A/N: Double release today - 2 of 2
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Aliandra
“This should be the place,” Ali said, glancing at Malika who stood beside her in the slowly dimming twilight. It was a run-down house in a poor section of Myrin’s Keep, not more than five minutes’ walk from Eliyen’s home.
“Yes, at least according to the Elves we spoke to,” Malika agreed.
It had taken hours, and many conversations, to track down the person they were seeking. After the destr...
2025-06-10 14:05:01 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Double release today - 1 of 2
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Aliandra
“These next two bosses will be harder,” Ali said, eyeing Vivian as they made their way through the uncomfortably hot excavated caverns of the Emberforge Mines, now with her own domain flowing through all its tunnels and passages. “And the final one probably will require fire resistance gear and potions. I know this will mess up the convenient rotation, but I think I would recommend killing one or two o...
2025-06-10 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Aliandra
It was a rather bizarre experience fighting her own boss, but the raid group had been counting on her providing an acolyte and a rogue. For quite some time, she had assumed that if she, as the dungeon, observed the fight, experience would be drastically reduced. However, that did not happen when the adventurers faced Naia’s monsters, and as far as she could tell, Naia had a passive hive mind and couldn’t release her awareness of her minions even if she wanted to.
So...
2025-06-09 14:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Aliandra
Ali flew through the cloying underground jungle, struggling to hide more than a little embarrassment as she surveyed the messy expanse of her unmaintained domain. She had never fully claimed this area at the bottom of the ruins of Dal’mohra with its wildly chaotic mana and spawning pools; always too busy to devote the time to putting things in order. But now, as she headed for the brilliant radiance of the light-affinity spawning pool with most of the guild in tow, she had ...
2025-06-08 14:00:04 +0000 UTC
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A/N: I felt that breaking this scene into two normal length chapters would have ruined it, so you get a long chapter today. Enjoy! ---------
A/N: I felt that breaking this scene into two normal length chapters would have ruined it, so you get a long chapter today. Enjoy!
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Aliandra
Ali left an elated Weldin humming to himself as he arranged the pile of wands she had made into an aesthetically pleasing display at the front of his guild store and w...
2025-06-07 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Aliandra
Ali stepped through the teleportation circle, appearing in Naia’s upper cavern in the center of the ring of Trolls she’d sent ahead. She had woken up excited to explore her new runic tattoo skill, but Ryn had delivered a message that Naia wanted to see her about something urgent. It didn’t take too long before a plop behind her signaled that Naia had arrived – Ali still marveled at how well the little Mimic Slime evaded all her various perception skills to appear almo...
2025-06-05 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Aliandra
“So how does it work?” Ali asked, attempting to lean across the cluttered book-laden table to peer at the delicate runes tattooed upon Rezan Jin’s weathered back. Eventually, she tossed decorum to the winds and levitated herself up and over the tabletop to get a closer look. It wasn’t exactly proper library etiquette, but then neither was stripping half naked to show off your chest and back tattoos. Besides, it’s my library. I get to make the rules. <...
2025-06-04 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Malika
Malika glanced up from the volume of the Nine Paths she was studying to find Ali floating nearby, looking at her as if trying to decide if she should interrupt or not.
“What’s up, Ali?” she asked, smiling.
“I was wondering if I could get you to teach me some calligraphy?” Ali asked.
“Why do you want to learn that?” Malika asked. It was a skill she had learned early on, a way to practice discipline and focus, but one which honestly found little sy...
2025-06-03 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Aliandra The torrent of information and combat mastery knowledge pounding into her mind subsided as the battle drew to a close. It was a sho
Aliandra
The torrent of information and combat mastery knowledge pounding into her mind subsided as the battle drew to a close. It was a shock just how powerfully her domain tithe had reacted to what was just a sparring match, but Ali had instantly recognized what was going on; Rezan was undeniably a combat master with an unimaginable depth...
2025-06-02 14:00:10 +0000 UTC
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This map shows New Daria and the surrounding regions with several notable features that are relevant to the story so far.
Map was created by @SilverCompassMaps - if you love maps, feel free to browse their gallery and share some hearts :D
2025-06-02 13:55:01 +0000 UTC
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Training is the way of Ahn Khen.
- Kamari Ren, Elder of the Ahn Khen, legendary master and inheritor of the Ninefold Way: Fists of Coherent Integrity.
Mato
Mato stepped out back behind the main guild building and took in the sight of Havok’s church of Azryet. It was hardly more impressive than the first time he had seen it, but at least it now had proper stone walls and a roof.
