The day began to shift as the two suns dimmed near the other side of the plains. Forcing himself for one last push, Oscar cast a rain of fire and gold, his enemies being deterred long enough for his final strike, a fiery Eirin Omnireus. The full force of his and Erden's flames scattered the last few foes before him, and he came out the other side, a mess of sweat and blood covering his helmet, a few droplets trickling through his visor and wetting his cheeks. He had been fighting for several ...
2023-10-19 04:19:29 +0000 UTC
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High in the sky, the vast fleet separated into three smaller fleets, everyone wandering out to the decks and windows, casting watchful gazes to the horizon. Oscar sat on top of a large hull and meditated. Good preparation led to optimal fighting conditions, and he felt he needed every ounce of concentration for future battles. Following his lead, his Black Aegis Order entered meditation, a cascading effect taking hold of the other soldiers who copied them, the result he wanted from them.
<...
2023-10-17 21:39:42 +0000 UTC
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"Just how many are there?" Standing on the deck of the battleship, Oscar peered over the edge and beheld the great gathering before him. A massive fleet of hundreds of airships, maybe a little over a thousand total, ranging from small fighter classes to mid-sized specialized ships like Vorpalares to a large Excrusier, a city-sized airship, was on standby, ported in the ground near Delvar Fort. Not even in the northern borders or in Drakken Port did a massive fleet of potent ships exist. The w...
2023-10-16 18:19:08 +0000 UTC
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The flames in the furnaces roared and howled. Oscar stuck in the tongs and retrieved a glowing ingot of processed ores, thin layers lining the sides. After a quick quenching, the bright and hot metal shrieked out in bouts of steam and flame before it turned to the natural color of its metal. Cool to the touch. He stacked it together with the pile of other ingots of grade-three ores, a fine array of glittering and shimmering sheens of metal. Retreating from the flames, Oscar removed his fabric...
2023-10-14 21:34:41 +0000 UTC
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"I miss Oscar. Why can't I meet him in my dreams again?" Avril covered her ears with her hands, grumbling as pangs of pain broke into deep lines along her brow. It had been a while since that magical night when she met her beloved in the dream, not a conjured image or imagination, but the real Oscar. She took out her diary and began to write, each stroke of the letter and completion of a word soothing her mind.
"She should feel blessed she met him at all in her dreams. Right. At least s...
2023-10-14 01:00:08 +0000 UTC
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His arms, which were burning in Eirin, held close, positioning as if grabbing a ball to his chest, the fingers curled around nothing. In the empty space between his cupped hands, the Eirin flowed, no longer clinging to his limbs, the freed, powerful fusion of Reis and Ein streaming into the center. They swirled and mingled, writhing like snakes attempting to eat each other until a singular orb remained, densely packed to the brim with Eirin. The orb pulsed and expanded, creating an isolated d...
2023-10-12 19:14:40 +0000 UTC
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Oscar sprinted forward, kicking off the bed of slate and dashing like the wind, a golden gleam shining from his feet. He activated his Prinstyct and was confused to see nothing. Even if Sirsi could move around with Reis, she still had to use her Ein in her spells and move her body normally. Yet, across from him, the self-proclaimed purest of the Voltens watched him, observing his every movement with a slight grin as if a play was performing before her. It was almost as though she wanted him t...
2023-10-10 23:43:43 +0000 UTC
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Oscar stepped back, slowly increasing the distance between him and Sirsi. From the past week, he didn't have much of an impression of Sirsi. When she was designated to attend to him in the mornings, she performed her duties well. Other than that, nothing stuck out about her. She didn't have the same cheerfulness and passion as Arlen, nor did she exhibit the elegance and nobility of Eris. She was simple and plain. However, the way she behaved now tossed all of that aside.
"Who are you?" ...
2023-10-09 19:41:42 +0000 UTC
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The moment he stepped inside, countless eyes locked onto his figure on Erden's back. All the noble families and powers within the empire assembled in this grand hall to see him. All manners of stares, from the narrow inquisitive to the widened admiration to the raised questioning, gazed at him, studying him. He didn't cross through twenty years of strife and survival to shrink back from these looks. Oscar breezed his way deeper through the parted path between the masses.
The Swan Hall w...
2023-10-09 03:08:14 +0000 UTC
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Another day without nightmares of the shadowy woman welcomed him, another break of dawn welcoming him with the dim light seeping through the curtains. Refreshed, Oscar yawned deeply and stared out the window. It was a clear day as the two suns peeped over the horizon. However, he couldn't bring himself to be happy. The Summer Gala was tonight, and he had much to prepare for. As he groaned from the realization of today's tiring schedule, Arlen, the peachy and cheerful maid, wheeled a cart of s...
