Tilly fought to keep his eyes from crossing as the hallway practically squirmed in front of them. The passage they followed seemed to defy logic at several turns, and at one point Tilly was even convinced they had completely a full rollercoaster loop. But, through it all, the Assessor led the way with an implacable steadiness, navigating the twists and turns of space with long-practiced grace. He did his best to keep his eyes fixed on her most of the time, but he found himself con...
2024-08-20 12:03:17 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Kind of close to the other Faction’s buildings, isn’t it?”
“Oh yes! Undoubtedly, they have recently installed devices and spells to hear our conversation at this very moment. There might even be a sry set up to watch us!” He added excitedly.
Tilly shot a concerned look at the others, and Mochizuki rolled her eyes at his antics, “They might be able to hear us, but we are all but certain they can not see us. We do...
2024-08-16 03:04:14 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly was spitting mad. This was the first time he had been “awarded” Stat points by the System since he had eaten that stupid ‘throw-up leaf’! He couldn’t help but feel like he had been tricked, and was being cosmically maneuvered into a place of vulnerability.
“Goddammit!” He snarled.
Julius took a stoic step back, signaling to the Ranger unit to give Tilly some space. Poor Marq however, did not pick up on the sign...
2024-08-12 16:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Nyuk kept up the cold shoulder act right up until he heard Tilly’s plan for the next test, “Human, are you crazy?... Actually, no one needs you to answer that. Maybe your Identify is broken. None of my men are below 40, and Gods, I’ve somehow made it to level 52! Let me tell you that Bottleneck is a real-”
“Alright! Enough jawing, none of us gets to sleep until this is done. So let's head out.” Julius called, droppin...
2024-08-08 13:39:29 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly took a deep breath, swimming back through the sea of information he had tried to absorb over the course of the night to the start of their conversation, “I think I remember all three, mind if I give it a shot?” Tilly asked scrubbing the heel of his hand over his red eyes.
“Please, go ahead.”
“Ok, rule number one, no using Abilities. No one knows how they track them, but they do. This is to min...
2024-08-05 19:57:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
Just wanted to let you guys know that the two newest senior firefighter tier members will be featured at the coming Auction. And I am pretty stocked about both of them.
Rulak Magnus,
Fabian.
Welcome to the story.
2024-08-02 01:28:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Forgive me for that Mr. Tillman. She caught me on the street and asked politely where I was headed… It is not wise to lie to an Assesor, something I am very thankful you did not try.” she said, a load visibly falling from her shoulders as she poured both of them more tea.
“Yeah, I figured something was off. How did I do?”
“Honestly? That was drastically better than I feared. The inscrutable u...
2024-08-02 01:26:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
On the way back to his room, Tilly couldn’t help but glance down at his hand every minute or so. The multifaceted dark ring glittered knowingly back up at him and he wondered how noticeable it was to the people passing him on the road.
He had never been a big jewelry guy, metal accessories and firefighting just didn’t mix that well. He had managed to more or less ignore the bracelets seeing as how they sat under his sleeves most of the time. But with th...
2024-07-30 02:18:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
The chief turned at his question, blinking slowly and huffing as he took on a patronizing tone, “Yes, honored customer. That is correct, and may I congratulate you on the wonderfully uncommon achievement of tripling your level in a single stat. I have seldom met such a… bold warrior as yourself, and I assure you, this branch's discretion is assured.” The Chief added with a stiff shake of his head.
“Now I will leave you in Harold’s more than ca...
2024-07-26 02:03:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
With those words, Mochisuki placidly gestured for them to end the public portion of their discussion, as the murmuring of the crowd quieted and the ceremony concluded. Four of the guards positioned themselves at the Commerce Guild building, two at the door and two near the vault. The Elephantine Chief stood outside and gestured grandly for the doors to close.
“Thus concludes the Initiation of our 542nd chapter house!” He waved, turning to the crowd as...
