King Mathias The Fourth’s Soul Casino
Invitation Only
As he looked over at the sign at the base of the Neurotower, Shroud didn’t know what to make of it. He didn’t know what to make of everything.
“Are you going to stand there for another hour?” Ace teased him, blissfully unaware of the gravity of the situation.
“Mur thinks he loves himself too much.” The imp, in his Pitb...
2019-06-07 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostSomehow, Shroud had expected Celia to live in a Gothic mansion.
Instead, she used an ancient, derelict hotel as an Underside resort. The place might have once been a luxurious inn, before the decay and rust plaguing that side of the Midnight Market consumed it. Faint, ghostly green light came out of the windows, and the building was almost as unwelcoming as Stitch’s own clinic.
“When you said to meet for a drink, handsome,” Ace said. “I expected a warmer, ligh...
2019-06-05 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Across cultures, the supreme symbol of power has always been the radiant star providing light, warmth, and life to all: the ever-shining sun.
An advanced Dyson Sphere created during the ancient Godwar by the joint labor of East Asian divinities, Taiyougam...
2019-06-02 23:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
After a long battle with grammar, formatting, and editing, the first volume of Magik Online, "Spells for Sale" is now available on Kindle for purchase!
Link; https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SLT29N5
That's pretty much a big moment for me, especially since Magik enjoyed a lot better reception than my former work...
2019-06-02 09:37:00 +0000 UTC View PostSitting in his dark room, his cloned arm still itching terribly, Shroud did some reading before bed.
Dis: Worlds of Power had proved an invaluable source of information, which he kept devouring with rapt attention.
Angels are among the most difficult beings to bind without the use of force, as they rarely answer calls. Unlike fiends, who relish opportunities to access the material universe, Angels are picky about whom they assist. Angels ask of their summo...
2019-05-31 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostTen years ago
September 21st, 2018
Doomsday
Solomon Nicholae watched the GPS, trying to make sense out of it. “This is strange,” he told the driver next to him. “This machine doesn’t show our current path.”
“That’s because the map is older than the road,” Victor replied as he looked around the glades. Dayfall was almost upon them. “I’m sure...
2019-05-29 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostQuest, Night of the Hunters, completed!
You earned twelve Spellcoins!
Bonus objective failed (the fifth hunter escaped)! No other reward offered.
Melusine had never shown up in person and would live to bother them another day.
“No, I do not think this will be necessary,” Shroud said, massaging the bandaged space where his left arm should be. He could still feel a phantom sensation of his lost limb.
“Yo...
2019-05-24 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post- Six Months ago, somewhere in Kyushu, East Asian Protectorate (formerly Japan).
Kari stared at the pale human corpse with her silencer pointed at it and fired. She shot the skull into broken bits, worms, and rotten brains.
“Again,” Uncle said, lining up another corpse against the tree’s bark; this time, a hobgoblin rather than a man.
Uncle had robbed a grave, stealing the corpses and lining them up against trees, to teach her how to...
2019-05-22 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostTime for the final round, winner takes all! Cast your vote for the Lair which the Dragonslayers will tackle next month!
"A bright star shines in the darkness of space. On a closer look, you realize this sun is an immense and heavily armed metal sphere, with an orbital cannon ready to fire anytime."
Sponsor: Her August Maje...
2019-05-19 21:59:01 +0000 UTC View Post— Roughly thirty years ago, the icy wasteland of Cocytus.
To be the strongest.
His kind lived by this one rule. From the lowliest imp to the Beast below. Strength over all, winner takes all. Woe to the defeated.
He had lived by this rule since his birth in the fiery pits below the icelands. The tenth of a budding of twenty, his first memory had been running from the gargoyle that spawned him. Those slower died so he could live...
2019-05-17 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostAs the spear threatened to make its way past three layers of solid light and supernaturally dense glass, Shroud wondered how things had gotten out of hand so quickly. Even holding the spear with both hands, he couldn’t match the invisible force moving it.
