Wizardly Dude

(116) 2.69. Vin-trospection

Vin sat on the uncomfortable metal couch, staring intensely at the waterskin in his hands. He’d already done this once, but back then, he hadn’t realized just how dangerous what he’d attempted truly was. Now that he knew one slight lapse of focus could have dire consequences…

Taking a deep breath, he pushed all that nervousness away. Not only was he so much stronger than he used to be, he had entirely new abilities at his disposal. Just like Shia recommended, he allowed himself ...

(115) 2.68. Quite Stoppable In Fact

Alka trailed after the angry dwarf, happy just at the fact that she could actually trail after someone again. Sure, flying and drifting around had its perks, like being able to mock Vin for his fear of heights, but not being able to actually touch or interact with anything was a huge pain.

The dwarf scratched the side of his face, along the burned, melted portion of his skin, and Alka would have frowned if she’d been capable of moving her new mouth. 

There wer...

Double Poll Notification!

Hey everyone! Like always, just a quick heads up for people who might not be reading on RR any more. In the past few days we actually hit all three of our milestones on RR that we'd been working toward, which means it's time for some bonus stuff!

The first one you may have already spotted, which was the release of an additional chapter today.

The second, was me dropping the fifth official fragment selection poll on chapter 92 2025-03-17 18:08:22 +0000 UTC View Post

(114) 2.67. It Is Time

As Deorer left the room with a giddy Alka right on his heels, Vin could only stare at the now empty doorway as he tried to process everything that had just happened in the last thirty seconds. Based on the lava literally pouring off him, Deorer had to be the lone dwarf they had witnessed smithing within the lava flow on their way down here. Which meant according to what they’d read in Turmal’s journal, he was the sole surviving master smith in the entire town.

Of course, he would ha...

(113) 2.66. Speedrunning the Trial

Vin blinked at the dwarf’s bluntness, not expecting him to come right out and ask. He didn’t want to stereotype based on the few dwarves he’d had the pleasure of interacting with so far, but he was beginning to get the sense that dwarves in general just weren’t huge fans of pointless small talk.

“I’m Vin, a human Explorer from a few fragments away,” he explained, quickly going around the table and introducing the rest of them in a similar manner. “As to why we’re here�...

(112) 2.65. Breaking the News

Vin had thought the heat was bad going down the stairs, but he was absolutely drenched in sweat by the time they reached the town proper. The fact that the hard-skinned dwarves seemed completely fine in the blazing heat just added insult to injury, and he swore he could hear quiet chuckling any time he grabbed his waterskin for a quick drink.

At this point, Shia, Scule, Reginald, and him were basically passing it around nonstop, and even with Mana Well at his disposal he was beginning t...

(111) 2.64. A Warm Welcome?

The rest of their hike up the volcano was rather uneventful. They were attacked by two more of the dive-bombing monsters, but now that they knew what to look out for, they managed to dispatch each one with relative ease.

They did find some old, non-dwarven remains halfway up the volcano, but the body was so picked clean at this point and enough bones were missing that none of them could make heads or tails of what the person’s race was.

Though based on the giant hole shattered s...

(110) 2.63. Hiking? Ever Heard of It?

“Be sure to come visit sometime, alright?” Agne demanded, pulling Vin in for a warm hug and squeezing him with a surprising amount of force. “I can’t very well eat all these delicious vegetables myself!”

“I promise I’ll try,” Vin managed to get out, his voice a bit muffled with his face pressed up against the older infernal’s tunic. Finally breaking free, Vin gasped for breath as Agne turned and wrapped The One That Paints In Red in just as big a hug, patting the trogu...

(109) 2.62. The Search for Something Sharp

Despite Alka’s eagerness to hunt down the divine warrior and challenge him again, it was pretty clear that she needed some time to adjust to her new body. Controlling her new limbs seemed to be a particularly difficult task with their strange new joints to take into account, and Alka couldn’t do so much as stand without Vin and Shia supporting her.

After the ritual was deemed a success and Madam Trebella gave them the all clear, their group retreated back to the house they’d been ...

(108) 2.61. The Ritual of Binding

Vin could only stare at the Witch, his mouth and brain seeming to fall out of synch for a moment as he struggled to get out everything he wanted to say all at once. Finally, he managed to pull himself together, glaring at the infernal.

“Why didn’t you tell us that from the beginning?!” He demanded. “You don’t think we should have known from the start that this all might be for nothing?”