2023-10-07 01:50:22 +0000 UTC
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Oscar blinked in surprise. He did not expect to receive an apology from Serena, confused about why she made one now. There was no memory of her mistreating or hurting him in any way during their past. Perhaps he forgot. Frowning, Oscar delved deeper into his memories to find one but turned up empty. He asked her softly, comfortingly, "What do you have to be sorry for?"
Serena fidgeted around, rubbing her gloved hands together at the seams as if an itch was underneath. She nervously rubb...
2023-10-05 01:42:20 +0000 UTC
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A familiar chill surrounded Oscar. In the summertime, this extent of cold had no reason to exist. Snapping his eyes open, Oscar found himself paralyzed, not a single muscle responding to his commands. Unlike yesterday's incident, his mouth also failed him, clamped shut. Oscar muffled shouts through his shut lips, but every moment numbed him further like a disease spreading and entrenching itself in his head. At his side, the shadowy woman cast a deep shadow over him, looming by the bed.
2023-10-04 02:17:02 +0000 UTC
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Caires traced his finger in the empty air in smooth motions, a trail of burning golden Ein following behind. "My element is light and incompatible with your elemental spark. As Apprentice Exalts, we can learn different spells to become acquainted with the elements. However, once our elemental sparks awaken inside our cores, the focus is shifted to the attuned element." His index finger continued to make strokes and curves before Oscar until they coalesced into a single radiant word: Duality. ...
2023-10-03 00:47:48 +0000 UTC
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This time, the strange shadow in the dream never arrived since the first time it showed up. Oscar leaped from his bed and stretched his limbs, a daily necessity for his tall body. Opening the curtains and windows, he was greeted by the refreshing morning breeze and relaxed, inhaling the waking air. The sound of tiny wheels squeaked closer behind the doors. They swung open, and Eris, the cold-faced maid with blond streaks in her finely tied-back hair, strode inside, exuding well mannerisms in ...
2023-10-01 22:11:24 +0000 UTC
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Oscar couldn't comprehend the sudden request the old Dragnar Ancestor made. Marry into his family? Before him, the old Exalt had broad shoulders, the arms shown underneath the folds of his wide sleeves rippling with muscles as thick as someone's neck. Every single part of this man exuded power. His slanted, straight eyebrows rested atop his sharp pair of golden eyes, a dragon's stare. His silver hair was cut short while a well-trimmed beard and mustache surrounded his lips and chin. The Dragn...
2023-10-01 03:00:40 +0000 UTC
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'My head…' Oscar woke up the next morning, his forehead strained by wrinkles and veins. Cracking his back several times, he found no comfort, only a deepening sore in his spine. The bed he slept in was not the best. Qualitywise, the bed shone at the top of other beds, having silky sheets and fluffy pillows, the best meant for the higher class. However, nothing but stress came to him in his sleep, partly because the one who should have been beside him was not there, mostly due to th...
2023-09-30 02:35:21 +0000 UTC
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Resting atop an airship, Oscar meditated on the deck, feeling every tendril and mote of Ein streaming into his core. He popped open the cork from a vial and downed it in a single gulp, an iridescent glow pulsing from the pores of his skin, coating him in bright light. His core spun hungrily, devouring every bit of Ein at a fast pace, but not much progress could be seen in the stagnant core. Sighing depressingly with his shoulders slumping, Oscar quit meditating and opened his eyes to the sple...
2023-09-28 16:39:57 +0000 UTC
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"The capital? Dragonheart? Why me?" Oscar asked, growing more concerned about the reason. Remulus, the Pavilion Master, simply handed him the sealed envelope, holding it an inch away from his face. He accepted the envelope and gently undid the wax seal, plucking it whole and unbroken. The letter inside was soft, certainly made from the finest paper, indicating the invitation's high status and importance. Unfolding it to reveal the cursive handwriting on the letter, he read them out loud for h...
2023-09-27 01:34:48 +0000 UTC
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The sky was as clear blue as an ocean on a calm day. Not a single snowflake could be seen for the first time since he arrived in Frostveil City, only the bright two suns beaming down on the entirety of the city. Even the winds seemed to have died down, barely mustering a breeze that carried a faint warmth. Flying overhead, Oscar glanced down at Frostveil. Snow no longer blanketed the roofs and streets, swept and melted away by the ardent work of fellow Exalts. Great houses of timber and stone...
2023-09-26 03:58:30 +0000 UTC
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The moment Emily and the others saved him and Fred, Oscar was greeted by a host of blue warriors on the other side, hurried away in a rapid retreat. Despite the liberation of being rescued, his pulse still raced erratically, his concern fully on Fred's lifeless body. He couldn't calm down. Emily carried Fred's burned, cut, and bloodied figure on her back, where Oscar caught sight of Fred's blank eyes twitching. There still remained a chance to save Fred.
"Incoming!" Uren shouted.
...
