Hiro flinched as a bullet shattered the back window of the car.
Is anyone hit? he asked, ducking down as he turned to check on Jason and Vermillion in the back. Vermillion was rubbing the back of his head, looking disgruntled. In spite of the sudden chaos, Hiro was startled to see a figure draped in shadow where his nephew had been.
Taika, Jasons voice came from the...
2020-08-14 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostSo, thats the long and the short of it, Jason said. The EOA buy you out. Generously. I know its heavy-handed of me to take control of your affairs like this, but this is the only safe way out. It also means I can avoid killing a bunch of people.
Jason and Hiro were in Hiros sprawling apartment. After Jason explained the arrangements he had made, Hiro spent a long time...
2020-08-13 23:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostI dont recognise the auras, Jason said.
Engineers of Ascension, Vermillion said. Their alchemically-enhanced foot soldiers. This may not go well.
I can live with that, Jason said. Sooner or later, Ill have to make an example of someone.
It isnt prison rules, Mr Asano.
Maybe not to you, Jason said. Im all alone and surrounded b...
2020-08-12 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostVermillion and Jason paused their conversation as the waitress brought their food, along with wine.
Magic has always been a difficult and esoteric thing, Vermillion explained after the waitress left, while Jason nibbled appreciatively at the food. Some five centuries ago, a new kind of magic appeared. People with no connection to the old ways could suddenly wield a variety of...
2020-08-11 23:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostDays went past as Jason fell into a routine. In the mornings he would do strength training with the equipment in the townhouse, which was barely adequate for his bronze-rank might at maximum weight. Then he would ride to Rushcutters Bay Park to do some running along the waterfront.
He rode Shade in motorcycle form, as he only had one of Shades bodies on hand. Shade still kept bod...
2020-08-10 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostI've just added some new tiers, and I want to be clear on one point: there is no extra content gated behind these tiers. Silver rank continues to be the final extra content point; the higher tiers are for people who want to further support the story.
I will, from time to time, be inviting input of future story points. For example, I might make the power set of some upcoming characters ope...
2020-08-10 00:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostJason was standing on the edge of the roof, atop a tall building in the Sydney CBD. Shade was beside him as they looked toward an adjacent building. To normal sight it was unremarkable, but to magic senses the building was lit up like a giant candle. The top floor was a dancing flame of overlapped enchantments.
I see what you mean, Jason said. It does seem like a lot of troub...
2020-08-07 23:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostHiro returned home to the apartment building he owned. His penthouse floor was only accessible by his private elevator or through the regular elevator by using an access key. He walked straight to the bar and poured himself a stiff drink. It had been a strange night.
The entertainment lounge had one wall made up of windows looking out onto the balcony. Just as he was about to sit, ...
2020-08-06 23:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostTaika was driving Hiros large town car, with Hiro and Jason in the back.
The advantage of being on the legitimate side of the business is that I can be more conspicuous about enjoying the fruits of my labour, Hiro said. The man were going to see doesnt live in a penthouse apartment, but dont think that means hes not influential and powerful. Especially dont make t...
2020-08-05 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostHowd it go? Taika asked as he drove Jason through the city. They were in one of the cars Hiro kept in a pool for his staff, a luxurious town car Taika had picked for the roomy interior.
There are some hoops to jump through in legally coming back from the dead, Jason said. That lawyer you set me up with seems to know his business.
Yeah, hes good, Taika said...
2020-08-04 23:05:59 +0000 UTC View PostAnnabeth Tilden was woken by her phone.
Damn it, Anna.
So was her wife. Annabeth snatched the phone off the night stand and stumbled into bathroom, closing the door before turning on the light and answering.
What? she answered grumpily.
Boss, I was going over the grid feed for the night and I found something. The monitoring agent passed it off as a glitch, whic...
2020-08-04 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostJason let Shade drive through the dark and the rain. The dark did not obscure his vision, but he trusted Shade more than himself to drive safely in the wet. He also didnt want to drive distracted; his visit home had left him contemplative and sober.
We should do this trip again when the weathers better, he said. And during the day. The Pacific Coast Drive is one of the gr...
2020-08-03 23:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostIn the otherworldly floating gazebo, Jason was reunited with his familiars. While he was pleased to see them, the revelation that Shade had known the nature of the World-Phoenix token was startling.
How long have you known what token could do? Jason asked.
Several thousand years, Shade said.
Millennia, Jason said. It never occurred to you that I might want...
2020-08-03 23:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostJason went back to the chair he had left by the broken window and sat down. The cool, clean air coming in as the rain continued to hammer down was a stark improvement over what had been sealed away in the old hospital. Before he made a move, he needed to go through the system messages that he had been ignoring. He pulled up the first one.
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Jason regained consciousness surrounded by a fiery, transcendent energy, which immediately vanished and dropped him to the floor. The feel of cold tile on his body told him that he was naked, which he quickly confirmed by pushing himself into a sitting position and doing a quick visual inspection.
