Epsilon Twilight

18. Dweller

“Seeds, missus? Ya’ fancin’ a farm?” The farmer turned vendor inquired.

“Not quite, more gardening than farming. Though I intend to grow my food.”

“Hmm, ya’ have ya’ own lands or are we talkin’ about a fancy garden?”

“An in-between?” Aloe shrugged. “I do have a ‘fancy garden’ but also some rather expansive lands. Not crop field-sized, but certainly enough to feed a single person.”

“I see.” The old man scratched his beard. “Winter...

17. Seeds

The rest of the feast had been quite enjoyable. Even though Aloe didn’t have the best of relations with Mirah, she couldn’t deny how much of an excellent cook she was. No one in her household actually cooked. Since Aloe could remember, her parents had been always too occupied at work and would usually eat in the court.

Before her father’s death, when the family still overflowed in riches, they had contracted a maid to babysit Aloe, clean the house, and do the meals. After that tho...

16. Dinner

“I’m still angry that you didn’t wake me up before.” Shahrazad pouted as she and Aloe walked down the bazaar.”

“You needed to sleep more, Mom,” Aloe said. “If you are going to go to work tomorrow, being a moving corpse won’t do you any good.”

“I guess you are right.” The old woman sighed. “I’m letting this affect me too much.”

“You are not letting anything affect you, this is normal, you’ve just lost your father.” Aloe was brimming with an...

15. Office

Aloe blinked, steam occluding her sight. A grumble had awakened her. Her head was dizzy, and it took her a monumental effort to make coherent thoughts. She looked down at her body, her hands extremely wrinkly by the water. Her stomach grumbled once more in protest.

That snapped her out of her trance.

“How much time have I spent in the pool!” Aloe jumped out, her body splashing water everywhere as she stood up.

She blushed once she became aware she had shouted, but as she...

14. Bath

“You both certainly sprout from the same plant,” Jafar commented as he and Aloe left the apothecary.

“You offend me, Jafar.” Aloe led her hand to her chest in faux offense. “I am nothing like that geezer apothecary.”

“I can still hear you!” Umar shouted from the interior of the shop. “Damn you both!”

Jafar and Aloe laughed at the old man’s curses as they rushed into the streets. Somehow, the farther they got away, the louder they got until they eventual...

13. Cannabis

“You are either courageous or stupid by showing me cannabis seeds in the presence of an officer of the law,” Umar stated with a deadpan.

Aloe blushed.

Cannabis itself wasn’t illegal, seeds even less so. But there was a strict control on hashish. She eyed Uncle Jafar from the corner of her eye without turning her head away from the apothecary.

“Ha!” The old man laughed, hitting the counter with his fist. “Gotta give it to you, girl. You have balls of steel. Or I g...

12. Apothecary

“Sister Aloe!” The small child rushed towards Aloe in a mad sprint and then enveloped her in a hug. Though small child wasn’t exactly the right term as Aya was only a head shorter than Aloe.

What’s with hugs in this family? Aloe pondered as the overenthusiastic girl constricted her in a snake embrace. Thankfully, the youngster didn’t possess the strength of her parents. Yet.

“Hello, little Aya!” Aloe forced a smile as she patted Aya’s head. That g...

Cultivating Plants online!

Reminder to give some love to the story on Royal Road!

Here's the link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/71442/cultivating-plants

And I'll also publish another chapter later today to keep that 10 chapter promise.

11. Morning

“Good morning, world!” Aloe yawned, stretching her arms far up as she woke up. She looked next to her; her grandfather’s journal was opened at the side of the bed. “Damn, I was knocked cold.”

Aloe stepped out of her bed, the tiled floor feeling cold to the touch. She wasn’t against it, though. The lingering coldness of the night sent shivers down her spine, but she appreciated the refresher. Even if it was early in the morning and she was only covered by very thin blankets a...

10. Soup

Aloe’s house was dark, with only a vague luminance coming from the kitchen. She pushed the wood strip curtains that worked as a door and entered the kitchen to see her mother eating a bowl of soup.

“Oh, Aloe. You are back.” Shahrazad said a bit absentmindedly. “I didn’t hear you enter.”

“I just arrived at the city.” Aloe sighed and left the backpack on the ground, promptly seating on a kitchen stool. “It’s comfortable to see that you have enough strength to mak...

