Harv was bored.
Elli, Wayna, Eddi, Bailli, and Erick had all gone shopping once he'd been told that he wasn't going to be deported after all. Everyone was eager to resupply one favorite or another that they'd run short of during the trip.
One of the things that Harv had been fascinated by on Earth was the internet. Everyone used it, but it seemed that few people really appreciated how miraculous it was.
He'd never expected that, even with access to the internet, ...
2023-10-04 03:38:21 +0000 UTC
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Carol-Ann straightened her shoulders and ran her fingers across her hair one last time. She'd told herself that it was normal to be nervous. It wasn't every day that you met the President of the United States, at least not if you were a simple nurse from Los Angeles.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She might have been a nurse from Los Angeles, but her work with Harveste Eilodon on a pill to cure cancer had started her down a strange road that ren...
2023-10-02 22:24:34 +0000 UTC
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Bob rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a headache coming on.
"That's a good thing, right?" He asked.
"The people that live there sure seem to be happy about it," Alex replied with a shrug and a grin. "It's crazy how plants adapt to active mana, using it for both nutrients and water. Las Vegas is a freaking oasis now! And the effects are spreading out pretty steadily, which is both awesome and a little bit terrifying, you know? Like, you think peo...
2023-09-28 00:30:54 +0000 UTC
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"Bob!" Alex exclaimed cheerfully as he rushed forward to embrace Bob in a hug.
"Alex," Bob replied awkwardly, patting the man on the back for a moment before he pulled out of the hug.
"It's great to see you!" Alex began, "Also, wow, you're looking snazzy! You didn't get those clothes from the dinosaur people, did you? I mean, they didn't look that dexterous in the photos you sent me, but there might be other types, right? Can't judge a book by its cover and...
2023-09-27 01:48:10 +0000 UTC
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I'm still not happy with this, but great is the enemy of good. In this case, I sort of feel like good is the enemy of just ok, but it's important that I write something.
I'm telling myself the usual lie that I can always edit it later.
Bob appeared over the parking lot that lay adjacent to a complex of nondescript office buildings. He had cast his flight spell as a persistent effect before opening the portal rather than equipping ...
2023-09-25 22:13:11 +0000 UTC
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As some of you may be aware, I am taking care of my elderly mother as she slides slowly into Alzheimers.
I am not a natural caregiver, and this takes a lot out of me.
I took a short vacation to see my loved ones in Florida, which involved driving for two days to get down there, and two days to get back. The five days I spent in Florida were amazing, full of friends and fun. I was able to write six chapters while I was there.
Sadly, when I came back to Michigan an...
2023-09-18 23:53:29 +0000 UTC
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Bob held Jessica close as he followed the steps they'd been shown, one of his hands holding hers while the other pressed against her lower back.
A lower back that was bare, thanks to the dress she'd chosen for the evening.
Her skin was almost impossibly smooth and beyond soft.
"Dip and hold!" The instructor's voice called out.
They ended their choreographed dance with Jessica leaning back, one arm held up, clasping his hand, while he supported her balance with the othe...
2023-08-25 17:47:04 +0000 UTC
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"So, do you want the crystals?" Bob asked impatiently. "Because I'm actually kind of hungry at this point. We were planning on being out of here more than an hour ago, and I haven't eaten since this morning. More importantly, neither has Monroe."
Vasquez blinked. "You're still going to give them to me?" She asked.
"Sure," Bob shrugged. "You need help, I can help. What more is there? It's not like you kicked Monroe or something." &nbs...
2023-08-23 15:49:28 +0000 UTC
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Amanda Vasquez stared at the bags, which according to Whitman, held enough mana crystals to let her start over.
When she'd taken the skills Investigation, Persuasion, and Glibness, she'd expected that they would make her a better journalist. To be fair, they did. Investigation had enhanced her 'nose for trouble,' as her mother had called it, allowing her to make deductive leaps more easily. Persuasion and Glibness helped her find the right wo...
2023-08-22 16:41:02 +0000 UTC
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"Good evening, Bob," Elania said, waving Taylor into the room. "I'm afraid it's going to take some time to sort out Mr. Eilodon's legal status, but for the moment, everything is on hold, so he doesn't need to leave. I've spoken to Special Agent Johnson, and he is aware."
"Thank you," Bob replied.
"Your actions at the hotel have already been noticed," Elania continued. "Someone was filming the press of people from outside the hotel, and they captured the whole thi...
2023-08-21 21:23:34 +0000 UTC
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Bob fumed as he punched in the number the President had given him.
