I returned to myself standing in front of the strange, abstract statue. It had lost much of its vibrant red color, and was now a dull blue, like a desaturated cyan. The curator let out a sniff and shook his head, muttering. I heard the words he said, though I didn’t think he intended me to.
“Children. One destroyed, one damaged, and no...
2026-01-14 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostI had never been within the second layer of the soul, called the soulself, yet. Mental mages could open it early, and I suspected that it would be theoretically possible with death, but that my mentors hadn’t pushed for me to take those spells due to them being too much of a trade-off. Knowing Orykson, he probably even considered my early acce...
2026-01-13 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostI flicked my mind through the list one more time, then started to make retractions. I needed to gain short term power if I wanted to progress in the tournament, that was true, but just as importantly, I needed to make a choice that would propel me forward as a mage. Orykson had bandied about the time frame of five to ten years, and years worth o...
2026-01-12 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostWe’re a family here, and can be trusted to handle all of your needs. Remember, if you work for us, let us raise you, feed you, dictate your health, your housing, and everything else, then it will all be streamlined, and you can live a life of true ease and freedom. Trust us with your everything!
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Mockup advertisement of an Obs...
2026-01-10 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostLet me see here. Right, progress on creating long range teleportation platforms or portal gateways. As with last year’s report, creating something capable of intercity teleportation is far too expensive to justify. We’ve seen another dip in the cost of building intracity platforms, though the price is still far too high to justify building t...
2026-01-09 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAmongst cultures shortly Pre-Arrival, there was a pervasive idea that most people in history had servants. The truth was, for most of history, people were servants.
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History lecture at Slate University, 456 Modern-Era
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“Well, there you have it! Ladies, gentleman, and our other distinguished guests, we h...
2026-01-08 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostMing stared out over the mountains, hand on the pommel of her blade. She ran through sword forms in her head, and expected she would be doing the same thing for this entire session.
In the battles around the tournament, Ming had earned the mentorship of three people, but only one of them mattered: Ikki, the Patriarch of the White Vip...
2026-01-07 13:01:20 +0000 UTC View PostSince I can't post any additional chapters, there are going to be two patron exclusive short stories posted today, set during the time of the tournament.
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Ming strode into the Keeper’s Hall, the soft sound of her shoes causing a clicking on the smooth marble tiles lined with jade, and then felt a...
2026-01-07 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostAs he spoke, the curator lunged forward, his palm connecting with my forehead, and I felt waves of information crashing through my brain. It was neatly folded and organized, though not as adaptive as the flower of information that Aerde and Orykson had created. As I processed through the pile, I came to realize that the man had given me knowledg...
2026-01-06 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostWe didn’t have much time to relax, despite my hopes, as the Healer re-appeared in the room, holding a key in his hand, and the Shepherd appeared next to him. Two more contestants were on the table, both covered in burns, so we were ushered out by Meadow, who took us through a side passage and out of the room. As soon as we were out, heading to...
2026-01-05 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostJust as a reminder, there will be no chapters next week, since I'm not writing this week in order to spend time with family and friends.
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"And I heard, [audio indecipherable], the noise of thunder. One of the four beasts [audio indecipherable] and I saw, and behold a white horse. There's a man [audio indecipherable]...
2025-12-27 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostJust as a reminder, there will be no chapters next week, since I'm not writing this week in order to spend time with family and friends.
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Pair bonds, gemini links, dual cultivation, and more. There are many names for the attempts to use Bond Primal on a person, and use it to share power between large groups. Despite...
2025-12-26 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostJust as a reminder, there will be no chapters next week, since I'm not writing this week in order to spend time with family and friends.
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Gimmick teams are some of the most common threats for low-level tournament competitors. If the new Tamer doesn’t have the right spells, knowledge, or Primals to handle a gimmick...
2025-12-25 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostJust as a reminder, there will be no chapters next week, since I'm not writing this week in order to spend time with family and friends.
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Liz reacted with admirable speed, her shoes flaring with light as she launched in as well. Her sword reforged itself in her hand, and blades erupted out around her. A pair of shad...
2025-12-24 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostJust as a reminder, there will be no chapters next week, since I'm not writing this week in order to spend time with family and friends.
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Liz’s seemingly lifeless body hit the grass of the arena ground, and before I had a chance to call for help, gold and white light erupted from where she had been. It was a stran...
