alwaysrollsaone

Town Builder - 80 - Duchy of Malcum (edited 12-15-24, +300 words no major changes)

Chapter 80: Duchy of Malcum

“Is that the only building in Malcum you have analyzed,” I asked worriedly.

“Yes, it took an expensive reveal scroll to analyze it. It was just too impressive looking not to.” Savior noted neutrally through the voice chat.

It wasn’t going to be the last time this happened to me. A reveal scroll bypassed all obfuscation skills and defenses. At least it was costing people to view my buildings. I che...

A Soldier's Life - 294 - Orc Subterfuge (final edit 7-2-25)

Chapter 294: Orc Subterfuge

I woke a few hours later, somehow during the night I had rolled back over and was now hugging the large white wolf. The warmth had been welcome, but I needed to relieve Mateo and Maveith on watch. The wolf roused with me, shaking its coat. Its brother was sleeping outside the door to the single-room cabin. I thought this might be the one I comforted during the thunder and lightning display. I rolled up my bedroll and sent the griffin pillow and bedroll to sto...

A Soldiers Life POV Chapter Vote

I was not going to do another one for Book 5, but Book 5 is going to run longer than expected. I have been targeting 60 chapters per book, but I am expecting book 5 to be 70ish chapters.

For those of you new to my page, almost every POV chapter in the story was voted on by patrons on Patreon. It sounds like a weird thing for me to do, but the story is written as a web serial, so it made sense at the time.

It has also shaped the story! Did you know Raelia was supposed to die at ...

A Soldier's Life - 293 - Victory in Defeat (final edit 7-1-25)

Chapter 293: Victory In Defeat

After more than a dozen explosions had shaken the area, I was covered in pine needles and splinters that had fallen from above. One of the large white wolves looked for comfort with its head in my lap. I remember when Oscar was a puppy and he was afraid of thunder and lightning, and I empathized with the wolf. His brother had pushed himself behind me, trying unsuccessfully to hide under the log I was seated on. I figured the pair would have left if not for...

World Sphere - 204 - Catching Up With Old Friends 

Chapter 204: Catching Up With Old Friends 

Aelyn had apparently heard from Bylura that Gareth was in the capital. I took the Maelstrom alone, and found Gareth in the capital at The Gentle Tauren talking with Broderick, the barkeep and owner. “Welcome, High Mage!” The innkeeper greeted me, causing Gareth to turn in his stool. Even though the stool was sturdy, it still protested my friend’s weight. Gareth had his ever-present grin on his face. It had...

A Soldier's Life - 292 - Exiled Elder (Final edit 7-1-25)

Chapter 292: Exiled Elder

Mynasha found herself riding next to me as I devoured some salted candied nuts. It was taking a fair amount of aether to heal from the potion, and my ring of sustenance had not dulled my appetite. I wasn’t sure if my convergence spell form to get the most from essences also extended to the strength potion. There might be some truth in that speculation, given how much aether I gathered from dungeon aether restoratives. Maybe it was just dungeon potions, as I d...

A Soldier's Life - 291 - Strength of Giants (edited on 6-28-25)

Chapter 291: Strength of Giants

The gatehouse was open, and two orcs in hardened leather armor stood watch. They had long spears, and they became alert as we passed them, studying us. Our clerics did not hide their nature, Glasha’s brilliant red hair on display, and I was sure the guards would report our passing. Glowstones appeared among my companions, giving us a soft halo of light. Blaze and Raelia rode out front, while Benito and Mateo rode in the rear. Maveith rode next to Glasha...

A Soldiers Life 206 and 207 added to book 4 collection

https://www.patreon.com/collection/704892

A Soldier's Life - 290 - Mynasha (final edit 6-27-25)

Chapter 290: Mynasha

In Orcish, I replied, “You don’t look that special either. What makes you think you can become the Supreme Cleric?” Mynasha winced, realizing I could understand her, but recovered immediately.

Glasha cackled a soft laugh at Mynasha’s surprise. “I have been teaching the Telhian our language, he is actually a remarkedly quick learner.” She gave a wink at Mateo, “the others are quick at other things. The elf already speaks our language passably.”<...

A Soldier's Life - 289 - She Looks Familiar (final edit 6-26-25)

Chapter 289: She Looks Familiar

Glasha didn’t object and gently took the dungeon blade as I softly placed it in her hands. Like all the weapons my companions and I carried, the ornate hilt and guard were obscured with tarnish and wrappings to hide their obvious artificed origins. Based on what I had seen, among adventurers, this wasn’t an uncommon practice.

“Dungeon forged,” she said, inspecting the silvery length of the blade, running her finger down it. I watched the orc...

