The sun was low in the sky by the time Lukas and El-One reached the manor. Lukas suspected the raptors saw better in the dark and wasn’t too keen to find out whether he was right or wrong. He hurried indoors with the clone watching his back. The manor appeared to have suffered fire, artillery strikes, and more. The furnishings and tapestries had suffered damage. However, the bones seemed intact. None of the walls’ supporting structur...
2025-05-22 13:20:54 +0000 UTC
View Post
The storeroom’s temperature felt near or below freezing. If the creatures didn’t break in and get him, the cold would. The mass grave was wet and sloshy and had left him soaked. Hypothermia wasn’t a risk, but an inevitability. Lukas hoped his now-ascended body would hold out for a while. Blood seeped from the shoulder wound. The exhaustion and starvation weren’t doing him any favors.
“What do you need from us?” El-One asked w...
2025-05-22 13:05:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
Lukas woke in a wet tangle of cold limbs. A much-too-familiar metallic taste filled his mouth. He knew it intimately. The clones' memories almost always ended with heavy coppery notes.
Moving proved a challenge. He had spent the past six decades in a body that regularly underwent strict training—through the clones, if not personally. Somewhere along the way, Body Reinforcement magic had also become a regular part of his life. Mea...
2025-05-22 12:58:44 +0000 UTC
View Post
How many more times do I have to die today?
Twenty-foot-tall doors of solid gold towered over Lukas. Scenes from great battles and wars decorated their surface. The artisan had unnecessarily detailed the central character’s cruelty and inventive killing techniques. Lukas had little interest in experiencing them firsthand. Yet he continued towards the door, each step predetermined and purposeful.
Death was a regular possi...
2025-05-22 12:56:30 +0000 UTC
View Post
Regardless to say the last 1 year has been rough on the Pal clan.
ROugh pregnancy. Baby. Rough postpartum recovery. Rough move. Rough settling.
Then, Apocalypse Arena launched on Amazon and bombed, killing my motivation. I was ready to throw in the towel and restart my catering business(maybe even start a French Cafe, put my expensive pastry training to work), but Caitlin kept me afloat. (Best wife ever) Getting back into writing h...
2025-05-22 12:51:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Shawn said. His face and expression suggested sincerity, but Nil felt so numb that he didn’t care enough to scrutinize. It all felt meaningless. “Udit was a good man.”
“I made lamb biriyani,” Ateeq said. The former Wilson Ludus Summoned seemed to accompany Shawn wherever he went. The pair went on quests together, participated in arena events as a duo, and almost always a...
2025-04-08 15:26:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Did you get the feeling that they don’t trust Shawn either?” Nil asked, walking through Nexus Market, arm in arm with Selia. He carried a grapefruit-sized sphere in his free hand. The wood and iron formed a spiral pattern reminiscent of roots and iron brambles. It was seamless, giving the artifact a finish so smooth one would assume it was carved from a homogenous block of wood. His fingers explored the object as they talked. “I’m n...
2025-04-03 04:59:27 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Digital attacks on the Forge’s computer system have multiplied over the past six of your months,” Layla said. “A couple have made it through, forcing us to adopt a technology from another Seed world. We also managed to trace the attacks back to a Wilson Enterprises subsidiary in Estonia.” Close proximity to the war-torn post-cataclysm lands meant that the region had looser laws. They also overlooked the residing military contr...
2025-04-01 05:16:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
The following morning started early for Nil. He started his day in the garden attached to his suite. It contained the same plants as in the recreational area around the world tree. However, they were more mature, and their energies were purer. Meatball and he had pruned them together. Nil sat cross-legged at the center of the garden and cultivated.
Crimson arms grew out of his back. His mastery of them over the past year and a half had i...
2025-02-04 11:48:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
Udit’s shoulders visibly relaxed when Emily returned from the teleportation area that connected to the arena backrooms. Lily followed close behind her. The oldest member of the Roy family pulled both women into a tight hug. Nil couldn’t help but note how much older and worn his father looked. It seemed time was slowing for everyone but accelerating for him.
