Timewalk

Chapter 171: The Landing

Aliandra

The tunnel out of the Flame Broodmother’s lair wound steadily downward, occasionally narrowing enough that they were forced to proceed single file. Every so often, they paused to clear Flame Spinners from dimly glowing side caves, or Lava Lurkers from the ever-present pools of lava. It took ages, but leaving monsters to creep up on them from behind sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. Eventually, the rough-hewn tunnel widened, opening into a wider, straig...

Chapter 170: Broodmother

You gotta watch out for those side bosses. Many adventurers believe that skipping the smaller bosses is more efficient – a faster way to get to the more valuable ones deeper within a dungeon. That’s an easy way to get dead. Just remember, sometimes the later bosses have a giant aggro range and you can suddenly find yourself suddenly knee-deep in all the bosses you skipped on the way down when it calls them. Slow and cautious is how you stay alive.

- Dorin Crims...

Chapter 169: Market Forces

Aliandra

Ali and Malika entered Lydia’s boutique clothing store to the sound of the soft musical chimes, but to her surprise, it was not Lydia Ali found behind the counter. Instead, she found herself staring at a tall, dark-haired young man dressed in an elegant black suit that was clearly Lydia’s work.

Human

An unclassed human? A little surprised, she found herself not quite sure what to do.

Chapter 168: Protégé

Malika

There was a brawl going down in the middle of the guild shop, and the few adventurers that were loitering in the guild hall had all stopped to stare. It was not a knock-down drag-out brawl like it might have been if someone like Mato was involved, but it was most assuredly a fight. The two combatants circled one another in their stylish outfits, unleashing ripostes and parries with words and glares.

Malika pulled up a stool and sat at the display...

Chapter 167: A Web of Fire

Burn to ash!

- Inferno [The Consuming Flame]. Unique Fire Elemental.

Malika

The continual burning of Malika’s skin, hair, eyes, lungs, or basically every part of her exposed to the air, left her feeling drained and exhausted. She sat cross-legged in the pool of lava, simply because the wretched Path of the Earth: The Defensive Arts had clearly indicated that she could learn defensive skills by meditating o...

Chapter 166: The Dungeon’s Flames

Aliandra

“Is it just me, or is this getting a little easier?” Ali asked. It took only half an hour to fight through the denizens of the jungle to the entrance of the Emberforge Mines, but she was already sweaty, and her Tailored Cotton Clothing was drenched.

“There are fewer monsters,” Calen observed. Either their earlier efforts had had a lasting impact, or the presence of Ali’s new boss, and the constant stream of fire elementals spewing f...

Chapter 165: Her First Shield

When two tons of fury in the form of a Bristletusk Boar is charging you down, you want to be wearing the finest in solid steel fashion. The heavier the better! None of this namby-pamby cloth or leather shit.

- Baldin Steelshaper, Free advice offered to a novice adventurer browsing armor in his smithy.

Aliandra

“What do you think? Will this work for your rogues?” Calen asked, hauling out several compact leather ...

Chapter 164: Farming Fire Resistance

Aliandra

The well-oiled doors swung open, and Ali stepped into the guild hall, blinking a little in the relative dimness after the bright sunlight outside. She had recounted the terrifying experience of being at the mercy of whatever ominous spell infested Nathaniel Sunstrider and her narrow escape due to the inexplicable actions of her mother’s book. However, the Archmage had amassed a towering reputation, and it was challenging to accuse him of anything when all she...

Chapter 163: Books of the Past

Aliandra

Your minions have defeated Cavern Crawler – Spider – level 5.

Ali woke to the sound of her chime and slowly sat up. Yesterday had ended on a rough note and she had retired to the library to withdraw from the world, but a long discussion with Lira over tea before bed had helped settle her heart, and she looked around the library with her cautious optimism mostly recovered.

If she considered the ...

Chapter 162: Surprise Assassination

Garret

The scent in the sewer was surprisingly fresh, and the damp crumbling brick was covered with a lush carpet of moss and mushrooms. As they traced the path indicated on their map, the monsters became progressively higher and higher in level, but they were all easily dispatched, usually with a single strike of Dak’resh’s Spear Rush.

Garret loped alongside in his Feral Puma form, not even bothering with stealth in such a low-level dungeon. As d...

