PierceGrey

Chapter 346: Difficult words

[Item modified: Eabha's Vestments. Adaptable. Adds a percentage of highest physical statistic to all powers and spells. Minor defensive bonuses.]

Mason looked down to see he'd gained something like scales. They flowed from his waist to his neck, over his shoulders all the way d...

Chapter 345: Baron's new clothes

(I have learned we're only eight chapters ahead - so two 'catch up' chapters posted today to get us to 10! Sorry about that, and enjoy.)

Mason spent 'the night' with Eve, whatever exactly that meant in the fey. Learning the runes hadn't hurt him, but they did seem to have drained his...

Chapter 344: Language of the gods

Mason felt Eve's presence all around him even before he reached the tree. It didn't give him any kind of dungeon prompt, and he entered her tree through something like a regular door. Albeit a magic door built into a giant tree.

The huge, living walls of the great tree formed a kind of tunn...

Chapter 343: The ancient stag

Mason walked carefully beside Calypsa for several steps through the fey, but he'd gotten his bearings. He could hear Eve's song now drifting through the trees, but he made no sign, wanting to see if the nymph was telling the truth.

He relaxed when she took him towards the sound. A part of h...

Chapter 342: Runic Magic

Mason soon met the other nymphs. Thea introduced them all while still straddling him, which really didn't help with the names. They all smiled and gave him a little curtsy or bow, then asked Thea if they might take part in the 'ritual'.

"Of course, sisters," she said pleasantly, slipping Ma...

Chapter 341: A good bargain

"Very good." Gaia smiled with Calypsa's mouth, the nymph's perfect teeth flashing with the 'crones' toothless gums. "So now you know it is me you must pay. I saved your mate. Life always comes with a cost."

"What do you want," Mason asked, feeling more miserable by the second.

Gaia-Ca...

Chapter 340: Do you know who I am?

Blake watched his brother vanish into the wall, then turned to the others and grinned. He couldn't have been more proud.

"Did you see that magnificent bastard brother of mine?" He shook his head. "Considering you're in heat, Ilya, I don't know how you didn't throw yourself at him. I'm not s...

Chapter 339: Not worth the effort

Blake was feeling rather overwhelmed. First, he'd survived the horrific demon encounter and realized he'd been an extraordinary idiot.

In the end he'd realized there was an entirely separate puzzle right at the foot of the demon, which would have allowed them to finish the bin...

Chapter 338: Don't forgive twice

Mason paced in front of the portal until he ran out of patience. Which, admittedly, probably wasn’t very long.

“Show me again,” he gestured at Ilya and held out a hand. “I want to see again.”

When she looked at his hand, then at his face, her expression was…changed. Cold.<...

Chapter 337: A bad sign

Blake knew they were getting overwhelmed. His constructs were very good at holding the demons off, but they weren’t particularly good at killing them.

As had happened several times, the type of construct he’d brought wasn’t fit for purpose. His centurions could stab the ...

Chapter 336: Event in progress

Blake was starting to think they were all going to die.

Well, everyone but him. Probably. He didn't see how he’d get out of this, exactly, but he expected he'd find a way when everything went tits up.

The puzzles were far more elaborate than he'd expected. Only he could see...

Chapter 335: Friend or prey

"Fucking hell."

Mason stared at the handful of constructs that waited for him in the White Tower. The place looked far...cozier than the other tower he'd seen, with plenty of furs and candles, artwork and rugs. But it was also obviously filled with Blake's handiwork.

Hal...

Chapter 334: Lady Somethingeye

Every player without a prestige class had volunteered to go to the tower with Mason. He suspected everyone was starting to feel time and pressure now that the system was changing the game.

Pretty soon there were going to be more humans around—and some kind of universal ranking list where ...

Chapter 333: Blake and the Two Towers

Blake and his unlikely band of heroes left the orc’s White Tower and entered the Grey without much difficulty. Having the tower lord's son probably helped.

Even so, the guards stared long and hard at the humans and goblins, then at the Stoneblood prince. They forced him to separate from t...

Chapter 332: What's next?

Mason met with all his players, and some of the elves and civilian leaders in the central ‘hall’ of his new raised city. Everyone was buzzing, full of barbecue and a little alcohol, talking excitedly and staring out at the platforms and buildings.

After they got over the initial what-th...

