CalCroissant

Scorching Ascension - 2.28: Exciting possibilities

Having a tier-4 spell be offered to him had not been on Ethan’s list of possibilities. In fact, it had never happened to him, in all of his upgrades. Never had a spell evolution process offered him to jump a whole tier.

“Good to know that it’s possible,” he said to himself. Unfortunately, it was the absolute worst option of the bunch, and as he read through the description of [Mana Heart of the Blooming Maw], Ethan felt a shiver run down his back. Partially because it hadn’t e...

Scorching Ascension - 2.27: Cabin

The tall grass swayed as Ethan stood in front of the cabin that was to be his home, and a smile stretched across his lips as he looked around. The river was less than a minute away, which gave him an amazing view from the little porch, and as he climbed the couple of steps toward the entrance, he couldn’t help but let his fingers brush against the smooth wood.

Turning the door knob, the door clicked open and Ethan stepped in. Immediately, his eyes were drawn to the various lamps sprea...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.33: Long Story

Henry stared back at the giddy captain and blinked, Maurice tightly wrapped in one of his arms. He’d reduced his size a little after reverting to his natural shape, being only about ten feet long. The two of them stared at Velistraine as she hopped from one leg to the other, brows dancing up a storm.

“You want to come with?”

Velistraine nodded, a wide smile on her lips. “Yep.”

“Do you even know where we’re going?”

“No idea. But it sounds fun,” she s...

Scorching and Undersea heads up for this week

I'm working on the third Undersea of the week. Will be out sometime later today. For Scorching, it'll be tomorrow or Friday at 11.25am EST. We'll have three chapters of Scorching as well this week, even if the first one isn't ready by tomorrow AM.

Back to work. Laters!

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.32: The Pod

A/N: Copied/pasted the wrong text. The previous version had plenty of typos

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Henry struck his two bone-sticks one last time before he made sure he was well and truly invisible. He even pushed some extra mana into Mind Shield so his mental signature didn’t betray his presence. Then he waited as the clicks grew closer.

Was it the dolphins? Was it another group of dolphins? Was it something else altogether? He couldn’t wait to see.

Seconds ticked by a...

Undersea will be out in the next 30 minutes

What the title says!

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.31: Nostalgia

The festivities lasted past dawn. It had started with plenty of foods and drinks, then they ran out of food and Henry just started pulling eels, which were quickly grilled and seasoned before they came back and were washed down with even more liquor.

Of course not everyone stayed until dawn. Plenty went down after a couple of hours, especially the younger ones, and while Henry would have been tempted to slink away after a couple of hours himself, he found himself genuinely enjoying hims...

Scorching Ascension - 2.26: Delegate

A/N: This week I finish the edits of book 2 of Undersea. Next week we'll do three chapters.

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In the end, Ember had made the execution quick, just like Ethan had asked. She didn’t goad or gloat. She just elongated one of her claws and with a swift move, she cut deep into the man’s neck before proceeding to incinerate his form until all that remained was a smoking black husk with a glittering golden light around the claws and chest.

As this had been ta...

Scorching Ascension - 2.25: Alternatives

Knowing the fight behind him was over with, Ethan stared at the dead armored man as he maintained the flames around his forearm. The fire was helping with the wound he’d received. Already, the bone had disappeared below the freshly healed tissue and thankfully, [Child of Flames] was helping with the pain. But he could still sense something else lingering. 

It must be the gray magic that had been around the axes. The third one’s magic, he thought, casting [Detect Life] ...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.30: Hopes

Text...

A/N: Technically late by less than 30mns. Smaller week for Undersea, and probably smaller for Scorching too. I only have like 20 chapters left to edit in book 2. Looks like I'll make the deadline.

Cheers!

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As Arisia escorted Ash and Fabian toward the closest platform, Zerathstra looked down at where the fight just took place and spreading his awareness through the trees and their roots, he spread his senses out, confirming that no stray A-rank ...

Tier change is live - one-story-tiers are available

Hey all,

after the poll, and after some feedback I've gotten, I've put up the tier change sooner. The two new tiers are available and should be working as they should. If you'd like to pay only for the story you're currently following, you can downgrade to the appropriate tier. Both are at 5$.

