HAH! He only has a partial sheet! Get wrecked!
It wasn’t too difficult for Tyron to extricate himself. Although, technically speaking, he didn’t. His closest minions weren’t far away and were more than capable of severing the rope for him. Perhaps that did count as doing it himself… a consideration for another time.
Experiencing a vision from the Unseen was not the same thing as resting, so Tyron remained utterly exhausted. Once he was fr...
2023-12-05 02:05:10 +0000 UTC
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Sorry BoD readers! You've been starving, but soon, you will feast!
After thinking, reading the reactions, pondering some more, I decided to scrap the previous version of chapter fifty-seven and go in a different direction. Here is the re-write, and yes you will get to see Dove's stat sheet next chapter.
Sheesh.
“I can’t believe it. I can’t fucking believe it,” Dove breathed.
Tyron swayed on his feet an...
2023-12-04 03:11:11 +0000 UTC
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[You really thought you were strong enough to beat a mythic monster on your own?]
[I figured you were just an ant! How was I supposed to know?]
[I’m a tier seven, mythic ant! Probably the first one in the history of the darn Dungeon. Pay a little respect, man.]
Thankfully, my opponent wounded nothing but his pride in our confrontation. I think, for a moment, the crowd were considering rushing down and attempting to subdue the ‘wild monster’, which would have...
2023-12-01 10:48:49 +0000 UTC
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Like I said, the Folk seem like they’re down to fight at pretty much the drop of a hat. Before ten minutes have passed, I find myself in an arena, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, while the dog-kin is stretching and taking some practice swings of his blade.
[How many of these arenas do you have?] I ask, a little bewildered.
[A lot,] he says. [We hone our skills in battle constantly against each other, and then against the Dungeon. Sometimes there are demonstratio...
2023-12-01 07:12:50 +0000 UTC
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Freehill is buzzing. The Folk seem to love music, dancing, and fighting in pretty much equal measure. As tall as I am, I can see over the roofs of the buildings that line the wide street I’m led down, and pretty much everywhere I look there is either an impromptu hoe-down, or a group of cheering Folk are watching some brawlers throw-down. In fact, I catch glimpses of straight up fighting pits in the distance, with rows of wooden benches circling a sand-filled arena.
<...
2023-11-30 05:14:10 +0000 UTC
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Cut my hand pretty bad trying to fix my dishwasher this week. Yay.... Sorry for slow chaps.
My first glimpse of Freehill pretty much confirmed everything that Marzban had said about it. The place is huge. Now, I’m no geologist, and I can’t tell you what size any of the mountains on Earth were, or how wide, or their circumference. However, I seriously doubt that any mountain from my previous planet holds a candle to the behemoths that hold up the third strat...
2023-11-30 04:12:05 +0000 UTC
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Eran Thouris is beaming like a cat who got the cream. Also the fish. Probably nibbled on a rare and endangered bird as well.
[So it really went that well?]
[Oh yes,] she assures me. [The number of offers we received is modest, but the impression we made was devastating. Once we prove we are able to move the quantity and quality we promised, orders will start flooding in.]
Fair enough, I suppose. On the surface once again, Lakespire is now in our wake as the brathi...
2023-11-28 05:22:58 +0000 UTC
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Eran Thouris was in her element. Her mind raced, the blood pounded in her veins and she felt as if an electric current were running over her scales.
“This tea is… quite… adequate.”
Seated across from her, the representative of the Deep Coral Conglomerate, Lissa, tried to conceal her pleasure after imbibing the fine drink.
“You might change your mind when I tell you how much it costs.”
She made a gesture with her left hand, a flickering of fingers...
2023-11-28 04:02:06 +0000 UTC
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[Regardless of the quality of the goods your colony produces, there will need to be a reduction in the price due to your very nature,] a snooty brathian merchant says to me.
Inside the bubble, these, I’m assuming, exceptionally wealthy men and women aren’t quite as impressive as they are outside of it. Their flowing robes and elaborate garments are adorned with loose fabric that dances and swirls through the water as they move through it. In the bubble, it attempts
2023-11-25 22:19:00 +0000 UTC
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A bubble generator, as it turns out, is pretty much what it sounds like. Each creates a thick layer of protection over the open topside of the ship, which all of a sudden is now fully submersible. The brathian are absolute masters of their craft, I have to say.
Marzban explains the process to me as it happens. First the ships take on a bit of water, making them heavier, and we start sinking. Normally, this would be terrible, the ships are literally sinking, except these ships...
2023-11-24 06:37:03 +0000 UTC
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I’ve got a ship to myself, pretty much. A wide, flat topped barge with enough room for me to lie down and stretch my legs, allowing the fresh, watery breeze kicking off the surface of the lake to run through my antennae and over my carapace. It’s not a bad life.
