Seras Streams

Book 3 - Blurb Vote!

It is finally time. After a few weeks of sitting on the various ideas, ruminating and mixing them with my own, and re-reading comments on both Royal Road and Patreon...I've come up with four directions to take Book 3 of Ruinous Return.

I intend to have this poll run through December 15th so that Royal Road readers can also have their input. Once the poll closes, I will start work on the last entry in the main 'bulk' of the series - Lyn's story.

Do not expect that anytime ...

B2 - Chapter 12 – Regrouping and revelation

Quinn’s new eyes were coming in quite handy, as they could interface with the biotech computer and integrated flawlessly with brain. The result was ocular processing beyond anything she’d experienced previously with her old Cybermind and Cybereyes combination. These Nebula Alliance guys have some really good stuff, she thought. But I would prefer full cybernetics.

She had always heard from her parents that the megacorps had entire divisions of researc...

Chapter 5: Failing and setting goals

But Tristan grew tired. The spiral only filled halfway before he collapsed, exhausted, panting from the exertion as if he had been working out in full plate armor for five laps around the training yard. The spiral instantly vanished.

“Ah, unfortunate, but not unexpected. Your mana is not plentiful enough,” The Matriarch stated. “It just means you must return for your birthright at a later time.”

“Haha!” Felicity laughed as she flew around Tristan’s head, and this ear...

Chapter 4: Winter blooms in blood

The Matriarch bowed her head, as did every single fairy dragon. “You do not know this,” she said solemnly, “But the Winterbloom are the Elvish ladies and lords of old who created our species from magic and the essence of this Realm itself. The strongest of the four bloodlines…technically, this place is yours. You might be a distant, far-off relative of the bloodline…but we are your servants.”

Tristan felt his heart skip a few beats and his breath caught in his lungs. “What...

Chapter 3: Changes wrought by mana

A few hours passed in relative silence. Tristan felt his stomach rumbling, and when he mentioned it, Felicity pointed out a series of what looked like berry bushes. Always cautious, Tristan fed one to her, gathered more, and waited thirty minutes. When no negative effects were evident, he tried one himself.

And it was delicious. The tastiest food he had ever experienced. The sweetest type of strawberry mixed with the tartness of a raspberry. But it was meaty, like an apple. It ...

Chapter 2: Entering the Fey Realm

The world returned around Tristan. But it was not his world. The cornfield was gone. He wasn’t in a small clearing. And the sky was not blue. It was a shifting display of multiple hues. Purple, green, the familiar blue, a deeper blue - and it changed colors in various places. “The Fey Realm, numb-nuts. Do you not even know where we come from? And you call yourself a dragonslayer.”

Tristan looked down at the creature in his hands, “Take u...

Chapter 1: Chasing a Fairy Dragon

Blurb:

Tristan is the youngest child of a minor noble family renowned for one thing in the kingdom - slaying dragons. When you get a set of dragon killing gear, you get assigned to kill a dragon. And when you’re the youngest and least experienced, you get sent on the least respectable hunts.

In this case, it was chasing a gods-damned fairy dragon. The weakest of the bunch, but also the most cunning. He had almost gotten the blasted thing a few times, but it always ...

B2 - Chapter 11 – Flame and the convoy

Jace sprinted at his top speed to the center of the still-standing region of Campinas. He felt the heat surging in his torso, up his neck – but it stopped there. His thoughts were clear, and his mind was made up. He would finish the job here, then move up to Rio de Janeiro and regroup with his allies. And, he had a plan to quickly wrap up in this city.

Ollie tapped the top of his head, “We’re here,” he said softly.

Jace came to a stop and nodded. “One more Archmage spell...

B2 - Chapter 10 – The Nebula Alliance takes notice

Deckard walked down the halls of the Nebula Alliance headquarters. Not in The Cosmic City, but instead on his home world of Teresii. An abnormal location to have a faction headquarters, as it was harder to access, but far more secure for his interests. He walked into the situation room and sat at his desk. The various Signers and Ascendants sworn to his faction sat a little straighter in their desks, all arranged in a perfect hexagon around a central holographic display.

The world shown...

B2 - Chapter 9 – A war on two fronts

“You mean like what the Black Hole Conclave has at the center of the universe?” Priam asked.

Idiot, Quinn thought as she shook her head. “No. It’s a term for when Artificial Intelligence like our Wayfinders get smarter than its creator’s intelligence and can improve itself faster than we could improve either it or ourselves.”

Priam nodded, “Oh, they want to make a god-puppet. Those are really hard to control. Normally the...

B2 - Chapter 8 – Upgrades and the heart of a god

Quinn felt relaxed as the world returned around her. She took in a deep breath followed by a hacking cough as she tried to sit up, but the straps holding her in place were still present.

The masked figure from before loomed over her, “You did great. I’m going to inject a stimulant to help you get your faculties back, and then I’ll let you out of the restraints.”

She felt the prick of a needle again, and then the straps were removed. Priam ran over as she sat up, and he put...

B2 - Chapter 7 – Rage vs. Regret

Jace heard the helos overhead and glanced down at his Dark Matter symbol that glowed through his armor. Damnit, they must’ve seen me on a camera, he thought. “Ollie, we’ve got a problem.” Jace ducked into an alleyway and began sprinting at top speed along the back of the buildings.

Ollie flew out from Jace’s armored clothes and began scanning the skies above. “Oh no…”

Jace kept sprinting, “What?”

