I was a tree. A serene, unmoving being, swaying gently in the wind. I was not - hang on. A tree was a terrible thing to be near four phoenixes.
This was possibly the most important meeting of Auri’s life. Possibly? Maybe?
It was super important to her. There were stars shining in her eyes, even without a Celestial element, as she gazed adoringly upon the three phoenixes, talking as fast as she could. She was practically hopping from foot to foot!
When they offered...
2024-01-12 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Quick note! BTDEM Book 10 - Under Ashen Skies - is up on Audible! https://www.audible.com/pd/Under-Ashen-Skies-Audiobook/B0CP6T2DQP
==================
Life was good!
Life was great!
I was suspicious.
That meant life had an ambush waiting behind a bush somewhere.
Old Auri would’ve spotted a tree and burned it to destroy a dozen ‘ambushers.’ Old Aur...
2024-01-10 03:00:03 +0000 UTC
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AN: I goofed my edit schedule a HAIR. I had a note to go back and edit the skill names and exact system notifications last chapter, and literally was doing it a few hours after it posted before going "wait shit I just posted this ughhhhhhhh".
Anyways, the changes are relatively minor, but important. I'll just list them here:
[*ding!* Would you like to upgrade [Kaleidoscope] to [A Raging Tempest of Golden Phoenix...
2024-01-08 03:00:06 +0000 UTC
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My mind wavered, [Parallel Thoughts] coming to a screeching halt and merging back into one at Arachne’s question. I quickly fired it back up, splitting my mind into two. One to look at Iona, one to think about the question.
Iona’s face was going through a rapid metamorphosis. Shocked realization as she made the connection Arachne was implying, then unfocused eyes as she communicated with the goddesses followed by a dozen complex, shifting emotions. I let her be whil...
2024-01-05 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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I’d be the first to admit, I hadn’t exactly been the model of the perfect Sentinel since returning back to Exterreri and Sanguino. I’d basically shot right home, jumped into a bath, then tunneled under the covers of my bed and stayed there.
Three, almost four years deployed in the field, and I felt like I’d more than earned it. The Sixth wasn’t back yet, and I figured I had some time. What would they need me for anyway? What crisis, what issue, could possibly need Sen...
2024-01-03 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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“Julius, you’re fair, what are the terms of the bet?” I asked him.
I shot Iona a quick look, wordlessly sending an essay to her.
I know you’re more fair than Julius is, but Artemis would listen to him more than you.
Bless Iona’s heart, she immediately understood me, replying with a raised eyebrow.
I completely understand, and would’ve suggested the same thing.
Julius stroked his chin.
“Well. Let’s get far away from here, we...
2024-01-01 03:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Hey!
Short thing first: A big thank you to Tsuu and Ben for gifting me these Christmas sketches! Ben is trying a different style and did Elaine in it, and Tsuu sketched Iona getting Elaine the best Christmas present ever - an entire bookcase filled with books!!
Happy Holidays one and all! I hope the end of the year finds you all well, and here's to a great 2024!
Onto the longer part of the post:
I've had some power issues on my end, and with the update-saving-recov...
2023-12-30 23:44:37 +0000 UTC
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Hey all!
First! The big one!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I hope this Christmas finds you all safe, warm, and happy with all of your loved ones, and may this Christmas be one for you to remember.
While we're at it, happy New Years, and the rest of the holidays!
Fanart by my wife! I was like "Uh oh I don't have any spare art to give people for Christmas" and she was like "hang on lemme do a fanart", and she worked with my kid to make the watercolor above!
2023-12-24 15:48:24 +0000 UTC
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The long drought is over! ... for those of you with no self-control and who binged a bunch of chapters all at once :P
Fuck, I hit 'publish' not 'Schedule' my bad... this is Friday's chapter >_<
=========================
Several years ago, when Iona was leaving to take Nina on her first [Squire] adventure
Everything came down to geography.
The Exterreri Empire was founded near the elven lands, on the shores of the Sea...
2023-12-20 09:01:29 +0000 UTC
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Hey all!
Admin week means I'm getting admin stuff done!
Okay, first!