Flatteringly, they’ve plopped me in the middle of the fleet, surrounded on all sides by the majestic vessels of the Island Conglomerate. There are worse ways to travel, I guess is what I’m saying.
I did of...
2023-11-24 05:04:02 +0000 UTC
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The brathian continue to be quite friendly and open with us, even allowing the carvers to peek into their workshops. The results of that visit were apparently a little humbling.
“They’re way ahead of us,” Smithant admitted freely.
She hasn’t changed much since the last time I saw her, in terms of attitude at least. Focused, a bit grouchy, entirely obsessed with her craft. It’s not always easy for me to tell, since I’m so much larger than every other ant, but...
2023-11-24 05:03:18 +0000 UTC
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“I think I need a drink,” Tyron rasped, then blinked.
His eyes felt raw as sandpaper, and blinking didn’t seem to help. Was he so lacking in fluid there was nothing left for his eyes?!
Blearily, he looked down at his hands and saw they were trembling, his individual digits resisting the commands of his mind to remain still. He tsked. He couldn’t cast magick like this!
“Dove?” he tried to call, but couldn’t raise his voice much. He coughed, tried to spit, but fo...
2023-11-22 08:21:35 +0000 UTC
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Gramble Tillis was running out of patience.
“You okay, boss?” his teammate Christoff asked him. “You’re looking… tense.”
The two were sat in the Split Granite, the newer of the two pubs in Cragwhistle. The tables were cleaner, the beer was… essentially the same watered down piss and the spirits were hard enough to scrape coal off a miner.
“What day is it, Christoff?” Gramble said, blinking into his cup.
“Hamarsday.”
“A drink to ...
2023-11-22 03:11:38 +0000 UTC
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As it turned out, nothing happened. Tyron haphazardly piled the bones into the recess and nothing at all occurred. He even utilised the magick-eye spell to see if there were any change in the energy, but there was nothing. Curiously, the bones didn’t appear to be taking in the ambient Death Magick either, which they definitely should have been.
Curious, Tyron took the time to purge the bones of any built up magick using a mat he had designed for this purpose. Even when the ...
2023-11-20 07:58:08 +0000 UTC
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Tried to catch up on Chrysalis, fell behind in BoD. You guys have four chapters coming this week. Yeesh.
“I have to admit, the look is growing on me.”
“I didn’t really design it for aesthetics. It’s for protection, and to increase your magick supply.”
Dove struck a pose, flaring his skeletal arms wide as his hollow sockets gazed meaningfully into the distance.
“No matter how hard you try to eliminate the drama, when you’re wo...
2023-11-20 04:52:14 +0000 UTC
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Satrap Umizan, leader of the Brathian Island Conglomerate, turns out to be a festively plump chap, covered in jewellery and floating fabrics that sparkle with unearthly light. He’s an impressive sight, that’s for sure, but all the expensive accoutrements don’t quite manage to distract me from the fact he’s the only chubby brathian I’ve ever seen. Is it a point of pride or something? Only he can afford to get fat? A symbol of his status?
I want to ask. I really
2023-11-17 10:45:24 +0000 UTC
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As it turns out, the Colony’s new trading partners are fairly accustomed to bringing less… swim-capable creatures down into their watery abode. Perhaps not necessarily ones as large as I am, but hey, it all works out in the end.
When I arrive at the beach, I find a team of brathian mages ready and waiting to transport us down beneath the waves.
[So… how does this work?] I ask Enid.
The old woman frowns at me. She’s a lot less mobile than she used to be, an...
2023-11-17 04:57:48 +0000 UTC
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It takes very little time for the Colony to get the stuff together. A bit more than hour, I’m not going to lie, but not by much. Within thirty minutes, the goods start to flow through the gate, along with many of the Colony’s best carvers. Even Smithant shows up! The only thing that could drag her away from her forge is the possibility of learning new techniques from across the fourth.
The other thing that flows through the gate are reinforcements. Many, many reinforcements. It turn...
2023-11-16 10:07:19 +0000 UTC
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Turns out they aren’t particularly impressed I’ve brought Odin along with me. No sooner have we entered the chamber than the guards are whipping out blades and the mages are slapping down shields around the core of their group.
Enid looks as confused as I feel, and there’s some rapid words exchanged. I put together a mind bridge and connect to her in order to find out what in the heck is going on.
[They’re upset you brought an Assassin Demon with you,] she tells me, eyeing...
2023-11-16 10:06:27 +0000 UTC
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Sure enough, it doesn’t take long before Vibrant comes sprinting out of the office, even more energetic than before.
