A/N - Sorry for the delay, everyone! I always do my best to be on time with my posts for you all, but sometimes life throws curveballs. - The chapter below is roughly 4,800 words. - Please enjoy!
Eric’s fists clenched with helpless dismay even as he raced back the way he had come. “That portal’s just a few miles away from home, Bun. What the fuck! This isn’t Earth...
2025-11-17 15:15:18 +0000 UTC View PostSophia glared at the door. “It’s sealed shut.”
Hanna, still holding a tray full of tasty soup, snorted at her friend. “I know it’s warded, dear. If he’s this eager for rest, I’ll let him sleep. If he’s a bit famished tomorrow, he can have his fill of sausage eggs and rice then.”
Her friend still glared suspiciously at the door. “It’s not his sleep that I...
2025-11-14 04:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostCongratulations! You have successfully bested 2 Silver-Tier cultivators in culturally sanctioned duels!
You have earned 2 additional Ranks as an Elite Disciple!
Strength, Vitality, Finesse, Quickness, Perception, and Spiritual Energy have all increased! (Note! All attribute enhancing modifiers are in FULL effect!)
Your ultimate master high...
2025-11-10 03:59:01 +0000 UTC View Post“I demand satisfaction!”
It was a roar that froze the entire crowd to silence.
Eric could feel the weight of Dominion, the pressure of endless vast mountains crushing everyone to silence.
Eric’s gaze snapped over to the massive eight foot giant, even now leaping into the arena.
The ground shook with the boom.
The giant dissected Eric w...
2025-11-07 04:12:00 +0000 UTC View Post“And now for the main event of the evening. An irreconcilable dispute! An oath of vengeance… and priceless clan heirlooms in the balance!”
Eric, dressed in blue jeans and the very leather jacket, now soul bound, that Rachel had requested, strode out onto crimson arena sands he realized were actually crushed ruby powder. Beautiful, glittering, and would no doubt abrade ...
2025-11-03 04:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostRachel blinked, gazing between the seafoam-hued globe and the positively beaming Xi Xiun in slack-jawed disbelief. “Are you serious?”
His eyes twinkled with warmth and understanding. “Absolutely. So, now you know your path. And when you’re ready, you truly could make no better investment in your future than securing the purchase of Ocean’s Essence.”
Rachel ...
2025-10-31 04:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe entire class collapsed with a cry. Even Klein groaned and crumpled.
Eric clenched his jaw, stiffening his spine, now glaring right at the haughty cultivator floating down to the marble tiles just before him.
“Projecting the weight of your ascension on mortals? Seriously?”
The ageless woman’s gaze hardened, swirls of cloth whipping around upon unseen breezes, a...
2025-10-27 04:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostEric woke up with the first rays of dawn caressing his cheek. He couldn’t say why, as he slipped free of snug comforter and sheet, but he just knew, somehow, that it was going to be a wonderful day.
That’s when he realized it, gazing wide-eyed at a very much slept on bed. “Wait, I didn’t need to sleep on the air above… I sunk right into my comforter and pillow, and it’s...
2025-10-24 04:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Lord Domini.”
“Red, come in! Make yourself at home.”
John winced at the greeting but didn’t hesitate to take the hand of the exquisitely handsome ageless man dressed in a shimmering white toga that John knew was enchanted to ward any blow. His employer possessed the mien of a young scion of a bygone era, the sleekly powerful frame of eternal youth, and the eyes of ...
2025-10-20 04:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostYou have destroyed 11 Sheets of Spiritually enhanced parchment.
Flesh Sculptor Skillcheck: Critical success!
You have successfully infused Black Sea Spirit Beast hide infused with runes of Strength and Resilience with Spiritually Dense Highland Sigil Ink!
You have successfully transcribed Adept Tier Sigils for Strength / Endurance / Consum...
2025-10-17 04:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEric smiled with satisfaction after a very productive day indeed, his mind happily singing with all the beautiful spiritual insights still filling him with wonder after getting his first glimpse of pristine sigils he somehow just knew would be found at the most elite highland cultivation monasteries. And the Crimson Sigils sung to him with all the warm familiarity of an art he knew l...
2025-10-13 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostLiang snorted as the entire formation ritual began to glow a brilliant carmine hue, somehow seeming more real than the rest of the deep sea rig platform they stood upon.
“I think you’ve found yourself a new apprentice, Osirian.”
Osirian smirked, eyes twinkling almost playfully. “Perhaps.” He regarded Eric a bit too intensely. “You’ve already defied logic by prov...
2025-10-10 04:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEric could barely contain his excitement as the made their way back to the deep water rig, the gentlest touch of his gifts easing Zim’s whimpers and assuring he lost not a drop more blood than he already had. And even that subtle touch earned him both tears of gratitude and Tang’s measuring gaze.
Tang gave him an approving nod while the men on the platform above secured the jun...
2025-10-06 04:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Ho the rig! Friendly flyer requesting access!”
Eric grinned when he caught sight of a dozen or so cultivators flaring the hot Qi of definite Spiritual Energy gathering-stage cultivators, all of them staring his way with looks of absolute stupefaction, outrage, and in just a few case, wild laughter.
“Who the hell is that?”
“He flew fifty miles across seas this...
2025-10-03 04:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostEric closed his eyes and leaned back in his train seat, the only one heading to the academy that day.
