Sorry for the delay! I was traveling this weekend, and so I had to edit this chapter last-minute before posting and it took a bit longer than anticipated.
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There was something thrilling about willingly going into a dangerous situation prepared for anything. It reminded Edwin vaguely of the build-up to a rollercoaster, a hint of adrenaline spiking his bloodstream and shutting down extraneous bodily functions. If he turned his Perception inwards, he could actually feel...
2021-09-21 16:15:28 +0000 UTC
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The Guildmaster’s declaration didn’t overly surprise Edwin- he had been half expecting something like this for a while now. However, he wasn’t expecting to be approached on the street by the Master herself. Heck, he didn’t even really know that the guildmaster was a she until just now.
…He needed to get better at preemptively looking up details about people, didn’t he?
“Right now?” he asked.
“Preferably. Unless you have some activity which...
2021-09-16 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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How did you prove germ theory to someone who didn’t believe it? It was actually a surprisingly difficult question, given that technically speaking, even back on Earth it was, still just a theory. A germ- ahem.
Granted, it was a highly tested and unanimously accepted theory, but because it was a matter of biology, it couldn’t be a proper law. It just couldn’t have the sorts of rigorous mathematical backing required.
All that was to say Edwin couldn’t prove...
2021-09-14 16:00:00 +0000 UTC
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“Wait, you were actually working on that?” Edwin found himself taken aback slightly by Cope’s declaration. He had mildly assumed that Cope wasn’t actually keeping up any part of his deal, but apparently he was?
To his credit, the man looked slightly taken aback, “But of course! You’ve done a remarkable amount of work, it is only fair that I uphold my side of our bargain. Did you truly think so little of me?”
Edwin shrugged, “I mean, it’s been some two months, and...
2021-09-09 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Edwin didn’t see much of Inion over the weeks he spent in Panastalis. She would drop in every so often to see how he was, but she was usually doing… something off in the Verdant. Whenever Edwin prodded her about it, she refused to elaborate, which was… well, it was slightly annoying. He wanted to know what was up with his best friend by default, but she was entitled to her privacy just as much as he was.
“Ahem.”
“Whaaaat? I wanna know the details!”<...
2021-09-07 15:57:00 +0000 UTC
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“Xares above, I swear if those two don’t stop scheming soon, I will personally throw them off the branch.”
“I’ll carry Keir if you get Rhita,” Edwin agreed, handing Fissath one of the white logs they used for heating the kiln, “Are we aiming for the river?”
It had been two days since the sabotage/attack from Othniel’s group, and now that they were back in the lab, Keir and Rhita were busy planning their countermove against the rival alchemist. Normally, Edwin may...
2021-09-02 15:56:43 +0000 UTC
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Edwin’s new accommodations were nothing special, but he at least had the room to himself- well, himself and Inion, so functionally all to himself- and that was something. A roughly double-sized bed in a medium-sized room, some shelves on which he could keep his stuff, and some hooks on which Edwin could hang his combat gear.
Naturally, he secured everything with extensive multi-layered Apparatus links. He didn’t trust Cope in the slightest- the man somehow managed to simultaneously ...
2021-08-31 16:04:03 +0000 UTC
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While a few people had naturally taken note of Edwin rattling up to the entry of the town, none paid him much attention. It made a certain amount of sense, they probably had loads of travelers and merchants coming in and out of the town on a regular basis.
In fact, he could even tell where the inn for the town was thanks to the row of wagons that had pulled up beside it, a few individuals milling around them. A few individuals caught his eye- one Skyguard and two Hired Guards already ha...
2021-08-26 15:59:00 +0000 UTC
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Okay, first off: nobody panic. I'm not going to just up and vanish. Tomorrow's chapter will be coming out on schedule, and I will return next week. Any permanent changes to my schedule will be done at the end/start of a month, just because you guys are the greatest and I don't want to pull the rug out from under you.
When I say a break, I mean literally that- a break. The current arc is giving me no end of trouble, and I don't want this to turn into another bandit arc, where I just thro...
2021-08-16 20:07:00 +0000 UTC
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Sleeping was wonderful. Not just the action, but the Skill, too. Even though his dreams had been tumultuous and vaguely nightmarish, as Watchful Rest ensured that even unconsciousness wasn’t enough to entirely disconnect from reality, by the time Edwin returned to full awareness, he just felt refreshed on a fundamental level.
