Matizu Writes

B4 Chapter 3 - Conflicting Goals

A corner before the Lifeweaver’s mansion, Vivi checked her reflection through dark a streetside window.

Her make-up was almost invisible, slightly complementing her features but nothing complex. That made her freshly cleaned hair stand out more. Her head just felt nice after Lortel gave her a bath. Everything always looked nice after Lortel did anything with her face.

Then she had her raincoat. The black and purple design, made by Senith, and definitely the best raincoat in the ...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 53 - Purchases

Back in the real world, I retrieved my stuff from the Cave with my mom, since playing there probably wasn't safe anymore. All I needed was one desperate junkie with a weapon to threaten me for gear, and I’d have a really bad time. For now, my parents agreed to let me back into the attic.

I’ll need to buy a game pod, I thought on the way home. My headset was still, all things considered, a piece of shit. There was a reason why I moved to The Cave instead of trying to couch h...

B4 Chapter 2 - Do It Properly

Alda didn’t have a decisive answer to Vivi’s question. She gave an uncomfortable laugh, saying that it was her job as a hunter to protect and serve Ythar’s kingdom. Though, from her expression, it was clear she wasn’t confident in that answer either.

She probably doesn’t like the hunters’ system, Vivi thought. But she’s too nervous to admit there’s a problem.

Essi’s captors had said something similar, Vivi recalled. Gwenor, one of the men who Lo...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 52 - Build Nerds

“Alright, I did some research and math,” Veyra said.

We’d barely said our hellos, when she placed a large screenshot of a real-life drawing on the wall of our usual tavern. She’d drawn the assassin class’s full skill tree, listing all thirty-six available skills, the good and bad. Each one had notes and numbers written on them, with enough details that I had to look closely just to read her small handwriting.

“You haven’t allocated any skill points yet, right?” Vey...

B4 Chapter 1 - Are They All Evil?

Feeling a stranger’s hand on her shoulder, Vivi’s first instinct was to release her aura of five thousand ether at the man’s face. She stopped herself, however. This wasn’t Zand. Her life wasn’t in danger.

A constant tapping of rainfall hammered the metal above. The canopy spanned the width of the street with a gap before the streetside tenements. Lines of rain fell there, received by ground-level gutters that guided water down like little rivers. Foot traffic bustled past, bu...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 51 - Nerfed

“Aiden, what was that!?” was the first gush of excitement I heard outside the arena from uncle Ricky after I finally managed to sneak past all the interviews, trophy ceremonies and and all media crews trying to ask how the hell I one-shotted a rank 50 death knight tank player.

I admit, I was a bit dumbfounded for the whole post-win interview. I’d lifted the small trophy and given my best grin to my sister and the audience, receiving cheers at that, when Royal Rebecca asked for my ...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 50 - Best Of Five

I loaded into a hot cave, standing atop steel gratings. Lava bubbled underneath, though the footing appeared solid. Tall cavernous walls surrounded the arena, roughly the size of a football field. The ground was flat, consisting fully of the steel gratings. Not the most pleasant surface to fight on, but my boots were thick enough to properly stand.

It was a large arena. That was good, if nothing else. Veyra and I agreed that I needed space to run, considering what I was up against.

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 49 - Zero Point Seven-two

The arena was absolutely packed. The remaining seats had been sold out last night, as apparently the event itself gained popularity from all the forum posts and news floating around regarding my debut match against Henrift. I had already developed a reputation as a noob stomper, but this was essentially my debut match against a real respected opponent.

Was I just a flashy noob stomper, or was I actually a potential top player?

I didn’t really care about status or whatev...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 48 - Two Raid Bosses

Author note: Bonus chapter for reaching the 1000 followers milestone on Royal Road! Thanks! The next chapter drops tomorrow, following the schedule as normal.

***

A walkway ahead of me lit up like a red carpet leading me to the two game pods in the middle. Except instead of carpet, it was an LED-lit walkway with cameras and an audience staring me down.

I was nudged forward, and the walk to my game pod began. My family spotted me right away. Anna’s hands shot up amongst the...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 47 - Stupid Charm

We followed a trail of dead Stone Wyverns up the mountain paths, killing the occasional straggler goblins trying to jump us from the mountainside swamplands. Monster corpses stayed on the ground for around fifteen minutes after death, meaning that if we followed the dead ones, we’d most likely find a guild peacefully clearing their way up the mountain.

Veyra didn’t seem to be focused on the job, though. She glanced subtly at me, as if trying to say something. She hesitated.

