After my conversation with Scout commander Nells, I waited for two days. During that time, my bones finished healing up, thanks to my high Fortitude and my healing ability derived from my attunement. I had to admit, Fortitude was an incredibly useful stat to improve no matter what I ended up doing in the future. Not only did it make it much harder to get sick, and not only did it toughen up my ...
2023-05-03 05:11:39 +0000 UTC View PostAlice spent some time relaxing after her previous experiment. She got a few pastries from the kitchen, and then spent a few hours laying in bed with some light reading. Ethan had a few historical records laying around, which were written in a style somewhat similar to the fairytales from Alice’s previous world. Since the writers had focused on making it entertaining to read, the books read su...
2023-04-29 07:27:00 +0000 UTC View PostI looked at my oldest brother, who was lying on a cot in the corner of a doctor’s office, and frowned.
Jonathan was unconscious, but one of his arms was so badly mangled that it made even my injuries after the Orukthyri fight look light. I looked at the doctor who was attending to the injured scouts in the tent.
“Will there be any permanent impact on his arm? And is his life in ...
2023-04-29 05:39:48 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor’s Note: Slight correction to previous chapter. I am bad at math. Miria has Grade 9 Agility, not Grade 10. 104+73+20 is 197, which is three points below the cutoff for the grade 10 Agility.
The soldiers took a few hours to deal with the dead and wounded while Sallia and I sat in the corner and talked. Once the more serious injuries and potent...
2023-04-28 05:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I woke up, I could barely see straight. My body felt like… well, like an Orukthyri had fallen on me and crushed several of my bones. Even the parts of my body that weren’t broken felt like one giant bruise. The only thing I could see clearly were the System notifications I hadn’t addressed yet - apparently, I had gotten more while I was asleep.
Before I could check on them, I f...
2023-04-26 00:18:15 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor’s Note:
All right, I have a confession and an apology to make, as well as a notification of a few changes to the two previous chapters.
As a writer, my fundamental rule so far has been to never change a major detail of a chapter once I post it. Everything should remain basically the same as when I make the chapters available to all of you, so that I don’t...
2023-04-22 07:14:10 +0000 UTC View PostI looked at the two Orukthyri, feeling desperation starting to claw at my chest.
Sallia and I were both injured. Sallia’s arm was broken, and after getting punched in the arm and flung around like a rag doll, I wasn’t feeling very good either. I was incredibly lucky that I was wearing my {Lake-Gazer’s Dress}, or I might have also broken a few bones. However, I was badly bruised now,...
2023-04-22 04:22:33 +0000 UTC View PostI took another look at the dead spiders on the wall, and grinned to myself as I scrolled through my System notifications. I had two of them that I cared about.
First, I had gotten my first kill of an {Acid-Drinker}, which gave me a small but noticeable Achievement bump.
----------------------------
Slaughter: Kill an Acid-Drinker for the First time
Achie...
2023-04-21 05:54:25 +0000 UTC View PostAfter Sallia reached the cavern, she looked at the chaotic battlefield, and felt a slight grin tug at her lips as her hand tightened around Felix’s sword. She felt a thrill of anticipation run through her body as she looked at the scene in front of her.
Finally, a real battle. After spending twenty years in this world, Sallia hadn’t been allowed to take part in a real fight once. She ...
2023-04-20 05:15:16 +0000 UTC View Post“So who are these guys?” asked one of the [Guards], looking over the prisoners with curious eyes.
Alice frowned, before looking at Ethan to see if he had answers. It was increasingly obvious that the people they had found weren’t from the Society. But the major oddities in the village, the strange [Farmer] mana clinging to their bodies that reminded her of Boris, and the random vill...
2023-04-15 07:40:33 +0000 UTC View PostOn the day that Ella and Lauren agreed to bring us to our first fights, Ella led me to one of the exits to the city’s primary cavern. I started carefully examining the exit tunnels to the city. This was my first time getting a good look at the edges of our city’s cavern, since I had never had a reason to look at the tunnels that led to other caverns or cities before.
Much like the cit...
2023-04-15 05:41:55 +0000 UTC View PostYears passed by.
I spent a great deal of that time working with my teacher to improve my attunement, allowing me to improve my Extinguish spell, and also improving how effectively I used my attunement for other things.
I figured out how to do a second spell, in addition to extinguish. Rather than putting out the candle of life by using my image of an ocean, I also learned how to use...
2023-04-14 05:29:55 +0000 UTC View PostAfter the basic introduction to how the spellcasting system as a whole worked, Matt got me started on forming magic circles, which needed to be created inside of the mind before one could cast any spells at all. Apart from that, he also gave me some basic exercises to work on to help familiarize myself with fire. I was to spend several hours a day observing a candle flame, and observing f...
2023-04-13 04:27:36 +0000 UTC View PostOnce the decision to pursue the unusual footprints was made, the group rapidly started packing up the camp. The group left a few notes, written in some sort of military code, placed in semi-hidden spots throughout the place they had camped so that if the reinforcements from Metsel reached the camp before they returned, they would know what direction to go in order to meet up with the group.
... 2023-04-08 07:31:52 +0000 UTC View PostAfter figuring out how to use ‘extinguish,’ I spent several minutes making the attack more and more effective, more and more mine. The attack was still very rough and unpolished, and it was still incredibly difficult to pull off, but I knew with time it would become a combat-ready spell if I just practiced enough. And I was determined to squeeze in as much practice as I could, beca...
