Before I get all excited about various things, I'm mainly posting so I can share the schedule I'm following for chapter releases. Right now, I've got it planned out through next week, so you can see more clearly which chapters you'll get access to and when.
If you're not a chart/excel type of brain, I'll just type it out here as well:
Wood: Currently on chapter 23. Monday ...
Rake smiled. “Okay, I get it. You’re mad that we’re going to kill you. That’s understandable. But I don’t think you’re grasping how much I can make you hurt before you die. That’s the thing here, Mr. Helmet. Death might be the final destination, but you’re lucky enough to decide how you get there. Think about that, hm?”
I was hardly listening. He’d been making every ki...
2024-06-20 11:07:14 +0000 UTC View PostI felt significantly less safe without the Bow Brothers and the crazy tomte berserker. We all woke early, scarfed down a little food and water, and set out in the direction the men had gone. It took us the better part of an hour, but we eventually found a rocky wall topped by trees. After following it for a while, we discovered a small cave entrance mostly hidden by overgrown shrubs and trees. ...
2024-06-19 11:39:38 +0000 UTC View PostThanks to everyone who has joined on to the Patreon! I deeply appreciate the support.
If you haven't already, consider joining the discord. I'm open to any and all feedback/comments/criticisms about the unfolding story.
As far as plans go, I wanted to cover two things. One is the release schedule. The slowest possible schedule I can see myself doing is something like a chapter MW...
We set up camp a little before dark.
During our travels, we passed several strange creatures, though none of them were openly aggressive. Some of them reminded me of things I would see from Earth like squirrels or deer, though they varied in slight ways like the deer having thicker builds and the squirrels having horns.
Others were stranger, like a miniature group of mushroom ...
2024-06-17 11:18:16 +0000 UTC View Post(Hey Luke)
In the event that any others join the Patreon, I wanted to clarify the posting schedule for the different tiers because I realized when I was going to schedule the next chapters, that it was more confusing than I thought.
I wanted to explain my planned release schedule here in a public post so you can see exactly what you'll be getting access to and at what point. Witho...
I joined Lyria and the Bow Brothers to clean off in the river after the fight. I couldn’t get a moment on my own, so I left my helmet on and scrubbed blood and bits of rootling from my clothes and hands.
“Does he ever take that thing off?” Kass asked Lyria.
Lyria shook her head. “He’s horribly ugly under there. You should thank him for keeping it on.”
“Really?”...
2024-06-15 12:40:50 +0000 UTC View PostI chewed some dried rations, thinking how much I would love a burrito. I also missed soda, candy, and all things unhealthy. Honestly, my brief exposure to the people of Eros and their fascination with meatballs might have infected me. At that moment, I would’ve turned it all down for a giant meatball smothered in gravy.
But it was rations for today. Dried rations. It was the st...
2024-06-14 10:20:23 +0000 UTC View PostLeaving Riverwell behind was bittersweet. I didn’t like thinking about the lich woman emerging from those ruins and unleashing her horde of palefiends on the town. But I could also hope Circa had found some way to stop her or at least buy us time before she died. When I was strong enough, I would come back here. I’d go into those ruins myself and put an end to that Forsaken if she was still...
2024-06-13 15:33:43 +0000 UTC View PostI lay in my cramped personal space, wishing I had training facilities like Circa had inside her room. If I had something like that, I could’ve kept working on my abilities, even here. Thinking of her and everyone else who died in those ruins still provoked raw emotions. If I knew myself—and I had to hope I did—I was on this prestige path to help people, not for my own glory or personal ga...
2024-06-13 15:32:33 +0000 UTC View PostWe emerged from the ruins battered, bloody, bruised, and exhausted. The light seemed too bright. I was one of the last to stumble out of the second exit that let out lower in the hill.
The stairs hadn’t led back to the coliseum. They’d been a secret access path that followed an old We emerged from the ruins battered, bloody, bruised, and exhausted. The light seemed too bright. I was o...
2024-06-13 15:31:32 +0000 UTC View PostThe area beneath the coliseum had low, moldy ceilings and a single hallway wide enough for three or four people to stand shoulder to shoulder. The hallway was a straight shot to the stairs ahead that led back up to the coliseum.
There were dozens of smaller rooms along the hallway where groups had sat, though most clustered along the main hall while we recovered.
Jarn and his team w...
2024-06-13 15:27:47 +0000 UTC View PostYou’ve reached level 19!
…
You’ve reached level 22!
[3] Unread Accomplishments
[Common Accomplishment] Do battle in a dungeon or infestation at a threat level above your rank. [Reward - Common Armor Token] “That was amazing! I must admit, I was ...
2024-06-13 15:22:58 +0000 UTC View PostEven getting closer to the ruins couldn’t dampen my spirits.
I did it.
I used Elemental Projection and opened up a new perception of the world around me. It almost felt like a new sixth sense. I could feel a kind of energy all around me and within myself. I even had a vague understanding that I had used some portion of the energy inside my body to project the ...
2024-06-13 15:20:08 +0000 UTC View PostLyria
I looked back over my shoulder at Brynn every once in a while. He had on that horned helmet that looked like a slice of the night sky. When I looked at it too long, it did funny things to my eyes.
Some of my molten shield techniques had apparently caught part of his boot on fire back in the training arena. His big toe was sticking out of his rig...
2024-06-13 15:19:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe guard captain, Jarn, came to collect us from the training arena just as the first scraps of light were leaking over the treetops on the hill beyond Riverwell’s walls. He paused when he saw me, clad in my helmet and the robe he’d given me yesterday, which was now burnt, frozen, torn and stained black with wriggling shadows in areas. My skin was also shot through with prominent purple vei...
