– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 50 –
Terry sat cross-legged and with closed eyes in his crystal cell. Like in his previous cell, Terry had picked up the habit of dumping his own mana and surrounding himself with it.
Terry had to admit that he was not completely sure why he was still doing this.
Before the Thanatos soldiers had moved Terry into the coliseum barracks, Terry had still been forced to wear mana-restraining handcuffs....
2023-03-18 00:59:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 38 –
Well done, Terry.
Terry was scowling and sitting cross-legged in a small cell. He was wearing a plain shirt and loose pants. They did not even leave him his boots.
Giant wyvern? Sure, why not? Give me a couple of months. But a group of opponents my own size? Damn it. Why didn’t I think of mages approaching from the shadows? I knew that was a risk. Why didn’t I cloak myself th...
2023-03-11 01:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 37 –
Terry was running and running. The fog behind him was flying out of view while new fog became visible in front of him – always forcing him to stick to the safe passage he was traversing. Terry had not expected the Elusive Fog of Frost to stretch this far, nor did he expect the safe passage to have this many twists and turns.
Terry was beginning to wonder if this alleged safe passage was just anot...
2023-03-04 01:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 36 –
Late in the night, Terry was sitting on a transfixed tertium slab high up in the sky. He wore a grim but calm expression and let his eyes wander over the mesmerizing image of the cold starlight playing with the elusive fog.
Terry had attempted to sneak by the wyvern more than a dozen times by now. Each attempt had ended in a miserable failure, with Terry licking his wounds and making notes on what ...
2023-02-25 01:00:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 90 –
Battered and bruised, Terry sat up on the blanket which the lizans had put on the ground in a large tent. He could still feel the healing magic from the lizans. Even though the effects were beneficial to Terry’s recovery, the strange group spell made Terry uncomfortable. The pleasant feeling of pain relief and improved regeneration was not enough to make Terry forget that he had no idea how this magi...
2023-02-18 01:00:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 57 –
A lonely figure stood up high in the night’s sky. Despite the many stars above, it would be difficult for any observer to detect the person that was cloaked in velvety darkness. It was practically impossible for anyone at ground-level because of the figure’s high altitude.
“Mana damn it.” Terry cursed and sighed. His eyes were glowing with mana and he fixed his mana sight on the fog in fr...
2023-02-11 01:00:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 51 –
Terry observed the dense fog in front of him. He was stunned by the intricate movement of mana that was being emitted. On the one hand, Terry was relieved to find that the lizans had been honest in their dealings with him and that their weird transfer gate had not turned out to be some kind of otherrealm death trap. On the other hand, this meant that Terry was trapped in a gigantic magic phenomenon: th...
2023-02-04 01:00:01 +0000 UTC
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– Beginning of Arc 5, Self-Made Fate –
– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 51 –
“Oh, Great Dark One!” The lizan leader bowed once more. “Please assist us in our plight!” When Terry still failed to respond with anything but an incredulous stare, the lizan leader performed another bow and continued: “We know we are not worthy but we are pleading with you to show mercy towards these forsaken ones!” The lizan presse...
2023-01-28 01:00:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 36 –
Hope walked through a hallway in the Tiv palace. To her left, Castellan matched her steps in his aged but well-maintained armor. To her right, the Mage Supreme strode and used her mage staff as a walking stick. Behind them, the Supreme’s disciple walked next to another figure whom no one in the palace recognized.
People all along the hallway had begun half-kneeling on one knee and putting their...
2023-01-21 01:02:59 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 35 –
Weran stepped out of the dimensional gate with an almost tangible aura swirling around his dark green cloak. His fierce eyes darted over the area. In front of him, a swarm of hellspawn was pressing into a dungeon entrance. In a handful of locations, battles were still being fought.
“Undead.” Weran muttered unconcernedly while watching a high-level lich hold his own against several dozen hells...
2023-01-14 01:03:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 34 –
“Where did he go?” Amelia shouted her question.
