Emily steps out of the portal, pulling free from the swirling black mass of mana to appear in the cave system once again. Her gaze is instantly drawn to Juliana, standing with their friends, cautiously surrounding the doorway with spells at the ready. A small tension she didn’t even realise she...
2024-08-19 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostEmily becomes a whirlwind of violence, her arms flashing out, finding the weak points between the hobgoblins’ armour before digging Claws into their soft flesh. They try to fight back, lashing out with blades that she deflects gracefully before closing the distance between them at a speed they ...
2024-08-16 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostTw:
Graphic descriptions of violence and gore!
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
“I don’t know,” Enzo says, glancing at Dante’s wounds with concern. “A few seconds after you went into the dungeon, the wire you gave her snapped and the door started closing. We decided to ...
2024-08-12 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe doors swing open wide but, instead of a path for them to follow, it opens into a swirling black vortex.
“What’s that?” Hester asks, looking at the swirling mass of darkness with nervously.
“I think it’s a portal,” Emily says, approaching it. “It looks similar to one ...
2024-08-09 17:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostHester follows close behind Emily as they both swim down towards the hole again. They run into the piranhas Emily spotted earlier as they sink lower, but Emily quickly dispatches them all with a few casts of aqua bolt.
They arrived beside the mysterious tunnel to The Abyss without any probl...
2024-08-05 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostEmily turns away from Hester, swimming over to collect the eels’ bodies before they can sink into the weeds below. She sends all of them into her storage except the last, which she keeps in hand, looking at it contemplatively.
How are they able to use lightning so well underwater? It ...
2024-08-02 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostPulling her attention away from the water, Emily turns to her friends, meeting astonished and questioning gazes. Tom, Hester, and Juliana are all looking around in wonder, taking in the beautiful sight before them, while the other three look to Emily for confirmation.
“It’s incredible,...
2024-07-29 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostEmily closes her eyes and pulls up her notes covering Gaius’ findings on ascensions, supported by his countless observations of other mages. She opens a blank note as well and writes down her major attribute changes to compare them to Gaius’ observations, assessing the difference in her own e...
2024-07-26 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThey head back through the nest, ignoring all of the valueless items scattered around by the ants.
“Why did you say my mana manipulation was a pleasure to watch?” Emily asks Ivor as they rise through the earth.
“You're very good at it. Your mana movement is so fast and precise i...
2024-07-22 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostEmily’s friends stand behind her, mouths open in shock as they gaze upon the destruction wrought by her spells.
“Don’t just stand around, let’s go!” Emily says, snapping them out of their stupor.
She bends her legs and flashes forwards at inhuman speed, disappearing into the...
2024-07-19 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostAfter healing the light damage done to Juliana’s eardrums, Emily gently wipes the blood from her face before moving quickly between her friends and healing them too.
Damn, that used more mana than I expected. It feels like I’m wasting a lot to heal people. Do I need a better underst...
2024-07-15 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostEmily’s friends all look at her in confusion.
“What do you mean by the end?” Ivor signs the question on everyone’s minds.
“I have reason to believe there is a single set endpoint for all of the streams in The Crystal Waters,” Emily answers, receiving several silently raise...
2024-07-12 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostEmily surveys the destruction wrought by her spell with immense satisfaction. The blackened trees are still smouldering as more magical fog rolls in, smothering the small fires she has accidentally started, making her realise she managed to partially clear it with her spell.
Curious. I ...
2024-07-08 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostEmily sits down next to Dante as he sets up a small fire using some dry wood from within Tom’s bag and roasts skewers of a razor-fanged wolf he killed during the night.
“Wow, you actually butchered something on your own?” Emily asks with mock surprise.
“It gave me something ...
Emily and Juliana sit in silence, enjoying each other’s company, for the first hour of the night watch. Not a single beast approaches their camp and, eventually, Juliana breaks the silence.
“Why do you need to leave?” she asks quietly, catching Emily off guard.
Emily opens her m...
2024-07-01 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostJust posting a little note to let you guys know I just rewrote a tonne of early chapters (between 6-20 have all been changed to varying degrees, then 26, 38, and 51 have had small changes too).
