I barely slept. The silk sheets in Marius's guest quarters felt like burial shrouds, too fine for honest rest.
Ragna was surely sleeping like an orc, but I couldn’t. Not after the betrayal last time when I let my guard down. So every time the manor's ancient bones cracked, it had me reaching for my axe. Shadow danced across moonlit wall...
2025-10-17 00:42:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe road to Veridian stretched before us like a merchant's promise. What I meant by that was how straightforward it seemed, all the while hiding countless complications in its dusty folds.
I rode slightly ahead of the others, letting my transformed axe's weight settle against my back while my mind wandered through labyrinths of thought. 2025-10-13 21:43:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Lightning seared the air where I'd stood a half-second earlier. The smell of ozone and scorched stone filled my nostrils as I landed in a crouch, still cradling Sathari's unconscious form against my chest.
"Careful with that, Professor. You'll wake the princess," I said, trying to keep my voice light despite the weight of dread set...
2025-10-13 17:19:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe options floated before Borric like sacred texts written in light. They pulsed with promise. Lightning still crackled overhead, but the sound felt distant compared to the weight of this moment. Even the perpetual storm seemed to hold its breath.
"Sweet merciful gods," Borric whispered, his weathered hands trembling as he reached toward the display. "I...
2025-10-10 16:00:28 +0000 UTC View PostWaybound City at night wasn't the same place I remembered.
The cobblestone streets gleamed wet from recent rain, reflecting the warm glow of mana-powered streetlights that hummed with subtle energy.
But beneath that familiar charm, something had shifted. New guard patrols walked routes that hadn't existed before, their armo...
2025-10-09 20:43:55 +0000 UTC View PostIsolde and I approached the Storm Hollow cautiously. We had to be careful because the air here crackled with electricity. The hair on my arms stood on end as static electricity danced across my skin.
Unlike the scorching heat of the Ashgrove or the bitter cold of the Frost Veil, this realm thrummed with power that was raw and untamed. Lightning...
2025-10-08 17:13:59 +0000 UTC View PostThe silence that followed the Phoenix's destruction helped cool down the scorching air around us. Embers drifted like dying stars through the clearing, their light fading against the perpetual flames of the Ashgrove.
I stared at the System notification floating in my vision, its implications churning in my mind like storm clouds.
"So," Isolde s...
2025-10-03 17:30:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe morning light filtered through rice paper screens like honey through silk, casting geometric patterns across Ha-Yun's bandaged ribs.
Each of her shaky breaths sent ripples of pain through her chest, a reminder of lightning that had nearly stopped her heart. She pressed her palm against the wrappings, feeling the heat of healing herbs...
2025-09-30 13:15:30 +0000 UTC View PostThe ash beneath our boots made the sound of whispers as we walked away from the pulsing crystal.
Lady Nezehra's sudden appearance and equally abrupt departure had left us both rattled. A dragon in human form…
The implications swirled in my mind like storm clouds. The dragon Ragna and I'd killed, it was a baby dragon. Was it also intelligen...
2025-09-28 16:29:21 +0000 UTC View PostThe capital of Xianli sprawled before me like a fortress pretending to be a city. It was a nation equal to Goryeo in value, but the differences in structure were apparent.
Where Goryeo favored flowing curves that mimicked nature's own architecture, Xianli built in aggressive angles; every roofline was a blade, every tower a spear thrust at th...
2025-09-22 16:48:16 +0000 UTC View PostThe Phoenix Pavilion's medical wing stank of burning herbs and barely contained panic.
Ha-Yun coughed frantically. She lay on silk cushions that felt wrong against her lightning-scorched skin, every nerve still singing from Zhen Wei's touch.
The palace healers fussed around her like moths drawn to dying flame, their hands gentle but...
2025-09-15 16:02:40 +0000 UTC View PostThe northern wall groaned like a dying beast.
Each impact from Xianli's siege weapons sent tremors through Jin Ha-Yun's boots. Stone dust rained from above, coating her armor in gray powder that mixed with blood – hers and others' – to form a grimy paste. The acrid stench of burning oil filled her nostrils as another flaming projectile arced ov...
2025-09-08 16:00:21 +0000 UTC View PostA Martial Arts Vs Magic is coming in a few minutes, but before that, I must shout myself out on this!
The Barbarian Ascen- err, Awakening is finally out!
Royalroad Link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/131727/the-barbarian-awakening 2025-09-08 15:59:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Chapter 1 | Book 5
The aroma of fermented cabbage mixed with grilled meat, incense from a nearby shrine, and beneath it all, the metallic tang of barely concealed fear was filling the air. War had a way of seasoning everything, even the air itself.
The sounds came next. Merchants hawking their wares with for...
2025-09-01 16:00:33 +0000 UTC View PostTo my incredible supporters,
The wait is finally over!
It's been a month, and I can't thank you enough for your patience and unwavering enthusiasm. I'm done recharging my creative batteries AND we're coming back with Martial Arts vs Magic in a few hours. The Chapter has already been scheduled to post in 3 hours. I look forward to that!
