Nathan’s face turned red and his features twisted into a mask of rage. He ignored Sarah and stomped over towards nearly the center of the yard. Sarah followed and settled into a ready position ten yards away, while Nathan took a basic stance with his broadsword held in a two hand grip, pointed up and towards her. He was still flushed, and breathing heavily through his nose.
Mr. Tenns to...
2025-08-26 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe Smith poked his head over the final step of the staircase, eyes at ground level as he peered down the length of the tunnel. The tunnel appeared to open into a large space, the view blocked by some kind of resplendent multi-colored boulder.
He crept back down the stairs a way, past the point where he needed the [Blind] helmet to be able to see, and after a minute of th...
2025-08-25 18:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostJames stared at the iron door a moment, then shook his head to rouse himself.
That was way too fast, wasn’t it?
After a minute’s thought, he decided to continue exploring.
He turned his back on the iron door and went back through the tunnel and continued along the wall to the right, when several yards ahead the light fell on a quiescent rat monster, just sitting there idly...
2025-08-22 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe air outside was crisp, and the back yard was still nearly totally covered in shadow as the early morning sun rose higher. Dawn was coming later and dusk was coming earlier these days as the seasons finished changing and it was definitively Autumn.
I hope Dad’s okay with the harvest, Sarah idly thought as she walked towards Mr. Tenns, who was carrying an armful of wooden pra...
2025-08-21 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostClang! Clang! Tap tap tap tap… Clang! Clang! Clang! Tap tap tap tap…
The cuirass, torn through by the Holy Tiger’s claws and left with large, jagged rends in the metal, was beyond repair. But it was simple enough to smelt down and reforge and re-enchant. With two more levels in Enchanter under his belt, the enchantment was a strain, but not so bad as to knock him out for a ...
2025-08-20 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostHalf the bar area was in ruins. Bodies littered the floor in pools of blood. In the other half of the bar area, other adventurers were curled up on the ground, seemingly unharmed but covering their heads.
None of the members of either feuding party were standing.
No, the only person standing was a young girl, in light training clothes, with her long blonde hair in a braid down her b...
2025-08-19 18:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostOver and over James tumbled, head over heel in perfect darkness, raising a terrible din as his armor struck stone stairs sequentially. In his weariness from the previous fight, it took him some time, but eventually he flung his arms and legs out and after a brief slide, came to a stop.
His first concern was that he couldn’t see anything. This wasn’t the normal darkness where his eyes ...
2025-08-18 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostFor a moment, truly only a second or two, the Smith stood there, gazing down on the body of the boss monsters, catching his breath and feeling the limits of his mana.
And then he remembered his mother’s wisdom.
Don’t ever let up!
Don’t stop until you’re sure they’re dead!
Don’t fall for possum tactics!
Feeling sore and tired, ...
2025-08-15 18:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostA party of five adventurers entered the Guildhall with grim expressions. Two wore long robes covering almost their entire bodies, one with a hood thrown back and the other with a wide-brimmed, pointy hat. Behind them entered a man carrying a short spear and a shield, which he set down by the entrance, and behind him entered a man carrying two battle axes and wearing chainmail over leather armor...
2025-08-14 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostOne thousand, one hundred and eleven steps.
Such was the number the Smith recorded in his writings later in life.
Hot and sweaty from wearing that heavy armor the entire way, lugging around the heavy full sized tower shield, and exhausted from the mental strain of keeping his guard up in the entire time in case another kitten monster sauntered around the next corner, the legendary S...
2025-08-13 18:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post“There you are, Sarah!” Tiffany called from the receptionist desk as Sarah finally stepped into the Guildhall. “You’re late!” she said cheerfully.
Sarah explained about the incident with the Thief and the city guard and Tiffany’s eyes sparkled as she listened to the story, excited that for once she had the gossip to spread first. “Ooh, that’s so scary! I’m so glad you’...
2025-08-12 18:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostOne strike was enough to finish off the kitten monster, which had been slammed into the wall countless times in the span of their fight.
[Enchanter] Class has reached level 10.
[Smith] Class has reached level 10.
Spending a week forging and enchanting the armor had been the correct choice.
Within the crater in the ground formed by the Sm...
2025-08-11 18:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostFirst, James set up his smelter and built it to produce heat enough to melt Red Iron. He had some unsmelted ore he had collected earlier, and after confirming that, he tested out a sample of white iron ore.
A small sample. While his ward covered half the room and there were a few large veins of white iron ore accessible, it wasn’t infinite, and he had never worked with it befor...
2025-08-08 17:28:46 +0000 UTC View PostThe etching wasn’t the Enchanter’s best work, not by a long shot. The [Reflect] enchantment pattern is difficult to apply to a round object like a helmet, and the [Blind] enchantment that James had access to was optimized for knives, and normally would only be adapted for things like arrowheads or swords. Not the helmets of visors.
Certainly not on th...
2025-08-08 17:27:29 +0000 UTC View PostAfter seeing Sarah off in the first rays of dawn’s light, Helen went back and took their dishes from the dining room, otherwise deserted at this early hour, through the kitchen and back to the small scullery, and quickly washed them and put them back on the shelves, ready for the morning breakfast rush.
Helen wanted to tell Sarah to quit the guard job. It was still too early for her. Sh...
