The next day, our class walked to the Zelyrian history museum. A security guard from the school came with us. Anise seemed very excited about it, and had a little excited bounce in her steps as she walked. It almost made her look like a real kid. Vance seemed almost as excited as she was. Knowing that Vance had a thing for swords and this world�...
2024-05-17 08:35:24 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor’s Note: I feel the need to preface the chapter with this.
DO NOT MAKE THIS ABOUT REAL WORLD POLITICS.
There’s part of this chapter that is devoted to the mechanics of souls and babies. This is NOT intended to be in any way related to real world politics. Do not take it as such. This is a fantasy story wher...
2024-05-16 07:20:54 +0000 UTC View PostWith her second test subject dead, Alice turned towards the third glimmerspren. The creature constantly flopped around and wriggled, as though it were a zombie. Even with no wings, it still kept trying to wriggle towards Alice, as though it wanted to take a bite out of her.
Alice shuddered. Monsters were downright creepy sometimes. She sho...
2024-05-11 09:55:21 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, after school, I started investigating my mother’s condition again. Since brains and souls were so deeply intertwined… I really needed to understand how they worked with each other before I could safely heal my mother. But after my first successful shapeshifting experiment, I had a little bit more hope. Maybe if I investigated m...
2024-05-11 06:47:35 +0000 UTC View PostThe next month passed peacefully. The three of us continued going to school, while my magic research also progressed. My illusions, in particular, made excellent strides forward. However, I kept hitting problems when I tried to improve my shapeshifting abilities. Even though I knew what I wanted, I just couldn’t quite make it happen. Finally, ...
2024-05-10 08:01:39 +0000 UTC View PostSlippy and his group continued walking through the wilderness, slowly approaching the mountains. His group had dodged six different groups of coalition soldiers over the past week. Despite the danger lurking in the area, Slippy had never felt more alive.
The two weeks he had been free had been eye-opening. He wasn't a soldier or an assassi...
2024-05-09 06:21:30 +0000 UTC View PostThe first few monsters were near the edge of the village. Alice took a moment to look at the village itself, and saw the same signs of hasty departure they had come across in other villages they had found. The houses were all abandoned, as if the inhabitants had left in a hurry, and most of the valuables had been taken away. The fields of crops ...
2024-05-04 10:26:09 +0000 UTC View PostAnother two weeks passed by. Despite my initial concerns that part of Felix’s past would haunt us, nothing happened. The three of us kept going to school, I continued my research on my magic, and I kept working with doctor Trish to improve my healing. Anise and Felix kept working on their research for star-paper and trying to perfect it. I oft...
2024-05-04 07:44:20 +0000 UTC View PostSlippy, one of the artificial children, scuttled through the shadows. Soon, he reached the roof of a nearby building, and observed the war-torn city.
The battle between the coalition and Verne had not been kind to the inhabitants. Even now, the middle of the city was a hotly contested area. Neither side had successfully seized control of i...
2024-05-03 07:47:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, the three of us returned to school. I wasn’t really expecting much out of the alchemy lessons anymore. Luckily, Mr. Delmont had started pushing me further and further in medicine instead. The school mostly prepared students for alchemy university, but it also sent a few students to medical school. And my healing 'ability' made it...
2024-05-02 07:21:29 +0000 UTC View PostAlice was becoming decidedly tired of leaving Metsel. That was the conclusion she came to after her fourth day travelling on a horse. She’d thought it was bad when she and Ethan had ridden to that village, but after four days riding, she was convinced that the smell of horse had seeped into her very bones. At least her Endurance was high enoug...
2024-04-27 09:48:22 +0000 UTC View PostIt took a great deal of trial and error to figure out a few things.
First of all, altering existing star-paper wasn't possible. Or at least, it wasn't possible at my skill level. When I tried to make the already-created star paper better, it disintegrated. Maybe I could do it someday, but for now, the paper was not capable of handling shap...
2024-04-27 06:40:41 +0000 UTC View PostIn front of me sat the experiment of a madman.
There was, for some reason, the top half of a giant glass orb in the center of the lawn behind Anise's apartment. Felix had covered it with multiple layers of blankets, which he had glued to the glass. Then, Felix had cut small holes in the sides of the blankets, and attached small lamps to th...
2024-04-26 05:46:43 +0000 UTC View PostTime passed. Before I knew it, we turned ten.
Our life at the alchemy prep school fell into a comfortable routine. The three of us, along with Iselde and Vance, continued to grow, both as alchemists and in height. I also got a lot of coin, healing experience and Achievement from healing with Trish.
Influence: Restore...
2024-04-25 05:56:27 +0000 UTC View PostDuring the time she spent in her mental library while asleep, Alice got to thinking.
The problems of Illvaria were indeed numerous, and Alice didn’t have a way to interact with many of those problems. After all, she was a researcher, not a [General] or an industrial expert. The bottleneck on production of enchantments, for example, wasn�...
2024-04-20 09:32:57 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, as we walked to school, I asked Anise and Felix about their new project.
