The magma channel was divided into twelve sections when it entered the base of the forge, each of which could be opened or closed to change the intensity of the heat. Enchantments on the forge channeled the heat and concentrated it as well, and Sam spent some time studying them to make sure he knew how everything worked.
<... 2022-09-17 00:28:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe tunnel into Runekeld was a hundred feet wide as it descended into the earth, slowly twisting downward. About half a mile along, it met a small cavern with shops and warehouses, as well as several barracks, which was something like a trading area and guard post, and then the route continued for another two miles past that ...
2022-09-15 00:16:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe gates to Runekeld were a hundred feet tall, carved from towering slabs of stone that merged into the mountainside. They were engraved with the image of two giant dwarves facing each other, one on either panel. Both were wearing full plate armor that was decorated with square bands of runes that looked archaic, especially ...
2022-09-13 02:36:41 +0000 UTC View PostSam looked along the high road to the north, following it until it descended into a valley between the foothills and curved out of sight on the way to Runekeld. Weathered crags protruded from between the hills, giving the area a strange contrast between grassy slopes and the sharp cliffs of the mountains. He could feel that t...
2022-09-08 02:45:56 +0000 UTC View Post“Don’t forget my horse!” Krana shouted as Sam lifted her above the icy dome of the forge chamber. Her voice faded out across the clear wind of the dawn. “I don’t want him to get eaten by a bear up here!”
“We’ll get him,” Sam said with a chuckle as he turned them toward where they’d left the horse. Th...
2022-09-02 22:46:02 +0000 UTC View PostTime flickered as Sam purified one aura after another until he had more than a dozen Basic-tier Auras of Ice. By the time he reached the fifteenth, the World Core sent him a notification that shivered through his mind and was harder to ignore than the others, indicating the ability had reached Advanced.
As he studied th...
2022-08-31 23:58:43 +0000 UTC View PostThey spent nearly a full day digging the Shards of the Aurora out of the glacial cavern. It would have taken longer except that the ice flowed away wherever Sam moved, leaving behind a shimmering black dust that flickered with rainbow colors like the aurora in the night sky.
With Elemental Manipulation at Epic, it took ...
2022-08-31 00:09:16 +0000 UTC View PostThe jagged walls of the crevasse opened around Sam like a throat swallowing him into the depths of the earth. A quarter of the way down, he swept past Krana in a streak of flame as he continued to accelerate and then the cloudy grey and blue ice at the bottom appeared, growing closer by the instant.
He struck the ground...
2022-08-25 20:07:36 +0000 UTC View PostThe first layer of the relic was cold, the snow on its slopes matching the silver lines in Jeric’s hair as he looked over the work ahead of him. Sam had left a week ago and since then, teams of dwarves from Highfold had been pouring into the relic, especially the top two layers, where they were working to restore the worksh...
2022-08-23 20:52:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe five meteors tore across the distance and exploded with a concussive blast that shook the mountainside, swallowing the vines and the oncoming hounds in a bright explosion. A rain of ash from incinerated vines filled the air, blowing backward in the direction from which they’d come.
The vine hounds didn’t fare an...
2022-08-20 18:41:50 +0000 UTC View Post“How in the world do you keep growing?!” His father’s complaint rumbled through the room as he took in Sam’s new height. Surprise and exasperation warred with amusement as he studied him and then shook his head. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised any more when you show up a foot taller than you were the last time...
2022-08-18 23:31:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe workshops in the relic were mostly tumbled stones and empty basins, sometimes home to small blue spiders with legs like icicles that could survive in the frozen weather. The one he chose was on the first layer, not too far from his house, which made it convenient. Once, it had probably been the highest-tier crafting works...
2022-08-16 05:34:15 +0000 UTC View PostOsera was a sprawling city several hundred miles north of Highfold, old and well built, that was nestled in the foothills of the Western Reaches. If you connected the major western cities in a line that ran close to the mountains, Osera was the farthest to the north. Ebonfar and then Highfold were in the middle, and Ceru was ...
2022-08-13 00:37:48 +0000 UTC View PostTwin rows of towering Sky Guards accompanied Sam and his parents as they approached the twenty-foot tall, iron-bound doors of the dwarven council chamber. Nine golems on each side of the group made for an awe-inspiring escort, their forms like black diamonds filled with swirling stars.
They could have left the golems ou...
