Lester Yong & Rosa Fontelera-Yong

CoESC Book 4-16.2: Rising Tension

If there was one thing Yuriko appreciated about the Palace of Lights was that it had a large and comfortable bathroom.

The tub was large enough that she didn’t have to fold her legs when she soaked. It was also made out of aromatic wood and coupled with the bath oils and salts, it made for a relaxing experience.

She hadn’t had a chance to bathe since that strange room she found the Ambrosia in, and the built-up sweat and dirt had taken its toll on her.

Her new clothes di...

CoESC Book 4-16.1: Rising Tension

Yuriko lounged in the palace suite, sitting next to the window and gazing out into Lucenti City. The Palace of Light was in the exact centre of the city, or rather, the old city. A hundred years of expansion had changed the shape from a spoked wheel into a weird oblong.

At least, that was what they told her on the way.

The wooden bridges were one of the few ways to move in Lucenti. The City was over three longstrides wide and built vertically. Multiple dwellings were on the same g...

CoESC Book 4-15.3: Surface

It took the rest of the day to get to the city.

The terrain changed from relatively dry grassland and light woods to a river delta and eventually, a marshland. The road had turned from hard-packed dirt to cobblestones halfway to the city, and she saw several branching cobblestone roads that led to the north and south. At one point, they entered the woods and the resulting shade was annoying.

While her body absorbed the Radiant energy, she meditated to channel it to her physical bo...

CoESC Book 4-15.2: Surface

“Hold! You slime-scaled cretins!”

Otlaca’s cry was too late, with the crossbow bolts already in the air.

Time seemed to slow down as she assessed the danger.

While crossbow bolts without the backing of sufficient Animus wouldn’t even penetrate her Anima, from the multi-coloured hues glinting from the arrowheads, they were well and fully invested with malevolent Intent.

She had run far ahead of the caravan and they were in no danger of getting caught in the cros...

CoESC Book 4-15.1: Surface

“A Dire Beast Monarch?”

Otlaca almost choked on his wine. A little bit of it went down the wrong hole but his fine muscular control managed to bring it back up before his reflexes caused him to gag.

“A Stone Auroch King,” Rhox wearily replied.

They were in the conference tent, and aside from her, Dragon Leader Usaza was also in attendance. The white-scaled woman blinked lazily from across the table though.

“I see. A pity,” Otlaca grunted. He would have vast...

CoESC Book 4-14.3: Harvest

“Ugh!” Yuriko grunted.

Her Anima had taken the brunt of the impact but she couldn’t help but mentally assess herself. No pain in her back, a bit on the legs and arm. Her right fist throbbed with the backlash of her strike, but the pain was muted. Honestly, she had more concern with her backpack. The impact might have burst her canisters. Still, now wasn’t the time to think about that!

She rolled to her feet, and her eyes sought her assailant. The snake and lizard-kin were ...

CoESC Book 4-14.2: Harvest

Three days.

It took that long before the endless surge of devilbeasts ebbed. Yuriko stood on the wall for the entire day, retiring only to her tent when Otlaca sent her a message that they should take turns on watch.

Feeling more than a bit tired, she had agreed. Over the course of the day, three more Dire Beasts had made their presence known. One had been a bony bear that was even larger than the hound. When it stood on its hind legs, it could actually reach the top of the wall.<...

CoESC Book 4-14.1: Harvest

Yuriko fought her instinct to just run out of the stockade and head directly to the threat. It wasn’t easy but she only had to remind herself that there are hundreds of warriors here and she wasn’t even of the same nation. Still, she went out of the building and stared at the wall.

The camp was barely illuminated. There were only a few lanterns filled with bioluminescent moss, as well as what remained in the cavern itself. Notably absent were crystal Animus lamps, and open fires. 2021-09-27 14:36:08 +0000 UTC View Post

CoESC Book 4-13.3: A Conversation

The white scaled snakekin practically dragged Yuriko across the enclave, all while nattering in a bubbly, hissy voice.

“Oh, your hair’s gorgeous! Other than the cats and bears, we don’t have hair at all. Ah, look I’ve got a nice speckled pattern, and Commander Otlaca’s diamond scale pattern is quite handsome, but your crest is amazing!”

“Eh, uh, yeah…”

“Ah! There’s the guest tent!” The snake-kin gushed, bringing Yuriko to a hemispherical tent that was...

CoESC Book 4-13.2: A Conversation

The foreign Elder’s question nearly froze Otlaca’s blood. He couldn’t help but pause while looking at her from behind the transparent nictitating membranes that covered his eyes.

Yuriko of the Davar was an odd woman, he decided.

They’d spent the past couple of hours talking over dinner and he wasn’t sure if she was just naive or incredibly astute. As few people ever reached her level of power with any kind of innocence, he leaned towards the latter conclusion.

