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Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.33 (148)

Specialist Howard felt it the moment the illusionary barrier went down. What was once just another random piece of the forest in the mountain, suddenly became a staging ground for an invasion. The sporadic trees allowed for an impressive number of kobalds to congregate in a relatively small area. Not that the area was all that small to begin with.

He forced his perception field to thin, allowing it to cover more area, and he was shocked to discover a tunnel hidden near the ...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.32 (147)

Nicholas Salvatore-Verena had never considered himself much of a physical person. He’d always preferred to handle things at a distance. Even when performing experiments, he disliked having to do any sort of field-work. He was also well aware that this preference was a direct result of his upbringing, but he never really cared enough to address the short-coming.

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t do physical labor, or that he thought it was somehow beneath him, or an...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.31 (146)

Seeing as Specialist Howard was not in a particularly good mood, the last thing he felt like doing was building a communications tower. As far as he was concerned, maintaining communications with command wasn’t exactly a priority at the moment. So, instead of being a good soldier and helping, he was making himself useful by taking out his frustrations on the tree in front of him.

With his face set in a grim snarl, he mercilessly swung his infused axe into the trunk, over ...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.30 (145)

They were really there just like he said they would be,’ thought Mage-adept Catherine Newbanks, impressed with the king’s foresight.

To be able to see what others missed, from so far away, was no small feat. Even with the aid of the local mage tower, no one in Dorchester was able to pierce the illusion the kobalds had put up. The army would be heading into combat blind, a fact which no one on the leadership council was happy about.

However, t...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.29 (144)

Arch-mage Jennings calculating eyes watched Adept Newbanks walk out of his office. ‘Such a capable and promising young mage. Hopefully she manages to maintain that level of work ethic over the next few months. She’s going to need it,’ he thought to himself.

As the door closed behind her, Jennings leaned back in his chair and sighed. Having just heard her report covering all the things he’d been ignoring, and noting her subtle judgmental tone, he let his min...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.28 (143)

Victoria Blackwood walked into the director’s office at the main branch of Blackwood Works. The moment the door closed behind her, she allowed an almost imperceptible smirk to appear on her face.

Across the room, behind the office’s desk sat her uncle, Colin Ebonwood. She saw him look up at her expectantly, trying to discern what had happened by her demeanor. ‘He should know better,’ she thought with some amusement. He was one of the few to know how much ef...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.27 (142)

Currently at the headquarters of Precision Shipping, Vera sat in the middle of the conference room, her chair turned away from the table. With a subtle smile on her face she looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows out onto the city. Even knowing that Nicholas was only back in Dorchester to deal with the kobald threat, it had been nice to be able to speak with him again.

She mentally reviewed the conversation she’d just had with her husband, and couldn’t help but chuckle...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.26 (141)

Captain Angelton stood by the front doors of the building they were assigned. With his arms crossed, he watched the elites filing in, then being separated based on their unit designations.

While the support troops were being ushered toward the lobby for reassignment, the combat troops bunched up around their team leaders. Near the lobby counter in the main entryway, Blackwood and the other dispatch sergeants were working with one of logistics officers from Gate 22 command t...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.25 (140)

Not one to waste time, General Branson started his briefing the moment his projection appeared in the Hall of Leadership. His face hovered above the center of the room, the projection displaying him on each side of a large square holographic box. Every person of influence in Dorchester was present, nobles and near-nobles alike. They all were silent as the man in charge of protecting their city began to speak.

The general’s voice was loud, and it echoed around the massive ...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.24 (139)

Breanne stood at the tree-line, watching the ‘elite’ hunters head back to Dorchester as a group. The very idea of calling them elites after only having been in training for a week was laughable. Yet, elites weren’t elites because of their skills, they were elites because their duty was their entire life. They did nothing but train and fight, and their growth rates were as massive as their casualty rates. It would be good for Dorchester to have them once again defending their walls.

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.23 (138)

Kendra and David clung to each other while their group was led through the massive Mountain Gate corridor, stunned at how much had changed since they’d last been top-side. Just two days ago when they had entered the gate, none of this was here. Now, there were soldiers all over the place, blanketing the entire area like a sea of ants. The essence in the air humming with purpose.

The mountain gate was the primary entrance to the underground city-complex, and for their enti...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.22 (137)

Lord Cosgrave had been all too happy to put the recent events out of her mind and get back to running her city. Now unencumbered by the threat of her possible execution, she was in her office catching up on the paperwork she had been ignoring. With a smile, she took a sip of her coffee and reveled in the return to the status-quo.

By now, Lord Walker should be back in the wilds, and finally out of her hair. General Branson is once again focused on the defense of the city, hi...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.21 (136)

General Branson scrolled through the latest proposal for updated appropriations standards at the Hunter’s Hall. In the past, the amount of local essence crystal production made the issue relatively simple. For years, the wilds surrounding Dorchester were relatively safe. If and when hunters were sent out for specific quests and contracts, the taxes were handled on a case by case basis. Now, they were saying that system was no longer feasible.

As he scanned through the sup...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.20 (135)

While Kendra was focused on the data being collected by their essence scanners, she did her best to ignore the sounds of work being done in the central power room. The city’s engineers were currently working hard to bring the massive power generator online. Once active, it would provide the first 5 levels of the mountain complex with power, allowing the city to start getting the other facilities up and running.

There was a massive amount of work to do before the mountain ...

Discord March '24 Situation Report

Well, I finally got the discord up and running.  No idea how many people are actually interested, but it's there.

