James had spent the morning and mid-day enthralled by the books in the cabinet.
At long last, after over two years, he finally got the chance to learn new enchantments properly. It was so easy. And there were so many of them!
From the Enchanter Meridox, who had visited his home village, he had learned twelve basic enchantments: two from each basic element.
Basic Fire Enchantments: Heated Blade & Fire Resistance.
Basic Water Enchant...
2025-11-05 19:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Lily woke up bright and early, said goodbye to her Mama—Papa was still sleeping—and ran through the crisp early morning air to the butcher and the bakery.
She needed to hurry and pick up her ingredients so she could start cooking!
Carefully, she carried the big bag of beautiful light brown buns and the bountiful bundle of ground beef up to her cart and started setting up.
She had to cook twice as many Lilyburgers today! And twice as many french fries!
She cut up th...
2025-11-05 17:54:30 +0000 UTC
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The next morning, Sarah’s mother was using all her Skills again, and the facade was back in place. Breakfast was delicious; leisurely, even. Sarah shared what she had learned from Sven the Bounty Hunter, and her discussion with the Golden Swan down in the Dungeon. Her mother shared how her father was, how the harvest was going, and news from her three eldest brothers and their families. It was well-past mid-morning when the two Brawler women stood and set about their day. For Helen, it was ...
2025-11-04 19:00:07 +0000 UTC
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The ghosts had expected Lily to make a face like a certain famous painting of a screaming man on a bridge, but she just tilted her head.
Lily didn’t know that word!
“What’s accounting?” she asked as she started walking home.
“It’s where you do the math to figure out how much money you made or lost, and keep track of your business in general.”
“Wait, what? Losing money?!” Lily said.
She put her hands on her face and did the Scream pose!
“...
2025-11-04 18:50:00 +0000 UTC
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Bit by bit, the miners came out of the mine.
They were all dirty, covered in dust and sweat, wearing hard hats and carrying shovels and pickaxes. A few of them were pushing wheelbarrows full of rocks, which they took over to the side.
When they dumped the rocks out of the wheelbarrows, it kicked up a lot of dust!
Oh no!
Lily watched worriedly, but a gentle breeze blew the dust away from her cart!
The Goddess of Winds whistled innocently up in heaven, refusing to ...
2025-11-04 18:49:01 +0000 UTC
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Sally had been relieved when Lily came home for lunch, and then worried when she saw the shopping bag full of ingredients.
She felt bad that Lily felt like she needed to support the family.
She was only eight…
At her age, she should be playing, not worrying about money.
But, she was also at that age when she wanted to do things herself, too.
And Sally wanted to support that.
So when Lily declared that she wanted to practice cooking, Sally forced herself t...
2025-11-04 18:48:01 +0000 UTC
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Lily was in a pinch!!
It was early morning, and she had woken up, throwing back the covers and stretching like normal, and there were two ghosts standing in her room!
They were two men, older than Papa, but they were see-through, and pale, and faintly blue. They had thinning hair, and both wore glasses, and they wore strange clothes. They had cloth jackets, without any kind of hood, and strips of cloth hanging from around their necks.
“Aw, geez Mac, we scared her. I told y...
2025-11-04 18:47:01 +0000 UTC
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Up in heaven, gods and goddesses were throwing dice.
The dice were normal six-sided dice, totally normal, with little dots indicating the value of each side.
None of the dice were weighted, at least, now they weren’t weighted. The God of Gambling had been disqualified when the Goddess of Justice had figured it out.
All the gods and goddesses wore togas and dresses made of brilliant white cloth, with clasps of gleaming gold, but this was all hidden under dark cloak...
2025-11-04 18:46:01 +0000 UTC
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Once upon a time, there was a girl named Lily. She had just turned eight years old when her Papa got hurt in a mining accident, and her Mama had to quit her job to help Papa get better. Lily had bright blue eyes, and light brown hair, and she wanted to help out her parents any way she could.
She knew that things cost money, and her parents needed money, so after breakfast every morning she...
2025-11-04 18:45:00 +0000 UTC
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Hey everyone, first let me say thanks so much for supporting me here on Patreon!
It's Writathon season over on Royal Road, and I'm doing a more lighthearted story!
The goal of Writathon is to write 55,555 words in 35 days, and I got a bit of a late start, but I'm catching up fast!
All paid patrons can read two chapters ahead of Royal Road, and maybe more depending on my writing speed! If you like it, consider heading back over to Royal Road and leaving a rating or even writ...
