I followed my fellow escaped prisoner into the woods, thinking he would be my ticket to the mainline quest. Unfortunately, he stopped 50 yards away.
"Thanks for your help escaping. If you're ever in Honeynest, look me up. My organization could use a few people like you." He turned and walked away.
I started to follow, but he disappeared around a pile of rocks...
2024-07-26 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostBy the next day, more than half of the lux Hiroko had brought from the tower had leaked from her. Cycling became difficult, like she’d tied lead weights to her limbs. The world gradually lost color and verve. She felt the lack like a missing tooth.
Hiroko resolved not to try to cling to the rest. Instead, she practiced her new skill on servants and the other cultivator spouses an...
2024-07-25 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostI've gotten nicely far ahead in the novel, so I've decided to release some extra chapters over the next few days, hopefully taking us to 10 chapters ahead of RoyalRoad! Thanks to everyone who's supported the story - it's colossally fun to write.
“That was stupid of you.”
Chang-li opened his eyes. Scribe Wulan stood over his pallet, glowing. The old man was as sh...
2024-07-24 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostA dark shadow swooped over the fortress, and all the prisoners ducked. There was a loud “whump," and the top of one of the towers exploded, showering us with shards of stone. The bulk of the debris fell outside the castle walls, carrying screaming raven guards falling to their deaths.
"This way!" one of the prisoners cried. There was a mad rush towards an open doorway on th...
2024-07-24 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostFor the next three days, Chang-li felt like a fish gasping on the bank of a river, flopping about, desperate to try to reach the life-giving waters. He still clung to the last remnants of his lux, but having been immersed in it for so long, returning to the ordinary world left him feeling like something was missing. He wore his old life like an uncomfortable, too-small coat.
By day...
2024-07-23 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostI make no apologies for the bird related puns, it's my cowriter at fault. This interlude is probably going to be about ten chapters long and will feature the cheesing exploits we couldn't fit into book 4.
By the end of the week, our team was on top of the leaderboard. When I spawned into the Orc ship lounge area, Rok'gar was there. I flashed him a grin, "I told you...
2024-07-22 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAn Indigo princess listens twice as much as she speaks and watches everything. Hiroko had been taught the admonition from an early age, and falling back on that advice served her well as she was welcomed into the cultivator camp.
There had been such excitement over her arrival. The Dowager Pearl swooped down at once to take Hiroko under her wing, hurrying her away from the c...
2024-07-20 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSo, I said we'd start book 5 today... and then I showerd the other half of M. Talon the opening of book 5 and he said, "Wait, I want to see this bit you glossed over!" and I said I didn't want to write it so he said he'd write it so -- special interlude novella between books 4 and 5 starts now!
Hope the POV shifts aren't an issue, needed to have them be shorter th...
2024-07-19 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostJoshi stared up at the edifice rearing out of the swamp above him. It was a stepped pyramid, seven tiers high, made of featureless black stone. When he cycled lux out of his body, the vented lux was drawn toward the pyramid and absorbed by its dark surfaces.
He sat down in a clear spot about 30 feet away, studying the single feature on the entire pyramid, an opening along the base on what...
2024-07-18 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostWrapping up book 4 here - book 5 starts right away!
It was a week after our brush with the Coyote fragment. I had spent the last couple days getting Colin's new team integrated and off to a flying start. For the last few hours, I'd sat in a communication center, watching them take on a smaller and less ornery fragment. They'd worked together flawlessly with p...
2024-07-17 12:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostMin couldn't help feeling the same excitement as the rest of the Gem Court as they proceeded through the expedition camp. They were all wearing their finest: Min in her white robe edged with red, the same as Jai-lin and Shisa. Nima, in her orange-edged robe, preceded them, a polite six steps behind the Dowager Pearl. All five were flanked by attendants in black silks.
The Gems descended t...
2024-07-16 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
When Sage appeared in front of me, I breathed a sigh of relief. So Williams had made it, and Sage was safe. "You have it?"
She tossed me a smooth white fang on a leather thong. "Why'd you send Shad through?" she demanded. "He's gonna get himself killed again."
"It was his idea."
"Of course, it's his idea. It's always his idea." She let out a dramatic sigh. "I was ...
2024-07-15 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThis is a chapter I wrote while developing the character of Chang-li to help me better understand who he was and the society he's in. I'm releasing it to Patreons only - enjoy!
Chang-li bent over the slate in front of him, carefully chalking each of the syllables of his answer in beautiful, flowing calligraphy. He looked it over, erased a "chu" and replaced it with a "shi...
2024-07-14 18:36:06 +0000 UTC View PostJoshi counted the purification tablets a third time. Two left. He had stretched them as long as he could. He could feel his body starting to unravel under the weight of his unpurified lux. How long had it been since his last tablet? Definitely more than a day, though it was hard to keep track of time in here. The tower's second floor had the same extravagant quantity of violet lux as the first....
2024-07-13 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostD'oh, released early and with the wrong chapter number. Oops. Well... yeah.
I was going to feel really dumb about this if Sage had the teleport beacon in her inventory. I took a deep breath, my Ruger in one hand, and reached out with my other to touch the beacon Colin was holding out to me.
A moment later, I was in a mine tunnel. There was a lot of screaming ...
