OverXelous

27. First Steps

Jonathan sat in the waiting room on the fifth floor of the Hunters Association building. The floor had been turned into an emergency treatment center for Awakened. He was doing his best not to fidget in the small chair. Two other Awakened waited nearby: a young woman with a bandaged hand and a man whose leg constantly bounced.

A door on the other side of the waiting room opened, and a wom...

26. Compromise

Jonathan shifted in the uncomfortable chair that had been arranged before the long conference table in the Hunters Association hearing room. To his right, Jimmy sat in his wheelchair, still recovering from his recent injuries. Captain Hayes stood at parade rest behind them, waiting patiently for the small hearing to begin.

Director Matthews sat centered at the table, with Deputy Director ...

25. Friendly Fire

“Yates, get your ass over here and help me grab Bill!”

“He’s dead. You need to get what kids you can and move. Now!” Steam spilled from his own mouth as [Raging Breath] brought in new billows of refreshing energy.

The rage surged through Jonathan’s veins like liquid fire and he felt as if he could feel and hear each heartbeat in the base of his skull. He felt like he was...

24. Unchecked Power

The base's interior was a stark contrast to the swamp outside. Smooth stone walls rose around them, supporting wooden platforms stretching between different levels and branching to surrounding trees.

Where did the stone come from? Were these made with a skill?

Jonathan led the way, his movements quick and deliberate as he cleared each corner. His axe was held at shoulder he...

23. Entry

The rhythmic thwump-thwump-thwump of the helicopter blades cut through Montana’s December air, and each beat reminded Jonathan of an old life. While it had been hard for him to adjust to civilian life as a teacher, he felt a lot of satisfaction in helping teach and nurture a younger generation. Now, he found himself back in the thick of things.

It was mid afternoon and the...

22. Training Recruits

Jonathan slid the dampening bracelet over his knuckles and felt the weight of his dampened emotions settle on him.

Time to play nice.

He used his shoulder to press into the briefing room, careful not to spill any of his precious coffee. Captain Hayes was already standing on the far side of the table, arranging various printouts and larger satellite photos on its surface. 2024-11-23 03:24:27 +0000 UTC View Post

Quick Update!

Hi everyone, happy Friday! Hope you're all doing well today!

I'm excited to share that I have completely finished Berserker! I'll be pre-uploading the last three chapters here for Paid Patrons, so you'll have them before anywhere else.

I followed my outline to a tee, and I'm happy it was close to the projected word count. The ending did end up feeling a little bit r...

Chapter 46 - Challenges Mount

The next several days passed the same as the previous few, with the only change being that Alex now had an easier time staying up into the late hours of the night, even with his exhausted body. The new [Sleep Resistance] passive allowed his mind to continue functioning through his sleep fatigue. Though he noticed that it didn’t actually reduce the amount of sleep that his body needed and his ...

Chapter 45 - Unstructured Magic

Alex asked where they were going once, but after receiving a brief reply to be patient, he didn't ask again.

Sam and Alex followed behind the regal celestial for a while. When the younger boy grabbed Alex's robe sleeve, Alex glanced at him but let it be. He knew Sam had been through a lot and likely saw him as a lifeline. They continued to follow Eura out of the city gates and down a dirt...

Weekly Update! #2

Hi everyone! Hope you're all doing well this morning/afternoon/evening!

Writing Update:

Spell Weaver & Berserker

• I wrote 12 chapters last week! I slacked off a bit on Spell Weaver, only writing 3 chapters, but I crushed 9 for Berserker! I'm prioritizing Berserker because it's just a few chapters from being comple...

  2024-11-18 20:35:44 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 44 - Progression

Alex was pulled from his sleep by the sound of Sam’s rustling blankets. His eyes snapped open, and he looked around until he realized it was just the teen making the sheets on his cot look neat. Alex had noticed him doing it a very precise way each morning.

I wonder if that merchant made him do it like that every morning. Or maybe his parents?

Alex rubbed his eyes and str...

21. Team Dynamics

Jonathan stretched out his tired muscles and allowed his shoulders to rest against the row of bleachers behind him. The large training facility had a number of fans running and the mostly brick or cement building took him back to old memories of playing basketball in a gymnasium as kid. The walls glowed a gentle blue light at several points, indicating the enchantments that had been placed on t...

20. Break Through

The alarm’s harsh tone filled Director Matthew’s office as the trio of screens flashed red. The far left screen changed as the director walked to his desk and hit a few keys on his keyboard. Data scrolled from top to bottom and Jonathan could barely make any sense of it, the code far beyond his understanding.

