Linnea went flying, topping head-over-heels. Oz jumped, grabbing onto Aisling’s arm. Almost instantly, he released her, as the heat of her skin burned into his arms. “Aisling, no!”
“She was about to eat you!” Aisling snarled.
“She was just asking a question!” Oz said, moving in front of Linnea. He held both his arms out.
“You dare kick my face?” Linnea demanded. Cracking and snapping, her body shifted behind Oz. She raised her chain blades and leaped right ...
2024-01-03 21:55:43 +0000 UTC
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Linnea panted. “Too much!”
“It’s not too much. Just a little more, okay? One more time.”
“Not there! I’m spent. I can’t! No more!”
Oz put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “Linnea, you’re, what, second, third stage? And a spider demon, at that. You can climb the shelves again.”
Linnea waggled her rear legs at him. “Spiders are ambush predators. We aren’t made for all this climbing!”
Snorting, Oz bent. Picking up a thin tome, ...
2024-01-03 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Aisling pushed a shelf back into place and injected a bit of qi into the wood. It healed, sealing over the crack. A small stick grew from the wooden shelf, and a tiny leaf budded from the tip.
“What was that?” Oz asked. A wood-healing technique? At the rate things are going for my poor library, I could use it.
Aisling startled, jolted out of her thoughts. She stared at Oz for a second, then shook her head to clear it before she spoke. “Wood-elemental qi.”
...
2024-01-02 15:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Hey everyone! Grand Magus' Library launched yesterday on Royal Road!
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/79129/grand-magus-library-reading-every-book-in-the
I'm excited to see how it takes off. If you enjoy the book here, consider traveling over to Royal Road to drop a rating, review, or follow!
Thanks so much for your ongoing support!...
2024-01-01 18:12:06 +0000 UTC
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A/N: if Royal Road gets bonus chapters, then so do you guys! Bonus chapter!
---------------------------
Aisling stepped inside the library. She stared, somewhat taken aback by the state of things. “What happened?”
Oz looked around. Books laid scattered, torn off the shelves and thrown around on the floor. Cracks cut through some of the bookshelves, splinters jutting into the books. A puddle of milk leaked onto the floor near the food scattered out of the dropped ba...
2024-01-01 14:07:03 +0000 UTC
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Aisling vanished, dropping the basket to the floor. Glass cracked. Packages spilled out in every direction, rolling away over the marble. Oz jumped to, grabbing up a nearby pile of books seconds before milk seeped into them, then looked up. “Aisling, it’s Linnea!”
BAM!
His words vanished into the blast as the two met, clashing with a speed his eyes struggled to follow. Heat-haze shimmered around Aisling as she leaped up and crashed down on Linnea. On the back foot, ...
2024-01-01 14:06:04 +0000 UTC
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A second before he swallowed it, he caught the pill in his hand. “Hold on.”
“Huh? Come on. Did it succeed or not?” Linnea asked, mercifully straightening up and crossing her arms. “Go, go, go!”
Oz narrowed his eyes at her. He shook his head. “I’m trying to survive here.”
Using his nail, he scratched a tiny bit off the surface of the pill and put it on his tongue. Instantly, a bitter flavor spread over his tongue. Resisting the urge to grimace, he swallowed....
2023-12-31 15:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Businesslike, Linnea scuttled over to the opposite side of the table, using her height and reach in spider form to reach across as feel his pill furnace from the far side. “Too hot. Lower the heat.”
“Er, how?” Even as he asked, Oz consulted the books in his mind.
Maggie nudged Oz. She pointed at the bottom. “You can take some fuel out, or,” lifting her finger, she pointed at the sides of the pot, “you can also control the heat directly with your qi, by suppressing or...
2023-12-30 15:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“You know how to make antitoxin and antidotes?” Linnea asked, startled.
“Not yet,” Oz said, rolling his sleeves up. He marched back toward the pill room.
“Not—” Linnea put a hand to her forehead. She shook her head. “It isn’t easy to make antitoxin, you know. Let alone antidotes.”
“Gotta start somewhere,” Oz replied.
Linnea followed after him, speeding along on her spindly black spider legs. Oz looked back at her. She paused, twisting a little t...
2023-12-29 15:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Linnea pushed away from him. She stared. “Why—why did you—”
“Save your life? Do you need to ask?” Oz asked, looking at her like she was stupid. He glanced at her spider body, then quickly looked away, not wanting to stare. She’s a scary spider monster, but she’s still Linnea. She isn’t any more of a threat than she was ten seconds ago. She saved my life before. Why wouldn’t I help her?
