So the past few chapters were hard to write. Bob was always going to have to deal with his mother, and I feel like I foreshadowed that fairly well, but the actual events were hard to write. I'm taking care of my mother as her memory slips away from her, so clearly I'm not writing from experience. I grew up with both my mother and my father, amazing people who loved both each other, and their children, deeply. It's all part of the healing process for Bob.
<...
2022-03-10 08:32:22 +0000 UTC
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The library was still present, but Bob was disappointed by the discovery that the coffee and scone cart had disappeared. His stomach was roiling, and he'd hoped for some baked goods to soak up the acid. He supposed he ought to have considered that his mother might be present, but after a decade and change, the thought hadn't even occurred to him.
Seeing her had brought many memories to the forefront of his mind, none of them good. He'd worked hard to put his childhood ...
2022-03-03 11:50:31 +0000 UTC
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Bob looked up at the building and sighed. His time at UCLA hadn't really been bad. Fermilab had obviously been another matter, but his time here had just consisted of working, going to class, and studying. The grind, as it were, wasn't anything new to him.
He squared his shoulders and strode into the admissions office, where he was immediately accosted by a man about his own age, with a truly magnificent afro adding a solid three inches to his height. "Y...
2022-03-01 13:16:15 +0000 UTC
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The water was clear, the white sand of the beach unsullied, and Monroe was curled up under the umbrella, having baked himself under the tropical sun for only half an hour before seeking shade.
Bob was alternating between taking short naps, swimming, and applying sunscreen. He was settling into the napping phase now, while Dave and Amanda were splashing around in the water.
He could understand why people flocked here to vacation. It was beautiful and relaxing. Des...
2022-03-01 10:46:03 +0000 UTC
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My apologies for last week. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I slept for twenty or so hours a day for the entire weekend. I followed that performance by falling asleep at work Thursday and Friday nights. I seem to have recovered, mostly. As always, I appreciate your support. On to the story!
Bob was putting in the work. He was on day six of a marathon week, fueled by his experience of watching the sunset over the Gran...
2022-02-21 09:55:23 +0000 UTC
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Bob sat down outside the tavern in Holmstead and checked his messages.
Despite the range on the cell tower being limited, the messaging system had proven wildly popular. People would simply send their messages without the expectation of an immediate response. It was definitely a more relaxed attitude and one that he appreciated.
He had half a dozen messages, one each from Dave and Amanda, asking him to pop by and say hello, similar requests from Eddi, Bailli, and Austa...
2022-02-10 13:33:02 +0000 UTC
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"Bob!" Eddi's voice rang out across the tavern.
Turning, Bob spotted Eddi, Harv, and Elli sitting at a table with a man he didn't recognize. As he approached the table, Eddi hopped out of his seat and pulled another chair from the wall while the rest of the table shuffled a bit to make room.
"Good morning, everyone," Bob smiled at his friends, nodding his thanks to Eddi as he sat down, carefully sliding Monroe off his Makres and depositing him on the floor next to him.
2022-02-09 14:45:41 +0000 UTC
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Again, it must be stressed that Kellan's voice is that of Bruce Campbell. Burn Notice Bruce Campbell though.
"We understand, believe me," Mike and Eric were standing next to each other in a loose circle of ten other men. "It's just a matter of gathering and allocating resources," Mike gestured towards one of the men who was missing an arm. "You can get by with a single arm a lot more easily than someone in a chair," he explained, "I wish I had three...
2022-02-08 16:57:19 +0000 UTC
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It had been a week since Bob had surfaced, and he was feeling the strain. He'd had a nice dinner with Eddi and Wayna, then he'd started putting in the work. Sixteen hours a day, every day. He was accumulating mana crystals at a satisfactory pace, picking up between two hundred and two hundred and twelve crystals per day. That pace put him finished at ten months rather than seventeen. He'd also picked up forty-one Animal Affinity Crystals, which was cause ...
2022-02-01 21:32:23 +0000 UTC
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"Of course, they cured cancer." President Elania Hartford wasn't having a fantastic week. The disappearance of nearly every disabled veteran in the country had made national news, despite her administration's attempts to squash the story. Now a hospice nurse, who was also missing, and a pair of unidentified men had distributed a miracle cure of cancer.
Elania didn't believe in miracles, but she did believe in Thayland, and this had Thayland written all over it...
2022-02-01 17:13:00 +0000 UTC
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Slept last night, again. Still, new chapter has appeared. Have no fear, there will be a complete system update description when it actually happens. I won't expect everyone to remember the little dribs and drabs that I delivered over the course of many chapters.
