The crying of the neighborhood's rooster awakens me from my slumber. I swear to the Gods, one day I will turn that animal into soup, and then…
"Wait. That's not important," I say as I sit up in my bed with a lurch.
The light of the early morning shines through the single window of the small room, lacking any drapes or other luxuries. The air is a bit chilly and smells like earth and smoke. I could recognize this place any day of the week: it's the cheap room I rented while I was...
2024-05-07 09:11:42 +0000 UTC
View Post
"You know, this might be a stupid question, but how do you eat?" I ask the first thing that comes to mind, and even though his expression doesn't change, I can practically feel the disparaging emotions in the Demon King's eyes. Ignoring them, I touch my own cheeks for reference. "I mean, you don't have anything covering your mouth. Doesn't everything just fall out when you chew?"
"… Is this truly the first thing you wish to ask of me?"
Despite his brutish and terrifying appearan...
2024-05-06 12:10:31 +0000 UTC
View Post
The capital is burning.
In a way, it was inevitable. We've been warned about the rise of a Demon King, emerging from the depths of the land to wage war on the world. Once every other generation, a Hero would rise from the masses, with awesome powers and impeccable character. They would gather and unite the other great talents of their era, accomplish great deeds, avert disasters… and invariably alert the world about the coming of the Demon King.
You'd think that when people like...
2024-05-06 11:29:38 +0000 UTC
View Post
Slipping into the hard-to-define space between spaces, I spent some time to get my bearings. Not in a literal sense; since there were no directions in this place, reorienting myself was, quite frankly, impossible. I meant it more in a 'figure out my exact goal' kind of sense, but as usual, I was quick to get sidetracked in the process.
As embarrassing as it was to admit it, I never really put much thought into this void. I just casually accepted it as 'something weird' and 'there's no p...
2024-05-02 17:21:27 +0000 UTC
View Post
"My goodness, Leonard! Why aren't you resting?"
Gowan, the sociable Head Artificer of the School, continued to mother-hen me as we waited for the elevator car to reach the underground facility. I ran into him just as he was about to leave, and he not only decided to turn around and accompany me, but he never stopped pestering me either.
"I truly mean that! Do you even know what time it is? You really should be sleeping right now."
"I'll have plenty of time to sleep after the...
2024-05-01 12:31:47 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Good night, princess," I said to my draconic girlfriend after tucking her in her bed, and she must've been even more exhausted than I thought, because she fell asleep on the spot. After taking Judy home, I Phased over to visit her and have the truncated version of the same discussion as the one I had with my dear assistant, and it was already close to two in the morning by the time I convinced her to turn in for the night.
I watched her sleeping face for a few seconds, a small indulgen...
2024-04-29 18:28:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
It was on days like this that I really, really hated the fact that I couldn't sleep. It would've been so nice to just fall into bed and push all of today's problems aside for eight-or-so hours, but nope. Despite being tired like a sleight-dog, I wasn't sleepy at all, so I just had to keep paddling.
I really wished I could at least head home and grab a hot cup of tea, but there were still cleaning up to do and debriefings to give, so even that was out of the question for the time being. ...
2024-04-26 16:46:25 +0000 UTC
View Post
The ruined, though slightly more orderly main hall was enveloped in a tense silence as the hundreds of Celestials all waited for me to organize my thoughts. I was standing on top of a makeshift podium made from some metal boxes previously used to build their barricades and covered with a plain black tarp. I had no idea where they came from, or how they had the time to even build any of those in less than two hours, which reminded me…
"Oh god… Everything happened in less than two hou...
2024-04-23 11:35:57 +0000 UTC
View Post
"I'm back. How's the sit—"
"Leooo!"
As soon as I returned to Site B, I was nearly tackled off my feet by Angie, much to the surprise of the Praetorian Guards, Assembly Magi, and assorted Celestials in the room. It wasn't all of them, as there was no way everyone could be crammed into the main floor of a nearby coffee shop they commandeered as an emergency base of operations, but having dozens of eyes focused on me was still a bit awkward.
"I'm glad to see you're all right,...
2024-04-19 18:45:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
Thank you all for the responses on the alternative chapter. Honestly, I didn't expect your feedback to come down pretty much 50/50 like that, so let's poll this one. If you have further insight, don't be shy to comment as well.
For the record, I'm current hesitating between options 4 and 5, but if there's overwhelming support for any of the options, I'm happy to go with that.
2024-04-17 18:49:21 +0000 UTC
View Post
[Author's Note]
Hello, dear readers!
