On our way to the other side of the island, we found a naked body half hidden in the sand. It lay on its front, limbs loose, the muscles defined under a layer of dried salt and sand. Long tangled hair spread around the head like seaweed, and the skin was black. Not African black, which is really dark brown, but a true, ink-deep black. When we crouched closer, I noticed two stubby black horns pe...
2025-11-06 13:10:05 +0000 UTC View PostOn the first two days, we explored the island with the Gate. It was a lovely, untouched place. The trees stood so close together that I had to open the house in its smallest configuration, and even then, it barely fit between the trunks. The canopy above was thick enough to turn the noon sun into a green twilight. It kept the ground level cool, the air heavy with the scent of moss and salt from...
2025-11-04 17:34:11 +0000 UTC View PostBack at the underground city, I caught up on the hours of sleep I’d missed until I felt human again. When I finally woke, another snowstorm had rolled in. It wasn’t as fierce as the last one, but it was wild enough—wind howling through the tunnels and snow whipping in every direction. I sighed, muttered a few choice words about the weather, and went back inside to open the house again. 2025-11-02 13:12:07 +0000 UTC View Post
My red light was blinking, and I didn’t even need to check to know what I would see.
Level up
+3 to all stats
Wizard Battle Master level 15
With a sigh, I closed the window. Had I succeeded in raising the class tier again to a “free class,” I would have gained a new ability. But alas…
With those morose thoughts, I went lo...
2025-11-01 17:12:25 +0000 UTC View PostHi guys
Still dealing with Watermageddon 💦 but managed to squeeze in a bit of writing between the chaos.
By tomorrow, it should all be behind us, and I’ll just have to deal with the aftermath — a minor flood and a herd of workmen stampeding through the house.
Hopefully, I’ll get the missing chapter written tomorrow, and if not, then Saturday.
Have a great day,
Hi guys,
Well, the problem is bigger than it looked at first.
They need to lift half the floor and the work will continue tomorrow.
So, the chapter is delayed further. I’ll make it up to you once the problem is resolved.
2025-10-28 14:44:55 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone,
No chapter today, I’m afraid.
A pipe decided to explode this morning, and our house is now doing its best impression of a small lake. The plumbers are still at it, and once they’re done, I’ve got the cleanup quest ahead of me.
Promise to be back with a chapter tomorrow!
TD
2025-10-28 12:33:21 +0000 UTC View PostHey everybody,
You’re getting a second chapter today since they’re relatively short, each one focusing on an element or two.
Have fun,
TD
>>>>>>>>>>
Bolstered by my success with fire, I jumped back into practice after only a few hours of sleep. The next affinity on my list was Wind. It ranked just below Water and Fire in strength and ...
2025-10-26 15:27:54 +0000 UTC View PostBack at the underground city, I headed off to play some more with stones, but stopped halfway to my destination. All my other affinities needed work too, and snow was ice, right? Turning around, I went back outside. Before entering the tunnel, I put on a ski mask, goggles, a scarf, a hat, two pairs of thick wool socks, and another thick sweater under the cloak. I immediately began sweating, and...
2025-10-26 11:49:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe snow started again, and this time it wasn’t just a light fall but a real storm, winds and all. The temperature kept dropping day after day, and it got so cold that even my amazing cloak couldn’t protect me completely. It kept my body warm enough, but my face was another story. Even with the hood pulled down over half of it, my nose felt like it was about to fall off. Sure, I could cover...
2025-10-23 14:55:28 +0000 UTC View PostI did another pass through the books from Earth, this time managing seven before my mind screamed at me to take a break. The books weren’t hard to read, not like the wizard books, but Spirits, they were boring. The content was interesting, at least some of it, but it was written in such a dry tone and academic language that reading it was an unending slog. A few times, I caught myself half as...
2025-10-21 13:43:03 +0000 UTC View PostFollowing my partial success in reconciling my meager scientific knowledge with mana to achieve a hint of flight, I headed to my library to look for books on subjects connected to Earth Magic. Not magic books, but books from Earth. I didn’t know enough about the actual substance to do anything with it. Yes, I succeeded in demolishing a couple of castles, but that had been brute force and stub...
2025-10-20 16:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostMahya burst into the house, eyes wide. “What the fuck?”
I looked at her over my shoulder, still holding the coffeepot. “What?”
“Where the hell are we?”
“Ashara. Mana 27. Threat level low,” I said, finally pouring myself a cup. The rich aroma rose with a promise of salvation, and I closed my eyes for a second, inhaling in pure euphoria. Starting the morning with...
2025-10-17 09:50:43 +0000 UTC View PostThe next Gate was five days away, but thankfully, it required only one train ride and some trekking, or in our case, flying. After we secured the tickets for the following day, Mahya left us, saying, “I need to do something.”
“I will look to secure more herbs,” Al said, then headed off in the opposite direction.
Rue and I decided to explore the city’s culinary side. Unlike...
2025-10-15 15:18:37 +0000 UTC View PostWe made our way back to the inn, each of us lost in thought. I had no idea what was running through Mahya’s or Al’s minds, but my focus stayed on one question: how to speed up my progress.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Name: John Rue
Age: 20Familiar: Rue Level 19
Display Class: Healer Level 20
Healer Spells:He...
2025-10-14 20:06:16 +0000 UTC View Post
Tr. MA
During my long years of traveling, I have met many Travelers. One Profession always dominates in all the introductions: Merchant. Some have it as a primary Profession, while many have it as a Subprofession, which is not surprising. Traveling takes money, and we all buy and sell a lot. No wo...
