Alex carefully shifted the sack that held the dungeon core’s remains from his belt and slipped it into one of the leather pockets of his lab apron.
He glanced at Amir who’d taken a seat at the far end of the Cell and was pouring over notes laid out in front of him. The grad student kept...
2021-07-16 23:52:56 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you sure there’s no way I can help?” Theresa asked.
They’d already taken Selina to school and now were back at their apartment. She had a shift at the Beastarium soon—Brutus was already excitedly eyeing the door. “This is important, if I’ve got to say I’m sick for a shi...
2021-07-15 23:26:11 +0000 UTC View PostThink. Adapt.
Think. Adapt.
Think Adapt.
Alex’s mind began to race. His eyes darted, quickly taking in his surroundings and analyzing the situation.
They’d been surrounded; their opponents had come out of the woods—some of them emerging dir...
2021-07-14 22:04:33 +0000 UTC View Post“You know, if this is winter here, then I’m not sure I ever want to go back home,” Alex said as the extra-long sky-gondola pulled up over the fairy tale villa belonging to Isolde’s cousin.
The rain was streaming down in sheets over the wind and rain shield, making it a nasty day to ...
2021-07-14 00:15:48 +0000 UTC View Post“Why are you boiling dirt?” Selina asked, staring at her brother as he leaned over the side of a massive cauldron that rose as high as his waist.
They were in a ‘project room’, so they were called—large chambers in the university that could be booked for personal magical pro...
2021-07-11 00:33:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Oh, come on, professor,” Alex pressed.
It had been a few days since the Festival of Ghosts and he’d been trying to convince his professor to let him take the special exam. Unfortunately, he’d gotten the same answer as always.
“Professor Val’Rok let me do it,” he said, t...
2021-07-09 21:53:29 +0000 UTC View Post“Now this is a spread,” Thundar laughed, eyeing the mountain of steaming food that lay in front of the group.
Everything had been laid out on wide platters and set on tables Alex had borrowed from the university for the occasion. Despite their length—suitable for a banquet hall—they...
2021-07-08 23:33:01 +0000 UTC View PostOne evening later, Alex was in front of a cauldron again, but this time he was making food instead of magical golem cores. He was slicing beef and venison into a mixing bowl, then pouring a mixture of wine, salt, pepper and dried thyme over them. These would marinate over the next few days, softe...
2021-07-07 23:09:38 +0000 UTC View PostThe mood in Generasi City was a strange one: excited, sombre and tense all at once.
The excitement came from the upcoming Festival of Ghosts. Now that it was only a few days away, the entire city seemed to have transformed in preparation for it. In addition to the wreaths, the buildings wer...
2021-07-06 21:00:47 +0000 UTC View Post“You seriously don’t have the Festival of Ghosts up in your homeland?” Thundar asked as they made their way along one of the paths through the botanical gardens. They passed a series of beehives set away from the path that were being tended by wizards wrapped in visible force protection. ...
2021-07-04 00:49:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe place where Thundar’s club met was in a part of campus that Alex had never been before, even though it was fairly close to the Beastarium.
Much of wizardry involved horticulture.
There were a number of reasons for this, the primary one being that people needed to grow plants for...
2021-07-04 00:46:48 +0000 UTC View Post“Wh-what do you mean, professor?” Alex stammered in front of professor Ram.
It had been weeks since his conversation with Khalik, and while he’d remembered what the prince had said about maybe telling a professor so someone could understand if he was struggling, he hadn’t done so.&n...
2021-07-04 00:45:40 +0000 UTC View PostThe others had departed a couple of hours ago, and Alex had spent time with Selina afterward, just talking and relaxing and playing with clay until her eyes started to close.
As she got sleepier, he helped her get ready for bed and tucked her in. He’d stayed for a little while longer, mak...
2021-07-04 00:42:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe story his mother had told him was about a shepherd boy who had snuck into the woods one evening to meet his friends past his parents’ curfew. Becoming lost, the boy came across a wolf in the middle of the forest—one who growled and bit him on the shoulder. A tribe that lived peacefully in...
2021-07-04 00:41:16 +0000 UTC View Post“Have you heard anything more about the demon?” Khalik asked Alex. He asked the question slowly, almost like a child asking a parent about something they shouldn’t know.
“No, have you?” Alex grunted, adjusting the weight of Khalik’s table as they carried it down the hall of the ...
2021-07-04 00:39:27 +0000 UTC View PostThe chancellor’s wrath was terrible; his retribution was swift.
