The first finished crossbow shone in the light of the flames as Rags lifted it and stared down at the deadly weapon.
Garen looked disapproving,
but he liked to fight up close and personal.
Garen looked disapproving;
he liked to fight up close and personal.
He saw a cheap tool,
they would have done better to be standing around Erin.
Ryoka had seen her take down both the Silver-rank and give all the others several good punches and she barely had a scratch on her.
Ryoka had seen her take down the Silver-rank and give all the others several good punches and she barely had a scratch on her.
Miss Griffin.
You can’t just start fights in this city.
”
You can’t just start fights in this city.”
Now Venitra waited for her glorious creator to finish her work,
Now Venitra waited for her glorious creator to finish his work,
half dreading what he would say when he learned of her failure,
Az’kerash’s face twisted with sudden fury.
Venitra knelt in fear as he paced back in forth in front of her,
Venitra knelt in fear as he paced back and forth in front of her,
magical robe bursting into fragments of shadow where it touched the ground.
That nightmare took my great grandmother’s entire life to sort out and we can’t have it now.
At least we know it isn’t Lord Tyron’s doing.”
At least we know it isn’t Lord Tyrion’s doing.”
“Even with two brains,
Tyron’s sense of honor wouldn’t allow him to use [Assassins].
Tyrion’s sense of honor wouldn’t allow him to use [Assassins].
No,
Theofore didn’t know it was a tea cup,
but did inspire him to run even faster.
but it did inspire him to run even faster.
He was vaulting over the wall of the estate grounds before the last of the glass had even finished shattering on the ground.
all their long days of feuding with the Halfseekers and the other adventuring groups to deal with the Antinium and be the first into the dungeon had come to this.
For a while it had truly felt like Halrac and the others were at the center of all the drama in Liscor as they bullied and bribed their way to this point.
For a while it had truly felt like Halrac and the others were at the center of all the drama in Liscor as they bullied and bribed their way to this point.
Halrac still had a bad taste in his mouth from dealing with the Antinium and that irritable Watch Captain every single day.
In terms of seniority,
she was by far the most inexperienced Gold-rank adventurers,
she was by far the most inexperienced Gold-rank adventurer,
as well as the youngest.
It was common practice for some Silver and Gold-rank teams to send in inexperience adventurers to soften up monsters or clear out traps and assess a dungeon.
It was common practice for some Silver and Gold-rank teams to send in inexperienced adventurers to soften up monsters or clear out traps and assess a dungeon.
As a [Scout],
They stood or sat as they preferred on the soft,
elongated chairs that Drakes preferred in the room they had chosen to judge his testimony.
elongated chairs that Drakes liked in the room they had chosen to judge his testimony.
Wall Lord Ilvriss was standing next to him,
He had been waiting patiently throughout the day,
but now it seemed his patience would reward himself.
but now it seemed his patience would be rewarded.
But having completed his latest set of battles,
Niers had been looking forwards to playing several games.
Niers had been looking forward to playing several games.
Instead,
She stared at the man and woman .They stared back.
She stared at the man and woman.
They stared back.
Slowly,
The scents of spilled beer and cooked food filled her senses,
along with the unpleasant odors of sweat and throw up.
along with the unpleasant odors of sweat and vomit.
She stopped breathing so deeply.
End of Volume 2.
End of Volume 2.
And here we are again.
It’s been a long journey friends,
and I think it might be longer than any of us had anticipated at the beginning.
Are you still with me?
It’s an interesting thing,
ending a book,
or volume in this case.
Did any of you predict this would be the chapter it happened?
It might feel abrupt to you all,
but I felt like this might have been a good time to do so.
I could have ended this story with Ryoka meeting Az’kerash,
or after the Goblin Lord attacked.
I could have ended it with her reaching Erin’s inn again,
or after the healing process had begun,
or even when Erin disappeared with Toren carrying her off into the snows.
Or as Ryoka was about to meet Teriarch again.
Or after Erin met Magnolia.
All those spots were good.
But this felt to me like the best spot.
