Hey everybody, Magnus here.
The big moment has finally arrived. My debut novel, Skill Eater, has made it to amazon in digital, book, and audiobook form. I have a huge favor to ask today as I celebrate this major milestone in ...
2025-09-09 12:52:38 +0000 UTC View PostSakura fired arrow after arrow as the war for Puppet Town entered a deadly new stage.
The Claws cheered as they came pouring through the molten ruin where the makeshift barricade had stood only moments before. Yussuf was yelling at them to wait for Blaze and Tiburón, but the savage band of murderers couldn’t resist the temptation of entering the settlement for the pillaging and slaughter they’d been promised.
Some of them fanned out to harass the support squads and assist the...
2025-09-09 12:50:30 +0000 UTC View PostAccompanied by an electric rush of anticipation, Nick activated Force Acceleration and took off in a flash, leaving a billowing plume of dust in his wake.
Now then, where do I want to begin? He decided to try out his idea for a windshield first, since the turbulence generated by his streaking sprint was uncomfortable and made it hard to run in a straight line.
Fortunately, by this point in his journey, he could handle casting multiple spells at the same time. While part o...
2025-09-08 17:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostAs the Crimson Claws forced their way through the trap field and approached the wall, Sakura watched a team of engineers climb a staircase and crawl across the ramparts.
Puppet Town had one final surprise for the invaders and needed to use it before they noticed what was hidden in the shadows beneath the northwestern watchtower. Earl had been hoping to kill one of the strike leaders with it, but that wasn’t what fate had in store.
Yussuf, Blaze, and Tiburón were watching the op...
2025-09-08 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostAfter speaking with Ella, Nick left the budding city of Aurora and walked into the badlands.
Once he was a few miles out, he found a flat rock that stood in the shadow of a larger stone, took off his pack, then sat down and made himself comfortable. He planned to work out a little later in the day, but he wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon on mana-manipulation exercises in the hope of advancing another ability.
Before he lost himself in magical experimentation, there was on...
2025-09-05 17:00:29 +0000 UTC View PostSakura watched from the ramparts as the sun began to set, painting the canvas of the Ivory Plains in a thousand radiant shades of vermillion and gold.
It was a breathtaking sight—a gorgeous display that would normally have filled her with awe and the satisfaction of having survived another day. Instead, the vivid crimson swaths spreading across the grass seemed to herald the blood that would soak the soil before the hour was through.
The reason for her rumination was simple. Yus...
2025-09-05 17:00:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe expedition cheered when they crossed through the borderlands and the Ivory Plains came into view.
Running his eyes across the blend of white and yellow stalks that gave the grasslands their name filled Edge with a wave of nostalgia, though the region had changed considerably during his absence.
The days were shorter, and the air was cooler now that summer had transitioned into fall. The yellow grass had darkened considerably, while the white would remain pristine throughout th...
2025-09-04 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNick activated Arctic Clarity, enhancing his concentration and sharpening his newly-evolved senses to a razor’s edge.
He kicked his tactical brain into high gear, forming and discarding a dozen plans in half as many heartbeats. At the same time, he dialed up his recently-boosted Charisma along with every point of Creativity and Mind he had, bringing every aspect of his upgraded self into perfect alignment to perform their most important task since returning to Earth—figuring out who...
2025-09-03 17:00:26 +0000 UTC View PostThe Sheriff of Puppet Town wasn’t about to let the settlement fall on his watch.
If Earl had to battle an army of jailbirds single-handed to keep his people safe, then that was exactly what he would do.
Still running at top speed, he gathered his strength and Leapt, clearing the wall in a single bound. His back was bent as he sailed through the air—oversized obsidian hammer poised to strike as he descended toward a group of Claws like a meteor plummeting from the heavens.
<... 2025-09-03 17:00:22 +0000 UTC View PostEdge cradled Rue in his arms, watching the sunrise as the wagons rolled their way across the jungle.
The gorgeous display formed a sharp contrast to the grim expressions on his friends’ faces—thoughts filled with the battle to come. The golden fox sensed something was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out why everyone was so tense. Rue contemplated the matter before moving on to more important issues, licking Edge’s neck while demanding breakfast.
“Okay, boy.” He pulled a ...
2025-09-02 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostWraith Dashed toward Sakura with her saber poised to strike.
