M.S. Davidson

13. The Tower [BONUS]

"I thought we might take the long way," Elena said, leading me through the Atrium.

I'd always considered myself decent with heights, but the Tower was vertigo made manifest. When Elena guided me to the railing, I glanced down expecting something like a hotel lobby—and got smacked with the view from the CN Tower's evil twin.

The bottom was visible. A dizzying drop that sent my brain into a brief tailspin.

I stumbled back a step, gripping the marble rail like it was the last...

12. Diplomacy

I remember the first time Dad took me camping. I was ten, maybe eleven—Danny still too young for real adventure. We didn't venture far, just up into the hills near Kootenay Park, but to me it felt like we'd discovered another planet.

Ancient trees stretched endlessly in every direction, the air thick with pine and damp earth. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

My concept of "roughing it" was staying at the family cottage with its indoor plumbing. But Dad? He came alive o...

11. I can do Crazy

"You're getting careless, Felix." Diana's coin pouch hit him square in the chest before he could blink. "Found this in your mother's office."

"Shit." Felix fumbled the catch like his hands were made of butter. "Could've sworn I put it in my vest."

Diana's smile could have cut glass. "At least your little lobby disaster gave Ben time to wrangle his aura. Every catastrophe has a silver lining."

I shifted on the couch next to Cass, finally fully clothed and feeling less like a ...

Surprise! Book Launch is GO!

Well, this is awkward timing.

Literally right after I posted my "state of the realms" update, I got the green light to actually start posting the re-launch. And yeah, I'm about as prepared for this as a cat in a dog show—which is to say, not at all.

But you know what? We're rolling with it anyway.

Here's the plan (and I use that term very loosely):

This Weekend: I'll be dropping several chapters on Royal Road to get things kicked off. Gotta hit the g...

State of the Realms, July 2025

Hey everyone,

Holy shit, July was an absolute madhouse. I'm talking full rewrites, line edits, signing with Aethon, submitting to Aethon, starting book 2, and somehow actually plowing through book 2 now. My brain feels like it's been through a blender, but we're on the other side of it and things are looking good.

Here's the thing that's got me excited—book 2 is moving way faster than I thought it would. Probably because I had several months of editing hell to really structure a...

GOOD NEWS: The Future of Runeforged Realms

Hey everyone,

I've got some massive news to share, and honestly, I'm still processing it all myself. Runeforged Realms has been picked up by Aethon Books.

Yeah, you read that right. The same publisher behind some of the biggest names in progression fantasy and LitRPG has decided Ben's story is worth telling, and I couldn't be more grateful or excited.

Now, before anyone starts asking about timelines—and trust me, I know you will—let me be upfront: everyt...

State of the Realms, June 2025

Hey everyone!

Time for a proper update on where we stand with everything, because holy shit, a lot has been happening behind the scenes.

Rewrite Progress: We're officially closing in on 33% completion of the structural rewrites! The bones are getting stronger, but development is lagging a bit behind schedule because I keep finding these little narrative tweaks that need to happen. You know how it is—you fix one thing and suddenly three other things don'...

Beta Readers Wanted

Hello party people!

So, rewrites and edits are flying, and I'm thinking we might actually have a window to get some early eyes on the new stuff before we fire back up on Royal Road. Plus, you'd get to see the shiny new cover before anyone else (and trust me, it's pretty damn cool).

The commitment is super minimal—just read through chapters and let me know if anything feels off or confusing compared to the original story. Basically a "yeah, this tracks" or "wait, what happened to...

ReWrite & Edit Tracker

Last Updated: July 28, 2025

IMPORTANT: Re-launch date is being re-evaluated. More to come soon. This will be edited and adjusted as I go. For more information, refer to the post "The Future of Runeforged Realms"

REFERENCE:

Structural Edits -> Significantly rewritten chapters (think—Chapter 1 written like Chapter 60+)
Developmental Edits -> Significantl...

Brief Update - 6/6/25

I'll probably post a few of these over the summer, let me know if you'd prefer less communications.

Rewrites & Edits Are Moving Fast

I’m deep into the rewrite pass of Part 1 and 2—currently around the middle of Chapter 5, which lands somewhere near mid-Chapter 4 in the new book structure.

Most of this has been cutting repetition and cleaning up the early chapters from when I was just getting back into writing. Plot flows better now, and th...

State of the Realms: May 2025

Hey everyone,

The current main storyline arc of Rise of the Paladin is now complete and fully posted! I sincerely hope you found it a satisfying point to pause for now. We covered a lot of ground, and I'm really proud of how the latter chapters turned out.

For stragglers stumbling in from Royal Road, please remember that new chapters will continue to appear there until about mid-June. Of course, as dedicated Patrons, you've already read it all!

As we look towards the next in...

It is Done.

EDIT: Epub is taking a long time to format in Atticus, might be a few days delayed while I work out the kinks.

>> Chapters will start posting at 12:30pm EST.

Wanted to let you know ahead of time.

I'm just putting the final touches on the final 7 chapters and 2 epilogues. These will all release tomorrow for all members, along with an epub for anyone that wants to keep a copy of the original before the rewrites start.

I really appreciate each of you being here.

What Happens When Part 2 Is Done?

Alright, so let’s talk about what happens when Part 2 is officially done and posted. The plan is to have it wrapped up over the next month or so, and then do a full release of chapters afterward.

So, what happens once all of Part 1 and Part 2 are up on Royal Road? I get to edit and rewrite all kinds of shit. And when I say rewrite, I mean going back through everything, fixing all the stuff that’s been nagging at me, and tightening it up for a proper release.

Once Par...

A Wild Rebrand Appears! (Or, How We Dodged a Trademark Battle)

Did you see a brand-new Runebound Press website email land in your inbox… only to watch it mysteriously vanish like a glitch? Yeah. That happened.

So, what’s going on? Well… buckle-the-fuck-up because it’s story time.

The Saga of the Vanishing Name

Once upon a time (read: last week), I was happily building the future of Runebound Press—a name I’d poured a ton of work into. It was sleek, it was thematic, and it fit the magic system at the c...

Quick Update – Head Down, Full Speed Ahead

Hey everyone,

Not much to update on the past week or two because I’m fully locked in on finishing Book 1 as fast as I can—without sacrificing quality. The final stretch is here, and I’m pushing hard to get it done.

Cover Update

I met with the cover artist, and they had some seriously awesome ideas. I can’t wait to see how it turns out. It should be ready by early April, and as promised, I’ll be sharing it here ...

Friday Update – Back to the Old Schedule & What’s Coming Next

Hey everyone,

Time for a quick update! First off, I’m now significantly further ahead in writing than I was before, so I’m bringing back the old Wednesday/Friday release schedule on Royal Road.

For Patreon members? Both chapters will drop here on Wednesday. No subscription required—just an easy way to read ahead if you want.

Cover & Naming Tweaks

Next Tuesday, I’m meeting with my cover artist to go over designs (which are already shaping up...