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A Soldier's Life - 101 -

Chapter 101

The heavy, thick rain was also loud.  We all pulled out oil cloaks and wrapped ourselves tight. Even under the cloak, my metal helmet echoed a constant cadence of thunks as we pressed on.  My immediate thought was remembering our raft trip from the capital.  This rain was similar except that it now also had a chill to it.  Even with my oiled cloak wrapped tight, my clothes were drenched, and it drained my body heat, and I shivered.  Blaze, to my left...

A Soldier's Life - 100 - Reunion

Chapter 100 Reunion

In the dreamscape, Xavier and Konstantin had some good fights. Xavier won almost every time, though. Whether this was a subconscious effort to put Konstantin in his place, I did not know. After watching for a good hour, I joined them. I would fight one while the other watched and then gave me feedback. Then, I would switch.

I was not sure how much I was getting from this practice, but I knew that muscle memory translated into the real world. The best part about...

A Soldier's Life - 96 - Decimus

Chapter 96 Decimus

The red-skinned alchemist looked ridiculous.  His skin looked like red paint, with a slight glisten to it, but this being a magical world, I doubted it was actual paint.  He waited patiently for us to ask for our pleasure.  I had asked Adrian if perhaps it would be better to try and recruit the other alchemist.

Adrian muttered softly, “No, this is the one Castile said to bring back.  Let me do the talking.”

Adrian stepped forward, �...

A Soldier's Life - 99 -

Chapter 99

We rode through the gates of the city just before sunset.  I had tempered my healing so my aches and pains would not need to be faked. Adrian registered our travel with the gate guards, and then we moved into the city.  Adrian handed out orders.  “Lucien and Blaze, go to the public baths.  Do not head to Legion Hall until you at least smell bearable. Lucien, report the ettin kill at the Legion Hall.”

Lucien groaned, “That is right, the Legion H...

A Soldier's Life - 95 - Unravelling the Dreamscape

Chapter 95 Unravelling the Dreamscape

I lost to Adrian twice before I defeated him during our third fight.  The dreamscape creation mimicked the real-world Adrian so well that even his facial expressions and mannerisms reminded me of him.  I was wondering if this was perhaps something more than an illusion that the amulet drew from my mind.

“Adrian, where were you born?”  I asked after finally defeating him.

The facsimile of Adrian shrugged, “That is not...

An Incubus Life - 158

• Edits of Changes Coming
• He      will create his orc body from a piece of a long-dead Champion Orc in his      mind space. This will be given to him from Vida, who got it at the      Bazaar.  This will fill in some of the out-of-character actions for      the MC as I have him acting like an orc.
• All      members traveling to Mercanious will h...
  2023-11-15 07:13:00 +0000 UTC View Post

An Incubus Life - 155 - Rincewind (POV)

Chapter 155

Rincewind was getting too old for this crap.  He had retired to Earth a few thousand years ago.  It was a nice out-of-the-way planet on the twenty-third layer.  It was meaningless in the larger scheme of things.  Just a grain of sand at the bottom of an ocean.  He had lived a thousand lifetimes and just wanted to mentor some children and watch them and their descendants grow.

Now, in the past month, he had been forced to fight an aboleth, negot...

World Sphere - 146 -

Chapter 146

I returned to the Maelstrom to find an elated Lorae.  Her father had told her they were already going to Skyholme, and she had a thousand questions.  What was the food like?  How big were the islands?  What made them float?  Would she be allowed in the baby dungeon, as her father called it?

I immediately thought Freya would have someone to talk to.  Even though the young elf woman was 29 years old, she still reminded me of my young sister....

World Sphere - 145 - Duskhunters

Chapter 145

In the middle of the flight to Llorth, the cats woke me because they decided it was past time to eat.  I fed them and did their reward training.  Kiara, the white displacer beast, showed her ability for the first time.  Her body blurred, and she projected a false image of herself a few inches away.  It was quite impressive, especially since they usually did not display the ability until they were a year old.  She was a real prodigy.  Adrial, see...

Starship Engineer - 173 - Escape with a Cost

Chapter 173 Escape with a Cost

The Brotherhood had us trapped unless we could micro-jump away.  The Sunheart met the same fate as us.  A battleship and one of the carriers appeared in their escape vector.  The Brotherhood battleships initiated subspace disruption again before Fateweaver could flee into subspace.  There was good news for my Fateweaver as we could only be targeted by a single battleship; the one blocking our path was the only one in weapons range. &nbs...

