“I feel some regret,” Cal muttered as the trees fell one after another.
“I can order them to stop if you want, Apprentice Cal. We just started, so there won’t be much damage to recover,” Torin said.
Cal shook his head. While he didn’t like the sight of the trees disappearing, building what he wanted in the other spot Miren mentioned would be far more inconvenient. A bit of queasiness as the trees were cleared had to be tolerated.
“Well, there’s no point in wa...
2025-10-08 17:28:04 +0000 UTC
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“Shouldn’t we just take these two back? Why are we waiting?” Nibbles commented from her perch on top of the old wolf’s head. Of course, the wolf just ignored her.
They had already been away from the farm for far too long, and the god told him to retrieve these two oxen. There was nothing he said about waiting for this donkey to finish training them.
In fact, if Nibbles had her way, they would have already taught the donkey a lesson about lying to them. She had nev...
2025-10-04 16:03:53 +0000 UTC
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I have to get two hundred guildmarks in a few weeks. Probably more to be safe. Auctioning one rare-ranked tool won’t be enough.
Cal would have to speak to Bran and see if he had any ideas. If there wasn’t an auction taking place in the next few weeks, which is likely the case, he might need to sell the tools at a discount, though he would prefer not to.
He rested against the golem’s leg and watched the builders race to completion on the smithy. His gaze strayed to M...
2025-10-04 16:03:08 +0000 UTC
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AN: Found out that a story called Depthstrider plagiarized parts of Spearbound and went to Amazon a month before me. Spent most of the month worrying about the future of the story before Amazon took Depthstrider down. Meant I only just started writing b2, but I should be fairly quick with it since I want to get it to Amazon in a month.
Kade used to be a delivery driver. He liked his job—mostly—and had aspirations of getting into management. Of course, that would hav...
2025-10-01 06:26:23 +0000 UTC
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Cal saw the builders taking a break for the first time as he left the storage room. They were scarfing down patties as if it were the most delicious meal they had ever had. For all he knew, that could be the case. He knew Miren paid the builders well.
After smiling at the few that looked up at him, he walked up to Miren and greeted her with a smile. “Once again, Madame Miren, the speed at which you finish projects is impressive.”
Cal admired the smithy. This was now the most i...
2025-10-01 06:13:35 +0000 UTC
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The day started with no surprises. Cal had primed the field for the Sunfire Grain seeds, which he would spend the day planting. Seris and Orrin had fallen asleep as they watched the construction, and the builders worked throughout the night—which Cal couldn’t understand how.
He would have thought they needed rest, but Miren’s team had never been normal, so it wasn’t hard for him to dismiss that from his mind. He went to the storage room to pick out a barrel of Sunfire Grain seed...
2025-10-01 06:12:58 +0000 UTC
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Cal shaded his eyes from the setting sun and looked toward the tree line. The first cart that passed wasn’t what he expected. Instead of Mirren and her builders, it was Seris and Orrin, the former who waved excitedly when she saw him.
Orrin’s belongings filled the following carts. It looked like the kid was finally moving in permanently. While the new arrivals weren’t who he expected, this certainly wasn’t a downgrade.
Orrin was far more cautious in making connections comp...
2025-09-30 17:09:48 +0000 UTC
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AN: 2 more chapters by the end of the day. Done with them but haven't had the chance to edit.
Cal had plenty of time on his hands, but that didn’t mean he liked to spend it doing something so unrewarding.
He would happily break up the surface layer, plow the soil, shovel up debris, or do really any other farm work. However, covering the soil in this slurry of powdered crystals and pond water was not the same.
The biggest reason he enjoyed farm work was his ability to fall ...
2025-09-30 17:09:03 +0000 UTC
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“Apprentice Cal! It’s been too long!” Drex beamed as he jumped down from the cart. The porters on the other carts followed suit. “Initiate Liora told me you were back, but I would have thought the guild would hold you back to honor you.”
“Drex,” Cal greeted with a raised brow. “You’re cheerful today. And honor me for what exactly?”
Drex looked at him as if the question was inconceivable. “Was this meant to be a secret? But everyone knows what you’ve done fo...
2025-09-23 17:09:27 +0000 UTC
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Cal snapped out of his state when a flash of gold hit his eyes. He was greeted with the shovel shimmering a bright gold and the interface showing him a message.
Your alternate [Advanced Shovel] is now designated as your primary.
Your equipment [Advanced Shovel] has been upgraded to [Rare Shovel].
Equipment upgrade has modified its trait.
Self-Repair—> Progressive Self-Repair.
[Progre...
