A piercing shriek rent the night air. Levi sighed. “So much for that.”
Guests rushed toward the rear door. Levi grabbed Colin and whirled, running for the exit to the alley. Not the one toward the restaurant’s entrance, but deeper, toward the direction he’d found the chicken kabob.<...
2024-10-01 15:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostIke backstepped furiously. Lightning Dash let him keep pace with Lord Nors’ charging head, but he couldn’t outpace it. A remaining scrap of wall loomed behind him. To avoid it would mean to slow down enough for Lord Nors to catch it. Ike gritted his teeth. He drew his sword and struck with th...
2024-10-01 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostLevi sighed aloud. “Where does anyone find food in this era, huh? Do I even have a choice? Or is it the tavern and nothing?”
“You can always keep eating rations and jerky,” Colin pointed out.
“I’m so sick of rations and jerky! Come on. I snitched a few coins off Isa for a ...
2024-09-30 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostIke activated Tempest with all his strength. Energy burst around him. Aether swirled, cycling through his limbs, out into the world, and back again. As it circulated, it grabbed strands of aether from the air and sucked them in, dragging yet more energy into the spell. Wind whipped Ike’s hair a...
2024-09-30 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThey left the little town in the mountains behind. Isa took the lead, guiding them toward the Death Cult—or, at least, the last place she’d known it to be.
“I’ll warn you, it was over a hundred years ago. My knowledge likely is not completely accurate.”
“As long as we get ...
2024-09-29 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAs Ike said the word, both he and Wisp launched out of the hole. Lord Nors’ eyes narrowed. He gestured, and the sword flew forth, soaring toward Ike’s throat.
Lightning flickered. Ike snapped his hands out and caught the blade in midair, clapping the flat of the blade between his palms....
2024-09-29 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostLevi wandered the gorge. He picked through the fallen men’s weapons, carefully choosing the best-maintained swords. In the end, he selected three new ones and strapped them to his hips, two on each side.
“Think you have enough?” Isa asked, looking him up and down.
“One for me,...
2024-09-28 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post“A terrible mistake?” Ike asked.
She punched his shoulder. “We’ve done it in the wrong order again! We need to raid the treasury first, then help the inhabitants.”
Ike snorted. “You already raided it a little, right?”
“I mean a real raiding. I j...
2024-09-28 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostSitting beside the tent, Cam ground his blade, sharpening the ragged thing. He checked the edge. Still ragged, but sharper, now. Almost sharp enough to cut instead of hack. Putting it back to the block, he ran the whetstone down its length again. Over and over, as if he could rub the blood clean....
2024-09-27 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe red light played over a variated ground. Low lines, like roots, climbed over larger, thicker root-like lumps. The roots grew thicker, knitting together as they drew toward the highest point beneath them, a huge, thick lump on the ground. The lump throbbed. Or rather, it beat.
“That’...
2024-09-27 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostAt the door, Isa yanked a heavy cloak off a hook. She went to throw it over her head, then noticed all the dust on it. Grimacing, she gave it a few smacks. A dust cloud rose in the hallway.
Levi coughed, waving his hand. “Watch it. Some of us have to breathe.”
“More like, on...
2024-09-26 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe shape of the streets formed a human body. A human body, curled up on the ground like a child inside its mother. The walls pressed close around the body’s head and feet, forming the boundary of its world.
“Lord Nors isn’t in control of the town. The town is Lord Nors....
2024-09-26 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostBracing his arms and the Armalgam against the wall, Levi lifted his legs and kicked Isa away. She staggered back. Her legs hit the lip of the coffin, and she flopped back into it.
“Armalgam, go!” Levi pointed after Isa.
The Armalgam jumped off his back and leaped onto Isa. It grap...
2024-09-25 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThey stepped into the final room. Ike’s eyes quickly adjusted, assisted by his Sensory Enhancement skill. A small study stretched all around them. A large, paper-strewn desk sat against the wall, accompanied by a cozy chair. Before it, a large window overlooked the town below. Or rather, it had...
2024-09-25 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostLevi headed up the grand staircase toward the second floor. Like on the first, a long corridor led toward the left and the right. To the left, cobwebs choked the hall. To the right, the rug was worn and stained. The center of the hallway remained free of cobwebs. Altogether, it appeared as if som...
