PreCursive

Chapter 107 - Abyssal Queen

As Grey closed in on the Abyssmother, parrying a jab from one of the oversized spider’s forelegs, I wasn’t able to keep track of their fight anymore.

I was too busy with my own.

I lashed out first, as the weaker Queensguard leapt at me. Midflight, its four fangs began to glow an icy blue in color and emit frost. I ducked, trying to jab my spear up at the monster’s abdomen as it flew over me. Somehow though, it managed to yank itself up into the air mid-flight, narrowly avoid...

Chapter 106 - Come Into My Parlor

“We need to find him,” Grey said firmly, to a round of nods.

Well, obviously.

“So, we’re going with the theory that this is the work of another Prime, then?” I asked my mentor.

Grey nodded. “Yes, and possibly some kind of arachnid, judging by the webbing.” He said, gesturing to the countless dehydrated victims webbed to the walls. “These caves are more extensive than you know. If there is a cluster of spider monsters being directed by a second Prime, then the...

Chapter 105 - Without a Trace

AN: Okay, so! There are couple things I need to say. I made a few mistakes, so I need to make a handful of retcons. First off, I changed the way obtaining new skills and talents works. Used to be, every ten levels you would get a choice of three skill or talents. Like how Nate got Sylvan Vigor at level 20. That has now been changed so that you get a set skill that you ‘inherit’ at every tenth level. So, 20, 30, 40 etc. I also realized that I never gave Nate a skill for reaching level 40, ...

Chapter 104 - The Caves of Caer Drarrow

The eyes that were watching us from the ceiling didn’t blink once as they watched my companions scrabble onto shore. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see everyone capable of it shivering from the cold. I could feel it myself, but I was frozen in place.

I didn’t know if the owners of those eyes had noticed that I had seen them yet. Whatever was up there, most likely a group of Neptaurians, hadn’t shifted or moved even once since I’d seen them. From the number of eyes that I s...

Chapter 103 - Cold and Dark

It didn’t take me long to get ready for the fight. I’d had my leather armor set aside in my bunk, ready for this moment for a while now, just ready to rush into it. I didn’t quite need to rush, but I did hurry. This was the armor that I’d used in the escape from Addersfield, if not improved a little bit. Far better than the everyday leathers I’d slapped together for everyday use. They even had a few enchantments on them.

Nothing major, not like the armor that Sylvia had. Just ...

Chapter 102 - Island Arrival

Bella didn’t see the point in hiding that our plans had changed from the crew, which was reasonable. Everyone knew that we were heading straight to Caer Drarrow now.

Now that we were alerted to the Neptaurian scouts, the mood on the ship took a more serious turn. Everyone was aware that with every hour we grew closer to Caer Drarrow, the possibility grew that we would be attacked by a Neptaurian at any time.

Which did happen.

It wasn’t constant, but with Pete keeping an ...

Chapter 101 - Testing Setback

As it was night, the decks were mostly clear. There was Grey and Bella up at the helm as usual, consulting a compass and map, likely plotting and adjusting the route to Caer Drarrow. Sylvia’s gleaming form was visible up in the crow's nest, where she waved down at me. I absentmindedly waved back. Other than that, there was only one other crewman that I saw, leaning across the starboard side and seemingly napping on his feet.

I walked away from the others up here, and toward the fore o...

Chapter 100 - Two For One

AN: Chapter 100! Even though, technically, we passed the 100th chapter I posted awhile ago. What with the interludes and all. Still, the number is nice to see.

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When I swabbed the game room the next day, there were some bloodstains on the floorboards. After having a night to dry on the wood, I almost couldn't get them up. I had to scrub pretty hard in order to do so. I almost wondered if Morlow and Curloch had killed Laryn, but I saw him...

Chapter 99 - Calamitous Taboo

It had been three days since we’d started sailing, at this point. And Grey had been right. Not long after our departure, and after Azarus had gotten done smacking me around, our group had been put to work on the ship.

I think I got off easy, though.

As the lowest level person in our party, I’d been assigned the dullest and simplest jobs that were free. In practice, that meant I’d been mostly swabbing the deck for the last three days. Bella was pretty strict on this. She want...

Chapter 98 - The Thorny Reef

Cassandra let go of Grey’s shining fist, and shrugged. “Oh well, I guess you’ll just be exiled for five years then.”

The tension in the room deflated like a stuck tire.

I blinked.

Bella’s eyebrow twitched, staring at her apparent former mentor with annoyance writ across her face. “That’s all? Ye came just to tell me somethin’ I already knew was goin’ ta happen?”

