It was lucky he’d calmed down.
If he’d tried to kill the bright-spitter like he’d imagined doing earlier, he wouldn’t have come to his realization.
But, standing there holding a live fire breathing snake presented a problem: what in the world was he supposed to do with it now?
The thing writhed and rattled—beating its...
2021-06-18 22:29:30 +0000 UTC View PostJagged rock bit into Alex’s hands as he scrambled back down.
Pebbles rattled down the wall as rubble and dust were disturbed in his rush to reach the crevice floor. He imagined the flying serpents catching him ,and had to fight a desperate urge to just jump the rest of the way.
But a broken neck would likely be the only thing he’...
2021-06-17 20:26:03 +0000 UTC View PostSelina had barely spoken a word for days.
Now, at the breakfast table, she, Theresa and Alex ate with a heavy silence over them. Even Brutus—eating nearby—seemed to be in a poor mood; his ears and heads drooped low.
The little girl ate her porridge slowly, as though she were in a haze. Her eyes—puffy and red—barely look...
2021-06-16 20:56:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe Ravener’s hunter had been seeking its quarry for a long time now.
At first, it hunted with its siblings, each staying in close communication as they moved beyond the territory of their master. But—as they dispersed—they grew too distant from each other to maintain communication.
And now, the hunter was alone.
First, i...
2021-06-15 22:45:18 +0000 UTC View Post“Zachariah Khan!” one of the teachers called.
Selina Roth jumped a little in her chair as the name echoed through the auditorium.
Zach—one of her friends—was the first to be brought onto the stage. She and the rest of her class from the junior school were seated in rows in the centre of the auditorium, waiting for the teacher...
2021-06-12 20:41:44 +0000 UTC View PostAs it turned out, swallowing one’s pride had some serious benefits.
Going from sculpting alone or in the same area as his little sister, to working together with her had vastly improved his sculpting ability. By working as a duo, he not only got a close look at how she worked, but he also got to try some of her techniques with h...
2021-06-11 21:03:24 +0000 UTC View PostAlex paced back and forth in front of the golem workshop.
It was early morning. Crack of dawn, really, and much of the City of Generasi was still waking up from their night’s sleep. A light rain hissed against the cobblestones and rooftops nearby, and he pulled his hood higher and his cloak tighter to shield himself.
Shops were ope...
2021-06-10 21:20:50 +0000 UTC View PostAlex Roth stood in front of the small mirror in his room—with the windows firmly shuttered and door latched—staring at himself half in disbelief. His belly grumbled in hunger—as it always seemed to these days, no matter how much he fed it—but the shape of that belly had changed.
The shape of his whole body had changed.
“Hoo...
2021-06-09 22:50:50 +0000 UTC View Post“I would imagine.” Khalik’s tone was sharp. “That they have concerns as well. There are more people than there are kings and queens. More nobles to appease. Generals. Armies. Merchants. Common folk. They all have mouths to feed, children to raise and coffers to fill. And when a drought comes, or floods wash away homes, or locust...
2021-06-08 23:54:26 +0000 UTC View Post“Wait…” Alex started to take a step back. “You’re a what?” His words dropped to a whisper.
“A devil, boy!” Hobb’s voice boomed. “And no need to whisper, it’s not a secret. Not one worth keeping, at any rate. You know? Bargains for horrifying power for the price of your immortal soul? Become a king in return f...
2021-06-05 23:49:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe grad students poured their mana into the cauldron, this time reaching deep into the metal vessel. Alex could sense the mana travelling lower toward the bottom of the pot. Then the glyphs flared again.
Professor Jules called to Alex, still standing by the door. “It’s likely safe for you to join us now, Mr. Roth, and I’d recommend ...
2021-06-05 23:41:37 +0000 UTC View PostAs the last of the glyphs were traced and filled with mana, there was a subtle shift in the mana in the air around the cauldon’s rim. It was so faint, that Alex doubted he would have detected it before he’d started training in mana manipulation at the school.
With a flash, a purple light washed through the glyphs, wiping away the ...
2021-06-05 23:36:06 +0000 UTC View Post“Stage Two of the brewing process is not delicate, but we’ll have to be quick today,” Professor Jules addressed her squad of graduate students like she was a general. She looked at Alex. “With chaos essence, it’s best to make sure the reaction isn’t drawn out: it’s too hard to predict, otherwise.”
He quickly wrote down what...
2021-06-05 23:29:12 +0000 UTC View PostAlex opened his notebook to a new page, then—using meditation techniques to navigate The Mark’s interference—he cast forceball, counting his heartbeats to time the completion of the spell. It winked into existence like an old friend and he immediately cut the flow of mana to its magic circuit. Next, it was time to record how long it took b...
2021-06-05 23:24:49 +0000 UTC View Post“Oh, uh, thank you,” Alex said. “The box was pretty fun to work on, actually. Like a puzzle. What’s the offe-”
“‘Fun’, he says!” Professor Jules burst out laughing, which quickly disintegrated into a coughing fit. She paused on the stairs, nearly bending double as she coughed into her sleeve.
Alex stood in front of ...
2021-06-05 23:14:45 +0000 UTC View PostQuicksilver poisoning was a nasty thing.
