Lester Yong & Rosa Fontelera-Yong

CoESC Book 2-4.2: A Ray of Hope

Yuriko didn’t know what to think.

The attendant gasped when she dropped the crystal screen, though reined himself in when it proved tougher than it looked. Yuriko noticed his reaction out of the corner of her eye. She also noticed that the box’s runes had completely disappeared, the lights in the room flickered slightly, and that it was much colder in the room that it was outside.

The last time she had seen her Mum was a year ago, during the Celestial Refraction that happened ...

CoESC Book 2-4.1: A Ray of Hope

From a small tube, Heron carefully squeezed out a dollop of paint onto his palette. He only needed a little bit of blue for his painting, though he could always scrape the remainder to use in other works.

He closed the tube and set it aside. Picking a brush, he dipped it into the paint and slowly coloured Yuriko’s eyes on the canvas. Frowning to himself, Heron muttered, “Not quite the correct shade of blue.”

He’d tried several times over a dozen paintings but he couldn’t...

CoESC Book 2-3.3: Grim Tidings

Marron was sweating profusely despite the cool air inside the Watchtower. The conference chamber was filled with men and women so far above him in rank that should they sneeze, he was expected to present them with a kerchief, a cup of warm tea, and a woollen sweater.

Vice-Commander Theo Rani Stuart sat in the middle of the long table with the leadership of the Legion Vagaris on the opposite side. Vice-Comm had a stoic look on his face but Marron noticed the man tapping his foot at rando...

CoESC Book 2-3.2: Grim Tidings

The next morning, Yuriko was up bright and early. Last night’s meditation session wasn’t fruitful at all. Most of the Animus she channeled into her Facet went into the Golden Silhouette demonstrating the same Animus Circulation techniques as before.

She vaguely remembered her long dream during her coma, of what he had done as training. It was an intriguing concept but the details were too fuzzy for her to even make a credible attempt. The nightly sessions only pointed to her needing...

CoESC Book 2-3.1: Grim Tidings

“Where are we going now?” Krystal asked idly. Occupied with her thoughts, Yuriko started and nearly dropped Fri’Avgi, though she tightened her grip on the cross-guard. Krystal gaped at her. “What’s with you?”

“Nothing, I’m just, uhm, a bit lost in thought.”

“Oh. So, where are we going? Back home? Lunch? I am getting a bit hungry, you know. For that matter, aren’t you? I seem to remember you eating more than three boys during our, er, stay in the forest.” 2021-02-15 13:16:00 +0000 UTC View Post

CoESC Book 2-2.3: Reinforcing Gains

“What happened here?” Yuriko asked incredulously while the two of them stood on the sidewalk and stared at the ruins of the Old Sweet Shoppe’s al fresco dining area. The little wooden fence and the round tables were gone and the doors were closed. The sign on the door indicated that they were open but they hadn’t seen anyone enter in the last five minutes they were standing there.

More damaged buildings flanked the Sweet Shoppe. There were scorch marks on the walls, rubble from ...

CoESC Book 2-2.2: Reinforcing Gains

After one complete cycle of Strengthen Physique, the strands of Yuriko’s Animus moved out of control. At first, it didn’t feel too strange or alarming as it had done the same thing the first time she did the technique. It wasn’t until the strands shifted over to her physical body, when it moved out of the circulation path she created, that she grew slightly alarmed.

When it began rooting at her bones and marrow, she felt a pinprick of pain. When the strands returned to her core, s...

CoESC Book 2-2.1: Reinforcing Gains

It took Yuriko most of the evening to convince the attendant in the Temple’s infirmary to let her go home. She didn’t feel weak or infirm and she certainly wasn’t wounded. Other than having a bit of her long, golden hair snipped off by a Hunter, Yuriko had survived the ordeal with the Wyldling Wave physically untouched. Her Anima, however, was another thing entirely.

At her meeting with Elder Ramus, he told her that her Anima had been injured when she used the artefact greatsword,...

CoESC Book 2-1.3: What It Means to be Lost

The room was small, barely ventilated, and poorly lit. Lukas’ Animus and a small candle were the only things giving any sort of illumination. Sweat and the stuffy stench of the late afternoon clung to the space but the boy was long used to it.

Cradled in his hands was a small jade cylinder. He was completely focused on it, transferring his Animus into the vessel; even so, some lumens were wasted in the transfer. For every one that fizzled away in the dark room, Lukas cursed softly. Ea...

CoESC Book 2-1.2: What It Means to be Lost

Colin Gael Foster drew a deep breath from his pipe. The aromatic smoke curled around his mouth, tickling his palate, and flooded into his lungs. He felt his Animus stir in his core, flooding into his Anima and seeping into his physical body.

