What separates a good ending from a perfect one?
Both depend on a limited perspective. A man’s perfect ending often comes at someone else’s sorrow. A good ending may bring happiness, but something is left missing. Ultimately, both are simply a matter of human perception.
I am the Ultimate One.
I am the architect of causality, the overseer of all time and space. I pruned countless possibilities across the eons, and they now only exist in my ...
2022-04-23 09:32:07 +0000 UTC
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Hermann’s art gallery was in his life’s image: odd, modern, and transgressive.
Although Valdemar visited his friend’s workshop many times, he had only seen a glimpse of his collection. Hermann spent years perfecting his art and experimented with many styles. Realistic representations of animals and flowers shared a wall with paintings of alien landscapes or strange geometric forms. Valdemar’s acute eyes detected the slow, incremental improvements of Hermann’s skills with each ...
2022-04-21 08:42:35 +0000 UTC
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He thought, therefore he was.
Even with his body blown to smithereens, even after the smallest of his cells had been vaporized, even after the cosmic Light blasted his essence, Valdemar kept thinking.
He was everywhere and nowhere at all. He saw through two billion eyes and breathed through half as many mouths. He was the chittering rats hiding in the smallest tunnels and the dragons in the greatest caverns. He was the heat-force of the mitochondria and the quivering will of the e...
2022-04-19 08:31:09 +0000 UTC
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Not even the gods could dodge lightning, so Valdemar didn’t bother.
Instead, he quickly reshaped his body before Lord Och could cast his spell. His skin had turned into an armored substance that was like thick iron, strong but inflexible. Two spikes of iron bones erupted from his shoulders and a pathway of nerves formed in his back.
Valdemar sensed Lord Och’s telekinetic might hit him at the same time as his lightning. The first time they met, the Dark Lord’s magic had power...
2022-04-16 06:59:40 +0000 UTC
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The Dark Lord’s palm stood between master and student like an unfinished bridge.
Valdemar looked at the skeletal hand as if it were poisoned. He half-expected a soulstone or trap hidden between Lord Och’s fingers like a cruel joke, but he didn’t see any.
“Where?” Valdemar asked, utterly dumbfounded.
“To the Light, my dense apprentice,” Lord Och chuckled. “Come with me. The door will stabilize soon, but we will only have a short window of time to safely cross ...
2022-04-14 08:51:11 +0000 UTC
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Warriors, the right moment has come.
Kairos' first volume is now available for purchase on Kindle Unlimited and Audible!
Now, reviews are super duper important for a successf...
2022-04-12 12:52:16 +0000 UTC
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When Marianne’s body hit the ground, she was already dead.
Valdemar experienced her murder as if he had perished himself. Their souls had been intertwined through their shared dreams. They had made love in the flesh and in their thoughts. A bond remained even when they were awake.
When the link ruptured, so did the heart in his chest.
Valdemar had felt the cold hand of Lord Och as his pale fingers closed on Marianne’s soul. His chest had burnt when the lich’s magic tor...
2022-04-12 08:36:36 +0000 UTC
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No festival was more sacred to the Lycean Republic than the Triumph.
Only the Senex could authorize the civil ceremony in partnership with the priesthood. The ceremony sanctified a general returning from a victorious campaign before the Republic’s people, gods, and rulers. Triumphs had been rare celebrations in spite of their ancient tradition. The ceremony honored the epic victories of [Heroes] and [Demigods], not the unremarkable victories of lesser men.
Today’s Triumph woul...
2022-04-09 09:07:59 +0000 UTC
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The air froze as the shadows lengthened.
A chill spread in Valdemar’s blood, in his flesh, and in his bones; a cold that made it painful to even breathe. It was the cruel grasp of ice, the frigid touch of death, the final kiss before everlasting darkness.
The festering madness that had seized the Institute recoiled before the encroaching shadow. Mutant eyes froze into icy statues. A sheet of permafrost covered the ground beneath Valdemar’s feet. Colorful fumes turned into whit...
2022-04-07 08:12:37 +0000 UTC
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His mother’s fang struck at evil’s heart.
A divine light blinded his vision with a rain of golden stars sailing a sea of darkness. A veil of blue droplets and cosmic dust blew before his eyes. Kairos no longer felt blood running through his veins. In fact, he didn’t feel his body at all. He had become one with the universe, a spirit that transcended flesh and matter. He was the skies and the sea, the wind and the land, the past and the future.
A wolf’s howl broke through t...
