https://www.patreon.com/posts/98070680
Been swamped with editing work. The paperback is up on Amazon, which means it is now ranked on Amazon through Goodreads.com. I am also working with the voice artist daily for the audiobook for the first book and starting on second round of edits of book 2. Just a lot going on. I hope you all enjoyed the eclipse, and sorry for the delay in chapter publishing for other sto...
2024-04-09 16:01:37 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 5: The End of a Long Day
After Gareth and I enjoyed a good laugh at our impending good fortune, we got to work. “How many coins can you make in a day, Storme?” Gareth asked. He was serious now and probably thinking about all the things we could buy.
“Let me see how many large steel coins I can make today. The smaller value coins will be easier to spend without drawing notice. We will have to think about creating a reasonable enterprise to cover our g...
2024-04-08 00:56:19 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 4: Freya
Freya raced through the cobblestone streets to reach the candy maker. Her thoughts were on what a large steel coin could buy. She was definitely getting a honey sucker. They lasted hours. It was her favorite, even though Storme said she was rotting her teeth. What else should she get? The honey sucker was three steel. She suddenly stopped.
Storme had given her the coin, and she had voted in favor of Gareth. Was it a bribe attempt, or was he making...
2024-04-08 00:55:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 3: Abilities and Secrets
I was excited to try out magic for the first time. In the morning, I raced out of the house to the only public bathhouse in Hen’s Hollow. I paid the older woman, who was the attendant and owner, three copper coins. This got me a hot bath and a cold shower rinse, and my clothes were washed with scented soap and dried while I bathed. It was a splurge on my part, but I knew that creating unlimited wealth was in my future. Normally, our family would spend ...
2024-04-08 00:54:08 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 2: Growing up in Skyholme
After I was born, I was frustrated. My thoughts were slow and cloudy. I had my past knowledge, but it was hard to grasp and hold onto. It was like remembering the plot of a book you did not like reading from years ago. I also had to work hard at acting as baby-like as possible. Let me just say I was not a fan of soiling my diaper and crying when I was hungry.
When my eyes developed enough, I was able to see my family. My fat...
2024-04-08 00:53:16 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 1: The Failed Human Resources Liaison (Prologue)
The sun’s glare made the day’s heat much more intense. As I walked along the mountain ridge, sweat beaded on my brow and stung my eyes. I was out for a ten-day hike, a 100-mile trek through the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. It was a reprieve from my endless hours working as a vagabond sous chef. The terrain was very manageable, and the trail was well-marked. That was why I was shocked when the entire trail gave way beneath me, ...
2024-04-08 00:52:16 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 175
Lirkin moved into the room, all smiles, to talk with Castile. He looked malnourished, but his eyes were lively with the joy of seeing us. I joined them to discover how they connected with Flavius and the others. Castile immediately asked, “Who is with you?”
“There is a safe room down the corridor,” he pointed behind him. “Flavius, Brutus, Donte, Benito, Linus, Kolm, and the Scholar are down there.” The men moved in to crowd Lirkin...
2024-04-07 02:35:25 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 174: Good Cooks are Hard to Find
Castile was looking at me, her jaw unhinged. I asked innocently, “Are aether potions good?”
Castille found her voice, “Dungeon aether potions are impossible to get. Aether potions brewed by alchemists start to lose their efficacy immediately, and most alchemists lack the aether to infuse them properly! Yes, they are good!” She noted vehemently.
I pulled out the potion from underneath my armor and...
2024-04-06 02:53:44 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 180 Tainting an Angelic
I woke in the infirmary on the Shadow Fall. I had never used so much aether so fast before. One of the Medicus Magicae nearby looked over at me. I sat up, finding myself naked in my incubus body. As I inspected my state, she explained, “We removed the damaged power armor, and we were going to put you in the tank to heal, but it wasn’t necessary.”
I inspected my body and found my cooked flesh was healed. I remember the intense burning as I over...
2024-04-05 15:59:51 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 25: Players
The next day, some two hundred incorporeal dwarf NPCs came and started working on the barracks. Sanso would have to summon the stone, but the ghost-like dwarves would do all the work. They wouldn’t require any oversight, and the building would be completed according to the plan’s specifications.
Apparently, the dwarven builders were a high-tier dungeon reward that could be used to build one building. This variance of the reward could build any building up t...
2024-04-04 18:41:41 +0000 UTC View PostHere is the sample audio for chapter 1 of A Soldier's Life. Same narrator as the podcast. Thoughts? Unfortunately, looking at the stupid contract with ACX, I can't post the completed audiobook here.
2024-04-04 16:55:14 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 23: Finding a Barber
I wasn’t quite what you would call inspired when I drafted the barracks. It was a building I had no background in, so I was drafting from my imagination. I decided to make the barracks more of an extension to a gatehouse. Currently, the only road into town is the Southern Road, so these barracks would be positioned there. Sanso’s golems had constructed a long earthen wall that was 10 feet in height and stretched a two-mile arc around the town to the rive...
2024-04-04 16:36:55 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 21 End Game Revealed
A planar incursion? I opened my map and located Simba on the river bank not far away. I fast walked to Simba’s location. It sounded like we were going to be invaded, and it was going to be a disaster for the small village.
