“Are those as good as your old armor?” Hermes asked, leaping on top of Hal’s knee.
Sitting in the Manatree’s glade, Hal’s legs were folded in a meditative position that was only comfortable due to his DEX and AGI. He never used to have that flexibility, and it certainly wasn’t the first time he reflected on that.
Even simple things like that were still amazing to Hal when he could unleash lightning from his fingertips.
Hal plucked at the edge ...
2024-06-21 11:00:01 +0000 UTC
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The levels didn’t pour in quite as fast as the day before, but that was to be expected. Each level was harder to acquire, and now that Sam was more skilled and familiar with the materials he was creating (blowing up his Artisan Orb less as a result), he gained less Experience.
By burning the midnight oil, Sam managed to gain 6 levels yesterday, all while working with the same materials. That next day, even with [Focus Crafting] the whole day and finally completing his section o...
2024-06-21 05:19:52 +0000 UTC
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Just as the lich had said, the magma rose dangerously close. Perhaps ten or twenty feet at most.
Once the pressure reached a predetermined limit, black pillars rose out of the depths. They kept going until they were roughly seven feet away from Besal.
Enough that he could uncomfortably feel the heat coming off the lava-soaked pillar, but not enough that it would crush him. Though, despite what the lich said, he could easily see how the magma could have been con...
2024-06-20 11:00:01 +0000 UTC
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[Focus Crafting]
(Blacksmith Skill) (F-Class)
(★★☆ Limited)
You have displayed a drive and passion for crafting that few others are capable of attaining. You possess what it takes to become a Master Craftsman, a title earned through years of blood, sweat, and toil over the anvil and at the forge. To aid you in your march toward greatness, [Focus Crafting] provides you wi...
2024-06-19 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Besal watched as the vampyr chased down something called a raptor, leaped onto its back, and then bit its massive neck. The thing struggled and made strange noises for a while before finally going limp.
Several others of the same strange creature showed up, but one look from the feasting vampyr and they fled. Even from here, Besal could sense his power rising dramatically. As if he went from Level 1 to Level 30 in just a few seconds.
That sharp of a rise was li...
2024-06-19 11:00:01 +0000 UTC
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“That’s a very interesting form of smithing,” Raiko said nearby, a hint of wry amusement to her voice.
Sam peeled his face away from the steel ingot he was using as a pillow and groaned. He turned to Raiko, peering muzzily at her. “Wha—?”
Whatever she saw made her laugh. “Oh, Sam, you crafted into the night, didn’t you?”
Grumbling and wiping the drool from the side of his face, Sam tried in vain to remove the imprint of the ingot from hi...
2024-06-18 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Besal realized the problem as the droplets of blood landed on the pile of ashes, but kept his counsel to himself.
He wasn’t evil, he just wanted to see what would happen.
Ralst, in all her infinite wisdom, had forgotten that the rectangle of light was still on the pile of ashes from the window.
Luda hadn’t. For a moment, Besal wondered if perhaps the Oracle was plain evil. Then he saw the same curiosity in her eyes that he felt.
As the ...
2024-06-18 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Figured we'd do a two-for-one post!
First thing's first, the cover reveal. It's an absolute beauty, and we feel is sets the tone perfectly (not to mention showing off Vorax) for the sixth book.
Secondly, the pre-order should now be live:
(Direct Link) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7572GMZ
(Auto-Region Link) https://mybook.to/beas...
2024-06-17 21:55:26 +0000 UTC
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Once Komachi made a [Special Group Commission], they got to work. Gone were the days when they had to spend every hour at maximum efficiency. They had completed the quest that would–for the time being–safeguard the Skyshard from the Maelstrom.
Clearly, the Maelstrom did not appreciate its unwanted attentions being rebuffed, but Sam was confident that they could deal with whatever it threw at them.
In fact, he was starting to like the possibility of drawing ...
2024-06-17 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Rain of Death unleashed a flurry of dozens upon dozens of javelin-like arrows onto the group of [Direboars].
“They’re just simple-minded beasts. Can’t expect them to do much against that,” Komachi pointed out. Creatures like [Direboars] were nearly as simple as monsters newly spawned from Brightsong’s monster farms.
Elora saw firsthand that they were capable of little more than animalistic instinct.
Lowering her greatbow by her...
