Shardrunes

[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 111: Wood You Kindly?

Sam opened up his Status to get a look at where his HP and MP were at, now that he had leveled up twice since last looking. He hadn’t figured that just exploring and interacting with the Skyshard would be so… rewarding.

His brain automatically replaced “dangerous,” the word he was originally thinking of, with “rewarding” as if by some Pavlovian response.

It made sense in a sick sort of way.

He was literally conditioned to like the danger that came wi...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 40 – A Light in the Dark

As sunlight spilled out of Shrubley’s [Verdant Inventory], it no longer fell upon the [Essence Vessel] that had been stored in there this whole time.

Ever since Shrubley acquired the [Essence Vessel], the item had been absorbing energy. Though his verdant pocket dimension was saturated with Life mana, as if it were Shrubley’s inner heart, there was an essence that manifested at the forefront of Life mana.

And that was Light essence, one of vital components of all ...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 39 – Rock Bottom

Time lost all meaning in this private universe of pain and agony.

Shrubley knew he wasn’t dead only because of the pain that swept through his body whenever he moved a single twig, and often when he did nothing at all.

He struggled to consciousness more times than he could count, but always the darkness swept over him like a tide of lead and buried him.

Eventually, the moments of painful waking stretched out longer and longer. He was a fighter and never gave u...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 38 – A Lily for a Shrub

The Countess gasped. She could see, but only just barely, and it broke her heart to watch the shrub tumble into the darkness. He didn’t even scream. There was no fear in his heart, no terror. He had been brave. Is brave! her thoughts corrected her.

If anybody could survive that fall, it would be Shrubley. Even Cal’s bones would turn to powder and the slime would be a puddle. And of course, the koblin would be just as dead as the Countess.

But the shrub? H...

Voidknight Ebook release & Thanksgiving Holiday Break

Voidknight and Beastborne are taking a week off for the Thanksgiving holidays. For Voidknight, Royal Road is taking 2 weeks off, but Patreon is only taking the holiday week off.

Voidknight on Patreon will resume on the 27th of November, while Voidknight for the public will be back on the 4th of December. This is to give us time to launch the first Voidknight book (and enjoy the holidays with our families and friends) since I haven't willingly taken time off for any holiday since before ...

[Beastborne: Voracious] (Book 5) Chapter 30

Hal listened to Tristal’s offer while he expended the last of his flagging strength to reshape the stone arms that created the Gap, the entrance to Brightsong’s bowl-shaped valley at the foot of the erstwhile lair of Naitese the Tyrant White dragon.

All too soon, Hal’s power was exhausted. He managed to stop the drain before it took more than a thousand Experience, but it was a near thing. Copper Kol’thils didn’t seem to drain him the same way that the Gold ones did...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 37 – A Thorny Situation II

Shrubley turned towards the hundreds of serpentii gathered at both ends of the hall. The flickering, dancing shadows of the faint torchlight served only to make the mirror realm monsters even more intimidating.

He held firm to his wooden sword, dearly wishing he had a weapon stronger than Mundane rank for a battle to the death. He stared into the serpentii’s slitted eyes, beginning to see just how alien these creatures were.

Perhaps they weren’t from his home worl...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 36 – A Thorny Situation

While Voidknight is taking a weeklong break over the Thanksgiving holiday week, Shrubley will be here to keep you company. Thanks for all the support, and I hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving week! If you haven't already, drop a review, a star rating, or help spread the word about Shrubley if you'd like to continue seeing more!

2023-11-20 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 35 – Training tumbleweed

Everything on Shrubley’s body hurt. Every dried and crackling yellowed leaf, every sap-crusted branch and twig. He had never trained so hard in his life, and yet it hardly seemed to matter.

He was growing so much, but it was never fast enough. Cal grew by leaps and bounds while Slyrox was becoming an expert with not only her essence, but also with her martial arts.

It was like the koblin was catching up for lost time.

Even Smudge was coming into his own, and h...

[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 110: Mad Mandragora Marathon!

As the towering trees finally toppled into place, Sam surveyed the damage and realized that hauling all of those things would be the hardest part out of all this.

With [Heavy Blade], I could furnish us an entire palisade of these trees in less than a day!

It was a heady thought to have. Procuring resources seemed like an impossible task until he realized that he had the perfect ability to do it with.

And even when his MP ran out, he had a huge sword and...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 34 – Curiosity Killed the Adventurer

Jerric trudged through the swampy grounds near the Haalften lands. His helmet kept the worst of the inclement weather off, but it was hard going even for a Steel Ranker like himself. The weather had taken a strange turn for the worse and he couldn’t help but think that it had something to do with that new adventurer.

“Why are we out in this mess?” Fio asked, gripping her wide-brimmed Wizard hat to her head to keep it from blowing off. “There’s nothing out here, Je...

[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 109: Big, Big… Sword?

Sam continued perusing his older abilities, looking for a gem that would call out to him. While he did really like the look of [Onslaught], he already knew it would have tough competition from [Iron Mountain].

