“Repeat it, if you please,” said Gerard.
“I’ve got two vials,” said Sun. “One’s the vampire poison, one’s the antidote. I’ll take the poison first, sneak in with the cargo, and take antidote once I’m in.”
She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. “I might talk, and act, and pout like I’m a toddler sometimes. But I’m not as dumb as one! Give me some credit.”
“Which is which?”
“…Um.”
She thumbed open ...
2023-05-11 03:08:48 +0000 UTC View PostAn airship streaked across the sky, a golden infinity etched onto its prow. And in it were three creatures of Empyrean power.
The first was the Sky Wolf, a werewolf dressed in a hunter’s leathers, knives sticking out of dozens of pockets, some small as a thumb, others big as a head. They jingled at each move. He hummed tunelessly to himself as he polished his claws with a handkerchief.
Then there was the Nine-Tailed Fox. She was calm, but not like the Sky Wolf. She was like a va...
2023-05-10 01:43:07 +0000 UTC View PostThey were back at the warehouse. Dorian found Gerard sitting on a high-backed chair, sipping tea, legs tastefully crossed. Sun was hanging upside-down off one of the lamps, scatter-gunning appleseeds. She waved cheerfully when she saw him. Gerard offered him a curt nod and a raised brow.
“You’re four minutes and sixteen seconds late,” he said.
“Blah.” Dorian dismissed him with a wave. “Perfect punctuality is a sure sign of a bore.”
“Sir, you do speed-runs.”...
2023-05-08 23:54:57 +0000 UTC View PostThis time Baldur came out swinging. His plan was very simple. Break his stupid fucking face!
Then light blossomed at dragonboy’s feet, like a tiny crimson trampoline, and he vanished. Bounced away. And Baldur turned just in time to take four knuckles to his left cheek.
He whirled, he clobbered, he smashed. It felt like trying to snatch a ghost. He hit something fleshy once, heard the oof! wrenched out of dragonboy. But he was almost punching at random....
2023-05-08 01:44:03 +0000 UTC View PostPatreon-only bonus chapter!
Baldur hit the boy, and he could tell it hurt. Dragonboy’s eyes went wide, but his pupils went small, and Baldur felt a spike of satisfaction.
You liked that one, did you? I’ve a feeling you’ll like this much better!
[Anvil Fist!]
All of Baldur’s immense weight rushed to his clublike knuckles, each big as the skull of a rat. Fearsome Laws of Breaking wreathed the bones. This close, this fast, there ...
2023-05-07 02:59:42 +0000 UTC View PostA/N:
Updated last chapter to mention that Lv. 10 is Lv. MAX for all Techniques—probably should have mentioned this earlier in the series but ah well
It should be noted a shitty technique maxed out < a very good lv 1 technique
//
Palace of the Trolls, Underworld.
Ninth Circle of Hell.
Meetings. So many damned meetings! When the troll armies mobilized to fight for Jez, Baldur had expected a sea ...
2023-05-06 03:47:05 +0000 UTC View PostA/N:
Note: New official schedule for patrons is 7 chapters per week! (daily)
RR readers get 5 chapters per week (weekdays).
:) Onwards!
//
Pure Jade Realm
The Pure Jade Realm was a realm of pure jade. Jade crystals sprouted from the ground like ferns, and some, the really old ones that’d been sucking qi since the dawn of time, grew to mountainous heights.
The highest peak of the rea...
2023-05-05 03:29:41 +0000 UTC View PostA beginner had moves. An expert had tactics. Where a beginner saw a battle in only one dimension, an expert like Pinker—a title he more than deserved, if he did say so himself—saw two. When a beginner saw a face, their first thought was, ‘I will punch it!’ When an expert saw a face, their first thought was, ‘how can I punch it?’ A subtle difference. But one most brawlers never truly understood their whole lives. The newbie thought a fight a was a contest of Technique-spam...
2023-05-04 03:29:17 +0000 UTC View PostWhere did it all go wrong?
It was a question Pinker woke up to every morning, blearily staring at his stubbled face in the mirror, at the sagging cheeks and the mustache like an unkempt lawn. There was a time he’d daubed his face in oils and gels, took daily skin-tightening elixirs—when his face was still on the promotional posters, grinning pearly whites while the brute-of-the-day on the other side snarled and slobbered.
He’d had a fan club then, when he w...
2023-05-03 03:38:10 +0000 UTC View PostA/N:
Quick writing update: Daily pace is going smoothly, even during finals week. Fixing a set writing schedule has streamlined things for me writing-wise :)
//
The Spirit Pavilion!
It was the same everywhere. In Hell, in Zenith, in Pithia, in Shen’Zi—even the entrances to the Spirit Realm themselves were just scaled-up versions of the same building: silver three-story pagoda, a pristine and classy oasis amid endless swathes of bulging filth. It wa...
