dragonheartednovels

[Short Story] Book Hoarding

Ah! The wonders that can be found between the covers of a book. Fiction or not, even the most trite drivel at least reveals something about the person who wrote.

And within those insights, a spark! Some are small so as to be easily extinguished with even a single sentence from another text. Others burn with an intensity such that the book doesn’t always survive.

Such a shame that most cultures that produce these wonders are so... small. My own people, the long lived True Dragons...

[D'sP] Mixing Skills - Chapter 430

Doyle has gone through a few cycles of fox testing on the second floor. Not much has changed with the fox, but he feels like he is close to something. This called for more testing!

Fox instances had been released once a day, but finally this last fight didn’t provide him enough inspiration to go off and test things. Doyle spawned another fox instance and released it. ‘Hmm, at this level, the two Mana skills are as synchronized as they can be. In fact, on the deeper floor, the foxes ...

[D'sP] Testing The New Toy - Chapter 429

With a new toy to play with, Doyle focuses on the razor fox while waiting for the town to get to his core. There should be more to it. After all, this wasn’t just a “fox”, it was a razor fox. And sure, it has some interesting skills, but they weren’t required.

Why was it a razor fox? So, Doyle began to experiment with them. The pattern only had two skill slots and yet started with three skills. Once again, why?

Oh sure, you could just see Bite as an extra thrown on because...

[NR] Overlapping Resistances - Chapter 681

The advanced skeletons slow the slaughter to a halt. Try as they might, Jason and the other melee defenders are no longer capable of disabling most of the enemy’s front line before the zombie horde reaches them. Not that the skeletons don’t die, they do, but Jason isn’t even sure why until the man in charge is informed.

“Damage reduction over top of an Hp grind!” And the defenders stop aiming their shots, instead focusing on wailing on the skeletons as hard as possible. No fan...

[NR] Runners And Advanced Skeletons - Chapter 680

Siegfried was right. Even from the start, this night was different. Instead of some new freak pulling itself out of the ground, there were simply a bunch of advanced zombies. Green-haired, warrior, and even a few runners. Well, the runners aren’t technically advanced zombies by themselves, but rather zombie variants.

Anyway, the runners were more of a screening wave. Not that they weren’t a threat in and of themselves. It would have been disastrous to let them reach the wall. Except...

[SD:FS] Blade Gang - Chapter 3

The paperwork is quickly taken care of and the two pairs find themselves left with each other. Gem smiles wide, “Well ello there! Who might you two be?”

One, a human man with blond hair, steps forward. “Well, hello to you both as well. The two of us are only sort of a group. You can call me Samuel. Or rather, call me Sam, everybody does.”

Gem’s fur darkens a touch, as if a cloud had passed over. “Are you actually fine being called Sam, or is that simply what people cal...

[D'sP] Razor Sharp - Chapter 428

Down in the dungeon, Doyle is satisfied that Ace and company are done talking about things pertinent to him and so turns to his own gains. While the town had done a good job of handling the monster wave, they weren’t perfect.

{Razor Fox pattern acquired at lv24}

{Razor Fox

S[3+2] A[15] C[4+2] I[7] W[5] P[5]

Max Skills: 2

Available Skills: Extend Edge (Mana powered) lv5, Bite lv3, Wind Blade (Mana powered) lv1

Cost: World Energy[43]}

Doyle almost fel...

[NR] Skeletal Shardling - Chapter 679

That was the most success a flesh amalgamation had for the rest of the night. Each wave arrived with another charging the wall, but all fell after only minor gains. Though this wasn’t entirely a result of the defenders being better at their job.

One of Siegfried’s analysts breaks it down for him as the first bits of light arrive over the horizon. “While none of the amalgamations were anything fancy. After all, a proper corpsecrafter could have put them together without a binding, ...

[NR] Flesh Amalgamation - Chapter 678

The group continues to go over various theories about the overall shape of this undead invasion. Though they end up circling the same things enough that Siegfried cuts them off with a clap of his hand. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.

“Let’s break up for now and get ready for the night’s festivities. There won’t be fewer undead. Right now, most of our defenders are third break with a good tenth in the fourth break so we are nowhere near folding yet.”

Jason, Rosha, an...

[SD:FS] Pay To Guard - Chapter 2

Gem yawned, “So, we’ve been in this town for a little bit. I personally gained a level and while Body stayed the same, lost in Stamina because we weren’t running around. Mana is still awesome, though!”

June, “Because you take every chance to manipulate the air. I shouldn’t have told you how to do that. A chilly breeze on the back of the neck or the ear is shocking and a distraction.”

Gem shrugs, “Eh, what good is having magic if I can’t play with it! Though I’m...

