"Hons! Why did you stop us from retrieving Oscar?" Almos shouted.
"You allowed that human to enter the pools? Why is he not melted away by the special Ein? Why isn't it rejecting him?" Ness scowled, hovering over the waters but not entering, retracting her talons. "Did you do something, Hons?"
"Enough. The human ran in. I had the moment to stop him." Hons clenched his fist and snarled. "But a thought occurred to me. What if this was what the Ancients wanted? Was it a coincidence o...
2023-06-28 00:38:49 +0000 UTC
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The air was stifling. Oscar could only gasp for what little his lungs could take in, too little as his cheeks blued deeper every second. Dark storms brewed overhead, and the last warmth in his blood disappeared, vanishing along with the light of the two suns. It started with a shake in his chest, spreading to the tips of his toes, brittleness and weakness all over his body. Oscar fell to his knees, digging his pale fingers into the dirt of the hill. Next to him, Avril had done the same, the b...
2023-06-27 03:18:47 +0000 UTC
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'You fought well. But I still have much left in store while you're nearly done.' Ruvin's shoulders shook as light laughter escaped his closed beak. Short pauses of grunts showed the hints of exhaustion eating away at him.
'I have to admit. You got me.' Erden faced down to the Pools of Ascension, seeing his blood drip down to the colorful waters, lifted his head to stare at Ruvin, and sighed helplessly. Mountains weighed down on his back, his legs buckling despite float...
2023-06-26 00:14:38 +0000 UTC
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A few days ago, when Erden was training with Avril and Oscar, they discussed the best plan to tackle an opponent like Ruvin.
"The worst two aspects are his aerial advantages and elemental power." Oscar sounded worried. "A crow or any flight bird has extreme advantages in an aerial battle. Since you'll be fighting above the Pools of Ascension, you won't be able to change the battle environment."
"In the end, I'll be stuck in the skies with that bastard." The scenes of fighting agai...
2023-06-25 21:42:36 +0000 UTC
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Screeches wailed from the crystal hooves meeting the sharp talons. Erden grunted from the pain as sparks flew from his hooves. Even with the amount of Ein he poured into them, his hooves were outmatched by Ruvin's talons, a slight crack appearing on its hard surface.
Even worse, Erden felt small flakes of darkness, like worms, wriggling around in the crack, corroding it until it died out in a huff of dark smoke. His antlers fared no better, and Erden retreated from the pulsing shadows a...
2023-06-24 17:35:40 +0000 UTC
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One could say it was a great migration. Masses of Exalt Beasts spanned over the sky, casting large dark shadows on the lands below, almost as if night descended during the day. More Exalt Beasts stampeded and trampled around under the shadows of the flying beasts, zipping from tree to tree, rock to rock, and mountain to mountain.
Flying through the sky, Oscar stuck close to Erden and Avril. It was easy to get lost within the hordes of Exalt Beasts flying alongside them. Some glared at O...
2023-06-23 17:37:56 +0000 UTC
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Oscar followed behind Hons, the Gorilla King Exalt, keeping an eye on his rough, shaggy black hair spread down the back to the knees. From what he witnessed earlier, Hons was the higher King Exalt in the hierarchy, above Almos and Ness. Parts of him twitched and stretched, an unsettling feeling in his gut tensing up his joints.
Hons never spoke, never speaking the entire way through the vast network in the great tree. The entire great tree was quiet, nothing but the light sounds of thei...
2023-06-22 23:09:15 +0000 UTC
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"Cheers!" Oscar clinked his cup against Avril's, the preserved fruit juice spilling slightly on the floor. Downing the entire cup, he sighed in satisfaction, wiping his lips. Avril did the same, her eyes shining with clarity and purity, not a single blemish within those golden pupils.
"Do you not wish to…." Oscar awkwardly pointed and circled the left side of his face, centered on the eye. He knew Avril didn't like her scars to be exposed hence the mask and cloth covering every inch o...
2023-06-22 02:28:27 +0000 UTC
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Oscar and Avril settled themselves on the edge of the floor, right before where Marshal Exalt Beasts rested on the first layer of the wooden steps, overlooking the battle. The layers above drew further away from the center but higher from the floor. Many other Exalt Beasts watched the battle between Erden and the thundering gorilla, ignoring him and Avril, staying true to their King Exalts' orders.
'You got this, Erden. Sorry. I can't help you….That Crow King Exalt is staring hole...
2023-06-21 14:43:34 +0000 UTC
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Erden stepped forward and bowed his head to the three King Exalts. "First, it is an honor to meet three King Exalt Beasts. I am Erden, hailing from Ashen Grove, a small realm bordering on Talos."
