Nathan’s face turned red and his features twisted into a mask of rage. He ignored Sarah and stomped over towards nearly the center of the yard. Sarah followed and settled into a ready position ten yards away, while Nathan took a basic stance with his broadsword held in a two hand grip, pointed up and towards her. He was still flushed, and breathing heavily through his nose.
Mr. Tenns took up position off to the side with a staff in hand. But he waited, letting the young man calm down,...
2025-08-26 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
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The Smith poked his head over the final step of the staircase, eyes at ground level as he peered down the length of the tunnel. The tunnel appeared to open into a large space, the view blocked by some kind of resplendent multi-colored boulder.
He crept back down the stairs a way, past the point where he needed the [Blind] helmet to be able to see, and after a minute of thinking decided to change into his Light Armor. The [Shadow Concealment] enchantment...
2025-08-25 18:00:09 +0000 UTC
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James stared at the iron door a moment, then shook his head to rouse himself.
That was way too fast, wasn’t it?
After a minute’s thought, he decided to continue exploring.
He turned his back on the iron door and went back through the tunnel and continued along the wall to the right, when several yards ahead the light fell on a quiescent rat monster, just sitting there idly. At least, until the light fell on it. It whipped its head around, squeaked at James menacingly, an...
2025-08-22 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The air outside was crisp, and the back yard was still nearly totally covered in shadow as the early morning sun rose higher. Dawn was coming later and dusk was coming earlier these days as the seasons finished changing and it was definitively Autumn.
I hope Dad’s okay with the harvest, Sarah idly thought as she walked towards Mr. Tenns, who was carrying an armful of wooden practice weapons out of the shed. Under Mr. Tenns’ direction, she lined up the practice weapons, all ...
2025-08-21 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Clang! Clang! Tap tap tap tap… Clang! Clang! Clang! Tap tap tap tap…
The cuirass, torn through by the Holy Tiger’s claws and left with large, jagged rends in the metal, was beyond repair. But it was simple enough to smelt down and reforge and re-enchant. With two more levels in Enchanter under his belt, the enchantment was a strain, but not so bad as to knock him out for a day.
To save time, the new armor the Smith was forging was based on molds from his Light Armor...
2025-08-20 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Half the bar area was in ruins. Bodies littered the floor in pools of blood. In the other half of the bar area, other adventurers were curled up on the ground, seemingly unharmed but covering their heads.
None of the members of either feuding party were standing.
No, the only person standing was a young girl, in light training clothes, with her long blonde hair in a braid down her back. She cocked her head, as though listening for something, and the receptionist breathed a sigh of...
2025-08-19 18:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Over and over James tumbled, head over heel in perfect darkness, raising a terrible din as his armor struck stone stairs sequentially. In his weariness from the previous fight, it took him some time, but eventually he flung his arms and legs out and after a brief slide, came to a stop.
His first concern was that he couldn’t see anything. This wasn’t the normal darkness where his eyes hadn’t adjusted to dim light, this was pure blindness.
It took him another long mom...
2025-08-18 18:00:08 +0000 UTC
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For a moment, truly only a second or two, the Smith stood there, gazing down on the body of the boss monsters, catching his breath and feeling the limits of his mana.
And then he remembered his mother’s wisdom.
Don’t ever let up!
Don’t stop until you’re sure they’re dead!
Don’t fall for possum tactics!
Feeling sore and tired, his mana nearly exhausted, James raised his hammer again for another swing, partly to satisfy his mo...
2025-08-15 18:00:10 +0000 UTC
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A party of five adventurers entered the Guildhall with grim expressions. Two wore long robes covering almost their entire bodies, one with a hood thrown back and the other with a wide-brimmed, pointy hat. Behind them entered a man carrying a short spear and a shield, which he set down by the entrance, and behind him entered a man carrying two battle axes and wearing chainmail over leather armor, jingling as he walked. He carefully set them on the rack, treating them preciously, compared to th...
2025-08-14 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
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One thousand, one hundred and eleven steps.
Such was the number the Smith recorded in his writings later in life.
Hot and sweaty from wearing that heavy armor the entire way, lugging around the heavy full sized tower shield, and exhausted from the mental strain of keeping his guard up in the entire time in case another kitten monster sauntered around the next corner, the legendary Smith emerged back into the main cavern of the fifth floor of the Dungeon. Teeming with lux essence, ...