Merry Christmas one and all! For a limited time (Basically, from now until when I remember to close it again), the Grandfathered Iona Tier is open again! As is tradition.
Current Elaine supporters - you can sidegrade now, pay the exact same amount, but get the spicy Iona-tier content goodies on top of the normal chapters! I commission and post 1-2 of these per month, with the occasional w...
2023-12-08 22:06:53 +0000 UTC
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As usual, use discretion at work.
Elaine!
I've told the artist 'go nuts' and I just post what she makes. https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/864504247530029117/1182728436091977818/SPOILER_SPOILER_popsicle_elaine2.png
2023-12-08 17:50:06 +0000 UTC
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Hey all!
First!
Book 11 epub is attached for everyone! Come and get it!
There are some minor typos that I need to hammer out still.
Second! Book 11, Mandate of Heaven, is now up on Amazon!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CP4HYYD5
I have a favor to ask. Could you all go rate the book on Amazon? No need to buy it or anything, just drop a rating. It lets The Almighty Am...
2023-11-28 23:34:42 +0000 UTC
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This is the chapter for December 18th.
==================
I decided to tackle the angel in the room first - [Angel of Mercy]. It represented such a large departure from everything else that it was worth evaluating first. If I was going to take it, great, that killed the rest of the discussion. If I wasn’t going to take it, that neatly eliminated a single class from contention.
I’d earned [Angel of Mercy]. I had no issues taking it in tha...
2023-11-25 18:52:02 +0000 UTC
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This is the chapter for December 20th.
NEW CHAPTER AT LAST FRIDAY!!
====================
The men and women of the Sixth Legion were just that - men and women. Predominantly human, at that. They were good. Well-trained, well-equipped, drilled and practiced.
But they were only human. And like all people, they made mistakes, little ones that skills didn’t always catch. There were errors. Pranks. And the occasional malicious compliance with stupid orders.
During the w...
2023-11-25 18:51:06 +0000 UTC
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Hey all!
First!
Some people seem to be asking "wait, why did a bunch of chapters drop? What does this mean?"
As some of you noticed, the gap between Elaine getting to her class up and when she actually started was a little large, with an arc in the middle. This would've been extremely frustrating, so I pushed myself hard and got the chapters written, prepped, and ready...
2023-11-25 08:39:13 +0000 UTC
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This is the chapter for December 15th.
Classup with the colors here!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14i2sCGCJC7_ANCwJajJUUHICL0ZGlFtM8Org44IZYUg/edit
For fun, there's a form you can fill out to rank your thoughts! I'm curious how it'll shake out. 2023-11-24 15:19:18 +0000 UTC
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This is the post for December 13th. This is a classing up chapter, but the colors are minimal.
================
“I think I’m going to need a minute, a chair, and an explanation.” I said to Librarian, sitting down heavily on the balcony.
Within the pure magic that was the world of my soul, with the manipulations Librarian could pull off, the deep, comfortable chair appeared before I could hit the ground, cradling me in its soft embrace. Librarian’s clothes swirled aro...
2023-11-24 15:17:47 +0000 UTC
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AN: The first full week of December is admin week, so this is the post for December 11th.
Edit is simply for the people who want to read the chapter 'on the normal schedule'
=========================
After the [Diplomat] politely told me to get lost, I wasted no time at all getting back home to Exterreri.
It was a little frightening how easy it was for me to cross over vast swathes of mortal territory. I flew high up in the sky, a bit under t...
2023-11-24 15:17:31 +0000 UTC
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AN: This is the post for December 1st
The only edit is 'reposting' this for those who want to read at the 'normal' rate
===============
A crippled body fell into the chapel, his spine broken. He looked young, a fresh recruit from the farm off to join the glorious Zhao armies.
He had a home. Friends, family, a fiancee waiting with bitten nails for him to come back home. To settle down and grow rice.
Nina took three quick steps forward, and with a sharp downward blow,...
2023-11-24 15:17:21 +0000 UTC
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AN: This was supposed to be November 29th's chapter
===========
Nina was familiar with Iona’s eyes unfocusing as the [Paladin] talked with her moon goddesses. Even in the middle of dinner the two were always dropping in on her! It was like they were a merry band of five, not three. With [Grandmaster] Sigrun visiting and her supersized spinosaurus, Serratrix, they were a whole busy group! Nina loved the companionship, the comradery, the sisterhoo...