Chapter 331: Nexus Founder: The Tree City

[Title modified: Nexus Founder: The Tree City. Increased and improved Patron options. Increased and improved House options. Presence +2. Small power boost in natural settings.]

Despite the strange feeling of the young tree in his mind, Mason couldn’t help but look at his titl...

Chapter 330: I want them all

Apparently elves didn't have a word, or even have the concept of an 'open air, group cook out'. When Mason explained they'd all stand around drinking and cooking meat, Naya looked like she'd eaten something that disagreed with her.

"We elves...don't eat much meat," she said. "Will it be...<...

Chapter 329: What's a barbecue?

Mason slept without dreams, and woke before the dawn. His bed felt strange. Too soft and comfortable, with warm, soft flesh pressed against him.

He was beginning to think of the forest floor as the norm—the settlement of Nassau as the 'temporary'. He wondered how long until mortal danger ...

End of book Seven.

Book 8 begins tomorrow! I'm still a little behind but not enough to need a week off posting. So, onward!

Look forward to the Nexus and many changes to Nassau. 'First Contact' with other human settlements. A four girl scene. And a system-run tournament to test every player in t...

Chapter 328: Wedding night

Mason took turns with Naya and Haley for hours. They had little naps and breaks for water (and one of Haley's snacks), all naked and laughing as they ate pastries like they'd gone a day without food.

They didn't even make it back to the bedroom for that round, Mason ending up spreading Naya...

Chapter 327: Wife, concubine, slave

Mason moved to Naya naked, putting his hands on her face. He slipped the scarf off her hair and uncovered her head entirely, letting the fabric drop behind. He turned her face and eyes up to his as she stroked his thumbs across her cheeks. He reminded himself she was still a virgin.

"You ju...

Chapter 326: The King

After sending Streak back to his pack, thanking and 'dismissing' his players, and saying another round of thanks and goodbye to the elves, Mason was ready to go home to his girls. Mostly.

Naya stopped him at the door, saying they needed to discuss the wedding and that everything was basical...

Chapter 325: The Beastmaster

Mason only had a moment to react. He materialized at least thirty feet in the air with Ayet in his arms, and dropped. She shrieked. He swore.

He knew he'd be perfectly fine, of course, though an animal, instinctual fear still shot through him. Ayet, on the other hand…

He reached for...

Chapter 324: Sorry

Mason was…not a great liar. Or so Blake had told him many times.

"You have to believe it, brother," he'd instructed after a particularly egregious fuck up he needed Mason to cover for. "Think of it as a story, a new narrative that is equally true. Or, you know, a story that certainly coul...

Chapter 323: Mother in law

Naya's mother didn't even flinch. She just stared at Mason and then Amit with cold assessment, as if this sort of thing happened all the time. Amit looked like he was having trouble breathing, his whole frame withering beneath her gaze.

"Oh," Mason added, putting a hand on the poor libraria...

Chapter 322: City of portals

Mason had the skinny looking elf's throat in his hand before it managed to grab whatever it was reaching for. His experience in the fey had him somewhere between frustrated, panicked, and enraged, and it took just about every scrap of will not to squeeze.

He met the thing's eyes, and they s...

Chapter 321: Many ways to punish

[Please select a primary class upgrade.]

Mason took a deep breath and scratched Streak’s ears, feeling a familiar peace as he stood alone again beneath the stars. He’d Wyrdwalk back to Nassau and all its problems soon enough. But first it was time to do his level.<...

Chapter 320: Last man

Carl said he wanted to look around one last time, then wandered off around the Nexus site. Mason was preparing himself to level before something warm and wet moved up his thigh. For a small moment he thought it was Streak, but realized Becky’s head was still in his lap.

“It’s my last ...

Chapter 319: Nothing

Mason saw the flashing icons in his profile for reaching level twenty. He knew he needed to sort that out, and a familiar excitement tingled in his gut. But as a patron and maybe Nexus owner it looked like he had even more time. As ever, first things were first.

"OK," Mason took a breath an...

Chapter 318: Re-negotiation

Blake  went to Ilya after meeting with Chillik to explain the situation. The orc noblewoman had once again thrown herself at him, and it took a good hour before they were able to talk about something useful.

Now they lay side by side, Blake breathing hard and covered in sweat. He thoug...