The smoke he blew out formed into fractals briefly before the breeze distorted and dispersed the light orange smoke. Smoking aged kaf leaves had a similar effect to drinking the beverage but Colin found that his Animus was stimulated better when he ...

CoESC Book 2-1.1: What It Means to be Lost

The winds howled while the skies shattered. Multihued streams of Chaos scoured the waypoint, eroding hills and stone to dust. But the resulting tumult stopped dead as soon as it encountered a sphere bordered by purple light.

Virgil Soren Davar projected a Field that held back the raw Chaos while the Waypoint he had created in their flight crumbled around them. It had been a frustrating few weeks, stuck in a prison of his own making but he and his companions were finally safe.

Sarr...

Good morning, Patreon!

With yesterday's set, Book 1 has officially come to a close!

We're doing the initial polishing for Book 2--yes, Book 2!--now and expect that the releases will continue as before. They're going to be a little more raw than Book 1 and some details may shift as the story progresses so we'll make sure to keep everyone apprised of any changes in earlier chapters should we find the changes necessary.

Do let us know if there are any comments or thoughts you would like to share with us! W...

CoESC Book 1-23.3: Return

Aside from the fact that her brothers acted like headless chickens and Mikel blushing just as brightly red as she did, Yuriko was quite thankful that Krystal was in the room with her. Her childhood friend had pushed all the boys out of the room posthaste with Rami screeching at the top of his lungs, “Big sis is wounded! Help!”

She could hear Marron and Kato did their best to calm Rami down as they walked into the hallway. When Yuriko heard Krystal finally slam the door shut, she sig...

CoESC Book 1-23.2: Return

Yuriko dreamed though at times, she forgot that she was dreaming. Other times she knew she was dreaming and during those times, she wondered what in Chaos was she seeing and why she hadn’t woken up yet.

In her dreams, she looked through eyes that definitely weren’t hers, in a body completely male and far larger than she was. Whenever she caught a glimpse of her reflection in a stream or in a gleaming blade as it headed towards her, she saw a man in his prime with golden hair cropped...

CoESC Book 1-23.1: Return

Braden did not expect to ever open his eyes so he was very much surprised, and grateful, when he did.

“You’re awake!” Orrin screeched from the bedside while Braden winced.

His head throbbed and the back of his throat was dry. He coughed a bit before he croaked, “Water.”

Orrin helped him sit up, flinching when his brother touched his back and feeling a twinge of phantom pain that faded an instant later. They were in a squarish room with pastel blue walls, a small be...

CoESC Book 1-22.3: The Golden Silhouette

Virgil kept a wary eye out over the waypoint. Ever since the Chaos Lord came in with the parley cloak, no other Wyldling had appeared near them. They were still in the area, with Virgil catching a glimpse, but they flitted in and out of his maximum visual range which was troubling in itself. The Chaos Lord slowly approached them, hands held out to the side.

“What now?” Balliol muttered. Virgil could see his hands flex and tighten.

“We honour the parley flag,” Virgil said. ...

CoESC Book 1-22.2: The Golden Silhouette

A tall, black-haired man who looked to be in his thirties sat in front of a desk reading a pile of reports. He glanced briefly outside his window but, seeing nothing of particular interest, he returned his gaze to the crane that was just unfolding while he tapped his fingers on the oakwood desk.

“30th Day of Fire, A.F. 2997
Scout Report
Imperial Legion Vagaris

Initial scouting of the Faron’s Crossing region shows extensive swarmling incursion. Wyldling Wave reported to R...

CoESC Book 1-22.1: The Golden Silhouette

Several emotions warred in Yuriko’s head. Shame and disappointment that no matter what she did, she couldn’t even touch her enemy. Anger and frustration, Chaos be damned, she already had an artefact and it wasn’t enough. Hope, to see that her instructors were still on top of things, and despair when even they couldn’t stop the Seeker from stabbing Shillogu twice.

The Seeker’s words barely registered in her mind while she tried to recover her breath. The quick skirmish had drai...

CoESC Book 1-21.3: Edge

The moment the Hunter struck Braden, Orrin felt it. He staggered and fell to his knees, face pale and eyes bloodshot. He could feel his Animus draining out of him into a conduit to his brother’s Anima.

“Braden!” someone screamed.

He didn’t know who it was though he guessed it was probably Yuriko. He’d seen her running towards the battlefield, carrying the artefact with her. He couldn’t quite wrap his mind how such a slender slip of a girl could swing ...

CoESC Book 1-21.2: Edge

To say that Braden was surprised when they were suddenly confronted by a Chaos Lord was quite untrue. He had been expecting the worst ever since the entire ordeal happened and having another encounter with a hostile, murderous creature from beyond the boundary was just another mountain they had to climb.

Almost as soon as the Chaos Lord appeared, the huge boar calling itself Shillogu barreled down at it, brown tentacles springing from its back and lashing at the smaller figure. Leader Y...