"Cawcawcaw! He talks!" Ness, the Crow King Exalt, laughed and readjusted her talons around her perch, leaning with her pure white eyes reflecting Erden. "A hatchling from a small realm has made its way here? The Lands of Zeret welcomes you, but the same cannot be said for your human companions....
2023-06-19 23:07:01 +0000 UTC
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Inside the relaxing chamber carved within the trunk of the great tree, Oscar poked at the small pool of golden sap with a stick. Wary of the raw Ein within, he scooped some with a spoon and applied it to Erden's wounds. The sap seeped into Erden's body and began to smoke up. The deep gashes and injuries sealed up at an astonishing speed, as if an invisible hand was sewing them shut.
'Definitely needs to be refined for human use.' Oscar noted the fierceness of how the sap healed...
2023-06-19 18:18:03 +0000 UTC
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"That man in your arms. We smell it." A loud sniff drew in the air like a hurricane. Avril hugged Oscar closer, barely able to hold herself together against the terrifying power laced in each word from the King Exalt. "He smells like us but is human. Human….but with the aura of us. Is it Blood Transmutation?"
Before Avril could answer, a strange star-shaped fruit was thrown from the forest and landed near her feet. She huddled and inched farther from it, wary of the other's purpose in...
2023-06-18 23:35:02 +0000 UTC
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The mask, which Oscar carefully crafted for her, had many cracks from the crushing rapids from earlier. Pieces chipped off and rested softly on the sand under her feet. More and more pieces fell until the entire mask lost its hold and landed below, revealing her scarred face.
Ignoring the broken mask buried by the sand, Avril gripped her staff tightly. Her gloves were torn to shreds, showing her maimed hands. She had no time to consider her revealed scars and burns, glancing at Oscar an...
2023-06-17 23:47:55 +0000 UTC
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First, it was the downpour of drizzles of seawater, the salty scent oddly comforting, and then the waves washed over his body, a sense of renewal washing away the discomfort and tiredness. Oscar felt the shackles breaking away. His body trembled from the freedom, the liberation. Sweet liberation.
Staring up at the two suns, and without a moment of hesitation, Oscar soared, the winds rushing through his ears, his wet hair swaying around as droplets fell from their ends. Overcome by emoti...
2023-06-16 00:31:01 +0000 UTC
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Regis rubbed his rear, hissing from the bruises on his arms. Extending upright, his legs regained strength, and he exhaled deeply to calm his rampaging heart. He sighed in relief to see the silver pocket watch still in his palm; it was his grandpa's last gift to him and needed to be cherished.
"Ahem. I have given everyone some time to adjust. Stepping through the door can have effects on those unprepared." Trying to find out the source of the voice, Regis glanced around the vast fields ...
2023-06-14 19:57:16 +0000 UTC
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Rushing down the hallway, Oscar passed through various rooms where servants were cleaning, taking a few left turns until he entered his main office. Inside there were Fenu and his division captains, his companions throughout the years in the Burning Valley. Stepping inside with Avril and Erden, Oscar fell silent, unable to muster the words to say goodbye.
"My Lord," Fenu coughed from the awkwardness. His old wrinkles had deepened, and his hair had grown whiter. In the two years since th...
2023-06-14 18:28:32 +0000 UTC
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The red skies of the Burning Valley were surprisingly clear on this day. The black smog-filled clouds could not be seen for thousands of miles, and the light of the red orb shone on every crevice, every ridge, and every shadow. Oscar leaned on a stone column, his eyes staring at Quinn. The young boy knelt before a gravestone, his shoulders dropping to a pitiful depth.
Avril sighed from his side, looking away from the scene. "Old Yule must be happy to see Quinn back to normal and alive. ...
2023-06-13 22:51:12 +0000 UTC
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"Quinn?" Avril's call to the creature stumped Oscar. His eyes darted from Avril to the ash humanoid back and forth, and his mind zipped through all the memories of Quinn, the young and immature youth who was often embarrassed by Old Yule's affection and asked him to train him.
That creature, roaring with a great gaping mouth, covered in ash and filled with the power of a Greater Knight Exalt, was Quinn? Unable to fathom the reality of Avril's words, Oscar lagged behind a second too late...
2023-06-13 01:06:52 +0000 UTC
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Old Yule relaxed her wrinkled hands and patted Avril's shoulders. She tugged her up to stand on her feet. Old Yule sighed, her wrinkles deepening, and said. "Sorry for the illusion. I thought about the various ways to reach deep into your mind, but this was the most direct method. Forgive me if I have hurt you."
"Why? Why did you do this?" Avril asked meekly. How foolish that she didn't realize it was all an illusion. If Old Yule wanted her dead, it would have already happened. Staring ...
