Tsaimath

Chapter 576

During our shopping spree, I became aware of two things. The first was, that I needed to get back into the mindset of concealing myself, of hiding in the shadows as much as possible. I was attracting attention and the looks I was getting were a mix of fearful caution, arrogant disdain and covetous, greedy lust, depending on the person. None of the attention was pleasant, so I tightly wrapped the Cloak of Twilight around myself and took shelter in the shadow of my Mountain.

The other thi...

WO, Ch 82 - Eterna Wait

• AN: I'm back from vacation and in dire need of a vacation from my vacation. Awesome, but having 25km and 1000m of increased altitude as an "easy day" makes for exhausting days. 
• Updates will continue, probably every other day for Wandered Off and the usual three times a week for Jaded Life. 

“So, what’s next? Anything of interest in town?” I asked Cliff, as we were walking out of the gym.

“We didn’t really find anything.�...

Chapter 575

If the outside of the Adventurers’ Guild was unimpressive, the inside was even more so. It took all the features of a drab and dull government building in the real world, dialled them up to eleven and took away anything that might be shiny, sparkly or remotely interesting, leaving behind nothing but stale rooms painted eggshell-white. The Guild offices I had seen in the past had been practical but never managed to evoke such a boring image in my mind.

There was a clerk behind the coun...

Chapter 574

Compared to the one-sided security around the Naga enclave in Torop, there actually were human guards around the enclave in Nobost, there even was a low fence in the middle of the road. It looked a little weird, the fence giving the impression of a mere symbol, after all a fence less than a metre high wouldn’t stop anyone but the truly infirm or infants. A glimpse through Lenore told that, while the fence itself had some magical properties, there was nothing in the air above, nothing that h...

Chapter 573

After a week at sea, I was thoroughly annoyed with Pantheon Entertainment. Before, I had seen their commitment and efforts to make Road to Purgatory the incredibly immersive game that it was as something commendable, the time spent on the road an often-times interesting and rewarding experience. The sensation that the Road was the goal, that behind every tree could be something hidden, every valley inviting exploration and a nice brook sending an invitation to linger.

But while travelli...

Chapter 572

If there was one thing I learned during our first few days at sea, it was that I needed to find a way to avoid further sea journeys. While I could have simply opted out, logging out for the few days the week-long journey would take, there was a major problem with that. Or rather, there were two.

The first problem was that Lenore was incredibly susceptive to getting seasick. Maybe it was due to her avian nature, that she simply wasn’t built to endure these kinds of movement, the sort o...

Chapter 571

“Ultimately, using two opposing types of Astral Power allowed me to make them resonate, the two extreme points increasing the flux in a loop until an extreme peak is reached,” Mal explained, while I tried to put the concepts she explained into a mental model. Outside of Mundus, that was near impossible but I wanted to try and the capsule space was the next best thing.

Regardless, I could only shake my head in amazement at what she had managed. The images shared in the highlight reel...

Chapter 570

Boarding the weird vessel was a process of organised chaos. We simply had to follow after the Naga who came to guide us, our small group moving through the hustle and bustle like a fish through the sea, unconcerned with the activity.

From up-close, the ship was even more alien and impressive than from afar, especially on a magical level. The whole structure was infused with Astral Power, on a level that easily rivalled the Mages’ Guild we had visited the day before, only instead of a ...

Chapter 569

When I woke up, forced from a sated slumber by Lenore incessantly cawing into my mind, I was greeted by an image of destruction. I was lying atop Sigmir, who was resting on the remains of the bed, the mattress mostly torn, with the stuffing beaten out of it, the frame utterly broken, as super-human muscles had strained against it in the throes of ecstasy. The air around us was saturated with a delicious scent, one that made me want to dive right back in and wake Sigmir up, but a certain soren...

Chapter 568

The Mages’ Guild’s rules were a curious thing. It was quite obvious that with power came privilege, but there seemed to be more to it. While I sat on Sigmir’s lap, there were a couple of curious beings who couldn’t help but take a glance, either from outside the reference room or coming inside, using the pretext of looking for specific texts.

None of the beings was daring enough to actually interrupt me, but it quickly became apparent that they were interested in who I was, judg...

