Kelsey re-entered the spiritual realm and immediately began looking for Max’s Flame.
She had to retreat to the safety of Venja’s Barrier for the tenth time already.
The last interaction she’d had with Max was hours ago now and she wasn’t able to detect his Flame since. They’d been interrupted by the sudden appearance of I’xol’ukz as well some pesky demons in the ‘real world’ on her side.
She still wasn’t sure what it meant for Max to completely disappear ...
2024-05-11 21:49:50 +0000 UTC
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Kelsey waded through the sea of demons, cutting them down with swift chops of her axe.
Her Flame was a Frenzy-brewing furnace, triggered by the root of her Dao. Demon after demon she killed, each one adding to her [Bloodlust]. It wasn’t her objective to merely wait out the demon horde as she normally did when she cultivated.
Tonight, she was trying to thin it completely.
To cut it down so she could have a moment of pause in order to enter the spirit realm.
...
2024-05-10 05:03:52 +0000 UTC
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Kelsey sat on the edge of the barrier, watching and waiting.
The sun was still hanging low in the sky, a few hours yet until night fall.
She reread Max’s letter and mentally went through the gymnastics of calculating the exact date and time on Earth. She didn’t know how the day and night cycles of Earth and the planet Max was on lined up, but hopefully there would be some overlap throughout the night where Max was supposedly going to spend it entirely under the effects of the ...
2024-05-06 04:25:51 +0000 UTC
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I centered myself as I stood within the middle of the training grounds.
It was close to noon now and I’d been training since dawn.
High above me, three targets were placed atop the pillars in the courtyard.
I cycled my Frenzy and with a burst of speed, leapt into the air with [Lightning Walk]. My foot pushed off the air with a sharp snap of thunder, propelling me higher. I performed the technique again with my opposite foot as I literally climbed an invisible ...
2024-05-02 01:02:01 +0000 UTC
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Yo Max,
How are you, bro? I hope you’re doing better than us because things have pretty much gone to shit back here since you left.
Those bird sisters have done a total number on us. They broke up the neighborhood with some stupid new law that prevents Non-Terrans from living in the Native Housing District. Fia kind of saved the day by moving Yu Li, Su Ling and Gui Zu into her parents’ place with her though. That...
2024-04-28 11:47:53 +0000 UTC
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The next day I got up to start training early.
I began with some martial forms and calisthenics in my room before breakfast. I still had a lot on my mind, but the physical exertion worked as a welcome distraction to it all. I was still pondering what I had experienced with that entity within the crystal. What was it even? Some kind of combined spirit? A shattered soul of a planet?
I had so many questions.
Above them all though, was what I would do about her requ...
2024-04-24 20:31:19 +0000 UTC
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Blue Rose continued to give me the cold shoulder in the mess hall, but I couldn’t care. I had a major experiment to conduct and I needed a clear head to be prepared. After dinner, I headed down to the barrier to meet up with Chief Yora and Master Eiji.
In my head I went over all the things I wanted to accomplish.
I needed to first see the limit it would take for me to attract the attention of I’xol’ukz.
Then I needed to see if I could sense Kelsey again.
2024-04-21 10:14:10 +0000 UTC
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The morning assembly was packed full of all ranks and robes.
It was time for another two-week rotation—newborn brown robes joining us after surviving their gauntlet across the desert while a platoon of Legionnaires returned from the Hell Worlds and another took their place.
As I rushed to take my spot within the ranks of the Black Robes, I spotted Blue Rose and Tu’lok. Instinctually I gravitated towards them, but then Chief Yora caught my attention and dire...
2024-04-18 15:46:48 +0000 UTC
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Princess Lunalah squinted at the report on her Qi tablet.
Demonic activity had increased significantly over the last two months in Jurin province. Or so the heading of the report said at least. Lunalah scrolled through several pages of text she had inclination nor intention of reading.
“Summarize this report,” Lunalah said shifting her eyes to Ling Wei who was seated across the desk from her. “What is the cause? And is there any impact to the excursions?”
<...
2024-04-15 03:05:08 +0000 UTC
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“Do you really think it was him?”
Kelsey sat within the darkness of her own mind as Venja asked her the question.
She still wasn’t sure herself.
But she couldn’t deny what she’d sensed.
Or what she’d heard.
“It sounded just like Max,” she said. “Felt like Max.”
The towering woman shrugged her shoulders. “You seem as convinced as anything as far as I can tell. Whatever happened it was certainly real to you.”
...