Begi...

CoESC Book 4-13.1: A Conversation

The floor of the tent was covered with a luxurious rug. It had intricate maze-like patterns along the edges and the interior depicted a flowering tree. It was soft under Yuriko’s feet and she spent a moment enjoying the sensation against her bare toes. But that wasn’t to say that she ignored the occupant of the room.

If Rhox was a fairly young snakekin, the Commander was certainly an elder. His scales were a faded black and grey, though the diamond pattern across his skin was still ...

CoESC Book 4-12.3: Rising Tide

Rhox of the Ahas Clan peered at the frightening woman walking just beside her. Though maybe she was mistaken. Rhox wasn’t that well versed in parsing human physique. For all she knew, Yuriko was an elder. For that matter, why was she barefoot? Every other human in her troop wore boots.

Also, her clothes were a mess. Her pants fell to mid-calf and looked like it would unravel in the near future. Her poncho had several tears and bloodstains. Hmmm.

The poncho looked like a product ...

CoESC Book 4-12.2: Rising Tide

“Hiek!” Masa gasped once she saw who their rescuers were. “No, no…”

Did she escape from them just to fall back into their hands? What was the point of that endless fall? What was the point of meeting that odd human girl?

Even as she watched them come closer, Yuriko looked as cold and uncaring as she did when they saw the Seven-headed Serpent King!

Oh.

Well, these dozen men and women wouldn’t be a match for that dire beast at all! Er, did Yuriko defeat the s...

CoESC Book 4-12.1: Rising Tide

Yuriko ran down the tunnel, somewhat grateful that she hadn’t encountered any forks in the road so far. She wouldn't really know where to go to chase after the catkin.

A core of annoyance had started to grow in her mind. Masa was a far cry from her friends. They would never leave her mid-battle.

Hmm, though maybe that wasn’t really called for. It wasn’t as if she and Masa were lifelong friends. No, she’d met the catkin just yesterday and had actually been a foe at the time...

CoESC Book 4-11.3: Ascent

“The Beast Tide is starting.”

Otlaca of the Ahas clan flicked his forked tongue and tasted the air. The ambient Chaos, perceptible as an actinic tinge in the air, had grown denser.

“Oh, you think, blessed patriarch?” Usaza’s sardonic voice tickled Otlaca’s ear holes.

The elder scale scratched his chin with his stubby fingers while giving his aide-de-camp a sidelong glance. Usaza’s albino white scales were set in a reverent manner, quite opposite of her tone. 2021-09-20 13:05:34 +0000 UTC View Post

CoESC Book 4-11.2: Ascent

“Who’s making noise now?” Masa grumbled while Yuriko chortled.

“Well, you can have those in exchange for the poncho.”

“Really?” Masa’s eyes lit up, “But, just one. It’s more than enough.”

“Toss that in the pot then. I’m hungry.” Yuriko tapped one of the bamboo canisters. “Oh wait, I’ve also got this syrupy thing from near the Obsidian Shard.” She grabbed a bowl from her pack and poured out some of the amber liquid. “This also sated my hung...

CoESC Book 4-11.1: Ascent

“So fluffy!”

Yuriko squealed as she stroked the cat woman, Masa’s, tail. The feel of the silky fur against her fingers and palm sent a thrill of glee into her mind and she couldn’t help but giggle mindlessly.

“Ahn!” Masa gave a squelched moan, and collapsed bonelessly on the ground. Her face was red and her ears twitched incessantly.

Yuriko kept stroking as she observed the cat-eared and tailed woman out of the corner of her eyes.

Masa was a few inches shor...

CoESC Book 4-10.3: Poachers, Raiders, and Thieves

Masa’s fall ended as abruptly as it started. One moment, she was asleep, with the winds as her lullaby. The next, bumped into something and soon found herself tumbling in the air. Her back hit gravel and her eyes popped open, her heartbeat pounding up a storm.

“Where…?” she muttered as she rolled to her feet, a rather undignified position for a Kutin.

The ceiling was higher than she expected and the passage was wider, too. The tunnels near the surface were mostly narrow sa...

CoESC Book 4-10.2: Poachers, Raiders, and Thieves

Masa groggily rubbed her eyes as she awoke.

How long has it been? A day? Two?

The wind whistled against her sensitive ears. Her tail stood on end, with her fur poofed. The darkness was all-encompassing and she was still falling.

She could reach her canteen and her rations. But no matter how she angled her body or how she tried to manipulate the way she fell, there was nothing around her.

The first few minutes of her fall had been the most nerve-wracking. Now, she merel...