Now Erin’s out of her inn,
for the first time ever.
Goblins are on the loose,
everyone’s got secret plans and goals,
and this world feels way bigger than before.
Way bigger.
I mean,
seriously.
This volume has expanded Innworld a huge amount,
and I can’t help feel happy and nervous about that.
More people and characters mean richer interactions and a better plot,
but it does put more pressure on me as an author.
Interestingly,
I just read an interview with Robin Hobb about this very issue.
She spoke of the trap fantasy authors fall into,
where they build a huge world and watch it go crashing down because they can’t manage the world they’ve created.
Will that happen with me and this story?
I dunno.
I’d hate to go the way of the Name of the Wind series and to a lesser extent the Game of Thrones series (and even Half-Life 3)
and stagnate due to the pressure and complicated plot web.
But then again,
I have an advantage all these other stories do not;
I am writing a web serial,
so I deliver regular chunks of information to you all without the need to make it into a book or wrap this up in a time frame.
My only restriction is whether or not you’ll read what I’m writing.
Honestly,
I can’t believe anyone’s still with me after all of this.
The path we’re walking has gone astray,
dear readers.
We abandoned the simple road of dirt I cleared in my head a long time ago.
The plot I set out has grown complex,
and now we’re venturing into the deep forest,
with branching paths and new people and ideas popping out at each step.
But,
believe it or not,
we’re still following the general outline I laid out at the very start.
The big things are still the same,
and I’m advancing towards them slowly but surely.
That’s the theme of this volume.
Everything becomes wider than the narrow worldview of the first,
and with that new horizon comes my pledge to write as best I can without creating something that will drag on too long or become boring.
There is an ending to this story,
and I will walk towards it (or run if you all get bored).
Do forgive the wordiness.
As you might have noticed,
it’s my feature and also my flaw.
But I get to pontificate because this is the end of a volume and I deserve a chance to talk,
darn it.
And tell you all how awesome you are.
Let’s go back to the start of this year,
or even the start of this volume.
Honestly,
I wasn’t in a good place at that time,
either in my head or work.
I was working a part-time job as you might have known,
and at times I felt like the sheer physical aspect of it would overwhelm me when I added the burden of writing a long chapter twice a week to it.
Too,
I hated working part-time.
I just wanted to write,
and being self-employed was my dream.
A distant dream,
I felt.
Back then I had no money in my Patreon,
and my story was getting maybe 500 unique visitors a day on my best day.
But I had a dream and I made myself a goal,
which I even posted on this site.
I said I’d become self-employed in the year and thought it would be the challenge of a lifetime.
I did the internal calculations and said to myself that I could keep working my hard part-time job and writing with the rest of my time.
I could use up all the energy I had stored up,
but if I didn’t become self-employed by December of 2017,
I’d probably collapse.
I was burning out,
and this was my hope.
And then,
five or six months later I realized my goal.
I quit my job,
and now I’m feeling better.
Not amazing.
Not yet,
but better each day.
That doesn’t mean I do backflips out of bed and have a huge smile every day;
like all things I have my ups and down and some nights,
like tonight,
I’m up past 2 AM writing to finish a chapter.
But I enjoy it.
I like my new lifestyle,
and I like this.
That’s why I have to thank you all,
readers who donate,
but even the readers who just read.
You are the reasons I keep going,
and each comment,
each donation,
or even each set of silent eyes helps me out.
I hope I can continue writing and earning money for a while,
but I’m grateful just for this.
Now,
here’s where I get greedy.
If you liked this story,
please consider sharing it or recommending it to friends or on a site with people who might like this story if it’s not too much work for you.
I always make this appeal at the end of a volume,
frankly because I hate to self-promote and I wouldn’t trust me because I’m the author and I’m a biased source.
And you all can do it better.
If you don’t feel like doing that,
it’s fine.
I’m happy where I am.
But I do hope you comment if you think something horrible (in a friendly manner,
let’s not be rude to anyone),
or just comment if you like something.
And I hope to keep entertaining you with this wild story,