The ramparts of Jaretha made the outer labyrinth’s walls look like a child’s sand castle.
Forged of gold and white, burning stone, it filled the sky above as the Troupe of the Gargoyle rolled toward the open gates. Calling them city walls seemed to do them a disservice.
The walls around Generasi? Now those were fine city walls, in Alex’s—admittedly inexperienced—opinion. They were high. They were strong. They were well polished.
They weren’t, however, roughly eig...
2023-02-07 22:48:26 +0000 UTC
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The horde of demon monkeys howled, bellows echoing along the walls. They beat their chests. They stomped their feet. They gnashed their fangs to drive terror into their foes.
Alex’s team wasted no time with mere threats.
Guntile’s stones shot through the air with deadly precision, flying far and fast. Each struck a beast clinging to the walls, exploding in great flashes of light and bone-shattering peals of thunder. Demons blew apart in columns of flame and force, limbs flying...
2023-02-04 20:34:14 +0000 UTC
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This time, the Whetstone Tavern was sitting atop a hill, surrounded on all sides by grass so tall, the stalks rose to Alex’s chest.
The building looked more rundown than before—or so it seemed—with lichen and vines crawling up the walls, and cracks running through the cyclopean stones. Yet, for all the aesthetic differences, it looked no weaker structurally.
And Alex doubted that it was.
“Well, we ain’t in Generasi anymore.” Ripp looked around, pointing out trees...
2023-02-03 21:47:10 +0000 UTC
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Alex appraised the image confronting him, in many ways, his reflection in the mirror was more than a little discomforting.
It was as if he’d finally done it, betrayed himself, embraced his role in Uldar’s grand scheme at long last.
Or, at least, that was how he looked.
His costume was a garish crimson, chequered in yellow and blue. Big, white gloves covered his hands, and his shoes were so long, they made his feet look like they belonged to some giant, h...
2023-02-03 01:07:47 +0000 UTC
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For the first time in a long while, Alex Roth was barely paying attention during a class.
Now, that wasn’t to say that he really needed to pay much attention in Magic Lore: even in year two of the course—which dealt with advanced history, physics and philosophy—since the Mark helped him absorb the material like a sponge.
If he really wanted to, he could have used it to recall information that he’d only paid minimal attention to during the lecture. As long as he at...
2023-02-02 00:15:32 +0000 UTC
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The demon moved like water.
It danced between unconscious drunks and the uneven floor as though moving on flat earth.
Guntile snatched a stone from her pouch, flicking it at the fiend.
The pebble flew true, but the creature ducked low without breaking stride, all in one fluid motion. The stone ruptured against a nearby beam, outlining their attacker’s form, revealing the gleam of a blade at its waist.
Alex’s thoughts raced.
He was almost up and out of his sea...
2023-02-01 00:29:48 +0000 UTC
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The air held little mana.
The same could not be said for some of the figures occupying tables in the tavern.
Though many were clad like any common mercenary or itinerant warrior would be, some also carried one or more objects that radiated high levels of power.
A steel axe strapped to a hulking orc’s back, encrusted in runes, blazed with fire magic.
A wiry woman playing a game of cards—with unfamiliar faces—had a golden halberd leaning against the bench by her si...
2023-01-28 15:48:49 +0000 UTC
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“Good eventide!” Ripp skidded to a halt on the cobblestones, stopping just in front of the bakery. “Late hours, you’re keeping.”
“Evening, Ripp.” Alex floated down in front of the swiftling, noting the glint of weapons strapped to the little man’s armour. “Sometimes night’s the best time to get things done, especially when it’s so busy in the daytime.”
“Aye, if I’ve just come back from a hunt and got paid, the day’s all taken up; on those kinda days t...
2023-01-28 00:10:49 +0000 UTC
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“We are gathered here today to send off a brave warrior,” Khalik said sadly, putting his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Let it be known that he fought well and hard, but now must fall to benefit others. What do we call that?”
“A Hero,” Thundar and Alex echoed.
“Oh by the elements,” Isolde rolled her eyes. “I cannot believe you called me out here for such a thing.” The young noblewoman squinted at the position of the late evening sun setting as ocean waves crashed ...
2023-01-26 22:59:43 +0000 UTC
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“What? Are you out of your damned mind?” Theresa demanded. “You’re not leaving me behind!”
Alex winced, looking up from his spell-guide for Planar Doorway. He swallowed, feeling the full power of Theresa’s ‘death stalker’ face.
‘You can’t budge on this one, Alex.’ He thought. ‘You can’t.’
He met her gaze head on.
The two of them were alone in their apartment in the insula after Alex’s alchemy class and Theresa’s shift at the bea...