2024-09-24 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThey strode ahead, into the next room. This one was dark and quiet. There were no puppets. Not even one.
Ike stepped forward, then slipped. He swung his arms and grabbed the wall. His feet slid outward, but he dragged them backward and pulled himself up against the wall.
Beside him, W...
2024-09-24 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: So, the fun part about reading early drafts, is... sometimes, they're a little in flux! I've been playing with the idea of a new character/plotline. I've decided to add them, but that means adding lines to earlier chapters that you guys obviously won't see, since I've already uploade...
2024-09-23 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostGentle music tinkled in the background. A trio of musicians quietly plied their craft in the corner. A candelabra glittered. The scent of flowers and delicious food mixed together, luring him further in. Men and women in ornate ballgowns danced below him, performing a formal waltz. He caught hims...
2024-09-23 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThey wound up the mountain. As they approached the Count’s manor, the sky grew dark and grey. Thick evergreens cloaked the slopes. An eerie mist cloaked the ground, thickening as the peak eclipsed the sun. Ravens picked at a dead deer strewn by the side of the path. They burst into the air at C...
2024-09-22 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe black monster caught him up and tossed him into the air, Ice Armor and all. When he came back down, Wisp caught him. She grinned and patted his shoulder, not able to hold him and pat his head at the same time in human form. “Boo!”
“Gods! I almost attacked you. What would you have ...
2024-09-22 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIn the morning, Levi and Colin joined the townsfolk. They mingled among the people as they gazed at their ruined houses. Very little remained. A few stone chimneys. A small stone outhouse. The church, its stones scorched but not broken. The rest of it was flattened. Nothing remained but embers an...
2024-09-22 02:41:05 +0000 UTC View PostIke reached the castle. After being stuck in a single street of the city for so long, it was strangely easy to approach. Neither space nor time looped around him, as far as he could tell.
It’s almost as if he’s given up.
Or he wants me to approach.
There wa...
2024-09-21 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostOnce they were out of earshot, Colin nudged Levi. “Why’d you lie to her about Jessie?”
Levi gave him a look. “Are you blind? Did you see her? Plus, calling that kobold ‘chump change?’ If you want to turn into paste, be my guest and go tell her. As for me, I like my head...
2024-09-20 15:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostThe bricks trembled. The entire pillar glowed, burning under the heat of his compression. Ike pushed down on it, forcing the pillar down and pressing in on it from all sides. Compressing it like a diamond, forging it into something stronger—or shattering it.
Do or die. This is it. If ...
2024-09-20 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Hey! That was my kill!”
They turned.
A fit but heavy woman stood at the door, her hands on her hips. Her entire body was thick, like a pillar. She reminded Levi of female weightlifters, sturdy and stubby. A pair of long metal claws hung from either hip, the triple blades somehow ...
2024-09-19 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostIke’s core filled more and more. He could feel the brink of Rank 2 fall behind him. Ahead only laid Rank 3, but there was something in his way. Something that prevented him from reaching the next Rank.
In his mind’s eye, he saw the pillars he’d felt within his core at Rank 1. He hadn...
2024-09-19 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostFrom this angle, Levi finally saw it. A second pathway opened in the wall. It pointed away from the initial entrance and from the rest of the room. If a giant kobold, tall enough its head brushed the ceiling and so heavy its fat drooped on the floor, wasn’t standing half out of the entrance, he...
2024-09-18 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostIke burst out of the inn. Back on the streets, he found the city the same as it had ever been. No change. A year had passed, and still no change. How long had it been stagnant? How long had these people—no, these puppets—repeated the same actions?
Out in the streets, a figure caught his...
2024-09-18 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostLevi drew his sword. He caught the kobold jumping down at him with the two arms over his shoulders, while the two arms below caught two leaping lizards. In three quick slashes, Levi dispatched all three.
The rest of the reptiles reached him. He knelt and spun around, using his lower hands t...
2024-09-18 01:07:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe town chattered around them. Ike and Wisp walked shoulder to shoulder toward the skill store. No one moved to block them. No one even looked their direction. Curious, Ike paused and approached one of the vendors. “I’ll take a sausage, thanks.”
The vendor woodenly handed Ike the mea...
2024-09-17 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post