There was a fairly extensive section on it in Dexter’s textbook.
One of the nastier things it did was kill you, but if you didn’t die, it could leave you with a whole host of unpleasant symptoms. Depending on how much one ingested, it could cause victims to lose feeling in their l...
2021-06-04 18:47:42 +0000 UTC View Post“So.” Professor Val’Rok looked over the entire class of MANA-1900.
“Dun dun dun!” he said for effect. “It’s time to show off your progress with your glyph boxes. This assignment likely won’t be your favourite this semester, and rest assured, you won’t be unique in feeling that way. You see, glyph box practice enjoys a lon...
2021-06-03 20:24:58 +0000 UTC View PostThey appeared on top of the escarpment they’d gathered on after Baelin’s test. This time the benches were already there, awaiting their arrival.
“Sit down, sit down.” the chancellor gestured to their seats. “I’ll be back in one moment. Ah wait, I almost forgot.”
He waved a hand and more benches appeared in a semi-circle...
2021-06-02 22:10:50 +0000 UTC View Post“Watch yourself. Seriously,” Alex said to Theresa. “There’s all kinds of nasty things that live out here, and we don’t know what might be hiding where. The moment you see anything funny, you-”
“Kill it?” Theresea asked, raising her great-grandfather’s sword.
“…I was going to say ‘run away’, but if y...
2021-06-01 23:35:48 +0000 UTC View PostExcept for the death of his parents, Alex’s life had been a fairly safe one, generally speaking.
Until their escape from Thameland and his encounter with the mana vampire, he’d never been in any situation where he’d had to struggle for his life. Baelin’s test was the latest time where his life had truly been in danger, and in gener...
2021-05-29 22:26:53 +0000 UTC View PostBaelin had not been exaggerating about the impact the mana vents would have.
The moment Alex stepped through the portal, it felt like he’d walked into a wall of thorns that pricked at his mana instead of his skin. It didn’t feel as deadly as the mana vampire sapping his mana through his forceball, but there was a pain and invasiveness ...
2021-05-28 22:39:50 +0000 UTC View Post“A wizard will spend much of their life in hazardous surroundings,” Baelin said to the class. “Which you will train for today, with your chosen entourages.”
It was another hot day—hotter than mid-summer in Thameland—and the students of the Art of the Wizard in Combat were gathered in the stadium. Despite the loss of some classm...
2021-05-27 21:36:45 +0000 UTC View Post“What’re you trying to make?” Selina peered at Alex’s crooked, strange looking creation. “It looks like a bug that got run over by a wagon.”
“Hey!” Alex grabbed the mostly finished clay doll he’d been shaping and held it protectively away from his sister. “It’s my second time making one, take it easy on me! Besides yo...
2021-05-26 22:11:18 +0000 UTC View Post“Mr. Roth, have you studied alchemy before you came to Generasi?” Professor Jules asked.
They were alone in Cell-207, and she was looking at him pointedly. Not a hostile look, but simply an appraising one.
“Um, no, Professor,” he admitted. “The only magic I knew before coming here was forceball.”
Her eyebrows rose. ...
2021-05-25 22:58:55 +0000 UTC View PostThe Cells loomed before him across the grass.
Though it had been long fixed, the stone was still blackened in parts from previous accidents. There seemed to be a dangerous energy surrounding the building, one he noticed more strongly than before. He wasn’t sure if he was becoming more sensitive after a week of solid meditation practice o...
2021-05-22 21:38:59 +0000 UTC View Post“The key to meditation, according to my professor,” Theresa said, sitting cross-legged across from him on a blanket on the balcony floor. “Is that failure is your friend: the point of meditation is to keep concentration on a particular thing, but you will get distracted and your mind will wander. Things outside of your thoughts will pull a...
2021-05-21 21:57:27 +0000 UTC View PostThe box that professor Val’Rok had assigned in Mana Manipulation didn’t prove to be a very worthy adversary.
Alex concentrated on it, guiding his mana through the specific pathways built into its inner structure. It was a puzzle in a way: a magical object that ran on mana combined with a child’s toy maze.
The glyphs on the side...
2021-05-20 21:33:42 +0000 UTC View Post“Alright, I think it’s time for the next folk to have a turn,” Sim cleared his throat behind them.
“Alex?” Theresa poked him, her worried eyes watching him through the bulging lenses of her beak mask.
“What? Yeah, sorry, it’s just really cool. I lost myself for a moment,” he said quickly. That wasn’t a complete lie....
2021-05-19 22:30:06 +0000 UTC View PostSometimes, life was generous with its coincidences.
Alex had thought that before: there were times where he’d go through months of everything proceeding as normal and uneventful.
Then, for a period of time, there would be instance upon instance of coincidences.
He remembered a particular week in his life when he was sixteen a...
2021-05-19 00:31:37 +0000 UTC View Post“Hey, I recognised your accent in class!” Carey said cheerily. “Good to meet someone from home here, especially in these dark times—when Uldar’s voice seems so far away. Have you been to a worship service at his church in the city yet?” Her eyes bore into him as she continued. “I’ve gotten a group together and we go weekly.” 2021-05-15 23:47:42 +0000 UTC View Post