2023-06-09 15:28:44 +0000 UTC
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Dense mists shrouded the skies and surfaces one would not be able to see an inch from their eyes. The ocean lay deathly still, not a single ripple or passing wave. Within this dense fog and sailing above the still waters, a ruined ship floated around, a lack of sails and the rotten state of its decks suggesting it was abandoned.
"So, an executive has died. How saddening. What a waste of a useful man. He held such promise for the dawn of new humanity." A shadow appeared within the mist, ...
2023-06-09 01:45:48 +0000 UTC
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The air grew stifling from the polluted dust that lingered and the smoke spilling from the purple flames. Avril pushed on the caved-in passageway with her wooden hand spell, her face twitching in surprise at how it instantly dissolved. She frowned and cracked the ground with a falling kick.
"Oscar…." Her Ein Shroud rippled as it cleaned the air for her to breathe. The dust settled, and Avril knocked her head on her staff repeatedly, knock, knock, knock. Her eyes trembled, almost welli...
2023-06-08 00:44:25 +0000 UTC
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The sounds of his labored breathing echoed through the caverns. With a face full of sweat, Oscar leaned on the paved portion of the walls, the smoothness of these polished works reaching only a bit taller than his height. Erden stood beside him, watching their surroundings, ready to pounce on anything that could appear.
His lungs burned, straining and complaining for every ounce of air, and Oscar couldn't help it fast enough. His breathing didn't improve. It only got worse. Something ch...
2023-06-07 21:19:11 +0000 UTC
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"Not spoil the joy you're all feeling, but there is one slight item left on the list," Adam said, apology laden in his tone. He glanced at Oscar and the others, sighing and patting Tort's shell, indicating for them to sit.
"Explain. You just said earlier, in your own words, congratulations. The Burning Valley is ours. What else do we need to do?" Oscar's eyes twitched, and he reigned in the urge to shout to not worry or scare the men with an outburst. A suffocating sensation crept into ...
2023-06-07 01:35:30 +0000 UTC
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"A Wortortle? What is a mythical Exalt Beast doing here?" Geno glared, a dangerous red gleam shining behind his glasses as his lips smirked viciously. "No matter, you're clearly on their side. However, how fortunate it is that I can have you. The sheer adaptability of a Wortortle is something I've always wanted, but no. I had to be stationed here to watch over some helpless fools."
The winds picked up, rising in heat. A great blaze burned within Tort's open mouth and condensed into a mo...
2023-06-06 21:11:13 +0000 UTC
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She remembered everything from when she was angry. Avril recalled the battle a year ago. The man, sent to follow after her on the mistress's orders, was kneeling on the ground.
"A mere slave like you, nothing but one of the mistress's toys, dares to believe you can keep hiding away. You know she never forgives or forgets." The man coughed and gasped from the wounds on his body. Even as the branches and roots tore off his arm and he wailed from the pain, he still had a sneer, a mocking s...
2023-06-06 17:41:53 +0000 UTC
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'Your path lies within…enter the tower…climb and rise above.'
Regis struggled in his sleep, unable to get the voices out of his dreams. The voices spoke in young, elderly, hateful, loving, girl, boy, woman, man, sad, and happy as if thousands of people called out to him. Clutching his heart, Regis writhed around his bed. If these voices kept to their routine, it would be over soon.
'Regis. Regis. Regis. You must go. The way is open. The tower awaits.'
S...
2023-06-05 22:36:34 +0000 UTC
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"Ring the bells of severity!" Fenu shouted to the troops. Bells rang around the army, alerting everyone to the nature of the situation. If no one knew about the enemy, they did now as the shouts and warcries deafened the bells coming from the armies that popped up from the horizon.
"They waited at the far hills, waiting for us to enter these open plains to surround us. With the rough terrain and chaotic rivers of lava on the route to the other city, anyone can guess a large army would g...
2023-06-05 03:21:03 +0000 UTC
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Oscar and Erden entered a large room filled with boiling cauldrons. A strange fog swirled up in the ceiling of the tall walls, not hindering Oscar's vision as he made his way through. He almost called out for Avril until he found her near a cauldron. She was so focused she did not notice or hear his arrival.
'She's so calm at times like this.' Oscar watched her work. Her movements were swift as she dropped in several grade-three herbs, swirled a pure extract from a beast core w...
2023-06-05 00:41:34 +0000 UTC
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"Hold on. You said the time has come, but here–" Oscar tapped a part of the letter. "It says the Four Lords Gathering is in one year." Oscar looked questioningly at Sevon and Adam and told Erden to bring his tired body toward them. "Yet, you speak of taking the Burning Valley now?"
Sevon glanced purposely at the others in the room. Understanding his intention, Oscar ordered everyone to clear the room except for him, Adam, Sevon, Erden, and Avril. Once the room was cleared, Sevon redid...
2023-06-04 21:51:58 +0000 UTC
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