Because there was an error in scheduling, the free chapters have caught up to iron rank as of the latest chapter. As this is not something I wanted to happen, I've decided to to release the final chapters for iron rank before the December break early.
The free release schedule is now on bre...
2021-11-27 10:38:40 +0000 UTC View PostCarlos sat on a pew, head in his hands. He felt a warm hand rest on his shoulder.
“You aren’t expected to be perfect, Carlos.”
“I hurt a man I was there to help because I was pushing him to help me kill, whatever I might have told him. And myself. What kind of a priest does th...
2021-11-26 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post“You’re saying the god of Purity is pulling a Wizard of Oz?” Jason asked. He was reclined in a cloud chair while Carlos sat facing him on a cloud stool.
“I don’t know what that means,” Carlos said.
“It means there’s no actual god and it’s just some bloke in a booth....
2021-11-25 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Everyone out,” Arabelle said, ushering the team from Jason’s room as Carlos approached the cloud bed.
“Good to see you,” Jason told him.
“I heard it was Princess Liara’s idea to call me in,” Carlos told him. “That was good thinking. I’ve been aware of the Order of...
2021-11-24 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m about to ask you to do something,” Dawn said. “Before I do, I’m going to need some of you to leave. Clive, Taika and Travis. Rufus, Farrah and Gary. You can’t be here for this and I need you to not ask why.”
Clive looked at Dawn for only a moment before nodding, grabbing ...
2021-11-23 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostAs I've previously announced, I'll be taking some time off and here is the final schedule for break times. There will be a few differences to previous large breaks I've taken and I'll be going over them here.
Belinda’s escape from the Order of the Redeeming Light’s stronghold, leaving a dock full of ruined submarines in her wake, was not made alone. Her companion was neither the one she hoped for nor intended, but she knew full well that no plan went perfectly.
The need for improvisation had...
2021-11-22 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThere was no one in the small lounge area when the bomb went off and it did nothing more than smash up and knock around some furniture. The goal was neither harm nor damage but to trigger the alarm and sow some chaos. People were quick to scramble but they were running everywhere, knowing they sh...
2021-11-19 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Clear,” Shade signalled Belinda. She was wary of using her aura senses to check for order members as it wasn't in character, so Shade was serving as lookout. The tunnels of the stronghold were dug right out of the mountain and carved smooth. Wall sconces provided light from glow stones but t...
2021-11-18 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostUnder the sense-suppressing hood, Melody shouldn’t have been able to sense anything. Even the oppressive aura pervading the strange cloud building had been cut off once the hood was yanked back over her head. So when that aura punched through the hood, stronger than ever, it was a startling exp...
2021-11-17 22:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostLiara’s marriage had never been one of great passion. A political arrangement made when she and Baseph were young, their relationship had nonetheless grown over the decades. Friends and often lovers, their true shared love was their children, now grown. Only one of their children was local, hav...
2021-11-16 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostSlipping Belinda into the ranks of the Order of Redeeming Light had been almost startlingly easy. The order had not anticipated the Adventure Society sending a response to the mining complex so quickly and their teams had been caught by surprise. A number of the teams had scattered after coming o...
2021-11-15 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostJason’s team all looked to him with grim expressions.
“Maybe we don’t have to be so drastic,” Neil suggested. “Instead of trying to portal all the way out, Jason opens one a couple of tunnels away and we leave nothing but an empty room for the enemy.”
“Is that viable, Ja...
2021-11-12 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostWhat was called a safe room was actually several rooms, set out like a dormitory. There was a communal room into which the entrance opened, with metal tables and chairs in uniform rows, all affixed to the floor. It reminded Jason of a prison, or at least what prisons looked like in movies and tel...
2021-11-11 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe team was only one tunnel segment away from Baseph Rimaros, but that segment was filled with water.
“It should be fine,” Clive said. “It’ll drain into the hole we came up through.”
