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Changing into a new set of clothes was fast, but when Serenity asked what restaurant they should visit, the Silver Blades were remarkably unwilling to commit. Gabriel started to volunteer options a couple of times before Daryl shot him down. Serenity had the feeling that they’d have been much more willing to name a place if they’d won; as it was, they had to pay and didn’t seem to want to name the place.
Serenity only knew two restaurants in Takinat...
2023-03-06 00:53:28 +0000 UTC
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Serenity wasn’t the only one who thought he needed to change things up; Daryl was no longer chasing Serenity. It was obvious he’d decided that if he couldn’t catch Serenity with Naomi’s help, he wasn’t going to catch Serenity on his own. It also looked like he was breathing hard; Serenity wondered if Daryl was starting to get tired. He was at a higher Tier, but he didn’t have effectively infinite stamina, the way Serenity did.
Serenity kept his...
2023-03-05 00:03:41 +0000 UTC
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Serenity swapped his Crystal Hilt into his left hand and used his right to pull his new Severing Wand out of his storage harness. He wasn’t as good left-handed, but that was exactly the point; if he needed the Severing Wand, he was going to need it quickly and it was going to have to work the first time.
A moment later, his foresight was rewarded; while he didn’t have time to fully analyze the spell that poured out of the mage’s wand, it wasn’t as...
2023-03-03 23:59:51 +0000 UTC
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“All three?” The Tier Nine spokesman snorted. “You’re Tier Eight. You couldn’t take us on one at a time, much less in a three on one.”
Serenity took a good look at his future opponents. The Tier Seven woman in the back was clearly a melee specialist; her only weapons were her sword and a dagger that she probably used for both parrying and close quarters. Serenity was confident he could hold his own against her, whether he was in melee or kept it ...
2023-03-03 00:23:14 +0000 UTC
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The next day, Serenity had a choice to make. He was supposed to meet the Silver Blades at the Mercenaries’ Guild “near sunset”, but he also wanted to try and figure out where the biplanes’ base was. That was the reason he was in Takinat, after all, while looking into dungeons was simply something to keep him busy while he waited.
So he decided to split the difference. He wasn’t in a hurry; he could take the time he needed to prepare, and the first...
2023-03-02 00:34:47 +0000 UTC
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Serenity’s time reading and talking to the Broken Mirror kept him up late and he didn’t wake the next morning until the first attack hit the Library. It was a good thing that the only thing he had planned for the day was building a spell that wasn’t based on shortening distances to see farther; the last thing he wanted was an attack coming through a portal to hit things it shouldn’t. He could probably take it, but his clothing certainly couldn’t, never...
2023-03-01 00:16:34 +0000 UTC
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Serenity read through the rest of the thesis, but the opening section really covered most of the information in it. There were a number more references and quite a few quotes from the three scrolls that seemed to supply most of the relevant information, but there was only one thing that made Serenity curious, right at the end. The last three words in the thesis seemed completely unconnected to anything.
Incarnate of Knowledge.
Serenity could think of...
2023-02-28 00:19:35 +0000 UTC
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By the time Serenity walked out of the store, it was close to sunset; he’d spent longer shopping than he’d realized. Well, if he was going to go shopping, this was exactly the sort of shopping he preferred. It was less fun than researching runic patterns, but at least he accomplished something.
It was too late in the day to get a better look at one of the planes, since they were always long gone before sunset. He’d have to try for that tomorrow. Toni...
2023-02-27 00:00:09 +0000 UTC
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As far as Serenity was concerned, the pair of sheaths and replacements for his belt and boots were the big items of his stopping trip, but that didn’t mean he was done. He passed through the jewelry section without any enchantments catching his eye; several of the sets were pretty, but none were worth more than that to him.
They wouldn’t be worth much to Rissa either, unfortunately; at Tier Two, she could barely take any attribute enhancement, and that’...
2023-02-25 23:40:13 +0000 UTC
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Lorenzo’s Magic Shoppe was only a few hundred feet from the Mercenary Guild storefront. Somehow, Serenity had the feeling that location was deliberate; it seemed to be in the closest large building.
Large was definitely the right word for the store, too. While it didn’t come close to the size of a modern megastore, it was pretty close in size to a supermarket. Serenity was pretty sure he’d been in some Walgreens that were smaller. He’d seen stores l...
