“I get that reaction all the time. Nobody expects an ex-Climber to be working in the heart of the engineering department of an aethership!” she said, laughing.
“Right…” Cen mumbled, Rel nodding besides her with a just as confused look on her emerald eyes.
“Everyone, meet Mok. Mok, meet Cen, Rel and Nar,” Tuk introduced, as he closed the door behind them.
Unlike t...
2025-05-30 10:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostDeck 40, Nar read, as the elevators slowed to a halt. We’re almost right in the middle of the ship.
“Uhm…” Tuk suddenly said, making a face. “I forgot to tell you but, down here, the aether is really, really strong. We’ll be okay in the office, but elsewhere…”
The lift door sighed open and there was a collective sharp intake of air.
“Ow<...
2025-05-29 10:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostAfter nearly four weeks of going at that breakneck pace, the faculty finally relented, and on Sixth, the 27th of Xu’Yotlan, another of the Fourteen Great Houses, the apprentices were allowed to have the afternoon for themselves.
On the morrow, they would head into the auditorium once more, this time to finally learn what awaited them in the Brightnight, and classes and lectures would be...
2025-05-28 10:36:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe sand elemental formed up behind Mul, the creature towering over him as it pulled in more and more sand to increase its bulk.
Before it could collapse onto the unsuspecting brawler, exploding into a blanket of sand in an attempt to smother him and give the other two elementals that Mul already faced an opening, Nar was there.
His sword cut through the creature's back, its aura di...
2025-05-27 10:35:07 +0000 UTC View PostViy followed after the white arrows at her feet. Her heart beat fast against her ribs, and she found herself having to unclench her jaw and open her fists every few steps.
Her chest was an indignant rage of pulped up pain after nearly five hours of trying, and failing, to get that blasted ball of aura to go along her right arm pathway, but she tried to ignore the pain, focusing instead of...
2025-05-26 10:30:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Welcome back everyone, especially to those of you whom I haven’t seen since before the third assessment. Higher than some or lower than others, you have all reached a satisfying enough level in your [Mastery] and [Aura Pathways], so, well done in making it this far. Now, is where the real work begins.”
Nar sat besides Gad, with Kur sitting on his either side.
He did his best ...
2025-05-23 10:34:23 +0000 UTC View PostNar groaned as he came to, wondering why his bed felt so hard under him…
“Sore?” someone asked.
His eyes flared open and he backed up against the wall.
“What the…”
“Relax,” Jasphaer said, squeezing his shoulder. “You’re okay. Probably sore from sleeping on the floor, but your HP healed up the rest.”
“My HP…”
Nar sat up straighter, ...
2025-05-22 10:32:07 +0000 UTC View PostNar stumbled against the door. His legs trembled beneath him, spasming, and he couldn’t lean any weight on the left one at all.
He glanced behind him once more, to make sure he hadn’t left any bloody footprints behind him, and tumbled forward into the party room.
“Nar? Holy shit!”
Suddenly, there were hands on him, and he was being whisked into the boy’s room.
...
2025-05-21 10:37:58 +0000 UTC View PostHe did shower in the end, unable to drag his bloody self onto his immaculate bed, and he stood under the steaming water for a long while.
Long rivulets of red water swirled at his feet before disappearing down the drain, and he stared at all the blood as though it belonged to someone else. The memories of pain shifted and morphed into a continuous stream of half-formed images, and his min...
2025-05-20 10:28:40 +0000 UTC View PostWith the sand zooming in and out of focus, Nar raised his hands, and gasped at her gentle, but firm touch as she held onto his pinkies.
“I dumped all of this info on you because once we start, you won’t be thinking properly anymore, and I needed you lucid to get the basics,” she said, looking up from his hands to stare into his eyes.
He too looked into hers in turn, his breath...
2025-05-19 10:28:37 +0000 UTC View PostThe final and last dungeon of the day was an interesting affair.
Its structure was similar to the first two, a boss room with several adds fighting alongside it, but the third dungeon had three such rooms instead, and in their “learner” state, it ended up taking hours to slog through the entire wet, smelly tunnels they found themselves in.
Thankfully, there was no near-wipe thre...
2025-05-16 10:35:24 +0000 UTC View PostThings went a little better the second time around.
Nar looked up from the sand elemental as it burst apart, its core shattered by his blade, and he scanned the rest of the battle.
Cold wind blew sand and grit in his face, tugging at his body with its sudden gales as it howled across a narrow strait of beige sand that rose from the ocean. Around them, in the distance, pillars of bla...
2025-05-15 10:20:38 +0000 UTC View PostThey filtered out into what seemed to be a wider opening in between cliff walls. Above them, a line of featureless, bright gray sky, shone the light of day down a narrow gorge that opened into a wide space of sand banks, green coated rocks and peaceful eddies of whispering, shallow waters. The stench of something decomposing was even heavier out here, and in the distance, Nar caught the sound o...
2025-05-14 10:30:29 +0000 UTC View PostNar peered out the beetle’s window, but he couldn’t see anything other than Labyrinth wall as they slowly descended to the cluster. Then, just as he was about to look away, he caught sight of the topmost of the dungeons cubes, all neatly stacked up in an irregular, triangular formation that climbed up and clung to the wall. All of the dungeon entrances shone with a clear green light, but de...
2025-05-13 10:29:25 +0000 UTC View PostTys stretched beside him, and turned around, leaning back against the handrail, her ashen dark gray hair swaying in the breeze.
“The plan is simple. I defer to the Master of Blades’ assessment that the longsword is the best weapon for you, and I’m not someone to be a stickler to whatever tool a fighter decides to use. But since I’m no swordmaster, the Master of Blades will continu...
