Imagine a world. Any world will do. Think of all the various factions, nations, tribes, ethnicities, and every other factor that can contribute to its political landscape. Everyone has their own perspective, and on a scale of billions, the only result is barely restrained chaos. Now, multiply that by thousands of planets, and you’ll understand how complex a galaxy’s political landscape can be. But even that only tells a tiny fraction of the universe’s story.
2023-11-25 14:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Rain fell in heavy drops that reminded Elijah that spring would soon overtake winter. But it had yet to arrive, as evidenced by the biting cold that refused to relinquish its grip. Elijah ignored it as he pushed the small boat out into the sea. He had endured worse, and he knew his suffering had only begun.
He could only hope that it would be worth it.
Once the water reached his waist, he climbed into the boat, grabbed the oars, and started to row. With his enhanced Constitution, ...
2023-11-24 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Though it took almost three weeks to fully harden, the soap turned out exactly as Elijah had hoped, which was to say that, while it was a little harsh, it did the job. So it was that, after spending almost two years on his island, he was finally able to reach a reasonable level of cleanliness. After that, he collapsed onto the bed, which was made of pleasant-smelling moss and leaves, he looked up at the softly glowing flowers above him and let out a satisfied sigh.
It had taken a long t...
2023-11-24 16:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Over the next few days, Zeke spent an inordinate amount of time testing his skills. He’d only had a few opportunities to familiarize himself with [Hell Geyser] back in the dungeon, and so, it wasn’t as ingrained in his fighting style as it probably should have been. So, during those few days, he truly put it through its paces. At the same time, he set about learning to control [Shifting Sands] as well.
The first was easy enough, and he found that using [Hell Geyser] came far more na...
2023-11-24 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Saraalinisa looked around with wide eyes, her every footfall accompanied by fresh awe. The trees were so green, the local fauna so varied – it was so distinctly wild that she could not help but wonder if the curated forests of her homeland even qualified for the label. The Empire of Scale was one of the oldest in existence, and though there were plenty of untamed lands within its borders, the inhabited territory was so thoroughly controlled that it could scarcely even be called wild.
...
2023-11-23 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Elijah chipped the last bit of wood away, then ran his thumb over the pawn’s head before holding it out to inspect. It wasn’t perfect, but his whittling skills had improved since he’d first washed ashore. And using the knife he’d taken from the gnomish invader was much better than using the flint-bladed knife upon which he’d once relied. So, at least the chess piece was recognizable.
He set it down on the homemade board, where it joined all the others he’d carved. Finally, a...
2023-11-23 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I'm incredibly grateful for all of your support! Now, onto the chapter:
Zeke took a deep breath, centering his mind as he sought the tranquility necessary to really work on what he hoped would eventually become his newest skill. At level fifty, he’d opened the slot, so he could finalize the create at any time he chose. However, the structure of underlying glyphs and symbols that would make up th...
2023-11-23 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Elijah burst through the surface and took a deep breath of freedom. Bobbing up and down with the waves, he lay back and stared at the winter sun for a few seconds before the frigid water began to affect him. Once numbness started to set in, he swam toward his island. When he got within a few dozen yards, he circled around to avoid the cliff, then finally climbed onto the rocky shore.
Nearby, a giant crab was busy picking meat from a huge skeleton that, to Elijah’s trained eye, looked ...
2023-11-22 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The alpha never showed up, much to Elijah’s chagrin. He was keyed up and ready to fight, and the moment he regained enough Ethera, he resumed his predator form before retracing his steps. It wasn’t easy, finding his way back to the site of the original ambush, but the marks he’d previously left at every intersection proved their worth. Eventually, he arrived, and to his mingled disappointment and relief, the alpha was nowhere to be seen.
But its scent was everywhere.
Elijah ...
2023-11-22 16:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Rifts are dangerous things. No one disputes this. However, there are a multitude of ways to mitigate the danger. From thorough scouting to Mist diffusion, the universe has farming them down to a science. But on an unintegrated world, for a native species, none of this is available. They just have to go inside and hope they’re strong enough to overcome the challenges. Most aren’t.
Alistaris Kargat
Once I had Patrick s...