[D'sP] The Numbers - Chapter 427

Over by the bear’s corpse, the rest of the founders ignore Kelly as she vents about magic not being predictable.

Doctor taps the various joints and runs his hands over where cuts were previously located. “Okay, the hide is as complete as we can make it with what vitality remains. Of more interest than a new rug, is the fact that this bear was on its way towards what various works of fantasy would call a hindbear. A monster based on a bear, but with altered joints to better allow for...

[D'sP] Inconclusive - Chapter 426

Near the back of the beast wave, a brown bear rises up above the other monsters to stand on two legs. The bear’s roar echoes over everything else, before it slams back down on the ground, only to rise up for a second time. Except now, the beast’s paws are covered in packed earth with stone claws extending three times what its natural claws had.

Ace points, “Air and Fire mages, focused the bear down! Plant, Earth, and Water mages, be ready to counter the bear as needed!”

Ji...

[NR] At Least Four Hours - Chapter 677

The trio of Jason, Rosha, and Siegfried soon arrive at Helina’s office, which is still closed right. Though Siegfried ignores this and just forces the door open. Though why is clear enough as they find the two asleep in their chairs.

Siegfried claps his hand, shocking them awake. “Okay ladies! What have you found?”

Helina stretches and yawns, “That I could use another hour or so of sleep?”

Siegfried scoffs, “I had people checking up on the two of you and know you...

[NR] Why Us? - Chapter 676

With the others pushed out of the room, Helina and Courtney focus on the numbers once again. Of course, the numbers aren’t completely accurate and this wasn’t some System spawned wave event. While it seems whoever was sending undead at them was focusing on newly raised minions, that didn’t mean the levels would be the same.

Outside of their room, the rest of the group is left with nothing else to do. Rosha glances around and shrugs, “So, that will take a while. How about we go a...

[SD:FS] New Player Forums - Chapter 1

(SoulDive’s official Forum, Starter Town Drama Thread)

BertVurn, DesDose, Filegreen, FeltFelt, InkyCat, JillPill, JuneSupport, KarmaMaxer, KillTheKrill, May/Hem, No2Ways, QwertyWarrior, Vibez420, Zap2to2Zap

Zap2to2Zap: Always exciting when a new batch of players is dropped on a town.

InkyCat: As if we weren’t those same new players not that long ago.

Zap2to2Zap: I didn’t cause any drama. Just a simple build with a focus on magic.

BertVurn: Weren’t you goi...

[SoulDive: Friends Squared] Friends Squared Preface

Gem Paroxysm just joined SoulDive and made a friend, June. Well, they also rolled a random character, was chased by a monster stampede, and fought a turtle. That last one being pretty tough, all things considered. Now the two have been in town for a while and want to travel a bit. What will they find on the way? Well, let’s find out!

-----

The Sapient AI just put out their second Full Immersion Virtual Reality game called SoulDive. Unlike their first game, this one is all about ...

[D'sP] Wave Time - Chapter 425

It didn’t happen right away. Ace was kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. A worry at the back of his mind as spring arrives and planting begins.

Then, a response finally happens. Someone delved too far and too greedily into the wilds. They riled up nature and beasts, causing an event that Ace and Jim had been preparing for in the background for quite some time.

All things considered, it was small, but there was now a beast wave bearing down on Wolf’s Rest. At least the idi...

[SD:M/H] Other Views - Chapter 12

Back in the new player starter town, there is a meeting of nobles and guild officials.

A man in a green suit laughs, “Why yes, I did manage to grab two of the new travellers of interest. Some people just don’t know what travellers want. Or maybe someone might not be able to actually offer such things.”

A lizardkin raises a neck drill in a show of derision, “And how many travellers did you aim for and yet miss? In fact, from what I heard there was an aligned traveller that ...

[NR] The Classic Commander Thing - Chapter 675

Another worry Siegfried had about the evolved zombies was that none of his people really knew how the green-haired zombie progressed. Now, Jason recognized them in theory, except he doubted the knowledge from his last life was going to fit one to one. Good thing once Courtney awoke, she knew some of what was up with them.

Courtney, “green-haired zombies are rarer to see, but not because they’re stronger. It is simply that the method to evolve them is less well known. On the other ha...

[NR] Full Saturation - Chapter 674

It is unfortunate for the power behind the undead that an army of ghouls is less trouble than one of zombies. Or rather, compared to the sheer quantity of zombies that could come through, the few ghouls were easy enough to stop. And so the attempt to take out Jason, instead turned into the easiest wave of the night.

Then that night and the next passed by and Siegfried received unfortunate news about the waves. They’re getting bigger. While limited by what can push through the soil at ...

