beddedO

Chapter 42 - Fire

Chapter 42

Fire

Sylas wanted to cry—though even if he did, it was unlikely for any tears to trickle out due to the fact that his eyes were frozen. Staring up, he saw yet another steep incline, some forty-fifty degrees, that he had to climb. Even if he did considerable work to improve his body, he was yet to reach a point at which he could do very much superhuman things.

Luckily, he wasn't the worst one-off—it was Valen, the young Prince, who su...

Chapter 41 - To Wilds, We Go

Chapter 41

To Wilds, We Go

"Due to my latest vision," Sylas said. "We must leave the castle again, this time toward the east." Valen sighed, Tenner winced, Ryne seemed excited, Cyrs wanted to cry since he'd be left alone in the dark, yet again, and Tebek wondered what was happening. Taking all the reactions in stride, Sylas continued as though immune to them. "Therein lay folk of the criminal world who have intentions upon our walls. We must prevent that from hap...

Chapter 40 - From Wilds, They Come

Chapter 40

From Wilds, They Come

Shaking his little general, Sylas hurriedly pulled up his pants, shuddering. It wasn't easy, needing to do business outside during the winter. He had to be fast, and do it often, as to do so in lesser increments. Shaking his head at his state of living, he walked back from behind the castle and toward the eastern wall. Increased numbers have been manning the wall for hours now, ever since late afternoon.

Just as Dyn said, it...

In-world basic map, 'Rugged Ethernia Sketched'

Hello everyone! Since I'm ramping-up on some world building, I figured I'd share a rough-sketch map (one Sylas would have seen in-world) of the general world at this point in time. Don't get too attached to it, though, since it will continue to evolve over time. This is merely so you guys can have some rough orientation in relation to where things are. 

Chapter 39 - Dyn

Chapter 39

Dyn

He dreamed. It wasn’t hard to figure out it was a dream—after all, he was back in his small, one-bedroom apartment. The humming, buzzing, headache-inducing sound of the AC blowing away the heat was still there. The cracked, ajar window that he never managed to fully close still looked on toward the local park that was supposed to be for kids to play in, but became a prime hotspot to score some weed. The constant footsteps of the couple that liv...

Chapter 38 - Cold Snap

Chapter 38

Cold Snap

The atmosphere was quite festive, Sylas mused, looking about a fairly large hall that now hosted nearly sixty people altogether. He wasn't even aware that the hall existed, but each castle had to have one, he fancied. And this was Ethwar's—it wasn't the largest or the fanciest, but it did its job.  Everyone donned their best clothing, though that painted an image that wasn't entirely accurate; after all, most simply wore their cleanest...

Chapter 37 - Talisman Circle

Chapter 37

Talisman Circle

“Again!”

“Again!”

“Re-focus! Again!”

“Again!”

Sylas repeatedly stabbed forward, his entire body diving with the motion before snapping back into place. Over and over and over again, tens, hundreds, thousands of times. Beads of sweat coalesced on his forehead, his muscles torn in pain, but the determination in his eyes remained the fuel for his bone. Again. And again. And again.

It was a star...

Chapter 36 - We Remember

Chapter 36

We Remember

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, hah, hah, hah," Sylas was jolted awake, fighting for breath. It felt like he had nearly drowned; like a man would feel gasping for breath after swallowing mouthfuls of seawater. But he wasn't drowning, at least not with water.

He was shivering and was covered in sweat from head to toe. It was cold. Terribly cold. The kind of cold that pierced through any and all l...

Chapter 35 - Calling of the Dead

Chapter 35

Calling of the Dead

The group settled at the edge of the valley despite all three pushing to venture deeper into it and explore. Sylas, however, was adamant and stalwart, and others listened, however reluctantly. They set up camp and began dining, with Sylas glancing at the sky above quite frequently. He might have dreamt it up, he mused, as the final flash of the life, as to make it more interesting. Yet… it was unlikely. Those cloudy, gray skies op...

Chapter 34 - Tales of a Prophet

Chapter 34

Tales of a Prophet

Looking forward at the forest and back to the three people who still seemed plenty confused, Sylas could only smile wryly. It took some heavy convincing, but after playing the ‘Prophet’ and the ‘God’s missionary’ card several times, he managed to convince Valen to come along to the expedition into the unknown, expedition that the boy considered to be certain death.

