“I don’t give a fuck! She knows I can provide. You can't!” There was a hard slap sound from outside the shack. Truth came out of the shack where he was resting. The Chief was lowering his hand, a Level Zero sprawled, bleeding in the dirt.
“Little bitch. That’s why “your” girl eats with me. I feed her good!” The Chief snarled. Nobody did anything. Said anything. They didn’t even watch. The villagers just silently went into their homes or found things to do on t...
2023-08-16 16:00:07 +0000 UTC
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The boats were working in a zigzag pattern, their lights sweeping the water for the drugs floating in the polluted waters. Truth was wedged uncomfortably in the prow of one of the reeking fishing skiffs. On the other hand, given his organs seemed to be held together with spit and good wishes, wedged in a semi-reclined position wasn’t too bad.
<<Leaving aside your more homicidal impulses for a moment, we should consider your next spell. It’s long past time.>>
...
2023-08-15 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Starbrite’s waste filled the oceans like a latrine running into a well. One bit of Starbrite branded industrial waste was currently in agony. This did not make him unique. Lots of Starbrite’s leavings had agonizing deaths. Every minute of every day. Still, this particular bit of trash had no less than three destinies upon him. He was down now, but he would rise. He was coming home to the land and people that made him.
Truth bobbed in the water. Some tiny muscles in his eyes had shea...
2023-08-14 16:00:09 +0000 UTC
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The start of Volume 3 seemed like a good time to bring in a couple of format changes. Nothing too dramatic, but I wanted to flag them in a post to avoid confusion. First, and most immediately obvious, is that the chapter titles will now indicate volume number and restart from 1. So today's chapter will be Vol. 3 Chap. 1.
The next change is how I indicate who is speaking. This is to bring the book into line with how it's going to look published. Basically, I'm doing in the colored ...
2023-08-14 15:59:01 +0000 UTC
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All joking aside, this is a huge win. As I suspected, the mods were forced to act more quickly than they wanted to, and have been walking back some of the decisions. I'm off RR until the 20th. I am extremely grateful for the messages of support and will continue to do my best to bring you the best stories I can. Once again, however, nothing is changing for my Patrons. You will continue to get all scheduled chapters. You will now just be an additional week ahead. Man, I really should upd...
2023-08-07 00:17:00 +0000 UTC
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Well, this isn't how I planned to start the week. TL:DR- I won't be on RR for the foreseeable future, but I will be posting as usual here. Nothing should change on the Patreon side of things, other than untethering the tiers from RR.
Let's get the obvious out of the way- I was in the Secret Mafia discord group, and am one of the banned authors from it. My main involvement in that server was chatting with people and swapping shout-outs, but it seems I was prominent enough to merit a ban....
2023-08-06 22:00:04 +0000 UTC
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If you haven't read today's chapter, read it first. If you have, scroll down and read the rest of this post.
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So ends Volume 2! Volume 3 begins a week from Monday. Candidly (I think by now most of you know my habits) I have written north of twenty chapters of Volume 3 already and was planning on rolling into it without a break. The reason that I am not doing that is because I'm really not happy with a bunch of the h...
2023-08-04 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Truth smirked vindictively as he walked to Merkovah’s office. He had a fair idea of what would happen when that picture was published, and he really looked forward to the headache it would cause the “Hooray for heroes!” crowd.
“You look cheerful. I’m suddenly worried. AH! Where is your sword?!”
Truth’s smile got a lot warmer as he stretched out his hand. The Tongue of One Who Speaks For God appeared, as beautiful as ever.
“God be praised. It accepted...
2023-08-04 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Truth looked at the shard of glass. Then Merkovah. Then back at the glass. Then at Merkovah.
“I think I finally snapped. This is the what now?”
“Only just now? Sorry. I hate that thing with every fiber of my being. Not your fault.” Merkovah waived his apology. “Obliteration. The functional components lead you into some fairly deep technical weeds, but simply put, you use magic to simulate, then ultimately generate, the anti-magic magic used by the Anti-Theists. ...
2023-08-03 16:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Truth was sitting in the little chapel in Nag Hamadi, the same one he had found Etenesh praying in before the duel. He wasn’t sure why he was sitting there. He hoped some sliver of explanation would come to him. Some divine revelation.
He had finally found love. Loved. Been loved. And his very existence was poison to the person who loved him best. To know him was to be unable to love him.
The thought kept going around and around. He poisoned Etenesh. It was the slums. It was all...
