The clouds dissipate, revealing the valley. Chatter subsides.
Lucinda sighs and clasps her hands behind her back. “And so it begins.” We’ve been speaking about Remorse affinity for the past several minutes. I try to keep up with her questions, but my limited experience is painfully obvious. Probably out of respect for me, or perhaps just out of a desire for privacy, we’ve conducte...
2022-08-20 02:50:46 +0000 UTC View PostAscendant Red
The contestants are held underground in a squat, rectangular room with minimal lighting.
I lean up against the dirt wall, my dark clothing–unsurprisingly, black is the official color of Ancient Black–resistant to stains. I avoid making eye contact with the others seventy-or-so people down here.
I have my pride as a practitioner. Like everyone else he...
2022-08-13 21:05:54 +0000 UTC View PostEuryphel regarded the world with every ounce of concentration he could muster. Being unable to use his Regret affinity as he pleased severely tested his patience. Normally, he could make nearly unlimited time for himself to observe and gather intelligence about an unfamiliar environment–and unfamiliar people. Instead, he had to do all of that in real time and without the help of his ...
2022-08-07 21:04:56 +0000 UTC View PostEuryphel inspects the guest room. “Why does this chamber look like it was blasted out by a bomb, rather than shaped with earth elementalism?” He points to the roughhewn rock walls.
I’d also noticed that earlier, though I hadn’t thought much of it. Ascendants are weird. My Beginning is too weak to make sense of all the strangeness.
I shrug. “Aesthetics?”
Euryphel wa...
2022-08-03 03:20:04 +0000 UTC View PostAscendant Crimson Teeth
“Can you please bring the drink closer?” Ebon Pearl asks.
“You can’t even taste it,” I point out, raising the two-beverage holder. “And you’re a snake, shouldn’t you be immune to poison, or something?”
“Hilarious.” She licks the surface of the violet drink. “That really... ah... pa...
2022-07-31 22:57:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe moment of truth eventually comes. At Cursory’s prompting, Holiday sends the recording to Achemiss. He passes it back to me.
“We can’t find any traces of your recording,” Red says, inclining his head. “I can’t guarantee that it’s safe to return the device to the black faction, but there’s nothing we can protest at this juncture.”
That’s good ...
2022-07-31 01:14:14 +0000 UTC View PostCursory enters the plane alone, returning a minute later with his arms crossed over his chest. He smiles pleasantly at me. “The recorder is ready for you, Ancient Black.”
He’s just gushing with enthusiasm. My only acknowledgment is a sharp nod as I enter the still-open portal. “Come, Red.”
Cursory’s voice cuts through the air. “It’s already breaking all our ...
2022-07-26 04:19:23 +0000 UTC View PostAscendant Crimson Teeth
I expected interesting things to happen at the competition. Interesting is a generic term–a catch-all for the chaos that occurs whenever ascendants congregate.
I came to the competition grounds with several other members from the Hall of Ascension right after the competition’s announcement. We set up the site, carving out the dirt and test-runnin...
2022-07-25 16:25:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe tent takes up an entire row all on its own, though it’s mostly unoccupied. A Light illusion casts the tent in shades of black and vermillion. Rather than giving the impression of doom and destruction, the illusion is tasteful, with red, geometric patterns overlapping on the black background.
Red Griffith raises an eyebrow at me. “You look like you fit right in.”
L...
2022-07-22 14:47:49 +0000 UTC View Post“This is it,” Red thinks. “Whatever you do, don’t let your mental barrier collapse.”
“Have I done so once over this entire trip?”
“No, but the point remains,” he quips.
“Look at you, ordering an ancient around.”
“You only qualify on a technicality. Wait until you’ve mastered all your affinities....
