Leon gritted his teeth as he knelt there in the spatial tunnel. His gauntlet had been ripped and torn as it was pulled from behind the wall in the previous chamber and into the curtain of darkness, and the flesh and bone beneath had fared little better. Blood poured out from the shredded metal, and Leon could barely think from the pain. His right hand, his dominant hand, had been horribly mangl...
2021-02-15 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThese were surprisingly difficult to revise. There was a lot of extraneous detail that I cut, including an exchange Leon had with Xaphan regarding enchantments that I didn't feel fit the new pace of the merged 'Assault on the Snow Lions' chapter, and there was quite a bit that needed a rewrite to fit the changes made to Gaius and Tiberias so far.
I like the way these chapters turned...
2021-02-15 03:34:23 +0000 UTC View PostWalking through the curtain of darkness felt to Leon like walking into a freezing pool—which was remarkable since, as a seventh-tier mage, it wasn’t often that Leon was bothered enough by such things to even notice them. It wasn’t debilitating, but it was uncomfortable and more than enough to amplify his disquieted feelings.
What amplified those feelings even more was Leon’s immed...
2021-02-12 16:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostLeon, Maia, and Gaius stood before this giant temple, taking in the sight of the countless serpents covering the columns, and the gigantic Horned Serpent hanging down from the ceiling over the portico, its ruby eyes seeming to track their every move. With a closer inspection, each one of these seemingly crudely made reliefs were anything but, with extremely detailed scale patterns covering thei...
2021-02-10 16:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Fuuuck that,” Marcus said as he and the rest of Leon’s squad stared down into the hole that Leon had dug.
It hadn’t taken long for Leon to dig up the entrance that the bird had spoken of. Not even two feet below the ashy depression, his shovel hit stone, and only a few minutes after that, Leon had uncovered a square stone slab about six feet to a side. The slab was thick and trem...
2021-02-08 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostLeon sighed in mental exhaustion as he entered his tent. The battle had gone extraordinarily well, all things considered, but the burns he’d sustained were causing him some discomfort, and he was just tired. But he wasn’t going to do anything until he saw Maia again.
When he walked back into his private area, he found his river nymph lover curled up in their bed, sound asleep with Anz...
2021-02-05 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe marines in the Royal Legions were equipped differently compared to the soldiers Leon was more used to dealing with. Their shields were smaller and a little rounder at the corners; their swords were a little bit longer; their bows were also larger and more heavily enchanted. They also largely had lighter armor, with some equipped with little more than cloth gambeson and a few pieces of leath...
2021-02-03 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostLeon glared at the bird, his sword half-brandished, his face hidden behind his helmet. Behind him, Maia was scrambling to her feet after being so suddenly and unexpectedly awoken by Leon’s movement, while magic power surged through Leon’s body. Small arcs of silver-blue lightning coursed over his limbs while element-less magic power encased his brain, forming a protective shell against any ...
2021-02-01 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostIt was with a glad heart that Leon bade farewell to the second of the Serpentine Isles. It had been more than a week since he’d found the ritual site, and in that time, he’d focused mostly on calming himself down and practicing the mental defense techniques that Nestor and the Thunderbird taught him.
He remained tremendously anxious about what lay ahead, but since the Fleet Legates wa...
2021-01-29 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostAs Leon opened his eyes in his Mind Palace, a tiny, quiet part of himself was relieved to see that everything was, at least by cursory inspection, exactly as it ought to be. He didn’t have much direct reason to think otherwise, but he’d had a few quiet worries that the bird that he’d been able to see was due to something screwing with his head. If something was messing with his perception...
2021-01-27 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“Jormun has to die,” Leon gravely stated as he stared down at the stone map he’d laid upon the table in the fortress’ central meeting room.
It had been several hours since he and his squad had returned to the fortress, and only a few minutes since Sigebert’s return, only just long enough for everyone in positions of authority to gather and discuss their next moves.
“I ag...
2021-01-25 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post[This is definitely some kind of blood ritual,] Xaphan whispered to Leon as they watched a couple hundred marines set about removing the corpses from the ruined square around the serpent colossus.
[You’re sure about that?] Leon asked as the scowl that had perpetually marred his face since arriving at this grisly scene deepened.
[Look down at the floor,] Xaphan directed. [Notice th...
2021-01-22 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostLeon collapsed on the ground a good distance away from the docks, sucking down air like it was going out of style as he did his damnedest to steady his racing heart. He’d fought against stone giants, snow lions, a Gorgon, and hordes of enemy mages, but only the ice wraiths and their banshees had ever terrified Leon so much as making eye contact with that kraken.
But he’d grown up with...
2021-01-20 16:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostShips in the hastily reconstructed port were ablaze, sailors and marines were scurrying around finding their weapons and getting organized, and the hundreds of other ships anchored out at sea were slowly getting moving.
Leon could only stare at the chaos going on back at the fortress, almost unable to understand what in the hells had just happened, before his brain kicked in and he shoute...
2021-01-18 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostSorry these haven't been coming out more frequently, I'm still adapting to the new word count minimum for the normal chapters - would be easier if I didn't insist on writing 5k and 6k chapters as frequently as I've been doing these past couple of months, but I doubt anyone's going to complain about that ;) - plus, on a more personal note, these past couple of weeks in particular have been prett...