2023-08-02 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Truth teetered on the edge of what should have been an obvious decision and started to laugh. Deep, honest laughter, coming from the gut and bubbling through the pain and anger and joy and lust until it reached the open air as mirth tough enough to go the distance.
“Why go back to Hell? Because fuck ‘em, that's why! I do want to save my siblings, but it’s not
just that. Do you… yes, actually, you do. You do know exactly how badly they fucked me up. But you haven’t...
2023-08-01 16:00:14 +0000 UTC
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His name was Truth Medici, and he was not alone. He didn’t have to work alone, think alone, fight alone. Truth Medici shared his life with another- Etenesh. And Etenesh loved him. Truly, wholly, passionately. He could feel her obsession, her need for something real and tangible she could devote herself to, and it was Truth. In this place… there was no need for trust or belief. There was knowing and connection.
It was at this moment that Truth truly believed that he was loved. That h...
2023-07-31 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Truth had never taken someone for a ride with him on his iron horse. Another first for Etenesh. She snuggled behind him, pressing against his back as her arms wrapped around his waist. She was so warm.
He took them through the streets of Xandere at a speed most Level Three’s would consider unwise, and most Level Ones would consider suicidal. Splitting the gap between lanes, darting between heavy wagons, and even going through notionally pedestrian-only alleys. He never once had to slo...
2023-07-28 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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They clustered around the scry together- Etenesh, Jember, Truth, and Merkovah, joined by what seemed like the entire staff of the Temple Nag Hamadi. The newscaster was stuttering, trying to explain what was going on as their brain was desperately trying to keep up with events.
The legendary Black Ships of the Shattervoid Clan hung above their planet. Each so vast, it was impossible to get a sense of the scale of them. Each so vast, yet they were still lost in the void between star...
2023-07-27 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Truth stared at the old man. The rancid geriatric was indifferent to the hard look and lit another cigarette off the burning cherry of the first.
“My soul is having visions without me.”
“Best guess? Yeah.” The old man nodded. He held up the cigarette and examined it. Truth was momentarily glad it wasn’t Red Bats or something. He didn’t recognize the brand.
“That’s not a thing.”
“Buddy. Who’re you talking to right now?”
“I have no idea?...
2023-07-26 16:00:18 +0000 UTC
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Truth accepted that he wasn’t going to feel good, emotionally, for a while. It wasn’t fun. Well, definitionally, right? It wasn’t a nice feeling to sit with. But he did sit with it. He gave himself time to fully experience the sensation. He knew he had come a long way, emotionally and educationally, since coming to Siphios. And yet, he kept coming back to the same phrase he thought of on the banks of the canal in Harban.
That’s not okay. That’s fucked up. But I’m okay wi...
2023-07-25 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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In the spirit of not springing any crap on people- I am taking a short break in two weeks. Both here and on Royal Road. How short? One week. I plan to use the time to rest, but more importantly, to do some reading and build up Stockpile Mountain for the big push into the back half of 2023.
For those of you who are new, the way I work is to build up a sizable stockpile beyond what's already available here on Patreon. I do this because a) things happen, so you want to be prepared an...
2023-07-24 18:15:45 +0000 UTC
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The front entry way had a spot for people to take off their shoes and admire the professional pictures on the wall. Truth ignored both. He made his way to the living room, a vast space connecting the first and second floors of the duplex penthouse. There was glass covering the entire wall, giving a breathtaking view of Xandre at night. There were comfortable sofas, enormous potted trees, and here and there a toy or ball shoved under a sofa. None of which detracted from the simply vast fish ta...
2023-07-24 16:00:08 +0000 UTC
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“I have another contract job for you. Purely infiltration. I would usually frame this as a training mission and a test of your development, but I know you won’t move an uncompensated centimeter.” Merkovah looked torn between laughter and frustration.
“By the way, you do understand that the things you have been benefiting from since coming to Siphios are truly profound and incredibly rare treasures, right? Even at our peak, The Blessing of the Silent Forest would only be be...
2023-07-21 16:00:14 +0000 UTC
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Truth was feeling a bit sorry for himself when he finally jogged into Nag Hamadi. By the time they had reached the city center, a comfortable run had turned into a three-dimensional, high-stakes obstacle course as he bounced over carriages, across chariots, off buildings, and between pedestrians. All while Merkovah’s dagger hunted him. It was fun and, doubtless, a learning experience, but it was exhausting.
“How did you keep spotting me? I thought I was pretty thoroughly hidde...
