Ace_the_owl

Chapter 35. At Least I Kept My Glasses

They say drowning is peaceful at the end. A gentle surrender as your lungs fill with water, your mind drifting away into darkness.

That was untrue.

There's nothing peaceful about the way your body betrays you, fighting against itself in blind panic. The way your chest spasms, desperate to draw breath where there is none. The way water seeps into your ears, muffling everything until all you hear is your own thundering heartbeat and that horrible, hollow rushing sound.

The pre...

Chapter 34. And Then Nothing Remained

Phew. Focus. Focus.

Adom rubbed his palms together, too aware of how clammy they felt. He'd thought these kinds of sensations were behind him by now. Apparently not. His fingers drummed against his leg as he stared at the circles drawn on the table, hyper-conscious of the presence behind him. Amazing how the weight of someone's attention could make even the simplest task feel like defusing a bomb.

Alchemy, as any alchemist could tell you, was all about understanding. Not ...

Chapter 33. The Greater Good

Adom smiled as Bob materialized in the empty classroom. The old leprechaun's white beard was neatly trimmed now, his new emerald coat adorned with golden threads that caught the lamplight. Even his boots gleamed, polished to mirror shine.

"You clean up nice, Bob. Business must be good."

"Aye, and you've put on some proper muscle since I last saw you." Bob circled him once, nodding in approval. "About time too. You were skinny as a twig."

"Wait, really?" Adom flexed his arm, ...

Chapter 32. Getting Ready

"One week. That's what it should take, sir!"

"That's it?" Adom looked at Master Kern.

"If Fili says one week, then one week it is." She nodded, and Fili let out a small, excited giggle before catching himself.

Adom couldn't help but smile at the apprentice's enthusiasm. "Then I'll trust you with it. I'll come back in a week." He shifted his weight, reaching for his coin purse. "Now, about the cost-"

"Oh! Well, um, aside from the materials..." Fili's fingers twisted tog...

Chapter 31. Blacksmith

Adom's smile grew increasingly strained as Miss Grimclaw examined Professor Mirwen's card for what must have been the eighth time. The goblin librarian held it up to the light, squinted at it, turned it over, and then fixed Adom with another piercing stare from behind her tiny silver spectacles.

He refused to fidget. Or blink. Though his face was starting to hurt.

The great archivist of Xerkes' library sat perched on her elevated chair, which still left her at eye level with most ...

Chapter 30. I Am Regretting This

Gale.

Mr. Fox's right-hand man, according to Professor Kim. And Mr. Fox had been funding the professor's research for years.

If Gale was the knight employed by the Children of the Moon, and he answered directly to Mr. Fox, then that meant either the man was a big shot among the Children or...

"He's the founder of the Children of the Moon, and its current boss," Cisco said. "His true name is Ernest Boyle."

"And that knight..." Adom's voice trailed off.

"You said y...

Chapter 29. Ghost Port Operation

Through the quiet evening paths of the academy grounds, Adom's footsteps carried the weight of frustration. Another day of subtle sabotage – or attempts at it, anyway. Four times he'd tried to derail the prototype today, each attempt more creative than the last, and each time feeling Hugo's sharp eyes following his movements with growing suspicion.

The worst part wasn't even the failed attempts. It was watching Professor Kim's eyes light up at each "mistake," that dangerous spark of s...

Chapter 28. Alchemy

Through the classroom window, autumn painted the academy grounds in warm colors. A gentle breeze scattered fallen leaves across the courtyard, where a first-year was poking at a particularly fat frog with a stick.

The boy wasn't being cruel, exactly - more like that peculiar brand of childhood curiosity that involved seeing how far you could annoy something before it hopped away.

Adom watched the scene with mild interest, Professor Lan's lecture on basic ward theory fading into ba...

Chapter 27. Kitty Cat And Little Mage

Well... shit.

Adom's mind was still trying to process what had just happened. The cat - his cat - the one he'd been living with for days now... was a woman. A grown, very beautiful woman.

His brain helpfully began cataloging every single time he'd changed clothes in front of the cat. Every morning routine. Every post-training shower. That time he and Sam spent an entire evening making increasingly crude jokes about one of their professor's mustache... 2025-02-02 05:16:28 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 26. Curse

"Huff... Huff.. Hufff..."