PDF of Book 3 for personal use only

Soldier Seraphim Chapters 289 and 290 are coming tonight (289 is 80% done)

Book 3 of A Soldiers Life is being published this week on Amazon. Here is a copy, so you dont need to buy it. This is copyrighted material and illegal to distribute without my permission. It will be available here until it goes to KU in January. The paperback and hardcover will come out next week, with the Audiobook coming on December 1st.

I am going to post my top 3 narrator auditions here for feedback fr...

Town Builder - 79 -

Chapter 79:

I had to wait for Blood Crisis to log in. I was stressed about the implications, and all I could find by searching online were obscure references to the class action lawsuit on behalf of the hard-wired players “owned” by the game corp. The issue was the lawyers trying to organize the lawsuit had no way to contact the hard-wired players other than entering the game and approaching them in-game to sign onto the lawsuit.

The lawyers were having trouble as...

A Soldier's Life - 288 - Speed Run (final edit 6-26-25)

Chapter 288: Speed Run

“Don’t blame Mateo,” Glasha said, smirking. “He was quite drunk, and I have been told I am quite persuasive.” Mateo was hiding innocuously behind Maveith.

“Did you use magic on him?” Raelia said accusingly.

“No,” Glasha stated defiantly, with a quiet snarl on her face. The orc and elf stared down at each other under the strobing lights of the dungeon.

“Well, it’s done. It is not a dangerous secret unless Glasha plans to use ...

World Sphere - 203 - Loot Division

Chapter 203: Loot Division

“It was definitely searching for the core.” Relik stood on the hill looking down at the torn-apart fire giant and all the excavated holes in the rocky ground.

“It didn’t find it?” I asked, looking at the pile of items that were expelled from the creature’s dimensional storage.

“The dungeon is stable. If its goal was to destroy the core, it would have done so as soon as it found it.” Relik stated. “You should tell Sana...

A Soldier's Life - 287 - The Vault of the Spirit Arachnid (final edit 6-24-25)

Chapter 287: The Vault of the Spirit Arachnid

I was up well before the others and went to check on the horses. Ginger got an extra rubdown while I handed out half-apples to the rest of the mounts. As I brushed her flank, I found myself quietly explaining that I’d be gone all day on a dungeon delve and that she shouldn’t worry. Of course, she couldn’t understand me—but I spoke to her anyway. Ginger wasn’t just a mount. She was a companion I trusted.

Leaving the stables, I...

A Soldier's Life - 286 - Misunderstandings (final edit 6-24-25)

Chapter 286: Misunderstandings

I had read a little about the city we were entering. The city of Grila was in the heart of the Caliphate, and as such, it was a crossroads for travel and trade. It was on a small plateau that allowed sewers to be easily incorporated into its design. Water was raised from deep wells by an Archimedes screw. Well, the text didn’t call it that, but I managed to figure out what it was called on Earth in the dreamscape. It was an ingenious use of technology an...

A Soldier's Life - 285 - Button Up (final edit 6-22-25)

Chapter 285: Button Up

Glasha carefully packed the runic pauldrons. They could probably fit Mateo or me, but they needed padding fitted to them. Of course, their bright, silver appearance was a beacon on the battlefield. The cleric was grinning the entire time, and I was happy we would be done with the job. “We can escort you to Grila,” I offered. A confused look overcame the cleric’s face, and I guessed she didn’t see the job as done.

“Why would I want to travel to Gril...

A Soldier's Life - 284 - Revelation (final edit 6-22-25)

Chapter 284: Revelations

It wasn’t long before our group had ventured beyond the surrounding farmland and headed into shrub and bushlands. I was riding next to Glasha mid-morning, whose excitement was contagious. She had Benito and Mateo talking energetically about finding some ancient weapons of the giants and wielding them in battle.

It passed over both their heads that they would have no way to lift them much less wield them. I had seen a storm giant’s blade firsthand, and ...

A Soldier's Life - 283 - The Chronologicaler (final edit 6-21-25)

Chapter 283: The Chronologicaler

The mud hadn’t firmed up by the morning, and the horses struggled to walk. I ordered everyone to dismount and walk them, and we fared little better than the horses, sinking to mid-calf. Baldo sat upright in his seat, confused as to why the stupid people were walking in the mud. Raelia was still disappointed in me for letting the orc boy go, and not talking to me at all.

As we had feared, the bridge was gone—swept away in the night. The broad st...

A Soldier's Life - 282 - Skeletons In The Closet (final edit 6-20-25 - big changes that ripple to book 7)

Chapter 282: Skeletons In The Closet

Getting to higher ground made sense, and the burned-out farm was on top of a hill. We didn’t need the glowstones with the rapid flashing lightning, but had them out anyway. Only Mateo’s horse was giving us trouble as the constant waves of thunder spooked him. He even dragged Mateo through the mud for fifty feet on one particularly close strike when he bolted.

As we returned to the farm, we were caked up to our knees in mud. We all huddled i...