[SD:M/H] Checking Stuff - Chapter 11

“Huh”, Gem flicks their ear, “I guess to know more I’d have to identify the buckler. Though it seems the scroll is already known, if not known as to what it does.”

June shrugs, “The buckler is probably fine, but without a skill for it, you won’t even be able to ID an item close to your level, let alone above. Though the system should tell you what the scroll does if you ask.”

Gem shrugs and does just that.

{

Scroll of Rest 5E

When read out loud, t...

[Closed] Deciding the Short Story Prompt for February 2025

Below are the full prompts as the poll doesn't allow the full text. In the case of ties the first option that got there wins. The short story will be finished by the end of the month.

• Illusionist - The greatest wizard is actually just an illusionist.

• Book Keeping - A dragon has decided the greatest treasure to hoard is Knowledge. They grow stronger the larger their hoard is. As the people continue to learn new Knowledge, the dragon ventures out to collect it for t...

  2025-02-03 06:26:41 +0000 UTC View Post

[Closed] Collecting Short Story Prompts for February 2025

Once again I'm here to ask all of you for short story prompts! I'll take the more popular ones as decided by the number of hearts (or that I particularly like) in the comments and make a poll at the start of the month. The winner will be made into a short story of a thousand or so words.

Not many rules on what you can suggest at the moment. That will mostly be figured out as we go. Besides that, the short story will come out before the end of the next month.

Rules for prompts:

[Short Story] D'sP Side Story: Catching Up With Kyle's Team

A team of six walk down the main street of a dungeon town. The road is dirt, though maintained, and there are many smiths set up. An endless flow of bronze scraps come from the dungeon, feeding their forges.

Antonio smiles, “I’m so glad this dungeon focused on metal. My heavy armor skill wasn’t doing me much good before, but look at me now! Full bronze plate!”

Cas sighs, “Though it sucks for me. Animated armor doesn’t really care about my arrows.” Fern squeezes her h...

[D'sP] Tough Vines - Chapter 424

A bit of time has passed and Doyle figures he has it. A quick check shows that Ally isn’t busy, simply rereading what might be the first post-system newspaper in the entire planet. It didn’t actually start in Wolf’s Rest, which was a bit odd, given they had been the first to figure out paper.

Though it seems that someone two settlements past Bennett town had been a paper making hobbyist. So once the tools to make the tools and so on and so forth got sorted out, that person bought ...

[D'sP] Freshwater Aquatic - Chapter 423

Floor 16 changes shape over the next few days as Doyle focuses almost entirely on it. Not just to optimize space usage, but the more he observes, the more changes are made to ease up on power usage. Oh, it wasn’t big savings or even anything that would be noted on his status screen.

Rather, it was simple stuff. A tiny ridge under the water to more naturally guide the flow. A small tweak to a small section of the caldera wall so it insulates better. Changes that allow the floor to main...

[NR] Ghouls - Chapter 673

The current wave of zombies is soon dead. It takes a little bit longer than the night before, but that is mostly because even though you can kill the zombies with pure damage, it does take a while longer than using magic and skills that can hit the animating magic directly. In fact, with Jason blocking some of the wave, the zombies only got two-thirds of the distance they did yesterday.

And with the next wave, nothing changed. A mass of pure zombies surged up out of the ground and Jason...

[NR] Out For A Walk - Chapter 672

Jason stands on the wall as dusk arrives. “I’m going to go out and fight tonight.”

Rosha tilts her head to the side, “Why? We’re doing good up here on the wall. If anything, you should grab a bow and give it a ‘shot’, heh.”

Courtney, “What will fighting the undead provide you? This can’t be out of nowhere.”

Jason flexes his arm, which looks ridiculous, what with his preference to keep a sleek body and not bulk up like a bodybuilder. “I’ve gotten pre...

[D'sP] A Little Housekeeping - Chapter 422

Time passes and yet no more tremors happen. This left everyone a bit jumpy. Even if there wasn’t a stronger quake coming, they sort of expected a repeat of the weak first quake.

 All the while, down in the dungeon, Ally was coming up blank. ‘There just aren’t any good matches! At this point? I’ve got to assume the system is purposefully screening the information I need.

‘The only other option is for us to be the first to experience this in the universe and that does...

[NR] Planning For The Next Night - Chapter 671

On top of the town wall, Jason is running around. His current job is simple enough, keep the ranged fighters that use ammunition topped up. Whether that was arrows, sling bullets, or other strange things. Because while he didn’t have other things to do right now and the ranged fighters were taking their time to make each shot count, that wouldn’t last.

This was the undead setting up the board in the same way that the miasma overhead was another form of preparation. While thinking un...