N. Francis

75. Lord of Ehkorrus

It was a test. A test of the burgeoning city they were building. They’d overcome the first Siege Wave by the skin of their teeth. With a second wave imminent, the question would be asked if they could do it again, all while missing a crucial part of their overall strength.

To say Rory wasn’t a little bit nervous would be a lie.

“I shouldn’t be feeling any nerves, right?” Rory asked the snake that was currently wrapped around his torso like an excessively gaudy scarf. “...

Informal Sunday Update #2

So, there I was writing a chapter when I noticed that Volume 2 is currently sitting at 148k words, and we've still got a few chapters to go at the minimum before we clear the rest of Tier-6, putting the final word count around 180k words give or take(at minimum). Now, volume 2 was MEANT to span tiers 6-8, but at current rate, that would likely span well over 450+ words for a single volume.

Thus, I wanted to see the thoughts of those who are actually paying for early content. I can eithe...

74. And so the clock ticks down

“Mr. Rory?”

Rory glanced up from where he was seated within the forge, grinding something down on a spinning grindstone. “Yes?”

“Mr. Apostolos wanted me to deliver a message.”

“Did he now?” Rory paused what he was doing as he examined Violet. In the few months since she’d prematurely achieved her first tier and pseudo-ascension, she’d advanced far faster than any of the other children. In fairness, half of the kids still didn’t have a tier, but of the t...

Behind the Scenes Notes #1: Ascension details 1-10

So, as I mentioned in the Informal Sunday Update #1, for those who are at least Immortal Tier I wanted to start sharing some behind the scenes notes that I have. I thought the easiest one I could start with would actually be my table referring to the timeline between Ascension tiers. Let me make it VERY clear, that any notes shared are only tentatively canon, meaning at any point I may alter things to fit the flow of the story better or if I decide it doesn't actually work the way I ...

73. Alchemy

“So, I still don’t understand the point of this,” Mariah complained as she followed beside Rory, who inspected the wall, occasionally chiseling a rune into the side with his knife.

“Ascension Energy can do a lot to improve stuff directly, and Fabricate Matter can likewise reinforce things. You know what they can’t do? They can’t add inscriptions that aren’t already there.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Mariah frowned. “I still don’t understand why you’ve h...

Informal Sunday Update #1

Hey Y'all,

So, quick news. I didn't specifically announce this on RR, but another thing all members will get on Patreon is access to an informal Sunday update that basically is where I drop any relevant news for the week. It's informal because if their isn't actually anything worth saying, I just won't bother with the Sunday Update.

That said-

For the first Informal Sunday Update, I've got two things I wanted to touch on quick.

1. Patreon Tier offerings: So, as mention...

72. And my axe

Author Note-

I'm currently getting the hang of Patreon, but that means I have to manually go to earlier chapters and list them as available to lower tiers, so until I figure out how to make that happen automatically, if there is ever a chapter that is meant to only be for a specific tier and its for some reason showing up for everyone, it's probably because I screwed up. Hopefully it never becomes a problem, though.

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71. Fireflies

Seven months later-

Rory held his breath, watching Violet slowly step through the bushes, being as silent as possible.

C’mon, you got this.

Still holding his breath, he gently fiddled with the bangle around his wrist. It was meant to suppress his aura -something he’d honestly forgotten as a tier-six he most definitely had- so that the low-tier monsters wouldn’t flee the moment they caught a metaphorical ‘whiff’ of him.

The monster she was af...

70. Citizens of Ehkorrus

Irene ranked up to tier two; I just felt you would want to know.

-Apostolos

Rory smiled. A little over a month for tier one to tier two was…  slow; no getting around that. In her defense, she wasn’t actively hunting monsters like he’d been when he’d been around that tier, nor did she have the same one-on-one tutelage that Apostolos had received.

Regardless, it was nice to see. Smiling, another message suddenly appeared. It was good that ...

69. Sovereign System

“Oh, you conniving son of a bitch,” Rory said, before frowning.

Wait, didn’t I just basically call myself a bitch?

Dismissing his weird relationship with Eon, Rory stared at the notification, taking it in.

“What is it?” Apostolos asked, staring at him with the regular concern that seemed always to be a second away from his face.

“I don’t know when you grew up to be such a worrywart,” Rory said with a snort as Apostolos frowned at him, unknowing...

68. New Arrivals

“Are you… What?” Rory questioned, taken aback. “No, of course you aren’t. What sort of question is that?”

“Well, because all we remember is that we were together in the shared lounge at the orphanage, then we were here.”

“Do you… remember anything else?”

“Nope!” The youngest amongst them—a thirteen-year-old boy, if Rory had to guess—chirped.

Yeah, there’s the classic memory loss.

“Well, to answer your question, you’re ...

67. Scammed

“No… Susan… not when everyone is-” Eyes snapping open, Rory found himself face to face with a largeish snake whose tongue flicked out and tickled his nose.

“Seems about right,” Rory sighed. His body ached, and he couldn’t help but wonder-

Wait! The Wave!

Wanting to scramble out of bed, Rory was restrained by a certain serpent that kept him pinned.

“You.” Rory narrowed his eyes at the serpent. “Did Apostolos put you up to this?”

“I...