His senses no longer warred against his mind, and the emotional load of the previous day felt so light, as though it had been weeks or months prior. He ...
2021-08-12 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Though the pressure may have subsided, Edwin was still very aware he was talking to quite possibly the most powerful person he had ever met. This merited his full attention.
Cough.
Hopefully his brain got the memo. He was hopeful, given the constant pressure he was feeling just from speaking to someone so powerful.
“What is there to speak of… your majesty?”
The emperor didn’t speak to correct Edwin, so he took that to mean he’d gott...
2021-08-10 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Sorry about the delay, something went strange with the chapter posting.
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The soldiers stood straight, staring expectantly at Edwin. He sighed and downed the remainder of his soup in a single gulp, dismissing his Apparatus utensils as he stood up. As an experiment, he enabled Flight to suspend him just a hair above the floor. He might as well use the time somewhat productively, as he didn’t really expect this meeting to go all that great. Best-ca...
2021-08-05 16:40:01 +0000 UTC
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“Well, you’re braver than I, that’s certain,” Rizzali noted, reclining in his seat as he made the last few notes on his stack of papers. “Taking two Paths pertaining to the fey?” he shook his head, whistling softly, “This is what sets the successful Adventurers apart from the failures, I do suppose.
“Although I must say, your Skill Researcher path… it seems quite promising. It is quite worthy of a special note, and it seems as though it were relatively simple to ...
2021-08-03 16:00:02 +0000 UTC
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This is the marginal start of volume 3. Hopefully we'll get some actual adventure-y stuff soon!
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“So you’re sure that this won’t hurt, won’t permanently fuse us together into some kind of abomination, won’t create an utterly unbreakable bond between us, won’t corrupt me into something else, won’t turn me into your eternal servant…”
“Yes! Blight, Edwin, why are you so worried? You’re usually so much more willing to go along with t...
2021-07-29 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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It was only when he woke up without so much as a trace of lingering soreness that Edwin finally appreciated just how much work Sleeping must put in to refresh him so completely every night. Still, he couldn’t say he wanted to put himself through that ordeal very much. If he were a masochist, he could use Overcharge every night to level it and just sleep off the exhaustion and pain… but that sounded like almost-literal torture. Plus, he didn’t want to overuse it and maybe poison himself ...
2021-07-27 16:00:02 +0000 UTC
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At long, long last! It is time!
Enjoy!
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Even with his Paths selected, he still needed to figure out what order he wanted to take them. Fortunately, this wasn’t nearly as tricky. All that mattered was he took them in approximate order of how cool he thought they were, with perhaps a slight eye towards estimating which Skill each Path might evolve.
His Attribute paths absolutely would have to be first, as Attributes wouldn’t increase until he’d u...
2021-07-22 16:00:26 +0000 UTC
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At long last, it was time for Edwin to make his last few preparations before finally tiering up. Sure, it had taken him some four or five months (he’d stopped keeping track at this point) to get these last ten levels in each of his Skills, but now he was just a handful away before his break-even point was reached at long last!
It hadn’t been easy getting this far. He’d managed to get Firestarting to only affect a small area centered around his hand, and his breakthrough...
2021-07-20 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Edwin slept fitfully, dreaming of fire and water, of shadows and blood. He woke up several times to find Inion next to him, tending to his wounds.
When finally he awoke fully, it was nighttime, and Inion was cradling his head in her lap. While Edwin felt mostly light and sturdy, he was still sore in many places, leading to him trying to pull himself into a sitting position, only for Inion to gently keep him down. Not wanting to really cross her after what he had just seen, he obliged.
2021-07-15 16:28:51 +0000 UTC
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Edwin mentally cursed as he ducked behind the ‘wall’ surrounding his kiln, trying to get cover from whatever assassin had been sent at him. He knew that his constant paranoia about the dwarves had to have been justified. How had he been tracked down now, though? It had been months since he’d been anywhere close to people.
His mind raced as it pulled on instincts he hadn’t had to use in months, struggling to get ready for fighting. Inion’s training didn’t ex...
2021-07-13 16:08:23 +0000 UTC
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Whew.
I think this is the fastest I've ever written words. If there's errors, please do let me know either here or on Discord because I would not be surprised if a few typos or small continuity errors slipped through.
Heck, I'd be surprised if none had.