2023-05-02 02:14:12 +0000 UTC View PostA/N:
I am fresh off banging my head against a CS project for 4 hours
late upload bc thought i wasn't going to make it in time. then I figured I just wouldn't sleep until I finished the chapter lol
ite off to bed
//
It was one of those ideas that really felt like it shouldn’t work. But Dorian couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.
The last time he had this feeling… was when Sun suggested that sewer tunnel scheme, and the...
2023-05-01 04:27:44 +0000 UTC View Post“That’s the full floor plans to the Royal Palace,” said Sun through a mouthful of bread. “Plus—a catalog of all the best shit they’ve got!” She swallowed, then grinned. “Not bad, eh?”
“How did you manage this?” said Gerard, frowning in consternation. “I was under the impression all documents pertaining to the auction were closely guarded.”
“‘Closely guarded?’ That old setup?” Sun scratched her head. “I don’t know abo...
2023-04-30 02:08:41 +0000 UTC View PostDorian worked his way through the drooling crowd, wielding his tail as a wedge. Remarkably nifty thing—he’d had little use for it thus far since he hadn’t had much in the way of close combat. But in time, once he began tinkering on that skillset in earnest, maybe he’d pick up a Tail Technique.
For now, though— ‘GODKING HOUYI’S SOUL DESTROYING LIVER OBLITERATING NINETY-NINE HEAVENLY FISTS!’ was his prize. It was only 50 low-grade Spirit Stones, which was just abo...
2023-04-29 03:47:59 +0000 UTC View PostDorian’s sorting process went something like this.
Flip open a book—usually stained with grease, oil, food, or other such grime—and skim. And then about a quarter of the way through—sometimes less—he tossed it aside, picked out another, and started over. He did not expect to find the sort of manual that might adorn the shelves of a top-ranked Godking’s private collection. The sort that had been edited, and re-edited, and revised every century to squeeze in new martial innova...
2023-04-28 01:21:18 +0000 UTC View PostHell sure had a fascination with Heaven! These Technique shops found a way to squeeze the word into the title of nearly every manual—Heavenly’ this, Heavenly’ that. Dorian strolled past grimy windows crammed with display cases, all variants of the same sleazy design, each shoddier than the last—a fake gold stand which held up books with fake-gold letterings atop fake-leather covers. All polished to an oily shine. All boasting “HEAVENLY POWER!” or “SECRETS OF THE TOP-RANKERS!” ...
2023-04-27 03:38:06 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Daily streak still going! :p
//
Eighteen.
The number was surreal. Out of millions, eighteen. The top twenty Gods in the Multiverse were legendary creatures, carved out snug spots in drinking songs across a good dozen languages—and had far more tales of their feats whispered around campfires across the Upper and Middle Realms. Each one could down the typical Empyrean. In fact most all of them were peak Gods. Usually old monsters...
2023-04-26 01:52:03 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Schedule may be a little unstable as finals approach… will aim to do at least 5 chapters per week (M/W/F + Dailies on weekends?). More if I have time!
//
“May I ask what it is you intend to do, sir?” asked Gerard. His eyes flickered down to his tea-table, on which three teacups, a book, and a porcelain plate of biscuits were neatly balanced. “Should I be nervous?”
“Probably not. I might explode a little, but it’ll pass.”...
2023-04-25 03:11:50 +0000 UTC View Post“You know, Gerard,” said Dorian as they strolled down the long, winding stairs, “It occurs to me we’ve been all business since I got here. How’ve you been these past few… Hells, has it only been a few months?”
“I am fine,” said Gerard with a little nod, the picture of courtesy. “Thank you kindly for your concern.”
“Really? After all that’s happened?”
“… No.” Gerard sighed. “I miss my magnolias desperately. I am grieving. Honestly,...
2023-04-24 03:07:36 +0000 UTC View PostNote:
*Probably* no chapter on Sunday! Taking the day off to plan, rest a little.
//
A lotus unfurled in the air, budded with crystal-blue dew, hung in a halo of pink light. Qi drifted off it like warm breath on a frosty day. Gerard plucked it gingerly out of the air and presented it to Dorian with a bow.
“The Divinity Lotus. Fate had but two remaining in his possession. And one is now yours.”
“Saints,” breathed Dorian. He ...
2023-04-23 04:17:07 +0000 UTC View PostDorian fully expected the safehouse to be a storage facility in an alleyway. Or perhaps underground. Some dingy out-of-the-way place that shunned light and bathed in smog; it was where he would’ve put such a place.
Instead Gerard led them to a hotel that looked like the shorter yet prettier little sibling of Ur’s royal palace. It was only one spire, but it was a blemishless feat of red steel, smooth unbroken curves flowing up to a crown of a roof.
The doorman standing...
2023-04-22 02:28:55 +0000 UTC View Post“What took you so long?”
