Bruce_Sentar

RD 5 Ch 42

Merlin huffed, as the teleportation ended, only to turn and stare at Circe and Nyx, who had come along with us. “I understand why you needed me,” Merlin said, her gaze falling on Circe harshly, “but I don’t understand why you needed her.”

“Well, I’m honest,she’s important enough for this particular outing that I couldn’t leave her behind,” I said, glancing at Circe.

The ice and wind mages were looking at each other with no small measure of hostility, sparks bet...

RD 5 Ch 41

It didn’t take Gloria and I long to find a place to eat. Everybody nearby who had checked our skill sheets was more than happy to help us in any way possible. They practically offered their firstborn child when I asked a question.

Taking a few suggestions and following their directions, we’d made our way to a restaurant. We were seated at a window table in a small restaurant built into the long town between the Citadel and Vein City.

The chair was a little too small for me at ...

RD 5 Ch 40

Apparently, even though I thought what Gloria had been wearing was just fine, she had needed to change before we were ready to head out.

I guess if she was showing off her strength, she probably wanted to look good in the process.

While I waited, I headed to check in with Merlin, who was milling about the Citadel,  taking orders from the various Mul Branova before she went back out scouting for goods that were rapidly disappearing in the new hierarchy of the world.

“T...

RD 5 Ch 39

Simone and Winnie walked with Sylvie through the sect, and Simone made no secret of using her Inspect on anyone and everyone she could find.

“Are there any groups in the sect that are rather reclusive?” Simone asked.

Both of the older women snorted a laugh. “You’ll find ‘reclusive’ is the default among sects,” Sylvie said.

“The top levels are given very few tasks beyond being a boogieman to stop others from causing trouble.” Winnie added before Simone could...

RD 5 Ch 38

Simone beamed at Merlin as she dropped them off at the Roaring Wave Sect.

“Thank you for the lift, as always, Merlin.” Simone gave her a little curtsy.

“It’s always a pleasure,” Merlin said quickly. “Now, if you don’t mind, apparently I have some catching up to do when it comes to preparing for the Trial of Kings.”

“Don’t worry, you’ve got it.” Simone flashed a thumbs-up even as several members of the sect began peeking over the wall at them, like Sim...

RD 5 Ch 37

“And that’s how it ended up as it did,” I said, finishing my story of the Trial of Kings.

By the end, Nyx had consumed my lap. Gloria stayed close enough to reach me if she wanted, but not so close as to come off as clingy. Simone puttered around, cleaning up around us, and when she wasn’t busy with that she circled back to massage my shoulders as if she simply couldn’t keep her hands off me.

“Oh wow,” Nyx cooed from my lap, having turned into a serpentine puddle, al...

Sept AMA

Just got this up.
Side note for KS peeps, we finally got the pickup sorted out for the pallets of packed KS that have been in my garage since Friday afternoon. Boxes are out and should have been scanned in for those wondering about packages that weren't tracking.

RD 5 Ch 36

“Well,” Circe said as we reappeared back outside the trial, “that was certainly… something.”

I blinked away the sudden shift in light to find ourselves in the dark of Tartarus, but far from the start of the trials. We were behind our own troops as they trained on the first wave.

“You’ve got that right,” Winnie said, immediately spotting members of her sect still training in Tartarus. She began heading their direction as if it were just another day.

“She’s...

RD 5 Ch 35

“Alright, so after discussing it with your harem,” Syssy spun back around and I gave her a raised eyebrow some hours later.

I’d spent most of the time wandering the very small hall and leaving it to Simone.

“My harem?” I said, not sure if I’d call that group my harem. “Sorry. The only one I’m currently in a relationship with is Simone.” I pointed at the saintess, only for Circe to gasp.

“What am I? Chopped liver?” She put a hand on her chest, genuinely ...

RD 5 Ch 34

As soon as that message popped up, I found myself ejected from the Trial of Kings and showered in party poppers as Syssy cheered and blew a kazoo inches from my face.

“Yay, you did it, Bran!” Syssy squealed. The green-haired fairy was overwhelmingly excited while the rest of us were still adjusting from being ripped out of the instance and war scene.

We were coming down from the adrenaline rush of combat and, in some cases, suddenly reconciling old memories with what had just ...

