tobiasbegley

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Twenty-Five

Dusk meandered across the table to the plant that resembled the healer’s heart – steward’s soul, hadn’t it been? – and absorbed it into herself with a sleepy murmur, before wandering back to me, curling up in my hand, and passing out again. I sent her back into her realm and looked up at the River Lord. 

“I think that’s ...

PSTH2: Chapter Nine

Creating an artificial Primal. Can it be done? We have the ability to restructure ousia with the spiderweb principle. Generating ousia outside of a person is possible, if difficult, by breaking down essence into its component parts. There are details of existing Primals that are unknown, as each layer of Ousia si ght reveals more complex layers....

PSTH2: Chapter Eight

PSTH2: Chapter Seven

One of life’s little pleasures is a good cup of coffee. With earth, water, and wood magians maintaining farms across the southwestern parts of Oceanseed, it’s even able to be grown here at home. But it isn’t the Arabica bean that the Pre-Arrival cultures enjoyed, as that had all but died out shortly before magic arrived. What we have now i...

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Twenty-Four

The River Lord inclined his head, and I stepped up to the next table. It was visually the most impressive table by far, with loads of stuff on it, but it was also the least powerful table in terms of overall spiritual presence. The other tables, including the one I hadn’t been to yet, had treasures that could re-shape a person’s life in an i...

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Twenty-Three

Despite the promised meeting for rewards, it actually took the better part of three hours for me to receive them. Orykson, the Craftsman, the Dreamer, and the Amethyst Mask all left to go attend to various projects that they were working on, while Meadow, Ikki, and I headed into Dusk’s realm. 

Dusk was mostly recovered, her form not...

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Twenty-Two

An instant after Corra vanished, I faded away as well. This time, I was conscious – more than my fight against Liz, at least. Despite my physical and mental state seeming better, though, I was worried. The debt was already growing, eating up all of my mana regeneration, and if I didn’t start getting more mana in me soon… 

Well, ...

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Twenty-One

Thanks to the fact that there's a lot of content packed into this next bit, and that I can only write one week ahead due to the way voting works, Monday, Tues, and Wed chapters are going up today. But hey! You get an extra chapter, as I'm publishing four, instead of three.

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I rolled the drop around ...

PSTH2: Chapter Six

What’s up with the Terrible Three? After their sleepy winter break, Laurel has been spotted in the swamp north of Silica City, presumably hunting for a Primal, or perhaps on the search for the elusive 1200 pound alligator – though that only is based on the fact that her uncle was a alligator preservationist. As seen in our late winter editio...

PSTH2: Chapter Five

The Glade Leafwing Butterfly was a species found locally in the southern areas of Oceanseed, usually around Silica City, and it presents a fascinating case in Primal existence. Though the continued habitat destruction resulted in the extinction of the butterfly, the Primal known as the Pruinanaea resembles its physical appearance to an uncanny d...

PSTH2: Chapter Four

Allergies are a frustratingly complex thing for magic to deal with. It’s distinctly possible to narrow the scope of an allergy with spellcraft, such as turning an allergy to tree nuts into an allergy for pecans. It’s also much easier to treat allergic reactions with magic than using purely chemical processes. The ability to remove them compl...

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Twenty

The fifteen minutes of rest, healing, and planning went by in a flash, and when Dusk and I were pulled into the arena a second time, I felt much more uncertain. I had shifted a few things around with Ghostmind, since I needed to adapt my strategy, and this time, I was holding my bone spear in one hand. Dusk was floating next to me, spells whirli...

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Nineteen

I reached into my spirit and opened a path to Combat Echo. Within the spell there was a second version of myself, with all of my physical strength, and enough raw mana to match mine. It didn’t have all of my advantages, it was very close to my own level of power. I could see it in my mind’s eye, frozen in time, eyes peacefully closed. I snap...

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Eighteen

“Welcome, one and all, to the next round of the spellbinder division of the Elysian Mastery Tournament. Today, the sixteen greatest fighters of the upcoming generation will compete for the top eight.” 

Our short bit of training after Dusk’s event had flown by, but having told me she needed to tell me something, she at least seem...

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Seventeen

Bonus Chapter Today

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The rest of the day, as well as the next two days, were a complete blur. I was in a constant state of training, rotating between Spriggan Step, Ghostmind, and Fungal Armor. That last one was probably the easiest to train, as it basically just involved Ed firing off Stone Arrow s...

PSTH2: Chapter Three

Attempts to create magian classes, certification levels, or other measurements of magian’s skill have been attempted for as long as humans have had magic, and they all have flaws. Levels might indicate a magian’s power, but not their skill, so the obvious was right out. But other things, like applied testing, fail as well. Different people a...

PSTH2: Chapter Two

Spell design is an interesting topic. Tracking the development is difficult, as the records from the era where magic first arrived are often lost or corrupted, but it’s believed the first spells found were from breaking apart essence hearts, and studying the natural Bond Primal patterns within them, though there are also those who believe that...

PSTH2: Chapter One

Something people don’t realize about the end of the world is that it never comes. Even when the sky rains flame and magic detonates one in ten micro-transistors, people put their lives back together. Humanity’s a tough bunch, and as long as there’s one of us about, the world will be put back together, no matter how many times it ends… 2026-01-29 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Sixteen

“The Ghostmind spell was only consolidated into a singular spellform roughly forty years ago,” Orykson began, and I leaned back, plopping down to sit in the dirt and listen. It seemed like I wouldn’t be getting out of a lecture, despite my best efforts. Ah, well. 

“During the age of the Spirit General, the effect was actually ...

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Fifteen

“Alright, out, out,” I said, waving each of them out of the way, even as I started unbuttoning my shirt. I wasn’t near as self-conscious about my body as I had been a few years ago, not with my full-gate spells having progressed so far, and it wasn’t like Kene hadn’t seen it several times or like I’d be completely stripping down. Eve...

The Fourth Gate: Chapter Fourteen

Satya’s form flowed back into the necklace, and I looked at Kiran. 

“I hope that if we meet in the arena, you can at least hold back my name, at least somewhat. I wear a mask not just as a trick, but also to hopefully give me a bit more privacy in my personal life.”

“I’ll try, but if it comes down to using your name or...

PSTH: Epilogue

The Woolworthy Corporation is one that needs to be watched. I believe that there is something else going on, something deeper that we aren’t seeing. Have you reviewed their quarterly tax audits and conducted independent employee surveys?

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Message from Vincent Angon to the Oceanseed Corporate Overreach Department, Circa 15 Minu...