Brin pushed from a crouch up to his feet, feeling the burning in his muscles. “One.” He’d done sets of ten of these before System Day, and before he’d been bed-ridden for more than a week. His legs still tweaked from the wounds he’d taken, but he was determined to push through. Five. He would definitely do five.
Meanwhile, Marksi stood right next to him, holding a stone in his little gecko-hands. He didn’t really have the body shape for squats; he still had the long snake ta...
2023-09-13 17:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Brin joined the crowd fifteen minutes before noon under an appropriately overcast sky. He thought he was early, but so many people were already crowding around the town square that he never would’ve been able to see if there weren’t a raised wooden platform. He kept forgetting that this body wasn’t as tall as his past life. He didn’t actually know if he’d grow to his previous height in this body. Aberthol had been malnourished, and Brin still had a lot of catching up to do to reach ...
2023-09-08 16:54:32 +0000 UTC
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The house Hogg led him to next didn’t have a storefront, just a nondescript entrance to an ordinary home. Gustaff didn't have the type of business where people would visit his property. If you needed Gustaff to do something for you, you could talk to the mirror image in the town square.
"Gustaff is sort of missing," Hogg explained after knocking on the door. "His mirror image is still there and it'll play music and movies like normal, but no one has been able to talk to him through it...
2023-09-06 16:59:01 +0000 UTC
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The cellar was cold and dark, illuminated only by the soft glow of the magical characters inscribed into the ring of silver around them. The illumination coming from below cast Hogg in a sinister light. A fitting atmosphere for discussing the secrets of [Witches].
“Why don’t we begin by telling me who they are. You said that there were seven [Witches] in Hammon’s Bog, and that one of them is the traitor.”
Hogg nodded. “As far as one of them being the traitor, you have as...
2023-09-01 17:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Brin twisted the blowpipe in the furnace, letting more of the molten glass stick onto the end. The glass had a strange texture when it was so hot, moldable like thick clay, but sticky like taffy.
“That’s probably enough,” said Ademir the [Crafter] from behind him.
Brin drew out the blowpipe and immediately started turning it, trying to get the glass to move into a uniform cylinder, but it stayed sort of lopsided. Ademir made this all look so easy.
He moved it to the ma...
2023-08-30 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Alright, so in order, we have Hogg, Lumina, Tawna, Myra, Brin again, and Zilly.
Brin still doesn't have any scars, but I think this one is a better fit. It's really no use asking AI to draw scars, much easier to just add them later on your own.
The one character that it straight up couldn't do was Davi. Getting it to draw a 14-year-old who's a little sturdier and stronger was tough.
What other characters should I do? I'll see you back here tomorrow with Chapter 1.
2023-08-29 15:11:40 +0000 UTC
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Story update: I went back and made some changes to Chapter 20. (This post is available publicly so minor spoiler warning) I had originally planned a conversation between Hogg, Elmon, Tawna and Brin to start off Book 2, but I realized it made more sense to have it in the resolution of book one. You can find it in the Part 3 - Chapter 20, right after they leave the temple.
As for the art, when I was getting started I generated a bunch of images to get a cover for RoyalRoad and chose the o...
2023-08-25 18:58:35 +0000 UTC
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The title says it all. As I've said, I'm taking a week break between books. On August 30th Brin will return in chapter 1 of book 2: Bog Standard Illusionist.
I'll be using this time to outline the next book, and honestly to just take a breather. It's been a big adjustment to start putting out this many words, and while it's beem an absolute blast, I don't think I can keep it up forever.
On that note, Bog Standard will be moving to a twice a week schedule, every Wednesd...
2023-08-23 17:31:41 +0000 UTC
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Cecil the [Printer] sat on the hard wooden stool in his workroom, resisting the urge to get up and start pacing again. This was normally where he felt the most at ease, here with his tools, but today not even that helped. The odd part was, he didn’t really even know what the problem was. He simply hadn’t felt at ease since the visit by that [Illusionist].
He picked up and reorganized the stamps in his tray, swapping out the upper and lower-case letters. The simple action usually hel...
2023-08-21 15:00:40 +0000 UTC
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He gave into temptation, right before the System Day celebration. He brought out the little knife he’d made under Toros’ tutelage and cut the palm of his hand. He closed his eyes and let himself savor the experience, the fire, the sudden passion, the forbidden pleasure. He hadn’t taken the upgrade to turn pain into pleasure, so [Pain Resistance] turned his pain into heat and excitement. Even so, it was almost too much. Oh yes, it was going to be hard to stop himself from doing this. But...