RD 5 Ch 33

With Bloodrage Ascension active, I swung back at Princess Almeria in her draconic form, my Bloodiron Blade growing to be nearly as large as I was. That meant it was nearly sixteen feet long, certainly enough to cleave the princess’s new form in half.

She twisted her long, serpentine body out of the way as her tail and the spines that ran along its ridge slapped into my blade and pushed it off course. The princess in that form wasn’t taller than me, but she had far more bulk as she m...

RD 5 Ch 32

Luckily for all of us, Winnie got her warm sheath for her icy scythe not long after. Otherwise, I’m sure she’d become insufferable.

The four of us dove into the rear of Princess Almeria’s forces together like meteors descending on the battlefield.

It was immediately apparent the princess was with the rest of her troops. A group of mages was clustered around an armored figure as if she were the very heartbeat of the battle. Princess Almeria looked much the same as when I’d ...

RD 5 Ch 31

I rushed alongside the others back to where all of our forces were hopefully still laying siege, with Princess Almeria’s forces bottled up inside the Citadel of Blood.

Winnie slid up next to me as we made our way back. The headstrong woman wore a scowl that, thankfully, didn’t seem directed at me. “Do you think she predicted all of this?” Winnie asked, but she wasn’t just asking. I got the feeling that she was leading into whatever she was going to say next.

“Unless sh...

RD 5 Ch 30

I watched her strategy, once she started throwing sonic enchanted boulders she hadn’t slowed down in the slightest. Not that it mattered, I had come to kick her out of the Citadel, and that was exactly what I was going to do. Watching her hurl boulders that hurt these women who supported Simone was extra motivation.

Realistically, the ammunition could only go for so long. While Princess Almeria was spending it quickly, waiting her out wasn’t going to be in our best interest even if ...

RD 5 Ch 29

I slammed my hand against the table in frustration as the plan we’d just made was already falling apart.

“Well, that’s just wonderful, isn’t it?” Winnie said, crossing her arms and turning to me as if it were my job to find a solution.

I suppose it was, now that I’d taken the leadership role among this group. It wasn’t time to be upset; it was time to think about next steps. “We’ll simply have to trap her within the Citadel.” A quick and easy plan, one that wou...

RD 5 Ch 28

Simone followed me back to what I could only assume was the master bedroom. It wasn’t so glorious as to have indoor plumbing, but the bed looked inviting. And after the day I’d had, I was more than eager to sink into it and move on to the next day.

That, however, wasn’t in the cards.

Simone cleared her throat. “Well, now that you’re here, Lord Bran…” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at me suggestively and leaving the rest up to my imagination.

I turned back t...

RD 5 Ch 27

Winnie’s surrender of her troops to me seemed to trigger another of the seals on my stats and abilities.

While my body went through the transformation, I could feel a dozen people checking my growth, eyes scanning my stats and seeing the change. Apparently this moment sealed Simone’s allegiance, as I felt a second gut punch of stats rolled in after the first. She fell to her knees as she rushed to me in a very un-Simone-like manner. Her eyes were full of tears, begging for forgivene...

RD 5 Ch 26

I swallowed audibly, the sound seeming to reverberate across the battlefield. I looked around, expecting the whole area to have heard me, and they might have as fighting slowed and more than a few eyes shifted my direction.

The more that looked my way, the more others followed. Fighting slowed as the Mul Branova and Circe’s elites began casting their gaze and my direction, realizing my next actions would determine the outcome, regardless of what they managed to do on their own.

...

RD 5 Ch 25

The fight sparked off in a raging inferno. Circe went straight through Winnie‘s people, doing her best to keep them busy with sudden gusts of wind.

On the other hand, Simone and the Mul Branova moved far more slowly, holding hands and marching towards Winnie directly. I could only assume she intended to encircle Winnie with the same technique she had used against the assassin several weeks ago.

I found myself suddenly without much to do amongst the prisoners, as I used the crowd...

RD 5 Ch 24

I found myself desperately hoping that time inside the Trial of Kings was not equivalent to the outside. None of these situations or people were moving very quickly. Then again, armies didn't move very quickly. Haste was very costly at this sort of scale. 

It had taken almost a week after my discussion with Circe before we got any actual traction from Simone and Winnie.