2024-04-11 20:09:37 +0000 UTC
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A friend found this floating around and sent it to me lol
2024-04-07 18:29:27 +0000 UTC
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My mind raced as I stood under interrogation by the most powerful cultivator I’d ever seen. I could kick myself for even getting caught, to be honest, but that was the price I had to pay for needing to find Kelsey in the spiritual realm, I supposed.
I still wasn’t sure what had happened, or if she was even alright.
Her Flame seemed to get stronger o9nce second, but then it simply disappeared.
I had no idea what that meant.
I prayed she was still okay, wherever she ...
2024-04-07 11:39:31 +0000 UTC
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Kelsey cycled her Frenzy as she waited patiently in the darkness of her own mind.
Across from her, Venja crouched to bring herself to eye level.
“Anything yet?” Kelsey asked.
“The moon has only just risen an hour ago,” Venja said. “Have patience, Kelsey. It will show.”
All day Kelsey had been preparing for this.
She’s practiced her axe forms and every one of her manifestation techniques. She’d likely need all of them, facing the unkno...
2024-03-31 00:17:31 +0000 UTC
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It didn’t take long to figure out that what had happened had been anything but normal.
As soon as we got back to the prison, Yora split us into groups based on our reactions to the horde. More than half of us were lumped together into what she dubbed the unaffected; people who had listened and had turned away from the horde immediately, resulting in no negative reaction at all. Then came the moderate, or shell-shocked group for people like Blue Rose.
The people who ...
2024-03-24 12:36:34 +0000 UTC
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I stumbled down the stairs half-dressed and half-drunk out of my mind.
I wondered if maybe there was little more than just alcohol in that hooch to have me still under its effects hours later. I cycled my Frenzy to purify my system, slowly ridding myself of the toxins.
I bumped into Blue Rose and Tu’lok on the way down.
They returned my half-drunk stare with bleary-eyed stares of their own.
By the time we assembled I was still wobbling on my feet but fee...
2024-03-21 02:43:01 +0000 UTC
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Tu’lok was the first to greet me when the crowd disbursed.
The grey skinned giant patted me heartily on the back with a toothy grin. “You’ve impressed the hell out of all of us Phalanx hopefuls. Where did you learn to wield a Glaive like that?”
I smiled at the compliment. “An old dude named Iron Pot Wong. A semi-celebrity where I’m from. He was a simple soldier, though and still an Iron bracket contender believe it or not.”
“Thems are the best kind,” anothe...
2024-03-18 00:03:16 +0000 UTC
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The post Bloodmoon, pre-dawn sky was streaked with orange and red as I approached the courtyard with axe and glaive in hand. Sounds of the gathering crowd could be heard already, echoing off the stone walls of Du Grok Bhong as the air filled with excitement.
Chief Yora had come through with nearly everything I had asked for.
One match.
But with a full audience.
I’d seen how Jei Su Long had handled his defeat by Blue Rose and I wouldn’t put it past the punk to come ...
2024-03-13 21:53:11 +0000 UTC
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Me, myself and I sat around the spiritual campfire that was my Frenzied Flame.
I was inside my own head, on the virtual lakeside beach made from my own imagination.
The Struggler was on one side of the campfire, the Demon on the other.
I’d long since quit on trying to combine the two and instead focused on the various texts I had consumed from the library, still seeking the key to strengthening the Spiritual Root of my Dao. I’d been reading for hours, but the best passag...
2024-03-06 22:41:43 +0000 UTC
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Kelsey grimaced as the three cultivators encircled her, wielding spears and Jianblades.
She’d already felt the bite from two of them.
Her robes were riddled with slashes, but the attacks hadn’t been strong enough to do much against her Frenzy hardened skin.
Still, it pissed her off that they’d even managed to hit her at all.
It was a grim reminder that for all her internal progression she was still a junior when it came to martial arts. Clobbering hordes...
2024-03-03 22:55:55 +0000 UTC
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Hot desert wind pressed against my face as I fell towards the beast.
I engaged [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] while summoning [Mark of the Giant], my muscles swelling as I double handed my Phalanx Glaive to deliver a lightning-charged cleave to the monster’s snout.
The Jolup was still focused on the screaming Tributes behind me, its vision perhaps unable to see the man-sized figure flying straight between its eyes. I used the opportunity for a surprise attack, putting every ounce...