2023-04-08 04:23:05 +0000 UTC View Post“I take it you succeeded already?” said Ella, a few moments after I started grinning to myself and looking at her soul.
“I got my attunement!” I said happily.
Ella chuckled. “I’m quite impressed. I honestly thought that you finishing today was a bit unlikely. I wouldn’t have been surprised if you took up to a week to form your attunement, although it’s obviously bett...
2023-04-07 04:21:28 +0000 UTC View Post“So far, you’ve only been exposed to Alteration magic by reaching into possible futures, right? I believe I’ve given you a very light amount of information about how attunements work, but it was quite shallow. Before I really get into details, do you have any other knowledge of shaping?” asked Ella, giving me a curious look as she found a comfortable place to sit. I looked around the em...
2023-04-04 23:22:52 +0000 UTC View PostI stared at the sea of souls, preparing for my next reincarnation. I grabbed Sallia’s hand in my left hand, and Felix’s hand in my right, and the three of us jumped into the river of souls.
Quickly, I felt the tug on my being, and moments later, the three of us began floating towards something in the distance. Moments later, I felt myself sink into something, and then everything went ...
2023-04-01 16:42:22 +0000 UTC View PostThe next few hours were spent in a strange mixture of tension and boredom. Nobody quite knew where the villagers had gone, and nobody really had a good way to find out, either. Which meant that the group was stuck in a place with unknown dangers possibly lurking nearby.
However, it was difficult to remain tense and ready for an unknown danger to appear for hours on end, especially when no...
2023-04-01 05:28:53 +0000 UTC View Post“And that’s why it’s critical that young witches and shapers eventually go to the surface from time to time. Restraining bright young minds with the potential to recover lost knowledge is just foolish,” said Ella, giving my mother a barely restrained glare.
I stifled the urge to groan. True to my fears, my mother and my teacher were not getting along well. In fac...
2023-04-01 03:55:50 +0000 UTC View PostAfter signing up for learning under Ella, the witch in charge of running the entire meet and greet disappeared for a few moments to make a final confirmation with Ella. Less than a minute later, she returned and confirmed that Ella was more than happy to accept me as an apprentice. She would pick me up from my home tomorrow, in the evening, giving me time to tell my family the good news, and th...
2023-03-30 04:42:00 +0000 UTC View PostAlice uneasily glanced around, trying to pick out any potential threats. There was probably nobody else in Illvaria who had quite the same quantity of Perks and Achievements enhancing her vision and ability to perceive mana, and she fully intended to make use of that. If the Society, in particular, had attacked this village and spirited away the villagers, Alice should be able to find ...
2023-03-25 07:39:26 +0000 UTC View PostI looked at Lauren for a few moments, considering what my first question should be, before I spoke.
“Is there a way to combine shaping and spellcasting? Ella mentioned that having the two work together was possible, but she didn’t know any details. What kind of possibilities would I be learning if I become your apprentice?”
Lauren gave me a curious look. “Well aren’t you a...
2023-03-25 04:59:13 +0000 UTC View PostIt took several minutes for the Witch to begin arranging meetings between potential students and teachers. She already had a list of who was interested in who, but everyone still needed to roughly agree on the schedule of when to meet each person. So she hopped from one teacher to the next, giving them a list of which students or teachers were interested in each other, double checking that no o...
2023-03-24 04:19:20 +0000 UTC View PostHeads up on scheduling stuff:
First of all, my schedule for the next week MIGHT be a little wonky. Some follow up to the big project from a month or two ago that I probably should have realized was coming, but failed to take into account until just now. Hopefully it doesn’t take up that much time or energy, but if it does, expect a chapter or two to be delayed or something from either o...
2023-03-23 05:07:01 +0000 UTC View PostAnise smiled even more widely as I shook her hand, and then she gave Sallia and Felix blinding grins of their own.
“What about you two?” asked Anise. “Will you also be my friends? What are your names?”
Sallia was the firs to speak. “I’m Sallia. I want to be an adventurer when I grow up!” Anise looked at Sallia’s pink dress, before frowning. “Why are you wearing pin...
2023-03-23 04:58:52 +0000 UTC View PostAfter Alice agreed to go, Ethan quickly smiled at her, before nodding.
“I’m glad to hear it. Get ready then. I sent word to a few other Mages, especially those who have some extra resistance or complete immunity to broken mana poisoning. The ones that accept my request should be here in half an hour or so. We’ll also be taking some [Guards] along; while I hope that the Soci...
2023-03-18 08:17:23 +0000 UTC View PostFinally, as I mused to myself about the nature of Alteration Essence, I heard the shaper’s voice rise in surprise, cutting me out of my thoughts.
“Two?” said the shaper. “There are two students who passed the test this year?” I grinned , focusing all of my attention back on him. I could see him standing over Sallia’s table, grinning from ear to ear. “I can’t believe it! Th...
2023-03-18 04:39:16 +0000 UTC View PostThe witch led everyone to another room. In this room, several blue cubes were set up on a row of tables, stretching from one end of the room to the other. And standing inside of the room was a man in pink, white, and dark-gray robes.
I quietly wondered if the pink on the man’s robes meant he worked as a midwife. If so, did that mean shapers had some sort of healing related abilities? Or...
2023-03-17 04:08:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe witch led everyone to another room. In the room were six wooden sticks, each of which was situated on a different table.
The witch cleared her throat. “As all of you have likely heard, we test your affinity for the two magic systems before you start school. This is to make sure that everyone is learning things relevant to them. Learning more than the basics about what a spell circle...
2023-03-16 05:23:23 +0000 UTC View Post