“Have any of you tried travelling through the Chaos Sea by yourself?” Yuriko asked while she stretched and twisted to warm up for her training.
The Lonely Bastion’s gymnasium came with individual training rooms but they cost coins to rent for even an hour. The main gymnasium was more ...
2022-03-28 13:16:00 +0000 UTC View PostRiley Siofra Davar stumbled down the stairs, barely keeping his balance before he caught himself on the balustrade. He wasn’t the only one stumbling around in a drunken stupor, or more accurately, with a hungover head. He made his way into a booth near the front windows and plopped his head dow...
2022-03-28 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostYuriko opened her eyes and blinked in confusion as the morning sun shone through the windows of her bedroom. She was in her bed, of course, clad in a sheer nightgown and tangled in her sweat-soaked blankets.
What in Chaos?
She distinctly remembered leaving last night to go to the Pala...
2022-03-21 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“Good afternoon! Welcome to the Rapid Traveller’s Emporium! How may I help you today, young lady?” The attendant’s spiel had been normal until he actually looked at Yuriko, afterwards, his demeanour changed from professional to ingratiating.
“Hello!” Yuriko said after a moment o...
2022-03-21 13:45:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Young mistress, it’s time to wake up.”
A gentle hand shook Yuriko’s shoulders and her eyes popped open. Her Anima flared just enough to encompass Ryoko, who started at the golden light but preened when she felt the weight of Yuriko’s perception.
That, and the perception of ...
2022-03-21 13:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe memories of the third incarnation blurred and faded quickly, thankfully. Yuriko’s face was still red from what that future version of her did every evening. The memories faded, but the sensations…
Oh Ancestors! The sensations remained. It didn’t surface all the time but merely thi...
2022-03-21 13:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostYuriko shuddered as the second version of her floated back. Behind those eyes were hunger and greed. The fact that those were her own blue eyes made it even more disconcerting. Why did that version of her do that?
Memories already began to fade and nothing more than the outline of her life ...
2022-03-21 13:01:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe head rolled as it flew to the skies, the skin along the neck was charred black, cauterised to such an extent that blood didn’t exit through the cut. It seeped out of the nose and mouth, and as bloody tears though, a morbid yet fascinating scene.
For Yuriko, the sight wasn’t uncommon...
2022-03-14 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time she and her entourage left the planes of the Empire, Yuriko had terminated her marriage contract. Well, it was more an extended Offspring Contract than a true marriage, but since she didn’t want to give him more than one child, the terms technically weren’t fulfilled.
But re...
2022-03-14 13:45:59 +0000 UTC View PostThe three figures hovering in front of her looked like her but were different, even from each other. For one thing, the duplicate Yurikos looked a bit more mature, though not by much. Probably what she’d look like in a couple of years?
The first one had a warm smile and was clad in flowin...
2022-03-14 13:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Mum!”
Yuriko protested as soon as she processed what Sadeen said. Chills ran down her spine and she clenched her fists in anger. She almost shot to her feet but Mum’s hands on her shoulders pressed her down to remain seated.
“Shhh,” Mum whispered as she kissed the top of Yu...
2022-03-14 13:16:00 +0000 UTC View PostMum’s attire, for the Presentation to the court, was nearly identical to the battle dress she used when she rescued Yuriko from the Pure Lands. She wasn’t sure if those were the real clothes or ornamental copies though as Sadeen’s control over her Animus, and her immediate surroundings, blo...
2022-03-14 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe poke of the needle against Yuriko’s side was barely felt. It would have taken far more strength than what the seamstress had to even make a puncture, even if Yuriko’s Anima wasn’t carefully condensed to protect her. Radiant Refinement made her much tougher even compared to what Strength...
2022-03-07 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostA waft of smoke rose from Matsumi’s hands as she fled the scene.
‘What was that?!’ she couldn’t help but complain in her mind.
She was a Knight and she had been matched so easily against a Journeyman. A Mishala heir, to be sure, but a Journeyman still. The light that flooded o...
2022-03-07 13:45:01 +0000 UTC View PostYuriko didn’t expect to enjoy the dance, but she did. It was mostly thanks to the food, if she were being honest with herself. And the way Finan grinned at her while she gorged herself on those baked salmon with cream cheese puffs, he knew it as well as she. The dancing was nice, too, even if s...
2022-03-07 13:31:00 +0000 UTC View PostMatsumi Segawa kept a soft, professional smile on her face. A tray with finger food was precariously balanced over her hand and she glided across the floor, offering her bounty to the students wandering Fontex Dome’s First Dance Hall.
