An experimental ASI with a terminal case of curiosity reached out and tampered with the universe in a way that it should not have, and unleashed a torrent of energy we would call magic into our galaxy. Humans, and every other intelligent lifeform for that matter, were ill-prepared, physically and mentally, for such an eventuality. In an effort to save itself, the ASI hastily created something it called the Framework to shape and codify this magical energy, and usher in a new world. A world of classes, levels, and extraordinary power. But also a world of monsters.

When a trio of cute goblins emerged from a silver portal that appeared out of nowhere on my property...things got a bit more complicated all of a sudden. Also, I soon discovered they bite and scratch: mostly each other, but sometimes me.

On the day of his Proving, Apprentice Summoner Samuel Eamon chooses a white rabbit as his familiar, summoning a creature from the Outer Spheres and dubbing it “Snowball.” What he gets is a shapely succubus with bunny ears and a poofy cottontail. Turns out everything he tries to summon ends up a succubus. With his new Summoner’s License, Samuel is sent with a former classmate as his escort to meet Runescribe Elantrica Ilmora—someone who just might be able to discern the truth behind his odd spin on Calling Magic.

Life sucks. Gabe Harris has been clued into this fact for a long time now. In his mid-twenties, life has been nothing but low paying jobs, petty power-tripping bosses, and the worst roommates mankind has to offer. Bills, debt, and misery have haunted him for his entire adult life and, to make matters worse, it feels like his dream of being a writer is dead on arrival. One fateful night, he decides to take control of his life and make his dream a reality.

I’ve always wanted to conquer the Big 5 dungeons ever since one of them took the life of my father nearly fifteen years ago. Nobody ever said the Path of Progression was easy, but my burning desire to dive can’t be quenched. I just never thought I’d be prohibited from getting a diving license just because I tried to help a bratty blonde girl get hers. Soon, we’re joined by a lovely brunette bookworm, and we start diving the dungeon on our own terms.

William was just a simple villager: milking cows, tending fields, and dodging his mother's wooden spoon. One night in the forbidden forest, he found himself fending off goblins with a shovel, fighting side by side with the damn prince! Next, he kneeled before the king of the realm. William had hoped for a monetary reward, not to be made a knight!

It would be an understatement to call Trevon Beaumont an accomplished monster slayer. He's traversed the European countryside upholding the legacy of his clan one completed mission at a time for the whole of his adult life. Now he's on his most perilous quest yet: slay the cruel but beautiful Countess Dracula.

Growing up, she was the girl down the street. Even then, I knew she was different. She was tough, rough, and had the strength to stop a speeding car with her bare hands. We were as thick as thieves, sharing every adventure. Then one day she revealed a secret. She wasn't from Earth. She was from a distant place called the Arcadia Multiverse. Her people lived under the rule of a god-like entity known as the System. That System had its gaze fixed on Earth. And it was only a matter of time before it came for us.

I was just a normal guy making his way in the big city—until I found myself transported to another world to train at the Alpha Warlock Academy. Not only do they want me among their ranks, but they want me to train among the most powerful of warlocks at the Academy. I've got a lot on my plate: cramming spells, training for combat, and trying not to get myself killed during my initial challenges. Fortunately, I've also got plenty of friends to help me out, including my hobgoblin neighbor and the smooth-talking genie across the hall.

Every year, the empire administers the rite of passage into adulthood. That rite serves to identify those blessed by Aether to become magi. The new magi are shipped to the academy to learn the arts of magic. The academy is a dangerous place; the tournaments held twice each year can cripple or kill the students, and the clans of the empire will go to great lengths to recruit the students they want. Gregory had one dream: to become a magi like the legends of old. Though he was ridiculed by the residents of the village and his unsupportive father, he never wavered from his dream.

My life definitely wasn’t going according to plan, but that all changed the moment I died unexpectedly. Now I’ve been reborn into the fantasy metropolis of Dragonmont City, where I get a second chance to flourish. A twist of fate brings me into contact with Paulina, the proud but troubled owner of Goblin Girl Maid Service. Together with her slightly crazy best friend Kennedi, these two insanely beautiful goblin girls are trying to get their struggling business off the ground. But the competition, in the form of bearded dwarf ladies with a serious attitude problem, has never been stiffer.

Levi Walker died by Truck-Kun and found himself reincarnated on the magical world of Taryl. With a new body comes a whole new curriculum as he's expected to enroll in the Otherworld Academy, a prestigious institute that trains magi to hone their magical prowess. If that's not enough, Levi's been sorted into the smallest house in the school, told he's a Demon Lord, and his dominant magic is beast taming. But Levi's never been one to focus on the negative. With beautiful classmates, entrancing faculty, and a very sassy squirrel at his side, he's ready to make Taryl his new home.

Suzie Samuels is the only thing standing between Clifford and his life’s work. All he has to do is change everything about her. Perception creates reality and Clifford Rutledge needs the irascible stripper to prove it.

India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who’ll accept her–an enigmatic and mysterious man from America. A man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he’s ill.

In New Orleans, a pair of undead serial killers is about to turn Mardi Gras into a horror show - unless the immortal hitman Bones can hunt them down first. From Jeaniene Frost comes a thrilling novella featuring characters from her New York Times bestselling Night Huntress series. Originally appeared in the anthology Unbound.