2023-01-26 01:22:30 +0000 UTC
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“First of all,” Baelin started. “I do not recommend you challenge Kaz-Mowang in a direct force of arms. He is a foe that is still beyond you.”
“Baelin, I might be a little crazy sometimes, but I’m not stupid. …most of the time at least. And I’m definitely not suicidal!” Alex said, jotting down a note in his notebook and nodding to Claygon. “Zonon-In nearly killed me, Claygon, Theresa and Cedric. And that was when she was holding back. There...
2023-01-24 19:21:21 +0000 UTC
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“Before we part, I would like to congratulate you on your exceptional work.” Baelin leaned forward in his chair—one of many he had conjured in a circle around the fire—and gazed upon his students and the Heroes of Thameland.
Pride brimmed in his goat-like eyes.
But something else also lay there…something unsaid.
“You have progressed immensely,” the chancellor’s voice was warm. “You defeated your enemies in Tenebrama and accomplished your mission with few is...
2023-01-21 14:41:26 +0000 UTC
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“You mean, we need to talk about how cool you are?” Thundar was all smiles. “Since when the hells could you turn into a dragon? Were you always a dragon? Holy shit, you’re a dragon!”
“I—” Drestra started speaking.
“Never did I think I would live to see the day I fought at a dragon’s side,” Prince Khalik said, his grin wide through his beard. “Never, ever did I think I would see dragonfear plague my enemies! It was glorious!...
2023-01-20 23:49:09 +0000 UTC
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The black skies of Tenebrama were heavy with the sound of demonic wings sweeping across them.
In the darkness, monsters raged at one another, screeching curses and threats in their demonic tongues.
“Interlopers! How dare you defile our domain!” a deep, thunderous voice boomed through the black. Whatever was speaking, sounded big. “You have destroyed our sacred Fountain, but even without it, your puny lives will still end in sacrifice!”
As it spoke, the burning light ...
2023-01-19 23:20:29 +0000 UTC
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Toraka Shale had often said that innovation came from three things: boredom, laziness and necessity.
Boredom drove inventors to tinker in their workshops.
Necessity forced people to find new solutions for problems.
And laziness? If someone was tired of performing an unpleasant task, well, that often served as a great impetus to develop new techniques: the urge to automate or ease long, boring, repetitive tasks drove much innovation in wizardry.
In Alex’s cas...
2023-01-18 23:24:17 +0000 UTC
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In his relatively short nineteen year life span, Alex Roth had seen a lot of darkness: both literal and metaphorical.
There was the dark of Alric during a winter night, when no flame burned to break the darkness. There was the pitch black within passageways in the Cave of the Traveller, only broken by his forceball light. There had been those dark spaces in the Ravener’s dungeons: unlit, leaving their mortal enemies blind.
But none compared to the dark now surro...
2023-01-17 23:49:38 +0000 UTC
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Hart’s fist met a bone-charger’s skull.
It wasn’t his best punch.
And apart from the gauntlet upon his hand, it was the sole weapon he’d used on the monster.
Yet, it shattered the rock-hard skull as though it was the shell of a robin’s egg. With a kick to its back, he cracked another bone-charger’s spine as his blade whipped about him, cleaving through a behemoth’s legs.
The Champion laughed like a man possessed, his every movement a blur as he tore acros...
2023-01-14 21:54:17 +0000 UTC
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‘The chancellor would likely call this celebration quaint,’ The young wizard thought.
Alex Roth had no idea where Baelin had gone, and he imagined the ancient wizard departing for a mountain peak somewhere. He could see him meeting with a circle of other bearded old men in some mountaintop castle.
Or in a distant forest, the palace of an emperor, or even under the ocean somewhere.
‘Maybe in the heart of some volcano….naaaah, that’s too crazy, even ...
2023-01-14 00:08:06 +0000 UTC
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Anaxadar’s smile was predatory, bleeding sparks and smoke.
Cra’s wet laughter echoed through the depths of space, her wrinkled skin shifting as though worms swam beneath it.
Samii was silent, but her eyes flared bright and the wires of her throne flared with them. A silvery dust seemed to crawl over her metallic surface.
Magun-Obu’s knuckles popped as his hands flexed, and the jewels of his staff’s skull swam with inner shadows. “It has been some time since we were...
2023-01-12 22:52:56 +0000 UTC
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Baelin watched the young Alex Roth scurry across campus, no more than a dot upon the green. It was amusing, knowing that they both were about to join with their cabals…
“...and yet, the manner in which we visit them will be quite different,” the ancient wizard said aloud, snapping his fingers.
A looking glass appeared before him—twice his height and thrice the width of his shoulders—reflecting both himself and the great office behind him.
Taking a moment to gaze up...