And with [Switch] going unused due to his lack of a second stance, Sam needed an ability that was so staggeringly good that he could hold off on getting another stance.

So far, he hadn’t found one. But he felt certain he would come back to [Onslaught] someday....

[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 108: Sam’s Repair Shop

Sam took the dullahan a little ways away from the new center of the settlement until they were in a nice little grassy clearing at the edge of the hills and past the moat that encircled the Tree’s area.

Not far away, just on the other side of said moat, was Sam’s Sourcestone. He judged the distance to be roughly halfway between the two Settlement Cores and stopped when he found a grouping of boulders that he could sit on.

“Over there, please,” Sam said, pointi...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 33 – Fantastical Foundations II

And now we're finally all caught up! Hopefully you've enjoyed our little shrub's journey thus far, there is plenty more in store.

The training was grueling and seemed to go on forever. The days blended together. They only took a break to tend to wounds, to eat, or to sleep. And for two out of those three, they used potions to quickly remedy the issue and return to training.

Cal moaned as he lay down in a plain pine coffin. “Why can’t we go out and get more es...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 32 – Fantastical Foundations

Any doubts Shrubley had about the Countess being unskilled or a poor leader were dashed the moment she started to have them explain their essence powers to her.

For Shrubley and Slyrox, the Countess needed more time and explanation in order to develop a training regimen for them. For Cal, however, she immediately knew what to do.

“But how will that help me command my Red essence?” Cal asked when the Countess had told him to select an offensive style and stick with...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 31 – Aggressive Testing

“Oh heckin’ bleck!” A creature cried, poking his furry head out from the walls of the training room.

Shrubley gasped, recognizing the creature from the Druid’s stories. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and in such a dismal place as this!

“You!” the Countess roared. The giant woman moved faster than thought, blurring with incredible speed. She launched herself at the wall, trying to catch the creature, who squealed in response.

Dust and debri...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 30 – Everything Essences

“Now, moving on to the eight types of essences,” the Countess told the group gathered in the training room. “In no particular order you have Red, Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, Yellow, White, and, as we all know, Black. Each and every essence in existence belongs to one of the eight above, and the same goes for every spell.”

Drawing his awareness within himself, Shrubley could sense the subtle contrast between his Nature and Curiosity essences lurking in the backgroun...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 29 - Bark to Basics II

They found the Countess beside another arched doorway. When she opened it, they found something that managed to get through even Cal’s willfully thick skull.

He looked around nervously when Countess Haalften shut the doors behind her and grinned at the four monsters. “This looks a lot like a training hall,” he said softly.

“So you do have something akin to a brain in that head of yours,” the Countess said. “Good. You’ll need it.”

Slyrox ...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 28 – Bark to Basics

“We could become stronger? Perhaps muchly useful?” Slyrox asked. The koblin was new to this land and its means of advancement.

It was not for the first time that Shrubley wondered what was beneath that mask. Green, plush fur, just like the koblin’s floppy ears? Did she have a long muzzle like a dog, or was the end of her mask with the little holes that resembled a feedbag for breathing?

Without realizing it, he had built up an adorable imagery of what Slyrox mig...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 27 – Mint to be II

The room was cool and dry, a welcome reprieve from the oppressive heat above the ground.

Cal was awkwardly pressing two of his fingertips together in an unfamiliar gesture that Shrubley didn’t comprehend. Magic of some sort?

He shrugged and ambled on over to a table, crawled up into the seat and sat down after stowing his sword and shield.

Even sitting, the Countess still managed to tower over everybody else standing. This wasn’t much of an accomplishment, e...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 26 – Mint to be

“You idiots! You stirred the Nest! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get them all in there?” said a large, cloaked figure standing in the same alleyway as Winmore’s shop.

They stopped and stared at the figure, then back at the shouting, hissing voices released from the guildhall.

“Well?” said the figure. “Come on, unless you want to die.” It turned with a flourish of its black cloak and disappeared down the alley.

Shrubley instantly liked...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 25 – When the Beet Drops II

“I’m worried about them, Royl,” Sel said, propping her chin up on her palm. She rocked back and forth on her stool, waiting for something to do. The life of an attendant wasn’t very glamorous, but it had a decent track to higher Grades and better pay without being in the line of duty.

Royl leaned against the counter and looked up at the various posters plastered on the wall behind the desk. “Why?”

“It’s already been a day, he should have been back.”<...

[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 24 – When the Beet Drops

Shrubley tumbled through the swirling transplanar well, crossing into another realm. The shimmering walls of watery energy twisted like a bore drilling between worlds.

Ahead, he could just barely discern Slyrox falling as well.

He didn’t know what awaited him and his friends. He was afraid, but he didn’t cower.

He held firmly onto his shield and sword. He would need them soon enough.

Quest Failed: The Manor’s Mystery

2023-11-15 11:00:27 +0000 UTC View Post