ravnicrasol

New Story (Title-pending) Teaser

Ignore the squeak of lesser minds as they rub two half-baked ideas together; greatness begins here.

Archartificer Magnifiria the Mindglow read the inscriptions upon her obsidian cup, its rim traced with fine copper filaments that hummed faintly with thaumic energy to keep its contents a perfect 81ºC. She raised it to her ruby lips and sipped from the cake‑flavored ambrosia. The enchanted choker on her neck transmuted every calorie into a charisma‑enhancing elixir, its tiny...

Gamma Protocol (090)

[090]

I crashed through the reinforced glass into a storm of screams. On the open factory floor the crowd, once huddled tight, trampled over itself trying to flee. My internal countdown ticked at three seconds to the next railgun shot. Two seconds to decide. Staying low meant I could dodge, but the blast would mow through whoever stood behind me.

Zero approached. I made the worst call and sprang for the second-floor gangwalk. Midair offered no course correction;...

Gamma Protocol (089)

[089]

“FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!”

“They just keep coming!”

The armored AV rattled like an industrial dryer that had swallowed a cinder block, the whole fuselage quaking under a barrage of impacts. Vibrations rolled through the cabin panels, shaking every rivet in its frame. Ajax clenched the nylon straps of his four-point harness until his knuckles blanched, the fresh-faced mercenary’s wide eyes flicking from one warning light to the next, desperate to l...

Alchimia Rex (Poll for Future)

Hello!

First off, sorry I haven’t been posting as much content as I hoped since “going live” again. I’ve been juggling quite a few things, and trying to avoid dropping the ball on it all is tough.

To be honest, I’ve hit a bit of a crossroads regarding Alchimia.

As you all well know, the story has reached a point where events are sort of changing. And, after a lot of back and forth on the matter, I've eventually reached the conclussion there were three paths to take...

Gamma Protocol (088)

[088]

The monsters swept over the edge of the fourth district like a slowly creeping serrated tsunami.

I roared up at the amorphous flapping creatures, wielding the burnt remains of two car-wrecks like my own oversized tower shields. The flock dove at me with bodies that tore and broke like cardboard, dozens of them were torn with every swing of my massive improvised weapons.

Every few seconds my attention flicked at the system, and it could only beep and ...

Gamma Protocol (087)

[087]

Something was not right.

I knew it from the first heartbeat that passed without the familiar chime of my interface, yet the certainty only sharpened as the seconds trickled by. The pavement beneath my boots trembled with each winged corpse I cast aside, each one lighter than it should have been, each one making that strange wet crackle as if its bones were honeycombed with air. I carved through another of the buzzing horrors, felt cartilage and tend...

Gamma Protocol (086)

[086]

“Okay, what’s this urgent thing you had to discuss in private?” Vesper asked the instant the door clanged shut.

Instead of answering, I flicked on the signal scanner and prowled the ancient storage area, sweeping corroded shelves, the ribbed heat-sinks of a dead mainframe, picked clean decades ago. The space lay deep in the bunker’s forgotten levels, the tunnels and rooms that were still partially or totally buried. Vesper had taken me here when I�...

Gamma Protocol (085)

[085]

A dozen human lives, an armed AV, and who knew how much in munitions, weapons, and stocked up combat supplies. Gone in an instant, vaporized in a flash of heat and light so intense it warped every rooftop within forty meters of the blast. The secondary explosion had also damaged the buildings nearby, chewing out massive chunks of their foundation and leaving the structures teetering at the edge of collapse.

And it had taken out my shield.

All of it, ...

Gamma Protocol (084)

[084]

The siren cut through the night like an insistent banshee, its wail vibrating through every bone in my body. Every radio, every data link, every help beacon – jammed. I was on my own, and so were the intruders. Their only wireless channel now was line-of-sight infrared lasers with one another and the AV that had brought them here. That offered them some limited chat, but told me one thing for sure: neither of us could call for backup.

I’d manage...

Gamma Protocol (083)

[083]

The moment we got hit by the jamming signal was marked by everyone around me flinching collectively and going a bit pale. A second later, my tablet beeped at me with “lost signal”, and the drones overhead shuddered before taking off and scattering in every direction.

“Sir?” Projector-carrier number one looked up at me as he held the device.