Deputy Director Sullivan stepped forward, getting within a few feet of the c...

19. Leadership

Elijah and Jonathan pulled into the parking garage beneath a glass and steel office building in Crystal City. Looking out of the passenger window, he noted several vehicle types that appeared frequently in the spots and noted a fair number of Teslas. The juxtaposition between the small, sleek, and eco-friendly being parked across the lot from a Humvee was not lost on him.

“This is it?�...

Chapter 43 - Adapting

Alex woke with a start. He looked around his small room and only saw Sam’s sleeping form on the cot in the corner. His heart was beating as if he’d just gone for a run or been in a fight. Val, who had also been curled up on his chest while sleeping, made an alarmed sound in his mind.

“Danger!? Where?”

Taking a few deep breaths, he put a hand to his head and closed h...

18. Public Figure

The automatic doors at Flint Bishop International Airport hissed open, the warm indoor air a welcome reprieve from the Michigan winter. Jonathan could smell commercial cleaner and coffee in the air. He followed Elijah inside, catching his reflection in the glass.

After Jonathan received a particularly bad scar on his chin from one of the harpies, Elijah mentioned that he might want to sha...

17. Viral

Jonathan slumped against a blood-stained stone wall. His new tactical vest hung in tatters and the enchanted leather gloves on his hands were slick with harpy blood. Sweat mixed with spattered blood, threatening to drip into his eyes.

He wiped his forehead with the back of the gloves, which wasn’t very effective. Each of his breaths burned his lungs and came in gasps. He knew that his s...

How did you guys like Ch. 42?

If you have the time, please leave a bit of feedback or at least vote on the poll!

If the only people answering this poll are those who have an issue with the chapter, and those who enjoyed it stay silent, to me it's going to look like this chapter should likely be changed before going live on Royal Road!

---

I was struggling to find some sort of balance betw...

Chapter 42 - Foundations and Tensions

Alex arrived at the training grounds at dawn. He yawned, causing Sam to do the same.

Even though the younger boy was told that he could stay in their small house for the afternoon, Sam just shook his head and got dressed along with Alex.

The training grounds were beginning to fill with disciples and other sect members as they stretched and talked. Alex took a deep breath of the mist...

16. The Untethered

Jonathan wiped sweat from his forehead as he moved through the old ruins. The warm breeze carried the scent of old stone and vegetation. He really disliked the heat and grumbled his complaints quietly under his breath.

Thick vines wrapped around crumbling pillars, their bright green deceptive at a first glance. He had learned that the leaves could change colors and during the day, they wo...

15. Twin Moons

Private First Class Tyler Roberts pressed his off-hand against a tree. By putting his palm and four fingers flat against the tree and sticking out his thumb, he could create a very stable surface for his rifle while still maintaining cover behind the tree. He tried to control his breathing as he covered the squad's retreat. The twin moons cast strange shadows through the branches, making it har...

14. First Contact

The odd sensation of stepping through the Rift washed over Jonathan. As soon as gravity returned to him and his borrowed winter clothes settled around his body, a frigid blast of air met his cheeks. His injuries throbbed from the sudden return of gravity, and Jonathan braced his feet to keep himself upright as they touched down on the snow.

A blue window materialized in front of his face,...

13. Clearance

Jonathan got out of the car and resisted the urge to stretch.

He’d finished putting the most recent stat points into his screen and despite his frustration with easy growth, he found that he felt a sense of satisfaction in seeing the numbers on his Status go up.

***

Status 
Name: Jonathan Reeves - Level 9
Class: None
HP: 98/110
MP:...

12. Gains

“Mr. Reeves, you should really check them out.”

Jonathan clicked the button on the side of his phone, locking it. There hadn’t been any notifications for him anyway. “You just want to hear more about my powers.”

Elijah rolled his eyes, “Now you’re just doing it on purpose. They’re called skills, not powers.”

Jonathan grunted.

“I’m seri...

11. The Offer

Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows and clenched his jaw. As consciousness returned and he realized that his body was responding, he flinched in anticipation of hitting the ground. He heard, as much as he felt, the cold metal cuffs slide against a metal bar.

Squinting, he cracked his eyes open against the headache and bright white lights. As his vision returned and he could make out his surrou...

10. Nexus Hub

The molecular structures in David’s organic chemistry textbook had started to blur together. He blinked hard, trying to focus on the carbon chain structures that he needed to memorize for his midterm exam. His small desk lamp cast a weak circle of light across his spread-out notes, barely reaching the edges of his cramped desk in John Jay Hall.

An empty coffee cup teetered dangerously c...