After an afternoon spent focused on teaching magic to my students and giving a bit of guidance to Lia, it was on...
2023-03-03 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostIt was early afternoon by the time Mrs Wu managed to come by. After feeding Lia some of my Blood, infused with a bit of Astral Power, I started her on some simple martial arts exercises. She needed to have a balanced stance and learn how to throw a punch, how to kick without overbalancing and so on. Her incredible physical attributes required some adjustment of those techniques, but ultimately,...
2023-03-01 17:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post“Ms Samantha, how are we going to do this?” Cheng Hu quietly asks Samantha, uncertain if she has a plan to actually move through the night. Because, given the thick clouds and fading light, it will soon be impossible to continue on normally. They will simply be blind and without being able to see, their pace will drop to the point that walking becomes almost pointless. Maybe if they use a s...
2023-02-27 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostIt was hair-raising, and not just due to the cold, clammy mist I had conjured. Amusingly, it was only I who truly knew just how close we got to the cattle, the mist was dense enough to dampen any scents and the concealment runes I had imbued into its creation meant that even sounds were deafened. I could pierce through it, it was still my magic, and thus I could perceive the cows which nervousl...
2023-02-26 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAfter instructing the others to stay back, I channelled power into my cloak, blending into the night, and started to move forward. I wasn’t about to get too close to the shapes I had stopped ahead, I simply had no way of estimating how perceptive they were so I wasn’t about to take any stupid risks. If I spooked the herd of unknown size, it would be dangerous even for me. Without knowing ho...
2023-02-25 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostNight hadn’t quite fallen when we began our trek back to town. The skies were completely overcast, a thick layer of clouds blocking the harmful rays of the sun, giving me enough confidence to make the move.
Silva, Lia and I were accompanied by the five people who had come over from the Gym and two people from the farm. Mark, the guy who had greeted me when I entered the farm first, and ...
2023-02-24 17:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a little surreal, getting pulled into what looked like a completely ordinary bedroom, furnished for an older teenager, by a vampire, only to notice movie posters that, quite prominently, featured characters that were, at least according to my sketchy pop-culture knowledge, vampires. Coincidence or fate? I couldn’t even begin to guess.
There was a brief moment of contention when L...
2023-02-22 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostIt was early afternoon by the time Lia and I moved back up, into the primary residence. I had warned her about the Curse of the Sun, making sure she knew to stay out of direct sunlight, though even indirect sunlight was somewhat painful. Luckily, the day was overcast, allowing us to move freely indoors and even going outside might have been possible, though incredibly risky.
The moment I ...
2023-02-20 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostIt was fascinating, just how good Lia was at running interference. Not only did she manage to keep Kira from disturbing my rest, she made sure that nobody did. While I had woken up during their conversation, I had remained in a dozing state, not quite awake but also not fully asleep. It was a state I had plenty of experience in, though mostly from my time on Mundus, when Sigmir and I had slept ...
2023-02-19 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post"Mistress, can you grant me a name?” the newly minted vampire asked, looking at me with crimson eyes that seemed to sparkle in the dim gloom of the cellar. Hopefully, that was the only part of her that would ever sparkle, otherwise, I would be the eternal sinner who brought sparkling vampires into the world. In that case, the only solution would be to make her not only the first but also the ...
2023-02-18 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostBlue windows cascaded through my field of vision, multiple notifications vying for my attention as I felt a surge of power flow through me. The surge wasn’t enough to soothe all my aches, especially that feeling of light-headed ache that settled somewhere within my skull, but it helped to drive away the exhaustion of the night.
Noticing that my creation had broken eye contact with me an...
2023-02-17 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostWalking was rough, the snow was slowing me down and concealing the terrain below, making it far harder to walk. Luckily for her, Vio was light enough to walk above the snow, without sinking in, or I would have either been forced to carry her or call her back into her Pokéball.
Just as the sun was starting to sink in the distance, dusk slowly settling over the forest and I was beginning t...
2023-02-16 18:04:09 +0000 UTC View PostMore and more of the strangely simple body plan of the Shattered was becoming clear in my mind. It felt almost tragic, these creatures would survive for a time, but they were a dead end. No reproductive capabilities I could detect, making them nothing but monsters that would terrorize the survivors until they were finally taken care of. Almost as much of a dead person walking as if she was a zo...
2023-02-15 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostFor a moment, I was tempted to simply reject her plea. After trudging through the mud the entire night and too little sleep during the day, I was rather tired and wanted some sleep. But no, she was the hostess, so I should at least hear her out.
“What happened to her? While I have some healing abilities, they are rather limited,” I asked, regretting that I had focused my Blood Rune Ma...
