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Where I get my images.

I usually go to unsplash.com and use the images that are categorized as 'free'.  As far as I know, they are able to be used by anyone.

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.35 (67)

Jennings was sipping a whiskey as he watched the mage-council arguing through a scry-portal. The hovering window into the council chamber was 3’x5’ and offered a great view of them screaming at each other. Glancing over at another portal, he watched the drama unfold on the training grounds with Nero. Debating whether or not to get involved, his thoughts were interrupted by Arch Mage Mathers.

“Well, what do you think? Soul-permeation or Essence disassociation? Are you even listenin...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.34 (66)

Rose was well aware how big an opportunity this was. Being an elite meant a big paycheck, free gear, top-notch training facilities, and intelligence straight from the mage tower. In short, she’d be part of a government sponsored hunter-squad. While the perks were nice, it was the growth she was really after. Elites had everything taken care of by the army, their only concern was their progress.

While thinking about the future, Rose was doing the morning workout. She’d had training b...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.33 (65)

Cathleen Averett watched as her charge, the new Lord Walker, fought with the pull-up bar. His little body was drenched in sweat as he forced himself to continue. To his left and right, recruits were pulling themselves up, then transitioning into handstands on the bar for an upside down push-up. The recruits shouted out their count as they dropped back down to repeat a rep. It was obvious that they and Nero were in entirely different classes as warriors.

Yet, what amazed Cathleen was th...

DIFTW - Chapter 1

Over the course of his life, Mick had made several decisions that in retrospect may not have been very good.  He was well aware of that.  In fact, one could say that he was constantly being reminded of his mistakes.  Every day, he left his crappy basement cell to go to his crappy pitty-job, only to spend his day looking back over his life with regret.

Mick used to be someone with prospects.  At one time, he was considered a young man with a bright future.  He ha...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.32 (64)

The king was once again meditating in his tower, his psychic field spread over his capital city. He was relaxed as he luxuriated in the feeling of an unrestrained psyche. His presence was spread so thin that it would be invisible to most of the citizenry. Only those with a mind-focus stat over 1000 would have a chance of noticing his feather-lite touch.

Feeling his aide, Walter, leading a group of three up the stairs below, the king reigned in his psychic field. In less than a moment, ...

January poll

Hey all,

I'm thinking about doing a poll near the beginning of each month.  This one will be about what you want me to focus on.  As you guys are the ones supporting my writing, I'd like to hear from you.  Regardless of what you choose, I'll still keep to the schedule I set up.  You can expect Nero chapters every weekday.  This is just so I can get an idea of where I should put my efforts.  This poll will run for the whole week, so tell me how you want me t...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.31 (63)

It had taken them two days of hard travel to get back to Dorchester. Mike and his team of hunters were looking forward to a hot meal and some sleep. But first, they had to report their sighting of a proto-dungeon. Getting paid was more important than their comfort.

After they finally got through the gates, they made their way through the crowds easily. People parted to let the group past. It probably had a lot to do with their smell. Each of them was covered in grime and blood. It was c...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.30 (62)

It was night and the facility's lights were on full blast. The entire grounds were lit up as though the sun was out. People were rushing in and out of the buildings, completing the last minute tasks which needed to be done before the morning. They had less than 15 hours before the recruits started to arrive.

Captain Angelton stood in the middle of the training field and was going over the paperwork in his clipboard. Checking the lists, he looked at the groups of people hustling to fini...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.29 (61)

Lord Cosgrave was enjoying her dinner. It had been some time since she had been able to spend some time with any of her consorts. Tonight, she was dining with two of them, Dustin Mosgrave and Terrance Blackwood. She’d been with them both for years, and everyone was relatively sure that Dustin was the father of her current children. Graciously, City Lord Heleema Cosgrave didn’t hold that against him. Her children’s failures were their own, and she didn’t blame him in the least.

T...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.28 (60)

Setting down the barbell, Cathleen Averett gave Vera the side-eye and shouted over the noise, “Why me?”

The training hall they were in was busy.  It was the size of a warehouse, and every inch was put to use.  Cheering people surrounded training circles which were being used for matches.  Rows of gym equipment were clanging while people grunted with effort.  People were running on a track that circled the gym along a balcony.  Huge skylights, augmented by ha...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.27 (59)

Captain Angelton stood with his hands on his hips looking around at the facility he was taking over.  It had a wide courtyard, with training rings and workout equipment. There were obstacle courses, and training aids.  Along the wall, there was even a full size shooting range.  Surrounding the courtyard were three large buildings in a semi-circle pointing toward the training areas.  Tall stone walls encapsulated the entire compound, and wooden gates twice the height of man...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.26 (58)

Mistress Deidre Cosgrave was carefully manipulating her spell form while sweat dripped from her chin.  Her private training room was empty, as she preferred to train without distractions.  Her spell-form finally snapped into shape, then started to draw the essence the ether.

She watched as the small fireball started to form between her hands.  While paying careful attention to the input streams, she let it grow.  After several seconds, she triggered the spell’s tar...