2024-07-22 15:26:04 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly’s eyes flew open, finding a tiny down-covered floof ball standing on his forehead looking down at him. His mind was soupy and slow after interacting with reality at a level far beyond what he could comprehend, but that did not stop what might have been the dopiest smile he had ever worn from stretching the edges of his mouth.
“Damn, it is good to see you.” He breathed out to his companion on her forehead perch.
Cheep, ...
2024-07-18 20:37:47 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly was up before the sun rose the next day feeling refreshed and more than a little nervous about the day’s plans. The tray of food had magically appeared as it always did, but he left it where it was, deciding to only take a little water before heading out. His stomach was in knots and he decided he would come back for it if he was hungry later. Instead, he set out into the predawn light and jogged down the slightly less busy streets, heading toward the wall.
2024-07-15 19:22:29 +0000 UTC
View Post
It's my birthday week, and somehow I got sucked into fixing our rotted deck. So here are pictures instead of the promised chapter, along with my apologies.
Sorry Team, I will be back on track this Monday!
2024-07-12 00:30:38 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly gasped as his Mana once again bottomed out. His head was splitting, yet no matter how hard he tried to channel flame into the gem fragment, nothing happened. He had emptied his well two or three times at this point, determined to produce enough heat to help grow the gem back to the egg-like size he remembered when he first got it, but no matter what he tried, the fragment didn’t seem to be able to absorb any of the heat.
It was so frustrating...
2024-07-08 21:10:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
Amelia Cooper, Level 49 Botanist Surveyor
“Those kids are going to be the end of me…” She grumbled to herself as she marched angrily through the camps to the alchemic workshop. Only a day and they had already all moved out of the agricultural group home and off to their selected areas of work. Just like that, no warning, hardly even a goodbye!
They had been her responsibility… Sh...
2024-07-04 14:11:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly tried to catch his breath in ragged gasps as he collected himself and prepared his mind for the last part of this test.
‘I need to find out now… If I don’t, I won't know what this can fully do, and without that information, I can’t make the right decision when it really matters.’ He reminded himself for the umpteenth time since he had come up with this idea. When he had been brutally sparring every day to get ready for his...
2024-07-01 11:47:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
It had only just left his hand when the resulting flame washed over him, along with a peppering of glass. He instinctively pushed down a shout of surprise, as the realization hit him that he had not been injured at all by the blase.
The fire had been aspected to him, and thus unable to harm his physical body. The Common quality glass, even in broken shards, bounced harmlessly off his skin. His effective Endurance of 185.9 made him more ...
2024-06-27 16:14:39 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly took the written orders and folded them, unconsciously shoving them in a pocket as he headed out of the manor and into the street. Ideas for what he would need for his first test were tumbling through his mind like a box of rocks.
He was halfway to the wall before he realized that his armor didn’t have any pockets…
Looking down ruefully, he pulled up the bottom of his jacket to see an innocuous leather stitched patch wi...
2024-06-24 20:06:31 +0000 UTC
View Post
Mateus listened quietly as Tilly did his best to describe the encounter that had lived in echoes and flashes at the back of his mind for the last month. When Tilly had attempted to describe what he had seen to Ichiro, it had come out sounding… flat, like a four-year-old’s drawing of a sunset.
He was sure he was giving the gist of what happened but it had felt so empty when he tried to describe it. Yet, in the middle of the street...
2024-06-20 21:49:55 +0000 UTC
View Post
Mateus looked over at Tilly bemused, as the Librarian led the Commerce Guild representative away while gesticulating wildly. The Elephantine representative simply followed, looking slightly lost.
“Is he always like this?”
Tilly snorted at the question, “Yep, the coolest Librarian I have ever met. It no longer surprises me when I see him, elbows deep in something way outside his wheelhouse.”
2024-06-17 20:15:28 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly’s trip back to his room passed in an exhausted haze, and as soon as he plopped down on the bed that afternoon, he was out. The few-hour nap turned into eighteen hours of sleep as Tilly’s subconscious forced his body into a full recovery.