She spun out of the way at the last possible moment, catching a glimpse of something coating the blade when it reflected the moonlight. She’s using poison too, or something just as dangerous.
Sakura wasn’t a warrior, but she had put in long hours training with her short sword. On Ord, any creature that couldn’t defend itself in a pinch was destined to die young. Wraith was a superior swordswoman and had fa...
2025-09-01 17:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostNick walked beside Kenji and Liz, continuing their discussion while heading toward the area they had chosen—followed by a crowd of curious people who wanted to watch Aurora’s first buildings appear.
Along the way, Kenji turned to him and said, “We need to earn as many City Points as possible, now that the quest is in full swing. I’ll put my head together with some of the party leaders a little later in the day and see what we can come up with.”
“I’ll start hammering ...
2025-09-01 17:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Nick opened his eyes, morning sunlight was shining down from a cloudless azure sky.
As he rose to his feet and stretched out his neck, he saw that he wasn’t the only one who had passed out mid-celebration. The benches were lined with sleeping figures, and more were sprawled out under the tables and around the smoldering remnants of the bonfire. Only half of Team Earth had made it back to their tents, and even fewer were up and about.
Nick helped himself to some of the food ...
2025-08-29 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostSakura Darted across the secret road of Puppet Town, in pursuit of her prey. As she flitted from one rooftop to the next, she made sure her
Sakura Darted across the secret road of Puppet Town, in pursuit of her prey.
As she flitted from one rooftop to the next, she made sure her mask was in place and her gear was ready to go. She had been hoping to avoid a direct confrontation with the jailbirds who had infiltrated the settlement, but there was a good chance that was exactly what ...
2025-08-29 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostOne-Eye crawled to the top of a rocky hillock, scanning the terrain before making his final approach to the Gilded Heights.
The haphazard settlement rose from the biome’s black sand like a festering wound. The unpaved streets were filled with rotting refuse, which the Claws’ conscripts usually dumped a few miles out so the waste wouldn’t attract scavengers or worse.
By now, he was certain something unprecedented had occurred. There were only a few people in sight, and the fr...
2025-08-28 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAs the shadows grew long with the end of day, Edge crossed into a sub-biome filled with towering bushes with mint-green leaves.
He was a few miles from the glade where the caravan had stopped for the night, hunting to supply the expedition with fresh meat. He had already killed a twenty-foot serpent and fed its skills to Warlord’s Mantle, bringing the Rare aura tantalizingly close to advancing to rank two.
Every now and again, he used Foebinder to climb into the branches of a tr...
2025-08-27 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostAfter dinner was served and everyone had eaten their fill, the real celebration began.
An impromptu band joined the violinist in front of the bonfire. It was composed of crude drums supplemented by a surprising number of actual instruments—both Old Earth favorites and alien varieties that people had acquired during their adventures.
One of the earth shapers used her magic to create a stone dance floor, and it was packed within seconds of smoothing the final section. Eve...
2025-08-27 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Edge opened his eyes, he was thrilled to discover the System had sent him back to the expedition after all.
He squinted at the bright sunlight shining in through the flap of the wagon’s canopy, then looked down at the little golden fox cradled in his arms. Rue was fast asleep now that he was warm and safe and his belly was full. Poor little guy must have been exhausted. What a terrible ordeal.
For the next few minutes, Edge just sat there, running his fingers throu...
2025-08-26 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostA few seconds after his Guide winked out of existence, Edge’s skin began to prickle.
He could sense the System’s magic congealing around his body—refined mana that felt subtly different from the energy produced by cores—then the spell took shape, and he vanished in a flash.
He experienced the strange sensation of being pulled across the space between spaces, gliding along an axis of reality that lay beyond the three-dimensional world. A few seconds later, a doorway opened ...
2025-08-25 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostNick delved deeper into his city menus and began browsing the lists, speed-reading his way through thousands of choices for how he could spend his Building Points and vouchers.
He wasn’t a civil engineer and wanted to discuss his options with his team before he built anything substantial. However, there were a few items he wanted to purchase right away.
It took him a while to find the first, although he’d had a hunch it would be in here somewhere. It wasn’t available for a v...
2025-08-25 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostA few minutes after he stopped playing around with Shadow Play, Edge felt a familiar tingling behind his ribs, originating from inside his core.