The spear’s pressure pushed him against the nearest wall of Stitch’s institute, trapping him between the steel and the drilling weapon. “Mathias!” Sol fell down from the skies to help, as he once did against Kresnik.&nb...
2019-05-15 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostTime for the second set of contestants to fight; the winner will fight Mictlan, Tower of Bones, in the final round on May 20th.
"A gigantic dinosaur stands before you, as tall as the Everest. A mighty citadel of pyramids and an ominous Ziggurat stands on its back, surging with sorcerous power."
Sponsor: Monster Empress&nbs...
2019-05-15 10:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Mathias, I am sorry to say this,” Solomon declared, finally finding the courage to breach the important subject. “But it would be better for everyone if you did not touch alcohol again.”
“Kari already beat you to it, thank you,” Shroud grumbled.
“Ignore them, Shroud,” Mur replied, “Mur found you a funny drinking buddy, would try again anytime. Although Mur didn’t understand half of what you said.”
“I can’t remember,” Maggie said, slightly disappo...
2019-05-10 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostDue to all options getting tied (yes, really), I'm changing that poll to a tournament; you will first vote between Mictlan and Elysium, then Taiyougami and Uruk, and the winners will duke it out for the top spot in a final battle. This poll ends next week on May 15th, and you can only cast 1 vote.
"A mythi...
2019-05-08 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostADMINISTRATOR: I do not know Mathias.
SHROUD: You do not know?
ADMINISTRATOR: This feature added itself to your account on its own. Our own source code changed to accommodate it. I considered patching it out, but I thought it might end up beneficial.
SHROUD: But you have no hint about what it is?
ADMINISTRATOR: From what you told me, you experienced a Blue flash when you downloaded t... 2019-05-08 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
— 0,1,2,0… endless numbers and geometrical shapes, making up the structure of reality. Rectangles and triangles made shapes that existed yet did not exist. Infinite possibilities quantified into alternate, shifting states… —
Shroud had to pull back before his head exploded, massaging his temples to lessen the headache.
The Universal Brain pulsated before him, hooked to a piece of strange, organic machinery. The device itself looked straight out of a sc...
2019-05-03 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostImportant: The Lair Poll has been posted here on Patreon, so please go vote for your favorite one! I would like a clear winner to stand out as I will write a full arc around it and the reward will heavily influence future events. Peace.
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From birth to death, the living struggled. Such was the essence of life.
Conflict, competition, violence; disease, poison, despair. So many ways to die. Life was always at war with it...
2019-05-01 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostVote for the Lair which the Dragonslayers will tackle in the major arc of Volume II! Click on each title for an illustration. Multiple choices possible, Poll open until end of May.
"A gigantic dinosaur stands before you, as tall as the Everest. A mighty citadel of pyramids and an ominous Ziggurat stands on its back, surging with sorcerous power."
<... 2019-04-30 21:59:00 +0000 UTC View PostFor his third attempt, Mammon had elected to behave more prudently.
Shroud observed him circling the castle, protected by his diamond skin and followed by cameras. After his failure to teleport inside his stronghold, the monster had elected to remain as far as possible from the main entrance. After his defeat at Violet’s hand, he must have been eager to look for an alternative entrance.
The fact the Midnight King hadn’t cast his time-acceleration boost did intrigue the w...
2019-04-26 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostWord that someone challenged Mammon had spread.
Shroud sat on one end of a large card table, which Mammon had set as the place of the duel; the Market’s ruler faced him from the other side, Mur held in a birdcage on his left. The guests surrounded them from all sides, a sea of blurred faces and strange visages rejoicing at some excitement.
Shroud noticed most of them stood closer to Mammon than him, trying to cultivate his favor; or they were just plain afraid of him. Netw...
2019-04-24 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe Overside Market’s Flux Tower looked even bigger up close.
A towering, spiraling spire of black metal and vein-like, pulsating cables the size of skyscrapers, the structure dwarfed anything humanity ever built. The tower radiated energy, which Shroud could feel resonate with him, a warm sensation filling his flesh and mind.
There was no doubt that he stared at the source of sorcery itself.
