Manny the Manticore growled a deep, satisfied purr that didn’t at all match his gruesome visage. He looked at his paw, where a C-ranked adventurer was weakly struggling to push himself off of the foot-long claws that were impaling him. Manny shook him back and forth as the man’s friend tried their best to distract him. With a flick, the man was airborne. Manny snapped his jaws around the snack, swallowing the human and letting his powerful digestive system convert the b...
2019-01-23 10:00:01 +0000 UTC
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“Cal, I’m so proud of your negotiation!” Dani was zipping around the Silverwood tree with Grace, playing a game of touch and go while talking. “Not only did you secure a huge supply of free Essence and Mana generators, but they are going to pay you for the privilege!”
<Mm. To be fair, they are getting out of being squished by the moon, so it’s not really a bad deal for them.> I was tinkering with various weapons and traps in the dungeon, and had jus...
2019-01-21 12:33:27 +0000 UTC
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Hours of negotiation had finally concluded, and luckily, I had Dani and the Bobs to help me think things through, or I would have been steamrolled and shafted by this deal.
<So, here is the final proposal from my end. Everyone that enters my soul space needs to offer all of their power. I will need it in order to form everything as it needs to be formed. Mages are going to be entering as weak as kittens. Cultivators are going to basically be humans. ...
2019-01-18 14:24:39 +0000 UTC
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<I feel like something bad is about to happen.> I was getting odd chills, and talking to Dani always helped.
“How many did you make, and are they loose in the dungeon?” She zipped around and tried to pretend she was panicking.
<Ugh, that joke’s getting old! It was one, wait, two times!> I tried to think. It was only twice, right? The Madness Mushrooms, and the original Distortion Cat. Yeah. Pretty sure just the twice. <No, ...
2019-01-16 11:43:39 +0000 UTC
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While it had been interesting to see the effect of a top tier Mana type interacting with lower types, it was a huge power investment. I couldn’t make those and still expect to have enough strength to work on other issues. So, once again I was banging my metaphorical head against a wall trying to think of something I could use to enhance all future Elementals. <Think, Cal! Think! Something in there… the solution is on the tip of my Core!>
I decided t...
2019-01-14 12:17:05 +0000 UTC
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An unexpected explosion knocked one of the Mages off his feet, and he slipped over the edge of the pit on the seventh floor. His screams were cut off quickly as the gravity distorted and compacted his body. The Boss-style infernal spider elemental at the bottom finished him off just as his ruined body slammed into the floor.
“No! Aaron crashed into the floor!” The remaining party of Mages were hard-pressed, pushing up the sloping ramps toward a hopeful escape. “...
2019-01-11 13:31:16 +0000 UTC
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While he knew that the delegates of the various races hadn’t exactly been on good terms, walking in on a full brawl wasn’t what Dale had been expecting. He opened the door to the council chambers just in time for a spray of blood to splatter on his face, the first blood drawn in the rapidly escalating conflict.
Dale stood in shock for a long moment, but The Master stepped in authoritatively and bellowed, “Hold, you fools! What is happening here?”
<...
2019-01-09 08:23:22 +0000 UTC
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The Master stared at Dale with a troubled expression. “You… you are in the B-Ranks. You, a Mage! I… I don’t understand how.”
Dale moved his hand through the air, marveling at the incredible power he could feel. It wasn’t moving through his body, it was his body. His flesh had been transformed into something more than human, and no previous increase in rank had given a hint that achieving this one would impact him so differently. ...
2019-01-09 08:13:44 +0000 UTC
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Email sent out from BookFunnel with your copy of Rexus!! Please let me know if you have any issues downloading it otherwise I'd love if you would do me the favor of reviewing it on release day, the 1st!
Thank you for your continual support and friendship!!
2018-12-28 16:24:32 +0000 UTC
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As the sun rose over the Wolfman outpost, Jess and Jaxon stumbled back into town with a heavy load of bloody pelts and raw meat being dragged behind them. Jaxon smiled up at the Wolfmen on the wall who were looking down with amusement, letting go of his burden to wave. “Give you both meat, five chunk, you help lift?”
His terrible accent and word pronunciation made the Wolfmen wince, but they agreed and helped bring in the sticky mass of loot. Jaxon was pleased with the ...
2018-12-27 15:01:43 +0000 UTC
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Jaxon and Jess stumbled into the Wolfman outpost a little over a day later, getting under a lean-to that was used to dry wood and falling into a deep sleep. They woke up to the sound of chuffing laughter, Wolfmen Warriors surrounding them and laughing at their sorry state.
