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ToC
* * *
Beef and Hollow landed on the ground of the inner bailey, hammer out and crystalline daggers bristling.
Chaos reigned around them.
A monster, a hideous abomination of plants and stone, was smashing into the walls. Pit, in his enormous Tyrant form, was attempting to keep it pinned. Despite its grotesque shape, the creature was agile and put up a ...
2023-12-27 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostMerry Christmas to those that celebrate!
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ToC
All Book 9 chapters are now in the new Patreon Collections section!
* * *
Felix sat within his core space, holding tight to the reins of chaos.
His shaping Skills sang, a caterwauling that filled the dark space between his little planets, until even the opalescent roots aroun...
2023-12-25 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
With a final, massive blow, the ward flashed and collapsed in on itself. Tarok started forward, a hammer in his hand. Without another word, he reared back and swung, shattering the frame around the portal. The vault door and the locking mechanism that held it shut collapsed, falling inward with a grand crash.
Tarok choked up on his hammer and grinned at the men around him. "We've done it," he said. "Lieutenant Gigg, clear this dust."
... 2023-12-22 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
"Captain, we've found something." Tarok calmly set down his glass of brandy and looked up at the man who had just rushed into his tent.
"Calm yourself, Lieutenant Gigg. What did you find, and where?"
"Just underneath the keep, in the tunnels you've had us excavate." Lieutenant Gigg lowered his voice, despite the fact that they were in th...
2023-12-20 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
ToC
* * *
As his Skill settled into place, Felix tested it cautiously. It spun, a subtle vibration that thrummed across the breadth of his core space as the nine rings around the planet increased their rotational speed. He could feel it working, but it was hyper specific; it didn’t affect his thinking or his mood or anything physical. Yet when he considered the sigaldry on a nearby ...
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ToC
* * *
Yin busied himself around the turret floor, inspecting the complicated array he had made. It wasn't an array as Vess understood these things. It was more akin to the summoning circles that the Risi Witches made use of, though thankfully blood was not a primary component. Sketched out onto the wide ground of the lone turret of Fortress Fenwald, Vess could even ap...
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ToC
* * *
“Thrust!” Selin shouted, and fifteen Dragoons stabbed forward with identical spears.
“Parry!” Morag commanded. “Guard!”
The movements continued, over and over. Sometimes the words changed, but mostly it was the same. Thrust. Parry. Guard. The Dragoons were nothing if not dedicated to mastering the fundamentals of spearwork. Felix wat...
2023-12-15 13:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
Felix cleared a space for himself on the forge floor before he sat, his thoughts a whirl of nervous anticipation. He had yet to use any of the Skill evolutions he had earned from their combined Titles, and he was…unsure of how it would unfold.
"Alright, everybody just stand back," he said. Harn and Evie were quick to oblige. Evie even took a couple of ex...
2023-12-13 13:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
In the days that followed, Fortress Fenwald became a flurry of activity.
Felix directed Archie to work with the refugees, figuring out what they needed and how to provide it. He was to act as a liaison of sorts, all under the name of Vessilia Dayne. The reasons were twofold. The first was necessary outreach for the traumatized villagers, so ...
2023-12-11 13:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
A deep bell crashed across the world, invisible to the villagers but more than loud enough that Pit and Tzfell flinched away. A notification appeared before Felix that was edged in scrolling designs of silver, gold, and a gleaming verdant green.
Hidden Quest Updated!
Restore The Crown!
The Crown of Elysium has been lost since its bearers were faced with Ruin. Pieces of it have been scattered across the Continent, h...
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ToC
* * *
The world roared as tongues of magical flame flared within the furnace, licking up against its inner chamber as if possessed of an intense hunger to burn anything it could reach. Sigils lit up along its stone and metal surface, keeping the flame at bay, but the heat was intense. Harn was soaked in sweat as he stared at it, less than a span away, but he wasn’t worried in the least.
"More air," Harn called out. “Quick-like!”...
2023-12-06 13:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
Hallow slid down the loam-covered slope of the mountain, rapidly descending between the middling-sized trees that sprouted there in the rare patches of sunlight not blocked by their far larger brethren. Her large, wide feet were particularly suited to such activity, and the jarring stop at the end barely fazed her.
Down there, through a short gorge, she found a grotto of fallen giants. Not giants as they had seen in the north, ...
2023-12-04 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
"Alright, now pay attention to the coin. See where it goes?” Archie palmed a coin, a shiny golden one he’d taken from the Vault of Nine Kings. It was worth a lot, but mostly it had a great weight. Perfect for sleight of hand tricks.
“Into that hand!” cried a little girl, her hair tied neatly back into a dirty ribbon.
“Into this ha...
2023-12-01 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
Atop the wall of the keep, Felix was mostly left alone. That was partly because of how hard it was to reach this section of the wall, as well as his occasional practice unveiling his Spirit. The few curious guards had been driven away when the very air felt like it was going to murder them.
His only companions were the cold wind as it whipped down off...