Since the overwhelming majority of voters and comments were in favor of keeping Percival alive one way or another, I updated the chapter part. I think this version works pretty well, but if you have further feedback, it's always welcome.
[/Author's Note]
…
Honestly speaking, I really didn't want to deal with any of this.
No, really. I made a big deal out of drama, upholding tension, and so on, but what I really...
2024-04-17 14:39:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
"…Come again?"
"I said, I think I'm the Narrative," I repeated myself, and my girlfriend was still looking at me like I just told her that… no. On second thought, coming up with a similarly dumbfounding analogy would've been just redundant.
Judy didn't get bogged down in the absurdity for long though.
"Literally, figuratively, or metaphorically?"
That gives me a pause, and after some consideration, I answer, "Somewhere between options one and two."
"That's no...
2024-04-12 19:47:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Why?! Why, why, WHY did I do that!? Everything was going fine, but then I just couldn't leave it alone! What is wrong with me!?"
"Could you pipe down?" I glared at the hole in reality and reached for my temple, only to pause when I realized there was something off. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that Pudding-kun disappeared from my face. Once I figured that out, I let out a soft groan and massaged my forehead even harder. "This headache is killing me."
"It's my...
2024-04-08 18:07:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
Okay, so maybe I went in there a bit too hard.
This, and many other considerations ran through my mind as I was buffeted by the fractal oceans of Angies raging around me, shifting from branches to trees to waves to kaleidoscopic abstract forms before snapping back to branching shapes and silent colours to start the process all over again. Retconning something (even the simpler, temporal variety) was a complex affair I more often than not winged through intuition, but this… this was so...
2024-04-05 07:17:57 +0000 UTC
View Post
Normally this would've been the time I take a look at the situation and wax poetic about the trials and tribulations of the situation, but I had no time to do that, because my sixth sense was screaming at me the moment I arrived. Even though I came here in a hurry, I wasn't so out of it that I would show up in the open, yet in less than a second, I was discovered and had one of those wave motion arrows fired at my position.
"Crap, crap, crap…!"
Silently cursing under my breath, ...
2024-04-02 03:29:18 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Judy? Are you there?"
I reflexively tapped my ear, even though it was pointless, but I got no answer. It wasn't that surprising though; she was probably busy coordinating with Duncan and Elly at the moment. I really wanted to ask for a second opinion again, but she couldn't be at two places at once. Neither could I. At least not officially.
And that brings us back to the problem at hand: should I head to the Orange Zone as Bel, or as myself? There were pros and cons for both. If ...
2024-03-29 20:06:35 +0000 UTC
View Post
Let's make a tally. There are three situations unfolding at the moment: the site with Percival and the Colossi, this place with Angie, the assassins, and the in-fighting Celestials, and finally there's the Elysium, things have completely escalated out of hand. Which of these required my attention the most?
Well, the Elysium was more-or-less off the table. I already had a lot of trouble being at two places at once, so I wasn't going to touch that with a standardized ten-foot pokey pole i...
2024-03-26 16:39:38 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hello, dear readers.
I'm just here to pre-emptively apologize for a late update. Allergy season is here, and after doing gardening the last couple of days, I'm suffering from the mother of all hay-fevers right now. I've got some over-the-counter medicine for it already, but it takes time to kick in, and currently I'm feeling like a wrung-out towel left out to dry.
Hopefully, I'll get better by tomorrow and can keep the delay to a minimum, but again, I had to blow my nose three ti...
2024-03-25 14:52:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Haah… Deep breaths…" I inhaled and exhaled slowly as I limbered up my arms and legs. I couldn't show it before, because I was playing the role of Bel, but I was actually pretty out of it. I not only already had a protracted (if mostly friendly) sparring session with Lord Ambrose, but then a second one with Josh as well, meaning I was already a bit tired before going into this whole mess.
Adrenaline was one hell of a drug though, and there were few things getting it running better t...
2024-03-22 21:04:51 +0000 UTC
View Post
What was I looking at?
No, seriously. Was this real? Did the Celestial Directorate collectively lose all their marbles at the same time? Wasn't just one of these things supposed to be a huge freaking deal? Why send in six of them at the same time? What's wrong with everyone today?!
"{Chief? Are those the Colossi you talked about?}"
"They sure are," I whispered under my breath, and Judy let out a strange noise on the other side of the line.
"{I'm re-routing more reinfor...
2024-03-18 16:41:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
It was that time again. Time for a dramatic finale, that is.
