ZachSkye

Knives & Levels - Chapter 65

They arrived in a desolate part of the ruins of Nashville, miles from the stadium and, therefore, theoretically, miles from where Denny would be looking for them. Or at least, so Julia hoped. It was their little safe house, planned out the night before. She led them quietly through the night, letting Colt linger behind and dwell in his exhaustion.

For his part, Colt felt done. Defeated. His pains ached, his head hurt, and his heart was torn at having to leave his friend behind; he felt ...

Knives & Levels - Chapter 64

Denny tried to spawn more of those golden chains. Colt jumped away, already having seen the trick performed on Jimmy. Those little chains could do a lot of damage without his dagger, especially since they carried the weight of authority and control. While he could form a cut on his hands or feet—randomly spouting an invisible wave of death from other less concentrated parts was still beyond him, and even using his hands… The power was reduced and drew more p...

Knives & Levels - Chapter 63

Colt braced as the smashing noises got closer; with Jimmy out of his cell, he knew at least his friend was temporarily free. They had to get out of here, but that wasn’t going to happen all that easily. He’d have to find a room and then Cut upward, basically collapsing it in. Doing so right here and right now in this room with the other healers was problematic.

The issue was a long tunnel had led to this place. And he wasn’t quite sure just ...

Knives & Levels - Chapter 62

Sometimes, to get what a person needs, one must apply a little force. After phasing into the stadium that New Nashville called home, then further ghosting through another wall into the interior part of the city, Colt followed after a lone guard in the darkness of the stands, his hands wrapped around his dagger. They were on the outskirts of the Stadium—the guard was more alone than the others, keeping watch out here and overlooking New Nashville itself, which made him a perfect target.

Knives & Levels - Chapter 61

Blood leaked from Colt's nose, the warmth bringing him back to true reality. Diving too long into the depths of his soul was a recipe for disaster. He wiped at the blood; his eyes glazed as he looked at the notification. It was the only thing he could see in this pitch-black room with the laundry machine with its faint smell of detergent, so he welcomed it.

In his left hand was a pile of dust; the remains of the purple meteor shattered the force of those Edicts tied to it gone, used as ...

Knives & Levels - Chapter 60

The night after leaving New Nashville was rather dark; unlike the days before, the mist chose to stick around and clung thickly to their bodies as they huddled in a small house at least a couple of miles away from New Nashville. Colt sat near a window, his eyes honed in on the night around them, seeing the barely perceptible shadows outside.

There weren’t monsters, and even now, he wondered if Denny had a way of keeping tabs; he’d run his perception for any trace of Edicts. Trying t...

Knives & Levels - Chapter 59

Colt was hardly out of the White House door before a new system message popped into existence, filling his vision. 

———

Notice: You have been removed from the Faction: New Nashville.

Notice: You are currently in the domain of a faction and will receive a 5% penalty in offensive actions within this territory and receive 5% extra damage from defenders.

———

Colt didn’t feel a real impact from the notice; but he wa...

Knives & Levels - Chapter 58

When they walked into the White House, it didn’t differ much from the first time Colt had entered. There was a pristine sterileness to the air, one that reminded him of the other government buildings he’d been in his entire life. Oppressive and dull by design, from the rows of seats before the receptionist to the fact that the lady was even now reading a book and barely gave them a glance as they entered.

Out of everything that might carry over from the world before the System, the ...

Knives & Levels - Chapter 57

Julia finally broke. The reality of their new world crashed through her carefully maintained denial, bringing her to her knees outside the dungeon's entrance. This wasn't a game. This was their reality now—an apocalypse that had claimed countless lives.

Having a breakdown in the middle of a jungle near a dungeon they’d just exited wasn’t the best place for such existential realizations. If there was a good place for such things.

Sarah wrapped an arm around the younger girl, ...

Knives & Levels - Chapter 56

Colt offered to help Nick up off the ground, but the Light Archer was reluctant to take any aid; so he gave him a few minutes as the rest of the group gathered around the exit to the dungeon. The swirling gateway marked the path to freedom; the stark black top of the mountain was getting old to him, so he asked after a few minutes if they were ready to go.

The arrows wounded Nate, but the Soldier carried on anyway, already cycling his Edict to heal.

Almost all of them were, aside ...

Chapter 149: Council Concerns

“Delegation ties, with the intent of securing an exclusive economic contract for a total of three years?” A big man in the council rumbled; rubbing his stomach as he spoke.

Hours had passed, and all they’d done was hedge bets and hash out how to work out a beneficial agreement to communicate with one another. What the Duke had neglected to mention throughout the entire discussion was the Church and its pending rejection of this sort of opening up past the walls.

They’d als...

Chapter 147: Siren's Call

Erec was familiar with cards, but what struck him as odd was all the other games at play—tables with dice, the flashing machines with spinning symbols, and the odd red and black wheels. Erec found out the flashing machines were called ‘slots,’ but that explained nothing at all. This was a casino, and to Erec’s eyes, it would be better if it didn’t exist. The way people aggressively placed bets, winning but mostly losing them. It couldn’t have been good for them.

The hollow l...

Chapter 145: Run Of Luck

“Can’t you channel your mana? I don’t understand why the lines keep breaking,” Colin shook his head. Erec sat on the hood of Yniol’s car, his hand held out before him. Gwen and Enide sat in for the lecture. Both girls were on either side of him. With Enide going along and trying to learn what she could. Gwen supervised.

They’d gotten deeper into what Boldwick affectionately referred to as the ‘badlands’, a known section of the desert where Knights liked to avoid. Both be...

Miscellaneous Epistolary Quotes

Hello everyone! Had to write these up for some earlier chapters to replace some content; as you know, I usually have a segment at the top of every other chapter with some quotes, with them half the time being about world-building. 

All of these likely won't be going on Royal Road since I plan to put them into Book 1 at a later date. Some of the quotes there won't work on other platforms but are fine there, so for now, the only ones seeing this stuff will be you guys! 

Ho...

Apocalyptic Anthems [VOLUME 2] (Knights Apocalyptica Playlist)

An odd melody plays through the Goblin Caverns when the sun goes down, carried on through a tear from their world to another. Every song is unique and leaves an almost longing feeling toward a different world that they'll never know. High-energy beats, to low sorrowful notes.

Anthems from a different existence.

(With the end of Book 1 coming up real soon. This is a bit of a tradition, an...