The explosion rippled out from the core of the Blob King. Every squishy, stretchy fiber of its being bulged, blowing out, trembling like a balloon about to burst. Gouts of Stormfire plumed from its nostrils. Its eyeballs bulged out of their sockets, cracking with veins. And exploded in bright blue flame.
The Blob King opened its mouth to bellow or scream or whimper. But no sound came out. Only more Stormfire. Stormfire consumed the rest of it, and that great roundness was lost to the ra...
2024-04-25 00:38:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Reaper wanted to end Evan. Zane took its all-out finishing blow. A blast so pure and so bright it looked like a pillar of purest lightning punching out from the Reaper’s maw—straight into Zane’s chest. Loaded with the Concept of Shockwave.
It flashed past the skin and lay waste to the organs beneath. Wrestled down his spasming limbs and smashed straight into his beating heart.
For a second his heart stopped.
Zane went down jerking, grunting. He heard Re...
2024-04-23 23:18:50 +0000 UTC
View Post
A crowd of pastel sea sponges framed the entrance: a vast hole punched into the jagged pitch-black rock face. They descended into the gloom. Evan’s sword cast a weak, warm light, but it was as though it ran up against a wall—it could hardly budge the darkness.
Soon though the rocky tunnel gave off its own strange light. The walls glowed a sickly green. It came from algae and moss fuzzing up the ceiling, pulsing lightly. They were hazed in essence, but they weren’t treasures. Zane ...
2024-04-22 05:11:42 +0000 UTC
View Post
They found the Monster down a cave dug deep into the canyon walls.
It was a bigger, badder version of the Giant Crabs they’d seen on the floor above. Its limbs were far too long and sharp—they just looked wrong, blown out of proportion. They held up a boulderlike clad in a stark-white bone shell.
King Crab (Monster)
Essence Level 195
The Crab’s beady black eyes were tiny, but only compared to the rest of it. It looked like ...
2024-04-21 05:17:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
They took a short break in the lair. Zane munched on soul recovery treasures, while Reina, Avery, and Evan munched on essence treasures.
Once they were sure he was fine, everyone else took sighs of relief. He’d given Evan and Avery a bit of a scare, and Reina more than a bit, but things turned out okay. They were in pretty good spirits after that.
Reina brought out some food she’d packed—giant legs of juicy meat, all A-rank treasures, which they had for a sort of dinner.
...
2024-04-19 00:29:52 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Blob King trembled like a cannon about to blast. Zane felt its essence drawing in, thickening, raging down its flesh, brightening by the second until its whole fat body glowed like a supernova in the astral plane. Like was it was setting its very life on fire. It bellowed a war cry.
And its Bloodline burned. Its skin burned too. So did the blubber underneath, streaming with unnatural pale light. A light so thick it saturated the waters, warring with the colors of Stormfire… <...
2024-04-17 03:00:58 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hey everyone--super excited to announce Book 1 (Chapters 1-102) of Savage Awakening is now up on Kindle and Audible!
If the story does well it'll allow me to make my transition to full-time writing, which will mean more consistent chapters and more 2x/day chapters. If you'd like to support the launch, even just leaving a quick rating would help a ton. A review would be very much appreciated. The book's in the critical early stage of its launch and every bit helps!
Kindle Unlimited...
2024-04-16 02:49:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Boss lair was at the very end of a tunnel ridden with heat vents. They had to swim through geyser after geyser spewing simmering bubbly fumes. It was boiling hot in here, like the place meant to cook them alive. Reina cast a light shield around them. It kept the worst of it off.
At the very end, waiting for them, lay the Blob King. And around him spread out in a circle were a dozen-odd lesser red dots—its Blob Spawn minions.
Zane felt he knew just the tool to deal with them....
2024-04-15 02:46:55 +0000 UTC
View Post
It might take force well but it looked flabby too. Zane needed something that’d cut right through that fatty skin.
He swapped out his Chain heads.
He had to de-summon his Chains, then re-summon them. It took a little—which was why he didn’t just hot-switch them mid-fight usually.
In the meantime, Zane gave the Blob Monster a look with Sage Mind, checked out its Skills.
Torpedo Rush (Active) [Mythic (M)]: Concentrates an immense amount of water pressure wi...
2024-04-13 00:18:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
Lightning and Water played off the roof of that cave-like mouth, lighting up thick root-like pulsing veins. They came together in a crackling tide—some kind of near Fusion.
Zane stood there and let it come.
The beast rushed up to him, jaw widening, angling to swallow him whole. An ungodly sound rolled out from the base of its throat, washed over him like a riptide.
This thing wasn’t like its minions. It was a lot higher Level—and its Laws were too. Those teeth were rid...
