Garret Headingway was an upper-echelon member of House Headingway, one of Estercost’s pre-eminent families. He was taking breakfast when his butler arrived.
“Morning mail, my lord.”
“Anything interesting, James?”
“Something from Jason Asano.”
“Oh? He’s been locked up in his cloud palace for days, seeing no one. Do you think he’s finally come to his senses?”
“As the one who investigated him for you, sir, my guess would be no. More likely is...
2024-08-09 23:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Hils Jaramaris was not a happy man. He had been happy, enjoying his role as the Storm Kingdom’s ambassador to Estercost. The nations were rivals, but friendly ones, their distance leaving them with few reasons for conflict. This meant that Hils, for the most part, was a glorified mailman for diplomatic messages. This suited him just fine, allowing him to pursue his alchemy far from domestic Storm Kingdom politics. It was the arrival of Team Biscuit that cast a shadow over his sunny days.
2024-08-07 23:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Cyrion was the capital of Estercost, and encompassed far more than the urban centre at its heart. A series of concentric walls ringed the city proper, with vast spans of agricultural land in between. Home to some of the most magical and valuable growing land on the planet, it was accordingly under impressive protection.
The messengers had, to date, made no attempts to invade Cyrion, focusing their efforts elsewhere. In the days before the messengers invaded Pallimustus, the Builder had ...
2024-08-05 23:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Springclaw gorillas were weak, as gold-rank monsters went, but they were smart and spawned in large herds. When one such herd had hidden away in the mountains, the first group of adventurers sent after them had not done well. After a week of fending off guerilla tactics from the gorillas, they had only a handful of kills and a lot of frustration.
Resupplying in a large town at the base of the mountain range, the adventurers encountered Jason and his team doing the same. Humphrey offered...
2024-08-02 23:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Cassandra Mercer wandered out of the jobs hall with two members of her team after dropping off a completed contract. Jiralla was the team frontliner, standing head and shoulders above the other two women. Henrietta Geller was another adventurer from back home. After bouncing around a few different teams without success, she’d filled a hole in Cassandra’s after they lost a member in the last monster surge. Her many summons and familiars made her a versatile addition to the group.
Cas...
2024-07-31 23:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Jason followed Neiman Bassingthwaite deeper into the guild building. It had the feel of an ancient estate, appointed in rich fabrics and old, dark wood. The tapestries, sculptures and decorations held the weight of centuries and would not have looked out of place in a museum.
“I apologise for your reception, Mr Asano. I’m not sure how Monica ended up on membership intake today, I’m sorry.”
“She was not what I was expecting.”
“Monica excels in her role here, but...
2024-07-29 23:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Jason entered the room just off the lobby. It was a smaller reception area with just one desk. It was well appointed, rich but tasteful, with dark wood and earthy colours. Another door led deeper into the building. A receptionist sat behind the desk, greeting him with a smile.
She was human and a bronze ranker with no sign of core use, which seemed to be standard for the guild’s functionaries. She had the dark skin of a Vitesse native, and long hair tied into thin braids. Her smile wa...
2024-07-26 23:00:07 +0000 UTC
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“This,” Anna said, “is not a professional environment.”
“What are you talking about?” Jason asked.
Anna gestured at her wife who was just then entering the cabana having changed into her new swimsuit. She also had grilled meat on a stick and a drink with a little umbrella in it.
“What?” Susan asked.
“Your wife doesn’t think we should have this meeting at a water park,” Jason told her.
“Well, I think it’s a great idea. But you can’t pro...
2024-07-24 23:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Anna and Susan sat on a park bench. It was early evening, and parents from the surrounding houses were calling their kids in for dinner. A nearby picnic table had a blanket draped over it, with a mix of mechanical and magical tools laid out. A leonid was tinkering with what looked like a Rubik’s cube, but with runes instead of colours on the sides. Anna had seen enough Leonids to mark him as a teenager, but he had the confidence of a professional as he worked.
A human woman walked ove...
