tobiasbegley

Mana Mirror: Chapter Sixty-Two

I thought about the old man's words as we completed our walk around the garden, then I left Ed and Liz to have some private time. I collected Dusk, who bubbled sleepily at me, and began the walk home.

Not so long ago, I would have been afraid to do that. But now I was confident that even against a spellbinder, I'd be able to overcharge my spells long enough to get away or retreat into Dusk.

Should I go to a mentalist doctor? I'd battled against dark thoughts while I tried to figur...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Sixty-One

Ed was picking through the fridge when I got home, but froze when he saw me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I gave him a shortened version of events, and by the end, my eyes were wet, and I wiped at them.

I hated angry crying. It was always the worst feeling, being so upset that there was nothing you could do but cry.

It was always worse when it happened when arguing with people. They often assumed that I was apologetic, or that I was less firm in my convictions, when...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Sixty

Good news, everyone! Three chapters this week!

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I wasn’t the best at sitting still and doing nothing, but I did like books. Surely working on the book sorting couldn’t be too bad, right?

And besides, it paid really, really well.

I tapped the paper.

“This one, it’ll let me knock out most of the things I need for my staff all at once.”

Alvaro nodded and led me to the back rooms – not the astral plane, but the act...

Mission Vote

Mana Mirror: Chapter Fifty-Nine

For those of you who aren't on my discord, I just wanted to let you know that the audible release of book 2 of Journals of Evander Tailor is now out!

Audible Link: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0CFSMK2HQ/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-363461&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_363461_rh_us

2023-08-18 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post

Knowledge King Vote

I mean, I feel like this is gonna be a landslide, but I felt the vote would be nessecary.

Also - yes, the Knowledge King and Meadow did collab to get the double slap combo down. 

Mana Mirror: Chapter Fifty-Eight

I washed up and headed to the library – it was closest anyways, and since I needed to turn in my report on the spell soon anyways, I had plenty of reason to head there.

I scooped Dusk off of the stones where she was sitting and picked up my broom from my room. Dusk looked at it and let out a questioning peep.

My head turned to stare at her. That… had sounded like a bird. She let out another series of three peeps, telling me she’d eaten some sparrows.

I didn’t bother ...

Where to get the mana source?

As a recap, these were some suggested sources of death mana for Malachi:

Kene - Finding something in the forest, since they often have old bones or dead trees, both of which could fall in the needed range.

Alvaro - Books are made of dead paper, so they tend to accumulate death energy, which means that libraries tend to have a surprisingly high number of death magic sources

Ivy - Marshdrops are a semi-common source of death mana that can be found in and around swamps.

Mana Mirror: Chapter Fifty-Seven

The following morning, Ikki appeared a minute before the normal time. I frowned – that had never happened before. He was always immaculately precise.

“What’s going on?” I asked. Next to me, Dusk made a curious cheep. Ikki shot her a strange look before suddenly doubling over.

"I have been instructed to give you an offer. Do not take it," Ikki said, his voice warbling as if he was speaking through thick mud.

"Okay..?" I said, my mind whirling. Meadow had said I'd be g...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Fifty-Six

By the time we arrived home, we’d decided that it’d be best to just describe Dusk as a small folk spirit that I’d picked up and would take care of. It was… Mostly true, after all, and easier than going into the details.

I didn’t always agree with Ed on every decision, but I couldn’t deny – he was a good big brother for sure.

But when we entered the kitchen to meet Dad, I paused, my step stuttering. Dusk let out her rustling-leaves sound of curiosity, and Ed bumped in...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Fifty-Five

Don't expect Monday chapters to become a normal thing, but this is an instance where the chapters I did have ran so long that I split them up into three chapters, so the vote can be Friday as per normal. Soooo.... Monday chapter this week, at least!
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I hummed and hawed for a moment, rolling the seed between my fingers uncertainly.

On one hand, I was a mage first and foremost, so taking it into my spirit would be undeniably useful.

On the other hand, enha...

Totally random poll

Someone on my Discord asked for the recipes that Meadow uses, and I thought it could be cool to do something like that. I love to cook, and I've been cooking since I was probably too young to be left alone in the kitchen, which is part of why the food descriptions in my book get a lot of page time.

NOW! THIS WOULD BE A LONG, LONG TERM PROJECT. I'm already working on The Abjurer and Mana Mirror, I don't need a third project, lol. But it's something I wanted to see if there was any inter...

Lushloam Seed Use

I, uh... May have hit publish by accident. So, I guess the chapter's up early?

Mana Mirror: Chapter Fifty-Four

Edit: I accidentally published this now, rather than scheduling it for the morning, so, uh... Chapter's up early, IG.

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“We need you to get rid of the monster!” she declared. “We don’t care how you do it, just so long as you do.”

“What is it?” I asked. “I’ll do my best to.”

“It’s a big ol’ cat creature,” the pixie said. “It can see in the dark, and it seems to eat everything – rabbits, birds, ...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Fifty-Three

“I… Don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. “I wasn’t expecting this, though in all honesty, I probably should have been.”

“That’s understandable,” she said, nodding sympathetically. “You have a bit of time. Not as much as I’d like, but a bit.”

“Alright…”

“Let’s eat,” she said, clapping softly as she began to carry plates to the table. Ed joined us, presumably awoken by the smell of breakfast cooking.

The dish was good. The flatbread...

Voice Reveal (Rolling to decide the winner)

Now, I'll note - this was CLOSE. So close that it was, quite litterally, decided by a toss of the die. 