Ev...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 46 - Consider

Author note: Bonus chapter for reaching the 100 ratings milestone on Royal Road! Another one will be dropping once we reach 1000 followers.

I won the remaining nine fights of the open qualification event, all in less than thirty seconds. I made sure to be as flashy as possible with [Shadow Dash], since that was where the cheating accusations came from. If I was even more flashy with it while playing at a local competition, that should be enough proof to all the doubters....

Future Schedule (For both books), and Ethersmith one week break.

Hello, this is an update on the future schedule of my Patreon and Royal Road pages!

First, The Ethersmith is going on a one week break. Chapter 1 of book 4 will drop on Monday the 17th. I’ve been writing this book for over a year straight now, and a break is honestly necessary to refresh my brain. Thanks for your support, and I hope to see you then!

(Ethersmith’s Royal Road will also be going on a break, so Patreon will stay 50 chapters ahead)

Assassinate Wonderwind will...

Ethersmith Book 3 Epilogue

“So, the situation is this,” Lortel inquired. “You offended a city lord, who is directly related to the human god emperor, and you threatened him into compliance using his life.”

“I threatened him just with simple logic,” Vivi said. “And… maybe a few threats on his life, yes.”

Lortel gave her the side-eye. “And now the city lord has invited us to sleep inside this surge hazard he calls a mansion.”

Rain tapped on the roof for a calm ambiance. The window ...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 45 - Disheveled Goof

“Aiden?”

I entered the warm-up room, and amongst the tens of nervous players doing stretches, waiting for their turns to use the two dozen warm-up game-pods available, I was faced with two familiar faces right away. None other than Sullivan and Evelyn. Eve faced me with surprise, and one could expect what treatment Sullivan gave me.

Surprisingly, he didn't throw his fists at me. He merely looked at me as if I was a parasite trying to invade the tournament. He crossed his arms ...

B3 Chapter 69 - Awe

The ground quaked and mud splashed as the boulders from the dead golem crashed against the ground.

A dream, Veronica thought. The sight was impossible. In her sixty years as an ether hunter, never had she witnessed something like this. She’d fought a golem like that once in her life. Back then, sixteen hunting companies had been present, working together for over a week to save the third level from total collapse.

This golem was destroyed in less than a minute.

Th...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 44 - Family Support

On my phone, I opened up the website for “New York Wonderwind,” the official website for anything Wonderwind in my city. From there, I found the one versus one PvP competition—the biggest Wonderwind event in New York with a grand prize of ten thousand dollars and a Worlds invitation ticket, accommodation and flights included. The event was always held in September, one month before Worlds in October.

I should have probably applied earlier, considering it was currently September 5t...

B3 Chapter 68 - Art

“Helegar,” Veronica snapped at the man. “This is not what we agreed upon!”

Rain droplets drizzled from the surface sky. The storm zone had not been excavated—a procedure which was usually performed for the simplest of surges. Letting a full red storm break on muddy surface soil was reckless at best. Suicidal if anything went wrong. There was a chance the storm would pick up reanimated mud, tossing it all around, perhaps to Ranewal’s outskirts, which were visible in ...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 43 - Promise Breaker

“Shadow Dash is not just an escape tool, or a gap-closer,” I explained to Neige’s livestream, while his guild mates scowled at me. “This little dash is the backbone of the assassin class. I say this to every assassin player watching—I want you to value Shadow Dash like it’s your life, because when used correctly, it really is a second life. And if any one of you activates Shadow Dash from the system skill menu, you're bad. Any system assistance at all will make the skill clunky.�...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 42 - Cheater Duo

Four players in top tier gear stepped into the room. The leader’s bow was almost as long as he was tall, and that said a lot, considering he was at least an inch taller than me. He wore a red scarf over an archer’s cloak.

His nametag read, [Luxueux] Neige. The guild leader of the seventh best guild in the world, the rank 2 ranger player, and around twenty-fifth on the global leaderboard.

“Ah,” Neige said, spotting us. “So they cleared the dungeon. It’s...

B3 Chapter 67 - Heroes On The Run

The hunter and his freshly flattened uniform flew back inside in an arch back. A wooden table received him, then promptly snapped into pieces under his weight. He collapsed in its splintered wood, where he lay unconscious. Blood spurted from his nose, some having made it to Vivi’s fist.

She looked for something to wipe her hand with. Her eyes panned to the Sylva Bloods’ uniform, and she wiped the blood onto the cleanest white of the man’s clothes.

“Sorry,” she then said ...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 41 - The Forums

Some days passed, and Veyra and I grew closer.

