Vivi flinched awake.
The room was dimly lit by a lone candle. The low ceiling was uneven and burrow-like. A greyed-out carpet covered the floor. The wooden door had a boot-sized gap at the bottom. The room was cramped and the air was musty. With Zand’s standards, however, the place was surprisingly inviting.
Vivi tried to move her arms. Her wrists were tied behind her back with cold metal. Same with her legs. She sat on a heavy stone chair. And as if that wasn’t enough, loops ...
2025-07-03 14:37:37 +0000 UTC
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The surge was supposed to hit on the sixteenth hour. Three minutes ago. As usual, the forecast was slightly off.
Scanners had sensed ether welling within the area three days prior. From there, the news of an oncoming surge spread, and defense duty was placed into auction. The hunting company that paid the most gained the rights to deal with the surge as they wished.
Any minute now… Essi thought. She stood on the front lines of the Sylva Bloods’ secondary hunting group...
2025-07-03 14:37:01 +0000 UTC
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Lucius, are you alive…? Vivi asked. Her thoughts were calm considering the situation. The world seemed to move slowly. Nothing around her was clear.
The crawling skeleton smashed its wings at the columns. The ground underneath rumbled, and bits of stone fell from the ceiling. The column didn’t fall in one hit, but Vivi wasn’t confident her cover would hold. The skeleton raised its wing for another hit.
Why don’t you just finish me with another discharge…
2025-07-03 14:36:16 +0000 UTC
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Vivi looked up and met the gaping eyeholes of the boss monster.
The boss was a giant skeleton. Its bones were glued to the ceiling. Or rather, they were a part of the ceiling, embedded into the stone. The skeleton had a large skull and a thick rib cage. It had no legs or a pelvis. Rather, its spine was extended like a lizard’s tail. Its arms were wing-like and made of sharp, sword-like bones.
The ceiling around the bones crumbled. Slowly, the boss was being freed from the ceilin...
2025-07-03 14:35:31 +0000 UTC
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The hardwood planks continued down, dead kerosene lamps lining the path. The planks below her creaked under her steps. Few weeds attempted to grow from the stone ground. None flourished. The creepy tunnel resembled the free dungeon with its subtle yet constant hostility in the air.
In the free dungeon, the hostile air came from nimrods watching Vivi. Most demons didn’t care to hide their stares. Here, however, Vivi wasn’t certain where the feeling came from. Her every step was heavy...
2025-07-03 14:34:54 +0000 UTC
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I have finally finished book 2, as well as the rewrite of book 1! Here's the new cover.
Chapters will start dropping after the Royal Road page is up (currently pending, can take up to 48 hours...). Patreon will receive chapters from 45 onward. If you wish to re-read the start of the book, chapters 1-45 will be up on Royal Road after the RR page is approved by mods.
Re-write patch notes:
Author note:
Warning, these chapters end on a bit of a cliffhanger, and they're not edited. But I was reminded to drop them, so here they are.
Chapter 5 - The Wolves
Triswyn and four wolves led Aang and Vivi through the double doors. The four wolves walked in a square formation around Aang and Vivi, blocking their escape. Triwsyn led the group at the front.
Technically, the wolves didn’t have their titles anymore either. Nobody was controlled by Zand right now...
2025-04-21 22:32:08 +0000 UTC
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I'll make this short. The Ethersmith will go on hiatus. Royal Road paused today, and Patreon will be following suit after 6 more chapters.
I took the book into a direction I hate, and if I continue with daily releases, the story won't be getting any better. I feel like I'm posting junk chapters every day. Vivi has been completing everything in easy mode ever since chapter 45.
The daily chapter release schedule doesn't suit my style as a writer in the slightest. So instead, I'm goi...
2025-04-08 13:10:18 +0000 UTC
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A puddle of blood was forming under the body. His eyes were lifeless, but his skin still retained color. A sword or a spear had pierced his heart. He had died less than an hour ago.
The victim was a dwarf, wearing an awfully familiar tunic. Vivi froze, realizing she recognized this dwarf. It was Aruid. One of the apprentices from Axback’s smithy.
“Vile.” Aang’s forehead was wrinkled. “But not unexpected. There are no rules anymore.”
Vivi was shaking. “I knew th...
2025-04-08 08:18:59 +0000 UTC
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The Union’s hub was a lot more crowded than usual. A gloomy bunch resided within. Demons of all sorts were spread across the stone. Some had groundsheets underneath, but most simply lay or sat on the stone next to their weapons and belongings. Most looked bored, or dissatisfied, as if about to snap at any moment.
A select few were working. Blacksmiths were smithing steel blades, offering them to those that didn’t wield a weapon. Woodworkers were crafting what looked like handcarts. ...