Cassandra walked over to Bella and pinched her cheek between her index and thumb, like s...

Chapter 97 - Dockside Deals

At dinner that night, I asked Grey why this house was so dusty, and why it wasn’t in stasis like his room at the tavern had been.

“There is a size rule to the usage of stasis runes,” My mentor explained to me patiently. “My private room is about the maximum size that you can manage for a single array. This is the reason we typically use them for things such as object storage, especially for consumables.”

I leaned on the table in front of us, my plate empty after...

Chapter 96 - Concerned Friends

Thankfully, the inside of the manor was just as tastefully decorated as the outside. I only had experience with manor decorations in the style of dwarven nobility, and this wasn’t anywhere near that. Rather than having gold everywhere, Grey’s pirate home seemed to be mostly wood and earth tones. He had plenty of nautical embellishments dotting the wall, though.

However, this place didn’t seem very lived in. Everything was covered in sheets, from the couches and chairs in the sitti...

Chapter 95 - Bella the Blue

Isabella, or rather ‘Bella the Blue’, turned the Chain Breaker over and over in her hand. “Well, I’ll be damned,” She said, staring at it in amazement. “A way to really free slaves. That’s gonna put a craw up the butt o’ some around here.”

After our short confrontation with her at the warehouse apparently belonging to someone named ‘Captain Longslip’, Grey had invited Bella and Pete back to his private room at the manor tavern. Which is apparently what it was all, ...

Chapter 94 - Mistaken Identity

As I stared at the stone Sculpted laying motionless in a cage, it felt like I was waking up from a dream.

From the moment I had departed the tavern to track the slavers, it had felt like I was running on near autopilot. There had been no thought for what I was doing, about what the consequences might be. I had seen another person in a collar and had fallen into a near trance. Slowly, something that had frozen solid in my core with hatred began to thaw.

I…remembered what I had do...

Interlude 7 - Poor Judgement

‘Porous’ Pete wondered if this was what sweating was supposed to feel like.

He wasn’t fleshy like the rest of the people sitting around the table. No, he was Sculpted, and sculpted out of pumice. Like the rest of his ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’, once upon a time he had been nothing more than a mindless AutoVant, built for a specific purpose. In his case, some absolute flippin’ genius had hit up on the idea of trying to reinvent the wheel. He wanted to custom commission an A...

Chapter 93 - Cold Shock

“Alphonse, Ruben,” Grey nodded at the man and then the dwarf, before pausing for a moment. “Cassandra.”

“Ugh,” The dwarf, apparently ‘Ruben’, grunted in disgust. He reached for a nearby goblet and chugged its contents, before slamming it back on the table. “I’m not drunk enough for this shit.”

“Come now,” ‘Alphonse’ said, smiling insincerely. “The Headmaster is always a welcome guest in our port.”

Grey smiled calmly at the ...

Chapter 92 - Where Pirates Roam

I did as Grey asked and fetched the wagon, bringing it to a rest on top of the ‘lift’. Once I did so, Grey activated the message board one more time, and had a short conversation with Skinflint on the other side. When he was done, he bodily tossed the plank of wood away from him to land in a patch of grass some distance away from the lift.

I climbed down from the wagon just in time for the lift to lurch into motion. The rails that the platform was bolted into shrieked in protest as ...

Chapter 91 - Salty Tales

When we had finished burying the patrol, Grey got to work covering up our tracks. With a wave of his hand, fresh grass sprouted over the mass grave, concealing their final resting place forever. With another, the evidence of battle, including all of the blood spilled on the road, was blown away in the wind.

We all piled back into the wagon after that. We might have just been involved in a battle, but that didn’t mean we could stop. There was still a mission to do.

I accepted the...

Chapter 90 - Honor and Loyalty

We took the time to bury the members of the patrol. Not just because it was the right thing to do, no. But because we needed to conceal the evidence of our battle with them. If there was one patrol in these lands, there was a good chance that there were more. We couldn’t give them any reason to increase suspicion in the area, at least until we’d accomplished our mission.

Still.

There was something unspeakably grim about digging a mass grave.

We’d gathered all thirty-tw...

Chapter 89 - Battle on the Road

“As I see things, Sergeant,” Grey said deliberately, crossing his arms over his thin chest. “There are two ways this encounter can go. One, you can submit to memory alteration, live to see another day, and conveniently forget you ever met us. You have my word I will be delicate with your men.”

