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Chapter 117: Specialization

“So, you made your decision.”

Leland’s eyes creaked open at the voice and before his brain caught up, his body went stiff. He saw before he thought, and what he saw was a far cry from what he was used to. Around was a crooked wood, one full of spindly trees and countless beady eyes. Hundreds, thousands even, of crows watched from the branches while a similar number of souls of the Damned peered past trunks through the thicket.

He had been here before, howev...

Chapter 116: Toy Maker

There was a hymn in the air as the man’s corpse lifelessly got to its feet.

It rang through the street like a sorrowful lie, shifting the snow into warmth and the coldness into familiarity. It glistened with the weightless breath of Leland, touching upon his inner being until he felt at peace. His pain, his exhaustion, teetered away, resting his anguish wordlessly.

Something deep within the hymn churned, fluttering down past the horrid remains of the Harbingers’ battle. It dri...

Chapter 115: Belief

“Coward!” the Harbinger of the Toy Maker spat through his fingers.

The man still held his face, the skin on his forehead gushing blood. He let out a guttural growl, forcing himself to stand. Slowly, as darkness circled him, he pulled his palm away. A thin line of sticky red pulled with it before it snapped, splattering the snow. Even through the blood and mangled skin, the brand was clear, a “W.”

“Coward!” he yelled again, this time his voice resonating with a...

Chapter 114: Soulless

At Leland’s command the small inn room lit aflame in a violet blaze. A narrow circle of heatless fire roared to life, cutting through the furniture as it went. The curse engulfed the wall encasing the door frame and edged slightly into the hallway. The proximity left little room to move, but such was the point. The old man was trapped within the Circle of Souls.

At the same time, a sickly green entity breached the wooden flooring of the second story room. It pulled apart an e...

Chapter 113: Puppet

The old man stabbed Leland in the gut a second time before Leland fully processed the attack. His grimoire, already out and open, floated silently in his periphery as the old man emotionlessly yanked back on the knife. He felt the pain after a moment but it quickly disappeared in a heap of frozen terror.

Leland’s body moved without his command, hunching away like an injured deer while simultaneously pushing out with his dominant hand. He caught the old man’s wrinkled cold hand, bloc...

Chapter 112: Family Chat

The ring of mana rotated slowly and silently. From a cursory glance, the area beyond the hole in reality stretched into an opulent sitting room. A tall set of windows lined with white and red silks let in the ever dying light of the golden sun. A pristine courtyard glowed through the window, every trimmed bush and elder tree tinged with a deep shade of yellow.

A smell drifted through the portal, one of cooked ham and roast duck. Back in the rustic inn the boys stood, Jude’s stomach gr...

Chapter 111: Friends

With a good night’s rest for everyone except  Leland, and with their bellies full, the boys bid the shepherds farewell. They stood at the edge of the farm, waving goodbye as Jude gave each and every sheep one final head pat and chin scratch.

Honestly, Leland had multiple thoughts on the bizarre sheep, but for the life of him, he couldn’t bring himself to say a snarky comment. He was just too tired. But he guessed that was what a restless night in a barn would do. The nightmares...

Chapter 110: Loyal

The Huntress sprinted faster than ever. Unbound by feeble mundane legs, her Legacy coursing through her muscles and bones, allowing her to skip off the branches and leaves of tree after tree. She ignored the loose snow-covered rocky landscape in favor of added safety , the slick ground only proving to be just another hazard. Of course, if she focused, she could have easily ran along the gravel. But she needed her senses elsewhere.

She scanned the open air, the canopy, and the u...

Chapter 109: Deceit

A swell of white void wrapped around Leland like a loop at the end of a fishing line. It hooked into him, dragging him far and away. He allowed the strange motion, no doubt knowing that if he wanted to,  he could remain motionless. But why would he? He recognized a Lord’s call, the same beckoning and subtle whisper as every time before.

He had done this before – swam the mighty diving plane. Every contract, every negotiation, he had been adrift here, waiting, listening, and yea...

Chapter 108: Soul Fire

The ground shaking mimicked the shaking in Leland’s heart. He felt his blood go cold, his breath hitch, and his throat run dry. Melody’s bloodied eyes pierced him like an arrow shot from the heavens. One of the Lord of Nature’s champions knew about him. Knew about his abilities, knew about his Lord, knew his secrets.

He had tried to keep his Lord hidden. There were some that knew, his friends, but now some stranger was in the loop? His heart fluttered with irrita...

Chapter 107: Lighthouse

The boys stared at Melody’s creation with uncertainty and unease. She had scraped away a bit of dirt with her fingernail and put a small green seed into the impression. From there, she muttered an incantation and sent threads of mana from her bare feet into the seed. A moment later, a single leaf had grown from a tiny steam.

“All aboard,” Melody  said, creating the hesitance the boys felt.

“You want us to get in that?” Leland asked, circling the leaf.

Chapter 106: Harbinger

In an above ground graveyard of scorpions, Leland reeled at Melody, the Legacy of Nature.

“What was that!” he screeched. “Just alert the whole nest to us! That won’t be a problem!”

Murmuring to herself, she simply ignored Leland and instead focused on the single yellow Crystalline Scorpion. If she didn’t know better, she’d have said the crystals that made up the monster’s body were citrine or yellow garnet. But she did know better. In fact, she knew of eve...

Chapter 105: Scorpions

Despite being within a mound of killer scorpions, the boys found their protective mark, Melody, the weirdest thing about the day. She, a Legacy of Nature, was… strange. From eating dirt, to tasting the green blood of the scorpions, she kept the boys on their toes.

Currently, she pushed two small twigs into the soft tunnel-like flooring before chanting about flowers and leaves. Soon she yanked the twigs out of the dirt with the power of a sword-wielding warrior. A dro...

Chapter 104: Sheep

Five days into their journey up the mountain, the boys entered a small shepherding village. Honestly, it was hard to quantify the sparse buildings as a village, but a small sign on the dirt road leading in promptly declared it as such. “Wooly Village,” a name fitting for the amount of sheep roaming the open area.

The high altitude didn’t seem to affect the local herds like it did the boys. Leland was the worst off, panting and huffing after climbing the slightest of slope...

Chapter 103: Dropped Trail

“What do you mean only twenty six gold for the mushrooms and moss?” Leland spit, practically seething every word.

Ms. Lavender, who was the source of his ire, kept her face stricken with a slight smile. Being a low-ranking official for the town of Frostford, she was given the task of buying the herbs from the canceled herb hunting contest. The task was dauntless as most of the teams were angry about the cancelation of the event.

Case in point, Leland.

B...

Chapter 102: Reasons to Leave

A small stone flew through the air before hitting and bouncing off Leland’s face. His reactions were slow, and he threw up his arms to block late. He tried to maintain some level of dignity, forcing the awkward movement into that of a deep stretch.

“Ahhh,” he purred, hoping that Jude and Glenny didn’t question him.

Jude, who threw the rock, squinted suspiciously. He threw another one.

It hit Leland in the face, again. “Stop that,” he uttered.

“I ...