James led his mixed team of humans and monsters over the border into the swamp.
Dave and Damien took up the leads to his left and right.
There was an immediately noticeable shift in the terrain. The firm soil of the Fisher Kingdom gave way to soft, moist ground, which eventually turne...
2024-04-14 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAfter the wolves had calmed and ceased their howling, after James had sent an announcement explaining that the wolves’ howling was good news rather than some kind of monster attack, and after he had described the situation with the neighbors and his thinking to all the monsters present, James r...
2024-04-13 19:26:45 +0000 UTC View PostAfter he had announced the establishment of the Fisher Kingdom’s first dungeon, James returned to the apartment through the same route by which he’d left it.
“So that was what you needed some time to yourself for?” Mina asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.
James nodded. “Wel...
2024-04-13 18:35:45 +0000 UTC View PostAdon walked the long and lonely path through the darkness that had daunted him last time.
It was quieter than he remembered here. Adon’s inner voice wasn’t taunting him now. The success of his last visit had done a lot for his confidence.
So it became a matter of retracing his ste...
2024-04-09 15:58:56 +0000 UTC View PostIn the morning, James got up early and made his family a hearty breakfast.
He used a frying pan that someone had recovered from one of the old apartments, flames that he could generate from his own body and control at will, and ingredients he’d found in Carol’s Retail. It really was a b...
2024-04-08 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostYou laid your eggs? Adon’s tone was colored by a mixture of nervousness and excitement.
I did, Goldie replied. Her inner voice carried that same weariness Adon had already noticed.
You sound tired, Goldie. Are you okay?
I think so, she repli...
2024-04-08 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post“When you say, ‘two neighbors we might need to go to war with,’ I guess the first thing I should ask is why,” James said. “But honestly, what I really want to know is whether they’re human or monster.”
“Still not fighting humans,” Mina said, smiling thinly. “Is that surp...
2024-04-08 03:45:26 +0000 UTC View PostShould I have told him that I feel a connection to my past life too? Rosslyn asked herself for the fourth time since her meeting with the caterpillar Adon. And again, she shook her head and dismissed the idea. I would just sound like a fraud. I have only flashes of memory and vague i...
2024-04-08 00:20:50 +0000 UTC View PostJames led his new followers across the vast landscape that separated the old law office building from the Fisher Kingdom. He led them through the latter part of the day and after the darkness faded into night.
Unlike the trip to the firm office, which had been relaxed, almost like a hot air...
2024-04-04 16:27:00 +0000 UTC View PostAdon’s energy ball shot forward from between his mandibles, straight toward the fascinated crow.
As he watched, it struck the crow between the eyes. The projectile kept moving after hitting, as if the crow’s body provided almost no resistance. It burned a neat hole through the center of...
2024-04-03 13:00:24 +0000 UTC View Post“James will be back home early tomorrow, then?” Mina confirmed.
“Correct,” the Artificial Spider said.
“He had better be,” she muttered. “James is not going to leave me stuck with all this Fisher Kingdom business. He said he wanted to be a conqueror. That means he runs t...
2024-04-02 02:47:07 +0000 UTC View PostEdited to reflect that two eggs survived Adon's previous attack, not one. Thanks, carebear!
After Adon and the Princess said their goodbyes, he hopped up onto the side of the box of scraps the Vendetta Ants had died pursuing.
In what felt like a miracle, the cardboard seemed to be com...
2024-04-01 03:51:22 +0000 UTC View PostEdited to clarify some end of chapter decisions!
Magic? Adon thought. I guess I do have magic now. A little bit. Just healing, though. It’s not exactly useful for killing enemies. He didn’t know if that was something the Princess would be impressed by. And he wasn’t ...
2024-03-30 17:45:15 +0000 UTC View PostJames stared into the space where he imagined the Goblin King’s eyes were.
He still couldn’t see the figure, but since he held the Goblin King’s throat in his hand, he had a pretty good idea of where to look for eye contact.
It was fortunate that his senses were superhuman. Even...
2024-03-29 22:43:27 +0000 UTC View PostAs the next group of Goblin Knights prepared to charge, Duncan used his power to cast a low energy, but highly effective, illusion on the human.
This was a trick he had played on more than a dozen humans at once before, and that was before the System crowned him the Goblin King. Even if thi...
