Ali hauled herself up with shaky arms as the third storm of fire finally abated, returning silence to the arena of glowing red-hot stone. The Inferno’s heart-stopping primary ability still terrified her, in a force-of-nature kind of way, but Ali was coping with it ...
2024-11-19 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostTo triumph over the infernal legions, you must relentlessly disintegrate the frailest fragments of your body, mind, and soul. Heal the very ashes and forge what remains into an indomitable bastion of purity and resilience. Do this a thousand times, and ten thousand more, until you transcend y...
2024-11-17 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Happy Saturday - bonus chapter today. Regular chapter is still scheduled for tomorrow.
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“Everything burns.”
- Delwin “Boom” Cindershower, Gnomish Pyromancer.
Ali stood on the ramp in th...
2024-11-16 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIce magic holds the power to still the very heartbeat of the world, turning breath to frost and life into frozen statues that shatter at the slightest touch. It is the eternal beauty of frozen silence, the embodiment of winter’s wrath.
- Kryostria [The Frozen Scourge], Elder Fro...
Your Tunnel Weaver has been defeated.
Ali frowned to see the sudden surprising message. It was not that her newest boss had been defeated that was frustrating her, but the fact that it was a surprise.
Th...
2024-11-12 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
“We found it,” Malise said, emerging from the shadows beside Sabri and startling her. “That’s a boss. The entire room is filled with a poisonous cloud, and it knows we’re here. I couldn’t even get close.”
Sabri stared into the gloomy cha...
2024-11-10 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
The core of the Living Flame evaporated into motes of mana as Ali’s notification chime sounded. Calen had managed to lure several of them from the Landing one at a time, and each had been defeated quickly – their new mana drain strategy made the fights far quicke...
2024-11-07 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Your group has defeated Living Flame – Elemental – level 62.
That was rough, she thought, staring down at the still-pulsing dark blue-black fiery core that was all that remained of their first defeated Living Fl...
2024-11-05 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Ali stretched, rolling her neck side to side and hearing several loud pops from her tired muscles as they loosened. She placed the final book – the original – on the top of the large tower of assorted tomes beside her, done at last with the task of copying the mo...
2024-11-03 15:00:34 +0000 UTC View PostIt turns out that the so-called ‘Crafter Wall’ is a natural side effect of the economic disruption wrought by dungeons. The fact that artisans and crafters seldom advance to the second tier is primarily due to the widespread availability of cheap dungeon gear. Dungeon farming produces an ...
2024-10-31 14:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
The tunnel out of the Flame Broodmother’s lair wound steadily downward, occasionally narrowing enough that they were forced to proceed single file. Every so often, they paused to clear Flame Spinners from dimly glowing side caves, or Lava Lurkers from the ever-pres...
2024-10-29 14:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostYou gotta watch out for those side bosses. Many adventurers believe that skipping the smaller bosses is more efficient – a faster way to get to the more valuable ones deeper within a dungeon. That’s an easy way to get dead. Just remember, sometimes the later bosses have a giant aggro rang...
2024-10-27 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Ali and Malika entered Lydia’s boutique clothing store to the sound of the soft musical chimes, but to her surprise, it was not Lydia Ali found behind the counter. Instead, she found herself staring at a tall, dark-haired young man dressed in an elegant black suit ...
2024-10-24 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
There was a brawl going down in the middle of the guild shop, and the few adventurers that were loitering in the guild hall had all stopped to stare. It was not a knock-down drag-out brawl like it might have been if someone like Mato was involved, but it was most assur...
2024-10-22 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostBurn to ash!
- Inferno [The Consuming Flame]. Unique Fire Elemental.
The continual burning of Malika’s skin, hair, eyes, lungs, or basically every part of her exposed to the air, left her feeling drained and exhausted. S...
2024-10-20 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Is it just me, or is this getting a little easier?” Ali asked. It took only half an hour to fight through the denizens of the jungle to the entrance of the Emberforge Mines, but she was already sweaty, and her Tailored Cotton Clothing was drenched.
...
2024-10-17 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostWhen two tons of fury in the form of a Bristletusk Boar is charging you down, you want to be wearing the finest in solid steel fashion. The heavier the better! None of this namby-pamby cloth or leather shit.
- Baldin Steelshaper, Free advice offered to a novice adventurer...
The well-oiled doors swung open, and Ali stepped into the guild hall, blinking a little in the relative dimness after the bright sunlight outside. She had recounted the terrifying experience of being at the mercy of whatever ominous spell infested Nathaniel Sunstri...
2024-10-13 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostYour minions have defeated Cavern Crawler – Spider – level 5.
Ali woke to the sound of her chime and slowly sat up. Yesterday had ended on a rough note and she had retired to the library to withdraw from the world, b...
2024-10-10 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe scent in the sewer was surprisingly fresh, and the damp crumbling brick was covered with a lush carpet of moss and mushrooms. As they traced the path indicated on their map, the monsters became progressively higher and higher in level, but they were all easily di...
2024-10-08 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostIt was quiet in the Grove now that all the applicants had left. The crafter, merchant, and artisan aspirants had been escorted back up to town by Vivian Ross to undergo their trials with their respective mentors and masters, and the combat class aspirants had been dr...
2024-10-06 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Ali sat at the broad walnut table in the library with ‘The Fundamentals of Arcane Magic’ lying open in front of her, but her eyes were not seeing the pages. It was still too early for her friends; Mato and Malika were still sleeping. Calen and Ryn, ...
2024-10-03 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
The dungeon-rage stabbed into her mind, making her gasp with pain and stagger into the table. Ali vaguely heard the exclamations of concern, but her vision was dim, and the sounds came to her faintly against the roar that smashed through her brain.
A/N: If you're reading this story somewhere other than Patreon.com, RoyalRoad.com, or 2024-09-29 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
The fastest way to piss off a Troll is to greet them as an equal. Even if you are a Troll.
- Dorin Crimsonhammer, Platinum Adventurer. Advice to novice adventurers.
Tol’zerath bowed his head, the ceremonial tusk beads...
2024-09-26 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostCalen jogged down the dark and dingy alleyways between the run-down and mostly abandoned warehouses, his feet making no sound on the rough stone pavement. His powerful vision picked out every detail, even in the darkness of the cloudy, moonless night. Wrinkling ...
2024-09-24 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Malika had said her goodbyes, but as the billowing smoke of the recall potion yanked her body out of Toria, dumping her in the receiving room at the Novaspark Academy of Magic, she knew it wouldn’t be goodbye forever.
She settled her teleportation ...
2024-09-22 14:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
“Why do I have to do it? I’m an assassin, not a hiring manager,” Tala grumbled, glaring at Kieran Mori, but she kept most of her frustration to herself. His orders for her had become more and more annoying of late, and she had held her tongue mostly out of fear of ...
2024-09-19 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post“Adventurers Guild? Groups? Teamwork? Bah! That’s just a scam to have other people leech your hard-earned experience. Solo is the way to go!”
- Thomas Belray, Rogue, Last Words.
Willow picked her wa...
2024-09-17 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Happy Monday! Bonus chapter today :)
This chapter is critical for the plot of the story, but it turned out to require enough room that it became effectively an interlude - a chapter with none of the main party perspectives. So I'm releasing this as an extra, and the regular chapter wil...
2024-09-16 14:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post