Author’s note: The Steward’s personal journal was largely overlooked as a document of historical significance, owing mainly to the text predominantly being occupied with concerns about his younger sister. However, upon examination in the University of Cordova archives, where it was discovered only recently after having been misfiled, it sheds much light on the Steward’s motivations and why the Legendary Smith was permitted to walk unescorted in the city streets.
Edito...
2025-10-06 18:00:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
It was a leisurely journey of some three weeks from Corto to Cordova, starting in the highlands of the north and following the river Tebro southwest through the plains and valleys. The Smith, the Steward, and the Aspirant Knight stopped in small lodging villages and larger towns, taking in the sights and local delicacies, making full use of the money Suero was given by the Knight’s Order for traveling expenses. James had nothing much to do on the journey, and the Steward taught him the expe...
2025-10-03 18:00:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
Gregory was full of regret.
As a Leader, it was perfectly normal to have to make decisions with incomplete information.
Making the long journey to the capital to get training for Delphi. Taking a gamble on a Class he’d never seen before. Trusting an old, old friend from way back when he was E Rank.
But there were mistakes he could have avoided today, as well.
Setting two conditions. Setting any conditions at all. Now he was stuck in a lose-lose situation. Either he b...
2025-10-02 18:01:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
It was the Aspirant Knight who broke the silence.
“Well then, what else do you want?”
“Huh?”
“Is that the only thing you want in life? To return home?” The Knight had a serious expression on his face. “Setting aside the matter of the Elixir, none of us know where your home is. So what do you desire in the meantime?”
James pressed his lips together. What he wanted in life… After the discussion of marriage, a wife and family was certainly something he w...
2025-10-01 18:18:52 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sam interjected, “Like I said, I didn’t recommend Sarah because she’s a Scout. I recommended her because she’s a Brawler. That she wants Scout training is, frankly, her own business.” He folded his arms and gave Gregory his own stern glare.
Gregory dropped out of the staring contest first, and raised two fingers. “Two conditions. First, Sarah,” he turned to look at her directly, “tell us why you haven’t yet chosen your second Class, and leave nothing out.”
2025-09-30 18:00:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
Smith Class Skill [Cementation] has been acquired.
Smith Class Skill [Quenching] has been acquired.
“Alright James, now this box. Wedge it in tightly, if you would. The contents are fragile.”
James lifted the box, squatting down and bracing his back before lifting with his legs. The Aspirant Knight had been most displeased with the way James… was lifting things? James didn’t think it mattered much, not with sixteen levels in a Streng...
2025-09-29 18:00:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
James, now a retainer to the Aspirant Knight, was led by that same Knight’s only other retainer, the Steward, to a room in the barracks used by the Knight’s Order. It was smaller, with a only a bed, no desk or chair, but James was provided with another two sets of clothes, and some shoes.
The ink pot and quill, sadly, were taken back to the nobles’ cell, but he was allowed to keep the papers, which included a copy of his contract of indentured servitude.
For the rest of the ...
2025-09-26 18:13:50 +0000 UTC
View Post
They came to a stop in front of the table where Sarah and Sam were sitting, and Sam stood up, closely followed by Sarah.
“Gregory, everyone, this is Sarah. She’s a Brawler-Scout combo, and she’s been helping me out with sparring practice for the better part of a year.”
Sarah swallowed dryly, looking up at the faces of all the A Rank Adventurers peering at her with various expressions.
Congeniality.
Suspicion.
Obviously faked hurt.
Curiosity.
I...
2025-09-25 18:00:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Magistrate and the Knight Commander jerked back. The Steward retreated. Both the guards standing behind where James was seated, to their credit, leapt into action. They had blades to James’ throat before he finished processing what the Head Priest had said.
Suero cursed in his mind for not coming armed.
“Don’t move!” shouted one of the guards.
James, for his part, sat very, very still.
The Head Priest, belatedly, retreated behind the wooden baniste...
2025-09-24 18:00:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
[Brawler] Class chosen. 1/2 Classes chosen. Please select a Class.
In the world of her soul, Sarah found several interesting new options. Wind Mage, for one. But the Class itself was nearly as clueless as she was about what Wind Mages could do. What the Class did know was the important thing: that there was no chance it could develop into something to find James.
Delivery Girl was amusing; the class had a larger than expected focus on spreading gossip. The special...