2025-04-07 08:34:27 +0000 UTC
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The next time Vivi woke up, she felt a lot better. The crushing pressure all over her body had calmed down. Her head was clogged, but mostly normal. Her hands were tired and heavy to lift, but she could move them without pain. And most importantly, there was no active ether strengthening her from the inside.
Vivi was determined right away. She was no longer sick. However long she’d rested, it was probably enough. She was ready to get up.
The attempt started by sitting up. Vivi s...
2025-04-06 10:00:07 +0000 UTC
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It felt as if a thousand steel plates were stacked on top of her, crushing her against a hard surface. Her limbs were strapped down and nailed. Her head pounded, panicked from the absurd amount of pain in every part of her body. Her insides were just as bad. Throat squeezed shut and dry as a desert, stomach about to explode from the inside.
“Ah, you’re awake!” an enthusiastic voice said beside her. “How are you feeling?”
Vivi couldn’t respond. Her heart t...
2025-04-05 10:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Vivi was passed out for what felt like an eternity. She didn’t think she’d ever wake up. The exhaustion, the fighting… She had abused ether far beyond what human bodies could withstand.
Her earlier runesmithing spree some days ago already left her groggy, when she abused ether for a few hours to finish a sword. Back then, she spent a some loose hundred wisps, and she didn’t take any blows or damage from outside.
This time, Vivi had spent thousands of wisps of ether, forcin...
2025-04-04 08:32:39 +0000 UTC
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Upon activation, the purple skill wisp disappeared from Vivi’s core. It didn’t dim out like Thorn Sword or other skills. Death Sense broke apart completely. Her second skill slot was freed, as if nothing had ever been there.
Vivi was prepared for the skill to cast explosions. But nothing seemed to happen. Vivi’s sword didn’t gain a coating, and nothing crumbled to bits around her. She didn’t ascend, and she didn’t gain flying daggers around her. Nothing at all ...
2025-04-03 08:38:39 +0000 UTC
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Vivi's danger senses flared. Uundref’s spectral portal appeared beneath her. The Steward was trying to kidnap her!
She tried to jump out, but her footing was already lost. She was falling into the portal. She grabbed onto the edge and shouted for help. She managed to hold on, but the portal's pressure made it hard to hold on. Her body was being ripped apart, pulled with extreme force from below. It took her all to not fall in. Even with ether, she wasn't strong enough to pull herself ...
2025-04-02 08:30:48 +0000 UTC
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Hundreds of reanimated monsters filled hub. Death rabbits destroyed buildings, crushing stalls to bits. Merchandise and rubble were scattered everywhere from the destruction. Ether sticks were walking around, lazily attacking anything nearby. Surge hounds chased nimrods in packs, killing stragglers. Clawed spiders pillaged anything that was left behind.
Screams sounded from all around. Nimrods ran, only to be killed by surge hounds. Some fought back in a futile attempt to stay afoot. Ni...
2025-04-01 08:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Aang carried Lydi on his shoulders back the way they came. Vivi followed with a steady step. She stood only with the power of ether. Without it, her muscles would have collapsed.
With the boss cleared, the main dungeon had transformed. The hellish castle transformed back into an ordinary ancient castle. The lava became water, and the ethereal magma turned to daylight gems. All monsters, including the Skeleton King, had disappeared, leaving nothing behind. The oppressive ether in the air...
2025-03-31 08:13:28 +0000 UTC
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Vivi waited for death to come.
The Death Tyrant’s minions inched toward her. The scarlet claws had killed everything in her immediate surroundings, but the remaining skeletons were walking toward her. The air was filled with flying skulls. Some were flying toward her, but most floated around aimlessly, covering the ceiling.
Soon, she would be mauled alive. Aang and Lydi were nowhere to be seen. They wouldn’t save her this time. Vivi had nothing more to fight back with. Without...
2025-03-30 11:55:29 +0000 UTC
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Author note:
There were some formatting issues with the last chapter. Should be fixed now. Sorry about that. Patreon's text editor has been a pain in the ass to work with after their latest update screwed up importing chapters.
As an apology, here's an extra chapter, since that's what you guys are here for lol.
Vivi’s jump landed on the Death Tyrant’s rib. Each rib was as large as a human torso. She activated Thorn Sword and drove her swo...
2025-03-29 17:17:33 +0000 UTC
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The Death Tyrant examined its playing field. The upper half of the giant skeleton’s body poked out from the hole in the ground. Its upper body was over forty feet tall, towering over Vivi. Each one of its fingers was the size of her greatsword. The weight of its limbs would be enough to crush a building.
And that was without taking ether into account. As Lucius found his way back to Vivi’s core, flooding power back to her muscles and returning her sixth sense, she suddenly had the u...
2025-03-29 10:04:20 +0000 UTC
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Something splashed on Ven’s face.