Also, The Way Ahead is now on TopWebFiction! If you could vote for it, it would be greatly appreciated.
2021-07-08 19:19:00 +0000 UTC
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*wipes forehead*
Whew. 5k word chapters are monsters, both to write and to edit. Thursday's chapter will probably also be a bit late, but will hopefully still be on Thursday.
Also, I made a couple of small changes to chapter 70 to make it flow better into chapter 71, mainly just having Edwin ask a follow-up question rather than not be able to think of anything, then him immediately changing his mind at the start of this chapter.
Anyway, with all that out of th...
2021-07-06 18:24:03 +0000 UTC
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Hey all! For... many reasons, I wasn't able to get the chapter done quite in time for my normal release time. Chapter 71 is still coming out tomorrow, it will just likely be later in the day rather than in the morning.
Sorry. Hopefully once I settle into the schedule a little bit more, this won't be an issue in the future. It might happen on Thursday as well, but that should hopefully be the last time.
2021-07-06 06:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Just a quick reminder that this is the last chapter on the 5/week schedule, and the next chapter will be released on next Tuesday (the 6th for my previously 10-ahead folks). Going forward, advance chapters will be based on and labeled by weeks ahead, rather than chapters ahead.
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“Lady Tara! Welcome! What brings you to my office today?”
“Rizzali. Good to see you.” The Enforcer greeted the gnome- Edwin updated his tag, which was apparently misspelled- and turned b...
2021-07-03 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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At some point soon, I'll be updating the Patron and Apprentice Patron tiers to the descriptions of '2 weeks ahead' and '1 week ahead' respectively. You guys won't notice anything different, it'll just reflect the new schedule.
Novice Patron, though, will become a legacy option.
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“It’s grown so much!”
“Wait, you’ve been here before?” Edwin furrowed his brow in thought, “I thought you hadn’t?”
“What would make you think that?”
“...
2021-07-02 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Edwin may have been lacking in magical expertise, so his current testing methodologies, limited as they were to exposing objects to Mana Infusion and Firestarting/Infused Firestarting, were rather inadequate.
The Grimoire claimed that there were loads of materials which utilized various kinds of mana. Seagrass was strongly water-aligned, firevine was, naturally, fire-aspected. A footnote in a mostly-unrelated section mentioned that talsanenris was extremely life-attuned, far more than t...
2021-07-01 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Hey all,
Just a heads-up that tomorrow's chapter may have to be delayed by 1 day, meaning you'd get chapter 70 on Saturday. Hopefully with the new schedule (currently looking like Tuesday/Thursday), this will happen much less frequently.
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Edwin was ecstatic. While it may have objectively been a relatively minor discovery in the grand scheme of things, certainly not something which would help him survive if he encountered another panther, or e...
2021-06-29 15:59:01 +0000 UTC
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Which days each week should I release chapters?
RR will get their own version of this poll, but that will be for their chapter releases. I don't need to have everything on the same days.
The top two days will win.
2021-06-28 16:59:21 +0000 UTC
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For those of you who didn't see the poll yesterday, next week I will be switching to publishing 2 5k word chapters/week instead of 5 2k word ones.
More polls will be coming soon to figure out which days I'll publish on and how to get RR (and the lower patreon tiers) through the transition.
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Edwin’s entire world was one of swimming pain when he finally came to, as it felt as though his entire body body was on fire. Even still, his mind was foggy and slow, trying...
2021-06-28 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Hey all!
So, while I really wish that I could just write all the words all of the time, the simple fact of the matter is that writing and editing 5 chapters/week is quite time-intensive. It's not even the matter of the words, just the fact that I have essentially no room for error, that I need to be writing every day with almost no breaks in order to get 5 distinct chapters out to you guys.
Accordingly, I do sadly need to step down my schedule. Now, I'll still try t...
2021-06-27 17:04:57 +0000 UTC
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Edwin jogged alongside Inion, who casually floated through the air at approximately eye level. Well, ‘jogged’ was perhaps something of a misnomer. While prior to Joriah he might have classified his pace as just shy of a sprint, these days the effort didn’t even wind him.
“…and, of course, she decided to finally trust fall just then and totally caught me off-guard. I technically caught her, but that was mainly in the ‘my body acted as a shield to make sure s...
2021-06-25 16:00:02 +0000 UTC
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