World Sphere - 144 -

Chapter 144

“Why is the Princess here, Isla?”  I sounded calm and probably should have predicted this.

The color from Isla’s face drained a little, “She…Loriel…I…they said you said…I…”

I held up my communication stone,  “You have one.  Ask me next time to confirm.”

Isla apologized and explained, “With the attack coming, they thought it was the most secure place was the best place for the Princess.  I thought…”  She...

Starship Engineer - 172 -

Chapter 172

With the Brotherhood massing outside the Bradbury system in deep space, we immediately split the Fateweaver crew into three, sending a third to the Nero and another third to the Sunheart.  We pulled in unqualified pilots from the extended asteroid training stations to fly the Slipstream fighters on board.  The Academy on the planet was sending everyone they could who had completed enough certifications to show some competency.  It was a scramble as we did not ...

Starship Engineer - 6 - Creating Eve

Chapter 6 Creating Eve

The sixth term started with a bang.  Asher and his crew ambushed me again the second week.  Apparently, he had learned Gwen had warned most female students away from him in retribution for his attack on me.  Well, it didn’t quite go as planned for them.  They attacked me as I was taking a shortcut to berth 12-A to rebuild the holding tanks on a cruiser’s aft backup life support systems.  There were six of them this time; four were in f...

Starship Engineer - 5- Naval Academy: Term 5

Chapter 5 Naval Academy: Term 5

My advisor meeting for the fifth term went well.  I had a new advisor who didn’t care, which was a good thing for me.  I was just 89 hours from reaching Grade 2 in life support systems, and that was all he focused on during the meeting.  I don’t think he read past that on my sheet, as our meeting lasted just 9 minutes.  My class rank had slipped again, down to 39th.  It wasn’t surprising as people were starting to reach Grad...

A Soldier's Life - 98 - Renna's Path

Chapter 98 Renna’s Path

Renna walked the halls of the Mage College.  She really could not believe she was here and, truth be known, didn’t want to be here.  She had recently arrived and was left on her own to acclimate, as High Mage Livian had said.  The school was currently out of session for the New Year holiday.  She was enrolled in the newest class of Aspirant Mages.

An Aspirant Mage was one who had the potential to cast true spells, learning to manipul...

A Soldier's Life - 97 - Another Giant

Chapter 97 Another Giant

The blue light of the moon lit the road below us, maybe a quarter mile away.  Creatures started scurrying across, fleeing the destruction behind them.  “No glowstones!” Adrian warned us unnecessarily.

Two deer and then two large boars crossed the road.  Branches were shattered as a behemoth entered onto the road behind them the fleeing creatures.  It took me a moment to process what I was seeing.  Adrian whispered harshly at Lu...

A Soldier's Life - 94 -

Chapter 94

“Wake up legionnaire.  Lucien wants you down in the stables,” A gruff voice said, standing over my bed.

It was still dark, but the voice was familiar. I asked, “Adrian, why didn’t you knock?”

“Tace wood door.  And I got a set of keys to all the legionnaire rooms,” he jingled the keys as emphasis.  “Get up and help prepare the horses.  Say your goodbyes.  We should be back in two weeks.”  He walked out, having issued ...

A Soldier's Life - 93 - Duchess' Library

Chapter 93 Duchess' Library 

My combat senses awakened me as the bathroom door opened with a creak.  The water was still warm, so I had not slept too long.  My eyes spotted my maid attendant in the archway.  Lareen was in her heavy green dress, “You are back.”  She said cautiously, and I detected a note of—maybe happiness.

“Just for the night.  I am off on a mission for two weeks in the morning,” I turned the nob to add more hot water, but i...

An Incubus Life - 154 - Orc Instinct

Chapter 154 Orc Instinct

The orc library was not large, and the books all had thick leather bindings.  I was hoping to be left alone to peruse the books, but two female dark gray-skinned servants flanked the door, ready to respond to any request.  They refused to leave, and maybe they were here to make sure I did not damage or steal anything as well.  They were both young and fit and had attractive bodies—for orcs.  The one on the left also couldn’t hide the lust...

An Incubus Life - 157 - Gundella's Play

Chapter 157

While I slept, Aurora hugged me from behind, and Iris lay in front of me.  Bedelia stayed awake using some alertness pills to use her abilities to spy on the Whispering Rock Clan.  I retreated into my mind space to see if my constructs had learned anything from all the material I had given them from the library.

I first noticed that I had over three hundred life essences accumulated.  I enhanced my flame ball twice, increasing it from lower to one to upp...