Town Builder - 78 - Big Decision

Chapter 78: Big Decision

“Epic plans! Was it a dungeon reward?”

“No, it is marked as a player-crafted good, but the player kept his name anonymous.”

“Maybe his name is Anonymous.”

“That is a stupid trope. It was one of the early start players who crafted it.”

“It’s not fair those play testers got to keep their levels.”

“I heard from a cousin who has a friend who is married to one of the developers that it was because they were hardwi...

Map of Northern Boutan Caliphate

Questions on geography:

Attached is the map of the Caliphate they are traveling in. They entered in the bottom right and were headed northwest along the trade road that goes all the way to the Caliphate capital of Becar. Their ultimate goal is Agurtra, which is east of the capital of Becar. That is where the warlord who purchased Maveith's sister rules.

The interactive map on the continent needs to be opened with 2024-10-20 23:25:51 +0000 UTC View Post

A Soldier's Life - 281 - Fortuna's Chosen (Final Edit 6-19-25)

Chapter 281: Fortuna’s Chosen

It was the first time I had felt exhausted in a while, and my ring of sustenance and essence-fortified attributes could not overcome my lack of sleep and the stress of leadership. I dressed in my adventurer armor and then rubbed down Ginger before breakfast. When I told the stable hand we were leaving today, he went to get coppers since I had paid for three days. I refused the refund to his confusion.

There was a small outfitter in the guild hall wh...

A Soldier's Life - 280 - Fake It Till You Make It (final edit 6-19-25)

Chapter 280: Fake It Till You Make It

Khoura was a sprawling city nestled among crop fields being cultivated for planting. The outer walls were a dark stone, but most of the buildings within were made of wood. It almost felt like we were in an alien world with nearly every citizen being an orc. Orc skin was mostly tones of gray, but there were occasional orcs with shades of greenish or reddish tint.

I caught Maveith’s attention from his focus on the goliaths carrying a carriage....

World Sphere - 202 - Gift Exchange

Chapter 202:

Heat emanated from the steamy pools, causing us all to sweat—no, Relik was not sweating even though he wore more clothes and armor than us. I activated my thermostatic aura spell as it would not take much aether to sustain. The most disconcerting point was you couldn’t see any threats in the expanse before us. There used to be fire lizards and fire wasps on this floor. They were modest-sized lizards with short-range naphtha spit that ignited into intense fl...

A Soldier's Life - 279 - Show Me The Money (final edit 6-17-25)

Chapter 279: Show Me The Money

When I returned from washing my armor and rinsing my clothes—again, the children were gone, and my companions were standing around the seven heads across the ground. Maveith looked up at me, his voice full of concern. “There were seven of them.”

I moved in close to the group, so we couldn’t be easily overheard. I assumed the townsfolk were focused on the children at the moment, and my night vision told me no one was hiding nearby. I slowly co...

A Soldier's Life - 278 - Handle With Care (Final Edit on 6-17-25, but still taking chap title suggestions before sending to editor)

Chapter 278: Handle With Care

While I worked, I pulsed earth speak regularly to ensure I had no more unwanted guests. The first thing I did was collect the essence from the corpses. The alpha yielded an apex essence of aether resistance, while four of the remaining five she-wolves yielded lesser essences. Two of the females had been pregnant, and they yielded an empathy and perception essence. The other one yielded a minor essence of strength. There was no guilt, as those babes wou...

Town Builder - 77 - Rival

Chapter 77: Rival

The decimated undead army was picking itself up and reforming. Tanguin turned to me, “Four hundred six zombies, twenty-one knights remain. Most are injured. I could send the infantry to cleanup.”

As he talked to me, players leaped off the walls and ran to engage the undead. “It looks like they will not be needed.” My interface pinged with a message from Mad Dog as I watched dozens of players race to finish off the undead.

“Tallis, th...

A Soldier's Life - 277 - Howl You Doing? (final edit 6-16-25)

Chapter 277: Howl You Doing?

By Rolf’s expression, maybe I had exceeded my authority. Rolf was not the only one in shock; Raelia was still seated on Stormcloud, looking at me strangely. The elven townsfolk began murmuring excitedly amongst themselves as the leader told me what happened. “This morning, the beast broke into the house. We think her brother tried to protect her, and the werewolf killed him and took her. She was hauled away screaming before dawn. By the time our men had ...

A Soldier's Life - 276 - Escort Duty (final edit 6-15-25)

Chapter 276: Escort Duty

I was the first one to the stables, but it was four hours before sunrise. Ginger was happy to see me even though I was disturbing her beauty rest, and the other mounts knew I was the human with the apples. After giving Ginger a rub down, I inspected Raelia’s gray.

It was a young stallion in excellent condition, and he responded well to my hands as I checked his hooves, musculature, and teeth. Ginger was getting a bit jealous in her stall, but I wanted to...