2022-04-05 09:07:46 +0000 UTC
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Cassandra fought drenched in rainwater.
Both infantry forces had first engaged in the customary clash of organized formations, but the weather had quickly disrupted it. The rain had turned into a heavy downpour with blowing wind powerful enough to cast horses down to earth. The ground had melted into mud on which armored men slipped. The wounded were left to be trampled on by their own comrades or struck down by enemy spears.
The battle lines had collapsed from lightning bom...
2022-04-02 09:10:08 +0000 UTC
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The disease was in him.
Valdemar felt it crawling under his skin. A horde of bacteria sailed his bloodstream in an attempt to infect the island of his heart. The blackened fluids that had transformed Bertrand into a monster spread like a puddle of oil on clear water.
Valdemar’s body was no fertile ground for conquest. His will inhabited each cell of his body. His organs were a self-aware conglomerate. He didn’t particularly need any of them to live anymore, so they could focus...
2022-03-31 08:29:16 +0000 UTC
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The rain followed the sun.
As dawn rose on the grassy plain standing between Cassandra’s army and Pergamon’s stone walls in the south, so did black clouds. They thundered and darkened the skies with their numbers.
As a drizzle fell on Cassandra’s armor and skin, a feeling of tension ran down her spine. The shiver of the warrior marching to his death. The climax of a long adventure.
“This is it.” Cassandra could feel it deep inside her bones. Her fork and shield fel...
2022-03-29 09:00:46 +0000 UTC
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Dear dragons,
For a thousand years, Vainqueur has slept in the depths of his dungeon; dreaming of wealth, of princesses, of adventures old and new. His minions ceaselessly toiled in the darkness for his inevitable awakening.
Today, Vainqueur wakes up from his slumber.
For the long awaited Vainqueur Webtoon...
Is finally out!
2022-03-28 18:18:09 +0000 UTC
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Hi, just a warning that we're switching from Daylight Saving times in my timezone so chapters may appear at a slightly different hour from your point of view.
---------------
The Sunsea looked so peaceful from above.
The Foresight floated while docked to Talos’ Cradle, giving its crew an unbeatable view of the world below. The ships that had survived yesterday’s battle rested in the waters below as they waited for the order to sail to Pergamon. Th...
2022-03-26 09:31:51 +0000 UTC
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Plants and flesh had overrun the courtyard.
When she arrived at the Institute, Lord Och had blessed Marianne with quarters giving her an impeccable view of its hedge maze. Drinking tea while gazing at the plants through the window had been among her favorite small pleasures.
Weeks after she left Paraplex for Sabaoth, Marianne realized that these happy days were over. Thick black roots had grown through the Institute’s ground and risen as high as her window, shattering glass and ...
2022-03-24 09:52:27 +0000 UTC
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Kairos made his triumphant entrance into Talos’ Cradle at midday.
The Foresight had docked on the fortress’ roof as if it were a port and offloaded troops to help maintain order. The surviving automatons had surrendered after their control rods’ destruction granted them back their free will, allowing Kairos’ soldiers to take over key areas.
The Travian King found the fortress’ upper levels heavily damaged. Ultor, who had taken the Cradle’s defenses as a person...
2022-03-22 10:00:42 +0000 UTC
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Teuta would die like Icarus, her wings burning down after she flew too close to the sun.
No armor or magical defense could stop Kairos’ flames from consuming whatever they touched. His spear glowed brighter than the stars in his hands as it unleashed a sea of smokeless fire.
Teuta raised her icy axe in response. A layer of snow formed on the edge before exploding into a chilling blizzard. Fire and ice collided in the skies above Talos’ Cradle, only for flames to triumph. Thoug...
2022-03-19 10:04:38 +0000 UTC
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Hi guys,
The Vainqueur webtoon will be out on Tapas.io on march 28th; after negotiations, I've been allowed to share with you an exclusive sneak peek of the first episode before the official release.
I hope you'll enjoy it. Webtoon content will probably become part of the Patreon from now one.
Best regards,
Voidy.
2022-03-17 10:08:29 +0000 UTC
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Few things could make the bickering Dark Lords work together.
The last time they showed a unified front was all the way back to the last Derro War, where they inflicted a severe defeat upon Otto Blutgang’s predecessor and shattered his realm. It took the Derro Kingdom decades to recover its lost strength at the cost of its people’s individuality.
When roused, the Dark Lords were fearsome to behold. Many believed that only their disunity had prevented the Empire of Azlant from ...
