Tsaimath

Chapter 622

Once I managed to overcome the awe contact with an existence as powerful as the one sealed in the Soul Prison brought with it, I steadied myself on my branch, my mind churning furiously. Such power, it was incredible, intoxicating. The being in there was so much more than I could comprehend, even just that small part I could experience was overwhelming. And that was likely only a small part of its power, nothing more than I could experience through contact with the Soul Prison. What would hap...

WO, Ch. 125 - Reunion

“Aura, get it with your Vacuum Wave!” I ordered, just after my latest partner, the Riolu now named Aura, for his golden body, dodged the swooping avian. It had been a delight to discover that, maybe due to the incredible prowess of his progenitor, little Aura was already able to use a small amount of a Lucario’s unique characteristics, the ability to project force outwards. While he had yet to learn to actually form the famous Aura Sphere, he could form a, far weaker, Vacuum Wave and la...

Chapter 621

For a moment, I wasn’t sure how to respond to Adra. The look of sheer horror on her face made it obvious that there was something going on that I couldn’t see, some sort of disturbance only she registered. Given the rather delicate and problematic identity of the Soul Prison still clutched in my hand, I wasn’t sure how to respond. Sure, she was my companion and I trusted her, but at the same time, the thing I was holding had been locked away by multiple deities. Just that would bring tr...

WO, Ch. 124 - New Partner

Lessons with Professor Carolina were a curiosity. Compared to the high-intensity training I had received from Cynthia, the Professor was a lot mellower, giving me reading and time to digest what she told me, instead of having Garchomp chase me across uneven terrain while delivering her lessons by shouting. Cynthia’s methods employed a different motivational mechanic, but when it came to pure difficulty, the Professor was worse. Sure, I didn’t have to run until I completed the lesson but o...

WO, Ch. 123 - Resting

When we reached the Pokécentre, I was once again treated to the incredible effect of Cynthia’s aura. She didn’t need to do anything but look at the queue and people melted out of the way, like mist under the sun.

Under her watchful gaze, I quickly collected my partners after a night at the centre and followed her into the treatment room. Even before we entered, we could hear a few excited voices.

Cynthia knocked and after an affirmative answer, she pushed the door open, strid...

Chapter 620

It took me two days before Lenore and I could seriously consider the question of the Soul Prison. That was mostly due to an annoying infestation of magical vermin, locusts the size of my hand were swarming the area. The forest was filled with dense Astral Power, strong enough to turn the individual trees into giants of the forest. At the same time, that power turned normally harmless pests, like those locusts, into something that was actually threatening. Usually, their size limited them to a...

Chapter 619

In the middle of the night, I woke up with a start. Those eyes that had haunted my dreams back in Aletoma were back, only now they were accompanied by deep, burning hunger. I had no idea what to make of it, nor where they might come from, but by now, I was certain that they weren’t just figments of my imagination.

Focusing on the memories from my dream, I managed to conjure up a fragment of that sensation, only now I was fully conscious and in control. Letting the image fill one part ...

WO, Ch 122- Reporting and Recovery II

When I went into the kitchen after spending the night in Professor Carolina’s home, my eyes went a little wide when I saw who sat at the table. Certainly, I had known that Cynthia came by for dinner every week but that didn’t explain why she was sitting here now, a mug of something steaming in her hand. Nor did it explain why Joyce sat across her, a similar mug in her hand and a grin on her face.

“Dani, you look…” Joyce paused, as she studied my state, “You look good. At lea...

Chapter 618

After a week of absence, I could barely wait to jump back into Mundus. It was frightening, just how much I missed it and how much of it I missed. It wasn’t just the separation from Sigmir that left a hole in my heart but almost as stinging was the absence of Lenore and the conversation we shared. There was more than one occasion when I was looking out of the window or working out somewhere, something that had filled most of my time, the physical activity an excellent distraction, that I had...

WO, Ch 121 - Reporting and Recovery I

Either by coincidence or due to a sophisticated gossip network, I ran into Professor Carolina right as I left the Pokécentre.

“Why, Dani, you look a little rough,” she greeted me, an eyebrow raised in question.

“Some things happened,” I admitted, returning her greeting and for a moment, I considered if I should tell her everything. On one hand, she was an elder specialised in the appropriate field but on the other hand, Wera and I had been sent by the Pokéleague, so mayb...

