Jace followed Goldpaw through the city streets. The whole place was abuzz with the sounds of chatter, people sharing stories about seeing or hearing enormous explosions in the richest district of the capital. “You made quite a splash up there,” Goldpaw said with a chuckle. “The talk of the town for weeks.”
“Yeah, and it almost ki...
2024-12-22 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostTristan was mid-breakfast when his amulet began vibrating. Pulling it out from under his armor, he poured some mana into it as he gently spun his core. “I’m here,” he said, swallowing down a bite.
His grandfather glanced over at him, but seemingly understood what was going on as he pulled out his own family sigil which also&...
2024-12-22 05:27:27 +0000 UTC View PostTristan smiled at Felicity, “How have you been.”
She pouted and frowned, “It has been h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e! I was investigating more about the assassins, and I saw a ton of people being killed. All of them were a bit Winterbloom Elf.”
“What?” Tristan asked as he felt his heart seize up in horror. ...
2024-12-22 03:05:08 +0000 UTC View PostTristan finished cleaning up and went back up to the top boughs to repair his armor. To his surprise and delight, two fairy dragons were just finishing polishing the armor. Thankfully, it had not suffered any indentation, and after thanking the two who went flitting off, he inspected his sword. No nicks or edge rolling, he thought. ...
2024-12-21 23:41:13 +0000 UTC View PostTristan turned to where he had set the vial that Felicity had gathered when they left Bhant’s Hold – stealing the blood from his father’s kill. Tristan popped the cork off and slurped down the thick, goopy liquid.
He felt a rushing wind blow past his face, and inside his torso he felt a swirl of energy – not cool, like his mana was...
2024-12-21 19:11:49 +0000 UTC View PostDeckard had retreated to his chambers, surrounded by Nebula Alliance Ascendants who were all Tier 6 and 7. A servant ran in, bowed, and gave a report. “Mr. Stonewall, all of your mercenaries were slain with some type of damage reflecting Skill. The mercenary who had taken on the contract, Fletcher, chased this Flicker to the roof. Cosmic Syste...
2024-12-21 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostJace felt his energy slowly draining away. Judging on prior uses of Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3), and his currently level of physical activity, he maybe had another twenty minutes. Plenty of time, he thought as he got to a wall using his drop-re-grapnel method and then gently lowered himself to the floor.
To his surprise, there was ...
2024-12-20 14:02:01 +0000 UTC View PostThere are going to be several ‘system message’ sections. Priam gets the full treatment like Jace did, the other two have a bit of that process hand waived. We’ll be getting back to the action in the next chapter!
I am going to drop a second chapter today in case you aren't a fan of the B-team. Totally get it. Don't worry...
2024-12-20 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostGood day, evening, or when this finds you,
I know I had told people that I would be writing Book 3 for Ruinous Return and even conducted a 'Story Direction' poll to hear the fans' voices...but I just cannot.
Don't get me wrong—I tried. I tried writing the start of the story three different times (ge...
2024-12-20 00:25:45 +0000 UTC View PostGreg walked forward through the crypt. He heard a loud click and flattened himself against the wall as an enormous, scything blade swung downward and chopped through where he was standing a second ago. “Why so many traps?” he asked, lamenting the stressful journey through the Complex.
“Strong undead like these ones enjo...
2024-12-19 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostIn front of his palm, the icy spike grew. He fueled mana into it. All of the mana he had churning through him. The very power of the Realm, funneled through his mana core and into the spell. The icicle grew and grew; from the size of a dog, to a horse, to a house, to a fortified tower.
“Matriarch! To me!” Tristan shouted as loud as he ...
2024-12-19 04:15:59 +0000 UTC View PostTristan looked at The Matriarch with concern writ across his visage, “I know that other Realms can open rifts into the Mortal Realm…but Realms can cross-intrude?”
The Matriarch shifted to her full sized form, and lifted Tristan onto her back, nestling him between her wings. “Yes. Realms can breach into other Realms.” She arced he...
2024-12-19 03:22:44 +0000 UTC View PostDee had encountered undead once before, when she and her sister were traveling through Khrox and visiting a shopping mall. A finely-dressed gentleman, wearing a robe and a top-hat, and holding a jeweled cane. He was quite the man, treating the two Plorps to a wonderful meal and just asking for an interesting story and their company...
2024-12-18 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostTristan’s routine played out the following day. In the morning, he went with The Matriarch to the training field and rotated between fighting with his knife, the maul, and his sword. After some practice he swapped to the greatbow and made sure he was not too rusty with the weapon. Thankfully, his muscle memory kicked in, and his ...
2024-12-18 05:32:07 +0000 UTC View PostEvening passed and Tristan woke up to the bright sound of a small horn being played softly, but slowly ramping in volume. He sat up, and saw a small group of fairy dragons who were walking on their hind legs, with their arms turned into humanoid hands instead of their paws, and holding instruments. The one who was blowing into the horn instrumen...
