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Ace_the_owl

Ace_the_owl

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Ace_the_owl posts

Almost done with the little plot holes and other fixes.

Hey everyone!

Hope you're all doing well. I'm happy to share that I'm almost done with the edits on the final chapters, and will be updating most of them in 2 days with the first updates coming tomorrow.

Some of the plot holes will be corrected, notably Valiant's size inconsistency - one of you pointed it out, and I wanted to answer, but lost track of the comment. I will also be revising the way the final battle went. So, if you haven't read that yet, you still can, but I'd recomm...

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The Gamble King - Chapter 03. The Hero Of Eastwatch

Max screamed through the battlefield like a comet—not because he wanted to, but because that's what happens when you're clinging to the back of a warhorse charging at full gallop through a sea of fighting, dying men.

"MOVE! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

His voice was lost in the chaos, but the sight of a horse at full charge proved more persuasive than words ever could. Soldiers from both sides scattered, diving into the mud rather than risk being trampled. Those too slow or too engaged ...

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Chapter 56. Among Us

Adom woke up slowly, his consciousness split between his own body and John's. The golem's vision overlapped with his - a strange double-image of the brightening sky and the inside of the tent.

Maybe calling him 'John' was weird, even just in his thoughts. But it helped maintain the illusion, and names had power. Better to keep the habit, even in his own mind.

The connection through the talisman felt like having an extra set of limbs, distant but responsive. He could doze while Joh...

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The Gamble King - Chapter 02. Reroll

Haah... haaah... haaah...

Max's lungs burned. His legs trembled. Every step felt like moving through concrete.

"What the hell is wrong with this body?" he gasped, struggling forward through the churned mud of the battlefield.

He'd made it maybe thirty yards from where he'd "respawned" and already his thighs were screaming in protest. Sweat poured down his face despite the cool air. The leather armor that had seemed so light at first now felt like it was lined with lead.

<...

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The Gamble King - Chapter 01. A Series Of Unfortunate Events

"Grandfather?"

"Yes?"

"What does it

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Random Patreon Bonus

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to check in as I'm deep into writing content for Book 2. It's been quite the journey, and I'm actively trying to avoid some of the mistakes I made in Book 1 while making sure I don't lose sight of what made me start this story in the first place.

One thing I've learned about writing for hours on end on a single story is how easy it is to forget your original goals. You can easily fall into writer's block or, worse, complete burnout. Thankfully, I've been ...

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Chapter 55 and 56. First Day

Haah...haah...

Adom stood in his fighting

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Chapter 54. The Dungeon Divers

"...What?"

"I said, I'm putting together a team, and I think you might be exactly what we're looking for. Are you looking for a better job?" Adom repeated, still leaning on the counter.

The girl stared at him like he'd suggested they should juggle the oranges while riding unicycles. She glanced at his relaxed posture, then at Sam who was trying very hard to look anywhere else.

Adom smiled, eyebrows rising slowly, then falling, then rising again in what he probably thought wa...

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Slightly delayed chapter (Still coming today)

Hey everyone,

How's it going?

I still intend to upload today's chapter before today ends, but I just got an unexpected thing I gotta deal with. Just wanted to update you on the state of things instead of leaving you hanging.

This situation actually made me realize I should probably establish a regular release schedule with specific hours - that way you'll know exactly when to expect new chapters. I'll work on setting that up soon.

The chapter is written and ready. Just...

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Chapter 53. Building A Team

Slurrrrrp

"And then, like, we could totally set up camp in those alcoves the seniors mentioned. You know, the safe spots? Imagine having an actual fire going down there, cooking whatever we hunt..." Sam took another loud sip of his frosty, the ice crystals crackling against his teeth.

"Hmm," Adom responded, eyes scanning the exam papers. The streets were getting dark, the guild stamps barely visible in the fading light.

Slurrrrrp

"Oh! And remember wha...

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Chapter 52. Ripples In Time

"How is your training going?" Adom dodged a rushing messenger, his voice barely carrying over the morning crowd. The new checkpoints had turned their walk to Xerkes into a strange sort of dance - weaving between people, ducking under floating cargo, waiting as guards checked identification crystals and waved detection rods over passing mages.