There were a bunch of system windows but he minimised them for the moment as he looke...
2020-07-31 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostI decided that I've done everything I wanted to do with the interval chapters, so there won't be one this week. I did intend to do a chapter focused on the Bertinelli brothers, but I never came up with an idea that I really loved, and if I can't get any hot Bert action, then I'd rather have no Bert action at all.
Since this means the interval chapters have concluded, here is the full volu...
2020-07-31 22:56:00 +0000 UTC View PostDawn was a celestine. She had a startling beauty of a diamond-ranker, with alabaster skin and ruby hair, perfectly matched with her eyes. Her flowing robes were off-white, accented with muted yellow and orange. She was at the top of a tower in the pocket city-universe of Interstice, in the city region of Fuero. She looked out over the city as she waited for someone to arrive.
Fuero...
2020-07-24 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Isabella Pantero heard the bell on the door to her bakery jingle, she came from out back to behind the glass counter.
Mr Asano! she exclaimed. I was told that you died!
He looked quite unlike his usual self, the confident grin replaced with a furtive expression dominated by a bushy moustache. She knew he had gone away on some kind of adventurer business, hearing ...
2020-07-17 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe Adventure Society and the Magic Society had both sent people flooding into the astral space. For the Adventure Society, it was a precious chance to rapidly advance some of their more promising members. It was currently ideal for skilled bronze-rankers and even freshly ranked-up silvers to advance their abilities. For the Magic Society, it was a chance to get a handle on the advanced ...
2020-07-10 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostDS Adam Cosgrove was thirty one years old and looked like a detective from a TV show. He wasnt good looking enough for it to be an American show, but he had a dishevelled intelligence that was compelling enough for a middlingly successful British or Australian crime drama.
He was in the middle of an apartment building, standing next to a uniformed officer. An older woman, she had...
2020-07-03 15:21:00 +0000 UTC View PostArabelle and Emir were talking as they made their way through the cloud palace.
Are you sure about this? Emir asked. I like Sophie, but shes a damaged girl, in more ways than one. Im not sure that shes in a state right now where I want to entrust my granddaughter to her.
This is a good match, Arabelle said. Sophie lived a life where she couldnt trust any...
2020-06-26 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Both the seal and the rank-restriction on the astral space aperture had been removed by Jasons team. Clive had turned the world engineers that were meant to invade their world into magical batteries that opened a passageway back to it. This not only allowed the team to escape, but opened the astral space up to thorough exploration.
The first step was securing a foothold in a zone still...
Asano was dead but that did not have to be the end. The astral space had no god of death to guide the soul into the astral; it would have to slowly drift into the Reapers grasp on its own. That gave the Builder a window to act.
As it considered this, Asanos combat robe vanished. A glow lit up from within his body, which started radiating heat. The Builder felt the surge of a familiar...
Clive led the way through the portal, followed by Neil and then the familiars. Belinda and Sophie were atop Onslow, Sophie still unconscious and Belinda not much better off. Humphrey had insisted on bringing up the rear, despite remaining on his feet only with the assistance of Stash, who had replicated Humphreys own form to provide a supporting shoulder.
They emerged in the ruin...
2020-06-05 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostHere was have the final post for volume 1. The first intermission chapter will go up on Friday (USA time).
2020-05-30 22:18:29 +0000 UTC View PostAs of June 1, some patrons (that don't already) will have an amount of sales tax on donations. Here is roughly what Patreon have told creators: Basically, laws have been passed that, varying by area, declare some kinds of Patreon (or other donation-based financial support system) rewards as products, therefore subject to sales tax. It will depend on where you are and how taxes are calculated on...
2020-05-29 02:41:38 +0000 UTC View PostVolume 2 will begin on August 3 (USA time) for silver-rank and above patrons. Leading up to volume 2 will be weekly interval chapters, including epilogue content for volume 1 and lead-in content for volume 2.
New gold and diamond tiers will be added to coincide with volume 2, but these will NOT get advanced content beyond that of existing tiers. Silver will continue to be the highest tier...
2020-05-27 23:05:59 +0000 UTC View PostSophie was dashing through the camp like a spectre, swift, ghostly and untouchable. She ended up running along the inside of the wall and onto the top, sprinting along it to reach her maximum speed. With a double-enhanced Heros Moment empowered every speed ability she had, even she felt like her breakneck speed was wild and precarious. She did not relent on the pace, whatever she felt,...
2020-05-27 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostOnce again, the teams pinpoint timing salvaged a very poor situation from what would otherwise have been a total disaster. Sophie used the last of her strength to throw out a bloody fist, barely able to lift an arm from which half the muscle had been shredded. As she did, Neils Bolster ability landed, enhancing the power the punch carried.
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The walls of the encampment had become a prison to the monsters driven to panic by the Builders aura. They were stampeding with nowhere to stampede to, a wild crush that was catching up the cultists and the construct and converted that served them. It was somewhere between a juice press and a meat grinder.
The air was filled with the sounds of combat and terror. The monsters let ...
2020-05-25 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post