The Shansakun training grounds were about one hundred and fifty miles east of the city. The family owned a huge swath of forested land, one that was rough with hills and valleys, ravines and gullies, and had more than its fair share of monsters. Specifically, it was home to several massive coloni...
2023-10-03 12:23:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe truth was that the obstacle course wasn’t designed for someone of Luke’s level. The first section, for example, was comprised of platforms that had obstructions hanging between them. Challengers were supposed to go around by leaping to the left or right and using the poles rising up out o...
2023-10-02 12:03:01 +0000 UTC View PostLuke was not allowed to take the journals out of the enchanted shrine, not because Valera didn’t trust him, but because the books were old as dirt and outside of the confines of the room, they were afraid that the paper would crumble away to dust.
And probably they didn’t trust him, eit...
2023-09-29 11:42:15 +0000 UTC View Post“Lady, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but you are creeping me out.”
Valera ignored Luke as she circled around him again. Off to the side, Zea looked about ready to attack the woman, and Hakiro just shifted in place, clearly uncomfortable. Luke stood in the middle of the ...
2023-09-28 12:08:30 +0000 UTC View PostFujoka Shansakun, Patriarch of the Shansakun family, was probably compensating for something. His office had a disgusting amount of decorations made from precious metals and gemstones, everything from a mask made of beaten gold with rubies for eyes on the wall to a small jade statue of something ...
2023-09-27 11:40:57 +0000 UTC View PostIt turned out Zea was an incredibly bad judge of clothing sizes. Luke’s fit, more or less. Spectacle, on the other hand, got pants that were too short by about six inches and a shirt that strained across his shoulders and chest. He put it on, twisted once, and the fabric split at the seam.
<... 2023-09-26 11:39:25 +0000 UTC View PostThe tunnel dumped them out in a barn just outside the city. Luke wasn’t sure exactly how many miles it ran, but it must have been an enormous expenditure to dig it. He’d be the first to admit he didn’t know much about farming, but the barn looked weird to him, too. There was something like ...
2023-09-25 11:37:41 +0000 UTC View Post[Burst Step] wasn’t really supposed to be used for upwards momentum. It wouldn’t be all that effective that way, probably not enough to justify the expenditure of Luke’s stamina in a normal situation, but Luke did not think he could jump forty or fifty feet straight up on h...
2023-09-22 11:41:08 +0000 UTC View PostFor all the shit Luke had endured since he’d been taken to Aros, nothing compared to the pain of those dozens of tentacles crushing him. It wasn’t just the pressure either; no, they had texture to them like a particularly rough and slimy piece of sandpaper. Even if Luke had been wearing his a...
2023-09-21 11:51:54 +0000 UTC View PostTension built in Luke’s neck as he stared back down the tunnel. There was something there, but he couldn’t find it. And that didn’t happen to him, not anymore. Not even Lath had been able to sneak up on him, and the inquisitor had had a skill specifically to help him be quiet and unobtrusiv...
2023-09-20 11:23:52 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the promised audiobook sample for those who love listening to stories. I've noted this in a few chapters today, but have another reminder as well:
The God Machine: Book 1
So Podium sent me this, which I think is insanely cool (and have spent way too long staring at). This version is a video,but I've got a gif version too that I shared on discord, but which I don't seem to be able to attach here. I'll also be posting the audio sample for those of you who love audio...
2023-09-19 12:22:39 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor's Note: The God Machine: Book 1 is up for preorder for audiobook/ebook/KU and will ...
2023-09-19 12:18:46 +0000 UTC View PostThe east gate, the monster gate, opened first. The thing that slithered out looked like the result of a jellyfish, a grizzly bear, and a python having an ecstasy-fueled orgy in a pool full of green jello. It was huge, probably twenty feet long from the tip of its snout down to the tentacle-laden ...
2023-09-18 11:40:14 +0000 UTC View PostWith a muttered warning about using some other entrances occasionally, the cheese shop owner let Luke and Zea through his cellar access to the arena. Zea smiled and promised they would, but if everything went well, they’d never be back after tonight anyway. The shopkeeper gave them a grumpy sco...
2023-09-15 11:54:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe sword was a garbage weapon. Sure, it could cut through stuff, but that was the only thing it did better than the mace. When using one, Luke had to worry about things like the angle of impact or dulling the edge, plus it was so light and flimsy he was afraid it would just snap in half if he hi...