Besides, she’s kind of cool as hell, though? I mean, I’m no...
2023-12-28 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“You’re just going to throw them all in there?” Mici asked.
“No, not quite,” Oz murmured. He consulted the books again, flipping to each of the herbs. Each one has best-handling conditions. Leaves should be added late, while stalks need to be added early, and the temperatures and pressures change… and best of all, I only have one chance to get this right. I’m handling a magical pressure cooker blind, without a single tool, and I’m making up the recipe as I go. I’d ...
2023-12-27 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Who knows some good pill books?”
Maggie jumped up and down, her hand waving in the air. “Me, me!”
Oz pointed at her.
“Basic Potions and Pills!” she said, excited.
Holding out his hand, Oz concentrated on the name of the book. He circulated his qi, scanning internally through the books in his library. When he came up empty, he extended his qi outward. It pushed through the wall and resonated against the bookshelf opposite.
The book isn’t right t...
2023-12-26 15:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Moving slowly, eyes shut, Linnea focused deeply. Qi flowed around her and through her, swirling like the autumn leaves. She gathered her energy, coursing it down her arms. As she did, she leaped. A pair of chain daggers flew from her sleeves and dug deep into the training dummy opposite, and Linnea landed atop the dummy’s head. Clasping the head between her feet, Linnea threw herself backward, twisting at the same time.
Wood snapped. The dummy’s head came free. She threw the head aw...
2023-12-25 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Soft footsteps rushed at Oz in the darkness.
Oz leaped into the air, activating the light body technique as he did. He soared upward, light as a feather. As he soared, he began to drift forward, his balance not quite perfect.
It’s a little like being in water. I’m almost weightless, so I can easily flip and flop around. Rather than struggling to correct his course, he threw his weight forward, completing the flip.
Mid-flip, the footsteps passed under him. They s...
2023-12-24 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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A dozen manuals spread out on the floor before him, all open. Some displayed images of mages sitting, legs folded, others held only text, while others showed mages leaping through the air. Oz took a deep breath, circulating his qi. He closed his eyes, focusing internally. Okay. I read a shit ton of books. I can do this.
I was pretty close to the light-body technique on my first try. Or… if not pretty close, I at least got a glimpse of the first steps of the technique. It...
2023-12-23 15:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Tossing the pill bottle in one hand, Oz ascended out of the basement, lost in thought. The crest rolled shut as he stepped out of the secret basement. He caught the bottle and spun it around, then looked at it. The pink and purple pills stared back at him, shiny as candy.
Take them, or don’t? Turn down the opportunity for safety, or take the chance and find out what’s on the other side?
His hand tightened around the pills. I can’t avoid risk forever. It’s as F...
2023-12-22 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Oz turned the pill bottle over in his hand. He pursed his lips. Take the pills? Don’t take them?
I don’t think Sachairi wants me dead. It’s probably safe.
On the other hand, I don’t know what kind of pills these are. I’d literally be taking unlabeled pills from someone I don’t know that well. That’s ‘don’t do it’ 101 from my world. Good way to get yourself killed.
Though, you know, I did it once or twice back in my world, an...
2023-12-21 15:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Gonna turn this into a smart-lookin ad for RR. Lil pic of Oz! I'm excited for the RR launch
Artist: https://www.instagram.com/beba_awa?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
2023-12-20 21:21:10 +0000 UTC
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Oz stiffened. His heart raced. Sachairi noticed? Shit. With effort, he composed himself and laughed lightly. “Wherever did you get that idea? Those stupid rumors? You don’t actually believe them, do you.”
Sachairi nodded. “I do. But for good reason.” He lifted three fingers, then lowered one. “One. Ossian was a wallflower. Sudden riches change a man, but not as much as you have. Two.” He lowered another finger. “I was fortunate enough to be in Madame Saoirse’s...
2023-12-20 19:16:06 +0000 UTC
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A boy a year or two older than Oz ambled over, his hands behind his back. He wore fine, ruby-red robes, edged in ornate black. A black-silver and ruby circlet clasped his temples. Grinning down at Oz like a fat cat facing a mouse, he rounded toward him. “Well, well, well. I never thought I’d see you leave the safety of the library. Not after… last time.”
“Excuse me? Can I help you?” Oz asked. Ah, shit. I don’t see his face in Genealogy, which means he’s my a...
2023-12-19 21:00:01 +0000 UTC
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The doors swung wide. Oz found himself staring out into the front yard. The mages conversed and laughed, the music played, the lanterns burned. No one paid him any mind.