2023-07-20 16:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Truth fell on his ass on the forest floor. The noose loosened. He took great hacking gasps of air, snapping the ropes around his wrist with a casual flex.
“Here, have some water. You are probably dehydrated.” Merkovah crouched next to him and handed him a bottle. Truth grabbed it and chugged it down. The cool of the water eased the pain in his throat. Though, now that he was paying attention to it, that pain was fading fast.
“Basically an illusion.” Merkovah correctly inte...
2023-07-19 16:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“I am intensely uncomfortable with this.”
“Oh, stop being a baby and put your hands behind your back.”
“Standing naked in a forest, tied up, about to be hung from a tree by a strange old man, you can see why this might set off alarms?”
“Strange? Strange! How am I strange?”
“You are a six hundred-year-old terrorist who lures young men out into the woods and gets them naked and tied up. Is this normal around here?”
“Alright, I have had enough ...
2023-07-18 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Truth was in a thoughtful mood as he once again guarded a conference. This was a much smaller gathering, he was told, focused primarily on researching agricultural techniques without magical support. A few test fields had been trialed, and the results were disastrous. This, however, was not what had his attention.
Etenesh, as predicted by both Merkovah and the System, had been delighted to learn Truth was a virgin and was taking to his education with immense enthusiasm. The clothes had ...
2023-07-17 16:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Truth was feeling conflicted about the furious makeout session Etenesh demanded right then and there. On the one hand, it was really damn fun! On the other, it was awkward as hell. Merkovah was torturing a demon four meters away, and Jember was loudly cheering them on. Still, Etenesh was enthusiastic and, oddly, grounding.
The transition from “Tommy Wells, Desrin Spell Blade” to “Truth Medici, Dead Man Walking” was unpleasant. It felt like reality itself had glitched.
Eten...
2023-07-14 16:00:05 +0000 UTC
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They had assembled once again in the basement of Nag Hamadi. The rough sandstone walls remained as sturdy as ever, the floors smoothed by centuries upon centuries of feet glistened in the talisman light. Even down here, the piney, warm smell of temple incense lingered. A place of reverence, even away from the altar and the clergy.
There’s always someone who can’t read the room. Today, there were four of them.
“Alright, I’ll set out the blanket and the snacks. Jember, Etene...
2023-07-13 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Truth was back in the reflection chamber. Naked again, but this time for a more practical than spiritual reason. Mastering the scales portion of Incicisve was now an urgent necessity. He thought it was best to be comfortable in his own skin.
He looked around the tiny chamber. Still bare stone three meters square, a bowl, a mat, and nothing else. Only what he carried in with him. It had been… God, how long had it been? Not even a month, right? Or maybe a little over a mo...
2023-07-12 16:00:10 +0000 UTC
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“So… this nightclub,” Truth asked Etenesh, “Can you… narrow down the description for me?” The carpet soared over the city traffic, a snarl of wagons, chariots, and clubs of people old enough to know better riding herds of identical spirit beasts through intersections and slowing traffic for everyone.
Jember had him looking sharp. Truth could happily admit that. He had always been proud of his body, and Jember was not shy about slapping a tight-fitting robins egg blue shirt o...
2023-07-11 16:00:08 +0000 UTC
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“Out of the chair?”
“That was Etenesh. I’m starting to think she has some kind of mothering, nurturing thing going.” Truth had managed to gingerly walk into Merkovah’s office/cell without crutches, but it was slow going.
“You think? You think? May the Lord Almighty preserve that poor girl. She’s going to be ice-skating uphill with this one.” Merkovah dramatically looked heavenward.
“Siphios is right on the Equator. What do you know about ice skat...
2023-07-10 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Etenesh was pushing Truth’s wheelchair around a little park near Nag Hamadi. Truth had tried to decline, saying that he was getting around ok on crutches, but she was having none of it. As promised, the guilt trip came quickly and ruthlessly. Truth hobbled to the chair and obediently let himself be pushed around. It was… more than irritating. Actually, it freaked him out. Letting someone control his movements like that. Not good. Not good at all. He focused on breathing through it. Just a...
2023-07-07 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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The Anti-Theists had converted a basement for their work. The roof was low, just a bit over two meters. Truth nearly scraped his head along it. All smooth, layered concrete laid by some ancient demon. Not a scrap of ventilation. It was hard to breathe. His only light was the glowing wooden stick in his hands which threw everything into sharp reliefs of neon green and black.
Truth put his back flat to the wall next to the door and eased it open a crack with his left hand. His right hand ...
2023-07-06 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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