All seemed peaceful in the von Hohenheim estate. The rustling of leaves, combined with the pleasant warmth of the early afternoon sun, made for an idyllic scene. Kids could be heard running around in the distance, chasing each other as part of some game. Their loud giggles served as a testament to their enjoyment.
A group of maids was hanging laundry nearby, occasionally checking on them. They had fond smiles on their faces as they watched the children enjoying themselves. Such carefree...
2023-06-18 17:24:28 +0000 UTC
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Zeke froze. This was the worst possible scenario. If he couldn’t salvage this situation, then he might very well end up not selling anything today. His mind spun, conjuring up and discarding one possible strategy after the other. However, before he could even settle on a course of action, Messenger continued.
“King Midas, in his wisdom, has foreseen this situation. He entrusted me with a message for this very scenario. Are you ready to hear the king’s words?”
Their voice w...
2023-06-16 19:22:41 +0000 UTC
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Zeke and Lara exchanged a glance as the horseless carriage came to a stop in front of them. Even she, as a decorated veteran of countless battles, was visibly tense. Zeke couldn’t say if it was from excitement or nerves, but the casual ease Lara usually projected was absent now.
As per usual, one of the waiting staff members opened the carriage. With a fluttering heart, Zeke waited for somebody to emerge. When a figure finally appeared, Zeke could barely hide his shock.
The pers...
2023-06-14 21:34:35 +0000 UTC
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“When are they due?” Zeke asked.
“Any moment now, young Lord,” David responded.
The pair was observing the gate from the second floor. Zeke had been productive all day, supervising the last of the preparations. Only now that he had nothing more to do, did his nerves start to show.
“How much longer?” Zeke asked a minute later.
With a sigh, David answered again. “It should be any moment now.”
“What if nobody shows up?”
David snorted disdai...
2023-06-13 21:24:19 +0000 UTC
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When Zeke arrived at the foyer, he immediately noticed that a crowd had gathered. Evidently, word had gotten around that Leo was looking for him. Nobody seemed willing to miss the show.
With Margret and David behind him, Zeke descended the stairway. Upon noticing his arrival, the room went quiet. At his approach, the throng of people parted, revealing a shock of dirty blonde hair.
This was the first time Zeke had seen Leo in the past couple of weeks. His brother looked a lot bette...
2023-06-12 13:59:34 +0000 UTC
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Three people were gathered around a small table in a study on the second floor. After Margret’s announcement, Zeke immediately sent somebody to inform David. This issue was too important to delay.
“Tell me everything,” Zeke demanded with eager eyes when they were all seated.
Margret nodded, gathering her thoughts before starting her explanation. “We discovered that the Goldfinger company owns a couple of buildings in the third layer. We found them by following the guards. ...
2023-06-11 13:37:26 +0000 UTC
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It only took about an hour to install the Enchantments. The fast progress could mostly be attributed to meticulous planning. It had been a significant challenge to design the internal structure of the vessel in a way that maximized the effect of every single Enchantment.
Jettero had been unyielding in his insistence on precision, and the effort paid off. It was as easy as sliding the Enchantments into the prepared sockets. The metal frame of the Gondola had eight strategically placed sl...
2023-06-09 13:11:03 +0000 UTC
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Now that Zeke was aware of the danger of using his Puppet mode, a few things had to change. He didn’t dare use Soul Magic inside his office anymore. Instead, he constructed a private workshop below the mansion.
As always, the efficiency of Earth Mages was astonishing. They managed to excavate a room in the span of a single afternoon. Zeke had plans to reinforce the walls and ceiling with Voidiron at some point. For now, Mana infused stone was all he could afford. This would be a neces...
2023-06-06 20:04:54 +0000 UTC
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Zeke was back in his room. He was curled up in his bed, the covers draped over him. Even though the incident had happened over an hour ago, he couldn’t get his hands to stop shaking. It wasn’t even the fact that he killed the man that bothered him. No, he had been prepared to do so.
What had really impacted him was how intimately connected they had been. This was not like Mind reading. It was not like anything he had ever heard about. It was almost as if he had lived the man’s lif...
2023-06-04 13:59:52 +0000 UTC
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Zeke examined the unprotected Soul in front of him. This was his first time ever seeing one. In his excitement, he hadn’t even taken a closer look.
Soul perception was incredibly strange. It was like a mixture of seeing, hearing, and feeling. Even though there was no visual component involved, Zeke had a very clear image of what was in front of him. His sight was perfect — as if the fallacies of the human eye had been stripped away.
The longer Zeke examined it, the more confus...
