WarbyPicus

Vol. 1 Chap. 10 The Second Wave's Hidden Knife!

They came piling out of the woods, churning up the charnel house remains of their comrades. Long, human hands supporting their four legged, leaping lope. Claw-like fingers flexed like toes to launch the monsters up and over obstacles. Their horned heads screaming their hate and defiance at the sk...

Vol. 1 Chap. 9 The Second Wave Begins

The orders of the day were done. Night was coming. The monsters were coming.

I put people in their places. Radz fit neatly on her firing platform. Versai swore blind that the monsters only attacked in melee. I hoped she was right, because otherwise Radz was no-lucky-chances-permitted DEAD. ...

Vol. 1 Chap. 8 But First, A Very Special Offer!

I jogged back up to the Throne Room, just to make sure I had gotten through all the non-combat assignments. And to collect the rewards, naturally!

Let’s see, I visited the map room for the first time, that’s worth… Huh. Forty Rune Bones. With which I can purchase… nothing...

Vol. 1 Chap. 7 The First Expedition

Rested and refreshed after advancing to Day 2, I merrily marched to my newly opened Map Room. It was three floors down from the throne room, but I was starting to get a bit suspicious of the Tower’s geography. The floors were all connected by a single spiral staircase, the doors (sealed or othe...

Vol. 1 Chap. 6 First Loot!

I looked out over the torn up trees. Leaking corpses of deformed monstrosities lay where they fell. Skewered on branches, or stakes, or trampled by their fellows. “Like Christmas at Guillermo del Toro’s house,” I muttered.

“Pardon, Tower Master?” Versai asked. She still looked imm...

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 12 Volcano Country

This is the life. Truth sighed contentedly. He stretched and twisted, deigning to eat a chunk of melon as the spellhounds ran furiously up and down the lines of traffic. How did I live without a spatial ring? What kind of miserable existence was that?

”Have your document...

Vol. 1 Chap. 5 The First Wave

Nobody got hungry or thirsty. I could have ignored it earlier, but by the end of a long and busy day, it was inescapable. I… wasn’t hungry. More than not hungry, I didn’t feel the compulsion to eat.

There is something that comes upon you when you are very fat. You are rarely truly hun...

Vol. 1 Chap. 4 No Job For A Man

“Versai, any idea when I should expect the first monster wave?” I lead my tiny army back towards the stairs. There was a whole rest of the tower to explore, and then trees to harvest, defenses to make, and maybe some wandering monsters to pick off. Ooh! Rache might even discover something spe...

Vol. 1 Chap. 3 They Aren’t Dolls, They Are Poseable Figurines and it’s Not Weird to Collect Them!

The long pool went misty, as a muted, but somewhat upbeat, celestial choir sang. A sad step down from when I pulled Versai. Still, it looked nice. I was excited to see what my first thousand crystal pull would get.

“Don’t get too excited.” Versai looked cooly into the mists. “One St...

Vol. 1 Chap. 2 Rise, My Loyal Blade!

The cloaked pervert waved his? hands quickly. “I really don’t have much time. Most of the tower stuff is pretty self explanatory. Explore and you will figure everything out. There are monsters outside. Don’t worry about what they are called, their backstory, any of that.”

“I doesn...

Vol. 1 Chap. 1. Thirst Trap = Death Trap

I shook my head in disgust at the tasteless sexualization of women in advertising. A bodaciously busty vampire beauty, with a distinctive gold hairpiece and a dress that existed more in theory than practice, bit her lower lip as she looked up at me from my phone. There was more fire than smoke in...

New Book Rolling Out for Barefoot Prophets At 1pm Eastern

Every five minutes, a new chapter. First five drop today, next five tomorrow, then five more over the balance of the week. By the end of the week, you will be 15 chapters ahead of RR. 

I really hope you enjoy- it's about as far from Slumrat as I could imagine writing!

2024-03-18 16:04:47 +0000 UTC View Post

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 11 One Small Step

Truth had his priorities straight. After zipping away from the Embassy of Siphios and the alarming number of recording talismans, watcher spirits and unmarked, windowless ‘delivery wagons' parked up and down the street, he followed the signs to the local supermarket.

He let his eyes go so...

I promised you something dramatic...

As of today, everyone will have wrapped up Vol. 3 of Slumrat Rising (or, at least, gotten access to it through their membership tier). Now, my deal with Podium was for three books. Obviously I'm continuing to write Slumrat Rising! I expect to hear back from Podium eventually about whether they wa...

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 10 One Weird Trick

Truth sat and read the spellbook for Earth Folding Step. It was the longest single spell he had ever seen, blowing past Incisive and Cup and Knife. The Meditations would be practically a footnote in comparison. He got it, though. Those spells were intended to grow based on your understanding of t...