2023-08-18 17:02:38 +0000 UTC
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Information
Name Brin isu Yambul
Age 13
Race Human
Class Scarred One
Level 22
Attributes
Strength 149
Dexterity 84
Vitality 146
Magic 41
Mental Control 59
Will 59
Titles<...
2023-08-18 03:28:03 +0000 UTC
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Brin ended up waking up after all. He sort of expected to be in his room. He wasn't in his room. He was in his bed, and that was his wardrobe with his clothes, but the room was different. Looking down, he was naked under the blanket, unless you counted bandages. If you counted bandages, he was fully clothed. He sneered at them. Who needed bandages when you had scars? They were all completely white without a speck of seepage, and he could feel [Mana Scars] still burning his magic, keeping ever...
2023-08-16 16:58:14 +0000 UTC
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There were four undead watching the flames lit by the [Undead Assassin] he’d killed. Even now, with all his new levels, he thought just one alone would be a hard fight. What could he do against four? But he had to do something. Running would just cause him more problems later.
He rose from his hiding place and rushed them. They turned around casually, as if unsurprised to see him.
Running, he held his blade to the side, as if he was planning to cut into the middle one with a sid...
2023-08-15 02:19:45 +0000 UTC
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The undead pulled the sword from his stomach, and he grasped it in a vain attempt to keep everything in, feeling the warm sensation of blood spilling through his fingertips. He staggered under the expectation of pain, but none came. He felt heat, burning hot and glorious, urging him to action.
He raised his head and met the rotting eyes of his would-be assassin. The undead flinched back into a guard.
The System had some things to say. He didn't have time to read millions of messag...
2023-08-11 17:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Brin sat down. “Oh.” That… was a good pitch. Because he really felt it. The vulnerability. The sincerity. The fatigue. It was like he was the one who was talking.
“Why is it that everywhere I go and everything I do, I have to hurt so much? Everything is pain. It’s painful to work out all the time, to always be tired, to always have sore muscles. And most of all, it hurts to get hurt. I get cut up and stabbed and poisoned and it hurts. It never gets better. It hurts ev...
2023-08-09 17:05:00 +0000 UTC
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Brin opened his eyes to an unusually familiar sight. This was home, his home from before, the living room of the nice single-bedroom apartment. Everything was exactly as he remembered it. The carpet, the paint, everything was still like new because only he had ever lived here. The armchair matched the sofa and fit with the coffee table and the TV stand. He’d bought them all together with his first paycheck after college, still flush with the novelty of being able to afford things like new f...
2023-08-09 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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May as well get the bad news out of the way first. It was time to look at Scarred again and see if he’d missed anything. It was totally unfair. A fight to the death with an absurdly high-level undead, and he got a decrease to healing speed? He had to be reading that wrong. When he pulled up the status screen, there was a little more information.
Title: Scarred
An undead delivered a wound to your face that inflicted necromantic rot. You have been...
2023-08-07 16:59:01 +0000 UTC
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This couldn’t be real. Somehow, Brin had convinced himself that these creatures from his nightmares would stay in his nightmares. That was how he’d gotten himself to be able to sleep at night. He’d convinced himself that they were gone, that they were far away, not even real anymore. He’d told himself that he was protected, that he’d never have to worry about them ever again.
That’s why it felt like an impossibility. It was an impossibility. The dead don’t move. T...
2023-08-04 17:00:08 +0000 UTC
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On the way to the spinewolf den, Brin couldn’t stop his brain from thinking. Was doing all this playing right into the [Weavers] hands? If it was, so what? If Tawna wanted him to do something that he also wanted to do, would it make sense to not do it just to spite her? That would be giving her too much power. The best decision would be to live his life as if she didn’t exist, not to rearrange his life based on every little thing she did.
She’d given him a choice, and he’d chose...
2023-08-02 16:59:02 +0000 UTC
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Information
Name
Brin isu Yambul
Age 13
Race Human
Class Child of Travin's Bog
Level 1
Attributes
Strength 40
Dexterity 31
Vitality 30
Magic 15
Mental Control 26
Will 30
Titles
2023-07-31 17:05:00 +0000 UTC
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Brin wondered why it had never occurred to him that Tawna might actually want to kill him. That she hated him was clear, but if she’d actually wanted him dead, she would’ve made her move before now, right? Or maybe she was waiting for the opportunity. This was the perfect one.