2023-02-25 00:01:56 +0000 UTC
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Takinat’s Mercenary Guild headquarters was deserted when Serenity walked in other than a single employee behind a counter, who seemed to have been awakened by the bell on the door. Sleepiness was still audible in his voice when he greeted Serenity. “Hello and welcome to the Guild. How can I - “ The employee covered his mouth with his hand as he yawned. “Help you?”
The room looked tired and worn down. There were two seating areas with oversized, ...
2023-02-24 00:01:33 +0000 UTC
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Russ waved some of the smoke away from his face and examined the basement. The raid went well; almost too well, considering the level of resistance. No one on his side died or was even heavily injured; they’d all be fine with a few days’ recovery time and a little healing.
It definitely helped that he could warn his support about possible magic users and enchanted items now instead of trying to convince them with rumors of strange advanced technology, bu...
2023-02-23 00:16:06 +0000 UTC
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Rissa’s vision did indeed let her find a book that held the style used in the runic formation on the underside of the biplane. While that meant that Serenity didn’t have to sort the books by whether they’d looked at them or not, it didn’t get him out of shelving them.
Old Man Rinsetti was smart about it, too. He made Serenity reshelve the books before he got a good look at the book with the information on that particular runeset, beyond agreeing that...
2023-02-22 00:01:16 +0000 UTC
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Old Man Rinsetti took his time looking over the sketch. When he looked up, he was already smiling. “Did you draw this?”
Serenity nodded. “I thought it would be useful; it sounds like no one else has noticed it. Jemma had me draw one at the beginning of her test, too.”
“Test?” Rinsetti raised his eyebrows for a moment, then lowered them. “Oh, of course. Journeyman? How long did it take?”
“Four days,” Serenity answered half-...
2023-02-20 23:50:27 +0000 UTC
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Death watched his Incarnate and felt yet another new emotion: contentment. His decision to push Serenity into Incarnation was an impulse he’d decided he was pleased with. Serenity wasn’t simply the best candidate Death had ever seen; he also had a philosophy about Death that allowed Death to enjoy his existence.
Death knew where it came from, of course; a Concept didn’t simply take on the traits of their Incarnate, they also gained their memories. Death...
2023-02-19 23:31:12 +0000 UTC
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“Only the names of the planets,” the Mirror replied. “The actual locations were only recorded in the true Repository of Secrets on Earth.”
The last word echoed; Serenity knew the word the Mirror said wasn’t Earth, but he also knew that that was what it meant. His own world’s Name.
Serenity froze. How could there be a Repository of Secrets on Earth?
Well, there couldn’t be, not now. It simply wasn’t possible if it was as magical ...
2023-02-18 23:43:18 +0000 UTC
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Serenity said the first thing that came to mind. “Why is a Hand of the Order allowed in here when the Head Librarian isn’t?”
It almost certainly wasn’t the right question, but it was the first thing he thought of and he didn’t seem to be on a particularly limited schedule at the moment.
There was a pause; when the unseen voice replied, it sounded sad. “If you do not know that, more has been lost than I thought possible. How long have I bee...
2023-02-18 00:07:48 +0000 UTC
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I probably should have mentioned this yesterday, but I've decided to change the name of the Runecrafters' Guild to Runeworkers' Guild. That was literally as generic as I could come up with; a lot of what they do isn't crafting. Some of the other suggested options are going to end up as specializations.
It's really not relevant to this chapter, but I thought I'd mention it before I forget again!
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Serenity frowned. “There were three planes the day we a...
2023-02-16 23:56:59 +0000 UTC
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On the way back to the Library from the Runeworkers’ Guild, Serenity pulled up his messages. There was nothing to watch out for, not this close to the Library. He’d hear the plane if it got close and nothing else was willing to brave the destroyed area.
Message from Russ Latimer to Serenity
Serenity,
It was good to hear from you yesterday. Things are busy here, but I’m making it work out.
Jacob’s doing...
2023-02-16 00:05:35 +0000 UTC
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All of the information on Takinat was gathered in a collection of drawings, charts, and maps at a central location. Other cities and regions were there, as well, but the Takinat information was in a separate stack. It wasn’t the only separate stack, but it was the smallest one. Most of the others were on regions, while this stack focused on a particular building. Even the maps of Takinat dismissed the rest of the city as “presence of structures” with l...
