Battleforged

Chapter 241 - Crimson Counteroffensive - Part 1

“Surge, centuria! Imperator imperat tibi!”

Eric roared his favorite words, feeling the fierce sweet surge of Dominion, absolute mastery over those who had fallen to his might in battle, as delicious in its own way as a lover’s kiss as the air rang with the sound of fists against mail and the echoing shout of his newly risen.

“Ave Imperator Abedimus!”

“Damn right you do,” Eric said with a cocky grin as his interface map made it clear that a good...

Chapter 240 - A Desperate Gamble

Bloody hell! Eric seethed with fury, to find himself so effectively countered and neutralized by his foes, such that he had gone from the dread commander of entire legions to having all access to tools and summonings closed off. The air was now thick with the tainted ichor of curses assuring that Occam’s razor would always be taking his pound of flesh, did he dare anything beyond the pristine perfection of his sword, radiating such fury from its sheath… just an extension of his o...

Chapter 239 - Orcish Retribution

With a hiss, Eric lurched back to his back feet as fears he thought finally put to rest flared to new life, recalling in that moment that there were no less than three orc controlled territories in close proximity to his sister’s final bastion.

One was the territory just before Greystone, Pilmsburg, with a massive citadel he just couldn’t crack with high level gunners sniping at him from well over a mile away. Two others were red territories to the east that he had yet to enter.

Chapter 238 - A Savage Ascension

Whatever Eric had expected when he pulled aside the animal skin doorway, it hadn’t been the sight of a dozen musclebound bearded men panting, snarling and hissing in pain on woven grass mats.

All of them were naked, save for loincloths. Loose piles of clothing consisting of undyed cloth, supple leather, and toughened rawhide had been laid in a careful bundle by all their feet. Though presently near naked, their warrior professions were obvious, both from their ice cold stares and the ...

Chapter 237 - Every Gardener Prunes The Trees In His Care

Eric gazed down for long moments at the ancient cracked leather tome his trembling hands gently stroked, wincing only momentarily when a flaking piece of cover actually managed to prick his finger.

And draw blood.

He smirked. “It’s almost as if I don’t have absurd damage resistance, blocking 36 points of physical damage from any attack source here,” he whispered to himself, pretending there weren’t shivers racing down his spine when the topmost cover went from a faded bu...

Chapter 236 - Death's Disciple

Eric soon found himself walking silently along mist-shrouded corridors lit only by the brilliant rainbow stars glittering high overhead.

No matter which direction he looked in, he saw endless rows of leather-bound books and tightly bound vellum scrolls upon countless rows of obsidian shelves glittering with their own inner fire, somehow perfectly mirroring the stars above.

Yet whenever actually Eric turned to face those bookshelves, every step forward found him approaching titanic...

Chapter 235 - A Kingdom Is Forged. Long Live The Queen!

Eric grinned at the sight of thousands of fresh centurai now swelling his forces, forgiving them in death what he never could in life, savoring the boons of fresh troops and titles both, for all that the land itself trembled with the might of a Contender who dared keep an entire realm in a state of flux, refusing to collapse the boundless realms of probability, no matter how much his body and soul craved release.

All he had to do was look at the magnificent city glittering li...

Chapter 234 - A Necromancer's Boon

Congratulations!

You have achieved Rank 10 in Arcane Weapons (Blaster Rifle!)

Arcane Weapons (Blaster Rifle) has achieved Journeyman Tier!

You now enjoy +2 to Finesse & +1 to Perception, as mastery over the battlefield means mastery over yourself!

For successfully slaying over 100 opponents on the field of battle with a Tier 2 Arcane Weapon in a single day, you have earned the Advanced Title: Arcane Sniper! 2022-12-28 04:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 233 - Siege Breaker - Part 5

“Are you ready?”

Aurelia’s wintry gaze bore into Elonia’s own as she stared in stunned awe upon the crimson battlefield depicted upon the overhead display, littered with countless bodies gazing sightlessly into the void, before blinking eyes wide with death’s promise, lurching back to their feet, and fighting once more.

“Elonia! I need you to be ready!”