When Vera met Nick

Nicholas Salvatore had been having a great month.  His recent paper, ‘essence integration among invasive species: how what’s new can become old’, was currently in the running for the quarterly panel discussion.  If he was lucky, he’d be able to present his findings in front of the Dorchester elites.  It would be a dream come true.

And the good news had kept coming.  Last week, he had been promoted to a Researcher 2ndgrade.  From now on, he’d b...

Here is where you can ask questions.

I'm trying out the idea of having this post be a place where you can ask questions about the book or the site.  I'm hoping that this will give me some insight into how to streamline things, and discover issues I missed.

If this turns into a dumpster fire, I'll just delete the post.  But hopefully, this will be a useful place to address stuff everyone is wondering about.

Ask away, or just post a comment.

-L.S.

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.25 (57)

General Branson had just returned from the keep, and things were going according to plan. His conversation with Lord Cosgrave, following the meeting with Lord Walker, went well enough.  She seemed to understand the daunting task ahead of them.  He didn’t think that she would interfere with what had to be done.  Hopefully, she would be able to keep the other nobles from causing issues.

Captain Angelton and the sergeants had returned immediately after the meeting to organ...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.24 (56)

Arch-mage Mathers was in his office attempting to address the sea of paperwork in front of him.  It had only been a few days since Jennings went on his adventure, and Mathers was already annoyed.  With Jennings gone, everyone was reporting to him.  Considering he was a great deal more pleasant than Jennings, everyone seemed to be taking advantage of the situation.

Walking in without warning, one of his aides held up a stack of papers and said, “Sir, none of these are fi...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.23 (55)

Nick was in his lab reviewing the data from the essence collectors. Unfortunately, the interference from the noble war had ruined years of research. And it wasn't just Dorchen’s corrupted data. The Populators' destruction of the mercenary army resulted in localized low-level essence storms which were completely disrupting the area’s regular flow rates. Never the less, Nick couldn’t stop staring at the data overlay. His assistant, Kendra, was right, it could be a precursor to a beast wav...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.22 (54)

Mike’s team was rattled. When they took the job to find and eliminate the spawn point, they knew it would be difficult. But things were spiraling out of control.

Running through the forest, Mike saw their archer, Heather, waving for them to hurry. Increasing his pace, he panted as the trees whipped past him. Paying close attention to his footing, he leapt and made it to the outcropping on the cliff face. Pulling himself up, he kept an eye on the forest he had just escaped.

Soon,...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.21 (53)

Lord Hobbs was wringing his hands in worry. He knew that this meeting was not going to be good. Although his plan had been flawless, the assassin failed, and ultimately the plan had failed. Instead of causing the mage council to lose face, his plan resulted in an even bigger insult to House Cranston.

Pacing back and forth in the waiting room, he tried to find the words that would blunt Lord Cranston’s anger. The tastefully decorated room demonstrated the owner’s wealth and power to ...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.20 (52)

Lord Heleema Cosgrave was drinking her third cup of coffee while listening to her aide organize the throne room for the pledge ceremony. Almost every noble in the city was going to be in attendance. Normally, an event like this wasn’t such a grand spectacle. But Lord Walker’s impact on the city was well known to the nobles, and nobody wanted to miss their chance to see the source of so many rumors in person.

She had only managed to get three hours of sleep the night before, and the ...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.19 (51)

It was after dinner, and Sergeant Blackwood was annoyed. He should be at a bar trying to get laid, or anywhere that wasn’t here. The city wasn’t in danger, and there was no reason for him to be here. Whatever it was, it could wait for the morning.

Blackwood tapped his fingers on his chair as he looked around the waiting room. The large room had paintings of battles, and weapons on plaques. It was exactly what he expected a general would have tried to use to intimidate his visitors. ...

Things you might want to know

Hey all, welcome to the patreon!

I figured I needed a place to tell you all about how things are going, and what my current plans are for Nero Walker and this patreon.  So, I decided to create this post.  I plan on updating it whenever there is something you guys need to know. There will also be monthly situation reports, usually around the middle of the month.

I'm going to be sticking to a M/W/F release schedule for the time being.  I typically consider the RR pos...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.18 (50)

Lord Cosgrave was standing at the window in her office. The view overlooked the courtyard and the afternoon light caused shadows to dance in the gardens. She watched one of the keep’s gardeners run his hands over some flowers. The soft green glow from his ability spread out like a fog. Taking a sip of her wine, she thought about what trials the man had faced in his life. How long had it taken him to master his craft? How many disappointments had he overcome?

Her daughter’s voice bro...

Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.17 (49)

General Branson had asked Rose to stick close to him. He had said that he wanted to talk to her, making it sound like an opportunity she couldn’t ignore, and she had agreed. Now she was regretting that choice. Uncomfortable situations like this were why she preferred the wilds over cities.

Rose had followed the general to the city lord’s private arena room. She was doing her best to ignore the nobles in the room as she looked out through the floor to ceiling windows. 'At least t...