A Soldier's Life - 96 -

Chapter 96

The red-skinned alchemist looked ridiculous.  His skin looked like red paint, with a slight glisten to it, but this being a magical world, I doubted it was actual paint.  He waited patiently for us to ask for our pleasure.  I had asked Adrian if perhaps it would be better to try and recruit the other alchemist.

Adrian muttered softly, “No, this is the one Castile said to bring back.  Let me do the talking.”

Adrian stepped forward, “Alchem...

An Incubus Life - 153 - The Whispering Rock Clan

Chapter 153 The Whispering Rock Clan

The steam-powered car was large, and a dozen men exited from the back.  Vida was next to me, “Honor guard.  Twelve means they hold you in the highest regard.”  I just nodded, but it felt like they sent enough orc soldiers, so I could not escape.

Six orc guards in dark gray uniforms remained by the vehicle, and the other six entered.  I could hear the commotion below as they entered and thundered up the steps, announcing ...

World Sphere - 143 - Not Enough Hours in the Day

Chapter 143 Not Enough Hours in the Day

“Storme, I already bought my first spell!  Talia said she would help me learn it once I awakened, but she was with you.  Now that you are back, can you help me imprint my first spell?” Freya had gone from crying to being excited and talking rapidly.

“Freya, after things settle down.  I am going to talk to Father about you and Mother moving to the Spire.  But yes, I can help you learn your first spell.  What did...

A Soldier's Life - 61 - Loyalty

Chapter 61 Loyalty

We fell in behind the horses.  I thought they would try to lose us by increasing their pace, but the horses only moved steadily, causing us to move at regular march to keep up.  I was happy Kolm had repaired the sole of my boot.  I was in the back row of our marching block with Brutus to my left and Firth to my right.  Firth, the old veteran muttered, “This is going to be a miserable night march.  Good thing we have those glow stones.  ...

A Soldier's Life - 60 - Recovery

Chapter 60 Recovery

My legs were unsteady for a few steps, and my boots were still damp from wearing them through the reservoir.  All I wanted to do was sleep, but the army and small encampments of legion companies were waking and packing.  I feared I would not have that opportunity to rest.  If it was possible, our marching block was more haggard than when we entered the camp, but we still followed Delmar and a severely limping Adrian to our destination.  Delmar see...

A Soldier's Life - 59 - Politics of the Empire

Chapter 59 Politics of the Empire

Cornelius’ men moved out to serve as a screen as we moved into the woodlands.  I moved close enough to overhear Cornelius and Konstantin talking at the rear.  “…can not seriously think this failure is the fault of Castile.  The Duke’s army was to attack as soon as the Bartiradians set up camp outside the gates.”

Cornelius had a softer voice than Konstantin, and I strained to hear, “That is why I was sent, as a favor, Kon...

First World Sphere - 142 - Homecoming

Chapter 142 Homecoming

The islands approached, and a Harbinger and Wasp skyship veered up and out of the silhouette of the island.  Leda had the right flag flying on our ships, so we would unlikely be attacked by mistake.  The Wasp circled our five ships and came up behind our small fleet.  I was sure they would recognize the Maelstrom as it was famous on the islands.  I went up on the top deck, which was more of a viewing platform.

My absolute time spell told ...

A Soldier's Life - 95 - Practice

Chapter 95 Practice

I lost to Adrian twice before I defeated him during our third fight.  The dreamscape creation mimicked the real-world Adrian so well that even his facial expressions and mannerisms reminded me of him.  I was wondering if this was perhaps something more than an illusion that the amulet drew from my mind.

“Adrian, where were you born?”  I asked after finally defeating him.

Adrian shrugged, “That is not relevant to our practice, Eryk. &n...

Starship Engineer - 171 -

Chapter 171

With the Brotherhood moving, we needed to help our allies.  The Human Federation was still young and had just invested a lot of resources in resettling the prisoners we freed from the quadrupeds.  I was sitting with my military advisory board, eleven men and women, around the conference table on the Fateweaver that was in dry dock on an asteroid.  I asked Edmund for a read on the Brotherhood strategy.

Edmund started with the four space empires that were ...

Starship Engineer - 4 - Naval Academy, Terms Three and Four

Chapter 4 Naval Academy, Terms Three and Four

I didn’t get a break from my marine training during the break.  But my Marine friends did surprise me with a field trip to the planet during the break on a Marine shuttle.  We spent the first day sparing against other drill sergeants, and I even won three matches out of the thirty or so I had.  We then drank and partied.  The next day, I was introduced to firearms.  I wasn’t sure why until I learned from Adam tha...