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 9 Hammered Out

Three spells to choose from. First- Earth Folding Step. Direct combat utility was… more than zero, but not a big number. More tactical than direct damage. The ability to instantly close and retreat would be an enormous edge, as would the ability to directly scram out of combat. Or run down flee...

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 8 New Tools

Merkovah lead Truth from the enchanted conference room to a small interview room. It was just big enough for two chairs, a desk, and extremely robust privacy protections. Truth wasn’t entirely fit to talk. The old monster gave him time to pull himself together. Flipping through the books in the...

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 7 Happy Ending Guarenteed

Truth thought about it a bit longer. He could sort of see what they were getting at. The conversion process, at least while he was working for Starbrite, took years to be fully effective. Or, at least, for a complete personality change, which was probably the only indication the job was done.

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 6 Persuasive

Truth wasn’t sure of the etiquette here. Normally, he would start the sentence with “Ms.-” but being a Siphios aristocrat, the old lady didn’t have a last name. “Madame-” and a job title was also a valid choice, also impossible due to him not actually knowing her job title. Madame Amb...

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 5 Blessings of the Elders

The smell of the incense mixed with the woodsmoke and the coffee to create something incredible. A sensory mist that spoke to them, and the world around them. It was the only one talking. The group sat quietly around the fire, plainly not clear on where to start.

“Just to confirm- you res...

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 4 From Siphios With Love

It took twenty minutes for the receptionist to return. Truth noticed that, regrettably, she did not have any coffee. Worse, she was also giving him a distinctly odd look. Well hidden, but he was used to spotting odd looks by now. She, apparently, was used to spotting disappointment.

“Sorr...

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 3 Rain, Rain, Go Away

Truth raced the sunset into the big city on the river. His road atlas claimed, to Truth’s deep suspicion, that the name of the town was “The Hot Male Side of the Shang River.” Which was clearly stupid on several levels, not least of which being that the river (according to that same road at...

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 2 If It's Stupid But It Works...

The iron horse ate up the kilometers, running south and west, paralleling the plume of smoke and ash from the volcano. People were on the roads, trying to evacuate. Some people were let through, long buses pulled by seven legged lizards carefully screened by the checkpoints. Others were turned ba...

To The Far Shore Has Been Pirated on Amazon, Do NOT Buy

Bit of a bummer announcement on the day Vol. 2 of Slumrat Rising's release, but-

Someone has uploaded my first novel, To The Far Shore on Amazon. The cover has been mirrored and the synopsis run through ChatGPT to replace the words with synonyms, but it's plainly the same. Worse, they are u...

Slumrat Rising Vol. 5 Chap. 1 Bonfire Morning

Truth raced down the highway on his stolen iron horse, scarf wrapped over his face, demon perched on his shoulder. The sky burned red, as the war he started raged below it. He was responsible for the sky too- the volcanic eruption he set off was vomiting ash into the air and blotting out the sun....

And So Ends Vol. 3!

It was a long, wild ride, but we got there. From blown up and in the ocean at the southern tip of Jeongo, to going to orbit out of an exploding volcano in the extreme north of Jeon, in only ~300,000 words. That is a low estimate, but if you figure 150 chapters of roughly 2k words each, the math m...

Vol. 4 Chap. 85 Looking Down on the World

The Shattervoid swarmed around their lost girl- uncles and cousins the size of mountains and rivers. Aunties who stepped between the stars. Brothers? Sisters? Sibs of the sea of stars? Truth had lost sight of Sally. He must still be within her, he knew, but it felt like he was standing in the voi...

Vol. 4 Chap. 84 Uplifted

The High Level glared at him. The base was shaking steadily now. There were booms coming from upstairs, and the walls were shaking. He could smell the sulfur reek. Was it getting hotter? “The Hell do you think that actually achieved? We tattooed restrictions directly on her. Fuck it. Playtime i...

Vol. 4 Chap. 83 Diving In

For once, it wasn’t the fault of Truth’s horrible education. He just didn’t think. There was a lot going on. The sulphuric gas, heated to some five hundred degrees, wouldn't combust without oxygen. He knew that but had forgotten it for the moment. So Truth ripped open a base full of fresh, ...

Vol. 4 Chap. 82 It's Not Smart, But Maybe It's Right

There was a sticky feeling to the moment. A second that stretched past all normal bounds, tugged long by fear and lucid madness. Taffy time, glued to a fool’s fingers. Truth had no idea what the hell was going on with the phoenix. Not one clue. Nothing good, if the whole base was mining 2024-02-27 17:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post