A Novel Approach chapter 117
Malcolm Tent posts
Wish upon the Stars chapter 944
The trip out to the forest was pretty easy. A group of Ascendants can move shockingly fast over land, even when suppressed by a high level planet. When we arrived at the location in question, I was kind of underwhelmed. Not by the castle itself, exactly, but by the information gathering abilities of my cousins. I’d been impressed they’d managed to find this place so easily, but staring at it now, I quickly revoked that positive impression.
“Subtle,” I said wryly as we stared up...
Wish upon the Stars chapter 943
“So I can bring five D-rankers, two C-rankers, and four B-rankers,” I informed my friends tiredly as I slumped on the couch. Negotiating with Delia had been…stressfull. I had assumed it would be a formality, given we were family and I was doing this for her trial, but she’d put me through the ringer.
About a dozen different stipulations about power distribution, point caps, loot distribution, and any number of other niche and frankly outlandish bullet points had been added to th...
2025-08-01 16:54:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 942
The truce was hashed out pretty quickly, and we shared our information without reservation. They all looked unsettled, and I didn’t blame them. I wasn’t exactly feeling balanced and carefree myself. Being here without any backup bothered me. Not that I didn’t like Alys and Derrick and the others, they were family. But I was still getting to know them, and this was clearly not a friendly place for me to be. Having Bethy or Callie or Abel at my back would have made me feel a lot better. 2025-08-01 02:31:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 941
“So, we’re looking at twenty five hundred total?” I asked Crell as Callie checked my tie. “Twenty five B-rankers, two hundred C-rankers, and twenty three hundred D-rank, give or take. Can we fit them all in the boarding house?”
He shrugged. “Probably not, but we don’t need to. The conclave shouldn’t last more than a day or two, and the locals have their own locations to use as a base.”
“I don’t like this,” my wife said worriedly. “I trust Alanna and Fad...
Wish upon the Stars chapter 940
The first person to reach me as I left the arena was, to my complete lack of surprise, my wife, who hit me like a bulldozer and nearly took me off my feet, her arms clamping down around me so hard my armor groaned. “What the HELL were you DOING!” She bawled into my chest as she tried her hardest to squeeze me to death.
I didn’t have any arguments there. I hadn’t screwed up, a fight is a fight and that one had been a good one, but this was the most injured I’d been in front of ...
2025-07-29 16:24:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 939
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Sometimes a blur of pain, sometimes of tension. Alanna was a brutal taskmaster, but an effective one. I learned a LOT about countering swordmasters. I wouldn’t say I was in any way prepared to become one myself, but when someone with a Mythical Skill dedicates a day to teaching you the basics, you pick them up pretty quick. Finally though, I was escorted to the arena where I was going to face my opponent.
It had been a long time since I’d been i...
2025-07-29 00:37:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 938
As I suspected, Crell had zero leads on how to find an A-rank blacksmith here. Even a particularly talented B-rank seemed out of the question at the moment, sadly. So I just headed to bed after the exciting evening, albeit with the caveat of having spent several hours working on plans for Bethy’s shoe palace, which she redesigned at least six times and was STILL adding things to when I went to sleep.
Still, I slept like a baby, despite my excitement, and rose to greet the day with gus...
2025-07-25 16:27:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 937
It was shocking to me that no one seemed at all surprised by the colossal show of power that the auctioneer had just unleashed. They seemed IMPRESSED, don’t get me wrong, or at least the people who I could perceive did? I think. Remembering expressions was giving me issues just then, but Callie and the others were definitely impressed, and so was I. But it didn’t seem to cause a stir.
Apparently the Void infiltrators had assumed that their tricks would work just as well here as they...
2025-07-25 00:30:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 936
We were able to find an auction pretty easily. I wasn’t surprised, really, the city was one of only ten on this side of the planet where B-rankers could congregate, and B-rankers were hardly the only ones around. The population of Veltheim was pretty sizable from what I could tell. Several auctions were held regularly, and with the conclave in town, some of the bigger ones had even been moved up.
One of the biggest was what I had been informed was called the Empty Auction. That was wh...
2025-07-24 00:19:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 935
Obviously, I accepted. Fade was a complete monster in combat from what I could tell, someone who stood at the absolute peak of the heirworld in terms of battle skill. Having him and his people on board would not only make my claim to victory stronger, but would make all my people that much safer during the Void invasion.
Fade didn’t stay, wishing me well and telling me the time and date of my match, which would be the next day. I sighed internally at the news. Fade’s challenge was g...
2025-07-23 01:18:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 934
Once my cousins were gone, Crell approached me about another meeting, this one with one of the locals. “Well, the plan worked like a charm,” my advisor said as he dropped down into the chair across from me. “One of the more deadly local bosses has reached out to us to speak to you. The current Lord of the Hall of Steel, Fade Genix, has expressed interest in a potential alliance.”
“The Hall of Steel?” I asked with interest. “Sounds impressive, what do they…do?”
...
2025-07-22 00:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 933
Derrick was the first to arrive. I’m somehow not surprised, Derrick reminds me uncomfortably of Abel, and my mentor is never late to a party unless it’s fashionable. Unlike Abel though, Derrick was also young and incredibly eager to prove himself. Choosing to become a combat focused Wishmaster candidate spoke to a deep love of battle and glory. His wishes were probably all very heavily Might focused.
Which is what made it both surprising and somehow incredibly unsurprising at the sa...
2025-07-18 21:43:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 932
I considered what I needed to do for a while after we arrived in Veltheim. Crell had secured us an entire boarding house…somehow. He refused to elaborate on how, and every time I tried to push he made up a different story. Based on the commonalities, I was PRETTY sure it had something to do with a pie eating contest, or possibly a bear. Then again, trying to weasel the truth out of someone with his skillset was probably a lost cause.
Once we were settled in though (Callie and I claime...
2025-07-17 23:19:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Wish upon the Stars chapter 931
The rest of the labyrinth was as obnoxious as it was frustrating. We caught several more candidates, some we let go, some we trapped and left behind. When all was said and done, at the end of the one week it took us to reach the other side, I ended up receiving another fifty points, a full fifty percent again what I already had. Not to mention fifty six more scrolls to add to my stockpile.
Emerging from the caves, my first thought was…”Wow, this is super pretty.” I was blown away...
Wish upon the Stars chapter 930
We stopped for the night after traveling for another few hours. We didn’t run into any new candidates, thankfully, and I was able to condense the mile wide liquid rock swamp into a complete building for us to use as a base of operations. A Piece of Mind parallel to control Mumur, combined with my EXTREME familiarity with the stone in question meant the whole lodge was impossible to spot even when I was unconscious, so I was free to catch some rest with everyone else.
Before tha...
2025-07-15 22:14:54 +0000 UTC View Post