2022-07-18 02:31:07 +0000 UTC View Post[ happy independence day to folks in the usa!
i feel like i'm the worst at pacing -- too much show, not enough tell (ironically). hopefully the last few chaps haven't felt too slow. i think this chapter is pretty interesting, so hope y'all enjoy. ]
Red Griffith cocks his head. I feel his mind suddenly reach out to mine and I reach back clumsily. “You really are new to b...
2022-07-04 21:53:30 +0000 UTC View Post[ make sure you read 276 first, which i released ~1 hr ago ]
In the end, the ascendant with Regret affinity chosen to accompany me is a willowy, square-jawed man named Red Griffith. The name sounds familiar, but my Beginning affinity fails to make the connection until we meet in person.
Our minds brush up against one another; he’s a Remorse practitioner, too. That’s w...
2022-07-02 05:24:16 +0000 UTC View Post“They say I need a Regret practitioner,” I state, sighing.
Euryphel is currently signing a series of documents that need the highest level of approval from his glosscomp, his eyes narrowed in focus. Despite his careful attention to the documents, he’s able to perfectly maintain a conversation.
He looks over his shoulder and smiles. “We can be useful.”
I rub my arm. ...
2022-07-02 03:36:52 +0000 UTC View Post[ thanks for reading! ]
Using the ring of flesh shift and my dagger artifact, I’ve created a sufficiently different appearance. I thought the onlookers’ confidence would grow, but their questions only increase.
“When you die, your metamorphosis fades,” Karanos says. He’s speaking from experience–I transformed myself with the dagger during numerous training ses...
2022-06-28 02:15:31 +0000 UTC View Post“Karanos, we need to talk about accelerating our plans. It’s time to go after Achemiss.”
“You’ve been back for thirty minutes,” the ascendant says, frowning. “You have two new affinities but they aren’t very good, and you’re tethered to that dagger. I’m not going to send you to die when another year of solidifying your foundation will significantly increase your chance...
2022-06-24 23:46:18 +0000 UTC View Post[ thanks for reading! :3 ]
Isid’ra Druni was holed up in a dim cave. Moonlight reflected off the wall and onto the small puddles by the entrance.
She waved her hand and the water slid upwards off the ground. It froze into a mirror angled across the wall, magnifying the moonlight. Druni no longer wore the standard of a guardian. Instead she was dressed in the mottled bla...
2022-06-17 23:28:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe final weeks pass slowly. I feel like I’m trudging through a swamp, or back in the loop, spinning my wheels. I’m tired of the grind. I want to leave this plane and never return. I want to see Crystal, Sah, Karanos, and visit friends like Messeras and little Jimmy, and maybe even taste of Cayeun Suncloud’s insane hospitality.
But then I think of Germaine, of Euryphel, of Soolemar,...
2022-06-15 04:46:58 +0000 UTC View PostI have no idea how Ash discerned that the six embers over my head would react to souls. Before I had Beginning affinity, I would have written it off as inexplicable black magic and taken Ash’s conclusions for granted.
But I have Beginning of my own, even if my affinity is weak. I know that answers don’t just pop out of nowhere.
When I looked at the fiery diadem earlier, I could ...
2022-06-13 00:16:46 +0000 UTC View Post[ thanks for reading everyone! :3 ]
We find meditating Ash in the Beginning geode, hovering perfectly in the center of the crystals. When we get close enough to converse, he somersaults out of the enclosure, coming to a stop on the patchy grass, sprawling on his back. His black, chitinous armor makes a peculiar mewling sound, and multiple insect legs appear at the edges of his ...
2022-06-04 18:56:29 +0000 UTC View PostI use my hand as a visor to peer up the cliff side. I fly back up to the top, walk over to the mirror that Ash propped up against a small boulder, and stare at the crown of fire that hangs above my head. If the cloak is Sun, and the bracers End, then what’s this?
The drops of fire are perfectly spaced apart like the points of a regular hexagon, Maria observes.
I ...
2022-06-04 17:42:06 +0000 UTC View PostMy stomach drops. If Ash wants the dagger, there’s nothing we can do to stop him. But he doesn’t make any move for it.
