ArcaneCadence

44 - The Alchemist

Accessing the gold-rank prisoner cells had posed surprisingly little challenge. The false identity Rafael had provided held more than enough social weight to stroll up to the guardhouse, make demands, and have them met with utmost haste, even if the officials there weren’t quite sure who Vivi was. Still, they weren’t going to risk annoying a demonic foreigner of the First Blood—not when a quick [Blink] demonstrated she was, at a minimum, orichalcum-rank as she claimed.

Vi...

43 - William

Six months. Six months was a long time to spend in a cage.

And a long time to go without a shave, Will thought, scratching the thicket on his chin. Gods, but he would kill for a razor.

George, one of the guardsmen watching the gold-rank cells, had bent over backward to accommodate him, which already made this heaven compared to a real imprisonment. But he obviously couldn’t sneak Will anything that stopped him from looking the part of a prisoner. If someone important came down a...

42 - Expulsion

Tatiana swallowed, but forced herself not to freeze up. Once had been embarrassing enough.

“I know of her. That’s it, my lady. Expulsions don’t happen often, you really have to do something horrible. Usually there’s a whole list of punishments they go through first. So when it does happen, people talk.”

“I see. And in this instance?”

Tatiana hesitated. “My little brother is a third-year, and he was talking about it, so this is secondhand information ...

41 - Archmage Aeris

Nysari was a short, petite woman, and Tatiana might have mistaken her for a fourth-year student if she hadn’t known better—if she hadn't been expecting a foreign noblewoman of not inconsiderable strength and influence. She had pale skin and red eyes, as any demon, and straight white hair that fell to her midback. Her robes were gray and unadorned. Notably, she had no crimson facial tattoos, which Tatiana thought odd for a demon of the First Blood, who normally adhered to cultural...

40 - The Thaumaturgical Institute

When Saffra slunk down the stairs the next morning, she was sneaking strange looks at Vivi. A few minutes into their breakfast, Vivi had to ask. She put her fork down.

“Okay. What is it?”

Saffra jumped. “What? What is what?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Me? I’m not looking at you like anything. Um.” She squirmed with her gaze flitting shiftily around. She blurted out, “So, what’s the plan today?”

Vivi wasn’t sure what had prom...

39 - Revelations

Jasper, naturally, caught the first greateagle out of Siroc he could find. The dragon in disguise had the right of it; only suckers hung around to speak with the authorities.

He didn’t have any teleportation spells to get away, but nobody was willing to chase down the orichalcum-rank ‘excusing himself’ from a situation. Besides, that Caldimore worm could make himself useful and deal with the logistics. What else were nobility good for?

The greateagle took him to Tilden, and ...

Audiobook Narrators & Polls

An audiobook is a while away, so this is just a preliminary discussion.

Two topics:

1. For those of you who listen to a lot of audiobooks—Any suggestions for narrators?

and

1. What do you think of duet narration, like what Royal Guard Publishing does a lot of? Would you rather have a solo narrator?

Book 1 Feedback Thread

This thread is for feedback! Were there any scenes or interactions that jarred you while reading, that you think needs improving or reworking? Were there any plot holes or unexplained elements you think deserves expanding upon? Leave any important feedback you want! No promises that it will be addressed, naturally, but I'll for sure read through and see if I agree :)

38 - A Candid Conversation

Her conversation with Rafael carried on for a while. There was a lot to discuss. Not just about Archmage Aeris, the Institute, and her immediate goals, but the world in general.

Honestly, she forgot at least half of what Rafael lectured her about, and she was pretty sure he knew it. Still, he informed her of the major political and social happenings of the past century. Regardless of whether she would make good use of that knowledge—or keep it in her head at all—the man clearly beli...

37 - Vanguard's Future

“The answer, naturally, varies,” Rafael said.

“Summarize?”

As always, he replied without needing to organize his thoughts. “Three with whereabouts known. Two alive but difficult to contact. One missing. And two, regretfully, have passed away.”

She’d been excited to learn what had happened to her prior guild members, but at that, she stilled.

For all that these people were real now, they’d been NPCs in the game, so she didn’t have close emotio...

