Nate appeared amidst the chaos of the camp as he followed the sense of Illusion he was feeling through Conceptual Insight. Kiri appeared a second later and together they took in the battle raging before them. Two bodies, identical as far as Nate could tell, were slipping in and out of a battle with some monstrous-looking creature. The monster was three metres tall, balanced on two reverse-jointed hind legs and covered in rough grey skin. The beast was utterly hairless and pos...
2025-01-09 19:00:09 +0000 UTC
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“Come see me in my tent after this little party, Nathaniel. I’ll teach you the kinds of things that the young ladies attending the University haven’t even conceived of yet,” whispered Baroness Olithia before she drifted back into the crowd.
Nate glanced to his left as Kiri rejoined him.
“Lot of help you were,” he grumbled.
“You didn’t look like you needed help attracting her attention,” quipped Kiri, a small smirk on her face. “Besides, she’s harmless. ...
2025-01-07 19:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The walk to the Princess’s tent wasn’t too far but Nate used the time to go over his Skill improvements and the results.
Conceptual Insight 51 > 53
Conceptual Material Shaping 34 > 38
Farsight of the Runic Artist 52 > 54
Conceptual Runic Mastery 51 > 52
Conceptual Spatial Manipulation 43 > 45
Conceptual Amplified Magic 41 > 44
Conceptual Automated Existence 25 > 27
Conceptual Spatial Empowerment 26 > 33
Space Is All Around You 16 &...
2025-01-05 19:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Nate leaned back in his chair, lamenting the lack of cushions. When they returned to the Capital, he thought idly that perhaps he should see about hiring an assistant. Someone to do errands for him. Most of those errands would be about procuring more of the creature comforts he was coming to adore.
Kiri had vanished after seeing what they had stolen, calling it ‘boring’ and telling Nate to do whatever he wanted with their plunder. He could see why, given what they had taken. Leaning...
2025-01-02 19:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The zone around the Asmuisillans supply tent was filled with violence. Unfortunately for Nate’s opponents, it was mostly martial violence, rather than magical. Teleporting away from a sword strike, he responded by using his Gravity Control rune to launch his attacker into one of his comrades with enough force to send them both tumbling to the ground.
The seven guards of the supply tent all seemed to be sword wielders. He wanted to go through the reasons why that might be, but he was a...
2024-12-31 19:00:07 +0000 UTC
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“How?” demanded Morgane, and Nate sensed Hildi tense in the background.
Nate ignored her for the moment. He was sensing what had happened when he had made the connection and finally recognised the Concept emanating from the Princess. That moment of recognition had caused something to change within him. He was finding it hard to describe, beyond his sister's own words, but for a moment, he had felt more real. Like every part of him had connected with something for that brief...
2024-12-29 19:00:09 +0000 UTC
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“It was a coordinated attack attempting to target the logistics officers,” explained Aisling.
Nate sat next to Kiri, with Coralie huddled up into a ball on the other side of his sister. Other Guild members who weren’t currently on duty sat around listening to their Platinum leader as she explained the events of the evening.
“It couldn’t have happened this quickly unless they had informants within the Bright Army. Nate and Kiri can attest that the logistics officers all d...
2024-12-26 19:00:08 +0000 UTC
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The sun had set and the healing tent Nate had been assigned to was in utter chaos. In the few spare moments he’d had to look over the tent and its occupants, he had thought it looked more like a slaughterhouse. Only with more screaming. The initial assault on the empowering enchantments had gone about as well as had been expected, and in his heart, Nate felt a small amount of guilt. The barrier bracers he had created for Asmuisil had been on clear display and while they may not have been th...
2024-12-24 19:00:09 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Reposted this chapter so they're in the right order!
Nate stood uncomfortably near one of the tables within Princess Morgane’s tent. With Kiri next to him it was bearable, albeit barely. Morgane was clearly sounding him out, trying to determine his feelings towards her plight, not that it bothered him. From everything he had seen within the Capital of Etrua, he wholeheartedly agreed with her that Asmuisil was a better nation for its people. Their coming opponents in this w...
2024-12-22 22:15:34 +0000 UTC
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A/N: I put up the wrong chapter today so now everyone gets a double chapter. Happy early Xmas!
Nate stood in his tent, putting the last touches on his painting. The piece had taken him three days to complete, longer than most of his artworks. He could have completed the piece faster, but with most of each day spent in the saddle, then the evenings spent crafting, his time to devote to the painting had been limited.
