OverXelous

25. Breaking the Spine

Alex knelt in the dirt mere inches from the Triskürm.

He’d let his mind split and wished desperately that he could split it further. The attempt he made to do so was brief and as soon as it was clear it wouldn’t work, he set it aside for later to focus on the problem at hand.

The barrier spell will only last for three seconds. The timing would be too tight.

Looking across the black stretch of ground, he felt stumped. A plethora of magical solutions at hand, and...

24. Flesh and Fog

Alex looked around at his friends.

They’d all come such a long way in the last few months, but now that the thing they’d been working toward was finally here, he felt extremely nervous. Mark and Sarah had all but caught up in levels, while his and Sam’s levels had started to slow down as they passed the general monster scale, and fights became easier.

Their normal group of five was bolstered by the accompanying four mana spinners and Jonathan. He glanced at the berserker, fi...

23. The First of Her Name

There wasn’t any time to process what was happening.

Jonathan stalked forward, no room in his enraged mind for words. Even without his weapons, the way his muscles continued to grow and bulge, his physical height gaining several inches as he covered the few yards, Alex knew the man was deadly.

“Mark, you’re up,” Alex called. “Sam.”

“Got it,” they said in unison. Mark had already removed his shield and was positioning himself between their new opponent.

...

22. Friend or Foe

Edits were made to this chapter based on Patron feedback in the comments.

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The next two days passed quickly for Alex. They made slow and steady progress, guided by Olivia’s expertise and uncanny ability to read the

The next two days passed quickly for Alex. They made slow and steady progress, guided by Olivia’s expertise and uncanny ability to read the terrain and move unseen. While ...

Writing Announcement!

Hey guys!

Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up that I’ll be taking a two-week break from posting at the end of this first arc. That’s still three weeks out, and the arc will wrap up with Chapter 30, but I wanted to make sure you had plenty of advance notice.

During the break, I plan to take a bit of time for myself and rebuild a buffer of chapters (my backlog has slowly vanished over the past few months). I’m also hoping to prep, and mayb...

21. He Can Do Anything That A Spider Can...

Alex breathed heavily, huffing through the exertion of the climb.

“You know,” Mark said from somewhere below him, “I finally get stats and have superhuman strength and the stamina of a triathlete, and we’re still finding absurd stuff to climb.”

“Just think of it like a game,” Sam said. “Your stats are better than mine, and you have two earth skills now. Shouldn’t this be your perfect environment?”

Mark grumbled a few times, and Sarah laughed as she paused...

20. Reunions and Research

Weight returned to Alex as he stepped through the Rift portal. The process to check in didn’t take long, and both he and Olivia returned their temporary passes to the administrators, letting them know that they’d returned and their slots shouldn’t be filled.

On the other side of the checkpoint, Sam leaned against the inside of the wall. He stood and waved as the duo came into view.

“Right on time,” Sam said with a smile on his face.

“How’s it going?” Alex ask...

Next Novella: Patron Vote!

Hey everyone, this is a spur-of-the-moment decision, and I can't give any realistic timeline, but I'd love to know what you all want to read.

I'm thinking of writing another small story similar to how I did Berserker. Likely just 20-30 chapters and a single arc of a character's life or journey. I have three vote options below and a brief explanation of what you might expect so that you have some context for your vote.

Truthfully, I have a lot more that I could be writing for Spell...

19. Letters from Home

Okay.... this one is a bit over the top in terms of length... sorry about that!

Hope everyone has a good Monday!

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Alex motioned the team to gather around, rapidly thinking through the information Olivia gave him.

“Okay, everyone, put your arm bands back on and make sure they’re visible. We’re going to go and make contact with the group Liv saw. I don’t want to spook th...

18. Milestones

Alex was stirred from sleep by the quiet sounds of shuffling feet and whispered voices. He groaned and rolled over in his sleeping bag. Blinking, the world came into focus.

“Oh, he’s up,” Sam said.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. The group was backing up their belongings, and most of them had guilty looks on their faces. “What are you guys doing up so early?”

They all shared a look before looking at him in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Mark asked. “Today�...

17. Growing Stronger

Alex breathed heavily, sweat threatening to drip from his brow and into his eyes. He stopped next to Mark and Sam, who were already seated. He bent over and grabbed his knees while licking his lips between breaths. He tasted the salt of his hard work before wiping his brow and standing back up to catch his breath.

“Come on, sit down,” Sam said, patting the dark, rocky floor.

“Gotta do it fast, before you’re recovered. I still can’t believe how much longer it takes for yo...

16. Aspects of Rakshasi

The group spent another day recovering in the cave. Mark and Olivia both insisted they were okay to move after a few hours, but Alex decided they should all wait a bit longer. Despite their complaints, his decision to wait wasn’t from a sense of over protection; rather, it came from his personal experience with serious and taxing injuries. Even if the human body was fully healed, the mind and body needed time to rest.

Ultimately, the point that got everyone to agree to stay was that S...

15. Wind and Gravity

The next two days passed unbearably slow for Alex. With Sam using magic constantly and in larger quantities, several packs of monsters were drawn toward their hiding spot. Those few instances were small enough for Alex and the spinners to take care of them with relative ease and preparation.

Not wanting to add to the amount of mana drawing creatures to their location, Alex practiced his magic very little, a drastic change from the previous weeks. Downtime was filled with scouting the su...

14. Reunited and It Feels So Good

Another long chapter! Almost 5k words on this one! Hope you guys enjoy! Thanks for being here and I've loved all of the interactions and theories going around the Discord.

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Alex looked from left to right, noting the small bits of debris and crumbling rock around the cave. He did what he could to slow his breathing and think through the situation, but his hear...

13. Contact

The team moved at a steady pace through the dense forest. As the spinners guided them around yet another pack of four Night creatures, Alex ground his teeth. He crouched next to Mark by a fallen tree, moving his mana through his body to calm his nerves and do something—anything—while they waited. Val rode on his shoulders, trickling small amounts of mana into the amulet around his neck. There was a lot to discuss with the spirit about, and small things had interrupted the charging process...

12. On the Trail

Oops, published the chapter early, instead of scheduling it to publish!! Haha, enjoy the early chapter, happy Friday!

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The cavern echoed with the sounds of combat. Grunts of rage and the clang of metal reverberated from the walls, matching the flickering shadows. Those shadows cast by the lantern were distracting to the normal vision of his right eye, where the monsters they faced s...

11. Back In My Day

Alex sat cross-legged on the rock that was becoming "his spot" during their training. He liked the small ledge, which allowed for some support for his lower back, and, more importantly, it had a great view of the entire cavern.

He'd slept fitfully the previous evening; his dreams filled with large spiders and universe-spanning magical webs. Deciding then that he had things he could be doing to improve himself, he abandoned sleep and moved to his rock.

It was odd to know that it wa...

10. Matriarch

Alex’s boots echoed through the narrow tunnel as he followed behind the mana spinner. It moved silently along mana threads that magically dissolved as it passed, making it look like a mix of Alex’s movement skill and ice skating. Alex thought it was mesmerizing to watch through his Heavenly Eye.

He ducked under a curtain of magical webs in the tunnel, noting how frequently the rituals and layers of strands seemed to be laid as he moved deeper.

Alex was surprised by how deep th...

09.5 - Bonus Chap: Status Screens

This is just a bit of a bonus for you guys. Rather than filling up the previous chapter with status screens when Alex looks at them, I decided to put them here!

Each of these should be pretty accurate. It took a decent amount of time, but I started with each of them at level one and leveled them, so stats, titles, and skills should all be pretty accurate. This isn't something I want to be tracking at all times, but it will at least allow me to stay ...