2021-01-18 09:30:19 +0000 UTC View PostLeon and the marines made it to the sacked town without any further difficulties. It was so easy and uneventful that it almost seemed like the one explosion that had killed one of the two Tribunes officially leading the force was some kind of fluke or accident.
But Leon knew better than to think that. As far as he was concerned, that was Jormun’s doing, probably by some kind of trap spe...
2021-01-15 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostLeon stared at the beach in the distance, a frown on his face. Their chosen landing place was about ten miles away from their first destination on the second island, a small town founded by Bull Kingdom citizens to build ships out of the lumber given by the rest of the Serpentine Isles in tribute to the Bull King.
But the scouts that had been dispatched to ascertain the town’s status ha...
2021-01-13 16:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostLeon took a deep breath of the salty sea air as Sigebert’s flagship left Kraterok behind them.
It had been eight long days since they’d arrived and took the city by storm. It was now barely half-populated, having been the site of a brutal sack and two naval battles, but it was still without a doubt the largest city in the Serpentine Isles.
The Legion fleets didn’t waste time d...
2021-01-11 16:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostTuriel was missing. No one had seen him for almost two days, and not for lack of trying. Marines had gone to his reported place of residence in the upper-class district, but no one was home. None of the remaining elite of Kraterok could tell the Legates where he’d disappeared to, either. As far as anyone could tell, there weren’t any missing ships in the port, though given how destructive t...
2021-01-08 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostLeon stared out at Kraterok from one of the palace’s balconies, not looking at anything in particular, but just staring in thought. The others in his squad had been given places to rest, so that’s where they’d all gone, Anzu was set up in a nearby stable, and Maia was back in his room burying her face in a book—she proved herself to be just as loath to use the room set aside for her her...
2021-01-06 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostLeon had to admit as he walked through its streets that Kraterok was a beautiful city. Pleasant climate, beautiful beaches, and nice aesthetic of wood painted in solid, simple, and bright colors of all kinds. Many of these buildings in the more affluent neighborhoods also had quite inspired architectural designs. However, no building in the entire city exceeded four stories, and no more than a ...
2021-01-04 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostLeon scowled as a sense of impotence rose up from within him. All he could do right now had already been done: he’d fried several dozen Islander mages as they attempted to board the Legion ships. Maia had done much more, but even she hadn’t done much more than dent their numbers before she returned to the flagship. All of the Islanders in the water had either boarded the Legion ships, or th...
2021-01-01 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostBefore the fleet lay Kraterok, the only settlement in the Serpentine Isles large enough to be called a city. By most standards, it wasn’t too impressive, being inhabited, at least according to the Bull Kingdom’s records, by a scant fifty-thousand people, the limit of what the area’s farms and fishing trawlers could support.
But, as Leon stood on the deck of Sigebert’s flagship sta...
2020-12-30 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe task force sent to find and retrieve Octavius and reassert the Bull Kingdom’s authority over the Serpentine Isles moved swiftly over the next month. Once it was fully stocked, it moved with all haste to the narrow mouth of the Gulf of Discord, stopped at the Fleet Headquarters on Taurus Island a few days later to fill up on their needed supplies, and then sailed out into the Endless Ocean...
2020-12-28 16:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostLeon watched for a moment in shock at seeing someone so familiar in a place he least expected, laughing and exchanging friendly banter with Marcus and Alcander, looking happier than he’d seen the man in… well, ever, really.
After that moment was over, though, Leon picked his jaw off the floor and walked on over, Legate Sigebert right behind him.
“Hey,” Leon said jus...
2020-12-25 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“I have to say, this feels good,” Marcus said as he stretched a bit on the deck of their transport ship.
“Yeah, I’ve been cooped up in that damn thing for too long,” Alcander added as he mirrored Marcus’ movements.
“I feel the same way, but that’s not what I was talking about…” Marcus said as his eyes drifted over toward Leon and Alix, who were leaning on a nearb...
2020-12-23 16:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostLeon met with Penitent in a private room of his villa. Leon expected him to be as stoic and rock solid as he usually was, but when he walked in, he found the Paladin staring out of one of the windows with a look of such deep melancholy on his face that Leon almost froze in shock.
But the moment passed and Leon got the Paladin’s attention. The two gave quick greetings and got right down ...
2020-12-21 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostHonestly, not too many changes made with these. Mostly a few touch-ups and bringing the chapters more into line with previous changes. However, if ever I do another round of revisions, I would probably cut more. Leon's power boost during bad weather is something that I didn't do a hell of a lot with, so that would probably get cut in a future revision (it's a bit too integrate...
2020-12-21 04:58:11 +0000 UTC View PostElise led Leon into the villa, and despite the fact that he was deep into his enchanting work, he had no issues immediately setting that aside to follow her inside. There he found Maia and Valeria waiting for him, along with a host of Heaven’s Eye personnel leaving after carrying their things into their rooms.
“About time,” Valeria quietly said with a cheeky smile as Leon stepped insid...
Following Marcus and Alcander’s departure, Leon found himself unable to immediately return to work. He simply sat in his living room idly twirling the cards they’d written their contact information on between his fingers, his thoughts lost in speculations about the future. He had his lovers, and now he had two nobles—soon to be former-nobles, if what they had told him held any water—and...
2020-12-16 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post