Hey everyone, first and foremost I want to say thank you again for becoming a patron. It's because of you that I am able to do what I do, and for that, I'm sincerely grateful!
I've had my first arc ready to go when I took that first step of signing up for Patreon. That rounds up to about 375,000 words of epic goodness, and it's allowed me to release at an extremely rapid pace. - Since I'm now back in the writing trenches full time, my writing pace is shifting for the long hall that I ho...
2022-05-17 14:24:41 +0000 UTC
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“So let me get this straight, Eric. You’d like to arrange for the surrender of an unknown number of troops at fortification 2W which, along with the capture of that fort and 1N, will give us a clear route into the city without having to worry about enemy fire?”
Eric cracked open a cold ale and drank deep before nodding at Lord Drevyn and Lady Valorn’s images, minimized in the upper right corner as he reviewed once more the exquisitely detailed map of the city overlaid...
2022-05-17 04:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Heart racing with an odd mixture of anxiety and exhilaration, he slid through the darkness toward his goal, stopping right where the blazing lights were swallowed by the gloom.
Flashing an icy smile he was almost certain his enemies couldn't see, hidden under an apartment building awning, less than fifty yards away from his target.
He resisted the urge to make a few quick kills as orc after fleeing orc popped out of the darkness, racing toward their supposed sanctuary, ...
2022-05-16 04:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Eric wasted only moments lost in a rapturous daze as he came to grips with all the ways he had grown in both body and mind. Now when he moved, it was with such exquisite precision that the Eric of just a year would have been absolutely slack-jawed. He knew he could walk almost effortlessly across two buildings with only the thinnest wire for support. More than walk, he was pretty sure he could do backflips across any hypothetical wire, so in tune did he feel with his body at that m...
2022-05-15 04:02:00 +0000 UTC
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“Hey, look, it’s the brewmaster!” said one of a pair of orcs guarding the northwestern watchtower, tusked maw warping in a wide grin showing too many teeth as it slammed the but of its poleaxe against the pavement, and Eric could almost feel the tension radiating from the pair, as well as from the handful of orcs still funneling inside the tower.
The sound of sporadic gunfire from the crenelated rooftop could be heard, though the source of the panicked excitement couldn...
2022-05-14 04:01:18 +0000 UTC
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(Shorter chapter today. Next one will hopefully make up for it!)
Eric choked back a fresh groan. Before he dared do anything else… he had repairs of his own to attend to.
He glared down at the ruptured handful of crimson scales making up his armor, not even surprised to see them slipping into place and repairing themselves before his eyes with the tiniest trickle of his excess potency. He didn’t even need to go into his ES Space to alter his soul-bound equi...
2022-05-13 04:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Stealth check made! You have critically struck your target!
Eric glared down at the spasming orc that had collapsed to the smooth concrete pavement in a growing pool of its own blood, gasping for air that would never come with the massive rent in its back, spurting so much of his precious lifeblood as Eric savagely tore his bardiche free of his foe.
Before hearing a clang and clatter, just a short distance away.
In a flash, Eric ducked and spun around, hi...
2022-05-12 04:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Despite the crow’s worried mutterings, both the second and third stops for the night had gone off without a hitch. There were now four massive cannons in the sewers of Gilton, and a pair in Eric's personal storage, giving him thirteen working cannons, two absolutely massive, that he now had at his disposal. He found himself visualizing all sorts of interesting configurations as he took his ease after a hot shower when he and Morlekai finally got back to their base, their friends ...
2022-05-11 04:01:01 +0000 UTC
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It was effortless for him to avoid the massive red signatures weaving half drunkenly through the city in the darkness, long before they ever knew he was near. And for all that he could have made some easy kills… perhaps a dozens easy kills… now was definitely not the time.
Not when he and Morlekai shared a triumphant smile, having broken into a classy bar tucked away on the upper floor of a high-rise that had once been a favorite of Louie’s, and had miraculously survive...
2022-05-10 06:44:56 +0000 UTC
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"What the hell, Morlekai! This kid's plan is as reckless as it is insane!" snapped a glaring Louie. "He's going to try to goad the chieftain? Those damned orcs have at least a hundred flintlocks. That's a hundred guns against our... count them... zero firearms. And this isn’t our war! I still don’t see why we’re not just slipping into the vault and heading out, with everything we can safely carry.”
Eric winced, not having expected his plan to be so completely and utte...
2022-05-09 11:58:03 +0000 UTC
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Shorter Chapter :)
Synergistic use of Demolitions and Extra-dimensional Storage Space in effect.
