Arwin finished Anna’s new armor in just about four days of work. With Vix and Wallace backing him up, it turned out to be a fairly straightforward project. The hardest part had probably been ensuring Vix got a good feeling for what they were doing so that she wouldn’t have any surprises when ...
2025-11-18 16:00:26 +0000 UTC View PostArwin set the sleek chestplate of black metal down. He referenced the blueprint hanging on the far end of the Infernal Armory’s walls once more, then nodded slightly to himself. Everything was on track.
“How is it?” Vix asked nervously from his side. “Did we make it correctly? I did...
2025-11-17 17:04:40 +0000 UTC View PostOctavian blew out a weary breath. This was not how he’d seen this mission going. And that was saying quite a bit. He’d expected things to transform into a bit of a nightmare as the Tournament grew closer.
Inviting a number of Obsidia’s most powerful and dangerous warriors to the same ...
2025-11-17 17:03:49 +0000 UTC View PostAlex sat with his legs crossed beneath him and the pressure of the Cultivation Array bearing down on him incessantly. Droplets of sweat rolled down the sides of his neck and his teeth clenched tight enough to bite into a bar of steel.
Some part of him had been convinced that he’d eventual...
2025-11-17 17:01:56 +0000 UTC View Post“Who?” Alex asked, blinking in surprise. “Hazel?”
“Of… House Crimson?” Claire coughed into her fist. “You can’t be serious. She’s from the Outworlder Family we robbed? Multiple times, I might add?”
“Do you think she figured out that we’re not too fri...
2025-11-16 15:59:22 +0000 UTC View PostIt took Alex just about two hours to condense all the magical power into water in his basin and drain it entirely. He spent every single drop of the energy empowering his Mind Palace.
Curiously enough, he didn’t trigger a falling star this time around. Perhaps more energy was needed every...
2025-11-14 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe next two days slipped by so fast that Arwin barely even had a chance to realize that they’d gone by. He barely had any free time to himself. Just about every single second he — and the rest of the Menagerie — had was spent on preparing for the auction.
Anticipation hung in the air...
2025-11-14 07:49:13 +0000 UTC View PostNoah’s eyes snapped open to find his mouth watering. The smell of cooked crab had filled the air with such an intensity that he could literally taste it. It was joined by the faint crackle and warmth of a fire at his back.
He turned.
Lee sat behind him, holding a massive crab leg ea...
2025-11-13 15:58:46 +0000 UTC View PostLillia let out a slow, measured breath. She leaned back on her bed, pulling her knees up to her chest as she let the blanket of ever-present darkness in her room envelop her. It had been a few days since the Mausoleum had been completed.
Everyone was hard at work with their own projects. Ar...
2025-11-13 15:58:09 +0000 UTC View PostNo sound emerged from within the Mausoleum after Madiv entered it. There weren’t any more earthquakes or surprise tremors either. As far as Arwin was concerned, that was a good sign. It gave the Menagerie time to herd the thin crowd of watching adventurers away from the street and back to their...
2025-11-12 16:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostNote, some small tweaks to the previous chapter to address the volcano rune stuff
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“Okay,” Lee said, looking down at the remains of what had once been a crab the size of a small mansion. Its legs had been strewn about the lazy river gurgling off to their side and the smell o...
2025-11-12 16:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostAlex spent just around thirty minutes in the Cultivation Array. He didn’t want to go knocking himself out again, but the effects of the building were incredible. It was like the world’s most effective acupuncture.
There was absolutely nothing comfortable about the experience. Guiding th...
2025-11-12 16:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post“Lava,” Noah muttered to himself. “I am lava.”
The massive expanse of his mindspace stretched out all around him, an audience of runes watching on in rapt attention. They didn’t really have much choice. It wasn’t like they could go anywhere.
Noah tried not to think too muc...
2025-11-11 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostLoud cracks echoed through the Auction House around Arwin. He staggered as huge cracks split through the ground, racing across the stone faster than his eyes could follow them. It took everything he had to keep his balance in the face of the immense tremors shaking the earth under his feet.
“We have bigger problems than Dorne,” Rodrick said. He interlaced his fingers on the table and leaned back in his chair. “Well. Not problems. But Dorne won’t be one from here on out. So we can focus on the things that actually interest us… such as figuring out who the next person to Sun...
