Thane could swear he could feel the weight of every single glare in the line boring into his back as he walked into the Devil’s Den. Even though Madiv had ushered him through, something about cutting past everyone who was waiting to get into the tavern felt like inviting death onto his doorstep...
2025-09-16 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostEveryone split off immediately. Arwin, along with Olive, Anna, and Kien, headed up with Lillia to the main floor of the Devil’s Den. She then headed up the stairs to the second floor of the tavern. Lillia returned before so much as a minute had passed, the crown cradled in her hands.
“H...
2025-09-16 16:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostThane’s eyes snapped open and he drew in a sharp gasp, bolting upright like he’d been stung in the behind. Cold sweat coated his back and stuck his shirt to his back like it had been pasted on. He could feel his heart slamming in his chest with such intensity that his ribs creaked and groaned...
2025-09-15 16:00:23 +0000 UTC View PostAlex studied the two Soul Flames burning before him. The difference between them was almost laughable. Spark’s fire burned at just roughly the size of a baseball, small enough to fit comfortably within his palm. It crackled with a silent intensity that matched the monster represented perfectly....
2025-09-15 16:00:23 +0000 UTC View Post“Alex!” Alyssa exclaimed as he stepped back through the portal. Her eyes darted around the shimmering red-purple smoke that twisted all around them. She had her brush held before her like a sword, ready to swing it at a moment’s notice. Wess stood by her side with his gun pointed at the air...
2025-09-14 16:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostAlex stepped out from the portal and into the Ancestry with his magic ready. He threw himself into a dive the moment he felt the world materialize around him, prepared to dodge an attack from the Forsaken Revenant and buy himself enough time to fight back.
But the attack never came.
H...
2025-09-13 05:13:40 +0000 UTC View PostIt was morning when Arwin’s thoughts drifted lazily back to his body.
At least, he was pretty sure it was morning. Telling the time was impossible when he was in Lillia’s room. But, judging by rested his body felt and how all the aches and pains from the previous night had been washed a...
2025-09-12 16:00:27 +0000 UTC View PostSorry! I uploaded the wrong chapter! It is now fixed!
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The crack of lightning tearing through a dark room split the din of battle. It was followed an instant later by the dying screech of a Ogreling. The huge, flabby monster collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash, smo...
2025-09-12 16:00:27 +0000 UTC View PostWind sliced by Noah’s hair and stung his eyes. He squinted at the map clutched in his hands before him, trying to make it out through the whips of fog lashing him as he passed through the low-hanging clouds.
I can’t read this damned thing for shit.
It probably didn’t he...
2025-09-12 16:00:27 +0000 UTC View Post“What is this?” Rodrick asked.
Two looked back at the other man with weary eyes. He was so tired that he could barely think straight — but he could think just enough to realize just how dense he’d been.
It should have been obvious a long time ago. The signs were all there. But...
2025-09-11 16:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostSeleth longed for home.
It had only been three days since she’d left, but a large part of her already wanted to return. Her pack hung heavy against her shoulders and her sides hurt something fierce. She blinked heavily, resisting the urge to rub at her dried eyes.
Never before had s...
2025-09-11 16:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostFar-sed watched the clouds. He kept his hands crossed behind his back, face unreadable and posture as stiff as a rod for long after no traces of the man remained upon the horizon. Far-sed may as well have been a statue.
He didn’t move, even as the woman joined him upon the battlements. Sh...
2025-09-10 16:00:25 +0000 UTC View PostNOTE TO ADVANCED TIER READERS: Please be aware there were a number of chapters uploaded during the break that were single chapters. I'm going to upload them as a large chunk soon in case you happened to miss them. But until then, if you're confused about what's going on -- check the advanced tier...
2025-09-10 16:00:22 +0000 UTC View PostRodrick was a very complicated man. But making armor for him was surprisingly straightforward. Arwin didn’t even have to think for more than a few minutes before he’d determined exactly what he wanted it to do.
A man like Rodrick valued utility more than anything else. He needed somethi...
2025-09-10 16:00:22 +0000 UTC View PostTwo had always considered himself something of a rather empathetic individual… but he preferred to keep a certain degree of professional boundary whenever possible with everyone he worked with.
Eleven had been a bit of an exception. There was something about the way that she literally did...
2025-09-09 16:33:05 +0000 UTC View PostNoah leaned back in his chair, unable to resist the urge to rock it back onto its hind legs. Far-sed sat across from him, his tanned skin slightly pale as he watched Noah with flighty eyes. He looked like he half expected Noah to tear the entire building down around them.
