Ike pushed aside the curtain of ivy and stepped into a small, dark grotto. Trees formed walls on all sides, oozing dark sap that ants greedily harvested. Only slender gaps opened in the tightly-grown trees, barely wide enough for ants to squeeze through. A carpet of lush moss covered the soft ear...
2025-02-13 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostFor all that mages grew by pushing their limits, Rhys also wasn’t stupid. A table leg with a portion of table attached to its top sat within reaching distance to his left, table-side pointed at the cauldron, ready to become a shield via Trash Intent at the first sign of danger. Rhys set up on t...
2025-02-12 15:00:18 +0000 UTC View Post“Where are you?”
There was a pause.
“WE ARE EVERYWHERE.”
Ike licked his lips. “That’s nice and all, but where do I look when I talk to you?”
Another pause, this one broken only by the stifled sounds of Wisp giggling.
“LOOK DOWN.”
Ike looked do...
2025-02-12 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThey reached the bottom of the crevasse in no time. All of them except Palio, that is, who couldn’t climb down a wall or descend on a rope. Her arms were strong enough to hold her weight alone, but from the expressions she made, it was highly painful to let her immensely heavy lower body dangle...
2025-02-11 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostWisp led them through the woods, to the next stand of trees, and to the one beyond that. She wound around the outer edge of the city, picking her way carefully. As she walked, she explained, “The last time I was here, the puppets were already here. I didn’t really know what they were, but you...
2025-02-10 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostRhys sectioned off a portion of the trash that felt more-or-less equivalent to one of his impure potions, piling the rest to the side to add on later. He wanted to push his limits, but not too much. The first impure potion sip had almost gone too far, and now he was a little more wary of careless...
2025-02-09 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostOne after another, Ike cut into the puppets. After the first failure, he was careful not to repeat his mistake and slash the puppet open at the chest, but instead, cut out windows into their bodies. If they had a core, it wasn’t in their limbs or head, since he’d dismembered them, and the pup...
2025-02-09 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostPorcelain-white figures lunged out of the forest. Ball-jointed dolls leaped and sprinted toward them, bursting out from all directions.
They slammed into a thin, nearly-invisible netting and tangled up in Wisp’s web. Their momentum was instantly cut short as the spider thread caught their...
2025-02-08 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostAquari stared at him, taken aback. “The trash?”
Rhys nodded. “It’s my path. I can burn it to get stronger.”
She considered for a moment. Her lips twisted. “I have to admit, I have no particular use for the trash, and I wouldn’t mind to see it gone. Someone recommended to...
2025-02-07 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe city loomed over them. Already, the furthest, most far-flung houses from the city stood all around them. Ike peeked into one through a broken window as they passed by, but saw only dust and cobwebs. These houses hadn’t been lived in for a long time. The roads, too, were overgrown. Weeds gre...
2025-02-07 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostBacked against the cliff wall, Rhys’ power spiked. His hands curled into claws. Rather than attacking recklessly, he slammed all his mana, all the strength from the impurities, every ounce of power he had, into one hand and struck Cynog’s neck with all his might.
There! What I’ve ...
2025-02-06 15:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostIke stared at Palio. A centaur? But that was impossible. They were myths. Like mermaids, or fairies. People were either people, or animals, but not… halfsies. Even if beasts and beasts interbred, they’d produce either beasts or humans, not centaurs. And failed beasts, who didn’t qu...
2025-02-06 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Fair warning. Once this series hits RR, and it's past Rising Stars, I'll probably lower the drop rate to 3-5 times a week. As much as I'd love to run two dailies, I still work full-time on top of writing. These chapters are longer and take more to write, so it's hard to keep them dai...
2025-02-05 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThey ran through the plains through the sun-dappled day and the moon-silvered night. An entire week passed before the grasses grew lower and gave way to first, slender trees, then full forests.
As they entered the forest, Wisp leaned toward Ike. “Don’t look now, but I think we’re bein...
2025-02-05 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostOutside, Rhys stretched, relishing the sunlight on his face. After so long in the musty classroom, the scent of fresh air was like ambrosia to him. He yawned and stretched some more, then turned to face Ev’s nook. From here, he couldn’t tell if she’d returned or not, but he figured he might...
