Apologies for the late release; my computer decided to freeze and I had to reboot it when I went to upload the new chapter. Twice.
Of note: The fifth draft of An Earthling's Guide to the Larger Universe hasn't been written yet. It will be, of course.
Enjoy!
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2022-02-18 00:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Excerpt from the fourth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Portals
There are two major types of portals: portals established using the crystal network and portals established by ind...
2022-02-17 00:08:19 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Excerpt from the first draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Technology and Magic
Earth is highly technological; this is unusual. Most places use magic for what we use technology for. ...
2022-02-15 23:57:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe "draft" number on Serenity's Guide is when he wrote it (or in a few cases revised it). The first four have already been written and handed out to participants; the fourth draft is the one currently going out (it includes quite a bit of material from previous drafts).
Enjoy!
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2022-02-15 00:03:25 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Excerpt from the fourth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Magic
Mana-based magic is one of the fundamental differences between the world you once knew and the outside universe. Mag...
2022-02-14 00:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Excerpt from the second draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Invasion Portals
The simplest way to create an Invasion Portal is to use a properly-created Invasion Crystal. An Invas...
2022-02-13 00:06:03 +0000 UTC View PostI couldn't resist the alliteration.
Enjoy!
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Excerpt from the first draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Invasions
By now, you’ve probably heard about it: Earth is being invaded. The...
2022-02-12 23:56:44 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Explosions in Chinese waters!
A series of underwater explosions were detected today coming from the coast near Tianjin, China following some “unscheduled exercises” nearby. No explanation has yet been provided by Chinese authorities.
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2022-02-11 23:53:23 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Serenity waited a moment, then realized he’d asked the question in English. What were the odds a gecko would know English? He was about to repeat the question in Bridge just in case it was an invader when the gecko (which had turned somewhat greenish while he watch...
2022-02-10 23:57:50 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Finding a cave entrance large enough to admit a bat was not an easy task.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to find the specific entrance the bat used; unfortunately, they needed to find one that was big enough for Rissa.
With no better clues than the tr...
2022-02-09 23:58:44 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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The rest of the morning was filled with Rissa teaching Jacob some of the basics; she had Serenity take the shield down so that Jacob could practice. Serenity used the time to have a series of long conversations with his parents, Nightwitch, and Lancaster. The most...
2022-02-09 00:02:57 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Serenity reduced the area inside his hardened sphere, crushing the curse. It was still fighting back, but its struggles were weakening. He tried to push it back out, but it resisted. Since it wasn’t spreading, he could take a moment to check on Jacob.
Whe...
2022-02-08 00:06:08 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Denise was already gone by the time they arrived at Jacob’s apartment. It was a school day, after all; Jacob had called in sick but Denise didn’t feel right missing the day.
Before Serenity started, Jacob offered coffee. Serenity accepted gratefully; the ...
2022-02-07 00:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Serenity turned back to Jacob and examined the curse. If it was learning, each attempt they made to crack it would only get worse.
The curse was even more crazed than before; after some searching, Serenity could see where the thread he’d pulled then cut o...
2022-02-06 00:05:59 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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The bridge was only a short walk from the parking Rissa found; at least, it was short by New York City standards at only three blocks. Denise was muttering about how far it was. Serenity could only shake his head. He’d walked farther than that on a daily basis f...
2022-02-06 00:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Stars was almost the opposite of what Serenity thought he was as a Void Sovereign. Shadows, perhaps, but not stars. “What are you talking about?”
Serenity squeezed between the two chairs and sat down. Without the curse in the way, it was a bit awkward t...
2022-02-05 00:15:44 +0000 UTC View PostYes, that's actually the motto of Austin's business district.
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“Does it have to be a dungeon?” Rissa took another bite of her pie before she continued. “I don’t really want to take Jacob into a dungeon when he hasn’t even been through the Tutorial;...
2022-02-04 00:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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“What the - you were a sword? But how? That’s not-”
Serenity ignored Jacob’s babbling. There would be time to deal with him later. Rissa mattered. She was lying on the floor, not moving. It wasn’t like Jacob; Serenity could see her breathing. There...
2022-02-02 23:51:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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What now?
There were other skills he could use, but which was the right one?
Did that even matter? As long as it wouldn’t hurt Jacob, why not try all of them?
Basic Analyze
Jacob (Latimer?)
Species...
2022-02-01 23:50:22 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Denise’s voice sounded tightly controlled. “At first it was short, so I thought nothing of the fact that I couldn’t see him breathing, but they’ve been getting longer and longer as well as more common for the past couple of weeks. It’s been obvious for da...
2022-02-01 00:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostDenise was mentioned in that phone call from Jacob.
Enjoy!
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Jacob lived in an apartment complex. Serenity hadn’t expected that of someone who lived in Texas, though he supposed it shouldn’t have been surprising. Jacob was a middle school teacher, and t...
2022-01-30 23:57:06 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Terror.
Flashes of light illuminating a stone.
Fierce pleasure in the rush that came with winning.
Learning to fight back. Words were useful, but they didn’t solve everything. Sometimes physical action was needed.
A small green body racing clo...
2022-01-30 00:05:59 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Serenity hesitantly reached out to the phone. He tapped the button and felt the same dizzying amount of information wash over him. This time, the phone didn’t fall out of his hand, since it was on the table.
He sat there trying to figure out how to deal with t...
2022-01-30 00:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostSerenity is not a fan of shopping. This has come up before...
Enjoy!
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“So what do you think of his story?” Serenity leaned back in the seat and looked at Russ. Katya and Red were somewhere in Victoria’s Secret; Serenity and Russ had retreated to a waiting ...
2022-01-28 23:45:13 +0000 UTC View PostFor some reason, I always think of something other than a horse when I think of a horse of a different color.
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The Tutorial was strange. The first Quest was to check the bulletin board and complete requests. There were requests from all over town; anything fr...
2022-01-28 00:06:36 +0000 UTC View PostYes, the title is from a saying that isn't really about horses. This is a very different Tutorial from the ones we've seen before.
Enjoy!
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Serenity cleared out the last of the last of the active rot and tried to relax. Even with Blaze’s help, this had been far m...
2022-01-27 00:22:03 +0000 UTC View PostLong day today. Was hoping to get this out earlier but it was not to be.
Enjoy!
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The shadows seemed to flow up and over him. Blaze had expected it to feel cool, but it was comfortable.
He’d also expected it to be dark. Everything around him was, but he could c...
2022-01-26 00:50:24 +0000 UTC View PostI didn't actually see anyone suggest the method I came up with ... ;-)
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Time. The Tutorial! If he could get the man into the Tutorial, Blaze was certainly good enough. But how could he do that? The Voice didn’t let people enter when they wanted or needed to;...
2022-01-25 00:46:26 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Russ, Serenity, and Katya hopped out of the minivan while Red found a place to park and followed.
“Slow down! All of that is part of it!” Serenity could see its glow; everything near the lump was covered in magic that somehow seemed disturbingly wrong....
2022-01-24 00:04:57 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Serenity was about to shift to his dragon form when he stopped himself. Why should form matter? There was absolutely nothing physical about Essence, and his dragon form didn’t have any sort of physical way to manipulate it anyway. There wasn’t anything in the stories...
2022-01-23 00:05:59 +0000 UTC View Post