2023-06-02 19:47:41 +0000 UTC
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Over the past week, Zeke had fallen into a routine. He would spend most of the day practicing his Engraving skills. For the success of the Gondola project, it was of paramount importance that he became good enough to create High-level enchantments. By now, he had gotten incredibly close to that goal. The three runes he had carved today were high Mid-Grade and Zeke was confident that he would reach his goal soon.
His improvements stemmed mostly from his better handling of the tools and g...
2023-05-31 21:31:54 +0000 UTC
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“What’s your name?” Zeke asked the chained man in front of him.
He and David were currently in the holding cell of the von Hohenheim estate, questioning the prisoner who had regained consciousness moments ago. The man was tied to a metal chair. His hands and feet were completely bound. Usually, something like this would not be an impediment to a Flesh Mage, but the situation was different right now.
“Supra root?” the man asked. Despite the state he was in, his demeanor s...
2023-05-29 19:08:16 +0000 UTC
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“So there was nothing suspicious at all?” Zeke asked for the second or third time.
“No, sir!” the guards answered in the same way they had last time. Zeke was getting frustrated. They hadn’t seen anybody suspicious, hadn’t heard anything out of place, and hadn’t left their post once. If they were to be believed, then the intruder must have been a literal ghost.
“I see. Let’s try something else. Tell me everything that happened between the time I left and the mome...
2023-05-29 07:23:09 +0000 UTC
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Zeke and David had returned home hours ago and the sun had long since traded places with the moon. At this time of night, almost nobody was awake anymore. Despite the late hour, a bright light could still be seen coming from the central room on the second floor. This was Zeke’s study, where he had spent most of his time since coming to Tradespire.
Zeke was laying on the couch with his eyes wide open. Above his head, a metal plate was floating in midair, held in place by his [Telekines...
2023-05-28 08:54:23 +0000 UTC
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Zeke took out one of the square metal disks from the cabinet and inspected it. Despite being made from a much cheaper material, the practice plate had almost the same weight as the Voidiron. As he walked over to the clamps, Zeke rubbed the smooth surface of the material with his thumbs, trying to get a sense of its hardness.
After strapping it in, he remained motionless. Instead of using his eyes, he used his [Perfect Spatial Awareness] to get a good idea of the properties of the dark g...
2023-05-25 16:22:54 +0000 UTC
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After stepping into the building, Zeke was greeted by the sight of an old lady behind a simple wooden counter. Compared to the Hermann Company on the third layer, the decor appeared downright shabby.
Confused, Zeke studied his surroundings in further detail. But even on closer inspection, what greeted him was an unappealing sight. The walls were bare, lacking any decorations, let alone golden fineries. He had anticipated the workshop to be far more inviting, considering the exorbitant p...
2023-05-24 20:49:37 +0000 UTC
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The next few days passed in the blink of an eye. The construction of the Gondola began with only some minor hiccups. Three identical keels had been built simultaneously in the dry docks, each of them around a dozen steps in length. This had only been possible thanks to the toil of the two Nature Mages, their command over wood a thing of beauty.
The smooth operation of the workshop could almost solely be attributed to Jettero’s efforts. He was a harsh taskmaster in one moment, and a pa...
2023-05-21 15:01:48 +0000 UTC
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Zeke followed his mother through the long hallway on the first floor. Soon, he could make out the figure of David standing next to the door of the conference room. His body was visibly tense, and his usually relaxed features had a tinge of nervousness now.
“Who is our mysterious guest?” Zeke questioned as he arrived in front of the butler. “The way you’re acting, I’ll be disappointed if it’s anyone other than the emperor of Arkenheim himself.”
“You shouldn’t even...
2023-05-20 07:49:04 +0000 UTC
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The first rays of the morning sun had just begun to bathe the world in a scarlet hue. In stark contrast, a certain workshop was already operating at full blast. Yelling and hammering could be heard from the third layer of Tradespire. The usually quiet von Hohenheim estate was in an uproar this morning.
Jettero and Zeke were making the rounds. This was already their second day in a row of doing so. The old engineer was insistent that this was a necessary habit to foster. In his words: To...
2023-05-19 12:57:00 +0000 UTC
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Zeke swept his eyes over the group surrounding the table. These were the people he trusted most — his inner circle. With dismay, he noticed that Leo was absent again. He was really beginning to worry about his adopted brother. Not once over the past weeks had Leo sought him out. He hoped that Leo was dealing with his grief in a healthy way. Now was not the time to dwell on the matter, however.
With a theatrical clearing of his throat, Zeke began his speech. “Thank you all for coming...