“We just need to do as we practised,” I said. ‘Plan’ was a big word in this instance, since I�...

Gamma Protocol (082)

[082]

“We need to get those provisions now!” Vesper snarled, slamming her hand against the wall, taking half a step before her legs nearly gave out under her.

Vesper’s vision pulsed at the edges, as if someone were squeezing a molten ring tighter and tighter around her skull. Heat bled from the implant cradle at the base of her neck, radiating along the curve of her spine, until even the roots of her teeth seemed to throb. She pressed the improvised travel...

Gamma Protocol (081)

[081]

I kept my back pressed against the cool metal of the doorframe and watched Isia’s fingers dance over the tablet’s port as she plugged it into the server rack. The warehouse lights buzzed overhead, their flicker revealing dust motes drifting like tiny specters. Around us, the shelves stood empty and cavernous, a silent testament to how rapidly resources vanished once the lockdown began. I narrowed my eyes on the glow of Isia’s neuralink interface and asked,...

Gamma Protocol (80)

[080]

“What’s the situation?” I asked the moment Vesper’s face lit up on the tablet’s screen.

The internet was down for the broader city, but Quinn had set up a wireless local intranet, using the drones as relays and communication nodes. Isia and I were currently standing on a rooftop to avoid the chaos at street level, several buildings were burning, casting an orange glow on the rising smoke, and gunshots were ringing out in every direction. The roug...

Gamma Protocol (079)

[079]

I stood at the edge of the fourth district, behind a cheap token chain-link fence, staring into the badlands and seeing the explosions that were distinctly closer than a minute ago. It was still far off over the horizon, but my ears were starting to pick up the faintest sounds of artillery fire and bombs.

“How, exactly, does the rubber wall operate?” I asked, already picking everything up. I didn’t need an explanation to recognize the panic in Isia�...

I'm BACK! (kinda)

TLDR: Chapter postings resume at whatever pace I manage, while billing stays frozen until the end of April.

As mentioned earlier, I was either supposed to be fully back by now or at least by the end of April, depending on how fast the government processes my paperwork. Needless to say, things haven't moved as quickly as I hoped. With that and my new work, I'm going with a hybrid approach.

The good news is that I'll be publishing chapters (both here and on RR) while billing remains...

March Update [News] Let's go!

TL;DR: Gears are turning, rust is coming off. Expect chapter releases by April, May at the latest.

Good news: I found a job! It’s remote (great), part-time (great), and while it doesn’t quite cover everything (boo), it’s a solid start.

With that settled, I’m kicking off the legal process to officially register as self-employed (to avoid pissing off my country's version of the IRS). I also talked to an account...

[mini-Update] (hiatus ongoing)

Best shot I got is finding out some govt program or tax aid or something from the accountant I'm gonna meet later this week.

If nothing comes out of that, then it'll all depend on what job I find and how much of my time that'll take up. So far I haven't gotten any callbacks, so I'm expanding search to "literally anything that'll pay the bills" and crossing all my fingers.

Worst comes to worst, best bet is going back to my roots and writing during the weekends.

Thanks for all...

2025 (update) [Billing Still Paused]

For starters, I'd like to thank everyone for the massive support you guys have shown these past few weeks! I am really glad for... well, everything, especially to all of you who've reached out (in various ways) to try and give advice/suggestions/moral support.

Time for the schedule update: For starters, as said in the title, billing will remain paused at least another month.

So what's going on?

I've started a job-hunt already, mainly looking for either remote/part-time or ...

⚠ YTD Update, Pausing Patreon ⚠

At the start of the year I'd made a [post] about how 2024 was kind of my make-or-break as far as income through writing goes, it was the overall reason why I'd turned off the option for yearly subscriptions.

It's been roughly 11-months and change since then, and out of my goal of roughly doubling income, and well...

2024-12-10 17:01:32 +0000 UTC View Post

Gamma Protocol (078)

[078]

“Money money money! We got lotsa money!” Isia sang taking a long swing of the suspiciously murky bottle, following it through with a loud burp, her breath reeked of something overly sweet and alcoholic. “God, it’s so nice to finally have that weight off of my shoulders!” She snatched my shoulders and shook me back and forth, threatening to spill the contents of my plastic cup.

“You sure you wouldn’t rather go back to the night-club?” I aske...