His sister Louise was ecstatic, sobbing with happiness and relief as Hanna and Sophia embraced a private ceremony only for the initiated or perhaps for female members of their clan. Eric was more than willing to not play the arrogant Contender for once, understanding John’s fathe...
2025-09-29 04:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostEric blinked, surprised to find himself momentarily dazed with sleep before fully coming to in a bedroom filled with a sense of homey comfort and warmth that meant more to him than he was comfortable putting into words. He winced for his momentary befuddlement, yet dared to think that maybe he shouldn't be too hard on himself. He had survived multiple perilous encounters on top of class ...
2025-09-26 04:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Great news for Audible fans, Battleforged Books 1 - 4 are now all out on Audible!
Our latest installment, Book 4, Battleforged First Clear, clocks in at roughly 22.5 hours! It...
2025-09-24 22:57:11 +0000 UTC View Post“An awfully late walk you took, Eric.”
Eric came to an abrupt stop as he slowly walked the steps leading to his bedroom balcony, his hair still wild from a Mach 5 Sprint through howling winds and leaves and pollen that had touched him so lightly. Just enough for deep, refreshing breaths of air he didn’t need to survive, only thrive. Enough to rustle his hair and decorate him ...
2025-09-22 04:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe look of shocked fury upon all three cultivator’s faces was absolutely priceless.
So much so that Eric couldn’t help but pull out his tablet and record it.
Recording the furious flicker of a half dozen emotions racing across Mid’s countenance, the others as well, homicidal fury and supreme frustration the most prevalent, before Mid burst out in bitter laughter.
The air rang with the sharp notes of wind and steel in a symphony of grace and destruction. Sheer bleeding perfection and the cleaving away of anything and everything that failed to be worthy of the Path of Steel.
A quietly panting Eric couldn’t help but grin ruefully in the darkness. It seemed that even with his most recent quickness boost equating to a Mach 5.8 maximum speed sp...
2025-09-15 04:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostA/N - A slightly shorter chapter, today. Normally, I like to give my readers at least 3000 words to enjoy per chapter, and often quite a bit more. The next chapter will be another fat one at 5000+ words. - Please enjoy!
It was those looks that he feared above all others, Eric firmly decided, pinned as he was by his foster mother’s worried, hurt gaze and John’s h...
2025-09-12 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“We owe you, Contender,” Liang formally declared, gazing at the massive collection of canvas sacks and wooden crates absolutely filled with items both precious and mundane. “Both for the supplies, and the lives we need to make use of them.” He barked a chuckle with those words, as did a full dozen powerfully built cultivators radiating crimson arts, primal savagery, and dragon ga...
2025-09-08 04:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostEric howled as lightning cracked and thunder boomed like a thousand pounding drums as he dared to cross the barrier between seas of isekai dreams and twisted nightmare. Low, thick clouds were suddenly overhead, the air tainted with an ill green light as acid winds whipped Eric with strange mercurial drops that sizzled and crackled against clothing that disintegrated in seconds.
Yet...
2025-09-05 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostEric’s thoughts raced as Battletime took hold. He no longer bothered to hold back as he took a handful of steps straight up, peering out into the strange sea so sharply demarcated from the increasingly choppy waters they floated upon as rain clouds out of nowhere rumbled overhead.
A cold spike of dread pierced his gut when he actually saw something looking back at him from the in...
2025-09-01 04:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostIt was only after enjoying a leisurely walk through the nearby park, ice cream cone in hand that tasted so much like a classic waffle cone w
It was only after enjoying a leisurely walk through the nearby park, ice cream cone in hand that tasted so much like a classic waffle cone while laughing at Rachel’s humorous quips and wild tales that he realized something had gone seriously...
2025-08-28 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe loud grinding noises from below in the quite functional cannery were perfectly muffled by the well insulated walls as a powerfully built man took his ease, legs crossed as he leaned back and took a puff of his aromatic stogie, smiling while a young woman dressed in nothing more than a sheer satin kimono that didn’t do justice to her voluptuous curves sat on his lap and answered the...
2025-08-24 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“We shouldn’t be abandoning her. We should be there, by her side!”
“She’s going to be fine, Louise. She just needs a couple quiet mornings to top off her reserves.”
Eric’s foster sister, dressed in pastel skirt and cotton blouse that complimented her dark blond hair cascading down her shoulder in ringlets, crossed her arms and closed her eyes, leaning back on th...
2025-08-21 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“So did you enjoy your walk, Eric?”
Eric couldn’t help but smile as his ears rang with the sweetest of melodies, a voice filled with gentle warmth and motherly concern.
“I absolutely did. Very refreshing. Dare I say it, inspirational! The most surprising thing is that I didn’t even get lost.”
“Good. Then perhaps you can tell me what happened to your clothe...
2025-08-17 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“See you all later… I think tonight’s one of those nights where I could do with a nice long walk,” a freshly showered, changed, and downright spiffy-looking Eric declared with an upfront smile to a bemused-looking John. He saluted Eric in a fatherly sort of way with his bottle as he and the rest of the family watched an obvious comedy on the holo-center, filled with inside jokes,...
2025-08-14 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Is it lunch time yet? I'm starving!”
Hanna's cool look turned to a heartfelt smile, even if Eric had only said the word to fit in the moment… and maybe because her look had been super motherly, right then.
“Lunch is the plan, though we’ll have to go to the school cafeteria, since you still have two more classes today, along with your sisters.” She sighed, shaking...
2025-08-10 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post