Slate nodded slowly and thoughtfully. "Yes, a harder healing trial," he said. "They're called challenge trials, and they're required for attunement to certain dungeons. I…" Slate hesitated. “I don't think you are advanced enough for one. But i...
2025-01-03 14:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post
The island was an enormous floating water lily, two hundred feet across, with a bright pink flower rising fifteen feet high in its center. Magen had spotted the puzzle box for them. It nestled in the center of the flower, and surround...
2025-01-02 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostRick walked out to meet Sam. They met up on the edge of the bluff overlooking the desert, with the ruins of the ancient crashed city looming above them and the lights of Angels’ Landing beginning to blossom off to the south.
Sam looked tir...
2025-01-01 14:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostNote: reworking some previous bits. I've updated Bk 3 Chapter 8 if you wish to reread. It's not critical, just the first of a couple small course corrections. I'll keep you all posted as I go if I make changes.
<...
2024-12-31 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post[Quest Emergency Stage: Defend the Incursion!] appeared. [Defend the Rork village from the ancient war machine the miners have dug up].
The party ran along the levees between fields, Rick in the lead. H...
2024-12-30 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostQuick FYI: I'm doing some edits to previously published chapters this week, partly based on your feedback, partly based on where the book is going. I'll keep you all posted on it so you can either choose to go back and read or know how thi...
2024-12-30 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe big hexabunny’s fur had mutated into porcupine-like spikes that dripped green poison. Its fangs were much larger than the others, and its body was twice their size.
No way something that big could have been hiding in the water. T...
2024-12-30 01:25:54 +0000 UTC View PostThe two faction representatives stood staring at Rick having demanded he chose a side.
Gambit stepped up beside him. "They're not giving us much time, are they?"
Rick shook his head. "What do you think?"
"If all...
2024-12-30 01:25:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Rick climbed back into the seat of the wagon, refreshed. “Had a good nap?” Gambit asked. The Mongolian player had relieved him a few hours ago, letting Rick get some rest.
“Fine. How’s it gone?”
“Badly.” Gamb...
2024-12-30 01:24:44 +0000 UTC View Post
The caravan rumbled over a wide, flat stretch of red desert before winding down a bluff onto lowlands of yellowish stone. Here, scrubby desert vegetation dotted the landscape, except where flat stretches of yellow sandstone peeked thr...
2024-12-30 01:24:11 +0000 UTC View Post
“So,” Rick asked. “So how does level up a caravan work?”
“Progression is straightforward,” Slate continued, his tone growing more animated. “You build a group of serious dungeon crawlers. They level up, gear up, fo...
2024-12-30 01:23:33 +0000 UTC View Post"So was that your girlfriend?" Daniel asked. “She’s hot. Except when she’s a bear. Then she’s scary. Actually, I get the feeling she’s scary all the time.”
"Ex-girlfriend," Gambit reminded him.
“Definitely scary, then.”...
2024-12-30 01:22:52 +0000 UTC View Post"Stop!" the bear yelled.
"Seriously, you need to stop!" Rick shouted. He didn’t know for sure what was going on, but the hunter and the bear were both on the same page. He didn’t want to piss off the most powerful players here.
The...
2024-12-30 01:22:15 +0000 UTC View PostAs the ogre amalgamations charged a huge white bear appeared in front of the group. The name tag said [Ice Bearoness]. It hit the ground, looked around, said, “Oh hell yeah,” and raced right for the ogres.
Rick targeted ...
2024-12-30 01:21:22 +0000 UTC View PostRick quickly inspected the area around the dais. The necromancer’s worktable was lootable. It produced several bits of corpses and a [Ceremonial Dagger]. The weapon was covered with jewels, with a bone ivory handle, and gave a +...
2024-12-30 01:20:26 +0000 UTC View PostNote: starting to post Patreon chapters. The RoyalRoad story is https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/100689/s...
2024-12-30 01:19:41 +0000 UTC View Post
As Chang-li watched Joshi storm off through the crowd, Min released his arm. "Go after him!" she hissed. "Don't let him say or do anything irrevocable. I'll find Hiroko."
Chang-li was still trying to process what had just happen...
2024-12-28 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hiroko struggled through the crowd of cultivators and hangers-on. Everyone wanted a word with her. She couldn't just brush past them and be gone. She had to exchange pleasantries, inquire after sect members, and listen to boasts about...
2024-12-26 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post"Well done," Eri told the victor of her challenge. The young cultivator, Li Jiya, held out a hand as Eri extended the promised elixir to her. It was contained in a small multifaceted crystal vial. The liquid inside gave off sh...
2024-12-24 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostJoshi and Li Jiya raced up the mountain, leaving Chang-li behind to stop their pursuers. The peak ahead loomed over them, another four hundred feet. Joshi's eyes flickered from side to side as he picked out the best path. He caught a flash ...
2024-12-23 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostIt was easier than Hiroko had expected to leave the Court of Gems for the afternoon. The Court was being hosted in the Governor's palace complex, up on Vardin City's Crown Ring. Hiroko had yet to meet the actual governor, who was in seclusion reco...
2024-12-21 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Chang-li was in the training room, walking the latest disciples through a series of exercises designed to help them move their bodies and cycle their lux in a contrary pattern. The training room in the house that Min's grandfather had...
2024-12-20 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor's note: messed up my RR posting schedule and gave them an extra chapter, so you guys get an extra tomorrow!
"Ah, Hiroko, thank you for attending me." The Dowager Pearl looked up from where she was seated at a low tab...
2024-12-19 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Unbound Master Noren lifted his mug of beer high. "A Round for the house," he called to cheerful appreciation.
Outside, the wind howled. The House of Fallen Leaves was perched high up in the Darshen Mou...
2024-12-17 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
REVISED VERSION 12-30-24
Min strained to layer the green into her orange technique. Chang-li stood by, observing, not saying a word. She tried to focus on her technique and her burning muscles, not her hus...
2024-12-16 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
The fifth floor of the tower was accessed from a gate on Petal 12. The Petal had a collection of weavers and tailoring shops but not many houses. Chang-li commented on it as they passed through.
Li Jiya said, "No do...
2024-12-14 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostProud to announce our new series, launching on RoyalRoad this weekend: Shut Up and Heal Me!
Book 1: My Ex-Girlfriend's the Tank?!
As you may tell from the title, this one's a LitRPG. Our goal is to have two active seri...
2024-12-14 00:04:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Based on the number of other cultivators surreptitiously looking around, and more than a few staring in open wonder, Chang-li wasn't the only provincial bumpkin here. The top ring of Vardin City, which circled the entire tower, Min ha...
2024-12-12 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostJoshi stepped off the raft into the lux-enforced tube leading beneath the surface of the lake. A ladder ran down its side. He slipped from rung to rung, descending as he led the party on their way to one of the lower levels of the tower.
The...
2024-12-10 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostMin waited in the tea room of the Oaken Band Brotherhood headquarters, trying not to let her inner turmoil show through to the surface. Chang-li and her grandfather had been out in the garden for a long time. What if Grandfather Jiang didn't like ...
2024-12-09 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post