CoESC Book 1-21.1: Edge

The next morning found Yuriko already working on a set of exercises to get used to wielding Fri’Avgi. She contained herself within a circle drawn on the dirt a couple of paces wide performed each of the sword dances in quick succession.

The sound of the weapon cutting through the air differed depending on which sword dance was active at the time. During the first dance, her Animus formed a subtle edge around the blade. When it grazed against a stone, it left a smooth cut inco...

CoESC Book 1-20.3: Telum

Fri’Avgi.

That was the name of the weapon, the Anima Telum that Yuriko held. Knowledge flowed into her head, most of it incomprehensible, though she caught a few words every now and then. Enough to realize that the knowledge was couched in an older form of the Verdanian language. Old Imperial?

Her Facet was glowing steadily while she held Fri’Avgi and she soon realized that the glow was slowly growing stronger, to the point that a new pattern was starting to form.

Yuriko...

CoESC Book 1-20.2: Telum

Braden rubbed his eyes and suppressed a yawn. He was on the branches of a tree, along with Zeyn and Millie, keeping a midnight watch. What that would do against the forces arrayed against them, he wasn’t sure. But it allowed the members of their small group some measure of ease during the long, cold night.

It had been a few days since their disastrous attempt at leaving the Shillogu Woods Outpost. The ten cadets had fled to the forest while Leader Yoran and Armsmaster Byrne covered th...

CoESC Book 1-20.1: Telum

It didn't take long for Orrin and Krystal to harvest the Hunter's Chaos shards. There were a couple of them, one in the chest where its heart was and the other was in its guts. A total of ten HiJin for the entire harvest.

Yuriko recovered her Plasma Caster from the tree and cleaned her remaining blade after spending several minutes recovering from her exhaustion. The side-blade that snapped was regrettably her own; the one she borrowed from the Watchtower had either been tougher or she ...

CoESC Book 1-19.3: Requests

“Oof! What the! Yuri?” Krystal managed to crawl out of her bedroll despite Yuriko’s deadweight. “What happened?”

“Ugh. Animus depletion,” Yuriko managed to say. “Need to sleep, sorry. Take over watch.”

“What happened? Yuri--?” was about as much as Krystal could say before Yuriko blacked out. The next thing she knew, she was in her bedroll with the sun hitting her eyes through the small window.

She groaned, fully expecting to be in pain from las...

CoESC Book 1-19.2: Requests

Yuriko sighed while the boys and Krystal argued over the Avos’ quest. Krystal was completely sceptical about the entire matter while Orrin was all for it. Mikel didn’t really know what to think, and he said as much, but he followed Krystal’s lead. Heron said it was worth a shot and certainly better than just waiting.

“What do we know of the Avos anyway?” Mikel asked. “There’s not much about them in our school lectures.”

“I’ve mostly encountere...

CoESC Book 1-19.1: Requests

The giant boar sniffed, the air moving in a torrent that whipped at Yuriko's hair, and exhaled a breath that almost blew her off her feet.

"No," the creature rumbled, it's bass tone caused a vibration that struck at her Anima, shaking her core. It caused the leaves around them to sway, creating little dust devils that swirled around the bushes. "You are mostly human. Hrmmm, what are you? I smell an Imperial nearby..."

It's head swayed as it looked around, zeroing in on Or...

CoESC Book 1-18.3: Meetings

Yuriko and Orrin followed the trail of broken trees. The blue bloodstains on the fallen trunks were the only evidence of dead swarmlings but the broken lumber extended out for a few dozen paces beyond the crater.

The acrid stench of fresh blood was more prominent the further beyond they went and about a hundred paces into the undergrowth, Yuriko found the bodies.

Orrin clapped a hand over his mouth and his face turned green while Yuriko was just barely able to keep her composure. ...

CoESC Book 1-18.2: Meetings

“Are you crazy?” Krystal hissed at Yuriko who was busy looking at how far the shallow trench reached.

It was clear to her that this was nothing natural, considering that several trees along the furrow looked like they’ve been shorn of the branches that once covered the area. The line of blue sky was very welcome to Yuriko, especially with the sunlight that now covered her while she stood in the middle of the trench.

The ground crackled and popped from the weight of her foots...

CoESC Book 1-18.1: Meetings

Orrin was whistling tunelessly when Yuriko and Krystal returned to their campsite. Mikel was stirring the pot, his undivided focus honed in on every bubble that rose out of the stew. Heron was in a seated meditation pose, very clearly occupied with Recovery.

“Enjoy your bath?” Mikel asked nonchalantly.

“Yes, that was incredibly satisfying,” Yuriko sighed. “I am hungry though. Is dinner ready?”

“Er, yes. I think it's ready.”

Krystal marched up to the pot...