The dining room was more elegant and formal compared to the rest of the house, though Alex was excited to have an occasion to use the room. The large oak table was set with dishes that Edwin had arranged and Gabby was preparing to fill. Soon, they would be seated, and Alex could smell the appetiz...
2025-01-29 14:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostAlright, everyone! I just wanted to post a quick update and see if I couldn't get a few volunteers!
I'm putting together some chapters from the point of view of a character who's overseas! As of now, I just know that they're likely somewhere in Europe a...
2025-01-28 17:16:04 +0000 UTC View PostLate January sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows that led to the courtyard at the center of the U-shaped building. The modern living room was open with high ceilings and the couch, living room table, and TV, all in the corner of the room, were depressed two steps into the groun...
2025-01-28 14:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostAlex crouched behind a natural crystal formation on the ground, using it as cover. Peering around the side, he watched the last floating crystal in the distance. The aurora above had intensified over the past two days, casting brighter lights and stranger shadows across the snow. Small, clear cry...
2025-01-27 14:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostThis is a bit of a bonus chapter added after the fact from reader feedback.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The three of them moved to an open area beneath the awning. Pete rolled his shoulders and grinned a...
2025-01-26 21:25:25 +0000 UTC View PostI'm going to put this at the top because I'm assuming many of you just skim these posts. But, with the edits almost finished (see below), my next goal is to focus on writing enough to bump up the amount you guys get here on Patreon.
The gro...
2025-01-24 15:43:52 +0000 UTC View PostAlex leaned over the small hand-drawn map that was laid out on the folding table under the tent. Several others stood to either side of him, and while he was hoping for more information, the drawing didn’t show too much.
He moved away from the table to return to his team, standing a short...
2025-01-24 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostMark’s SUV idled in the small lot off to the side of the Safe Zone checkpoint. Alex looked from the passenger window at the busy area as the chilly morning sun reflected off of the reinforced barriers that guarded the entrance to the city. There was a steady stream of people and vehicles flowin...
2025-01-23 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostAlex’s boots dragged across the front steps of his fancy mansion steps. He looked down at his shoes as he trudged up the stone stairs, unable to pull his thoughts from Rylan’s words at the Voss Estate.
‘…your progression will plateau once your luck runs out. Mine won’t.’ 2025-01-22 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
This chapter is a pretty drastic change as well. The two major changes were:
I had Alex be a lot less whiny about his trait. I had mentioend that he was a video game player, even if not in the last few months, he should understand what that trait means ...
2025-01-22 13:50:05 +0000 UTC View PostYeah... I rewrote pretty much this entire chapter. I was shocked at how much I was really trying to keep sentences short and have Alex be in his head. While I do want him to be a character that is second guessing himself and in his head, the original chapter was almost every other lin...
2025-01-22 13:44:21 +0000 UTC View PostThis chapter stayed mostly the same, other than some grammatical changes and Alex now grabs a knife from the restaurant as he's heading toward the Rift. Even though this is a spur of the moment decision to go to the Rift, since he knows (mentioned in the next chapter) that he needs to...
2025-01-22 13:42:27 +0000 UTC View PostMost of this chapter was rewritten. When I went back to reread it, I realized I had written almost an entire play by play of exactly what Alex was doing in his apartment to unwind. I didn't really like it and felt like I could show something better of Alex's personality. 2025-01-22 13:40:12 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm creating a collection for the Rewrite Chapters, though when they do end up going live on Royal Road, I'll just merge these into the Volume 1 Collection.
Very small rewrites in this chapter. You could pretty much skip this one if you wanted, I just ...
2025-01-22 13:37:54 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone, hope you had a good weekend!
This week I'm going to dip into my backlog a bit and actually not write to progress the story.
Now that the full first book has been published on RR, I feel like I need to polish it up and get ready to submit it to Aethon. A...
2025-01-21 15:26:36 +0000 UTC View PostAlex lay spread-eagle on the training mat with his chest heaving and sweat cooling on his skin. The lights were back on, and the late afternoon sun was streaming through the tall windows of the training room. Beside him, Olivia sat cross-legged, drinking deeply from her water bottle.
