EdgeCases

DRR Book 2, Chapter 61 - Loop 15.1, Part 3

Author's Note:  Seems I'm on something of a nine-day cycle. I tried to hold this one for a bit to finish the next chapter, but it's not at a place where I'm satisfied with it yet--probably should have just shared this one when it was done. Trying to get the next one out ASAP, but want to make sure it's good. Thanks for reading/waiting!

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Anhar's connection to his spear is a weak one—unlike Trialgoers, he doesn't have any Interface-assisted version of Firma...

DRR Book 2, Chapter 60 - Loop 15.1, Part 2

As powerful as the wave of Firmament heading toward us is, it's not focused. It breaks against my barriers like a tide of water breaking against a dam. The damage it does is still immense enough to shatter all six folds of the Hexfold Barrier, but it can't quite get through the Crystallized Barrier I've set up behind it.

"...Ethan?" There's a note of confusion in Vahrkos's voice, like he's not sure where he is or what he's doing. "Why are you here?"

I glance at Vahrkos. H...

DRR Book 2, Chapter 59 - Loop 15.1

Vahrkos is in the most danger. Whatever that general does to him in the fight I foresaw, it's enough to damage his Firmament, and it's the kind of damage that sticks across loops. I don't know if subloops created by Once More Into the Fray count in the same way, but I have to assume that they do; the only thing it's allowing me to bypass is the enforced rule of permanent death. That triggers at the end of the official, Trial-enforced loop, not within the subloops.<...

DRR Book 2, Chapter 58 - Change of Plans

Author's Note: One longer chapter today.

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Fear, Gheraa had to admit, was an entirely new sensation for him.

He wasn't sure he liked it. It made his Firmament flicker with silver. Silver! It was gaudy at best, really, and it made it very, very difficult for him to properly use his skills.

Like the one he was currently using to hide.

Granted, a big part of that was because he had to control the skill manually, and that was ...

DRR Book 2, Chapter 57 - The Present, Part 2

He-Who-Wanders was not suited for diplomacy.

In all fairness, very few of those he considered to be the core rebels were actually suited for diplomacy. Bimar was more likely to start a fight than not; Thys and Thaht were too excitable and too impatient respectively; Miktik was an utterly terrible liar; Vahrkos...

Well, Vahrkos was probably the most suited amongst them for diplomacy, now that He-Who-Wanders thought about it. But he was also the most combat-ready of th...

DRR Book 2, Chapter 56 - The Present, Part 1

Author's Notes: Two this week; 56 and 57. Thanks for waiting! I'm trying out something a little tricky. Excited about pulling these together in 58.

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Tarin struggled. Light-purple bands of Firmament strung themselves around his wings, and every movement caused them to burn through his feathers and into the bone and muscle beneath. He could break through them if he could just reinforce himself, but...

Firmament suppression. He hated the tactic....

Edge Cases Epilogues

Epilogue 1 - Home

"Commune time!" Max cheered. Xothok stared at her, and the Guildmaster just grinned; she stared with pride at the network of homes they'd built. It was better than a traditional branch of the Adventurers' Guild by far. Building, it turned out, was a lot easier when everyone was on the same page about needing shelter.

It was also much easier to get adventurers to help with building when it was their own homes they were building. Of ...

End of EC Book 4, Chapter 50 - New Beginnings

A/N: Short chapter. Epilogues coming soon--5 epilogues in total, and maybe more short stories placed in there when I feel like writing them. Thanks to everyone who's stayed for the journey so far! It means a lot to have you all here with me.

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Fortunately, it wasn't long before the Guildmaster showed up, Max by her side and Xothok... pretending to be aloof in the distance? Sev eyed him curiously, wondering what was up with him.

"Guessing you guys have a pl...

DRR Book 2, Chapter 55 - Phase Shifts and You, Part 2

"It's just something the Interface does," Gheraa says, grimacing. "I don't have a good answer for you there. We think it has something to do with how the Interface draws from past Trialgoers as a template for new features or implementations—in the same way, it probably draws on people connected with it to create Remnants. Or monsters, if you will."

I think for a moment. "But that's not true for all monsters, right?" I say. "Like the monsters in the Fracture."

The ones Guard help...

DRR Book 2, Chapter 54 - Phase-Shifts and You, Part 1

"You've noticed by now that Firmament is layered," Gheraa says. "Imbuement stones are even labeled that way by the Interface—by its 'depth'. The deeper you sink into Firmament, the closer you get to its true nature."

