Vowron Prime

Soulweaver 92: Ranking Up

Congratulations! [Initializer] has leveled up to Foundation - 8. Max Essence Increased from 270 to 290. Essence Utilization: 235/290. Would you like to reclaim Initialized equipment?

Not bad at all. The levelups were coming faster now than before, and I had no doubt it was the dungeon’s effect. High stakes and actual combat got me more levels than any amount of practice and drilling could.

As for Aerion…

“Well? Care to spill the b—Care to tell me?”...

Ashborn 368: Reckoning 

Well before Cirayus arrived, Tara already knew what she had to do. As the only person present with any meaningful healing capacity, the burden fell upon her shoulders.

And what a burden that was…

“Aida?” Tara said, nearly choking on the words she was about to say. “I’m sorry, but I can’t heal three at once. Especially not someone perhaps on the brink of death.”

For a Panav, withdrawing healing in someone’s time of need, when their life depended on it...

Soulweaver 91: The Viking

“That’s Eskil Magnussen,” I said, looking at the giant fighting in the distance. If his roars of Odin and Valhalla weren’t enough, the way he fought easily marked him as… Different. “A Viking… Or so he calls himself,” I hurriedly added. “He’s Dominion’s Champion.”

“That right? Another Champion?” Richard said, looking at Eskil with a newfound appreciation.  “And here I was thinking I’d gotten a headstart. So that’s Dominion’s boy, eh?” ...

Ashborn 367: Crisis in the Ash (Part Two)

“We have to run!” Tara said, half in panic, half because she knew the fate of those who dared fight one of those.

“Afraid that doesn’t seem to be a choice, lass,” Cirayus said. “The lad would have returned by now if it were. My guess? He’s found his demons.”

“Then…” Tara bit her lip. “Then we need to help. I doubt there’s much I can do in this state, but you should at least join them.”

“I will not leave you two here. Those Guardians are...

Soulweaver 90: Now This is Barge Racing

NOTE: Hey everyone! Added a bit more art for soulweaver arc 2, which you can find on my site. Basecrest, Rogar, and Rogar's workshop for now, with more to come soon! Link here: https://www.vowronpri.me/soulweaver-arc-one-art

(I know it says arc 1 art, but that's the link for all the arcs)

---

Richard’s heart-seizing ability might not have killed the Hobgoblins outright, but it...

Ashborn 366: Crisis in the Ash (Part One)

“It’s just… gone,” Vir muttered, kneeling. Ash fell through the gaps in his fingers. “How?”

“The Ash covers all, lad,” Cirayus said, putting his hand on Vir’s shoulder. “Not surprising any evidence would be long buried by now.”

The garrison that Vir had personally helped construct—the base within the Ash he’d trained his core group of two hundred—was gone without a trace.

 “This isn’t the core of the realm, Cirayus,” V...

Soulweaver 89: Barge Thiefs

“You’re not serious,” Aerion said, no doubt hoping for a response. So was I.

When Richard didn’t reply, however, we both learned something new about this elf. He was just a little crazy.

“Even if I can,” Aerion said. “How do you plan to get past those Hobgoblins?”

Richard looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “We’re three of us, yeah? We’ll be done with them in a jiffy.”

“Greg?” Aerion asked, and both of them look...

Ashborn 365: Fated Gathering(Part Two) (Maiya)

“This was a waste of time!” Riyan spat, rising to his feet. “I should have known better than to believe this could ever work.”

“That’s funny,” Ira said. “Because it seems to me that you are the only reason this conversation has gotten us nowhere.”

Maiya barely suppressed a groan as she rubbed her temples. With a master manipulator on one side and a jaded, lone-wolf ex-general on the other, Maiya had guessed she’d have quite the task of arbitrating this...

Soulweaver 88: Richard's Gambit

“So, I guess we found the core…” I said, staring at the scene unfolding before our eyes. Something felt off about the whole thing, and it wasn’t until I moved around the window that I figured out what.

“Magnified windows,” Richard said, tapping the glass. “Came across one of these in Passion’s Trial. Awful handy, isn’t it?”

“It is,” I replied, shifting over to an unmagnified area. I couldn’t see a thing. Not the delver fighting for his life, or e...

Ashborn 364: Fated Gathering (Part One) (Maiya)

The minutes before the meeting were oddly quiet, as Maiya circled the small room.

The venue itself was nothing fancy. No elaborate ballroom, no banquet prepared—although the food that would be served was hand-prepared by Ira’s handmaidens under supervision from both Riyan’s and Prince Sanobar’s agents.

In fact, the room in which four of the most important individuals in the realm would have what might very well become the most historic meeting in recent history wa...