2024-07-22 23:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Ketevan drove Anna and Susan through the city. Back when Anna had lived there, the domain had only just been established. The vampires were storming through Europe and no one knew how reliable the protection of Jason’s power would be, especially in the absence of the man himself. The humans changed by the transformation zones were still new to their conditions and pouring into clan territory as refugees.
Years later, they had clearly integrated. As the car passed an outdoor café, mor...
2024-07-19 23:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Aircraft had been one of the earliest examples of integrating magic and technology. Long before magic went public, the Network had been employing private planes with unadvertised optional extras. After twenty more years of development time, and no more need for secrecy, private air travel involved some of the most advanced magitech available.
Annabeth Tilden’s plane rocked as if struck by turbulence, but the cause was rather more dangerous. She had participated in enough combat traini...
2024-07-17 23:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Jason’s cloud ship sailed north from Greenstone. He stood on the top deck, leaning on the rail as the fresh ocean wind washed over him. Nik stood beside him, only the head and shoulders of the diminutive rabbit man reaching above the railing.
“How was it, being back in Greenstone?” Jason asked him. “You kind of vanished on arrival, and we didn’t see you much. I didn’t even see you at the festival.”
“It was strange,” Nik said. “I lived there for longer than you ...
2024-07-15 23:00:08 +0000 UTC
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The Continental Council wanted Jason and his companions to stay while the aftermath of Boko’s destruction was being dealt with. As that would take months, if not years, they had decided to move on. Jason didn’t know when he would return to the city where he became an adventurer, and refused to let meetings and briefings be his last memory of the place. A local festival made for a good final day, so the team scheduled their departure for the day after.
Jason went out early to ride th...
2024-07-12 23:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Li Mei had been hoping to remain forgotten in the aftermath of Boko’s destruction. When Boko’s population had been sent through a portal to somewhere, most of the non-residents who had been in the city were sent to Greenstone. Blending in with them, she had been trying to find anyone who had used a recording crystal during the events.
Li Mei herself had done so, pulling one out as Jason’s power carried her out of the city after he was attacked. She had been far from alone and had ...
2024-07-10 23:00:07 +0000 UTC
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My audio publisher, Podium, will be giving away sets of miniatures to celebrate the release of book 11. Here is a link to the giveaway: https://litrpg.podiumentertainment.com/giveaway
The Good:
Miniatures of Jason, Gary and Clive will be given away to lucky readers.
Five sets will be given away to five winners.
The Bad...
2024-07-10 11:25:15 +0000 UTC
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In the end, only one place had the space, resources and accessibility to immediately shelter and house a city worth of people on short notice. The brighthearts had once formed a massive queue to file into Jason’s soul realm for shelter, and now the people of Boko did the same. Little explanation was given and little was needed; escape from the sun to a place of shelter and abundance was all most people needed to see.
Jason built a city in a desert for them to occupy. Another oasis cit...
2024-07-08 23:00:03 +0000 UTC
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For those wanting the collected PDFs for Book 12, you are in luck. Only dark backgrounds for these.
2024-07-05 23:06:01 +0000 UTC
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As a final reminder, Book 11 chapters (791 - 882) will be removed from all platforms on July 9 - 10 depending on your time zone. Here are the book 11 bundles, in dark and light background.
2024-07-05 23:05:01 +0000 UTC
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“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Jason Asano.”
Jason’s feet lifted off the ground as he floated forward, coming eye to eye with the much taller man. His friends watched warily from behind.
“Why are you here?”
“These are not the circumstances under which I hoped we would meet. I am here to apologise. I won’t pretend that the people who died here matter to me. That I care about the homes they’ve lost or the impact this will have on their entire live...
2024-07-05 23:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The messenger host of more than ten thousand had been cut down to stragglers. A swarm of shadowy figures dashed through the air through the air, collecting the rotted husks of the dead as they fell. The bodies were all dropped into the hole where the city of Boko had once been. The great portals in the air were gone, having trembled and ultimately collapsed.
The last messengers to emerge had been dragged out by the dark bird wreathed in silver flame. Tendrils of darkness had extended fr...
2024-07-03 23:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The city of Boko was gone. The outer regions had been left as little more than rubble when the blast containment zone gave out, and the space within the zone was just a hole carved out of the ground. All that remained were floating temples, shielded by their gods, and a cloud of darkness in the middle.