"Mysterious," I say, raising an eyebrow. "This have anything to do with what I sensed earlier?"

Gheraa cocks his head, then leans in close to peer at me, his expression intrigued. "Depends, I suppose," he says. "What did you sense?"

I shrug. "When I was trying...

DRR Chapters 52 & 53 edited, 54+ tomorrow

Just wanted you guys to know I've edited chapters 52 and 53 a bunch (they're both 3k+ chapters now). I'll summarize the changes further down in this post if you don't want to reread the chapters. 54 will be coming tomorrow since it's also a longer-than-usual chapter, maybe along with 55 depending on how this toothache decides to treat me.

Changes for 52 & 53:

• More grounding for Ethan's situation; he's a little more concerned about what's actually happening with his bo...

  2024-04-29 15:46:23 +0000 UTC View Post

EC Book 4, Chapter 49 - Character Ark

Click.

Derivan watched curiously as they were brought to a new place within the Void. There was nothing here, technically—nothing except a small pedestal built into the ground. Not that there was any ground here. A visible gear poked out of a slot on the pedestal, clicking periodically as some sort of internal mechanism shifted within and caused it to rotate.

Or Shifting within. He could feel it, the subtle changes in reality as it moved through one layer ...

EC Book 4, Chapter 48 - To Remember

Sev's mind caught on a thought he'd had a moment ago. He struggled to pull it back. 

There was no one left to assume the responsibility of connecting to the Grand Anchor. No one but him.

Responsibility.

The Grand Anchor grew warm in his arms. The area around him, so small it had begun to press into and erode his very existence, began to widen once again.

That was the piece he'd been missing. It was the small bit of understanding that had eluded him, time ...

EC Book 4, Chapter 47

EC Book 4, Chapter 46 - And Then There Was One

Derivan, Vex, and Misa sat just outside the warehouse Sev was in.

The ground crumbled away in front of them. Their legs dangled off a sheer cliff that dropped down into nothingness, dangerously close to the Void. Vex leaned into Derivan's side, and Derivan wrapped an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders, marveling at the feeling of having someone care about him in such a manner. Of caring for someone in such a manner.

He hadn't really ever considered it, not even as ...

EC Book 4, Chapter 45 - More Time Needed

There was one hour left, and Sev didn't feel like he was any closer.

Derivan, Vex, and Misa had all left the building to try to help calm people's nerves, and to see if there was anything they could do to make this bit of reality last longer. Vex and Misa were trying to channel their Grand Anchors into something, even if they were missing the key piece of Divinity—and even though Sev knew those anchors didn't quite work like that, he couldn't bring himself to stop them.

EC Book 4, Chapter 44 - The Last Anchor

Twenty-one hours had passed.

Sev and the rest of his party members were housed in a small building in Anderstahl—formerly a small industrial workshop, now converted into a temporary residence. It had originally been for the refugees, but Sev and several others had insisted on taking it and giving the refugees their beds in the Adventurers' Guild instead. No one argued with them. The people of Elyra had lost their homes, after all, and even though they'd escaped, that loss still hung h...

EC Book 4, Chapter 43 - Reunited

Sev raced back toward the train, pocketing the stone. He'd think about it later. "We need to hurry," he said, pulling a startled Ixoryn and Tinsel with him. "Not much time left."

"Were you not repairing it for the express purpose of having time?" A perplexed Ixoryn asked.

"We had hours left when I repaired it. The estimations we had were off, and we didn't account for the increased load of refugees being offloaded onto the Anderstahl anchor," Sev said. He leapt into the cabin and ...

EC Book 4, Chapter 42 - Final Frontier

The Void felt cold around Sev.

It wasn't really cold, of course. The Void wasn't really anything. It was an emptiness that ate away at everything of substance within it—the result of the natural decay of the fabric of reality itself.

But it felt cold. That was the nature of the Void. In the absence of reality, the mind would fill in the blanks; it was a dark, featureless space, so his mind expected it to be cold.

So it was.

Sev pulled his robes a little...

DRR Book 2, Chapter 53 - Integrators

"First," Gheraa says. "You have to understand what the Interface is."

There's a pause. Gheraa stares at me expectantly, and after a moment passes, I open one eye to look at him. "What is it?" I ask, because Gheraa is clearly waiting for me to prompt him. He rolls his shoulders once, then takes a deep breath, like he's preparing for some big reveal...

"We don't know," he says.

"...What." The response is almost enough for me to lose concentration. I feel like I can almost<...