[Debuff canceled.]
[Relevant Skills upgraded.]
[New Ability gained: Mana Steal]
[Class Evolution complete. You are now a Culinary Rogue.]
The cold evaporates from my arm like it was never even there. With a surge of energy, I twist the knife and yank my arm away. The ice shatters in a hail of fragments, and the candidate stumbles back in surprise.
I flex my wrist, ...
2024-10-14 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostWithout needing to leave our core on the ship, we can range as far as we like. It’s odd, having all of our body out in the ocean with us. Well, technically not all of it; we left much of our loose glass made of fulgurite back on the ship. But the bones of our body are here, which gives a comforting structure to our void that we didn’t previously have. We are more solid, our form more stable...
2024-10-13 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostDays trickle into weeks as I continue to help grow Fyreneth’s Keep. Per Mirzayael’s direction, I build a corral in the caves just outside the Keep. As her scouts assist with exploring the Catacombs, they capture and bring back small creatures to add to the enclosure and raise as livestock. The next job I focus on is making Ollie’s living quarters more comfortable. I smooth out his cavern,...
2024-10-12 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostShirasil’s mark flares with a pulse of warmth against my skin as I pass through the doorframe. I step out onto a branch, which bows beneath my feet. The movement shakes my balance, and I instinctively grab a nearby branch. But it’s with the wrong hand—my injured fingers slip off, and I nearly topple over, only managing to save myself as I throw my other arm around one of the crossbeams, l...
2024-10-11 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostFree from my restraint, the Core happily dives into the stone. Its sense of self plunges ahead, dragging me along like a fish on a line. I hold tight, letting it explore the rock while I mentally catalog the spaces we pass through. As I suspected, it’s not merely solid stone. Our sphere of influence moves through dozens of caverns, intersects tunnels, and skirts around giant crevasses. The mo...
2024-10-10 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostFire burns through my bones. It pours through my arm like lava, sluggishly spilling into my chest and dripping through my limbs in an intense, concentrated heat. Shirasil lets go of me, and I sink to the ground, squeezing my wrist as if I can cut off the burning sensation that’s crawling up my arm.
But it doesn’t hurt. Like the fire that had fueled my revenge, this heat is blinding an...
2024-10-09 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostI grind my teeth as the Dungeon Core shrieks into my mind.
It hates it! It hates the water! It’s everywhere! It can taste it! It’s drowning! Ahhhhhhh!
“You’re not drowning!” I growl, sticking a finger in my ear as if that could stop the mental tinnitus. “You are a rock! You can’t drown.”
“Outsider!” Mirzayael appears above me, her voice tinged with al...
2024-10-08 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostI physically recoil. Become Shirasil’s Champion? “No! Never.”
“Why not?” He splays his hands. “You want to challenge the gods, don’t you? You want to change the system. I can help you do that. I can give you the power you need to get there.”
I scoff. “Not if it means working for the gods. I won’t be used by you. You yourself said the power Champions...
2024-10-07 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostNoli and Rezira show us below deck, where there’s a shared room and several cots where we’ll be sleeping. Well, where Zyneth will be sleeping. I deposit my meager belongings (and all the extra glass I’ve accumulated) in the trunk by one of the beds. As the women show Zyneth where he can get washed up, I make my way back to the main deck.
I wave to Murrok, who’s still at the helm, ...
2024-10-06 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“What do we do?” Mirzayael hisses.
“Ventilation, first off,” I say, glancing around the cave. “More holes like the one we carved to get in here should help. But Carbon Dioxide sinks, so the real danger is down here at ground level.”
I could maybe get Ollie to stir the air up with his wings. I’ll also need to start taking more samples at different heights wi...
2024-10-05 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostMy mind races, fear coursing through me, as I take a step back and raise a fist. Even if it’d be useless, I wish I had my knife right now.
Shirasil arcs an amused eyebrow. “Come, now, Sal, I’m not some philistine like Widengra. I’m on your side! I’ve been helping you since we first met.”
“You’re a god,” I say, taking another step back. “You’re all the same.”<...
2024-10-04 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostSomething hard and dark wraps around me, stopping my fall and obscuring my vision. I tumble over myself like a bean in a shaken can, but at least I’m no longer falling to my death. Given my surroundings are white and scaly, it’s clear enough what’s caught me: the dragon’s claws.
He releases me, and I go spilling out onto the icy floor of the cave. I start to slide down the g...
2024-10-03 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostMaru draws back her spear.
I have just enough time to gasp in a breath, then I smash the hilt of my blade into the smoke bomb on my bandolier. The glass shatters, and the potion explodes into the room.
Literally. The blast is so intense it knocks me off my feet. I don’t even realize I’m flying through the air until my back strikes a wall and the air is knocked from my lungs. I f...
2024-10-02 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe dragon’s mouth snaps open and another roar tears through us. A white light begins to glow down the back of its gullet. Mirzayael grabs my shoulder and yanks me back. I stumble, my wings flailing wildly, which in turn knock over Nek and Rei. The entire heap of us falls backward into a haphazard pile as a concussive blast crashes into the wall before us. A cold wind and bright light flashes...
2024-10-01 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostI rush to the edge of the stadium and lean over the railing, trying to catch sight of where Lis vanished. She’s only a few feet below me, however, standing on a catwalk fixed to the back of the stadium. There’s a whole series of precarious paths and bridges built into the struts beneath the stadium. I glance back to make sure no one is watching, then swing myself over as well.