He thought about the sword of speed at his side, priming himself to grab it and then run away. As much as he loved the idea of cutting her through right here and now, he was under no illusions that he could wi...
2023-07-31 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The next day, Davi came over again for their workout and breakfast again, and he stuck around for a bit to play Jogosa. Davi won the first three games handily. It was surprising how good he was, actually. Brin had never thought he was dumb exactly, but he’d also never pegged the big guy as a tactical thinker.
By the fourth Brin was starting to get the hang of it. He won the fifth game, but then Davi won the sixth game.
Davi gained a point in Mental Control for it, and left soon ...
2023-07-26 16:59:01 +0000 UTC
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The next day, Brin had been planning on setting off to fight a monster, but Hogg suggested another idea over breakfast. “I had an idea for how you could knock out those last three points in Mental Control. What’s your background in math?”
Brin wasn’t a huge lover of mathematics, but he’d taken enough to get through his degree. Algebra, Calculus, and Discrete Mathematics. He wasn’t certain, but he’d be willing to bet that was more than they had here. “I’m pretty confide...
2023-07-24 16:59:02 +0000 UTC
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“Ok, but if I see a single statue in there, I’m out,” said Brin. He and Ellion the priest walked side by side down the town’s boardwalk, and everyone gave them a wide berth, even so far as to cross the street to the other side. No one was rude, though, and most everyone also stopped when Ellion passed them to put a hand on their hearts and bow their heads.
Everyone was busy with the festival, and all were wearing their finest clothes, which Brin had to admit were on a whole othe...
2023-07-21 17:00:10 +0000 UTC
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The solstice dance was surprisingly complex, like a wandering riverdance but while holding the hand of a partner at arm’s distance. The partners switched as the dancers moved in rotating circles, and you had to keep track of the steps because the circles would suddenly switch direction. Hogg magicked up a couple dozen figures for him to dance with. They were sort of blurry and low-definition, but good enough for him to keep track of his place.
He did all that while also playing the mu...
2023-07-19 17:09:45 +0000 UTC
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A mirror image of Hogg returned minutes later. Brin expected to get right back into training, but Hogg said, “Hey, how much money you got left?”
“More than a thousand gold. Why?” Brin asked.
“The merchant caravan is leaving soon.”
“I know. They’re only staying for two days, and I’m banned for three. I think Elmon was thinking of that when he banned us from town for three days,” said Brin. “He saw how excited I was to see it.”
“Pfft. Like he ev...
2023-07-17 17:11:08 +0000 UTC
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You deserved a stat screen after that last chapter. Here it is.
Information
Name Brin isu Yambul
Age 13
Race Human
Class Child of Travin's Bog
Level 1
Attributes
Strength 36
D...
2023-07-16 04:50:37 +0000 UTC
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Brin exited the forest and ran straight across the open plain between the trees and the walls; there was no cover out here, but there was also no reason to be out here looking in this direction. He should be safe, but still he ran quickly.
He decided to climb up the guard platform. Sure, he could simply climb the wall, but the town walls were just big straight logs with sharpened tips all pressed together. It would be a little awkward, and jumping down the other side would make a sound....
2023-07-14 16:15:31 +0000 UTC
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Hogg had a cellar in his house, and he didn’t let Brin sleep in it. Quite rude of him, although the need to sleep underground in the cold in order to feel safe had been fading. He barely thought of Travin’s Bog at all any more.
It turned out there was a [Cellarman] in town, and he was the one who dug cellars for everyone. He had the Skills to dig faster, could do limited enchantments for cold, protection against pests, and even to keep water out even with the town’s extremely high...
2023-07-12 17:00:07 +0000 UTC
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A bunch of you have asked, so let's talk about my In Another World series.
The series starts with In Another World, I must defeat the Demon King. This was my entry-point into LitRPG, and since Dresden Files and Monster Hunter International are a couple of my favorite series, I really liked the idea of writing an Urban Fantasy as well. Why not both?
Henry is a [Knight] from a Fantasy-LitRPG world, who's been isekai'd to our world with a single Quest: To defeat the Demon Ki...
2023-07-11 04:28:18 +0000 UTC
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