2025-08-13 18:00:11 +0000 UTC
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“There you are, Sarah!” Tiffany called from the receptionist desk as Sarah finally stepped into the Guildhall. “You’re late!” she said cheerfully.
Sarah explained about the incident with the Thief and the city guard and Tiffany’s eyes sparkled as she listened to the story, excited that for once she had the gossip to spread first. “Ooh, that’s so scary! I’m so glad you’re alright,” Tiffany said once Sarah finished.
Sarah headed off to class and Tiffany promptl...
2025-08-12 18:00:09 +0000 UTC
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One strike was enough to finish off the kitten monster, which had been slammed into the wall countless times in the span of their fight.
[Enchanter] Class has reached level 10.
[Smith] Class has reached level 10.
Spending a week forging and enchanting the armor had been the correct choice.
Within the crater in the ground formed by the Smith’s blow, the kitten monster dissolved into motes of gloriously brilliant golden-white lights, w...
2025-08-11 18:00:14 +0000 UTC
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First, James set up his smelter and built it to produce heat enough to melt Red Iron. He had some unsmelted ore he had collected earlier, and after confirming that, he tested out a sample of white iron ore.
A small sample. While his ward covered half the room and there were a few large veins of white iron ore accessible, it wasn’t infinite, and he had never worked with it before. He couldn’t afford to waste any of it, especially saturated with lux essence as it was.
A...
2025-08-08 17:28:46 +0000 UTC
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The etching wasn’t the Enchanter’s best work, not by a long shot. The [Reflect] enchantment pattern is difficult to apply to a round object like a helmet, and the [Blind] enchantment that James had access to was optimized for knives, and normally would only be adapted for things like arrowheads or swords. Not the helmets of visors.
Certainly not on the same item as a Light Enchantment.
As foolish as it sounds to attempt to apply two opposing e...
2025-08-08 17:27:29 +0000 UTC
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After seeing Sarah off in the first rays of dawn’s light, Helen went back and took their dishes from the dining room, otherwise deserted at this early hour, through the kitchen and back to the small scullery, and quickly washed them and put them back on the shelves, ready for the morning breakfast rush.
Helen wanted to tell Sarah to quit the guard job. It was still too early for her. She didn’t have the right mindset nor the right training. But, thirty silver pieces was a lot
2025-08-07 18:00:04 +0000 UTC
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A month later, James had settled into a dull routine of doing not much of anything. The old iron mine was completely sealed, as far as he could tell. Cursed Dragon-Fire Melted Stone blocked his way in all directions. So he would wake up, eat breakfast, recharge the ward which now encompassed the entire cavern, and then stare at the embers in his forge. He would stare, numb to the world, unable to bring himself to put hammer to metal, until he grew hungry again. Then he would eat, and go to sl...
2025-08-06 18:00:07 +0000 UTC
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At closing, she helped shoo the lingering Adventurers out the front door along with the bar maids, and her first night’s work was complete. No fights. The bartender, a Guildhall employee, signed a small slip of paper formalizing the job completion for the night, and handed her eight copper pieces.
Sarah was confused. “Doesn’t this go to my tab?”
The bartender smiled and shook his head. “No, you pay off that tab with the receptionists during normal business hours...
2025-08-05 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
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The Smith stood there, panting, hammers in both hands. There wasn’t much else he could do. Slowly, he relaxed, and his Earth War Hammer slipped from his fingers to the ground with a thud.
The Ice War Hammer remained in his grasp, but not by choice.
James lifted his visor and looked down at his right arm, seeing that the frost had spread over the entire arm and only now was starting to melt and sublimate starting from the shoulder, and slowly working its way down. Mist oozed off ...
2025-08-04 18:00:16 +0000 UTC
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The Smith stumbled backwards, pushed by the dragon’s slash with its claws before it reared its spiked head to snap at him.
And the Smith found his footing, the spikes at the bottom of his boots gripping the hot, hard packed dirt beneath them both. He bent his knees slightly, brought his shield back in front, and tensed the muscles in his right arm, ready for a counter.
The dragon’s head darted forward. The Smith shoved his shield forward to meet it.
Thunkkshhh
2025-08-01 18:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Sarah walked back home holding her Adventurer’s License and a sheet of paper with her new schedule on it in her hands. She was an Adventurer now! She couldn’t hold back a grin the entire walk home.
She stepped through the gate in the low fence surrounding the small yard in front of the inn she shared with her mother, and Helen poked her head out one of the front windows, from the kitchen.
“Welcome back dear! I’m helping out with preparing supper. I’ll talk to you in a bi...