2023-01-12 00:35:30 +0000 UTC
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“Strange, I thought you had already reached third-tier spells?” Baelin polished a beard-clasp. Before him, a pen hovered, signing paperwork scattered across his desk. “You didn't?”
“Only with summoning spells,” Alex said excitedly. “But this! This means I can cast other spells of third-tier now.”
“Oh, then this truly is exciting news,” Baelin said warmly. “I take it you’re here about registering for the fourth level of the library?”
“Yes.” Alex ...
2023-01-10 22:45:53 +0000 UTC
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Helloooooo everybody!
Welp, it's that time! Today's chapter is coming later today, I'm a bit swamped at the moment, but I'm here to announce...
BOOK 2 IS OUT!!!!
Book 2 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Fool-Progression-Fantasy-Epic-ebook/dp/B0BFCD4LM5/
Book 2 Audible: 2023-01-10 14:55:13 +0000 UTC
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Night had fallen when Alex and Claygon emerged from Shale’s golem works. Generasi was now plunged in darkness only broken by the sliver of a new moon above, and an abundance of city lights all aglow.
To Alex, nights like these always held an eerie quality in Generasi, whereas back home in Alric, thousands of stars spread across the sky during each new moon, seeming to awaken the night. During Generasi’s new moon, stars numbered few.
Professor Jules explained the phenomenon as ...
2023-01-07 22:17:47 +0000 UTC
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There came a terrible crunch.
The sound of steel collapsing.
“Yeeeesss…” Toraka hissed, delighted with her new golem’s performance as it crushed the heavy metal sheet with ease. “This is excellent. Look how quickly it responds to my commands, and the power output… it’s beyond anything that even I’d imagined.”
“I agree. It seems to be pretty well at the upper end of expectations.” Alex chimed in, watching the iron golem tramp away from the crumpled metal...
2023-01-06 21:56:00 +0000 UTC
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“You can talk! You can talk! You can talk!” Selina screamed, jumping up and down.
“I…I can talk!” Claygon’s voice boomed over the rooftops, rolling into white clouds high above. From a nearby building, a flock of pigeons fled, launching into the air, screeching in panic.
The golem froze, then shouted, “Sorry!” The word booming through the entire neighbourhood. In the distance, dogs abruptly barked and howled, bringing Brutus bounding up the stairs...
2023-01-05 23:52:41 +0000 UTC
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“Take a good look, Claygon. You too Selina, and Theresa. And you too, Brutus!” Alex spread his hands over a row of alchemical components on the table. “All of this stuff? This is what’s going to let you talk, my golem buddy. This is what’s going to let you sing.”
‘I…can’t wait…to sing…’ Claygon’s excitement was bleeding through his link with his father.
“Claygon says he can’t wait to sing,” the young wizard translated for his audie...
2023-01-04 22:37:39 +0000 UTC
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“Yes, that’s it, my minion!” Alex laughed maniacally. “Work for me!”
“Will you stop calling me that!” Selina grumbled, hoisting a box out of the sky-boat and onto her shoulder. “I’m not your minion, you big jerk!”
“You must be!” Her brother gestured to the sky-boat—laden with boxes and furniture—hovering a foot above the cobblestones. Powerfully built labourers were carefully unloading the vessel, carrying boxes through the bustling street ...
2023-01-03 22:56:02 +0000 UTC
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“Just keep going, I got you!” Alex shouted, pouring his mana into the Champion.
“Hah! Don’t gotta tell me twice! This feels amazing!” Uldar’s Champion laughed, the sound roaring through the moors.
Heavy links that formed a massive chain whirred through the air above Hart’s head, the oak of a man swung the attached ship’s anchor in great arcs, cutting the air with a noise like a trebuchet stone soaring for a fortress wall.
His bare torso dripped sweat...
2022-12-31 22:34:53 +0000 UTC
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“So, this thing you’ll be doin’ won’t kill Hart, right?” Cedric was strapping the Champion of Uldar to a long, narrow table. He gave the thick leather bindings a dubious look, eyeing the heavy metal buckles. “What in all hells is this place for anyway; torture?”
“It’s actually an operating room: it’s used to do research on certain living specimens when they’re captured in the wild: you know, Ravener spawn and the like,” Alex said distantly, checking his notes one...
2022-12-30 22:43:58 +0000 UTC
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“Let’s start with these, I believe you’ll find them useful,” Baelin announced.
A loud bang broke the silence as a neatly stacked tower of books dropped in the centre of a tabletop before the Chosen and Sage of Uldar. Two pairs of eyes travelled from the bottom of the pile, up to its full height of more than two feet. The Heroes paled.
“I…y’do’know I ain’t never read that many books in m’whole life, right?” Cedric sounded uneasy.
“Neither…neither hav...
2022-12-29 23:08:12 +0000 UTC
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