The installation team arrived three weeks after Max sent his acceptance.
Four goblins in mech suits came through first, their mechanical legs clanking against the stone platform Max had prepared outside Sunreach. Behind them came a dozen gnomes carrying equipment cases that hummed with contained energy. Two dwarves brought up the rear, each one pushing a hover-cart loaded with metal panel...
2025-12-17 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostMax found them waiting in the gathering room.
"Well?" Fowl asked. "Did the little gnome try to sell you a bridge?"
Max pulled out a chair and sat down heavily. "He tried to sell me a portal network. Same thing, really."
"That bad?" Tanila asked.
"That's the problem." Max rubbed his thumb along his knuckles. "It wasn't bad at all. Everything he said made sense. Every term...
2025-12-16 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe hammer came down with a ring that echoed across the forge, sparks flying as Francis shaped the heated metal. His muscles remembered the motion even though he'd died three times since the last time he'd worked at this particular anvil. Fifty deaths ago, he'd barely known which end of the hammer to hold. Now his hands moved with confidence, drawing the steel into the shape he wanted.
"B...
2025-12-16 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostCHAPTER 16: THE REQUEST BOARD
The Formation Hall's request board was a slab of polished wood mounted on the eastern wall of the main corridor. Twelve feet wide, eight feet tall, covered in paper slips held in place by small formation pins that glowed faintly when touched.
Wei Chen had walked past it dozens of times without paying attention. Just another piece of Formation Hall furni...
2025-12-15 14:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostMax felt the world shift as he arrived on the portal platform, the familiar hum of energy beneath his boots. Knowing the rules of this place, he immediately stepped off, spotting a gnome with thick spectacles already opening his mouth to shout.
"Off! Off! Off the—" The gnome's words caught in his throat as he got a better look at Max. Those magnified eyes went wide behind the lenses. "O...
2025-12-15 14:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe evening after Silver rank testing should have been a time for celebration. Arin's party had passed the individual assessments, proving themselves capable of handling threats equivalent to Level 12. They had coordination trials scheduled in two days, and the promise of actual Silver rank status was closer than ever before.
But something felt wrong.
Arin couldn't quite identify wh...
2025-12-15 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe sound of the morning bell rang.
"It's earlier than usual," Michael grunted as he sat up. "What gives?"
Francis smiled, already throwing off his blanket. Every day, and every death he'd spent becoming one of the barbarians, and learning their magic, made dying dozens of times to Haldor and the Ursaloths worth it. All of it was knowledge he carried with him now, just like the smal...
2025-12-15 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostHey all!
Well I'm basically 3 days from leaving for my Christmas Vacation / Work Trip.
I'll have my laptop and phone with me but I'll be out of pocket with the family for the rest of the month. I'll do what I can to fix errors that pop up (working on minimizing that but I still have a mountain of words to edit and I haven't gotten through them all).
Story Stuff:
...
2025-12-14 16:09:52 +0000 UTC View PostThe next five days in Thornbridge passed in a blur of activity as the party prepared for Silver rank testing. They took smaller contracts during this period. Nothing was as dangerous as the Rat King, but enough to keep their skills sharp and earn additional income.
A warehouse clearance yielded several giant spider nests and added another large amount of experience to his allies. An escor...
2025-12-13 14:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe gathering room felt smaller than usual.
Max studied his friends' faces as they settled into their seats around the table Fowl had borrowed from the Golden Axe faction over a century ago. The wood was dark, polished from years of use, and the chairs had been designed to accommodate everyone from Fowl's shorter frame to Rakonath's bulk when he chose to sit in humanoid form.
... 2025-12-12 14:00:21 +0000 UTC View PostCHAPTER 15: PROOF OF CONCEPT
Wei Chen's body felt different.
Not better, exactly. Different. Two weeks of constant formation work had done something to his qi circulation. The damaged meridians that had plagued Chen Wei for years were still damaged, still narrow and scarred. But they'd adapted to the consistent flow of energy. Like a river carving new channels through rock, his qi h...
2025-12-12 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostFrancis stood before High Shaman Greythorn once more, the otherworldly light of the blue-green flames casting shadows across her painted face.
"You have found it," Greythorn said, not making it a question. "Faster than expected. Much faster."
Francis nodded. "I found my core. But it's different from what your people describe. It’s not veins, but like threads. Thin ones, like spide...
2025-12-12 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe party spent the evening preparing for tomorrow's assault on the rat nest. They purchased additional torches, rope, and healing supplies, everything they might need for an extended fight in the sewers. Torvin acquired a new shield to replace the one damaged during the goblin operation, while Kelsa had her sword properly sharpened and balanced.
Essa visited the temple again to receive a...
2025-12-11 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostFrancis woke to find himself in a proper tent with furs beneath him and a small fire burning nearby. His body felt better than it had in weeks, the divine healing from the ceremony having erased every ache and pain. He sat up, stretching, and noticed the barbarian clothing folded neatly beside him, along with Glitvall's ancestral axe.
He dressed slowly, running his hand over his chest whe...