Elonia flinched a the sound of her mother’s voice. The pair of them were now alone in their de f...

Chapter 232 - Siege Breaker - Part 4

Eric cursed a storm as his tuskers raced back from the tiny copse of trees his eyes had flickered past so many times that day, now finally getting a clear line of sight on the once magnificent marble wall that had somehow served as the fulcrum for an unbreakable arcane shield. A final masterwork barrier that had been effortlessly shattered by scores of siege cannons firing in concert. All of which had culminated in this dreadful moment, Eric witnessing the stupefying sight of thous...

Chapter 231 - Siege Breaker - Part 3

Eric collapsed to the root-laden muddy ground, gazing at his rapidly budding foot in a daze, both stunned and hyper focused, somehow communing with a foot embracing the essence of Fire, Dominion and Wrath to regrow itself at a rate so fast as to be perfectly visible to the naked eye, while his attunement to the elements of Fire, Air, and Wood, assured metabolic rates and efficiencies beyond the absurd without generating the tiniest flicker of excess heat, synergistically enhancing ...

Chapter 230 - Siege Breaker - Part 2

“Come, daughter. There is no time to waste. You know the next move we must make.”

An exhausted Elonia, shaking from an awful mixture of fatigue, despair, withdrawal, and bone- weary exhaustion, her alchemist’s concoctions the only thing keeping her from being incapacitated with nausea and pain, swallowed her too dry throat, drinking deep of the flask of nectar-infused spirit water her mother handed her before nodding.

She flashed a weary smile. “I’ll try, moth...

Chapter 229 - Siege Breaker - Part 1

“Nick my man! We’re fucking doing it!” said the sandy haired youth wearing an old aviator uniform and grinning like a fool on his Mark 7 modified naval gun, earning a snort from the older salt and peppered man chomping on his stogie, hard-lined face curled in a perpetual scowl as steely-grey eyes frowned thoughtfully at the too thin wall of marble and silver that shouldn’t be taking countless weeks to break through.

Nick gave an angry shake of his head, snorting at th...

Chapter 228 - Under Siege

“Elonia!” Eric jerked awake with a heaving gasp, dodging artillery shells no more real than dream. He shuddered, taking a deep breath, finding himself half buried in a plush bed covered in soft furs and silken sheets. An odd contrast that felt far too good against his skin.

“Elonia?”

He shook his head, taking in the magnificent domed chamber covered in furs, jewels, and battle trophies in classic barbaric splendor, boasting quite a bit of masterfully crafted woo...

Chapter 227 - Rest & Restoration

Congratulations! You Undead Legion continues to grow as ever more foes fall before your banner!

Current troops under your command include:

2350 infantry centurai

47 cavalry tuskers

Critical Success! You’ve managed to summon one additional Abomination (Undefined) happy to serve!

The half dozen bruised and too-thin girls continued staring at Eric as he continued to share his own experiences, observations, an...

Chapter 226 - Unexpected Hero

Note – Different POV, potentially upsetting content.

“Do you think they killed him?”

Marcia turned to look at the bruised face of the too thin girl in a tattered dress much like her own, fiercely clenching one of the still loaded muskets laying in a neat row on a bed that would haunt her nightmares for the rest of her life.

She swallowed, wincing at horrors she didn’t think she’d ever be able to face without screaming, before pushing ...

Chapter 225 - Hitting Them Where It Hurts

Please note - Intense scenes in the Chapters ahead (Trauma implied)

Eric’s savage high, feeling like an avenging god as he brought death to one unsuspecting orc after another, froze to sudden apprehension, the warning in his Interface exquisitely clear.

Though why it would even do so was beyond him, feeling as if such favoritism was avoided as a cardinal sin. Unless, perhaps, his opponents’ breaches of good faith had been so egregious that even t...

Chapter 224 - Predator & Prey

Eric, sans his cavalry, just a lone red blip on an enemy’s map, quickly loped off the main road upon catching sight of an actual horse-drawn wagon filled with what looked like bags of root vegetables, the reigns being steered by the oldest goblin Eric had ever seen, while a quartet of board looking musketeers just barely kept pace with the rickety thing. The only source of light for those without infravision was a small lantern secured to a bamboo pole on the wagon.