2025-07-31 18:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Fireballs, it turned out, had almost no physical mass. Surely if the Smith had been unarmored, his skin would have been singed and he would have taken heavy damage from the compressed, magical flames.
But the Smith was wearing the best Fire Armor he had been able to produce.
Still, a wave of heat washed over the Smith as the fireball collided with the back of his cuirass. Sheer discipline kept his shield raised to reflect the fireball the serpent in front of him was spitting at hi...
2025-07-30 18:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Unfortunately, Mr. Tenns’ recommendation for a B Rank in interpersonal combat was denied. A C Rank himself, he was only allowed to recommend that high, despite his wealth of experience in sparring as one of the Guild’s top trainers.
In the end, mainly due to Sarah’s dismal assessment exam results for everything except combat, she was inducted as an F Rank Adventurer, with a E Rank for guard jobs outside the city where monster attacks could be expected, and a C Rank for guard jobs ...
2025-07-29 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
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How long had that treasure chest been there?
James’ heart was still pounding so he made no move to suddenly investigate the windfall. It was possible that the Dungeon had made the treasure chest appear suddenly, and it hadn’t been there before; but that was only in the sense that a Dungeon could do basically anything for whatever reason.
The other explanation was that James, upon seeing the spider monsters, had lost track of his surroundings and simply didn’t notice the trea...
2025-07-28 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Eventually James calmed down and became aware of a foul stench emanating from the remains of the spider monster.
He looked around for monsters, being extra careful to check the ceiling for spider monsters, and upon seeing nothing but blank, nondescript maze tunnel walls, he got back to his feet.
He inspected the smelly, oozing remains of the spider monster, but his [Appraisal] skill failed to recognize anything useful. After some digging around, using a h...
2025-07-25 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Beth was pissed at him, but frankly, if he wasn’t already in so deep, he’d be pissed at her for not getting an accurate combat history prior to the assessment.
But this was the first time their Guild branch had ever assessed a Brawler. Sure, the big book had had a litany of warnings about the Class, but nothing that indicated a standard combat assessment was unsuitable. Hell, Beth had acted with extraordinary caution in calling him in, as he was the strongest assessor the c...
2025-07-24 18:00:06 +0000 UTC
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James did have a boost to his Intelligence thanks to his Enchanter Class, so it wasn’t difficult for him to retrace his steps in his memory and create a simple map of what he had explored so far. Nor was it difficult to reorient himself: the lizard’s tail conveniently marked in which tunnel the lizard had been originally, even after stepping into the four-way intersection of identical tunnels.
He marked the tunnel leading back to the exit with a big arrow pointing back to the exit, ...
2025-07-23 18:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The muscle man went on to explain that first, there would be two spars: one with Sarah on the offense with the goal of taking himself to the ground, the second with Sarah on the defense with him taking her to the ground. Both would be unarmed. Then they would spar with weapons until one side yielded.
“Do you have a preferred weapon? The big book was a little vague, saying Brawlers use all weapons…”
“Yes, that’s right: anything is a weapon if you’re holding it right.”...
2025-07-22 18:00:08 +0000 UTC
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But the Smith did hear it. He steadied his stance, planting his feet firmly, and brought his shield up, protecting his upper body. The sound
But the Smith did hear it.
He steadied his stance, planting his feet firmly, and brought his shield up, protecting his upper body.
The sound was familiar.
A bat monster, the same size that he was used to, was fluttering its way towards him in the same erratic random pattern he was used to.
He wasn’t used to bat monsters be...
2025-07-21 18:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Sarah’s heart sank with each question. Questions about laws, questions about the city’s layout, questions about monsters, questions about other Classes, a math question, and so on. She got the sense that after the first few questions in each section, Beth was just skipping the rest.
It made her want to cry. Just a little.
What had she been doing all her life if this was the expectation for new entries into the Adventurers Guild?
Her father and mother had been tr...
2025-07-21 09:00:34 +0000 UTC
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Several minutes later, a woman in her late twenties came out with Tiffany trailing behind her. She also wore a long skirt and a plain white blouse, but made of significantly better fabric and with better stitching than Tiffany’s, and her hair was pulled back into the same tight bun.
She reached the counter and smiled. Tiffany stood a step behind her and to the side, also smiling, but with visible strain.
“Hi, Sarah, is it? My name is Beth. Do you mind if I…?” She made a tw...
2025-07-21 08:59:02 +0000 UTC
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