A huge bulking form distorted the surface of the water, but Brin didn’t even get to see what it was before a wave of black spears from Hogg stabbed it back down.
The roiling waters calmed for a moment, but no one was fool enough to think that the fight was over. Brin could still faintly see the dark shadows of creatures beneath the waves.
He looked between Hogg and Lurilan and his mind was called to one of his Skills that he often forgot about. Not because it wasn’t good, but ...
2024-09-21 05:19:52 +0000 UTC
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Hogg ignored Zerif’s corpse completely, and went to his writing desk. He pulled an odd piece of equipment out of his pocket, something that looked like a stethoscope and put it in his ears.
Brin moved to open the wardrobe, but Hogg said, “Wait! A guy like him will put traps on his documents to destroy them rather than let someone else see them. I have to do this carefully.”
“Oh,” said Brin, withdrawing his hand.
“So, you know… get out of here,” said Hogg.
...
2024-09-19 16:21:32 +0000 UTC
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He was tied up, bound and gagged, and being carried. He felt the cool night air against his skin; his shirt had been removed and there was something wet on his back.
So far he hadn’t been injured, but he couldn’t depend on it staying that way. He needed to do something. He needed a plan. He felt groggy; it was hard to think. His Mental Resistance was telling him that there was some kind of magic trying to keep him asleep, and only actively deciding to wake up with the effects of the...
2024-09-13 21:03:58 +0000 UTC
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The dream began in Alheadra, but not in the city below. Aberfa stood in front of enormous black gates rising incredibly high into the air, but still only the small basement floor of Arcaena’s massive citadel. He could see now that it was deceptively large; everything was in such large proportions that he hadn’t quite understood the size of it when he viewed it from far away.
His body’s mother was different tonight. She was pitch black, a walking, breathing void of light. She smile...
2024-09-11 17:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Surprise! Enjoy the bonus chapter.
---
Since it was still well before dawn, Brin and Hogg stepped away from the camp so that they could talk in private. Marksi had come too, and Hogg had picked him up and hugged him tight while stroking the spines along his back.
“Tentacles,” said Hogg. “Got it. I think that’s enough. It’s got to be. I’ll make it be enough.”
“What? Really? How could that possibly be enough?” said Brin.
“It just is. Don’t wor...
2024-09-10 02:42:38 +0000 UTC
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“You’re spending too much time on [Illusionist] Skills. I’ve already told you that those are unnecessary. You have no future in illusions. Focus on my lessons instead,” Aberfa said.
They were again walking by the seashore near Alhaedra, their steps making the smooth stones of the beach rattle. She loved it here and wore an expression of complete serenity on her face, even after Brin told her he was cutting her off.
“Did you hear me? Hogg says this is our last lesson. We...
2024-09-06 17:00:13 +0000 UTC
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Brin knew exactly which Skill he was going to take and for once he didn’t need to talk to Hogg about it. The old guy never shut up about how [Split Focus] was the most important Skill for an [Illusionist], and from first glance it looked like [Multithreading] was similar. But of course the System never made his decisions easy, so he still had a choice to make.
Multithreading
You can break mental processes into multiple threads in order to run ...
2024-09-04 19:22:30 +0000 UTC
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It was just like Zilly to run ahead and try to get all the glory for herself. Except was it? Even she should be smart enough to not pull something like this with a [Witch]. She knew what they were capable of.
As he scanned the trees for some sign of her, he noticed a change in the Wisp. [Know What’s Real] was telling him that the faint glow of light, barely visible in the daytime, wasn’t real any longer. An illusion. He should’ve guessed, but Wisps were illusion beasts. This just ...
2024-08-30 15:24:00 +0000 UTC
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Brin woke up early. So early it was probably still late for some people. The middle of the night. Whatever the case, the fact was that he was awake and he couldn’t get back to sleep, not now. Not with what they planned to do today.
He got up, nodded to the guards keeping watch, and went over to sit near the bonfire, which only had a few smoking coals left.
For once, the anxiety burning a hole in his stomach didn't have anything to do with Aberfa. Well, it was only indirectly rel...
2024-08-28 17:00:09 +0000 UTC
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“No, it was a bit longer than that,” said Brin. “And the nose is still wrong. It’s not a monkey nose, it’s like a really long human nose.”
For the last half-hour Hogg had been painting an image of Aberfa’s familiar in the air with hard light under Brin’s instruction. He had to admit that Hogg had an incredible amount of talent at this. He would’ve been the weak point running of his own regular memories, but luckily [Memories in Glass] preserved the sight of the creatur...