Gamma Protocol (077)

[077]

Shadow said her goodbyes to her prospective student as soon as she was certain they weren’t being followed. As much as she wished to stick around and insist more heavily upon the matter of his training, she had a rather important task to attend to.

Elder Summer had called for her.

It had not been an urgent request for her presence, but she did not know the elder well enough to risk being any later than absolutely necessary.

Using the ever-prese...

Gamma Protocol (076)

[076]

“All successful heists require three core pieces of information. One, know what’s between you and your target. Two, know what will happen if the alarms go off. Three, know your escape options.” Ever since getting on the AV, it’d been as if a switch had been flipped inside Shadow. The meguca had summoned several tablets for me to use, and was doing her damndest to drill into me the layout of the surrounding areas to the nightclub. I was fairly sure I’d ...

Gamma Protocol (075)

[075]

After the brief conversation with Shadow, and with both of us agreeing that we needed some sleep, I chose to inform Isia of a possible update on the situation. We quickly agreed to meet-up the following day so that she could be briefed in and help out with the plan moving forward. In hindsight, it had been a good call for me to try and get a few minutes alone with Isia before she met Shadow. 

“You’re telling me that the bitch that tried to kill you ...

Gamma Protocol (074)

[074]

“Are you sure this is private?”

Due to the very sensitive nature of my circumstances, it was clear we couldn’t keep the conversation going within the motel. I agreed to head on out and look for somewhere nearby more private, with Shadow leading the way out and then up to the motel’s rooftop. The meguca had moved effortlessly against the mostly sheer surface, fingers finding purchase in the tiniest of spaces between bricks, pulling herself up with e...

Alchimia Rex (160)(Vol 7 END)

[160] [Interrobang]

“What’s the prognosis?”

Standing on the porch of the cabin perched at the edge of the woods, Rick drew in a deep breath of crisp air, the lingering chill of winter was starting to eb. There was a lingering scent of rain, but Rick knew there had been none over the past week at least. Either spring was right around the corner or a certain Elf Queen was being quite active, because the forest was waking up, everything looked and smelled green...

Gamma Protocol (073)

[073]

Sitting in the car, watching the city roll by, I couldn’t help but chew on the very tempting idea of turning into the shush-monster and giving the Banker a visit. Sure, it would raise alarms. Sure, megucas might even show up faster than I could act. Sure, all hell would break loose, buuuuuut maybe it could work?

For starters, I’d need to find a way around the surveillance epidemic in the second district. It wouldn’t do if some camera caught me transf...

Alchimia Rex (159)[🍋🍋]

AN: Just a general disclaimer that most of the chapter is fun-times.

[159] [Class][🍋🍋]

“When bonding a feral for the first time, the mark of a good Succubus is how quickly they tucker out the maiden, how harmless they leave her, all loose, wet, and helpless for their human.” Kiara whispered the words into Rick’s ear, one hand tracing an electrifying line down his back. “A great Succubus doesn’t need to drain the feral.”

The room was bathe...

Gamma Protocol (072)

[072]

The traffic jams had been worse than expected.

By the time we’d reached the fourth district, we were actually slightly late. So we hurried to the motel where I took a quick shower and changed outof the gaudy overly-expensive RGB clothes. Isia had then taken the too-expensive clothes and dropped herself off in the dry-cleaner’s while sending me off to the Well with the car on autopilot.

We’d made sure to straighten out our alibis beforehand. Isi...

Gamma Protocol (071)

[071]

The music thumped around us like the beat of a war-drum, the lights flashed, blindingly stroboscopic. I had just enough sense to see a cybernetic arm reaching out to me and I slapped it away hard. Too hard, too fast, there was a horrible screech, followed by the owner pulling their deformed limb back, sparks flying off from the torn metal. I grit my teeth when someone punched my ribs. It was hard enough to lift my legs off the floor, and yet it barely even hurt,...

Alchimia Rex (158)

[158] [Pouts and Scowls]

“Oh, look who finally shows up.” Kiara’s mirthless voice was accompanied by an equally mirthless face. The Succubus stood at the porch of her little fortified hut, arms crossed, staring intently at Rick as he hopped off of Rosalind. “And what’s this you’ve brought?”

The sky was clear, the wind still carried the freshness of winter, and Kiara had only shown up well after he’d passed the perimeter guards. Rick couldn’t he...