New Story

Technically, today Cultivating Plants should come online in Royal Road, when that happens, I'll publish two more chapters to Patreon so there's a 10 chapter lead between the sites.

Also, please read and rate the story! The Arcane Soul didn't find much success, but I want this one to reach Rising Stars!

Love,

-Epsilon Twilight

9. Sadina

The city of Sadina may not exactly be the biggest, especially by the capital standards, but it was more beautiful than any other city in Ydaz. The orange glow of twilight only gave it a more mystical tinge.

From her elevated position in a sizeable dune, Aloe could peer into the skyline of the city. Most rooftops were flat and lackluster, yet they compensated for that with beautifully sculptured details. Other buildings possessing more riches, like banks, sites of adoration, or schools h...

8. Departure

“I hope this doesn’t knock me out.” Aloe prayed as she sipped from her mug, trying the ter’nar tea for the first time. “Woah...”

She instantly comprehended what her grandfather had said about feeling his head clouded but faster. It was difficult to focus on a single thought, her head wandered around, as her body did. She didn’t trust herself to not fall onto the oasis, so she sat down and took another sip.

It certainly was the strangest tea Aloe had ever tasted. Some...

7. Ter’nar

“Not a single nince-damned sofa on this house!” Aloe protested as her body dropped on the chair next to the desk. “How in tarnation do you buy tens of iron tools but not a single sofa!”

The satisfaction from her cleaning job had totally and utterly disappeared, only exhaustion and anger remaining. She had messed up the boiling again, making her do more rounds. Her waterskin was empty as she had been left incredibly thirsty after all the exertion in the greenhouse.

The wood...

6. Cleaning

Before going back to the greenhouse, Aloe made a new mask with more dried jasmine flowers. She ended up emptying the jar as there weren’t many left. Instead of slightly pouring water, she dived the whole cloth into the oasis this time.

“Hopefully this mask will hold for a longer time.” She said before placing it on her nose.

The jasmine-scent mask was damp, and while it was uncomfortable to the touch, this way the stench wouldn’t affect her as much as before.

Maybe i...

5. Greenhouse

Considering Aloe had traveled kilometers into the desert just to visit the greenhouse, it was a bit awkward that it took her half a day before stepping foot in. Her late grandfather’s property was composed of three structures. A modest three-room house, a greenhouse, and an outside latrine. She could only be thankful for the latter being far away from the house.

The most important and remarkable of the buildings was the greenhouse, of course. And it was far bigger than the house itsel...

4. Oasis

This was, without a shed of doubt, the worst morning Aloe had experienced in her life. She woke up dehydrated and soaked at the same time, and when she stood up she almost fell back to the bed as her head spun around.

With some difficulty, Aloe reached for the waterskin in her backpack and took some hearty gulps. Hearty meaning the whole contents.

She groaned as not a single drop of water came from the waterskin. It wasn’t enough. At least now she didn’t feel like she was goin...

3. Night

Name: Aloe Ayad

Species: Human

Description: Female member of the human species, a species known for their ingenuity, high adaptive capabilities, and societal structure.

Even after reading it for a second time, Aloe still doubted what her eyes were showing her. The parchment read with pristine clarity; a calligraphy so perfect that it seemed impossible. The ink spots that formed the words had stopped moving by now, but Aloe s...

2. Veritas

The cover of the diary was made of thick leather, even if the book itself was pretty slim. Aloe caressed the engraving of the title with her fingers. She didn’t remember many things about her grandfather, but she recalled the man having very distinctive handwriting. Whilst Asayn had floral calligraphy, Karaim wrote the letters with thick straight lines. The title ‘Cultivation Technique’ was also written in that manner.

It was late, the sun had already set by now and she w...

1. Aloe

Sunlight purified the dunes.

The scorching desert sun loomed over Aloe’s back. Every step against the shifting sands was hard-fought, her boots sliding into the ground with every wrong movement, no matter how slight it may be.

Traveling the dunes was a skill few people had, and Aloe wasn’t one of them. She had more than enough water and food in her backpack just in case, and her garb covered every inch of her skin so as to not let the sun rob her stamina away, but even then, s...

Endings and Beginnings

As of today, The Arcane Soul is officially over. The last addendum was a bit short, so I'll also publish the first chapter of my next story, Cultivating Plants. It shares some similarities with The Arcane Soul as both occur in a fantastical world, both have differentiated magic systems, and the main characters are sort of healers.

