[ thanks for reading! ]
We’ve been traveling in the void for several hours now. Ash assured us that he had a destination in mind and we weren’t traveling aimlessly, but he couldn’t give us an estimate of how long the journey would take.
“I don’t believe in sleeping,” Ash remarks, suddenly reaching behind and tagging me on the chest. Vitality bursts around my heart and nearly gives me a heart attack.
Ash hasn’t yet let me die, which is unexpe...
2022-04-22 21:40:07 +0000 UTC
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[ thanks for reading! ]
Karanos stands with Crystal and Sah by the obelisk. Ash hasn’t yet arrived.
Sah is oblivious to what’s going on, but he senses Crystal’s melancholy and curls his tail around her protectively. Karanos’s expression is somehow even more stoic than usual, his gaze stern, callous, as though his body is trying to convince his mind that he doesn’t care what’s happening.
“Hundreds of years ago, I approached Ancient Ash for a return be...
2022-04-17 16:35:33 +0000 UTC
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[ thanks for reading! ]
It’s uncanny seeing Karanos create such a perfect projection of our team, not a detail out of place. A Light practitioner can create incredible illusions and projections, their affinity permitting, but accuracy is always a challenge. To create convincing images, Light practitioners might practice the same illusions repeatedly. Even then, the illusions may still be imperfect–it’s difficult to visualize every single detail in a scene.
Glossy ...
2022-04-10 21:15:53 +0000 UTC
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[ thanks for reading! ]
Messeras waves us over to his kitchen and produces martini glasses for each of us, along with tiny droppers.
“Right now, the glass is filled with clear liquid. The dropper will give the drink a flavor and a color, randomized for excitement, of course. Just a few drops will do it.” He turns to Maria with an uncertain expression, likely because he can tell that she isn’t fully alive. “Are you able to imbibe?”
She nods. “Thank you ...
2022-04-04 03:02:28 +0000 UTC
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It’s pretty obvious when Ketu’s party arrives and pushes the centipede through into our plane. I don’t understand why they’re helping when they could be mustering a last-ditch effort to murder the monster.
When Ash steps into the grassland plane a few seconds later, flanked by Ketu and Danessa, things start to click into place. The other ascendant mentors and mentees follow close behind, fanning out in a circle. The hunt is clearly over, though whether my team will be declared t...
2022-04-01 20:58:47 +0000 UTC
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[ chapter 2/3.
the third chapter for this week is mostly written, but i'm going to rewrite part of it based on sontagisme's (my editor's) feedback. enjoy this one! ]
The centipede would have been healthy and whole had its externally sourced Life energy dissipated gradually, but yanking it away has left the monster ruined and compromised. Since we’re trying to keep the centipede alive, I can see how the situation might look dire. Death snakes through it like a network ...
2022-03-27 21:56:43 +0000 UTC
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[ you guys are owed 3 chapters currently -- this is 1/3. thanks! ]
I’d entertained popping in to say hello to Messeras since his plane directly connects to Vizier’s Crown, but that plan fell by the wayside once the hunt went underway. I hadn’t seriously considered the possibility that our plan to send the centipede to another plane would deposit it onto Messeras’s doorstep, unleashing a voracious monster on his quiet jungle.
The centipede’s gi...
2022-03-24 12:46:40 +0000 UTC
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[ to everyone who ordered a hardcover of book 2, if you didn't see on discord, my shipment got ruined by the delivery folks -- they left the box out in the rain, instead of under my covered porch. literal insanity. 4 books are salvageable but that isn't enough for everyone. it'll be a month more of waiting for another shipment to arrive. lovely!!!!!!!! let's hope for better weather next time. i promise everyone will get their book eventually.
fyi this is a doubl...
2022-03-14 03:19:57 +0000 UTC
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[ chapter 2/2 for the week :) ]
Crystal watched Karanos from within her formless, spherical suit. Its delicate membrane held viscous, non-stick gel around the quadruped fish, cradling her form and protecting her from the vacuum of the void.
When will we see the centipede? Crystal asked.
“We’re nearly there,” Karanos replied, leading Crystal through the emptiness. She marveled at the nebulae, utterly unafraid of the infinite dark that would ...
2022-03-06 06:33:41 +0000 UTC
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[ chap 1/2 for the week! ]
Cursing Ketu’s poorly-timed arrival, I dive through the portal. Pulling a soul taut across my forehead, I reactivate the dagger, tracing over scarred skin to form a fresh eye, revealing the centipede in its elemental form.
As the others pass through the portal behind me, I ensconce them in wrappings of Death to conceal their vital signatures. Marcus turns invisible as he phases himself, but wears the Death energy like a shadowy mantle. I cha...