Everything was planned out with meticulous detail over the past couple of months. All the actors were in the right place, all the moving parts were oiled and prepared, and now it was time to finish the show!
It was the middle of the night, and I stood in the opulent royal gardens right next to the enormous ballroom of the Kingdom of Nearlandia. Not to be confused with the Kingdom of Farlandia, which was very far from her...
2024-03-17 15:06:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Bloody hell! Why does everything have to happen at the same bloody time!" I cursed under my breath as I looked for a Phasing spot.
"{If you want to head to Site C, you can use the Restricted Space as cover.}"
Site C? Would that make this Site B? What's Site A then? The hideout?
I shook the stupid questions out of my head and Phased into the Purple Zone erected by Lord Barnabas. Judy was right; functionally speaking, my Phasing was practically indistinguishable from going in...
2024-03-15 18:33:24 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Shit!" I growled as I beelined towards the spot where I originally Phased to the docks. "Give me a sitrep! What's going on over there?"
"{Can't you check yourself?}"
"Running and Far Sight do no play well together," I hissed as I vaulted over a short fence.
"{Fair. There was a sniper aiming at Angeline. Joshua noticed it and pulled her to the ground, but he was hit in the shoulder.}"
"Noticed? How?"
"{Laser pointer sight.}"
"Ugh… Of course." I reached an...
2024-03-11 17:06:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
Every business venture needs investment
Work on the Dungeon began in earnest three days later, when Middy's prospector crew arrived, and it opened with a rather unexpected discovery.
"The mine has what?" Raol asked, sitting at the recently fixed table at the depths of the abandoned red manor, lit by a pair of gas mantle lamps borrowed from the hermitess. The chamber he chose to occupy was once a torture chamber, but once all the rusted and useless tools of the trade were collect...
2024-03-09 23:16:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
The sight greeting me upon my arrival was not what I was expecting. I purposefully Phased a bit away from the hideout, hearing that Lord Barnabas was there, and after reaching the warehouse, I was startled to see the destruction on display. One of the walls had a huge hole in it, and part of the roof collapsed, with the bare metal beams sticking out of the rubble.
Luckily, since this industrial part of the dock district was sparsely populated, there were no civilian gawkers to be wary o...
2024-03-08 10:42:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Come on! End it already!" Penny yelled from the side, clad in the Unicorn Knight armour. "It's been more than an hour!"
I glanced over at her, and then back at the guy currently wielding two of those magic hand-blade things and heaving like a dog, still squaring up against me even though he looked like he just ran a marathon. To be fair, I wasn't exactly minty fresh either, but at least I paced myself a little better, and even if I didn't, I was too stubborn to admit it at this point.<...
2024-03-03 17:54:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
Josh, Angie, Zihao, Penny, and Snowy. Plus yours truly, obviously.
That was one eclectic bunch if there ever was one, and all of us gathered at the underground base's training grounds was especially unusual.
"Hiya! Too slow!" my Knightly sister, clad in her Uniformer and wielding a training sword, exclaimed as she dodged out of the way of the younger Feilong brother's kick combo, and then used a wave-dash to rapidly close in on him.
…
"Maybe I've been playing too muc...
2024-03-01 16:37:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
Necessity is the mother of invention
His Imperial Majesty's Secret Service, like all effective clandestine organizations, had its fair share of secrets. Secret code words, secret protocols, and even secret handshakes, though those were only popular with the agents of the lower rungs of the hierarchy. In stark opposition, there were secrets only the more established and well-informed operatives were privy to, such as the locations of various supply caches, safe houses, and even so-call...
2024-02-29 18:06:45 +0000 UTC
View Post
My day at school was… rather stressful. Not because of the lessons, or anything similarly mundane reasons, but due to the gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach. It was more psychological than physical in nature (or so I hoped, as an ulcer was the last thing I needed right now); a result of my worries over whether I made the right calls over the weekend.
Was it fine to leave the directors in place? Should I have been more forceful? Would my actions cause them to be more or less ac...
2024-02-27 18:22:22 +0000 UTC
View Post
"So, we're not invading the Elysium today," my dear assistant stated, much less asked, as we walked down the street.
It was early in the morning, and I decided to pick her up ahead of the usual schedule to discuss a few things in person. I'd spent the whole night stewing over what to do with Percival, and I wanted to hear a few other perspectives before I made up my mind. But first…
"No, Dormouse, I'm not invading the Elysium yet after all."
Disregarding the hint of annoya...
2024-02-25 12:33:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