“Would that have changed anything?” Madam Trebella asked, rolling her eyes. “...

(107) 2.60. The Finish Line

They were far from fully recovered and in desperate need of a nap, but Vin and Shia decided an hour was as long as they were willing to wait when they didn’t know just how long Alka had left. Thanks to Introspection, Vin had managed to replenish enough of his mana that he was confident he’d be able to fight off any stray monsters that might get the jump on them during their return journey.

Not to mention support a Light spell in order to actually see where they...

(106) 2.59. Stuck the Landing

Despite this crazy idea being his own plan, Vin found himself screaming right alongside his friends as the wind whipped through their hair and they plummeted to the ground. He’d picked the stained-glass dome at the top of the tower specifically because he wanted to make sure they’d arc far enough to fall off the floating island the library was built upon entirely, but he hadn’t really understood just how far they had to fall until now.

The strange gravity might cushion their fall ...

(105) 2.58. Back up Plan

Vin had just enough time to register Lumel’s panicked cry before the first of the golems reached them. Whipping his staff off his back, Vin gestured toward the railing right beside them.

“Stone Wall” Throwing together the runic formation in an instant, a large, slightly curved wall erupted out of the ground at their backs, blocking any of the climbing golems from coming over the railing directly behind them. That done, Vin turned back to the swarm already on their...

(104) 2.57. New Friends

It didn’t take Vin long to rendezvous with his friends, and as he stepped off the ladder into the fourth floor of the second tower, he blinked at the strange sight before him.

The first thing his eyes landed on was an absolute mountain of a man. Standing at least eight feet tall and wearing a dented chest plate that looked like it had to weigh more than Vin’s entire body, was the most muscular man Vin had ever laid eyes on. Vin had no doubt he’d be able to swing the giant axe stra...

(103) 2.56. A Beautiful Book

As a vagabond that didn’t often have a place to call his own, Vin had probably spent more time in public libraries than most people back on Earth. They were amazing resources and safe places where he was able to access the internet or simply relax and read a bit when he wanted a break in a nice air-conditioned building. He’d always done his best to make sure he was clean and wearing a relatively fresh change of clothes whenever he stopped in one, as he had the utmost respect for librarian...

(102) 2.55. Just Our Luck

“What’s wrong?” Shia asked, taking a step forward and blanching as the divine barrier finally appeared to her as well. “Broken branches, are you serious?!”

“What, some sort of guardian or…” Scule trailed off, finally discovering the bubble of golden energy for himself. “…welp, she was a good ghost. Can’t be all that hard to find another one, right?”

“This doesn’t change anything,” Vin said through clenched teeth, his entire body shaking sligh...

(101) 2.54. That’s One Tall Tree

At Erik’s question, Shia froze, her knuckles turning white as she gripped her staff. Laying a comforting hand on the elf’s shoulder, Vin stepped forward, giving Erik a sad smile. Crouching down to better look the concerned dryad in the eye, he did his best to explain their current situation.

“Alka’s in rough shape. A lot has happened since last we spoke, but the short version is that we found a Witch capable of actually giving Alka a body again, which caused her to change her mi...

Discord is now Live!

Hello everyone! Just a quick fun note for you guys. I've officially tried my hand at finally making my own Discord server! Similar to Royal Road, I'm going into this with pretty much no experience (other than just being a regular old Discord member), so please bear with me as I iron out the kinks. But yeah, if anyone has any interest in checking it out, I invite you to come take a look! Being a Patreon member now gives you a special tier in the discord, which is something I've wanted to do fr...

(100) 2.53. One Small Step for Man

Despite all the questions Vin had for the capillan, they didn’t spend too much longer chatting with Forpurt after hearing what he knew about the library. The setting sun was all the reminder Vin needed that time was steadily passing, and who knew just how much longer Alka’s subconscious would be able to hang in there.

Vin had tried to see if the Forpurt had a map or something similar that he could see to get a better sense of the surrounding fragments, but it turned out the man navi...

(99) 2.52. Talk About a Bad Hair Day

Their group made short work of the flower-filled fragment, only having to pause and adjust course a handful of times to avoid more of the strange wolf-shark looking monsters. Vin was fairly confident they’d be able to take one down without issue, but they were pressed for time, and he didn’t want to risk taking on an unknown monster without their main fighter.

There was no telling what tricks any given monster might have up its sleeve.