2025-08-07 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostA month later, James had settled into a dull routine of doing not much of anything. The old iron mine was completely sealed, as far as he could tell. Cursed Dragon-Fire Melted Stone blocked his way in all directions. So he would wake up, eat breakfast, recharge the ward which now encompassed the entire cavern, and then stare at the embers in his forge. He would stare, numb to the world, unable ...
2025-08-06 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostAt closing, she helped shoo the lingering Adventurers out the front door along with the bar maids, and her first night’s work was complete. No fights. The bartender, a Guildhall employee, signed a small slip of paper formalizing the job completion for the night, and handed her eight copper pieces.
Sarah was confused. “Doesn’t this go to my tab?”
The bartender smiled and shoo...
2025-08-05 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe Smith stood there, panting, hammers in both hands. There wasn’t much else he could do. Slowly, he relaxed, and his Earth War Hammer slipped from his fingers to the ground with a thud.
The Ice War Hammer remained in his grasp, but not by choice.
James lifted his visor and looked down at his right arm, seeing that the frost had spread over the entire arm and only now was startin...
2025-08-04 18:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostThe Smith stumbled backwards, pushed by the dragon’s slash with its claws before it reared its spiked head to snap at him.
And the Smith found his footing, the spikes at the bottom of his boots gripping the hot, hard packed dirt beneath them both. He bent his knees slightly, brought his shield back in front, and tensed the muscles in his right arm, ready for a counter.
The dragon...
2025-08-01 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostSarah walked back home holding her Adventurer’s License and a sheet of paper with her new schedule on it in her hands. She was an Adventurer now! She couldn’t hold back a grin the entire walk home.
She stepped through the gate in the low fence surrounding the small yard in front of the inn she shared with her mother, and Helen poked her head out one of the front windows, from the kitc...
2025-07-31 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostFireballs, it turned out, had almost no physical mass. Surely if the Smith had been unarmored, his skin would have been singed and he would have taken heavy damage from the compressed, magical flames.
But the Smith was wearing the best Fire Armor he had been able to produce.
Still, a wave of heat washed over the Smith as the fireball collided with the back of his cuirass. Sheer disc...
2025-07-30 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostUnfortunately, Mr. Tenns’ recommendation for a B Rank in interpersonal combat was denied. A C Rank himself, he was only allowed to recommend that high, despite his wealth of experience in sparring as one of the Guild’s top trainers.
In the end, mainly due to Sarah’s dismal assessment exam results for everything except combat, she was inducted as an F Rank Adventurer, with a E Rank f...
2025-07-29 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostHow long had that treasure chest been there?
James’ heart was still pounding so he made no move to suddenly investigate the windfall. It was possible that the Dungeon had made the treasure chest appear suddenly, and it hadn’t been there before; but that was only in the sense that a Dungeon could do basically anything for whatever reason.
The other explanation was that James, upo...
2025-07-28 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostEventually James calmed down and became aware of a foul stench emanating from the remains of the spider monster.
He looked around for monsters, being extra careful to check the ceiling for spider monsters, and upon seeing nothing but blank, nondescript maze tunnel walls, he got back to his feet.
He inspected the smelly, oozing remains of the spider monster, but his ...
2025-07-25 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostBeth was pissed at him, but frankly, if he wasn’t already in so deep, he’d be pissed at her for not getting an accurate combat history prior to the assessment.
But this was the first time their Guild branch had ever assessed a Brawler. Sure, the big book had had a litany of warnings about the Class, but nothing that indicated a standard combat assessment was unsuitable. Hell,...
2025-07-24 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostJames did have a boost to his Intelligence thanks to his Enchanter Class, so it wasn’t difficult for him to retrace his steps in his memory and create a simple map of what he had explored so far. Nor was it difficult to reorient himself: the lizard’s tail conveniently marked in which tunnel the lizard had been originally, even after stepping into the four-way intersection of identical tunne...
2025-07-23 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe muscle man went on to explain that first, there would be two spars: one with Sarah on the offense with the goal of taking himself to the ground, the second with Sarah on the defense with him taking her to the ground. Both would be unarmed. Then they would spar with weapons until one side yielded.
“Do you have a preferred weapon? The big book was a little vague, saying Brawlers use a...
2025-07-22 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostBut the Smith did hear it. He steadied his stance, planting his feet firmly, and brought his shield up, protecting his upper body. The sound
But the Smith did hear it.
He steadied his stance, planting his feet firmly, and brought his shield up, protecting his upper body.
The sound was familiar.
A bat monster, the same size that he was used to, was fluttering its way towa...
2025-07-21 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostSarah’s heart sank with each question. Questions about laws, questions about the city’s layout, questions about monsters, questions about other Classes, a math question, and so on. She got the sense that after the first few questions in each section, Beth was just skipping the rest.
It made her want to cry. Just a little.
What had she been doing all her life if this was...
2025-07-21 09:00:34 +0000 UTC View PostSeveral minutes later, a woman in her late twenties came out with Tiffany trailing behind her. She also wore a long skirt and a plain white blouse, but made of significantly better fabric and with better stitching than Tiffany’s, and her hair was pulled back into the same tight bun.
She reached the counter and smiled. Tiffany stood a step behind her and to the side, also smiling, but wi...
2025-07-21 08:59:02 +0000 UTC View Post