thevagrantcrusader

Side Project

I'm trying to work on LGIC, but sometimes I just need to work on something else. I'm letting you guys decide which of these I work on.

If you go read the chapters I put up, it should be pretty clear what these are about, but here's some extra context:

A Man Burned is a bit Nordic in nature, and is somewhat inspired by my newfound love for Skyrim. I also semi-recently watched through Goblin Slayer Abridged, so there's some from that too. Effectively, it's about a regular dude who <...

Redux Online Prologue (Titles In Progress)

Option 2

We saw it coming, but there was nothing we could do.

After centuries of pollution and climate change, the world started to shift.

Long ago, when plants began to grow on land, the oxygen content of the atmosphere saw a drastic uptick. The world had evolved, but with evolution comes change, and sometimes we aren’t ready for it. 

Eighty percent of all life on Earth died during that period, known as the Late Ordivician mass extinction.

A Man Burned Chapter 1 (Titles In Progress)

Option 1.

The soft sound of chirping birds filtered into his ears from the window, pulling his attention away from his breakfast.

Ulfleif “Wolf” Gray’s life was relatively simple. Like his father, and his father's father, he was a lumberjack. His family had been the founders of the village, and technically owned all the land in and around it, though nobody seemed to respect the claim anymore, at least until the end of the harvest season. Then they all fo...

(LG:IC) Chapter 34: Ah Yes, The Negotiator

Welcome to Chapter 1 of A Lich's Guide to Interdimensional Conquest, the sequel to Dungeon Mastery! Sorry for the long wait- I'll be taking a "break" this next month but I plan to put stuff up anyways, meaning anyone currently subscribed will just get a free month of what will hopefully be a bit of content.

I was trying to talk to publishers and get with someone before getting too deep into book 2 but it didn't work out, so now I'm just gonna go.

This chapter's a lit...

Astaliar 1: The Brotherhood of Mana

Astaliar itched at his right arm– at least, the withered husk that once was a right arm arm.

When he first saw it, the young man thought that he would have to lose his arm. He was relieved when the healers told him that he could keep it.

Then they’d elaborated, and the color had drained from his face.

The invasion of foreign, hostile space magic that carried a hint of Necrosis with it had rendered his arm completely unhealable. Even the most talented sp...

Esheth 2: A Slight Trembling

The sage gently stirred the potent concoction within the specially-made device. He poured himself a cup and gingerly sipped at the still-hot liquid.

While many others he knew had moved past the art of tea brewing for the convenience of coffee, he was old enough to remember its significance. Once, it had been considered a magical fluid and was used sparingly, and mostly as a part of special ceremonies, such as a young man’s coming of age.

It had later been concluded that...

(LG:DM) Azrael 3: Pulled

A/N: Triple posts today, but they'll all be a bit shorter than usual.

Azrael stared into the distance with a look of concern on her face. It felt like she’d forgotten something and needed to go find it, but she knew she hadn’t. She’d already checked twice, but that nagging feeling just wouldn’t–

The beast she was fighting bellowed in rage and charged her, pulling her out of her thoughts yet again. Its body was stocky, wide, and gray, with a single horn on its ...

(LG:DM) Chapter 33: Redesigns

A/N: This is the last Seif chapter in Book 1! I should have the last few Interludes up in the next day or two, and then... well, then it'll be time for Book 2, won't it?

I hope you're all just as excited for A Lich's Guide to Interdimensional Conquest as I am.

There had been a lot of improvements in the way I did things over the months that I’d been working on my tower, and now there were a lot of things that were outdated.

One thing in particular tha...

(LG:DM) Chapter 32: Playing With Balls

A/N: ඞ

I internally grinned at the orb hovering in front of me, then at the wand in my hand.

Well, okay, less “wand,” more control stick for my new weapons, but it was more fun to think of it as a magic stick.

I’d decided to call them Runic Detonators because, well, they exploded, and they used. Pretty simple. Not all that different from Enchanted Orbs, but more specific and cooler.

I was currently outside my tower, standing on a hill a few miles awa...

(LG:DM) Chapter 31: Remote Control Magic

A/N: This had a funnier name but I'll be using that for next chapter instead.

When I got back to the top of my tower, the Energized Intent had carved away enough metal that I could make out the shapes of the runes I wanted to use for my project.

I spent a moment inspecting the shapes that had been carved into the plates and concluded that the little cuts that the intent carved into them were actually tiny segments of the rune they were trying to form. Then, I guess the ...

(LG:DM) Chapter 30: Taking Offense

A/N: Idk if I cut this one short or not. Feels kinda weird at the end.