CoESC Book 4-10.1: Poachers, Raiders, and Thieves

The wall slid shut behind Yuriko, making her jump in surprise.

She should have expected that, she thought to herself; the spire didn't seem to want people to turn back. Shaking her head at the blank wall, she spun on her heels and continued on the path.

The floor was cold stone, at least compared to the warm sand of the arena. It suddenly occurred to her that she should have used Fri’Avgi against the Colossi. A giant weapon against giant foes. Except she hadn’t considered usin...

[Jade] Unexpected Delay

Hello!

Due to some unexpected work and connectivity issues, Jade releases will come in two batches, the latest by tomorrow, 14 September.

We will, however, do our best to get the releases caught up within today so we can remain on track with the posting. ^_^

- R

CoESC Book 4-9.3: The Spire

Yuriko kept at a brisk walk, devouring paces every second. The tunnel was too monotonous and at some point, she felt nauseated from feeling as though she was walking in circles.  That wasn’t inaccurate in the sense that the tunnel spiralled upwards. After the first few turns, she’d lost all sense of direction.

The skies were covered, the light was from the crystal panels, and even those slowly disappeared as the longstrides wore on. For some reason, her time-sense felt a bit of...

CoESC Book 4-9.2: The Spire

Crossbow bolts, screams, and stones flew in the still air. Masa huddled behind Dai as the Iona clanner blocked the projectiles. The hissing screams made her flatten her ears over her hair even as she clutched the hilt of her longsword.

“What are you doing? Run!” Anda yelled at both of them.

As soon as they saw the Ahas clanners and the Reviled, he’d jumped back in the tunnel and started shooting. Cheaci was on the ground, swearing up a storm while he cradled his right arm. T...

CoESC Book 4-9.1: The Spire

Kiruna Maeda Nadir walked in complete darkness but to her eyes, it was as bright as day. She had a notebook and a pencil in hand--not hers--while she walked down the tunnels. Behind her was a source of light, a lantern powered with a jade cartridge, carried by her brother, Lukas.

The light did strange things to her now. It wasn’t as if she was blinded by it. No, if anything, it revealed far more things than it should have. When she looked at the light, whatever was inside looked ether...

CoESC Book 4-8.3: The Nest

The next morning, Yuriko didn’t see the Skybeast at the top of the sinkhole, so after her morning ablutions and a hearty breakfast, she started climbing up the side. The walls were surprisingly sturdy, so maybe it wasn’t so much a sinkhole but a pit. An ant nest, apparently.

The numerous tunnels only came up to a hundred paces from the bottom. The wall looked like limestone, though she wasn’t really sure. Nevertheless, it proved tough enough that the handholds she found didn’t c...

CoESC Book 4-8.2: The Nest

The leather satchel looked old but was still relatively clean. At least, it didn’t have any kind of mold or moss growing on it. Yuriko fell into deep thought when she saw the lettering. Many planes used Wojan as their secondary language, but she didn’t know of any that used it as their primary language.

Not that she knew much about other planes and nations. Learning about them was tedious. Well, she barely spoke Wojan, though honestly, that language was much simpler than Verdanian. ...

Birthday Surprise!

It's L's birthday today, 6th September, so we're releasing an extra 5 chapters this week starting tomorrow, Tuesday! We hope you enjoy the surprise release.

- L & R

CoESC Book 4-8.1: The Nest

Twang!

Anda bent over and wound the winch to pull the crossbow’s string without bothering to check where his bolt went. The most important thing right now was to fill the air with bolts and prevent the Femorants from swarming them.

“Bad luck to stumble on a nest!” Dai grunted. He slammed his shield against one of the humanoid ants and forced it back. Cheaci ran it through with his longsword.

Masa and Hixe were pelting the Femorants, Masa with her slingshot, an...

CoESC Book 4-7.3: Crossing the Dessert

Not ten minutes after Yuriko started the circulation pattern for Anima Refinement, the alarm stone sent a mental beep that startled her out of her meditation. The Animus strands naturally completed a circulation pattern before dissipating. Ten minutes was enough for most of the larger cracks to mend, which meant she was back in fighting form.

Yuriko got up to her seat and fingered her combat knife and the Plasma Lancet. One flaw with her Animus blades was that she couldn’t use it with...

CoESC Book 4-7.2: Crossing the Desert

A hundred paces. Two hundred. Three. Four. Five hundred paces from the ground.

Yuriko struggled fiercely against the Skybeast’s grip. It was already a miracle that her backpack wasn’t torn to shreds. Her flared Anima didn’t do anything either since the edge of it didn’t cover the entire backpack.

Yuriko felt dizzy at the height.

The highest she’d ever flown was on the flying shuttle, and that thing could barely rise above ten paces. The Watchtower was a hundred pac...