2022-08-10 23:47:19 +0000 UTC View PostA dusty, black-cloaked figure rode on a bare-boned grey gelding as he approached the gates of Tower Reach. One sleeve hung empty in his robes, which were too loose on him and tattered at the edges. The clothing had clearly been fashionable once, but whatever reinforcing or repair enchantments existed on them had been worn awa...
2022-08-09 04:42:43 +0000 UTC View Post“Everyone at Level 399 is part of this Boundless Alliance?” Sam frowned as he studied Snake.
“Not everyone in the Alliance is part of the Cabal, which is the term for the darker side of things, not even a quarter, but definitely enough for you to stay out of it.” Snake shook his head. “You don’t reach Level ...
2022-08-05 22:29:08 +0000 UTC View PostWith his aura active, Sam was twice as tall as Uncle Snake. His essence attributes were also infusing his physical ones and after his study in the relic, he was able to tell exactly how much. It was the average of his Intelligence and Aura, rounded down. His Strength and Constitution had risen by 327 points each. The au...
2022-08-04 01:36:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's a cover animation for Astral Threads!
https://youtube.com/shorts/sMvFCHM4Ows?feature=share
The music added here is very retro, like a 90s synthesizer video game sound track. I kind of like it, but mostly because i...
Following behind Uncle Snake, Sam and the other four walked onto the field outside the governor’s mansion. It was obvious now where the damage had come from, and as Garild trailed behind the rest of them, his features turned paler. It looked like he was already imagining how this would go.
“Why don’t I sit this on...
2022-07-30 22:27:13 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Sam arrived at the gates of Garild’s mansion, he saw that the damage from his battle with the Bloodline Clan descendants had been mostly repaired. The stones had been replaced in the walls of the library and there were only a few decorations missing from the niches where they had once been placed.
Despite that, s...
2022-07-27 23:19:30 +0000 UTC View PostThe Void stretched out all around him. The rune he’d learned from the World Core while watching his friends evolve shuddered in his mind as it began to resonate with his essence constellation and the astral threads.
Energy poured in from every direction, not just from the relic but from the void beyond Aster ...
2022-07-26 23:01:56 +0000 UTC View PostDinner with his family led to a pleasant evening where Sam caught up on all of the changes in the relic over the past eleven days and then to the first real night of sleep he’d had in a while. He’d dozed off in the library a few times, for an hour here and there, but it hadn’t been a real rest. When he woke up, there wa...
2022-07-23 00:20:21 +0000 UTC View Post
By EL Geron.
There are some more variants of this image, including wallpapers, and also some new emojis on the Discord server.
Sam wandered among the steles in the cavern, his talons trailing along the cut crystal and stones, and then along the walls, brushing against every silver plaque. The others had been interested as well, their own fascination obvious, but the library didn’t call to them with the same overwhelming demand. They had time to ret...
2022-07-20 22:37:45 +0000 UTC View PostThe group headed back up to the first layer, where they located the storeroom of Amaris. Unlike the other two that had been hidden in the mountain, this one was an actual building, or at least the outer layer was. Drifts of snow were piled up against tumbled stones that had once been the walls of a great palace or armory. Sha...
2022-07-19 01:42:56 +0000 UTC View PostSam stared at the army of golems with disbelief. There were ten formations of the black crystal golems, which had to be the Sky Guards, and then ten more formations of the other types that each had a dozen golems. The presence of the golems wasn’t what shocked him, since he knew the relic had been powerful at its height and...
2022-07-15 17:37:06 +0000 UTC View Post“I meant to tell you about this last time, before we were interrupted by those three brats.” Twilight had just set as Garild’s words echoed out across the greenstone. He was standing near the stairs up to the third layer, just across from Sam. It was the dividing line where Sam preferred to meet him and the governor res...
2022-07-13 23:47:56 +0000 UTC View PostAemilia stood in a vast orchard that stretched out into the horizon. Above, the sun bathed the rolling hills and the trees with light so dense that it was nearly liquid, and it hung around the leaves like nectar that was dripping from the tips. Ripe fruit was heavy on the branches, making them dip toward the rolling grass. Fi...
2022-07-09 17:24:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's the new cover for Book 4!
2022-07-08 15:22:36 +0000 UTC View PostThe world was ice and stone. The sky swirled in currents of pale blue and yellow mana that slammed into Jeric’s body and washed through the other side, leaving a trail of energy sparkling in their wake. He was floating in the sky, held there by the will of the Trial, and was only half present. His body was a translucent spi...
2022-07-07 23:26:20 +0000 UTC View Post