Here's the synopsis: 

Aloe was a simple city girl who lived with her mother, but that changed when her grandfather died. She now finds her...

2023-07-04 11:29:56 +0000 UTC View Post

Addendum: Record

As part of my undertaking to complete the Records, today I’m doing a close analysis of Caelestaya (that’s what the native humans call the planet), the homeworld of the latest Incarnation, Soul.

Unlike most worlds, Caelestaya suffers from constant pressure on the reality buffer. Too many Aligned and powerful entities alive at one point in such limited space caps the number of strong individuals there can be in a given time. In this case, Caelestaya’s lesser Incarnation bandwidth is...

Addendum: The Time that Never Was

Upon the infinite vastness of space and my inevitable death, I began recalling my pathetic life. Even in my last moments, I still only thought of revenge.

It started with my death and exile, the betrayer that promised me peace and freedom yet threw me away on another planet. My new life instantly began in a new land of fantasy and magic, yet my mind was only filled with hatred.

After everything I had worked for, after all the blood I had shed, he just disposed of me like a tool! 2023-06-30 14:24:09 +0000 UTC View Post

99. End of Isolation

Salayah’s first travel by ship had been a horrendous experience. She had been trained as a diplomat since she was a whelp, but her travels had been mostly limited by land or air, never sea. Normally other nations came to the Imperium, not the other way around. But this occasion wasn’t like the others.

One week ago, the barrier surrounding the nation of the Ferilyn Meritocracy had fallen.

Her father and Caius’ scouts placed around the island were the first ones to notify the ...

Ending In Sight

Only three chapters remain of The Arcane Soul: a lengthy epilogue and two addendums that explain some of the plot holes/knowledge that readers lack.

The last addendum is like an in-universe explanation of magic and lore, so if you have any questions, please comment them here so I can weave them into the chapter to give the most complete experience.

PD: I have started writing a new story, when I publish the last addendum, I'll put the first chapters here on Patreon.

98. Of Magic and Soul III

On top of the Arcane Sanctum, a squadron of powerful mages looked down upon us.

“YOU DARE INTERRUPT OUR DUEL, SERGEANT MAJOR?” The violent screams of En’yen felt as if he had lost his senses and devolved into a beast, even if his words were coherent. An aura of wrongness gathered around him, thin veils of blue.

“Look what are you doing to the city, High Arcanist!” Amira Kalyd replicated, her voice reaching us hundreds of meters away with the help of some spells. “You a...

98. Of Magic and Soul II

“No!” I cried as the pink smoke cleared, only leaving two charred bodies behind.

I looked at the High Arcanist’s visage. Pure stoicism.

I read his soul. Indifference.

There was a clear difference between declaring a war that may end the lives of thousands and directly decimating civilian bystanders with your own hands.

The damned civilians you rule over!

“You fucker!” I rushed En’yen Yagul with an intent to kill I had only felt when that hemomancer ha...

98. Of Magic and Soul I

En’yen Yagul, the High Arcanist of Ferilyn, could finally rest. The Command Sergeant Major of Lan’el had engaged in a tedious and prolonged battle against him for hours without end. The prowess of the soldier was to be admired, lasting for hours with very limited mana.

Alas, there are walls too high to surpass. And the difference between the eleventh and twelfth star was one of those.

He decided to spare the electromancer’s life, even if the soldier was rebellious, an eleven...

97. Of Arcane and Soul III

The rush of power was nearly maddening. I was wholly aware that affinity tiers didn’t scale linearly, but... I couldn’t expect such power from just a zero-point-one percent affinity difference.

I commanded my soul-tendrils to attack the High Arcanist. They were far more than before, faster and meaner, but the twelve-star mage reacted fast. En’yen laid an eleven-star barrier, blocking the attacks coming from all directions. No matter my newfound affinity, I was still unable to pene...

97. Of Arcane and Soul II

My body jerked into life as the blood splattered on the ground and flowed back into my head, chunks of flesh and bones being magically attracted to my body. Even before my brain had reconstructed, my body already was standing up.

En’yen turned back hastily in surprise, unsure of what was he looking at. A macabre display of gore and death. But above all else, impossible.

The High Arcanist silently observed me, still like his Violet Sky, as I ended up resurrecting.

Alatea’...