The room was dark. Twisted and blurry figures stood over him. What was going on? It wasn’t like Ven to fall asleep where he shouldn’t. His core was full of ether. This wasn’t good. He’d be caught as a breaker. He tried to lift his hands. His limbs were weak, and his hands wouldn’t move.
Another bucket of ice-cold water splashed on his face, jolting Ven awake from his groggy delirium.
Ven was tied to a chair ropes, hands cuffed. T...
2025-03-28 09:13:42 +0000 UTC
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Vivi ran out of ether. Two balls of concentrated ether shot directly at her.
Everything around her became harder to see. Objects and enemies moved faster. The grouping of skeletons in the middle of the room looked like a blurry mess of flashes of light. She couldn’t make out Aang from within the fray. Without ether empowering her, Vivi lost her senses. She was back to a lost child—a useless pawn that required protection.
Luckily, she received just that. Lydi pushed her aside w...
2025-03-27 09:35:46 +0000 UTC
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Alisa concealed her aura.
She focused exceptionally hard, making sure not one wisp escaped from her hold into the outside world. Hundreds of active wisps strengthened her body, each one attempting to ooze out to create a large aura.
Inside her core sat a grouping of black ether, created by reversing the effect of active wisps. Black ether didn’t push ether outward. Rather, the wisps ate power from the outside world similarly to nothing runes. The black wisps ate th...
2025-03-26 09:33:06 +0000 UTC
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“Lucius!” Vivi shouted. The spirit’s red translucent figure was dragged from the tail deeper into the castle. He flailed with his claws, but the captor didn’t seem to take damage. It was a jester of sorts, colorful hat jingling as it ran upstairs.
Thoughts raced in Vivi’s head all at once. The portcullis wasn’t opening, and it was too tough to break through. The jester was too nimble to hit with a throwing weapon.
Her spirit was captured! What was she supposed to...
2025-03-25 09:15:51 +0000 UTC
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Enemies surrounded Vivi. Archers to the right. A rigor-runed skeleton to the left. An assassin directly ahead. She felt hostile ether behind her as well.
Lucius panicked within her, shouting orders. Vivi didn’t hear them. She didn’t have time for hesitations. Stopping for a fraction of a second would have led to her death. Attempting to defend would have led to her death. She couldn’t block four attacks all at once.
She could only continue charging forward. She lean...
2025-03-24 09:27:22 +0000 UTC
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How deep are we now? Vivi asked in her head. The glow between bricks had turned yellow, slowly growing hotter as they descended. The world’s levels, I mean. We must be near the eighth or ninth level, right?
“We’re probably still above the eight,” Lucius said. “The main dungeon moves mostly laterally. Still, I’m surprised by the size of this descent. This is already the second largest dungeon I’ve ever hunted.”
Only the secon...
2025-03-23 10:09:56 +0000 UTC
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The next room down had archers.
The hall was long. At the far end, castle towers were integrated into the wall, spanning from the ground all the way to the ceiling. Arrows shot from the holes in the tower. To reach the towers, attackers had to cross a stone bridge, narrow enough that only two could stand side-by-side. Spikes awaited in the moat below.
Spectral arrows shot forth before the group could even think of crossing. The arrows’ shafts were lined with runes, coated with e...
2025-03-22 11:58:34 +0000 UTC
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Vivi stepped into the main dungeon.
A low-hanging spectral chandelier welcomed her to a broad chamber filled with caskets and coffins. Stone bricks were arranged in patterns on the well-maintained floor. An ice-blue glow radiated faintly from between each brick. The glow was brightest in the middle of the floor, growing weaker as it traveled to the edges and up the walls.
The glow was bright, but the dungeon was dark. Ethereal light always had weird properties. Sometimes, the brig...
2025-03-22 11:39:06 +0000 UTC
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The moment Vivi exited the lair, stepping down to the hidden dungeon, Aang grabbed her hand and pulled her to the shadowed corner of the cavern. She stayed silent and listened.
Two pairs of calm but steady footsteps approached from the upper tunnel. A deep man's voice spoke. “The Stewards been complaining about the lack of skill drops for years now.” He sounded amused. “This whole time, the bosses have brewed weak because someone’s been killing them?”
The other man sighe...
2025-03-21 09:16:09 +0000 UTC
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Vivi bathed in the feeling of relief for a few minutes longer, lying on the ground. The vein-shaping was done. She’d completed the most complicated set of veins of her career yet. Looking at her project, Vivi couldn’t believe she’d come up with such an insane design. Getting the strength runes to extend all the way to the edges turned out to be far more difficult than she imagined.
Lucius was flying around the room with full energy. “We did it! Without one mistake!...
2025-03-20 09:14:50 +0000 UTC
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