Everyone with the gift is going to the academy. Not me. I'll master magic my own way. School was a chore. All I wanted was to become a magus, enter the academy, and train my chosen affinity. But I didn't pass the test. They said I didn't have it in me. Years later, a run-in with a sassy goth mage named Misty revealed I could do magic. Those damn monocle-wearing pseudo-Victorians at the academy locked me out! Screw them.

Our retro-tech towns might seem idyllic, yet go beyond the arcades and coffee shops and you'll reach the danger zones roamed by bionic bots. Me? I ran a video store with my cute friend Emiko. She's always been a little different, so I had to look out for her—we usually just watched movies and played games together. One day, a suspicious pink-haired chick burst into the store, warning me not to watch a tape labeled Property of Steelheart—Do Not Watch! So obviously, I did, and a terrifying ghost crawled out of the screen.

I thought I was destined for an early grave. Apparently, fate had other plans for me. My name is Jake. After twenty-three years of life, all I have to my name is a dead-end job and an undiagnosed metabolic disorder that has the doctors baffled. Everything changed on my birthday when I found a magical key that followed me home. It led me to the Halls of Magic, a multiversal repository of arcane knowledge that will allow me the chance to cure my broken body and unlock arcane power.

Two centuries ago, the First Expansionary Fleet set off to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, hoping to explore, colonize, and conquer new worlds in the name of humanity. But when the fleet was violently and unexpectedly thrown off course, the colonists found themselves trapped in an unexplored region of the galaxy—and caught right in the middle of a bloody interstellar war. Now, after generations of relentless fighting, a tentative truce has finally ushered in an era of growth and prosperity.

Life as a blacksmith’s son was simple. Hammer steel, make deliveries, and court the cute baker down the street. My respectable future lay before me. Then, I was attacked by a giant monster. I had to fight for my life, and I won. Something awakened in me that day, something kept hidden by my father. It gave me strength, speed, and other secret powers. Before he could explain, a fist pounded on the door. It was the Knights of Elsara! Or, as the common folk called them, slayers.

My career as a realtor bored me, except for when I got to test my handyman skills. So, when I finally saved enough, I purchased the most rundown manor I could find. The problem? A few guests rest within its walls. Repairing the mansion is the challenge I craved, but a string of vandalisms keeps us on edge. Someone, or something, doesn’t want us living here. It turns out Sunnyside won’t be as peaceful as I expected.

Collected for the first and only time, are these three stories by Kirk Mason! Devour the two interconnected books A Tale of Tail Brushing and Big City Goth GF, and then chase with the standalone, Knight's Bane!

One minute I’m in a tree, pointing my camera at a tiger, the next I’m on my back in a medieval fantasy world, while a skittish blonde hovers over me, hoping I’m not dead. I’ve never felt more alive.

Levi Walker died by Truck-Kun and found himself reincarnated on the magical world of Taryl. With a new body comes a whole new curriculum as he's expected to enroll in the Otherworld Academy, a prestigious institute that trains magi to hone their magical prowess. If that's not enough, Levi's been sorted into the smallest house in the school, told he's a Demon Lord, and his dominant magic is beast taming. But Levi's never been one to focus on the negative. With beautiful classmates, entrancing faculty, and a very sassy squirrel at his side, he's ready to make Taryl his new home.

Harlen knew he was meant for more than bounty hunting on a dusty desert planet—especially since he had escaped from a crazy cult tower on Earth-2 when he was younger. Can’t forget that in a hurry. But on Caria, the hot ginger barmaid ain’t bad to look at. Life is fine for Harlen. He gets paid, he drinks. He doesn’t need to go anywhere. That was until a girl from his past shows up, and she’s glowed up. Savannah was always cute before, but now she’s got white hair and eyes, as befit the order. She’s also gotten more adept at using her powers.

A former villain is living a quiet life, hidden among the masses. Miles has one big secret: He might just be the most powerful super in existence. Those days are behind him. But when a wounded young lady unable to control her superpower needs his help, she shatters his boring life, pulling him into the one place he least expected to be—the Bureau of Superheroes.

New world. New body. Mind-blowing possibilities. Maybe this world full of jaw-droppingly beautiful women and martial arts magic is just some sort of delusion. Maybe this strong, capable body I’ve found myself in isn’t real. But if it is, then there’s a path that could lead me to everything I’ve ever desired. The training comes first.

Everything changed when I witnessed an alien crash near my home. It carried two things: a beautiful blue-skinned woman who can fly, and an artifact capable of granting superpowers. The government got the ship, I got the girl...and the power. Now men are mutating into monsters, and only I can stop them. Well, myself and a trio of superheroines created to counter me and my extraterrestrial roommate. I need to find that ship, because something worse is coming.

When Josh Underwood is thrown through a wormhole and lands on an unfamiliar world, he is immediately attacked by flesh-eating worms and snarling wolves. He has one huge advantage. A ring sits on his finger, but it's no ordinary ring. It's alien tech designed to improve its host’s strength, speed, agility, durability and combat instinct. Not all boons are infinitely wondrous. This tech has to understand what Josh needs for it to evolve, and time is of the essence.

My name is Mal, and ever since I was a boy I've been treated as a malcontent because of my ability to see magic. For everyone else, magic is proof of the Goddess's love. For me, it is just a colorful spread of enchantments, cantrips, blessings, and hexes. And any spell I can see, I can break. I had always expected to grow up to be a ditch-digger. Instead, I was dubbed a hero. Heroes are sent out in the wasteland to slay monsters and to challenge the Demon Lord.