Thankfully, Simone did move faster, particularly once Circe sent over a list of individuals. Part of me was...

RD 5 Ch 23

Apparently, Syssy was determined to make this trial difficult for me.

At least, that was my impression as I woke up with Circe still cuddling me and an unfulfilled quest flashing in the corner of my vision. I took that to mean that even wearing Circe out in bed and exerting several forms of dominance was not considered subduing this woman.

I stared over at Circe as she lay in bed, content to do her best impression of a log. "You know that I know you’re awake, right?" I said, sta...

RD 5 Ch 22

"Oh, there you are," Circe said several days later entering the tent. "I was wondering if you were still holed up in here."

Since she left a few days ago, I hadn’t had any obvious minders. That one nymph had wandered in a few times to try her luck before her pride and frustration got the better of her.

Circe still dropped in from time to time to flirt or share a meal and we’d had a number of long conversations, some of which went well into the night about both everything and n...

RD 5 Ch 21

Two days later, I found myself frowning and wondering if I should have started with Circe first. 

No sooner had she brought me to her own fortified position than she simply put me to work. I still had a fair bit of supervision, but I wasn't being treated like a criminal who just needed the opportunity to commit a crime.

"I see you're doing well, Bran," Circe said, stepping into the room. She looked far more relaxed than she had the first day she brought me to her base. Ploppi...

RD 5 Ch 20

"Stay here," Simone said as the explosion still roared in the distance. Though the velvet curtains that were the mainstay of her castle barely even rustled. 

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at her. "We wouldn't perhaps be under attack, would we?" 

"We would be," she began, but I held up a hand to interrupt her. 

"If we're under attack, I would like to do anything I can to help." I answered.

"What you can do is remain here," Simone said, glaring at me ang...

Q&A Session 3 - Ask your questions here!

Session 3 of the video Q&A series is being filmed early next week! Get your questions in as comments on this post! If your question wasn't picked last time, try again and it may show up this round!

The questions can be about anything you want - My own work, the genre as a whole, the process or nature of writing, my story in entering the space, or even a question for Chris.

As always we'll be trying to look at which comments on this post that have the most likes - so make sur...

RD 5 Ch 19

As Simone stormed out of the room, I couldn't suppress the smile that spread across my face. Her being upset was a far cry from the indifference she'd shown me previously. 

To be upset, there had to be something she was upset about. There had to be an emotional stake for her. Whether I was or was not her Bran, if that stake wasn't there, why would she be upset?

So, the grin that I struggled to wipe off my face was glorious evidence that Simone, in some way, cared. At a very b...

RD 5 Ch 18

We had only just stepped out of the village when one of the Mul Branovas spoke up. "I thought Bran was one of the greatest warriors of this world," she frowned, glancing over at me. Apparently, my performance wasn't up to their standards.

I shot a pained glance towards Simone and let out a heavy sigh. "The truth is, I have been cursed and weakened. There are several seals that I must break," I confessed, mixing the truth with my act of being Lord Bran.

Simone flashed another angry...

RD 5 Ch 17

I stood with Simone outside her castle, technically halfway to the Citadel of Blood, speaking in a village as Simone tried to score new recruits. I did my best to look handsome, tall, and worth joining.

The ladies in the village gave me flirtatious eyes and swayed back and forth, as if I would somehow find them too tempting, and simply snatch them from this village, and no doubt a life of boredom. There were maybe fifty women gathered but only a handful were old enough for the system an...

RD 5 Ch 16

Now, I had no expectations of what pretending to be myself for Simone would entail. However, after two days of being paraded around the Mul Branova, and then being sent into what were apparently extensive dungeons that seemed to be expanding almost as fast as I could go in and rid people of their bloodlines, I realized it was a very unwise decision to get on Simone's bad side, both here and outside the trial.

Not that the real Simone really had a bad side when it came to me, but I reali...

RD 5 Ch 15

Simone stared at me unblinkingly, making me nervous. What exactly was she going to do with me? I knew she wouldn’t remember, nor recognize me. Like my trail her memories would be blocked.

The trial of kings was a test of who you were at your core, not who you were trying to be.

Eventually, she waved a hand to dismiss the ladies who had dragged me before her. 

I stared up at Simone, my Simone. Yet, it was like looking at her evil twin. Everything was right where it was...