Kat’s foot scraped across tree bark, missing its mark and sending her tumbling to the side off of the massive branch. For a fraction of a second, her heart leapt into her throat before she channeled mana into Flight.
A second later, hair tousled and face red with embarrassment, she floated back up to the branch ...
2023-05-22 06:14:06 +0000 UTC View Post“This is blackmail!”
Kat took a second to enjoy the puffy, cherry red sight of Blake Daniels blustering before she tried her best to channel Belle Donnst.
“I prefer the term extortion. Blackmail implies that I am only threatening to reveal secrets that implicate you criminally or harm your reputation. ...
2023-05-18 17:50:39 +0000 UTC View PostEmma’s voice droned on. At the other end of the small conference room, Heather was sitting attentively in her chair, back ramrod straight and her cybernetic arms folded on the table as her eyes flicked back and forth underneath her smartglass eyepiece. Occasionally the smartglass would flash dimly as the system ...
2023-05-12 03:07:15 +0000 UTC View PostHestia stood on the stone walkway in front of the research facility, hands tucked into her pockets as she looked unperturbed at the sheer reinforced concrete walls and humming electric fences. Two members of the 3445 in APEX armor stood about twenty paces apart, their rifles ready but not quite pointed at the woman whil...
2023-05-07 14:29:23 +0000 UTC View Post“Kaleek,” Kat said theatrically as she sloshed through waist deep clouded water, “The next time Dorrik suggests that we raid a dungeon with a name like ‘The Murky Depths,’ I would be grateful if you could smack them on the back of the head for me.”
The big otter’s nose twitched. Scattered around the ...
2023-05-07 14:28:44 +0000 UTC View PostA day or two turned into the better part of a week. Occasionally Kassar chimed in to offer a tip or two, but most of Bruce’s time was spent with his legs crossed trying to sense every single detail of the area around his sanctuary. At first, it was a bit boring, and Bruce began to feel himself going crazy with b...
2023-04-25 18:53:18 +0000 UTC View PostBruce made it two steps onto the ninth floor before everything went pear shaped. The wall in front of him blurred slightly, bulging outward in a hemisphere that split horizontally to reveal a yellow eye the size of a dinner plate. He froze, hoping that it wouldn’t spot him if he didn’t make any sudden movement...
2023-04-25 18:50:42 +0000 UTC View Post“There,” Kat whispered, one hand dug into the massive tree’s bark while she pointed with the other. A white shape popped its head out of a knothole on the next tree over, looking back and forth before climbing out entirely. It was segmented and insectoid, clinging to the surface of the tree with six pointed ...
2023-04-21 18:08:49 +0000 UTC View Post“Katherine!” Kat flinched as her mom’s voice echoed across the hallway. “Oh thank God you’re alright!”
Penelope pushed past a security guard in a suit. The guard reached out to stop her, but thought better of his actions when he spotted Jeffrey glowering at him above crossed arms.
“Hey mo...
2023-04-18 18:34:23 +0000 UTC View Post“Aaand done,” Emma tapped the side of her head beneath the infiltration suit. “We have ninety minutes of plausible deniability before we need to hit the road, and that’s only if there isn’t much traffic. We should try and get in and out in sixty minutes if possible.”
“Chiffon?” Kat whispered,...
2023-04-16 17:29:07 +0000 UTC View Post“Bruce,” Kassar’s voice boomed in his head. “Start running!”
“What?!” Bruce yelped back, looking back and forth in the hallway just outside of the sanctuary. The strange light illuminating the slate gray corridor was dimmer and a dark angry red. Even without Kassar shouting at him, ...
2023-04-13 16:44:15 +0000 UTC View PostKat rolled to the side, a gust of air filled with glittering ice shards tracking her as the massive translucent spider unleashed another breath attack at her. In its wake, a half dozen or so smaller monsters burst out of the ice, birthed by the magic from their mother’s ability. They weren’t as large as the us...
2023-04-12 14:26:16 +0000 UTC View PostRainbow light swirled past around Kat, disappearing with a puff as her body solidified in the dungeon. Breath puffed out in front of her, condensing into mist that dissipated into the murky air. A second later Kaleek appeared at her side in a flash of light followed shortly by Dorrik.
They were in a cave. &n...
2023-04-11 15:34:24 +0000 UTC View Post“-and our scientists have managed to decrease the size of our capacitors by eight percent while increasing their energy density by twelve percent, all while holding production costs steady. In ordinary times, this would be enough for us to corner the market, but as you all know we more or less already have the market ...
2023-04-03 03:42:21 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you sure about this?” Whip asked uncertainly, her fingers gripping the bottom of her shirt and twisting the fabric. “I bet they’re busy right now. There’s probably a lot going on with the new heightened security after the attack on the penthouse. We could always come back another day whe...