2024-04-11 05:55:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
A/N:
Changed it so only Avery got the armor!
//
They picked up a hefty bounty. More wealth than anyone on Earth had laid eyes on. Dungeons tended to be weighted towards their element, Reina said—which was why Avery made out quite big this time around. After the armor, she got a Fishbone that granted big boosts to Water Concepts.
The essence treasures mostly went to Zane. Everyone agreed it was very important...
2024-04-10 04:59:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
Zane hit the water face-first. For a moment he was swamped in freezing darkness. Then the charms kicked in and he could breathe. He could see in the murk too, if barely.
He saw the Monsters in flesh. Translucent skin swaddling bony ribcages glowing eerie white. Blind pale eyes and giant needles for teeth. These were things dragged out from the darkness, things that could only belong to the deep sea.
Electric Laws crackled on those spearlike teeth…
Blind Dragonfish ...
2024-04-09 04:43:37 +0000 UTC
View Post
Zane spent most of that time munching things.
First it was a bunch of steel, mostly B+ and A-rank treasures. Reina had gone on a huge spending spree, emptying out the vaults to get every Steel treasure she could for him.
Skill up!
Indomitable Hide X -> XI
Skill up!
Indomitable Hide XI -> XII
He noticed each Skill Level past X was a lot bigger of a leap. But it also g...
2024-04-08 02:04:24 +0000 UTC
View Post
"It is all over!" roared Tyler. "Ladies and gentlemen... your winner, the undisputed strongest man in the world—ZANE WALKER!"
The whole arena faded away like a bad dream. So did Zane's injuries. Until he was kneeling there, panting. Whole, but ragged.
He felt woozy. There was so much sound all around him... his head hurt. Streamers popping, little too-bright fireworks going off over the crowd, shocking noises all around... there was so much excitement and happiness floo...
2024-04-06 05:47:38 +0000 UTC
View Post
Zane advanced slowly on his brother. It was a big arena, but to those watching Zane seemed to take up more space than even his massive body suggested. His shadow loomed larger and larger until it swallowed Jason up.
Jason tried standing then, gritted his teeth. He rolled his eyes at his own strangely bent leg like he was annoyed it had betrayed him this way.
There was a sound like a cannon firing. And Zane’s massive body shot forward.
“It’s Stormfire Blitz!” cried Be...
2024-04-05 06:05:31 +0000 UTC
View Post
“We’re coming at you live from the Five Season Stadium, the biggest stadium in the world!” roared Tyler. “To a sold-out crowd of fifty thousand!”
You could barely hear him through the noise. He sat in an announcer’s booth overlooking a darkened arena stretching far, far below—to a single spotlighted stadium. The stands were packed, breathless, eager—every so often chants of “Zane! Zane! Zane!” would crop up.
One brother was a lot more popular ...
2024-04-04 04:15:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
The newsroom dissolved—and up came Jason’s smiling face.
“This is a message to my dear brother,” he said. He gave a friendly wave; his grin turned a little mocking. His eyes were glinting crescents. “Hey Zane. I know you. I’ve known you since you were little. I know those deep-down parts of yourself, parts even you might not know. And I know, deep down, you’re a quitter.”
He shrugged. “Whenever you were put under any pressure at all, whenever you were pushed to a...
2024-04-03 00:08:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
(2/2)
Sometimes Zane caught Reina studying him. She was a little concerned. He was all business leading up to the fight—he was Leveling pretty much every hour of the day.
She tried to take it on herself to calm him down, which he found kind of amusing. Usually, it was him helping her unwind. Just being with him for a bit was enough. It was hard for him to get all that worked up when she was there with him, stroking his chest and head, murmuring to him. It was nice.
*...
2024-04-02 03:51:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
(1/2)
Outside of what had once been Cairo, Egypt, there stood an A+-ranked temple: the Temple of the Sun God. The Faction there, the Order of the Nile, had extended an invite to one of the strongest men in the world to come clear it.
They'd heard he was on something of a dungeon clearing spree in preparation for a rumored super fight in two weeks—a duel between two of the world’s very best.
The details hadn't been fully released yet. The contract negotiations for streami...
2024-04-01 17:41:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
“This is Danny Ames, field reporter!” shouted a bland-looking middle-aged man. He wore a long trench coat fluttering so badly it threatened to tear right off his body.
“I’m reporting to you live from the A+-ranked dungeon, Dust Bowl Hellscape!” he said. “The winds here are just ridiculous—just look at that!”
He gestured right above him, where a massive oak tree hurtled end-over-end. Branches and boulders and shrubs streamed after it, swirling in wide loops. T...
2024-03-30 22:19:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
A/N:
Added in ‘Initial Mastery’ to the Stormfire description!
