Arthur Stone

War has come to the steppe, and it doesn't look like it's going away. A surprise attack left the enemy humbled and made them shy away from their own shadows. The aggressors are not in a hurry; they are just getting comfortable in their new territory and amassing reinforcements for their new...

The enemy is strong. There are a lot of them, and they are pressing the attack forward. Me, I don't have enough supplies and weapons for my army. Heck, I don't even have an army to speak of. Corruption is rampant, the government is in free fall, and rioting mobs run free. Thievery is rampant to...

Imagine a warm, beautiful country populated by friendly and happy people who live in harmony under a true democratically elected government. In a feudal world dominated by a small cohort of ruthless nobles, that would indeed be a bright spot, right? It sure would—except keep dreaming, folks...

For two years, I have been thinking of this place and how to get here. Every step in my grand masterplan was but a waystation en route to the main prize: the door. And what a special door it is! Behind it lies what will not only make me strong, but put me at the very top of this world...or at...

So you want a brilliant cut for your rough diamond? In that case, you should get on with the cutting! That’s how I found myself looking for a suitable lapidarist. Since I was anything but your run-of-the-mill little rock, the master crafter also had to be special. The one fitting the bill...

I had a plan; a good one that I thought through really well. But it only took a single cunning dwarf accompanied by two goons to force me into acting earlier than I’d planned to. Before I can complete, all my preparations, all my plans, need revision in face of a bunch of unpleasant surprises...

Some say these lands are the most dangerous in the entire North. The Grove is a perilous wound on the face of the planet, home to the most fearsome creatures in all of Rock. Death himself has trod these paths, leaving in his wake freakish mutants who still bear within themselves a piece of his...

An unexpected roadmap—or better yet, a book—makes looking for treasure so much easier. Reading into it what the authors have never even thought about makes for a welcome bonus. These are all but lucky waystations on my journey to the doorsteps of this world's greatest mystery. There's a...

Some things cannot be bought for cash. Not even a pot of gold would buy you those coveted tally marks on the blackboard. Rumor has it that this year's leaders will receive an unusual reward from the Emperor himself. The exact nature of that reward is a mystery to everyone. What is absolutely...

Targets come in all kinds. Some fall prey to those holding a gun for the first time. Others cannot be defeated even by the most experienced shooters in the world, unless their luck comes to save the day. Cheater’s accuracy is unparalleled, and Lady Luck is on his side. He has all the marks of...

A wilderness so bare, the sight of a cactus is cause for rejoicing. A place where each step is a challenge to stay alive, a growing summons to howl in pain or perish from thirst. On his shoulders, he carries a heavy rifle that digs into his burned flesh. Worse still is his load of loot. In mass...

I should not exist. All children like me are stillborn, or die in infancy. Those who cannot grow stronger, die. No empty child has ever reached a year of age, yet I am now 13. It has been a long and miserable 13 years, where the best I can manage to do is walk with difficulty. Sometimes, I...

At first, stories of Cheater caused nothing but laughter and rolled eyes. As the months went on, however, the tales became more terrific - and more terrifying. Now, Cheater the Lovestruck Loser has become Cheater the Lucky Legend. He never misses. He can never be held captive. And his luck never...

You are no one. Level zero. Empty of mind and memory. Even your past has been stripped from your brain by the inscrutable System. A long, difficult road lies between you and remembering any part of who you are. A road punctuated with one death after another. You are too puny to survive by might...

The Continent is full of all kinds of places, and in some, fear rules every corner. Approaching the worst of these places is beyond the stomachs of most men and women. Entering and crossing them? Even fewer would dare that. And they would only do so with an experienced team or a heavily armored...

The System is generous. Not with presents, but with predicaments. Cheater now has a straightforward goal, or so it seems to him. To everyone else, his endeavor sounds suicidal for a high-level veteran, never mind a newcomer whose intellect is still shackled by the System. Cheater sees only one...

The Challenge continues, and there is no end in sight to the bloodletting. It doesn't matter whether you are a "Brahmin" or a disenfranchised piece of meat, a popular top dog or the lowliest loser. You still don't know squat, and if anything, the questions just keep piling up. Yet, the new tier...

They plucked him out of his own familiar world to kill him with extreme prejudice. This is what always happens to those who are just food in the bowl for someone with a better luck. But consider yourself warned: he is a very special food - the kind that eats you right back. Think again whether...

Der Trial geht weiter und wer hinter dem endlosen Blutvergießen steht, ist immer noch ein Rätsel. Es spielt keine Rolle, ob du einer Kaste angehörst...

Er wurde aus seiner bekannten Welt herausgerissen, um ihn brutal umzubringen. Er sollte das Schicksal all derer teilen, die nur Futter waren...