2023-09-14 12:30:14 +0000 UTC View PostGotayi let Luke and Zea into the office, which was lit by a pair of candles set into holders on the wall. It was in most other respects a plain, normal office except for what was obviously a safe tall enough for Luke to climb into sitting in one corner. The metal wasn’t normal steel either, but...
2023-09-13 11:44:37 +0000 UTC View PostThe shop was full of display cases, each one showing off various cheeses. There were familiar shades of white, yellow, orange, sometime solid or with holes, and then there were more exotic colors like green and red. A wedge of something like looked like a purple brick took center stage on the cou...
2023-09-12 11:47:12 +0000 UTC View PostSystem was a constant source of frustration. For all the information he provided, it was always like pulling teeth to get something helpful. He could confirm the concentration of monsters nearby and point in its direction, but wouldn’t say the name of the business or give actual directions usef...
2023-09-11 12:23:29 +0000 UTC View Post“Healers are all profiteers and swindlers,” Zea announced as soon as they left the clinic.
“I think we’ll probably be fine,” Luke told her. “It was only twenty gold.”
“‘Only!’ I could have lived in comfort for a year on twenty gold.”
“And now you’ll liv...
2023-09-08 11:53:04 +0000 UTC View PostLuke didn’t exactly rush back to the village, but he didn’t wait for the soldiers to get organized either. As soon as the captain assured him that no more blood hunters would be spewing out of the carrier, Luke left the farmhouse behind. The entire battle had only taken ten or fifteen minutes...
2023-09-07 11:42:28 +0000 UTC View PostPeishan knew it was hopeless. He didn’t have a tenth of the men he needed to stop a blood hunter swarm. The carrier demons could spit out thousands of them before they exhausted their reserves. Attacking the carriers directly was a losing strategy since only the strongest fighters could even ho...
2023-09-06 11:41:34 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a journey of a little over a mile. The Jigon-Sai soldiers were just slightly over half way there when the silo-shaped thing erupted out of the ground and started spewing mosquitos the size of labradors into the air. They were moving at a good clip, but they would not reach the farmhouse in...
2023-09-05 12:02:09 +0000 UTC View PostWood exploded into the open air in a cloud of splinters as Luke bulled his way through the wall. Behind him, the house shuddered and loose pieces of timber, weakened by the flames, collapsed onto the floor. A chunk of the roof came down right after, exactly what Luke had been afraid would happen....
2023-09-04 13:32:58 +0000 UTC View Post“You need to stay here where I can keep an eye on you,” Peishan snapped at the demon. Or possibly just human, he supposed. There had been reports of demons attacking each other, so the man’s assault on the gargoyles didn’t conclusively prove anything, but it was one more piece of evidence...
2023-09-01 12:14:57 +0000 UTC View PostIt turned out the captain did not want to test Luke’s claim. Instead he ordered his men to assist with pushing the tongue demons into the flames while he joined the villagers fending off the gargoyles from the sky. The woman with the black sword seemed to recognize the captain, but Luke couldn...
2023-08-31 12:34:43 +0000 UTC View PostThe soldiers moved without stop, which forced Luke and Zea to keep pace with them. That wasn’t a problem for either of them in terms of time spent jogging, but Zea’s relatively low strength and physically shorter legs made it a bit harder for her to keep up the pace they set. She persevered t...
2023-08-30 12:35:54 +0000 UTC View PostPeishan Jo had trained hard to reach level 37. He’d been lucky his talents had been recognized early. That had allowed him to secure a place in the Jigon-Sai, and he was one of the youngest soldiers ever to be promoted to unit captain. Those in charge expected great things from him, but that al...
2023-08-29 12:04:23 +0000 UTC View PostAfter about an hour of steady running at a light speed, Luke called for a break. He wasn’t at a hundred percent following the caravan battle and he could tell that Zea was hanging on through sheer grit. Her arm was tucked tightly against her stomach and held in place with her good hand, and he ...
2023-08-28 12:10:15 +0000 UTC View PostThey found Ruca and Val sitting around a small campfire with another woman who could have been Val’s twin, except thirty pounds lighter and with a sunken, sickly visage. Her arms were covered in sores and the skin around her wrists was an angry, abraded red. Ruca was sitting on a large wooden b...
2023-08-25 13:16:38 +0000 UTC View Post