Alex stood before the mirror in his darkened room, examining the golden symbol on his shoulder. The mocking jester’s face stared back at him—its grin as malicious as ever—faintly glowing like some self-satisfied tattoo. Alex inspected it carefully, looking to see if it had changed. Did it actually look different or was he imagining things?...
2022-02-09 23:32:39 +0000 UTC View PostAs the days passed and both the demon summoner and The Games of Roal receded into memory, things started to return to normal in Generasi.
Classes resumed, that atmosphere of competitiveness—as folk had prepared for The Games—faded, and summer grew closer to fall. Soon, the greatest concern the students of the University had wasn’t wh...
2022-02-09 01:21:08 +0000 UTC View Post“Hannar-cim…Hannar-cim,” the chancellor rolled the name around in his mouth. “Interesting…there’s a familiarity to it.”
“Really?” Alex sat bolt upright.
“Yeees….hold for a moment.” Baelin’s eyes seemed to glaze over as though he were seeing something that was invisible to the naked eye far off in the distanc...
2022-02-06 00:18:54 +0000 UTC View Post“So there has been no pain at all?” the blood mage asked Alex as he examined his sling.
“None,” Alex said. “My arm was itchy until a couple of days ago, but even that’s almost gone now. It’s healing, I’d say, though I’m obviously not the expert here.”
“Good, good,” the medical staff member jotted down a note a...
2022-02-05 01:53:56 +0000 UTC View PostTheresa, Alex and Selina stared at the sheathed blade in Mr. Lu’s hands. The blade and its twin had held legendary status in the Lu household while they were growing up: always to be kept stored away from prying eyes and curious little fingers.
They’d gotten used to seeing Theresa carrying the one she’d ’borrowed’, but to see its...
2022-02-03 23:44:15 +0000 UTC View Post‘I have a feeling this won’t be the last memorial service I attend,’ Alex thought grimly, his eyes falling on the stone monument as a sombre feeling welled up in his chest.
A grim image formed in his mind: another monument being erected somewhere in Thameland or Generasi, one that had familiar names etched into the stone: Lady 2022-02-02 22:35:08 +0000 UTC View Post
“Hey Selina,” Alex said as he and Claygon trudged up to her on the path. The golem’s massive clay feet splashed through the growing puddles on the cobblestones.
“Hi Alex,” she said. “Are you all done with your spell practice stuff?”
“Well, ‘done’ might be a strong word, I think,” he said. “I-Argh!”<...
2022-02-01 23:05:26 +0000 UTC View PostAlex’s Wizard’s Hands flipped through the pages of Life-to-Mana’s spell-guide as he gently scratched the skin around the dressing under the sling on his left arm. The healers had warned him that his arm might get itchy, but to never remove the elbow splint or the dressing on his forearm.
If he didn’t mess around with it and made su...
2022-01-29 21:42:11 +0000 UTC View PostIn the next few days, Generasi focused on healing and justice.
First came the grim task of collecting the bodies of all those who had fallen, and returning them to their families. Alex and his friends made sure to stay far away from the stadium as it was being cleaned up. Apparently, The Watchers were surveying and purging the battlefield ...
2022-01-29 00:07:58 +0000 UTC View Post“You mean like…summon any demon I can and ask them a bunch of questions about the one I’m after? Or try to work out a deal with them?” Alex asked his professor.
“In a sense…but there is a bit more nuance to it than that,” Professor Mangal said.
She waved a hand.
Crack.
Alex startled as one of her st...
2022-01-28 01:43:40 +0000 UTC View Post“The festival of ghosts will be different this year…I think.” Khalik poured himself a third cup of wine before sliding the pitcher back across the table.
“Thanks, man,” Alex said, picking it up and pouring himself a second cup. It was a bit of a struggle with one arm in a sling, but he’d rather help himself as much as he could....
2022-01-27 01:39:13 +0000 UTC View Post“Imagine my surprise when I learned that you were a former student of Generasi,” Baelin said.
The ancient wizard sat at a white table across from a young man who had so many white chains wrapped around his body, that he more resembled a mummy in metal wrappings, than someone living. Each link was covered in glyphs forged into their sur...
2022-01-26 01:24:22 +0000 UTC View PostAlex couldn’t remember the last time he felt so tired.
He’d been teleported into the middle of the stadium by one of the referees, and immediately began searching for his family and friends.
“Selina!” he cried. “Mr. and Mrs. Lu!”
He desperately scanned where they’d been sitting in the stands, but there was no trac...
2022-01-23 00:33:29 +0000 UTC View PostEvery object the demon’s radiance touched shattered like light passing through a prism. Plants, soil, and stone were undone down to their component elements before Baelin’s eyes.
The chancellor’s jaw hardened as an ancient tree collapsed, turning to black carbon, gases, and its component metals. The stones the light touched separated...
2022-01-22 00:43:03 +0000 UTC View PostAlex dodged across the beach as Burn-Saw rushed after him, churning loose sand beneath his hooves.
“Little wretch!’ The demon screamed, half-delirious with rage and sensory impairment. “You coward! This is how Hannar-cim, the great Yushaero acts? Where is that power that destroyed my commanders? Cease your foolish, childish games. Fi...
