I grimaced. The Lich King had caught me in a trap. Time Stutter slowed time to a crawl, and I had a moment to think.
Had he known I would attack him here? Impossible. Not even I had known I was coming here until minutes ago. The second ritual circle must have been a trap for his own naga allies. The Lich King had planned to betray them for some unknown reason, but now that they were as go...
2024-10-04 15:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostI cursed at the realization. What were our enemies doing with the Torchdragon? And how was a mass sacrifice involved?
I had a lot of questions, but only one answer. Whatever they were planning wouldn't be good for me.
I tapped the radio again, sending out a message to all my forces.
“Everybody, drop what you’re doing. We have a new mission. Report to the wall between our s...
2024-10-02 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostFrank and I searched the abandoned tunnels beneath the swamp, finding little more than debris and what we were pretty sure was a naga latrine.
“Damn. I didn’t realize what terrible aim the naga had until now.” Frank pinched his nose as we backed away from the massive room of waste, much of which had missed the hole in the center despite it being roughly the size of a car.
“W...
2024-09-30 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostAfter learning my new abilities, I still had a day’s worth of stuff to see to before I returned home. Mostly, that was delivering the massive stacks of paper I’d promised Reluna I would send off. Since I was already spending money like water, I hired a courier to handle the task for me at the Obeliks. Hopefully Reluna’s professors would get back to me the next time I came to Mucaria.
<... 2024-09-29 15:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostI walked out of the bar with a rock solid plan in mind. Or at least what I thought was a rock-solid plan. By the time I’d sobered up, I’d already blown my remaining points renting a storefront in downtown Mucaria and buy supplies to put together something that looked professional.
Originally I’d intended to sell my power armor discretely, but Cyra’s recent actions had lit a fire u...
2024-09-28 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostI soon came across a wall of greenery that resembled plants I remembered from Themyscira.
“Get in!” said a familiar voice.
The wards parted before me, deactivated from the inside.
I stepped through, and when I was on the other side, I was face to face with Myrina and Cyra’s mother, Kyrina Samhain.
“Matriarch Kyrina?” I blinked with surprise. This was a face I h...
2024-09-27 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe trip to Glacia went smoother than last time. I figured clearing interplanetary customs would be harder without Cyra, but as soon as I flashed my jade medallion from the Dragon Lodge, they waved me right through. I was in the same city we were last time. The only question was where to find Cyra.
Was she already in Mucaria? Or was she shopping somewhere?
Now that I was here, I cou...
2024-09-25 15:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostCyra thrust her sword one last time, marking ten thousand perfectly executed thrusts, at least by the standards of her former trainer. Now, Cyra held herself to a higher standard, and what might once have been perfect was now merely adequate. The tip placement on that last one was a hair off. It was a small mistake, to be sure, but at C-Grad...
2024-09-23 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe next few days saw me building several additional sets of power armor. I ended up slimming the designs and cutting my ambitions down a bit. I planned to sell these in the Dragon Lodge like any ordinary type of armor, and selling the suits as something that could let an E-Grade fight a D-Grade on an even level might be too tough to pitch without an established name and reputation.
So, I...
2024-09-21 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostWith Sakura charging at me, and Myrina close behind her, I figured I probably should have explained the situation to them and revealed who I was.
But instead...
“That’s right! I, Doomblade, am much more handsome than this Carter guy of yours. Soon I’ll defeat him and claim you lovely ladies as my prize!” I laughed beneath my helmet.
“We’ll see about that!” Sakura...
2024-09-20 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post“It could be a monster,” one of Kyle’s subordinates whispered to him. “I don’t see a name.”
“Maybe it’s a scout from that golem shard...” another suggested.
Kyle braced himself for battle, and I realized that if I didn’t come up with a good explanation, I’d be in a fight with my own people. So I held up a hand.
“I’m no enemy to you. Don’t worry.” ...
2024-09-18 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe Lich King put up no last stand in some hidden fortress. If such a base existed, it wasn’t anywhere we could find. Sharky might have eaten him and all his remaining men before we found them, but I doubted we’d be that lucky. Still, our favorite Void Leviathan had vanished with a few hundred of those creepy Voidlings he made trailing behind him, and nobody had seen him since. Presumably, ...
2024-09-16 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostWhile peace had always been part of the plan, I’d known from the start that getting it by meeting the Lich King was going to be a long shot at best. He was already at least associated with a Chaos God, and by the looks of things, he was in deeper than I could hope to pull him out.
By attacking me, he’d triggered my backup plan. And that was to wipe out the bulk of his forces in one sw...
2024-09-14 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe Lich King’s forces arrived first, which was within my expectations. We were deep in his territory, and it was easy for him to assemble an army to ambush me.
It would take Margaret, Marcus, Kyle, Frank, and all my other elite a few minutes to get from where they were waiting over on our side of the corridor to here. Perhaps it would have been faster if we’d been able to get Dan’s...
2024-09-13 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostI shut down my experiments and disconnected the solar panels from the mana converter. Another bundle of pearls was sitting in the bronze cauldron, and I scooped them up. Then I prepared myself for a formal meeting with the Lich Ling.
What was a suitable garb for meeting royalty, anyway? Sure, the Lich King was self-proclaimed royalty, but given my recent adventures and who Myrina and Cyra...
