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[LitF] 16. Crimson Stairway
Previous Chapter - Table of Contents - Next Chapter[A/N: This is last Saturday's chapter. Sorry for the delay!I retconned a few things. Most notably:Wizards have become sorcerers. Just a name change, no special meaning.]Arthur looked at the empty cave chamber one last time.He wanted to feel something other than indifference for leaving; after all, he had stayed there for one year and seven months. However, most of it had been in a catatonic state or consumed by training. He only thought fondly of his relaxing baths.Regardless of his feeling...
[LitF] Retconned stuff on Lost in the Future (Only Affects B-Ranks)
CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS ON CHAPTERS 11 THROUGH 15.As I wrote more Lost in the Future chapters, I found some issues with past chapters and adapted them.The most noteworthy ones are:1. Magic PrehensionI made this change to better differentiate between different uses of magic.The act of connecting to one's element and willing something to happen to it—to make a nail float, for instance—was generically called magic or spells previous. It's now called prehension.Magic prehension is one of the two forms of direct magic together with spell...
[MA] 231. I Was Always This Stupid
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Sorry for the double delay. I slept on my office chair yesterday. Tough day. Things should've normalized now.Chapters this week: 1/3Delayed chapters: 2Next release: In a few minutes]"Found you, traitor," a male voice that Shen hadn't heard in a long time said from behind the thunderlords.The thunderlords gave way to a red orc whose incarnation Shen had seen in the tutorial. The orc's drop of blood essence was currently in the cultivator's body.Uk'Gaar.| Orc...
[MA] 229. Violated
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[Chapters this week: 2/3Late chapters: 3Next release: Saturday ]The hundreds of drow spread themselves out but still moved in small groups. Shen mingled with them as they advanced, trying to make his squad less eye-catching.The swamp trolls were more like the spawn of devils and spiders than any mythological representation he had seen on Earth. They were vaguely humanoid, small and thin, and had six elongated twig-thick limbs that doubled up as legs or arms depending on how they wanted to u...
[MA] 228. The One I Chose
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next ChapterChapters this week: 1/3Delayed chapters: 2Next release: Thursday]The kill took mere instants. The windriders were close to each other, and Shen swiftly jumped from one to the next. He killed a few dozen before they got far enough to escape if he tried to approach. His aerial speed couldn't compete with theirs.Still, he created an opening. His squad took advantage of it to get closer to the teleportation circle. He changed into a defensive role and kept moving around the drow, easily des...
[MA] 227. Open Chicken
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Sorry for the delay. No good reason today, I just got caught in writing and ended up without time to review the latest chapter.Chapters last week: 3/3Delayed chapters: 2Next release: Tuesday]The windriders attacked as soon as Shen's group crossed some invisible threshold. They all flew to surround them while sending spells their way.In Shen's squad, three control zones overlapped with each other. Soundy's vibration zone was twice as large as the defensive ones. Swordy'...
[MA] 226. Richer
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Sorry for the delay. Things were tough yesterday.Chapters this week: 2/3Delayed chapters: 2Next release: Saturday]The enemy's illusion bubble popped like a balloon when the two men pierced its boundaries. It revealed around eighty fire wisps around the teleportation circle, and Shen could see forty others in the zone.The wisp he had seen in the tutorial was like a black hole the size of a baby fist in the middle of an event horizon, except white. He could also describe it as a tin...
[MA] 225. Next
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[[A/N: I didn't have the time to review this chapter, but I would rather not be late. So, here it goes.Chapters this week: 1/3Late chapters: 3Next release: Thursday ]The scouts were a crucial part of this operation and one of the things Shen had been most curious about. He was very much satisfied with their performance. They could feel things much better than him unless he used his aura. The incoming earthworms' stealth techniques were useless against Lighty and Fiery.As expected, h...
[MA] 224. Upheaval
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[ Chapters this week: 3/3Late chapters: 3Next release: Tuesday ]Shen was done with the forest too soon. He became bold enough to also scout the plains.He didn't risk the mountains, though. The terrain was too different from anything he was used to, and he didn't want to alert the enemy yet.Even as slow as he was, he still finished scouting both forest and plains in fifteen minutes. Fortunately, he only had to wait another five minutes for his squad to arrive, not the half-hour limit...
[LitF] 15. Skills & Horse Stance
Previous Chapter - Table of Contents - Next ChapterGraham placed the storage safe on the wooden table and inputted the password. The cube's edges shone slightly, and the knight pushed his arm into it—or rather, into the spatial fold connected to the safe.His hand and arm disappeared as if he was using his own spatial storage. A moment later, he pulled a Graham-sized wooden crate from the safe, placed it on the floor, and opened the lid, revealing countless skill crystals the size of a child's fist.They looked like unblemished glass an...