This artwork was the first time that he had made himself the foc...
2024-12-22 22:12:24 +0000 UTC
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Nate went over Morgane’s words in his head. With his enhanced intellect, his speed of thought let him mull over ideas and concepts in a fraction of the time it would take others to do so. She had stated she wanted Etrua to be more like Asmuisil. He didn’t know a lot about the different nations, but what he did know was that Asmuisil seemed to invest more in their people and less in their upper class. A stronger base which led to far more crafting and innovation. That wasn’t enough infor...
2024-12-19 19:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Nate’s body froze at the Princess’s words. That she knew anything about his apparent feud with House Desmarais was cause for concern. His eyes flicked over to the Guard flanking the Princess. His glance didn’t go unnoticed and the tall swordsman frowned at him.
With a wave of her hand, the Princess cut through the charged silence.
“Excuse us for a moment, Valis.”
“Your Highness?” responded the Guard, his tone filled with concern.
“It’s fine, Valis. Na...
2024-12-17 19:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Nate’s enchanted paintbrush made gentle swishing sounds as the paint glided over his small canvas. A haphazard array of tents decorated the horizon with a miasma of dust circling above. The war encampment of Princess Morgane was not what he had been expecting and it was that image that he was trying to capture. In his mind, he had been expecting something resembling a semi-orderly medieval campsite. The kind of thing you might have seen in a movie back on Earth. Instead, the warcamp of the ...
2024-12-15 19:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Nate took one last look over his Status before he stepped into the Dungeon. True to his word, he had restricted his use of Conceptual Material Shaping to the bones below his waist, just as he had done for Britt. Those changes were reflected in his Status as a single line.
Britt had similar results. So far, he had only raised their bones to Rare-tier and only for the legs....
2024-12-12 19:00:06 +0000 UTC
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It's launch day! The Runic Artist - Painted Path is now available on: Amazon
As with every launch, it would be much appreciated if you would leave a rating and/or review for the book. So thank you to anyone who takes the time to do so.
Paperbacks should be available in the next few days and Audible in January.
Thank you all for your support...
2024-12-12 18:59:01 +0000 UTC
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Nate enjoyed the slow, rolling motion of his alliram mount as it trotted south and east across the plains. Around him, on their own mounts or sitting in drawn wagons was the rest of the Adventurer’s Guild contingent who had accepted jobs posted to assist Princess Morgane. Kiri was nearby, of course. His sister had been glued to Coralie’s side ever since they left the Capital, as though her mere presence could prevent anything from happening to the blonde Ice Mage. A smile bloomed on his l...
2024-12-10 19:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Nate wandered downstairs. Sleep had come quickly and unfortunately lasted just as long. While he could get by on just a few hours of rest for one night, multiple in a row would still wear him down. He’d need to go to bed at a reasonable hour tonight.
When he woke, Britt had already been gone. Her scent had lingered in his bed though and she’d left him a little note though telling him she had returned to the University. Combat classes were continuing for the handful of students still...
2024-12-08 19:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Nate politely ignored Britt’s slight snoring as he channelled his Conceptual Material Skill into the metal plate. His girlfriend was asleep in his cloud enchanted bed, now situated in the corner of his workshop. When she had heard he was taking his leave of the Royal University for a time she had asked to come with him. In response he had handed her a ward key for the workshop. Not only would it give her somewhere to stay other than the Guild compound, but she would need ac...
2024-12-05 19:00:08 +0000 UTC
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As it says, the Amazon link for The Runic Artist - Painted Path. Reviews and ratings always help so thanks for any assistance!
2024-12-05 18:59:01 +0000 UTC
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Nate tried not to laugh as the air slashes dissipated against his barrier. He wasn’t even attuning his Legendary Barrier bracer to wind attacks. His opponent, some son of a Baron from the middle of nowhere, finally gave up on making ranged attacks and tried to close the distance. Nate quietly admitted that for a Rare Classer the man had a fairly solid build.
Like Null, who was somewhere else on the training grounds, the son of a Baron was a hybrid mage and swordsman. The swordsm...
