RCJoshua

Chapter 92: Marching Tea

Author's Note: There will be a second chapter today, though the chapter is going to be slightly shorter than normal.

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The drawing was confirmed the next morning. Pico said that the official requests would be sent out a few days later. Arthur spent most of his time trying to control his nerves. He was aware that there wasn’t any real reason to freak out about any of it yet. That was especially true since he didn’t know anyone but Spiky going, or even that they were seriousl...

Chapter 91: Seed of an Idea

That night, Arthur had a dream. He knew right away it was a system one. Those just had a flavor to them that he could see right away, even in his sleep.

He wasn’t sure how often other people had them, and he found himself reluctant to talk about what he saw with other people. Most of the time, he had a feeling that they’d evaporate if he mentioned them, that he’d lose the memory and never get it back.

For the last few, it was because they usually weren’t that clear. On Ear...

Chapter 90: Expansion

Arthur didn’t have to tell stories about his trip too many times. Almost none of his regulars asked him twice about the trip, but as stragglers who hadn’t learned the updates came in and Arthur retold the stories, he found that Lily never got tired of them. She was always there, laughing like they were new, or listening to the interesting but un-funny parts with sparkling little-kid eyes.

“Do you regret missing the trip now?” Arthur teased. “All the Hing adventures and the gig...

The System, Baking, and The Earthling

Somewhere far, far away and yet very close in ways that mattered, the System looked down as a few of her children were making an absolute mess in the kitchen. Their working space was covered in a mix of tapioca-like flour, sugar, and eggs. There was only a single clean surface left to prepare food on.

That didn’t stop them. They were all hunched over in concentration. And they were making mistakes. Even the older, wiser child was letting things slip that she normally wouldn’t, letti...

Chapter 89: Calling

Arthur took a deep breath internally and took the plunge.

“How does that end up working for wellers? I’m assuming they do pretty well in new settlements.”

Mizu nodded. “Wellers are a necessary class. Even in places with surface water. We irrigate, plumb houses, and improve existing water sources.”

“What about sanitation? Sewers and the like?” Arthur asked.

“There are sanitation classes that do it better,” Mizu said with a wry smile. “Welling is a ra...

Chapter 88: Consistent Usefulness

In less time than Arthur had expected, Lily was back, lunch ingredient in tow. The ingredient itself was blue, just a little bit muddy, and from what he could see, entirely beside herself trying to figure out the best way to greet him. Milo, always dependable, moved out of his seat beside Arthur anyone said anything.

“Right here, Mizu.” Arthur dragged the seat a bit closer to him and patted it. “Please.”

Mizu nodded, came and sat, and melted wordlessly into Arthur’s side...

Chibi Arthur and Mizu

We recently commissioned two artists for a new cover art and chibi versions of both Arthur and Mizu. The chibi characters are here! Enjoy!

Feel free to use them wherever. They're just as much ours as they are yours.

Chapter 87: Home

A few hours later, they were well on their way. Every person in the wagon was working on their second or third cup of tea as the wagon sluiced through the snow in the early morning quiet. They were full of breakfast and in high spirits, enjoying the changes in scenery as they reached the forest in record time.

“Oh, trees, I’ve missed you.” Milo held out his hand and let the edges of tree branches whip into it. “You forget how much plants matter until you don’t have any.”

Chapter 86: Farewells

Author's note: A quick retcon - the daughter of stationer is now called Leena. We previously called her Astrix but that didn't feel right.

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A half hour with Minos covered a lot of ground. The explorer had a way of keeping conversations on a tight trajectory. By the time Arthur had pumped him full of food-tea, Minos was fully up-to-date on the sending out of the informational pamphlets and several other aspects of everyone’s lives. He slipped in a dozen subtle questions about...

Chapter 85: Great Tea

Arthur nodded as Spiky got back to work. He was down to five teas and three other-ingredient combos. Now was the point where he couldn’t do anything productive without real majicka expenditures. His majicka regeneration was much better than it had been in the past but fifteen new drinks would take quite a lot out of him. And if most of them were failures, it would cost even more. He was going to be wiped by the time this was done.

A couple minutes later, Arthur poked his head up. “T...

Chapter 84: Teenage Retirees

Author's note: Our first tea drop arrived! Here's a quick closeup on the tea! It's beautiful!