“I’m so proud of you and happy you’re safe,” Udit said. He pulled bac...
2025-01-27 21:39:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Come in! Come in!” Udit ushered the couple into his apartment. They had washed quickly and changed before rushing to his apartment in the staff building. “Are you hungry?”
“Always,” Nil replied, high-fiving Sam as he entered.
“You were awesome,” the teenager said, grinning.
He had grown significantly over the past eighteen months. He had spent two three-month stints on Ashe Fall, which was two yea...
2025-01-27 21:38:22 +0000 UTC
View Post
“That quick enough for you?” Selia asked once the arena construct teleported them to the backrooms. Dirt stained her pale skin and clothes, but she appeared unscathed. It seemed her chains had blocked most of Rip’s terrifying attacks.
Nil nodded. He rushed to one of the many walls of screens that filled the area, displaying ongoing matches. “I don’t see her. Must still be in the rest area.”
“Emmy will be fine. She is ...
2025-01-15 12:56:14 +0000 UTC
View Post
Five days passed in Ruipur without Nox being able to confirm or prepone his meeting. The city’s councilwoman who had initially agreed to meet with him postponed her meeting again, leaving him to wonder whether to wait a while longer or give up. He wanted to start the return journey soon so they’d at least have two weeks before the new semester began. Nox took solace in the fact that his week in Ruipur wasn’t fruitless. Louis's contacts h...
2025-01-14 22:23:54 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Quick in and out,” Nil said, straightening out his newest arena outfit. The sleeveless jacket was snug around his shoulder muscles, almost too tight. However, he had already used the sponsor’s pay for a new venture and needed to at least enter the event wearing their logo. “We can’t afford to put on a show or waste time testing things. Agreed?”
“Quick in and out.” Selia sighed. “Doesn’t that sound romantic.”
2025-01-14 21:51:14 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hey guys. I was going to start posting book 4 today. But I'm pretty burned out from baby keeping us up 3 nights in a row and super dissatisfied with the story plan I made. I've started it from scratch, and it's shaping up nicely.
I'll start posting book 4 next week. Sorry for the inconvenience.
2025-01-07 16:43:50 +0000 UTC
View Post
Book 3 epilogue
“Are you sure Baba is okay?” Selia asked, adjusting her strapless top covering. It was in no danger of falling off as she rose from the hot spring. However, the locals were far more leery than on Ashe Fall. “He didn’t look particularly well or happy.”
“This will be good for him,” Nil said. He didn’t bother waving the onlookers away. It was a pointless task, and Selia reminded him she...
2025-01-03 17:13:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
Nil didn’t have much confidence in his skating skills. He had always been a clumsy man except for when practicing martial arts. The discipline, calm, and focus made him more sure-footed and precise. Otherwise, he was a chaotic jumble of limbs.
The young couple got in line, rented skates, and had a brilliant time doing laps of the giant ice-skating rink. They laughed, talked, and discussed a future that both suspected would never ...
2025-01-02 08:21:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
It came as no surprise when the revelations surrounding Shina and the connection to Wilson Luduses came to life. At first, he questioned the validity of Katherine’s lead, but then CIT and Layla shared the evidence they and other Nexus agents had recovered. Initially, chance meetings weren’t enough to go on, but then financial records came to light. Symbiotech received money from several sources. Many were shell companies linked to Pietro a...
2025-01-01 10:05:28 +0000 UTC
View Post
[[Patreon butchered the system stuff last time and I can't figure out why.]]
As expected, Nil received several options for a new feat when he used the Gold Ascension Token.
The couple wanted nothing more than to return to the ludus and rest. Unfortunately, a surprise awaited them when they exited the rewards room. They walked in on Shawn locked in a heated conversation with one of Layla’s pink clones.
“So, everyone’s requests are approved except for mine?” Shawn asked, jaw clenched and brow furrowed. “And you expect me to just be okay with that? How is that even fair? It's bloody minor compa...
2024-12-27 10:26:14 +0000 UTC
View Post
You have earned 1 Silver Ascension Token, 10 Schema Tokens, and 5000 Schema Credits! More rewards await you and your world as the saviors and Cleansers of Eternum!
