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Starship Engineer - 183 - Bloody Age of Humanity

Chapter 183

I admitted to myself that I had wanted to be one of the explorers to go to and search for one of the ancient inert beacons.  I might have gone if not for my children still being unaccounted for.  They left to the best festivities we could conjure up in the system.  This was, after all, a chance to save all races from the wrath of the Malevolants.

After the expedition to the galaxy’s center left, the remaining Sylvan city ships in the system started to ...

A Soldier's Life - 126 - Choosing Sides

Chapter 126 Choosing Sides

I was seated across from Castile, a worn, dark oak table between us.  Two gold rings, a silver necklace, and some folded papers were on the table.  She studied me until I started to get uncomfortable.  Castile broke the silence, “Can I see the amulet?”

I didn’t hesitate, and I put the amulet on the table.  Castile picked it up and turned it in her hands.  I was watching her eyes to see if she used it.  She eventually p...

Starship Engineer/ Town Builder

This is an announcement that I plan to finish Starship Engineer in February (7 weeks - 8 chapters or so).  After Starship is done, I will be editing Town Builder with a quick read through edit and then starting to add to the Town Builder story at the rate of one chapter a week.  The Starship Engineer/Town Builder Tier will continue to have A Soldier's Life Access going forward as well.  Feel free to ask any questions.

A Soldier's Life - 125 - Preparation

Chapter 125

With Maveith trailing me, I entered the library.  Scholar Favian was sorting books on a table.  “Eryk, I am not ready yet.  Trying to decide which books will be most helpful on the expedition.”

“You are coming to the Haunted Ruins?”  I asked, surprised at the old scholar’s statement.

“Of course!  Are you not here to pack my things?  Mage Castile said, half of your dimensional space is at my disposal, and you and Maveith w...

A Soldier's Life - 111 -

Chapter 111

Konstantin’s body was a mess as we brought it into the barracks.  The company huddled around as he was placed on a table and his body stripped.  The smell of burnt flesh and charred leather was strong among the stink of days in the woods.  His leather bracers had bite marks on them, and when removed, bloody, partially scabbed-over puncture marks were underneath.  Lirkin checked the forearm, “Bone is broken.  Get the healer in the city if someone ...

A Soldier's Life - 110 - Maveith Likes Checkers

Chapter 110

The soldiers for the Countess were at attention and waiting for orders.  They were all sneaking glances curiously at Maveith.  Brutus looked to have been working with the Citadel gate guards.  Brutus looked tired and asked, “I am done for the day.  Do you mind if I spend some time with you in the alchemist tower?”

“You are welcome to.  Maveith hauled up an old table and some seating a few days ago.  Why don’t you go steal something...

A Soldier's Life - 124 - A Woman Can Not Keep a Secret

Chapter 124 A Woman Can Not Keep a Secret

Boris had essentially challenged me in front of everyone.  I looked to Castile, who had been uncomfortable with the whole display, and now she even wore a frown.  I looked back at Adrian and Delmar, and neither offered me help dealing with the First Citizen.

First Citizen Boris had the unmistakable smile of someone who thought they were better than you.  He walked out onto the sand while I sheathed my new black blade.  ...

An Incubus Life - 166 - Gundella's Fall

Chapter 166 Gundella POV (voted on by Patrons)

Gundella watched Apollyon slip into the portal between worlds after his group.  She had not yet gotten everything she could out of the strange orc Champion.  But she had gained a lot so far.  Her daughter, Tevega, was going to be an exceptional fighter and had unlocked the ancestor’s blood in her veins.  Tevega was even beginning to enjoy the training and getting proficient with an array of weapons.  The expensive...

A Soldiers Life January POV poll

Last Month winner was elven summoners!

An Incubus Life - 165 -

Chapter 165

Sharn and the orcs of the Molten Fist looked confused and maybe even afraid as I landed in my incubus form and walked calmly while transforming back into my orc body.  My true nature had surprised them, and now they were trapped in a desert with a demon and his companions.   When I landed on the beach, the Molten Fist Clan had formed a tight circle, half of them with weapons drawn.  I ignored them and walked to Bedelia and Aurora.  Maybe this would m...

World Sphere - 158 - The Gang's All Here, Almost

Chapter 158

The feather fall ring had worked and worked well.  I had artificed it myself, but it was the first time I had used it.  The adrenaline rush had been intoxicating.  Even if my ring had not activated, I was fairly certain my lightning reflexes spell would have given me some protection from the rapid halt of meeting the ground.  I oriented myself and looked to the sky.  Being invisible, I was not worried about being spotted.