Jaxon popped up and got close to one of them, his mud-and-dirt coated face being split by dazzlingly white teeth. He slipped into speaking their language, poorly, “Rawrdrick! You’ve been working on yo...
2018-12-26 15:36:04 +0000 UTC
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Merry Christmas Everyone! As my present to you, one chapter a day til Friday, when the book will be sent to you! <3
Jess and Jaxon were making good time through the forest. Now that they knew the general direction they should be going, they were able to move over the terrain much faster. The two of them had made an official party now that Jaxon’s quest had been completed and had been working to test their new capabilities. Jess had armed herself once more with shar...
2018-12-25 14:48:57 +0000 UTC
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“Whoa, there! Bad lefty! Down!” Jaxon forcefully pulled his hand away from his face as it snapped at him, saliva splashing on his cheek. He looked over at Jess as he ran out of mana and his hands returned to their normal state. “Whew! My goodness, I haven’t had to tame my hands since I went through puberty!”
“Disgusting.” Jess sniffed at him. “So… what the heck just happened?”
“I ran out of mana to sustain the T-Rex head hands.” Jaxon was squee...
2018-12-24 14:12:59 +0000 UTC
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“So we have to choose something to share between us?” Jess’s voice caused Jaxon to scream, a long and shrill sound that only slowly petered off.
He caught his breath, turning and looking at the incorporeal form of the woman standing beside him. “Oh. Jess. You startled me.”
“No crap.” Jess was eying him up and down as if he were suddenly going to sprout a second head devoted to screaming. “What do you think we should get?”
Jaxon turned back to t...
2018-12-21 14:57:41 +0000 UTC
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When Jaxon stepped through the door and saw what was waiting for them, he instantly tried to turn around and go back. That didn’t work; the dark film over the door preventing retreating. Jess stepped through and grimaced at their foes, nodding at his reaction. “Oh, ew. Good call. Let’s try not to let them touch us if possible.”
Jaxon blinked at her and looked back at the fluffy kittens slowly and cautiously coming toward them. “Your reaction confuses me.”
...
2018-12-19 14:24:50 +0000 UTC
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“Before we go in, we should really go over a few things.” Jaxon let go of Jess’s hand and sat down. “Should I be concerned about those people? Are they going to come back? How can we work best as a team?”
“They got what they wanted, and their cruelty is only matched by their laziness.” Jess spat to the side, disgusted with them and the fact that she had been trying so hard to join them. “They won’t be back. As for how I can help in there, unless I...
2018-12-17 15:34:19 +0000 UTC
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The options were very straightforward, but Jaxon read through them very carefully to ensure that there was no tricky word play at work.
Ten free skill points
Five free characteristic points
10,000 experience points
One skill useful to your class (Minimum rarity: Rare)
One weapon designed for your class (Minimum rarity: Rare)
One piece of armor designed for your class (Minimum rarity: Rare)
2018-12-14 15:41:52 +0000 UTC
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Jaxon coughed and sprayed a mix of blood and phlegm onto the floor. He was down to three opponents, but each of them was moving so quickly that he was having a hard time keeping up with dodging their attacks, let alone making any of his own. Frankly, he was nervous that defeating any more of them would cause the others to be able to tear him to shreds with ease.
The best-case scenario would be to defeat all of them at the same time with some tricky maneuver, some clever plan, but ...
2018-12-12 17:10:34 +0000 UTC
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“This is where the trail went dark. I don't know what is going through her mind, but Jess is going to pay for trying to run off on us.” The leather-clad Rogue stood back up, reaching his full height at just over six feet tall. His mouth was tightened with displeasure, and his narrow eyes revealed the depths of his anger. "Bring me the animal.”
A female Wolfman covered in blood and wounds was dragged to the front of the group. The Rogue looked at her with a sneer, then reache...
2018-12-10 15:37:54 +0000 UTC
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Kneeling down, Jaxon sifted through the bones of a hundred defeated skeletons and tried to separate them into full figures. Pulling over an intact skull, he connected it to a spine and stepped back. The skeleton smoothly stood and began coming after him.
“Good, that worked exactly as I had hoped it would.” He studied the murderous framework of a body and tried to memorize every movement it made. It was one thing to watch a body move and assume how the bones responded; but this...
