Seeking more substantial objects of interest, Zefaris came upon a pair of items on a particularly new-looking shelf. One was sort of gun-shaped, but was not a gun - it was a chunk of antler, starting at the bulb that had connected it to its owner’s head, curving slightly, then going straight be...
2021-09-17 16:56:02 +0000 UTC View PostStill possessed of a slightly unbelieving countenance, the alchemist nevertheless decided to trust her honesty and walked off, stating as he left, “Swear to the Sage, this better not be a prank.”
After Makhus walked off Zef grabbed Zel’s attention, asking, “Are you sure you’re alr...
2021-09-16 18:10:29 +0000 UTC View PostWalking towards the courtyard gate, Zef showed a few photographs - surprisingly, they were all legible. Pointing out a particular photo capturing rapid motion, where Zelsys was mid-dodge whilst the golem’s descending fist neared the ground, Zef remarked, “Even I saw this as a total blur, yet ...
2021-09-15 17:08:44 +0000 UTC View PostHe had, in fact, left halfway through their conversation, using the Soul-seed ritual to disguise the creation of an illusory double whilst he hitched a ride on one of the innumerable ley lines that the mansion was built on a crossroads of. They were not literal lines as many interpreted, but rath...
2021-09-14 17:43:45 +0000 UTC View Post“Why don’t you take a look for yourself?” offered up the White-robed Brother, handing over the scrying mirror. The Dark-robed Brother took up the offer gladly, only to recoil at what he saw, gripped by grim laughter.
“Oh, I see now. They’ve unknowingly re-enacted ...
2021-09-13 17:26:14 +0000 UTC View PostIt took a concerted effort to put holes in his heart, and yet more to bring it to a halt, forcing her to burn a lungful’s Fulgur and surge it through her hand just to cease its beating.
With a gurgling, coughing inhalation, as bubbles of black blood foamed around the corners of his mouth,...
2021-09-12 16:18:49 +0000 UTC View PostDespite its prodigal, bone-shaking volume, the music was drowned out by the noise that followed.
A singular, all-consuming THOOM, accompanied by blinding light. Zef was among the few to see what transpired, and even that only thanks to the Philosopher’s Eye 2021-09-11 15:25:52 +0000 UTC View Post
A/N: Need a day to do story cleanup, so no chapter tomorrow. I expected I'd need to do this when the caravan came, considering how much shit is going on simultaneously.
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Enough to let her get through the...
2021-09-09 17:48:15 +0000 UTC View PostIf it didn’t work, if this effort ended with her merely wasting the contents of her Essentia Gut on a fruitless endeavor… Then she would figure out something else. Exhaustion was still far out of reach.
The Horse-man had vanished from sight once more, only to appear behind her. There wa...
2021-09-08 17:45:42 +0000 UTC View PostFive seconds.
That was how long the statue remained silent and motionless after she stopped talking, staring at her. Then, once more, it spoke.
“To teach plainly, to avoid such muddling of the arts hath ever been amongst the founder’s - amongst Lord Branstein's - teachings. That t...
2021-09-07 17:12:49 +0000 UTC View PostZel could’ve sworn she saw the inklings of a fog vortex in there. The woman had a manic energy about her, like some battle-hungry pit fighter waiting to be set loose, just… Instead of a pit, a stage. Going by that sword on her hip and the way she subconsciously maintained a guard though, ther...
2021-09-06 17:21:50 +0000 UTC View PostShe would spin the drum a bit and pull out a lot, the merchant called out a plot number, and she then called out whatever was written on the lot - be it the name of a business or an individual.
The whole affair took less than half an hour, and at points Zelsys dissociated altogether, so min...
2021-09-05 15:18:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe Charred Judge emerged from the field closely in tow, taking care to flip up the hood of her cloak. Even if they walked quickly and forcefully, their cloaks obscured them enough to make them look like able travelers in a hurry - doubtlessly a threat in the eyes of the sycophants that manned th...
2021-09-04 17:02:50 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Woke up sneezing uncontrollably, continued throughout the day. Productivity at 0. No chapter tomorrow. Sorry.
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The remainder of the box - and its majority - contained a number of round metallic pill...
2021-09-02 18:38:22 +0000 UTC View PostThe bitterness of his voice betrayed an ulterior message. Behind his eyes wasn’t the fire of anger, they shone with cold melancholy, his snarling face stiff and locked-up. Alcerys wasn’t sure how she knew - whether by the Eye’s power or her own familiarity with that headspace - but she knew...