2024-06-17 11:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Sam looked up at his new Shardscript. Komachi pawed at the air, seeing it too.
Skyshard Milestones Accomplished:
Successfully defend against a Monster Incursion (Uncommon).
Defeat Maelstrom monsters without a single casualty (Rare).
Prevent your kingdom’s settlement cores from receiving any damage during a Monster Incursion (Rare).
Your Skyshard gains greater Experie...
2024-06-14 20:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Buffrix waddled towards one of Brightsong’s newly emerging monster farms. His lightweight form, combined with his oversized shoes, allowed the koblin with his [Kobbiepack] and [Kobbiebag] to tread atop the snow.
It would seem Elora had taken some inspiration from the koblins, for Buffrix was not the only one that did this relatively easy feat.
Though it certainly wasn’t for the soul aeder. Buffrix was not sure why. They were so much smaller than him! Even K...
2024-06-14 11:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Lenal stared in horror as the fires climbed the thick palisade walls. Not all the fire was her doing, but some of it was, and she would have felt absolutely horrible if not for the hordes of monsters surrounding her and Raiko’s unconscious body.
She would protect her queen to the last, no matter what happened.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to for very long.
Leaping through the air like he was launched from a trebuchet–the superior projec...
2024-06-13 19:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Aldrich incanted under his breath, but that proved to be rather hard to do without a lower jaw. The words came out as a faint hiss.
Desperately, the lich twitched his hands, but found them traitorously missing.
There was one final thing he could do, but it would end not just the lives of those around him, but his own.
Is it worth it? He thought to himself.
They wanted to know about the Fathomways, about the Balesians, and worst of all,...
2024-06-13 11:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Potions were administered, and a hasty campsite was erected. Thanks to their preparations, even the Countess’ injuries were no longer debilitating. Unfortunately, due to her Steel Rank status, she was much harder to heal with the low-powered potions.
Shrubley, on the other hand, was nearly as good as new after some rest and a hefty amount of potion use. Not to mention the good ol’ [Solar Synthesis] which allowed him to enhance his recovery rate.
With a comb...
2024-06-13 08:00:01 +0000 UTC
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“Time to split up!” Sam shouted to the gathered group, watching the sky rain down caustic meteors.
Kai had just managed to catch up, and already looked winded. “Yeah. Okay. Sure,” he grunted. “I’ll just…over…here.”
The militia mandragoras toppled each other over in their mad scramble to get into formation. The little guys looked at everyone, unsure who to follow.
Luckily, a dullahan stepped forward, guiding them towards one of the fallen...
2024-06-12 20:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Clapping his hands and rubbing them briskly together, Altres ripped off the sheets, bundled up the dead Assassins in separate burial shrouds, and looked at his remaining captives.
He clucked his tongue at them and pulled their wigs off. “Whatever am I to do with you?” He pointed at one of the students. “You tried to punch me when I was simply disarming you, very unsportsmanlike. You bit me, what kind of savage does that? Did they teach you that in Mele...
2024-06-12 11:00:01 +0000 UTC
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The legendary power of the Firesoul, Jacob Windsor, radiated through Shrubley. A man who tirelessly fought back the abyssal darkness for the good of the Shardrunes and attempted to reverse the doomed fate of his own world, no matter what it cost him.
Shrubley raised his [Death’s Razor], and Jacob’s ethereal fabled blade with its ruby jewel lifted in unison. Shrubley let out a battle cry, “For branch and leaf!”
By taking on the guise of a legend through ...
2024-06-12 08:00:01 +0000 UTC
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The crumbling remains of a floating island flew by. Shattered rock, trees and dirt fell apart before Matt’s widening eyes. A stream of glistening water twisted through the debris, likely what had just so recently been a river or maybe even a waterfall or a lake.
Now it was nothing more than careening rubble, with boar-like monsters helplessly spinning through the debris. It wouldn’t have mattered if they were flying monsters.
There would be no beating those...
2024-06-11 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Vyrik and his students moved like a breeze in the night. Any passerby looking for them would find only patches of shadow. No defining features, no calling cards, no faces.
The Assassin grinned to himself. The money that Councilman Dantra gave him was more than quadruple the going rate. Even after he looked up this Altres, he knew the Guild would only charge half that amount.
So Vyrik did what he did best. He lied.
Sure, it went against the Assassin’s Gu...