It had been a little while since he had stopped by – most of the time...
2025-06-01 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Rezan Jin
Rezan allowed the magic of the circle to teleport his body away. The bright sunlight and the surroundings of Kezda vanished, replaced by the quiet dimness of ancient stone and the heavy pressure of dense mana.
Aliandra’s domain. The dungeon. The quality of the domain was incomparable to that of the dungeon that had granted Sabri her class not too long ago, and Rezan focused his calm lest he allow it to disrupt the rhythm of his breathing. This growth is ...
2025-05-31 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Malika
Malika touched down lightly on the stone shelf overlooking the waterfall north of Kezda and bowed to the weather-beaten old man sitting in meditation, ignoring the light dusting of snow that was gently falling onto his bare shoulders and head.
She held her bow patiently, waiting for him to acknowledge her, calming her mind with familiar breathing exercises.
“You came,” he said. She could easily see the intense white of his stamina and the brilliant blue of his m...
2025-05-29 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Kieran Mori
“I’ll crush them all,” Kieran declared, fury making his voice low and quiet as he glowered at the rubble blasted out into the street.
“You will do nothing of the sort, Kieran,” Jax said, his hard eyes piercing and uncaring as he picked his way through the debris of the partially demolished apartment and crouched down to examine the crushed and badly burnt remains of Tala Kane. “Remember your place. There is a reason we don’t get personally involved.”<...
2025-05-28 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Aliandra
Ali stared at the pool of blood on the moss beside the shrine for a long time before she finally collected herself and deconstructed it. It had taken some time for them to get Lydia to the Temple of Lunaré and organize the proper elixirs from Eliyen, but she had finally returned to the shrine after helping to ensure that Calen’s mom was in safe hands and would be receiving the proper care. Wounds like that needed far more than just a casual slap with a healing potion, but ...
2025-05-27 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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A/N: 2 of 2 today.
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Calen
Calen was deep in the middle of a strategy debate with today’s discussion group which consisted of Aiden, Teagan, Belmar, and Brena, when the door slammed open.
He turned to find a gasping, breathless Mieriel standing there, holding herself up by the door handle.
“Calen… Lydia… Silent Assassin, back in town. She’s in danger!” Mieriel managed.
“What?” Calen asked, struggling to parse the urgent ...
2025-05-26 14:05:00 +0000 UTC
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A/N: 1 of 2 today.
These next two chapters turned out shorter than I usually like to post, but they work well together and I liked my chapter titles, so I decided to post them as a set instead of combining them into a single chapter.
Enjoy! :)
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Lydia
“Aah, here it is, Hilda,” Lydia said, gesturing toward the newly renovated store in the market district sporting a shiny sign with the motif of a silvery, gear-like contraption.
“Silver Co...
2025-05-26 14:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Coria
Her body startled, jerking her awake at the strange, heavy thumping noise and the shuddering vibrations that shook the stone wall at her back. Heart pounding against her ribs, Coria sprang up into a ready crouch, her bow instantly summoned to her hand as her eyes scanned her surroundings. Nothing stirred and nothing broke the claustrophobic darkness of the ancient stone except a small clump of golden mushrooms at the end of the alleyway casting a dim illumination on the wall nea...
2025-05-25 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Calen
Calen slumped to the floor as the magnitude of what he had just survived bore down on him with a weight that made his heart wrench and stutter. While there had been monsters in his sights, in the thick of things, he had been able to ignore it all and maintain a clear focus and purpose. Still, as soon as Ali’s teleportation conduit to Ciradyl had collapsed and the last of the banshees and wraiths had been dealt with, there had been nothing else to distract him. The full import ...
2025-05-24 14:00:13 +0000 UTC
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A/N: One of our patreon discord members discovered a bug in my Domain Mastery formula. Long story short, an extra '1-x' in my formula meant that Ali's boss costs increased as Domain Mastery got better - which is not ideal. The only impact is that the reservation costs I've spelled out whenever she makes a boss are now lower - and the difference grows as she gets stronger, but no actual plot changes. I'll be editing prior chapters to fix this glitch over the next week or two.
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2025-05-22 14:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Definition: Proc (noun/verb, adventurer jargon)
An ability, enchantment, or effect that has a chance to trigger from an event. For example, a sword that has an enchantment that gives it a 10% chance to do extra fire damage on hit is said to ‘proc’ fire damage. The enchantment that creates this effect is also described as a proc.