2024-07-12 02:19:33 +0000 UTC View PostBy mutual agreement, the three walked from where they had slain the tortoise to the nearest oasis, which they could see from atop the tortoise. They were careful not to go deep enough to engage its guardian. Instead, they rested at the edge, taking a few hours of real sleep, cycling, eating, and preparing for whatever would come next.
At last, when they were as ready as they could be, and...
2024-07-11 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostHopefully this isn't confusing: this chapter is part of the mainline plot. I've concluded the Sage bonus saga. It was a heck of a lot of fun but Sage wants to be in on the finale!
Sage and her team scrambled into action, swinging the tramway cart out over the edge of the cliff. "Go, go, go!" Sage shouted as they swarmed aboard. She leapt on last, then lashed out wi...
2024-07-10 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe Sphinx told them how to find the oasis whose guardian would yield up a green token. His directions were straightforward. “The place is not far from here, and the guardian is a rival of mine. I do not mind you killing her. But you will never find the orange guardian on your own. So here.” It gave a low whistle. One of the sleeping jackal dogs leapt up. Chang-li tensed, ready for a fight....
2024-07-09 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAs soon as Sage's team moved into action, a pop-up appeared: [Dam Breach: Structural failure in 27 minutes 17 Seconds.] Time for me to go; I needed to find Shad Williams before the timer ran out.
I raced along the edge of the cliff, the dam looming huge in my vision. As I reached the near end of the dam, I had 22 minutes left. My legs ached. It was so good to have le...
2024-07-08 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostA river had sprung up in the middle of the wilderness, right out of a hole in the ground. Chang-li hadn’t read anything like this in his book. They followed it as the land around became lusher and greener. Soon, they were walking through a broad river valley with plants growing up on both sides. Wide-branched, leafy trees overhead swayed in the breeze. Hiroko said they were called palms and g...
2024-07-06 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
This one is short, and it'll probably end up going to the freeloaders - sorry, this is where the threads start coming back together, but I hope you've enjoyed Sage's story! It's been a ton of fun to write.
"All right," Colin told the team. They had pulled up at the edge of the mesa, overlooking the canyon and mine below. Sage listened inten...
2024-07-05 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post"You know what's funny?" I asked as I raised my pick over my head and brought it down hard against a boulder, splitting the rock into smaller fragments.
"What?" asked Major Armstrong as he wheeled a primitive wooden barrow over to me and began loading in the rocks I had just split.
"Grandpa always warned me I'd end up splitting rocks in the hot sun if I didn't shape up." I moved to ...
2024-07-05 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostHiroko was relieved when their next destination also proved to be a challenge and not an oasis. The longer she had to cycle and work on her skills before she was forced to face combat again, the more prepared she would be. She wanted to reach the same level as the two men, fighting fearlessly, holding her own, not being completely useless at the end of a battle. If the fight with the Hydra had ...
2024-07-04 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostOnce we were about half a kilometer away from the slot canyon, I halted. The kids gathered around me, all chattering excitedly. I held up a hand.
"All right, hang on, one at a time."
Sage stepped forward. She looked me over, eyes narrowing. "Who are you? I’ve never seen you before, but you're a member of our guild. You don't look much older than us, but you've got a class. I...
2024-07-03 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostUnder Joshi's tutelage, Chang-li's attempts with a sword became less hacking and slashing, more elegant cuts and swoops. They added an hour of sword practice to every cultivation session. The extra time spent resting seemed to help Hiroko. She perked up as they made their way deeper into the tower.
Chang-li wasn't sure, because there was no way to tell time in this place, but he felt as t...
2024-07-02 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe occasional jackrabbit or hawk flew overhead. I shot everything I could and wound up with a couple of skill seeds, combining two of them into [Double Jump: Activate to turn an ordinary jump into an incredible leap upward or forward as much as 6 meters, landing safely and with precision on your target] and two more into my first passive [13-Second Rule: When you...
2024-07-01 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostJoshi dove in on the middle head of the hydra. His right fist was wrapped in a layer of red lux. To his left, Chang-li was shouting and slashing with his sword, distracting the left-hand head. Hiroko stood some distance behind them both, focusing her attention on the right-hand head. It hung listless and dazed as cords of blue lux wrapped it.
Joshi punched the head as it snapped at him. H...
2024-07-01 01:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostChang-li cycled as Joshi and Hiroko slept. The shifting colors of the sky filtered through the trees of this oasis. He had the cultivator journal open on his lap and was glancing through Scribe Wulan’s writings for clues.
We have summoned the Guardian. Our offering is acceptable. We mount the steps to the second floor. To my surprise, I have received the Guardian's boon as well. I h...
2024-07-01 01:04:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The entire cultivator encampment was in an uproar. Rumors and gossip reached even the noble quarters, sheltered as they were away from the day-to-day of the camp. Min received messages from her people multiple times over the course of two days, asking her a flurry of questions. Through it all, she walked serene, like the eye of a cyclone, her head held high.
Her grandfather h...
2024-07-01 01:03:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Immediately upon rising, Chang-li handed out purification rations to each of them. The tablets were small wafers, about the size of the circle he could make with his thumb and forefinger. They were pale white, like they were made from fine rice flour. He popped one in his mouth, and it melted away on his tongue, tasting of honey and rosewater.
"Now cycle.” Joshi assumed a p...
2024-07-01 01:02:01 +0000 UTC View Post