“Gone.” Jee appeared next to her with a deeply furrowed brow. “Definitely gone and gone far away. Going by the destabilized space, that unanchored transfer must have been quite the distance.”
Amelia repeated the info for Dargones’s ears. Her soul-bonded partner was holding off several death reavers at once.
Jee disappeared ...
2023-01-07 01:02:59 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 34 –
Inside the Tiv Palace, an oppressive silence had fallen.
“Lady Supreme?” Mahalia stared at her mentor, who had paused mid-sentence during the conference.
The reigning king and his parents – the Founding King and Queen – had been discussing with the Mage Supreme and her disciple about how to deal with the rampaging people from Arcana.
The awkward pause continued and everyone wa...
2022-12-31 01:02:59 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 34 –
Terry first became aware of the hard ground on which he was lying, stomach down. He felt a headache throbbing in his temples. He dazedly opened his eyes.
“Wh-what?” Terry mumbled half-asleep. Not far from him, he spotted a small silvery blob with a tiny mana core squish into a crack in the dungeon wall.
Dungeon wall… Terry repeated inside his head. Dungeon… Dungeon. Cra...
2022-12-24 01:03:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 33 –
“What—?” The soldier whirled around and slashed his axe.
Terry reflexively transfixed the axe and nimbly jumped into the air above to avoid and bypass the soldier without slowing down. He didn’t have the time to properly sort out who was an enemy and who wasn’t. He didn’t have the time to properly engage the surrounding enemies, either.
Terry darted through the heated battle whi...
2022-12-17 01:03:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 33 –
A man in prison guard uniform was pushing hard against Terry’s barrier. Terry’s own arsenal of mana bursts and burst techniques was insufficient to hold his own against the advanced strengthening spellwork of this opponent.
“Hmph.” Terry swiftly flicked a throwing needle from his sheath inscription leg strap to his left. He gripped his spear tightly, increased the amount of mana to suppor...
2022-12-10 01:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 32 –
“Do we finally get to look behind the mystery door?” quipped one soldier grumpily.
“I hope there are some useful supplies hidden behind it,” added another. “Otherwise, this is a tremendous waste of time. What in bloody—”
“Enough.” Yujin cut off the mouthy soldiers and watched Claude unlock the magically reinforced door with a plain metal key.
“This leads to the pri...
2022-12-03 01:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 32 –
Terry used his five-point inscription ring to mark the position of the entrance and then returned the ring to his dimensional bag. Terry double-checked his mana cloaking and the concealment effect of his enchanted ring. Terry controlled his breathing. Finally, he began descending through the dungeon tunnel while focusing on his mana sense.
Dungeon mana is still apparent in the walls. Not just...
2022-11-26 01:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 32 –
Terry somersaulted in the sky and hurled a spray canister at the pursuing flock of hellions. The canister transfixed in the air and the weight propelled by inertia caused a mist of darkwater to disperse over the hellspawn.
“Screee!” The hellions screeched in pain.
Terry activated the divine hammer inscription and several layers of shattered mana later, he jumped to distance himself furt...
2022-11-19 01:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 26 –
Weran stepped through the dimensional gate. His eerie, green cloak was fluttering in the wind. He examined the outline of the giant oak that was towering over the city below. “What a rare sight. Almost a pity to cut it down.” He began anchoring the long-distance gate connected to the northeast of Arcana.
“Wait!” Elenec dropped from the sky. She was the first to detect the unfamiliar scent...
2022-11-12 01:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 13 –
Terry had been running nonstop for more than a day while cursing the indefatigable undead. Even though he was faster than the runners, he could not put much distance between himself and the horde. Not only did the horde have some means to track Terry’s location for their pursuit, there were also moments when smaller groups sped up unnaturally.
To Terry, this showed that aside from a death whisp...
2022-11-05 01:02:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 11 –
“Just die already!” Terry channeled mana into his mana sublimator and unleashed another blast of intense fire-aspected mana towards the large blurry outline of a black snake with wings.