2023-11-22 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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“Are you certain?” asked Cabbot, using the same imperious tone he’d heard from his father on so many occasions. The effect, in his opinion, was ruined by a lack of a throne room. Or perhaps by the presence of his disgustingly common office, with its mismatched, oversized furniture, bare walls, and the stubborn draft that kept the space annoyingly cool. Still, he sat in his dwarf-sized chair, back straight and chin held high – just like he’d been taught.
Nirea shook her head. ...
2023-11-21 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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As Elijah padded down the corridor, a chill ran up his spine, raising his hackles. Cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, he was safe from observation, but he still felt like something was watching him. Over the past few days, an eerie ambiance had blanketed the labyrinth, setting him on edge even if nothing had outwardly changed. When he looked around, the same moss-covered walls and endlessly twisting turns greeted him.
And yet, he felt like he’d been enveloped by a formless and persistent...
2023-11-21 16:00:04 +0000 UTC
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I know this is a touch late, but in my defense, I've been really busy this past week. So, please forgive me for forgetting about the check-in.
Anyway, as I said, I've been super busy, what with the launch of Path of Dragons and keeping up with the normal workload. So, without further ado, let's hop into the check-in!
In Death: Genesis news, I'm still plugging along. I finished the A-story of book 7, and for the past few days, I've been working on the detailed out...
2023-11-21 15:39:32 +0000 UTC
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For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Zeke relaxed. Not fully – he didn’t think he would ever accomplish that feat – but it was enough that he didn’t feel like some deadly threat was poised to pounce on him the moment he let down his guard. However, he only allowed himself to do so for a few hours before, inevitably, someone interrupted his rest.
Kianma, who was one of only a handful of kobolds with permission to visit his manor, found him in his meditation room, whe...
2023-11-21 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Alyssa sagged to one knee, propping herself up with the Spear of the Dragon Lancer. Looking around, she saw that the rest of her party looked just as exhausted as she felt. No one seemed nearly as drained as Bryce, though. But that wasn’t surprising, considering that, as they cleared their way to the first bridge, he’d become their most powerful weapon. Despite his clear weaknesses – long cast times and horrible physical attributes – the Wizard’s spells had torn through the zombies ...
2023-11-20 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Elijah was afraid he would once again lose himself if he shifted back into his predator form, so, as he headed through the maze’s entrance, he did so as a human. Holding his staff in front of him like a spear, and naked as the day he was born, he crept forward one tentative step at a time.
But nothing attacked.
He knew it was coming, though. So, he maintained vigilance as he continued toward the first intersection. He kept close to the moss-covered wall, dragging his hand along ...
2023-11-20 16:00:04 +0000 UTC
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As it turned out, the kobolds were just fine. In fact, they were more than okay, and their efforts to turn the tower into their home had certainly born fruit. The entry hall remained mostly unchanged, though there were a few legionnaires posted as guards. Why that would be necessary, Zeke had no idea, but he accepted it nonetheless.
By comparison, the Merchant’s Floor had undergone a dramatic transformation. Not in structure – that was controlled by the tower itself, and by extensio...
2023-11-20 14:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Unlike when she’d entered the minor dimensional rift, Alyssa didn’t stumble.
Not physically, at least. But her mind certainly hit a speedbump as she beheld the landscape before her. At its most basic level, it looked like a city, not dissimilar from any of the dozen or so major population centers she had visited before the world had changed. Skyscrapers stretched high into the air, surrounded by comparatively squat structures. Streets cut between them, populated by a multitude of de...
2023-11-19 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Alyssa said, “We don’t have a choice.”
“It’s almost fifty miles away,” Roman pointed out. “It’s not our problem.”
Alyssa looked around at the others. Carmen was there representing the noncombatants, but the rest of the council were Roman’s allies. He had handpicked most of them because they agreed with his philosophy of blatant self-interest. Not on a personal level, but rather when it came to the way they ran Easton. That meant that, of the eight members of th...
2023-11-19 16:00:03 +0000 UTC
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The universe is supposed to have rules. It shouldn’t just be a capitalist dystopia where all that matters is how much money or influence you can snatch away from the weak and powerless. That’s why I do the things I do, fight the wars I fight. Anyone capable of making a difference who chooses otherwise is a coward.
Alistaris Kargat
“I’m in position,” Patrick said through our Secure Connection. “Just give me th...