You have used 10% of your level 9 potency on artifacts labeled. 'Super Flame Resistant Cloth' and 'Balls of Fire!'
You have successfully put together two dozen Big Surprises!
You have successfully put together two dozen Little Surprises!
Scholarship check FAILED! Unfortunately, you still have absolutely no idea ...
2022-05-09 11:56:03 +0000 UTC
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“Elves! Elves have dared to rob our sanctuary! Find them destroy them!”
“Boss, it’s too hot!”
“No excuses! Find them and bring me their heads!”
The booming voice of the shaman washed over Eric as he made full use of his Strength, snatching up Drake and racing back down the stairs with his friend in a fireman's carry, sprinting back the way they had come for all he was worth.
“Eric, over here!”
Eric stumbled to a stop, turning to gaze ...
2022-05-09 11:54:16 +0000 UTC
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“Eric, they're just ahead!" Eric nodded at Drake's comment, not quite sure if it had been whispered or thought through the party link. A possibility to explore for another time as the four of them prepared themselves, well hidden in the gloom of the rundown train shed the sewer had opened up into. Not quite grand central station itself, but close enough, and the massive hulking train carriage wrecks of rust-free steel, so well protected by oil and lubricant, also made great cover...
2022-05-09 11:51:18 +0000 UTC
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Eric tilted his beak. “I will be happy to answer your question. But first, for our mutual safety… are any of you under direct orders to kill any particular party who might be in alliance with the Sylvan Faction, or report anything said here back to the Chieftan, or anyone else?”
Samantha's eyes widened. She turned to her husband who was at that moment scratching under the hem of his hardboiled rawhide armor. "Husband?"
Peter shook his head. "Right now, the chiefta...
2022-05-09 11:47:57 +0000 UTC
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Hours passed before night’s gloom was pierced by the first crimson rays of dawn. The sporadic rooftop patrols slowly diminished when it seemed clear that no midnight Elven ambush was imminent. Certainly no patroller seemed alarmed by there being three less musketeers than there had been, just hours ago. Most especially not the pair of humans finally slipping out of their assigned ambush nest, set up just inside the landing below the rooftop stairs, now making their way home with ...
2022-05-09 11:46:34 +0000 UTC
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Morlekai glared at a grinning Eric for long moments. “Eric, what the hell just happened?”
“Glorious things, that’s what,” Eric enthused. “We just got a green light to rob a fucking fortune in gold, while the orcs are all distracted by the elves pushing to claim this city! Even better, instead of having to fear getting accosted and robbed on the way to Freetown, or have any or all of our gold impounded as taxes and fees... in other words, robbed on the way to Freet...
2022-05-09 11:42:45 +0000 UTC
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Eric froze. A cold shiver raced down his spine.
There were so many things he wanted to say at that moment, but a tiny voice in his mind was screaming at him to be very, very careful with what he said, all too keenly aware of certain gift that could so easily be taken away. A gift that an untold numbers of players would no doubt absolutely love to see taken away, if they even knew he had it. So when he took a deep breath, it was to buy himself time to carefully parse his thoug...
2022-05-09 11:37:28 +0000 UTC
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Eric, still speechless with relief, couldn’t quite hold back his cheeky grin, taking a deep swig of milk, before passing it to a suddenly wide-eyed Alice.
Magesight enhanced Infravision skill check made!
Infravision is now at Rank 13!
“Shit, Eric, is this actually… fresh?”
Eric nodded, not saying a word, just walking, then running, into the heart of the bunker.
“Eric, slow down, we have to talk!” Morlekai snapped.
Bu...
2022-05-09 11:35:34 +0000 UTC
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Just heartbeats before Eric could initiate a plan involving a lot of blood and very little he could take back, his now exquisitely acute hearing made out two faint voices that froze him in his tracks.
“So, you think that asshole’s actually going to show up, dad?” queried a high-pitched, anxious voice.
A clearly older voice answered. “Asshole? So you think your sister’s right, and this is just some idiot sniping at orcs like it’s fucking World of Warblades 2....
2022-05-09 11:34:11 +0000 UTC
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His attempts at cultivation ended unexpectedly when he fell into an exhausted slumber, dreaming of furious battles with vicious orcs, giant rats, and CSA Rangers before waking up with a gasp, feeling both wonderfully refreshed and foolish for having so utterly let his guard down.
"But damn if I didn't need the rest," he acknowledged with a yawn, cracking his back before stretching his arms, reloading his crossbows, and heading back to the rooftop, glorying as gloom turned to ...
2022-05-09 11:31:42 +0000 UTC
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Eric's heart began to pound with a killing fury.
