Note: Just a heads up that this chapter has been discovered by a cunning, perceptive patron to be out of order. It's technically BEFORE the last Blake chapter...it'll all be fixed by the ebook...
By the third day of living with both orcs and goblins, Blake had begun ...
2024-07-31 14:07:01 +0000 UTC
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Naya thought it was going well enough. She hadn’t keeled over and died, for example, which became a bit more of a concern after learning one cook was an alchemist.
And the food was…good. Or at least the bread. The rest was tasty but far too rich for elven tongues, to the point Dariya wa...
2024-07-30 14:07:00 +0000 UTC
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Naya and Dariya prepared themselves to go to the concubine’s ‘dinner party’. Some of her people told her not to.
“She’ll poison you, my lady. With the baron gone, she and the other concubines may even try to slaughter you in the kitchen with knives!”
Naya win...
2024-07-29 14:07:01 +0000 UTC
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[Final stage complete. Nexus challenge ending. Calculating rewards based on performance. Please wait.]
Mason blinked, supposing he should have expected something like that. Though he doubted it would have changed how he behaved. He also couldn't help but notice there was no men...
2024-07-26 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Haley opened her eyes and sighed, cuddling against the warm body next to her. Then the already vanishing wisps of some dream faded from her senses, and she blinked awake to find it was just a pillow. Mason and Becky still weren't home. She was alone in their bed.
The list of many tasks and ...
2024-07-25 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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[Apex Predator: Vision of the Dead: partially resisted.]
[First Blood: Wing Buffet Daze: resisted.]
Mason growled and looked up from the ground. He'd been tossed a good twenty feet to crack a tree trunk, and probably a few ribs. He spit blood and winced, expecting broken ...
2024-07-24 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Alex felt the dragon before he saw it.
A hissing sound filled his ears, then a whispering in some language he felt he knew but couldn't remember. The sunlight flickering through the jungle canopy dimmed, then darkened.
I see you, Alexei. The voice grew loud...
2024-07-23 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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"I ain't ever even been on an airplane!" Becky shouted, wide-eyed and grinning at Mason as they flew through the sky. Their birdmen 'pilots' carried them with stony faces, eyes locked on the jungle canopy as they searched for the battle site.
A few burly soldiers were able to carry Seamus, ...
2024-07-22 14:00:12 +0000 UTC
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The destroyed undead/demonic leader gave the players at least a moment to catch their breath. Mason looked out at the army starting to fill in the gap, a seemingly endless procession of corpses in various states of decay just shambling on like nothing happened.
The sun was touching the hori...
2024-07-19 14:07:01 +0000 UTC
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"Are ya sure we need to leave someone at the temple, Mason?" Becky frowned and went a little pink. “Seems we could, you know, use 'em. Against the army of corpses, and all."
She had a point, of course, but Mason just couldn't shake the feeling that sooner or later the dragon was coming fo...
2024-07-18 14:07:01 +0000 UTC
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Phase two was apparently an entire screaming army assaulting the walls. Well, shrieking, maybe. They sounded like a horror movie. And probably 'shambling towards' as much as assaulting.
Mason couldn't actually see what was going on. He was still busy shooting and slicing apart an i...
2024-07-17 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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"Change of plan," Mason said, glancing towards the scream. "Everyone but Seamus and Becky on the ground. Roam and find tunnels, deal with anything coming out. If you're getting overwhelmed, fall back to Seamus on the temple."
King Aixa was yelling orders at his men. Mason heard him calling ...
2024-07-16 14:07:00 +0000 UTC
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Mason truly hated nerdery. And this Nexus. And Blake for doing whatever the fuck he was doing that wasn’t helping.
Apparently a dracolich was an undead dragon. With pretty much all the pros and almost none of the cons. Not that dragons had a lot ‘cons’ to begin with. But at least they...
2024-07-15 14:07:01 +0000 UTC
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Turned out Seul-ki's 'disguise' power could do more than trick the eye. It could trick magical wards and barriers, getting her to any floor in the tower, and who knew what else. Blake was both deeply impressed, and slightly concerned.
"Incredible," he said, smiling politely. "Not that I'm u...
2024-07-12 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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"A moment, wizard," Ilya whispered, and Blake turned back with an eyebrow raised. The orc lady walked away, stepping to her wooden desk as she tapped her fingers. "I wanted to discuss...your constructs. Before you left."