Chapter 567

Seeing the Mages’ Guild up close gave me a weird feeling. When looking at the building without the benefit of Lenore’s sight, it looked like a completely ordinary building, not any more special than the ones to its left and right. There was a funky smell in the air, the amalgamation of dozens of different spells and types of magic mingling and the Astral River being repeatedly disturbed in this place, but I doubted I would have noticed it just passing by, as it seemed rather subdued.

Chapter 566

After dealing with the real world for two days, being back in Mundus was an interesting sensation. The feeling of expansion, as my mind started to compute the information my Avatar’s senses could receive. Just the sensation of the Astral River following around me, the magic of this world, some of it at my fingertips it was a heady sensation.

“I’m back,” I mentally whispered to Lenore, letting my mind slowly mingle with her. For a few minutes, I experienced her memories of the la...

Interlude: Highlightreel VII

On a steep, snow-covered mountain slope, a group of people is slowly trudging upwards. The world around them is covered in ice, with only a few jagged rocks sticking out. In the distance, the mountain peaks seem to pierce the clouds, reaching into the high heavens. Four of them move in close formation, following after a massive, armoured figure, slowly ploughing a path through the snow. The three behind that armoured figure can only move on that path, the snow easily reaching their chests. Th...

Chapter 565

“Honey, I’m home,” Chris’ voice echoed through the house, accompanied by the jingling of keys. Jenn was sitting in the kitchen, watching me prepare dinner, salivating a little at the scents coming from the wok I was using.

“In here,” she called back, a grin on her face.

“It smells great,” he complimented, the voice coming closer, “but isn’t cooking too tiring in your state…?” he asked, only for the voice to suddenly stop. Looking over my shoulder, he was st...

Anouncement

During the month of May, I plan to go on a two-week hike.

For most of you, that changes very little, as I plan to have enough chapters stockpiled to keep the usual schedule. Sadly, I can't easily change the posts for the "Raven" and "Wolf" Tier Patrons to let you keep reading. I might be able to log in remotely from time to time and change the previous posts, but it won't be a certain thing.

I everyone understands and keeps enjoying Jaded Life and my other projects. 

Ch...

WO, Ch. 81 - Reunion II

For the next half-hour, Claire and I told the two of them about the rest of our journey so far. Some of the things Claire and I had experienced, we kept between us by tacit understanding, such as seeing Shaymin up close and witnessing Ho-Oh from afar. While I wasn’t certain about Claire’s motivation, I knew that seeing those beings with my own eyes had been something special and trying to convey that special feeling through words would only diminish it. It was to be kept deep within my he...

Chapter 564

• AN: Happy Easter and apologies, I forgot to set the scheduled posting for today. 

Compared to meeting Mrs Wu at the shopping centre, visiting Jenn and Chris at their place caused a different level of anxiety. Meeting Mrs Wu outside of the usual setting had been a little unsettling, and I wasn’t a fan of crowds in the first place, adding another point of worry. On the other hand, there would be no crowd at Chris’ place, there’d likely only be him, Jenn and...

WO, Ch. 80 - Reunion

• AN: Happy Easter

When I walked back into the Pokécentre, I was a little lost in thought. Worry about Claire mingled with the mixed feelings that lingered after the conversation with Kai. A part of me wondered if I had been too harsh, or maybe not harsh enough. Or if I should simply have walked away, letting someone with more experience answer his questions, or if I should have given different answers. There was no ultimate truth, no transcendent meaning to our exis...

WO, Ch. 79 of Freedom and Responsibility

“As I said, we have been discussing the Church of Freedom and the Pokéleague, their positions in society and stuff like that,” he explained, pausing for a moment, a frown on his face. “It started out when we had a class discussion about the Pokéleague and its place in society.” I nodded, seeing that such a thing would warrant discussion. It was the major, uniting body of the region after all and even provided connections to other regions.

“I’ve learned about the Church of ...

Chapter 563

“Good afternoon, Samantha,” Mrs Wu greeted me, a friendly smile on her face. It was fascinating, intellectually, I was aware that she was incredibly dangerous, both as a direct combatant but, much more important, due to her other skills. With her hands, she could kill a person in front of her, with the lessons on demolition and homemade explosions she had taught me in the past, she’d be able to level a building- such as this shopping centre.

And yet, standing there in her brightly...