It meant his Rare skills were getting ready to hatch. The wind power he’d stolen from the goat monster would finish digesting first, and the Companion skill he’d Extracted from Roth would follow suit about half an hour later.
When he stepped inside his central chamber, his avatars were already gathered around the eggs, which looked pl...
2025-08-22 17:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostBlightbane erupted from Nick’s scabbard like a volcano blowing its top, shining so bright it left a searing silver bar in his vision.
The mana-infused blade hit the dense wall of tissue and kept right on going. It cut through a layer of bone and parted a powerful magical shield before biting into a second sheet of flesh below, severing them all as a sonic boom reverberated throughout the wurm’s body.
Sticky fluid came gushing out, revealing a cavity where a massive pink organ ...
2025-08-22 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostEdge was planning to keep both of the Rares that were almost finished digesting. However, if he wanted to make that happen, he needed to free up another skill slot first. Fortunately, he had a way to solve that problem if he was willing to merge three of his powers into a single skill.
He’d been pondering the matter ever since finding the Triple-Merger Token and had eventually come up with an idea that seemed promising. This solution was far more appealing than Absorbing some...
2025-08-21 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostEdge swung his way across the Sweltering Green—thrilled that he no longer had to worry about keeping his chain a secret.
Thanks to Foebinder’s assistance, he crossed the dense overgrowth within a matter of minutes. He lowered himself to the ground and stepped into the clearing where the expedition had stopped to rest during the hottest part of the day.
When he walked over to the cooking station, he said hello to Violet, then reached inside his vault and pulled out a double arm...
2025-08-20 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostWith Sophia’s dramatic arrival, the ponderous pendulum of war had swung back in Team Earth’s favor. Even with the elite slugs spewing streams of acid, Nick was confident his party could overwhelm the Capital Boss in a direct exchange of blows.
However, the Armada Wurm had one last card to play, and it was a doozy.
With its life in imminent jeopardy, the behemoth beast was desperate to escape, even if it had to sacrifice its army to secure its retreat.
It spread its jaws ...
2025-08-20 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostSakura growled in frustration as her spell fizzled out—blocked before she could learn anything useful.
She had been hoping to obtain fresh intel before meeting with Dialla and Earl, but she had to accept that it wasn’t going to happen. The Claws on the plains had stepped up their interference over the last few days, jamming all long-range communication and information-gathering skills in the direction of the Savage Garden.
As a result, Sakura didn’t know what had transpired ...
2025-08-19 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time Edge’s exhaustion wore off, the battle was over.
The Claws were ruthless killers, but they valued their own lives above anything else. With two of their elites dead and Ripper nowhere to be found, their battered army turned and ran, heading for the jungle above. The defenders pressed the attack until the convicts were out of range, scoring a few final kills before tending to their wounds.
A limping jailbird was slain by a poison-gas trap that had remained miraculousl...
2025-08-18 17:00:34 +0000 UTC View PostAt that point, the situation took a dramatic turn for the worse.
As it happened, the Armada Wurm didn’t have three species of symbiotes dwelling inside its cavernous bulk—it had four.
The slicers and stingers were numerous and agile, helping the wurm hunt flocks of small game. The bashers helped it devour bigger beasts, while defending the boss against creatures that were powerful enough to pierce its hide.
The fourth species was a pair of slumbering protectors—powerfu...
2025-08-18 17:00:32 +0000 UTC View PostWhile Ella traded blows with the beast’s tongue, Nick focused on carving his way through the wurm’s hide.
His team had made some progress while he was away. He ran his gaze across a section of skin that Devin had shredded with chain explosions, a strip that Mirium and Laura had scoured with spells, and a series of shadow-riven rents that were the hallmarks of Bret’s greatsword. Based on the damage they had inflicted so far, someone would break through before long, at which point, ...
2025-08-15 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostWith seven seconds left on the clock, Edge lined up a killing blow.
Thanks to Able, the colossal summon was out of the picture, and his friends had eliminated the nearby Claws. Foebinder had stripped the last bug from Roth’s body, leaving her critically exposed… or so he thought.
As he closed the final few feet while preparing to Double Slash, a centipede sprang to intercept him. The killer insect had been wrapped around the summoner’s waist the entire time—disguised as a ...
2025-08-15 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post