The next day was spent poking at the manaborn monsters more, as Alice tried to figure out what made them tick. Since ‘manaborn’ creatures were so new to this world, Alice still had a lot of head-scratching to do when it came to these odd organisms. After her test with Cecilia, she explained what she had actually been testing, a...
2024-08-30 22:03:12 +0000 UTC View PostHours drifted on, as the Worldstriders attacked fort after fort. They avoided confrontation with the human reinforcements, but they never stopped their attacks. Twice, the worldstriders fled the moment Anise's group caught up to them. Every single time the human forces bunched up, the Worldstriders fled. Every single time the human forces disper...
2024-08-30 07:41:42 +0000 UTC View PostOver the next week, things started to improve on the front lines. The Worldstriders grew hesitant to ambush soldiers at night. During the day, humans hid in the forts, where the Worldstriders couldn’t reach. There was one attempt to break into a human fort - but it ended disastrously for the Worldstriders. Without their aerial advantage, ordin...
2024-08-29 07:51:52 +0000 UTC View PostOver the next week, it became easier and easier to find soldiers who had fought with Nightsong. It wandered from battlefield to battlefield. Every night, there were at least a few squads that Nighstong saved from destruction. As much as the stitchwork monstrosity creeped me out, I couldn't argue with results. On the battlefield, the stitched abo...
2024-08-28 07:02:17 +0000 UTC View PostShards of metal and hardened dirt crunched under Anise's feet as she followed behind the group of soldiers. It was dark enough that it was hard to see, but Anise was starting to get used to moving at night instead of daytime. Ever since the military’s secret weapon started joining battles, every combat operation happened at night. The only tim...
2024-08-24 09:36:32 +0000 UTC View PostThe group woke up to a nice breakfast at the inn. Alice wasn’t entirely sure how the [Innkeeper] had done it, but he had made an omelet out of eggs that tasted faintly spicy, and had nice, crispy meat on the inside that tasted somewhat similar to bacon. It wasn’t as good as some of the meals she had eaten from Ethan’s personal chef, but it...
2024-08-23 22:53:00 +0000 UTC View PostAnise and I ended up sharing a room with two other female soldiers for the night. The room seemed like a repurposed broom closet - it could barely fit all four of us. It was unpleasant and cramped. Still, it was a place to sleep. Given how bad supply problems were for the front lines, I wasn’t surprised that our sleeping conditions were this b...
2024-08-23 09:33:09 +0000 UTC View PostAfter I ran out of essence, I got another System notification. I had once again influenced the war between the worldstriders and humans by a [Minor] amount. I had to admit, I was glad to see the notification. However, running out of essence didn't mean I could rest. Even without my essence, I had spent years learning about medicine. I could stil...
2024-08-21 10:50:19 +0000 UTC View Post“Umm… @*#$&%?” asked one of the villagers, as he observed the group.
“Hello! @3%#@ @#$&#,” sang Allira, in fluent in Fendrallian.
“Illvarian? Not speak… not speak Illvarian good,” said the villager. He stumbled over his words as he spoke, and sounded almost… anxious as he spoke with Allira. ...
2024-08-16 20:53:52 +0000 UTC View PostInside the fort, dozens of soldiers bustled about. The first thing I noticed was the weaponry. One in fifteen carried special shields, while about one in sixty had one of the eerie swords. The rest of the army had regular shields that looked well-made, but no affixations. I wasn't sure whether those shields would be useful in battle, but it was ...
2024-08-16 07:51:14 +0000 UTC View PostAs we stepped off of the train, I noticed that we were right next to several other workers bustling about. It looked like they were unloading the materials the train had shipped to the forts. many of the soldiers who had traveled with us were stretching and taking breaks. We had stopped right next to one of the forts. I frowned.
"Why did w...
2024-08-15 08:57:36 +0000 UTC View PostThe three of us had a harder time than expected grabbing train tickets to the front lines. At first, I tried to go for an airship ticket instead. However, they were even more overloaded than the trains. With how desperate the situation was, trying to get to the front lines was difficult.
Eventually, I managed to secure a ticket for myself ...
2024-08-14 08:36:38 +0000 UTC View PostMy grandmother on my father’s side died in her sleep last night. We’re still not sure why, but she’s gone. Half of my grandparents are now dead. I remember a few years ago, when I was just starting to write Budding Scientist, I felt like the months of Covid were particularly bad because every few months another family member went to the ho...
2024-08-05 18:56:52 +0000 UTC View PostAfter the group dealt with the outriders of the horde, Allira couldn’t sing the ship back into existence because she needed to keep the swamp monsters imprisoned. Alice suspected that once they got to another town or city, Ethan would use magic to ‘permanently’ contain the creatures… but for now, they were being held in place almost excl...
2024-08-02 21:47:22 +0000 UTC View PostThe news came like a bolt from the blue. The worldstriders had punched through the front lines? Part of me felt horrified… but another part of me wasn’t surprised.
There weren't enough weapons that could hurt worldstriders. Alchemists were trying, and utterly failing to keep up with demand. Anise and I had tried to buy a bit of time, b...