2025-11-04 18:31:29 +0000 UTC
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James stopped looking around, having been somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of enchantments surrounding him, and focused on the older man.
“Good morning, sir,” he greeted him respectfully, unsure as he was whether or not the man was a noble. “I don’t have an appointment, but I was hoping to receive basic training on Enchanting.”
The man nodded. “I see.” He consulted a book on his lectern, flipping the pages until he found what he was looking for. “You’re...
2025-11-03 19:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Although James carried a war hammer with him everywhere, and wore armor, and practiced hammer-wielding underneath a Hammer Warrior instructor—he had never actually said to anyone he was a Hammer Warrior.
He was studious about not talking about his second Class.
This was not uncommon in those days. The element of surprise is quite valuable in a fight, especially in self-defense, where one almost always has lost the initiative.
When James brought up his desire to go to the E...
2025-10-31 18:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Helen’s fist sank into to the ice-slick cobblestone an inch from Svalbard’s head, and she immediately drew back for another punch.
“And intact!”
Finally, the glowing woman paused. Her jaw tightened and she grimaced.
And then her hand slammed down into Svalbard’s temple and he knew no more.
Helen’s frustration with the brute beneath her faded, and her concern for Sarah swelled. She dashed back, glow fading, and started fussing over her unconscious daughter.<...
2025-10-30 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
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For a time, the Smith’s days passed peacefully as he learned his craft.
He would do low status grunt-work for the Smithing Guild in exchange for money to purchase training and materials. He learned tempering and annealing and spot welding and how to avoid inclusions. He shoveled slag into carts for disposal; he sorted and smelted ore; he produced steel in large quantities.
He never complained.
He also rarely grew tired, and took fewer breaks than other Smiths, let alone ap...
2025-10-29 18:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Svalbard was highly annoyed.
Even five minutes after the fight had started, he still hadn’t caught any of the three enemies attacking him.
This was the trouble with being a Tank.
You had to work in a team.
Sure, nothing the three did was working on him particularly well.
Whatever seal they had placed on him, did nothing to stop his cantrip Skills.
It had been frustrating, all those years ago, to be a year beyond his Choosing Day and realize he had a decen...
2025-10-28 18:00:23 +0000 UTC
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Filipe whistled sharply and well over a dozen men and women of all ages burst into the Guildhall. The youngest of the men, and one woman, were dirty with coal dust—but their eyes gleamed with mercantile fervor. Attendants, recognizable by their calm and collected demeanor, brought out comfortable armchairs and a low table and started setting out tea for four. The elder of the Merchant’s Guild stepped out from the center desk, raising a portion to create an exit, and bid them to join him i...
2025-10-27 18:00:13 +0000 UTC
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The next morning James put on his gambeson, chainmail, and took up his war hammer in hand. He was growing used to city life, and he had noticed that some people treated him differently when he had his hammer in hand. More cautiously.
Precisely the people he would want to be more cautious. It was always the ones with a rough air about them, and a mean look in their eye.
But he was feeling an itch, an urge, an impulse.
Nothing he wore was enchanted.
His Smith Class had b...
2025-10-24 18:00:10 +0000 UTC
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“No, no, is all wrong. Do not be invisible, be unnoticeable.”
“What’s the difference?” Sarah pouted.
The first thing they had done for her training was go to the busiest street in the city and practice stealth. Or at least, that was what Sarah had thought they were doing.
Part of being a Scout is avoiding detection.
So she did that.
“Is no good, target will be looking for that, Skills can see through invisible. You must hide in plain sight. Watch me....
2025-10-23 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
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James found himself seated on a couch across a low table from the Jez, the Guildmaster. She had thrown sheets over the couches, to keep them clean, but James still felt bad for tracking dust and sweat and soot into her office. He was trying to figure out how to word an apology as she looked him up and down with an appraising eye, but she spoke before he settled on an answer.
“Smith James, how’s it been smelting that Red Iron? You don’t look much worse for the wear.”
“Uh,...
2025-10-22 18:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Sarah flinched, and looked at the Artist.
“Who are you really? You’ve spent three years training on being a Brawler and a Scout, but that’s not all you are. What do you like doing outside training? What are your hopes and dreams beyond finding your brother? Who are your friends and what kind of people do you like? How do you intend to spend your time after finding your brother? Will you marry, and have children? Will you be an Adventurer your whole life? What do you want to accomp...
