Bruce_Sentar

AO 6 Ch 8

"Brrr." Eva shivered, rubbing her arms and shoulders. "How are none of you cold?" she asked. The princess was wearing a heavy dress and a manticore coat, but that did little to shelter her from the cold.

I was rocking three of my anchors’ coats, draped over me.

Apparently out here in Badlands the temperature plummeted when the sun went down. Even with spring on the horizon, Eva was getting dangerously cold. Her eyes lingered on Maribelle's scantily clad form.

"Especially y...

AO 6 Ch 7

"It's curious," Zuri commented.

I hesitated, stopping our current descent on the ice platform down to the ground. “If you have a thought, I’d love to know it before I put us down on the ground in the land of giant pinchy monsters.”

She looked over at me. “How was this giant crab able to surprise us? Nobody in the village spoke of it.”

“Combine the surprise with its eagerness towards you. And suddenly, this becomes a very suspicious occurrence.” Missy said from ...

AO 6 Ch 6

"Hit it again, hit it again!" Emlyn shouted, clinging to my shoulders and jumping up and down.

Several balls of fire later the crab was still down there, and angrier than ever.

I dropped another ball of fire, only for the massive crab to swat at it with its smaller claw, detonating it early. However, I did manage to blow that claw to the side, and I think chip the tip of the claw.

The angry crab clapped its larger claw at me several times before its feet danced and dug into ...

AO 6 Ch 5

"So, what's on the other side of this wasteland?" I asked as we sat atop a rocky outcropping, having lunch. The horses were currently elevated on a slab of ice, munching away on their oats.

We had already needed to revive the horses four times after entering the Badlands. It was pretty clear that nobody without a healer was going into the area or at least not very far. 

"Ocean?" Maribelle frowned. "What did you think would be over there?"

"I don't know. An ocean doesn't...

AO 6 Ch 4

Gwen Aldis sat next to her father and Anadonis. Her new anchors were standing not too far behind her, leaning against the wall politely. At the moment Gwen had an audience with one of the king's top advisors.

It had been mostly small talk, testing the waters and softening each other up, though she could tell it was winding down to the actual purpose. Sadly, she couldn’t be Arden and throw away all decorum to get to the meat at the first bite.

"It's critical we understand the ful...

AO 6 Ch 3

The badlands were worse than I had expected, and my expectations had not been very high.

About two hours into our journey, our horses collapsed. One of them was frothing at the mouth, while the other had simply toppled with the first and didn’t appear to have the energy to get back on its feet.

I tried to burst out of the carriage, but Aurelia snatched the back of my clothes, holding me aloft.

She jumped down and inspected the ground beneath us, waving her axe and baking t...

AO 6 Ch 2

"Test everyone?" I echoed the guard’s words and tried to buy myself a moment of time to figure out what I should do next. I decided to try a joke. "Well, if we're going to test everyone, then who knows, maybe my maid will turn out to be a mage. Do you think she'll still work for me?"

The soldier did not laugh. Tough crowd. "I'm sure you're a wonderful employer," he replied without a hint of humor. "Now, if you'll bring out the rest." He held out the testing device meaningfully.

...

AO 6 Ch 1

"You never wake up early," Emlyn groaned, shielding her eyes from the incoming light. 

"I'm not up early. You're sleeping late," I retorted from the desk, where I'd cracked the blinds so that I could read Eva's book. I was enthralled with my father's tales. A week after getting it, I was pretty sure I could recite some of them by heart. But that didn't stop me from reading it again. 

"Is it late?" She squinted. 

I threw the blinds open further, only for them t...

Ard's Oath 6 Story Thus Far

Last time, on Ard's Oath 5: Merchants of Rebellion

Ard and company overcame the battle at Chillwind Pass. However, in doing so, Ard put himself in ever more danger, this time from his own kingdom.

To protect him, General Trevis sent him behind enemy lines to disrupt the Garrish forces from within. Under the tutelage of Uncle Valken and Eva, Ard posed as a merchant and began to incite chaos, funding and supporting a group of bandits who desperately needed his support. 

G...

Patreon Update 3-2-2025

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for riding with me through another adventure with Ken. (And poking at all my numbers).

Things are going well. I feel like this was a solid novel, there's a little foreshadowing I'm putting in at the beginning, clarifying Universal Language when it's first brought up and addressing that their stats are behind where they should be but they are wearing epic raid gear to make up for it right now.