He hadn't made a fuss when Harv had been kicked out of the country initially. It wasn't a big deal, because Harv had other things to do back on Thayland anyway.
That wasn't to say he'd been happy about it or had agreed with the decision.
He knew Harv, and the video clearly showed that he'd been pushed to act. Harv was a necromancer. He used necromancy to fight, so the result, while ...
2023-08-21 18:38:14 +0000 UTC
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Bob looked in the mirror and blinked. He recognized himself, but the suit he was wearing somehow brought his appearance together in a way that he'd never experienced before.
The suit was a dark charcoal gray, clinging closely to his broad shoulders and tapering down to his waist. The suit he'd worn to Fermilab had hung off his frame, boxy, with a tendency to bunch.
The shirt underneath was the palest shade of blue, with ever so slightly darker blue pinstripes, while th...
2023-08-21 14:25:05 +0000 UTC
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Bob flopped down on the huge bed in the rather nice hotel room.
Whoever had designed the room had clearly decided to err on the side of caution on the off chance that their clientele would top fifteen feet in height. That left the room feeling every so slightly oversized, which was a pleasant change from crouching in Dave and Amanda's house.
His armband vibrated, and he tapped it, seeing a message from Dave.
'So, I know you don't have much in the line of clothing, espe...
2023-08-16 01:31:30 +0000 UTC
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"On a personal note, welcome back, Mr. Whitman," The man across the desk, whose name tag read 'Jason Brown' gave him a smile. "My son adores Monroe," he shook his head ruefully. "We've agreed that once he turns five, we'll go to the rescue and find him a feline overlord."
"I started cooking for myself at about five, so I'm sure he'll be able to handle the food, water, and litter box duties," Bob agreed.
"It's the litter box that had us concerned," Jason ...
2023-08-14 19:43:00 +0000 UTC
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"Strewth, that's quite the pat on the back, yeah?" Jessica breathed. "Makes a Sheila wonder what the reward we gave up was."
Bob nodded slowly. He could see the excitement on his friends' faces, but he felt something else.
Fear.
He could remember the King of Greenwold, or the Emperor of Thayland now, telling him that his saviour achievement was very nice.
The same way a parent might tell a child that the painting they brought home from kindergarten was very...
2023-08-12 20:19:31 +0000 UTC
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"Bob, I think I speak for all of us when I say that I love you, but next time, we're just going to blitz through at tier eight," Amanda said as she leaned back into her chair.
Bob looked around the table and found everyone nodding in agreement.
"This may have been a bit much," he conceded as he rubbed Monroe's ears.
"One more," Jessica sighed. "I can't even express how much I want an ice cream."
"Chocolate," Amanda agreed dreamily.
"A-1 sauce," Mik...
2023-08-10 00:55:01 +0000 UTC
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Dungeon 4578G8249N98ISS2PM47D.
Capacity 100%
User tier eight, evolved, level forty-two. User grouped with eleven other sapient beings, tier eight, level forty-two.
Dungeon level has been set to tier ten, level fifty-two.
Bob blinked as he floated to the side to allow the rest of the team to enter the Dungeon.
New Quest!
Yvansk has been overrun by monsters! The Urlin...
2023-08-09 00:09:46 +0000 UTC
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Bob looked at the row of bodies uneasily.
"This was a lot easier when they were in nice little boxes," he muttered.
"Stasis is stasis," Amanda shrugged as she finished loading a row of bodies into her inventory.
Wincing, Bob began working his way down the longest row, storing each one in his inventory, all under the watchful eyes of a couple of thousand Urlinad who had gathered to witness the event.
Tyolad had given a stirring speech, promising to return after all the ...
2023-08-08 00:20:12 +0000 UTC
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"I woke up quick, at about noon, just thought that I had to kill some monsters soon," Bob sang as he scrubbed himself with his loofa. "Gonna grind some skills before the day begins, gotta get those crystals, it never ends!"
His rendition was interrupted as a massive paw batted at the shower curtain.
He peeked around the curtain, blinking the water out of his eyes. "Good morning, buddy," Bob said cheerfully. "I bet kitty is hungry, huh?"
Monroe gent...
2023-08-03 00:31:59 +0000 UTC
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"I could be reading too much into this, but it seems like they aren't going to be automatically put back into stasis when we leave," Amanda mused. "Otherwise, why would they have the ability to go into stasis on their own?"
"Also, why would they have a whole set of abilities that would let them feed themselves, but only if all of them were awake," Dave agreed.
Bob nodded.