2022-01-21 01:01:34 +0000 UTC View Post“He’s here,” the abyssal knight announced.
“What….who’s where?” the summoner asked.
“The powerful wizard. The horned one that bears the likeness of Baphomet,” the demon said. “I feel his power. He is here in this green place.”
The summoner’s blood ran cold.
One of the rules they never deviated from...
2022-01-20 01:14:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe world seemed to slow down around Alex while his mind worked to process what had just happened.
A demon had spoken to him—directly to him—like it recognised him…like it knew him.
‘No, maybe not me specifically,’ he thought. ‘Maybe it recognised that strange power I feel with teleportation spells.’
The battle ra...
2022-01-19 00:26:52 +0000 UTC View PostThe demon summoner had taken every precaution, but knew there was a risk. Sometimes though, a risk had to be chanced if the cause was just.
And there was no cause more just than this.
As they chanted, the noise of mindless cheering in the stadium as filthy priests spoiled a contest celebrating mortals’ triumphs over the divine, cam...
2022-01-15 23:57:21 +0000 UTC View PostKybas cocked his head toward the dull thud of heavy footsteps above his lair. At first, he hadn’t paid them much attention: he’d heard the odd person passing by earlier, but they hadn’t lingered, they’d just moved on about their business.
But the way this mysterious person was moving around up there—repeatedly pausing, then walki...
2022-01-15 00:07:27 +0000 UTC View PostThe ambush was devastating.
Vesuvius shimmered into being beside Tyris, and the pair poured lava and flame down on Claygon and the elemental knights from the Outcasts of the Divine Wind. The knights could not escape the torrent of lava and flame and were instantly blasted from the contest.
Lava continued to pour over Claygon, weighin...
2022-01-14 00:41:54 +0000 UTC View Post“That’s it!” Baelin loudly clapped his hands together.
Far below, the battle between the two remaining centaurs from the Outcasts’ team, and the team of his COMB-1000 students who were filling his ancient heart with pride—they really ought to have named themselves—raced toward its conclusion.
“So…at last you reveal yo...
2022-01-13 00:26:00 +0000 UTC View PostTyris Goldtooth grinned as her lava blasted the final wizard on the enemy team. The marsh boiled around her, sending steam rising into the air while Vesuvius roared in victory.
“Perfect,” she said, flying forward and snatching the flag from the fallen enemies’ flag-bearer. “Your flag makes a fine addition to our collection.”
<... 2022-01-11 23:37:25 +0000 UTC View PostDerek Warren gripped his sword as he waded through the sea of grass. There was something comforting about having a weapon in hand, whether blade, or pen.
The other Ursa-Lupines pushed through the grass around him, and flanking them, were the two teams they’d allied with.
His chainmail rattled over his shirt. From the south, h...
2022-01-08 23:22:00 +0000 UTC View Post“All goes well?” Baelin asked.
The ancient wizard floated high in the sky, speaking to what seemed to be nothing but empty air. Silence for five heartbeats followed his words, and then-
Whooosh!
-the wind rose up around him, rushing through his beard-braids and billowing his robes. His bronze beard clasps tinkled.<...
2022-01-07 23:17:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello everybody and welcome to the second cover for Mark of the Fool!
This artwork done by the magnificently talented Shen Fei and the lettering by Asviloka! This...this really puts a smile on my face. I wanted to do something for the new year and this is it!
The enemy team soared from behind the ridge, ready and poised to attack. Mana from their spells blazed in Alex’s senses, growing as they closed the distance. Incantations roared through the air. Alex’s teammates were still scattered; the cloud of dust still filtered around them but as it dissipated, so did their cover.
“Surprise, friends!” Alex called cheerily as he raised the hidden trap door of a tunnel. A few of an enemy team—packed into the hole—startled, caught off guard. “Nice plan, hiding down here to ambush us, but my friend Brutus over here smelled you guys from a mile away. Or at least a hundred feet away. I dunno, I wasn’t counting exact...
2022-01-06 01:43:41 +0000 UTC View PostAlex charged through the forest with his team at his back.
He heard Claygon’s thundering steps, Grimloch’s crushing rush through the trees, the clinking of Svenia and Hogarth’s armour, and the heavy panting of Brutus’ three heads. Isolde, Khalik and Thundar quietly chanted spells just behind him: force armour, body enhancement and ...
2022-01-05 00:19:59 +0000 UTC View PostTheir team marched through the dark, armed and equipped with every resource and weapon they could bring.
Alex had a full bag of potions—both regular and booby-trapped—hanging at his side. Theresa had one of her great-grandfather’s swords and her massive hunting knife belted at her waist. Isolde’s stiletto blade hung from her belt, ...
2022-01-02 02:02:13 +0000 UTC View PostTheresa beamed, standing atop the podium with Thundar—who was pumping his fists in the air—and a grinning Grimloch who spread his hands in a ‘come on’ gesture.
The crowd roared, chanting their names: “Grimloch! Grimloch! Grimloch! Thereeeesaaa! Thereeeesaaa! Thereeeessaaa! Thundar! Thundar! Thundar!”
Their names ech...
2022-01-01 00:25:40 +0000 UTC View Post