PierceGrey

End of Five. Beginning of Book Six

I hope you enjoyed #5! Six is completely written so I'm just editing now. Then it's on to #7...

Look forward to some important new friends and enemies. A lot of goblin mayhem. A new girl. And plenty of the current ones...

Thank you all so much for the continued support and all the com...

Chapter 230: You're not alone

Mason led his brother into the chief’s hall, where they found Seul-ki waiting. She and Blake embraced and spoke a little while, and he promised to come to her later.

“Thank you for the boost, Seul-ki,” Mason said. “Outside the walls. That was incredibly brave. If maybe a little fool...

Chapter 229: Unanswered questions

Mason knew he’d never be with Becky and Rosa for the first time again, and that he also didn’t have all night. So he didn’t waste a minute.

He was fingering them both again in minutes, grinning as they squirmed. He considered some kind of riding competition, but decided that better wa...

Chapter 228: Good for awhile

[You have helped defend your settlement from attack. Group experience and patron points (moderate) gained.]

[You have earned enough experience for level 18. Please select a power to enhance, and a power to upgrade to tier 2 within twenty-four hours.]

Mason bu...

Chapter 227: Stop hitting him

Mason didn’t know how long Seul-ki’s boosts would last, but he intended to make the most of them. He jumped and landed on one leg at a time trying to boost them with his Duality.

Every leap seemed easier, further, and he knew it was not only working, but working fast. The first troll re...

Chapter 226: A generous rival

Carl really wished he had a regenerate power. After his near death experience, all he got was a quick cup of coffee and a hug. Now he was staring into the frightened, hopeful eyes of every player left in Nassau. His cheek hurt. Well, most of his body hurt.

"OK," he said. "Drin...

Chapter 225: A decent entrance

After the failed attempt to burn a troll, Rosa used her inspection power and realized they'd somehow been given protection against fire. She muttered a string of curses involving roboGod and real God and the troll's mothers, then collected herself and tried to think of another way to help.

...

Chapter 224: This one is strong

Mason followed in the wake of his lightning, bow infused with fiery arrows as he stepped into the open and started shooting. The goblins were shouting commands up and down the line, many loosing their own arrows once they saw him. He didn’t mind. He wanted the attention.

Darts and arrows ...

Chapter 223: The siege

Carl had made sure the other players were at the wall and ready to defend, then he’d slipped through the other gate and walked into the trees with Reflection active.

Soon he was creeping past goblin scouts, doing his best not to step on any twigs. Sweat leaked down his body as he searched...

Chapter 222: F around and find out

Blake was pretty sure he was lost again. It was embarrassing, really, considering Nassau wasn't that far from the orc towers, and since he was previously the patron of said settlement.

But it was bloody easy to get turned around in this endless woods, and the sky was so overcast Blake could...

Chapter 221: Cliknik

Cliknik, First Scout of the Greenblood tribe, was not prone to anxiety. But today he felt his guts twist, and his bladder shrink. He grunted and pissed where he stood, then pulled along his human slave and clicked to the other scouts. He had to watch everything, to be perfect. The attack would be...

Chapter 220: Waiting on you

"So, em, why are we waiting in the bloody snow again? I'm freezing."

Mason spared a quick glare at Seamus and put a finger to his lips for silence. His 'bond' with Streak apparently gave him a kind of intuitive compass as to which direction the animal was. So after they'd left the great tre...

Chapter 219: The long road home

Eve wasn't kidding about wanting more. After giving assurances, then finally relenting and showing Mason images of his bored friends still waiting in the tunnel, she made them a bed out of plants. He tried not to feel any guilt when he saw Rebecca.

She looked back to her usual self now, and...

Chapter 218: The nymph queen

Mason wasn't sure how long he held Eve in his lap, but when he started noticing his surroundings again he saw the ice had nearly all melted.

"You work fast," he said, gesturing at the dripping green walls with his chin. The beautiful, maybe mid 30’s appearing woman shook with a chuckle. 2024-03-14 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post

Eve - before and after

Chapter 217: Eve

Apparently the little elementals could shoot ice spikes.

The first sunk into Mason's back before it broke off. He cried out and spun, seeing a few drops of his blood stain the white floor. Then he growled and charged the shooter, stepping over symbols as he deflected another spike with his ...