“You...
2025-01-21 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostAlex pushed through the heavy door into the same training facility at the Voss estate where the New Year’s tournament had taken place. As he looked through the thick glass window at head height, he caught his own reflection and was still shocked, even after being back for an entire month, to se...
2025-01-20 14:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostMark crouched behind his shield with the short sword by his side. The Snap-Vine’s brown bulb protruded from the ground a short distance ahead.
“Ready?” Alex called from behind a tree to Mark’s left. At Mark’s nod, he lifted his wand and sent a mana bolt through the forest, causing...
2025-01-17 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostAlex and Mark stood at the back of his SUV with the door lifted, looking at Sam, who sat with his legs hanging off of the back.
“Alright, you both have everything on the lists in your bags, right?”
Mark and Sam nodded in response, and Mark tapped his hip. “Yep, ready to go.” T...
2025-01-16 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSorry for the random time and late post, but I just had to share this!
I mentioned this a little while back, but I'm stoked to share some thumbnails from an artist with you guys!
Marco Defillo is the artist I contacted for this first project. I'll post some of his other social media l...
2025-01-16 01:29:31 +0000 UTC View Post“Ugh, come on!” Mark sat up from where he was lying on the couch. “Seeing how strong Sam is this morning, and how much of a difference he can make, gets me pumped! We’ve been waiting forever to go into a Rift, dude. We’ve only got tomorrow and Sunday before the Teams Event starts.” 2025-01-15 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
The morning sun cast long shadows across the large house’s driveway as Alex, Mark, and Sarah piled into Mark’s SUV. The drive into the city felt surreal to Alex. Even though they’d gone into the Safe Zone multiple times, the city was so different than he’d ever seen.
The immediate d...
2025-01-14 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAlex watched Sam fidget at the bottom of the mansion steps. The early afternoon sun was warming the entire group as they lounged on the front steps, there to support Sam however they could. Returning from the hospital the day before, Alex felt happy to be back at his house.
Still ridicu...
2025-01-13 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostAlex leaned back in his office chair and rubbed his eyes. He took a moment to himself before returning to the runic manual on his desk. He’d been studying for hours, and the sun had long gone down below the tree line outside his window. Many of the concepts of this runic magic resembled learnin...
2025-01-10 14:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostAlex settled into his new office chair, tablet in hand. Near the window, to Alex’s left, Val lazed on his cat tree. The wyrm would occasionally flick his tail fins to catch the rays of sunlight streaming in from the windows.
Smiling up at his companion, Alex watched as the small creature ...
2025-01-09 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostMark started laughing before Alex had even finished reading.
“You better go ahead and put us on the list for some Common Rifts, now!”
Alex ignored him and clicked on the notification, which took him to a more detailed article containing more information on the event.
...
2025-01-08 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostSunlight streamed through the large windows of the new house’s spacious living room. The white and gray space looked immaculate, and Alex was still finding it hard to adjust to having Edwin around to coordinate things and Clara around to constantly clean through the week.
Alex sat cross-l...
2025-01-07 14:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostJust thought this might be fun!
What are some rituals you guys want to see Alex create or learn? Most things have been focused on utility, and as we get further into runes, they shift more into the elements.
We can do this again once he creates Spell Circ...
2025-01-06 17:11:09 +0000 UTC View Post“You should be safe here,” Alex said. He looked around their secluded chamber. He knew that from the direction they came, there were more adventurers, and he’d be heading in the direction of the concentrated mana. “The slimes only come from these smaller tunnels, and they move slowly enou...
2025-01-06 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostAlex stared at the Rift’s shimmering surface and his heart hammered against his ribs. The now familiar blue-tinted portal shimmered in waves, but all he could see was same entrance he had stepped into with Valtherion several weeks ago.
He knew that it was a different Rift. He knew that it...
2025-01-03 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post