—a series of Mastery Levels build up to the next Tier. Mastery increases as you weave in more Concepts
//
He found the dungeon chest at the top of the mountain, right next to the Beacon. There was no peak like the tip had been blown straight off—maybe courtesy of Zane’s little explosion.
The chest lay on a flat stretch of ash.
It was smaller than he’...
2024-03-29 23:30:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
By now there must’ve been a hundred minions spiraling over him, pouring in gouts of Elemental Electricity and Fire, feeding a raging storm. With Zane at the center.
But then the clouds began to cave in. A heavy aura cut through. There was a crack of lightning, and the silhouette of a massive body flashed into view. Something serpentine, mind-bogglingly long, a dragon-like head studded with long whiskers...
It sank beneath the cloud layer.
Eastern Thunder Dragon (Mo...
2024-03-29 01:54:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
Gates opened up at the bottom of the walls. Elves streamed out—mostly warriors, clad in bulky silver suits of armor. All throwing up glowing shield Skills. They linked in a giant formation, making a wall.
Wards flared in front of them, another line of defense. All the while those cannons kept blasting; the sky was run over with essence, with Law.
None of it made the slightest dent.
The Titan Rhino bellowed. Crashed against that outer ward layer. The wards flexe...
2024-03-27 03:02:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Before we speak of practical matters," said Patriarch Azure Flame, "We must achieve an understanding of the history of Stormfire. Let us delve into its rich and storied lineage! Many a Master has walked this dangerous path... the first to tread its path was I, Patriarch Azure Flame. I came across it in by a stroke of chance, early in the 7th Megannum…"
The Patriarch kept talking. He'd fought in this war, warred against this Kingdom to found the Faction, driven back that Monster...
2024-03-26 05:12:43 +0000 UTC
View Post
(1/1)
The moment he uncorked the vial, it began to tremble. Ripples jerked across the surface of that little bead of blood—as though if he didn’t do something fast, it would explode.
He blinked at it, a little alarmed. Then he dumped it in his mouth and swallowed.
It rolled down his throat like a bead of ice.
There was Reina, head still on his chest, still happily asleep.
Meanwhile it felt like hot shocks were sparking down Zane’s body. The droplet kept dro...
2024-03-25 01:18:14 +0000 UTC
View Post
(1/1)
“I think,” said Reina slowly, “We should win this. Unless I’ve made a mistake, in the worst case, we’ll get it for 440 Credits. But we can win it for 380, maybe 390. It depends if I can scare off Booth 1182.”
“What?” said Zane.
“That’s our main competition,” Reina explained. “They’ve shown an interest in Fire Element treasures, and they have the resources—they’re just conservative. They won’t try to outbid us if they’re not sure they c...
2024-03-24 06:39:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Can you imagine what he'll look like at his peak?!” spluttered Scout Haelin. At his age—with a soul like that?!"
"As big as the Patriarch, even…" said Zhang.
They looked at each other.
"Do you know what this means?" said Haelin.
Zhang nodded slowly. "That’s S-rank soul talent. No doubt about it. And not just any S-rank…”
They were blinking—at each other, then at Zane. The way gold miners might after discovering a vein so rich it’d mak...
2024-03-22 23:00:29 +0000 UTC
View Post
(1/1)
Zane woke in the astral plane. That fuzzy, slightly blurry place. Nothing felt fully solid here—like if you ran into something hard enough, you might just pass through it.
He stood on what looked to be a flying saucer made of polished, gleaming silver. A circle of runes ran along the edges. It all floated in space. A little air bubble wrapped around them. It was eerily quiet here—he looked left. A few dozen feet off, there was another one of those flying saucers. And th...
2024-03-22 02:45:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
(1/1)
The island dungeon chest looked like something a pirate king might store his lost treasure in. Its treasures didn't disappoint.
There were 40 Merchant’s Guild tokens, 80 high-grade Essence Stones, a cultivation Talent-boosting Elixir brewed by a junior Alchemist of the World Tree Faction, a fragment of a Cult of Eternal Winter Inheritance, a Dormant Lava Wyrm Egg, and a chunk of Neutron Star ore.
It was all A-rank.
Reina put them in a Bag of Holding...
2024-03-20 23:44:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
When they got out, they found the Beacon at the top of the hill. There was a dungeon chest waiting for them. It looked more like a vault. It was the size of a house, built of Spirit Steel that could’ve been a treasure unto itself. When it cracked open, a golden light spread out from within.
And there they found an astonishment of riches.
There were—40 Merchant’s Guild credits, 100 high-grade essence stones; it took Reina 4 seconds and one scan to count them. Which was the to...
2024-03-20 04:00:40 +0000 UTC
View Post