WO, Ch 78 - Eterna City II

After getting our rooms, separate for once, and having a greatly appreciated shower, we met back up to discuss our further plans.

“I want to check out the Gym and get the details for Badge-registration,” I told Claire, once we sat in the Pokécentre’s reading nook.

“Fine with me, please tell me later,” she asked, sounding oddly serious. “I’ll go and get checked out, just to make sure the poison didn’t cause lasting damage,” she added and I felt a twinge of worry ...

WO, Ch 77 - Eterna City

When the light faded away, I once again stood in awe at the changes Nuts had undergone. The massive, round seed pod had become a vaguely humanoid figure, still a wooden shade of brown, with a leaf growing from its head. His physique was somewhat similar to Vio’s, a little bulkier and without her easy, almost floating grace but with a pair of clear eyes that studied the beaming Claire.

“You did great, Nuts.” she cheered again, almost dancing. It had come as a surprise that Nuts had...

Chapter 562

With uncertainty regarding future opportunities, we decided to take the ship to Nobost. It would mean about a month of travel down the coast if we went by foot to get from Nobost to Phalladri. Hatterion would be roughly at the halfway point, but without knowing whether there’d actually be a ship, none of us wanted to take the risk.

The other possibility would be to take the ship to Nobost and look for connections from there, as the Naga ships were stupidly fast, especially the large o...

WO, Ch. 76 - And into the Mountains

As the terrain around us changed, so did the atmosphere. Between the massive trees of Eterna Forest, there had been a cold, almost depressingly gloomy, atmosphere, only fading once we reached the boundary. There, the atmosphere had been pleasantly coot, the sunlight filtering through the trees making it a lot brighter and less oppressive.

Now, we had moved out of the forest and into the mountains, where the White River had slowly eroded most of the soil away, leaving the bare rocks. It ...

Chapter 561

Even from afar, the Naga enclave stood out. Where the town around it was built in a style that reminded me of Ashenforge-Hold and other dwarven settlements I had seen, just slightly more rounded, less angular and strict, the Naga enclave was entirely different. Where the city was built from stone, with some wooden accents and reinforcements, the enclave was built from the shells of various sea creatures, the accents almost incorporated into the shells as if they had been grown that way. What ...

WO, Ch. 75 - Out of the Woods

The change upon leaving Eterna Forest was as distinct and obvious as it had been when entering. It was as if the air itself became a little less dense, no longer stagnant and hemmed in by the weight of countless ancient trees, a breath of fresh, cold mountain air flowing through the woods around us. Where before, the trees had been the size of buildings, they quickly shrunk to a size I could encircle with my arms and the underbrush became less dense, no longer chocking the path before us.

Chapter 560

Closing my eyes for a moment, I focused on my bond with Sigmir, easily finding the tie that connected us, our very own red string. Gently tugging on it, I could follow along and after leaving the vicinity of the gate, Rai joined me, having waited nearby to make sure nothing untoward happened.

“There doesn’t seem anyone interested in following you,” he confirmed my own perception, my tense nerves gradually relaxing. Now, instead of worrying about the guards and official trouble, I ...

WO, Ch 74 - Up the White River

Come morning, things didn’t make any more sense. Reading through the notes I had made during the night, I was only more confused, wondering just where some of those ideas came from. If they came from my subconsciousness, what did it want to tell me? Was I trying to convince myself that my appearance on Mount Coronet had been due to some sort of higher plan and not just…

What? What had made me appear there, if not the Pokémon who had been there in that moment, especially the first o...

WO, Ch. 73 Recovery

After letting Claire rest for the morning, I made her get up after packing most of our things. While I would have loved to let her rest some more, I had no interest in sticking around an area where we knew a malicious and incredibly dangerous Pokémon like the Gastly was dwelling.

The rest had helped Claire somewhat, she no longer stumbled around like a drunk but was still weakened. After only half an hour of walking, her breathing started to become hoarse and we had to slow down. Lucki...

Chapter 559

Curiously, the group of halflings seemed to be almost happy that five of us were not interested in travelling with them. It might have been a simple issue of race, that they were uncomfortable with those of us not commonly seen in this part of the world, or it might have been a size issue, that they were uncomfortable with someone like Sigmir who could look them in the eyes, while they were mounted on their giant goats. Either way, they happily accepted that our group would split, with the tw...