tobiasbegley

Some options for a cover!

Hey y'all! I just wanted to show some different typographies I've got that I liked, and I'd love some input!

Art of a Sea Estragon and a Slipshark

Fun fact: Slipsharks, low level magical creatures that have a mana composite of Physical, Lunar, with tinges of Life, Tempest, and other smaller aspects, are NOT my creations!

They come from Travis M. Riddle's Jekua series, which is great for fans of pokemon and monster taming. He was gracious enough to let me include them, cuz I love the lil buggers! 

Here's a link to his books: 2023-06-30 12:02:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Who helps Malachi?

Mana Mirror: Chapter Forty-Four

When we landed in zone three, the woman who was in charge of that zone had us put our brooms down in a designated charging spot, designated Ed our supervisor, since he was a Spellbinder, then sent us down to the shore.

As we trudged to our positions, I passed by all sorts of interesting people. I wasn’t the only one in a suit, and there was a woman with red and gold tattoos, a man with a large snake-bird creature on a shoulder, a fellow with a bright red beard that had gemstones woven...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Forty-Three

True to Orykson’s word, he didn’t appear on Liday, leaving me with an extra day off. I sketched out my Internal Pocketwatch spell, then used the same trick that Meadow had suggested I used when I was working on mastering the Analyze Life and Death spells, converting all of my mana from my other gates into temporal and continuing to sketch.

I felt myself edging up on the border of the mastery, so I headed outside and drained some extra mana from my Emperor Tree. To my surprise, I got...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Forty-Two

[Insert obligatory Hitchhiker's Guide refrence here] 

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“Briarthreads,” I said. “It synergizes well with my existing powers and items, and I’m not afraid of getting my hands dirty.”

Summoning still did sound good, though… Maybe once I was third gate, I could pick up a summoning spell to pair with my plant magic. Was there a spell to summon plant monsters? It was worth looking into.

Meadow smiled and nodded.

“I think that was a ...

Major Moving Forwards Update

So, as some of you may know, I currently have two family members in the hospital, both sedated. I've gone to visit some family, leaving me with some time off work. Given they're sedated, I haven't been able to do much but sit and look at the wall, read, and write. As such, I'll actually be delivering a chapter tomorrow.

Something else I've done in this time is research and look at some of the other successful patreons that RoyalRoad users have had, and I've come to realize that my pat...

Future Growth

So! Starting next week (The 26th), I am officially pledging that I am going to do my best to upload two chapters every week.

Now, why would this need a poll?

Simple! I'd love to find out which 

Paths of Life Magic

Now, as Meadow said multiple times in this, this is not the end all, be all of choices, but it is important. The path that you all pick will have a big impact on his abilities, and synergy with other spells going forwards.

In case you all were curious, Orykson has a huge variety of healing and other flesh-altering spells, with some supplemental transformation and summoning.

Meadow is a Plant focus, with secondary healing.

Mana Mirror: Chapter Forty-One

This chapter is a bit short, but it's got a pretty big choice at the end, so I didn't want to skim over that.

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The scenery around us shifted and blurred, and then we were in my mana-garden. She led us into my death gate, and to the nearly dead, skeletally white tree that was my Analyze Death spell. It had several huge branches, and many, many small ones, though they seemed to be mainly concentrated around the left side of the tree.

“What�...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Forty

Meadow arrived bright and early the following morning, and when I opened the door to greet her, she frowned and leaned on her weathered old walking stick.

“I see you’ve had your first training accident,” she said.

I nodded and explained what I’d done the night before. She listened calmly, then clucked her tongue.

“Well, it could have been much worse. Let’s get you started with a nice cup of chai, and then we’ll see about your lessons for the day.”

“Ok...

Chaos? Yes or No

Basically, I'm hella hyped for the next two chapters, since it's one of the biggest choices in the book so far. Should I 

Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty Nine

I clacked my tongue in thought as I stared at the contract. The extra cash in hand was appealing, but it didn’t hold a candle to the other two options. The real money – literally – would be in the potions or the profit percentage.

In the end, there were three factors that swayed my choice. First, the draconic potion was going to be the kind of absurdly rare item that I’d probably not encounter again, unless I spent a fair amount of time around Ivy – enough to get his dad to ma...

What Choice Will Malachi Take?

This is a fairly important decision, all things considered. It's not 100% critical to the entire future of everything, but it's definitely the kind of thing that will heavily influence his short term development. So, with that being said...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty Eight

“Do you think the terragon presents a threat to my business?” he asked as soon as we sat down, sounding more concerned than he’d been for his own safety.

I reminded myself that now that my supposed fight with Ivy was done, I needed to act nicer. The carrot, and the stick.

“Do you have any advice on dealing with the foul creature?” Davies asked.

“It’s not a foul creature,” I said, allowing some irritation to leak in.

Oops.

