Hey guys! How's it going?
So. I never wanted to be this guy. I've worked super hard to avoid being this guy, in fact. But sometimes, life just doesn't play out the way you want it to, and shit happens.
I've been completely blocked on Grand Magus' Library for almost four weeks now. I'm usually two weeks ahead of you guys, but now... now the last chapter is going to come out tomorrow, and that's it. I have nothing else written.
I could push, and force myself to keep going on a...
2024-03-18 16:09:22 +0000 UTC
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A moment later, Oz clenched his teeth. Resolution flowed through him, firm as the wood beneath his feet. No. No! I refuse. I refuse to give up! I will conquer these stairs, and continue to grow stronger. This is not my limit!
He stood there, on that stair, and circulated his qi. Over and over, slowly drawing in qi from his surroundings, filling his newly-expanded core.
Right. This is what the books said to do. Consolidate my realm…it’s as Linnea said. I need to co...
2024-03-18 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Emerging from the depths of his library, Oz tossed back an antidote and followed it with a swallow of water. He scratched idly at his wrist. I should do something about that. At first stage, with access to the second floor books, I ought to be able to research a way to dispel it. Didn’t Sachairi say a second- or third-realm mage could dispel it easily? I could just get stronger, but I might as well continue down my pill-studying path and figure out a true antidote, rather than the pills...
2024-03-17 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Deep within the library, past the impressive foyer with its black-and-white marble flooring, down beyond the slowly turning, chaotic forest of dark, old wood shelves laden with tomes, further than the tall windows streaming in golden light, over a dozen hand-sized panels marching up along the walls, a boy sat on the floor, surrounded by books. Backed into the very back of a dead-end aisle, he leaned against the wall and read. The scent of old books filled the air, no sound but the slow brush ...
2024-03-16 15:00:04 +0000 UTC
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A phone rang, a classical music ringtone echoing in the confines of the stairwell. Levi blinked, confused, and fumbled around him. “Dumb… phone, where…”
His hand touched a cold, leathery hand, and he snapped back to reality, shoving himself to all fours. “Comfy stairs…no! Right! I took care of that Stoneheart asshole who took out a bounty on me, and—”
He looked around him. His brows furrowed. “That’s not my phone. Who’s calling my dead friend?”
Crawli...
2024-03-11 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Standing in the door, Stoneheart stared at something over his shoulder. He shook his head, grabbing the mail from the box on the wall with his other hand. Giving a fake smile and one last wave, he stepped inside.
The door shut. Stoneheart looked around.
The same old townhouse. The same stairs, cluttered with garbage and laundry.
“Ugh. I need to find a maid.” Stoneheart tossed his bag aside and stripped out of his jacket, setting his hat on a stand by the door. Underneath...
2024-03-10 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Not far from the ruined Central Square, Levi came upon a street of gorgeous townhouses, all lined up in a row. Perfect facades faced perfect facades, with little thumbprint gardens out front or hanging from the windows. A demure coffee shop mixed in with the townhouses, its display windows showcasing a dark, cozy space with overstuffed chairs and an old-wood bar. A stainless-steel espresso machine gleamed on the counter, sitting beside a stack of wide-mouthed white mugs.
Levi took a dee...
2024-03-09 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Oz stepped into the library as Fflyn, and immediately felt a weight leave his body. I’ve returned. I’m safe once more.
You were always safe! Fflyn protested.
Yeah, but now I’m really safe, Oz returned. Snapping his fingers, he canceled the possession spell and jolted back to life in his real body. Jumping up from the nook, Oz rushed to the door, where Sachairi waited politely, Aisling at his side.
“One moment,” Oz muttered, pulli...
2024-03-09 15:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Levi closed the packet, setting it on the park bench beside him. He pulled up the blog, checking it over, then set his phone down, too, and sat forward, putting his fingertips together. Aloud, he muttered to himself, “Stoneheart. A ten-pointer, technically, but his skill stack is nuts, and he’s a borderline fifty-pointer, with a good spread of twenty or so in almost every stat. A ten-pointer who can easily stand alongside hundred-pointers. A ten-pointer, but high tens.”
He sat bac...
2024-03-08 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Morag’s fist flew toward Oz. He threw his hands up, desperate, though he knew it would do no good.
Ptang!
Oz frowned. Metal? He looked up.
A slender silver dagger blocked Morag’s fist, thrumming from the force of the blow, its two short, outward-pointed crossguards almost making it appear as a tuning fork. A man in all black held it tight, a single strand of silver flowing through his long, dark hair.
Elder Silverfang! Fflyn cheered.
<...