A golden castle surrounded the tower’s base, an aesthetically insul...
2019-04-19 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostAs Manah walked, phantom torches lit up, blue fires without a source revealing a richly decorated corridor. “You and your team will be lodged in the guest quarters,” his host told Shroud. “I will not tolerate any unauthorized guests without prior approval.”
Shroud listened intently while eyeing their surroundings. The castle’s walls seemed to be made of solidified darkness and covered by wooden decorations and expansive tapestries. He often noticed doors chiseled in the walls,...
2019-04-17 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostAs the violet light of the teleportation spell dissipated, Solomon looked at the crossroads with a frown, using Quasar to create a makeshift orb of light. “This is the place?” he asked, casting light on the darkness.
“Yes, it is,” Booz replied, standing next to their Mapmaker transporter, a bullman clad in purple robes. “Be patient. The Shadow Queen will receive you soon.”
The bullman turned to the hob smuggler. “I will be back in one hour to pick you up, would...
2019-04-12 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostEven in the skies, traffic jams happened.
As Shroud flew over the district, clad in his armor of lightglass, he had to avoid other fliers, everything from monstrous harpy-like birds, insects, and even small spaceships. The alien sky above them shone with bright green stars and colored nebulae, but it was the towering crystal lamps on the ground that provided the most illumination.
The golden streets and palaces of the Midnight Market laid beneath him, adorned by luxur...
2019-04-10 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Glass Field.”
The human called a glass cup to his hand, playing with it like a monkey discovering fire. Sometimes, the human looked at empty space, as if reading a text only he could see. He had behaved similarly at Dynamis, the day he started exhibiting the first signs of his strange behavior.
The watcher replayed the recording, adding Flux sensors over it. Through his Metalmesh spell, he moved inside the holo-video as if physically there, sitting right in fro...
2019-04-05 13:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe flight to the swamps happened so uneventfully, Shroud almost expected a last-minute disaster to fall upon him. A flock of Gearsmen firing at him from below, one last-minute ambush from Kresnik, Smokefang’s undead remains rising for another battle.
Instead, he got silence.
He wondered if the warriors felt the same way, after returning from a battle. That pervasive tension, that paranoid inability to accept that the fight had well and truly ended. Would he fully chill out and ...
2019-04-03 13:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostBy popular vote, the April Quest will be "Dreams of the Crimson King," published as Chapter 26! Which means it is time to vote for May's Quest! (Chapter 34)
1) Side-Quest: Gather the Minions!
Difficulty: Dot One
Every leader needs minions: an army of lovable foot soldiers, couriers, confidants, and disposable meat shields! But a good minion must be selected with care. Recruit your first minions and turn them into a functional organizat...
2019-03-31 22:15:24 +0000 UTC View PostYou are just experience points, and I am leveling up.
Jack’s words echoed in Shroud’s mind, as he flew circles around the dragon, avoiding streams of flames. The sorcerer had grown certain that the snake had practiced his flight since their last encounter. The reptile moved more gracefully than before, and kept his distance instead of rushing in towards the sorcerer.
He had learned a lesson from their last confrontation.
With dragonfire raining down on the enclo...
2019-03-29 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostMaggie was magic.
So was Sol and Mur.
Shroud didn’t know how to take the news, even as he massaged his sore muscles and tried to gather his thoughts, Berserk wearing off. The floor felt cold like steel, and the world outside hostile, with the lights and sirens, constantly assaulting him. The organ-like pod had been ripped open behind him, its liquid flowing out. The sedatives still slowed him down, making his body sore and his mind slower.
With his senses enhanced by...
2019-03-27 14:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostFighting was like dancing.
So Uncle had taught Kari—or was it someone else? Her memories blurred when she called upon Oversoul, ancient memories meshing with recent ones in a patchwork mind. Often she remembered a normal childhood, watching Kabuki theater with Uncle; sometimes, she remembered growing up in a palace below the waves, in a court of fish and coral.
Like dancing, fighting was all about timing. Sometimes you danced alone, focusing on yourself, on landing on your...
2019-03-22 14:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post