“Regardless, terragon a...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty Seven

My breath caught as I ran my eyes over him one more time. A few patches of green that I’d thought were leaves… Weren’t.

Oh, sure, he still had ivy and other plants trailing through his hair and draping over his skin in a few places. But behind his ears, and in the center of his chest, some of what I’d mistaken for leaves?

Were scales.

Hurriedly, I ran my mana senses over him. It was a bit rude, but I had to confirm if what I was thinking was true or not. Oddly, the m...

Character Spotlight: Forest Boi

Since his name has yet to be revealed, I went with Forest Boi. Any gues as to what he is?

Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty Six

The following morning, I packed things in my new storage briefcase, hung it from my broom with some sturdy cord, and flew off towards the manor. This flight was longer than the one to visit Kene, and also… Boring.

It was very pretty, especially at first. Trollstone Forest’s bright greens and shadowed blues contrasted with the reds and yellows of the rising sun, and the layer of dew over everything cast an iridescent sheen over the world that vaguely reminded me of the peacepyre.

Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty Five

I wanted a deeper connection with the library, and I wanted a communication mirror.

That being said, a lot of my problems right now did come down to cash, or at least a fair few of them did. Based on comments Kene and Orykson had made, I thought a few more advancement resources would be useful, but no more than that.

But… I liked money.

That felt so greedy to think about, but it wasn’t like I was going to be some monster and take advantage of others. I didn’t need Oryk...

Which Mission?

Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty Four

Kene had finished up with the customer, and they were now standing in the laboratory at the bottom of the stairs, sorting out the plants that we’d harvested. He’d put my Pointer Moss in one corner, and had laid leaves out to dry as he crushed up some root in his mortar and pestle. There was a fragrant, clean scent, almost citrusy in the air as he did, and he grinned when he saw me.

“What?” I asked self-consciously.

“Nothing, you just look cute,” they said. I felt my ne...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty Three

We spent at least half an hour combing through the nearby woods, looking for the troll’s cave, when Kene stopped. They turned and looked at me, then nodded to a mossy boulder leaning against a rock face. The moss had coated the rock on all three of the sides I could see, though I couldn’t check where it leaned against other rock.

“Can you cast Analyze Space?” they asked.

“Sure,” I said, sketching out the spell and trickling mana into it. Instantly, the tapestry of spac...

Kene (New Hair!)

This was done by Niponico (https://twitter.com/Niponico03).

I also have a speed paint video of it, if you all want to see!

An (Overdue) Update (And Questions)

Hey everyone! It's been a second since my last update. Life has been VERY crazy for me, but I've finally left one of my jobs, and am settling into something of a routine.

If y'all recall, I was stuck on The Abjurer at about 25k for a while, but in the last two weeks, I've managed to get it up to 39k! I must say, I'm pretty dang happy! The gears are really rolling there

Mana Mirror has been running smoothly, especially since I've gotten my laptop back up, and so I wanted to ask y...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty Two

“We fight,” I said, my voice a little bit shakier than I would have liked. I had to fight, or at least try to fight. Kene had taken me along to defend him from threats like this, after all. If I ran away at the first sight of danger, how would that make me look?

Besides, if it went horribly, I could always run anyways.

Well, unless I was dead, but if the troll was so strong that it could kill me before I even got a chance to realize I was outmatched, I wasn’t going to be abl...

Fight or Flee?

Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty One

I entered the door to his apothecary, the doorbell jingling. 

“We’re closed, is it an emergency?” Kene said. His voice was muffled, coming from the back of the shop. 

“Yes, such a dire emergency,” I said, letting my tone drip with sarcasm. “A super powerful crazy old woman ordered me to meet you, and she’s going to crush my soul if I don’t.” 

Kene stepped into the doorway and waved his hand, turning on the shop’s runelights. I stared at ...

Random Question

There were a few places that Orykson brought Malachi to in order to expose him to. Which description caught your eye most? 

This is a poll for fun and curiosity, it won't have an impact on Malachi's growth, so no worries!

Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty

I spent the rest of the day on a short mission for the Wyldwatch. It didn’t net me anything of interest, but I wasn’t going to object to having a bit of extra silver in the bank. The following morning, Orykson arrived to teach me spatial magic. Much like Ikki, he arrived at exactly eight in the morning. 

Unlike Ikki, however, he didn’t bother to use the door. He merely appeared before me and began speaking immediately. 

“Goo–”

I let out a very deep, ...

Mana Mirror: Chapter Twenty Nine

My computer is de-broke-ified! Have two chapters of celebratory content!
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The following morning, I had my first meeting with Ikki when he knocked on the door at precisely eight in the morning. I’d finished breakfast by then, and was just aimlessly milling about. I didn’t want to burn my mana on practicing spells, since I had no idea if I’d need any for Ikki’s training. 

I opened the door and glanced Ikki up and down. He was slightly taller than...