Malcolm Tent

Wish upon the Stars chapter 359

We didn't freak out or anything. Though we did kind of shut up for a  while. We both got ready and Jessie drove us to the arena. We didn't say  much on the ride, and I admit to being a bit nervous. My emotions were a  jumble, really. I was excited for a good fight, upset I had to fight  Callie, scared she would resent me if I won, scared I would resent her  if I lost. My head was swirling with all these different thoughts, and I  had no idea what to do.

The...

Greed God chapter 235

April 15th 2016 New Jersey, Rosewood, 8:00 PM EDT

"The  butler did it." Barbie groaned. "Because of course he did. Nicky, I  don't suppose you have any more tricks like that candle up your sleeve.  Not that I'm excited about possibly ending up in alternate dimension for  several months. Again." I was amused to note that my redhead, who  usually deferred to me and Amy, had switched to crime fighter mode and  taken charge of ...

Wish upon the Stars chapter 358

The next two days passed without much incident barring a missing  dessert I'd picked up for myself. I kept up training, but between my  daily improvements I made a point to relax and spend some time with my  friends. Jessie and Benny weren't in the tournament and had been left  mainly to their own devices, but seeing how dangerous things were and  how much work we were doing had them worried.

Benny I  mostly tried to distract. Callie might have had a point ...

Mined Games chapter 8

It took me about three days to finish my arms and back. I put all the gold, silver, and copper that I got into coins, and all those coins into buying myself mana tinged ores. Even so, my progress wasn’t nearly what I’d been hoping it would be. The density of the new crystal was insane, and if I wanted to condense it anytime soon, especially in time to make it to the mage’s tower recruitment, I was going to need some denser mana materials for the condenser.

Which had led me to offi...

A Rumble of Frost chapter 23

February 16th 2001, British Royal Museum, 3:00 AM EDT

"So..."  I said slowly. "Does anyone else see the douchey looking guy in golden  armor glaring at us like he wants to flay us alive?" My team members all  nodded, and I sighed resignedly. "Yeah...I was afraid of that. I was  kind of hoping it was just me."

The blood red eyes scoured  us all, drilling into us like the man was hoping to see our souls. The  condescending sneer on his ...

Greed God chapter 234

April 15th 2016 New Jersey, Rosewood, 7:00 PM EDT

Once  dinner was over, Hobbes escorted us into the drawing room, passing out  crystal goblets of amber liquid, letting us all sit down in the various  chairs that had been brought in to surround the table of items. I took  mine and sat down, Barbie and Amy on either side, and Jenny just two  seats away. "Welcome, dear friends." Said Hobbes emotionally. "To the  reading of Ma...

Wish upon the Stars chapter 357

I slept for like nine hours. It was amazing. I didn't even tweak my  back sleeping on the training room floor because of my high Vitality.  The luxury of just slumping down and sawing logs like a layabout was  just...perfect. It felt so good to have some downtime that I decided not  to work on my wishes or training until later in the day today, so I  could ride the relaxation wave through the morning.

Hopping  to my feet, I set off for the kitchen, shooting...

Mined Games chapter 7

I won. Nominally. I spent almost all of my money, with only two and a half gold left. Riley was impressed, and I made arrangements to work with him again sometime soon. I didn't commit to anything specific, I didn’t care enough to bother. I was too excited about what I’d gotten my hands on.

In fact, I was so excited I barely had the presence of mind to stop and spend one and a half gold on mana tinged ore (a substantial amount, and enough to get me easily a hundred pounds of the stu...

Wish upon the Stars chapter 356

"So." Said Callie with a grin as I walked into the house. "You made  it through huh?" Despite her light tone, I could feel through the bond  that she was happy for me. "Who did you end up against?" We'd agreed not  to come watch each other's matches because it would tip our hands if we  revealed any new tricks.

I slumped down on the couch,  peeling off my mask and dropping my head her lap, barely giving her time  to move the book she'd been reading. She rol...

Greed God chapter 233

April 15th 2016 New Jersey, Rosewood, 6:00 PM EDT

Emma  didn't actually talk much. She stood next to me uncomfortably but my  statement had just garnered me a nod of acceptance and then near  suffocating silence. That was fine. I wasn't really that interested in a  heart to heart either. I glanced down at her ass again, admiring the  view, but that seemed like it might cause problems if she noticed too  early so I stopped a...

