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Chapter 158: Lords

The Lord of Portals’ domain reminded Leland of his father’s study. Shelves of books, hundreds, if not thousands, of rolled scrolls holding bizarre or experimental runes, enough ink to fill a bath… Yet, his father didn’t decorate his walls with portals of other lands, remote viewings of nature, and life beyond the mortal plane.

Portals, literally, into other lives hung like portrait frames, some horizontal, others vertical. Storming oceans to a tree made entirely of rose...

Chapter 157: Apologies

Standing tall like a chiseled statue, Isobel commanded, “Explain!”

Sybil’s knees gave out and she crashed, landing on the soft grass as the impression of the Boneforged Monarch dissipated. The rush of movement expelled air from her lungs with a gasp, which devolved into a chuckle, then a bout of giggles. Tears welled and fell before she could whip them away, staining the Huntress’ ratty cloak she still wore.

With his shirt dyed red and what little stubble he had painted ma...

Chapter 156: Archon

Ignoring his bloodied nose, Leland slipped out of his blanket and to his knees. As subtly as he could, he pulled his grimoire from his hand, allowing it to silently flip pages. Was he preparing for battle? He didn’t know. Only that the gesture felt comfortable, that it felt reasonable to prepare for the worst.

From how the trio had set up for the night, the Princess was closest to the oddity. When Isobel followed Leland’s lead and prepared, Sybil did her best to slump away, finding ...

Chapter 155: Ride the Lightning

In the “morning,” Isobel oversaw Leland’s routine exercise. Somehow, the former Inquisitor was more brutal and demanding than the Lord of Endurance, netting the Legacy of Curses another seventy-seven steps, making the grand total nearly two-fifty. This was, of course, at the cost of Leland’s sanity and the wellbeing of his lungs. But he did notice his legs were no were near as tired afterward.

Which was good, right? Isobel sure thought so, making him run another trio of sprints ...

Chapter 154: Sky Serpent

After a short stint in the Void by himself, Leland arrived at the Lord of Erupting Skies’ domain with a snap. His vision went white, his whole world consumed by a crack of lighting. Then came the thunder, blowing his eardrums and causing his head to spin. Before he knew it, he was falling, his consciousness slipping under the pounding in his head.

Something slammed into his underside, brushing him along as millions of drops of water raced him to the ground. It was bright, lik...

Chapter 153: One Step Forward

The group continued through the Archon Valley until exhaustion overtook Sybil and Leland. Even with Touch of Regeneration, a person could only walk  so far before needing rest. They stopped at what they assumed to be nightfall, which just so happened to be the same daybreak, noon, and dusk. Quickly they learned that the whole of the Valley was an experiment, and it never truly swapped between day and night.

What that would do to the ecosystem, only the Archons could tell.

Bef...

Chapter 152: Unmasked

Shaking, Sybil hid behind an oddly angular tree. Not thinking of the tree as an Archon experiment, she found solace from the being kneeling beside Leland and the Huntress. Green malted skin met with yellowed bones and the remains of haunted flesh. Its wicked face housed a blank expression, but the eyes were what remained in Sybil’s mind.

Burning with flames the color of lavender, she watched the being offer Leland a tool. Glowing, the tool lived and breathed, an essence of what made m...

Chapter 151: Experiment

Both Isobel and Leland chose to keep Isobel’s worries from Sybil. Whether or not something actually was watching them didn’t matter in the grand scheme, at least not in terms of alerting the Princess. Either they would be attacked or not, which hopefully wouldn’t be an issue for the Huntress to take care of.

It wasn’t until after Sybil woke up that the trio decided on next steps. The plan was simple: find a way home. Being stranded halfway across the world was an issue,...

Chapter 150: Archon Valley

A mass of bubbles burst from Leland’s mouth, the force of exiting the Void crushing against his lungs like a log falling on a cracker. Salt invaded his eyes and nose, blinding him to an awkward degree. With the Lord of the Chameleon’s contract still enabled, suddenly going blind kicked his instinct into high gear. His brain told him to swim up, but instinct told him to fully breathe out, despite the pain.