2022-03-04 16:10:06 +0000 UTC
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[ chapter 2/2 for the week enjoy! if you're subbed to the $20 tier, please don't forget to unsub or downgrade tiers, unless you intentionally choose to support me at that higher amount. i'm still waiting on my shipment of books for the false ascendant to arrive, but once they do i'll ship them out promptly. ]
Ascendants Farona Pyre and Krath Mandur deliberate over the construction of the dagger for several minutes. They step away and converse in their own separate ...
2022-02-28 03:29:11 +0000 UTC
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[ chapter 1/2 for this week, enjoy! ]
As a group, we decide to delay as long as possible before engaging the centipede, preparing as best we can. The ascendant mentors may not be able to help us directly, but after a bit of discussion, Jeseria grudgingly agrees to keep a watch on the surroundings with what are effectively tripwires of air. As soon as another group of ascendant proteges approaches, we’ll engage the centipede and end the fight decisively–or die trying.
<...
2022-02-25 21:16:09 +0000 UTC
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[ chapter 2/2 for this week. ]
“You know, if there really is a stable portal, it’s going to need to be huge,” Alan notes as we follow the compass toward the veil vulnerability. “Otherwise the centipede wouldn’t be able to use it.”
That’s actually a good point. The portals that lead into the lost quadrant are fairly large–like the size of doors to a throne room–but that’s nowhere close to the size of the centipede’s body. I don’t know much about r...
2022-02-20 18:19:20 +0000 UTC
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[ chapter 1/2 for this week ]
Our group covers ground faster than when Maria and I first entered Eternity. Ascendant energy is one factor, but we also have Vik’s wind elementalism assisting.
“I didn’t realize how big this plane was when we set out,” Alan groans. “It’s been seven hours already and no trace of the centipede.” He kicks at a withered tree, shattering it into charcoal-like crumbles. “How is that possible, given the beast’s size?”
Al...
2022-02-19 22:29:44 +0000 UTC
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[ friday's chapter! enjoy. ]
“One last thing,” Ash says. “You can join into groups of up to five, though if groups win, they must split the spoils. If you win alone, you’ll keep the entire corpse.” He chuckles darkly. “If you form a group, you must stay in that group until the end–no take backs, even if your group members have lost all three lives.”
He looks over all of us. “What are you waiting for?”
Suddenly a pillar of earth juts ...
2022-02-13 22:49:40 +0000 UTC
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[ yes, this is monday's chapter -- thanks for your patience. next chapter is half done, going to try and finish by end of today. i was unfortunately quite sick for most of yesterday (not covid) which kinda messed up my writing plans, lol. was almost sick enough to miss a concert i'd been waiting to attend for over a year and bought a $300 ticket for. pulled myself out of bed to go and it was awesome, but boyyyy i was not mentally functional.
y'all da best. enjoy. ]
...
2022-02-13 20:38:58 +0000 UTC
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[ friday's chapter ]
Time passes quickly after the menus are passed out. Ash is relatively quiet for the rest of the dinner, watching and listening.
Soon the plates are clean and the conversation hits a lull. Kuin stands up and flicks a knife across his empty wine glass. “There has been a change of plans for the night due to the arrival of Ancient Ash. He has graciously offered to adjudicate the final round of the pageant.”
He what?
A...
2022-02-06 21:38:56 +0000 UTC
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[ yes, this is monday's chapter, thank you for your patience! lots of business travel this past week and the start of the grad school semester = ahhhhhh , not to mention the logistics of launching book 2 this tuesday!!! i'm just trying to stay alive fam wish me luck 😂 ]
Our conversation is interrupted by Kuin’s arrival, the man passing through double doors intended for the service staff, drawing my attention. Half of the staff appear human, while the other half are red p...
2022-02-05 23:55:06 +0000 UTC
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[ i probably go on for too long when they get dressed in the hall of reflection; let me know if that part should be cut down, or if the details are interesting enough to not be boring. i'd normally ask sontag (my editor) but he's asleep in his european time zone lol. for what it's worth, i had a lot of fun with the attire concepts. ]
Karanos moves swiftly through the halls at Ash’s behest. After his show of moving slowly just to spite Kuin, Maria and I laugh at his expense ...
2022-01-29 03:23:12 +0000 UTC
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[ this chapter brings back something that people were obsessed with in the book 1 comments section, lol. ]
“...Rank nineteen, Ignatius Julian Dunai. Rank twenty, Haru Sonweald...”
Rather than going down the line like before and judging us one by one, Jeseria simply sorts us by our standing.
Nineteen out of twenty-five.
I clench my fist in unvoiced agitation. While schooling my expression and keeping my eyes on Jeseria, my sole focus is on Bryant, the mai...