As for the grandfathered and current tiers, they stay the same. Nothing changes with the access to stories or pricing.

Sparkling water: This is for Undersea's...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.29: The bout (Pt. 2)

Using the red Octomind’s assault as a distraction, Henry disappeared below the waves. It was hard fighting someone as small and fast as the red-haired captain. It was even harder to stomach that Velistraine wasn’t even using her active Skills. And she must have had plenty.

He chuckled inwardly as he dove low then swam back up, aiming to come right under her. If this had been a real, to-the-death kind of fight, both Henry and Maurice might have already been running for their lives. H...

Poll Results + Undersea will be out tomorrow

Hey all! Quick announcement before I get to the poll stuff:

Undersea will be out tomorrow at 11.25 EST. Aside from the fact I'm still finishing up the edits of book 2, I woke up feeling like absolute garbage, and I'm not gonna be able to finish on time. I promise I'll do a couple of bonus chapter once I'm done with editing. It's weighing on me, and I gotta finish it.

For the poll (link here <...

Scorching Ascension - 2.24: Hypocrisy

As he took a step to the side and heard the whistling blade fly past him, Ethan came to a realization.

Fighting close-range was, for a lack of a better word, relaxing. 

True, the ominous gray nimbus of magic that surrounded the axes was a little worrying, and so was the fact that the hooded man whose wand felt strangely similar to the gray magic had not shown up ever since Ethan had blasted him with a fireball. But even with that in mind, Ethan felt at home, fighting like thi...

Scorching Ascension - 2.23: Nuisance

A/N: I missed the 11.25AM target. Dang it. I was editing and it just kept getting longer.

Oh well. It'll be on time tomorrow. Might be a shorter week for Scorching with just two chapters. I gotta finish the editing...

Laters!

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Audrey’s POV

Audrey threw herself forward and slammed her tower shield down in front of the oncoming fireball. The spell detonated, and her shoulder rattled as the sickly green flames she’d redire...

Check-in + Readership poll + note about Scorching

Hey all!

I hope everyone's handling summer well. It's getting pretty hot and humid out here. But I just don't go outside, so that helps. A little.

Might need to put the AC up soon.

Anyways. This had been a great year and thanks to the advance I got for singing Undersea and Scorching, I managed to get a lot done ever since October, but soon... I might need to make some life-tweaks, at least until the financial side of things stabilizes.

I won't bore you with the detail...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.28: The bout (Pt. 1)

Floating hundreds of yards in the air, with her heart hammering in her ears and the wind whipping about, Ash watched, fist tight, lest the ring of Flight that Arisia had let her borrow somehow managed to slip from her finger.

Still, she wished they could watch the bout from up close. They were so far up in the air that she could barely see the silhouette of Velistraine bobbing up and down as she stood on the water’s surface. On the other hand, Henry and Maurice were unmistakable. For ...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.27: Pestering

While Maurice slowly trailed after them, still getting used to walking on two legs as they made their way up the spiral stairs that led up one of the many trees of Thalis, Velistraine shoulder-bumped Henry as he pointedly refused to look at her. He wished avoiding her gaze would be effective enough, but just like a pushy saleswoman, that didn’t dissuade her any less from continuing to pester him. “Come on! I’ll take it easy on both of you! We have to celebrate! And see what this new ran...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.26: Shapeshift

A/N: Hello! How y'all doing? I might do poll this week. Kinda want to get some feedback on some stuff. But I need to get my ducks in order first.

Hope you like this one! Gotta do the next one before I can get back to editing. Cheers!

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After thirty minutes of Maurice blasting poor innocent sharks away as he got more comfortable with his improved abilities, Henry popped him in his Maw and readied himself to teleport them both back to his above-water Shado...

Scorching Ascension - 2.22: Indecision

With a frown on his face, Ethan let out a slow breath and brought his attention away from the notifications and back to the three he was facing right this second.

He hoped Amanda could handle whatever was happening back there for at least a short bit. Enough for him to take care of the situation out here. Plus, if it got bad enough, he was pretty sure he’d be getting a notification about the pylon’s takeover, so until that happened, he had to hope things were under control.

Ma...

Scorching Ascension - 2.21: Intense

Caleb’s POV

Caleb let out a long, tired sigh as he sat on the roof’s edge, watching the scene develop in front of him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette, set it between his lips, then flicked the lighter open. 

