Valknar

Chapter 138

Oda was waiting for them.

He sensed them gathering and had been expecting this.

It was several days ago that he realised what was happening. They had moved against him better than he expected. They had obfuscated their moves exceptionally well within their realm, which was an impressive feat in itself.

He feared this was part of his opponent's design to bring corruption to the world. The timing was too suspicious, and their actions were too coordinated. He sat at his desk, l...

Chapter 137

Today, I felt a bit off.

It was a strange feeling. I had felt it before, but never this strongly. I noticed it a year ago, and it came and went. When it came, it was stronger each time, but faded fast. I could not explain it as it was something I had never experienced before in my life. I never found the source of the feeling, and it was not a problem at this time. I ignored it and got on with my day.

The Dungeon was running as smoothly as usual.

I had some spare CP, so I wa...

NM - Chapter 43

1891 arrives during a snowstorm. I am sure now, when the New Year arrives, I can count the days from my last paper delivery.

The weather keeps away The Way of Athamos for now, and at least I have that small mercy. I sense this year we might be butting heads again. I started reviewing a few ideas I had for dealing with them.

It was the start of February when I finally got in contact with the world again, and I received a backlog of papers. January was one helluva month, both nation...

Chapter 136

“An Illusion mana-infused lion as a guardian?” Elian asked again to confirm what she had heard.

Thrum was sitting in her office, extremely uncomfortable under not her gaze but that of High Guild Master Averance. She was sitting behind him, and he could not see her but felt her gaze upon him. He was doing his best to remain composed as his instincts told him that a powerful opponent was behind and unsettled him. Guild Master Albrot was sitting to his left but still within his eyeline...

Chapter 135

The descent was going as everyone expected.

Thrum walked down the stairs with his team, followed by Assessor Searider. There were many gold-ranked teams in the city now. They talked with the other teams when the dungeon had closed for creating the next floor. They debated amongst the groups on who would be the ones going down to the new floor. The Guild would make the ultimate decision, but they would consider the advice of the teams. Many had wanted first crack at the new floor, but ot...

NM - Chapter 42

Four riders and a carriage were outside my gates.

It was not a wagon or a stagecoach but a proper carriage. It was black, with a driver sitting at the front, managing the horses. It reeked of money, and that meant trouble. Every time someone with money came to my dungeon, things never ended that well, and there were always consequences.

The four men on horses surrounded the carriage, protecting it. They rode up to it and dismounted. They watched the area like hawks, looking for an...

Chapter 134

Confusion and consternation.

They were the best words to explain what came next.

Ranus expected some of it. He had mentally prepared himself for the ridicule he expected to hear from the three people in this room. Instead, he got utter silence for a few moments and then chaos.

The three tried speaking at once, realising that they were talking over each other. They looked at each other, deciding who would go first.

Averance, as the most senior, started.

“Ranus, ...

Chapter 133

Authors note - The chapter is early as I am away tomorrow.

The Dungeon had repaired the doors, signalling its victory.

The city was not taking that as a given. The Dungeon's aura had been scanned several times to ensure the energies within were the same and stable. All reports were positive, and the city let out a breath they were collectively holding.

Ranus was forced to face the cost in lives as the Dungeon was inspected.

Averance and Doltum had returned, repo...

NM - Chapter 41

Things continued as normal after he left.

March 1890 ended with one interesting news story.

Otto von Bismarck had to announce his retirement, but Kaiser Wilhelm II had convinced him to stay on to help cement the three emperors' alliance. Von Bismarck was the architect and was seen as key in stabilising and strengthening it. This was quite the departure from my world, where von Bismarck was known to be more of a diplomat who kept Europe in balance, not tying Germany to any major al...

Chapter 132

I knew the pack of werewolves were here when I heard the howling.

“Game time.”

Larry was already moving down the stairs. Puck had left the third floor and was travelling down the stairs to my core room. The intelligent guardians were already preparing to move to the stairs while the others, sensing my unease, were preparing for battle.

