tejoka

Chapter 134 (Draft)

I dropped my coat onto the back of an armchair and sank onto another chair with a sigh, stretching out my legs and cracking my neck. It felt good to finally be back and able to sit down with the others.

“It’s been a long night, huh?” Elia asked.

I nodded, but before I could answer, I was distracted as Yarani walked behind my seat and started to rub my shoulders. I smiled at he...

Chapter 133 (Draft)

I’d gotten so used to wearing a set of cultivator’s robes, clothing you could find almost anywhere here, that I’d forgotten how nice it felt to be a little less swaddled in fabric. This evening, I stood under the moonlight dressed in a loose black pair of pants and a simple white shirt. I’d also gone barefoot, not just to accommodate potential shapeshifting but because it seemed fitting...

Chapter 132 (Draft)

At first glance, Lei looked like he hadn’t done anything wrong and wouldn’t even have any idea why anyone might think so. But I knew him pretty well by now, and so I noticed the way he didn’t meet my gaze for long, or the way he was just a little too jaunty in how he stood and moved.

“I explicitly told you not to risk anything, not to go off half-cocked or risk provoking an incide...

Chapter 131 (Draft)

I barked a laugh, one that was more wry amusement than good humor. “I’ve been on Aran for too long,” I commented.

Elia sighed and adjusted the tie in her hair. “Why?”

I gestured at the ruins of the table, which was little more than charred bits of wood and dust in what used to be a comfortable sitting room. I’d put on an enchanted mask that filtered some of the smell out...

Chapter 130 (Draft)

I paced up and down the room, keeping my strides short and my gait even even as strength coiled under the surface, heat rising and dying as I did. My gaze passed over the tapestries and pictures on the walls, the sun shining through the elaborately decorated window and the play its light made against the ground and furniture. The clamor of the city below the window still reached me even through...

Chapter 129 (Draft)

“You know, considering how vocal you were about your distaste for slavery the servants here don’t seem to bother you too much,” Yarani said.

I blinked, glancing back at the liveried young man who’d just brought tea to the room and then back to my girlfriend, who was leaning against one of the tables strewn with paper.

“They’re not actually slaves here, but paid servants,...

Chapter 128 (Draft)

Our little talk and the attendant demonstration had not been quiet. I’d sensed the rooms wards and knew they wouldn’t have shielded the weight of Rijoko’s attention from our surroundings. I suspected that every priest here would have at least a rough idea of what had taken place. Not that I minded.

It would go some way to explaining the deference with which I was being treated now. ...

Chapter 127 (Draft)

It seemed I’d underestimated what it meant to reach the fifth stage of cultivation before you were even twenty years old.

It was a huge deal, going by my impressions of the people from the Adzurian upper crust I’d met so far. Most of them were politicians, but some of them businessmen (and a few women). Though to be fair, those were from the really big companies and had more than a li...

Chapter 126 (Draft)

Salira pushed a strand of her hair behind her ears and glanced at me. She looked like she wanted to say something. I leaned back against my seat, a jagged earthen pillar I had raised as part of our practice, and waited.

“A part of me wishes you could stay for longer,” she finally said.

“Me too,” I admitted. “But I don’t have time to waste. The war might be turning, but s...

Chapter 125 (Draft)

The fighting was already over by the time we got to the military headquarters in the city. A few earth cultivators were working on repairing the old stone building, and things seemed just as busy as always with officers and aides going around with reports or correspondence. The only difference was that there were more guards than last time I’d been here, and the looks in the faces of most of ...

Chapter 124 (Draft)

“I let you out of my sight for a few hours and you get into a duel to the death with two dozen burns,” Tenira grumbled.

I leaned back into my chair. “In my defense, he started it.” Then I glanced at Kajare, who was crowding around me and looked like he really wanted to fuss. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”

In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t spared much attention t...

Chapter 123 (Draft)

(Content warning: Violence, some gore.)  

A breath brought the darkness around me into focus. Another breath pierced it, let it shrink from my mind and qi that I cast at it like a lance shattering a mirror. A third breath pushed past the automated energy squeezing against the walls of my mind, shoving it away to shatter in the disappearing darkness.

Whoever designed th...

Chapter 122 (Draft)

A/N: Cliffhanger ahead.  

Sunrise had almost finished, and the warm colors of twilight were vanishing from the sky. It made the world seem starker and sharper, even though the view out of the window would have been called picturesque by many. I would have preferred to see telephone poles rather than just tiled roofs, though.

“Is this really necessary?” king Varis a...

Bonus: Family tree

This is the MC's family tree, the full version. I'll post it to RR and SH later, and maybe smaller and less spoiler-y versions, too.

Not every characters that appears here is actually named in the story, I just wanted to illustrate the family connections.

Chapter 121 (Draft)

I took a deep breath and surveyed the mountains spread out before me. They weren’t quite as big as the Central Mountains back on the Sky Continent, let alone the massive northern chain on this continent, but they still made for a nice view. The crisp mountain air seemed to clear my airways, whispering of early snow and untouched nature. Mostly, at least. These mountains weren’t really wild,...