We also got a couple of extra canisters from Dona so if you missed the first form, we're opening up four more spots on the tea drop!

https://forms.gle/XsRPVZRcMzS7qCjp8

* The open canister is for personal use and won't be shipped out.

2024-05-05 15:23:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 83: Nourishment Tea

AN: Just one chapter today, but it's a nice one.

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“Seems pretty simple,” Arthur said as he finished the brochure-book. It was really short, to the point where the leather covers seemed like a waste.

“That’s because it is,” Milo said. “It was revolutionary. When it came out, there was a worldwide boom in leveling. For an entire generation, people were breaking their bottlenecks left and right. Since then, the average level has been rising steadily every year.�...

Chapter 82: The Goose Sage

“How so?” Milo asked.

“Go into my bag and get my map. Just the folding one I carry of the empire. You know it?” Minos pointed at his bag.

“Of course I do. You’ve had it forever.” Milo rooted around the bag a little until he found it, then tossed it over. Minos sat up against the headboard a little straighter and spread it out on his lap.

“See this route? From home to Luto? Goods move directly between the two cities there. It takes a full-day plus a fraction t...

Chapter 81: Minos

“Does everyone really know everyone else here?” Arthur watched as a relatively nondescript deer woman walked through the crowd, greeting someone at every table as she did. “It seems like most people are friends with each other.”

“Pretty close. I know the names of everyone in this town. I have a few people I’m closer with, but in a town this size, you can’t avoid getting to know each other at least a little. Hell, I rely on about half of them for one thing or another. It’...

Chapter 80: A Chewy

There wasn’t a whole lot left to do. Arthur circled through the town one more time, failing to spot a tea or drink shop. Despairing of entertainment options, he decided to head back to the tavern.

“Tea, please,” Arthur said, talking to the cook behind the counter. “Pepped, if you have it.”

The cook nodded, pulled some water off the heat, and steeped Arthur a big cup of what smelled like a full flavored blend of tea. Arthur added some milk and took a sip, fighting back a ...

Chapter 79: Invincible

AN: Enjoy! One chapter today, two chapters tomorrow! And this chapter... well, I'll let the words speak for themselves.

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“What? Spiky? Mother-in-law?” Milo exclaimed.

“I’ll explain later. How’s your dad doing?” Arthur asked.

Milo moved his head back and forth a bit, noncommittal.

“He’s fine, I think. He’s definitely not in his best shape ever. He can hardly stand up right now. But apparently he got a lot of mapping done, so he do...

Chapter 78: Mother-in-law

AN: Second chapter of the day. If you haven't seen the tea drop (we're partnering with Dona for our first DWBS group buy), check it out! If you're in the market for tea, let us supply you!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/dwbs-tea-drop-1-103416237

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“Well, I’m glad Spiky’s having fun,” Arthur said.

The cow woman looked at Arthur again. “Good friend, aren’t yo...

DWBS Tea Drop #1

Hi guys,

A while back, we sent out a tea survey. A lot of you guys answered and your responses blew us away. So we've been working behind the scenes with various tea companies here in the US as well as Japan, trying to find the right tea that we'd be proud to offer you.

We found a partner in Dona, an independently owned tea company in Brooklyn, NY. When we saw Grayscale, their version of the Earl Grey tea, we fell in love immediately. It's exactly what we thought of when we added ...

Chapter 77: Stationery

“Can’t be. Already?” Milo gawked. “You said the trip would take a week.”

“I said that before those shocks made it easy for Littal to get through terrain that normally gives him fits. I planned on camping at the treeline tonight, if we got lucky.”

“Well, okay. That’s good, right?” Arthur looked around the town. “We can find your dad.”

“Yeah, we can. Whoo, I thought I’d have more time to get ready for this. And I have no idea where he is,” Milo sa...

Chapter 76: Welcome to the Frontier

Author's Note: Third chapter of the day!

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“I’ve heard that before. Potential. I don’t really know what it means,” Arthur said.

“Nobody really does. It’s not something that shows up on a status screen. But it’s in history books as far back as The Bear, and some people think even earlier.” Spiky visibly shifted into librarian mode as he pulled out a notebook. “The system doesn’t really work in numbers even though we understand it as such. But imagine some...

Chapter 75: Yee

Author's note: A second chapter today. And one more chapter later tonight. Let it be known that Tuesdays are for boba.

