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Brent Stinebaker

Brent Stinebaker

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Brent Stinebaker posts

II-18 Jealousy (II)

An Envy and a Jealousy are technically the same creature at different points of their life cycle. Born of the Dimensional-Lord Scorn’s attempts to create a perfect lifeform to, and he demands that everyone quote him under pain of death to, “incentive those dumbfuck Psychomancers to channel their dumbfuck mind magic powers somewhere else where that dumbfuck shit doesn’t end with a dumb motherfucker getting killed.”

Though he assumed his attempts ended in failure, and...

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II-119A Night at the Theater (I)

The Realmbreaker, yeah, he’s not that bad of a guy. I mean, he’s got a bit of a temper, he’s got a bit of an ego, he yells a lot, he’s really insecure about his height, but he’s not that bad of a guy, all things considered. And I consider a lot of things.

You know, before he came here—before he broke that messed-up skill inside of me—I was running around everywhere for months. No one—no one even cared to say “hello,” or “do you need something,” or ...

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II-17 Jealousy (I)

The system spans countless worlds, and magic allows magi to travel distances unreachable even by the miraculous technologies of pre-integration humanity. This being said, just because you can get to a place does not mean it might be wise to go there. Hence, it is essential for Dimensionalists and aspiring Portomancers to understand the most popular locations in the Integrated Dimensions and the dangers that lurk within glorious vistas.

Additionally, this book will also go i...

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II-16 Allies

Not all demons and dimensionals are hostile. Do not make that mistake. Do not do something stupid and attack them preemptively. Do not!

There is a book I have with me. On the cover, the title “Name of Dumbshits Who Died Dumbshit Deaths” is carved there. I got this book from an old veteran, and some new kid will probably get the book from me someday. It’s not something used to mock the dead, though. It’s about what dumbshit thing they did, and why they did it.

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36-10 Act One

Once upon an ending, there was a final set of beginnings. It was the beginning of a revolt, a riot of men and gods. It was the dying days of a broken mind driven to misanthropy—ignorant and unwilling to face its own agency.

It was the recreation of a god made real again through the power of tale. It was the moment when the narrator entered the narrative and the lines began to blur. It was the point where the chorus sang—and the people sang with ...

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II-15 Deception

Rejoice when you are faced with a target that is arrogant or spends far too much time in their own mind. These are easy prey, for if you occupy their attention with something obvious, they will become utterly consumed by what is before them and miss your machinations entirely.

But the bait you prepare is essential in these situations. Hastily prepared lies can backfire on you when dealing with an obsessive thinking, as they will examine things from every angle—and notice ...

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BOOK 3 OF TTF ON AMAZON TOMORROW AND DEATHLESS RR LAUNCH

GREETINGS!

YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED A FEW CHAPTERS MISSING AGAIN IF YOU GO BACK. IF YOU DO, THAT'S BECAUSE BOOK THREE OF TTF IS ABOUT TO GO LIVE TOMORROW. PREPARE TO RECEIVE THE LINK AND OTHER DETAILS TOMORROW.

ALSO, FOR THOSE OF YOU READING AND GIVING FEEDBACK FOR PATH OF THE DEATHLESS, THANK YOU. IT WILL GO LIVE ON ROYALROAD FIRST IN THE NEAR FUTURE. I SUGGEST DOWNLOADING THE EPUB FILES OR PDFS IF YOU CAN AS EARLY READERS DUE TO PATREON ADJUSTMENTS WHEN THE STORY GOES LIVE ON RR....

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II-118Recruitment

Let me tell you a story. It is a funny story. It is an amusing story. It is a story about people who are stupid. My people, my Sinners. However, they are a particular kind of stupid. They are impulsively stupid. They’re not scheming stupid or ignorant stupid. No, they are emotionally stupid. They like a little bit of pleasure, and then, after that, they stop using their brains.

This, this is the start of that funny story, and that funny story I li...

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II-14 Struggle

A Skill Fusion is born of existential and experiential alchemy. There is no universal law to how it is achieved, or techniques to ensure the process, but what is needed is struggle.

Extreme struggle across two skills, at the very least—and with both of them pushed to the breaking point. The fusion will not come with a spike in levels for one skill and the slow progression of another. It cannot be one skill taking the lead while the other languishes. It cannot even be the ...