“It’s amazing, Senior! They know soooo much! Even though they have rock-rock heads!”
“Hey, they just have a second layer of rock skin, it’s not like their heads are actually filled with rocks.”
“I thought they just had thinking rocks.”
“What the heck is a thinking rock? You know what, I’ve seen weirder things on Pangera t...
2023-11-16 10:04:45 +0000 UTC
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Finally. Finally! It wasn’t easy, but I managed to shepherd all of my pets through their evolutions. Holy moly, that was a lot of work. As expected, Tiny was the most difficult, but now the big guy has settled in, obviously running through the menus, judging by his furrowed brow.
Although I feel elated for them to finally reach my tier, I also feel a bit lonely. The evolution to tier seven is a big one, and the crew might not be together again for a week or more. What am I ...
2023-11-14 07:40:59 +0000 UTC
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[Finally done, eh Tiny? I’m impressed, I seriously didn’t think you’d last this long.]
When he emerges from the consultation, head aching, Tiny finds his master waiting in the chamber he is to evolve in, a huge core held in his jaws. Tiny winces when he sees it. He remembers the sting of those things.
He rubs at his head as a phantom pain echoes at the top of his scalp.
[Yeah, I know. It’s going to suck, but it needs to be done. You’ve got a better chanc...
2023-11-13 08:57:01 +0000 UTC
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Tyron stepped through the rift, back onto the mountain, still shivering as he shook the rime from his cloakl. No matter how many layers he put on, the realm these kin belonged to was beyond freezing.
Around him, his skeletons emerged, as well as Dove, who jauntily swaggered onto the trail.
“What’s the problem? Flesh getting you down?” he asked, mockingly.
“Yes, yes. You don’t feel the cold. Very funny.”
Despite being halfway up a mountain, surrou...
2023-11-12 11:30:11 +0000 UTC
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Been under the weather this week, which has caused this slow trickle of chapters. Second BoD tomorrow and then back to Chrysalis to catch up. This one is a tad on the shorter side, but didn't want to pad it unnecessarily. Enjoy!
The ceiling of the Grand Cathedral was a remarkable piece of magick engineering, and Lady Recillia Erryn couldn’t help but feel a stir in her heart every time she saw it.
Held up by massive pillars, each weighing thousands of tons,...
2023-11-10 09:35:25 +0000 UTC
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[There you go, Tiny. Now you are the most intelligent ape you’ve ever been.]
He looks at me, bat features drooping miserably.
[It’s not that bad! You are being absolutely ridiculous. I took what, twenty points of Might and juiced up your brain. You’ll probably get two hundred Might or more in your next evolution. Knowing you, more.]
The big ape flexes sadly, poking at his bicep with one, thick finger.
[I didn’t even take it from your arms, you big do...
2023-11-09 07:57:15 +0000 UTC
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Master approached, an enormous core held firmly in his mandibles.
[Hey there, Crinis! Hope the consultation went well. Did the rock-heads have some good suggestions for you?]
Crinis writhed her tentacles happily as the giant ant approached and placed the core down in front of her.
[They did. Though I don’t think you should talk about them that way. I get the feeling they wouldn’t like it.]
[Bah. Granin gets mad no matter what I say to him. Ignoring them,...
2023-11-08 10:20:20 +0000 UTC
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Huddled in his cave, Tyron continued to scribble away in his book of notes, face a mask of concentration. There were so many things for him to work on, it was difficult for him to focus on a single thing at a time.
He’d promised Dove he would work on a new Status ritual, and he would, but when was he going to find the time? The depths of his new space, the Ossuary, beckoned him constantly and required study, but he was reluctant to explore it too soon. Until he better under...
2023-11-06 09:09:06 +0000 UTC
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There were many things that Gramble didn’t understand in life. His mother, for one. The woman was a contradiction in terms. Low born, but with the confidence and arrogance of a thrice-blessed noble. Perhaps it was that attitude that enabled her to snag his father, a retired silver slayer looking to settle down and churn out potions for the rest of his days.
After yelling, kicking, screaming and begging, he had finally been able to speak to the magister, granted a mere f...
2023-11-03 07:41:17 +0000 UTC
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[Hold still, Tiny! You’ll get back everything you lose and more in a minute!]
With his lower lip jutting out stubbornly, Tiny continues to wiggle back and forth, trying to avoid the touch of my antennae. Watching the big ape roll around like a potato in the sink would be amusing any other time, but when I’m trying to modify his core, it’s just plain irritating!
Could I pin him down? Sure I could. Could I order him to hold still? Obviously, yes. Rather than force h...
2023-11-02 11:35:45 +0000 UTC
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