2023-09-25 22:34:07 +0000 UTC
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Oscar breathed heavily, his lungs strained to partake in any fresh air, but the stench of the battlefield choked the air, nauseous fumes from blood, fire, and death. A fast spear thrust and plunged directly onto his shield. In a smooth motion, he deflected the spear, finding his arm to be numb and shaky. The battle against the Lower Marshal Golem and the limits of his Guise fast approaching had done their work to drain him.
Staring at Erden, he saw his beast friend faring no better, bar...
2023-09-23 01:50:23 +0000 UTC
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Light from an unknown source bathed the Imperial Jewel, giving it a holy and divine appearance as the glimmers and sparks shone like stars along its smooth surface. Oscar was still speechless, staring at the Imperial Jewel. Of all places, the essential component for Greater Marshal Exalts to ascend to the ranks of Kings was stored here, resting within a small, unassuming realm. He reached out with the utmost care, the sort of care a bird would show its newborn chick, and retrieved the Imperia...
2023-09-20 20:03:08 +0000 UTC
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Oscar gulped down another grade-three healing elixir and frowned at the slow progress of his healing wounds. The Ein of a higher realm seeped in like poison, keeping the injuries fresh and open, blood still dripping out of his exposed chest. He took out a simple salve and rubbed it on the injuries on his arms, legs, and chest. Taking out a fresh roll of bandages, he tightly wrapped the white cloth, which was already turning red, many times over until the red of the blood no longer dyed the ba...
2023-09-19 03:13:06 +0000 UTC
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Oscar exclaimed at the tall golem clad in black armor and raised his shield close into a defensive stance. The Lower Marshal Golem pounded its polearm to the floor, stomped its feet, and let out a slow mechanical groan, gears grinding inside the thick armor. The red-glass eyes rolled around asymmetrically like a lizard until they snapped forward, locking onto Oscar and meeting his gaze. From that one gaze, the weight of several mountains pushed on his shoulders, his spine creaking under the p...
2023-09-18 22:05:33 +0000 UTC
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After freeing Brigg, Oscar freed the rest of the imprisoned Frostwind members. Easily, he undid the icy bindings, shattering them into pieces clattering on the frozen floor. Cracking their necks and stretching their limbs, the Frostwinds all rose to their feet, their height towering over all except Oscar, and smiled beneath their overgrown beards, chortling in rough grunts. Susan waved her staff anima, sending forth a tide of cleansing water. The dark, dried blood along their wrists and ankle...
2023-09-18 16:47:31 +0000 UTC
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His Black Aegis Order stood behind him. Fred and Emily fought by his side. Oscar spearheaded the charge into the enemy, mounting Erden and trampling them under gold and fire. Compared to his Black Aegis Order, the enemy was scattered and stumbling around, not a semblance of organization in their movements. Raising his shield, Oscar released a warcry and rammed his armament into a Knight Exalt, squashing them into a pulp with Shattering Wave.
Up above, through the open ceiling, he could ...
2023-09-17 23:39:50 +0000 UTC
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Long ago in Ashen Grove, Oscar stuck a knife under a slab of meat sizzling on a flat stone over a roaring fire and lifted it off the heated rock onto a clean bark, good replacements for plates. Hungry, he drooled, bit down on the tasty morsel, then immediately pulled his mouth away. His tongue squirmed around in burning agony. Putting his plate away, Oscar downed a cup of juice, soothing his scorched mouth.
"Can I continue?" Gol-4 laughed mechanically, strange buzzes and hums in beats. ...
2023-09-15 18:14:55 +0000 UTC
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Inside a naturally formed cavern, multiple bright flames flickered and swayed, their light fluttering along the grooves of the old stone walls, intertwining with the formless shadows stretching from everyone's figures. A pot rested above one of the small flames, the lid clattering a ruckus as steams and whistles blew out of the gaps. Oscar held the pot by the handle and poured some tea to drink, closing his eyes to smell the calming tea, soothing warmth and aroma welling up his senses. Carefu...
2023-09-14 19:09:59 +0000 UTC
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"The airship to Farandale is departing! All aboard!" A luxurious airship hovered, attached to the sky dock by tightly bound ropes. People streamed onto the bridge and entered past the rows of guards in bright-white armor, some hunching nervously underneath the intensity of the soldiers's stares.
Walking quietly with the crowd, Avril, covered in a hood and cloak, arrived at the entrance and showed her pass to the two guards flanking her sides. They moved aside for her to enter, and she s...
2023-09-12 21:21:31 +0000 UTC
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After the shout called out against him, the surrounding space began to suppress him, a titanic grip clenching every inch of his body and squeezing with blatant hostility. No doubt a Marshal Exalt had intervened and sought his life. Despite their best efforts, Oscar and Erden struggled and could not free themselves from the soul-crushing grasp, choking for air. Whoever the Marshal Exalt was, they surpassed Maia's inexperienced powers.
Then, a counterforce repelled the oppression, allowin...
2023-09-12 00:53:53 +0000 UTC
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