Bone bow clenched firmly in hand, he spun around the corner to behold a city square that was every bit the vile hell-pit his nose had made all too clear he was approaching.
Though even he was shocked by the sight of the massive orc chieftain himself, ten feet if he was an inch, sitting his bloated armor covered ass on a throne of twisted car parts and bone, chuckling gutturally at the screams of children as their parents ...
2022-05-09 11:30:04 +0000 UTC
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Eric couldn't help grinning, feeling a curious mixture of triumph, satiation, and just a touch of exhaustion. Now that he thought about it, he had been up and fighting for what must have been close to two days. He hoped his friends would understand why it had been so important, even if, in his heart of hearts, he could admit to himself at least that part of it had been just to get away from the disturbing crush of memories that had plagued him.
But before he made his way ther...
2022-05-09 11:27:08 +0000 UTC
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His footsteps pounded against the bone-strewn limestone corridors, no longer worried about Stealth, well aware that his nemesis could sense him coming.
Eager to spring the trap she had set.
Doing his best to ignore the sibilant rustle that first whispered through the ether as a far-off echo, and now seemed to thrum through the too-thin limestone walls, roaring through his skull.
“Come, supplicant!
Through the final door.
"Embrac...
2022-05-09 11:22:51 +0000 UTC
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“I sense the prey approaching. Come, prey. Come closer. Embrace your doom.”
Eric flashed a tight smile even as slimy words, slick and frigid as ice picks, slithered into his brain.
Vile words that sought to freeze and cripple, to ensorcell and destroy.
Rank 6 Mental Resistance reduces Psionic Attack to Light Wound!
Mental Resistance and Dominion Essence modified Willpower check successfully counters Words of Compulsion!
Eric’s e...
2022-05-09 11:03:38 +0000 UTC
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You have successfully gotten to within 3 feet of your opponent!
Iado skillcheck made!
You have successfully struck your opponent 3 times within 1 second!
Giant rat has perished to your blows!
Eric ignored the stream of interface messages, focusing only on the connection between himself and his blade when the giant rat’s head spun through the air in a shower of crimson before splashing in the runoff drain. The absolute pi...
2022-05-09 11:02:15 +0000 UTC
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The entire group stared for long, silent moments at the gold-plated keys Eric solemnly handed Morlekai, along with the little black code book, receiving a fierce handclasp and hug in return.
“Thank you, Alex.” Morlekai swallowed and shook his head, actually sounding choked up. “You just… you have no idea what this means.”
Eric had the cheek to laugh at that. “Sure I do, buddy. It means we rob those territory-grabbing orc assholes blind, and net ourselves an ...
2022-05-09 11:00:45 +0000 UTC
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The hallway was now painted in a patina of shrapnel and body parts, and Eric could only thank the heavens that he and his friends had made it through relatively unscathed, thanks to their armor, the 4-way intersection the bounty hunters had stopped at, and the 15 yard distance.
“Well shit,” Eric softly said.
Morlekai nodded. “At least now we know that whatever absurd vitality a thirtieth level tank might have, even that’s not enough to resist a fucking black pow...
2022-05-09 10:58:58 +0000 UTC
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You have successfully placed Modified Necromantic Bulwark (Venus Flytrap) formation behind Steel Cage Wagon.
Your Modified Necromantic Bulwark has taken Severe Damage!
Never had Eric felt greater exhilaration, terror, or regret than when his arrow tore through Nelly’s heart, faster than the speed of sound.
The woman collapsed to her knees as Alice rolled away and contorted, leaping upright with her still bound hands now in front of her, wrenchi...
2022-05-09 10:56:44 +0000 UTC
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(Plot-appropriate naughtiness in this chapter.)
It was all Eric could do not to gag, nauseous with unexpected pain from his ripped-open cheek, certain his jaw had been broken. He froze, not daring to move when he felt the expertly held stiletto pressing against the back of his neck just enough to cut, as he heard Drake and Louie cry out, catching sight of a giant bear of a man sending them both crumpling with a pair of punches to their gut after casually gripping, an...
2022-05-09 10:55:15 +0000 UTC
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"Christoff! You said you owe me a debt, right?”
The boy Eric was gazing so intently at blanched, but forced a nod, his exquisitely polished bronze helm catching the light the entire chamber was bathed in. “Fuck it if I don’t feel it like a weight on my soul.”
Eric flashed a hard smile. “Do me this one favor, and we’re square for all time.”
Christoff frowned. “Eric, you really, really have to run. I mean like, right now!”
Eric held the boy...
2022-05-09 09:56:37 +0000 UTC
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