2025-12-11 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostRakonath soared above the mountains, the wind beneath his wings carrying the scent of pine and snow and something else, something that smelled like home.
Below him, the dragon settlement of Skyheart sprawled across the peaks and valleys, a city built for beings who could fly. No streets connected the buildings, no bridges spanned the gaps between cliffs. Everything was vertical, layered, ...
2025-12-11 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
I've had 3 people ask me where I get my ideas for the formations (and one was kind enough to recommend a cool Formation Story I've now got to read...)
https://www.dnsstuff.com/what-is-network-topology
So stuff like this is where i'm pulling designs and other stuff for the formations. i'm also...
"Huang Wei? He's not a fighter. He's a cultivator who happens to have combat techniques." Chen Hua watched him go. "There's a difference. Fighters look for conflict. Cultivators avoid it when they can."
"You're a fighter."
"I try to be. Fighting is about more than power. It's about understanding your opponent, controlling the engagement, and making them fight on your terms instead o...
2025-12-10 14:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostSog stood alone in the arena, surrounded by the corpses of his own demons.
Twelve of them lay scattered across the stone floor, their bodies already dissolving back into the dark mana that had spawned them. They'd lasted longer this time—almost four minutes before he'd cut down the last one—but it still wasn't enough.
"Again," he growled.
His mana reserves were low, but he...
2025-12-10 14:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe tattoo was a rune Francis didn't recognize. He'd tried to look at it after the woman finished, but the angle was wrong and the markings too intricate to make out in the dim firelight. All he knew was that it covered most of his chest, and that it still burned hours after the bone needle had finished its work.
They'd led him to another tent shortly after, this one barely larger than hi...
2025-12-10 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostHey All! I've been working on this for a bit and after about 10 different changes to different things, I wanted to show and ask thoughts.
Whispered between gods in shadowed alcoves, where none should hear.
You want to know about the Five.
Then shut up and listen. Don't repeat what I tell you. Not here… Not...
2025-12-09 22:45:05 +0000 UTC View PostTanila stood in the center of her workshop, surrounded by the aftermath of her latest failure.
Scorch marks blackened the stone walls in a starburst pattern. The wooden table she'd been working on was now a pile of smoking splinters. And the rune she'd spent three days carefully inscribing was nothing but ash drifting in the air.
"Well," she muttered to herself, "at least I didn't l...
2025-12-09 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe party spent the rest of that day gathering information about the merchant quarter infestation and preparing for tomorrow's expedition into the sewers. Kelsa spoke with other adventurers who'd heard about the failed attempts, while Torvin visited smiths to check on armor repairs and possible equipment upgrades.
Essa went to one of the city's temples to acquire additional healing suppli...
2025-12-09 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostFrancis and Glitvall walked back through the shaman section in silence. The warchief's usual confidence seemed diminished somehow, his shoulders carrying a weight that hadn't been there before. Francis could sense the change in the man's mood, and he could feel it in the way Glitvall's steps had become heavier, more deliberate.
They passed through the bone chimes and skull totems without ...
2025-12-09 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostHey all - I'm in my own head (writing UL1 which is awesome cuz i'm coming down to I think the last 10 chapters of book 11) but need a little help.
So i'm going to make this post.
I need 3 people who are willing to read the chapters I have for my Slime story and give feedback, and don't mind looking for mistakes.
With my head juggling between 5 stories I know I'm off on a f...
Wei Chen spent the evening reviewing Chen Hua's requirements. Twenty-foot defensive radius. Resistance to physical and qi-based attacks. Five-minute minimum duration against Foundation Establishment opponents. Portability for arena deployment.
The specifications were clear, but they didn't tell him everything. Chen Hua's fighting style mattered. Her preferred tactics would determine how t...
2025-12-08 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostGlitvall followed High Shaman Greythorn into the tent, the heavy flap falling closed behind him with a weight that felt more significant than just hide and leather. Inside, the air was thick with smoke from burning herbs he couldn't name, their scent sharp and earthy all at once.
The tent's interior was larger than it appeared from outside, or perhaps that was just the way the shadows pla...
2025-12-08 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostCordellia stood at the edge of the training arena, her bow in hand and her mind racing through the problem she'd been trying to solve for months.
Range was her strength. Always had been. Give her a hundred yards and a clear line of sight, and she could put an arrow through a goblin's eye socket before it knew she was there. But gods didn't fight at a hundred yards. Gods closed distance. G...
2025-12-08 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSo i've been cooking slowly a Cozy Story for a while. My beta readers been reading it and i'm getting to a point where I've got enough chapters built up I want to put here for you all to give some thoughts on it.
A few things:
I'm doing a co-write with a cozy author on a different story. We're 100k words into that one and a few chapters a week. That one won't be on my patreon as...
Years before the oven broke, the book arrived with a grain shipment.
Max almost missed it. He was in his early twenties, running the bakery alone. His mother had been gone a few years now. He was still learning how to manage suppliers, stretch the budget, and wake up at four in the morning without someone else there to make sure he did.
The grain came in burlap sacks from a farm two...
2025-12-07 17:52:39 +0000 UTC View Post