In the wake of the destruction, numerous massive portals had opened, high above the ruins. Sheets of gold, silver and blue light, they disgorged an army of messengers into the sky. This w...
2024-07-01 23:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Due to the imminent release of Book 11, chapters 791 to 882 will be removed on the 9th or 10th of July, depending on your time zone. For those who want it, here is the compiled book in PDF.
2024-07-01 04:14:05 +0000 UTC
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The blade sticking out of Jason’s chest was wide and thick, more suited to bludgeoning than cutting or stabbing. It had been shoved through his body with raw force, the dark metal jutting from his torso. He tried to shove it back out of his body, but his arms wouldn’t move. His entire body was paralysed.
He felt the blade draining his energy, but this was no mana drain. It was tapping into the fundamental energy of his being, and that was a problem. His core power flowed from the un...
2024-06-28 23:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Li Li Mei was rooted to the ground as if a landscaper had planted her there. Her body was rigid, her face locked on the man in front of her. Jason looked more relaxed, but the rigidity of his casual posture told a different story.
“You know this lady?” Belinda asked.
“I do,” he said.
“Does your planet only have seven people on it?” Estella asked. “Why do you know them all?”
“I vaguely recall Taika mentioning that I knew more people amongst the Earth r...
2024-06-26 23:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“Let’s assume,” Jason told Elspeth, “that someone from Earth is pulling the strings. There were a bunch of them in Estercost and I left them twisting in the wind for years. It only makes sense that they’ve gone out and started doing things. But, even assuming that someone from Earth is your problem, my being from Earth too doesn’t solve it.”
He sighed, then sipped at his tea appreciatively.
“You know, Greenstone really does have the best tea I’ve had in Pallimust...
2024-06-24 23:00:04 +0000 UTC
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As the ship approached Greenstone’s artificial island, Jason and his companions were gathering in a space not unlike a hotel lobby. Aspects of the vessel were similar to a cruise ship, although heavier on amenity and utility spaces and lighter on accommodation. Even Emir only travelled around with fifty or so staff, and Jason had far fewer people on board than that.
Jason was walking towards the lobby with Sophie and Humphrey as Sophie voiced her unhappiness with the destination. She ...
2024-06-21 23:00:03 +0000 UTC
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With the impending arrival of a literal shipload of gold rankers, things had been busy for the senior officials of the Greenstone Adventure Society branch. Everything about Vincent Trenslow was drooping except for his immaculate moustache, poking stiffly out from each side of his face. He was going through a list of requests from local nobility who, sadly, held enough influence that he couldn’t just dump the whole stack of papers in the bin. He looked up at a knock on his office door, grate...
2024-06-19 23:00:03 +0000 UTC
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When she’d been young — well, younger — Jennifer Landry had loved having visiting adventurers stay at her boarding house. All those powerful and attractive young people, politely calling her ‘Madam Landry.’ As years went on, the desire for excitement slowly gave way to a desire for reliability. Rather than cater to out-of-towners who were often interesting but frequently volatile, she shifted to catering to locals.
She didn’t aim for the top-shelf adventurers, which they act...
2024-06-17 23:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Being less central had left Segurado vulnerable, lower priority meaning fewer resources and weaker troops. The same thing affected the more isolated messenger groups, making them ripe for Jason and his companions to strike. The team had zigzagged down the Pallimustus equivalent of South America, hitting targets of opportunity fed to them by the Adventure Society.
Their navigation continued to prioritise sightseeing over efficiency as they left the continent behind. Although their path w...
2024-06-14 23:00:04 +0000 UTC
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In the aftermath of the battle, Millicent stood atop the magic tower. As the highest point in the city, it allowed her to survey the goings on below, without the need to start flying around. There were going to be a lot of anxious aristocrats and city officials so, for the moment, she wanted to be stationary where people could find her.
Ribbons of rainbow smoke rose up as her people looted the dead messengers where they had fallen into the city. There would be damage from an army of dea...
2024-06-12 23:00:05 +0000 UTC
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