2024-08-23 17:00:11 +0000 UTC
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“What did you just say?” Aberfa blinked a couple times, as if waking up from a dream. They were still in a dream of course, though it was hard to say whose dream it was.
Brin didn’t want to be too obvious about calling her mother after he had made such a point of resisting it, so he only repeated the question. “I asked if you could show me what my life was like from before I lost my memories.”
Brin felt something shift in the Wyrd. Some key balance point in their relatio...
2024-08-21 17:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Even though he’d only been learning from Aberfa for a few days, it felt like forever and a certain chill was starting to set in. Moving from his dreams into the waking world was a journey from night to day, and not just literally. The cold, empty dreams gave way to warmth, energy, and the noise of a caravan going through their duties. The few children that had joined were up, screaming and laughing as soon as the sun rose, and the normal hustle and bustle of the merchants and guards, oxes a...
2024-08-17 20:35:37 +0000 UTC
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Sorry, the chapter won't be ready until tomorrow. I have no excuse.
There's one other thing I wanted to bring up, though. Some of you may have seen the announcement about Patreon's policy change regarding Apple. Basically, Apple is now requiring a 30% fee from all memberships purchased from their app, and Patreon is passing that fee along to you.
If you made the payments from the website instead of the app, then this doesn't affect you. If you made payments from the android app, ...
2024-08-16 21:13:19 +0000 UTC
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The next night's dream brought Brin in front of Siphani and Effa Peck, in the moment that he'd first earned his [Know What's Wyrd] Skill. Any second now, Siphani would reveal herself by erupting out of the shell of her zombified familiar mother. For now, the dream was frozen in time, and Aberfa looked around the Pecks’ home with disgust. Trash was strewn everywhere, exactly how he remembered it.
"It takes a firm will and healthy mind to swim these waters without sinking below. [Witche...
2024-08-14 17:51:32 +0000 UTC
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The next night passed quickly without a visit from Aberfa, or so Brin thought at first. He double-checked by going through his stored memories of dreams, but they were regular dreams. Odd shapes and impressions, and remembered voices and images from his day, starting with his conversation with Hogg. They'd discussed everything Brin had learned, and he'd agreed to write it all down, and had even started. Pio had lent him a seat on his wagon and Brin had recorded everything and... there
2024-08-11 00:30:39 +0000 UTC
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Aberfa reclined into the pile of pillows, laying on her side. “What did that sallow jade, that false mother, teach you about the Wyrd?”
“That [Archmage], you mean?” asked Brin.
Aberfa clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“Not much. I didn’t think to ask her about it, and it was a touchy subject with that curse on her arm,” said Brin.
Aberfa laughed in delight. “Oh my! The curse! I’d quite forgotten about that! Did she find it very painful?”
Brin f...
2024-08-08 18:13:28 +0000 UTC
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It wasn’t quite the same caravan that set off from Oud’s Bog. For one thing, many of the merchants had stayed in the city and just as many more had joined up again, so there were a lot of new faces.
The landscape was an even larger change. The deep, dark forests of the Boglands were far behind and the world ahead of them looked to be made of nothing but rolling prairies interspersed with cultivated fields. The lack of ominous forest made the tone of the journey feel completely diffe...
2024-08-07 01:26:57 +0000 UTC
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Brin's pulse pounded in his ears. Despite the fact that [Know What's Real] made Brin absolutely certain that this was a dream, he'd never felt more strongly connected with his body. His pulse thrummed with heated anger, and disgust. This was her, the one who'd spent all those months torturing him. The one who'd ruined his lessons with Lumina, making him so tired during her lessons that he'd barely been able to stay awake. The one who'd made him relive every single painful memory from his dark...
2024-07-31 17:00:09 +0000 UTC
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As soon as he realized that he wouldn't be able to help the dead Bowers, Hogg dashed out of the house, throwing up a blizzard of visible eyes into the air. Once they were high enough in the air and out of sight, he started yelling. "Attack! Vampire attack in the city! Call the Watch!"
Brin followed him out, tugging on Hogg's coat. "I don't think it was a vampire."
"Shut up!" Hogg hissed, and kept yelling.
Lights came on in windows across the street, and Brin saw the mo...
2024-07-27 06:50:11 +0000 UTC
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Lurilan the [Hunter] savored the first breath of fresh air after stepping out of the Gilly [Hunter's] Lodge. It had become a ritual ever since the day he'd left home for good. He'd noticed at the time that free air tasted a great deal better than regular air, so he'd made it a habit every time he left a city or town to take a moment to savor it.