<... 2025-09-01 13:01:25 +0000 UTC View PostThe trail of burned symbols beckoned us deeper into the Ashgrove, every glyph we encountered pulsed with an internal rhythm that reminded me of a heartbeat.
The further we ventured, the more hostile our surroundings became. Trees stood eternal in their burning state. A paradox of nature, consumed yet never diminishing. The ground beneath our...
2025-08-29 15:32:21 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 29: A Good Day, Please? After our initial moment of shock subsided, Isolde dismounted, approaching cautiously. "You said you were pa
After our initial moment of shock subsided, Isolde dismounted, approaching cautiously. "You said you were part of a research expedition. What exactly were you researching?"
Eldric glanced between us, clea...
2025-08-23 12:35:36 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 28: Forged in Storms Dawn broke cold and clear, painting the village in hues of gold and amber. We gathered at the eastern gate, our
Dawn broke cold and clear, painting the village in hues of gold and amber. We gathered at the eastern gate, our horses laden with provisions donated by grateful villagers. Word of our departure had spread quickly,...
2025-08-20 18:15:58 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 27: Forged in Crimson Morning sunlight filtered through a canopy of oak leaves, casting dappled shadows across the village square. T
Morning sunlight filtered through a canopy of oak leaves, casting dappled shadows across the village square. The celebration continued around me. There was laughter, music, and the clinking of clay cups. Only I s...
2025-08-18 20:00:41 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 26: Beyond the Veil of Power I stood frozen, bone weapons still extended from my knuckles, feeling like a child holding twigs before
I stood frozen, bone weapons still extended from my knuckles, feeling like a child holding twigs before a forest fire. Osmotic Evolution granted me this ability from the Skeleton Soldiers, but I doubt they...
2025-08-13 16:00:24 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 25: Echoes of a Demon of Legends Isolde crouched behind the jagged outcropping of rock, the acrid scent of corrupted magic burning h
Isolde crouched behind the jagged outcropping of rock, the acrid scent of corrupted magic burning her nostrils.
“Oh no…”
The sight before her was harrowing. The old quarry stret...
2025-08-08 16:00:21 +0000 UTC View Post“So… what do you say we should do?”
I needed more time to think. I studied her face, the controlled fury, the pain at her people's suffering, the weight of responsibility she carried despite having no throne to back it up, and yet kind enough to show me respect. Then I looked at Ragna, who was practically vibrating with the need to help t...
2025-08-06 16:34:25 +0000 UTC View Post“Haah!” The crystallized handle of my ax caught morning light as I hacked through another wall of thorny vines, clearing a path for the others.
The past three days had blurred together into a rhythm of walking, hunting, and sleeping under stars. We'd made good progress through the wilderness, though our supplies were dwindling faster than...
2025-08-04 18:48:27 +0000 UTC View PostI stood at the window of the Sovereign's Citadel, watching dawn break over a city that no longer slept. The title of ‘ghost city’ was abandoned. Nevaramis had transformed. Where once empty streets stretched between ancient buildings, now life pulsed through every quarter.
To the west, the vampire quarter remained shrouded in comforta...
2025-07-28 19:18:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe crimson light of the communication device painted Munera's face in shades of blood and shadow as she retrieved it from a hidden compartment in the wall. The chamber we stood in was deliberately dark, lit only by arcane lanterns that emitted a purple glow barely strong enough to outline the curves of ancient instruments lining the walls.
Val leane...
2025-07-25 17:13:52 +0000 UTC View PostThe gothic garden behind the Obsidian mansion would have been beautiful if it hadn't been so deliberately morbid.
Black roses with thorns that gleamed like freshly forged daggers lined paths of polished obsidian. Statues of anguished victims frozen mid-scream dotted the landscape. Yet somehow, with Nebula's hand in mine, even this monu...
2025-07-23 19:03:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe stars stretched endlessly above me as I gazed up through the crystalline dome of the Council Chamber. Nearly two months ago, those same stars had witnessed my escape from Aethelgard with Amelia and Solara. Now they watched as I built something new from the fragments of old powers.
The grand obsidian table caught the light from the starscape ceil...
2025-07-21 18:41:59 +0000 UTC View PostThe desert heat fell on my hair as Lailah and I materialized outside the Leviathan Cult. The Bifrost was less chaotic this time, a controlled shimmer of stellar energy as if to announce my current status. Not a refugee stumbling through portals, but a sovereign making a state visit.
I was surprised to find the cultists already standing in their cer...
2025-07-17 23:30:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe desert sun beat down on the ancient temple, its stone walls unyielding against the harsh winds that had eroded mountains over countless millennia. Right outside it, the blood of Leviathan, Lailah stood before the assembled members of the Leviathan Cult, their faces solemn beneath ceremonial veils.
Here, amid the great Saharan expanse, Lailah...
2025-07-14 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe taste of her still lingered on my lips as I pulled back, my heart hammering like a caged beast against my ribs.
Amelia's purple eyes were softened, vulnerable in a way I'd never seen them before. Around us, Nevaramis hummed with its ancient power, welcoming these new residents with a thousand subtle magics.
I cleared my throat, tryi...
2025-07-11 18:58:48 +0000 UTC View Post