2024-06-13 15:07:47 +0000 UTC View PostI woke up in my rare bed, which took up almost all my closet-sized personal space. I felt more rested than I could ever remember, but still had a twinge of confusion when I took in my surroundings. I wondered how long it would be before this started feeling normal, and my old life would be the part that felt like a strange dream.
At least I didn’t have a headache.
Thanks, rare...
2024-06-13 15:01:10 +0000 UTC View PostCirca and Lyria said turning in tokens was another form of mana manipulation. What they called mana manipulation simply felt like thinking to me. Circa said it only felt so natural because of the perk from my prestige path, which allowed me to retain a fraction of Seraphel’s ability in mana manipulation. These things apparently took most people a very long time to learn, and the perk was the ...
2024-06-13 14:57:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe three of us crammed into the little hallway outside the personal space entrance. Lyria produced the key and handed it to me.
“Wait,” I said as a thought occurred to me. “Does it matter whose personal space I’m in when I claim my loot?”
“No,” Lyria said.
“Can we use yours, Circa?” I asked. “Mine makes a broom closet look roomy. I’m honestly not s...
2024-06-13 14:44:30 +0000 UTC View PostHeart thumping, I read the list of new skills I’d just unlocked.
[Rare] Active Skill: Forge Echo. [Tier 1] Summon a spectral echo of your weapon that mimics your attack patterns.
[Rare] Active Skill: Elemental Projection. [Tier 1] Release a portion of your current weapon’s elemental aspect.
[Common] Passive Skill: Elemental Body [T...
2024-06-13 14:43:14 +0000 UTC View PostI turned to look at the newcomer. She was tall, but not quite to my height. Her platinum blonde hair was pulled into a neatly arranged braid, and her features were somewhat ageless. She could have told me she was twenty or forty and I’m not sure either would’ve surprised me. She wore an intricately stitched robe, far more lavish than anything I’d seen so far in town. There was a silver ba...
2024-06-13 14:40:44 +0000 UTC View PostMattias and some of his other friends had been playing Vice in the common room, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sneak in a game or two. Besides, my stomach had been so empty it felt like it was about to collapse in on itself like a dying star.
Playing the game had allowed me to sit and fill my stomach with a plate of steaming hot food—a single oversized meatball covered in a ...
2024-06-13 14:39:17 +0000 UTC View PostOnce inside the inn, Lyria told me to wait at a table and headed to the counter to speak with the guy who looked like he ran the place.
I put my hands on my hips and turned slowly, taking in the sight of the building. Cozy as hell. I liked it. There was a fire, several long wooden bench-style tables, and a scattering of people. Some looked like adventurers, and others just looked...
2024-06-13 14:35:25 +0000 UTC View PostLyria was waiting outside the Arcanery—arms crossed and back against the wall. When I emerged, she pushed off, ready to follow me. It was mid-afternoon. The giant planet floated contentedly in the blue skies, one half lit brightly from the sun and the other shrouded in darkness.
I stared up at it, shielding my eyes and squinting.
“Come on,” Lyria said. “We need t...
2024-06-13 14:33:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe town wasn’t as close as Glimmerbang made it sound. I ended up having to sleep some more inside a huge, rotted-out log. Thankfully, I avoided combat and only had to deal with nagging aches and pains, a bite wound, and a minor stab to my chest. As far as life here went, that seemed like a pretty small price to pay for peace.
It was midday by the time I finally broke free of the ...
2024-06-13 14:31:50 +0000 UTC View Post“Glimmerbang” had tangled hair sprouting in random directions from beneath a red naval captain’s-style hat. True to her name, there did appear to be some semblance of choppy bangs hanging in front of her wrinkled forehead. If I tilted my head just right, I guessed the white hair glimmered a little, too.
“Pleasure to meet you,” I said. I was masking my terror with as much false c...
2024-06-13 14:29:34 +0000 UTC View PostEvery instinct I had screamed for me to run. Just one tomte gave me about all I could handle. Six would surely be an instant death sentence, even with the nasty stuff I had inside my Alchemist’s Kit. That took fighting off the table, for now.
I assumed a relaxed posture, opening my arms wide and smiling. “Thank God!” I said. “I was hoping I’d find you guys. I ran into someone—...
2024-06-13 14:27:21 +0000 UTC View PostI jolted awake, banging my helmet-clad head on the tree above me as I tried to sit up. The metallic ring did a good job of washing away the haze of sleepiness.
For a split second, I thought I was back home. Back in my world. I worried that I was late for work and had overslept.
The sound of the forest pulled me to the now—to here, wherever “here” was.
The wi...
2024-06-13 14:25:40 +0000 UTC View PostI survived two more razorclasp attacks in my increasingly desperate search for water. I saw the first attack coming. I had lowered my head like a bull, braced for impact, and it slammed so hard into me that I fell on my ass. Then, I had run around like a headless chicken for a moment, suffering countless scratches as it tried to rip itself off the horns of my helmet. I had only finished it by f...
2024-06-13 14:23:47 +0000 UTC View PostOn pure impulse, I ran toward the screaming pair of people. Sure, I was dealing with a minor stab wound, but old habits died hard. I was used to coming to people’s rescue, even on my worst days.
And then I saw what had them running.
A mushroom the size of a three-story house pulled itself out of the trees and into the clearing. A swarm of spider things with leathery wings burst in...
2024-06-13 14:21:49 +0000 UTC View Post