2025-02-04 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostWisp led the way. Ike followed close behind, afraid he’d lose her slender form among the shifting grass. The grass closed in behind Wisp, tall enough that she vanished entirely in its sway. Ike, who stood head and shoulders above the grass, sometimes could only watch out for the shifting grass ...
2025-02-04 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostRhys slipped into the back of the class. It had been a while since he’d sat in on it, but it remained the same as ever. The man ranted away about mustelids to an empty room, with no visible acknowledgement of Rhys’ arrival. Rhys settled in to his seat and evened his breathing, letting his min...
2025-02-03 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post“Huh?” Wisp said.
“Yeah. That’s exactly how I feel,” Ike replied.
“So wait, the skill knows something, but it refused to tell you? And you don’t know… whatever it is that the skill knows? But it’s a part of you, cobbled from pieces of you, but you can’t feel it, an...
2025-02-03 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostBANG!
The cauldron exploded. Red-hot metal shards hurtled through the air. Rhys threw himself backward, covering his head with his hands as he hit the floor. The shockwave hit him and pushed him further, and he slammed into the rock below. Hot metal seared into his back and sizzled...
2025-02-02 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostWithin Ike’s head, the two Ikes faced off. One, dressed in regal finery, gems glittering on his fingers, holding a noble, slender staff. The other, in rags, weathered and worn, clutching tight to a strange sword. The two of them stared at one another for a moment, then darted forward, clashing ...
2025-02-02 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostHaving eliminated Sorden as a good starting point, Rhys headed toward the library, his second idea. It was a good place to start. It wasn’t like Az would leave the library and tell anyone that he’d asked about potions, and Az had shown no inclination toward aggression toward Rhys, even if Rhy...
2025-02-01 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostTheir respite at the inn was short-lived. When dawn came, they set off once more. Scar took to her own direction, setting off directly for the capitol. Ike and his people took a detour in the other direction, to the plains that stretched endlessly to the opposite side of the realm than Mag’s de...
2025-02-01 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostA legend spread among the students of Infinite Constellation School. In a distant part of the mountain, high on the peak, some horrible monster had made its home. It spent all day hammering away at the stone, shaking the trees and rattling the earth itself. Some people claimed it was angry, furio...
2025-01-31 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostPain was the first thing Rhys felt. He swayed slightly, a breeze shifting through his hair. Rather than open his eyes, he let himself hang there, his knees wrapped around the wood of a tree and weighed there with some kind of counterweight, reflecting on what had just happened. He’d been fighti...
2025-01-30 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThey descended through the trees, hurtling down toward the earth below. For a hair-raising moment, Sorden slalomed through branches, dropping so fast Rhys’ stomach lurched only to soar back up again, and then they were down at ground level. Rhys hopped off, glad to be back on solid ground. The ...
2025-01-29 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostRhys spent the rest of the day in the mustelid class, but whatever enlightenment awaited him beyond that train of thought, he couldn’t grasp it yet, nor could he grasp it before six A.M. the next morning. He rose, a little annoyed at himself. He’d freed himself from Cynog, only to throw himse...
2025-01-28 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostRhys rushed across the peak, Tarais at his heel. When the students saw him coming, they dismissed him, but they cleared out of the way at the sight of Tarais, a rare Tier 2 student. In such a way, the two of them ran easily across the peak almost entirely unobstructed. Rhys wrapped his arms aroun...
2025-01-27 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostPausing in the center of the square, Rhys extended his mana. He searched the air, hunting out any sign of Tarais’ signature. For a long moment, there was nothing, and then the color of her materialized, brushing the very limit of his senses. He chased after it, leaving the square behind. Not fa...
2025-01-26 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“But you’re not.”
Shawn turned.
Mont lounged before him, floating improbably on a large slab of pumice. He leaned on one hand, frowning slightly at Shawn.
“No. I’m not,” Shawn allowed.
Mont gestured, and a powerful stream of energy welled up from the heart of t...
2025-01-25 15:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostRhys jolted awake. For a second, he laid there, aching and staring at the ceiling. The pain was familiar. Nowadays, he was lucky not to wake up with a crick in his back or a pounding headache. He knew he should live better, lose a few pounds, but damn if his chair wasn’t comfortable. No, that p...
2025-01-25 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post