The four of them stood in a street on the east side of the city, part of a district tucked away in a corner and so small Velik hadn’t even realized it existed. He’d thought Gold Town’s proper...
2025-03-03 14:07:28 +0000 UTC View PostFor Velik and Jensen, it was two weeks of boredom. Aria was being put to use as a scout. Torwin helped vet people with his extensive knowledge of the guild’s old guard. Even Sildra had a purpose,...
2025-02-28 14:33:45 +0000 UTC View Post“Black rot and damnation,” Nelspir swore. “How deep do you think this contamination goes?”
“You’d have a better idea than me,” Torwin told him. “You’ve been working with the...
2025-02-27 13:47:40 +0000 UTC View PostWas it too much to ask to just have a few hours to myself? Nelspir lamented when he’d noticed Reldin and Talimar coming toward him. They were retired hunters who’d reached silver ...
2025-02-26 14:33:31 +0000 UTC View PostNelspir was sure that what was left of his hair was going to fall out from stress. That [Vault Seeker] kid hadn’t folded like they’d all expected, and while Nelspir was se...
2025-02-25 13:29:45 +0000 UTC View PostIn hindsight, Velik shouldn’t have been surprised at how easy it was to get back into the city unnoticed. He’d imagined some clandestine plot that had infiltrated every level of society with en...
2025-02-24 13:12:09 +0000 UTC View Post“I take a three-hour nap, and you guys have a breakthrough in the mystery without me,” Velik said, annoyance creeping into his tone. “Off my kill, no less.”
The five of them—minus A...
2025-02-21 13:07:32 +0000 UTC View PostFor the last two weeks of her life, Sildra hadn’t felt comfortable. She was far away from every place she’d ever known and every person she’d ever met, except for Jensen. He’d done his best...
2025-02-20 12:51:42 +0000 UTC View PostTorwin instinctively recoiled away from Gorlath’s body. His skull had partially collapsed, the damage so thorough that even if Gorlath had somehow lived through it, he wouldn’t be...
2025-02-19 12:55:29 +0000 UTC View PostThe two hunters stared down at the body, which was itself a crushed, bloody slab of meat. The [Beast Tamer] had avoided the worst of the damage with his magical barrier, but e...
2025-02-18 13:43:44 +0000 UTC View PostThe man’s bracer crackled with power and a translucent pane of glass materialized in the air in front of him. Velik’s spear struck it, sending cracks spider webbing across its surface. They sea...
2025-02-17 13:35:45 +0000 UTC View PostMeeting a bear that was twice his height and ten times his weight in a straight charge wasn’t going to end well. Regardless of any differences in their physical stats, Velik wasn’t going to che...
2025-02-14 14:08:11 +0000 UTC View PostIt wasn’t too often anymore that Velik worried about dawn coming on him in the middle of a hunt. Most days, whatever he was fighting wasn’t strong enough for it to make a difference. But in thi...
2025-02-13 10:05:25 +0000 UTC View PostIt should have been simple. Jensen was a [Vault Seeker]. He could literally close his eyes and point to unclaimed valuables just waiting for someone to come pick them up off the gr...
2025-02-12 13:50:21 +0000 UTC View PostJensen’s brilliant decision was that Torwin and Velik would escort the mercenaries back to King’s Crossroad for imprisonment and trial, which was promptly shot down by all the more experienced ...
2025-02-11 14:01:18 +0000 UTC View Post“You’re hurt,” Sildra said, her voice almost accusatory.
“It’s nothing,” Velik said. He was surprised she’d even noticed.
“Doesn’t look like nothing.”
“It’...
2025-02-10 13:42:59 +0000 UTC View PostA few dozen more arrows rained down through the darkness, but before they could strike the half of the team that were just now groggily waking up, Gilder reached up a hand overhead. A surge of… s...
2025-02-09 13:39:33 +0000 UTC View PostIt took the better part of a week to reach King’s Crossroad, and Velik visibly chafed at the slow speed by the end of the second day. Neither Aria nor Sildra had invested anything—or in Aria’...
2025-02-08 13:12:59 +0000 UTC View PostThe first fight didn’t happen until shortly after noon. Velik and Torwin were doing a wide circuit paralleling the road at Torwin’s insistence, something Jensen insisted was completely unnecess...
2025-02-07 13:17:09 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time Velik and Torwin returned to Cravel, everything else had been taken care of. Supplies had been purchased, paperwork had been obtained, and horses had been rented for the group. Velik ha...
2025-02-06 13:44:40 +0000 UTC View PostTorwin let out a satisfied groan as he stretched out in the hot spring. The water was doing wonders for his sore muscles with each passing minute, and the only way the experience could be better wa...
2025-02-05 14:36:30 +0000 UTC View PostAria sat on one side of the table, a spread of sugary treats separating her from Velik. She idly picked at a pastry with a fork as she considered his request. “It’s a bit forward, don’t you t...
2025-02-04 13:58:29 +0000 UTC View PostJensen was shown into Bertrim Nelspir’s office two days after Velik got his gold pin. He’d been eager for the meeting, as the expedition was planning to hire on twenty silvers, thirty bronzes, ...
2025-02-03 14:35:55 +0000 UTC View PostThe summons to appear before the guild leadership was every bit as miserable as Velik had expected it to be. He was harangued by various pompous instructors and department heads, praised for absolu...
2025-02-02 13:20:43 +0000 UTC View PostJensen walked past the cat house three times before he worked up the nerve to actually go inside. If anyone he knew had seen him entering Melon and Peach, he’d die of shame, but of course this wa...
2025-02-01 12:34:24 +0000 UTC View PostThe two of them were in the carriage, riding back to Cravel and discussing the state of the guild, to which Aria would be giving her recommendation that Velik be raised to the rank of gold. Just be...
2025-01-31 14:27:40 +0000 UTC View Post“I cannot believe you pulled that off,” Aria said flatly while holding out a massive glass jar she’d pulled out of seemingly nowhere.
“I told you I could,” Velik said, though in tru...
2025-01-30 13:50:38 +0000 UTC View PostThe book learning portion of Velik’s training as an iron-ranked monster hunter hadn’t been especially helpful. It made sense that the bestiaries focused primarily on low-level threats, as those...
2025-01-29 13:27:57 +0000 UTC View PostWhen he’d started his trip through the swamp, Velik had been essentially blind in the water. The smells were overpowering, the sounds were all new and unknown, and of course he couldn’t see a d...
2025-01-28 13:59:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe bed was lumpy and it stank, which was actually kind of amazing when Aria thought about it. The whole damn village reeked with that particular rotting odor unique to swamps. Despite that, they...
2025-01-27 13:57:16 +0000 UTC View Post