All of the attendants wore the same uniform, a long-sl...
2022-03-07 13:15:59 +0000 UTC View PostAlmost all at once, Yuriko dismissed the odd thought. Draw in ambient Chaos directly into her Anima? That was a shortcut to getting Chaos poisoning. The edges of the Anima were thick and prevented such things from happening in the first place. Well, she felt differently when she flared her Anima ...
2022-03-07 13:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe glowing figure hung suspended in the middle of the hull and had copper wires wrapped around its extremities which then led to the metal framing. Yuriko wasn’t sure if the framing was made of steel or some other grey alloy. It could be a composite of iron and black jade for all she knew, sin...
2022-02-28 14:01:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Supplicants don’t necessarily have the symptoms of Aspirants,” Miya said during their tutoring session that evening.
Yuriko frowned as she considered her teacup. The Blue Valleys leaf was quite bitter, but a dash of cream and a dollop of honey enhanced its flavour quite well. It also...
2022-02-28 13:45:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Your accuracy and precision with the forms have reached an acceptable state.” Swordmaster Demina Kinohara said as Yuriko performed the fifty-two forms across the Phases, in order from first to thirteenth, Flowing Water, Jade Mountain, Roaring Volcano, and Sweeping Gale.
The two of them...
2022-02-28 13:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostEven kneeling down, the Koinos was still taller than Yuriko by about a dozen inches. It was slouched forward and from behind, she could see a couple of handholds to climb on the back. Centurion Garderon didn’t even bother using them and leapt up, catching hold of a latch.
The hatch pulled...
2022-02-28 13:16:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe first light of the dawn shone through stained glass windows, turning the warm light into cool blues and reds. The light danced against Yuriko’s hair which absorbed the Radiant energy readily and gave off a soft golden glow.
Droplets of sweat flew from her brow as she vigorously spun a...
2022-02-28 13:01:04 +0000 UTC View PostIntermittent snowfall came down on the plateau despite the fact that it was already nearing the middle of the Season of Earth. Gwendith Devi Sharine glanced at the dark clouds overhead, then huffed and returned her stare to the ground. The tundra was covered in hard-packed snow that had almost tr...
2022-02-21 14:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostAt the Frostwind Gate, the northern Chaos Channel leading into Realmheart, a veritable army assembled. The Legion Incursis was at full strength, with ten thousand warriors, at least at Third Order Journeyman, a thousand Knights and Knight Captains, and of course, the Legate Lars Devi Cheval, a Kn...
2022-02-21 13:45:59 +0000 UTC View Post“You’ve got black,” Finan said, revealing the legionnaire piece concealed in his fist. He stopped shuffling the pieces right in front of Yuriko. Instead, once he realised that she could easily follow his shuffling, did it behind his back. Yuriko had called out the colour before tapping the ...
2022-02-21 13:30:59 +0000 UTC View Post“My apologies, I didn’t know it was your birthday celebration a couple of days ago,” Reinhardt held a hand over his heart and bowed his head. “I have been rude.”
“No, not at all,” Yuriko said, startled. It was early in the morning and she had just gotten out of the bath after ...
2022-02-21 13:15:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Happy Birthday, young mistress!”
The festive lights, the music, and the sudden acclaim nearly made Yuriko form her sunblade, and it took a rather long moment before the words registered in her tired mind. It was the Sixthday, the last day before Restday, and she had just come from a ra...
2022-02-21 13:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe mistress was unexpectedly, and charmingly, naive Ryoko decided. After several days and nights of service, she and her cousin Saki were both quite amused with the clan’s youngest heiress.
The two of them were also Mishalas, though of a rather obscure branch line. The clan had existed a...
2022-02-14 14:54:46 +0000 UTC View PostTime, like a river, flew inevitably towards the sea. For Yuriko, the days leading up to her Mum’s promised ball seemed to race. But at the same time, so many things happened in the intervening days that it seemed a year or more since she first came to Realmheart.
That evening, after she w...
2022-02-14 13:45:59 +0000 UTC View PostZeyn Orchil Strider yawned into his hand, though he made sure to keep his eyes open and his back against the wall. A student, an instructor, or an actual legionnaire could pass by, notice that he wasn’t paying attention during his watch and report him for the breach.
Bellton Hold was Rumi...
2022-02-14 13:31:00 +0000 UTC View Post