Linnea went flying, topping head-over-heels. Oz jumped, grabbing onto Aisling’s arm. Almost instantly, he released her, as the heat of her skin burned into his arms. “Aisling, no!”
“She was about to eat you!” Aisling snarled.
“She was just asking a question!” Oz said, mo...
2024-01-03 21:55:43 +0000 UTC View PostLinnea panted. “Too much!”
“It’s not too much. Just a little more, okay? One more time.”
“Not there! I’m spent. I can’t! No more!”
Oz put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “Linnea, you’re, what, second, third stage? And a spider demon, at that. You ...
2024-01-03 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostAisling pushed a shelf back into place and injected a bit of qi into the wood. It healed, sealing over the crack. A small stick grew from the wooden shelf, and a tiny leaf budded from the tip.
“What was that?” Oz asked. A wood-healing technique? At the rate things are going for my p...
2024-01-02 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone! Grand Magus' Library launched yesterday on Royal Road!
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/79129/grand-magus-library-reading-every-book-in-the ...
2024-01-01 18:12:06 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: if Royal Road gets bonus chapters, then so do you guys! Bonus chapter!
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Aisling stepped inside the library. She stared, somewhat taken aback by the state of things. “What happened?”
Oz looked around. Books laid scattered, torn off the sh...
2024-01-01 14:07:03 +0000 UTC View PostAisling vanished, dropping the basket to the floor. Glass cracked. Packages spilled out in every direction, rolling away over the marble. Oz jumped to, grabbing up a nearby pile of books seconds before milk seeped into them, then looked up. “Aisling, it’s Linnea!”
BAM!
...
2024-01-01 14:06:04 +0000 UTC View PostA second before he swallowed it, he caught the pill in his hand. “Hold on.”
“Huh? Come on. Did it succeed or not?” Linnea asked, mercifully straightening up and crossing her arms. “Go, go, go!”
Oz narrowed his eyes at her. He shook his head. “I’m trying to survive here...
2023-12-31 15:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostBusinesslike, Linnea scuttled over to the opposite side of the table, using her height and reach in spider form to reach across as feel his pill furnace from the far side. “Too hot. Lower the heat.”
“Er, how?” Even as he asked, Oz consulted the books in his mind.
Maggie nudged...
2023-12-30 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“You know how to make antitoxin and antidotes?” Linnea asked, startled.
“Not yet,” Oz said, rolling his sleeves up. He marched back toward the pill room.
“Not—” Linnea put a hand to her forehead. She shook her head. “It isn’t easy to make antitoxin, you know. Let alo...
2023-12-29 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostLinnea pushed away from him. She stared. “Why—why did you—”
“Save your life? Do you need to ask?” Oz asked, looking at her like she was stupid. He glanced at her spider body, then quickly looked away, not wanting to stare. She’s a scary spider monster, but she’s still Li...
2023-12-28 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“You’re just going to throw them all in there?” Mici asked.
“No, not quite,” Oz murmured. He consulted the books again, flipping to each of the herbs. Each one has best-handling conditions. Leaves should be added late, while stalks need to be added early, and the temperatures ...
2023-12-27 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“Who knows some good pill books?”
Maggie jumped up and down, her hand waving in the air. “Me, me!”
Oz pointed at her.
“Basic Potions and Pills!” she said, excited.
Holding out his hand, Oz concentrated on the name of the book. He circulated his qi, scanning int...
2023-12-26 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostMoving slowly, eyes shut, Linnea focused deeply. Qi flowed around her and through her, swirling like the autumn leaves. She gathered her energy, coursing it down her arms. As she did, she leaped. A pair of chain daggers flew from her sleeves and dug deep into the training dummy opposite, and Linn...
2023-12-25 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostSoft footsteps rushed at Oz in the darkness.
Oz leaped into the air, activating the light body technique as he did. He soared upward, light as a feather. As he soared, he began to drift forward, his balance not quite perfect.
It’s a little like being in water. I’m almost weigh...
2023-12-24 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostA dozen manuals spread out on the floor before him, all open. Some displayed images of mages sitting, legs folded, others held only text, while others showed mages leaping through the air. Oz took a deep breath, circulating his qi. He closed his eyes, focusing internally. Okay. I read a shit ...
