Elijah returned to the courtyard expecting to find that Sadie and Dat had already wrapped things up. But to his surprise, the Corrupted remained among the living. The demonic woman was standing in the center of the plaza, surrounded by an ethereal shield. Sadie aimed one blow after another at the barrier, eliciting ripples of dense energy, but her efforts fell short of the obv...
2025-01-09 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostZeke fell upon his foes with ruthless violence in his heart. The creatures moved with boneless agility, like terrestrial octopi able to contort their bodies in all the wrong ways. Still, Zeke managed to grab hold of one, and when he did, he nearly recoiled. Its skin was slimy and rubbery, like a garden hose that had been slathered in grease, and it defied his grip.
More than half the horde chased Elijah away from the courtyard, but the bulk of his attention remained on the ascended, blade-wielding demon Dat had referred to as the Bladesinger. The demon was absolutely covered in weapons, ranging from large daggers hanging from his belt to smaller dirks secreted up his sleeves. There was even a brace of throwing knives hanging from a shoulder ho...
2025-01-08 16:10:00 +0000 UTC View PostOnce, she had a name. A history. A family and some degree of happiness. She could remember none of it, though. Now, there was only the Corrupted.
By virtue of her archetype, she was a Healer.
It disgusted her.
The notion of helping anyone twisted her stomach into knots and if she thought too long on it, bile rose in her throat. No one ...
2025-01-08 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“You know,” Elijah said, running his hand over his smooth scalp. “I think being cooked is way worse than being digested.”
“I’m glad I don’t know enough to offer an opinion,” Sadie admitted.
“Right. Did I tell you about the time I was –”
“Yes,” she interrupted.
“Or what about when –”
“That too. We know ...
2025-01-07 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe moment Zeke took a bite of the turkey, he was transported back to his childhood. His life hadn’t always been devoid of familial joy, and he had plenty of pleasant memories from before Tommy had gotten really sick. A few of those came from family meals not unlike the one he now experienced.
Sure, everything was wrong about it. His mother was unrecognizably hap...
2025-01-07 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostSadie barely got out of the way before the door went flying off its hinges and smashed into the wall on the other side of the hall. The bricks cracked, but thankfully, the structural integrity of the wall remained intact. An intense wave of heat billowed from the opening, mushrooming out and enveloping Sadie and any of the former captives who were within fifteen feet of the door.&nb...
2025-01-06 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostZeke focused inward, funneling the tiny trickle of divine energy into something approaching a pattern. It resisted his efforts at control, but that was to be expected. It was a thing of gods, after all, and he was only a mortal.
“For now,” Eveline reminded him.
He ignored her, preferring instead to concentrate on moving that energy. It shifted a little, but des...
2025-01-06 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostElijah used Flicker Step, instantly appearing on the demonic Chainspeaker’s back. But when he bit down, his fangs were nearly deflected by rustling chains that had somehow superimposed themselves in front of his mouth. He adjusted, and his right fang managed to nick the demon’s shoulder. It wasn’t more than a scratch, but that was enough to deliver his Predator Strike-en...
2025-01-05 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe clink of chains rustling reached Elijah well before he sensed the dungeon. His companions were still back in the storeroom where they’d exited the tunnel, but both he and Dat had insisted on slipping into stealth and scouting the way. Neither of the others objected, but not for the reasons Elijah would have expected. They weren’t overly tired. With the map, they ...
2025-01-04 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Survivors?” asked Dat, suddenly appearing nearby.
Elijah glanced his friend’s way, answering, “I don’t know how many there are, but the old guy in the test –”
“You need to answer for Gideon’s death!” Nico shouted. “He wouldn’t have failed the test!”
Elijah set his mouth in a firm line before turning to face the nearly hysterical Healer.&n...
2025-01-03 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostZeke descended the steps, and for the first time in what felt like years – it might’ve even been that long, for all he knew – he heard a familiar voice.
“That certainly was unpleasant,” Eveline said. “Wait – are you crying?”
He was. In fact, he’d stopped in his tracks and sunk to his knees, practically hyperventilating as he wept. The simpl...
2025-01-03 14:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostPower surged through Sadie, practically burning her ethereal channels with its potency. She ignored it, flapping her wings of light as she rocketed toward her enemy. The demonic woman was grotesque, with emaciated limbs and more scars than Sadie could quickly count.
But it was also clear that, at one point, she had been quite beautiful, like a fashion model who’d falle...
2025-01-02 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Zeke wavered.
He’d lost count of the number of Tempest Lords he’d slain, but he knew the figure had to have reached four digits. Maybe five. Along the way, he’d discovered a couple of important facts. First, he didn’t really need to breathe, as he’d found after spending hours beneath the waves. Like going without food or water, it certainly w...
2025-01-02 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostAs he stepped through the portal, Elijah was feeling pretty good about himself. That lasted about half a second before the sound of battle echoed in his ears. That came only a...
