Author Frank Morin

Ch 83 - I Make Lots of New Friends

The interior of Ruby’s Bast Camp tent was probably twice as big as the exterior. My castle had to be pushing the limits of the spatial-twisting magic. It felt several times larger than her tent, but it had to still be fitting on the same-sized lot. That was some fun Hermione tent magic.

I...

Ch 82 - The Best Things Are Called Ruby

Laughing, I checked my next message.

“Congratulations, Lucas! For surviving the death bite of the Voidmaw Devourer, you receive an emerald Lucky Stiff loot box.”

“Yeah, that was lucky,” I admitted as I willed the glittering emerald loot box open. I was getting so many platinum...

Ch 81 - Christmas: Aliens Edition

A surge of power rolled through me, rocking me back in my seat as my new class settled over my soul like a power suit. I immediately felt fundamentally stronger.

“Are those secondary stat calculations retroactive for earlier levels?”

“Ha! Nice try. Now that you’ve unlocked you...

Ch 80 - A Question of Class

“Classes?” I whooped and literally jumped with joy.

I forgot my new Scaled Wam of the Skies shirt added 20% to my already impressive jump height and slammed my head into an exposed wooden beam on the ceiling. I barely felt the hit that would have given me a concussion for sure back on E...

Ch 79 - Rewards

All right! Without further ado, jumping into book 2!

My bare feet padded quietly along the hard-packed dirt streets of Midmount Vale. I was looking for the residential neighborhood where Ruby had indicated she and the others had all set up their tents.

The cool of early evenin...

Ch 78 - Checking in

So, what do you think? Insane final escape from stage 1, right?

This is the point I figure I'll probably cut the story for book 1.

Please take a moment and share your thoughts.

• Thumbs Up? Thumbs Down?

• What are you loving most about Nexus Runner...

  2024-11-01 16:05:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Ch 77 - Stats Check

Yeah, we need a stats check after that insanity. Check out the amazing growth over the past days.

Name: Lucas Altan

Race: Tier-1 Human

Level: 12

Life Points: 277 (25,583 tier-zero baby human equivalent)

Mana: 48

Base Stats:

Ch 76 - A Glimpse Behind the Curtain

"Enter," Queen Marisara ordered.

The enormous, bronze doors at the end of her spacious throne room opened noiselessly and Thalorian, head of her security forces, marched inside with his implacable, powerful stride. The winged warrior, which the human captives always seemed to call an angel,...

Ch 75 - Homecoming

As Ruby stepped over the boundary to the Stage 2 plateau, Cyrus spoke into my ear.

“Welcome to the Watery Grave.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, low enough that not even Ruby could hear through the cheering of the crowds as everyone crossed the boundary. I was exhausted and battered as...

Ch 74 - Grand Entrances

The image of Cyrus as a scrawny young man in a dirty t-shirt and greasy hair sitting in front of a TV in his mother’s basement, munching popcorn while he watched my death battle popped into my head. I wished it was true so I could reach out through that TV and throttle him for setting me up to ...

Ch 73 - Flight of Insanity

Flying Mouth was the only way to describe the monster. Its oblong body was about 2 feet long, split in half by an enormous mouth full of rows of short, squat teeth that reminded me of the maw of a chipper.

Tiny hummingbird wings buzzed at the creature’s sides, way too small for its mass, ...

Ch 72 - Run Faster!

The monster’s long, serpentine neck, whiplike tail, and draconic head made it easy to identify.

“Stygian Wyvern, level 49 elite. These apex aerial predators are rare sights so close to the planet’s surface. They prefer soaring miles above the highest peak, diving onto prey with deadly...

Ch 71 - Run!

Other messages followed, but I waved them aside. I didn’t have time to deal with anything except survival. I lifted my hands high and roared in victory as I triggered Soul Feed.

A torrent of power thundered into me, restoring my pools. Finishing Bristleback had also supercharged my Tesla ...

Ch 70 - Death Really Bites Sometimes

I crouched and pressed myself against the vertical wall of the step as the giant boar-tar landed not 6 feet away. My Mirror cloak held and he never glanced in my direction. His entire focus was on the annoying voice sounding from the distant step. He lifted the bow again and fired another arrow, ...

Ch 69 - I Tell Knock Knock Jokes

I yanked out 3 small tufts of grass, then stuck emoji sticker traps in each tiny bare patch of ground before covering them with the loose grass. Even I couldn’t see them concealed like that.

I was running low on the precious emoji stickers. The gag gift had ended up being one of my most i...

