As the platform descended further and further into the ground, Solus sat cross-legged beside Tirella. Their mana-fields were intertwined, and both mana-cores glowed, causing the chamber they were in to be brightly lit. Scanning down, he sensed the incredible distance they still had to bridge, even though they had been moving down for hours now.
A ping from his status-window, one of many, made Solus resist the urge to summon it. He wasn't sure if summoning the status-window would have an...
2021-02-28 08:52:27 +0000 UTC
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"No! You stay back and coordinate the defense!" Solus roared at Drys as he jumped through the city without holding back. Buildings crumbled in his wake, undead fled in panic. It didn't matter. He could fix that later.
Drys flew beside him, moving as fast as he could. "Are you sure? If that thing has any abilities you can't resist, what will you do?"
"I'll be there!" Tirella shouted as she jumped up beside them.
Drys finally gave in as they jumped across the wall. He hung bac...
2021-02-28 08:51:52 +0000 UTC
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Solus walked through Skulltown, staring at the mana-core in his hand. Although it was larger than a mana-orb, it didn't look that special. He worried if it really was what everybody wanted. Perhaps this was something else? He suppressed the desire to absorb it. First, he had to discuss things with Drys and Tirella.
Creating a larger container on his leg, he placed the mana-core inside and increased the container's density as much as he could, stopping right at the point that it would st...
2021-02-28 08:51:07 +0000 UTC
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Hey guys,
You might have noticed I've not posted a chapter of Minglings. The reason is that I'm a bit stuck right now. I'm writing three stories and editing one atm, and it's a bit too much. I've noticed I am starting to mix parts of my stories up, and that's just no good. So, after long deliberation, I have decided to put one of my stories on hold. Even knowing I'll get some more time after NBB2 is done editing. The reason for this is that I'll spend all of that time on NBB3 anyway.
2021-02-21 07:05:44 +0000 UTC
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Silence reigned in the room as the three undead looked at each other in shock. Then Drys turned to the door.
"Let him up."
The undead went back down, the footsteps disappearing as fast as they had come. Solus focused his attention on the lowest floor of the building, and as he did, he could feel his emotions buck and heave. Gritting his teeth, he stared at the door. Instinctively he gripped his hammer, his fingers curling tightly around the green handle. A hand placed on his arm m...
2021-02-21 06:38:00 +0000 UTC
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A familiar figure came through the gate towards them. Towering and white, it had bones so thick that the ribs touch each other, seeming like a single massive ribbed plate.
"Skull!" Solus said, walking forward. He let go of Tirela, who was calming down again.
"Master, me stronger!" The skeleton projected, his voice loud enough to cause the walls around them to shudder.
"Not so loud!" Solus groaned, shaking his head. Stepping in front of Skull he was impressed as he looked up....
2021-02-21 06:36:39 +0000 UTC
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~~
Grav scanned the dark city. Nothing moved, which served his goal well. Examining the wyrm tower at the other side of the square, he saw the thick solid stone door that blocked it. He missed having the ability to slink into all places. He still thought of himself as the shade, even though his form had changed. Soon he would be able to regain the ability though, he had already found the perfect pattern. It had been locked away below the chamber of Drys, together with a bunch of others....
2021-02-13 14:12:50 +0000 UTC
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Deep under Tendraal, in a room undamaged by the destruction above it, a loud scream tore through the previous silence. The high-placed red orbs that lined the walls in a compact band blinked and shuddered as if influenced by the rage.
A skeletal form, covered in a decaying white leather robe, raised itself from a bone dais in the middle of the square room. A thick layer of dust flowed from it, scattering in the air as the figure climbed off. Its movements were jittery as if it had been ...
2021-02-13 14:11:35 +0000 UTC
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"Stop looking back!" Sam snapped at Tatjie, who had been about to look across her shoulder. She grumbled and kept running.
Derin ignored them and cursed his luck as he looked back while trying not to trip. The five white dots, tall and armored, were still chasing them.
"Derin, how much bleeding longer? I can't keep running like this, I ain't no skeleton!" Tatjie rumbled in between her ragged breathing.
"Stop asking already! You know we need to reach the hills first. You can ...
2021-02-13 14:10:55 +0000 UTC
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For hours, Solus led them along the edge of the forest, the long ravine stretching out most of the way beside them. It ended when he could see the end of the bone forest far in the distance. Beyond it was the wasteland, and he knew if he continued for a bit, he would see the hills.
Not yet, he thought as he turned to the forest and walked inside.
The forest had grown immensely since he had escaped from under the ground, and it took a long time to find the spot. Scanning b...