As Clive went to work on bringing down the next barrier wall, Jason reached out through Sha...
2021-11-10 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThat the two gold-rankers sent to the underwater facility had been available was a stroke of good fortune. Claud Ferringhaas was an expert manipulator of water and stone, with his earth, water, shovel and verdant essences. He was an agricultural expert and only part-time adventurer, although his ...
2021-11-09 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostWhen the two gold-rankers racing to the underwater mining facility arrived at the submarine dock, they found the surface of the water sealed with a magical barrier, shimmering red with shifting yellow runes. The barrier was only from a bronze-rank ritual so they easily forced their way through. T...
2021-11-08 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostJason and Melody faced one another in the magically sealed section of tunnel, both standing lightly on the water.
“You know, then,” she said.
“There’s a guy who’s pretty keen to catch you up.”
“You’re helping someone catch your friend’s mother?”
“Nah,...
2021-11-05 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostClive tossed a pinch of powdered lesser monster core against the wall, briefly causing runes to light up as the powder fell on them.
“I was right,” he said. “There are hidden enchantments placed at regular intervals along all these tunnels.”
“What do they do?” Humphrey ask...
2021-11-04 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostUnsurprisingly, the Purity worshippers had no shortage of powers that could cleanse Jason’s afflictions. Those afflictions were unusually tenacious and inflicted harm as they were removed, but it was not an insurmountable task. This was especially true given that the Order of Redeeming Light se...
2021-11-03 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostJason returned to the submarine dock, again emerging from Shade’s body, behind the high stack of crates. He immediately strode out from behind the stack, the opposite of hiding as his aura flooded out. Its oppressive presence masked the appearance of the portal that rose behind him, still hidde...
2021-11-02 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostA mining complex lay not just deep beneath the surface but even below the sea floor itself. A sprawling network of facilities linked by a tangled web of tunnels contained a process that went from mining rare ores to refining them and finally transporting them to Rimaros and other cities throughou...
2021-11-01 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostFirstly, I'd like to thank everyone for the cavalcade of well-wishes I have received. The response to 'you're not getting chapters next week' being so unanimously supportive has been astounding and gratifying. You are all amazing, thank you.
Chapters will resume on the normal schedu...
2021-11-01 08:34:03 +0000 UTC View PostTL;DR:
After sensing Vidal’s approach, Jason had tamped down the aura of the cloud house to hide its nature as a spirit domain. Unlike with the people of Earth, anyone from Pallimustus with aura senses would immediately recognise the similarity to the aura of a temple. Jason couldn’t hide that from ...
2021-10-22 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostSophie and Humphrey sat in cloud chairs facing one another, leaning forward with her hands held in his.
“You know he’s going to come back,” Humphrey said. “We have some decisions to make. We always intended to go looking for your mother once we hit silver rank. Of course, Clive’s ...
2021-10-21 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostBelinda repeatedly thwapped at Sophie’s head with a softcover notebook as Sophie fended her off with her arms. As Sophie shifted in her seat under the attacks, the puppy napping in her lap made a grumbling sound.
“What were you thinking, running off by yourself into some trap?” Belind...
2021-10-20 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostA portal power at Jason’s current rank of silver four had a base range of two-thousand and four-hundred kilometres, which was true for every portal or long-range teleport ability. Jason was able to eke out some extra range because of the various effects connecting him to the astral, although it...
2021-10-19 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostLiara was flooded with a strange sensation the moment she stepped fully inside Jason Asano's cloud house. There was a sense of oppression to it which only heightened as the open wall closed behind her, sealing her in. The aura pervading the place wasn't exactly stronger than Jason's own, but it f...
2021-10-18 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostWatching the skimmer from a hidden position in the jungle canopy, Sophie observed the eight men riding in it. Stealth was not her forte, but scouting was a key role for her so she was at least adequate at hiding her aura. With the inexpert auras of the men she watching, it was more than enough. 2021-10-15 22:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post