2023-11-29 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
The inner bailey of Fortress Fenwald was the largest portion of the structure by far, easily taking up six football fields worth of space at the base of the mountain. Raised up from the swamps that clung tight to the broken walls, it was one of the few places dry enough to accommodate the sheer number of tents, cookfires, and people that had followed the Daynes...
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ToC
* * *
Alister was having a rough day.
It was an arduous trip across the Shadowgate where they faced more than a few Voidbeasts—weak things called Tenebrils—they finally breached the portal into Haestus Temple after several long glasses. In local time, however, his journey had taken less than one. Beaten and bruised, his soldiers had gone to rest, but Alister h...
2023-11-24 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
"What?" Atar spun just in time to catch the heel of a boot slipping out of the first-story window. "Isla! There!"
He flared his Agility, but it wasn’t enough. By the time he reached the sill, the figure was already gone.
"You’ll not run from me," Isla hissed. “Come, child!”
She took off, green-gold magic crackling around her Body a...
2023-11-22 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
Atar leaned over the table, closely inspecting the blasted piece of metal before him. It was covered with a delicate tracery of sigils, markings that were almost invisible to the normal eye. However, to his advanced perception and particular talents, they stood out like glowing coals. He focused, trying to decipher the precise function of the sigils, but th...
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ToC
* * *
The night found Vess with her aunt, quietly chatting after a long soak in a copper tub that her porters had managed to carry from the wreckage of her manor. Hot water had been hauled up long flights of stairs just for them, but Vess didn't regret the wait. She felt more relaxed now than she had in weeks. Clean and smelling faintly of flowers, her aunt was carefully brus...
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ToC
* * *
That night, as darkness settled onto Fortress Fenwick, Felix plied the skies.
Sat atop Pit, Felix surveyed the dark landscape. The mountains stretched to the west and north while to the east the landscape dropped down into foothills and fields. Several hundred miles to the east was Pax’Vrell…and Vess’ dad.
A solid portion of their day had been...
2023-11-15 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
“Is this man your…protector, Lady Dayne?” Tarok asked, straightening as Felix retracted his Spirit.
Felix bared his teeth. “You could say that.”
Tarok raised a single eyebrow. “I thought that honor belonged to the Chosen Hand of the Duke.”
“Darius is otherwise occupied and has given his charge over to this man,” Vess said...
2023-11-13 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
“They will not touch this place,” Yin hissed.
“We will not let them,” Vess agreed. “Fortress Fenwald! Do you have defenses?”
Defenses Include:
Sealing Wards
Jagged Illusion Array
Acid Pour (Disabled)
Arctic Flash (Disabled)
Burning Lash (Disabled)
“Vess,” Felix warned. “We’...
2023-11-11 14:06:26 +0000 UTC View PostFolks, my last full day in Vegas is today (Friday) and I'm a touch behind on the chapter. I have this one almost done but it needs a few touches. I'll have it up by the end of the day!
Thanks for the understanding!
Enjoy!
ToC
* * *
Felix’s anger cooled as they walked. He didn’t regret his words—he’d meant every one of them. What he regretted was potentially spoiling his relationship with Archie. The guy knew how to rub everyone the wrong way and seemed to enjoy doing it. Felix had always been good at gauging people though, even before he’d been hurle...
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ToC
* * *
Despite the rough landing, almost everyone was fine. When the bindings were released they were merely sore, bruises at worst. Nothing was broken. Pit was fine too, which had worried Felix for all of the second it took for him to review his Companion’s Status Sheet.
The only one truly hurt seemed to be Yintarion.
“I am Yintarion of the Cerule...
2023-11-06 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostI will be out of town all of next week, attending the 20Books author conference in Las Vegas. But chapters will still go up M/W/F!
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ToC
* * *
“Oof, you guys are heavy,” Pit complained, as the Eidolons were strapped down to his back. “Are those gonna hold?”
“They’re sturdy,” Felix said. He’d made the ropes with Green Shaping and Ferric Shap...
2023-11-03 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostHappy November!
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ToC
* * *
Turns out the Eidolons could run, and damn fast too—the problem was their sheer mass. Whatever was beneath their feet was gonna get pulverized. Thankfully Felix’s Stone Shaping reinforced by Astrum Ascendence was up to the task. His Essence stores dwindled rapidly as they moved, but it was worth it, if only because...
Got some much needed rest this weekend and I'm feeling back to my normal self, finally.
Last week was the last 4x updates, so as of this week we're back to 3x week updates on Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
Enjoy!
ToC
* * *
The raiders were long gone by the time Felix arrived. It was less a matter of speed than the raiders’ own Skill—they seemed to have disap...
Feeling a bit better. Enough to get this chapter out.
Have a great weekend!
Enjoy!
ToC
* * *
Nestled in the Foot, Isla’s Fiendstone mansion was a luxury that many in the city would have killed to take from her. It was a status symbol among the growing populace, as only the Autarch’s closest allies were allowed to live so close to his Temple. The common folk w...
Folks, I'm feeling a bit sick this week, which has put me behind in my writing. Never fear though, today's (Friday 10/27) Journeyman Tier chapter will be up by end of the day.
2023-10-27 05:06:19 +0000 UTC View Post