I'd advise rereading 6-14 completely if you have the time, but if not, there will be a changelog ...
2024-07-01 00:36:37 +0000 UTC View PostEmily steps into the treeline, her friends close behind, feeling the dense mana wrap around her like a comfortable blanket. She takes a deep breath, appreciating the weight pressing on her shoulders and the lack of rain to start their journey, before glancing back at her friends. Dante, Enzo, and...
2024-06-28 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostEmily stands up, her heart calm with acceptance as she strips the two warm corpses lying before her in the tent of their magical possessions. She also takes the inhibition incense, finding a few spare sticks tucked away on a shelf beneath the table, before removing the Spitter’s silencer and ho...
2024-06-24 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostEmily steps out of the stairwell into the black market again, this time using her machina to hide her mana signature from the start. She heads straight for The Crystal Skull’s tent, moving through the streets unnoticed. Arriving at the tent alone, she moves around to the back and slips into the...
2024-06-21 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostEmily sighs, looking over the two corpses in the tent and the blood-splattered tarp around them.
“Well, shit! I know Oscar said they killed themselves when captured, but I didn’t think they’d be quite that decisive. Was it the gun?” she mutters to herself, biting her thumb. “I ex...
Heyo! Just letting you guys know there have been a few small changes to the start of chapter 74 for its public release. It's only within the initial dream sequence. I wanted to make a few changes for continuity with the rewrites I'm currently doing (chapters 7-26 are having changes of varying ext...
2024-06-14 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post“Planning another expedition?” Agnes asks with a raised brow, ignoring Emily’s declaration.
“Yeah. I want to have a look further into The Crystal Waters. Maybe find a dungeon this time if I’m lucky. Why? Wanna come?” Emily says with a teasing grin.
“No thanks,” Agnes s...
2024-06-10 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, Emily leads her friends towards the training hall after breakfast. They find Dante and Enzo waiting outside the hall’s closed door, Emily having invited them to watch as well in her final loop of the day before.
“Hey,” Dante calls as they approach. “Why did you want us...
2024-06-07 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“Follow the numbers,” Emily mutters, trying to process the message. “Which numbers? Page numbers?”
She flips back through the diary from the start, noting next to each quote what page it was on.
Fourteen, twenty-six, thirty-two, forty-one, sixty-five, sixty-six, ninety-eig...
2024-06-03 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostA few hours later, Emily and Juliana walk into the cafeteria for dinner. A calm air of resignation hangs over them as they take a seat at the table with Ivor and Hester.
“What’s up with you two?” Hester asks, quickly noticing their mood.
“Nothing,” Emily lies, unwilling to t...
2024-05-31 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostEmily closes her eyes again but pauses before diving back into the Spellweave.
Since this is only pushing mana to my cortex for experimenting on known spells, please tell me this works. Sub-cores, learn all first circle spells using the Spellweave.
Instantly, three of her fou...
2024-05-27 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostEmily immediately sets to work, clearing her workbench before taking out potion making supplies and setting up. She collects the potion materials from shelves and her spatial storage, gathering them in preparation.
She carefully follows the same process as with Ivor, quickly forming the dan...
2024-05-24 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostEmily pours two hundred and fifty millilitres of water into the empty cauldron before her. She sprinkles in a touch each of powdered light and wind crystals, turning the water a sparkling pale, lime hue. The fire beneath the cauldron quickly brings the water to a boil, and Emily drops in five str...
2024-05-20 17:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, Emily heads to the training hall slightly early, hoping to run into Agnes before the class starts. Luckily, Agnes is there when Emily walks in, doing some warm-up before classes.
“Emily! I hear you’ve become stronger?” Agnes calls the moment she sees her enter, forcefull...
2024-05-17 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostLate in the evening, Emily drops her head on the desk, growling in frustration.
“Wrong again,” she whines into the hard wood.
Her attempts so far to create a sealing array have proven completely fruitless. Having begun by testing with a fire crystal and two attributed streams of h...
2024-05-13 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post