2022-03-17 10:08:23 +0000 UTC
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Hi guys,
First of all, for those among you who pre-ordered it, I'm happy to announce that the Perfect Run's third and final audiobook is now available on Audible!
I intended to update a Bad Runs one-shot at the same time, similar to the Clockstopper What If... but got too much wo...
2022-03-15 19:28:09 +0000 UTC
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The heavens raged across the sea.
Talos’ hammer summoned divine thunder to lit up the night sky. Standing at the prow with her scepter raised, Andromache called upon her magic with a chant. Thunderbolts fell on the Foresight, only for the witch to deflect them away.
Below, Kairos’ fleet opened fire upon the Cradle’s defenders. Ballista missiles and fireballs rained down on enemy ships and mechanical sea monsters, while Thessalan vessels retaliated by ramming Lycean ...
2022-03-15 09:58:49 +0000 UTC
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The night was dark, but the fleet could already see Talos’ Cradle on the horizon.
Its forges produced so much fire and light that they could be seen from many nautical miles away. From his window in the flying Foresight’s private quarters, Kairos thought it looked more like a candle than a fortress.
The great Travian-Lycean fleet sailed on calm, shallow waters that once used to be land. Though the city-state of Thessala had borne the brunt of the Thalassocrator’s po...
2022-03-12 09:58:25 +0000 UTC
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The bickering Dark Lords had fallen silent, their eyes all focusing on Valdemar.
The sorcerer himself ignored the tense atmosphere as he held his master’s gaze. The lich delighted in his apprentice’s reaction, his skull grinning as a dark chuckle came out of his rotting teeth.
“Why the surprise?” Lord Och asked Valdemar. “Surely you must have suspected it. Two of your predecessors joined this brotherhood, did they not? Did you think I would resist the opportunity to make...
2022-03-10 09:42:54 +0000 UTC
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Hi guys,
An amateur youtuber called Novaxil has begun recording a series of interviews with some of Royal Road authors to discuss writing, Royal Road, etc... he approached me to be part of the series and you can see my interview here.
The video is part of a s...
2022-03-08 09:54:08 +0000 UTC
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Fifty-three times.
As Kairos observed his brother-in-law’s corpse, the number echoed in his mind like an ominous warning. Sertorius’ wife had stabbed her husband fifty-three times with a dagger in the eyes, in the groin, in the chest, and everywhere that counted. When Labienus had brought Kairos into the tent in the dead of the night, the Travian King hadn’t recognized his brother-in-law’s corpse at first.
Lucretia’s own body had been left in a better shape. Blood had fl...
2022-03-05 09:24:24 +0000 UTC
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Most of his life, Valdemar had expected to face a trial for violating the empire’s rules on magic one day. But he had never expected the trial to come after the prison time.
It had been only months since the inquisitors tossed him in a cell without judgment. Afterward, his life had taken an unexpected turn; and instead of rotting in prison, Valdemar now stood before the most lethal assembly ever gathered by mankind.
Though Marianne was close and his familiar hid in his bag, thei...
2022-03-03 09:34:00 +0000 UTC
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When Sertorius visited his brother-in-law, he found him awake in time for the bad news.
The Judge’s wife wasn’t present under the Travian tent this time for a reason that escaped Sertorius. Andromache was at her companion’s side, as usual, her eyes darkened by fatigue. As if sharing in his master’s victories and sorrows, Kairos’ griffin had woken up from his own coma and promptly rejoined his side. The animal was missing his right wing, but looked as joyful and spirited as eve...
2022-03-01 09:33:20 +0000 UTC
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The dream was peaceful.
Valdemar and Marianne watched a sunless ocean while sitting along the balcony’s edge of their dreamscape, their feet dangling above the water. Ktulu swam underneath the surface, leaving them alone. Both magicians had put on light clothes, leaving their heavier robes and jackets aside. In the dream, they didn’t fear the cold, and they were beyond the point of modesty.
A wall had fallen between them.
Valdemar didn’t have much experience in dealing...
2022-02-26 10:05:01 +0000 UTC
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Romulus attempted to run down Cassandra on horseback, and the fires of revenge swallowed him whole. The [Demigod]’s steed let out a warcry as the Fork of Nemesis bathed it in a sea of flames. Yet it continued its charge even as the flesh melted off its bones.
Cassandra had seen mounts show impressive bravery while under a rider’s command, with Kairos and Rook coming to mind; but when Romulus’ warhorse emerged from the flames, she could see no courage in the beast’s eyes. A magic...
2022-02-26 10:04:53 +0000 UTC
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