Bob ignored the sting of sweat in his eyes as he focused on the thin threads of mana. It turned out that separating a single aspect of mana was far easier than stripping mana of ev...
2022-02-01 14:05:34 +0000 UTC
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Ed fought the urge to rub his temples. "Madam President," he began, "this cannot possibly come as a surprise."
It was a bit of a thrill to speak so directly to the President of the United States. "The Old Guard made their position crystal clear. If we weren't going to make disabled veterans a priority, they would take matters into their own hands."
"Ed, they abducted almost two and a half million people," President Hartford replied, frustration evident i...
2022-01-31 14:10:28 +0000 UTC
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Bob was hiding, and he had no problem admitting it.
The weekend had been an absolute shitshow. Eric had wound upbringing almost three million people to Thayland, and the number of people who had needed immediate regeneration had been overwhelming.
If it weren't for a couple of hundred Old Guard spamming Anima Blast, they would have lost people. Once Eric started emptying the hospitals Sunday night, they couldn't cast regenerate fast enough to keep up with the flow of p...
2022-01-26 15:31:59 +0000 UTC
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Jessica blushed fiercely.
"I forgot?" she confessed meekly.
Bob rubbed the bridge of his nose while his other hand sought out Monroe.
"Death and taxes," she could practically hear his teeth grinding. "The two certainties in life. Now I'll grant that the system provides a bit of a reprieve from the first, but the second remains immutable."
"Have you been keeping track at least?" Bob asked.
"I have," Jessica replied as she pulled her tablet out of her bag.
Sh...
2022-01-25 09:32:09 +0000 UTC
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Bob picked up the Summoning Affinity Crystal while his UtahRaptor tore apart yet another pair of monsters. He'd agreed to help the Old Guard with the Dungeons on top of the glacier, but he wasn't willing to completely stall his own progression. The days were long, but he was spending two hours a day in his Arcane Depths.
He spent an hour in the mornings practicing his system-less magic, which was coming along nicely. He was feeling fairly confident that he wou...
2022-01-18 14:44:01 +0000 UTC
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Bob poured Monroe onto the table before slumping down into his chair. He'd expected to have had to have cast a half a dozen or so regeneration rituals, but Eric had brought nearly a hundred men, all of whom were in terrible condition. It wasn't just the wounds from combat, Eric had sought out what Bob recognized immediately as the homeless. Malnutrition, starvation, substance abuse, and a host of other conditions and diseases threatened to end their lives. So he'd cast...
2022-01-13 12:04:35 +0000 UTC
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Thidwell was dangerously close to smiling. Events had proceeded even better than he had hoped. Being a pessimist, the bar wasn't awfully high, but still.
He had bled Harbordeep. Bob's pamphlets combined with his own knowledge and access to his Dungeon, freely offered, had emptied Harbordeep of the people who were the most vulnerable to the predations of the Noble Houses.
Holmstead now played host to over four thousand refugees, a number that was double i...
2022-01-12 10:52:45 +0000 UTC
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Bob leaned back against the wall of the Dungeon. He'd finished building out another floor and was taking a breather before heading back up. He'd seen the effort that the Old Guard had put in back in Glacier Valley, where they'd truly impressed him with their dedication. That had paled in comparison to the work they'd accomplished at what they were calling 'The Redoubt.'
They'd mapped out the area with mana sight and had recreated the map Thidwell had used. The pl...
2022-01-11 11:04:53 +0000 UTC
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Elli was standing against the wall, watching as the elderly instructor gently corrected a young woman's stance.
Carol-Ann and Harv had dropped him off, Harv having extracted a promise not to do anything overtly magical, while they went off to purchase chemistry supplies. Elli understood better than most the issues with obtaining quality glassware, but Harv's enthusiasm was almost unnerving.
As the first class of the morning wrapped up, the instructor approached Elli.
"...
2022-01-04 11:36:29 +0000 UTC
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"Congratulations?" Austan said, his tone hesitant.
Bob let out a long breath and stood up slowly.
He'd been sitting for at least a few hours, judging by how stiff his muscles were.
"Thanks," Bob grunted as he slowly stretched, testing the tension. "How long did that take?"
"Just over three hours," Austan replied, "which is a little odd, as it looked, to my untrained eye, like a simple Control Earth ritual, which should have taken one hundred seconds. Which ...
2022-01-04 08:14:54 +0000 UTC
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The L.A. convention center was packed. Elli hadn't ever seen that many people in one place before, let alone under one roof. There were stands inside the building, each advertising a particular school of martial arts, proudly proclaiming their skills.