2022-01-26 00:02:40 +0000 UTC
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[ friday's chap, enjoy ]
Ice forms around me like a coffin. On instinct, I send heat radiating from the dragon’s skin, but the ice remains unaffected, even when I add ascendant energy.
Ketu is way too powerful, I grumble, quashing panic at the stallion’s imperious approach. He’s on me in less than a second. His hoof touches the ice gently, establishing the barest connection, but it’s all Ketu needs to take his attack to the next level. I feel the ice st...
2022-01-22 21:40:00 +0000 UTC
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[ this is monday's chapter. trying to finish friday's (today's) chapter now. thanks for your patience! ]
The bloody, charred ferret slides down my cheek and snags on my coat, twitching–insensate and barely alive. I suddenly remember that it isn’t a Life practitioner minion, but another ascendant–one who chose their Quiggam card poorly.
I consider killing it now to ensure that I’m not last in the running–it’s too small to be a proper vitality battery, and if ...
2022-01-22 00:50:16 +0000 UTC
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[ this one is pretty fun, enjoy! ]
Earlier when Jeseria went down the line, the proteges didn’t seem to take their scores too seriously. Alan chuckled and shook his head at his, while one ascendant who got a three simply shook his head and put up his arms with a tragic expression, eliciting a few snickers. But half took their scores in stride with cold expressions, like the victor, Ketu Bryant.
The proteges seem split between serious and lighthearted; I wonder wha...
2022-01-15 05:13:03 +0000 UTC
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[ thanks for your patience, this is monday's chapter ]
Maria and I have a good run, but after incapacitating and using three ascendants as mana batteries, one of the proteges decides to take us both out. If we had seen our assailant coming, we might have stood a chance, but they killed us without leaving any traces. I think they must be either a Remorse practitioner with an anomalously far range, or someone who can move incredibly fast–as fast as Karanos and Holiday.
...
2022-01-13 05:00:17 +0000 UTC
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Void Seeker Karanos
“Oh, will you stop?” Mordika whispers, rolling her eyes.
“I’m not doing anything,” I reply, matching her lowered voice. It’s all a sham–whether it’s by reading lips, listening on the wind, or simply relying on enhanced hearing, lowered voices won’t keep anyone out of a conversation in the faction–or at least not the ones who matter. “You’re the one who’s been slowly scootching your chair over to me.”
Her throne is some...
2022-01-07 22:48:17 +0000 UTC
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“Start!” Jeseria commands. The ascendants take off toward their respective tunnels with their watery orbs in tow.
Ian? Maria says.
What?
You’re not moving? She subtly raises an eyebrow and looks toward the tunnels.
I’m observing, I reply. Do they look like they’re rushing to you?
...No.
When preparing for the Fassari Summit, I pored over countless videos of duels, both for one-on-one c...
2022-01-04 07:11:39 +0000 UTC
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[ happy new year!!! ]
After her resurrection, Maria could see in shades of vitality, but not like Ian–she couldn’t really see beyond walls. In practice, it melded with her perception of heat, giving her an enhanced ability to discern the living from the inert.
So many people, Ian transmitted through their bond, his eyes transfixed by the looming form of the citadel. I wonder if Karanos knows all of them.
Alan had led them to one of the low sp...
2022-01-01 00:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Karanos said that there wouldn’t be trouble regarding how things ended with Ari and Achemiss. Apparently he was wrong, else he wouldn’t have brought us here, even if that meant forgoing the opportunity to discuss the dagger artifact with an expert.
“Is contacting Kuin really necessary?” I ask. “Karanos already delivered us from the arrows when we entered the hangar. Unless there are defensive arrays everywhere, I can avoid trouble by pretending that I’m someone else...
2021-12-31 01:01:05 +0000 UTC
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A molten yellow glow wreathes Sah’s maw as he snarls. The arrow is embedded in his left leg, though the point hasn’t sunk in far, and thankfully hasn’t started rotating again. The restraining power of my practice prevents the dragon from thrashing or bucking into the other floating arrows.
Maria understands the situation almost immediately and darts forward, pulling the arrow free. She soothes Sah’s injury by summoning heat to her hand, a soft red glow manifesting around her fin...
2021-12-28 06:01:58 +0000 UTC
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[ thank you for your patience! hope people are enjoying the holiday season! ]
The bedroom is dark; my eyes don’t adjust well to the light since I’m not physically present. Euryphel is considerate enough to turn on a small flashlight–it’s either that or illuminating the large chandelier on the ceiling and revealing that he’s awake to anyone surveilling his window. I don’t think he’s paranoid–his star in the west is ascendant, casting long shadows. While the inn...
2021-12-25 09:20:43 +0000 UTC
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