2023-04-01 21:56:03 +0000 UTC View PostHello friends!
I've been MIA for a bit mostly because I've been working on a super secret story. The goal of said story (The Great Predator) is to eventually put it on Royal Road, but I am waiting until I have a pretty hefty backlog (60...
2023-03-28 15:32:32 +0000 UTC View PostThe Great Predator is a Science Fantasy LitRPG. The goal is for the actual science to be 'hard' (meaning that it is a natural extrapolation of current science without any hyper blaster pistols or trans dimensional scanning arrays). This ordinarily would mean that humanity would be stuck to our solar system, but th...
2023-03-28 15:06:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Kassar!” Bruce called the alien’s name for a third time, but the big white ape was still snoring soundly in his hammock. He glanced back and forth for something to wake his companion up with. Finally, he settled on the handful of shells he was holding.
The first clamshell missed, but the second bounce...
2023-03-28 15:04:47 +0000 UTC View Post“Choose wisely, human.”
Bruce shook his head, trying to clear it of outside thoughts. It was impossible to rid himself entirely of Kassar’s presence, the alien felt like a weight pressing down in the back of his mind, but he wanted to do his best to think clearly.
His passenger’s bloodthirsty enthusi...
2023-03-28 15:03:07 +0000 UTC View PostBruce coughed nervously. Kassar was staring intently at him. He wasn’t sure if it was the fact that skulls didn’t have eyelids, or if there truly were something that made the alien seem like it was watching his every movement with the alertness of a hawk, but the entire situation unnerved him.
“This, u...
2023-03-28 15:01:24 +0000 UTC View PostBruce fell. Gray walls rushing past him as he hurtled toward an eventual splatter of raspberry jam. His stomach was in his throat, the sickly burn of bile threatening to make its presence known.
Silently, he activated Phase Armor. It would almost certainly do next to nothing when he eventually hit the ...
2023-03-28 14:57:29 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you ready?”
Bruce nodded at the whispered question. There were a half dozen shades flickering quietly as they flowed down the corridor ahead of them. He surveyed them quickly. The three four legged shades could grow energy whips, the two legged creatures would react marginally faster, and the ...
2023-03-28 14:55:39 +0000 UTC View PostEXP: 10
Body- 3
Regeneration
Phase Armor
Agility- 3
Will- 3
Ether Map
Phase Hammer II
Tier One Enhancement [Empty]
Phase Shield II
Tier One Enhancement [Empty]<...
Finding a sanctuary was difficult, even with the help of Maddox’s new Sonar ability. More than once they found themselves looping around to an area of his map that they had already explored, forcing them to retrace their steps and take a different turn.
Along the way, they ran into two more small groups of shade...
2023-03-28 14:50:02 +0000 UTC View PostIt took an hour for Bruce to heal enough to stand up. Every moment of agony wore away at his willpower as he knew that all he needed to do to end the pain was purchase and activate Regeneration. Of course, doing so would mean highlighting their location to any nearby shades and triggering another fight.
He m...
2023-03-28 14:48:35 +0000 UTC View Post“How many did you get?” Maddox asked, still not moving from his crouch. “I must have hit four. HUD is saying that I have 40 EXP.”
“Looks like six for me” Bruce croaked, checking his HUD. “Back hurts like hell though. I’m lucky that my legs are still numb from whatever they d...
2023-03-28 14:47:48 +0000 UTC View PostBruce glared at the squirrel, but it refused to show any remorse. Already the strange wind carrying the scent of decay and mothballs was beginning to blow over the two of them. He turned back to the hallway, rotating his shoulders in their sockets as he tried to work out the lingering pain and stiffness from the f...
2023-03-28 14:46:58 +0000 UTC View Post“I can assure you that I have not read your mind,” Treekipp said huffily. “It is strictly against the Treaty of Rigel to make any mental contact with a potential client except to learn their language. I could have my charter revoked.”
“Calm down,” Maddox admonished the excitable squirrel. ...
2023-03-28 14:46:06 +0000 UTC View PostA quick punch to the side of a biped’s head, barely enough to produce a dim flash of blue light, and Bruce was through the blockade and running down the hallway. Maddox was a step or two in front of him, left arm hanging limp by his side and the small green greeter clinging to his shoulder.
The monster’s behin...
2023-03-28 14:45:21 +0000 UTC View PostBruce held his breath as Maddox’s index finger pressed down on the button. It slid into the podium with a scraping sound, clicking into place when it was flush with the rest of the pillar.
Nothing happened.
Just as he exhaled in relief, the podium began to hiss and spray thick white smoke. Both Maddo...
2023-03-28 14:44:26 +0000 UTC View Post