He looked around, nodding to himself, and put his hands behind his back. Let’s get a lay of the land, feel out who’s here.
“Attention! Attention, please!” Sachairi called. He didn’t shout, and yet his voice boomed over the crowd, as though projected by a loudspeaker. Striding ahead of Oz, he lif...
2023-12-18 21:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Oz lifted the window flap, watching the town from the anonymity of the carriage as they rolled along. Small shops mingled with enormous institutions. They rode by a huge college with stone buttresses, only to come across a broad yard encased in wood walls, a distant complex of buildings at the center of the yard. Towers, estates, and palaces in all colors and designs cluttered together, resulting in a mishmash that almost defied the eye or explanation. A beam-and-plaster Victorian-style house...
2023-12-17 18:17:22 +0000 UTC
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Facing down the enormous stone, Oz slammed his hand into the rock again. His qi surged. For a moment, he held it in his palm, then smashed it into the rock all at once. A handprint appeared in the stone, pressing two inches into its surface. The whole stone shook. A wave of qi flew through him, blasting into the stone. It broke in two, then collapsed apart. Its ragged center stood bare to the sky.
He shook out his hand, panting, no longer overheating or overfull. Pausing, Oz checked his...
2023-12-16 21:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Days passed. Oz sat on the floor, meditating. One after another, he read through the manuals he’d scanned. Small baubles of light condensed in his core far slower than they had in the secret realm, and yet, their purity far exceeded the qi he’d gathered in that space. With this, I can probably break through the next meridian without compressing my qi.
If only it didn’t take twice the time to absorb half the qi.
Yawning, he climbed to his feet. Since it...
2023-12-15 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“Liar!”
A man charged down the center of the Heavenly Emperor’s palace. In one hand, he dragged a bloody head, eyes rolled up in its sockets. His other hand clenched a bloody sword. He glared at the Heavenly Emperor, his eyes burning with hatred.
From atop his throne, Weiheng Wu gazed down with boredom. His head rested on his fist. Even as the man charged to the foot of the throne, to the base of the plinth upon which the throne sat, he gazed impassively at him, completely u...
2023-12-15 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Aisling stepped forward. “I’ll go.”
“Wait, wait. I was joking. I’ll go first,” Oz said.
She frowned at him. “You’ve barely opened a meridian. If there’s any danger—”
Oz lifted his arm with the control marking. “I’m the new librarian. What if there’s something else that checks my credentials on the staircase? If I don’t go first, it might attack you.”
Aisling hesitated, then nodded. “As you wish.”
Linnea leaned out over the edge...
2023-12-14 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Ages passed. Yao Gong ascended without issue, smoothly entering the Immortal Realm under Weiheng Wu’s rule. Hui watched closely, but as time progressed and Yao Gong settled in to the Immortal Realm, he settled in.
For ages and ages, he meditated quietly in the rear of the Underworld. Occasionally, the reapers came to him with conflicts, but for the most part, Hui kept to himself. Perhaps as a joke, Elder Sister Reaper carved a throne into the stone around him, adding to it whenever sh...
2023-12-14 15:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Aisling stared. “Right now?”
Oz nodded. He ran to the pile of books and grabbed up an armload. “Right now.”
Roan waved his hand, scooping toward his sleeve. The books flew into his wide sleeves and vanished. “I’ll put them back. If someone’s inside, we need to address that. Now.”
“You’ve certainly turned about-face,” Oz commented.
“Not for you. For the library,” Roan grumbled. He turned to the door, which still shimmered with gold light, then ...
2023-12-13 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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The years progressed. Time flowed by. Hui monitored the Underworld, while his clone quietly raised Yao Gong, deliberately slowing his cultivation speed. Yao Gong grew into a fine young man, laughing and playing happily with his fellow disciples, then leaving to enter a higher-realm area. Hui quietly faked his own death and retired to the Underworld, watching Yao Gong from below. Not once did the boy mention strange dreams.
Maybe that didn’t happen, this time. Maybe he never had th...
2023-12-13 15:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Oz put his hands up.
“Drop the books,” the black-masked man ordered. The other one grabbed Linnea closer, pulling at her to make her wince.
Oz obeyed. What, afraid I’m going to whack you with Gossip? he mocked them silently.
He swept his eyes over the men. Are they cooperating with Linnea? Is this part of the spider attack? Get me alone, threaten Linnea, who’s secretly cooperating with them, and use that to get me to hand over the library…
H...
2023-12-12 17:00:02 +0000 UTC
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