Outside, the howling was getting louder.

It was a waiting game now.

The howling was all around the watchtower.

Then it ...

Chapter 131

The pack of werewolves had entered the mountains.

They moved with purpose and travelled fast through the mountain valleys. Whatever was behind them always drove them in its chosen direction. The number of people dropped dramatically, and the number of infections fell. This allowed the people trying to contain the outbreak a chance to end it and stop more infections.

The local monster population rose to defend their territories. The battles were vicious and brutal, echoing through ...

Floor 11 poll.

Floor 10 was something I had been planning for some time. Well it is down and the first chapters covering are written. Now what shall floor 11 be? I have a few ideas and they are listed. As patrons the choice is yours.

The result will be what ever is highest in a week.

NM - Chapter 40

The winter of 1889/90 was mild, allowing Herbert to stay in contact with New Midian. Usually, depending on the weather, I would be cut off for weeks or months. Not so this winter.

The snow quickly retreated in February. Usually, it would hold on until mid to late March, but this year, it was gone, leaving a lot of mud behind. This presented its own issues and problems to travellers, as I watched them trying to navigate the road at the forest's edge.

It was the end of February when...

Chapter 130

“Rickle, what are you doing here?” Hackyon asked, surprised to see the other god in her domain. The room was a massive library filled with books and scrolls overflowing from every bookcase. Magical crystals drifted around the room, lighting the space with a blue tint. The air was heavy with magic and knowledge.

“I have a few questions about the Tower in the Shadows.” He sat on a chair beside a desk with his feet on it.

“Why? You never have been interested before.” Hack...

Chapter 129

I got a notification when Krag was restored.

Alert!

The eighth-floor guardian has developed a new skill.

Weapon Proficiency Mace: 1 – 0% (+1 DAM).

Weapon Proficiency increases as the user fights with the named weapon. Consisting of ten levels that grow.

This skill does not increase the Guardian's CP cost.

“Krag can improve then.”

Knowing this changes some things that I will do going forw...

NM - Chapter 39

October 1889 was a very tense month for me.

The Way of Athamos had withdrawn for now. The Drivers had returned home, and things were returning to their usual routine.

I was not fooled.

I knew that they would not give up that easily. They sold me as a critical resource and wanted to control me for their benefit. Trouble would come in what manner or shape I did not know, but it was coming.         

I had to start making my plans an...

Chapter 128

“I am definitely desensitised to violence.”

This was the truth I had to admit to as I watched another adventurer get hammered down by Krag’s mace. The man didn't stand a chance as he almost raised a shield to block the blow, but the sheer power of the impact crushed his arm and shoulder beneath. He had collapsed to the floor screaming in agony, which was quickly ended by another blow, this time to his head. He was wearing a helmet, but that proved equally inefficient as his skull ...

Chapter 127

With little to do, I thought about my minions and how some of them were still developing even after losing all their essence. I had come back to the subject many times over the last few weeks, as I had very little to do with only eight CPs available to experiment with.

The only conclusion I could come to was that certain minions I controlled had the ability to remember the fighting they had gone through and were learning from them. Sure, they had lost, and their correspondence essence c...

New Midian - Side stories

New Midian had a century and half of story left to tell. The question I ask you is how much unseen effect will the Keeper have on this world. If you are unintrested in this story please ignore.

The poll will remain open until Sunday.

Authors State of Writing

Hi All

Just a note on how things are going.

The Tower in the Shadows - Things are going well. I am working on chapter 145 and dealing with a major event that went over three chapters. I might release the three together but I am still unsure. The ten floor will be explored in chapter 146 (several have asked the question). The story is marching towards its conclusion as the major event is the start of the end game for the story. Volume five of six will have a good chance of seen the...

NM- Chapter 38

Brother Michael got back up. His nose was bleeding, and he had another cut on his scalp. Bruises were coming through across his face. He stood swaying slightly, looking around for danger as Rodriguez retreated.