2024-12-18 02:37:16 +0000 UTC View PostPriam walked just a few steps behind Greg. His dark vision allowed him to make out the plain yet blocky designs on the walls and ceiling. An ancient story written in his home world’s tongue. He was quietly reading it out loud to his allies as they pushed into this forgotten tomb that – for some reason – had not correctly incorporated into ...
2024-12-17 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostJace had been sitting in the bar for an hour before he spotted the woman walk in. He had taken up a booth seat and was sampling the odd smoke-emitting device. After a single puff, he determined he hated activity. Ollie had explained that they had something akin to a minor hallucinogen in the mix, but Jace’s NICIF filtered the tox...
2024-12-16 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostTristan got back to the Queen’s Wood on foot, being handed cups of clearcool and clay plates of starberries by fairy dragons as he ate and drank his fill. He also spun his mana core in reverse, sucking in the Realm’s ambient power to refill his mana core.
The Matriarch glanced sideways at him as they reached the base of the enormous tr...
2024-12-16 01:31:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe Matriarch’s assault was fast and relentless. Tristan was immediately pushed on the defensive as he had to intercept the intense flurry of strikes with the shaft and pommel of the maul. It was well-balanced but still top-heavy, which he had expected. But this type of weapon was not suited to a fast, single opponent who was rel...
2024-12-16 00:04:36 +0000 UTC View PostThe clearing that The Matriarch set down on was easily two-hundred feet across in all directions – a massive circle of soft, green grass that twitched slightly as tiny insects hopped around. She set Tristan down and he found the footing beneath to be surprisingly firm considering the grassy terrain.
Fairy dragons began flying to the edge...
2024-12-15 20:38:08 +0000 UTC View PostTristan sat down and grabbed the primer on ice elementalism. It was written in the Standard Tongue, and was an easy read. He flipped past the author’s introduction and went right to the basic information that preceded the different Order-ranked spells.
---
Welcome to your primer on ice elementalism. As with all ‘basic’ spel...
2024-12-15 18:29:52 +0000 UTC View PostA few hours of drinking politely with the rest of the patrons, Jace excused himself to their restroom. Thankfully, they had indoor plumbing that Ollie explained ran on a gravity system that then funneled to a creature that ate waste far below in a cistern of the sewage system.
Reading the note, he got an address off of it, and Ollie pointe...
2024-12-15 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostGreg was unenthusiastic to say the least. It was incredibly hot out, to the point that he had already drained his full canteen when they reached the sand shark ranch. The sight was odd, to say the least. A large, white-stone building much like the other ones they had seen, and next to it was an enormous, waist-high wall of the same white stone. ...
2024-12-14 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostI changed the formatting of Identify Artifice readouts to remove the tags that come before the different portions. It still makes sense, but won't say "Item Name: X" or the spell breakdown.
I think it makes the story more 'fantasy' and less 'LitRPG'. This is progression fantasy, after all.
---
Th...
2024-12-14 02:29:06 +0000 UTC View PostTristan left the capital without sparing a single glance backward towards the capital that had tolerated him. I’m still an Anorox, Tristan thought. Grandfather won’t ever disown me; especially once he learns about what happened at the manor-
The amulet around his neck began vibrating. As soon as he picked it up, ...
2024-12-14 01:22:48 +0000 UTC View PostPriam led the group consisting of him, Greg, and Dee through the portal to his home world. He was still filled with anxiety at not having Jace around; his ‘safety net’ as he thought of the man. But that was suppressed by his excitement towards finally visiting his home world. Fernaid. A place that his father had regaled him wit...
2024-12-13 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostFelicity flapped over and put her paw-claw on his back, “It’ll be okay.”
Tristan shook his head, “They died because of me. They didn’t have to die.” He looked around at the cloaks. “Three assassins,” he whispered, “We need to get to the bottom of this and find out who sent them.” He looked over at Felicity and ...
2024-12-13 03:24:18 +0000 UTC View PostFelicity insisted on flying around and causing mischief in the higher-up noble townhouses closer to the Blackspire. “There are so many valuables I could get my hands on! And painting frames I can tilt just a little bit so they aren’t positive if it is askew or not!”
An idea popped into Tristan’s head as ...
2024-12-13 00:16:12 +0000 UTC View PostJace rolled out of bed after giving Shhiv a squeeze, and then threw on his clothes and meandered to the elevator. Punching the floor for the Recreation level, he was pleased to see it was empty. I must be up early, he thought, as he went to the swimming cube. Diving in, he reveled in his ability to breathe underwater and not deal with t...
2024-12-12 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostTristan grabbed a cloak as he left the house, throwing it around his shoulders and pulling the hood up. Felicity wriggled her way inside and draped herself around his neck. To any Elf-blooded passerby – even if that heritage was far down their line of generations – they would just see some fancy animal-pelt scarf.
The pla...
2024-12-12 04:28:14 +0000 UTC View Post