The Autoplate Pauldron on my shoulder bent with my arm, feeling almost like it wasn’t there—aside from the several pounds of weight that pulled on the straps across my chest. It had taken most ...
2025-02-24 14:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostIn the end, I agreed. Jessica made some good points about three people providing a better balance than two and how having someone powerful on the council would help prevent people trying to out-mus...
2025-02-23 14:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostMorning came quickly.
It didn’t surprise me. The sun had been rising as we pulled Jessica up into her house, and the first people had already started investigating the hole we’d ripped in...
2025-02-22 14:30:51 +0000 UTC View PostYour Level has decreased by one. By retreating from the Reliquary of Bones, you have lost one point in Body and Awareness.
Saul burst out of the wall of gray fog, feeling lik...
2025-02-21 14:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostAlice was tired of waiting.
She’d been packed for days. Months. Seconds. Waiting for Claire to come back to the Mindscape. But her sister was busy saving the world, or fighting wit...
2025-02-21 13:55:37 +0000 UTC View PostTier Two Dungeon: The Reliquary of Bones (Floor Two)
Objective: Defeat the Queen Tyrant
Objective: Survive (0/1)
Complet...
2025-02-20 14:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostMy stomach dropped. I’d been hoping to clear the second floor tomorrow, just before I confronted The Captain. Now, I couldn’t count on that boost. Worse, he’d almost certainly been involved; ...
2025-02-19 14:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostI flew through the air as the giant train-car golem slammed its fist down. The track buckled below it; my Charge Blade barely even dented the monstrosity. A second before I hit the rough gravel tra...
2025-02-18 14:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostTori’s eyes were glued to the Orerry the whole time we walked through the streets of Chicago. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have cared. People used to walk around with their heads in t...
2025-02-17 14:42:59 +0000 UTC View PostHello, Patrons. I recently launched a new story, Apocalypse Engineering, on Royal Road. If you're currently reading it and want to read it on Patreon/get email updates, changing your current Pa...
2025-02-17 14:34:14 +0000 UTC View PostTommy Wright told me everything.
I already knew some of it. I knew that The Captain ran the show, and that he was ridiculously strong. He’d been in the high Thirties before the Tier Two Dun...
2025-02-15 21:34:34 +0000 UTC View PostTori raged.
Quietly.
Jessica was working her healing magic down below on some poor bastard who’d had a run-in with a monster and hadn’t leveled—or who just didn’t know about the...
2025-02-15 21:33:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe blood-red experience orb hung in the air a few feet away, but I didn’t move to touch it right away. It had been one thing to kill Eddie—he’d threatened Tori, and I knew he’d follow thro...
2025-02-15 21:31:58 +0000 UTC View Post“You’re stuck in here with me,” I said, dragging the second door guard’s unconscious body into the safe spot nearby.
I didn’t like playing this role. It didn’t feel natural, and I...
2025-02-15 21:30:31 +0000 UTC View PostI looked for them for close to an hour, but even though their trail went due north, I lost them after the third set of explosive scorch marks. That had to be a good sign. They had to have gotten aw...
2025-02-15 21:28:46 +0000 UTC View PostAs I closed in, The Bean spun toward me, slamming its weight into the concrete. Huge stone missiles rocketed toward me, crashing into the grass beside me. I threw myself out of the way as a head-si...
2025-02-15 21:27:29 +0000 UTC View PostIt was good to be king.
It was also a metric shit-ton of work, more than he’d ever had back at the precinct.
On the other hand, he deserved this. In the sixty seconds between the end ...
2025-02-15 21:26:10 +0000 UTC View PostAfter a minute, Tori pulled away, and I got a good look at Jessica. Right away, I could see a glaring problem.
Jessica Silvers: Level 8
Class: Healer
On some level, ...
2025-02-15 21:24:38 +0000 UTC View PostIt took us an hour to fight through the streets, killing a few stray monsters and trying to stay away from Eddie’s group. I hit Level 28, while Calvin made it to 10. Tori did not level up—a fac...
2025-02-15 21:23:17 +0000 UTC View PostI whirled toward the screaming man as a crossbow bolt passed my head, but he’d already thrown the weapon down and was running back toward the dungeon’s fog gate. The big guy—Eddie—slammed h...
2025-02-15 21:21:54 +0000 UTC View PostWe’d just hit Ohio Beach, and Union Pier’s Ferris Wheel spun slowly overhead, when the crab attacked.
This one looked a lot like the Knife Crabs we’d fought on Montrose Beach, but it wa...
2025-02-15 21:20:33 +0000 UTC View PostCongratulations! For completing one hundred percent of a Tier One Dungeon, you have received the following reward:
One [Voltsmith’s] Supply Box (Rank One)<...
2025-02-15 21:19:13 +0000 UTC View PostMy Trip-Hammer howled, wind ripping behind it as it flew toward the Eyes of Perfection’s tiny, bird-brained head. It ricocheted off something inches away, jarring my wrist even through the Lock-G...
2025-02-15 21:17:59 +0000 UTC View Post“Are they gonna be okay?” Tori asked, looking over her shoulder for the eighth time.
The fog had faded rapidly as we pushed into the ‘Birds’ wing; I figured the waterfalls were making...
2025-02-15 21:15:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe Beast Glastisant’s roar echoed in my ears as I spun in place, head spinning. This close, the sheer volume of it was disorienting. I stumbled toward the behemoth’s leg, revving up the Trip-H...
2025-02-15 21:13:45 +0000 UTC View PostAccording to the kiosk, we should have been heading toward the North Gate and a loop with African and Arctic animals—polar bears, penguins, and elephants. But as I led the way into the Twilight M...
2025-02-15 21:12:15 +0000 UTC View PostLast night, when Brian’s party hit the Twilight Menagerie, there were eight of them. They’d been confident in clearing it—they’d survived the Tutorial, were all in the double digits, and th...
2025-02-15 21:10:53 +0000 UTC View PostOver [five million] [Homo Sapiens] attempted the Hardcore Tutorial. Of those, [One hundred seventy-three thousand, eight hundred twenty-two] successfully defeated their Dungeon Bosses. The ...
2025-02-15 21:09:01 +0000 UTC View PostPhase Zero Complete.
Time Until Phase One: One Hour, Fifteen Minutes
Please Wait.
The staircase led us through what might’ve b...
2025-02-15 21:07:11 +0000 UTC View PostTime Limit: Two Hours, Seven Minutes
I sprinted away from the contraption we’d laid across the gravel and between the wooden ties. The tunnel wall that was once a platform ...
2025-02-15 21:05:04 +0000 UTC View Post