Sylas was quite touched by the level of trust, even w...

Chapter 33 - The Unspoken

Chapter 33

The Unspoken

Sylas had gone through motions, mostly, until he managed to convince everyone, once again, to go on the expedition. Similarly, he went ahead and waited at the volunteering place for Ryne to show up. The moment she(he) did, he had her follow him to the Prince’s room. If anyone knew what the hell that rain of the dead was, it was one of these two. If even they didn’t know, then likely nobody else did. At least here.

Valen was surpr...

Chapter 32 - Pouring Skies

Chapter 32

Pouring Skies

The reason why the man who wrote the diary was abandoned and never contacted was likely because his plight coincided with his home's plight, Sylas suspected. The invasion by the people who eventually founded the Ethernia Kingdom might have occurred right about the same time the man had to uphold his duties of defending whatever he was supposed to be defending.

There was a story there, Sylas was certain, and though there were some di...

Chapter 31 - Echoes of the Past

Chapter 31

Echoes of the Past

Sylas was reeling, fuming, and seething—and though all those three things effectively meant one thing, he still somehow managed to be all three separately. At the same time. Stretching in front of his eyes, after all, was a sight that shouldn’t be possible – it was a mountain valley, perched between two cloud-pierces. Though they weren’t the most massive mountains Sylas had ever seen, they were still hefty, each standing at l...

Chapter 30 - That Which Can't Be

Chapter 30

That Which Can't Be

How did Sylas wind up near a sizzling, crimson-red ‘lake’, a sword in hand, facing a Ghoul directly, completely alone? There was a tale there, he was certain—except he didn’t know what that tale was. In fact, he wanted to scream into the sky and beg for the answer to the question: ‘Where the hell am I?!’ The last thing he recalled was falling asleep and then… he woke up here. Just a moment ago, he was alo...

Chapter 29 - Tale of an Exorcist

Chapter 29

Tale of an Exorcist

The sudden reinvigorated and even jubilant atmosphere made even Sylas feel awkward. Looking at the rekindled faces of the group that, just a few minutes ago were downtrodden, felt… odd. Was he an Exorcist? Of course not. Well, he is an ex-Exorcist—but even that was a scam, and it happened on Earth, and it had nothing to do with his current situation. It wasn’t just the seven guards, it was also Tebek and Tenner—Tebe...

Chapter 28 - Departure

Chapter 28

Departure

A fairly large group of thirteen stood by the massive hole in the wall, surrounded on all ends by a much larger crowd, most of whom had mixed expressions. Some were of relief, some of pity, and some of glee. At the far front, Valen stared intently at Sylas, as though asking with his eyes one last time whether the Prophet was certain—and Sylas’ reply was as confident as the first day he suggested the expedition.

Unfortunately, Sylas ...

Chapter 27 - Trailblazers

Chapter 27

Trailblazers

Ryne heard a rumor—it was an unbelievable rumor, the ilk that a mind immediately dismissed due to it being utterly insane. But… she heard it, over and over, in fact, while staying in the castle. There was an expedition being formed—an expedition meant to chase ghosts beyond the wall. Her eyes immediately gravitated toward the tallest spire, bounding in awe and confusion. Was there anyone truly that moronic in charge? Or, perchance, t...

Chapter 26 - Swordsmen & Blademasters

Chapter 26

Swordsmen & Blademasters

“Bend it more!”

“Skewer harder!”

“You’re not putting the foot forward enough!”

“Your back isn’t straight!”

Tenner's voice continued to echo against the nearby stole walls while droplets of sweat poured down Sylas' forehead, wetting the dirt below. He'd been at it for hours already, a shocking surprise and a result of the highly demanding training regime he'd been under for three w...

Welcome!

Be wary all ye' who venture here. I don't know why, precisely, but be wary nonetheless. 

First and foremost, thank you for checking out my patreon page--even that means a lot. Whether you elect to subscribe or not, I still appreciate it. A couple of things to note: 

Thank you all for checking out my newest work, Cultivation System: Elder Edition! I've been meaning to revisit cultivation in some capacity for a while now, so I'm happy that you're digging it, too. I'll upda...