Several long seconds passed as Leland’s chest heaved before he finally fanne...

Chapter 149: Void

“Well kid, you’ve really put us in a horrible spot,” Isobel said after another splattering of curses.

She, like Leland and Sybil, was floating motionlessly as the backdrop of the Void rushed by. Bundled in her ratty cloak, she twisted and craned, anything to touch something. Yet, such was the way of the Void. There was no ground to stand on, no trees to brush against, no sky to gaze into. There was only white, infinite and indomitable.

Leland, for what it w...

Chapter 148: Then It’s War

----AUTHOR NOTE SECOND CHAPTER UPLOADED TODAY!!! DON"T READ IN WRONG ORDER

“My name is Leland, and I am a Harbinger of the Calamity,” Leland said, mustering up every shred of courage he could conceivably find, “…and if you interfere with my plans, then it will be war.”

Cold, dead eyes locked onto Leland’s, and for a moment, the world was silent. No longer did the buzz of countless bugs skitter around in rot. No longer did Glenny mutter to himself in worry. Not...

Chapter 147: Orders

Far from Leland, Glenny, and Carmon, Aunty P. stared blankly into a flickering fireplace. A look of worry crossed her brow and lacking posture, enough to make those in the room with her feel secure. If they knew her true feelings, then there would be little doubt in their eyes – she was as heartless as the rumors suggested.

In her hand she sipped from a porcelain cup, but even that was superficial. It was a mimed gesture, a façade to control the lacking minds sitting around ...

Chapter 146: Harbingers

Leland knew little about the Umbra, only the most basic information drifting among the street rumors. The Umbra, sometimes called the Thieves’ Guild, the Assassins’ Guild, the Shadow Guild, and so on, liked their anonymity. Only those with connections or power had access to their services, often at a cost far higher than elsewhere. They were elites, killers and spies, people who were born where no one was looking and lived where few dared.

And Glenny’s parent’s were two such mem...

Chapter 145: Seeing Triple

---AUTHOR NOTE: THIS IS THE SECOND CHAPTER UPLOADED TODAY, MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT ONE!---

Cloak pinned to the ground by a slick dagger, the Harbinger turned. “Ah Carmon. I was wondering when we’d meet again.”

Carmon, his cloak of blades shifting like ocean waves in the night, growled, “Where was Roy sent?”

Recoiling in laughter, the Harbinger slowly held up his thin, deadly blade. “That’s all you have to say to me? After all  these years? I figured...

Chapter 144: Single Handed

In most young people’s lives, there comes a time when a son or daughter is forced to watch their parents in pain. These moments of utter agony are fleeting at best and long term at worst. An extended stay in bed, a sleepless night of coughing fit after coughing fit. Healing magic, luckily, was a great means of defending the young from seeing something truly horrible.

That luxury was unfortunately less than reliable in the case of fighting between incredibly powerful beings . Death cam...

Chapter 143: Shield Wall

The Harbinger’s emerald halo loomed, its size reaching far beyond that of Leland’s own. It secreted green ink which pooled before the man like frozen raindrops. Each was the size of a fist, yet charred the air as the man walked. A trail followed each drop, like a dredge net dragging against the bottom of the ocean.

An adventurer, a defender, reached out to the Harbinger, only to bisect the emerald trail. Before the adventurer could scream, they fell like a dead log. This pr...

Chapter 142: Tradition

Leland and Jude stared at Glenny as he attempted to consolidate a platter of words, tests, and results that were freely swimming around in his mind. Some results came easier, others were near impossible. But that was the key, near.

His fingers kneading the blank scrap of fabric, Glenny realized he wasn’t holding an edged glass shard. He looked down, unraveling that cloth and looking around his feet. It was simply gone. No, that wasn’t quite right. It was gone materially, ye...

Chapter 141: Spycraft

King Harlen’s declaration that Aunty P. was possibly the greatest spy in the world  hit a chord, and Leland suddenly found himself checking over his shoulder rather consistently. He was able to catch onto subtle cues, finding the Eldest Princess looking at him a hair too long or how she seemingly always entered a conversation when something of note was being mentioned.