2024-09-11 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostI had Margaret release the prisoners with an invitation for a meeting. I didn’t think things could be resolved peacefully, but just being able to meet this Lich King before things went too far south would be a massive boon. I’d likely never turn him into a subordinate, but depending on how our fight went down, I could turn some of his people into mine, given time.
The three I’d capt...
2024-09-09 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostWe piled all my boxes right back in front of the basement door. If the enchantment on the door failed, they wouldn’t do much to prevent that ancient golem from breaking free, but the fact that it hadn’t followed us up here was proof enough that it was bound to the ruined city.
Once we were safe, we moved into the largest room of the new keep. We dumped out our bags of holding. My comp...
2024-09-07 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Okay, in my defense, I had a lot of important stuff piled in front of the door until now,” I said as I peered out into the massive underground cavern. The door I stood by was a long and narrow path without handrails. It led into an open space wider than the football stadiums put together. It was a large enough space that if not for the lack of sunlight, I wouldn’t have even known we were...
2024-09-06 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“You guys got arrested? Without me!?” Myrina jabbed an accusing finger at the two of us as we told her, Sakura, and Myrina of our adventures on Glacia and the Mucaria pocket realm.
“We were attacked. It was completely self-defense, even if it didn’t exactly look that way when the guards kicked down the door.” I shrugged.
“I had no idea you were such a naughty girl, Cyra,...
2024-09-04 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m busy,” Cyra said to the woman who’d just kicked down the restaurant door. She turned back to me to continue our conversation. “Now, what were you saying about artificing?”
I shot one last glance at our rude interlopers before continuing where I’d left off. She claimed to be Lauria of the Phantomfist Clan and looked more like a brawler than a spellcaster to me. But as Cy...
2024-09-02 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostI walked back the way I’d came with time to spare, so I stopped by the artificer shops. Looking through the windows and studying what was on display was educational for me. For some of my projects, like working on my staff, I’d been completely on the wrong track as far as the Dragon Lodge was concerned.
The thing that made me stop in my tracks was a store that sold golems. I had rubbl...
2024-08-31 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe teleportation array took us away from Cyra’s adoring and annoying fans. A few had been interested in me as well, but a bit of cold shoulder had gotten them off my back early.
The teleportation array took me somewhere I recognized immediately. We were at an old-fashioned train station. People streamed around us in all directions, most of them in wizard’s robes. Glancing to the side...
2024-08-30 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostCyra and I explored the town. We asked around a bit and chatted with a few shopkeepers, where we discovered everybody coming in through Glacia came this way. In a way, this was a teleporter hub to get elsewhere in the Mucaria mystic realm. One of the most frequent destinations was the academy.
There were a few big cities in the pocket realm, and we could have returned to Glacia as well, t...
2024-08-28 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post“The academy students have run out of mana! Congratulations, both of you. It’s been a while since I’ve given out such high scores on this test, and never to two at once,” Official Rykard said as the younger students streamed out of the stands.
“You flatter us,” Cyra replied.
Official Rykard leaned close to me. “Did my eyes deceive me, or did I see you using the Dragons...
2024-08-26 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostWe wandered out to join a small group of well-dressed students a few minutes later. There were about thirty of them in total, compared to several hundred taking the general test. Among them was Borelius, who glanced at the two of us curiously. But before he could wander over to us, Official Rykard began speaking.
"Alright, you should all know the rules, but if you don't, you must pass at ...
2024-08-24 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostI woke still on top of Cyra. I showered in the small stall off to the side of the tent and was midway through brewing coffee when Cyra got up herself.
“I left you some hot water there!” I waved to the shower stall. It was a simple thing, really. An enchantment gathered water into a bag suspended from the ceiling, and water drained from the bag in a shower-like fountain. Still, by Them...
2024-08-23 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostI turned toward the voice. Cyra did as well, but not before rolling her eyes.
“Are you talking to us?” I asked.
The young man was clad in gold-trimmed robes that looked like some of the gaudiest, least practical things I’d ever seen. The amount of precious metals on him might shield him from radiation-based attacks, but otherwise I could think of no practical uses for wearing ...
2024-08-21 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostEventually, we got moving again. The selection of skill books in the Obelisk wasn’t that great. Still, just glancing at the list, I already saw better options than I had on Themyscira. Misa did her best for us, but most of the skills she acquired were common or rare skills for average fighters. Here, everything was based on magic.
Instead of being able to hit harder or move quicker, the...
2024-08-19 15:26:45 +0000 UTC View PostCyra and I departed for Glacia with little fanfare. We wouldn’t be gone for long, but Cyra didn’t want to spread the word that she was missing. Unlike Crownhill, the lands of the Samhain Clan didn’t run themselves, and a lot of things required her physical presence. She wanted to be back before too many people realized she’d left Myrina in charge.
“Don’t worry. Sakura and Brid...
2024-08-17 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostCyra and I spoke as we walked, and she took me on a tour of the castle’s battlements. Here, the staffing shortages were more apparent, though thankfully, most of the structural damage was relegated to the outer parts of the walls.
“There aren’t as many guards here as before. I take it they’re out in the streets?” I asked.
“Helping with the repair efforts,” Cyra confirm...
2024-08-16 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post