caerulex

Chapter 318. The Soul is the Tether

Within my guest chambers, I grip the shard of black rock I brought away in my left hand. With my right, I rub my index finger along the length of a shattered rib bone.

The black rock resists affinities. Elementalists can control water, air, fire, and earth, but the elements themselves aren’t raw affinity. They are simply manifested and/or manipulated.

The black rock prevents the manipulation of the elements. Within Starbreak, elementalism is greatly stymied, and to attempt contr...

Chapter 317. A Habit of Achieving the Impossible

Two Days Later

Forming the tiger construct is easier the second time, taking less than an hour. I think I can get the number down to a fraction of that, given time to practice.

What started as an interesting idea, something to pass away the time while waiting for the black faction to bring me to Achemiss, has become more. The black rock’s unique properties may help me deal with Achemiss… and perhaps even challenges on my home world.

But there’s a seri...

Chapter 316. The Amalgam Tiger

I thought that Sindragos might leave me alone after the meal, that he’d gotten the information he came for; how naïve of me. The man is likeable–at least he seems that way around me. But I’ve grown tired of spending every moment outside of my chambers in his presence.

After Lucinda and Sindragos brought my counteroffer to their compatriots for deliberation, things have been in limbo. The black faction still hasn’t come to a decision. I can tell that Sindragos has been tasked wi...

Chapter 315. A Foregone Conclusion

Maria watched, listened, and contemplated. She found that stepping back and assuming the role of an observer allowed her to gain novel insights.

She spoke less. Listened more. But it also… disturbed her. Sometimes she worried that she was becoming less than she used to be, a phantom, slowly losing her sense of self. Neither seen nor heard. Disembodied as she was, attached to Ian, she had no material presence. Her impact on the world was filtered through him. Her independence ...

Chapter 314. Mirrors of the Sun Starer

Mirror Scale Sindragos

A necklace hidden under my shirt activates, strengthening my mental defenses. Against a peak Remorse practitioner, my own defenses and the artifact wouldn’t be enough for a prolonged engagement. However, Black’s newest affinity is Remorse. With the suppression of the black rock, his affinity will be weakened enough that I should be protected.

The world freezes over as my practice expands. The walls of the chasm become coated in ice, forming an u...

Chapter 313. All Judges are Fallible

I don’t really understand what Sindragos is getting at. How would the black faction know if they failed to understand me? Moreover, why would I ever trust what the black faction shows me? Already I have heard of their plot against Achemiss, to whom they publicly provide protection. I understand their desire to strip Achemiss of whatever item allows him to plunder mortal worlds beyond Eternity. However–in my eyes, such a reversal of loyalties reflects poorly on the black faction.

2022-11-25 23:50:55 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 312. New Escort

“Show me?” the man with the deep voice, Sindragos, says. “Go on, then.”

The room descends into silence; presumably, Lucinda shares her memories of the competition with those gathered. Where a peak Remorse practitioner would normally be able to rapidly impart memories, the black rock’s interference slows the rate of transmission. A solid two minutes passes before conversation rekindles.

“Can you explain what we just saw?” Sindragos asks.

“Black has a way to re...

Chapter 311. Subterfuge

I pull at the transformative energy of the dagger and Maria appears before me. She reaches out her arms to steady me, anticipating sudden weakness.

I stare blankly at my hands and bare wrists. I feel fine. Meeting Maria’s concerned gaze, I say, “It worked.”

“For now,” she says, her expression still severe. “In a few hours, you may have need of me again.”

I nod. “We shall see.” I turn to Red and clear my throat. He takes the hint and disappears into his quar...

Chapter 310. Black Rock

Composed of the same black rock as the waterfalls, the fist is a midnight bastion, stark against the azure sky and the eddying clouds. The light of the false sun limns the fist’s contours, emphasizing the curve of each digit and the arc of its knuckles and palm. The light concentrates on the slight bulge of the wrist, forcing me to avert my eyes from the resulting glare.

Ascendant Cursory uses his wind elementalism to lower us down onto the massive bent joint of the thumb, its width s...

Chapter 309. The Indomitable Fist

The field is no more.

All that remains is the classroom and the gnarled root-like branches that surround it. I have no idea what the wood is made from, but it’s more resilient than I ever guessed. Even blasting it with Death energy fails to significantly harm it, my power unable to penetrate through the wooden cortex.