When I write, I plan to try and log on.  That is unless I'm on a time crunch or something.  I'll usually throw up a greeting, then a sign off.  I set it up so people should be able to see the history of the page in general chat.

I have a few ideas on what I can do with the page, so let me know in the comments if any of this is interesting to you. 2024-03-20 08:22:33 +0000 UTC View Post

March '24 Situation Report

Greeting patreons and friends,

I hope this March is treating you well.  If there is a particularly horrible situation in your area, then you have my sympathies.  I heard some advice from an old boss of mine... 'No matter how bad you have it, don't let it get you down.  Eventually, it will get better.  And if it doesn't, feeling bad about it isn't gonna do much anyway.'

Yeah, he wasn't what you'd call a 'happy' person.  But he always refilled the coffee mak...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.19 (134)

This wasn’t the first time Rose had been near a spawn point. In fact, while following her old mentor, she’d been involved in several officially sanctioned quests to deal with monster and beast outbreaks. Even though she hadn’t ‘personally’ dealt with a spawn point, she understood the concept of an elimination quest well enough.

It usually started with monsters or beasts showing up somewhere with increasing regularity. In response, the local government would contract a mage to ...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.18 (133)

Victoria Blackwood hadn’t slept since returning from her interview with the council in the Hall of Leadership. Not that she was complaining, as it had turned out to be a very productive 60 hours.

She had been able to provoke several challenges from her competitors, and force those that remained into the arena. Her hot-blooded brothers and sisters thought that they would find victory in the arena, while the her business rivals thought she wouldn’t have the stomach for violence. This ...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.17 (132)

While the sergeant was currently collecting the essence crystal from the mob’s corpse, and Ms. Averett was preoccupied with standing guard, Rose was free to listen in on the two noble’s discussion.

She did her best to fade into the background as Lords Salvatore-Verena and Walker started conferring about the recent fight. Her latest brush with death had brought much more attention than she was conformable with. Hopefully, both of them would go back to ignoring her existence as soon a...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.16 (131)

Although Cathleen appeared to focus primarily on the surrounding wilds, in reality, she was always paying close attention to what was going on around her. From Wesker’s constant personal crisis’ of faith with the standards set by the military constantly being challenged by the little lord’s improvisation and questioning, to Vikander’s expertly hidden fears and caution, she saw it all.

As a northern warrior, she’d been trained to see with more than just her eyes. It was a skill...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.15 (130)

Sergeant Wesker bit back his retort and sheathed his sword while turning away from the group. Making his way to the charred corpse of the mob, his thoughts were plagued with doubts.

After pulling out the essence collection rod, he fed his center delicately into the control enchantment. While the rod did its work, half his concentration was running through the encounter they just had. He could see the fire exploding all around him, smell the scent of burning wood, and taste the ash on th...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.14 (129)

Nick heard the sergeant call for some crowd control. Immediately closing the mental connection to Nero, he pulled his perception field away from his assigned area. Letting his psychic presence flood the area around him, he made sure the mob wasn’t close enough to be a problem. Seeing that it was all clear, he checked to make sure that Cathleen, Rose, and Nero were close enough for him to get started.

Seeing that they were all within range, he carved a simple construction spell form. K...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.13 (128)

Specialist Howard had known he was going to hate this assignment. There had been no doubt in his mind, and so far, there had been very little to change his mind.

One of his main tasks was to train a promising young mage. They wanted him… a war mage… to personally train some freshly awakened lord to fight with magic. Regardless of how clever the young man turned out to be, it was still just as annoying as he expected it to be.

And now, out in the wilds, his worst fears had been...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.12 (127)

Mike sat on the floor of his cell, his back propped up against the bed, idly flicking his fingers at the wall. Every time his finger lashed out, a small red construct resembling an arc launched across the room. The walls were enchanted and warded, so the only result was the constructs making a pleasant ‘pish’ as they shattered on contact. Not that it would have mattered, ranged combat wasn’t exactly his specialty.

There wasn’t much to do in his cell other than reflect on the cho...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.11 (126)

Kendra Sterling was not cut out for this sort of thing. She was meant to be in a lab, studying data and moving up the political ladder of Center-Research. If she wanted to waste her days walking around in filth, she would have never left the farm.

Reaching out a hand to steady herself against the wall, she angled her chest-lamp toward her feet and lifted up a boot to see what she had just stepped in. The gesture was futile, because in the dimly lit corridor she couldn’t tell much more...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.10 (125)

The bustle of the city was a pleasant backdrop to her morning. Mage-adept Newbanks walked calmly through the streets, listening to the chatter of citizens going about their day. Stall owners calling out their deals of the day, parents scolding their children for running off. Everything blending together into a beautiful melody reminding her of what she had dedicated herself to protecting.

Arriving at the Tower of Magic, she walked through the large gate while nodding to the guards and n...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.9 (124)

Lord Heleema Cosgrave relaxed, enjoying her morning coffee. The solitude was a welcome change of pace, as her two remaining consorts were starting to get on her nerves. Over the past few days, they had done everything in their power to demonstrate their loyalty and, even worse, their love. Francis kept trying to give her a massage, while Dustin had been leaving various chocolates and deserts all over the place. She had even woken up this morning to breakfast in bed, served by the two of them ...

Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.8 (123)

Arch-mage Mathers walked with purpose, his steps hurried but controlled. He and his retinue made their way toward the office he was currently borrowing from Jennings, his scowl growing worse the longer he listened to one of the young mages currently accompanying him. The man on his right was struggling to keep up while most of his mind was focused on relaying what he was reading on his link. ‘The young never spend enough time training the basics. The fool can probably cast a class 3 var...