2023-11-19 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Once Elijah had gone a few hundred yards, he stopped and yanked the arrows out. There were three of them, but only one had penetrated more than an inch. Whether he could blame the ape creature’s poor equipment or his own enhanced Constitution, he had no idea, but whatever the reason for the projectiles’ poor performance, he wasn’t going to complain.
Normally, he wouldn’t have removed the arrows, a caution borne out by the veritable fountain of blood that came with the most serio...
2023-11-18 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Elijah dove, slicing through the water with ease. Then, when he’d gone a few hundred feet, gravity shifted, and he was suddenly falling in the other direction. Inexplicably panicked, he desperately treaded water as he searched for some landmark in the abyssal darkness. Looking down, he saw nothing but blackness. The same was true when he spun left, then right. But when he tilted his head up, he saw a glimmer of light. So, with no other guide, he swam toward it. Gradually, he drew closer to ...
2023-11-18 16:00:03 +0000 UTC
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For most people, losing multiple limbs would be a devastating thing. Even with cybernetics, it’s just not the same – no matter what anyone tells you. But for me, it was a boon. It gave me insights into cybernetics I never knew were possible. Still, I would give anything just to hold Mira with my own two hands, just one last time.
Patrick Ward
I gazed out the window, watching the wispy white clouds whip by as the Levi...
2023-11-18 14:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Elijah rolled his shoulders as he strode forward, but in the back of his mind, he realized that the effect was probably ruined by the curious, bouncing gait required to walk across the seafloor. He didn’t care, though. Instead, he only had eyes for the monster that had tried to eat him.
It was an orca.
Or that was the closest analogue Elijah could conjure. The thing was at least a hundred feet long, with the same sturdy, yet sleek black-and-white body as the familiar marine mamm...
2023-11-17 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Elijah was in mid-celebration when he felt something about the current change. No stranger to ambushes, he wheeled around, ready to defend himself. But when he did, he saw nothing but a gaping maw filled with jagged teeth. Panicked, he tried to dash away, but he only took a single step before the maw closed around him.
He let out a gurgling scream as the jaws clamped down on him, but he kept enough of his wits about him to grab hold of whatever he could and drag himself forward. The cre...
2023-11-17 16:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Zeke stumbled as he stepped free of the arch, then fell to one knee in gratitude. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized how different the dungeon had felt. How oppressive. It had been like claustrophobia for his spirit, though he could only see it clearly in the hindsight of freedom.
Soon enough, the others came tumbling out as well, and clearly, they all felt the same way. It had been months since they’d set foot in the outside world, and the sudden change was just as dramatic as t...
2023-11-17 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Alyssa swung her spear in a long arc, severing a series of saplings in one swing. As she did so, she let out a shout of anger and frustration.
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Carmen didn’t make that thing so you could use it to cut down trees,” said Bryce, the party’s Wizard. He specialized in long-casting, hard-hitting spells that could change the shape of any battle, but he exchanged that ability for any personal survivability. Most classes were equipped wit...
2023-11-16 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Elijah was exhausted.
It wasn’t just the constant danger, though that was a big part of it. Nor was it the raw fish that had become his diet. He’d even grown accustomed to the taste of the water. No – what really got to him was the constant submersion. People just weren’t meant to live underwater, as evidenced by the fact that his skin had started to break down only a few days into his time in the Sea of Sorrows. On top of that, if he didn’t consistently use Touch of Nature to...
2023-11-16 16:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Zeke came in low, but the Mirror King swept its sword down to knock his hammer off course. Then, it aimed a kick at Zeke’s face, connecting with his chin with enough force to send him staggering backwards. Without missing a beat, the monster seized upon that small advantage and thrust its sword into Zeke’s abdomen.
Normally, he could take such a blow without issue. However, the long, thin blade was possessed of the same draining force inherent in the shards of the Mirror King’s co...
2023-11-16 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Elijah knelt behind a fallen chunk of coral. In one hand, he clutched his staff, while the other kept him from drifting with the current as he watched the scene laid out before him. It had been nearly a week since he’d first entered the second level of the tower, and in that time, he’d been forced to learn to adapt to life in the sea.
At first, it had not gone well, and he’d spent most of the first few days recovering from the brief, intense battles that plagued every step into th...
2023-11-15 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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