36 - Guild

Unlike Winston, a century hadn’t taken a toll on Rafael, as it wouldn’t for any demon in adulthood. Maybe there was a slight maturation of his features, since time had at least some sway on the long-lived races, but Vivi couldn’t spot any meaningful differences.

He had slicked-back hair, keen red eyes, and skin as pale as hers. He was dressed like a nobleman, wearing sharp, tailored clothes that spoke of high status, and he walked with confidence and purpose. Two black ho...

35 - Rafael

The world had gone to shit.

And by that, Rafael meant the exact opposite. Nothing ever happened anymore.

He’d been spoiled. A hundred years ago, he’d had the privilege of managing chaos incarnate. The Party of Heroes were upheld as champions of virtue—and they were, in some regard—but he had known the actual men and women who headed Vanguard. Had known how utterly insane each of them was. Barring maybe Orion, and only because Rafael had extremely low stan...

34 - Vault

Vivi didn’t think Winston harbored any doubts toward the truth of her identity, but if he did, unlocking her personal vault dispelled them.

She set a hand against the slab of black metal inlaid into her bedroom wall, and complex, interlocking runes activated all across the surface. Power hummed in the air as the symbols glowed dark purple, reached a crescendo, and dimmed.

With a hiss, the personal vault of Vivisari Vexaria swung open.

She drank in the sight. There was a lo...

33 - Butler

Winston ushered her into the manor, and the opulent foyer had been maintained, much like the grounds, exactly as she remembered. Walking through, she drank in the sights. So familiar, and yet, not. It was strange being somewhere so familiar—somewhere that she knew should be virtual. It reminded her of waking in the Burial Room of the Ashen Hierophant. The disconnect jarred her.

A maid and student stood across the room, underneath an archway, and her eyes fell on them. They froze like ...

32 - Caught

Vivi looked around at the pulverized yard, the toppled trees, the gouges in the ground, and the general state of ruin she’d brought to her home—to Winston’s White Glove Academy.

She’d…definitely gotten carried away.

Hearing Winston’s voice ring across the yard should have inspired happiness. And it did, sort of. But not like it should, thanks to how incriminating her circumstances were.

Guilt, and embarrassment. That was what rushed through her as she realized wh...

31 - Bliss

In the instant before the maid charged her with her enormous battle axe, Vivi incanted two spells.

“[Perfect Form]. [Titanic Might].”

An agility and strength boost respectively. Seeing how this woman was Titled, and her stats were bolstered by defending the Academy, even Vivi might not match her in speed and strength. She was a mage, after all. One that dwarfed most Titled in levels, but still a mage.

Vivi wasn’t excited because this meant she could show off. The oppos...

30 - Home

While Vivi had spent years familiarizing herself with Meridian, she’d done most of her exploration with a map overlaid across her vision. So she hardly knew all the streets and districts of the city, never mind with the changes a century had brought.

She wanted to minimize the risks she took, so flying invisible through the air seemed unwise. Powerful mages—Institute archmages to name the known ones, saying nothing for hidden immortals or worse—resided in this city, and while she ...

29 - The Briar and the Bramble

Continuous casting grated at Vivi. Although the siphoning of mana didn’t nauseate her like repeatedly casting [Blink], maintaining two [Fly] spells along with other effects created a constant drain. A leak could never deplete an ocean, but she likened the experience to solving simple math problems for hours on end. Not difficult, but irritating regardless of the complexity.

She pushed through. While this wouldn’t be her preferred method of travel, she could suffer mild agitation if ...

28 - Flight

Vivi let the adventurers who had defended the Convoy claim the spoils of war, but only after extracting a promise that the commoners affected would also be taken care of.

Sure, many of the adventurers present had only fought for their own sakes, but their efforts had delayed the monsters and prevented a worse disaster nonetheless. And it wasn’t like she needed the coin herself. Hopefully the tragedy could be mitigated, not that money solved all problems. Especially for those who hadn�...

27 - Repairs

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Author Note

The tentative schedule is MWF at 12 EST. If I have a bonus chapter ready to extend the Patreon backlog, it'll be released on Saturdays at 12 EST. I'm going to try for at least every other Saturday until the backlog reaches 12 chapters in length.

