34:34 +0000 UTC View PostZeth sat at the edge of the clearing staring at the demon as it glanced around at its surroundings.
And then, just moments after it appeared, he got a notification.
[Influence check failed.]
Instantly, the most intense sensation of fear he’d ever felt flooded Zeth’s mind. He gasped in horror, kicking ...
2024-09-24 14:20:49 +0000 UTC View PostIt was dusk when Zeth finished the ritual circle. He’d gotten another Skill Rank-up—this one for Vile Focus, bringing it up to six—but Skill Points were the last thing on his mind right now. He was staring down at something that cast a much wider shadow across his consciousness.
At eight and a half feet in diameter, the circle was ma...
2024-09-23 23:26:31 +0000 UTC View PostAs he walked down the street and prepared to cut into the forest to find his clearing-turned-ritual site, Zeth glanced over the requirements to conduct Demonic Covenant.
[Strength of sacrifice required: Moderate
Required ritual circle diameter: 8.81 feet (originally 10 feet)
Time requir...
2024-09-23 20:47:40 +0000 UTC View PostZeth instantly marched over to the shed, ignoring his mother tugging on his arm in an attempt to pull him away.
“They said it’s still too dangerous for us to approach,” she said. “I don’t care if you’re curious, you’re not allowed to—”
“I just need to see,” he said, trying to keep his voice under control. They...
2024-09-23 14:06:55 +0000 UTC View PostNight eventually fell, and Zeth retired to his room to sleep. His conversation with Sophie kept gnawing at him, though. Not just the suspicion that she might end up pursuing an illegal Class like him, but also the more innocuous talk about Scrim they’d had. One thing she’d said stuck in his mind.
If you’re good enough at the game...
2024-09-22 22:17:09 +0000 UTC View PostStanding atop the giant ritual circle, Zeth fought the urge to immediately sprint out of the building at top speed.
It was maybe six or seven feet wide? Looking at the unlocked Skill, Demonic Covenant would need a 10 foot diameter circle, so he wanted to say this ritual circle couldn’t have been made for that purpose. But then, the Blood...
2024-09-22 14:37:55 +0000 UTC View PostZeth stood in front of the mineshaft’s entrance.
The last time he went through there, he watched his entire mining contingent die, met their murderer, and then went missing for four months. But the personnel manager’s office was in there, so if he wanted to get his salary from Garon, that was where he’d have to go.
A group of f...
2024-09-22 03:10:54 +0000 UTC View PostZeth stood in the middle of the forest outside town, scanning his surroundings for danger. The natural wildlife shouldn’t have been too threatening, but any time a Beast Realm portal opened up and spilled out its armies of monsters, the entire ecosystem shifted to account for its new entrants. Many natural animals went into hiding to avoid bei...
2024-09-21 22:13:43 +0000 UTC View PostZeth fell to a knee on the doorstep of the house, staring at the crossbow bolt sticking through his shaking hand.
Is this how I die? Shot in the head by some maniac with a crossbow?
He had no Hellfire Ritual circle prepared to defend himself with, and without his magic, he had nothing to fight with.
“Help!” h...
2024-09-21 16:57:32 +0000 UTC View PostZeth crouched behind the shed, eyes wide at what this woman was saying.
“N-never in my life…I’ve never had this Skill react in such a way. The magic in this area is so abundant—so teeming with energy.”
“Is it safe for us to be here?” his mom asked.
“Y-yes, there’s nothing showing any active spell...
2024-09-21 04:19:20 +0000 UTC View PostWith every minute that passed, Zeth’s heart beat faster. His own blood dripped from his chest and arms, his hands leaving red prints behind anywhere he planted them. His fingers shook from the pain he felt, taking care to not allow himself to sink into his work in the way Vile Focus allowed him to do. It would’ve allowed him to pass the time...
2024-09-20 20:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostStaring at the guards standing on his doorstep, Zeth found himself unable to respond. His heart was beating in his ears as he fought to keep a straight face.
“Who is that?” his mom called from the dining table.
“U-um, it’s the guards,” he shouted to her, then looked back at them. “I, uh, I don’t own this place, or anyth...
2024-09-20 16:42:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe newest Empowerment Ritual would need to have a diameter of four feet in order for Zeth to draw it. Well, it would actually need to be 3.8 feet in diameter, thanks to Vile Focus’s discount, but the difference wasn’t very large when the Skill was so low-Rank. Thankfully, a circle that wide was still able to be held by the walls of the shed...
2024-09-20 13:57:17 +0000 UTC View PostIt took about a half hour before someone found Zeth buried beneath the rubble.