'Trebor,' Bob mentally projected, 'I don't suppose there is any chance you can confirm this?'
<...
2023-08-02 00:12:07 +0000 UTC
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Bob watched as Jessica knelt, her blue eyes taking on a silver sheen as she began to weave the pattern of the ritual.
It was beautiful.
She directed the flows of mana like a conductor guiding their orchestra, painting the sky with sure motions. It was art.
The difference between his ritual and hers was plain. He could cast the ritual, but it was a plain, simple working with no grace to it.
She had a gift, a natural aptitude for working with Mana that was be...
2023-07-31 17:17:46 +0000 UTC
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"Food is becoming an issue," Tyolad said bluntly.
Bob blinked. "Everyone has gardens behind their homes, don't they?" He asked.
"They do. However, we were expecting our harvest shortly before the integration. We're running dangerously low on grains, which we would have expected to have replenished," Tyolad explained.
"Well, we can turn mana crystals into food easily enough," Bob shrugged. "None of us are specialized in plant magic, so it'll be amateur...
2023-07-26 07:29:59 +0000 UTC
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Bob looked at the six Urlinad in front of him. They were standing just a bit more closely together and a little further from him than they had the day before.
"I would like to apologize," he began. "I've done my best to impart the harsh realities of being an adventurer to quite a few people, but in your case, I did not take into consideration that you are different from my own people. What works for us might not work for you, as we each have our own strengths and weakn...
2023-07-26 00:27:00 +0000 UTC
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"I think we have a problem," Bailli said, her voice grim.
They had gathered in Bob's inventory for a bit of privacy, as well as a chance to enjoy a hot shower before they finished gutting the space.
"What happened?" Bob asked, frowning. Bailli was normally a relatively happy person, especially if she had the chance to electrocute something on a regular basis.
"This," Bailli gestured.
Revered.
Multiple users have revered you. You hav...
2023-07-20 07:07:29 +0000 UTC
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I don't know what happened here, I posted this over twelve hours ago, but when I checked for comments, it wasn't here.
Bob looked at his group of freshers and held back a sigh.
The Urlinad weren't exactly master smiths, and the armor and weapons the six priests had borrowed from the guard told that tale. Still, it was better than nothing, which was what they'd shown up with earlier.
"Alright, this first delve is going to be an opportunity for you t...
2023-07-20 01:48:38 +0000 UTC
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It reminded Jessica of when she'd first seen Bob cast ritual magic. Real ritual magic, that was. He'd created a Dungeon for the Australian refugees, the process being worlds apart from the simple portal rituals or even the regeneration rituals.
He was sitting cross-legged on the flagstones of the temple square, sweat beading up on his forehead as he wove cable thick strands of mana together, forging order from the chaotic energy. He'd long since passed the poi...
2023-07-18 02:47:53 +0000 UTC
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I feel like I finally broke through here. I finished the forty-seven item list of things my twin left for me to do, and I found a way out of the hole I dug for myself with the Urlinad. My decision to make them a larger part of the Arc than I'd originally planned sort of bit me in the ass.
His human-servant needed to rest.
Monroe had not been well pleased when his servant went out to fight the monsters without him, but he'd felt the auras coming from...
2023-07-18 00:01:12 +0000 UTC
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The nice thing about fighting tier ten monsters was the difficulty.
They were pulling two thousand and forty-six experience for each monster, and while it was divided amongst the group, it was still delivering real progress on advancing their spells, which was great.
But the real value came from the challenge.
Bob had been brute forcing his way through combat ever since he'd arrived on Thayland. He'd focused on making a bigger, badder Jake, and when that had s...
2023-07-13 00:42:49 +0000 UTC
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Amanda watched as Bob rubbed the bridge of his nose.
She'd been friends with him long enough to know that he'd probably just discovered some piece of information that he was going to berate himself for not already having known.
"Bob's got that look," she said as she nudged Dave.
"Think he's figured out that there's no way we can burn down the capacity of the Dungeons?" Dave asked.
"Maybe," Amanda mused as she snuggled into him.
They were sitting on a backless ben...
2023-07-12 00:15:42 +0000 UTC
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"Well, that sucked," Jack complained as Bob helped pull him to his feet.
"Be glad it wasn't about eight inches higher," Mike advised, giving a meaningful nod to the pair of severed legs still on the ground.
Jack nodded. "I'd rather not go through that ever again."
In their haste, the team had picked up an additional pack of monsters. Wayna and Eli had moved to the rear of the group to engage them, and things had been alright until a third pack had come in from th...
2023-07-10 21:57:01 +0000 UTC
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