2023-02-15 00:09:29 +0000 UTC
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The Runecrafters’ Guild building in Takinat was indeed sky blue with forest green trim on the wall facing the street. The mana gathering array on the roof was damaged but probably still functional; there was a gouge in the roof directly over one of the lines, but if Serenity remembered that particular runic language correctly, that particular line was simply part of a regulator, smoothing out the mana draw. They’d want to fix that soon to avoid the chance of a...
2023-02-14 00:21:05 +0000 UTC
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Like the buildings around it, the shop was essentially undamaged.
It didn’t have the shelving of a modern store. Instead, there was a shelving unit, probably a bookcase, behind the long counter filled with glass vials; other than that and a small bookcase with books and scrolls, everything was on (or in a few cases under) tables. Nothing was covered in plastic; instead, things that needed to be packaged were covered in paper or contained in glass. Most i...
2023-02-12 23:45:52 +0000 UTC
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Honoria paused and frowned. “I’m not sure what to do with you next. Normally, I set new Librarians to cataloging, with periodic breaks to practice shelving. Cataloging is good practice, helps a new Librarian build the intent she’ll need to actually work with the Library, while shelving forces you to learn your way around and how to hear the Library. That’s not why you’re here, you’re here to defend. I do need some help with the Library’s own defen...
2023-02-11 23:04:48 +0000 UTC
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Serenity knew what a librarian was, a person working for a library that helped get information or otherwise interface with the patrons. That probably wasn’t a perfect definition, but it was close enough generally. Not everyone who worked at a library was a librarian; there were all sorts of other jobs that had to be done, from administration to cataloging to janitorial duties. In a library like this one, there were probably also mages or at least specialists i...
2023-02-11 00:02:18 +0000 UTC
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Honoria didn’t meet them at the door. Serenity hadn’t expected her to, with the attack they’d just witnessed, but what that really meant was that Serenity didn’t know what to expect.
The Great Library was huge, with four different obvious balconies, each of which was over a standard story in height. Even from the entrance, Serenity could tell that the balconies were absolutely full of books; the only open space was the center of the building, which...
2023-02-10 00:02:05 +0000 UTC
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Today's slightly-late chapter has been brought to you by Wednesday....
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Ranar was slightly closer to several portals that led to Asihanya than it was to Lyka, but Takinat was not one of the easy ones. They could have cut at least a week off the trip by traveling to Eniriil then using the Asihanya portal network as much as possible, but the attacks on the cities of Asihanya meant that the safe route was to stay off Asihanya for as long as possibl...
2023-02-09 00:27:01 +0000 UTC
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Not late!
....it's sad when that's an achievement. Here's hoping I manage it tomorrow.
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Serenity pushed away a moment’s regret at not knowing how he was going to follow the Path Quest he’d just selected; that didn’t matter. He’d figure it out eventually. It wasn’t like there was a timer on it.
Even better, the Voice didn’t think it would block Serenity’s efforts to protect Earth. That meant that either he could work towards it on E...
2023-02-08 00:07:19 +0000 UTC
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The call with Lancaster went better than Serenity expected. With luck, everything else was handled for now.
Serenity glanced at the door. He was happy to have some alone time; heading out to see everyone immediately sounded exhausting. Surely a few minutes wouldn’t be a problem?
Come to think of it, he even had some notifications and choices he’d been putting off. That was a good excuse to spend a little more time alone while everyone else thought ...
2023-02-07 01:55:29 +0000 UTC
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So, I was wrong yesterday about being late not affecting today's chapter.
I am farther along, at least, so today's shouldn't be too much longer.
At this point I'm not willing to predict for tomorrow ... but it had better be done in time! I have evening plans!
2023-02-07 00:10:52 +0000 UTC
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“Guildmaster Tirmanak wants me to go back to Earth, since it would be easier for me to fit in than someone else. I don’t think I want to, at least not to do the job of a Knife. Even if I’m just assisting Margrethe, it’s not that easy! He doesn’t understand what I tell him about the way the world works. You can’t just kill people!” Helen smacked her thigh for emphasis, then straightened in her chair. She did not sound at all happy.
Helen spoke ...
2023-02-06 04:32:47 +0000 UTC
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