2021-02-07 13:45:17 +0000 UTC
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Solus knew there was something wrong the moment he jumped across the last part of the rubble and got a clear view of the outskirts of the city, and the place left Tirela and the others.
Black scorch marks marred the now partially collapsed building he had made to hold Scathia. From this distance, he couldn't see anything moving. With fear for what might have happened clouding his mind, he raced across the few piles of rubble land and the highways leading out.
Almost there, he stil...
2021-02-07 13:44:23 +0000 UTC
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Solus, Derin, and Scathia stood in a line, gazing at what had once been the most sprawling city the ancients had in this region. Now it was mostly an enormous pile of rubble and broken concrete. Dozens of wyrm carcasses lay strewn around the edges while explosions sounded from the middle.
A swirling mass of Ygdra's flew above, shooting balls of red crackling energy at something obscured to them by the hills of rubble.
It didn't matter if he could see it. Solus knew it had to be th...
2021-02-07 13:43:43 +0000 UTC
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Solus kneeled behind a large piece of what used to be the roof of a two-story building. He tried to focus, suppressing the anger at Scathia, and worry for Derin. He needed to focus on Tirela's plan, but the other emotions seemed to nag him from the corners of his mind.
Clearing his head with a shake, he looked at the rubble below.
Tirela was walking through the ruins towards Scathia, her tall shape sticking out between white bone debris.
Stupid idea, he thought as h...
2021-01-30 20:02:13 +0000 UTC
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"..w...wha-t, happened?"
Tatjie's groan rumbled through the room, shattering the silence of the darkroom.
Solus's stopped paying attention to the intense explosions and shuddering that came from above as he turned to Tatjie, who slowly crawled up. The soft green glow of the stone walls illuminated her ravaged body. The entire front of her chest was bruised and battered, and she spoke with a slight lisp.
She lives up to her class name, unmovable indeed, he thought. T...
2021-01-30 20:01:05 +0000 UTC
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"Give me your mana-core!" Scathia screamed as she banged her fists against the invisible barrier.
"No," Solus groaned.
His body was more black than grey now, and most of his hair singed or burned off. Even then, he didn't budge as he scowled at Scathia and the three black sludge skeletons behind her.
"Three!" Scathia screamed, staring at him. "That's how many rifts have opened in front of the city tonight! If we don't stop them soon, it won't matter anymore!"
"Then why...
2021-01-30 20:00:22 +0000 UTC
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Sig hung in the darkness of the ceiling, examining the narrow cavern below. Small pockets of red light spread out along the dusty stone walls, highlighting a stream of undead that moved along the path, further down into the mine. This cavern was a waypoint on the road down into the earth, one of many.
Sig frowned as he listened to the soft murmurs flowing up. They all dealt with the same topic, and he tried to push his worry away.
When he realized he wouldn't get any more details,...
2021-01-24 08:41:21 +0000 UTC
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Standing in the small alley outside of Borl's abode, Solus looked at the pudgy yellow zombie in front of him.
"Thank you for helping the boss…" Ettol said. "As promised, I'll show you the fastest way to Scathia."
Solus nodded and followed Ettol as he exited the small alley. As he passed through the dark and empty under-city, he wondered again why Borl had made all the other undead resemble him and why such a form.
The return trip to the city's surface was a lot faster than...
2021-01-24 08:40:50 +0000 UTC
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Jake felt a fuzzy warmth as he woke up, and a distant roaring slowly came closer until it turned into voices.
"You are sure it's him?" A deep, feminine voice asked with obvious curiosity.
"Yes, it's Jake, I know it is! See, Tir is nodding! I told you I was speaking the truth!" A girl screamed back in a high pitched voice.
Nodding? The second voice was familiar, and Jake tried to remember. His mind was clearing up quickly, and his stomach began making loud complaints...
2021-01-23 14:01:13 +0000 UTC
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Solus frowned as he reached the wall of the city. He had imagined Skulltown being the largest of the cities of undead around. Even Uran hadn't been able to create something as magnificent. But now?
Glaring at the three towers holding up the immense skull, he had to resist the temptation to remove the stone it stood on and see it crumble. Not only was this city larger and more densely populated. It even had an immense skull! Grumbling, he barely noticed the two hulking white zombie guard...
2021-01-23 07:57:33 +0000 UTC
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An odd undead lay sprawled across one of the chairs in the hall of patterns, following Drys with his green eyes as the other paced through the room. A host of tall stone and bone tablets filled the room, each with a pattern.
"Why are you so nervous? We haven't found a single rift or Kaots in days!" A deep, booming voice came from the undead, belying its thin green upper body. Two arms, each wider than the undead's torso, hung from the sides of the chair. He was slowly tapping the ground...