Two black skyships zip...

Starship Engineer - 182

Chapter 182 Operation Purge

When the Godfather Agents moved on the Brotherhood, it had been synchronized throughout human-controlled space.  It had taken three months to get the message out to all the field agents and Godfather Cells.  Everything was to occur on the same galactic date.  A few subtle and not-so-subtle actions had been taken in the greater galaxy to encourage the core of the Brotherhood to convene meetings to deal with the issues.

Dangerous ripples th...

World Sphere - 157 - The Mage Hunter

Chapter 157 The Mage Hunter

The skyship I was on was slightly unusual; its bridge was in the bow and had a one-hundred-eight-degree forward view, but I did not know of anything happening on the top deck behind me.  From the design, it was not what I would consider a warship.

The controls were clearly labeled in a beautiful but unfamiliar script.  I cast my comprehend languages spell and quickly reviewed the controls.  All the controls were easy to understand with tr...

A Soldier's Life - 123 - Contested Blades

Chapter 123 Contested Blades

I made my way to the central courtyard and found an elaborate setup.  The central square of the fading gardens had been set with a thin layer of sand.  Over a hundred spectators stood to watch on one side of the square.  Most of the spectators were workers in the Citadel.

A slightly raised wooden platform was on another edge of the square.  The platform had a number of occupied seats.  Castile was seated next to the Duchess in ...

A Soldier's Life - 122 - Good Samaritan

Chapter 122 Good Samaritan

As the company registered the disbelief of my presence, they came by to slap me on the back—not gently—and congratulate me once again for a miraculous survival. I think the slaps were to make sure I was actually here and not an illusion. With the welcome done, I started eating breakfast in earnest.

I was pretty sure Firth started whispering a new nickname for me around the table: The Revenant. He thought it was funny, but I did not. Konstantin had ca...

A Soldier's Life - 121 - Flavius and Konstantin

Chapter 121 Flavius and Konstantin

The early morning sun was showing, but the forest was in a mild fog as two men in legion armor jogged through the woods. One was scouting left and the other right as they moved in harmony.  Flavius, on the right, asked, “You didn’t know he could heal, did you?”

Konstantin did not say anything for a mile as they raced toward the site where the wyvern had killed Master Mage Sebastian. Slightly out of breath, he finally responded to Flavi...

A Soldier's Life - 109 - The Duchess' Mother

Chapter 109 The Duchess’ Mother

I felt secure in my little corner of the tower as I entered the dreamscape.  Oscar was there to greet me, and I gladly spent a few minutes rubbing his furry belly.  I planned to limit my time in the dreamscape to just four hours unless I knew I would not be disturbed.  I spent my time studying the spell form tonight.  I wanted to learn slow aging as soon as possible.  When I returned from the dreamscape, it was dark outside, and...

A Soldier's Life - 108 - Goblin Slaughter

Chapter 108 Goblin Slaughter

The road was wet with light rain from last night.  I walked next to Maveith with Flavius and Blaze in front.  My mind was still turning over the fact that Lareen knew I had a dreamscape amulet.  She might know what it was, but I doubt she had figured out just how valuable it was.  Six thousand gold was a fortune in the Telhian Empire.  I also wanted to keep how I obtained it a secret.  Maybe I was selfish, but I did not want to ...

World Sphere - 157 - The Mage Hunter

Chapter 157 The Mage Hunter

The skyship I was on was slightly unusual; its bridge was in the bow and had a one-hundred-eight-degree forward view, but I did not know of anything happening on the top deck behind me.  From the design, it was not what I would consider a warship.

The controls were clearly labeled in a beautiful but unfamiliar script.  I cast my comprehend languages spell and quickly reviewed the controls.  All the controls were easy to understand. The ae...

World Sphere - 156 -

Chapter 156

I was trapped in the aether core room. The door was splintering, and I was standing invisible against the wall. The massive ship was slowly falling from the sky by the lightening feeling in my stomach. The backup runes connecting the two forward crystals were either poorly maintained or could not handle the volume of aether required to power the antigravity runes.

I smirked as I pushed the ship’s forward movement to its max. I had just wanted the ship not to crash in...