2024-08-02 07:41:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe moment I saw Old Mo crumpled over the counter, I rushed to his side. My vision started to turn black as terror wormed its way down my spine like tendrils of ice. It took me mere moments to make physical contact with him and pour some water on him, allowing my healing magic to take effect. Moments that I wasn’t sure Old Mo had.
My fir...
2024-08-01 08:44:04 +0000 UTC View PostA year passed. To commemorate Felix's achievements, the three of us held a celebration at Old Mo's bakery.
I was the first one to arrive. The moment I walked through the door and sat down, Old Mo passed me a bowl of soup and laughed.
"Glad to see you're the first one here, Miria," he said. "I made you a bowl of fish soup. Let me know...
2024-07-31 06:50:02 +0000 UTC View Post(This is just a rehash of my author's note today, so if you read that feel free to skip this announcement XD)
All right, quick heads up. It’s about that time again. Volume 2 of Budding Scientist will go up for sale as an E-book pretty soon, so Volume 2 is going to stub in 3 weeks. That means that on August 16th, chapters 63 – 124 will ...
2024-07-26 21:25:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe group started to set up for a fight. Alice prepared on her own by pulling her enchanted items out of her storage Perk. Normally, Alice wouldn’t have worried very much about it, since there were three Immortals here. That was equivalent to the strength of several hundred [Soldiers], or perhaps even a few thousand.
But there was still ...
2024-07-26 21:23:51 +0000 UTC View PostOne month after Dr. Trish's wedding, Felix stood in the middle of a large, open demonstration field. He felt a surge of glee as he waited for his friends and the onlookers to appear. It was almost time.
The research team had finished building a train prototype. The engine worked like a dream. The body of the train had no issues. The small ...
2024-07-26 07:30:53 +0000 UTC View PostWe spent the next day finding another Worldstrider camp. It took until sunset to find the next one. This one was situated right next to a ruined Vernese town, and from the stench of decay, I got the impression the previous inhabitants had died.
This camp was a little larger and more well-organized than the previous one, but I also got a ce...
2024-07-25 07:08:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe two of us were a little closer to the blast than I had thought we would be. The gouts of flames and crackling booms were quite a bit more spread out than expected. Clearly, the worldstriders had tried to prevent my illusion from teleporting out of the explosions.
Luckily, we’d been overcautious. Anise and I had stayed a...
2024-07-24 09:56:39 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor’s Note: In Chapter 173, Alice gets a level in Scholar. I originally wrote that this pushed her from level 62 to 63… but Alice was already level 66 quite a few chapters before that. Alice SHOULD have gone from level 66 to 67. This has been corrected.
The group’s mood was solemn as they...
2024-07-19 20:54:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe next time a group of worldstrider soldiers exited the base, we followed them. The worldstriders seemed a bit more wary of their surroundings today. A few of them detached from the main group to scout the area, and the group jumped at shadows. To make sure they didn't see us, Anise and I stayed very far behind them. If it weren't for the rang...
2024-07-19 06:53:23 +0000 UTC View PostThat night, we set up camp quite a ways away from the Worldstrider camp. We didn't want to fight without my illusions and the ability to flee if able. When we returned the next day, we saw something unexpected.
Funerals.
The Worldstriders were taking the corpses of their dead, and lighting them on fire. Each pyre had a wooden carving...
2024-07-18 06:35:44 +0000 UTC View PostAs Worldstriders started to swarm out of their camp, my two illusions started to flee. A few moments later, they dove behind cover. In a moment of inspiration, I then had one of the illusions 'teleport' away.
I knew from Anise's textbook that Zelyrian teleportation existed. It had very limited range, but it was a spell that better mages co...
2024-07-17 06:07:04 +0000 UTC View PostAlice spent the rest of the night desperately reconstructing the image of her rebuilt mana gem within {Magic Modelling}. The problem of ‘Alice’ mana had been solved by her, but that didn’t mean it was solved for everyone. If Alice kept relying on her Achievement to fix people’s mana gems, there was no way she would be able to help everyo...
2024-07-12 22:42:48 +0000 UTC View PostAs the group of worldstriders attacked my illusions, we stepped into the Worldstrider layer of reality. Then, I sent a few extinguishes at the worldstriders.
My extinguishes caught them completely off guard. Three of them died before they realized they were being attacked.
After they realized what was happening, the worldstriders sta...
2024-07-12 05:37:13 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor’s Note: Last chapter, Miria refers to herself as having Grade 11 Perception. This is incorrect. I usually make multiple copies of everyone’s character sheet, so that I can find and fix an error if I make one - for example, I keep a copy of Miria’s character sheet at chapter 11, and chapter 20, and chapter 39, so tha...
2024-07-11 06:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostFor the next few hours, Anise and I had a good time looking through the windows. It was interesting to see the land so far below us. We were far enough in the air that the town we lived in looked like a little postcard. Mountains, forests, and factories also looked tiny from our height. It was an enjoyable experience.
The flight also had a...
2024-07-10 08:20:35 +0000 UTC View Post