If you're interested in reading the final version of Book 4, it's now available on Amazon! It's packed with new art, tons of little extras, and plenty of fleshed out descriptions and interactions that reflect my ideal version of Jiran's adventures in meeting the Timerberling...
2025-01-31 21:29:10 +0000 UTC View PostJiran flew southeast, outside the city and beyond the massive barrier-wall that ran a thousand kilometers—from mountain to coast. The undead beasts, only named such due to their haggard appearance, had thinned considerably since Lenton’s battle with the burgheist. Corpses littered the devastated ground as far as the eye could see, a literal plethora of density waiting to be collected. The f...
2025-01-31 20:31:29 +0000 UTC View PostThey flew through the long tunnels at maximum speed. All were under the power of their own auras save Mayalyn. Jiran pulled her close, blocking their conversation from the rest of the group.
He'd noticed her aura hadn't grown any stronger after her training. Looking straight ahead, he spoke softly, “Everything okay?”
She didn't answer right away, working at her lower lip with a ...
2025-01-31 20:26:43 +0000 UTC View PostMayalyn woke with a deep gasp. She sat up in a jerk. The unexpected strength in her ascended body threw her off the comfortable mattress and into the air. Jiran's aura snatched her before she crashed. Her own aura seeped into his with a delicate, almost ethereal touch. Her eyes widened, moistening in a burst of emotion at the contact.
She sought him in the darkness of the chamber, finding...
2025-01-31 20:24:04 +0000 UTC View PostMayalyn shrugged. She pitched her voice to a fair imitation of Olive at her snobbiest while tilting her head back to look down her nose at the princess, “My intuition is simply superior to the point of incomprehension.” She was the only one to laugh at her joke. She coughed into her hand, blushing sheepishly, “Or, perhaps I have simply observed Jiran learning enough times to know how rapi...
2025-01-31 20:21:27 +0000 UTC View PostThe man-made tunnel ended jarringly, the walls and floor replaced by coarse stone between one step and the next. The rocky ceiling swept high, distant stalactites little more than threateningly-poised needles. Massive, glowing mushrooms produced enough light that Jiran’s castigation was no longer necessary.
The cavern was larger than he first thought, continuing well beyond the twenty-e...
2025-01-31 20:18:12 +0000 UTC View Post“Setting aside the horrifying prospect of what you mean by experiments, you can't be serious about us fighting tier sevens,” Olive half-joked, “Those are two tiers above me and y-ahk!” Her complaint was cut short as her mana rebelled, seizing her vocal chords in an iron grip. Not that she needed to complete her thought. They all knew what challenger density was and how dan...
2025-01-31 20:15:26 +0000 UTC View PostThe panic-induced scream of a seventh tier was no laughing matter for the tier five Olive, and especially tier four Mayalyn. Jiran’s aura was fully stretched out well in advance of the trio entering Malaniea’s tent. When he realized Olive’s sister had no intention of controlling herself, he firmed several layers of mana-laced soul-stuff into a tube, redirecting the sonic blast out of the ...
2025-01-31 20:12:20 +0000 UTC View Post“This sucks!” Celeste whined for the twentieth time in the last hour, “That thing was so strong and it only dropped five copper. We’ve killed hundreds of monsters and only found four items between the two of us. Is our luck really that bad?”
Raine seriously considered pushing her off the nearby cliff so he wouldn’t have to hear her obnoxious complaints for a while. They were t...
2025-01-24 21:19:41 +0000 UTC View PostRaine wasn’t in a hurry. With each passing second, more members of Righteous crowded into the encirclement. Soon, enough would be in position for him to deal maximum carnage. They wore excitement on their sleeves, eagerly anticipating killing the man who insulted their leader after slaughtering their comrades.
Since these weaklings weren’t worth damaging some of his best equipment ove...
