Under a night sky, Jason and Emi stood on a wooden platform, high in a tree house. They were in the city of Arbour, in what was more a tree mansion than a tree house, spanning across several towering redwoods. Even the living trunks were part of it. Hollows grown naturally into the living wood didn’t weaken the grandiose trees, despite seeming like they would have to.
Emi stood next to ...
2024-10-28 22:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIn the vampire laboratory, Clive and Lorelei were cataloguing the overtly magical tools and materials. Travis was doing the same with the technological tools, while also checking in on an IT specialist from the Cabal who was working on the computers. Emi was paying greater attention, watching over his shoulder. She wasn’t a computer specialist, but she had, at least, used one that wasn’t ol...
2024-10-25 22:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIlyin found his passage up the elevator shaft discomforting, lifted as if by a disembodied hand. It didn’t help that, to grab him, Asano had suppressed Ilyin’s aura first. Reaching the surface, he passed through the hole his team had jackhammered to access the elevator shaft. It was in a warehouse that had been built right over the bunker system.
They had cleared some space on first a...
2024-10-23 22:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIlyin, Gusev and Orlova moved through the dark concrete tunnels of the abandoned bunker complex. Designed to shelter tens of thousands for as much as a week, it was a sprawling warren, crawling under the city. The exposed construction site on the surface had long since been built right over, courtesy of some sketchy government approvals.
There were large chambers earmarked as dormitories ...
2024-10-21 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostJason couldn’t stop grinning. Walking along the promenade deck, his fingers were intertwined with Zara’s as she walked beside him.
“We should probably make our way to the gathering,” she pointed out.
“Well, we are taking the scenic route. There’s a place called Iceland that’s very scenic.”
She looked out at the Australian desert.
“Iceland,” she echoed...
2024-10-18 22:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe diplomatic contingent from the Storm Kingdom had set up their area of Jason’s cloud ship like an embassy. Jason provided the space, tailored it to their requests, and left them to it. Like an actual embassy, any sovereignty the Storm Kingdom representatives held was a polite fiction, agreed upon with the host. As Jason made his way to that area of the ship, he reflected that civilisation ...
2024-10-16 22:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostMembers of the Cabal had been hiding themselves for longer than humans — at least the ones from Earth — had been recording history. Some were reclusive, their glamours not holding up to close scrutiny. Others were capable shape-shifters, blending unnoticed into human society.
Messengers were among the most capable in this regard. They could hide their wings, reduce their size an...
2024-10-14 22:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe Australian security team returned through the portal to report on what they had found. Jason sent Lu Yan through a separate portal, to join with the government officials eating frozen desserts. Lu would join their tour, led by the Concierge, allowing Jason to get back to family. In theory.
He stepped out of a Shade body onto his cloud ship, but Shade spoke up before Jason had the chan...
2024-10-11 22:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe new and extremely popular new member of the Asano family was looking rather shell-shocked. Jason extracted Nik from the clutches of Hana and Jace, taking him to a quiet corner of the balcony.
“Well?”
“It’s… I don’t know. It’s a lot.”
“I know. You shouldn’t expect to just wander in and have some inherent connection to everyone. Get to know them. Let them...
2024-10-09 22:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostJason placed a comforting hand on Nik’s shoulder as they walked down a corridor in the cloud ship.
“I won’t say don’t be nervous, because of course you are,” Jason told him. “What I will say is that they’re going to love you.”
“You think?”
“Nik, everyone loves you. Even Neil adores you, and you know how cranky he can get. The whole Adventure Society loves...
2024-10-07 22:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostJason hugged his sister. They were alone on the rooftop garden of her family home.
“This is good,” she said. “Hugging those avatars of yours is like hugging cold rubber.”
“Technically, this is an avatar as well. The difference is—”
“Shut up, little brother. Save your magic nonsense for later.”
“I only just got here, and you’re already so mean,” he...
2024-10-04 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostTL;DR:
Book 12 has concluded; no hiatus.
I will be at Pax Aus Oct 11-13
I will be taking December off.
Book 12 is now complete on Patreon for Silver+ tier patrons. I would probably take a week off, but I just took time off for Dragon Con, where I spent the same number ...
2024-10-02 23:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostJason and his team hunted the pirates through the dimension ship, with few putting up much of a fight. Their prey was scattered, on the run and ravaged by afflictions. The near-indestructible gold-rankers weren’t dying, but they were closer than they’d ever been. Used to being on the other end of one-sided fights, they knew what it was to be the predator. Being the prey left them panicked a...
2024-10-02 23:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostKilling a gold ranker was hard. Killing a couple of dozen was extremely hard. The standard solution to killing things that excelled at not being killed was afflictions, placing Jason at the centre of his team’s plan to handle the pirates. As the entire purpose of the fight was to demonstrate Jason’s power to the world, that worked out nicely.
The first stage was for Jason to fight the...
2024-09-30 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostFloating in the air alongside Natala and Jason, Jota watched Kreegle and most of the crew stream out of the dimension ship. Some used the ship’s personal flight disks, but many showed off an eclectic mix personalised devices or used their own powers. The one uniform thing about them was being armed to the teeth, although even in that, there was a lot of variance. The array of potent weapons, ...
