I followed my fellow escaped prisoner into the woods, thinking he would be my ticket to the mainline quest. Unfortunately, he stopped 50 yards away.
"Thanks for your help escaping...
2024-07-26 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostBy the next day, more than half of the lux Hiroko had brought from the tower had leaked from her. Cycling became difficult, like she’d tied lead weights to her limbs. The world gradually l...
2024-07-25 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostI've gotten nicely far ahead in the novel, so I've decided to release some extra chapters over the next few days, hopefully taking us to 10 chapters ahead of RoyalRoad! Thanks to everyone w...
2024-07-24 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostA dark shadow swooped over the fortress, and all the prisoners ducked. There was a loud “whump," and the top of one of the towers exploded, showering us with shards of stone. The bul...
2024-07-24 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostFor the next three days, Chang-li felt like a fish gasping on the bank of a river, flopping about, desperate to try to reach the life-giving waters. He still clung to the last remnants of hi...
2024-07-23 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostI make no apologies for the bird related puns, it's my cowriter at fault. This interlude is probably going to be about ten chapters long and will feature the cheesing exploits we couldn't f...
2024-07-22 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAn Indigo princess listens twice as much as she speaks and watches everything. Hiroko had been taught the admonition from an early age, and falling back on that advice served her well...
2024-07-20 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSo, I said we'd start book 5 today... and then I showerd the other half of M. Talon the opening of book 5 and he said, "Wait, I want to see this bit you glossed over!" and I said I didn't w...
2024-07-19 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostJoshi stared up at the edifice rearing out of the swamp above him. It was a stepped pyramid, seven tiers high, made of featureless black stone. When he cycled lux out of his body, the vented lux wa...
2024-07-18 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostWrapping up book 4 here - book 5 starts right away!
It was a week after our brush with the Coyote fragment. I had spent the last couple days getting Colin's new team i...
2024-07-17 12:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostMin couldn't help feeling the same excitement as the rest of the Gem Court as they proceeded through the expedition camp. They were all wearing their finest: Min in her white robe edged with red, t...
2024-07-16 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
When Sage appeared in front of me, I breathed a sigh of relief. So Williams had made it, and Sage was safe. "You have it?"
She tossed me a smooth white fang on a leather thong. "...
2024-07-15 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThis is a chapter I wrote while developing the character of Chang-li to help me better understand who he was and the society he's in. I'm releasing it to Patreons only - enjoy!
... 2024-07-14 18:36:06 +0000 UTC View PostJoshi counted the purification tablets a third time. Two left. He had stretched them as long as he could. He could feel his body starting to unravel under the weight of his unpurified lux. How long...
2024-07-13 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostD'oh, released early and with the wrong chapter number. Oops. Well... yeah.
I was going to feel really dumb about this if Sage had the teleport beacon in her inventory...
2024-07-12 02:19:33 +0000 UTC View PostBy mutual agreement, the three walked from where they had slain the tortoise to the nearest oasis, which they could see from atop the tortoise. They were careful not to go deep enough to engage its...
2024-07-11 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostHopefully this isn't confusing: this chapter is part of the mainline plot. I've concluded the Sage bonus saga. It was a heck of a lot of fun but Sage wants to be in on the finale!<...
2024-07-10 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe Sphinx told them how to find the oasis whose guardian would yield up a green token. His directions were straightforward. “The place is not far from here, and the guardian is a rival of mine. ...
2024-07-09 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAs soon as Sage's team moved into action, a pop-up appeared: [Dam Breach: Structural failure in 27 minutes 17 Seconds.] Time for me to go; I needed to find Shad Williams befor...
2024-07-08 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostA river had sprung up in the middle of the wilderness, right out of a hole in the ground. Chang-li hadn’t read anything like this in his book. They followed it as the land around became lusher an...
2024-07-06 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
This one is short, and it'll probably end up going to the freeloaders - sorry, this is where the threads start coming back together, but I hope you've enjoyed Sage's stor...
2024-07-05 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post"You know what's funny?" I asked as I raised my pick over my head and brought it down hard against a boulder, splitting the rock into smaller fragments.
"What?" asked Major Armstrong as he wh...
2024-07-05 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostHiroko was relieved when their next destination also proved to be a challenge and not an oasis. The longer she had to cycle and work on her skills before she was forced to face combat again, the mo...
2024-07-04 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostOnce we were about half a kilometer away from the slot canyon, I halted. The kids gathered around me, all chattering excitedly. I held up a hand.
"All right, hang on, one at a time."
&n...
2024-07-03 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostUnder Joshi's tutelage, Chang-li's attempts with a sword became less hacking and slashing, more elegant cuts and swoops. They added an hour of sword practice to every cultivation session. The extra...
2024-07-02 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe occasional jackrabbit or hawk flew overhead. I shot everything I could and wound up with a couple of skill seeds, combining two of them into [Double Jump: Activate to turn an ordinary j...
2024-07-01 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostJoshi dove in on the middle head of the hydra. His right fist was wrapped in a layer of red lux. To his left, Chang-li was shouting and slashing with his sword, distracting the left-hand head. Hiro...
2024-07-01 01:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostChang-li cycled as Joshi and Hiroko slept. The shifting colors of the sky filtered through the trees of this oasis. He had the cultivator journal open on his lap and was glancing through Scribe Wul...
2024-07-01 01:04:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The entire cultivator encampment was in an uproar. Rumors and gossip reached even the noble quarters, sheltered as they were away from the day-to-day of the camp. Min received messages...
2024-07-01 01:03:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Immediately upon rising, Chang-li handed out purification rations to each of them. The tablets were small wafers, about the size of the circle he could make with his thumb and forefing...
2024-07-01 01:02:01 +0000 UTC View Post