2025-11-11 16:00:18 +0000 UTC View Post“The Empty Court?” Finley’s eyes went wide. “What do they have to do with anything? How do you even know who they are?”
“Long story,” Alex said. He banished his bone mask and tuxedo back into the ring on his finger with a thought, revealing his face for the first time since en...
2025-11-10 16:00:27 +0000 UTC View PostThe Menagerie waited until evening had fallen to act. As much as they wanted to keep things moving, awakening a building while their street was stuffed chock full of adventurers was just asking for something to go wrong. There were too many ways that a fight could accidentally go sideways and dra...
2025-11-10 16:00:21 +0000 UTC View PostNoah had never been more thankful to have Sunder.
That was, perhaps, a slight exaggeration. There had definitely been a few times where Sunder had bailed his ass out of a fire that nothing else could have saved him. But getting new runes without the presence of his original Master Rune woul...
2025-11-10 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View Post“Is the message finished?” Claire asked, watching Alex’s face expectantly.
“Yes,” Alex said. His voice sounded slightly distant to his own ears. Something about that whole interaction had been even odder than he’d expected. It wasn’t even just that Teddy had somehow been able ...
2025-11-09 16:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post“Teddy,” Alex said through clenched teeth. He knew Teddy couldn’t hear him, but he couldn’t help himself. It felt like it had been years since the last time he’d seen his former best friend. But, unsurprisingly, Teddy looked exactly the same as he always had. That was somehow rather inf...
2025-11-07 16:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostWe're now caught up. Cheers!
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Arwin strode down the street behind Koyu, his weariness falling away like the rotting petals of a flower as anger sharpened his mind. They’d left the rest of the Menagerie that had been with them in the Infernal Armory behind to keep an eye on Vix....
2025-11-07 16:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostOctavian stood in stunned disbelief for nearly a minute. The man’s domain swept over the room in a dozen different ways as he tried to trace Moxie. He kicked the pile of dirt and bone where she’d once been in search of the faintest clues and scoured his surroundings for anything at all.
Arwin let Caldera lower as he looked upon the results of his work. It would be impossible to tell just how successful he’d been until he installed everything, but as far as he could tell, he’d been successful. The pieces to awaken the Auction House were complete.
He banished his hammer ...
2025-11-06 16:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post“Death mage?” Moxie asked, tilting her head to the side. She didn’t let her gaze break away from the tattooed man standing at the base of the stairs a few dozen paces away from her. “The way you phrased that makes it feel like an accusation.”
“Not an accusation,” the man said....
2025-11-05 16:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostAlex froze.
Orchid’s words echoed in his ears, but it took his brain several seconds longer to actually try to process their meaning. It failed. Some part of him was convinced that he’d completely misheard whatever she’d just said.
Claire caught onto his unease instantly. Her ey...
2025-11-05 16:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostThane was having a little trouble figuring out how he was meant to transport an unconscious body. Dragging the man straight through the street wasn’t going to work. Too many people would notice. And, worse some of them would poke their noses into the alleyway to find the slaughtered remains of ...
2025-11-05 16:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostSong filled Arwin’s mind. Layers upon layers of magic wove through every level of his being. The Infernal Armory’s presence connected him to the others and pumped all of them full of magical energy to ensure they wouldn’t run short during the operation.
Vix laid on the obsidian platfo...
2025-11-05 16:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostThere were just about two weeks left until the tournament. Noah and Lee traveled quite the distance. They were certainly getting closer to Aqua Terra. It might not have been entirely accurate to say they were on a straight path to it, but they weren’t completely lost either.
The two of th...
2025-11-04 16:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostThane kept his hand on Vireth’s hilt, his eyes narrow. The alleyway was just deep enough that they were out of sight of the crowd. But no matter if anyone could see them or not, the sound of a fight wasn’t exactly that easy to conceal. There wasn’t even a reason to let things get as far as ...
2025-11-04 16:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostA droplet of water splashed against the back of Seleth’s neck. She nearly leapt a foot into the air, biting down on a surprised yelp a moment before it could leave her mouth. What emerged ended up being more of a strangled whimpering hiss.
She glanced up at the ceiling of the massive cave...
2025-11-03 16:00:23 +0000 UTC View Post