Aster Loka

Chapter 26

“Get away from the trunk, fast!”

Right now, the fallen tree formed a loose cage over Levi and Gremlin Two. As long as they stayed low, there was room to crawl around.

The trunk currently hung suspended atop a half dozen broken branches, a foot or so above them. But the weight of a...

Do you want to be credited by name in my thank you author notes, or would you prefer to remain anonymous?

I've seen some people who thank patrons by name, is that something you'd be in support of, or do you prefer to be only 'my patrons'?

Chapter 25

The boss, it turned out, was not a spider skunk.

Level 1+
(Dire Turkey)
Health 100%

It stood taller than Levi, its body lithe and covered in glossy black feathers, long neck extended and a dark gleam in its eyes as it s...

Chapter 24

Beast dungeons held everything from bugs to chimaeras, and had so much potential variety Levi couldn't begin to guess what specific creature this would be.

He'd heard stories of unbelievable creatures, of unicorns and basilisks, of beetles that could swallow a car, of serpents so long and t...

Chapter 23

Something dove at Levi with an angry screech, immediately after they stepped inside the dungeon. Levi caught the flicker of movement and jumped aside to evade.

Level 1
(Dire Turkey)
Health 100%

About the size of a chicken, but a...

Chapter 22

Levi eased the paper free from its hiding place and spread it out on the table. Another dungeon map, this one less detailed, with three destinations marked on it. It felt almost unfair to look over it and immediately recognize the locations they represented. Even as vague dots, the dungeon maps h...

Chapter 21

Levi sat for a long moment in the room where he’d killed the Soul-Seeker until his breathing and pulse slowly returned to something resembling normal, trying to decide if he should press on or retreat.

Control dungeons were always tricky. He knew that. Somehow, he’d gotten complacent ag...

Chapter 20

Levi opened his eyes, turning to take in the situation fully. His heart still nearly skipped a beat as he turned back toward the Soul-Seeker, but he needn’t have worried. His guess was right, his position below and behind it prevented it from turning toward him.

Gremlin Two lay limp, trap...

Chapter 19

Levi cast a Mana Blast at full strength, blindly, straight ahead, pushing all of his mana into it. It wasn’t a very good attack, but it was the only thing he had at the moment.

Reality shattered. One moment he hung helpless in the grip of the Demon Lord who’d killed him in another lifet...

Chapter 18

Another awkward ride, another half hour spent running in circles casting out mana pings, and Levi finally found the Control dungeon as evening began to fall.

He’d only been in a handful of these in the past, and that handful had been more than enough.

Control weren't one of the stan...

Chapter 17

“No pets allowed,” grumbled Levi’s uber driver. “I don’t want your…” he squinted at Gremlin Two. Gremlin Two waved and grinned, showing his too-pointy teeth. “I don’t want it making a mess in my car. I’m not sure I want it near my car.”

Levi made a mental note to stick...

Chapter 16

They found two more gremlins skulking down side routes, but nothing more.

As they walked, Levi tried to decide how best to handle his upcoming quest. He could move slowly, as there were three more dungeons roughly in the line between him and the treasure map’s destination. Or, he could ma...

Chapter 15

It took another ten minutes, but in the end Levi and Gremlin Two prevailed.

Staff shattered, health reduced to 1%, the goblin shaman lay helpless and vulnerable, pinned beneath Levi’s foot. Of course it still bit, clawed, snarled, and would invoke its magical aura in another 40 seconds, b...

Chapter 14

Though a boss monster, ostensibly a great threat able to annihilate a half-dozen unwary delvers within moments, the goblin shaman did have one major disadvantage.

It was still a goblin.

A large goblin, with exceptional magical abilities, yes. But large for a goblin still meant… it c...

Chapter 13

Levi sprinted into the boss room and shouted in defiance, drawing the goblin shaman’s attention. It immediately raised its glowing staff, bones rattling as it began casting a spell.

Gremlin Two scampered in behind, gleefully clutching Levi’s dagger in both his spindly hands.  For a...

Chapter 12

The second dungeon bore almost no resemblance to the first. This one was swamp-themed, and had those frustrating sinking hillocks that you had to jump from one to the next as they slowly vanished into the corrosive sludge beneath.

Worse, several times it happened that the next one he jumped...

Chapter 11

For some reason, Levi’s first instinct was to hide Skarm’s body behind his back. But that would only make him look more suspicious.

“What is wrong with you?” the woman hissed, setting down a grocery bag so she could put a hand on her hip. “Lurking around a park, doing things like ...

Chapter 10

Streetlights - working streetlights! - greeted Levi as he exited the dungeon, lighting the park in a warm and comfortable glow.

He stared out in wonder at the cozy, relaxed, peaceful scene. How long had it been since he’d seen real streetlights, not the pale mana ones that barely did the ...

Chapter 9

The pillar crashed atop the ogre, knocking it to the ground, and sprayed it - and Levi - with its bubbling orange goo.

Level 1+
(Cave Ogre)
Health 2%

The enraged aura around the ogre faded as it went into recovery mode. In bette...

Chapter 8

Then things changed. With a roar of fury, the ogre smashed its manablade cleaver down - not on Levi, but through one of the pillars.

Chunks of stone scattered like shrapnel from the impact and dust rose in a cloud. The ogre rampaged on past heedlessly while the pillar dropped, tilted slowly...

Chapter 7

Levi took in the layout at a glance. Eleven pillars in no particular pattern. They were the same dark pitted material as the rest of the dungeon, but each pillar was topped by a bowl-like impression of boiling orange goo, the overflow from which slowly made its way down the pillars, gathering at ...

Chapter 6

If this were a Light or Control dungeon, Levi would have worried the treasure room was an illusion or trap. But for the vast majority of dungeons, they followed a static, predictable, and dependable pattern. Treasure rooms were a safe zone. You could rest up, trade loot with fellow dungeon delver...

Chapter 5

Levi tucked Skarm under one arm and broke into a run, jumping the puddles of acidic goo on the floor and dodging away from the largest globs of corrosive on the walls. As he’d anticipated, they started bursting as he neared, but his calculated route kept him just out of reach. The ooze splashed...

Chapter 4

Levi pondered the question for long minutes, turning the situation over and over in his head. Should he stay and train, or hurry home as soon as possible? He had a level 1 dungeon all to himself. He could grind it for a few days, power level himself before moving on.

Or he could go back, fa...

Hello World!

Howdy everyone, Aster here. I'm just getting started, so there's not a whole lot of content up yet. But I've been hard at work on my story for about a month now, just need to go over a few things and I should have lots of chapters up in a week or so. 

Thanks for stopping by!...