"Of course, my lady." Blake nodded and glanced back to the orc lord an...
2024-07-11 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Blake blinked away from his constructs when he started tasting blood. His lips had cracked, apparently. When was the last time he'd drunk water? Or swallowed, for that matter…
"Patron..."
Blake turned to find Seul-ki wobbling on her feet, hand still on his arm. As he did, most of hi...
2024-07-10 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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[You have slain an Elder Dragon. Group experience to be awarded at end of event.]
Mason fell as the dragon died. Its jaws were locked around him, his body contorted and half crushed with his arms and blade dug into its head. His whole body was burned and in agony, and the longe...
2024-07-09 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Mason found his prey in a burning ruin. The dragon stood on several small limbs, back half of its long body near the ground, front half raised like a snake ready to strike. Its crippled wings hung at its sides, only one able to tuck back, the other dangling and broken. It turned in circles breath...
2024-07-08 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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The sky filled with the sound of draconic fury, and Mason winced in his sacrificial bowl.
He kind of wished he had a pop reference to compare his situation to. All he could summon was something biblical, but that seemed a touch melodramatic. And probably blasphemous.
It wouldn't help ...
2024-07-05 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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"Sometimes I wish I'd known you were this crazy before I started sleepin' with you."
Becky apparently wasn't thrilled with Mason's dragon plan.
"It's not as bad as it sounds," he said, trying to rub her back to calm her down. "You'll all be right there. I'm just the uh, tip of the spe...
2024-07-04 14:00:04 +0000 UTC
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"I'm still out of fecking range," Seamus said with a frustrated sigh. Mason ignored him.
He also didn't wait to see if his first loosed arrow was effective. With his months of practice and increasingly inhuman strength and speed, he just drew his elven bow, formed an arrow from nothing to s...
2024-07-03 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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The longer the group waited in the 'guest room' in relative comfort, the more uncomfortable Mason got. It might have been a personal flaw. Paranoia, Blake might say. Mason just thought it good sense.
If this were a 'normal' situation—at least as 'normal' as being the guest of a bunch of m...
2024-07-02 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Mason and the others became an even bigger spectacle in the floating city itself. It didn't feel 'hostile', exactly, but it didn't feel welcoming, either.
The ape men didn't notice or care, clearing paths through the crowds just with their size and forward momentum.
"This way," said W...
2024-07-01 14:00:16 +0000 UTC
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Mason followed the bird and ape men with the young priest he'd saved, not really sure he should. First of all, he still had no idea where Carl and the others were. Second, he wasn't actually sure why he should care about this priest anyway.
All he had was that the man professed to worship ...
2024-06-28 14:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Mason stepped into the small break in the trees and cleared his throat.
"Alright," he said. "You've had your fun. Now untie him and leave him alone."
The 'birdmen' turned and stared or flinched in surprise, some lifting surprisingly well-made spears or bows. Mason just stood there and...
2024-06-27 14:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Mason dropped to the ground and groaned. He was all burnt to hell, particularly his hands, which he'd eventually used to just pull the damn skeleton apart.
"Oh my God, are you alright? And don't you just say you'll heal! I mean are you OK?"
The giant skeleton ha...
2024-06-26 14:00:37 +0000 UTC
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Phuong stood panting at another door, waiting for his abilities to recharge. Then he activated Adrenaline and opened it.
Several more guards sat around a table, or lay on small cots. He’d heard them inside and knew it would be a vicious fight. It seemed the whole area was some kind of bar...
2024-06-25 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Carl stared into his Simulacrum's eyes and winced. It was always a little creepy to see some kind of temporary version of yourself, or to wonder if this version had any kind of thoughts. Or how the hell it exactly worked.
He didn't 'control' it. It was more like it was literally&nb...
2024-06-24 14:00:13 +0000 UTC
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Phuong had heard the sound of his patron's lightning echoing down the stairs and some kind of hole in the roof. He turned and ran at full speed to go back, forced to cut down a few guards and cultists that stood in his path.
Once back on the floor above, he wasn't sure where to turn until h...
2024-06-21 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Mason dripped with cultist blood. He'd slaughtered his way through the first floor. His traps had begun to activate behind him, and with a grin he just kept dropping more. Whether or not he was hurting whatever was following him he didn't know. But it made him feel better.
Unfortunately, th...
2024-06-20 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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