A/N: Before we get to the chapter proper I'm happy to announce that book 4 is now up for pre-order! Going along with this release all of the old books are getting an update in cover art, something I'm hoping you all will enjoy as much as I have!
Link: https://www.audible.com/pd/Melody-of-Mana-4-A-Progression-Fantasy-Audiobook/B0CJ3WSBTJ
The sea...
2023-09-19 01:08:17 +0000 UTC View PostAs the city began to fade behind me I let out a sigh. It had taken almost two weeks to get everything in order, and it was a bit frustrating. That said, I couldn't just leave my house alone and full of things others might want, so divesting myself of some of my goods was needed. The proceeds had been hidden well enough that nobody should be able to find them.
It had been years since I'd come to this world, and still things surprised me. Most people nev...
2023-09-15 19:47:50 +0000 UTC View PostI stood by my window, looking out upon the ice. In the reflected image I could see myself, I could still pass for somewhere in my mid to late twenties if I tried, though that was certainly no longer true. My work with age controlling magic had generated results, though it was still decidedly imperfect. I was still aging, just at a snails pace.
“You know, vanity is foolish,” came the voice of perhaps my oldest friend.
“Maybe, but I can ...
2023-09-12 22:26:56 +0000 UTC View PostI finally washed off my face, tired, exhausted, but satisfied. It had taken months of work, but my testing was finally done, for now. The final bar of steel was tested, and placed in the small rack sectioned for it a hidden compartment in my floor.
There had been a number of problems, all of which overlapped in the first few batches, but slowly I'd worked them out to the degree that I was currently happy with. My steel wasn't near as good as some of the modern all...
2023-09-11 20:48:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe rain poured down over the city of Lithere. There was no thunder, no lightning, only the sky weeping over the city. It was appropriate, the right kind of day for it, the right time for such a storm.
At the foot of the statue, on a small dais stood my brother in mid-speech, the crown upon his head shedding water. The way that the droplets flowed down both his face, and the stone one behind him made it seem as if both were weeping. Like both had tears...
2023-09-08 19:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostShorin
I walked down the avenue and into the largest structure in the city by a large margin. All around me staff and servants moved in waves here and there, each on their assigned tasks. Of course, I too was here on an assigned task, one that would take me deep into the center of the building.
Most of the places in the city of Atal were some mix of grown and stone architecture, but this one was not. This building alone was all stone, each o...
2023-09-08 00:49:41 +0000 UTC View PostI lay back in the slightly raised bed I'd finally been shown to, completely and utterly exhausted. Sweat was still drying and at some point I would need to clean myself, but that wasn't what was important right now.
What was important was held against my chest, quietly feeding. Just looking at him was enough to make my heart flutter with joy and bring a smile to my face. He was there, my child, with a huge, adorable head, and the slightest points to his ears...
2023-09-06 13:47:43 +0000 UTC View PostIron was hard. Not in the sense of being physically difficult to move, well it was that, but in other ways too. It was not so easy to shape as copper, leading to a whole plethora of problems.
I looked down at the chunk I was holding in place with magic with a small bit of rage. It was a chunk of the bloom, since the whole thing was rather unwieldy. There was metal there, I could even see some of it. Irritatingly it was not doing what I wanted it ...
2023-09-04 15:51:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe beach awaited, and magic awaited, and oh was this something I was itching to try. There was a thing about many of the ideas I had, a dreadful thing. In my old village they were either not very useful, or not something I wanted to have to explain to anyone. I wasn't in my village anymore though, and I didn't have to explain shit.
I reached my hands over the sand once I'd settled my carrier and began to focus. Inwardly I'd prepped for years for this, visualizin...
2023-09-04 06:40:32 +0000 UTC View PostI stumbled to the washroom, taking each and every step gingerly. Behind me my husband still lay in bed, soft snores coming from where he lay. We were going to have to have a talk at some point. He'd been a bit overexcited and while he might be inhumanly durable, I wasn't.
The large mirror in the side of the room showed a myriad of things. All along my hips, thighs and backside, even going up to my stomach were bruises. Yellow and purpling marks in the shape...