"Great!" Eren's grin threatened to split his face. "Yesterday I learned this thing with ice magic - just pulled it straight from the air! No water...

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Archmage Tier Updates

Hey Archmage folks,

So Book 2 is rolling now with 2 chapters out already, and I wanted to let you know what's coming.

I'm going to be uploading chapters every day until you guys are about 40 chapters ahead of our RR friends. That's like 20 days of daily drops heading your way. I'll mix in some special chapters and side stories too, plus just some thoughts on the story and process before we get the Discord set up.

I cranked out a decent backlog today (still editing as I post)...

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Chapter 51. Just Pure, Unbothered Evil

"LAND HO! ARKHOS IN SIGHT!"

The shout jolted Adom from his half-doze, nearly sending him tumbling from his perch on the ship's bow. Three days at sea had taught him every comfortable spot on Captain Voss's vessel, and this particular nook, where the wooden railings curved just right, had become his favorite morning haunt.

The isles emerged from the morning mist, and even Adom had to admit - the city had changed dramatically in eight months. New bridges spanned between islands, the...

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Chapter 50. Last Boat For Arkhos (Start of Book 2)

The waves whispered against the shore, a soft rhythm like someone humming a lullaby. Shhhh... shhhh... shhhh...

Something tickled against his leg. Sand, maybe. Warm and soft. The sun pressed against his closed eyelids, turning the darkness red-orange.

Five more minutes.

A breeze carried the smell of salt, seaweed, and... fish? That wasn't right. His bed didn't usually smell like fish.

The tickling sensation moved up his leg. Probably just the blanket getting t...

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Epilogue

"Opre!" someone called from the bow. "More speed!"

The winter winds grew stronger.

The Veyshari boats had left Arkhos four hours ago, the city's lights now just a dim glow on the horizon. Morgana sat at the stern, watching the moonlight play on the dark, cold waters. She'd been waiting for this moment, when the crew would be busy with their tasks and the other passengers settled in for the night.

She looked at her hands again - a habit she couldn't shake. Every morning she'd...

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Chapter 49. Just The Beginning (End Of Book 1)

Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong.

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Hello! Writing updates and pondering.

Hey everyone!

This one's not a chapter, but it's coming.

Just settling in with a cup of tea to tackle these final edits. I'll be uploading the last chapter today, after I'm done polishing up a few more sections and fixing some plot inconsistencies that you have pointed out and have been nagging at me (you know how it goes - once you notice them, you can't unsee them).

Before we move forward, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story. What worked for you? What didn't? Any ...

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Chapter 48. The Promised Day - Final Part

Footsteps crunched in the snow outside Xerkes' walls. Back and forth, back and forth, leaving messy tracks in the pristine white.

"What do I do what do I do what do I DO?!"

Sam's voice cracked on the last word. He kept pacing, hands buried in his hair, completely ignoring the fact that it was way past curfew and that standing outside in the snow wearing only his academy uniform was probably not the smartest idea he'd had today.

Not that this day had seen many smart ideas to ...

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Chapter 47. The Promised Day - Part 3

The hour of the wolf.

Coldest, darkest part of the night, when even the stars seem to dim and huddle together for warmth. When old folk say evil spirits walk freely, when madmen hear their demons clearest, when the world belongs more to monster than man.

A blizzard ripped through the air, winds screaming between trees and hills, snow cutting sideways like shards of glass. The cold was the kind that burned, that crept into bones and stayed there. It had turned Arkhos into a city of...

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Chapter 46. The Promised Day - Part 2

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Valiant Maus perched on Thormund's massive shoulder, whiskers twitching in the damp air of the empty Undertow. The corridor stretched before them like the gullet of some ancient beast—all crumbling stone, flickering torchlight, and the constant drip-drip-drip of water from above. Smelled like piss and mold and fear, which was pretty much the Undertow's signature scent.

Not that Valiant minded. When you're four inches tall, everything smells too strong....

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Chapter 45. The Promised Day - Part 1

Dawn crept over the Dregs like a thief.