Wish upon the Stars chapter 355

Three days wasn't nearly as long as it sounded. Each of the days was  its own project, and exhausting in its own right. The first day I  finished granting Rime's wishes, and got Jessie her last twenty five  Vitality worth of elixirs. She also got another eight Might, bringing  her Might to ninety five, her Vitality to three twenty eight, and her  total points to five hundred and eleven.

The same day I  also managed to upgrade my Cloud Step to Ripple Running...

Mined Games chapter 6

To my surprise, Riley got us into a private room. I expected him to drop me off and leave, but he apparently wanted to see how deep my pockets were. He paid off the guy at the nearest plank bridge with one of the silvers I gave him, and then escorted us inside and down a long wooden hallway.

The inside of the Ship of Fools was…bigger than it should have been. Like much bigger. We walked for about fifteen minutes and never had to turn. When we reached one of the rooms Riley slipped out...

Wish upon the Stars chapter 354

"So." I said as I slumped back onto the couch. "How long exactly  until the next round starts? I know there's going to be a few days  between rounds nine and ten, but I didn't bother asking how long until  nine actually starts." I was sitting with the others, Jessie, Benny,  Abel, Mel, and Callie. We'd decided to have one last team meeting before  this whole thing became a mess of conflict.

Callie, who  was leaning against me on the couch, gave a groan of d...

Greed God chapter 232

April 15th 2016 New Jersey, Rosewood, 9:00 AM EDT

The  whole rest of the day was just relaxing, trying to work on my  meditation exercises, sparring with Waylon and Sally (read, kicking  their asses), and by the time the next morning rolled around and it was  time for Amy, Barbie, and I to go, I was feeling much more relaxed.

Well...mostly.  "It's straight already." I groaned in annoyance as my wife unknotted  and rek...

Wish upon the Stars chapter 353

Carl was scowling as he put his hand on the metal elephant. "Hey! How  dare you hurt McRuffles. He's one of the best tattoos my old man gave  me." Looking up at the elephant I actually did feel a little bad, but I  didn't believe that the tattoos being harmed damaged them long term. I  was, however, concerned about another part of that statement.

"Your  old man?" I said dubiously. "M-Jack's tattoos have to be above G-rank,  how are you even using those? If ...

Mined Games chapter 5

I’d never actually been to the Ship of Fools. Poor people with little to no mana capacity have no real need of a black market. Which meant if I wanted to find the place I’d need a guide, and I knew exactly one person who might be able to do that. A person I really didn’t want to interact with if I could help it.

Sadly, I couldn’t, so I made my when down to the warehouse district, making sure my face was hidden in a hood to prevent as many people as possible from hassling me.

A Rumble of Frost chapter 22

February 16th 2001, British Royal Museum, 2:00 AM EDT

Contrary  to my opinions, we did NOT end up rushing into the museum after a ten  minute check from Peter and Kitty. The girl was competent and determined  to prove herself, both to Peter and the rest of the team, and she made  no bones about the fact that the search would take as long as it took.  We, in the meantime, posted up across the street while Ororo flooded the  area with mist, l...

Greed God chapter 231

April 14th 2016 Brightedge City, Hall of Nevers, 9:00 AM EDT

The  next morning was actually pretty pleasant. I woke up, went down to get  something to eat, and sat at the table alone to have a bowl of cereal  (Booberry, because Cherry thought it was hilarious to buy ghost themed  cereal for me to remember her by). I gave a sigh of contentment as I  shoveled in the food. Eating a nice bowl of cereal and chilling at my  giant ass dining room ...

Wish upon the Stars chapter 352

"So." I said as we arrived in the waiting room below the arena. "Last  team battle." I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the pounding of my  pulse in my ears. "Who do you think we'll be up against?" Not that it  mattered. I was barely thinking about this fight. I was more worried  about the next five. Because any one of them could be against one of my  own teammates.

On the one hand that was exciting. I was  almost positive if I fought Abel I would lose, but...

Mined Games chapter 4

“Ow.” I moaned aloud as I slumped down to the floor. I was in serious pain. Barkskin was damn useful, and the gloves were great, but neither prevented me from feeling tiredness or soreness. I took another sip of health potion, enjoying the sweet berry taste as it flooded my muscles with relief.

Pulling off my gloves, I trekked over to the elevator and made my way back upstairs. I dropped the ore into the smelter, then the bars into the magic forge, cashing out all of my ore into coi...

