Showing results by author "Jonathan Brooks" in All Categories

Thousands of Heroes protect the land, defending against the periodic incursions by gigantic monsters known as World Threats. This was the way it had always been and Clay Shuntwise was perfectly fine with that. Running deliveries for his family’s shop in the sleepy town of Renton, the young teenager barely even thought about Heroes and their role in keeping the world safe. That was, at least, until a World Threat came crashing down on him.

After the frightening experience involved in closing the northwestern Calamity and rescuing his friend, Larek and his companions discover that not everyone is happy about what they accomplished. Forces behind the scenes have made life difficult for the “conquering heroes”, so much so that they are forced to quickly flee the area while they continue their search for Norde. Unfortunately, once they arrive near the southeastern Calamity where Nedira’s younger brother is supposed to be, they encounter a situation that could lead to the downfall of the region, the Kingdom, and even the world.

Far in the Northern wilds where no humans regularly frequent, a young man is left alone when his parents are murdered suddenly and unexpectedly. Now, without friends, family, or even supplies, he embarks on a journey to find out who targeted his parents - and upon whom he needs to enact his revenge.

Elmer Robbins loved decorating for every holiday with his wife, Mary, by going all-out with décor at their cozy little house as well as filling his office with holiday cheer. But, when his beloved Mary passed away unexpectedly the year before, it became difficult for Elmer to summon the same sort of enthusiasm in decorating for all of the holidays without her beside him. However, due to an accident at work, Elmer’s soul is transported to a strange world, where it inhabits an even stranger object called a "Dungeon Core".

All that Tacca Gloom Lily ever wanted to be since she was very little was a fairy assistant to a Dungeon Core. After her negatively portentous birth, however, she was never fully accepted by her superstitious peers and instructors at the Dungeon Assistant Preparatory School; nevertheless, she persisted in her studies and graduated at the top of her class. Unfortunately for her, the “hands-on” training she was supposed to receive from a Mentor and his Bonded Dungeon Core didn’t go the way she would’ve hoped.

Milton Frederick was arguably the best player of Crowned Lieges of Destiny in the entire world. As the strategy coordinator for one of the top guilds, he was beginning to actually make a living from it. That was, until he was abducted by aliens. Severely damaged and confused about what happened to him, he woke up to find himself trapped inside a massive chicken egg on a strange, primitive world filled with curious - and deadly - creatures. Now, in order to survive, Milton has to rely on a snarky, foul-mouthed AI guide to show him what it means to be a Station Core.

Cadence was born with a previously unknown disability that prevented her from being able to communicate verbally or through the use of sign language, though it didn’t prevent her from using the written word. Regardless of the challenges she faced through her short life, she persevered and started her first year at college, rooming with her best friend Jill.

In search for the townspeople of Gatecross and his Core Power Guild, Fred and his friends wind up in the city of Allroads - where they find more than they bargained for. After successfully breaking them all out of prison using his special abilities and creating a small dungeon underneath the city, his activity unfortunately gained the attention of the elemental Dungeon Core factions surrounding the large valley where the city is located.

Milton Frederick never had the chance to live out his life as a professional gamer on Earth, mainly because he was abducted by aliens. Unfortunately, he wasn’t returned home after the typical probing associated with such things to tell an unbelievable story to his friends. Instead, he was summarily killed and his consciousness was inserted into a Station Core, a giant, metal, egg-shaped object that could use technology to create traps, Combat Units, and other defenses to protect not just himself, but those he cared about.

Clive Logan is a serial killer; or, to be more accurate, Clive Logan was a serial killer. Caught after a record-breaking streak of murders, he was executed by lethal injection by the state, while thousands of his victims' grieving family members watched. That should’ve been the end of his emotionless and unfeeling existence - but it wasn’t.

With the help of an unlikely ally, Fred has secretly obtained access to all seven elements for his Core without the Supreme Council of Dungeon Cores’ knowledge; Fire, Water, Nature, Earth, Dark, Light, and Air are now technically at his disposal. However, despite having access to them all, he finds himself behind enemy lines without the use of any but Light and Air due to his temporary Core he had created back in his dungeon.

Throughout the Kingdom, Defenders constantly fight against incursions of dungeon monsters rampaging over the border the Kingdom shares with the Wildlands. To keep the danger to their citizens low, they periodically sweep through these untamed areas filled with natural beasts and roaming dungeon monsters, destroying as many Dungeon Cores as they can find. Tempara was practically a newborn when Defenders from the Kingdom snatched her away, only to be forced to watch in horror as tragedy fell upon the rest of her pack.

Sandra had been a merchant traveling through the human lands of Muriel, though that wouldn’t have been her chosen profession. What she would’ve loved to become was a crafter, producing wondrous creations with her own two hands. Unfortunately, Sandra was born with a deformity in her hands that made them appear frozen in a claw-like pose; as a result, she couldn’t grip anything with any sort of strength or dexterity, meaning that she wasn’t able craft anything but the most simple of things that required very little in the way of hand-based manipulation.

Tacca GloomLily wasn’t sure how she had barely survived a sudden invasion by the mysterious and deadly six-armed, blue-skinned figures...but survive she did. After the synergy explosion that destroyed her Core, the dungeon fairy-turned-dungeon core needs to rebuild everything from the ground up. Thankfully, with no nearby Raider presence, she’ll not only be able to reconstruct her original dungeon section, but she’ll also be able to finish the new section she had been working on when she had been so rudely interrupted.

Milton and his crew miraculously managed to destroy yet another Stabilizing Anchor in a different dimension, freeing the people there from the threat of the Heliothropes that sought to invade. Their success wasn’t just in the form of stopping the enemy, however, as they also gained a new ally.

Reborn into the brand new and unfamiliar form of a Dungeon Core, Clay struggles through learning more about Heroes and the dungeons they delve through to get stronger. According to the guide that was trying to help him understand his new life, Clay should already know most of what he needed to succeed; all of the finer parts regarding the relationship between Heroes and dungeons should be common knowledge. The problem? Despite wishing that he had been that lucky in his past life, Clay had never been a Hero…but now he might be forced to become one.

Elmer Robbins loved decorating for every holiday with his wife, Mary, by going all out with décor at their cozy little house as well as filling his office with holiday cheer. But when his beloved Mary passed away unexpectedly the year before, it was difficult for Elmer to summon the same sort of enthusiasm in decorating for all of the holidays without her beside him.

The Heliothropes have opened up another dimensional wound, and now it’s up to Milton and his crew to locate the Stabilizing Anchor holding the wound open and destroy it before the connection between two dimensions stabilizes completely. It should be fairly easy, as they had done the same thing on Sandra’s planet, but there’s a problem.

Marstin Hardgrove was orphaned at a young age, forced to live on the streets, and needed to turn to thievery to survive. When a special job assigned to him by the Thieves’ Guild went awry, the guild leadership punished him with a beating, compelled him to eat dirt and rocks to soothe his hunger, and left him to die in an abandoned mine. Unbeknownst to the young thief, when he was forced to eat that handful of dirt and rocks…he also ended up swallowing a tiny dungeon crystal.

Fred did something bad. He didn’t intend to do it, but the destruction of a dungeon core - accident or otherwise - will likely result in horrific consequences for anyone connected with the crime. And not for just the perpetrators; everyone around them will suffer vengeful retribution from the nearby cores for the unthinkable act. Knowing that his mistake will end up endangering his new friends, the townspeople of Gatecross, and even his Guild, Core Power, Fred decides to do whatever he can to protect them.