Chapter 161: Raid at the Shrine

Malika

It was quiet in the Grove now that all the applicants had left. The crafter, merchant, and artisan aspirants had been escorted back up to town by Vivian Ross to undergo their trials with their respective mentors and masters, and the combat class aspirants had been dropped off in the sewers. She wrinkled her nose. Lucky them.

All that remained was to wait for them to return. Malika found herself pacing restlessly back and forth, worrying about t...

Chapter 160: The Class Shrine

Aliandra

Ali sat at the broad walnut table in the library with ‘The Fundamentals of Arcane Magic’ lying open in front of her, but her eyes were not seeing the pages. It was still too early for her friends; Mato and Malika were still sleeping. Calen and Ryn, of course, were still off in Ciradyl.

Shaking her head, she tried to refocus on her task – she had been studying this book, searching for new magic for making better traps, but sh...

Chapter 159: Visiting

Aliandra

The dungeon-rage stabbed into her mind, making her gasp with pain and stagger into the table. Ali vaguely heard the exclamations of concern, but her vision was dim, and the sounds came to her faintly against the roar that smashed through her brain.

Her vision flickered and lurched back to some semblance of normal and she found Lira kneeling on the floor beside her holding her tightly, so she didn’t fall.

“Are you ok, dear...

Chapter 158: Negotiations with the Guild

A/N: If you're reading this story somewhere other than Patreon.com, RoyalRoad.com, or ScribbleHub.com, then it is stolen content.

Sorry for the notice, someone has been ripping chapter...

Chapter 157: Portentous Divination

The fastest way to piss off a Troll is to greet them as an equal. Even if you are a Troll.

- Dorin Crimsonhammer, Platinum Adventurer. Advice to novice adventurers.

Tol’zerath

Tol’zerath bowed his head, the ceremonial tusk beads brushing against his broad chest as he closed his eyes. Slipping his hands into the Divination Pool, he released his mana, and the temperature in the whole cave plummeted as the silvery electrum of t...

Chapter 156: Emberforge Mines

Calen

Calen jogged down the dark and dingy alleyways between the run-down and mostly abandoned warehouses, his feet making no sound on the rough stone pavement. His powerful vision picked out every detail, even in the darkness of the cloudy, moonless night. Wrinkling his nose at the stench of the rotting trash heaped against the walls and spilling out across the pavement, he thought, Myrin’s Keep, how I’ve missed your delicate scents, his inner voice ...

Chapter 155: Disruptor

Malika

Malika had said her goodbyes, but as the billowing smoke of the recall potion yanked her body out of Toria, dumping her in the receiving room at the Novaspark Academy of Magic, she knew it wouldn’t be goodbye forever.

She settled her teleportation fee quickly and headed out into the sunshine and the familiar bustle and ever-present undercurrent of suspicion, anxiety, and fear that made up the unique atmosphere of the streets of Myrin’s Keep.<...

Chapter 154: A Gift for a Friend

Tala

“Why do I have to do it? I’m an assassin, not a hiring manager,” Tala grumbled, glaring at Kieran Mori, but she kept most of her frustration to herself. His orders for her had become more and more annoying of late, and she had held her tongue mostly out of fear of his reputation, but this was too much.

Politics, administration, and talking to people – it all got in the way of her growth. I need marks to level up. An Assassin hiring...

Chapter 153: The Forging of a Raid Team

“Adventurers Guild? Groups? Teamwork? Bah! That’s just a scam to have other people leech your hard-earned experience. Solo is the way to go!”

- Thomas Belray, Rogue, Last Words.

Willow

Willow picked her way among the mushrooms sprouting from the vibrant moss growing on the damp brick of the sewer and hopped over the water channel, keeping her eyes on the dark nooks and side tunnels. The nervous chatter...

Chapter 152: Death’s Unyielding Grasp

A/N: Happy Monday! Bonus chapter today :)

This chapter is critical for the plot of the story, but it turned out to require enough room that it became effectively an interlude - a chapter with none of the main party perspectives. So I'm releasing this as an extra, and the regular chapter will still drop on Tuesday as usual.

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Undead, as most of you no doubt already know, come in an infinite variety, mirroring the complexity of the living...