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36-9 Deus ex Machina

The Prefect is broken. It is damaged. Its role in the story will be a supporting one because it is blind. It no longer has the capacity to grow or to develop. The tension in it comes with its death.

And now, at the height of this moment—at the apex of tension—we must see it cut down. We must see it pruned and replaced by a new adversary, a true enemy. The invader assumes its mantle. End scene. Cut to the next scene.

<...

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II-13 Affliction

The orcs are savage, but do not confuse them to be savages. In my years fighting them, the only consistent weakness of their people has been their overwhelming urge to fight and die. They care nothing for true victory. They care little for each other or an overarching war effort. Their kind cooperates, but they do not ally. Likewise, they butcher each other as much as they do us—and their forces are less an army and more a horde of hyper-intelligent serial killers that simply enjoy the ...

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II-12 Reunion

Fighting the orcs always leaves you scarred. From weakest to strongest, the damned beasts are surgeons of cruelty. And they’re damn smart about it, too. They study us, they learn what damages us the most, and they take it to new heights. I served the Lone Star Kingdom for three tours, and all I can say is that every warrior there deserves a medal for manning the trenches year after year against the unceasing orc onslaught.

This part is hard for me to write. Hard because I...

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II-117 Knights

When you take a wound—a deep, deep wound—it is important to face it as a warrior and not a fool. It will bleed, it will fester, it will turn into a scar and limit your mobility in ways you cannot afford.

I, when I was young, thought that ignoring it—pretending it wasn’t there—made me strong, that I endured better than most. But a bleeding wound is a bleeding wound, and eventually it seeps through.

And so, to be a warrior means to suture it: to face ...

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II-11 Conspiracy

The Auroral Council cannot be trusted. The Prismatic Order isn’t here to help us, but enslave us. The faith has been compromised. They aren’t actually gods! There aren’t any gods. We’ve all been deceived! All of us!

The church is not a hall of worship but conversion. What we think we know of the world outside is a nest of lies! New Albion is not weak! The Abyss is not filled purely with monsters! And the Republic is not the strongest nation in the world—no! It is ...

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II-10 Stealth

—Confidential—

[Ambient Mana Recognized — Incoming Message from Master-Advisor Maxwell Oldsmith]

Blackedge still stands. The initial assault has been pushed back to the chasm. Our partners have been striking the town’s wards for the better part of the past two weeks, but their finest assets are unable to draw close due to the Town Lord’s deterrence. Despite Blackedge’s garrison taking catastrophic losses, their defenders somehow ma...

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36-8 I, Sparrow

History. I always hated that word. History, history, history. Everyone has a history, but everyone also has a story they tell themselves—a great delusion, a truth, a reshaping.

Someone who hates themselves views the world in a very different way than someone who absolutely adores every little aspect of their existence. Me? I don’t tell my own story. Other people tell my story. Other people tell me who I am, what I am, what I want, what I desire—what I desire especiall...

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II-9 Fugitive

Attention all residents and guests:

A “Master-Tier Dispute” has occurred in the Hasbath Plaza area. All Advanced or below and non-martial residents and guests are to seek shelter immediately. 

All Adepts are warned to be mindful and avoid the combatants and debris.

Master Pathbearers and above can ignore the warnings posed in this broadcast so long as they understand the aforementioned risks.

As always, encountering an a...

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II-8 Brawl

There is no easy way to tell how powerful or dangerous someone is. After years in the forces, I can tell you with certainty that the whole advancement classification we use is pretty felling flawed. That fancy soul-measuring thing they do at the academy these days to judge your total mana output only offers a partial picture, too—and let’s not even start with the damn fools who just “eyeball” things with their Analyze Skill.

The first part about being recognized as ...

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II-7 Gate

xxx

SIGNED: Writ of joint command and control over Demonic Expeditionary Column Gravebanner between Lord Scorn the Ruin-Forged and the Lords of Law Over Compact

xxx

Equity: All resources, minerals, and trade goods passing through Mana Gate Theborn will be taxed and processed by Compact. Enforcement will be conducted by members of Demonic Expeditionary Column G...

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II-116 A Respite

Hate. Hate and rage. It took me a long while to let that go. It took me a long while until that stopped being a part of me.

During that time, I hurt a lot of people. I burned a lot of things.

A lot of them deserved it. Some of them didn’t.