2024-03-08 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Levi wandered the streets, Fira at his side. She kept a certain distance from him, unwilling to draw too close, but if he noticed, he made no indication. He put his hands behind his head, simply watching the world around him.
“What are we doing today?” Fira asked.
“I don’t know. Like I said, I’m not on your-brother duty today. Two reasons.” Levi lifted two fingers. “One, I still think the Apostles are our best bet. After that stunt with the stadium, and the fight in ...
2024-03-07 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Oz turned.
A woman walked toward him, long silver-and-white hair swaying behind her. Oz stared for a moment, lost, and then he caught sight of her wolf tail and upright wolf ears. “You’re Loup’s mother.”
“In my human form. And this is the space within the barrier.” The wolf-lady looked up, taking in the arc of the sky above them. She sighed, then turned to Oz. “But I don’t suppose you’d understand.”
“No, I…I’m still too weak,” Oz confessed.
...
2024-03-07 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Oy! Levi!”
Lounging in bed, the dawn light gently warming his sheets, Levi lowered his phone. “What?”
Maury poked her head in the room. “You awake?”
“Yeah, just lazin’. What’s up?” Levi asked, yawning.
She nodded over her shoulder. “Fira’s here.”
“Damn, really?” he asked. Kicking the blankets out of the way, he jumped to his feet.
Maury frowned. “What were you doing, anyways? You’re not the chill-on-your-phone type. Watchi...
2024-03-06 15:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Morag loomed over Oz. “It’s time to crush the little mouse nibbling at my Patriarch’s corpse.”
Abandoning stealth for a moment, Oz darted to the left. Morag instantly followed him, tracing him from his footsteps. The second his foot landed, she darted forth, faster than Oz could move. A punch flew for his chest.
Oz jumped backward with her punch. His bones groaned, and his lungs and heart trembled. He coughed, and spat blood. It splashed into the dirt. The pain didn’t hi...
2024-03-06 15:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Levi closed his eyes, then opened them. An earnest smile touched his cheeks, his eyelids dipping a little, shame playing over his face. “I’m sorry about—about earlier, Fira. I panicked. I’ve been ability hunted before when people misunderstood. I didn’t want to go through that again. But I—you’re not—”
“Stuff it. You’re probably lying anyways.”
Levi shut his mouth. He nodded a tiny bit, eyebrows lifting.
She sighed. She waved her rear hand. “I get i...
2024-03-05 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Oz glanced over his shoulder as he approached the central tent. “Aisling, you there?”
“Right here,” she replied quietly.
Pausing at the flap, he licked his lips. “Er, be prepared, okay? You’re going to see something very shocking. I need you to stay quiet, no matter what you see.”
“Understood.”
Oz glanced at the space beside him, then nodded. He stepped into the darkness of the tent’s confines.
White fabric soared up to the open ring above, th...
2024-03-05 15:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Levi knocked on the door, glancing left and right. “Hey! Firaaaa! You home—”
The door opened. A hand grabbed him by the collar and yanked him inside, and the door slammed shut again.
“Wow! I haven’t been invited in like this in a long time,” Levi said, hands up, his eyes wide in surprise and excitement.
Fira glared at him. “Fuck off! They’re going to kill me! You—”
“Whoa, whoa. Who’s going to kill you?” Levi asked, startled.
Fira gesture...
2024-03-04 15:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Oz landed behind Loup with the crunch of dried grass. She whirled about, baring her teeth in wolf-form, hackles bristling. Her eyes darted back and forth, searching for the sound.
“Loup, it’s me,” Oz whispered.
Loup jumped, then lowered her head. She sniffed, edging closer to him.
Oz held his hand out, letting her sniff it, then retracted it. “See? O…Fflyn.”
Loup sat. She looked at about where Oz stood and tipped her head.
“I may have come up with a...
2024-03-04 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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As the sun descended toward the horizon, the flying supers swooped, taking out the last of the herd from above. On the far side of the stone wall, lower-level supers worked hard, cornering the escaped monsters. Levi darted in, slicing the neck of a horse Bear Arms held. Blood fountained out, pouring onto the street, and the horse slumped to the ground. Bear Arms staggered back, grunting with exertion and exhaustion. She shook out her arms and cracked her neck.
“Is that all of ‘em? A...
2024-03-03 15:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Oz bent one last time, eyes locked on the tail where it swayed. He took a deep breath, then let it out. All at once, he leaped, surging into the air with all the strength he could muster.
The ring reverberated from the force of his feet. He flew upward, arms outstretched. The fluffy tail rushed up, closer and closer. His eyes widened in delight. Yes! Here we go!
Over the tail, two orbs gazed down at him, faintly glowing. Oz’s eyes shifted, from the tail to those eyes, a...