2025-01-01 16:10:00 +0000 UTC View PostCamen kneeled on the floor, her face only inches from the tile as she inspected the inlay. It was subtle, intended to only be visible in direct light. However, just because it wasn’t meant to be seen wasn’t an excuse for shoddy work.
“This tile needs to be replaced,” she announced.
“Miss –”
She shot a glare at the assistant loaned to her by the ...
2025-01-01 16:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post“Your daughter?” asked Elijah, hoping he’d misunderstood.
“Regrettably, yes,” the old man said, looking away, The twinkle in his blue eyes remained, though it was undermined by a sheen of moisture. A tear dripped down his weathered cheek, disappearing into his beard. “I should have been stronger. I could have prevented a good deal of suffering.”
Zeke stumbled through the black sands, driven to dizziness by a lack of water and the sweltering heat emanating with the white sun blazing in the sky. It cast the whole desert in monochrome, further disorienting him. But the worst part was the crystals. Each one emitted an incessant and rhythmic bass strong enough to turn his insides to water. With each thumping beat, hi...
2024-12-31 14:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post“Magic is weird,” Elijah mumbled to himself, looking around. He’d expected the next challenge to take place in a room similar to what he’d seen in the tests of might and cunning. However, what he saw before him couldn’t have been more different. Three sides of the room were almost identical to what had come before, but the fourth wall was missing, revealing a bridge ...
2024-12-30 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostZeke slew tens of thousands of harpies. Every time he left the plaza, he would walk in a straight line only to somehow end up back in the same place. Each return was met by a repeat of the same situation he’d already overcome. He killed the monster pretending to be Julio and his thuggish henchmen, then overcame the Abby-monster – or rather, his lust for her – and destroy...
2024-12-30 14:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostElijah appeared in a simple, square room. It was made of the same material as the wall outside, so the surface glimmered dully in the light of a single torch set into the wall. A few wet spatters of blood glistened on the floor, evidence of Gideon’s failure.
However, Elijah’s attention was solely on the figure at the center of the room. It was tall and slim, we...
2024-12-29 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostFour portals appeared behind the skeletal guardian, each one framed by twisted bones. Above each floated an ethereal symbol that Elijah couldn’t interpret. However, he didn’t need them to know what each portal represented. The left-most was dedicated to cunning, the next to might, and the third was meant to denote stealth. The final was devoted to magic.
...
2024-12-28 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you okay?” asked Sadie, sitting next to Elijah. They’d spent the previous day-and-a-half pulling progressively larger groups of undead to the fortifications they’d built. Without the demons or the leader, and with most of the more powerful creatures having died as a result of Elijah’s efforts, they zombies were markedly weaker than they had been when the group had fir...
2024-12-27 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostZeke stepped forward, only one thing on his mind. Abby waited, her cheeks flushed with obvious desire. She was practically shaking with it. As she gazed upon him, she bit her lip and took a tentative step in his direction. The dead bodies of all the assailants were quickly forgotten as they embraced.
Her body felt so perfect – so right – as it pressed aga...
2024-12-27 14:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostAfter leaving the remnants of the army behind, Elijah returned to the group. Seeing them, still set up to defend, left him with mixed feelings. Sadie and Dat were certainly powerful, and he expected that if either of them went all-out, they could have carved away a good portion of the army. However, they would have certainly died in the attempt. Due to his versatility, E...
2024-12-26 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostZeke crouched at the edge of the plaza, unsure of what he was looking at. On the surface, it was Abby fighting – and losing – against the men who’d attacked her so long ago. Yet, it didn’t take him long to surmise that things were not what they seemed. For one, Abby herself seemed far more beautiful than she ever had back then. And that was saying something, cons...
2024-12-26 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe muffled clash of wrapped swords echoed across the training grounds as Miguel and Colt struggled for supremacy. For Miguel’s part, he had to keep reminding himself that he wasn’t there to win. Not primarily, at least. The training session was instead intended to...
2024-12-25 16:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostA carpet of charred bodies stretched out before Elijah’s eyes, extending more than fifty yards from his position. He didn’t know how many zombies and other undead he’d killed with Lightning Domain, but he suspected the number was close to five digits. Perhaps it had even exceeded that, given how eager the monsters had been to pile onto him. That he could inflict so much ...
2024-12-25 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostEveryone told Elijah he was crazy, but he felt confident in his plan. Still, he knew he couldn’t implement it until Unchecked Growth came off of cooldown, which took close to an entire day. So, they continued as they were, with Dat taking care not to alert any more of the exploding hulks. Doing so required him to take some chances that ended with him pulling groups containin...
2024-12-24 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostZeke dropped to his haunches, studying the scene below. It looked familiar, though it took him a few moments to understand what he beheld. Once he did, it all clicked into place.
“It’s the elven ruins from the mortal realm,” he muttered, mostly to himself, though he wouldn’t have objected to Eveline’s input. She remained frustratingly silent, sequestered ...
2024-12-24 14:00:17 +0000 UTC View Post