As he left Isaiah’s office, Elijah had no idea what to do. The situation in Hong Kong sounded dire, but Elijah was in no position to help. He only had six months before the Trial of Primacy, and he had a lot of work to do before he would feel ready for whatever challenges it would p...
2024-05-14 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Again!” spat Master Silas as he loomed over Talia. She looked up at him from where she’d fallen and glared. The man had died before he’d had a chance to ascend, which should have meant that he was so far beneath her that even touching her should have been a distant dream.&nbs...
2024-05-14 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostHe had won.
As Isaiah stared at the huge screen, which was divided into a dozen squares, that simple fact was abundantly apparent. Everywhere he looked, he saw dead bodies. Most of the corpses belonged to members of the Adventurers Guild. Apparently, Bruce Garet had an abi...
2024-05-13 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostRed mist hung in the air, obscuring Zeke’s vision as he stomped forward. The path was uneven, and there were often chasms and crevices he’d had to jump, so he had remained in his titanic form. Still, it felt like the path had adapted to his larger size, and the obstacles had grown...
2024-05-13 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostElijah lay on the bed, and for a long while, stared at the ceiling. A fan twirled lazily above him, but otherwise, it was blank. It was such a stark difference from the places he usually slept. There were no stars twinkling above him. No subtle sounds of nature. No g...
2024-05-12 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostElijah’s knees were killing him.
It was understandable, too. After falling for a few hundred feet and landing in the middle of Mercer Mesa, he was a little surprised that he hadn’t broken anything. By comparison, a couple of sore joints was a small price to pay for his bomba...
2024-05-11 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“I couldn’t stop myself,” Elijah said, staring at his cup of coffee. He hadn’t taken a single sip, and by now, it had gone completely cold. “I was just so angry. Everywhere I looked, I saw a reminder of how broken that city was. It looked nice. It kept peop...
2024-05-10 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe bright rays of a midday sun shone down on the clearing, clashing with the dark thoughts rushing through Talia’s mind as she stared at the person she hated more than anyone else in the world. She was shorter than Talia. Stouter, too. In terms of appearance, Talia had taken ...
2024-05-10 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostElijah lay there, staring up at the twinkling stars. One thing he’d noticed about the desert was just how clear the nights were. He could see so much, which elicited so many questions about the larger universe. How many of those stars hosted planets? Was K’hana’s hom...
2024-05-09 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m not asleep. I’m just resting my eyes,” Zeke muttered as he lay on the ground. Nearby, the pile of ashes that had been the raggedy princess remained scattered across the cracked and charred tile floor, evidence of the battle that had nearly claimed Talia’s life. Me...
2024-05-09 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostElijah dashed to the side, then immediately changed directions. The transformed Bruce thundered past him, incapable of changing directions so quickly. He tripped over a pile of rubble, and though he managed to right himself only a moment later, it gave Elijah just enough time to dart ...
2024-05-08 15:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostSilvery light shone down on the street between the guild headquarters and the abandoned building as Bruce eagerly watched three groups of seasoned adventurers rush toward the lone figure. Their defenders led the way – two of which held shields, while the other was armed only with a massiv...
2024-05-08 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostFlorescent lights flickered as Elijah charged down the hall, intent on tearing through the defender. She held her ground, setting her feet and raising her shield.
It did no good.
He hit with the force of a runaway train, eliciting a loud clang as the shield split in two.&n...
2024-05-07 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAs Zeke knelt beside Talia, he closed his eyes and dove into his skill. In the past, he’d let himself become restrained by the scope of each skill. Every additional rune increased its instability, which necessitated even more runes to keep the structure from collapsing in on itself....
2024-05-07 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostI'm sorry this is a day late. I kind of got tied up yesterday, and I completely forgot to do the weekly check-in. That's my bad! But better late than never, I say!
This past week has been pretty huge. I know we have lots of new people around here, so welcome! I hope you enjoy my work a...