Strangely, despite running through what w...

(98) 2.51. Sunshine and Rainbows

Having finally gotten what he needed from Madam Trebella, Vin ran off to gather his team. Unfortunately even with her side of the bargain on the line, Madam Trebella hadn’t been able to tell him how long they actually had before Alka faded away for good. Because his title had been upgraded once to lesser tier, she estimated they had at least a day or two instead of mere hours, but that still wasn’t a ton of time.

After leaving the manor behind him, thankfully without running into Xa...

(97) 2.50. Deal With The Devil

Vin could only stare at the infernal glaring at him over her desk. He’d certainly heard her question, but he was struggling to physically comprehend what she’d asked. He had barely had time to process Alka’s true death after all, and now Madam Trebella was offering…

To bring her back?

Slowly, Vin stood up, never taking his eyes off the infernal until his face was inches from her own. His balled up fist tightened to the point he thought his knuckles might crack as he stared...

(96). 2.49. A Chance In Hell

Vin and Shia travelled in silence all the way back to the village. Vin certainly wasn’t in any sort of mood to talk, and based on the sniffling he could hear still coming from the elf, Shia clearly wasn’t either. They didn’t encounter any more giant spider swarms this time, which was both good and bad. Good because they probably wouldn’t have been able to take them on as they were at the moment.

Bad because Vin really wanted to scream and punch something.

Not...

(95) 2.48. Extinguished

Gasping, Vin struggled to stay conscious as the world seemed to swim around him, and the cold sensation in his core seeped into his very bones. He was vaguely aware of Shia screaming something, but he couldn’t make out the words. Leaning on his incredibly high focus, Vin forced his spinning surroundings to stabilize as he pushed himself back to his feet and looked toward the lizardman.

The divine warrior was frowning, turning his glowing sword this way and that as if trying to tell if...

(94) 2.47. The Divine Warrior

At this point, Vin and his friends had been chasing after the divine warrior for nearly a week. During his recovery in the infernals’ village or his downtime in between bouts of training with Alka, Vin had had plenty of time to wonder about what exactly the divine warrior looked like.

The one thing everyone agreed on was the glowing blade that the warrior carried, but there had been little mention of anything else. Vin didn’t know if he was tall or short, loud or quiet, hell, he did...

(93) 2.46. Against The Flow

Following his Mental Map, Vin and Shia fought against the seemingly endless stream of trogums as they forced their way back to the Rebel Queen’s chambers. Naturally, Alka chose to float overhead, not needing to bother with bumping elbows or shoving her way past anyone like those still bound to their mortal coils. They had no way of knowing if the Rebel Queen had evacuated just yet, but seeing as the tunnel system was a literal maze, they didn’t stand a chance of finding the divine warrior...

(92) 2.45. Modular Memory

“Vin!”

“Gya!” He screamed, flailing about in a strange pile of plant refuse as he was ripped from his slumber. It took him a solid few seconds to remember where he was and he groaned, rubbing his aching head as it all came back to him. His minor headache was a huge improvement over the pounding migraine he’d gone to sleep with, but it was still far from pleasant.

“Shia, do you have to be so loud?” He muttered, looking up at the energetic elf. In stark contrast to how...

(91) 2.44. No Need To Shout

Vin stumbled and clutched at his head as a wave of images of emotions suddenly slammed into him. It was like someone had distilled a lifetime of experiences and was trying to pour them into the mold that was his brain.

Only problem being of course, that mold was already filled.

“Stop, stop!” He cried, squeezing his eyes shut and doing his best to force the unwanted experiences from clawing their way into his head. For a few seconds the world was in utter turmoil, and he was so...

Fourth Official Fragment Selection Poll

Hello again everyone! This is a heads up that in response to hitting another favorites milestone on Royal Road, the latest fragment selection poll has gone live on today's chapter. If anyone would like to make their voice heard on which of the three potential fragments they would prefer be included on Edregon, stop on by and cast your vote!

http...

(90) 2.43. Just Keep Walking…

In stark contrast to the extremely arid climate up on the surface, Vin was pleased to discover that the underground network of tunnels crisscrossing seemingly throughout this entire fragment were far more pleasant to walk through.

Moisture lined the earthy walls, dripping off clusters of ivy and a sprawling root system running all over the available surfaces of the various tunnels. Tiny critters that looked like miniaturized rabbits jumped here and there, nibbling on the wet vegetation ...