World Sphere - 155 - The Sky King

Chapter 155 The Sky King

As soon the communication stones wouldn’t work, I immediately knew what the Black Mauraders had planned.  They had used a large number of skyships and attackers in the initial assault to make Skyholme think they committed all their assets to secure three islands for a foothold.

They expected Skyholme to put together a sizable force to retake the three lost islands, thinking they had a chance to win.  Then the hammer came.  First, they cut ...

Starship Engineer - 181

Chapter 181 The Malevolent Truth

When Desdemona’s ship, the Excalibur, returned to the Bradbury system after nearly fifteen months away, she called for an immediate private meeting with me.  Entering my captain’s briefing room on the Fateweaver, she was a little shocked by the three city ships, and we spent some time discussing why they were here, before getting to her important information.

She was not angry with me for giving away the technology in return for help defen...

A Soldier's Life - 120 -

Chapter 120

In the morning, we made our way to catch up to the company.  I was having some trepidation about answering questions about my miraculous survival.  No one had seen the dead wyvern, and I probably should not have told Maveith I had poisoned the beast as he had trouble with the idea of lying.  I also should not have healed all my injuries.  Maybe if I returned like I had been put through a meat grinder, they would have thought my escape was more probable. 2023-12-21 05:27:30 +0000 UTC View Post

A Soldier's Life - 107 - Not So Secret Anymore

Chapter 107 Not So Secret Anymore

My practice with Maveith was not proceeding as I had envisioned. I was sprawled on the ground for the fifth time this afternoon.  My ribs ached as Maveith extended his hand to help me to stand.  “You are too bloody strong, Maveith,” I complimented him while wincing and focusing on healing a cracked rib. I had not revealed my healing to Maveith, but he had gotten more aggressive with his swings when he noticed I had recovered quickly from h...

A Soldier's Life - 106 -

Chapter 106

I entered the dreamscape and was greeted by Oscar.  He seemed so lifelike that I almost felt guilty for always leaving him here alone.   Not that I could take him out of here anyway.  I started by taking in an hour of practice with Xavier, Adrian, and Konstantin.  Using my air shield was becoming more natural.  I was also improving by using fewer shields to conserve my meager aether.

After combat training, I tried to change the walls of th...

A Soldier's Life - 119

Chapter 119

I was cold. My body felt like I was left out in the snow naked. I was in the barn that I had arrived in this world. I was naked, and the air was freezing. My skin was goosebumped, and I felt like I was frozen solid, unable to move. I tried to force myself to move, and pain erupted through my whole body.

The barn door rattled, and my eyes focused on the light bleeding through the corners.  The door suddenly burst into a thousand pieces, and a massive wyvern was per...

An Incubus Life - 164

Chapter 164

Having sent Iris and Vida back to Earth was somewhat of a relief.  We were all in danger but them more so.  Also, I questioned Vida’s commitment to our objectives.  She might be loyal to me, but she was selfish, like most orcs I had encountered to date.  I still had the scroll in my mind space from the deceitful efeert that had tricked her into carrying his child.  I was not sure how that was going to be resolved.

Bedelia relaxed on the bed, ...

A Soldier's Life - 118 - Aerial Ballet

Chapter 118 Aerial Ballet

The wyvern made the drake look small in comparison.  Sebastian turned hard and low as he flew his drake among the scattered trees.  The wyvern did not pursue but instead landed at the base of the tree where the summoner was.  Konstantin and I used the trunk and lower branches for cover, only barely looking at the scene in the distance.  The summoner emerged from the tree and stood before the wyvern that towered over him.  Its serpentine...

A Soldier's Life - 105 - Truffle Subcontracting

Chapter 105 Truffle Subcontracting

I left the alchemist in the tower while trying to figure out how to get his truffles.  With leaves changing, it meant winter was coming.  How much longer would I be able to harvest for the alchemist?  There was still some daylight to burn, so I paused in the library.  If no one was here, I could perhaps do some research.

The large doors creaked loudly, and I was bewildered to find the Duchess and Scholar Favian inside. “Legi...

World Sphere - 154 - Regrouping

Chapter 154

I settled into the pilot’s seat of the Silent Gloom.  Everything was standard for flight controls of a skyship—I just needed to get a feel for the control’s sensitivity.  Additional controls were tied into the ship’s aether crystal, but none were labeled.  I assumed shields and aether cannon controls were somewhere in their number, but I did not have time to figure out what did what at the moment.

I used my communication stone and told Leda, “L...