Eric sm...

Chapter 223 - A Gunner's Regret

“What the hell are you fools going? Pilmsburg fortress is back the way you came!” Roared a 9-foot tall halberd wielding orc, glaring at the near three score musketeers gazing down at their massive four-toed feet, half dragging their muskets behind them.

“We came back because it’s a fucking deathtrap in Pilmsburg,” snapped the tired-looking human looking so small before the orcs, wearing little more than boots, blue jeans, and a leather jacket with black iron pins on...

Chapter 222 - There are no game-breaking builds, because this isn't a game.

Bonus Chapter - Thanks for being a patron !!

Flights of fancy aside, Eric was pretty certain that both Samuel and Lord Grim would chuckle in bemusement at the thought of Eric actually feeling like an artist as necromantic energies tied so tightly to both life and death caressed the tusker corpses now springing to life before him. Because without using his Necromancer Undead Legion Perk to instantly raise the remains of anyone who fell in recent battle agai...

Chapter 221 - A Battlefield's Bane. A Necromancer's Glory.

Eric let the messages flitter across his mind’s eye, his actual senses locked on the battlefield all around him as the gunner leading the charge of roaring reinforcements heading his way somehow managed to fire round after round, hooting and hollering like a mad man as Eric leaped, dodged, and raced for his life, not even bothering to turn and fire, or do anything but dart past and race around the disoriented orcs, some of whom still managed to lock on his presence and make a lun...

Chapter 220 - Slaughter & No More Second Chances

Duck!

Eric dropped to the ground with a roll as a snarling orc berserker roared and tried to cleave Eric’s head off with a single sweep of his axe, only to find his coldly staring opponent flicking his blade so fast that beast had to squint his eyes to see anything other than the flash of mithril as he roared and swung once more, flashing a fierce tusked grin when his prey didn’t even bother to flinch.

Earning a confused frown when the orc’s ax...

Chapter 219 - Slaughter & Second Chances

“How far is it to Elmsville fort?” said the tired voice of a sandy haired youth wearing tightly fitted rawhide armaments covered in overlapping steel disks with a massive Carthaginian style shield hanging off his shoulder as he glared out at the pitch darkness all around, lit only by intermittent torches held by a good double handful of the hundreds of chanting orc musketeers marching in what only a very drunk and forgiving commander would ever call a tight formation.

“...

Chapter 218 - A Darker Path

Eric abruptly cried out and stumbled to the wet loamy ground, overwhelmed by an awful jolt of piercing clarity, as if only now waking up clean and sober after years of being lost in a comforting haze. Or a man who had always been lost in fog, content to move one step after another, could suddenly see past endless forest and fields, to the other side the valley of his life and to the endless horizon beyond, shaken by how clear his thoughts suddenly were, able to examine each and eve...

Chapter 217 - A realm claimed. A child saved. A rule broken.

A sweet 7,500 word chapter for your enjoyment. - Note, there is a POV shift midway :)

It flips back to Eric by Chapter's end. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!

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It was only after endless minutes of racing across the planes, visceral flashes of everything he had done utterly wrong and absolutely right since he jumped back to Earth f...

Chapter 216 - Rise, Soldiers! Your Emperor Commands You.

A dazed Eric gazed up into concerned brown eyes, surprised to feel trembling hands upon his cheeks. “Eric? Are you okay, Eric?”

Eric forced a smile as he gazed into the pretty if exhausted features of June. “Can you feel that?”

She blinked, gazing at him curiously. “Feel what?”

Eric’s grin widened as he lurched back to his feet, gently clasping his hand, and gesturing at the massive grove of peach trees rustling their branches in the distance. He too...

Chapter 215 - Unexpected Devotion

“Ignis iram plures hodie!”

A spark of white-hot fury, a surge of his will, and Eric happily embraced the drain to his Mana and Qi both as the central hall’s sigils seemed to warp reality itself as they spasmed like a convict riding old sparky before whispered words and a white-hot blade flickering with spiritual fire shredded and consumed them, one by one.

Soul Sight check made.

You understand the vile nature of these sigils far better than you ...