Vowron Prime

Soulweaver 31: Run Like Hell

“Split up!” I shouted. “There’s two of us and one of it. It can’t follow us both!”

Aerion, of course, didn’t respond. How could she? She was still in Reaver mode, her cold rage forcing her to concentrate on one thing and one thing only—the dragon. Her mortal enemy.

And from the way she stared down the terrifying thing without even a shred of fear, I think she was about to fight it.

Shit.

“Plan B it is.”

I ran, forcing the dra...

(Arc 8) Ashborn 314: Tournament Team

Cirayus bounded across the Bairan countryside with Vir perched on his shoulder while Shan traveled beside them, happy to stretch his legs. Cirayus had returned Vir’s Artifact chakram and seric katar that he now wore. For the first time in a very long time, Vir felt complete again.

“What can you tell me about the tournament?” Vir asked. “How many people are we talking about?”

“The Bairan Competition is an old tradition. Some say as old as the clan itself. It ha...

Ashborn Primordial is now on Kindle and Audible!

Hey everyone!

At long last, Book One of my epic progression fantasy Ashborn Primordial has launched on amazon in ebook, audiobook, and paperback (almost 900 pages!). Narrated by the legendary Heath Miller (He Who Fights With Monsters), I'm incredibly happy with how the audio has turned out. The paperback and eBook also have all the world and city maps from those arcs.

For those who don't know, I spent a full year planning this story, and my outline for it is almost as long as the ...

Soulweaver 30: Rescue

“Look, I’m all for looting the dead, but do you have to—holy shit!”

I jerked back a step as Aerion plunged her hand into the dead warrior’s chest.

“The hell are you doing, Aerion!?”

Her fingers came away not with blood and guts, but with a small marble. In fact, her hand had gone through his body like it was paper…

“A Soul Crystal,” Aerion murmured, pocketing the orb. “When the gods bestow us Boons and Blessings, a crystal forms within us...

Ashborn 313: The Beating Drums of Destiny

Arriving at the Ash Gate, Vir found only a single, small tent. While he hadn’t expected permanent structures given the duration of his absence and the time shift of the Ashen Realm, he’d still expected to find the Gate more fortified.

Jumping off Cirayus’ shoulder, Vir approached the camp and soon learned why.

From thirty paces away, it was clear just how destabilized the Gate had become. So much so that it’d regressed into an Ash Tear. One that was impossible to travel th...

Soulweaver 29: The Trial Guardian’s Lair (Part Two)

“On second thought, no. Hell no!” I said, stepping back from the precipice’s edge.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be such a child,” Aerion replied, deftly easing herself down the ravine’s wall. “You’re roped up!”

“And if I fall, I’ll fall the length of the rope. Which is like… I dunno? Several hundred feet? Pretty sure that’d hurt. Worse, it might set off the Aural Siege Bolt. That would be bad.”

We didn’t even have enough rope to get us all the...

Ashborn  312: Blessed Curse (Part Two)

The feeling wasn’t immediate. Not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, Maiya would have missed it entirely, if it wasn’t for her utterly miserable state. For some reason, it heightened her senses, allowing her to be more in tune with her body than she’d ever been.

Perhaps that was the delirium talking. At first, she dismissed it as a hunch, but as the feeling grew stronger, she grew more certain. It was guiding her. Like muscle memory that had been long forgotten, ...

Soulweaver 28: The Trial Guardian’s Lair (Part One)

“The Trial Guardian,” Aerion whispered. She’d nearly dropped her dagger in fright, and I didn’t blame her. How could I?

“Yeah, so,” I said. “How about we don’t fight that thing?”

Aerion nodded with vigor. “I think that would be for the best.”

“Still,” I said, forcing the words I knew I had to say but very much rather wouldn’t. “We need to get more intel on that thing. If my money’s right—and with my shitty luck, I’m betting it is�...

Soulweaver 27: Calm Before The Deathstorm

My unlikely savior ended up being my mangled iron sword. Specifically, its ability—[Lightbringer]. At lower levels, it did just what it claimed to—produce light. The thing was, most light sources also tended to produce heat. Just that the heat output at F - 0 was so negligible that I never noticed. 

The ability was now at F - 7, thanks to Aerion’s mad rampage in the castle, and both its light and heat were noticeably...

311: Blessed Curse (Part One)

Agony. Torture. Endless, unending pain.

The past months had been a waking nightmare for Maiya.

She thought she had it under control. While the pressure she’d felt upon assuming the mantle of the Blessed Chosen was unlike anything she’d experienced, Maiya was no stranger to pain.

The pain would subside, eventually. She merely had to tough it out like she always had. Or so she’d naively thought.

Days passed, and yet the pain did not subside. Instead, it gr...