I found Simba peering into the water, and he was using his vine entangle spell as a fishing pole. I watched in amazement as a fish came up and tried to snag the bait on the end while another vine lashed down to the water and stunne...
2024-04-04 14:38:30 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 173 Triangle of Trust
I watched everyone sleep, snore, and emit various flatulations. I was home in a sense. I felt much safer being with the company and sharing the danger—not so much the smell. I popped an apex earth essence in secret, and it roiled my stomach for a bit. I leaned against the wall, squatted as my body consumed the essence, and sweated out the assimilation.
I needed to give myself more time between consuming affinity essences. I was...
2024-04-04 02:25:08 +0000 UTC View PostFind them in collections here:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/385643
2024-04-03 03:51:51 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 172 Safety in Numbers
I was anticipating a grand reunion with the company. Maveith would let me do all the talking to explain our journey so far in the dungeon. Mateo first entered the safe room and flamboyantly announced, “We found some wandering creatures in the dungeon. They smell like an ogre’s ass but are good people.”
This drew Castile’s attention, and Adrian and Blaze all looked up. Blaze had a massive grin on seeing us, and Castile smi...
2024-04-02 01:47:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 180 Academy Changes
Walking with with Sana to the Dungeon Academy in Aegis City quickly got me noticed. The locals know me from my healing and the Shiny Platinum, and my presence had spread like wildfire. What was curious was over half the people in the crowded streets were not natives of Skyholme. That was evident by their dress or the fact they were not human.
“Looks like you are famous,” Sana said as we walked. “I was once such in the islands.” Was Sana jealous ...
2024-04-01 04:17:44 +0000 UTC View PostSo, the next spell form the MC is going to learn is from the Earth Affinity. Before the end of book 3 he is going to review his 12 options. I am taking ideas
Earth Affinity Lesser Spell Forms (10-25)
(10) Shape Stone - Maveith's ability
(10) Imbue Glowstone - Create a temporary glow stone
(20) Locate Stone/Metal - find precious stones/metals at range
(20) Earth Speak - feel the vibrations in the ...
2024-03-31 02:33:51 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 171 Surprise Webbing
We had three unexplored corridors from the safe room, but we were following the note left by Castile. The corridor was unremarkable, a cookie cutter of all three dungeon levels. It was a short walk before we reached a room with large, elaborate webs crisscrossing the ceiling. The floor was stone with small patches of emerald grass that danced with the river of lights above. Large bulbous man-sized white sacs dotted the webs.
I was...
2024-03-30 18:05:32 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 170 Staying Grounded
I was looking forward to seeing my progress. I felt healthy and completely recovered after a week of full meals and the ring of sustenance increasing its effectiveness. I had not been training in my spare time, but I still felt like most of my strength and clarity of thought had recovered. I was not expecting too many gains as the period since my last reading was minimal. I was mostly focused on the illusion affinity. How much had it increased f...
2024-03-29 03:40:33 +0000 UTC View Postattached is a readers copy of book 2
it is out for editing right now and will be on kindle in July. the chapters are out of order in this collection so it will be easier to read with this
2024-03-28 20:27:42 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 19 Not Everyone Likes Small Villages
The air mage circled twice more before landing. He had a messy white beard and hair. He smiled on landing and looked at the assortment of townsfolk that had come out to greet him at his entrance. He looked directly at me, “Lord? You seem to be in charge here. Is there a good inn where I can wet my whistle? I just flew in, and my arms are tired!” The people around me looked at each other, confused. I wasn’t sure if we had a good-natured ...
2024-03-28 17:05:55 +0000 UTC View PostEXPLICIT CHAPTER WARNING - I THINK THIS IS THE ONLY CHAPTER IN THIS STORY WITH ADULT CONTENT
Chapter 18 Caving to Desire
I left with Jaesmin to find Sanso. He was working with his elementals on the roads in town. We had a heavy rain last night, and the paths were quite muddy. “Lord Tallis! I am glad to see you this morning!”
“Master Sanso, you are in town early this morning. I was just coming to find you to set up our building priorities for the next few weeks....
2024-03-28 16:08:24 +0000 UTC View Postchapter 16 and 17 were mashed together. i seperated them
2024-03-28 15:49:49 +0000 UTC View Postlots of tables in this chapter. just a note from the author - when I wrote this story my premise always was: if I was trapped in a game what would I want the game to be like. it resulted in a very complex and layered mechanics
2024-03-28 15:42:35 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 179 Goodbyes
The shuttle zipped to a high altitude above Planesia and selected a transit. The shuttle approached and pressed into the transit and bypassed immersion to appear directly in orbit above Mercanious. It used a lot of aether but was the best way to go, and it was similar to my own ability, which allowed me to bypass entering a transit in favor of going to a higher layer.
I was allowed to tie into the sensors and watched as the sensors started to feed data to pilo...
2024-03-28 05:03:23 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 169 Something Brewing
Through the pain, I kept trying to tell myself that it was not as bad as when I consumed the apex earth essence in Macha. Maveith’s voice echoed in the back of my mind as he tried to communicate, but the pain was taking all my focus. I bit my tongue, the metallic coppery-tasting blood filling my mouth. As the pain ebbed away, my clenching muscles relaxed. I rasped out, “How long?”
Maveith was kneeling over me, “Less than ...
2024-03-27 20:38:57 +0000 UTC View Post