Day 7. Wednesday 3:30pm.
Jack entered the Adventurers Guild for the second time that day, looking for a huge one-armed adventurer called Cain.
The main hall was quieter than it had been earlier, with fewer bodies crowding the noticeboards and communal tables. Afternoon light slanted in through the stained-glass panels above, casting colourful shafts across the polis...
2025-10-10 21:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostDay 7. Wednesday 12:55pm.
Jack, Toma, Nessa, and Ella headed towards the main Guild hall in good spirits, chatting about their archery session in Training Room 13. Toma was a ball of energy, the others more restrained as they caught their breath after a hard training session.
“Same time tomorrow?” Nessa asked Jack.
Jack thought for a moment. “Not sure ye...
2025-10-08 21:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDay 7. Wednesday 12:35pm.
Jack, Toma, Nessa, and Ella took a moment’s rest while Training Room 13 changed settings.
The soft mechanical voice acknowledged Ella’s command.
Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level ten activated.
The room stirred to life.
“Awesome!” Toma shouted while bouncing on his heels. “I’ve been looking for...
2025-10-07 21:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostDay 7. Wednesday 12:15pm.
Jack grinned behind his mask as he stared at Sam and Linda. All he had to do was convince them to leave the city, and he no longer had to worry about running into the pair of them. He’d still have to worry about the other swordsman, but having one enemy was better than three.
“Shouldn’t you leave the city?” Jack asked, “That would...
2025-10-06 21:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDay 7. Wednesday 12:00pm.
Jack stood between Toma and Sam in Training Room 13, waiting for his turn to state his class and level to the Guild’s system.
One by one, they responded to the console.
“Novice Archer, level one,” replied Ella.
The soft voice acknowledged her answer:
Adventurer one.
Novice Archer, level one.
Please prepare ...
Day 7. Wednesday 11:30am.
Jack and Toma navigated the winding corridors of the Adventurers Guild, the faint hiss of spent aether-steam rising from copper pipes running along the walls. Thin blue vapour coiled upwards, vanishing into the brass ceiling vents as they passed.
Toma bounced on his feet, his voice full of excitement. “This is going to be so much fun!” ...
2025-10-01 21:00:34 +0000 UTC View PostDay 7. Wednesday 9:30am.
“Oh, Jack, you look lovely. So handsome.” Jack’s mom beamed as she made her son parade up and down the kitchen in his new work suit. “You look just like your father.”
Only a few minutes after getting home from the tailor’s, his mother had insisted he show off his new clothes. He felt like a circus bear performing tricks as he pac...
2025-09-29 21:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDay 7. Wednesday 8:45am.
Jack pulled off his mask and cloak and stored them in his pack before exiting the alley across from the tailor’s shop. He took a deep breath and checked that the three adventurers weren’t nearby, crossed the street, and entered Thorn and Tallow.
The doorbell chimed as he pushed the door open to the smell of fabrics, natural dyes, and a h...
2025-09-28 21:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDay 7. Wednesday 5:45am.
Jack woke, feeling groggy. “Another nightmare…” he whispered, rubbing at his face. He turned his head to glance at the clock. Quarter to six in the morning. “Up early again,” he muttered with a sigh.
He stood and stretched, his limbs feeling heavy, his muscles aching. “I think I need to take a day or two off…” His body was so...
2025-09-26 21:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDay 7. Wednesday 3:30am.
Jack was back in the alley. No… not just the alley, but all of them at once; every alleyway he’d ever visited in both lives. His body and mind were paralysed by the fear coursing through him.
The narrow cobbled streets twisted together, merging into a labyrinth of dead ends and crumbling sandstone walls. Shadows writhed along th...
2025-09-24 21:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 6:45pm.
Jack stared at his reflection in the mirror, his hands gripping the bathroom sink. Staring back was the same teenage boy he’d seen in the mirror that very morning with wide, cobalt-blue eyes and dark, curly hair.
“Who am I?” he whispered. His hands trembled, the faintest shiver rippling through his arms.
I’m a cold-blooded ki...
2025-09-22 21:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 6:10pm.
Drawing a steadying breath, Jack raised the bow and drew…
Two men appeared on the other side of the road, striding towards the mage.
“You’re ten minutes fucking late!” Mo snapped. He’d again reached for his wand.
Jack froze mid-draw and held his breath. Fuck! That was close.
One of the men stopped about fif...
2025-09-20 21:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 4:30pm.
The moment Jack left the shop that catered to assassins, thieves, and rogues, he pulled his new mask from his bag.
“Time to become an anonymous shadow,” he muttered, slipping the mask over his face. He took a deep breath to test the rune filter and noticed the air smelled cleaner. “That’s pretty good…” The distinctive smell of spen...
2025-09-19 21:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 4:00pm.
Jack continued browsing what the Nighthawk and Raven shop had to offer. His eyes drifted towards the rows of soft-soled boots displayed along a low shelf.
He spotted a pair of midnight black boots, crafted from supple leather, the kind that promised muffled steps and silent movement even on creaky floorboards. Those would be useful. Especi...
2025-09-17 21:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 3:45pm.
Exiting his home, Jack slipped on the rat-faced rogue’s dark cloak, the fabric feeling heavy over his shoulders. “Less than a week since I got a second chance, and I’m already back in a damn cloak,” he muttered as he cinched the hood low over his brow to hide his face.
After adjusting his covered white oak bow, he set off into the city...