Ch 68 - If You're Going to Die Anyway, Do Something Crazy

I ran hard for Bristleback’s mountain. With Switchblade, I could have made the trip in an hour. Loaning it to Jane might have saved her life, but had it sealed my fate?

At minimum, it added one more element of danger to my one crazy chance at surviving that was already razor thin. I was c...

Ch 67 - Five . . . Gold . . . Rings!

“Hey, no level?”

Cyrus spoke up. “That was a great fight, Lucas. Every day we grow is a good day. Every day we do something new or overcome a previous failure is a day in which we can build our future.”

“This is not the time for meaningless platitudes, Cyrus,” I growled. �...

Ch 66 - I Have a Successful Therapy Session

I spun Switchblade south and cranked the throttle wide, tearing across the grasslands, heading for the mountains I’d hunted all night. Tomas’s message had said they’d gone south.

Lucas: “Where are you exactly? Are you okay?”

Tomas: “We’re in trouble, but we’re survivin...

Ch 65 - I Teach a Painful Lesson With My Pants

I almost didn’t stop. I had too much to do and too little time already. Fighting back my impatience, I headed for the wall and the tiny cluster of log buildings and Base Camp tents behind.

We were nearly out of time. Surely the people in this little settlement understood that, especially ...

Ch 64 - Doctor Strange

Morning found me resting on the edge of a cliff, high on a mountain slope in the southeastern corner of the world, and still stuck at level 9. I had to be nearly 30,000 feet above the central valley, but bigger mountains farther south dwarfed the peak where I sat. In the distance to the north, I ...

Ch 63 - Productive Pachyderms

Instead of heading south toward the ranks of ever-taller mountains blocking the sky in that direction, I spun Switchblade west and hit the throttle. Accelerating to at least 250 miles per hour, I rocketed across the grassy valley, aimed for the distant slope heading up to stage 2. At some point, ...

Ch 62 - Time For a Change

Ruby reached the prisoners before I did. Crouching down beside a black woman struggling against her shackles, she said, “Relax. We’re here to help.”

“Howzit, my girl,” the woman responded in a rich voice with a South African accent.

I showed Ruby how to accept ownership of t...

Ch 61 - Stats Check

Another stats chapter. Aren’t they fun?

Name: Lucas Altan

Race: Tier-one Human

Level: 8

Life Points: 135 (12,059 tier-zero baby human equivalent)

Mana: 40

Base Stats:

Consti...

Ch 60 - Ruby Gets a Prize

The zombie slavers were still a couple hundred yards away, but they’d had several seconds to get ready, and a barrage of laser beams ripped the air all around me.

“Jurgen’s Fist!” I shouted as I instinctively ducked.

They were better shots than I remembered. One laser shot rig...

Ch 59 - Ruby Shows Off Her Barbecueing Skills

Ruby shook me awake. “Lucas, come on. It’s time to join the expedition.”

“Huh?” I sat up, rubbing sleep from my eyes, fuzzy thoughts barely moving. “But that’s not till morning.”

“It is morning.”

The words were like a jolt of caffeine straight into my brain. ...

Ch 58 - Beer and Sandwiches

“I heard you found a couple groups. Welcome back,” Paul said around his pastry.

“Thanks. Ran into a little trouble with the second group, but we sorted it out.”

“Excellent. Are you still interested in more donuts?”

“Is that a trick question?”

He smiled and ...

Ch 57 - I Find An Easier Way to Carry a House

We looted what we could of the main cabin and shared potions with the mind-warped cult members as they awoke. Abbie’s control disappeared when she died, but her influence did not fade entirely.

Most of them still had fuzzy memories, and none of them could remember what happened to the wom...

Ch 56 - Drama Queen

The Persian hoarder suite was a mess, with pillows flung everywhere, and stuffing still floating lazily in the hot, still air. I paused to take in the scene and nearly dropped my facade of a brainless servant in the first second.

Ruby and Jane were both hanging suspended from silk streamers...

Ch 55 - Fatal Attraction

Instead of opening the gate, the man tossed down a rope. “Can you climb?”

I could have just jumped the 10-foot wall, but I was getting a weird vibe from the guy. His eyes were a bit too wide, his gaze a bit too intense. I didn’t want to spook him.

“I think I can manage.” I c...

Ch 54 - Creative Tumbling

I pushed higher, still hoping my plan to find tougher monsters at higher elevations would work.

Half an hour later, I shot across a high saddle between steep mountains that had to top out at over 10000 feet. Beyond them, even taller mountains rose in tiered steps leading to the final peaks ...