2023-02-13 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostLeaving town feels weird. The switch from somewhat narrow roads, with possible danger lurking around the next corner or behind every dumpster, to wide open fields, with only a few shrubs, stands of trees and the ever-prevalent irrigation ditches providing any kind of cover is both disturbing and refreshing. Sure, it means that enemies cannot suddenly jump out of their hiding places and pounce o...
2023-02-12 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe situational awareness of these people was atrocious. There was no other way to describe it, Silva and I had calmly walked down the driveway, stopping maybe ten metres from the fence around the property they were living on and two people had walked past the gate without noticing me. Both were likely supposed to be guards, given that one was carrying a long, straight stick that could serve as...
2023-02-11 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostLuckily, the scent of death I had smelled didn’t come from the farmstead I was approaching. When I reached the long driveway to the lit farm, the scent was still blown in my face by the wind, roughly coming from the direction I had been going in. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from, not in the darkness with the various shrubs a...
2023-02-10 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostTeaching my students was getting more and more interesting. While their practical skills were far from mine, their imagination and ideas were providing a constant challenge, making me question what I thought I knew about magic and oftentimes giving me a new perspective to consider.
Things got even more interesting when I demonstrated my sorcerer-ability to define and teach spells, largely...
2023-02-08 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“It’s good to see that you keep up your training,” Mrs Wu’s voice ripped me from my trance-like state, causing me to stumble and almost faceplant. I hadn’t paid any attention to my surroundings, completely losing myself in the movement and hadn’t even noticed her arrival. Though, in my defence, she was a highly trained operative and may have snuck up on me, something I wouldn’t di...
2023-02-06 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostFive people are sitting around one of the many improvised tables in the Wu’s Gym, the place where the local survivors have taken shelter. They softly talk, discussing their plans for the day, where to go, what to ga...
2023-02-05 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe rest of the night was dedicated to teaching my three students. With my guidance, they tried their hand at killing Shattered using their magic, though only Kevin was having any real success. But on the skill side of things, they had made great strides, it seemed that experimenting and getting taught while, theoretically, in live combat was quite effective. It made me wonder whether that was ...
2023-02-04 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Watch well,” I instructed my students, as I made myself somewhat comfortable above the manhole cover. A part of me still wanted to conjure my Throne but I simply lacked the power to do so easily. Maybe at some point I would be able to reclaim it, but for now, it was simply too much expenditure for too little advantage.
“Each of you can learn something from what I’m about to do. P...
2023-02-03 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostFinding most of my students was easier than I expected, they hadn’t gone far. The sheer novelty of their magic had sent most of them into a bit of a tizzy, even Ling who was quite the sight with her white hair acting in stark contrast to the childish glee all of them were emanating. Only Leon was missing, but that might have been due to a difference in personality or that he was of a slightly...
2023-02-01 17:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe cold was the first thing I felt, an icy wind blowi...
2023-01-31 19:37:59 +0000 UTC View Post“I’ve heard you’ve been quite busy, Samantha,” Mrs Wu interrupted my quiet, restful meditation, pulling my attention from the shores of the Astral River where I had studied the changing chaos. I was still unable to make sense of what I could see but made sure to remember as much as possible, for one day, I would be able to understand.
“Teaching was surprisingly interesting,” I...
2023-01-30 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time I had introduced each of my students to the Astral River, I was beyond exhausted. Not just from the repeated task of pulling them into that space and giving them a frame of reference but mainly from my attempts to gain the same runes they were trying to gain. But it wasn’t ...
2023-01-29 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostOnce my pupils were busy, I decided to do a small experiment myself. My plan was to have everyone try to pick up the rune mastery of their respective elements, so I wanted to see if I was able to pick up Death Rune Mastery, assuming there was such a thing. While I lacked the affinity, I hoped that my previous exposure and current possession of Death Magic would make up for the difference. And i...
2023-01-28 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostGiving magic-lessons was a strange mix of relaxing and stressful. After waking up, I managed to get some more food before taking over one of the inner rooms, inviting those with affinity-traits to join me. Once those interested had gathered, I had given them my explanation in regards to Astral Power, the Astral River and magic, stressing that it was simply the concepts and images I used to unde...
2023-01-27 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNothing much happened on our way back to the gym, there were a few Shattered but none that were actually worth killing. The speed at which they gained level had slowed down a little, most of them were still between six and nine, meaning there was little to be gained if I killed them. Not unless I got really creative, or used one of my under-used skills. Skills like Unarmed Combat, my Dual Blade...
2023-01-25 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post