“…”
“I expected you days ago.” Gerard tapped his watch. “You’re late.”
For a few seconds all Dorian did was stare. “You’re alive.”
Gerard spread his hands. “I was given a last-second warning. Call it Fate.” There was that quirk of the lips again, so fast it was nearly a twitch. The tiniest of smiles.
“You’re alive,” said Dorian again. Words seldom failed him. For him there was usually no such t...
2023-04-21 02:23:22 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Maybe I should schedule releases at specific times... hmm
10PM EST perhaps?
I have blocked out time on my calendar to write 2k words (i.e. a chapter) a day!
I don't know how sustainable this is!
We will see!
//
They were swimming. Deep in the underground lava-flows, heading to the source of the waste dump’s lava lake. And Sun was going slightly nuts.
This far down it wasn’t really swimming. More dragging yourself forwar...
2023-04-20 00:47:59 +0000 UTC View PostA/N:
Bonus chapter!
//
As Dorian heard the plan—over the course of three long minutes of excited babbling, no less—his expression underwent a series of metamorphoses. First a cock of the brow, a smirk of mild amusement. And then up went the second, around the minute mark. If Sun noticed she didn’t stop chattering. Around two minutes he was fully gaping at her. By the time she finished up nearing minute three, every fiber of his face was taut with incre...
2023-04-18 21:40:58 +0000 UTC View PostWeeks later…
Dorian and Sun saw the Kingdom of Ur rise in the ashy distance, watched endless streams of caravans trundle towards it yanked by herds of giant demigod drakes. In the mortal realms they might’ve been kings. Here they kept their heads low as God traders lashed their impatience with flaming whips.
As apt a metaphor for the importance of power as Dorian ever saw.
The traders came in all species. Clans of serpents. Naga. Minotaur hordes pulling ...
2023-04-17 22:46:17 +0000 UTC View Post“You know what my one regret is?” said Dorian through a mouthful of fried locust leg.
“Mm?” said Sun. It was all she could get out. She’d managed to squeeze five into her mouth, which was quite the feat to behold. They bulged against her wobbling cheeks. It looked to him like one of those demon serpents that swallowed elephants—you could see the lumps bloating up the middle. But she had that fierce look in her eyes, that hard scrunch to her nose, as though she’d sooner her...
2023-04-16 23:39:16 +0000 UTC View PostThere was a drawn-out pause, filled with a great deal of nothing.
“Sun?!” He hissed. “Cloak!”
Nujia frowned at him. He, in turn, frowned at Sun.
“…Please don’t tell me you’re frozen again.”
“Am I?” Sun looked rather spooked at that. She raised a hand, wiggled her fingers. “Phew!”
“Then what’s with the delay?” “Oh!” A mischievous grin spread across her face. “You can’t tell? That must mean it’s w...
2023-04-16 00:16:03 +0000 UTC View Post“You should go.” Meng said. Sharply—“I’ll not involve myself in your petty squables.”
Then she eyed Sun flopping on the floor. She softened. “But…perhaps I’ll give you a way out. This much, and no more!”
She tapped the air. A seam in the fabric of the Multiverse split open, giving way to a foreign stretch of Swamp.
“Out you go.”
Dorian scooped Sun up. “Right. See you—”
“Blegh?” said Sun. “W-wait! We’re leaving? Already?” Sh...
2023-04-15 00:48:20 +0000 UTC View PostA/N:
I wasn’t going to release a chapter today, on account of the fact that I have a giant midterm tomorrow whose existence I only learned about this morning
But here we are! Procrastination is the mother of writing, or something?
//
It was a choice that would define the rest of this life.
Hellfire. He’d heard of this Law long before, had fought against fierce wielders of it—mostly Dark Phoenixes and the like. Its description didn’t do it...
2023-04-13 01:41:33 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time Dorian and Sun turned back around, the grin was wiped from their faces. Dorian put up a quizzical brow. Sun simply blinked wide-eyed, like a newborn fawn. “Wait,” said Meng once more. She dithered for a second. Then she shook her head, sighed again, cleared her throat. “I’ve got a gift for you too, child.”
Dorian grinned. “You do?”
“Not you. Just a moment.”
The air about Meng went slack, the fabric of reality loosening, and ...
2023-04-11 13:48:00 +0000 UTC View Post“You astound me,” said Meng as they strode up the path back. She glared at him, but in that exasperated half-lidded way, not the kind she really meant. This was Meng the old lady glaring. Nearly playful.
Dorian had been on the receiving end of the other kind of glare too, the kind from Meng the Warlord. Twice. It hadn’t ended well. If Dorian and Sun were to have any success it was Old Lady Meng they’d need to win over.
Slip up, and they might well face the wrath of the War...
2023-04-09 23:18:58 +0000 UTC View Post