2024-03-03 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Hooves pounded. The horses charged toward Central City, stampeding toward the glittering skyscrapers and perfect streets.
Levi looked over his shoulder at the raging herd of monsters behind him. He nodded to himself. Provoking is good, but too much provoking is dangerous. Given how reclusive Alpha has been lately, this much should toe the line. He should send his dogs, but I’d be surprised at an in-person appearance.
He watched the churning bodies, bouncing in time with...
2024-03-03 03:44:53 +0000 UTC
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Grabbing tight hold of the horse beast’s hair, Levi pulled to the left. The monster fought his direction. He threw his whole weight behind it, forcibly moving the monster’s head, and it turned, unable to point its head straight forward. Letting out a frustrated whinny, it turned, charging to the left.
The beasts ahead of it ran on, pounding straight ahead down Old Town’s main street, but the horses behind it turned along with Levi’s beast, too tight held to ignore Levi’s beast...
2024-03-03 03:44:02 +0000 UTC
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Oz waited a few minutes to be sure the mages had left, then stepped out from behind the flap. He darted over to Naomhan, looking up at him. “Hello. I don’t suppose you’re just pretending to sleep, huh?”
Naomhan said nothing. His body remained slack, as ever.
“Didn’t think so.” Oz eyed him, then the pole that pierced him. He took a deep breath. Loup’s mom is up atop that pole. I’m already here. I should at least…at least…go get Loup a tuft of fur, or somet...
2024-03-02 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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The woman touched the man’s face gently, almost reverentially. “Naomhan, please wake up.”
Oz’s brain worked overtime. He shook his head a little, unable to believe his eyes. This is insane. Absolutely insane. Her? What was it, Morag? The woman who led that little group to my door, who demanded I kill Linnea, the ultra-hardliner who hates demons more than anything—she’s growing a camp of undead in the shadow of the Mages’ Quarter? Fuck! Who’s going to believe me?...
2024-03-01 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Released a new story today on Royal Road! It's a superhero thriller called Nobody's Hero with a slightly less than sane protagonist! Consider taking a look, and if you enjoy it, you can join the Nobody's Hero tier or multiple stories tiers on Patreon to get bonus chapters!
Take a look! Levi's waiting!
Of course, I'm not changing any of the other story release schedules. It's just an idea that gripped me and wouldn't let go. So please don't worry, and spend that energy ...
2024-03-01 00:25:39 +0000 UTC
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Oz hurried along, passing the trundling zombies along as he strode toward the tent in the center of the necromancer’s camp. As he walked, he cast concerned glances at the black pool behind him. The surface remained still, not a single ripple breaking the thick surface.
Use your qi. You’ll be able to sense them coming, Fflyn advised.
Oh, right. Oz extended his qi toward the pond.
A black disc greeted his senses. His qi failed to penetrate the surface of ...
2024-02-29 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Levi sat up, gasping a breath. The heavy drum of feet pounded the dirt all around him, jostling him where he sat, so many feet that they seemed to strike every piece of ground all around him, so many thick equestrian legs that the sky churned on the far side of their seething might. He caught sight of his backpack and threw himself over it, struggling to process what was going on. Wide-eyed, he took in the world.
What…where…
A thousand tree-trunk-like legs beat down a...
2024-02-29 02:20:50 +0000 UTC
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“Levi. Hold up!” Fira jogged to catch up with him as he marched out of the shop, stretching his legs as far as they’d go without actually running. Out the rear door, he stepped into the back alley, stripping off his mask and cape and stuffing them into his backpack.
Panting, she drew up alongside him and shot him a look. “What was that? What happened?”
“What happened is, I heard enough bullshit and needed to get some fresh air. The stench was killing me,” Levi said.<...
2024-02-29 02:20:00 +0000 UTC
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A woman in black with a white fang symbol on her chest wandered into the room, joining the three or four other supers who slowly joined the tables. Levi glanced up and tossed her a jaunty wave, which she ignored.
“You know her?” Fira asked.
“Not really. Let’s just say we share a few niche hobbies,” Levi said.
Fira sat back, crossing her arms. “I don’t want to know.”
“And I don’t want to share, so that makes two of us!” Lifting the file, he angled ...
2024-02-29 02:19:11 +0000 UTC
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Levi leaned against the wall, tapping his foot, utterly bored. He glanced around. “Fira, come on.”
“I’m right here,” Fira said, hustling out of the building. Arms lifted, she tied some final detail onto her head, then lowered her hands. “What do you think?”
She wore a red leather jacket and black leather pants, both of them embroidered with a flame motif. A gaiter of shimmery black-red fabric covered her nose and the lower half of her face, vanishing into the leather...
2024-02-29 02:18:23 +0000 UTC
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