Far-sed had invite...
2025-09-09 16:32:34 +0000 UTC View PostArwin wiped sweat from his brow. His arms ached. He couldn’t remember the last time that he’d actually gotten sore from smithing. Arwin also wasn’t entirely sure how long he’d been working.
He knew it hadn’t yet been a week. If it had, somebody from the Menagerie would have come t...
2025-09-08 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostArwin lost himself in the song. His body moved to its own accord and the ring of Caldera against metal echoed through his mind like a distant drum. It was impossible to say for how long they’d been working, but it didn’t feel like it had been long.
He’d only managed to lead the group ...
2025-09-08 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostAlex activated his domain instantly. He blinked away from the Forsaken Revenant, re-appearing beside Claire and the others, but the monster didn’t even try to stop him. It just stood there.
Staring.
“Well,” Wess said. “That worked. Can I shoot it now?”
“Like that did...
2025-09-08 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View Post“Give it back,” the Revenant wheezed, its entire body twitching and jerking like a glitching game avatar. The vertical seam splitting the monster’s body undulated. Gossamer thread spilled out from the churning blue maw within it. “Give it back.”
“Don’t worry,” Derek growled,...
2025-09-07 16:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post“You can’t do that,” Thane said.
Vireth stared at him.
He stared back at her.
“What?” Vireth asked, so stunned that the malice in her voice completely cracked.
“You can’t just go around claiming people,” Thane said. “That isn’t how it works.”
...
2025-09-05 16:00:26 +0000 UTC View PostThe rocks reminded Noah of cereal.
Not the kind of cereal that anyone ever should have been putting into their body — and that wasn’t because they were rocks. It was the colors. Nothing that vibrant was ever meant to be edible, but that logic had never stopped children.
The rocks,...
2025-09-05 16:00:26 +0000 UTC View PostThe Forsaken Revenant didn’t need to be asked twice. The monster lurched forward in a blur of shadowy limbs, closing the distance between itself and Alex so fast that he barely even had an instant to register the motion.
Alex’s stomach clenched as he pulled on the Singularity Core. Even...
2025-09-05 16:00:26 +0000 UTC View PostDinner came shortly after a bath — one which Arwin made absolutely certain not to be late for — and he joined the gathering members of the Menagerie in the bottom floor of the Devil’s Den.
The rest of the adventurers had vacated the premises for the night, and the only ones that still...
2025-09-04 16:00:21 +0000 UTC View PostThane took another step back, his mouth going dry. He normally considered himself the type of man who took calculated risks. Esmerelda had made it clear that the cursed weapon wasn’t going to take kindly to its prey getting snatched.
But Esmerelda was… well, Esmerelda. She could deal wi...
2025-09-04 16:00:21 +0000 UTC View PostLorne drew in the hissing breath of a man torn abruptly from a deep, deep sleep. His eyes snapped open and his back went as straight as a rod. A dozen thoughts slithered through his head in a flurried rush. One or two of them might have even been coherent. That level of consciousness was consider...
2025-09-04 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View Post“This action is inadvisable,” the Heart warned. “Passage through the Beyond is—”
“I didn’t ask if it was advisable,” Noah said sharply. His eyes went narrow. He didn’t need the Heart to start giving him shit now. The last thing he needed was to try and hunt around the Hear...
2025-09-03 16:00:26 +0000 UTC View PostAlex took a step back. He stared up at the Forsaken Revenant through the hole in the ceiling. Never before had he been this close to it — close enough to see strands of frosty power that coiled hungrily within its eyes like the tendrils of some ancient eldritch creature.
His insides wrung...
2025-09-03 16:00:26 +0000 UTC View Post“Vanessa!” Thane exclaimed, his voice full of false cheer. “What are you doing here? I thought you were busy working!”
“Oh, you know,” Vanessa said, waving a hand dismissively before herself. “The Menagerie paid me so well that I might have gone on a bit of a bender. Got into ...
2025-09-03 16:00:24 +0000 UTC View PostDays flew by. Noah spent the majority of his time in Access Point 4, getting very well acquainted with the training golem. The prediction he’d given the Devourer proved to be even more accurate than he had hoped.
With the near-unbelievable resources of the Citadel, every minute he spent p...
2025-08-23 16:04:54 +0000 UTC View Post