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Arthur had been the last to sleep the night before, but he woke up first the next day. The shade of the forest made it impossible for him to determine what time it was. Whether he had slept two hours or ten though, he was up now. After poking his head outside his tent and shocking himself with the cold air, no amount of trying to get back to sleep would take. 2024-04-30 19:19:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 74: An Extra Bit of Shiny Steel

Slowly, dramatically, the old man mixed the rest of his ingredients all up and dumped it onto Spiky’s plate in one big pile. Spiky glared at him menacingly and chomped on each successive bite. His fork slowed and his arm trembled, but he kept on. Finally, he was left staring at the tiniest fragment of egg, a few calories left to consume for victory. He reached out a shaking hand, almost falling off his stool as he did. Finally, he scooped up the egg, dropped it into his mouth and swallowed....

Chapter 73: Breakfast Showdown

Author's note: Second chapter today!

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“Mind if I ask you a personal question?” Arthur asked.

“That’s the only kind for this kind of trip. But I already know what you’re gonna ask. The romances I’ve had were mostly short. Sometimes just a single trip. After a while, I learned that it’s real hard to hold something like that together if you only get to be where they are a few days out of every hundred.”

“And that’s okay?”

“Maybe some day I�...

Chapter 72: Transporter Life

Talca wasn’t kidding about how much energy Arthur’s body had stealthily spent to keep him steady as they rode. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he knew he wouldn’t have any trouble sleeping, hard ground or no. And almost as soon as he was asleep, he dreamed.

Arthur’s memories of Earth had been getting dimmer and dimmer as he got more and more used to the Demon World, which was expected. The nice man in the in-between-afterlife place had warned him about that via the contract ...

Chapter 71: Travelling

Author's Note: A second surprise chapter for everyone. Enjoy!

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Spiky had packed his essentials, which included clothes, soap, several blank notebooks, large sheets of blank map parchment, and tons of ink. But what it didn’t include was much in the way of snacks or food. And although he’d be able to buy some later, he had almost nothing for the first leg of the trip, and hadn’t had the benefit of an Ella-cooked breakfast.

That’s where Arthur and Milo came in. Spiky ...

Chapter 70: Littal

“Arthur. Wake up. Arthur Teamaster. It’s time to go.”

Milo, unlike Arthur, had gone to bed at a very reasonable hour and had not, as far as Arthur knew, stayed up half the night giggling to himself in pure joy. As a result, he was much, much fresher than Arthur. He was ready to face the day. Arthur, by comparison, had spent the day swinging from one emotion to the next like a ping pong ball.

“Fine. I’m awake. Let's load up the wagon.”

“It’s already loaded up....

Chapter 69: Kiss

The guy Milo pointed to was a rock elemental, which usually implied bulk. They were a big people. But this one was different. He was as thin and small as Arthur. And while Arthur was a pretty good-sized person by human standards, both he and this rock elemental were tiny by boulder-people standards.

“Talca, I’m back. This is Arthur.”

“My other customer?” the rock elemental laughed. “Your friend is a harsh bargainer, kid. I’m sitting here, the fastest transport in thi...

Chapter 68: Sunburns for Birds

“Make sure you don’t forget to let the runist into the store,” Arthur reminded Lily.

“Got it. No problem.”

“What’s next?” Ella asked. “I’ve done a fair bit of traveling in my day. I can help make sure you don’t miss anything.”

“I was thinking I’d buy a bag of miscellaneous hygiene stuff. Bandages, soap, razors, extra toothbrushes. That sort of thing.”

“Good idea. Not as good if it was a walking trip, but for where you’re going, those t...

Chapter 67: Runist

Arthur had been very careful not to open his status all day so he could savor the changes in their full glory. But he still knew something big had happened. Whatever had clicked into place earlier that day had been tugging at him in a come-look-at-me now way.

Arthur made it back to his room without running into anyone. He sat down on his bed, took a deep breath, and pulled open his status screen.

Level 20 Teamaster

Stats: 2024-04-25 11:51:49 +0000 UTC View Post

DWBS Retcons

Spoilers ahead, so don’t read this unless you’ve finished DWBS Book one.

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Hi everyone!

Some writers plan everything out in advance, other writers spend months editing what they’ve written. From what I’ve seen of writers in general, it’s more common than not to agonize over story direction down to minutia, making sure every piece cleanly interlocks with the next like an endless line of polished clockwork gears.

And then there’s me.

I have a trait wh...