I continued my workout regime of bodyweight exercises, raising the number of pushups I could do from three to a whopping nine. I had to renew my subscription to The Cave, which wasn’t an issue after selling a few gear pieces.

I also fixed my sleep schedule. As in, I went to sleep when Veyra did to match the Thai timezone. So pretty much, I went to sleep at one or two pm most days, waking up when the night was just starting.

No...

B3 Chapter 66 - Restore

The teleporter blinked active, and Vivi’s consciousness flickered from the third level to Essi’s hometown. Mistvale.

A familiar tapping sound reverberated from the rain canopy. An open sky of grey clouds spanned well into the distance. The teleporter platform was atop a hill. Modern brick buildings and rain canopies, and pretty paved streets stood firmly below: a similar landscape to the one Vivi saw daily in Fellwater.

Most of Ythar’s named towns were similar to each other,...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 40 - Favorites

I’m actually going on a date, I thought, as if that was some grand milestone of life I never expected I’d achieve.

I led the way deeper into the village, into what was easily my favourite cafe in the game. Not that I visited cafes often, but I had good memories of this cute hardwood hut in the middle of the Sky Island Sect.

A small terrace with flowers led to an open door. A cup of tea had been engraved to a sign, and that was all that indicated this was a public spac...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 39 - Identity Revealed

Annath’s forum post included a short clip as “proof” that Veyra was cheating—a ten second video recording of the battle earlier. Specifically, it showed Annath facing Veyra one to one after blowing me to the side. Veyra cast [Chronorift], the ice wall, [Time Freeze], an icicle, and a portal all in just a few seconds.

Her casting was absolutely masterful. Annath had chosen one of the best examples of Veyra’s quick-casting I’d seen so far. Watching it in slow-motion was truly ...

B3 Chapter 65 - Return Home

Vivi and the demons built a simple campfire to rest at before advancing any further. They had only brought rations for two days, and even that would be a stretch. The plan was to restock on the upper levels.

Regardless, she offered Essi a canteen and a stick of dried jerky. They sat next to each other, facing the fire. Being hunters, they didn’t need a campfire for survival. Its warmth provided a comfortable air more than actual heat to their bodies. Some of the more tired demons sat ...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 38 - Typing…

It didn’t take long for Annath to utterly overpower me. I blocked and dodged, desperately defending myself from the deadliest sword in the whole game.

Blocking was now even more difficult without supportive frost or time magic. It became apparent that Veyra’s presence alone had slowed Annath’s dance by a tiny bit, forcing her to divide a bit of attention to Veyra’s spells. Without Veyra present, Annath could put all of her attention into the duel, and that made all the differenc...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 37 - SevenStrife

The tall gold-haired woman in front of us looked to me like the commander of an army of knights. Her bright silver plate and her stern scowl gave her an unbreakable presence—and she walked with the step of someone who expected to be bowed to, even if nothing was happening.

[Celestial Order] Annath. The leader of the third strongest guild in the world, the rank 1 swordfighter player, and top four on the global leaderboard, regarded as one of the five gods of the game.<...

B3 Chapter 64 - Rescue

Stepping onto Boblin’s cliff, Vivi placed down the giant slab of meat and flared her aura, pushing it into the tunnel.

Last time she’d traveled to the surface with everyone, luring Boblin down had taken some convincing and retries. Someone eventually suggested meat, and that turned out to be what got the lizard curious, though even after that, they’d had to wait for over ten minutes.

This time, Vivi couldn’t even send her prayers that Boblin would arrive quickly, as the gi...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 36 - Those Who Like Hugs

I was no longer a functioning human being.

Arguably, I had not been that in a long time, considering I hadn’t seen sunlight in reality ever since that one trip to the corner store. Ignoring real life, though, In Wonderwind, I’d always been in high spirits and rarely stressed out, except when rent was due.

Right now, sitting on a random bench in Rayshire, however, I felt like I was waiting to hear whether the world would end or not.

I felt like a fool. Not because I asked...

Assassinate Wonderwind Chapter 35 - Date?

Veyra’s carefree mood paused, totally caught off guard. Snow and Dark, both of Heywin’s cats, ran downstairs, while the tower continued crumbling under the misty sky.

Oh my god, I actually said it. No preparation, no flirting beforehand, I just went straight to the question.

“A date?” Veyra asked. “Like… an actual date?”

“Yeah,” I said, while my heart tried its best to kill me. “A date. Online in Wonderwind, though.”

She looked genuinely surprised...