2024-02-29 00:50:13 +0000 UTC
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My Dearest Tribute,
First, well done for making the correct decision in rejecting my false offer of ease through the Academy. It was a test…and one that you have passed. It was always my intent to send the strongest and bravest of what our fair planet has to offer, and you, my dear Tribute, have once again proven your worth to me.
Rest assured, however, that the opportunity to become a royal consort may still be in your future. Should fate destine it betwee...
2024-02-25 21:58:32 +0000 UTC
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Kelsey gave Lee the longest and sweetest kiss the morning she headed off into the wild. It was still dark out, just before sunrise when she had left, but now over seven hours later, the sun was bearing down on her with the heat of the afternoon.
Sweat drenched clothes chaffed her skin under the strain of the enormous pack on her back. How Max managed to carry a wagon load of goods each time still baffled her. Even with [Mark of the Giant] the most she could manage was something the size...
2024-02-22 02:51:10 +0000 UTC
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Blue Rose wore a stupid smile on her face the entire time Tu’lok led us from the courtyard to the library and alchemy lab just outside the main prison. She obviously enjoyed my self-deprecation, especially in front of a prick of a young master like Jei Su Long seemed to be.
“Hey, Tu’lok,” I said. “What’s the deal with our commander, do you know him?”
“More than I know you,” he said looking down at me with a glance. “Which isn’t to say much mind y...
2024-02-18 13:49:00 +0000 UTC
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I sat in the darkness with my two best friends.
Blue Struggler me and my alter ego, Mr. Demon.
Neither of them were receptive to my attempts at mediation to combine their souls.
Within the spiritual confines of my own mind, I tried everything within my mental powers to merge the two halves of my spirit, but to no avail. I was missing something clearly. Knowledge perhaps. I traced through the scripts of the Foundation Manual within a window of my mind’s eye and focused on t...
2024-02-15 02:52:31 +0000 UTC
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Master Hei Dong released a tired sigh as he watched Gui Zu embrace Yu Li at the entrance to the courtyard. In all his years never would he have imagined for such a thing to take place in his very home.
Yet here they were at sundown, Gui Zu a former outer disciple and Yu Li a simple, native Terran girl residing within his estate within the imperial city.
They meant next to nothing to him in his former life.
But now they were family.
Part of him could still barely get hi...
2024-02-12 01:15:18 +0000 UTC
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Part of me wanted to do absolutely nothing.
Screw that bitch and her karma.
And screw Ho Chin as well.
They could both die out here for all I cared.
Or so the demon was telling me.
The Struggler, however, knew there would be days like this. Days when I wanted to just piss off and let it all burn to the ground. But where would my humanity be if I...
2024-02-08 02:13:04 +0000 UTC
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I dumped my last wheelbarrow full of pig shit into the field while the bastard Ho Chin looked on with a laugh. He’d been designated as supervisor for the day, but he’d spent most of it doing nothing but hurl insults at Blue Rose and I as we did all the work.
“This would go a lot faster if you helped, asshole!” I shouted at him as Blue Rose dumped her own wheelbarrow full of shit next to mine.
“I’ve got to save my strength for the exam this afternoon,” he...
2024-02-05 01:42:11 +0000 UTC
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Dear Fia,
Hi! It’s me! Max! I’m writing to you now! I tried to write to you before but I was really tired and ended up just passing out. So I’m trying again. I know it’s been a few weeks but I’ve been really busy. There have been many curve balls thrown my way.
The first one came when I ended up killing some pervert dude on the way here. They busted me down to a prisoner Tribute for that, but it was well worth it.
That guy was a sick ...
2024-02-01 07:56:11 +0000 UTC
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I awoke to a horrific scream.
Shooting upright in my cot, I immediately reached for my axe. I stopped short when I realized the scream had come from Chu Ren who was now kneeling beside Su Ren’s cot along with Lo Ren. When I rose to see what was going on, I immediately froze once I stood over them.
Su Ren was deathly pale and unmoving.
Chu Ren looked up at me with tears in his eyes. “She’s gone…”
A moment later De Fan ran into the room in a flusher. “What wa...
2024-01-29 01:44:55 +0000 UTC
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The familiar howls of demons and monsters filled the night as the Bloodmoon finally emerged. It looked bigger than our moon on Earth, at least twice the size and I wondered if the Dark Frenzy it produced would be just as magnified.
I looked to Su Ren and her boys.
They had been crying non-stop for the last few minutes, but now they knelt together, offering prayers in silence. I gave them their privacy as a family, keeping my distance, but in my mind, I could still see Kou Ren maki...
2024-01-25 03:25:54 +0000 UTC
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