2025-10-14 17:16:31 +0000 UTC View PostI was doing my weekly check in the Archive, shaking my head at the amount of new crap the Travelers posted.
Tr. PPB
2025-10-12 18:33:30 +0000 UTC View Post
You won’t believe it! Turtles attacked my group. Turtles! Not only did they attack us, they were fast and had sharp teeth. Who heard of attacking turtles? It’s an affront to the natural order, and I don’t care what world they are in. Turtles are not atta...
After dinner, we were served the same sangria-like drink. This time, I didn’t drink it; I only pretended to and poured most of it into the remnants of the soup. Mahya and Al did. I watched them and didn’t really see a difference in their demeanor or speech. When I drank it on the first night, I felt out of it, but they seemed completely fine. Since I didn’t have an explanation and didn’...
2025-10-09 12:03:28 +0000 UTC View PostIn the morning after breakfast, Al pushed back his chair and rose, brushing an invisible speck from his sleeve. “I am going to explore the herbs the city has to offer,” he announced.
Mahya leaned on the table, eyebrows raised. “You’re not coming with us to the circles?”
“I will study them later,” he said.
I turned toward Rue. “What about you?”
Rue flopp...
2025-10-07 12:36:14 +0000 UTC View PostAfter another three days on the train, we finally reached the Demesne of House Alila and its capital, Alilada. The train station was more than ten kilometers outside the city, and instead of steam buses, there were open and closed carriages ferrying people into town. They were pulled by the same carnivorous horses I first saw back in the outpost of House Jook.
They were larger than regula...
2025-10-06 12:54:19 +0000 UTC View PostAfter baking Al five different cookies—chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, shortbread, and double chocolate—that he “didn’t eat” but that would tide him over for a while, I switched to other cooking.
Mahya had given me a lot of meat from their foray into the zone, and I hadn’t had a chance to experiment with it yet. I laid out cuts from each type and checked them on...
2025-10-03 20:31:33 +0000 UTC View PostThe trek to the Gate took us a few hours. We didn’t run full tilt but kept a leisurely jog and chatted along the way. Mahya had fun describing each bone she broke in the pissbucket's body, Al talked about his work in the alchemy lab, and I shared stories about patients I’d treated and a few other anecdotes from working in the Healing Hall.
Although we were invisible with Stealth engag...
2025-10-03 16:23:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe flood of patients continued for another day, and then it slowed. It didn’t stop completely, but finally, the reception area was empty, and the ER was enough. I was dead tired again, hardly standing, but this time I had no intention of sleeping in the clinic. The last comedy of illogic with the couch was enough for me, thank you very much.
I slogged toward the residence Mahya and Al ...
2025-09-28 12:03:06 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I woke up, the insanity was still affecting the clinic. I pushed open the treatment room door and stepped into the hall, where Rue walked with a floating stack of linen bobbing above his head.
“Good morning, buddy, what are you doing?” I asked, stretching my arms and stifling a yawn.
He gave me a sharp side-eye, ears flicking in irritation. “John is silly. Now is not ...
2025-09-25 19:09:43 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I finished treating Mahya, I went back to the guy I’d left mid-spell and handled two more cases before finally heading to rest. Somehow, in that short span, the women in the clinic had completely lost their minds.
The guy I’d abandoned mid-treatment had been stung by some type of insect with a paralytic venom. He had so many bites all over his body, despite the armor, that I coul...
2025-09-24 21:30:46 +0000 UTC View PostHi everybody,
You may have noticed this is the fifth chapter this week instead of the usual three.
Why?
Because next week is a holiday marathon here in Israel. Monday–Wednesday is the Jewish New Year. A week later comes Yom Kippur (a two-day fast—no, I’m not fasting, but still …), and right after that we roll into Sukkot, which lasts a full week. Basically, it...
2025-09-18 15:14:20 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time we got to the station, we’d already missed that day’s train to the red zone.
“I do not wish to return to the city,” Al said, his expression slightly disgusted.
From him, it was like Mahya and I had just stuck our fingers in our mouths and mimed throwing up.
“I’m with you,” I said.
We looked around for a solution. The train station sat on the out...
2025-09-18 11:26:06 +0000 UTC View PostAfter two days in the city, we'd had enough. It was ugly and boring. I even secretly opened the World Information and read a “spoiler,” but alas, it added nothing. Rabban wrote the newest post from four days ago, discussing the world upgrade and the red zones on our Map. Another three posts from the last twenty years all discussed the nobles, the need for IDs with house affiliation, the hig...
2025-09-16 09:17:34 +0000 UTC View PostWe split from Rabban and Sonak near Outpost Eight. It had a city nearby, but Mahya had already visited it, so she wanted a different one. After checking the Map and a brief consultation, we agreed to head to the train station near Outpost Fourteen and then take a train to the domain capital of the Demesne of House Jook.
Why Jook?
Because when we conjured IDs, they stated that we wer...
2025-09-15 14:08:44 +0000 UTC View PostI was back on my feet and feeling great, so it was time to get back to work. Before heading out, I made breakfast and coffee for the gang. Yes, Sonak too. Lately, since he acted like a meek mouse around me and stopped spewing his religious bullshit, I was okay with him being in my space. I also appreciated the fact that he rushed to get Al when I was hurt, so I started to treat him better. Not ...
2025-09-14 14:49:19 +0000 UTC View Post