He could have used a spell, but there was just something special about lighting a cigarette the old way.

Caleb took a deep pull, eyes closed, then let the smoke out. 

“Well. I got here too late. Do I go...

Scorching Ascension - 2.20: City planning

Amanda’s POV, 5 minutes ago

Amanda stood under the shade of one of the preserved trees on the west side of New Dawn, taking notes of the updated levels of the team as she resolved to get herself within the next rift that showed up. Considering that the team managed to clear it in only a few hours, she most likely needed to have a few people around to get it done quickly. And safely.

While they didn’t look too out of shape, nearly all of them were spla...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.25: What'd you get?

“[I didn’t even get to see the new stuff,]” grumbled the crab as they swam about, looking for a few targets the crab could test his new skills on. They were still in the general area of Thalis, though this time they headed west, in the direction they had initially come from a couple of months ago.

Henry was hoping they’d encounter one of those adult serpents, but so far, it was mainly sharks and random, starved fauna that pretty quickly made themselves scarce whenever H...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.24: Where'd they go?

PS: I need to slot this somewhere in the earlier chapters. Right after the evolution was over from Henry's POV.

Trickster Kraken (C) evolved into Veilwatch Kraken (B+). All base stats increased by 20.

I'm currently fixing the stats as I edit book 2, so soon I'll be able to display them more confidently. I know they're off... and it kills me. But I gotta keep chucking along.

I definitely get why some authors run away from stats.

Anyway! On to t...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.23: Aspects and Octominds

A/N: We are back! Should be three this week. I'm trying to get them done fast so I can focus on finishing book 2's edits this week and the next. Already done with this week's Scorching chapters. Also, I kind want to fix the schedule so you guys know when to expect the chapters... But that's a work in progress. I'll let you know.

Rambling's over. On to the chapter!

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A blood-red ghostly octopus flitted in and around the shredded eels like a rogue blender’s b...

Scorching Ascension - 2.19: Intruders

A/N: Yesterday's chapter was heftier than usual, so that's gonna be it for the week. I need to finish editing book 2 of Undersea. Hope you're liking this arc!

PS: Credit to RandomGuyJunior on discord. Sunshard and Enlarge were some of his suggestions in the #ideas-and-feedback channel

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Jonathan ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “You’re really forcing my hands here, man. I can’t run a business like this.”

Ethan frowned as he stared a...

Scorching Ascension - 2.18: Business is Business

A/N: List of unassimilated spells at the end!

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With the tier upgrade bought for the pylon, Ethan took a minute to browse through the pylon’s interface, and he was happy to see that the new communication and defensive modules didn’t need to be bought. They would have to be upgraded, as both had shown up at tier-1, but they did come packaged with the tier-2 upgrade. He was also relieved to learn that both modules would require a sit down and a little time to get...

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.22: Faces

A/N: smaller week for Undersea (prolly for scorching as well). Need some time to consider what comes next. Hope you like this one!

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With water dripping down his limbs as he lifted himself out of the pool, Henry stared back at the little crowd around his once private guest home. “I’m still me, everyone. Y’all can stop gawking at me like that,” Henry jokingly shot out as he fashioned himself a new body while simultaneously, he read through his updated interface....

Undersea Reincarnation - 3.21: Veilwatch

A/N: New week! Next one tomorrow or Wednesday! Thank you for supporting me, as always.

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Maurice peered down at the second turtle shell, trying—and failing—to establish another link with the object. To see something new aside from the same vision that kept recurring every other time he went to sleep.

By now, he’d been doing this long enough to know there was more to the two shells. They still had secrets hidden within, though the one Henry had let him borrow fe...

Scorching Ascension - 2.17: To new beginnings

A/N: Already Sunday. Sorta tired. Edit! I removed the destroy option from pylon claiming. Kinda redundant. I put a note on the eldritch arc for that.

Hope you like this one! See you Tomorrow (or Tuesday) if you read Undersea.

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With Gavin and Sophia at his side, Ethan watched with nearly an equal amount of wariness and amazement as a five inch-wide hole in the stone wall separating them from Wyldrock stretched and widened at Marcello’s touch, turning into a...