Chapter 120 (Draft)

Tenira’s eyelids fluttered, and her breathing sped up. I watched, forcing myself to remain still and silent so as not to disturb her, as her aura settled down and her pulse rose then calmed down. It was fascinating to see all of the changes happening firsthand, even though I had been sitting here for quite a while.

She finally opened her eyes and looked around, stretching.

“Cong...

Chapter 119 (Draft)

A/N: There's a special chapter on RoyalRoad and ScribbleHub. Check it out!

“And what then?”

I shrugged. “I explained that I had Doctor Chang analyze the blood samples I’d taken, and used samples from myself and my siblings for the test. The result was obvious. That was pretty much it.”

Elia nodded, shredding some blades of grass with her fingers. ...

Chapter 118 (Draft)

“Are you sure you have enough guards, Inaris?”

I refrained from rolling my eyes. “Yes. I’ve said it before. We’re going to a negotiation, not to launch an assault on them. If we have to fight, I’ve already failed at my objective. And I don’t plan to fail. But this is deliberately notsupposed to be a contest of how much strength each party can bring.”

Kajare ...

Chapter 117 (Draft)

The training dummy crashed backwards, splinters of wood showering off while an arm exploded away from it. Its momentum was arrested in mid-air by the qi shield around the practice circle, before it fell to the ground with a thud.

I swiped a sweaty strand of hair out of my eyes, breathing deeply as I surveyed the results of my technique. If the training dummy hadn’t been enchanted to res...

Chapter 116 (Draft)

“Would you mind going on ahead?” I asked Kiyanu.

He glanced at me and Kajare beside me, and nodded. “Of course. I’ll be waiting there. Don’t spend too much time sightseeing.”

I snorted. There wasn’t much to sightsee here in this little town. It looked like every other town in the Empire, or at least the western plains. Houses built of brick, slate and stone, colorful d...

Chapter 115 (Draft)

I’d expected that Kiyanu would want to talk to me when I returned to the palace, though I didn’t think he’d be waiting for the airship personally. He stood before a few guards and younger people I recognized as his personal disciples, hands clasped behind his back and a serene expression on his face.

I glanced at Tenira and Yarani, gave them a tight smile, then jumped down just afte...

Chapter 114 (Draft)

I sighed and shook out my hand as if I’d done heavy labor as I walked through the corridor of the base’s command center, taking a turn into a small garden. This used to be the mansion of the local lord, before he’d been killed fighting our soldiers for the conspirators. At least it meant there was some color and life here, besides the bustle of cultivators managing the campaign.

“...

Chapter 113 (Draft)

I held hands with Tenira as we stood on the airship’s deck, watching the landscape pass by below us. I still felt that faint, fluttery feeling in my stomach whenever my attention turned to that fact, and if I hadn’t been a cultivator my facial muscles might have ached from smiling so much. It was probably a good thing no one else could see that, since we were heading into a war zone.

...

Chapter 112 (Draft)

Kariva found me at the exit to the building, falling into step with me after a short greeting. I glanced at her, noting that she still wore the same dark robe as yesterday and the day before, and wondered if I should say something about her taking care of herself. But I decided it wouldn’t help, and just nodded at her as I continued on my way. We were heading to yet another meeting, which Kiy...

Bonus 8: Society and life in the Empire

A/N: It's been a while, so it's about time for another one of those! I'm probably going to post it to RR and SH tomorrow. If you have any ideas for future bonus chapters, feel free to suggest them!

I get the feeling I’m not writing these in the proper order. I’ve considered the Empire’s history, geopolitics, and even military, but not its culture or society as su...

Chapter 111 (Draft)

The morning sun felt nice on my face, even though it promised to be a sweltering day later. Out here, on one of the rooftop terraces of the palace, we had privacy for our conversation, and I had something else to look at. As I swept my gaze over the buildings below us, I considered how quickly it seemed to have returned to normal. But there were still scars and residue of the struggle, and one ...

Chapter 110 (Draft)

I paced up and down the deck of the airship, willing the Imperial Palace to come closer, as it steadily grew in my vision. I knew we were moving quickly, that the journey didn’t take long, but it didn’t feel like it.

“Is everything alright, my lady?” San Hashar asked, raising an eyebrow. She was lounging against the railing, barely glancing outside.

I stopped. “Of course, ...

Chapter 109 (Draft)

I looked down at the plans spread before me one more time, then forced my gaze upward, stifling a sigh. I was trying to distract myself, but it wasn’t working very well.

Instead, I rolled them up in one hand while I stood up and walked forward a few paces, ignoring the looks I was getting. Before the balcony, the landscape spread out, dyed in somber colors by the setting sun’s rays. T...

Chapter 108 (Draft)

Everyone else seemed surprised by the presence coalescing in the middle of the garden on one of the palace’s upper terraces, qi starting to condense and form into a humanoid shape with no warning.

I knew better, of course. Mior came and went when they wanted, and the spirit didn’t need to care about the details of where or who was watching. I’d half-expected Mior to show up, with ev...

Chapter 107 (Post)

As it turned out, things were already being handled. Which was probably a good thing, since I didn’t have nearly the experience or qualifications to handle military issues, but at the same time had to be involved in the political decisions.

I didn’t mind that the gathered officers, especially the commander of the Imperial Guard, hadn’t spared me more than a quick look and bow when w...