The Ritualist stumbled out of the council meeting, rubbing at his eyes, greatly annoyed that the Dwarven constituent allowed them to sit for nearly twenty hours at a time and make plans. “Seriously, they could just meet for an hour or two a day. It's not like we’ve a whole lot of other things to do.”
Still, he’d been able to create a full plan of action for building up the Town. W...
2023-08-11 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Sixteen days.” Joe was standing atop one of the tallest towers he’d made yet, which was matched only by its twin on the opposing entrance of the labyrinthian walls that surrounded Novusheim. There was forty feet of open air between the two stone defenses, even if technically they were a single serpentine superstructure. “No, I can't forget that ‘days’ means something completely dif...
2023-08-09 11:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“They’re breaking through!”
“How's this happening? They’re Penguins for Ascetic’s sake!”
Daniella looked on in horror as the once serene Elven Camp was ruthlessly stomped flat by an onrushing horde of monsters. She had admired the Camp's strange, ethereal beauty, where the Elven craftsmanship had blended nature and tundra together into one scintillating whole....
2023-08-07 13:34:40 +0000 UTC View PostIt appeared to be a message from the first entity once more, going off the grumpy undertones.
Joe, Tatum’s Chosen Legend, behold! The moment you've been waiting for has arrived: the final calculation of your undeserving experience gains. After extensive calculations, deep sighs, and countless eye rolls, we have calculated that you have received anywhere from 5-8% of the total experi...
2023-08-04 11:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostHello, my friends!
As we approach the end of tenacity, I just wanted to let you know that yesterday I finished the next Completionist Chronicles as well :-)
My goal is to have three of them up and for sale on Amazon and audible, starting October, November, finally December!
Here's the thing, though. It's the start of August. Just to make sure I don't overload...
2023-08-02 11:02:38 +0000 UTC View PostWatching carefully as a hacked-off Cyclops finger was fed into his aspect tower, Joe had to take deep breaths so he didn't feel too queasy. It wasn't that the actual process of watching a body get converted into aspects was an issue, more it was the fact that this had been an intelligent monster that spoke to him directly. Something about that made this process more… personal.
“Can't ...
2023-08-02 11:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe Ritualist shifted his position, ready to bodily block the Dwarf from approaching the Town Hall. His words came out dripping with condescension, “What’re you going to do, Stu? Destroy the Town Hall in front of your entire people? Smash it so that we can't build all of these fine people some better places to live, work, and thrive? Go ahead! Be the reason that all of their effort...
2023-08-01 11:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostHello, my friends!
Check your inboxes for the new Artorian's Archives book! Thanks so much for your patience, we got hit with viral pneumonia and have been mostly focusing on breathing for the last week. :P
Hope you love it!
2023-07-31 15:31:54 +0000 UTC View PostHe was buried beneath a thin layer of snow, but the Ritualist’s body was broken and his lifeblood was pooling in a sanguine puddle around him. Unable to move his arms, his legs, or his head, Joe was utterly uncertain how he was still conscious. Even though his mind was screaming with pain, the fact that he could think at all meant that he had a chance. Working to channel every ounce of his Ba...
2023-07-31 11:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostJoe's mind was having trouble processing the stream of events that was occurring around him at this moment. The Legion was in full-blown retreat, a Cyclops was bearing down on them with the intent to destroy their home and then their bodies, and here he was, dodging a yo-yo as a Dwarf who was a master of annoying people tried to use the situation to sabotage humanity’s reputation with the Dwa...
2023-07-28 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostJoe backflipped to disperse his momentum as he approached the ground, coming up to his feet and Omnivaulting forward on the first roll, doing what he could to maintain his speed without sending out a shockwave that would cause his allies to stumble. At nearly the same time, the Cyclops reached the entrance to the Village, maintaining its heading and slamming directly into the illusion that Joe ...
2023-07-27 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThere was no need for Joe to add additional stability to the ritual, as it was a high enough rarity that it could weather the chaotic pressure Jotunheim placed upon it. Under the careful observation of Grandmaster Snow and Master Stu, Joe began altering the ritual ever-so-slightly so that it would drop all who entered it among the Dwarves that had left to start over with a new Hamlet.
Joe...
2023-07-26 11:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“You dare to assault the son of the son of the grandson of Brontes?” At this close range, the air-shuddering quality of the words coming from the enormous Cyclops’ mouth made the sounds nearly unintelligible. It was only after several long seconds, when the echo came back to Joe, that he was able to understand what was actually being shouted at him.
He had larger issues tha...
2023-07-25 11:00:59 +0000 UTC View PostJoe stood at the breach in the wall furthest from the city proper. His ritual was active, and the warehouse he was making was nearly complete. The far wall fit directly into the hole, jutting out slightly as he had repositioned the warehouse to ensure that there was the maximum amount of room for the creatures to wander through it. “I really hope the narrowing of walls doesn’t count as a bl...
2023-07-24 11:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostTrying to leave the oddities of the system behind him, Joe turned his attention to the task at hand. There were huge, gaping holes in the walls, and without some immediate intervention, the Village was likely to be destroyed. As far as he could tell, there would be no nice, easy, uniform solution to the issue, as the walls were entirely different shapes and sizes. “Come on brain, I know you...