2024-12-03 19:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Nate ran his fingers over the detailed drawing that lay in front of him. His earlier rendition had been the first sketch. A guide he could use as he created a set of runes to be carved into Britt’s bones. The runes would be capable of enhancing his girlfriend, making her stronger, faster and more durable. But, of course, he wasn’t completely selfless and if he was going to alter his girlfriend in such a way, why not do something similar for Kiri and himself.
The drawing of his own b...
2024-12-01 19:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Nate sat with his back against the sandstone fountain as he surveyed his latest artwork. He had chosen a shop specialising in building supplies this time. Cutter, the old sailor, had gotten up from his seat to get a closer look at the painting. Nate’s Brush of a Thousand Paints, fed on a steady diet of mana, had raised most of his paints from Uncommon to Rare. He had coupled the improvement to his paints with his desire to create a painting that moved.
The resulting artwork seemed to ...
2024-11-28 19:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Luc sat across the table from Minister Elect Gloria and tried not to smirk. The Minister’s aides were inspecting Nate and Jacque’s creations along with a few extra goodies that Luc had picked up on the way.
In the past, he would have dragged the trip to Asmuisil out, spending some time on a mount or with a caravan. Spatial spells and skills were mana-intensive and he had focused his Skill evolutions on better control and reducing the mana cost based on the size of the arcane r...
2024-11-26 19:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Nate lay on his enchanted cloud bed staring at the ceiling of his room. The normally plain dark stone edifice was instead lit up with swirls of colour that he occasionally shifted into particular shapes. Ships, animals, sometimes just landscapes. The Illusion Shaping runic array was easy to control since his many Intents let him guide the appearance into any form he wanted. The act of creating art directly from his mind, even temporarily, was relaxing for him. Though it was nowhere near as en...
2024-11-24 19:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Nate sensed Avery’s approach, even as his eyes told him there was nothing there. Kiri sat beside him, watching the shouting match between the Guild Platinums, Prefects included. Luc, unsurprisingly, bayed for the blood of House Desmarais. Evindal half-heartedly tried to calm the man down. Nate’s normally calm and controlled guardian, Aisling, yelled at Prefect Allais, the air between them charged. Prefects Raoult and Porter had both stood and were yelling at each other while the tri...
2024-11-21 19:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Nate stared out the third-story window of the Adventurer's Guild, wondering what his enemies were planning while he waited for his ostensible allies to decide his punishment. Kiri stood next to him as the pair waited to be called in for the tribunal. Frick was quiet, resting inside of the Familiar Contract. Through his sphere of awareness, he sensed three people ascend the stairs, entering the room after glancing at himself and Kiri. He knew what they were, if not who they were. It had been t...
2024-11-19 19:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Duchess Charlotte Desmarais stared at the pieces of ribbon hanging from the wall. They hung from the painting of a great tree that covered most of the wall. The entire piece had been her design. A representation of the many leaves of House Desmarais. Each ribbon was connected to the soul energy of one of the Houses retainers. Only those who had achieved their Tertiary Class, with a few exceptions, like the Twins, warranted a place among the leaves of the tree. She had created each ribbon hers...
2024-11-17 19:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Kiri looked over her advancements. She had been teetering on the edge of evolution for multiple Skills and the battle had pushed them all over the edge. In addition, some of those Skills had synergised. First there were her levels.
Accrued Mana applied to Secondary Class.
Level up…
Level up…
Level up…
Level up…
Stats adjusted: +4 Dexterity, +12 Agility, +8 Willpower +4 Perception, +8 Magic Control, +4 Mana Reserve, +20 Free Stats
...
2024-11-14 19:00:07 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Book 2 will be going to Amazon soon, probably some time in the next month. As with the first book, I will be making the epub available for the Patrons (separate post, once I have the actual epub).
That's all, on to todays chapter!!
Nate sat on a block of earth he’d sculpted out of the earth. In front of him the fire crackled, sending plumes of smoke into the night sky and bathing him in a gentle warmth. It wasn’t the only thing warming him though, as Britt s...
2024-11-12 19:00:06 +0000 UTC
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The ambient mana in the air ignited around Nate as he activated Conceptual Insight. The mana had shifted towards space due to the overwhelming presence of his construct. But space wasn’t what he needed now. What he needed was life. He had considered using his Life Drain runic array on himself, but he could already tell it wouldn’t be enough to save Britt. He’d die himself before she was restored. Trying to wait for Evindal was an option, only it wasn’t. Who knew how l...
2024-11-10 19:00:11 +0000 UTC
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