“I do not have access to their communication net...

B2 - Chapter 6 – Sabotage Spree

The warning claxons went off as the whole facility grinded to a halt. Workers began shouting and in the overlapping tumult of voices, Jace drew his new sword which he had not had the opportunity to use yet and was eager to try out. Descending to the factory floor and dodging the workers who were trying to fix the problem, he pulled back and unleashed a chopping cut at one of the belts that fed machine component parts into the next device.

The ease with which the blade went...

B2 - Chapter 5 – Setting up a base and choosing targets

The rest of the drive was quite tense. Jace made sure to stay in the back and he along with Priam stayed under a few towels that were in Quinn’s go-bags from her hideout. The reasoning was sound – Priam was not from Earth and would stand out immediately, even if he tucked his ears under his wide-brim hat. Being a rabbit-person was just too hard to hide.

But Jace? Well, after that first encounter, Greg made a very solid point. “If you’re going to be doing all the covert ...

B2 - Chapter 4 – Life is a broken highway

Jace saw the vehicles coming closer – speeding up far faster than the APC could. He ducked his head inside as he heard the whiz and ping of bullets flying past and into the armored hull, respectively. “Greg? Any ideas?”

Greg nodded and pointed to the roof, “There’s a port I can pop out of.” He picked up the rifle, slammed in a magazine, and racked the slide. “I can handle it.”

“Or,” Priam said, “We can avoid violence. Jace, use you...

B2 - Chapter 3 – A new ride and the long road

The four Aspirants exited the portal, and Jace had to cover his ears. The enormous vroom of engines being revved in place was deafening, and the continuous pop-pop of exhaust. Gusts of grey-black exhaust were billowing up into the grey skies above, and the moon far up in the night sky was barely a hazy disc.

“This is El Mencho’s territory,” Greg shouted over the din as he led the group out of the enormous parking lot. The entire area was filled with sou...

B2 - Chapter 2 – Quinn’s Safehouse

Quinn ushered the group through the door and then sealed it back up. They were in what appeared to be some ancient maintenance facility – possibly for the sewer and reclamation System, or maybe an ancient internet node before it was replaced by the Webnet. Jace saw pipes and wires in neat rows all along the roof and walls. The floor was a solid concrete, and despite the signs of age he saw, the place was clean and tidy.

Off to one side, in what might have once been a locker or break r...

B2 - Chapter 1 – Gearing up and getting to Earth

The replica of the Starlit Sea that was Jace’s bedroom was a welcome sight to wake up to. The deep, black space with sparkling glimmers of prismatic light, interrupted only by slowly streaking comets was the most awe-inspiring sight he could hope to see.

The deep inhale of Shhiv-zal, his girlfriend – a shark-person species called the Churkun from the world called Churkun Delta – signaled to him that she was just rousing awake as well. As she opened her eyes and the black slits foc...

Chapter 76 – Planning the next move

Jace sat down at the table in his apartment. Shhiv was seated next to him, and the rest of his friends and allies – minus Quinn, who was there but he did not consider a friend or ally – were just finishing their meal. “Alright. Shhiv, Missy…I’m pretty sure that you shouldn’t hear what we are going to be talking about.”

The door opened right before Shhiv could reply, and Xera – aka Sera, as Jace reminded himself to call her – walked in. “Yes, this is app...

Chapter 75 – Downtime is important, too

There is implied sexual activity towards the middle of the chapter. This is your heads up if that’s not your cup of tea!

This chapter can be skipped without losing much in terms of plot. Please click the Spoiler below for insight as to what plot-wise happens here.

Here is a simple run-down of what happens:

• Jace goes on date with Shhiv at the restaurant and then gets some non-adventuring clothes.

• Jace gives Shhiv the Gu...

  2024-11-05 00:53:48 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 74 – Business, boons, and boosting levels

Jace walked over to the elevator and entered. Several buttons greeted him.

·         Jace + Shhiv

·         Priam + Quinn

·         Greg + Missy

·         Recreation

·         Undesignated

·         Undesignated

Chapter 73 – Swordmage <Wrathblade>

Jace dove for Priam and knocked the smaller rabbit-man off to side. But the beam of grey, sickly-green light shot off to the side and impacted the Pulsar Priest’s golden, glimmering barrier. It cracked almost instantly. The beam hit the bunny-boy, slamming into his arm. He screamed in pain and Jace rushed over.

The arm began to wither and decay from the wrist. “It is going to spread until it consumes him!” Ollie shouted.

Jace grimaced and brought his sword to bear. Priam was...

Chapter 72 – Confronting the Archmage

Yholl was sweating buckets. The capital was the only place he could be safe, as the rest of the world was undergoing its terraforming process after having all the dungeon cores drained away. It would be another 10 years before he could leave the city’s safety behind.

He knew he could hide out in the city – turn it into a game of cat and mouse. But without a Wayfinder, which he had dismissed upon Ascension, he could not access The Cosmic System without a Skill.

On...

Chapter 71 – The Dungeon Run concludes

In front of the two were hundreds of Aspirants. They were all in various states of ‘ready to guard’ or ‘on watch’. Eyes were piercing the environment, and Jace could see over a thousand distinct sparkles of Skills that were active thanks to his All-Seeing Dragon’s Eyes.

They were also in a state of preparation. Shouts and commands went out – which were promptly ignored, as the Aspirants were all of equal Tier and only a few actually coordinated. We could us...