“Course, if your shift is on the sleep rotation, then you don’t got to worry,” Kezil said, breaking me out of considering precisely that worry. “Rotates between chambers, unless things get really bad. And if you’re still in the bunks at that point, a little bit of heat’s gonna be the least of your problems.”
“Lovely,” I said, shaking my head. There was no way I’d be us...
2025-08-11 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostIt occurred to me that the cliffs would not, in fact, become red with Sahevin blood.
None of them actually bled red, from what I’d seen. It was mostly a bluish black.
Still, if I wanted to implement things as efficiently as possible, then I’d need to use an unfortunate amount of my time within Conflict’s trial analyzing their movements and considering the best places to set up...
2025-08-10 17:54:30 +0000 UTC View PostThe journey north was pretty uneventful. Bevel came and sat with me a couple times, silent but squeezing my side tightly. I sat with her until she recovered each time, ruffling her hair.
Then we’d go on deck or into the galley and work on different enchanting designs.
By the time we were nearing the coast, she was feeling well enough to join Inertia in the air.
Wasn’t a su...
2025-08-09 14:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostNexxa was pretty sure being Hydra-souled was supposed to put her above the situation she was dealing with.
She supposed, if she didn’t have principles, it really would be that easy. Just wave a hand, and lightning would scour her problems from the face of Ro’an.
Squinting, she inspected said problems. A group of motley dressed people wearing… was that monstrous cat fur turned ...
2025-08-08 14:26:04 +0000 UTC View PostWhile Bevel’s initial reaction had been quite mature, it wasn’t a surprise when I found her in her hammock curled into a ball shortly after Calbern had left.
I didn’t say anything, sitting just below her and reaching for her hand. Despite expecting it, I still rocked to the side when Bevel lurched up to tackle me.
“Hey, if you want to talk about it, know more… well, I’ll...
2025-08-07 19:30:05 +0000 UTC View Post“These are for my new home,” Arizar yelled down to Xelinda before I could ask her what was going on with all the luggage. There was way too much. It would take more cargo space than Celinda’s Grace’s even had to carry all her personal affects. We’d have to pack things into people’s rooms, and even then, I doubt we’d be able to get more than half of it aboard.
“There are tr...
2025-08-06 14:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostAfter lunch, Tamrie and I found Arizar already at the library, hunched over her desk.
Rather than disturb her, I took the opportunity to delve into the shelves, scanning as many books as I could with Review Scroll, though Tamrie settled down on a nearby chair. My efforts weren’t entirely random, since even if I took my time walking shelf to shelf casting the spell non-stop, it would’v...
2025-08-05 14:15:40 +0000 UTC View PostIt didn’t take long for us to start working out terms with the Vox Knights.
“I want people who’re trained by you, but they can’t be sworn to your mercenary code. We’ll establish a new one. The Vox Knights as they’ve been aren’t welcome on our lands.”
Vexna glanced at Vexith.
“That… might be possible. But it would mean the end of our paths,” Vexna said, gr...
2025-08-04 14:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe morning after meeting Tamrie’s mum, I was feeling surprisingly peppy. More than once, I found myself a few inches off the ground even when I didn’t mean to be. Definitely not related to how we ended our evening.
I wasn’t the only one having trouble obeying gravity that morning, since Bevel was floating over the breakfast table, siphoning a stream of dried fruits and granola up a...
2025-08-03 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostTamrie had warned Perry that her mum had connections to criminal elements.
So why the abyss were they making their way to her mum’s home?
Maybe with everything that’d happened, between his poking around in the library, the race, Bevel’s misadventures and his negotiations with the High Shaper, this key fact had slipped her love’s mind. That was the only reason she could think...
2025-08-02 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostWhen we arrived at the source of the explosion, I was glad to see Inertia and Bevel were both safe, though I was honestly surprised to find that it hadn’t been centered on them.
I was also surprised to see a Forgeborn that managed to make Inertia look small.
“Are you all so big?” I found myself asking Inertia, even as I stepped closer to Bevel. Which is when I noticed the lite...
2025-08-01 14:00:26 +0000 UTC View PostBevel’s request to hold the sword had several factors behind it.
The first, and most obvious, (at least to her,) was that if Oltras could use the smoke sword to talk to Equilibrium, then maybe Bevel could use it to talk to Inertia.
Which’d be fraying awesome!
The second, was that maybe she’d be able to use it the same way she had the strange gravity enchantment, to learn...
2025-07-31 14:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAs Papa and auntie Tresla left, Bevel smiled and waved. She still couldn’t believe she had a new Papa. And such a kind one too. She loved her mother and father, had missed them terribly in the lonely years, along with her sister.
But her parents had never come looking for her when she’d ran away or got lost.
Keria had. And so had Papa.
Bevel took a deep breath. She needed ...
2025-07-30 14:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor's note: Oops, I apparently deleted the mention of Bevel staying with Inertia last chapter. Not sure how that happened. Anyway, here's the relevant section.
...MLI...
Inertia hadn’t wanted to leave the inverted field behind, and had at some point pulled out tools to test its effects, much to the She’erd’s apparent consternation. To make mat...
2025-07-29 13:52:35 +0000 UTC View PostWith the the initial details of our trade agreement in place, we parted ways with Thozgar. Not before he loaded me down with a substantial amount of Worlds materials, plus a decent quantity of Celestial. In exchange, I’d left him with two dozen lengths of tier-3 heartwood.
Inertia hadn’t wanted to leave the inverted field behind, and had at some point pulled out tools to test its effe...