2024-09-27 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostMagic masked Jota’s dimension ship from any means the people of Earth had of detecting it. It was quite obviously there, however, as his crew were drawn up by the gravity channel and vanishing in the air. He stood outside the Asano Village grounds with his second in command, watching his people ascend.
“We could just make a move first,” Natala suggested. “Kill Kreegle, quick and c...
2024-09-25 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“What you’re telling me,” Lenora said, “is that my little city is going to turn into a gold-rank battle zone.”
“Yes,” Anna told her. “Jason will try and take it out into the desert, but there is a good chance these invaders will confront him here.”
“They need to challenge him at the first opportunity,” Rufus explained. “To justify their presence here. They ma...
2024-09-23 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Travelling like this is strange,” Anna said. “I’m used to strange, with anything related to Jason, but this is up there.”
Their vehicle looked like a flying saucer, flat and round, with smooth lines and a sleek white exterior that tapered at the edges. What propelled it through the air, however, was not alien science, magic or magitech. On the top were a pair of recessed handle...
2024-09-20 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThey were in the office of Jason’s captain’s suite on the cloud ship. In deference to his intentions to handle his time of Earth responsibly, it was more like an expensive hotel suite than a maniacal villain’s lair. Jason was explaining his unproductive meeting with Anna and Boris.
“The problem, Jason,” Danielle said, “is you. You’ve always said that you prefer friends to al...
2024-09-18 23:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“Jason,” Boris said. “What did you do?”
“You know we’ve been discussing how to demonstrate the power I’ll be bringing to bear, to deter the powers of Earth from doing something ill-advised.”
“I’d say that clearly didn’t work, given the impending arrival of cosmic pirates, but how and why do you already know who they are?”
“It started when a member of ...
2024-09-16 23:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDarius and Michael were nervous. They were political officials, their silver-rank coming from cores. Their limited combat training consisted of a basic course and annual two-week refreshers. It was far from enough to make them confident about entering vampire territory or, even worse, Asano territory.
They began their day by portalling across the planet. Their two gold-rank bodyguar...
2024-09-13 23:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“Do you realise what you’ve done?” Rick asked Jason as they walked along a hallway in the cloud ship. “The collection of people on this boat is ridiculous. The number of gold rankers alone is mind boggling. If we’d had this group when we went down that god-forsaken tunnel, we’d have wiped that undead army off the face of creation.”
“I don’t think the gods actually forsoo...
2024-09-11 23:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostSitting in the captain’s chair on the bridge of his dimension ship, Jota Withers let out a sigh. This was not the trajectory his life had been meant to take. The universe-city of Interstice was, for most practical purposes, the centre of the cosmos. Only diamond rankers were allowed entry without invitation, with gold-rankers like Jota only allowed in as menial workers. Even so, to be a resid...
2024-09-09 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIt was Clive who portalled Jason to his destination. Jason had been to the target location before, but only once, and it had changed greatly since. When he and Farrah had arrived, years previously, it had been an uninhabited island, pounded by a localised magical hurricane from which the Sea of Storms took its name.
Years later, it was a very different prospect. The island had a large tow...
2024-08-23 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAfter collecting the people from Earth and turning his sky vessel back into a passenger ship, Jason and his companions set off for the next pick up. Most of the earthlings had been assigned to comfortable but basic dormitory lodging, with some attached activity areas.
“Mr Asano,” Shade said, after getting the new people settled. “The ship has more than enough room to give them indiv...
2024-08-21 23:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostA line of red and gold electricity flashed through the air. It burst into the form of a Māori, right above the stone and lightning body of a stormspire drake. Koa dropped lightly onto the drake’s back as it passed under him.
The drake half rolled back and forth trying to shake its rider. Whips of lightning lashed at Koa, only to vanish without visible effect. Unphased but not unbalance...
2024-08-19 23:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostDuke Percival Headingway was the patriarch of House Headingway, holder of the family’s highest title. While the same title was claimed by rural aristocrats in their remote city states, his title came from Cyrion, the heart of civilisation. He might serve under the throne, unlike the city-state rulers, but his power dwarfed even the most prestigious of theirs.
It was galling, then, that ...
2024-08-16 23:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostTL;DR:
No chapters last week of August and first week of September
Dragon Con appearance schedule below
I'll be taking some time off to attend Dragon Con at the end of August into the start of September. That's a lot of travel time, to and from Australia, especially my part of it, which is an island south of the mainland. I'll...
2024-08-14 23:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostNine people marched across the bridge towards Jason’s cloud palace. They were clearly unlike the people Jason had been negotiating with, although they were from the noble houses currently missing people. These were not articulate servants or refined aristocrats. These were adventurers. Their gear was worn and practical, their weapons carried with the familiarity of years. They were slung read...
2024-08-14 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostVandrick arrived at the entrance to Jason Asano’s cloud palace. There was a mob out front, and had been since the System went dark. They were pretending to be a spontaneously formed group, protesting the heavy-handed influence of the outsider. Anyone with any real knowledge was aware they had been placed by certain noble houses of Cyrion, anticipating negative attention regarding potential ac...
2024-08-12 23:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post