And that's gonna be reflected in the way this plays out. Orykson's also not going to go away altogether either, so don't worry about that.

The biggest thing I saw on Orykson's side of the argument, apart from resources, is that Malachi doesn't have a reason to abandon Orykson. We the reader know that Orykson's not great, but Malachi doesn't. This will also factor into the p...

Directionality (Major Poll)

As I'm sure you can guess, Wednesday's chapter meant that a LOT got shaken up for Orykson. One of the things that they discussed was that each faction would be given the opportunity to poach Orykson's newest student, and Orykson couldn't retaliate. 

Mana Mirror: Chapter Fifty-Two

“I’ll take it,” I said. Alvaro pushed a pen towards me, and I began to work though the paperwork and sign off. I made sure to read each line carefully, and it was in more plain language than most of the legal documents that I’d read in my life.

“Excellent!” Alvaro said when I finished, then he handed me the spell.

The spell’s structure was… Strange. It was utterly foreign to me in a way I wasn’t sure I was able to describe. The pain relief spell that Meadow had s...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Fifty-One

As Aerde, the Knowledge Elemental that Orykson had bound when he’d advanced to spellbinder, broke down everything that his heir project had done, he found himself… dissatisfied.

Not with the boy’s growth. That was good. Admirable, even. The infuriating woman, Meadow, may be slowing him down in the short term with her prattling about efficiencies, but even he couldn’t deny that he would have eventually done the same – he simply would have waited until the boy had broken into th...

Hand Reveal (Rolling for the spell)

There's technically 2 hours left, but the poll was so OVERWHELMINGLY in favor of yes that I just... Went with it.

Experimental Spells?

Now, one trope of the genre is that they get an experimental thing, and it's god-tier. It works perfectly, maybe has one or two flaws, but it lets them outstrip others around them.

This won't be that. Probably.

I've got a table of results, and I'm going to roll randomly to determine just how effective the spell is. I've attached this table so you know the odds, if you're a fan of that.

Mana Mirror: Chapter Fifty

Woooot! Fifty chapters!!!

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“Hey. I didn’t think you’d be here today? I’m supposed to be paying off my mana debt.”

“There’s a lot more than just mana I can train you in, young man,” Meadow said. She said it sternly, but there was a crinkle in the corner of her eyes that indicated she was joking.

“Yes ma’am,” I said, chuckling.

“Besides, I want to help Ed anyways,” she continued. “And this was always go...

Lledrith's Admission Test

This is a short story that wound up being longer than I expected. It's set around the same time as Mana Mirror. CW for domestic abuse and foul language - this one wound up being grungier than I expected

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The Tower-City of a Thousand Worlds was a majestic masterwork of magecraft.

Built by the Spatial King and her retinue over the course of ten years, with trillions of silver poured into the project, and assistance from legendary figures like The Living Wall...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Forty-Nine

“Do you have a growth item?” I asked as I looked over the table.

“No, the magic for building growth items wasn’t developed when I was beginning my journey,” he said. “I have the bonds I formed at Spellbinder, but that is all.”

“I see…”

I looked over all of them seriously. The Argos Milia eye was undeniably an excellent choice, and it wouldn’t take resources to upgrade. But the fact that it took nearly twenty percent of my total mana was too much for me ...

Major Reward

This is another big vote. Given that one of these will jump him to the peak of first gate, and the others are all growth items that will be with him for a long time, I'm super interested to see how this goes!

Edit: For clarity, since I had someone ask on discord, the wand doesn't need to match his mana types

Mana Mirror: Chapter Forty-Eight

I popped open a Mana Shock and sat down on the couch to sketch out the Analyze Space spell. A half a dozen sketches later, and I felt something crack deep in my spirit, the familiar, near-painful stretching of my spirit as the spell broke free and into the air of the mana-garden.

This time, however, it was different. There was a depth, a strange growing downwards as well as upwards. A moment later, I was able to place it.

Ingraining.

Between the sensory potion, Orykson porta...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Forty-Seven

Hey everyone! I'm releasing this chapter and the next one a bit early this week due to some scheduling stuff. This also means that you get some more time to stew on that big choice at the end, which is fun!
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The following morning, Meadow arrived bright and early as early, and woke Ed up as well. Once we were out in the backyard, she eyed me and smiled.

“I see you’ve managed to master Briarthreads, I assume through riving the spell. If you don’t mind, wha...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Forty-Six

No major vote this week, but next week's choice is a DOOZY! The kind of thing that will help shape the future of Malachi's growth!

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I let out a long sigh and told her the story as we released the slipshark, and when I told her about Mallory punching the poor creature, she visibly winced.

“There’s a reason that we primarily kept Qwin on defense. If Mallory gets hurt…” Diana trailed off, then she shook her head. “She’s ...

The Amethyst Mask

This is set roughly 20 years before the events of Mana Mirror

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An old woman sat by the fire, gently stoking the fire, when the stranger walked into their camp.

He was tall, nearly seven feet, with long limbs. He wore a ragged travel cloak and walking stick, a spatial storage pack slung over one shoulder, and his white hair stood out starkly against him and the darkness.

For a moment, when the firelight sparked up and caught...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Forty-Five

TW: Brief (and punished), but still there bits of animal cruelty.

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Mallory seized the edge of the barrier and leapt over it, landing next to me.

“Come on, kid,” she said as she started sprinting down the road, following the quickly moving shark creature.

I started to say that I wasn’t a kid, but I realized that might make me sound even more like a kid. In the end, I shut my mouth and started sprinting…

And examining Mall...