2025-05-12 10:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostNar had never been to training arena B, whatever that may be, but the usual white arrows sprung to life to guide him when he engaged his ship’s map.
The arrows guided him towards the by now familiar path to the lift that led down to the canteen, however, instead of the expected sensation of slight weightlessness, he instead felt a sinking in his stomach.
Eh? He looked at ...
2025-05-09 10:30:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Uh… Sure. That’s my whole point in being here,” Jasphaer said, faced with the trio's enthusiasm. “Are-are you hurt anywhere?”
Viy patted herself. “Uh… I don’t think so.”
She turned to Jul who was sitting beside her. “Cut me.”
“What?” Jul shouted. “I’m not hurting you!”
“Nar?”
“Sure,” Nar said, pulling out his sword.
...
2025-05-08 10:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostThey met Tuk and Rel just as they reached their party room’s door.
“Another surprise!” Tuk said, ever beaming with undying excitement. “What a day!”
At his side, Rel shook her head, but a smile played on her lips at the truggers antics. However, when Nar met her eyes, her smile dimmed, sadness coloring her now healthy alfin features. Nar widened his own smile in r...
2025-05-07 10:30:03 +0000 UTC View Post“There are some really good things in here that we should focus on first,” Kur said, scanning the list of recommended 2NET resources as they waited in the queue for the lift after the lecture.
True to his word, he had imposed the ban on the party chat except for strict party needs, and Nar was more than glad for it. After a solid twenty minutes of mental back and forth he had started ...
2025-05-06 10:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post>>
Hi everyone!
I hope you've had a great weekend!
We've got a shorter chapter today, as I mentioned last week. Also, apologies in the delays in answering comments and messages. I've got some hectic stuff going on at the moment, but I should be able to start replying again either today or tomorrow!
Have a great week everyone!
Everhart
>>
Nar...
2025-05-05 10:30:02 +0000 UTC View Post>>
Chapter split was a bit odd for this one, so we have an almost 5.5k word chapter today, and a smaller 2k chapter on Monday!
Happy Friday!
>>
Nar woke up the next morning to the sound of an alarm he didn’t recall setting, and grimaced at the dull ache that seemed to emanate from his chest.
It had taken him a long time to fall asleep, both due to mae...
2025-05-02 10:30:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Well, it’s… Complicated,” the Master of Blades said. "But first things first..."
He gestured for Nar to take a seat, and he himself paced the lightning lit room with his hands behind his back.
“Have you noticed the silver pin she sometimes wears?” his master asked him.
“The one that looks like the icon of the Crystal?” Nar asked, frowning.
“The very sa...
2025-05-01 10:30:03 +0000 UTC View PostYou can’t go back, the words echoed in his mind, shattering his dreamless slumber into a thousand shards.
Nar opened his eyes to the familiar dim light of a sick bay room, and the gaping hole that now occupied the place of his heart quaked. An inhuman, gravely shriek wailed somewhere deep within him as he stared, unblinking, at the dim, beige ceiling above his head, and he did ...
2025-04-30 10:30:03 +0000 UTC View Post>>
I'm so sorry! I forgot to upload the chapter today!
Ugh, I got some stuff going on since last Friday, so I'm a bit all over the place and going half steam this week!
I'm really sorry about that!
We've got a smaller chapter today, and then tomorrow, we return to Nar's POV!
>>
The weapon in her hands was a stranger.
Despite fighting togethe...
2025-04-29 11:17:38 +0000 UTC View Post>>
We have Jul's POV today, and Viy's tomorrow, before returning to Nar on Wednesday.
Have a great week everyone!
<<
“Relax… Don’t try to force it.”
The Master of Shadows’ hands rested caringly over Jul’s shoulders, and squeezed.
“This is not something you can brute force,” she said, her tone low. “It’s something you must feel ...
2025-04-28 10:33:30 +0000 UTC View PostTo witness the emotion on her face was almost as startling as the emotion instructor Bas was displaying through her usually, carefully composed and bland expression.
Uh… Mul thought, eyeing the complex, bone-like structure that made up her forehead. I guess it’s not all hard.
Instructor Bas held a silently panting, tail wagging bundle of white fur in her hands,...
2025-04-25 10:30:02 +0000 UTC View Post-[ Skills
Active
Aura Projectiles 3 (Aura/DPS): The merging of [Aura Projectile] and [Multi-Aura Projectiles]. Can be cast as a single projectile or up to 5 projectiles, each sharing equal amounts of aura in between them. Single projectiles can be aimed freely. Deals (x / 2) (y 0.05) * z, where x is the amount of aura cycle...
2025-04-24 10:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostKur stared at his interlaced fingers, resting atop his lap, and did his best to retain a neutral expression as instructor Cal checked his dungeon gains. After a moment of silence, she dismissed them and brought up his status instead.
“That was quite the first dungeon, wasn’t it?” she asked, her tone soft.
Kur nodded, suppressing a sigh.
“It was rough,” he co...
2025-04-23 10:30:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe door sighed open at their approach, revealing a square mouth of pitch darkness.
“Prepare to be amazed!” Ves said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Lights!”
The entire ceiling turned into one giant light, and Gad’s scaly brow rose as the true length of the room before her was revealed. It was more accurate to call it a training hall, as the thing was as big as the tanks hall, if...
2025-04-22 10:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post“I cannot imagine what it must be like, for an auramancer, to reach the O-Nex and find that all of its fabled wonders are forever blocked from them… Or what it must feel like to live your whole life being forced to watch them so close at hand, but forever beyond your reach. I honestly cannot say which one is worse.” - Notes for an upcoming assignment by ...
2025-04-21 12:29:16 +0000 UTC View Post