In the grey half-light, a rooster shifted on his perch, preparing for his sacred morning duty. Every morning since he could remember, he'd announced the sun's arrival to his corner of the world. The ritual was about to begin.

He puffed up his chest, tilted his head back, opened his beak-

And then he saw it.

The most dangerous animal on this planet. A violent creature filled with hateful thoughts and a lust for violence. Teeth lik...

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Chapter 44. Dominoes Waiting To Fall

The Veyshari camp was alive with color and sound and constant motion, despite the winter chill. Steam rose from the massive bonfire at the center, its warmth a stark contrast to the cold sea breeze coming off the shore.

The massive bonfire roared at its heart, sparks dancing up into the darkening sky and the sea crashed against the shore nearby as its rhythm mixed with the sounds of music and laughter.

Adom watched as a group of children sprinted past through the packed snow, thei...

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Chapter 43. Wam & Bam

As it turns out, an angry Stoneblood charging at you is a pretty terrifying sight. They're built like small mountains, and Fili, despite being one of the shorter ones, still had arms thick as tree trunks from all the smithing. Arms currently trying very hard to reach Adom's face.

"Wait- what- why-" Adom backpedaled, fingers sketching a quick pattern in the air. The levitation spell caught Fili mid-lunge, leaving him floating a few feet off the ground, still swinging.

"Put me down!...

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Chapter 42. Family Time

Question.

How do you face the people you loved and buried?

Not in dreams, where everything feels half-real and fades with the morning light. Not in memories, growing fainter with each passing decade. But here, now, solid and warm and alive?

Adom had imagined this moment countless times over sixty years. In quiet nights alone, in busy days when something would remind him of them. He'd imagined what he'd say, what they'd say. Sometimes he'd talk to them, feeling half-mad but n...

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Chapter 41. Reunion

In a blink, Bob materialized inches from Adom's face. Adom yelped and stumbled backward, landing hard in the snow.

"Holy shi-!" Valiant's tail went rigid.

Adom chuckled, brushing snow from his cloak. "Bob, you really need to stop doing that when it's not expec-"

"Ya feckin' eejit!" Bob yanked him into a bone-crushing hug, beard scratching against Adom's face. "Two months! Two bloody months! Searched every pub, every street, every dark corner in Arkhos!"

"Bob, I can't b...

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Chapter 40. Out of the Dark

"By the way," Valiant said as they made their way through another identical-looking tunnel, "that whole 'prey' speech back there? Pretty edgy."

Adom kept his eyes on the path ahead, testing each step carefully. His body still felt strange - so smooth, so perfect. "What speech?"

"Oh, you know." Valiant cleared his throat and attempted his best Adom impression: "'Tell me, Helios... what's a vampire that can't heal?' And then that dramatic pause before 'Prey. You were prey all along....

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Chapter 39. Why Do We Fall?

Ghouls.

Adom's elementary school teacher,

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Chapter 38. Survivor's High

North.

That was where you went when you wanted out of a dungeon. Always north. Some scholars claimed it was tied to the magnetic fields that most dungeons generated, others thought it was just God's way of giving people a fighting chance. Not that it mattered much to Adom right now - knowing why north led to freedom wouldn't make the journey any less deadly.

The lake was behind him now, its dark waters still echoing with the death throes of two monsters. What lay ahead would make ...

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Chapter 37. Fight

The cave system had no secrets left. Well, almost none. That crack in the eastern tunnel's ceiling - just wide enough to squeeze through if blasted open. The underwater passage in the northern section that probably led somewhere. Three potential escape routes, all mapped, all viable.

All useless if he died here.

The forbidden tunnel remained the only mystery. The spider's reaction whenever he even glanced that direction told Adom everything. Something important lay hidden there. S...

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Chapter 36. The Spider

Just give up.

Seriously.

There are moments in life when the situation becomes so utterly hopeless that all you can do is accept it. When the walls close in, when every path leads to a dead end, when fate itself seems to have written your final chapter - sometimes, the only peace comes from simply saying "it is what it is" and letting go.

Finding yourself in the depths of a dungeon, woefully unprepared, staring into eight crimson eyes that seem to pierce your very soul - eyes...

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