I slip ...
2024-09-30 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe red glow of the burning ship disappears on the horizon as we sail south. Captain Murrok finishes their illusion spell several minutes later, and a shell of orange light forms around the ship. I can’t see any difference from the inside, but Noli assures us that from the outside, we’re now practically invisible.
We’re free. No one is chasing us. We all have a moment to breathe. 2024-09-29 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
We spend the day wandering the Catacombs, exploring buildings, temples, and empty fields. It’s all fascinating to me. The tall, swooping architecture, the flame motif that decorates the buildings, the statues of Fyreneth—it speaks to a culture wholly unique from anything I’d encountered on Earth. I ask Mirzayael about every crumbling statue and mural we pass, trying to absorb any bits of ...
2024-09-28 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post[Name: Kelle]
[Class: Fire Blade]
[Level: 39]
[Attack: 186]
[Agility: 24]
[HP: 100/100]
[Affinities: Metal]
They’ve got me beat on every stat across the board. That’s a great start.
I grab a bottle from my bandolier. “So how do you feel about, like, just trying to knock each other out?” I call across our circle. “No blood. No death. Just...
2024-09-27 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostI continue to back away from the stinger nest, mind racing.
Core, keep an eye out on the ground, I tell it. Watch for any thin spots. Weak points. Make sure I’m not about to step through a hole or fall again. Got that?
I’m not sure it does, but I don’t have time to be more explicit. I snuff out my Spark next, summoning two Blazes in their place. On...
2024-09-26 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe bones rattle together like pieces of a toy set, rising from the ground and clicking into place. It’s half formed into some sort of creature—a dog, maybe. I don’t let it keep forming.
I dash up to the bone creature and smash the pommel of my knife through it. The skull pops from the neck and crashes into the ground, shattering on impact. The creature stumbles to the side, but doe...
2024-09-25 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostUnlike the echoing chamber outside the gates of the Catacombs, within its deserted streets everything is unnervingly still, quiet, and close. It’s the kind of place that demands whispers and soft footfalls. I step carefully, keenly aware of every scraped talon and kicked pebble. Something about the place makes me tuck my wings in close.
Speaking to Mirzayael now feels like it woul...
2024-09-24 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“Hurry up with that potion, Cyros!” I quickly count over the bottles on my bandolier, spread out over the table before me. The water breathing potion, half empty. Two mana drain potions. A bottle of orchid sap. One classic smoke bomb, two modified smoke bombs. A mana potion. An invisibility potion. My Attuned poison. A pouch of frost seeds, only four left.
It’s what remains of what ...
2024-09-23 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you guys going to lay down there all day, or would you like the get the fuck out of here?” Rezira calls down.
At the same time, Noli waves. “Kanin! It’s so good to see you! Oh I like that coat, is it new?”
“Er, yes,” I sign. “Zyneth got it for me.”
“Oh?” Noli wiggles her eyebrows.
Zyneth grabs my arm and gently pushes me to the side so I am no ...
2024-09-22 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostAfter Mirzayael and I return to the city, I’m ready to collapse back into bed. I’ve barely eaten all day, however, so when Nek invites me to dinner, I wearily and graciously accept.
A group of townsfolk have gathered in a communal area similar to the dracid chamber. It’s a large, artificial cavern carved from the rocks, with several entrances and windows, and four rings of sun...
2024-09-21 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostI collapse to my knees as the spear flies overhead, the breeze kissing my face. I pull the healing potion from my bandolier and bite the cork with my teeth, ripping the topper out. Some of the liquid splashes away in my trembling hands, and more of it dripples useless onto the floor and my clothes as I try to pour it over the wound in my shoulder. It feels like splashing myself with acid, and I...
2024-09-20 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostMirzayael occasionally uses her spear as a walking stick when the terrain gets tough, favoring her injured side. It apparently had not been some form of incredibly dark humor when Beryl had said she’d removed Mirzayael’s injured leg. The limb is severed just above the joint, seemingly scarred over already; though I expect magic may have something to do with the rapid recovery. The missing l...
2024-09-19 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostNearby, a couple people groan, and my own head still pulses faintly from the summoning spell, but my eyes are glued to Maru.
I can kill her now. Leap forward and attack. Pull out all my potions, throw everything I have at her—
Except I don’t have my knife. I’m weaponless. And without a blade, nothing I have prepared will mean anything.
Shit!
“Pull yourse...
2024-09-18 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostDespite my eagerness to revisit the dracid chamber and investigate how I could improve the insulation, Beryl orders me to eat, drink, and rest first. I suppose that’s fair. Weariness hangs heavy in my bones, and without a source of natural light, I’ve lost all sense of time. The water they offer me has a sharp mineral taste, and the food is some chopped form of mushrooms and other vegetable...
2024-09-17 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post[1 Day until the Gods’ Tournament]
I plunge my scarf into the wash bucket, then pull it out, holding it up to the sun.
Water drips off the cloth, and I flip it over, watching the water run down the side of the fabric. I wring it out, then uncap the water breathing potion, sprinkling a bit over the scarf. I knead the potion into the material, then try again, plunging t...
2024-09-16 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post(Author's Note: I've been waiting to write this chapter for a looooong time.)
The ship to the north reaches us first. It pulls up alongside us, clearly getting ready for boarding. Not that there’s much of the ship left to board: its main mast is down, the captain is overboard along with half the crew, and the ship’s listed to the side, flooding the main deck, as the Prismat...
2024-09-15 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post