2023-12-23 15:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostTossing the pill bottle in one hand, Oz ascended out of the basement, lost in thought. The crest rolled shut as he stepped out of the secret basement. He caught the bottle and spun it around, then looked at it. The pink and purple pills stared back at him, shiny as candy.
Take them, or ...
2023-12-22 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostOz turned the pill bottle over in his hand. He pursed his lips. Take the pills? Don’t take them?
I don’t think Sachairi wants me dead. It’s probably safe.
On the other hand, I don’t know what kind of pills these are. I’d literally be taking unlabeled pi...
2023-12-21 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Gonna turn this into a smart-lookin ad for RR. Lil pic of Oz! I'm excited for the RR launch
Artist: https://www.instagram.com/beba_awa?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
2023-12-20 21:21:10 +0000 UTC View PostOz stiffened. His heart raced. Sachairi noticed? Shit. With effort, he composed himself and laughed lightly. “Wherever did you get that idea? Those stupid rumors? You don’t actually believe them, do you.”
Sachairi nodded. “I do. But for good reason.” He lifted three finge...
2023-12-20 19:16:06 +0000 UTC View PostA boy a year or two older than Oz ambled over, his hands behind his back. He wore fine, ruby-red robes, edged in ornate black. A black-silver and ruby circlet clasped his temples. Grinning down at Oz like a fat cat facing a mouse, he rounded toward him. “Well, well, well. I never thought I’d ...
2023-12-19 21:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe doors swung wide. Oz found himself staring out into the front yard. The mages conversed and laughed, the music played, the lanterns burned. No one paid him any mind.
He looked around, nodding to himself, and put his hands behind his back. Let’s get a lay of the land, feel out who...
2023-12-18 21:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostOz lifted the window flap, watching the town from the anonymity of the carriage as they rolled along. Small shops mingled with enormous institutions. They rode by a huge college with stone buttresses, only to come across a broad yard encased in wood walls, a distant complex of buildings at the ce...
2023-12-17 18:17:22 +0000 UTC View PostFacing down the enormous stone, Oz slammed his hand into the rock again. His qi surged. For a moment, he held it in his palm, then smashed it into the rock all at once. A handprint appeared in the stone, pressing two inches into its surface. The whole stone shook. A wave of qi flew through him, b...
2023-12-16 21:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostDays passed. Oz sat on the floor, meditating. One after another, he read through the manuals he’d scanned. Small baubles of light condensed in his core far slower than they had in the secret realm, and yet, their purity far exceeded the qi he’d gathered in that space. With this, I can pro...
2023-12-15 17:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Liar!”
A man charged down the center of the Heavenly Emperor’s palace. In one hand, he dragged a bloody head, eyes rolled up in its sockets. His other hand clenched a bloody sword. He glared at the Heavenly Emperor, his eyes burning with hatred.
From atop his throne, Weiheng Wu...
2023-12-15 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostAisling stepped forward. “I’ll go.”
“Wait, wait. I was joking. I’ll go first,” Oz said.
She frowned at him. “You’ve barely opened a meridian. If there’s any danger—”
Oz lifted his arm with the control marking. “I’m the new librarian. What if there’s s...
2023-12-14 17:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostAges passed. Yao Gong ascended without issue, smoothly entering the Immortal Realm under Weiheng Wu’s rule. Hui watched closely, but as time progressed and Yao Gong settled in to the Immortal Realm, he settled in.
For ages and ages, he meditated quietly in the rear of the Underworld. Occa...
2023-12-14 15:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostAisling stared. “Right now?”
Oz nodded. He ran to the pile of books and grabbed up an armload. “Right now.”
Roan waved his hand, scooping toward his sleeve. The books flew into his wide sleeves and vanished. “I’ll put them back. If someone’s inside, we need to address th...
2023-12-13 17:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe years progressed. Time flowed by. Hui monitored the Underworld, while his clone quietly raised Yao Gong, deliberately slowing his cultivation speed. Yao Gong grew into a fine young man, laughing and playing happily with his fellow disciples, then leaving to enter a higher-realm area. Hui quie...
2023-12-13 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostOz put his hands up.
“Drop the books,” the black-masked man ordered. The other one grabbed Linnea closer, pulling at her to make her wince.
Oz obeyed. What, afraid I’m going to whack you with Gossip? he mocked them silently.
He swept his eyes over the men. Are...
2023-12-12 17:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post