2025-09-23 17:08:47 +0000 UTC
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It was early the next morning, and Cal was surrounded by a variety of tools on the empty field. The harvest yesterday had been completed without a hitch, but given the restriction on his mana reserves, he needed to test what was possible in his state.
With his Initiate hires not set to arrive until hours later, this had been a perfect time to test how his tools reacted to being used. Thankfully, it was more than he hoped.
All equipment that are already added to the interface f...
2025-09-23 17:08:11 +0000 UTC
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The two figures of the pack leader and Nibbles grew smaller as they walked off into the wasteland. Neither was happy that Cal told them that the two oxen needed to be returned safe and sound, but they also didn’t complain too much.
Cal might not have formed a bond with the two oxen, but since he bought them intending to make the oxen long-term residents of the farm, he wouldn’t allow such a transgression to pass.
However, Nibbles telling him that a donkey took the two oxen for...
2025-09-16 21:54:02 +0000 UTC
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Big was a confused ox. Too many things had changed.
He and his brother, Little, were taken from the herd and put under a low sky.
They didn’t like it. Too smelly, noisy, lonely. There were strange creatures close to them, and some were always angry. It was too tiresome to be angry.
Big was happier when he and Little were let out, back under the normal sky, even though they had to pull that heavy thing attached to them for hours.
“Big. Go back?”
Big...
2025-09-16 21:53:23 +0000 UTC
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Cal hid his joy, but he couldn’t have been any happier. He was more energized than he had felt in a week, the release exactly what he needed after a week-long dry spell, and given how relaxed Tavia was, she felt the same.
“Cal, could you tell Amara and Vivi to come inside? I’m sure they want to talk.” Tavia sat near the hearthstone. She intended to make use of it since Cal no longer needed it.
“I’ll let them know.” Cal bent slightly to smooth out-of-place hair. He th...
2025-09-11 22:22:48 +0000 UTC
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Cal waited for Tavia to absorb everything he had said. He had told her everything… well, everything relevant to this life.
He was free in airing his doubts of the guild and the path it might take, his indecision to leave it behind, Benan and the gems, the source of the boost she got on the farm, and reiterated her knowledge of how easy it was to upgrade his farming tools.
The only thing that Cal left out was his past life and anything related to the higher powers.
2025-09-11 22:22:16 +0000 UTC
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AN: Dealing with Amazon issues and that slowed this post. I hoped to have 5 chapters, but only have 3 ready.
Cal had never felt so bored. He had only been in the healing ward for a day, but lying in bed while not being allowed to do anything made it feel like a week. Apparently, it was to make sure the recovery of his mana reserves was undisturbed.
While he knew his mana reserves wouldn’t recover for weeks, it wasn’t like he could tell anyone. It would give aw...
2025-09-11 22:21:42 +0000 UTC
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Cal had decided what to reveal long before he had left the sinkhole. All he needed to do was make his experience similar to Tavia’s.
Overseer Marek stared at Cal with a puzzled expression after listening to what happened in the sinkhole. “The rift was expanding?”
Cal nodded. “I didn’t think so at first since it seemed stable, but something changed in there. The rift widened quickly before everything crumbled.”
He thought about adding the presence he felt beyond t...
2025-09-02 00:16:02 +0000 UTC
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Tavia had the strangest urge to growl like a cornered beast, though that was probably the worst thing to do when surrounded by so many Masters. On second thought, that was the second worst thing. The worst would be attacking them like she sorely wanted to.
She recognized one of them. He was the one who allowed her to enter the sinkhole. She pushed aside the bone-deep tiredness and moved closer to Cal, who was still unconscious and looked nowhere close to recovering.
One thing ...
2025-09-02 00:15:25 +0000 UTC
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Seris hummed as she cleaned her arrows. It was something she had neglected, much to her own disappointment, but better late than never. In her defense, Cal had bought her arrows that barely needed maintenance.
Her eyes flickered to the archery range Cal created for her, but she forced herself to look away. She was responsible for looking after the farm, and she wouldn’t get distracted. There would be plenty of time to practice her archery when Cal and Tavia returned.
Seris shift...
2025-09-02 00:14:39 +0000 UTC
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Cal might have sounded confident, but he knew this was a gamble. He spoke as much for Tavia’s comfort as his own.
The idle thoughts disappeared. There was no room for them.
His mind stretched—pulled in a way that alarmed him. The most frightening part was the brief loss of control as he was forced to ride the whims of whatever [Mist Walker] did.
The mist formed and covered the maximum [Mist Walker] allowed—ten acres. It was invisible to the eye, spread so thin that no ...