2023-11-24 15:17:10 +0000 UTC
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AN: The big chapter dump!
This was supposed to be November 27ths chapter. This will be 'edited' on that day and a second reminder going out.
The only edit to this chapter is letting people know it was supposed to be out today.
=========================
Swish swish swish.
Qing Jie’s bones ached. Qing Jie’s joints ached. Qing Jie’s knees told him when a storm was coming.
Swish swish swish.
Qing Jie was an old man, a [Sweeper] <...
2023-11-24 15:16:59 +0000 UTC
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Hey all!
Just a status update on the chapter drop I mentioned might be happening now.
4 out of 8 chapters are edited. I need to finish editing them all, then they’ll come out in two waves. A reminder that this is an “advance” on future chapters, and they’ll be re released as usual on the normal schedule.
thank You all for understanding! Also sorry about typos - doing this on my phone and the patreon experience is miserable. I literall...
2023-11-24 10:22:14 +0000 UTC
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I loved Auri, but waiting around while she classed up was torture. I had so many things I was far too excited about. We were done with the war! We were going home! I’d be able to hug Julius and Artemis again. I’d be able to see Night and Arachne! I wouldn’t be constantly looking over my shoulder, waiting for the next ambush, the next attack. I wouldn’t be running doomsday scenarios through my head, trying to work out various hypotheticals, and mathing out who I could save, an...
2023-11-24 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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The Sixth Legion was the only intact fighting force after Teruo’s judgment had descended upon us all. Katerina’s quick thinking, combined with us having not released any lanterns, meant ‘only’ two spears had gone for the Legion. The combined Han forces had it much rougher.
Basically every single officer of theirs had been taken out, and each explosion of caustic Acid in the middle of their ranks and formations had further devastated their troops. Katerina immediately ordered the...
2023-11-22 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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I continued my madcap dash back and forth across the city, trying to heal as many people as I could, my mana cratering. Tens of thousands, if not more, people burning to death in front of my eyes, and there was only so much I could do.
Then I got the notification. We all got the notification.
[*ding!* You are in the presence of Guardian Teruo, The Pure]
Katerina’s order to ‘return once I got the notification’ ...
2023-11-20 03:00:04 +0000 UTC
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I’d been enjoying a carefree day with Auri, playing with the lanterns while privately thankful that we’d avoided another siege when the call came from Katerina.
“Sixth Legion! To arms!” She roared, the blast echoing off our walls. “Full assembly! Every last one of you, get out there, now!”
Auri and I sprang into action. I used [Rapid Reshelving] to snap my armor and all my gear on, and the rest of the Legion was scrambling to respond ...
2023-11-10 03:00:01 +0000 UTC
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I'll start with the poll!
Latest chapter had two versions. I rarely ask for feedback, but to my mind, both are as good as each other, and I'm torn which one to use. So I'm asking all of you for feedback!
On another note, I try hard to write BTDEM mostly chronologically. There is some REALLY AWKWARD timing coming up, which, combined with the serial nature of the story, would result in a poor end experience for everyone. I'm being cagey on purpose to not spoil anything, but ...
2023-11-08 09:06:41 +0000 UTC
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Something was wrong.
Katerina’s [Legata’s Imperial Intuition] was hounding her. Telling her something was not right, and if she didn’t figure it out, they’d die.
That simple.
Water levels of Shuixi higher than usual for the time of year.
Annual festival next week. Likely to be held with additional vigor, due to surrendering and paying tribute to Zhao She and Wang Jian. Army participating.
Estimated 40,000 to...
2023-11-08 03:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Time went by, and while my eidetic memory let me perfectly memorize everything that was going on, when one day was just like the days around them, they all got lumped into the same book in [Astral Archives] and mostly forgotten about.
Three years. Three years we campaigned in the Han Empire, occasionally changing who we were contracted with, occasionally moving back to old generals and stomping grounds.The skirmishes were endless, and the pitched battles that were so gr...
2023-11-06 03:00:01 +0000 UTC
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