Of course, I have a big list from Patreon too, gotta fix all t...

DD 204 Ch 37 - END

Chapter 37

"Idiot," Crimson growled, emerging from the portal and storming up to me to jab a finger in my chest.

"It was personal, Crimson." I attempted to defend myself, hearing how lame of an excuse I was giving.

"Great, if it's personal for you, then it might as well be personal for me," she retorted, crossing her arms and daring me to argue the point. However, some of the sternness was foiled by how the gesture pushed up her chest, nearly causing it to b...

DD 204 Ch 36

The names from the UG weren't hard for me to track down. There were only five, and I was just crossing the second off my list.

I'd found him in a 20th-floor safe zone, hiding out amid a group of ruffians. He'd completely lost all the pomp and arrogance that everyone else I'd met from SJS had wielded before.

It felt good to see those who once thought themselves untouchable cower and hide.

In a way, I reveled in this work. I shouldn’t, but removing these people had a purpose...

DD 204 Ch 35

The Orkai Guildhall was as lively as the last time I had visited. Orkai were arguing in hushed tones, with a few of the arguments spilling out into louder confrontations. 

Crimson took a deep breath next to me. "This feels right. This is how adventurers should live."

Our entrance caught quite a bit of attention, as our presence in Star City seemed to bring us attention everywhere we went. It was no surprise when Mel squealed and jumped to her feet, four Orkai falling in rank ...

DD 204 Chapter 34 (This is the real one)

"I can't go on. Please. Make sure they honor my last will and testament." Wendy fell during our laps around the room.

In the end, DPS had lost.

Even with my own [Liminal Speed], being forced to simply try and beat down the tanks had been a futile effort. Nearly one-for-one healers versus DPS turned out to be a much harder ratio to overcome. Not to mention, Harley had actually managed to keep the healers mana at passable levels.

In the end, the DPS members started dropping li...

DD 204 Chapter 33

"Oh, where did you two come from?" Des asked, spinning around in her chair as we walked into Crimson's class on Monday.

Penny and I had disappeared for the remainder of the weekend. It seemed Penny had a vivacious imagination, and once I had opened the tap, we had plunged into a rather pleasurable abyss of self-discovery.

"Hmm? I don't know what you're talking about," I played coy and sat down at my seat. 

"Uh uh. You don’t get to hide details from me," Des wasn't goi...

DD 204 Ch 32

Chapter 32

"Thanks again for everything, Ken," Penny said as we meandered around the safe zone.

At this point, our compatriots dealing with the leftover Naga situation had gone home, or at least had gone back to their daily lives back in Star City.

Meanwhile, Penny and I were sticking around the safe zone just as a precaution. Director Ametto was dealing with the SJS situation and had asked for us to stay nearby. I was still holding out hope that they would ...

DD 204 Ch 31

The new president of SJS Financials stormed through the offices, loosening his collar as he finally made it to the former office of King Albar. Well, the old King Albar. Technically as his brother he was now King Albar as well.

His reports swore the room had been cleaned to the best of their ability. However, in his mind, the coppery tang of blood and the rancid stench of his brother's failure had seeped into every facet of the room. 

Yet, in the short time he had been at the...

DD 204 Ch 30

Chapter 30

"We're going hunting?" Felin asked, popping her head out of a pile of cushions. Apparently, while Penny and I had been gone, Felin and Slytha had been returned to our home. Ambrosia was still doing her job, hovering over the two of them and keeping them out of trouble.

"Yep. In particular, a group of Nagas attacked one of our safe zones. I can’t ignore this, Slytha. No offense," I said. She shrugged.

"What color were they?” She asked.

�...

Chapter 29

Penny clung to me in her father's office.

True to Rodger’s guess, members of the UG, who would have been capable of stopping the Naga invasion, arrived about two hours after the Naga invasion had begun. There were about twenty in total all in the low 50’s along with a small army in the 40’s.

It seemed that humanity was moving up, spurred by the naga attack at the end of my freshman year.

I recognized one of them as Director Ametto, Selene's mother, strolled in. ...

DD 204 Ch 28

Penny and I fought our retreating battle back towards the staircase that would lead up to the twenty-second floor.

However, by the time the stairs were in view, ranks of Naga were already forming up, preparing to storm the stairs. Somehow, they had slipped around us. 

"'Ken, we've got to stop them,” Penny urged. 

I flipped forward, killing the Naga that had been chasing after us, only to spin my blades and stare at the staircase. 