2018-12-07 16:23:02 +0000 UTC
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“We made it.” Jess flopped directly to the ground as she came over the ledge. She wanted to move, but she was far too exhausted to make the effort. “The… the monkeys?”
Jaxon crawled to the edge and looked over. “They are still there, but they seem disappointed. It seems they aren’t coming any closer, but they are gathering together on the slope and staring up at us. I’m sorry you are going hungry down there!”
Jess stared up at the stars and s...
2018-12-05 09:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“I don’t know how mush longer I can go on, ‘axon.” Jess’s words were slurring, and she was swaying on her feet. “I’m… I’m so tired. And thirsty. An’ I could really go for a nap.”
“We’ve only been awake for two days straight and moving the entire time with very little food or drink. We’ve got this.” Jaxon tried to smile winningly, but at that moment he received another debuff and his smile came out as a horrific sneer toward his partner.
Debu...
2018-12-03 14:43:12 +0000 UTC
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Unable to protect himself by having a tree situated behind him, Jaxon was taken to the ground as a monkey jumped silently at his back. Since he had been focused on the ones attacking from his front, and Jess hadn’t been able to call out a warning, Jaxon was now on the ground being savagely torn into by various-sized animals. Jess was having her own troubles, being unarmed and under attack by the most agile of the monkeys. They were the only ones who could keep up with her movements, a...
2018-11-30 13:44:14 +0000 UTC
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Oh dang! It's time to see a little backstory!
Jess and Jaxon had decided to keep moving, hoping to find a more defensible location than an open clearing. As the light faded further, their pace began to slow. Jaxon looked over at Jess as she straightened up, he back crackling had caused him to almost begin drooling.
Jess saw him looking at her with a flushed face, and got the wrong idea once again. “You seriously aren’t going to be able to focus unless we do t...
2018-11-28 13:46:22 +0000 UTC
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I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend, or regular weekend outside the states! You deserve it!
“So, I just wanted to say thank you once more for your hospitality!” Jaxon was standing at the back of the stronghold, attempting to get out into the wilderness once more. Unfortunately, several Warriors were blocking his path. “Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, how about you do the same?”
The Warriors chuffed, all three of the...
2018-11-26 14:50:59 +0000 UTC
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Good morning all! Just wanted to mention that ch 1-6 are going to get heavy rewrites. I was trying to settle on Jaxon's personality, and it took a bit to get into a good groove with him. On to the story!
“Skipping freak, vanishing along a road that I barely survived cautiously moving along!” Jess was covered in mud, blood, and her armor was scorched and charred from failed attempts to disarm traps. It had also just started to rain. Today was not her idea of...
2018-11-21 15:33:55 +0000 UTC
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“That man is insane.” Jessamyn disarmed yet another trap in the road, this one basically a landmine that would first shatter the armor of anyone standing on it, then explode. Her progress in tailing him had slowed significantly when she encountered the first trap. Unlike Jaxon, she couldn’t safely leap over the majority of them; she needed to carefully search for them and then either avoid or disarm them.
Jess had been following Jaxon ever since he had appeared screamin...
2018-11-19 22:29:11 +0000 UTC
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At least they left him on a path and pointed him in the right direction. It would have been rather difficult to traverse the forest in an unknown area and find where Jaxon should have been going. A temple behind enemy lines… this sounded like a song worthy quest! It was also fitting for a monk to go to a temple to increase in power, and for some reason Jaxon felt that this was the absolute correct decision. Jaxon supposed that the quest had told him to follow his heart, and he thought t...
2018-11-16 22:15:11 +0000 UTC
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“You speak the human language very well for someone with a flat tongue!” Jaxon complimented the ancient lady walking toward him. He smiled at her, and she bared her teeth at him in return. “You have a lovely smile!”
“A what? Showing your teeth is a sign of aggression, I was returning your threat in kind!” She snarled slightly every time she hit an ‘R’ with her words.
“I see! With humans, showing your teeth like this is a sign of friendship and being polite ...
2018-11-14 11:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“Stop right there!” Jaxon shouted with all the force he could muster, pumping so much intimidation into his voice that he actually burned through fifty points of stamina. Jaxon had no idea that he could enhance intimidation like that! This required further research! His voice seemed to shake the air itself, and everyone in the local area froze… momentarily.
The armored man standing above a whimpering Wolfman female looked at Jaxon with annoyance written large on his...
2018-11-12 17:49:15 +0000 UTC
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