2021-09-01 17:21:36 +0000 UTC View PostWith a smile, the merchant leaned against the wall and let his mouth run with the unending glibness of a good salesman, spinning a volcanic pistol by its lever all along: “Oh, but I never made such claims! In fact, I would argue that First-models and Second-models are most efficacious when depl...
2021-08-31 16:56:56 +0000 UTC View PostUnder the cover of near-darkness they continued to travel, reaching the counterintuitively named rallying point Delta a short while after sunrise. They were met with a well-established campsite concealed behind three different layers of perception barrier, effectively imperceptible from the outsi...
2021-08-30 16:55:45 +0000 UTC View Post“I must apologize for approaching you like this, but there appears to be a small issue, you understand. There simply was not sufficient time to assign plots to all candidates who had won the lottery for operation in this area, and we have no choice but to approach you as the owner of the proper...
2021-08-27 17:25:58 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Due to family matters I have no choice but to take this weekend off. Yes I'm mad about it.
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“The Fourteen Reborn would be powered by a to-be-installed grid of Fulgur-Igneic reactors, six variable-...
2021-08-26 13:05:37 +0000 UTC View PostAll around the northern city gate, be it within or without the walls, upon the streets, in the road, in the ditches and the cleared-out fields, roiling crowds of people had gathered. They were kept within a certain distance of the walls by a long chain of men, no less than half of which were clea...
2021-08-25 16:35:52 +0000 UTC View PostBeneath the dress’s subtle white straps, opulent, lacy black ones told plainly that Zef was still wearing that same lingerie, much to Zel’s amusement. She wondered if it would show through in the sunlight.
“What’s in these?” Zef asked, leaning on the table as she looked over the r...
2021-08-24 17:06:52 +0000 UTC View PostTwo left in line.
An Ikesian woman in an archaic dress and a Grekurian man balancing on stilt-like metal feet, attached at the knees. He wore nothing of note, save a pair of old military boots.
Old and young.
The former exuded more life than the latter.
Then, just the crip...
2021-08-23 17:40:02 +0000 UTC View PostIt was then that she thought to just get back in bed and realized something. Her side of the bed was not one that would be directly illuminated by the moon. Next, she realized that Zef was nowhere to be seen, and that in fact, the room around her was like a smudged painting - it held up when her ...
2021-08-22 17:37:52 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Still NSFW.
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The moment she looked upwards - or rather, backwards - and saw Zef staring back at her, Zel took another deep breath and without another moment’s wait plunged her tongue all the...
2021-08-21 16:48:12 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: NSFW chapter, but also super saccharine
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The hallway just went on and on. Somehow, despite the ever present haze of steam, the walls were dry. Neither of them paid attention to anything about their ...
2021-08-20 11:16:17 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Might need to take a day off to unscrew my sleep pattern. Less to do with me feeling like I can't get the writing done to keep up, and more that I uh... Kinda just slept for way way way too long and it snapped my time management for the day in half.
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2021-08-18 17:21:32 +0000 UTC View PostShe continued to use the dumbbells, but moved onto exercises other than lifting - squats, bent-over rows, crunches, push ups with alternating lifts between each rep, and a few exercises that she couldn’t quite remember specific names for.
The entire time, Zel felt Zef’s eyes on her as a...
2021-08-17 15:14:49 +0000 UTC View Post“Mafia?”
“I’m not surprised you didn’t know, it was long ago,” the old man nodded sagely. “Many current-day Heroic Families and cultivation sects were founded by outlaws during the feudal era when most lethal weapons and forms of martial arts - let alone cultivation - were out...
2021-08-16 17:25:50 +0000 UTC View PostZel continued to make full use of the pavilion, moving from dummy to dummy and quickly developing a cycle of training punches, kicks, bladework, and testing what she could do with the Essentia Crucible. She couldn’t quite get larger ball lightning right, but with each attempt t...
2021-08-15 15:03:14 +0000 UTC View PostEvery conceivable sort of target or dummy, multiple smaller buildings near the main one’s entryway up against the walls, even… Hold on, were those fountains on the walls of the main edifice that fed into aqueducts that themselves ran into irrigation tanks right next to those structures? In fa...
2021-08-14 18:01:10 +0000 UTC View Post