I’d returned to Kelemnion, this time to look for some way for me to actually attack.

I skipped past all the books about demons, eldritch entities, and other stuff that would probably kill me before it managed to do anything to my enemies.

There were two kinds of “Forbidden” offensive magic. The first was the kind that was forbidden because it was morally questionable or extre...

(LG:DM) Chapter 29: The Secrets of Inscriptions

A/N: 👀 2 Chapters and an Interlude over the span of two days? No way. That can't be my Vagrant Crusader. Nuh uh.

My shoulders slumped a bit in relief. I had plenty of time left to go.

It had started to feel like I wasn’t making much progress, but I knew that was just in my head. The new floors should help keep anyone who wants to kill me from just charging their way through. Of course, I still had a huge number of Antigo troops at my disposal, but...

(LG:DM) Azrael 2: Just Chatting

A/N: This is a pretty short interlude, but I wanted to show an interaction between Seif and Azrael from a perspective that's closer to her own. What do we think?

Ambrose suddenly stepped through a portal in front of her, and she gave him a look.

The Lich rubbed the back of his skull sheepishly. “My bad? I was designing floors and a boss, and got distracted.”

A moment passed, and then Azrael gave him a nod. “You can do your own thing, I just want you...

(LG:DM) Chapter 28: Carnic, the Feaster Bunny

A/N: Not sure about the quality of this one. It was written over the span of many writing sessions. You'll have to let me know if you find any inconsistencies.

This chapter is 4,057 words, and ended up being just 121 short of The Big 100k. Next chapter will be an interlude, so we'll hit it with that one.

First of all, I pushed away all thoughts of making something horrific. That could come later. My first focus was to make a humanoid rabbit that was still super cute and...

(LG:DM) Chapter 27: Space Magic is A-MAZE-ing

A/N: I'm not sure I'm happy with one of the system messages in this chapter. You'll know it when you see it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

After helping Fenrir out with his new hobby, I turned my attention to the next set of floors above him. With new knowledge about my runic capabilities, I was curious of what exactly I could accomplish. New trap ideas flooded through my mind, and I had the perfect way to test them all out.

A labyrinth. 2024-01-08 01:13:19 +0000 UTC View Post

(LG:DM) Chapter 26: Test Drive

“Wow, I–” Azrael clenched her gauntleted hand contemplatively– “really hate it.”

My jaw dropped. Literally. I had to pick it up off the floor.

Azrael burst out laughing from my display of shock, and barely managed to restrain herself enough to get out, “I– I was kidding, Ambrose!”

She took another moment to get all of the giggles out, then continued, “It's very impressive. I have no clue how you managed to do this. Thank you.”

Her han...

(LG:DM) Chapter 25: Magic Smithing

Days. It had taken days to figure out how to reliably transmute objects. Apparently I’m way too distractible for this sort of garbage.
It had taken another day to figure out what to use.
Eventually, though, I’d had a sort of realization when looking for metals to use in the design. I’d found aluminum, and realized that it actually had a greater tensile strength for its weight, and I could always just bind multiple copies of the gear together and have them build on each other.
I...

(LG:DM) Chapter 24: Coding and Getting Scolded

“I believe that you have yet to examine the memories you gained from absorbing the Ordinance rune in depth?”

My mind froze in place. Frick. I hadn’t done that, had I?

“No, I have not. I'll rectify that right now.”

“Ah, no! Master, I can explain the situation. Ordinance inscriptions have two primary effects. The first, as I'm sure you're aware, is to add rules to the area, such as making air toxic, stopping water from freezing or fire from burning, haltin...

(14,814) Step 12.1

“Ah, Lars! There you are!” The woman– I’m just gonna call her Lady Cevan for now– proclaimed.

A series of individuals enter behind the middle-aged man, and she introduces me to each in turn. “This is Marquess Gensin Exandris, son of Duke Hevard Exandris.” The first man gives me a tired smile and tilts his head. Not knowing the proper etiquette, I respond with a full bow.

Lady Cevan gives me a happy smile, so I'll have to assume I got that right. Neat.

“This,�...

(LG:DM) Fenrir 1: Overlooked

A/N: A bit shorter than other chapters, but it is and interlude. We'll also have another coming up soonish, from Esheth, but we'll tinker around with the stuff from this chapter first.

If the beast was being perfectly honest, he didn’t really need the silly spellbook his sire was crafting for him. He would use it, of course, if just to please his lord, but…

Fenrir punched forward at the lunging Nailwolf and a bolt of black lightning erup...

(14,814) Steps 10-12

A/N: Whoops! Forgot to put one up yesterday.