2025-09-15 21:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 1:45pm.
Jack leaned against the outer courtyard door with a sigh. He’d just come back from talking to the Baron outside the Royal Library, after taking the long way home through the back alleys to avoid the four adventurers.
“I can’t live like this,” he muttered under his breath, clenching his fists in anger. Skulking home like a rat, jumping ...
2025-09-12 21:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 1:15pm.
Jack had enjoyed archery training, but now he had to get home without bumping into the four remaining adventurers. His head was on a swivel, eyes darting down every side street, every shadowed doorway, alert for anyone who might wish him harm.
“A few more streets and I’m home,” he whispered, turning into a narrower lane. The sharp, acrid...
2025-09-11 21:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 1:00pm.
Jack gave a surprised blink at Toma, asking for more archery tips. “Sure, Toma. I’ve got a few minutes I can spare.”
The boy’s face lit up. “Really? Thanks!”
They stepped aside near one of the tall windows lining the Guild’s hallway, away from the main bustle of passing adventurers and the occasional hiss of aether pipes. S...
2025-09-10 21:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 12:50pm.
The group left Training Room 13 in a great mood. Outside, six masked and cloaked adventurers stood in silence, waiting to use the room. All wore identical black gear. Tight-fitting leather reinforced with shadow-dyed scales, belts lined with small pouches, daggers at their hips. Their hoods were deep, faces hidden behind sleek black masks marked on...
2025-09-08 21:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 12:35pm.
The Adventurers Guild Training Room 13’s soft mechanical voice said.
Novice Archer, level zero. Beginner level ten activated.
The sounds of beginner level ten activating filled the training room. The soft breeze near Jack and Toma turned into random gusts of wind, and the lights in Training Room 13 dimmed to mimic dusk. Rando...
2025-09-06 21:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 11:50am.
Training Room 13 was the same as the day before. Long and narrow, with reinforced walls of riveted metal and wood, and the faint, lingering scent of sweat and spent aether-steam. Blue aether-light flickered along the floor filigree, activating as they entered. The air stirred with the mechanical breath of the room, faint gusts of wind simulating mi...
2025-09-05 21:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 11:30am.
Jack walked through the cobbled streets of Lundun towards the Adventurers Guild. Wary of running into the four remaining adventurers, he approached every corner with caution, his hand resting on the hilt of his dagger for comfort.
Passing by the entrance to the alleyway where he’d had the fatal encounter with the large swordsman, he paused....
2025-09-04 21:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 10:00am.
After leaving the tailor’s, Jack made his way to Harker and Barker to collect his reserved chronos sphere spell scroll and replace the fireball scroll he’d used.
Jack entered the spell scroll shop to the familiar chime of the bell and the smile of the old shopkeeper. A handful of customers perused the displays.
He took a deep breath...
2025-09-03 21:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDay 6. Tuesday 9:00am.
The following morning, Jack spent a few more hours inscribing spell scrolls before heading to his nine o’clock appointment with a tailor. The fitting had been arranged by his father to outfit him in a new suit, bowler hat, and shoes for his debut at the Royal Library as a Novice Scribe.
Five minutes early, Jack stepped from the cobbled stree...
2025-09-02 21:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDay 5. Monday 4:45pm.
Sheathing his dagger, Jack set off for home while watching for anyone following him. He was wary that the rest of the adventurers’ party would attack him. With his hand on the hilt of his dagger, he walked through the city while trying not to draw attention to himself. Of course, he was splattered in blood… again!
Turning a corner towards h...
2025-09-01 21:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostDay 5. Monday 4:30pm.
Jack stepped out of the Adventurers Guild’s training area, fatigue tugging at his limbs, but in good spirits. No one had made disparaging remarks about how grotesque his face looked or how it was spoiling their meal!
He was having a good day. Smiling, he planned the rest of his day. Head home, have a bath, get something to eat, his s...
2025-08-31 21:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostDay 5. Monday 3:15pm.
The heavy door opened, revealing a well-lit chamber that smelled of spent aether-steam and a hint of sweat. Training Room 13 was a long and narrow indoor range with layered walls of reinforced wood and riveted metal. At the far end, a row of mechanical targets shaped like humanoid silhouettes stood motionless.
Jack stepped inside.
With a ...
2025-08-30 21:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDay 5. Monday 3:00pm.
Jack paused outside the Adventurers Guild, a vast structure that dwarfed the surrounding buildings. Built of red brick with rune-encoded brass beams capable of withstanding the city’s formidable aether-powered cannons. It was constructed to last.
A large brass and ancient-oak sign proclaimed ‘Lundun Adventurers Guild’. That was all the in...
2025-08-29 21:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostDay 5. Monday 2:00pm.
“Come on, you know it’s worth more than that.” Jack was arguing with a merchant who’d offered 30 silvers for the rat-faced rogue’s armour and gambeson. “The armour alone is worth more than that.”
“We don’t get many tall children buying armour,” the merchant replied with a smile. “That’s my best offer.”
This was t...
2025-08-27 21:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDay 5. Monday 1:00pm.
Oh, crap. If she finds the bow and sword, I have no explanation. Jack dashed for the front door.
His mom stepped inside, carrying a tray piled high with fresh-cut herbs.
“Hey, Mom. I was just coming to see if you needed any help?” He scanned the tray; there was no bow or shortsword, so no need for an explanation. Phew 2025-08-25 22:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post