Ashborn 310: To Atnu

Vir made poor time to Garrison Atnu—he’d used his powers extensively at Samar Patag, so instead of recovering prana, he actually left the city with less than he previously had.

That state of affairs lasted all the way up until Vir encountered his first Ash Beast. Using the last fumes of his prana, he Leaped at the Shredder, placing his palm on the beast’s back before it could react. Feeling the prana flood back into his body, Vir sucked his foe dry, letting it dr...

Soulweaver 26: Rise

“Aye, captain. Standby for emergency ballast blow,” I muttered, pretending like I was an operator onboard a real sub. Not to sound cool, but to calm my nerves. Talking to myself helped sometimes. Some might’ve called it a bad habit, but hey—if it works, it works, right?

I followed Aerion’s lead out of the tunnel, this time for real. Once Aerion had cleared the castle, she slowed her sub. I watched as the ballast weights fell from the side, and reached for my own lever a...

309: Return of the Guardian (Part Four)

“I must admit, the plan went off more easily than I’d hoped,” Asuman said, holding a drink as he sat in his bedchambers.

The only other occupant was a Warrior in a faceless mask.

“Greed is a powerful motivator. And a powerful blinder. Do keep that in mind,” Vir replied. He leaned against a wall a few paces away.

“You needn’t worry. With Gatiman gone and his ilk behind bars, there will be no one to heckle your Gargans.”

Vir ground his teeth,...

Chapter 25: Now This is Sub Racing

Once Aerion had finished with the modifications, she lowered the sub into the water, sealed the hatch, and took the thing out for some sea trials, leaving me to twiddle my thumbs.

Instead, I went up to the other Siege Launcher and activated the whale call. We’d cleared them out only recently, but I didn’t know how soon they’d be back, so I figured it couldn’t hurt. 

It also didn’t hurt that the Aural Siege Bolt we’d slotted was Initialized. If a whale did v...

308: Return of the Guardian (Part Three)

The kothis backed away, looking ready to lob magic at Vir.

Vir raised a hand to stop them. “Relax. I come in peace. In fact, I wish to aid you.”

His audience looked unconvinced, but Gatiman regarded Vir appraisingly.

“You are Vaak, yes? A Warrior Calling with the bleeding heart. You are the source of our problems. If we kill you here…”

“Come now, Gatiman, you can’t possibly be that stupid,” Vir replied calmly. “If you think a dozen Warrio...

Soulweaver 24: Greg of the Deep

“Well? What do you think?” I asked. “Workable?”

Aerion shrugged, climbing down from one of the minisubs that had been berthed in the harbor with the pool where we’d killed the whales. With how down she’d been, I was hoping a distraction might take her mind off things.

While the red water had thankfully turned back to its normal blue after our whaling exploits from earlier, I wish I could’ve said the same for the railings and floor. The blood that had spl...

Soulweaver 23: The Day After

“Wait, repeat that one?” I said, scratching numbers and letters into the dirt. Aerion looked on with profound confusion.

“It says, ‘Racial Trait: Boon of Elven Grace. Followed by ‘+10 Grace. What language is that, anyway?”

“English,” I replied. I’d inadvertently learned that Cosmo’s Gizmo didn’t help me one whit with writing. When I wrote, it was English, and I suspected the same went for reading as well.

“Hmm… Not one I’ve ever heard of,...

Soulweaver 22: Seafloor Jailbreak (Part Four)

ERROR: Initialization requires consent from target.

“Fuck it all to hell!” I roared, frantically bringing up my inventory. “Shit shit shit!”

“W-w-what is this?” Aerion, wide-eyed. She looked shell-shocked, but I knew better. She was looking at the blue screen that had materialized in front of his—her—eyes.

Predictably, a storm of arrows and exploding bombs peppered the Harpoon gun just before I could explain. My shi...

Soulweaver 21: Seafloor Jailbreak (Part Three)

I grabbed Emma just as the cages came tumbling down—she barely weighed anything. As we fell, I did my best to turn so that I’d take the brunt of the impact. With Emma being as weak as she was, I didn’t know if she could sustain a three-story fall.

Turned out, neither could I.

My cuirass clanged against the hard floor, caving in on itself and throwing the air out of my lungs.

We rolled to a stop, more out of sheer dumb luck than out of any intentional decis...

Ashborn 307: Return of the Guardian (Part Two)

NOTE: That's it for Ashborn this week! Getting closer to the end of this arc. If you haven't already checked out my new story on RR, please do!

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/82936/soulweaver/

- - -

Vir and Janani stood at the shores of the Gargan Sea, just outside Samar Patag to the south.

“It was here. This was the spot,” Janani said. “As per tradition, we crema...