2024-03-27 15:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostGoldie gestured with her forelimbs to mimic a mouth opening and closing. She obviously wanted to know what had happened. She could tell that something important had taken place.
Adon activated Telepathy for a split second, just to send a quick message.
Used all my Mana, can’t ta...
2024-03-26 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostWell, there are a lot more of these things than I was expecting, James thought. My quality definitely beats theirs. Who was it that said quantity has a quality all its own, though?
His Non-Elemental Mana ball bounced off the ground, and he used the opportunity to survey th...
2024-03-26 15:20:44 +0000 UTC View PostAdon found himself in a field of darkness that was qualitatively different than it had ever been before.
On previous visits, he had found himself in a black infinity that seemed simultaneously empty and inaccessible. A void that had the property of being closed off to him. The black space w...
2024-03-25 02:55:05 +0000 UTC View PostAdon opened his Status back up, and he accessed the Evolution Store.
There was no aimless wandering this time. He had clear ideas of the things he wanted, and he looked for them efficiently, almost impatiently. He felt a terrible sense of wasted time. Maybe he was just filled with a burning...
2024-03-23 22:32:58 +0000 UTC View PostAdon moved dozens of sparks of Mana from his antennae to his Silk Spinner. Back and forth. Under his belly and over his back. A repeated pattern that only increased in complexity as he kept adding more sparks from the core of orange light within him.
He managed to divide his focus enough to...
2024-03-21 18:25:20 +0000 UTC View PostYes! Yes!!! I feel great. I’ve done it!
Adon still didn’t know quite what he’d done, but the feeling of accomplishment nevertheless filled him with boundless energy and enthusiasm.
He carefully shoved his sparks of Mana back whence they had come, into that oran...
2024-03-21 15:10:40 +0000 UTC View PostAs the shapes of the approaching enemies became clear, James raised an eyebrow. The image that presented itself before his eyes only created further questions.
Four Mole People moved forward—and seated on their backs, hunched figures sat, dressed in ragged clothing. The figures were somew...
2024-03-20 19:39:10 +0000 UTC View Post“So we need to make up our minds,” Mitzi summed up.
“I would say so,” Alan agreed.
“I still think we made the right decision back at the Fisher Kingdom,” she said gently. Lowering her voice, she added, “I also think I agree with James about the, uh, former criminals. I r...
2024-03-18 16:07:39 +0000 UTC View PostPrincess Rosslyn stepped into the palace chapel and looked around carefully.
Celeste said he called for me. Am I early?
No, there he was, seated in a darkened nook. He held a closed copy of The Beauty of Creation, the Goddess’s most sacred text, in his lap. His eye...
2024-03-17 23:20:46 +0000 UTC View PostMunch munch. Chomp chomp. Gobble gobble. Gulp.
Adon woke to find himself nom nom nomming on a hefty piece of vegetation. He only vaguely recognized the taste. Cucumber? He had never seen cucumbers growing in the garden before. But this didn’t feel like a memory.
As his visi...
2024-03-16 00:24:16 +0000 UTC View PostRosslyn had passed a restless night, tossing and turning in her sleep, after her second encounter with Matilda.
She had found herself dreading dinner with her father all morning as well. He had been absent for last night’s dinner.
“He is away on state business,” Carolien had sai...
2024-03-14 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostJames turned and began walking toward the front doors.
“Well—hey, wait! Are-are you gonna do it or what?” Dean’s voice came through the air behind him.
I’m so profoundly disappointed in you, Dean. James didn’t bother answering the question. His answer would be obv...
2024-03-14 03:30:57 +0000 UTC View PostThank Goddess, we are saved!
That was Goldie’s first thought. But she also had no idea where the sparrow was flying. As she dangled beneath the bird by the slender muscle of the lizard’s tongue, she realized that it wasn’t going to be easy to free herself.
The spider ha...
2024-03-13 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostGoldie fed morsel after morsel of food into the black hole that was Adon’s mouth.
There were moments when she wanted to laugh. Her little friend had such a voracious appetite. Typical caterpillar!
And there were moments of terror, when she understood that the food she was g...
2024-03-12 14:57:13 +0000 UTC View PostDarkness and light cycled back and forth in Adon’s vision.
He had sunk into a diminished state of awareness, but he didn’t think the changes in levels of light were because days were passing. Despite his weakened sense of time, he was near certain that what was actually happening was hi...
2024-03-11 18:01:09 +0000 UTC View Post