2023-05-17 22:17:54 +0000 UTC
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Ezekiel watched with bated breath as the old man went over the designs spread out over the conference table. This had been going on for the better part of an hour already. The occasional humming and hawing were the only sound the engineer had uttered all this time.
His eyes flitted from left to right as he rapidly scanned the project summary. Finally, he placed down the last sheet of paper. “Fascinating.”
“Is it any good?” Zeke asked, the expectation clear in his tone.
...
2023-05-16 16:40:52 +0000 UTC
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“Who are you people, and what are you doing here?” the stranger demanded to know.
He had short gray hair and a thick beard. His broad shoulders and powerful arms spoke of a strong physique in his younger days. However, his body had started to give in to age long ago. His rough, calloused hands were a monument to a lifetime of hard work. This person was without a doubt the man they had come to see.
Zeke scanned him with his [Perfect Spatial Awareness]. What he found only reinfo...
2023-05-11 19:35:00 +0000 UTC
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Zeke and David were back on the street. The place they were heading to was somewhere in the fourth Layer, so they had quite a ways to go.
“You’re quite the actor, young lord.”
At the unexpected comment, Zeke glanced at his guard as the two made their way down the street. The remark could have been made casually, but he still got the idea that David was alluding to something more.
“I get the feeling you don’t approve?” Zeke ventured.
David didn’t immediate...
2023-05-09 16:07:27 +0000 UTC
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A mountain of crumpled paper had formed in the corner of the study. Meanwhile, a crimson-haired boy scribbled furiously on a fresh sheet. Minutes passed in silence before the rattling of paper could be heard and the mountain rose once more.
“Shit,” Zeke exclaimed while messing up his own hair in frustration.
It had been four days since the meeting with his followers. The workshop Kerim was building was starting to take shape in the basement of the mansion. David was teaching M...
2023-05-07 13:53:16 +0000 UTC
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When David, Margret, and Kerim had declared their support for Zeke’s plan, the atmosphere lightened considerably. Zeke nodded at each of them in turn. This had been a very crucial part of his strategy, and he was glad that it had worked out.
“So what are we doing, bossman?” Kerim asked.
“Might as well start with you,” Zeke said. “Your part is one of the most important ones.”
“It is?” Kerim asked with a raised brow.
“Well, not you specifically, no,...
2023-05-04 20:25:22 +0000 UTC
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Zeke was pacing the room for the hundredth time this morning. He was once again going over all his preparations. He had called a meeting for just after sunrise and that time had finally come. Any minute now, his core followers would enter this very room and it would be his mission to convince them to support his plan, even after he had told them what was at stake.
The boy rubbed the sleepiness from his tired eyes. He had spent the night scheming and thinking of plans. By now, even his c...
2023-05-02 13:30:45 +0000 UTC
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“This is our dining area. As you can see, we only serve the best. No matter how refined a taste, the young lady is sure to find something she likes,” the man explained.
Zeke and Maya followed the man into a lavish room. It didn’t look like any school dining area Zeke had ever seen. The room had the appearance of a high-class restaurant. He looked around and saw that every single student was accompanied by at least one servant.
On closer observation, Zeke noticed that many of...
2023-05-01 20:53:24 +0000 UTC
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“How many more?” Margret asked in a tired voice.
“Three, I think,” Zeke replied.
The two had just stepped out of another library. They had spent all afternoon going from place to place. Zeke had grossly underestimated the amount of knowledge Tradespire provided to the public.
In the last few hours, he had ingested more knowledge than by touring the empire for a month. Tradespire wasn’t called the cultural capital of the world for nothing. While the Arkanheim empire...
2023-04-29 06:31:11 +0000 UTC
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Despite several minutes having passed, Zeke wasn’t able to restore his inner peace. He felt like he was surrounded by enemies on all sides and he had nobody left to turn to.
With a deep sigh, he finally sat up straight. Laying down hadn’t helped calm his mind. He swept his gaze across the deserted room, in search of a distraction. However, he saw nothing that could hold his attention. Just as he was about to give up, he spotted something. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spied a ro...
2023-04-28 06:17:31 +0000 UTC
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While everyone else was unloading the airship, Zeke, David, and Margret had retreated to a conference room. Margret had held herself back from asking anything up to this point; the moment the door was locked, however, she burst out with her question.
“What was that?” she challenged.
Zeke stared absentmindedly into space. “Which part?” he asked. His expression remained blank as he was going over what he had learned just now.
“The part where you asked him to deliver ...
2023-04-26 16:24:45 +0000 UTC
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