I would grind out more chapters, but I want to focus on quality over quantity. I do quite a lot of editing to provide clean final drafts and ~8-10k words a week is my current working pace. I hesitate to go above that ...

26 - Return

Vivi escaped after a short meeting with Marcus. After [Blinking] onto the city wall and gathering another point of data for how the dimensional fracturing seemed to be healing—slowly but steadily—she had officially completed her errands.

Before setting off, she double-checked Saffra’s necklace was where it belonged. The silver locket rested in the same inventory slot. Not that it could have disappeared. Just paranoia. Pleased, she closed the screen and began casting.

“[Gre...

25 - Delays

The world lurched. With a sensation like she’d been grabbed and hurled across the continent by a titan, she materialized in Prismarche’s town square.

The space bustled with activity. The Peace Day festival carried on in full swing, though there wasn’t quite the same level of fervent celebration underway. Excitement at that pitch couldn’t last a full week, not to mention how it was only afternoon. By evening, she had no doubt the city’s raucous revelry would return.

Since...

24 - Back

The inside of the Convoy’s engine car hummed with enough magic to make her teeth ache, which was impressive considering she’d spent three years at the Institute.

Artificing lines covered both walls, centering on eight brilliant white orbs—the power cores. Those same markings radiated down across the car, and would have continued to the rest of the train as well had the carriage not been ripped away from the Convoy.

Otherwise, the interior of the room was rather plain. She ha...

23 - Dash

Unsurprisingly, the gathering stirred at an orichalcum-rank pointing his bow at a thirteen-year-old girl.

Saffra, for her part, merely considered the situation. Jasper might have a flippant attitude, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. He was strange, but she’d tentatively categorized him as an okay person.

“I don’t know what she put on me,” Saffra said eventually. “But knowing her, they have to be pretty strong.”

Jasper loosened his draw and pointed his bow dow...

22 - Plans

The liquid inside the conical flask was surprisingly unassuming, as was the container itself. Made of plain glass with a skinny neck plugged by a cork, its design wasn’t nearly fancy enough for how powerful she knew it must be.

Saffra asked, “Can you see anything when you [Inspect] it?”

“No,” Jasper said, seeming impressed. “Not even a name. And I can identify potions better than most. One of my teammates is an alchemist.”

Saffra swallowed. It made sense that <...

21 - Sudden

It was a given that apprentices were burdens on their masters. Even so, Saffra couldn’t help but feel she’d been nothing but a nuisance to Lady Vivi, and she’d been her apprentice for all of half a day.

Guilty as she felt, her relief was stronger. Her necklace was the last thing she had to remember her village by. Even the prospect that she might have lost it had her hands turning clammy and anxious energy filling her.

But Vivi would find it. She could cast [Locate Object], ...

20 - Goad

All eyes fell on Vivi following Lord Caldimore’s outburst. She didn’t like being the center of attention, but she’d been put in the spotlight frequently since her arrival in this world. She expected she would need to get used to it.

Temporarily ignoring Caldimore, her gaze slid to Saffra. The boy next to her was clearly affronted at having been grabbed by a spell, but was also watching his father with eager excitement for how this would unfold. Saffra herself had gone pale-faced.<...

19 - Grimoires

The tome that landed in Vivi’s lap was unexpectedly substantial in all dimensions—tall, thick, and wide. Unlike Saffra’s, Vivi’s grimoire featured a polished obsidian cover adorned with elegant designs made from an unusual, almost pearlescent violet metal. Centered on the front was a raised ivory crown, points tipped with red gemstones. Ornate didn’t begin to describe the book’s appearance.

There was a solid heft to the grimoire as she picked it up, and when she flipped it o...

18 - The Mechanics of Magic

Saffra had been less nervous for the Institute Qualification Exams.

Which didn’t make sense. She wasn’t being evaluated, not in a way that had any consequences. Her magical competence clearly wasn’t the primary factor—if a factor at all—for why Lady Vivi had accepted her apprenticeship proposition.

As for what the actual factors were? She had no idea. That Vivi ‘needed a guide’ didn’t explain enough. She could get one of those anywhere.

A whim? High-level adv...

Patreon Started!

Plan to launch on 6/23 with advance chapters :)