2023-07-21 11:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe ever-swirling storm clouds hung low in the sky, seeming to sink lower as if to get a better view of Novusheim’s impending doom. While Joe had convinced the Dwarves to set scouts, and ensure that they weren't taken by surprise by a sudden surge, his main focus was completing the inner set of Journeyman ranked walls. The only creatures to escape the commands of the Cyclops were the least in...
2023-07-20 11:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostFive days, or more accurately one hundred twenty-eight hours, had passed since Joe had finished working on the initial chunks of wall. The Village had settled into a rhythm, and Joe in particular had dived deep into the peculiarities of defending this place.
He now had a devoted group of people that were charged with refilling the Mana Batteries at the end of each wave. They were paid in ...
2023-07-19 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe Ritualist spent the entirety of the Beast wave in his workshop, perfecting the buildout for a single section of wall. He’d forgotten how ruinously expensive the wall was by itself, but he had to merely grit his teeth and accept the burden of creating it. “Can't say I'm unhappy that my bargain for resources handed over to the council was after expenses. Otherwise I'd be...
2023-07-18 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“This next wave is going to be a rough one.” Joe muttered to himself as he put the finishing touches on the ritual that would inscribe enchantments on his behalf; gmaking the careful and precise changes to the structure of a core to turn it into a Mana Battery. “I really need to figure out how to make a recharging station… making a new battery so that it has a full charge right away isn...
2023-07-17 11:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe once-bustling Village Square now echoed with a solemn emptiness. This was all thanks to the departure of a huge chunk of civilians, and a concerning number of the Legion that had marched away with them. Ostensibly the troops had gone as an escort, but by the way each of them was carrying supplies, it was unlikely they’d be returning. Joe looked at the report he'd been handed, wincing as h...
2023-07-14 11:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostQuest updated: Student Ritualist III. Monsters slain by the Ritual of Slaughter: 183/1000 (914 Marked before activation.)
Experience gained! Calculating experience…
Your Village has completed the second Beast wave needed in order to upgrade into a Town! Beast waves remaining: 23/25.
“The second wave had hit during that? They can overlap?...
2023-07-13 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostWasting not a single moment, Joe clapped his hands together to bring his right palm into contact with the tiny Ritual of Activation that he was holding in his left. Sparks flew as his magic bounced off the magical diagram, and he sucked in a breath as he shook the lingering power off of his hand. “Feces! It's too low ranked to activate without stabilization!”
He started dropp...
2023-07-12 11:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe frigid wind that near-constantly blew across the flat landscape of Jotunheim started to pick up, howling over their heads and through the corridors as the newest residents of this world braced themselves for another relentless assault which would only end with the death of their enemies, or the destruction of everything they'd accomplished to this point.
Joe critically eyed the walls ...
2023-07-11 11:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“We have a handful of hours until the next Beast wave, and you're choosing now to be stingy with sharing the resources we will need to survive?” Master Stu Sarcasm scoffed and folded his arms in front of him. “How very like a human, pretending to be all friendly and useful until they can war profiteer off of us.”
All that earned him was an amused stare as Joe con...
2023-07-10 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostJust as he prepared himself to dive into the fray, Joe received a series of notifications that gave him pause. A quick glance confirmed that they were kills of monsters, and they were racking up faster and faster. By the time he looked over, a half dozen of the messages had appeared, with more arriving every second.
Defeatist Fluttering Penguin defeated!
Hoardling defea...
2023-07-07 11:00:38 +0000 UTC View PostOnly a fraction of an inch from Joe's eyes, a thick sheet of ice had appeared. No matter how he struggled, his entire body was utterly immobile. From the outside, he was certain that he looked like an ice sculpture, but his Exquisite Shell had collected the dense ice along its edge instead of allowing the attack through.
Damage taken: 9,065 frost damage! You have been Immobilized! Exp...
2023-07-06 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostAs the ritual began, Joe could tell immediately that it was something different than almost anything he'd made before. To start with, instead of the clear blue-white coloration that his ritual circles typically took, this one was alternatively green or purple. Watching it spin up put imagery in his mind of what it would be able to accomplish; namely, the death and destruction of those who activ...
2023-07-05 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDespite his bravado with the receptionist, it took more than a week's worth of hours to gather enough resources to complete the final building required for tiering up. Although he had attempted to ensure that every building he made was entirely useful, there was only so much he could do. To his delight, the water tower where his filtered blood-based water was deposited was considered a monument...
2023-07-04 11:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostGood morning, my friends! In case you missed the livestream on facebook this morning, here's a bunch of cool announcements!
1) We’re having a community building event! Come buy a set of my signed paperbacks, @everyone that does gets a second copy for free to give to a friend, family member, school, or library! They’re already packaged, and will be to you wi...
2023-07-03 19:06:22 +0000 UTC View PostWith a simple Ritual of Unbinding, Joe was able to remove the currently bound spells from his orbs. He started with Planar Shift, as was his intention, but the notification he received as soon as he did so made his eyes go wide, and his hands begin flying as he created a second ritual.
Delayed spell experience allocated!
Planar Shift (Student IV → Student VI)
... 2023-07-03 11:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post