Earthchild

Chapter 10: Soul Structures

Caen opened his mouth to say something to Zeris, but Ellu snapped her fingers, drawing their attention. 

“Gatherers,” she said without looking at them. “Harvest these fentils over here.” She pointed to a patch of vines with deep purple flowers.

“We told her our names,�...

Chapter 9: Fundamental Change

As soon as he stepped through the Aperture, Caen felt slightly painful pinpricks all over his skin. This was common enough and happened every time he entered a Plane. 

What never happened, though, was this pull, something tugging at his being—and his spirit, even suppressed as it was...

Chapter 8: Extra Work

Once they were close enough, they put on their armor, and Caen took some more time to gear up properly.

There was one main problem with just waltzing into a Plane: its danger level. 

As F-rank Valiants, Caen and Zeris were simply Gatherers. The danger level of some Planes meant t...

Interlude I: Collaboration

When he was a naive and starry-eyed six-year-old boy, Caen sat down with the children of his great-grandmother's clutch and listened attentively as she told them a story about collaboration. It went like this:

A great and noble farmer who had mastered all the nuances of Nurturing magic coul...

Chapter 7: It Whispers His Name

“What?” Zeris asked.

“I...” he began, the words catching in his throat. His spirit roiled chaotically within him. A tendril came loose, flailing about. The last time his spirit had moved this violently was when he was still a child learning to control its movements. “I think I mig...

Chapter 6: Lying Triangle

He and Zeris took a shared carriage back to the temple. It was a wonky hunk of wood with incredibly terrible suspension and no ceiling. Caen had taken some numb root from one of the pouches at his belt, and it helped dull the pain in his arm and side.

A Valiant with inscriptions on his fore...

Chapter 5: Strings Of Fate

A rickshaw brought Caen and Zeris to the plaza in the city where the dance rehearsals took place. 

The Dalat festival wasn't for another ten days, but decorations were already underway, and this segment of the city was abuzz. Some people had begun painting the front of buildings around...

Chapter 4: Curious Arrival

Caen's limbs were shaking from mana exhaustion as he stepped into the helpers’ lounge, coat in hand. He'd long since grown accustomed to the very unpleasant sensation of depleting his reserves. When he was younger, he couldn't even move under the effects of mana exhaustion. The tri-clinic was q...

Chapter 3: Affairs Of The Spirit

The train pulled up at the station in Drenlin city. He disembarked with a small throng of people. Many passengers still on the train were going on to other towns and cities farther ahead.

Sellers loitered between the crowds, hawking their goods and shouting prices above the hubbub.

Th...

Chapter 2: Repetition Number 22,314

Caen got back to the commune, sore from his sparring session with Vensha and the weightlifting that had followed. Even though the weather was still only slightly warm, he was sweating profusely.

Most buildings in the commune were wide and cylindrical, each one housing several families. Some...

Chapter 1.5: A Plane Called Redshadow

Caen sat atop the sloping roof of his family home, drawing ambient mana into his spirit.

Most nights, Caen drained a small fraction of his mana reserves, letting them refill passively in order to strengthen his spirit.

While he attuned the ambient mana to his spirit, he occupied his a...

Chapter 1: It Happens Today

Clarity sees; he sees.

Spirits stir in young children between the ages of eight and twelve. Talented children from the Ereshta'al line have spirits that sometimes stir as early as six years of age. 

Caen Ereshta’al was only two years old when his spirit first s...