Chapter 617

Once again, I was standing in what could only be described as a suburban nightmare. The white picket fences were still there, still gleaming white, though quite a few were dirtied by the remains of winter mud and it seemed like the most individualistic part of the houses were the garish Christmas lights still hanging outside. Luckily, those were in the minority, a small blessing but a blessing nonetheless.

As requested, I didn’t ring the doorbell but sent Jenn a text and after a brief...

WO, Ch. 120 - Treatment

• AN: Chapter 119 has gained a proper ending. You should take a look or be very confused by the beginning of this chapter. Now, onto the chapter. 

Whatever Vio had done, I couldn’t even begin to describe it. From the point she had touched on my lips, a hot, almost painfully so, current started to flow through my body, not just down my neck into my stomach but spreading everywhere, seeping into every nook and cranny of my body. I felt...

Chapter 616

After logging out, I felt at a loss. For the last ten months, my life had mostly revolved around Road to Purgatory, my immersion into the world of Mundus probably unhealthy in most peoples’ eyes. The way I had taken to Mundus and its magic was almost scary, the experience had given me a sense of wholeness and purpose that I had never experienced before. In some ways, it had been the difference between continuing to be alive and living.

And now, for the next week, I wouldn’t be able ...

WO, Ch 119 - Pain

For a moment, I felt weightless. The land stretched endlessly far below and in that brief, infinite moment, I was entirely free, soaring through the sky.

Sadly, I was lacking those all-important appendages when it came to that particular freedom, so gravity quickly reminded me that it had a say in everything and in this case, it was dragging me down.

With a sudden tug, the rope dug into my side, altering my trajectory and I instinctively stretched out one arm, as the other protect...

Chapter 615

After the eighth consecutive failure, I let out an angry grunt, no longer interested in trying. So far, Lenore and I had attempted eight different ways to understand the warding around Phalladri and while we had gleaned some information, the only thing we truly knew was that we didn’t know enough.

The magical protections around town were sophisticated and subtle, not tremendously powerful but incredibly tricky, making it difficult to guess how many there were and how they interacted. ...

WO, Ch 118 - Celestic Ruins

Other than our footsteps, the ruins were utterly silent. It was eerie, the lack of sound so apparent that it sent shivers down my spine and the dancing flame on Charm’s tail didn’t help matters. It only made things worse, the movement making the shadows it cast dance and move, creating the illusion that the darkness around us was filled with strange monsters, just waiting to jump at us.

At some point, I had taken one of Charm’s claws in my hand, seeking comfort and a physical assu...

Chapter 614

From high in the sky, Lenore and I could see incredibly far. With our increased attributes, it was quite easy to rise to altitudes normally impossible for birds and our Intuition allowed us to see further than normal, too. It allowed us to see the entire peninsula, clear to the tip where Phalladri, the southern-most port of Aletoma was located.

Since Hatterion, we had been travelling swiftly and carefully, always moving in the forests and towards the south, staying away from any larger ...

WO, CH 117 - Climbing

Once again, the noise of rock rumbling across rock echoed through the mountains, as Donna pressed her facial shield against one of the boulders, using her squat but incredibly powerful body to move the material.

Over the last three days, Donna and Silvester had worked hard, constantly shifting rock and removing debris. At first, Silvester had bludgeoned the rockslide, shifting some of it and breaking other parts, making the whole mess more manageable. But just because the rocks had been...

Chapter 613

As the forum was exploding, with parts of the few videos of Hatterion being shared and posted, I slept fitfully, a few dreams haunting my sleep. It was one thing to feel righteous anger and take revenge for a murdered companion, but had I truly hit the right people? They most certainly had suffered and would continue suffering as the nobles had to scramble to respond to hundreds, if not thousands, of dead in one of their major towns and I had a feeling that there would be utter chaos. But had...

WO, CH 116 - Hard Labour

Early in the morning, Wera and I made our way up the last stretch from a good campsite to the rockslide she had to clear up. The path followed a narrow valley, likely carved by some creek in the distant past only to suddenly end in what could only be described as a mess. The walls of the valley had been shattered, massive boulders filling the path and making it completely impossible to traverse.

