tobiasbegley

Future Poll and Announcement.

So, something I've been seriously thinking about is putting up very rough draft chapters of The Abjurer on patreon. 

Partly this will serve as a kick in the pants, to make sure I keep up with my writing. I've got the type of ND where a deadline helps me, so giving myself the deadline i...

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirty-Nine

The following morning, Ed managed to drag himself out of bed early to show me the plant that he’d mentioned the night before. To my surprise, it was well off the beaten path.

First, we headed to a garden that was on the other side of the city.

“Why were you all the way out here?�...

Mission Selection

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirty-Eight

I took the long way, walking all the way out to the library, and got Alvaro after asking around with the librarian at the front desk, who called him down.

When he saw me, he froze for a second, frowned, then smiled and nodded his head over to the plush leather seats near the fire. I followe...

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirty-Seven

I tapped into the sketch I’d made and copied Briarthreads, then pulled them back. Mallory’s eyes widened, and she glanced at her claws, then at me.

Then I smashed into her with Briarthreads, pouring the last dregs of my life mana into the attack.

The sharp edges of the briars dug ...

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirty-Six

“It’s one to one, now,” Ed said.

“Hold on,” I said. “I think that she’s listening to us somehow. Maybe using her Werewolf Senses? She was prepared for the strategy of blitz attacking her and going in physically, and wasn’t thrown off by my enhanced body.”

“Why don�...

Poll Time

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirty-Five

Mallory froze as enchantments flared, third gate abnegation spells swirling through the room and wiping out her spells as well as Malachi’s.

As the judge floated down, Malachi walked over and sent the strange gourd he’d used into his personal pocket space, and then nodded to her.

...

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirty-Four

Fortune had carried me this far, and it had done right by me.

Resolve was a maybe, but if I was being honest, I would rather step aside and lose the duel than have to be horribly mutilated in order to win, and that was true overall. I’d push myself. I enjoyed pushing myself. But I hadn’...

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirty-Three

The next two weeks were my introduction into what Ed affectionately called torment training.

Each day, Meadow, Ed, and Liz sparred with me until I was out of mana, pushing my combat skills hard. Ed also insisted on taking me to the gym to work out physically, which was terrible.

When ...

Poll time

This is meant to be kind of mystery and very metaphoric, so there's a limited amount I can say about the meaning behind each of these. They have a meaning, though. 

None of the quests are going to be fillable before the duel (the following day), but they represent a future power up he ...

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirty-Two

“I’ve got two weeks to prepare for the duel,” I told my small circle of support the following day.

My dad wasn’t there – I’d told him, and he’d disapproved, but told me that it was my life in the end.

But Meadow, Ed, and Liz were all there. I’d wanted Kene to be there,...

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirty-One

“Fine, I’ll accept your duel,” I said aloud, taking care to keep my words and thoughts separate.

Internally, I told Aerde that I wasn’t going to be maiming or killing Mallory. Aerde sent an impression of Orykson’s dissatisfaction with that, but I ignored it.

Mallory was a pa...

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirty

The next intermission went by with nothing of note, and the third of the four sections of the auction began. This one was dedicated to magical items, and there was absolutely nothing I could afford. A few growth items came up for sale, but nothing that was remotely affordable to me, and while Ory...

Poll Time!

The Second Gate: Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Our first item up for auction today, as well as the theme for the first part of the acution… Art! This lovely painting is a genuine Euade DeRoset, who needs no introduction, enchanted to draw the eye of all who come within proximity of it!” Sin said, and I immediately tuned him out.

...

The Second Gate: Chapter Twenty-Eight

“I’ll go,” I said, and Orykson nodded.

“You have ten minutes to get ready. I would recommend you wear your suit, as this is a largely formal event.”

“I thought you said it was hosted by the Ghost Market!” I protested as I shoved a croissant into my mouth.

“I said...

Go to the ghost market auction?

The Second Gate: Chapter Twenty-Seven

I paused and took a deep breath before I nodded.

“Alright. The truth is, I just feel… Directionless.”

Ikki nodded, saying nothing.

“Once I finish my Beast Mage’s Soul and Magister’s Body spells, I’m going to be on the path to transition,” I said. “But what do I...

The Second Gate: Chapter Twenty-Six

I spent the rest of the day working on healing potions, with Kene supervising me for a while until I got the process down, and then they left me so that they could tend to the store more closely.

By the time dinner rolled around, I’d managed to make four additional healing potions, all of...

The Second Gate: Chapter Twenty-Five

I considered for a very long moment, before a thought popped into my brain. Offering to link Dusk and Kene wasn’t just giving us a way to share plants and to more easily visit one another.

No, it was a pretty serious, permanent commitment, and was almost akin to asking him to move in with...

Short Story: Fish Boi

This short story is set 10 years before Mana Mirror, in Daocheng.

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A fist impacted Chen Liyu's stomach, surging with mid-first gate wood aspected chi, and he was sent sailing backwards through the air as he scrambled to keep his water armor intact.

Sailing thro...

Vote time!

The Second Gate: Chapter Twenty-Four

The fungal small folk – which I decided to mentally shrorten to fungal folk – led us over a wardline and into a small fungal village.

Rather than being clustered around a pool, like the bwbatch and pixie village had been, the fungal folk’s village was centered around a single giant mu...

The Second Gate: Chapter Twenty-Three

One person who reads this series has privately expressed an issue with fungi, and the next two chapters contain a lot of mushrooms, so this is a CW for fungus
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“By all means, point the way,” I told her.

Dusk led us to a small patch of the garden that I hadn’...

The Second Gate: Chapter Twenty-Two

Dusk considered it for longer than I expected, taking the decision more seriously than usual. Finally, she let out a long, complex streamlike sound, saying she wanted us to go in, but she also wanted to catch up to us, and that she was afraid if she didn’t eat it, she wouldn’t be able to.

What does Dusk do?

The Second Gate: Chapter Twenty-One

I chased the blink fox through the forest as it played with me, and slowly I hammered out an understanding of the fox, its mana, and – at least an attempt at – the spell it used.

The fox was early second gate, which was likely why it had felt confident playing with me. Its mana was a co...

The Second Gate: Chapter Twenty

If the formatting on this is weird, sorry, I've gotta post this via my phone, computer's broken again :)

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“Your serial breaking-and-entering criminal friend has returned,” I announced as I barged into Kene’s shop, which was technically closed f...

The Second Gate: Chapter Nineteen

“Why?” I asked suspiciously.

“There is a limit on the information we are allowed to share about that,” Ama said rigidly.

“Ama…” Astsila said in a pleading voice, tugging on her hand.

“Atsilla, you know we can’t,” Ama said sternly, though the edges of her eyes...