Chapter 216: Let's get this over with

The gnoll chief led Mason through secret wall after secret wall, through a maze of ramps and misty barriers and staring gnolls. When they were finally high up and alone on a ramp colder than the rest, the chief turned.

"Thank you," he said, looking like he'd aged a decade since the start of...

Chapter 215: Think like Blake

Becky wandered beside Mason in something of a daze, like she was drunk or high or half asleep. He hoped she recovered, but for the moment was mostly just glad he didn't have to explain her cousin was gone. Again.

He'd spent a few minutes questioning Willy, and the man finally admitted he'd ...

Chapter 214: Decisions

"The shield worked! I know it worked!" Becky came yelling about the same moment her cousins sat up and proved they weren't dead.

Pretty soon they were all on their feet, crying and hugging and and laughing before the endless questions started. Mason didn't have the heart to put a stop to it...

Chapter 213: This isn't a negotiation

The size of the tunnel slowed Mason's enemy. Though not by much. At first he could only hear it running ahead, huge claws raking dirt and stone as they propelled the creature forward. He followed at full speed, knowing his foe was intelligent, and expecting to be ambushed.

He wasn't disappo...

Chapter 212: Manti-saur

A handful of humanoid insectoids came through the large tunnel at the far end of the cavern. Then the walls started bursting apart. And the floor.

Hundreds of other varied insects poured out behind them with a terrifying chittering howl. Mason was struck by some deep mammalian instinct to t...

Chapter 211: It's a trap

"I don't, um. Shouldn't we just...m-maybe...escape?" said Hieu, his pale skin getting a little paler.

"Do you have anything to eat?" asked Mrs. Friedsman. "I'm starving. What they've been feeding us, it's...horrible."

Becky was saying 'of course', and she should have thought of that, ...

Chapter 210: Plan B

Rotting vines thrashed from above like writhing tentacles. In every direction the sounds of vine-slaves screaming filled the air.

From across the cavern, insectoids were skittering out in twos and threes, some even armed with jagged blades that looked like obsidian. Apparently Mason had kic...

Chapter 209: Plan A

Cleanse the roots. Don't kill anyone. Sure, Mason thought, no problem. 

He got as close as he dared to inspect the 'root slaves' with his camouflage, and it became quickly apparent there was two different kinds. 

The first looked like those desiccated addic...

Chapter 208: What could go wrong?

The tunnel collapsed moments after Mason pulled Becky down. The earth trembled and he felt himself freezing in terror, fighting for calm and pushing back the memories of being buried as he held onto Becky for dear life.

The ground broke beneath them, their little tunnel dropping into a brie...

Chapter 207: Sacred law

Mason led the others back down the icy ramps, feeling sweat form on his brow. The sounds of the gnolls re-grouping bombarded his senses, and he knew it was only a matter of time before they attacked again.

Becky shrieked behind him, and Mason spun ready to summon his Claws until he saw her ...

Chapter 206: The crazy tree

Little hairs rose on Mason's neck. Then the increasingly familiar smell of arcane power being channeled hit his nostrils.

"Becky, help Phuong."

He couldn't see the shaman but felt somehow he was ahead and not above. He couldn't shoot what he couldn't see, nor did he have time to expla...

Chapter 205: The walls have claws

[Do you wish to enter the dungeon: Great Tree Of the North? Please note, there is a special event occurring, which will add additional complexity, risk, and reward to this dungeon. Player limit: 5]

Mason winced, knowing somehow Streak wasn't finished with his kin and wouldn't be ...

Chapter 204: At least it's not snakes

Becky woke when Mason started cooking.

"Mmm." She stretched like a cat, then seemed to panic a little until she saw Mason by the fire. "Come back to bed," she tried to whisper, glancing at the others still in their sleeping bags. "Maybe if we're quick and quiet we can...wait, where did you ...

Chapter 203: The lone wolf

The troll practically stepped on Mason as it stomped to the river. It paused slightly, clearly smelling him, then just went on, too focused on its task to care. He let it go, and waited.

Mason was pretty sure his fish friend wasn't going to risk attacking a troll. Especially when it had bee...