He spoke a single word—not an incantation—but one syllable that held so much power, that Alex’s mana senses shuddered. A grey mist exploded from around Baelin—shooting through the air like a shoggoth’s tentacles—a...
2021-07-04 00:37:51 +0000 UTC View PostScreams echoed from the west, and Alex could see a patch of ground near the campus gates swelling like an overfilled waterskin.
Crckle.
The grass singed as students scrambled away.
Crack.
The swelling ruptured suddenly, bleeding a glowing orange light. 2021-07-04 00:36:42 +0000 UTC View Post
“Ooooh this is a great bloody idea!” Alex said excitedly. “Thundar, you’re a genius.”
“Hey.” The minotaur tapped his thick skull. “This head isn’t only for ramming things.”
“I don’t understand,” Theresa said, frowning. “How is thi...
2021-07-04 00:34:30 +0000 UTC View Post“Yes!” Khalik grinned, tapping his name where it appeared on two lists: one for Magic Lore I and one for Earth Magic I. “Aaaaah, my brother would have never let me hear the end of it, were I not to gain top-five in at least two classes.” He raised an eyebrow as he tapped the top name for ...
2021-07-04 00:32:43 +0000 UTC View PostAlex Roth had long built up a tolerance for—as he called it—‘people’s bullshit’.
Back in Alric he never would’ve survived close to four years in McHarris’ bakery without building that sort of tolerance: he’d have mouthed off, quit, or done something worse back when he still ...
2021-07-04 00:31:03 +0000 UTC View PostAlex had only ever seen a golem core once, and that was during the tour of Shale’s Workshop with Theresa. He couldn’t imagine how bad it would have looked if they handed him one and his immediate response was: ‘Duuuuh, what’s that?’
“Right, what else can you tell me abo...
2021-07-02 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“It’s too bad they can’t stay longer,” Selina said wistfully, waving at the ship as their little group stood on the quay.
“They’re off to do what they have to do…like hunting pirates.” Theresa’s eyes sparked as she said the words and waved at the ship with one hand, while ...
2021-07-01 23:14:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe white robed forms were still far away, and were a fair distance from Fan-Dor’s ship, but still a little too close for comfort. Then an alarming thought hit him. Would Fan-Dor’s be one of the ships ferrying the priests away from Generasi?
Alex glanced around the dock.
He only n...
2021-06-30 23:37:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Astounding,” Baelin said as he looked over Alex’s sheet. “Truly astounding. I am not as involved with the curricula for mana manipulation as Professor Val’Rok is, of course, but I know well it’s not an easy subject.”
He shifted the papers, looking next at Sinbrok’s notes fo...
2021-06-29 21:26:02 +0000 UTC View PostAlex fought to keep his face straight as Baelin stared at him from across his desk. In that moment, Alex was reminded of just how intimidating the chancellor was: towering, ancient and with a gaze that just seemed to cut through flesh, magic, stone and deception.
Could he detect The Mark? W...
2021-06-26 23:53:54 +0000 UTC View PostFirst thing Alex did was carefully read over the entire written exam just in case there were any instructions hidden like in Jules’ lab-books. He sighed when he found that there weren’t any, and began.
The exam wasn’t going to be easy: if he’d tried taking it before studying as thor...
2021-06-25 22:23:42 +0000 UTC View Post“Uuuuuh,” Alex said unintelligently, as he continued to stare—slack-jawed—down at the paper, noting the details. It looked like the rally was being organized by Carey’s group, but there were other groups listed as contributors to the event: representative societies and organizations ser...
2021-06-24 21:53:32 +0000 UTC View PostBaelin’s magic returned the class to the stadium and Alex spotted Shiani, Malcolm, and Rhea. He took a deep breath and was heading toward them when a hand touched his shoulder.
“You have an injury, I see,” Isolde said, her sharp blue eyes focused on him.
Alex glanced at the brig...
2021-06-23 21:30:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe elemental’s footfalls thundered through the crevice and the serpents’ flapping wings filled the air behind them.
They were still outpacing the massive rock monster, but the bright-spitters were gaining.
They needed a diversion.
Alex called his forceball, spinning it alon...
2021-06-22 23:07:12 +0000 UTC View PostBoom. Scrrrrrp. Boom. Scrrrrp.
Stone ground across stone.
Hsssss.
Hissing emerged from serpentine mouths.
“Oooooh shit,” Alex swore.
The group was peering out from behind a boulder, looking at what Thundar and Angelar had wanted them to...
2021-06-19 20:56:39 +0000 UTC View Post