Captain Dallens took a deep breath and straightened his armor before speaking. “I don’t believe I can do that, Headmaster.”

Grey shook his head slowly. “Ah, but you haven’t...

Chapter 88 - Poor Performance

We’d been traveling for several hours when we noticed the patrol. Unfortunately, they no doubt saw us at the same time that we did. We’d been traveling for several hours by that point, since we’d gotten back underway. The morning light was waning, leaving us in the fullness of a fall day.

Several miles out, I saw the patrol suddenly cross over the top of a hill on the horizon. They were traveling in our direction on the same road that we were on. I couldn’t make out precise numb...

Chapter 87 - Journey Anew

AN:

So, uh, I was looking at what I'd posted recently and realized something. I think I kinda forgot about the existence of Interludes for like a solid month lmao. By this point in book 1 & 2 I'd done at least one and was nearly at a second.

Oh well.

In my defense, I think of book 3 as a much tighter story, with less downtime and room for them. I'll think up something and try to fit a couple into the book.

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“Are�...

Chapter 86 - The Mission

Hours later, I was back in the tavern again. It was early morning at this point, and after mine and Azarus’s impromptu expedition, it had been very early morning. Our group had broken up after that, each of us seeing to preparations for the trip. I’d made a brief detour to grab my bag before retreating back to the tavern that also apparently functioned as an inn. I’d wanted to be alone with my thoughts and this place was pretty much deserted at this hour. Hell, it’s not like I would h...

Chapter 85 - Records

I stared at the screen in shock, instinctively understanding what this was. Somehow, I’d run into something that I had never expected to, here on Vereden.

A functional computer.

Sure, it seemed like it was way, way more advanced than anything from back home, but this was familiar to me. The screen projected on the wall across from me very obviously contained some kind of text prompt. Turning around wildly, I tried to see if the screen was being projected somehow.

...

Chapter 84 - Ruins

I broke the silence that Azarus and I were walking in. “Do you…have any idea what this place is?” I whispered to Azarus. Despite my low tone, my words still echoed through the desolate halls that I found myself in. I don’t even know why I was whispering, there definitely wasn’t anyone in here.

“No gods damn clue,” Azarus whispered back. I guess he felt it too. “Ain’t never seen or heard of anything like this.”

Something he said niggled at my brain for ...

Chapter 83 - The Door Underhill

AN:

This one and the next are important. Also, they might be a little contentious from the implications for the setting.

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Our little group of four recovering drunks stumbled down the darkened streets of Hollow Hill, lit only by disc-based lamps. It must have been nearly midnight by now, and we really should be heading back to the tower, but I couldn’t help myself.

Earlier, one of the locals that I’d met in the ta...

Chapter 82 - Synergy

AN:

I made a change to Chapter 76 - Projects. I had been waiting and waiting for the perfect chance to even explain what an 'Order' is and it just wasn't coming. By now, it's been like six chapters since the word was even first mentioned, and it's just unacceptable that they hadn't been explained yet. So, I went back and added an extra few paragraphs to explain in a conversation between Nate and Grey.

I reccomend going back and re-reading that part, but I understand if you don't. ...

Chapter 81 - War Council

Marshal Leopold's words clearly didn’t sit well with the audience, as I saw multiple people around the table make faces. In particular, the Sculpted in the room seemed most upset. One of them, that seemed to be made of gold of all things, nearly jumped to his feet before being restrained by another, less ostentatiously crafted Sculpted.

The Marshal paid no attention to them, merely focusing his attention on Grey.

Grey spoke first, though. “In what way? Even in my…absence, I ...

Chapter 80 - Goodbyes

After Grey’s impromptu speech to the troops, our caravan was quickly escorted into the town proper. The gates weren’t quite shut behind us, but the large guard contingent that was posted seemed to be a pretty firm reminder not to bother us. Once inside, our ragtag caravan of former slaves was descended upon by the townsfolk at the request of Grey. A good amount of them had gathered in the town square to greet him. I guess he was pretty well-liked in his hometown.

As I watched the pe...

Chapter 79 - Hollow Hill

Hollow Hill was much the way it had been described to me. It was bigger than Addersfield, not that that was much of an accomplishment. It didn’t hold a candle to the monstrous size that Rhoscara had been. It seemed cozy, to me.

Much as the name implied, the town was built on top of a low hill. I didn’t see what could be ‘hollow’ about it, though it was a large hill. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that the entirety of the town was built upon the slopes. It was only at the ba...