2023-09-02 12:16:31 +0000 UTC View PostChien and I found a nice spot where we could sit and eat the basket of clams I'd bought. It wasn't anything fancy, but the seller had managed to roast them inside the container with plenty of water and fragrant herbs. Oddly the meal was probably better tasting than most of what I'd had on Earth, less fat, but the way it was done was just right.
“Alright, so what is it that you want?” the boy asked while leaning against a wall.
“Mostly I need...
2023-09-01 01:19:44 +0000 UTC View PostMy morning had been hectic, hair, makeup, all the little things that added up to me being very tired already. As I looked in the mirror though, most of that seemed to fall away. Today would be a mix of traditions, some from this world, some from my last. What I saw there certainly wasn't what most girls on Earth thought of, but it suited me well.
The dress, rather than white, was a cool velvet blue, struck through with small bits of the glowing thread that w...
2023-08-31 13:27:29 +0000 UTC View PostIt took me nearly a week to get my house set up. Now I was... well it was still sub-par, but I at least had things in working order. There was a good set of stone tools, and the proper benches, and a slightly more comfortable setup for myself, with a better bed and some food packed away.
Each morning I'd been going out, gathering the materials that I needed and doing a few projects, but after that is where the real fun began. I went out and just, watched peo...
2023-08-30 13:04:55 +0000 UTC View PostI sighed and sat down, leaning up against Ulanion where he sat on the couch. Immediately I found myself wrapped in his arms, as he properly understood that I wanted cuddles. After a time of letting me bury my face in his freshly showered chest he began to speak.
“Things that bad?” he asked, rubbing my back a bit.
“Not bad, but not good.”
“Are we in a solutions or listening sort of situation here?” he asked, making me s...
2023-08-29 01:15:43 +0000 UTC View PostAs I rose, finding the sun just cresting the edge of the sky I looked around in brief confusion. Moments passed as my mind righted itself, reminding me where I was and what I was doing before I rose. There was much to do today, and in the coming days. I had only a limited amount of savings and there was no easy way to put it, but I needed to get working or I would find myself in a rather hard place sooner rather than later.
First came the general cleaning an...
2023-08-25 00:09:50 +0000 UTC View PostJustin and I meandered along the road to Silversprings, we were going to stop by the actual town for only one reason, and that was so that he could get some extra readings. He'd brought along a fair quantity of equipment and was wanting to stop at various places along our route just to check on the area's space.
Technically I didn't need to be here, but I'd come for a few reasons. The first was that we didn't want him getting into any trouble, and somehow I was su...
2023-08-24 22:32:34 +0000 UTC View PostIt took me some time to explain to Ian, name pronounced the same as it would have been in English, that it wasn't a specific house I was looking for but rather a place to live. By that time we'd reached the local guard station and they all had a good laugh at my mistake.
“Ah, first time in the city then?” Ian asked, sitting on a small stone bench, which looked like a massive rock brought in because it was just the right size.
“Yeah, needed a new p...
2023-08-22 03:08:17 +0000 UTC View PostIt took us time to get to the wall, for a wall there was. It was perhaps twenty feet tall, and almost as wide, with an opening that was clearly a gate. No metal though, the blockage was made of wood. A man with a spear and a sash of red leather across his chest was watching people go in and out, examining all of them.
“Guard?' I asked Oman.
“Mmm, yeah, though they won't mess with you unless you try to bring in something dangerous.” &nb...
2023-08-21 05:21:05 +0000 UTC View PostMystien allowed me to lead him over to my office, if we were going to have such serious conversations then the hall just wasn't the place for it.
“Well?” he asked.
“Well, obviously I still have secrets,” I responded, a bit unhappy he'd noticed.
“Clearly, but before I go and talk to a mage that could quite easily turn me into a fine red mist should I irritate him I would like to know what exactly I'm dealing with.”
The sun set as I pulled close to the village, our neighbor, or formerly my neighbor, since I didn't really live in Elayatol anymore. I'd spent the better part of the day in a solid jog and even if I was in way better shape in this world than I was in my last it was still a tiring run.
I was met at the edge, spotted by one of their lookouts.
“Who goes?” the man there inquired, trying to get a look at my face.
“Elian, son of Eduan,...