That wasn't too surprising, but what did come as a shock was watching children sparring, mostly bare-fisted or with protective gloves. He was the only person he'd ever met whose parents started his path so young, but her...
2021-12-30 03:17:42 +0000 UTC
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Elizabeth dashed forward, bringing her sword down in a slash from her right shoulder, the blade shearing through the spine of the monstrous beast in front of her. It appeared that the monsters on the tenth floor of this Dungeon were a twisted amalgamation of a cobra and some sort of weasel.
It spat venom at her as it died, but she turned slightly to avoid it, only a few drops striking her and those running down and off her armor. She stomped on its neck and wrenched her swor...
2021-12-28 10:52:41 +0000 UTC
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Ed looked at the report in front of him with a frown.
The Old Guard had managed to level up without incurring any losses, but the active-duty service personnel were experiencing casualties. It would be easy to attribute the losses to the lack of Affinity Crystals, which was an issue, but it would also be dishonest. They weren't delving any further than one level over. From what he was reading, they were leveling up before capping their skills.
He pinched the brid...
2021-12-28 07:41:12 +0000 UTC
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I bet you've all been wondering what Harv and Elli have been up to.
Harv looked at the carriage in awe as Jack pulled the cover off of it, storing it in the rear.
He'd seen some of the mechanical vehicles they had at Glacier Valley when he'd visited, but this was something else.
Dark blue metal reflected the sunlight, the color somehow seeming to have depth to it. Brightly polished silver accents flowed along the curves and edges.
"Be...
2021-12-23 05:06:23 +0000 UTC
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Bob walked into the Adventurers Guild in Glacier Valley with a smile on his face. He'd wound up playing a barbarian in a pickup D&D game, and he'd had a great time. Everyone seemed to be predisposed to legitimately like him, and even after a few hours of exposure to actual Bob, rather than just the Legend of Bob, they seemed to like him more.
It was equal parts surprising and refreshing.
"Bob!" Mike called from across the room, waving him over. &n...
2021-12-22 12:10:21 +0000 UTC
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Bob had his eyes closed as he focused on the feeling of the mana rushing through his matrix before it ignited just outside. He was controlling the flows as well as delaying the ignition until the pattern was complete.
He ignored the sweat rolling down his face as he concentrated. Finally, he felt that the pattern was complete, and he released the mana he'd been suppressing, which filled the pattern, flashing into ignition.
Bob sat down with a heavy thud, taking in long, gasping br...
2021-12-22 08:50:07 +0000 UTC
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Bob wound his way through the crowd of excited, and in many cases, drunken Australians. He found Dave, Amanda, and Jessica sitting in folding chairs beside the Dungeon entrance. Bumping up against Dave's leg, he was looking the man in the eye when suddenly Jessica pulled him into her lap. "God, he's so cute!" She exclaimed as Bob struggled.
Bob dropped a portal underneath all three of them, falling into his inventory, and as they said yes, the others fell through it as...
2021-12-21 13:10:24 +0000 UTC
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As the last of the Mana Crystals disappeared, Bob unclenched his jaw and staggered to his feet, wincing as his joints protested the hours of inactivity.
A wave of sound crashed over him, and he opened his eyes, then froze. There were a thousand or more Australians surrounding the stone slab that now capped their Dungeon, and they were shouting loudly, the conflicting voices unintelligible.
He dropped a portal under his feet and fell through it.
~------------~
2021-12-21 05:28:34 +0000 UTC
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Mike swallowed a sigh while also trying his best to keep a grimace off his face.
"Mike!" Annisa smiled as she hurried across the tavern to claim the seat next to him.
Not for the first time, Mike had the thought that normal people who wanted to talk to you would sit across from you.
"Good evening, Annisa," Mike acknowledged the priestess, closing his eyes as he once again lost the battle to avoid staring into the azure pools of her eyes.
She was running on wha...
2021-12-20 17:11:42 +0000 UTC
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"Dave, Amanda, Carrie," Bob greeted the group cheerfully.
He was having breakfast with them before taking a portal over to where the Aussies wanted him to help them build a Dungeon.
"Good morning, Bob," Dave smiled.
"I haven't seen you two in a while, how are you doing?" Bob asked.
"Heading to Harbordeep in a couple of days to farm up some Affinity Crystals," Amanda replied, "we're not sure where we'll end up, but it won't be in Glacier Valley."
Bob nodded. While...
2021-12-16 00:17:35 +0000 UTC
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