Wish upon the Stars chapter 351

After the match we went straight home again and I secluded myself.  This next part was going to be an important step, and I wasn't willing  to have anyone sitting in. Even Callie might be a competitor later in  the tournament, and as much as I loved my girlfriend, I wasn't going to  make it easy on her. We were finally on even footing, and unlike out  sparring up til now this tournament had real stakes.

Granted,  it would be fine if either of us won, but we...

Greed God chapter 230

April 14th 2016 Brightedge City, The Hall of Nevers, 3:00 AM EDT

I  headed home feeling...weirdly refreshed. Working off some of my stress  was definitely helpful and with the post nut clarity I was able to  really implement some of those emotional control techniques. Being able  to manage the mess in my brain finally was a huge relief, and the  combination of positive sensations had me feeling almost high. I felt  like I could fucking fly....

Wish upon the Stars chapter 350

The morning of the seventh match was the same as the ones before it.  Five wishes for Rime, five elixirs for Jessie, and she officially  reached two thirds of her elixir limit even as her Vitality broke past  three hundred. On top of that she got another ten points of Might from  her bond, bringing that to eighty seven on top of the insane three  hundred and three Vitality. Specializing definitely had upsides, since  her entire skillset was based on Vitality, com...

Mined Games chapter 3

The shop was empty when I came out. I hadn’t checked the time before entering the door to Royston Magical Mining Company, so I didn’t know how long had passed, but it wasn’t like I’d been expecting us to be busy today anyway. I felt kind of stupid for forgetting to put up the closed sign, but there was no use crying over spilled milk.

Flipping the sign out now as I left, I winced at the throbbing pain in my bleeding hands. Gloves were going on my list for sure. Gritting my teeth...

Wish upon the Stars chapter 349

We didn't try to recruit the Magnificent Fable Forest, mostly because  they were working for a faction that was currently actively pissed at  us. While technically most teams could be part of the WCP or the  Starchaser Palace and whatever faction they were in at the same time,  Callie and I didn't see any upside to trying to recruit someone who had  already admitted they had orders to teach us a lesson.

So  once I finished fixing up Albai's spine, we just l...

Greed God chapter 229

April 14th 2016 Brightedge City, The Orchard Hotel, 12:00 AM EDT

I'd...kind  of underestimated how distracting this situation would be. Like, yes,  the point of it was a tongue in cheek way to get the girls bare assed so  we could fuck after, but my bullshit plan had somewhat backfired  because my whole 'It'll be hard to focus with your tits bouncing around'  line had turned out to be extremely accurate. I had perfect body  control, but I n...

Wish upon the Stars chapter 348

The next day saw another round of wishes for Rime, and another round  of elixirs for Jessie. Our healer was up to two hundred seventy eight  Vitality, and with only half of her elixir limit used up. She hadn't  quite made it to the halfway point, but it was close. Sadly that was the  easy part of the day, because after that we had to head in to the arena  for our now daily match.

This was the sixth round,  meaning we had two more after it before we switched...

Mined Games chapter 2

The small house in the clearing was…unusual. It looked old, worn down and beginning to decay, but at the same time it also looked somehow ahead of its time. I expected someone to be in there when I reached the door, but I knocked and heard nothing.

Stepping inside I found an empty cobweb strewn space filled with strange papers covered in numbers, tables with maps and pictures and a few large devices. I checked the devices, trying to figure out what they were, and as I walked up to the...

A Rumble of Frost chapter 21

February 15th 2001, Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, 9:00 PM EDT

"This  is much slower than I expected." I groaned as I laid back on the seats  in the cockpit of the Blackbird. "This thing is supposed to be some kind  of super jet right? I assumed it would take an hour or two." My ears  were bugging me, and I couldn't get them to pop, so my head was buzzing  in the most annoying way.

Peter shook his head. "I could  see why you might...

Greed God chapter 228

April 13th 2016 Brightedge City, The Orchard Hotel, 11:00 PM EDT

Thorn  came with us back to the hotel. Raven seemed happy to have her along,  (though it was honestly hard to tell if you weren't paying attention,  that girl did NOT emote) and she even volunteered to work with us on  meditation techniques if Raven was up for it. Given her latent magic  learning something like that would be beneficial to her growth.

She  texted Zee to a...