- Excerpt from The Adventurer’s Guide, Third Edition
Mato
The screams of anguished elves and the haunting w...
2025-05-21 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Those who thirst for power, beware, lest it burn you up like dragon’s fire.
- Artur Dragonsworn [The Rule of Law], Human King of Dal’mohra
Aliandra
The Ciradyl receiving room and the teleportation locus etched into the polished wooden floor were exactly as Ali remembered them; gorgeously crafted runes glowing with the subtle flows of circulating mana. Elegant, white-robed priests and acolytes of Lunaré stood in quiet attendance, several shining under ...
2025-05-20 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Calen
“Come in.”
Calen entered the small, spartanly furnished office to find the Night Elf priestess of Lunaré sitting at the desk, working her way through a stack of paperwork with a worn quill pen. While the desk and chair were of simple craftsmanship, and the only other furniture was a low bookshelf, the mural painted on the wall behind her had been done with loving care and an inordinate amount of skill. The deific face stared down upon him with kind, compassionate eyes...
2025-05-19 14:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Aliandra
“Hi, Morwynne,” Ali called out after the entry chime faded. Her friends and her witch doctor and shaman entered behind her.
There was a muffled thump from the back, and splinters of glass and clouds of smoke billowed up from under a table. The soot-stained face of the Gnomish alchemist appeared, announced by a long and inventive sequence of dwarven profanity.
Alchemist – Gnome – level 89
Even she is getting close to her ...
2025-05-18 14:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Aliandra
Ali pushed open the door to Thuli’s smithy and recoiled as the bedlam from within washed over her body in palpable waves of noise so loud she couldn’t even hear the entrance chime. “Whoa,” she said, hesitating on the threshold. She glanced worriedly at her companion, meeting his eye before taking a brave step forward into the antechamber.
“Seems like a spot of… unseasonal activity,” Weldin suggested, his eyebrows quivering as he attempted to maintain his p...
2025-05-17 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Malika
Name: Malika Yu
Race: Human
Titles: Street Rat, [Rift Warden], Savior of Aman Rak
Active Buffs: Infinite Perception, Perfect Body, Soul Armor, Enlightened Evasion, Well-fed, Warpaint, Lirasian Sage (23)
Class: Eyes of the Soul – level 100
- Martial Artist – level 49
Requires: Unarmed.
You are proficient with unarmed and acrobatic martial arts fighting styles. Your reaction speed is enhanced...
2025-05-15 14:05:01 +0000 UTC
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Malika
“What do you guys think?” Malika asked, mulling over the decision options.
“Damage, tank, or magic?” Calen said, offering a concise summary.
“Weapon, shield, or unarmed,” Ali offered.
“Actually, it says ‘shields’. Plural,” Calen said, quirking his eyebrow in puzzlement.
“Oh, huh... how odd is that?” Ali said.
“Two keystones, and one rare path,” Mato said.
“Mhm,” Malika agreed. And here was a perfect example. Sh...
2025-05-15 14:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Aliandra
Mato was grinning from ear to ear as he paced back and forth, discussing half a dozen ideas at once with Calen and Malika. His hands gesticulated excitedly, and it made Ali’s heart warm to see her friend so happy with the evolution of his class.
“That’s brilliant!” Mato exclaimed, slapping Malika on the back of her shoulder with enough force that Ali was sure she would have gone flying if it had been her receiving his enthusiasm. Malika just grinned, her body ta...
2025-05-14 14:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Mato
Name: Lirasian Sage
Race: Wisp, Tree Spirit
Class: Lirasian Sage – level 23
- Passive Flight – level 23
You can fly.
Movement, Intelligence
- Lirasian Sage Aura – level 23
Mana: All allies in range gain +23% [skill] to maximum health. Range: 38.87 feet. Reserve: 50%
Nature, Area, Wisdom, Vitality
Aptitudes
- Mana (Affinity)...
2025-05-13 14:05:02 +0000 UTC
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Mato
“What about these?” Mato asked, eyeing the two options as he tried to wrestle his delight down to the ‘let’s be cautious’ level. Both were class paths, which, according both to Ali and that grumpy old troll, were supposed to be rare. He instinctively preferred Elemental Shapeshifter because the description referenced both Azryet and Lira and all the paths he had taken so far – and it was unique. But Adaptable Shapeshifter looked incredibly strong. Any form I defea...
2025-05-13 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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