Many people have stopped fighting and wait off in the distance; some have even departed the plane, uninterested in watching the end of the melee.

One person ...

Chapter 308. A Death Practitioner Like Me

I am blind and deaf. I have severed my sense of pain, blocking the screaming nociceptors that warn me of my body’s devastation. Vital vision only permits me to see the physical surroundings, so I fail to sense as Ascendant Meng’s blossom of annihilating darkness falls over me for the second time until it’s already eating into my skin.

I saw how easily the same attack killed the competitors. Just a second ago, the darkness descended upon me, lasting only a moment. That was enough t...

Chapter 307. At His Own Hand

Ebon Pearl

Ebon Pearl knew what was coming, but that didn’t mean she was happy about it.

The tension in the stands and classroom was palpable. When Ancient Black laughed, his cold composure cracking, Ebon Pearl knew that the time for posturing was over.

Violence was imminent.

Crimson Teeth rubbed her snout, then activated a spherical artifact by cracking it against her head like an egg. A sticky fluid coated her length in an instant, writhing against her sca...

Chapter 306. We All Wait for You

With the pronouncement spoken and confirmed openly, over a hundred disapproving eyes meet Holiday’s unflinching gaze.

This is all wrong. Holiday wants something. He wants me to do something and I don’t know what.

I think back to the moment I agreed to participate in Holiday’s experiment before I even knew the name Discardia. He exchanged an unbounded favor… in exchange for my participation along with Red.

He couldn’t have known how well Red would do at tha...

Chapter 305. The Final Announcement

“My paper has no name written on it,” one competitor voices out loud, his serious demeanor betrayed by the slight upturn of his lips.

“Neither does mine,” a lanky man adds, a cheeky grin stretching across his face. He holds his paper up. “I don’t think this paper is mine; there must have been a mistake in passing them out.”

Holiday observes all of this with a neutral expression while seated at his desk.

Before I ask Red what’s happening, he performs a mental ...

Chapter 304. Discardia’s Judgment

Red and I return to reality with a jolt. I take a deep breath in as I reorient myself, taking note of all living things in the vicinity through both my vital perception and my Remorse affinity.

Two of the formerly occupied chairs are now vacant, suggesting that we’re the third pair to awaken. Holiday sits at a bureau at the head of the treehouse-esque classroom, his hands drumming on the desk. He makes eye contact with us and smiles.

“How was it?”

“How was what?” I...

Chapter 303. Welcome to Hell

“You come for me,” Bresnir continues. “It is an unwanted summons, though I suppose most would say as much. Imagine my surprise when not one, but two come for my soul.” Her demeanor is icy, resigned, but there is a roiling current beneath the surface. An unwillingness to give up.

“You laid a trap for us and hid,” Red states impassively.

“I knew no simple trap could kill an ascendant,” she replies.

“Why do it, then?”

“If I had not, you would have de...

Chapter 302. Meet the Reaper

The energy in my body dims as I suck my own life force to form the soul gem. The gem in my hand is only half-formed. A sense of dread fills me. Is this really my limit?

“Take my energy,” Red insists as the time left dwindles to fifteen seconds.

I don’t second-guess his generosity and reach out for his body, siphoning the energy away roughly, having no time to gradually drain him. With Red’s addition, I complete the soul gem–a tiny prismatic gem the size of my th...

Chapter 301. The Final Round

[ i wrote 3 menocht chapters today, god bless finally getting restful sleep for the first time in soooo looooong ahhhhhh. expect more chapters later today to finish off the discardia arc! ]

I cross the sand dunes and once more find myself on the beach. The ocean smashes into far-off cliffs, merciless in its dismantling of the rugged rock face.

A flight focus and bones stream out from my void storage. A bone wyrm assembles, its bones clicking against one another and glowing with De...

Chapter 300. The Shattering

My shoulders scream from the strain of controlling the wings. With Red out of range, I have no idea how many missiles are left. All I have are my reflexes and the arrowhead hovering over the impact point–where Red and I will meet, if we’re still alive.

Seconds pass with no new missiles. Is it over?

You’re too low for those missiles to reach, Maria thinks. But you have a new problem. You’re going extremely fast because of my wings, far faster than if you were i...