James had spent the morning and mid-day enthralled by the books in the cabinet.
At long last, after over two years, he finally got the chance to learn new enchantments properly. It was so easy. And there were so many of them!
From the Enchanter Meridox, who had visited his home village, he had learned twe...
2025-11-05 19:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostLily woke up bright and early, said goodbye to her Mama—Papa was still sleeping—and ran through the crisp early morning air to the butcher and the bakery.
She needed to hurry and pick up her ingredients so she could start cooking!
Carefully, she carried the big bag of beautiful light brown buns and the bountif...
2025-11-05 17:54:30 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning, Sarah’s mother was using all her Skills again, and the facade was back in place. Breakfast was delicious; leisurely, even. Sarah shared what she had learned from Sven the Bounty Hunter, and her discussion with the Golden Swan down in the Dungeon. Her mother shared how her father was, how the harvest was go...
2025-11-04 19:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe ghosts had expected Lily to make a face like a certain famous painting of a screaming man on a bridge, but she just tilted her head.
Lily didn’t know that word!
“What’s accounting?” she asked as she started walking home.
“It’s where you do the math to figure out how much money you made or los...
2025-11-04 18:50:00 +0000 UTC View PostBit by bit, the miners came out of the mine.
They were all dirty, covered in dust and sweat, wearing hard hats and carrying shovels and pickaxes. A few of them were pushing wheelbarrows full of rocks, which they took over to the side.
When they dumped the rocks out of the wheelbarrows, it kicked up a lot of dust!<...
2025-11-04 18:49:01 +0000 UTC View PostSally had been relieved when Lily came home for lunch, and then worried when she saw the shopping bag full of ingredients.
She felt bad that Lily felt like she needed to support the family.
She was only eight…
At her age, she should be playing, not worrying about money.
But, she was also at that age ...
2025-11-04 18:48:01 +0000 UTC View PostLily was in a pinch!!
It was early morning, and she had woken up, throwing back the covers and stretching like normal, and there were two ghosts standing in her room!
They were two men, older than Papa, but they were see-through, and pale, and faintly blue. They had thinning hair, and both wore glasses, and they w...
2025-11-04 18:47:01 +0000 UTC View PostUp in heaven, gods and goddesses were throwing dice.
The dice were normal six-sided dice, totally normal, with little dots indicating the value of each side.
None of the dice were weighted, at least, now they weren’t weighted. The God of Gambling had been disqualified when the Goddess of Justice had fig...
2025-11-04 18:46:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Lily. She had just turned eight years old when her Papa got hurt in a mining accident, and her Mama had to quit her job to help Papa get better. Lily had bright blue eyes, and light brown...
2025-11-04 18:45:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone, first let me say thanks so much for supporting me here on Patreon!
It's Writathon season over on Royal Road, and I'm doing a more lighthearted story!
The goal of Writathon is to write 55,555 words in 35 days, and I got a bit of a late start, but I'm catching up fast!
All paid patrons can read t...
2025-11-04 18:31:29 +0000 UTC View PostJames stopped looking around, having been somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of enchantments surrounding him, and focused on the older man.
“Good morning, sir,” he greeted him respectfully, unsure as he was whether or not the man was a noble. “I don’t have an appointment, but I was hoping to receive basi...
2025-11-03 19:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostAlthough James carried a war hammer with him everywhere, and wore armor, and practiced hammer-wielding underneath a Hammer Warrior instructor—he had never actually said to anyone he was a Hammer Warrior.
He was studious about not talking about his second Class.
This was not uncommon in those days. The element of...
2025-10-31 18:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostHelen’s fist sank into to the ice-slick cobblestone an inch from Svalbard’s head, and she immediately drew back for another punch.
“And intact!”
Finally, the glowing woman paused. Her jaw tightened and she grimaced.
And then her hand slammed down into Svalbard’s temple and he knew no more.
He...
2025-10-30 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostFor a time, the Smith’s days passed peacefully as he learned his craft.
He would do low status grunt-work for the Smithing Guild in exchange for money to purchase training and materials. He learned tempering and annealing and spot welding and how to avoid inclusions. He shoveled slag into carts for disposal; he sorted...
2025-10-29 18:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostSvalbard was highly annoyed.
Even five minutes after the fight had started, he still hadn’t caught any of the three enemies attacking him.
This was the trouble with being a Tank.
You had to work in a team.
Sure, nothing the three did was working on him particularly well.
Whatever seal they had ...