“Wow,” I could only mutter, the sheer scale of the destruction far greater than I had an...

Chapter 612

After logging out of Road to Purgatory, I didn’t leave my capsule immediately. Instead, I pulled up the official forum and its list of active life streams, trying to see if anyone was currently active in Hatterion. By official decree, all life-streams came with a delay, making the communication between host and viewers difficult but maintaining a certain distance between the audience and those on Mundus. One of the intentions was to make it difficult for people to actively look into the str...

Chapter 611

Magic was flowing into countless runes, slowly infusing them until a threshold was reached. At that moment, Icicles shot up all around the ritual site, piercing the restrained humans, letting their blood follow prepared channels, all linked to the Silver Athame stuck in the middle of the circle, the power of their Vitality starting to infuse the ritual. At the same time, the loss of vitality in their bodies caused another process to start, the decay of bodily functions, as some of the Vitalit...

Chapter 610

As the adage went, revenge was a dish best served cold.

But how to prepare that dish, how to punish those who had killed my former companion? It was a question Lenore and I had discussed at length, as it most certainly would have to be a magical solution. Sure, pure violence could be applied but even if Sigmir, Adra and Rai were incredibly powerful in their own right, their ability to direct violence was much more direct and focused. If you want to direct violence at a large area, or a ...

WO, Ch 115 - Scenic Route

After that first hiccup, travelling with Wera was comfortable. Given that she was almost unable to battle, we didn’t bother with positions and simply moved side by side, more often than not in peaceful silence. My partners had to work a little harder, but I had made sure to pack enough Potion to treat them when necessary.

A nice perk of travelling with her was that she knew the path quite well, having travelled and even repaired it in the past, so instead of having to guess where a ni...

Chapter 609

For a week, we focused on staying hidden, occasionally killing the Radiant Monsters that plagued the countryside before we finally managed to get ahead of their migration. During our nightly rest, Lenore and I had been scrying for information, looking at the world from above and sending our gaze far across the land. Thanks to that, I was able to witness the Imperial response to the disaster and was quite impressed. While they hadn’t been able to contain the monsters and quite a few farmstea...

Chapter 114 - Wera

“So, what can you tell me about this job we are supposed to do?” I asked, after following Wera out of the meeting room, not even acknowledging the external circumstances. If she wanted to tell me about her relationship with Kodra, she would. From the awkward expression on her face, she wasn’t too happy with the situation either, so she’d likely tell me at some point.

“The job itself shouldn’t be too difficult, it’s one of the easier paths up to Mount Coronet and the ancien...

Chapter 608

The last Radiant Sprite was overwhelmed by a flurry of attacks and a hush fell across the clearing. it was only disturbed by quiet noises of pain from Rai, still burnt from the desperate counter-attacks of the Sprites and my own, laboured breath. I was feeling a little light-headed, the exertion of flooding the world with that much Astral Power nothing to be done lightly, even if it had been effective to overwhelm the sprites’ defences, allowing us to destroy them.

“We learned somet...

WO, Chapter 113 - Plans

In the evening, we all got together again. After my conversation with Kodra, he had asked me to send Claire to him, as he had a task for her as well. She had met with him in the afternoon, and now, it was time for Lucas, Cliff, Claire and myself to discuss our plans for the near future.

“Claire, what’s your task? Dani said she was asked to escort a specialist while they do road maintenance, what about you?” Cliff asked once we had all settled in around the dinner table.

“I...

Chapter 607

As I had privately expected, in the face of catastrophe, even the most rigid government couldn’t just stubbornly cling to their clear and well-defined order and simply continue on. No, when the peasants started to starve, they began to go to where the food was. Or in this case, when the monsters started to come knocking, the peasants began to flee, just trying to get to some sort of safety. The military and the guards tried to maintain order, but from the videos I had seen on the forum, tha...

WO, Ch 112 - Celestic Task

When I woke up the next morning, I was feeling unreasonably annoyed. Sure, Clarie getting smashed was irresponsible, but in town, what she did was her business and it wasn’t as if I had to clean up after her. And yet, I was feeling personally affronted by her actions, though a part of it might be due to the weird dreams I had during the night. Why did she have to rub against my hand like that?!

“Gah,” I let out a sound of annoyance, before quickly dressing and heading down into th...