2025-09-02 00:13:56 +0000 UTC
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The brief discussion confirmed what Cal had suspected. The only difference was the area with the hanging corpses. Whoever designed this place had never intended that area to be accessible. That still left the question of why they could reach this chamber—the one with the tear in space.
Unfortunately, Cal knew that question couldn’t be answered with the information they had.
“There’s something deeply wrong about this place,” Tavia said, stating the obvious. “What did th...
2025-08-17 03:25:47 +0000 UTC
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AN: Only 2 chapters today instead of 3. I'll post the other one tomorrow.
Cal no longer felt the suppressive effects of the corrosive air. He hadn’t realized how much it weighed on his body until he was free of it.
It was like breathing fresh air after so long that he’d forgotten how good it felt.
He winced as his body trembled, his frayed nerves emitting bursts of pain that should have incapacitated him.
Cal willed additional wisps of mana from hi...
2025-08-17 03:25:03 +0000 UTC
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Cal wasn’t sure how long he stared at the gems growing on the branch. Benan told him they were found in mines in some distant territory, but this was neither a mine, nor was it a distant territory.
His knowledge about the gems and their ‘benefits’ made this horror-show of a farm make logical sense, even if it was twisted. The gems are grown from the corpses of people with mana reserves, but whatever boost they provided was tainted and eventually led to the user’s downfall.
2025-08-15 02:59:17 +0000 UTC
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AN: Struggled with these chapters before deciding where the story should go. I have the next 3 chapters written and just need to edit them to fit the changes I planned. It'll be posted either tomorrow or the day after.
Cal was once again in the midst of fog—only this time it was grayish-black. It was what made his mana tendrils useless. His eyes strained under the dim light as he stared at the horror above. Wisps of lightning skittered over his skin, stirred by his fr...
2025-08-15 02:58:31 +0000 UTC
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The sudden release of corrosive gas was the biggest reason Cal had taken the damage. If he had known how severe it was, he could have pushed more mana into the protective layer to keep himself safe. It would have lasted only a few seconds, but that would have been enough for a retreat to safety.
Cal went back to rescue his precious shovel. Well, rushed back was a better description. He made quick work of the distance, pumped mana into the protective layer without limits, and jumped into...
2025-08-05 19:07:26 +0000 UTC
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The air bit at his skin and wanted to seep into his body to cause havoc.
Cal appeared in an area covered in a ghostly, green-tinted fog. He couldn’t see over twenty feet beyond the spot he stood, but at least there wasn’t the constant worry of falling into a river of lava. He shrugged off the sharp bite of the corrosive air by coating his body—clothes and all—with a layer of mana to ward off the effects. It didn’t cost him more mana to supply the protective layer than his repl...
2025-08-05 19:06:38 +0000 UTC
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Cal could feel his skin tingle from the mana release from the beast’s explosion, but he didn’t care about how remarkable that was. It was interfering with his ability to cast spells.
He roared in anger as he pushed his mana reserves to overcome the block, the lava seconds away from accepting his body as food. He gasped when he felt a burst within, and directed everything he could at the lava, having nothing better nearby to target.
A slab of lava rose before bending horizontal...
2025-07-23 20:14:13 +0000 UTC
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Fire. A lot of it.
A blast of heat slammed into Cal’s body, and he immediately felt the ground he stood on disintegrate. He instinctively jumped to another platform below—which was barely holding itself together. He made sure the new ground beneath would not fail before finally taking in the new area.
He was inside an active volcano. At least, that was what this area looked like.
Lava flowed freely below, but given the usual layout of each of the sinkhole’s areas, it f...
2025-07-23 20:13:32 +0000 UTC
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He was almost disappointed that the area wasn’t pitch black. Instead, the light was at its lowest possible—this allowed him to see most details with his superior vision, but some smaller details remained indistinct.
Cal’s eyes flicked to one origin of the flashes of light, locking on a crystalline formation that emitted a stable amount of light at most times, with occasional bursts that lit the area near it brightly. There were several scattered around, and they must be what he ha...
2025-07-21 02:49:51 +0000 UTC
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Cal slowed when he approached Silverpine. He didn’t know where the sinkhole was, so he used [Mana Sense] to find his way. The mana tendrils weren’t meticulous with the information gathering this time, more focused on finding the massive mana reserves only Masters could possess.
It didn’t take more than a minute when he found several reserves of a similar size to his left. He made quick work of the distance when he sensed the Masters converging to one location. There were five star...
2025-07-17 14:55:53 +0000 UTC
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