You have earned 1000 Ascension Points! Your Arena Rank has progressed to Bronze X. Please ascend to Silver Realm and attempt a Silver Gauntlet match in six months of your world’s time to progress or attempt another Bronze Gauntlet event to maintain y...
2024-12-26 07:54:17 +0000 UTC
View Post
Just before the cataclysm, Udit had planned a family trip to his ancestral home in India. Elizabeth wanted a few cultural and beach trips, too. So, they intended to do both in one by taking a train to the coastal city of Puri. It had golden beaches, beautiful blue waters, and two famous historic sites. The first was the sun temple built by the ancient king, Ashoka. War had devastated his kingdom’s population numbers, and he hoped to increase...
2024-12-25 10:29:21 +0000 UTC
View Post
Team Forge is the first and only team to have completed the fifth sector and maintained its lead throughout the Cleansing. You have earned 1 Silver Ascension Token, 10 Schema Tokens, and 1000 Schema Credits for your efforts.
Everyone but, apparently, Iris received the same notification when entering the rest area. She got the same rewards for her efforts except the ascension token. Nil already knew what he was goin...
2024-12-20 19:27:30 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Any powerful sanity or Mind Magic-reliant Void Lord would have a much higher Danger Level,” Iris explained once they all settled in the rest area.
It was a palatial space with a lounge, individual rooms, a hot bath, and a fully stocked kitchen. Either the arena construct had teleported in a construction crew, or they were in a pocket dimension prior to the final showdown.
“Typically, Gold Gauntlet or higher take on suc...
2024-12-19 10:36:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
Only three Scourge Champions remained. Five had pursued Team Forge to the beacon. Selia took out one, and another fell, trying to cover their companion from Zora’s army-killing spell. The spell had enough power to level most of London. Thus far, Nil had felt underwhelmed by Zora’s performance. She excelled at sniping enemies, but all the other members of Team Forge seemed significantly more effective than her. It left him questioning the v...
2024-12-18 20:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
It was as Iris had said. On their way to the beacon, the team assaulted scuttler hives and a few ritual sites and received no points. They had no choice but to fight the Scourge team. Apparently, when Iris's companions fell, reducing their numbers from seven to five, the arena construct fused the two teams. Each group had gained a point from defeating the giant Cursed Ones the Scourge somehow brought forth from the previous sector. Iris’s te...
2024-12-17 20:41:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
Team Forge and Iris made a beeline for the beacon instead of trying to evade or hide. They needed to put as much distance between themselves and the team of five Scourge Champions that still stood. When the team departed, the Void-controlled Cursed entities outnumbered the free. Nil assumed the monsters slowed the enemy, or they intentionally stayed back to harvest and recover energy.
Iris moved almost as fast as Selia. Two of her three ...
2024-12-14 10:05:17 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Why the fuck is the intelligence so stingy?” Selia demanded.
Team Forge covered half the sector, taking out hives and Cursed Ones and exploring over and underground areas. Yet they had only earned two points. Most of them had burned through a third of their energy stores but had nothing to show for it. They now stood on a tall watchtower, scanning their surroundings.
“We don't have much of a choice.” Zora sighed, gla...
2024-12-13 17:32:48 +0000 UTC
View Post
The fifth and final sector of the Cleansing brought Team Forge back to civilization. The architecture looked more European than Indian and carried Arabic influences. The buildings also carried scorch marks and embellishments that appeared made of hardened flesh or cooled magma. Luminous flora had reclaimed a bulk of the city, making sections look like a rainforest. Then the Void had twisted it, turning some into ugly fleshy structures, while o...
2024-12-12 17:30:53 +0000 UTC
View Post
The rest of the sector blurred by. After finding no suitable sources on their way to the beacon, Team Forge settled for a hive of biomechanics. It was far larger and more densely populated than the last one they faced. However, it wasn’t much of a threat to the four as they worked together.
Team Forge’s rogue embarked on a mission to find the hive’s core, phasing through the walls to seek out what directed and commanded all t...
2024-12-12 09:44:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