Not that he was totally out of civilization. He missed the old days when it was just the twelve of them starting out and Gilly had just been a ...
2024-07-26 05:43:56 +0000 UTC
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He waited for Neves to bring up the Kukubaru song, but the big man didn't start right away. He held up his cup and swirled the liquid around for a moment, looking somber.
Finally he said, "You have been too polite to comment on it, but you can't have helped but noticed that I am a baron, and not a count."
Brin honestly hadn't thought twice about that, so he just nodded.
"I was given governorship of this town as an assignment due to my accomplishments, and not by right of blo...
2024-07-19 19:48:25 +0000 UTC
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Brin stared at Baron Neves in shock. It was him; he was really here and he knew about Brin’s lawbreaking. He was screwed.
[Inspect] didn’t help much.
The Right and Honorable Lord Gualberto Neves, who by the grace and sufferance of His Excellency King Lancarote, High King of Frenaria, has been granted for his stewardship a barony in Southern Frenaria, the Neves Barony, and upon whom rests the governorship of Oud’s Bog and the surrounding townships, maintaining a...
2024-07-18 22:07:31 +0000 UTC
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Just realized it's been way too long since I've done one of these. I'll post chapter 40 in just a few minutes.
Information
Name: Brin isu Yambul
Age: 14
Race: Human
Class: Glassbound Illusionist
Level: 34
Attributes
Strength 187
Dexterity 150
Vitality 146
Magic 187
Mental Control 209
Will 113
Unassigned points 2
Titles
Survi...
2024-07-18 21:44:23 +0000 UTC
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Today's chapter will be late tonight or tomorrow. I'm still going to have 2 chapters out this week. Sorry for the inconvenience.
2024-07-17 21:09:49 +0000 UTC
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The further they ran the harder they laughed, until Brin was laughing so hard he started thinking he would collapse.
A group of Watchmen arrived from a side street behind them, running towards them in full plate armor and halberds in hand. “Halt in the name of the law!”
Brin and his friends looked at each other in horror, smiles draining from their faces. What were they going to do? Were they actually going to stop and take their just desserts, or were they going to try to esc...
2024-07-12 17:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Before they could completely leave the marketplace, a man started shouting. His voice cut through the air like a knife, making it clear that Skills were at work. This was a professional. Looking around for the source of the disturbance, Brin saw him up above.
A neat little platform on top of a staircase rose above the market on the far side, and the shouting man looked very official. He wore a blue uniform with bits of stylized armor, a shining silver breastplate, greaves and shinguards...
2024-07-10 23:04:21 +0000 UTC
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The night was well and truly upon them and it had been a long day, so they went back to their inn for the night.
To his mild discomfort, Brin found that someone had gone through his bag while he was gone. All his clothes had been removed and laundered, and were now neatly folded on top of a dresser. Not just that, but a pair of nice striped pajamas had been added to the lot, in his size. They must've noticed he hadn't brought any and given them to him. Just how expensive was this inn? K...
2024-07-05 20:01:40 +0000 UTC
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Brin had to wonder why Oud’s Bog was considered a Bog town at all. Maybe once upon a time it had been like the others, a small hamlet snuggled tight against itself, huddling behind wooden walls to ward against a looming forest. Here, the forest was far away. By the time they reached the bottom of the hill, there was no sign of the forest at all. Every tree that wasn’t clearly decorational and owned by someone had been cut down to make way for farmland, suburbs, and then the city proper.
2024-07-03 18:35:46 +0000 UTC
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Zilly wasn't the only one in bad shape; most members of the caravan had been bitten at least once. Several people lay on the ground on blankets, mostly those with low levels and therefore low Vitality. The [Dancer] was one of the few who hadn't been touched, and she stepped nimbly between the rows of their makeshift triage, delivering poultices and anti-venom potions to those most affected.
Brin himself felt a burn and a slight fever from the snake bite he'd taken, but one of the [Merch...
2024-06-28 18:33:06 +0000 UTC
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Brin woke up suddenly in a cold sweat. The nightmare that had awakened him faded from his mind, but it hadn’t really been about anything, just a sudden spike of fear and panic that pushed him out of slumber.
The camp was quiet and dark; it was still a few hours before dawn and the bonfire that they made each night had sputtered out, but from what he could tell the night watch was still in place. A guard visible past the ring of wagons scanned the forest, moving his head back and forth...
2024-06-26 21:46:50 +0000 UTC
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