tobiasbegley

Take the plant or no?

The Second Gate: Chapter Eighteen

Spatial Tripwire, as it turned out, connected two points in space with a straight line in space. With more points, it could form an area, and with enough, it could form a three-dimensional volume. When the line, area, or volume was disturbed by an external mana source, like a person or a spell, i...

The Second Gate: Chapter Seventeen

Ikki arrived the following morning with his usual impeccable timing, glanced me up and down and nodded.

"Good. Now that you've properly advanced to second gate, we can begin."

He wrote down a spell on a notepad, and passed it to me, so I looked it over. It resembled the Lesser Image R...

The Second Gate: Chapter Sixteen

“I think the synergy of the Magister’s Body and Beast Mage Soul is too powerful to pass up,” I said after a few moments, looking up at Meadow.

“It’s certainly the most powerful option,” Meadow agreed. “The Magister’s Body is one of the less popular publicly available bodies,...

Which full gate spell(s)?

The Second Gate: Chapter Fifteen

I sat in Dusk’s realm again as I drew power from the plants around me to break through to my second gate with spatial and death mana.

Breaking through was easy, easier than life had been, and easier than time had been, but it also produced a strange sense of unease from my staff. It was n...

The Second Gate: Chapter Fourteen

"The key to a staff is the creation of a sympathetic resonance between your spirit and the outside world," Meadow said. "All progression eventually needs that."

"I understand how a staff and a grand array accomplish that. They're physical representations of your mana-garden," I said, "but n...

The Second Gate: Chapter Thirteen

As the month of Heats-End ticked by and turned into Harvest-Fount, I spent my time working through two or three low stakes missions each day, practicing by sketching spells out to master them, and going through the pile of pills that Kene had left for me.

Like they’d said, none of them we...

The Second Gate: Chapter Twelve

"Ladies, gentleman, and other distinguished guests, the rules to the treasure hunt are simple!" the announcer boomed through her tempest spell. "There are multiple designated areas, divided by age, highest gate, and temperament! Scattered throughout these areas is a variable number of tokens. Col...

Ed's Choice

Since there won't be a choice in the main mana mirror story tomorrow, I wanted to give y'all something related to Ed's future development instead!

Ed's Training Trial

Ed stared at the entrance to the cavern, with its disturbing stone. Stalactites should line up relatively well with stalagmites, but these were… Not right. They were askew, just enough to disturb him. They way they lined up resembled the teeth of some great beast more than it did any natural ca...

The Second Gate: Chapter Eleven

I spent the next morning stressing over what to wear.

On one hand, my best – and only remaining – suit was black. Black was the color of the dead, which could work for me.

But I only had one spell that even called the dead, right now. Green would be better, as the color of the nat...

The Second Gate: Chapter Ten

That night, I closed my eyes on my bed, focusing on my mana-garden. I walked to the tree where my half-complete spell lay and waved my hand, dispersing the bonds around the tree.

The tree snapped to its full height, its branches shooting out and filling the secondary area. There was a crack...

Spell Choices

The Second Gate: Chapter Nine

“I need your help,” I said as I stepped into Meadow’s cottage. She was sitting in a rocking chair, knitting something, and looked up to nod.

“What do you need, dear?” she asked.

“How can you change a legacy?”

She gave me a long, considering look.

“What brou...

The Second Gate: Chapter Eight

The following morning, though, after a bit of sourdough toast with butter and jam, Kene, Dusk, and I all headed out to the village blacksmith.

For my part, I was amazed that the village actually had a blacksmith.

Mass production and imports from Teffordshire had all but replaced the r...

The Second Gate: Chapter Seven

I am happy to announce that my schedule's been shuffled around in such a manner as to allow me to do Monday, Wednesday, and Friday chapters now! 

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“Yes, but… What as?”

“What as?” Kene asked, a troubled look on their face. “Wha...

Second Gate, Second Poll

A big choice. This will definitely push the romance plot with Kene forwards... Or backwards. 

The Second Gate: Chapter Six

The buzzing sound quickly amplified as a stream of wasps began to emerge from underground nests.

They were larger than any normal wasps I'd ever seen, and their carapaces glimmered in the light like glass. Each one only felt like a first gate, but there were so many of them…

"Crysta...

The Prince and the Peasant

This is a short story set around the time Malachi first broke into Second Gate

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Kamal Suntorch, son of the Lady of the Sunscorched Desert, – the most powerful and richest person in the country, who held nearly a sixth of Suntorch’s entire politic...

The Second Gate: Chapter Five

I didn’t sleep great.

For one, it was already hard to sleep in a new place.

For another, I was too wired on the energy from my success to actually calm down and sleep.

For a third, my brain kept playing tricks on me.

And finally, once I finally drifted off, I snapped awa...

The Second Gate: Chapter Four

I woke up late the following morning, worn out by the escapade the night before, let my dad and Ed know I was going to visit Kene. After escaping a round of teasing, I was free to go.

The flight to Kene's village was simple, and Dusk had never gone on a flight this long before. She was endl...

The Second Gate: Chapter Three

Or at least, I thought that I’d be getting out the door and going the following morning. Instead, in the middle of the night, Orykson appeared in my bedroom. I only woke up when he put his hand over my mouth.

I thrashed and panicked for several seconds, Briarthreads lashing out at him, bu...

First vote of the second gate!

Mmm, who doesn't love that new book smell? 

The Second Gate: Chapter Two

Ikki arrived at eight the following morning, perfectly punctual as usual. When he saw me, his eyebrow raised, and he gave a short, crisp nod.

“Excellent. You have finally progressed to a point where I can begin teaching you in earnest. First and foremost, do you know why I have yet to giv...

The Second Gate: Chapter One

Two weeks later, I sketched out a spell as I ran, my feet hitting the pavement with dull thumps as I passed by the brightly decorated shops. I focused on the pulsing of mana that streamed into me from Harvest Distance spell, converting it into time mana. At the same time, I worked on converting m...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Sixty-Five

No vote this week, I'm afraid, but it should be back next week!

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A part of me expected the sky to split open, for Orykson to descend upon me like a comet.

Instead, when he appeared, he just looked annoyed. He sent out a wave of mana, but Meadow...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Sixty-Four

Meadow stepped into Orykson’s hall, the wards around her flashing.

Orykson stared at her from across the hall, his power dominating the entire hall, crushing everything in its path.

“This was your plan from the very beginning, wasn’t it?” he asked sourly. “You’d take my ap...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Sixty-Three

I rolled the pill between my fingers as I lay in bed. A part of me was sorely tempted to use it on my Harvest Distance spell, since if it was anything like the Harvest Plant Life spell, it’d give me another stream of mana to use.

But… I’d neglected my time mana for so long. It was abo...

Which spell to focus the pill on?