Zeth knew these cookie-cutter houses like the back of his hand, and chose a section to collapse on himself that he knew had little above it other than basic roofing, leaving most of what fell to be dust and a few lighter chunks of hollowed-out wood. However, it ...
2024-09-20 00:25:05 +0000 UTC View PostUpon hearing Sophie’s scream, Zeth instantly pushed himself to his feet, adrenaline the only thing that allowed him to walk with the pain coursing through his body.
He wildly glanced around, searching for her and hoping she didn’t see his face, but thankfully, he spotted her standing over by the corpse of the fleshtaker, staring at it....
2024-09-19 18:34:54 +0000 UTC View PostAs quickly as he could, Zeth rushed to his room, yelling back to his mom to stay inside. He still had that shirt with the Hellfire Ritual circle written on it; maybe he could use that to—
“Zeth?” Sophie’s voice came from within his room as he rushed up to the door. “Where are you?”
What?! Why was she in his room? 2024-09-17 04:39:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Once Zeth was finished with his Empowerment Ritual in the shed, he went back to the house. It was late, and he needed to sleep soon.
He crept through the dark rooms, trying not to wake anyone up, but as he did, he found everyone wasn’t asleep yet, after all. His mom was sitting in the living room, knitting something with a pair of needle...
2024-09-15 04:37:01 +0000 UTC View PostAfter coming home from the library, Zeth walked back through the front door of his parents’ house, calling, “Mom, Dad, I’m—”
He stopped, face turning to stone.
Oh. Right.
He cleared his throat.
“Mom, I’m home,” he said in a smaller voice.
The moment I get strong enough, I am going ...
2024-09-13 04:34:10 +0000 UTC View PostZeth slept for about eighteen hours.
He went to bed soon after reuniting with his mom and sister, which was around midday, and awoke the next morning. For a moment he had the irrational urge to check if it had somehow been another four months, but when he left his room, he was greeted by his mom eating breakfast, notably not looking like h...
2024-09-11 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostZeth stood with the man who was apparently his friend, exchanging words with him for the first time in what had apparently been four months.
“Where were you, man?” Turin asked.
He had no idea what was going on. “I…underground, in the mines. Nestor asked me to help his team with the cave-in thing, and…”
Zeth eagerly awaited his next Level.
Despite how much he wanted to just sprint right to town, see his parents and his sister, fill his belly with food, and get rest in a quality bed, he had an obligation. Get as strong as possible, as quickly as possible, so he could kill that damn mage. That meant doing the Empowerment Ritual now and not ...
2024-09-09 04:08:51 +0000 UTC View PostAN: This is a new fiction I'm writing called Blood Magus! I'm posting the first three chapters all at once today---if you missed chapter 1, here's a link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111641857
Zeth tossed the minced monster corpse onto hi...
2024-09-08 05:50:58 +0000 UTC View PostAN: This is a new fiction I'm writing called Blood Magus! I'm posting the first three chapters all at once today---if you missed chapter 1, here's a link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111641857
There was no way out.
Once he didn’t ...
2024-09-08 05:50:05 +0000 UTC View PostAN: Hey everyone! In case you haven't been in the Discord, I'll go ahead and apologize here for not having too much word regarding Minute Mage. I've been having motivation issues regarding the series which have gotten in the way of writing it.
To help get the creativity flowing, I decided to try working on a new series, and ended up really...
2024-09-08 05:48:41 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you flamin’ kidding me?!”
The crowd of exhausted, beat-up adventurers all stared at me, clearly in disbelief I would try to take the Thunderbird for myself after they’d done so much to kill it.
“My ally fought and died against this thing, and you say it’s yours?!” another shouted. “All while you sto...
2024-07-08 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAN: We're so back
The Thunderbird soared low, its man-sized feathers grazing the grass of the fields below its cloudy domain. As it flew, bolts of lightning crackled off the surface of its skin like supersized static electricity, dancing across solitary trees that were instantly roasted to a crisp, or striking random s...
2024-07-01 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostThe rest of our journey to the Fields of Lightning was less eventful than the first portion. At least, there were one hundred percent fewer attempts on our lives.
As the hours went by and we continued down the road, we passed a few people along the way that were going in the opposite direction as us—back toward the city. But so far, all ...
2024-04-28 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe trio of people on horseback—iron titans, considering they were all in Dark Plate—stared down at us. Ainash had already drawn her whip, Erani took a few steps back, and Sylvie slid to the side, away from us, as if to say ‘I’m not with these guys!’
They looked between us for a moment, then the one in front spoke—a hollow, fem...
2024-04-15 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post