He moves a step forward but staggers sideways. He supports himself with a gravestone. He is breathing heavily and looks unfocused. He slides down to sit using the stone as a support. He pulls his satchel around, and we both see his lantern broken and covered in blood. The oil con...

Chapter 126

Ranus was reading the daily reports and was frowning.

Silver was the big concern. The Were-plague to the north was contained, but within the areas affected, the numbers of infected were still causing problems. He had managed to stem the flow of silver leaving the city, but it was still trickling out. The lack of silver was now starting to affect the economy negatively. Local merchants hoarded silver to keep it from others who would take it away from the city. The use of copper and gold ...

Chapter 125

It was two weeks, and I had finally got around to viewing the levelling of Puck and Larry.

I started with Puck. This was the second time he had levelled up, as the first had been when the ogre had attacked the Dungeon. During that level-up, he concentrated on his speed and reflexes.

“Let's see what's going on now.”

Name Puck

Level/Class 3 -  Dungeon Mini-Boss

Race Pixie Wisp

Essence 0%

Health 40/40

Mana 80/80

Stamina 20/20<...

NM - Chapter 37

The rest of June 1889 continued as most months did for me. I had Herbert go to town to see what happened to the cultist Brother Michael. But he reported back that he found no sign of the man. I was unsure how to react to that, so I just filed it away as a problem for the future.

The rest of the month was pretty quiet on the news front. The only major piece of news was that Jack the Ripper had struck again in London, killing again and leaving a mutilated body to be found. He left another...

Chapter 124

Authors note - Here marks the end of the third book/arc.

It had taken Ranus longer to reach the palisade gates than he would have liked. When the emergency messenger arrived, he set off at once but was on the far side of the valley and had to navigate through the throngs of people in the city, who had now just realised that the Dungeon was under attack again.

His Watch escort had cleared the route as best he could, but it had still taken him far too long to arrive. Danrum was org...

Chater 123

“Damn it! I hoped they would kill it!”

I watched as the dwarfs retreated and the “Fearfiend” passed them.

The snakes on the sixth made it to the stairwell room in time. They utilised their abilities to the best of their ability and launched an attack. Their fangs could punch into the monster through its tough outer hide. The creature was almost as fast as they were, and its claws ripped through the snake, revealing themselves and attacking it. They started dying, and it wa...

Chapter 36

They reached the gates and dismounted.

I had shifted my focus to them as they approached. They were an odd group; now that I could see them more closely, four men were rough-and-ready frontier types, as I had expected. There were three others, and they stood out the most because of their distinctive attire. Each wore long black coats and black hats, more akin to a uniform than everyday clothing.

Their attitude and body language also spoke of a difference between the two groups of ...

Chapter 122

The last few days had fallen into a similar routine.

In the daytime, I watched the adventurous stomping through the dungeon and then, during the night, did some minimal experimentation. It was boring as hell, but I forced myself every night to ensure the planned experiments were performed on the results noted.

I was now making limited headway in some areas, especially towards the planned special minion for the tenth floor. Bats were now becoming an option that I could use in the f...

NM- Chapter 35

June and July passed with very little local or international happening that caught my attention. I spent most of this time working on my flower beds, weeding them and ensuring they bloomed without hindrance.

This all changed in August. The world got busy.

Even with the telegram office, he still took time for word of world events to travel from where they were happening to Crossway. It wasn't until the middle of the month that I learned of Germany's first successful motorised airsh...

Chapter 121

Peace, focus and discipline.

Minvar meditated on these concepts in her room. The rage that burned within the hearts of all of her people needed to be controlled at all times. Thankfully, the females of her race suffered far less than the males. This is why the females and not the males dominated most diplomatic and business-related endeavours.

Brutun had been slipping but had found his balance once more with help from their people. Strix had requested some time to find his balance...