2025-10-28 18:00:23 +0000 UTC View PostFilipe whistled sharply and well over a dozen men and women of all ages burst into the Guildhall. The youngest of the men, and one woman, were dirty with coal dust—but their eyes gleamed with mercantile fervor. Attendants, recognizable by their calm and collected demeanor, brought out comfortable armchairs and a low table a...
2025-10-27 18:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning James put on his gambeson, chainmail, and took up his war hammer in hand. He was growing used to city life, and he had noticed that some people treated him differently when he had his hammer in hand. More cautiously.
Precisely the people he would want to be more cautious. It was always the ones with a r...
2025-10-24 18:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post“No, no, is all wrong. Do not be invisible, be unnoticeable.”
“What’s the difference?” Sarah pouted.
The first thing they had done for her training was go to the busiest street in the city and practice stealth. Or at least, that was what Sarah had thought they were doing.
Part of being a Scout is a...
2025-10-23 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostJames found himself seated on a couch across a low table from the Jez, the Guildmaster. She had thrown sheets over the couches, to keep them clean, but James still felt bad for tracking dust and sweat and soot into her office. He was trying to figure out how to word an apology as she looked him up and down with an appraising ...
2025-10-22 18:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostSarah flinched, and looked at the Artist.
“Who are you really? You’ve spent three years training on being a Brawler and a Scout, but that’s not all you are. What do you like doing outside training? What are your hopes and dreams beyond finding your brother? Who are your friends and what kind of people do you like?...
2025-10-21 18:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe Smith examined the ore in his hand more closely. It was red, like Red Iron, but now that he looked, clearly different. It was a deeper red, but there was an almost… wetness, to the metal mixed up with the rock. He set it aside and continued his work, but soon enough he found more of that same ore. He slowed down, now, t...
2025-10-20 18:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe Smith and the Steward returned to the Knight’s Order Headquarters, and the next morning James woke to a knock on his door.
“Smith, wake up.”
James’ pounding heart calmed as he recognized the Steward’s voice, and they walked together out of the barracks and to the edge of the grounds, where a medium-s...
2025-10-17 18:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostBrawler Class Skill [Grapple] has reached level 5.
Sarah found herself breathing heavily, and took a moment to calm herself. The rush was… she hadn’t expected it to be so strong.
That was a monster.
She’d just killed a monster.
It was the first thing she’d ever killed.
Ar...
2025-10-16 18:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor’s note: it is highly unusual for a god to descend to the mortal realm.
They left the noisy guard station and walked along the road farther away from the main road, the Guilds, and the Knight’s Order. The road curved, a ring around the hill on which Cordova was built, the Royal Castle looming...
2025-10-15 18:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostThey descended the stairs. First Gregory, then Arthur, Delphi, Sarah, Clara, and lastly Lawrence.
At the bottom they stopped and let Delphi and Sarah move to the front. Sarah was excited. Time for traps! Delphi was excited, too. Let’s see how Sarah handled real Scout work, instead of sparring! Before them was a wide o...
2025-10-14 18:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostFor his day’s work, smelting Red Iron until the shadows grew long on the ground and the sun touched the top edge of the city wall, James was paid a wage of twenty cents. Marlie had explained to him the currency, one hundred cents to a gold dollar. It wasn’t quite enough to cover the cost of the basic training course, and ...
2025-10-13 18:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostDespite what Marlie had said, James thought that the Smithing Guild’s heavy-duty smelter was quite fancy. It certainly beat what he had created from sand and clay down in the Dungeon.
Marlie’s mother, who had introduced herself only as Jez, had also called James’ bluff. His youthful countenance, pale skin, and lac...
2025-10-10 18:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostBy the end of the week, Delphi was able to spar blindfolded.
Not win a spar, but just functionally react to simple attacks without her sight.
Nor could Sarah land any sneak attacks on her anymore. It started to become habit, to be ready to draw her daggers at a moment’s notice, especially when Sarah was...
2025-10-09 18:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostThat morning, James had strong reservations about going to the Smithing Guild. Even escorted there and back, he didn’t know anyone there, and something could happen.
He had already gotten kidnapped once; and he’d die before he was enslaved again.
Even though, as a retainer, his Lord had explained that James wa...
2025-10-08 18:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostGregory apologized with a regretful expression on his face, and Sarah graciously accepted. How could she not, when sparring with the man just once had gotten her three levels? She hoped he would be willing to spar again!
For some reason, Gregory shuddered as the thought crossed her mind. She hoped he wasn’t c...
2025-10-07 18:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