For the next three days, Leland failed to find a moment in which  he could give Glenny the glass s...

Chapter 140: Harlen

“This isn’t what it looks like.”

King Harlen, floating just above the wood grain flooring, shifted his smile to something more obtuse. Jovial, like a fox extorting his way into a hen house, Harlen silently arced around Leland, looking at him through various angles. As he did, he made grunts and hums, each bounding with enough ghostly off-blue mist to water a greenhouse.

“Royalty indeed, I was unaware the Curse Lord is a vile sort.”

Leland, his eyes still e...

Chapter 139: Chameleon Lord

“—so, I’d like to make a contract for any information that might help Glenny.”

The Lord of the Chameleon stared down at Leland from the lowest branch of a world tree. Blended nigh perfectly with the texture of the branch, the Lord’s mile-long tail slowly wrapped around its bed, gripping the branch tightly. The Lord then stepped off the tree, allowing himself the grace of a slow fall. Slender, yet as wide as a city street, he hung in front of the visitor like a spider on a sing...

Chapter 138: Behind the Curtain

Sybil Palemarrow’s official arrival to Ruinsforth was an event marked by the ghostly citizens of the Reflection Kingdom all floating over to the city’s main gate. The ordeal created a wake of movement, as citizens and tourists alike followed, much to the guard’s annoyance.

Like dozens of fish being packed into a can, the city moved as one down the main street. They clambered over one another to get a better view, hardened adventurers getting elbowed out by grannies like t...

Chapter 137: Dinner with an Old Friend

“Is this the place?” Spencer asked, eying the black stone shop’s façade.

There was a definite lack of personnel walking around this section of the city compared to the nonblack stone districts, although that didn’t stop the Reflections from dancing around. The ghostly forms moved through walls and around roofs, mostly walking in pairs or groups, although each seemed familiar with one another. And, in a way, they were.

Each Reflection was, after all, connected to King Harl...

Chapter 136: Trust

The next day went by rather quickly, at least for Leland and Jude. Glenny, while not relaxing like his friends, technically had a simple day. Being induced to a dream-like state by a ghostly Priest of the Void did that to a person.

With the adults and Sybil moving around the royal campus preparing for tomorrow’s arrival, little was left for Leland and Jude to do. So after morning exercises, they explored the city together. It was strange seeing the Reflections now th...

Chapter 135: Silence

A million different things sprung to mind as Leland stood awkwardly holding onto a limp Glenny. He tried not to look  Aunty P. in the eyes, thinking the gesture would show a level of guilt he wasn’t yet ready to explain away. A mage with a healing spell, while not unheard of, was quite unusual especially for a lowly rank two.

Legacy specializations left a mage, by far, a blank canvas to specific utility. Lucia and Spencer were prime examples. One specialized in everythin...

Chapter 134: Whisperer

Later that night, Jude and Glenny had their duel in front of a plethora of high-renowned Inquisitors and multiple members of royal families. They took their marks on opposite sides of a particularly “gross” courtyard, as Aunty P. put it. If they destroyed the garden and trimmed bushes, so be it. Aunty P. didn’t mind a total renovation of the yard.

Jude, donned in his full frosty antler armor, stood at the ready, his eternally blood stained battle axe at the ready. He had ...

Chapter 133: Left Behind

Leland felt… weird. There was something not right about the scene before him. It wasn’t King Harlen, in all his ghostly glory, talking to Diana and Roy. It wasn’t his parents’ hushed question about the Huntress. It wasn’t Carmon’s sudden disappearance and Glenny looking at Aunty P. like she’d grown a second head.

No, there was something nagging at him. Something that he should be able to put together. That his mind… no, that his perceptions should accou...

Chapter 132: Ghostly Reflections

Before the boys could so much as frown at the transparent man, he shimmied to the side before speaking.

“Announcing His Majesty, King of the Reflection Kingdom, Sir Harlen of the Dormant.”

At his words, a troop of trumpets began to play. The sound appeared from within the room, a previously invisible grouping of transparent people engaging in the music. They flared into being, slightly blue but otherwise indiscernible. They gestured with their instruments as the song changed, ...