2021-01-23 07:56:56 +0000 UTC
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So, leading up to the release of NBB2 in march, there will be far more releases each week. Anywhere between two and four per weekend until the story is all here. It will still be the first draft, but I am looking into getting two gift vouchers for my lovely patrons so they can read the final version on Amazon.
After book two is released, I will take a one month break before writing book three. In that month, I'll be trying to write a nice buffer for Minglings to put on RoyalR...
2021-01-16 12:33:33 +0000 UTC
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Sig floated above the highest roof in the center of the city. His gaze was fixated on a small group of undead that moved up the staircase. They were all skeletons and at least twice evolved from what he could tell. They were also the last to arrive back in the city, but their entrance was different from what he had seen before. None of the guards had dared get in their way, and anything that crossed their path had jumped to the side as if afraid to be ended.
Blocked from his previous in...
2021-01-16 12:27:26 +0000 UTC
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The first thing Solus realized as he woke up was that the pain wasn't gone, but he was still lying on his back. He didn't smell anything strange, so that was a good thing. As he pushed himself up, his head throbbed dully.
So, sleeping didn't help much, he thought, the hope that it would have reenergized him shattered.
Perhaps he should try the thing he had done before, where his mind went blank. That had made him feel a lot better and quickly replenished a portion of his ...
2021-01-16 12:26:45 +0000 UTC
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A soft ping drew Solus from the black nothing. A headache was hammering his skull. Staying still, he took a careful breath to see how hot the air was. It wasn't painful, at least no more than just lying on the ground was. His back was a dull throbbing mass, one of the many parts of his body trying to get his attention that way. Of more immediate worry to him was the crust of something that covered part of his head and his eyes, preventing him from opening them. After a moment of struggling to...
2021-01-16 12:26:06 +0000 UTC
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Sig stared at the empty wasteland. The two stone containers stood beside him, still untouched, a slight layer of dust forming.
"How long are we going to wait?" Derin asked carefully. "We've been standing here for two days now."
"Without him, how are we going to get Scathia to do what we want?" Sig replied.
Derin was quiet for a second, weighing his words carefully.
"You underestimate yourself and us," he finally said.
"You can easily end Wyrms, travel through roc...
2021-01-09 14:40:02 +0000 UTC
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Solus trudged on, a stone pack filled with orbs on his back. The wide-open wasteland stretched out before him, as it had for the last day. The light-footed padding of Sig was hard to hear with the current chatting from behind.
"You're telling me there is no sun? Are you joking?" Tatjie was so excited her voice had risen to almost normal levels.
"I just told you…?" A sharp voice replied before sighing. "It is so hard to talk with you!"
"No, it's not! You are just not used t...
2021-01-02 11:44:31 +0000 UTC
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A soft ping from his status window shook Solus awake. He looked up, realizing he was staring at the ground, feeling light, empty. The emotions had either dispersed or receded to the background, leaving a pleasant empty feeling in his mind, and for the first time in a long time, he had the feeling he could think clearly.
Emotions are dangerous… the thought came unbidden and with it a sense of truth. He had let his curiosity and fear guide him for the last few days. Not the...
2020-12-28 08:37:52 +0000 UTC
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Drys inspected the last bit of the improved pattern that spread across the outside wall. It had taken another day to finish it up, but now it should be ready to activate. A few dozen bonemenders and other undead stood behind him, murmuring amongst themselves.
As he examined the connecting pattern, a wicked grin spread across his face. He improved and changed Domain's pattern, adding a few things and streamlining some unnecessary parts that didn't seem to add anything. The completed patt...
2020-12-18 18:59:57 +0000 UTC
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"I think it's getting slower!" Derin said from his position, sprawled across a chair Solus made for him.
Sumil and Tatjie sat beside him, while Domain was grumbling behind them. The orange-skinned undead, Tirela, Domain called her, was constantly stroking his skin. Her face spread in a wide smile.
"You are right." Solus nodded. He had noticed it a few moments before when he found that Galg was getting more time to hover between attacks.
The shadows grew longer as the sun beg...
2020-12-12 21:36:32 +0000 UTC
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A soft murmur and pounding woke Solus from his deep slumber, and his mind slowly started functioning. He stretched, his joints popping loudly as he groggily scanned for a threat. There was none. After another moment, he realized that it was just Sumil knocking on his door.
He projected his voice beyond the door. "What?"
"It's long past sunrise. When do you want to continue?" Sumil's voice was straight to the point, carrying no complaint as if she would accept if he said never.
...
2020-12-05 19:35:18 +0000 UTC
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