Time was short and the enemy's forces seemed to be everywhere. But no one was attacking today, and some part of Tilly registered the reality of this fact, and completely cut him off from his higher functions ...
2024-06-13 17:11:27 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly actually ended up really enjoying the hour or two they left him there to guard against a surprise reemergence of the dragon. He went through his character sheet with a fine-toothed comb and got a good feel for where he wanted to go next with stats. It was a given that he would keep his imbalance, but the cost of such a low Strength stat when he swapped had been eye-opening. He spent the first half of his time thinking through how he could test the other combina...
2024-06-10 20:15:47 +0000 UTC
View Post
Brokenridge Heartsflame Dragon
His claws clicked deliciously against the stone floor as he fought to keep from outright laughing. Such luck! He had been prepared to risk much on the Fatewatcher’s plan, his timeline having been set back astronomically. After all, what was boldness if not to fully extend your own neck to lunge at your enemy’s exposed throat?
But this was beyond his wildest expectations. Ev...
2024-06-06 14:30:47 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly settled into his meditative pose facing the mouth of the now huge cavern and pulled up his notification log, trying to make sense of the constant shuddering that seemed to be racking his armor and weapons.
Congratulations! Your Legendary Armor and Hatchets have been imbued with a new form! After absorbing Dragon’s blood and flame, you have gained access to the Draconic Emissary armor...
2024-06-03 19:06:50 +0000 UTC
View Post
Brokenridge lowered his head until it was only a yard away from Tilly showing every one of his teeth, “That was nothing but a lucky blow, human! The only reason I have not snapped you in two is your future usefulness to my cause!” he snarled. The aura of his bloodlust exploded outward, drowning the entire quarry basin in blood and fire.
As it washed over Tilly, his fury stoked to new heights, pushing back against the sudden p...
2024-05-30 16:12:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly shot a glance over at Hiro, trying to gauge if he understood anything about that answer. The only thing he could recognize was the reference to the Contested Lands, everything else might as well have been in another language. But, of course, Tilly was unable to read anything on the Gaurdian’s stony face, who simply held the dragon’s gaze with his crystalline eyes.
Without even thinking about it, Tilly let out an explosive sigh, “Why doesn’t an...
2024-05-27 18:38:04 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly took a deep breath in and carefully drew his hatchet back, taking great pains to keep his movements slow and deliberate. His Strength Stat was now at 169 and in a moment for a single strike, he would double it to 338… and with his Endurance now down to a measly 28, he was fairly sure he was going to do more damage to himself than to the dragon.
Not that he had much of a choice. He may have been new to ...
2024-05-23 15:24:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tilly shared a brief look with Ichiro before surging to his feet.
“I may have misjudged this one, my friend…” He said sheepishly, rising just as fast as Tilly, “I am sorry gentlemen, but it seems our time must be cut short.” He called, already moving with Tilly toward the door.
Whatever that was, Tilly was sure it wouldn’t wait forever before rampaging through the city. So he pumped his arms for all that he was worth, burstin...
2024-05-20 19:40:40 +0000 UTC
View Post
Got beat down the last couple of days and I'm too behind to make this chap post happen tonight.
So two things.
1. I have discounted the support tiers and I might make them even cheaper, I recognize that most patrons offer more chapters for the same cost and I am behind the curve there, so to be fair, I might just drop the price to reflect the market.
2. I will definitely be posting again next Monday, I am just behind on a bunch of stuff. Your financial and vocal...
2024-05-17 00:35:30 +0000 UTC
View Post
Mataus looked over at the droopy-eyed man, not quite concealing his shock. The man, to his credit, softened his frown considerably as he answered, “It is good to see you continue to surprise. Your Faction, considering its unaligned nature is doing far better than it has any right to. This, of course, must have as much to do with your unique Patron as it does your obviously talented people.” He allowed with a nod towards the female lapin...
2024-05-13 22:09:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