2025-09-23 18:00:40 +0000 UTC
View Post
Editor’s note: The apparent source for the underlying motivations of the Aspirant Knight, Suero Paulo Cortez de Figueroa de la Iberteria, was determined to be a forgery some time after Andrew of Longthorn’s passing. Today it is unclear if that determination itself is correct, as later purges of historical documentation mean that there are no copies of ‘Diaries of Her First Knight’ extant that predate Andrew of Longthorn.
Tension filled the air.
“No?” asked the...
2025-09-22 19:20:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
At first, James had thought he was dead and in heaven. A bed? Good food? No monsters?
What else could it be?
He would have liked to just enjoy it, to just lay back on the bed and sleep and wake and continue to let life carry him by passively.
No. No. He had been through entirely too much to do that. Choosing his Class foolishly. Not taking his self-defense seriously. Not trying harder to run away from the slavers. Not trying to escape the Dungeon so...
2025-09-19 18:00:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
From the outside, the Royal Castle walls of tall, dark grey stone were imposing, topped with crenelations and patrolling guards and knights at all times.
On the inside was a well-maintained, beautiful garden. Countless flowers bloomed and paths crisscrossed hither and thither, with gazebos sitting unused but ready for a tea party at a moment’s notice. There were various buildings mainly lining the inner wall, leaving the garden space free, and off to the left was a particularly attrac...
2025-09-18 18:00:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
And so the Smith was taken from his home,
and heated in the flames of the camp of slaves,
and pounded and forged in the depths of the Dungeon,
quenched in healing waters of Elixir,
and taken into the service of the Aspirant Knight,
to be honed and his skill perfected.
-The Legend of the Smith, banned from publication and performance throughout the world by order of His Holy Majesty, Imperator Supreme Imm...
2025-09-17 18:00:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hey everybody!
First, thanks so much to everyone for reading!
I have some stuff to say about Book 2 and my progress on Book 3 of The Legend. Feel free to skip it if you're just here for The Legend :)
I've heard what people have been saying about Book 2 (and most of the Dungeon arc) (mainly on Royal Road). I agree it has pacing issues, and I'm planning to give Book 2 a thorough editing pass that will likely condense some of the content to help the overall flow...
2025-09-17 16:54:50 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief at the same time as Mr. Tenns.
Clark, the Treasurer’s assistant, stood and turned to Beth, avoiding meeting Sarah’s gaze. “Beth, if you could just leave me a note whenever Brawler Sarah makes a payment, I’d appreciate it.”
And then he, too, left the room.
Beth finished her notes and then sighed, before sternly narrowing her eyes at Sarah.
“Fifty silver? Really?!” she hissed. Then she turned to Mr. Tenns. “Is there even en...
2025-09-16 18:00:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
The stone golem was pushed back a step and then some, sliding along the hard-packed dirt. Not because of the [Reflect] enchantment, but because James had already been swinging his hammer, and instinctively poured as much mana as he could into the [Heavy Blow] enchantment once his shield had shattered.
James was also sent flying back by the simultaneous blows.
BAM
He crashed into the wall, banging his head inside his helmet e...
2025-09-15 18:00:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
It only took James as long as the descent down the stairs to decide on almost all the details of his next set of armor. There was only one question: would he have the strength to wear it?
Hunger had sapped much of his strength. His Light Tower Shield was a struggle to lift, let alone wield properly. His armor sat heavy on his body, and he often found himself light headed with exertion.
Eating the tentacle-flesh barely helped. He wondered if he was even getting any nutrition out of...
2025-09-12 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
Johnathan was a thin man in his fifties, his hair almost entirely grey with age but still full and styled fashionably. He wore simple, but finely crafted clothing that perfectly displayed his professionalism without any possibility of overshadowing his own boss, who was a member of the nobility.
He was here at this meeting mainly to resolve the situation. Clark had been running the quarterly financial report, which was the last one before the annual financial report, which woul...
2025-09-11 18:00:04 +0000 UTC
View Post
James miserably trudged through the floor.
He’d had to choose between being hungry or nauseous, and he had chosen to eat.
Once he’d eaten, he’d changed into his Water Armor and put on his Water Amulet—the one that boosted water enchantments.
In his right, numb, damaged hand he carried his Green Iron Round Shield, enchanted with [Reflect].