2025-01-24 21:11:39 +0000 UTC View PostChampion Flavell led Raine, Mel, and Celeste through the front door of the Dry Canyon Town Auction House. Like the outer yard, the first floor was crammed with players. Only a few near the windows and door had witnessed the slaughter from moments ago. News rapidly spread through the crowd, curious onlookers pointing in their direction as they walked through the spotless room.
“That's hi...
2025-01-24 21:10:47 +0000 UTC View PostCeleste Luu Rahn
Long before the trio entered the tavern, prior to even seeing the town on the horizon, Celeste was forced to drastically re-evaluate her opinion of her companions. Raine, in particular, was a much more complex individual than she previously wanted to admit. He looked similar to her in age, yet his depth of knowledge and experience were so beyon...
“Slave?!” Mel's exclamation squeezed from her constricted throat in the form of a squeak. The word, especially when Raine spoke it, made her heart skip several beats. When it restarted, it was at a full gallop and crimson heat swept across her skin. She hoped he didn't notice in the dark.
Celeste stood behind Raine, her jaw on the ground as she beheld Mel like she'd never seen the gir...
2025-01-24 21:05:47 +0000 UTC View PostThe first hint of a glow embraced the distant horizon. The soft light of morning failed to banish the dusk, leaving the vast plains surrounding them shrouded in danger. Deep shadows clung to shrubs, obscuring the beasts that patiently awaited unwitting prey.
Raine skimmed a message from Richtor and responded, letting them know to stay put and grind Superiority until he arrived. Closing hi...
2025-01-24 21:03:27 +0000 UTC View PostFour scattered players were frozen, shocked to their core by Raine’s casual execution of their comrades. They weren’t hardened warriors, or even martials, just people who excelled at bullying those weaker than them. Overwhelmed by terror, one turned to flee. His head was pulverized before he took the first step.
The question marks above Raine’s head that would normally show his clas...
2025-01-17 15:47:32 +0000 UTC View PostRaine kept pace behind Mel and Celeste as they ran at a decent Discipline-powered clip down the northern road. Celeste’s speed dropped sharply and Raine's hand blurred through the air. Despite her ducking to the side, he hit his target with perfect precision.
A meaty thwack from 2% of Raine’s Potency was followed by a girly screech, “Ouch! Stop hitting me!”
Having signed a c...
2025-01-17 15:42:59 +0000 UTC View PostRaine snorted at her dramatics, “You're not going to die. Probably.” An infuriated glower broke through her melancholy, the look only earning her a chuckle, “Try to relax. They'll only kill your uncle. Unless you knew about the pistol…”
“I already said I didn’t!” She snapped, “But… what if uncle didn't know either?”
Raine shook his head, “Nope. There's no cha...
2025-01-17 15:39:47 +0000 UTC View PostRaine's nerves were fried by the time he logged in. Celeste's uncle apparently trained his thugs as well as she did hers, because they ran at the first sign the tides had turned against them. He killed the nine that were in easy reach, not bothering to hunt down the rest; the corpus and whoever the government ended up sending to investigate the firearm were more than capable of handling that. 2025-01-17 15:35:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Out of habit, Raine scanned the booth to make sure they hadn’t left anything. He opened the door for the girls and the three of them filed out to find the mayor waiting patiently in the luxuriously decorated hallway.
These booths are supposed to be anonymous, but obviously that's not the case. Romaxillions always had a stalwart reputation of defending their patrons’ identities. I ...
2025-01-17 15:32:33 +0000 UTC View Post[What did he mean I could become a god? He was so sincere… Even father never talked to me like that. I… What am I doing? No. No more hesitating. I underestimated him once and he destroyed all my expectations by easily defeating Zhilikhoz.]
Without holding anything back, Celeste told Raine what she knew, “It started a year ago when uncle learned Soulgen was close to developi...