<Felix and I are going to try trapping starlight inside of a physical object so that I can use it!> she said.
<Why?> I asked.
<Well, the Zelyrian magic system is reliant on starlight to work. It also doesn’t work with the sun...
2024-04-20 07:36:33 +0000 UTC View PostWhile Miria went to eat dinner with the adults, Felix pondered what he had learned during the day. And as he thought about everything they had learned, he tried not to manically grin in delight.
He was finally delving into the secrets of alchemy. At long last, after years of unsuccessfully searching on his own, he knew how to progress.
... 2024-04-19 06:53:52 +0000 UTC View PostAfter everyone returned home, I returned to the clinic to see doctor Trish and Old Mo. They had asked me to tell them about my first day of school, and promised me a dinner at my favorite fish restaurant. I asked Felix if he wanted to come along, but he wanted to play with binding essence now that he finally had access to his primary essence. Wh...
2024-04-18 08:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostAfter the conversation with Murim ended, Alice and Ethan returned to the manor. Alice started looking over her Status Screen as she took stock of the situation.
The [King’s] Achievement had given her a rough idea where the System might be, but Alice couldn’t take advantage of that information yet. Murim was her only chance to narrow do...
2024-04-13 07:02:57 +0000 UTC View Post“Let’s start with a quick definition of alchemy. Then, I’ll show you what a trained alchemist can do,” said mister Delmont.
“There are two basic types of alchemy: Affixation and Transmutation. Affixation is also occasionally referred to as ‘enchanting’ in modern times. It allows you to bind concepts to physical matter. For ex...
2024-04-13 05:42:52 +0000 UTC View PostThe wave of students shuffled into the auditorium, bringing the four of us with them. I gazed at the room, and tried not to frown in confusion.
The auditorium was made entirely of various colors of marble. I had never seen marble come in any color other than white, but despite the oddity of the room, I had to admit it was lovely. I took a ...
2024-04-12 07:04:00 +0000 UTC View PostAs we walked towards school, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of anticipation. In our first and second lives, the education systems had revolved around apprenticeships. There hadn't been large schools where everyone learned in the same classroom. I wasn't sure if I would meet any new friends, but last time, we had met Anise. If we got lucky, we ...
2024-04-11 06:57:03 +0000 UTC View PostAlice and Ethan walked into the building where they were scheduled to meet with Murim, Illvaria’s sixth Immortal. As she stepped into the building, Alice couldn’t help but feel both apprehensive and surprised.
When Alice had heard that she was about to meet with another of Illvaria’s Immortals, she had expected that she might meet wi...
2024-04-06 06:55:27 +0000 UTC View PostI spent a few hours going over a contract that Doctor Trish offered me. She offered to pay me a percentage of every patient I helped treat, depending on how much I contributed to each treatment. I wasn’t offered a ‘standard wage,’ but considering the fact that Doctor Trish was unfamiliar with how much healing I could do a day, I thought th...
2024-04-06 04:39:30 +0000 UTC View Post“Fizz Crystals in her brain?” I asked.
Doctor Trish nodded. “Fizz itself is a ......., which is a type of mold that eats binding essence. This allows it to ….., grow, and ...... in harsh conditions. For example, factory waste, ……., and other extreme environments. With Fizz, one can extract a kind of chemical that gives users ha...
2024-04-05 05:57:30 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, I prepared to focus on long-term planning. I also needed to deliver Markus’s letters, and get my mother looked at by a doctor. After all, she had never recovered her mental faculties. I had spent years healing her, and she wasn't getting better. I wanted to know why that was the case.
Luckily, I had a way to address everyth...
2024-04-04 06:51:36 +0000 UTC View PostAfter bestowing Alice her new royal title, the [King] said that Cecilia would be called upon for her own royal title within the next week. Then he shooed Alice and Ethan out of the throne room.
Once they got back to Ethan’s manor, Alice told Ethan about the information her new Perk was giving her. Even now, Alice could feel as if som...
2024-03-30 09:31:44 +0000 UTC View PostIt only took a few hours before Anise and Felix also got their ID’s handled. After they emerged from Markus’s office, Markus emerged as well.
He turned towards Old Mo and gave him a friendly nod. Old Mo responded in kind, before Markus joined us.
“So, before we …… anything, you’re Old Mo, right?” said Markus, still spea...
2024-03-30 07:06:27 +0000 UTC View PostA moment later, the door swung open to reveal a grizzled old man. He had metal arms that resembled the arms of a gorilla, and a beard that was almost as large as my head. His hair was a rusty copper color, and his face seemed permanently stretched into a flat line that was neither a smile nor a frown.
“Well hello there little girl. Are y...
2024-03-29 06:45:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Names?” asked the border guard. He, along with four other soldiers, gave us lazy scans as we walked forward. Despite his relaxed posture, I could see a trace of sympathy in his eyes when he eyed our group.
I resisted the urge to wince when I glanced at everyone else.
We had three children in our group. We looked dirty, bedraggle...
2024-03-28 03:48:07 +0000 UTC View Post