“Hiss!” The shadow-aspected creature flickered and retreated into the shadow plane.
I hate creatures that can fully step into the shadows! How is anyone supposed to sense these things?! And putti...
2022-10-29 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 9 –
Siling was casting Heal on Lori. She finished cleaning the wound and then cast Cure Wounds.
“How is the arm?” asked Terry with a look of concern.
“Nearly as good as new,” replied Lori with a pale face.
“That thing swooped down way too quickly,” muttered Miguel. “What in mana’s name was that?”
“Thunderblood hawk,” replied Siling. “It...
2022-10-22 00:02:01 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 7 –
“Clear,” said Terry. He exited the tunnel and stood underneath the night sky.
“Is it really a good idea to proceed before resting?” asked Calam. “The walls inside seemed more protective than my tent. Our signatures should be masked by the ore in the rock as well, right?”
“While that’s true, that goes both ways,” said Terry. “If something is crawling in there, we won’t k...
2022-10-15 00:02:59 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 3 –
“Can we go above?” asked Calam.
“Not without a fight,” said Siling. “From Terry’s and Miguel’s description, the signatures on the left are likely to be flaming geese.”
“Sounds like a dish,” remarked Miguel. “What can they do?”
“Spit fire, mostly,” said Siling. “Aside from that, their wings are supposed to be quite hard and sharp. The teeth-like projections...
2022-10-08 00:03:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 95 –
“I can’t say for sure if a four-leaved blood tulip is there,” said Dhruv. “But that region had several blood-aspected anomalies thirty years ago. It never reached the threshold for a forbidden zone, but the mana concentration was abnormal and purely blood-aspected.”
Dhruv handed the map back to Terry. He had marked the area he was talking about.
Terry examined the map. The region w...
2022-10-01 00:02:59 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 90 –
“Well, this is awkward,” groaned a dwarven guard for Libra City. She grimaced and looked at Terry. “Technically, I am supposed to arrest you. Why are you approaching as if you’re taking a stroll?”
“I could walk into the sky and enter that way if it avoids trouble for you all,” said Terry with a wry smile. “Just thought I would say hi first. I have to talk to Dhruv, one way or the o...
2022-09-24 00:03:00 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 84 –
“Who are you?” A dwarven man was kneeling on the wooden floor with his hands and legs tied up. “Why are you doing this?”
Near the wall of the badly illuminated building, there were a dozen more people tied up and gagged.
“Heh.” A seemingly middle-aged human woman was sitting cross-legged in front of the dwarven man. She was wearing a dark leather coat and a black headband. Behind...
2022-09-17 00:02:59 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 78 –
Romana lowered her bow and stared at the carnage in front of her. “Wastes, what happened here…?”
“This village was completely fine a few days ago,” said Yancey in a low tone. The death mage was floating slightly above the earth and cyan lights flickered inside his eye sockets. “As fine as any waster village, anyway.”
“Going by the corpses and signs on the ground, they must ha...
2022-09-10 00:02:59 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 71 –
Mia was sitting in the sky inside a transparent spatial barrier. Underneath her was a dimensional gate, and she observed the large demon army collide with the forces of the garrison in front of her.
“Are you trying to start a war?” howled a giant, silver-clad woman whose body was filled with rotating blades.
“No, we are just going to finish it,” retorted Mia casually. “‘Vigilant ...
2022-09-03 00:02:59 +0000 UTC
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– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 68 –
Somewhere in Tiv, a man whose arms and legs were tied together was thrown into a hole. The hole had been dug deep into the ground. Near the bottom, the man fell onto the other captured people and a fresh round of whimpering and pleading welled up from the depths.
“Quit your yapping,” shouted Eric. “You’re all useless muppets, anyway. What do you have to live for? You’re pathetic. You’l...
2022-08-27 00:02:59 +0000 UTC
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