2025-07-28 14:09:53 +0000 UTC View Post“The Unclean Clans don’t actually call themselves that, of course,” Thozgar said, his goblet still swirling. No matter how many sips he took, it never seemed to run dry. Unlike the smoothies. “They have dozens of names for themselves, though most change their names as often as they change their clothes. Their leaders and borders aren’t much more stable. For convenience, we refer to th...
2025-07-27 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostEven without my arm tightly secured in Tamrie’s grasp, I would’ve found myself correcting Thozgar. “Ah, I’m not actually single. Tamrie and I are together.”
My immediate clarification caused Tamrie’s grip to relax. It also caused a smile to bloom on the face of Thozgar’s daughter.
“There you have it, father. He’s already engaged,” his daughter said, pushing out o...
2025-07-26 14:00:19 +0000 UTC View Post“Sworn to kill, huh? Sounds like there’s a story behind that,” I said, leaning on the railing as I inspected the dock ahead of us. Instead of wood, it was made of solid stone, with a set of stairs that looked like they were submerged beneath the water half the time.
Calbern inclined his head slightly in my direction. “It was before I met your mother. I’m not sure if you were awa...
2025-07-25 14:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostThree days after setting out for Spellford, I looked down at the waves passing beneath us, my arms on the front rail.
They sat a long way down, glistening in the afternoon sun as we cut through them. The ride was a lot smoother than I’d been expecting. While I’d known, in theory, that the propulsion on the expanding fin would eliminate most of the rocking typical for a ship, I hadn’...
2025-07-24 14:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostDespite Tamrie’s worries, it was with an air of excitement that we prepared for our trip to Spellford.
Though the supplies for our voyage weren’t the only thing we were preparing.
With Nexxa in tow, I visited Keeper once more.
“Ah, young omnivore, what cornucopia have you brought for me today?” The being asked as its skull broke free of the door where it was normally l...
2025-07-23 14:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe next few days passed in a relatively peaceful flurry of activity. Visits to Tender continued, and I was already feeling the difference from repeated visits on the agility path. Not only could I touch my toes, a feat I’d never been capable of on Earth, I could lay my hands flat on the ground.
Sure, I knew I probably could’ve pulled it off with proper stretching, but it was a nice b...
2025-07-22 14:00:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe underground city was immense, yet we weren’t there to explore.
“Come on, can’t I just go in a little ways?” Bevel pleaded from where she hung above me.
“I… fine, I’m gonna take a look at the Waygate anyway. But keep me in sight at all times,” I told her after another glance at the Waygate. My first thought was how useful this place would’ve been during the Howl...
2025-07-21 14:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostWith Tamrie’s success, I’d been hoping to start on the Tethered shortly after. However, after dealing with the… uh… mess, when I went to look at the display, I found it throwing up messages about the sarcophagus needing maintenance.
Something it insisted I needed Utility Access for. If I wanted its advice on how to fix it up.
Luckily, between Balthum’s notes and everything...
2025-07-20 14:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor's note: Much as I love this story, there are bills to pay. Now, this might normally lead to the idea that an author's going to put the story on hiatus or slow the release schedule...
That's the opposite of what I plan to do.
There's a lot more content in this story I want to explore, but even if I can't get to all of it, I do want to get to the end of what I've got plotted ou...
2025-07-19 14:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor's note: Chapter 3/3 for today. Final chapter of V2. Will be an announcement with the first chapter(s) of V3 tomorrow.
...MLI...
Half-cast.
Despite telling herself it didn't matter, Guni had always hated how much that simple phrase had defined her life. Even after she’d become the librarian for the Aranor family, she hadn’t been able to shake it.
When she'd fir...
2025-07-18 16:00:22 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor's Note: Chapter 2/3 for today.
...MLI...
‘Thousands of people weren't exactly a quiet thing,’ Books found himself thinking, not for the first time.
He missed his study.
As much as he knew others had it worse, in the quiet of his own mind, Books allowed himself that much. Even from the observation deck of the landship, the noise of thousands of people ...
2025-07-18 15:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor's note: Chapter 1/3 for today.
...MLI...
Asitov didn't have much use for ensouled. Sure, Spellford would've collapsed into the ocean years ago without them, but other than keeping the enchantments running, they were a blight on existence.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Personally, he hated the city as much as the ensouled that kept it intact. Water dripping everywhere. And having...
2025-07-18 14:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor's note: Chapter 2 of 2 for today.
...MLI...
The time to confront Balthum couldn’t have been worse.
Or better.
The Howl had gathered itself for its last storm. And it wasn’t going out with a puff of smoke and a whimper. The Howl was cranked way past the redline, roaring like a turbo-charged V-eight with a straight pipe.
Even within the safety of Mount Aet...
2025-07-17 15:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor's note: Chapter 1 of 2 for today.
...MLI...
While my first thought to toughen up our people was to awaken as many as I could, I suspected there were other options we should consider first. I also figured I should probably run the idea by the council.
The clouds had snuck back in, and by the time we'd gathered around a table in one of the private rooms in our manor, the ...
2025-07-17 14:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostWith the Howling Defier crashed, it didn't take a genius to guess what had caused that break in the woods. Nexxa and I didn't bother pushing past the crowd of Tethered around the portals, my sister following me into the air.
I regretted not taking the time to slot in any of my third tier spells but it would've been more of a delay anyway.
Instead, Nexxa blasted ahead of me while I f...
2025-07-16 14:00:17 +0000 UTC View Post