“If even I want it, then Achemiss will, too,” Ash reasons. “I know about your deal with Karanos and do not intend to impugn upon it.”
He’ll sure be happy to learn that, Maria says.
“I agree that Achemiss deserves to die and that you’...
2022-05-31 04:03:04 +0000 UTC View Post[ hi -- i've been working on a 10k short story for a litrpg anthology, which is due at the end of month, which is why my chaps have been scant lmao. i think it actually turned out pretty good. if anyone can predict how it ends based on the first half i will be extremely surprised.
for some context, i've been meaning to write a story about my favorite historical figure, joseph ii of austri...
2022-05-27 14:23:30 +0000 UTC View PostMaria gasped out of instinct, even though she had no need of oxygen. She leaned forward, supporting herself on her knees. Ash didn’t say anything. He simply watched as she fumbled with Ian’s void storage, sinking her arm into its mouth and rummaging around.
There. She peered inside to confirm that the dagger lay snug in her grasp. She pulled it out in front of her and stared ...
2022-05-23 22:13:15 +0000 UTC View Post[ hi. might not be another chapter today for this past week, since i'm trying to finish up lots of stuff in preparation for a long flight to hawaii tomorrow morning for work. will be working on the plane though and plan to get chapters hammered out. thanks! ]
Entering the soul of another was unlike anything Maria had experienced, even as formerly foggy memories of Ian’s previous intrusi...
2022-05-15 18:05:49 +0000 UTC View Post[ the second chap for the past week. thanks for reading! ]
Maria hissed between clenched teeth as Ian wrung the energy of Beginning out of her for what felt like the millionth time. Her fingers popped off the crystallized Beginning deposit.
“Sorry,” he whispered. She could feel the tension in his muscles against her back.
“It is what it is,” Maria replied so...
2022-05-09 07:00:38 +0000 UTC View PostThe world beyond me is static. Before, crystallized Beginning burned my fingers with caustic, chemical heat. The burning is gone, but the Beginning–a kind of frozen sap–still flummoxes my senses, even my vital vision. It would be an excellent weapon of disorientation if it could exist beyond the bounds of a rift.
When my teeth begin to chatter along with my vibrating hands, I drop the...
2022-05-08 22:42:22 +0000 UTC View Post[ big feels please give feedback thank you ]
She sat on the edge of the canyon wall, her legs dangling from the overlook. To better soak up the power of the false ethereal sun, she’d removed her shoes and outer garments, stripping down to a modest wrap around her chest and a skirt hanging on her waist.
Ash spent the majority of his time with Ian, but checked on Maria at...
2022-05-03 23:18:58 +0000 UTC View Post[ thanks for reading! ]
Maria’s cold arms embrace me from behind. What happened?
Limp and drained, I take a moment to collect my thoughts. Since Ash separated us, we’ve been speaking mostly over the lich bond. It wasn’t something consciously decided, but a natural product of broken trust. Ash is like a prison warden, with Maria and I under his constant watc...
2022-04-29 17:21:56 +0000 UTC View Post[ make sure you read chapter 260 first, which was posted a few mins ago.
all aboard the angst train for this chap, choo-choo~ ]
When Ian visited Euryphel a week later, it was during the day. He’d manifested when the Crowned Executor was in a meeting and had quickly fled into the wall, waiting to come out into the open when the former prince was alone.
“That meet...
2022-04-23 22:46:47 +0000 UTC View Post[ playing a bit of catch up; releasing the next chap in a minute ]
Ash’s pale eyelashes are almost transparent in the glow of the ethereal skylights. “Maria, do you feel your Sun affinity rising within you?”
“I–” she says, frowning. “Honestly, no.”
He nods. “We’ll work on that. You’re a bit different from Ian in that you’re no newcomer to bei...
2022-04-23 22:40:07 +0000 UTC View Post