Stepping Wild, Draft 2, an Introduction (Patreon)

This will be a full rewrite of the story, as is my standard process. For those looking for the Draft 1 version, I’ve moved it lower in the list, with the other Dungeon Runner books. It will be there until draft 2 is done, at which point I will probably remove it.

Up front, I can tell you there will be additional chapters in the last quarter of the story. That section of Tibs wandering the forest, sort of going feral and not finding a dungeon? Well, there was supposed to be a dungeon there, but I couldn’t think of a way of making it…unique.

I have now thought of one, so I’ll be adding that when I get there.

Does it mean the rest of the story will be the same? In the broad strokes, yes. The second draft is primarily about adding details I forgot about in the first one because I was focused on getting the story down. Small things like the fact Tibs wears his bracers all the <bleeping> time.

Or the fact that one of Tibs problem is that when he gets angry, when he loses it, he always goes overboard. Draft one shows the ‘big ones’ but that’s not the only time Tibs goes too far because he got angry. He also does it in ‘smaller ways’ and I need to add those to the story.

Beyond that, this draft will, hopefully, make characters’ motivations clearer, add personality to people and places, and make the reading more entertaining.

For those who don’t want to read the story here, if it’s because you aren’t interested in supporting my writing, it will be up for free on Royal Road on March 3rd, about a dozen chapters behind the lowest tier here. If it’s because you don’t like being spammed with all the other stuff I post here. You can read this story on Ream Story: https://reamstories.com/fantsylvain and not be bothered by anything else

The chapters will post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, starting this coming Monday.

Here is the Blurb, as best as I can write those things. If anyone wants to offer something better, I’m always willing to listen.

It has been a couple of decades since Tibs attempted to destroy the guild, chose to save a friend, was captured, punished, rescued, and left Kragle Rock behind to regain what he’d lost.

It’s been decades of work and research, and some progress, but Tibs doesn’t have access to a dungeon.

Without a dungeon, getting stronger takes much longer. So long, in fact, that while his body grew, and he no longer looks like a child, he looks nowhere near the decades that have passed, all he accomplished over those years, is reach Rho, the way the guild measures those things. Something he did in a few years of running a dungeon…and with a bit of extra help.

It’s been decades of Tibs trying to run another dungeon, but while he can change the color of his eyes, and mask the brand, from anyone still chasing, the security around the dungeons is such that he has yet to get close without raising alarms. Even the transportation platforms are off limit because of the brand.

So it’s been decades of Tibs traveling from city to city with caravans, doing research at the academies and libraries for anything that will help him use what he has access to better. And after decades of studies, Tibs is quite good.

Which is a good thing.

After decades of travel and not being able to get into a dungeon, things are about to change.

A stop at a village far between cities come with a mystery that puts the people there in danger. Tibs’s investigation into it teaches him, again, that the guild doesn’t know everything. Those revelations open new venues for his training, but, as seems the case for Tibs, not without having to work to getting to them. Effort that seems to have caught someone’s attention.

Does the bounty hunter work for the guild, or someone else? Is she smart enough to put the pieces of what Tibs had been up to, using so many names he can’t always remember them, and stop him before he’s strong enough to get back to his goal of taking down the guild?

And how is it that essence doesn’t seem to want to get close to her?

Tibs doesn’t plan on letting her, or anyone stop him, because he’s no longer bound to Kragle Rock. Tibs is in the wilds now, and like the bards like to sing; anything can happen in the wilds.

I hope you enjoy the story, and as always, feel free to comment and give your opinions. I always enjoy them, and they are often useful