"'You go ahead and gu...

DD 204 Ch 27

Chapter 27

Penny and I headed beneath the safe zone to go find out more about the Naga that were coming.

As we moved out onto the floor, I took in a ridiculous sight. Everything I could see was made of rainbows. From top to bottom, the area was a sort of colorful, swampy bog. The sky was a deep violet with blue clouds. And the trees transitioned from vibrant green at the treetops down to yellow trunks and orange grass. The water of the boggy environment was red. I...

DD 204 Ch 26

After Rodger put down the phone, I grimaced. "I'm afraid I'm not much of a deterrent. They are not my biggest fans at the moment. What were they threatening?" 

His face dropped, realizing that might have been putting oil on the fire. “He said my safe zone was going to be destroyed if I didn't listen to him and sell it to recoup my debts.” Penny’s dad stared back with a blank expression.

“I would like to see him do that," I laughed. "With the UG having built in here, I...

DD 204 Chapter 25

While Mel had been explaining the groups and guilds within Star City, a thick tension had developed between Penny and Mel.

Mel kept trying to entice me, even going as far as coiling her spaded tail around my leg and attempting to sneak it up towards my thigh.

I had smacked it away multiple times, having absolutely zero interest in the pigtail look. Everything about it just felt illegal. Not to mention Penny was already feeling self conscious and making the ladies already in my lif...

DD 204 Ch 24

Chapter 24

Penny and I found the Orkai guild hall. Like every other building it was an opulent white, with embedded crystals into the structure. Even before we stepped inside, there the noise of a commotion spilling out the front door.

We opened it up to a familiar scene of benches filled with adventurers drinking. Though it was slightly different. White wood benches and chalices for their drinks rather than rough wood and tankards.

Several Orkai were arguin...

DD 204 Ch 23

Chapter 23

My eyes must have been like two giant saucers as I got caught staring into the bathhouse of the female angels.

Of course, then my eyes betrayed me, suddenly locking onto Ambrosia among the crowd and the massive mounds that she supported.

It wasn’t my fault, her black wings and my passing familiarity with her must have been like two powerful magnets that latched onto her… assets.

I swallowed audibly, and although I know it didn’t in rea...

DD 204 Ch 22

The next two weeks felt like, well, actual school, which was strange. And I could tell it was making Crimson just as uncomfortable as the rest of us.

"All right. Finally, we are done," she said, unable to slam the book down. "Get out of here. I have better things to be doing than reading out of a giant book." She ripped open a portal and disappeared, leaving the rest of our class speechless. No one seemed to be in a hurry to follow her out. 

"What are you doing this weekend?"...

DD 204 Ch 21

The entire class sat together on a dungeon floor filled with classic goblins. We were taking a break, and Des was sitting in my lap as she typed away on her CID. 

"I can't believe Crimson gave us an essay," Taylor threw her hands up in the air. "I'm trying to become an adventurer, not some sort of writer. Sorry, Penny." Taylor corrected herself.

"No, it's fine." Penny blushed again and glanced at me before focusing back on her CID and typing out more of her essay. 

DD 204 Ch 20

We were about to have to work our asses off to repay the Orkai levied debt, but that didn’t stop the girls from wanting to go out and buy ‘the necessities’ beforehand.

In my own way, I was curious what could be purchased in Star City. Yet, I kept checking the value in my CID and let my mind work the math for how many mana crystals we could farm a day versus the cost of everything.

"Shopping!" Des cheered as our party found the third datapad hub empty.

Ambrosia had been...

DD 204 Ch 19

"Are you kidding me?" I stood up as Crimson presented the bill to me. "How? How are we supposed to pay that much?" 

Crimson shrugged. "Of course I’ll help with it." At least she had some sense of responsibility.

I sat down and put a hand on my forehead. "This is robbery! How are those Nekorian shacks worth this much?”

“They probably aren't worth near that. However, the Orkai said we were only 31% to blame. Which means, the bill the Nekorians got is at least double...

DD 204 Ch 18

"So, you've caused an interplanetary issue over your classmate, Felin," the president of the UG began, as several directors and I sat in a room with Crimson.

"I wasn't the one that nuked their safe zone. That was their own leader. I was merely trying to rescue my party member." I turned to Crimson, begging her with my eyes to emphasize the same message.

"It's exactly as he says, Scaredy Cat," Crimson said, addressing the president of the UG by her favorite nickname for him. He did...