2023-08-17 02:14:27 +0000 UTC View PostMy father literally couldn't stop laughing. It was refreshing to see him in such a good mood really, since he was far more dour than I'd like since mother's death. On the other hand it was getting a bit frustrating to deal with.
“That he actually came here to lay siege...” he began before giggles overtook him again.
“Honestly it's like he never even looked at the defenses on the place,” my brother added.
“It wouldn't hav...
2023-08-16 01:52:36 +0000 UTC View PostI awoke well before dawn, and I was not alone. My whole family was there, all of us ready for the coming day. By a few small magical lights things were checked and rechecked, everything needed to be right, needed to be ready for my travels.
Mother and Auntie Atie sat behind me, each was braiding my hair, putting bead after bead into it. It wasn't lost on me that the ones they were using were the best we had. Normally we held back on what wealth we'd sh...
2023-08-13 01:22:46 +0000 UTC View Post“The forest is on fire.” Those were Elaya's first words to me when she returned. “A full quarter of the hunting and gathering areas are burning. Larus and your father are desperately trying to do what they can to slow or stop the spread, but there is little to do, because the forest, is, on, fire.”
“Do you wish me to help?” I asked, not sure what else to offer.
“I wish you to explain why in the world you two were so deter...
2023-08-13 01:21:48 +0000 UTC View PostI watched from above as the hall monitor began his work. It took time for the gas to spread, and it wasn't fatal, but it didn't need to be. He was just the first wave, the first wave of many to our attack. These soldiers really should have known better than to do as they did, I understood it, but they were good and truly screwed now.
It didn't take long for the soldiers to realize that the golem was up to no good, the first few ranks being very distracted by...
2023-08-07 16:09:37 +0000 UTC View PostI pulled myself to the far right as a wave of energy slammed into the ground pulping the short vegetation and leaving an indent where it landed. The power seethed and buckles spreading like water over the dirt as it flowed, missing me by inches.
I didn't have time for worrying about the others, for now I had to fight. I shot forth twin lances, fire so hot that it turned the very air into plasma, brilliant streaks pulsing across the sky. If they landed they w...
2023-08-07 14:59:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe back and forth was intense, but there was some wiggle room. Justin was an absolute monster when it came to design and the Orders knew it, therefore they wanted some of his older ones. Both Mystien and myself heavily objected to this once we learned what exactly they were after.
In the past there had been a few ship designs that had allowed the elves to cross the ocean with seeming ease. Both sides were vague about exactly what was going on with them, but...
2023-08-03 18:46:34 +0000 UTC View PostI crawled out of my workshop late in the morning, all the gatherers having left for the day. I'd been asked to come along today, but had been in the middle of a casting when asked. Being a little late was okay, and it wasn't like they were going to be far from the village.
It was a short jog to the spot today, one of the better areas for berries that bloomed just before the rainy season began. The clouds gathered, not raining yet, but shading the whole valle...
2023-08-03 17:39:29 +0000 UTC View PostI was with some of the younger boys, showing them the basics of trapping. We didn't do this every day, but as their senior it was part of my duties to lead them as best I could. Sadly they were all too young for me to speak to properly, all too fresh to the world and all of its wonders. As they ran off again my mother came to my side.
“They're so small, I remember when you were that small,” she said.
“I don't know, I think I've got a b...
2023-08-03 17:38:33 +0000 UTC View PostCala had been taken off to rest, and to sit with Rindal while mother tried to do what she could for him. Once she was clear though, I had the real fight to start. Isha kindly stayed, waiting to see what would happen.
“Tell me what you know,” I demanded, furious that I'd been to that cave several times and she'd still hidden this away.
“I will, but you'll watch your tone with me boy,” Elaya responded. “You'll need to know, if only s...
2023-07-31 20:45:13 +0000 UTC View PostI sat at the meeting table, waiting, across from me the woman who I was fairy convinced had founded The Lovers. She sat there playing with her hair as I ran through my paperwork, looking over reports that had just arrived this morning. The scouts had noticed some of the local monsters were acting strangely, either missing or riled up. There were a few ways that might have happened, the most likely being that some other, bigger beast had moved into the area, but it was ...
2023-07-31 19:56:41 +0000 UTC View Post