2025-01-17 15:31:35 +0000 UTC View PostDimitrey paced left and right like a cheesy villain, walking off his fury. Raine, seeing the wealthy gamblers’ enthusiasm wane too early, removed his armored jacket to further display his confidence. Celeste was there in an instant and he narrowed his eyes at her. She shot him a saucy grin, holding out her hand.
Making her choice clear to everyone before seeing what I can do? Impres...
2025-01-10 18:47:19 +0000 UTC View PostRomaxillions was the third largest skyscraper in Carter City. Its size wasn't necessarily a measure of its worth, as being loosely connected with an affluent, world-wide network of billionaires was an indefinable value. Likewise, its position in the top three was eternally secure since the city only housed one official class four martial capable of ‘re-negotiating’ the building's ownership....
2025-01-10 18:11:32 +0000 UTC View PostRaine jolted up, unclipping his headset with shaking fingers. He couldn't contain himself, speaking aloud with short, enthusiastic breaths, “I unleashed bloodlust! It has to be the ReGen. I knew it did something to my brain. Wait… Is this the real reason they diluted the dosage in the past? What if they only did that for the general public and still sold the original formula to the highest ...
2025-01-10 17:45:22 +0000 UTC View PostThe noble armsman spread its bony arms to the sides and roared a challenge at Raine. There was no sound, of course. Nonetheless, a powerful, nauseating wave of mysterious energy slammed into him, pushing so hard he slid back three paces through the dirt. His will to fight waned, sapped dry by the very feature which made noble monsters so deadly: Bloodlust.
Even after thirty years in the f...
2025-01-10 17:16:17 +0000 UTC View Post“Haha! Well said, Traveler. I can answer a few questions, for a cost. There’s a-ahh,” he leaned to look around Raine at the empty space between him and the training grounds, “long line, so don’t take too long.”
“Do you know anything about advanced classes?” Raine tilted his head, not expecting much.
“I might…”
Knowing a hustle when he heard one, Raine sho...
2025-01-10 17:14:24 +0000 UTC View PostWith his personal matters out of the way, Raine went through the new equipment in his inventory. He started with the full suit of leather armor he’d found in a display case.
[Prestige of the Transcended - 6 Piece Set - Lustrous Blue - LVL 15: (HP +250) (AP +50) (DEF +200) (RES +50) (Move Speed +2) (PTC +25) (FIN +25) (ACU +25) (PHY +25) (CNC +25) (Durability 275/275) ...
2025-01-10 17:10:59 +0000 UTC View PostRaine peeled off his old suit as steaming hot water cascaded his body. The lack of clothing revealed chiseled muscles on a significantly trimmed frame. The sticky goop still clinging to him refused to wash off easily. Multiple applications of soap and hard scrubbing eventually uncovered skin that shone with a healthy luster.
So gross. I only ever got the runs before. I can’t believe...
2025-01-03 17:09:02 +0000 UTC View PostCeleste Luu Rahn
Celeste sat in the driver's seat of her personal armored car. She'd never done that before, always relying on others to drive her from where she was, to where she needed to be.
The corpo cast-off who relied on everyone around her is dead. He was right to call me a stupid little girl. That's exactly what I was when we met. But not anym...
2025-01-03 16:28:56 +0000 UTC View PostCeleste adopted a tender smile, “I'm terribly sorry for his rudeness. He acted without my permission and overstepped severely.” Turning to one of her three remaining bodyguards, she swapped to a venomous snarl, “Mr. Benson, from this moment, you may consider your contract terminated. Please take your luggage and get out of my sight.” She glanced down at the crumpled guard,...
2025-01-03 16:01:30 +0000 UTC View PostA muffled, masculine voice called for Raine. However, the soft clouds around him were much more desirable. The mysterious man shouted more forcefully and he shut the rude voice out; if they had the gall to address him, they should at least pitch their voice to sound like a bearer of heavenly freckles. He snuggled deeper into the clouds. The movement triggered a twisting contraction that radiate...
2025-01-03 15:58:48 +0000 UTC View Post