2024-05-06 16:40:46 +0000 UTC View PostElijah cartwheeled, skipping across the roof as his scales melted from the intense heat of the explosion. However, at least one facet of his Quartz Mind remained aware enough that he initiated a transformation into the Shape of the Sky, which completed as he went over the edge and began a p...
2024-05-06 15:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostTalia raced forward, embracing all of her skills as she covered the ground in less than a second. At times, she had to force herself to slow down, just so that her perception could keep up, but in this instance, she let herself run at full speed.
And it was glorious.
But i...
2024-05-06 13:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostElijah’s heart nearly stopped as the memory of a hundred little delays came rushing to mind. Perhaps his reaction to Alyssa’s death was understandable, but he’d wasted a lot of time pointlessly trekking across the wilderness. In the aftermath, he’d spent weeks wallowing in apa...
2024-05-05 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m Elijah, by the way,” he said to the woman who’d been assigned to escort them. She was pretty, maybe twenty years old if he had to guess. But Elijah acknowledged that his perception of age might be a little off. After all, with high attributes and a Body of Wood, the...
2024-05-04 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“What’s going on?” asked Elijah, grabbing a pedestrian’s arm. The man tried to jerk free, but he was entirely unsuccessful. “I don’t want any trouble. I just want to know what to expect.”
“War,” the man spat. “Those assholes on Mercer Mesa allied ...
2024-05-03 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“Sit, sit!” the Little Lord Liddle excitedly exclaimed, gesturing with his pudgy hands. “Have some tea!”
“Uh…okay.”
Zeke had no real idea how to deal with children, let alone a toddler with enough power to squash him like a bug. After he’d used [Inspect], r...
2024-05-03 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDappled sunlight fell upon Elijah’s face, eliciting a feeling of peace that he’d so seldom experienced. Sometimes, it felt like he was being pulled in a thousand different directions. In most cases, it was his own fault. He’d taken so many things onto his shoulders that th...
2024-05-02 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“Stop,” came a voice from nearby. Pausing mid-stride, Zeke whipped around, ready to destroy the new threat, but relaxed when he saw Talia crouching behind the low wall that encircled the estate.
“What? How long have you been here?” he asked.
“Seven hours,...
2024-05-02 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“He’s a cute little guy, right?” asked Elijah, which caused K’hana to recoil. That certainly wasn’t the reaction he’d intended to elicit. Though, that was probably due to the creature he held in his hands.
“I don’t think she likes Lizardface,” Miguel rema...
2024-05-01 15:10:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Why would I do that?” asked K’hana, sitting primly on an elaborately colored cushion.
“Because you need people,” Elijah answered. “Your city here is not as isolated as you think. You can’t even run your tower, can you? Or did something chan...
2024-05-01 15:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostBenedict Emerson leaned forward, checking his reflection in the shattered mirror. Even though cracks marred the silvery surface, he could still see his features clearly enough.
And the sight was pleasing.
In the past, Benedict had never been referred to as handsome. His sk...
2024-04-30 15:10:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Where are we going?” asked Miguel, following Elijah through the woods outside Ironshore.
“Does it matter? The journey is more important than the destination,” Elijah said, doing his best to seem wise. “Worry less about where we’re going and more about how we’re go...
2024-04-30 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostZeke splashed into a pool of tepid water, the impact burying him in the thick mud only a foot or two deep. As he unsuccessfully tried to extricate himself, a moment of panic gripped his mind, but it only lasted for a few moments before he broke free of the sticky mud and pushed himself to a...
2024-04-30 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostSo, most of you know that, a while back, I commissioned a set of paintings from a very talented artist. It took him a while to get everything done, but I'm very happy with the results. Here they are in order:
Elijah:
2024-04-29 18:44:18 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Okay, so this is a problem,” Elijah said, looking at the spatial anchor, then across the grove and to the dense forest surrounding it. The anchor itself was just a rod that had been driven into the ground, though now that it had been activated, it was impossible to move without ruining...
2024-04-29 15:10:01 +0000 UTC View Post