Soulweaver 87: The One

I swiveled the handle, fully expecting rushing orcs, and instead… A small horde of blue floating gelatinous… blobs came rushing through, followed by a Skeleton holding a staff. 

A bare skeleton without a single article of clothing or a tome of magic, and one that walked on its feet rather than floating in the air.

Not a Lich or an Elder Lich. Or a zombie. A plain old Skelly. At the rear, moving its arms as if giving orders to the troops. It was naked, except for ...

(Arc 9) (Book 5) Ashborn 363: Full Circle (Maiya)

A line of handmaidens stood before Maiya’s makeshift desk, all waiting their turn. Maiya could barely see them through the  towers of papers piled so high that they threatened to collapse with a stiff breeze.

Which was why Maiya had ensured that her office had no windows. Made entirely of stone, and constructed with typical Hiranyan low-budget corner-cutting, the space resembled a dungeon more than any place of work.

Yet this one room had constituted Maiya’s surr...

Soulweaver 86: A Grand Ole Party

I wiped away some forehead sweat and blinked. “So, you basically have no idea how it works.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Richard replied. “For example, I do know that my Blessing’s only any good at short distances. Becomes nearly useless after about a dozen or so feet. Erm, what else? Let’s see.. Ah, yes, the stronger my opponent, the less of an effect it has. Which you probably saw, fighting those nasty buggers at the entrance gate.”

“I suppose th...

Ashborn 362: Epilogue: Cogs of Destiny

NOTE: Apologies for missing the release for the $3 tier... I will try to be better about this in the future. With luck, there should be an extension coming soon that allows me to schedule intermediate tiers, basic functionality that patreon has never had.

---

“The conclusion of the Tournament normally calls for a vast banquet with three days of uninterrupted celebration, along with all manner of dancing, events, culminating in a ceremony in which the reward is bequeathed to th...

Soulweaver 85: Broken Hearts

More to distract myself than anything, I took a quick moment to inspect my recent gains as we walked deeper into the compound, and I couldn’t resist doing a little mental fist pump. Aerion, observant as ever, saw my expression and frowned in confusion, until she had the idea to bring up my status screen. Then she smiled too, throwing me a small nod.

Congratulations! [Light of the Fearless]’s Ability [Light of the Fearless] has leveled up to Foundation - 6.

2024-08-05 18:23:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Ashborn 361: Foundations of Ash

Thaman put a hand to his face and groaned. “I told him not to do anything rash. Praise Janak that you’re as level-headed as you are. What was he thinking?”

“What was he thinking?” Cirayus asked. “Whatever it is that all Iksana think! I’d say this was very usual of him, wouldn’t you?”

Letting out a long sigh, Thaman nodded. “Afraid it is. I apologize, Cirayus. I’ll have your home repaired on my coin.”

Cirayus barked a laugh. “Why su...

Soulweaver 84: Richard Rhodes

I darted out the door, but Aerion beat me to it, bounding off into the snow ahead of me. Given how compacted the ground was from our earlier traversal, she made good time, while I, with larger, heavier gear, lagged a bit.

What had taken us almost an hour to hike up took barely five minutes on the way down.

In that time, the base had sent out another group of orcs, this time led by a few commanders. Our friend seemed to be unable to take these guys out instantly, and was currently ...

Ashborn 360: The Burden of Fame

“They’re still there,” Aida seethed. She’d snuck a peek outside, but recoiled from the window just as soon as she’d cracked the curtains open. “It’s been hours and they’re still there! It’s the middle of the sun’s night, for Yuma’s sake. Don’t people have anything better to do?”

Vir slowly opened his eyes to Cirayus’ dimly lit room. Several hours had passed since the chaotic events of the tournament, and while Vir had wanted to have Ashani c...

Soulweaver 83: Unstoppable

The rest of the trek went fast, mostly thanks to the snowshoes I’d rigged together.

“I have to admit, these work better than I’d thought,” Aerion said as we neared the base. “That was almost easy.”

“Wow. A compliment from you? Hell must’ve frozen over,” I said, looking around exaggeratedly. “I take that back. Hell did freeze over, didn’t it?”

Aerion lobbed some snow into my face, which I admittedly probably deserved. 

“Still,” ...

Ashborn 359: Summit

“This is a travesty! An outrage!” Raja Matiman Chitra roared, throwing his drink on the ground. The glass shattered, staining the priceless silken rug with shards and liquor. “Not only has the Akh Nara returned, but he can create Ash Gates, too? And who was that woman with him? A concubine? Did my eyes deceive me, or can she make Ash Gates as well? Are there not one, but two monsters in our midst? Why did we know nothing of this?”