"This is completely insane," Sam announced, for what felt like the hundredth time that evening.

[Indomitable Will Active]

"On- huff.. one more time..." Adom wheezed, straightening up with determination that his wobbling knees somewhat undermined.

This was attempt number twenty-one. Sam had missed twice - though Adom suspected at least one of those "misses" had been intentional. The other nineteen hits had left various parts of his body stingin...

Chapter 25. It's Not Murder If I Ask For It

"Standard rules."

Professor Crowley stood in the academy's training grounds, morning light casting long shadows across the grass. The copper circles beneath their feet had seen countless duels, worn smooth by generations of students.

Around them, crystalline pillars hummed softly, ready to contain any wayward spells.

"No lethal spells, no strikes to vital points. Basic enhancement and defensive arts only - nothing beyond second-year curriculum." His voice carried across the ...

Chapter 24. Operation Bring Down the Bat

How does one take down a criminal organization?

Well, the smartest approach would probably be to not mess with them in the first place. Walk away. Move to another city. Change your name. Buy a cottage somewhere remote and take up gardening.

But since that option was thoroughly out the window—thanks to a tracking spell and two attempts on his life—Adom had to consider alternatives.

He could go to the authorities, except, according to Cisco, the Children of the Moon had th...

Chapter 23. Golem

Here's the thing about golems: they need cores to function. That's like, Magical Engineering 101. Day one stuff. The kind of basic fact you learn right after "don't eat mysterious glowing mushrooms" and "yes, that ancient tomb is probably cursed."

So when you're holding a golem's core in your hands, staring at the very definitely core-less golem whose eyes are now glowing a serene blue, you start questioning everything you know about magical engineering. And possibly your life choices.<...

Chapter 22. Magic Theory

The funny thing about world-changing discoveries is how they always seem to start with the best intentions. "This will revolutionize everything," they say. "Think of the possibilities," they insist.

And they're right, of course. Just not in the way they expect.

Take Dragon's Breath, for instance.

When Professor Kim first unveiled his prototype, he could barely contain his excitement. Here was a material that could store as much magical energy as a proficient second-circle ma...

Chapter 21. Professor Kim

"Meow."

"I thought you didn't want to have cats."

"I don't."

"Then why is there a cat drinking milk in our dorm?"

"It's a long story."

Adom sat on his bed, watching the small black cat lap delicately at the bowl of milk he'd scrounged earlier. It was surreal seeing such a dainty creature and knowing that just hours ago, it had been a massive midnight puma. The transformation still boggled his mind.

The cat - he wasn't even sure if he should still call it a ...

Chapter 20. Fulfilling Elderly Duties

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. You're not visualizing the weave properly." Adom leaned back in his chair, feet propped up on the practice room table in clear violation of at least three academy rules.

"I am! Look - threads of mana, geometric patterns, all that stuff. Nothing's happening."

"Because you're trying to force them into existence, Eren. They already exist. You just need to—"

"If you say 'focus' one more time..."

"I was going to say 'see them,' actually. Bu...

Chapter 19. (Trying To) Move On

"Is he breathing properly?"

"I think he is."

"Damn. He looks better without his glasses."

"I think so too."

"Shh, he needs some rest, guys."

"Poor thing must be exhausted."

"Did anyone tell Headmaster Meris?"

"Sam's handling that."

"Has he moved at all since they brought him in?"

"Just mumbling sometimes. Something about a labyrinth."

"And leprechauns."

"I think he cursed death for some reason."

"Fever dreams, probably."<...

Chapter 18. Goodness

Bonds.

Strange how they form. One moment you're alone, the next you're dragging a bleeding leprechaun through darkness, refusing to let him die. Adom only met Bob tonight - or was it today? Time blurred in the labyrinth's depths.

To be honest, he hadn't even liked Bob at first. The nerve of him, claiming Adom was his hallucination. Calling him 'lad' when Adom had lived through seventy-nine years, even if his body showed twelve. And that wit, sharp as a blade, matching Adom's own g...