[MA] 223. Zone A-B-44
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Chapters this week: 2/3Late chapters: 2Next release: Saturday ]Alyphan turned to the cultivator. All his previous lax attitude was gone. "You're now part of the war efforts," he said somberly.Shen understood at once. Drow hierarchy was already rigid, but things got worse at war. He could only obey or provide a very, very good argument against a command. Complaining just for the sake of it, or using a weak argument, was severely punished.He always knew this day would come, ...
[MA] 222. Rules of Engagement
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Sorry for the two weeks without chapters. I had some issues. More info on this post if you're interested, but everything is fine now.Chapters this week: 1/3Late chapters: 3Next release: Thursday ]Shen was waiting on Tar'Shalon's surface for the team he would join in the war."The Guardian System has different rules of engagement," Alyphan said in Syron. "The relevant one now is the Buffer Pre-War. When any race or B-rank organization declares war on another, the...
Update On Late Chapters
So, I went through a brief burnout episode (can a burnout even be brief?).I shut down from doing absolutely everything in my life, from working to church stuff, until today, when things seem to have normalized.Many things that I could individually have dealt with aggregated to cause it:1. Higher writing load;2. My grandma passing away;3. Finding out my father is probably on the early stages of Alzheimer's (and as the elder son, the responsibility for supporting him falls on me);4. Socializing too much, for too long, in too little a period o...
[MA] 221. Sulyfor Method
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Chapters this week: 3/3Late chapters: 2Next release: Tuesday]Shen stepped into the room. It was tiny, barely large enough for the small table and two chairs in the center. The furniture was made of white wood, a nice contrast to the black metal everything was made of."Sit," Alyphan commanded as he sat on one of the chairs. Shen obeyed. "I was told you just came out from a newly integrated world and are ignorant of almost everything in the Alliance. Is that correct?"...
[LitF] 14. Unexpected Celebration
Previous Chapter - Table of Contents - Next Chapter"Please forgive us for the subterfuge," Tamara continued. "Sophie was just helping me set the table, not doing any exercise."Arthur barely heard her over his heart. It was thumping furiously on his rib cage. Sophie was......breathtaking.She looked nineteen or twenty. Her black hair was held in a maid's bun that somehow looked fancy on her. Only a few strands fell sideways, almost as if framing her perfectly symmetrical and delicate face. Her shining red eyes had become sligh...
[MA] 220. Don't Have the Right or Strength
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Chapters this week: 2/3Late chapters: 2Next release: Saturday ]The Maiden kept silent for a while, then stood up and left, deep in thought.Shen followed her through dark underground corridors, all looking exactly like the ones he had traveled through when he arrived in Tar'Shalon. He found his spear by the door to the small room and took it with him. He didn't try to speak to the Maiden yet; he had his own matters to consider.This episode had begun as a question born of his re...
[MA] 219. The Line
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Chapters this week: 1/3Late chapters: 2Next release: Thursday ]The Drow Maiden walked in slowly, and Shen followed. He might still fight them to the death—a very short fight it would be—but until then, there was nothing wrong in following the Maiden as she investigated her own issues.Who knows? They might even fight together, though he doubted it. She had seemingly tried to use her domain when she wasn't supposed to but then had come to bow her head to her superiors instead of...
Links to the Tables of Contents
Modern Awakening: https://www.patreon.com/posts/55340542 | 3 chapters/week, ~2k words each, Tue/Thu/SatLost in the Future: https://www.patreon.com/posts/75436957 | 1 chapter/week, ~5k words, Sat
Changes, Changes, Changes!
TL;DR: If you don't have the time or desire to read everything, just read the bold text, and you'll get it.So, Lost in the Future is now available on Royal Road.That meant updating the Patreon tiers to also mention the novel's advanced chapters. And that led me to review the tiers.The D-Rank will have to go. Keeping a separate role was fine with a single novel, but two makes it not worth the trouble. It means keeping more check boxes, copy-pasting more content, separating links etc.That said, I'm not an ungrateful jerk. Whoever ...
[LitF] 13. Stats, Traits, and Waiting Time
Previous Chapter - Table of Contents - Next Chapter"One year and four months!" Arthur yelled. "One year and four months inside this Fate-forsaken place, obeying your every command, accepting your suggestions like a golem! One year and four months feeling like shit! One year and four months, and I can't remember half of it! And the one time you ask me to make a decision, I make it only to have you refuse me? This is my will, Graham!" He was panting by the end of his outburst. He was feeling better now but not perfect yet. ...