When I rise from my slumber, I'm not on a beach anymore. In fact, I'm on a solid-stone floor. The why for my situation is answered straight away.

[Quest Complete!]

A mind needs rest. Constant, relentless effort shows determination, but one must know to take breaks.

+1 to all Matrices.

+1 Level.

Skill: [Meditation]

[Transporting User: Xan Kim to The Tenth ...

(14,814) Steps 7-9

When my vision returns to me, I immediately spot an overturned carriage and a couple handfuls of men fighting, some trying to bar the path to the carriage and other trying to break through them.

The knightly attire of the guardians and look of the aggressors tells me what's going on straight away.

[The Seventh Step: Save the Princess]

And that just confirms it for me.

I pull Nadir from my back, happy to see that she's still there, and rush forward...

(LG:DM) Chapter 23: Fenrir, the Lord of Nails

I quickly stripped my creations for parts, laying all the different pieces I’d be needing out separately. The Arachnomicon bits were left separate, since I’d need to refashion that much later. For now, I started manipulating the bones of the Nailwolves.

My other creations had taught me that it was best to make a rough bone structure and only then coat it in muscle, like I was giving the skeleton a flesh mech. Following that same principle here, I fused the bones together but tried t...

(14,814) Step 6.1

Feeling extremely conflicted, I rushed to catch up to the rest of the party. They stopped and manhandled me to get my new armor equipped. I paid as much attention to the process as I could, knowing that I'd have to do it on my own at some point.
It turned out that Kelsh had also thrown in a back strap for the glaive– Nadir. I should probably remember that name, it seems important. She felt heavy in my hands, and the armor felt uncomfortable, like I’d strapped a bunch of pillows to my ...

(14,814) Steps 4-6

A/N: This encompasses the first part of Step 6, the rest will be in the next chapter.

[Transporting User: Xan Kim to The Fourth Step.]

Name: Xan Kim

Title: [Successor of 14,814 Steps (4)] (Upgradeable)

Level: 1 (/4)

Class: N/A

Might: 4 (7) +

Mobility: 4 (8) +

Mind: 4 (6) +

Magic: 4 (7) +

Matrix Points: 2

Traits: [Inheritance], [Succession]

Powers: [Self-Healing] Level 1, [Unkillable] Level...

(14,814) Steps 1-3

A/N: I asked one of your member and have been convinced to post this. You may kowtow before me 14 times for my generosity.

“Xan, are you coming?” My friend, Josh, anxiously calls out from the door.

“Of course,” I reply with a wide grin, stepping up beside him. “I wouldn't miss this for the world.”

The two of us are headed to the coast on a “special training mission” with our track team. At least, that's how the coach had sold it to the f...

Sneak Peek at 14,814

“Xan, are you coming?” My friend, Josh, anxiously calls out from the door.

“Of course,” I reply with a wide grin, stepping up beside him. “I wouldn't miss this for the world.”

The two of us are headed to the coast on a “special training mission” with our track team. At least, that's how the coach had sold it to the faculty. In reality, we'd probably just run around on the beach and hang out all week.

Josh swung by to make sure I get to school on time, since h...

Chapter 22: Inscriptions

I pulled myself out of the Loci Server, and was glad to see that I hadn’t simply discorporated, and was still in the megalibrary. I suppose my bodies falling apart wasn’t really a thingI had to worry about anymore, since the bodies I connected to weren’t actually storing my consciousness, but rather acted as a conduit for it.

I thought over the image I’d been shown and the knowledge that had been installed into my brain. It was an inscription, which was sorta like a run...

Chapter 21: A Rubber Room With Rats

Obviously, figuring out how my new Repository worked was at the top of my list. It was my brain, after all, and would also dictate how I’d control my body. Well, bodies.

I returned my mind to its natural resting place and felt a shift in my gem. I let the change take place, then looked out into my influence, finding that my body hadn't disintegrated like it usually did. It was instead bound to me by a small thread of Mentum, reinforced by Forbodum.

When I concentrated o...

(LG:DM) Chapter 20: Crazy or Crazy, Pick Your Poison

In the middle of beating me up for absolutely no justifiable reason, Azrael’s nigh-invisibility flickered and cut out. She had an ugly expression, and it was pretty obvious that she was getting a headache from lack of Mentum. I took the opportunity to check my Phylactery, and silently rejoiced when I found that I no longer needed to allow Azzy to kick my butt all around my tower.

Seif Ambrose

Spatial Lich 5 (Max, Specialization Available)

Phylactery 5 (Max)

• Und...
  2023-10-31 05:21:53 +0000 UTC View Post