With the exception of the Aind...

Soulweaver 82: The Raid Begins

Making hot water was easy when you had an infinite supply of snow, and a fire. I pilfered one of the several cookpots that hung above what used to be the kitchen, before I repurposed the table for firewood. 

I’d slowly nudged Aerion closer to the fire, rolling her over so she got heat equally from all sides, making sure her hands and feet were getting warmed by the flames at all times. I was especially worried about her extremities, since those were usually the first to get frost...

Ashborn 358: The Akh Nara’s Return

Vir hadn’t quite known how the crowd would react to his speech. He’d braced himself for all-out pandemonium, with magic being hurled his way from all directions. 

As it turned out, everyone did as they were told and sat down. That was, everyone except the Chitran, most of whom steadily moved towards the commentator’s booth where he stood, despite the Bairans working to stop them. 

Other than that, however, the stadium was eerily quiet. Vir suspected it w...

Soulweaver 81: Whiteout

To say that I was woefully unprepared for the environment that greeted me was a comical understatement. The weird thing was, I didn’t even panic.

Instead, I contentedly ate the ice-cold snow, which mercifully dissipated the heat from my armored body. It was like stepping from a steam room into a nice, cold bath.

Wait, seriously. What the hell?

Or, I suppose more appropriately: Did hell freeze over?

Sputtering, I got to my knees to find pure white in...

Ashborn 357: The Fight of a Lifetime (Part Three)

“Now that’s a move!” Samik roared into his mic. “What sort of movement do you think that is, Nakin?”

Nakin, similarly on the edge of his seat in the commentator’s booth, replied with a quivering voice.

“It’s… like nothing I’ve ever seen, Samik. It… It reminds me of the Iksana’s Dance of the Shadow Demon. Has young Vaak managed to replicate something similar?”

“If so, it would be the invention of the century. Perhaps even...

Soulweaver 80: Breach

Only about four hundred yards separated the forest from the castle. Not a long distance, by any stretch of the imagination. 

The issue was that the ground in between was covered in uprooted tree trunks, shrubs, dirt, and chunks of landing castle wall, all strewn around like they’d been part of a massive explosion.

Which was pretty close to reality, now that I thought about it. When whichever high ranking demigod had shot that giant beam up at the castle, it’d thrown off t...

Ashborn 356: The Fight of a Lifetime (Part Two)

Vir again Blinked across the stage, and for the first several moves, their bout went much the same as it had before, with Vir attempting to bypass Sikandar’s enormous reach while Cirayus thwarted him.

Cirayus, having led Vir to think he was being pressured, switched from defense to offense so quickly, it left Vir reeling, and he was barely able to get away.

The giant unleashed a vicious barrage of attacks with the enormous sword, forcing Vir to duck, dodge, or ...

Soulweaver 79: Delvers

“I’m afraid I cannot allow that,” the guard said, shaking his head. “Our sworn duty is to protect you.”

“No, see, that’s where you’re wrong,” I said, desperately trying to figure out how to convince this guy. “That’s your current mission. Your sworn duty is to the city of Basecrest, and to Baron Sinclair, who rules it. We might be the first parties to survive one of  these ambushes, for all we know. Or, if the other delvers did survive, I’m guessing...

Soulweaver 78: Ambushed

That would’ve been a solid plan… Had it been any normal animal.

“Well,” I said. “I guess we now know what happened to the other strike teams.”

“Guards! Defense!”

The fully armored guards—Samaul thankfully had the presence of mind to armor everyone up before exiting the forest—pointed an array of polearms and swords at our enemies… Who surrounded us in all directions.

Yep… We’d been led into an ambush. Forming a semicircle around us we...

Ashborn 355: The Fight of a Lifetime (Part One)

It was with an odd sense of calmness that Vir stepped into the waiting area for the finalists’ tournament, and he couldn’t quite explain why.

The deafening crowd—louder by far than it had ever been for any previous duel—ought to have shaken him. The nerves of fighting one of the strongest beings in the realm—a fighter so famous, the arena was named after him—ought to have spooked Vir and left him shivering in his boots.

It didn’t.

The outcome of this d...

Soulweaver 77: Night Ops

Our departure had little fanfare. No parades or ceremonies to see us off. Aerion and I left in the middle of the night, on empty streets, alone, with no one the wiser. We both wore hoods over our armor, but we’d have worn them anyway. 

We’d meet up with our guards outside the city walls, within the nearby forest where we’d gone weasel hunting. To any onlooker, we’d just look like we were leaving the city along one of the main roads. There was enough traffic into an...