In his left hand, he carried his Blue Iron Round Shield, also enchanted with [Reflect].
2025-09-10 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
While Sarah had been focused on training, Helen had also been searching for James in her own way.
It only took her the first week to become established at their inn and get their household finances budgeted. Once she had more free time, she made friends with everyone between their inn and the Adventurers’ Guild, to hear if anything happened to Sarah while walking to and from.
She didn’t expect it to happen in the first week, however!
Miriam, bless her heart, had come to ...
2025-09-09 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Smith and Enchanter woke, donned his Dark Armor, and in his hands he held a length of chain festooned with twenty heating strips. Careful not to actually touch the strips themselves, he carried them up the stairs and then set them down. The rest of his heating strips he left back at his forge, in case something went wrong.
He threw some more stones into the pool, to see if he could bait out the monster, but nothing happened.
Good.
Next, he dipped the chain with the heati...
2025-09-08 18:00:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
The pool at the far end of the arena started roiling. On reflex, he ducked behind his Light Tower Shield and poured as much mana as he could into the [Reflect] enchantment before he jammed his helmet back on his head. Peeking around the side, he saw large, white tentacles shoot forth from the water, rising to the clouds above before slamming down randomly around, kicking up sand. The tentacles looked to be about thirty yards long, absolutely massive.
And they were betwe...
2025-09-05 18:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
And that was it. Sarah had completed all the Scout training offered by the Adventurer’s Guild. Her tab for training expenses had grown, but she was making consistent money helping out on Sparring Saturdays and assisting individual adventurers who wanted to practice their skills on someone without having to hold back. It was win-win for Sarah: she got [Dodge] practice, and she got paid on top of that.
Still, she owed over fifty silver at this point.
And no Bounty...
2025-09-05 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
The boss room remained dark. But James still had a decent number of glow strips. Exploration revealed a wide open expanse of dirt ringed on the very edges by tall trees, and beyond them, featureless stone walls. The ceiling was a complete mystery, too high above for his light to reach.
After some time spent re-orienting, James found the treasure chest, and inside was another amulet.
[Appraisal]: Steel Amulet, Quality: Average, Durability: 10/10, Enchantment: Silence (10)
2025-09-03 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sarah discovered that she had magical potential. She had that magical energy, mana, which was what fueled the use of magic and magical items. The trainer took interest in her again, and taught her the two ways of disarming magical traps. The first, preferred approach was to apply mana to disrupt the flow of magical energy in the trap without triggering it. This took Sarah several days to become accustomed to doing, but eventually she was able to disarm all of the magical model traps ...
2025-09-02 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Not a damn thing on this floor was edible!
There was the round little fire spirits, somewhat larger than apples, that would wink in and out of existence until they appeared right next to him, never near his shield, and explode. Those rattled him around in his armor something terrible, and they were the worst.
There was the regular fire specters that would shriek and call more specters from nearby before they all swarmed him, trying to overheat him. Thanks to his new amulet, these ...
2025-09-01 18:00:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
A bright red-white glow overwhelmed everything else down the passage in the boss room. He stepped forward slowly, approaching the end of the passage, ready to turn and flee in an instant if the boss moved. The closer he got, the more things came into focus.
The room seemed to have reddish-brown walls and floor, and the boss… was something between a specter and a man. It stood some two and a half yards tall, floating just above the ground. Its outline was indistinct, but clearly there ...
2025-08-29 18:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
That night, after dinner, Sarah lay down in bed.
[Brawler] Class chosen. 1/2 Classes chosen. Please select a Class.
And she relented.
Her eyes opened in the world of her soul. She was wearing the same training clothes she had been all day; and as before, she was surrounded by doppelgangers of herself wearing the attire and bearing the accessories of different classes.
Her eyebrow rose as she saw the Martial Artist version of herself. Last week, on her ...
2025-08-28 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
James stepped over the threshold of the doorway, and was abruptly plunged into darkness.
He rocked backward, and his vision returned, and he took a moment to regain his balance.
Arbitrary magical nonsense!
Swearing, silently, to himself, he poked his head through the doorway again, testing his theory.
It seemed that the lux essence in the boss room was particularly highly concentrated. In the floor proper, it was merely very brightly lit. He stepped f...
2025-08-27 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