2024-06-11 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“Shrubley, what’ll we do?” Cal asked.
Slyrox was busy punching the door and when that clearly wasn’t working, she went to punch all the other doors on the simple principle that nobody had tried it yet.
Smudge squealed with fright and quivered like a bowl of jelly until Shrubley gently stuffed him into Cal’s arms.
“My mistress will die in there,” Sose told them solemnly. Shrubley could feel his small body shaking on his branch. “She has sac...
2024-06-11 08:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“Brace!” Gray shouted, his voice of command stiffening the spines of those all around him in the observation tower.
The Winders were working overtime to protect the fragile tower. Without their tireless efforts, it would have been destroyed days ago. The Maelstrom, even as far out as they were from its vicious core, was far too powerful.
Before long, we will need to find a permanent solution or else allow the Maelstrom to destroy the tower, Nathaniel Gra...
2024-06-10 19:58:44 +0000 UTC
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As Hal cycled Spirit with the Manatree, he kept up a constant tide of power pulsing down the hijacked path through the Shadesblight and into the Tower. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that if he left the Shadesblight alone for long, it would rebuild.
It would be back stronger than ever before.
Hal would not allow that.
The Shadesblight had nearly taken everything from him. He wasn’t going to let it take anything more.
Like the battering of t...
2024-06-10 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“This is the Dungeon Dimension?” Cal asked, looking around at the white walls and flooring. Pearlescent crystals embedded within the smooth, unknown material emitted a steady pale light. Whatever the structure was made from appeared to be a fusion between stone and bone.
There were no corners or edges anywhere except where the crystals were embedded. Instead, the flooring curved into the wall, pillars, even the ceiling. Multicolored crystalline grooves were sculp...
2024-06-10 08:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Ashera leaped back just as a fist the size of a shack buried itself in the stone ground, sending up sprays of stone chips that cut at her exposed skin.
She lashed out with Barrier, spreading the thin stream of mana far and wide to protect her allies. They had climbed a total of two floors, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that they had overextended themselves.
Durvin looked ready to keel over. His Blight stacks were so high that h...
2024-06-07 11:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“I did not do that,” Shrubley said, just to make it clear. He didn’t want to harm the little monster. It seemed more than capable of doing that on its own.
“Maybe Slyrox can teach him to make better bombs?” she said, kneeling by the small creature. She prodded the prone kobold with a mitt.
Cal stirred the remnants of the pot with the tip of his staff. “I think he just twisted up an old rag and stuck it into a used chamber pot.”
“His ultima...
2024-06-07 08:00:02 +0000 UTC
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With a group still climbing the Tower, Elora was free to roam the outer limits of Brightsong with Komachi, scouting for any encroaching threats and creatures that had been able to wander too close.
It had felt like ages since the Wildsmaster had been able to explore even the relative safety of Brightsong’s territory. Minus the Tower of Blight, of course.
The deep, thick snow was certainly a hurdle, but one she could easily overcome by overcharging her [Silver...
2024-06-06 11:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“What are we, children?” Cal asked as Slyrox immediately grabbed a silver cuff and slapped it onto her wrist.
“Pyuu,” Smudge said as Slyrox’s paired bracelet flew off the wall and cinched itself around Smudge’s waist so he looked a bit like a very bulbous hourglass.
With a grunt, Smudge managed to force the bracelet into his body where it floated harmlessly, unable to be broken down despite his Hunger essence desperately trying to.
A faint blu...
2024-06-06 08:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Besal looked over the lich’s head at Ralst, trying to silently communicate with her by flashing his hands. Using expressions had gone very poorly.
Not only because Besal’s armored helmet turned his head into something like a burning matchstick, but because his normal facial expressions were almost impossible to map to a human. Or a drow, like the woman before him.
This is the person we risked our lives for? Besal signed frantically.
...
2024-06-05 11:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“Good luck,” Konko said, accompanying them to the balcony of their suite. She fiddled with a small notebook she had picked up to put her notes on alchemy within.
Konko was serious about becoming an Alchemist, and she intended to improve on the old recipes and create alterative recipes to make the concoctions cheaper and more affordable.
That wasn’t where the money in alchemy was, but she was determined to do it as a way of giving back. Besides, she could ...
2024-06-05 08:00:01 +0000 UTC
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