Ashborn 306: Return of the Guardian (Part One)

“And I call myself a Naga,” Balagra said, spitting on the ground. “I suppose my excommunication is complete if I cannot even recognize my own country!”

“To be fair, you were right,” Vir replied. “This could be anywhere.”

“Still… I thought I felt something familiar. The scent of the air, perhaps,” Balagra said, making Vir smile. That would’ve been quite the ability, should such a thing really exist.

“What do you plan to do now?” Malik ...

Soulweaver 20: Seafloor Jailbreak (Part Two)

“I’m not risking my life for your pet,” I said. While the words came out harsher than I’d intended, I meant what I said. “Look, I love dogs as much as anyone. Had a Lab and a Husky growing up myself. But you gotta be real, here. We’re jeopardizing our lives for her. I’m sorry. It’s just not happening.”

“Emma’s not just a pet!” Aerion said, his voice frantic. “She’s everything to me. She’s the only real family I have left. And… she’s saved my li...

Soulweaver 19: Seafloor Jailbreak (Part One)

A part of me felt bad for having killed those whales. Another, far larger part, would sleep easier knowing those colossal monsters of the deep had been eradicated.

In between bursts of effort as we huffed and puffed pushing the heavy siege weapon, Aerion communicated that my concern for their wellbeing was unfounded. That these beasts were notorious for slaughtering anything and everything that came their way, and that we were doing the locals a service.

The only ‘l...

Soulweaver 18: Power Leveling

“No! This is the actuator, that is the azimuth inclinator!” Aerion said, pointing to one of the half-dozen levers that controlled the horribly complicated contraption known as the Mobile Siege Launcher. Or that’s what Aerion called it, anyway.

We’d climbed up to where the harpoon guns were located, and to my immense happiness, we’d found them not only operational, but mobile as well. They were mounted on wooden wheels and could be moved ...

Soulweaver 17: Prison Spire

With our wounds healed, rocks smashed, minds refreshed, we piled into our cart, delving deeper into the network.

Before we started, I gave my lone remaining rock to Aerion, figuring his throwing arm would put the thing to better use than I could. With my adjustments, my Essence sat at a cool 49/60, leaving an emergency buffer of just under 20%.

“By the way, you should have this as well,” I said, handing him my second waterskin.

Aerion hefted the waterskin. �...

Soulweaver 16: Battered, Broken, and Alive

NOTE: Patreon doesn't do tables so I took a screenshot. I'll avoid tables in the future.

I woke up to find an exhausted Aerion leaning against the tunnel wall nearby, keeping guard. The goblins’ cart—the one that wasn’t a mangled heap of scrap—was right next to us, but strangely, I wasn’t in it.

“Oh thank Dominion!” Aerion cried. He was sweating heavily, and his skin was sickly pale. “I was worried you’d never awaken. I couldn’t get you in the cart...

Soulweaver 15: Friend, I Feel Like You Could Use a Drink

“Friend, I feel like you could use a drink,” Cosmo said, leaning over the bartop and pouring me a whisky.

I looked around in a daze. Smooth jazz drifted out of the jukebox by the wall, and the bar was filled with patrons. “The fuck?”

The last thing I knew, I was blacking out in the cog rail, and I was sure I had more than a couple of broken bones. Yet here I was, jeans mended and bruises healed. I was as good as new.

Before I had a chance to res...

Soulweaver 14: Cog Frenzy (Part Two)

“They’re gaining on us!” I shouted over my shoulder. The air whipped by as we rocketed down the rail, and the wooden board that was the back of the cart kept rattling, like it was about to fall off.

The goblins, predictably, had jumped into carts and pursued.

I mentally prepared for a fight. Or a crash. Both seemed quite likely.

“I’m already going as fast as I can!” Aerion called back. “Any faster and we’ll crash.”

I’d always thought co...

Ashborn 305: Gates of Rebellion

As Vir stepped through the Ash Gate—no longer a mere Ash Tear—his mind reeled at the implications of this profound discovery.

To his knowledge, no demon who had ever lived had managed such a feat. There simply was no Bloodline Art that allowed one to stabilize Ash Gates.

As for whether his predecessors ever accomplished it, Vir somehow doubted it. It’d have been in the record books, and even if they had wished to hide it, Ash Gates were not so easily concealed. ...

Announcement: Soulweaver Launch

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the notification spam today. Today, I launched my new isekai litRPG on RoyalRoad! As of right now, the $10 tier has 12 chapters ahead of RR, the $5 tier has 6, and the $3 has 3.

I will be adding 5 more chapters over the next day, after which it'll be 5x a week (weekdays) for one month, before dropping to 3x a week.

If you like the story, please consider  following it on RoyalRoad! (And ratings and reviews are always incredibly helpful for gain...