[LitF] 12. Pick a Path
Previous Chapter - Table of Contents - Next Chapter[A/N: This is yesterday's chapter. Sorry it's late.]Arthur's achievement hunt progressed mostly as Graham had explained, with a slight change due to Tamara's input: the vitality, efflux, and absorption achievements were pursued together. He emptied his mana pool and drank mana potions almost every time he ate any fruit.He had so little mana that it only took him a little focus for several seconds to push it all from his body. Unlike the first time he had done it, he no longer st...
[MA] 218. Unexpected Consequences
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Chapters this week: 3/3Late chapters: 2Next release: Tuesday ]The Drow Maiden didn't fall for his provocation. "I'll do better than that," she said without emotion. "I'll explain it while giving you perspective on what it means to be a drow."The world warped, and Shen found himself in a vast room. There were no visible walls as far as his eyes could see and a ceiling so tall it would have clouds on Earth. The floor was made of black metal, barely seen under...
[MA] 217. Benefits and Responsibilities
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Chapters this week: 2/3Late chapters: 3Next release: Saturday ]A two-yard violet teleportation circle was inlaid on the floor, filled with runes. There was no light source in the small room made entirely of black metal, but Shen was a Guardian and thus could see in the dark. Yet, there were no openings to be seen.He was trapped and alone; the Drow Maiden didn't materialize with him.Her words had been clear: "If the first person you see from now on isn't me, attack and esca...
[MA] 216. Everything Aligned
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: An epilogue twice the length of the average chapter =DChapters this week: 1/3Late chapters: 2Next release: Thursday]The Void watched and waited.Sentient beings focused too much on ploys and schemes. The Void also partook in such plays, but only because it could, not because they were crucial. Even if the machinations of its Prophets, Heralds, and Paragons failed, the Void would still consider it a success. Anything ceasing to exist, even the parts of itself in those beings, was a non-...
[MA] 215. Choose, Shen
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[ Chapters this week: 3/3Late chapters: 2Next release: Tuesday]Shen listened attentively to the Drow Maiden's words."The system calls this thing a marvel of qi engineering without mana equivalent, but you have no idea. I do; I'm a crafter, so I would know. I never even heard about antidrons, but I can tell why, and I quote the system, 'Most antidrons with a self-destruction enchantment will activate it at the slightest perceived issue, erring on the side of caution.'"...
[MA] 214. Teleportation and Accounting
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[ A/N: Been a while since I delivered one of the late chapters I always mention (right below). Well, here it is! Enjoy!Chapters this week: 2/3Late chapters: 2Next release: Saturday ]Shen looked at the notifications he had received while the drow taught him how to fight using his Ruptured Concepts. He had left them around as a reminder that he had to make a decision.| Report verdict on Yinhu Lanfen (G):| Feng Shen (D) was considered directly responsible for the traitor revealing herself| Fav...
[LitF] 11. Training Program
Previous Chapter - Table of Contents - Next Chapter[A/N: This chapter should've been released on Jan 28th, last week. Sorry for the delay.]Minutes later, canes and weights were being magically assembled in the air. Sophie had stopped to watch in amazement and clap. Tamara grumbled something under her breath.When the last of the twenty-five machines were in place, occupying a quarter of the vast cave chamber, Graham started taking heavy-looking metal bars from his spatial storage and positioning them in specific slots in the equipment. Lastl...
[LitF] 10. Dungeons & Monsters
Previous Chapter - Table of Contents - Next Chapter[A/N: Sorry for the two weeks without chapters. I had some issues. More info on this post if you're interested, but everything is fine now.That said, I'll only release one chapter today.The promised two-chapter-week will be postponed to next week. ]The dungeon entrance was a ridiculously long battered-earth corridor illuminated by a glowing green and blue moss on the ceiling and walls. Seconds turned into minutes, marked by the cadenced sound of Graham's armored steps.Then, he sudde...
[MA] 213. Complexities
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Chapters this week: 2/3Late chapters: 3Next release: In a few minutes!]In fact, "complex" didn't even begin to describe the Republic.Cultivators and mortals had the same base rights from birth. Then, either could gain more rights—the same in both cases—by becoming a citizen.Citizenship was acquired by accepting serving a fifth of every year of your life in the military, which was often "paid in advance." In there, mortals were given tools to improve their minds...
[MA] 212. Living Nightmare
Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter[A/N: Chapters this week: 1/3Late chapters: 3Next release: Thursday]Shen wasn't surprised that the general cultivation knowledge touched the Guardian System.According to the information in the antidron, the Initiate, Meridian Clearing, and Foundation Establishment realms were the equivalent of G-rank. There were many realms for a single rank, but it made sense. They were considered the preliminary steps to break the barrier between mortality and what came next. One didn't break out ...