2025-12-23 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostJust as a reminder, there will be no chapters next week, since I'm not writing this week in order to spend time with family and friends.
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“Fox and Forest,” Liz said, letting out a breath. “Primes. I had hoped that we wouldn’t need to fight one another.”
My lips pressed together and I bowed my head. O...
2025-12-22 13:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostA step that ENTIRELY too many rookie essence users – be they magians or tamers – make is that they don’t allow their spirit time to rest. I partly blame entertainment for this. Training sequences and constant work sounds good, and makes for fun books, shows, and movies. But the reality is that people can’t work constantly. The person who...
2025-12-20 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostPart of the reason that so many of the early Obsidian Kings were able to transition from the old powers of the world was not just pre-existing wealth. Essence disrupted too much technology for wealth that exists only digitally to be a major power. It was the dozens of cults of personality, combined with centuries of lower classes being downtrodd...
2025-12-19 13:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostBecause dragons are cool, that’s why!
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Conclusion to a lecture on the apparently draconic shaped nature of many Primals, 117 Modern-Era
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I snatched up the piece of paper and unrolled it, half expecting to see another riddle. After all, the guy I’d spoken to at the desk had told me something along the lines ...
2025-12-18 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post“Welcome to the top sixteen of the Spellbinder Division of the Elysian Mastery Tournament.”
The words seemed to echo through the entire world as the Patriarch of the Silent River Sect floated in the sky above us. Once again, we were in one of the large arenas that was often used for sports, but unlike before, we hadn’t been let...
2025-12-17 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostI wasn’t typically much for meditation, at least in the traditional sense of sitting, waiting, and trying to clear my mind. It was fine, especially since I had medication that was helping me be a bit less scatterbrained, but it still wasn’t my preferred way to do things. But I needed focus for this, and thankfully, it was intensive enough th...
2025-12-16 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostI took a deep, slow breath, and let it out, then reached for Burn Future. The spell couldn’t harm me unless I over-drew from it, and took mana that I couldn’t pay back. Using it in measured, safe ways like in this competition was radically different from leaning on it to win every fight I was in. I didn’t know why I was so afraid of over-u...
2025-12-15 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostA common misunderstanding is that any additional layers in a core or amount of ousia will extend a person’s lifespan. But while there is a shard of truth to that, the amount of time granted is minimal. When a magian lives to a hundred and fifty, it is a function of their spellcraft improving their biology and the increased resilience of their ...
2025-12-13 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostI want to be able to turn into an egg, curse you! Primal eggs can exist in a state of suspended animation for a hundred thousand years while only experiencing a bit more than a tenth of a percent of essence decay, as far as you so-called ‘cultivation experts’ can tell. Why can’t you just place me in an egg to make me basically immortal?! I...
2025-12-12 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostTamers should be careful to avoid giving too much good food to their Primals. Primals have the ability to taste, or at least an essence-based ability that is analogous, but food going to a Primal is food that isn’t going to someone who needs it. An occasional luxury is fine, but waste and overindulgence isn’t.
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W...
2025-12-11 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostDusk drew from the people within her and moved away from me, zipping between the trees at an incredible pace, using spells from three dozen different beasts at once, and occasionally leaning on my Foxstep to move at a truly incredible rate as she headed right toward the centerpoint. My mana senses washed out, covering a huge area, and I immediat...
2025-12-10 12:59:01 +0000 UTC View Post“By the way, do you know anything about the blood and abnegation mage who cut out Kamal’s magic?”
Dario and Morgan had left to meet with Ming as the ceremony for the closing of the swords tournament wound down, but I’d stayed with Ikki, wanting to discuss this with him.
“Do I? Certainly. But there is a lim...
2025-12-09 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostDario made his way over a short time after Dusk arrived, and I flushed in embarrassment as I realized that I didn’t even know where he’d placed – I’d been too busy focusing on Dusk and her placement.
“Oh, hey Fox and Forest,” Dario said, waving as he landed, and I waved back. I was a bit surprised that he’d heard the ps...
2025-12-08 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostAlright, now let’s end this battle in one blast! Charge up your Sunlight Ray and unleash it on your enemy!
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Line from a children's cartoon on Primals and tamers, demonstrating the importance of learning to communicate via the spell link with your Primal, rather than verbally, 418 Modern-Era
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Working on the th...
2025-12-06 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post