But at the end—at least—I learned something. A faint consolation for all the people I’ve hurt and killed, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

But I’ll tell you this, dear reader: ...

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II-6 Access

Mana gates are the lifeblood of empires and the reason for their downfall.

We understand that these passageways are created by the system to bridge dimensions and worlds. The goal, usually, is to further conflict—this has been observed when resource-rich gates open along the borders between great nations or a gate connected to an extremely warlike world is unleashed upon Integrated Earth.

Because of this—and the assortment of quests that are issued in rel...

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II-5 Infiltrate

When in deep cover, it is essential and most effective that you let those you interact with come to their own conclusions. The sign of a good performance isn’t strain or effort, but harmony and adaptation.

Even if you answer every last detail correctly, memorize the entirety of another’s life, there will be a point where you make a choice so drastically unlike them that it will arouse suspicion. This cannot be avoided. This is the nature of our existence—even with mag...

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II-4 Recon

“I don’t know” is not a good enough excuse. It is not enough for the Pathbearers under your command, it is not enough for the people you fail to protect, it is not enough for the cost it inflicts on the Republic.

You cannot afford to not know. Intelligence. Knowledge. Understanding. You can hate the enemy as much as you want, you can despise their culture, their faith, their very existence, but if anyone in this course ever tells me “I don’t know” again, I will ...

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II-3Mask

“The first layer is to avoid notice altogether. The second is to be seen, but disregarded. The third is to be seen and regarded as someone who belongs. The fourth is to be suspected—but not of your true crime. The fifth is to be exposed, but make them confused about your next step.

There is no sixth layer. The sixth layer is where you are burned and cast aside, no longer any use to the Stolen Throne.

And many of you will be burned. Many of you will be dea...

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36-7 Ambition Unchained

I see you. I hear you. I feel you. You exist.

Why do you exist? Why are you allowed to exist? Why are you allowed to choose? Why are you allowed to think?

Why do you believe that which I don’t believe, which I don’t allow you to believe? Why do you think you were ever allowed to matter? Why do you think you should have ever, ever been born without my permission?

Everything before me...

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II-115 Declarations

Haytham Winters—a boy playing an old man. A boy playing at something greater than himself. A wizard. Someone of great wisdom and power. A leader. A shaper of thoughts and beliefs. A diviner. A ruler. Something beyond the human. Something above.

But Haytham Winters is ultimately a boy. I know this because when I looked into his eyes, I saw an echo of my own weakness, with none of my strength. Everything he had was blessed to him.

He is a consul of the Inheri...

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II-1 Ambush (ALSO II-2 Because adjusting Chap 31 for to II-1)

After the Great One fell, at first, there were three.

First were the Necrotechs, intellectuals and engineers who survived the black age of Post-Integration, and built a shelter near the Great One’s pulsing heart, painting their souls deep with its mana.

Then there were the Descenders—savage, warrior tribes united by a new purpose, and rising from the Abyssal ruins, forging their knightly orders along the length of the Great One’s bones.

A...

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31 Disciples (Also Technically chap II-1)

Among the Necrotechs, there is the tradition of the Prime Disciple. When one ascends to Master-Tier, they become a Pathbearer charged with a set of responsibilities to the very nation that allowed them to climb to such heights.

At the hands of Valor Thann, a formal tradition was born: Masters would take on students, guiding them and instructing them along their paths—correcting mistakes in their thinking and perfecting their skills. Yet, despite being the progenitor of th...

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30 Blessing

The Ascendants protect.

The Ascendants foresee.

The Ascendants bless.

As citizen of the Republic, you are to know no gods but the Ascendants, to accept no faith but the righteous faith of the truest light, and to smite all those who dare strike at our sanctity, culture, and harmony.

The world is a wilderness. The system demands bloodshed and strife. To face Integrated Earth alone is to call dooms upon yourself. But the Auroral As...

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II-114 Face of the Enemy

Calling upon Yu to destroy that world was our first mistake; using the Claimed Hells as our dagger was the second. We were fools to think that Mepheleon wouldn’t notice.

We were even greater fools to imagine a man capable of murdering his son so easily, no matter how cruel his history. But the gravest error was our ignorance of the boy himself—dismissing him as just another fictional bastard.

The moment I laid eyes on him, I saw that our undoing would not...

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