2025-10-21 18:00:11 +0000 UTC
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The Smith examined the ore in his hand more closely. It was red, like Red Iron, but now that he looked, clearly different. It was a deeper red, but there was an almost… wetness, to the metal mixed up with the rock. He set it aside and continued his work, but soon enough he found more of that same ore. He slowed down, now, taking more time to inspect each piece of ore to ensure only Red Iron made it into the hopper.
He found a few more small bits of other kinds of ore. A weird deep yel...
2025-10-20 18:00:11 +0000 UTC
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The Smith and the Steward returned to the Knight’s Order Headquarters, and the next morning James woke to a knock on his door.
“Smith, wake up.”
James’ pounding heart calmed as he recognized the Steward’s voice, and they walked together out of the barracks and to the edge of the grounds, where a medium-sized building sat under the early dawn sky next to a large, empty field of packed earth, perfectly level. Even this early, a few men were scattered about, running laps ar...
2025-10-17 18:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Brawler Class Skill [Grapple] has reached level 5.
Sarah found herself breathing heavily, and took a moment to calm herself. The rush was… she hadn’t expected it to be so strong.
That was a monster.
She’d just killed a monster.
It was the first thing she’d ever killed.
Arthur approached and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Was that your first kill?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah,” Sarah whispered.
She couldn’t understand...
2025-10-16 18:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Author’s note: it is highly unusual for a god to descend to the mortal realm.
They left the noisy guard station and walked along the road farther away from the main road, the Guilds, and the Knight’s Order. The road curved, a ring around the hill on which Cordova was built, the Royal Castle looming over them in the night, until they reached the Divine District. Most of the temples were dark, and so James didn’t get a good look, but the Aspirant Knight walked with...
2025-10-15 18:00:10 +0000 UTC
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They descended the stairs. First Gregory, then Arthur, Delphi, Sarah, Clara, and lastly Lawrence.
At the bottom they stopped and let Delphi and Sarah move to the front. Sarah was excited. Time for traps! Delphi was excited, too. Let’s see how Sarah handled real Scout work, instead of sparring! Before them was a wide open cavern, with a few tunnels along the walls, relatively well-lit by glow crystals.
“Oh! Is that a trap?” Sarah said, immediately pointing to the floor ahead ...
2025-10-14 18:00:12 +0000 UTC
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For his day’s work, smelting Red Iron until the shadows grew long on the ground and the sun touched the top edge of the city wall, James was paid a wage of twenty cents. Marlie had explained to him the currency, one hundred cents to a gold dollar. It wasn’t quite enough to cover the cost of the basic training course, and James could already tell he would need training beyond that as well, so they arranged for him to return for the next few days until all the Red Iron was smelted.
Ja...
2025-10-13 18:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Despite what Marlie had said, James thought that the Smithing Guild’s heavy-duty smelter was quite fancy. It certainly beat what he had created from sand and clay down in the Dungeon.
Marlie’s mother, who had introduced herself only as Jez, had also called James’ bluff. His youthful countenance, pale skin, and lack of any burn scars would lead anyone to think the same.
But James, feeling stubborn, had folded his own arms, looked her in the eye, and insisted that he could do ...
2025-10-10 18:00:11 +0000 UTC
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By the end of the week, Delphi was able to spar blindfolded.
Not win a spar, but just functionally react to simple attacks without her sight.
Nor could Sarah land any sneak attacks on her anymore. It started to become habit, to be ready to draw her daggers at a moment’s notice, especially when Sarah was around.
She even managed to graze Sarah’s hand during one of those spars.
“Oops, stop.” Sarah said, and Delphi froze, then pulled off the blindfold. ...
2025-10-09 18:00:12 +0000 UTC
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That morning, James had strong reservations about going to the Smithing Guild. Even escorted there and back, he didn’t know anyone there, and something could happen.
He had already gotten kidnapped once; and he’d die before he was enslaved again.
Even though, as a retainer, his Lord had explained that James was entitled to protection, it seemed there were limits.
He didn’t like the look in the Steward’s eyes.
The man was highly strung at pretty much all times, ...
2025-10-08 18:00:15 +0000 UTC
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Gregory apologized with a regretful expression on his face, and Sarah graciously accepted. How could she not, when sparring with the man just once had gotten her three levels? She hoped he would be willing to spar again!
For some reason, Gregory shuddered as the thought crossed her mind. She hoped he wasn’t catching a cold.
It was only once the spar was completely finished and everyone had gathered together to discuss Delphi’s training that Clara sneaked back in until...
2025-10-07 18:00:10 +0000 UTC
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