Temple_GD_

GH - 206

We threaded the snow-covered ruins filled with people galloping everywhere like excited electrons. Herald Stone lacked a scientist title to know if that simile was accurate. We were careful not to bump into anyone to avoid any trouble. Scratching my tusk in amusement, I observed dozens of players steal each other’s kills.

Does this really count as kill-stealing though?

It meant taking credit—literally, as in getting Artas and loot—for a monster that someone made mor...

GH - 205

We were met with flashes of lights. Too bad it wasn’t paparazzi taking our pictures; players were warping into the left and right, turning the village into a disco club.

If it were me, it’d be better if our party registered later. This was like standing up before the cabin doors of the just-landed airplane were opened. Why the rush? We weren’t missing out on anything if we waited a few hours for the surge of players heading to the Hunter-Warriors’ Lodge to subside.

From wh...

GH - 204

“Did you guys wait long?” Megan shouted as she and Nitana trotted towards us.

“Sho-should we respond?” Paritor hesitantly asked Kezo. “It might be inappropriate to shout. We should wait for them to—”

“No, we didn’t!” I yelled, waving at Megan and Nitana.

Kezo laughed.

“No need to be so uptight among friends,” I told Paritor. And also, a reminder to myself.

“I-I suppose you are right,” said Paritor.

“Nitana took so long to come ...

Erind/Deen - 5.22.7

Amber Deen Leska

“Model in my underwear?” Wild thoughts raced in Amber Deen’s head. She felt herself getting dumber every second as neurons got fried from overstimulation. Deen would rather bury herself than allow anyone to peek into her thoughts at that moment. She willed herself not to look at her Guardian Angel for the shame of what it might be thinking about her.

Erind tilted her head. “Uh, yeah?”

“Or do you want me to completely undress and�...

GH - 203

“The Big M?” Kezo asked.

Paritor’s eyes flicked from me to Kezo, and back to me.

I slightly nodded at Paritor. If he was so concerned about keeping the ashy hermit a secret, he shouldn’t strut around with his new summons. Unlikely that anyone had seen this flaming big cat and abominable scarecrow before so they’d invite attention.

I too wanted to keep Big M’s Ocadules a secret, but I also had two impromptu agendas here—I was showing Paritor that Kezo could be t...

Erind/Deen - 5.22.6

Amber Deen Leska

Amber Deen Leska chewed her tongue while looking at the mirror. She was permanently a strawberry now. Turning right, she observed her Guardian Angel—it didn’t have a reflection in the mirror. It bobbed in the air, peeking at her with an eye for a moment—she wondered if it was judging her—before settling back into its stupor. Deen took that to mean there was no danger.

Problem was, she wasn’t sure if Gabe considered getting caught by the ...

GH - 202

I found Kezo sitting on the fluffy snow as he perused a floating screen. Three Snowy Swinelings headbutted his armored flank in vain; he must’ve disturbed the peaceful cloud-puff piglets somehow for them to attack him. The little monsters poofed into Essence and Gli when the edge of the AoE of my [Blight Cloud] reached them. At the death of their fellows, other Snowy Swinelings waddled over to attack me, angrily grunting—more needless deaths.

“Hi there, Kezo. Am I the fir...

REND - 6.19 - Reo Hinode (Oberon) - Part 1

Reo Hinode (Oberon) – Part 1

“Right-o, it is, Erind-o,” Reo said with fake enthusiasm. He gulped before leading the way.

What the fuck am I doing? he asked himself. Why was he still here instead of returning to the buffet, stuffing his face to challenge Everett’s eating record?

Reo wasn’t a coward—he could say that to himself without shame. His ancestors would agree. Probably. There was a huge difference between being a coward and not wa...

GH - 201

“What you’re saying is that you think some of your kind is still alive?” I asked the Kurghal village goat, translating its bleating into words.

The goat nodded. A pair of floating cymbals above its head clanked.

It had just finished a lengthy exposition dump about what happened to it during the Great Quake. The crimson goat, only a kid back then, the goat kind, not the human kid, and twenty-odd companions—a tiny portion of their herd—escaped a collapsed cave in the after...

REND - 6.18

“Don’t joke about something like that,” Reo snapped.

“You said it first,” I retorted. “Now, your joke is becoming real.”

From his voice, I could tell he was anxious. A freaking baby for panicking so fast. I should either be supportive or start to freeze into a frightened statue. But first, I want to get back at him for trying to back out from being my pawn.

“You kept pressing zero,” I said, forcing my voice to crack to match his panic. A blame game was perf...

GH - 200

Rich notes rolled in the air, reminding me of bouncy country music, the type Pops loved. Sprinkle in a medieval-like tinge, and that was [Carhoni’s Chorus]. This was the first time I heard this song, but it felt almost nostalgic. An invitation to adventure was what came to mind, to become a hero, the chosen one, the main character in the many fantasy books I read in my childhood.

Well… I, Herald Stone, was already the main character of the universe. No invitation needed, thank you v...

GH - 199

Streams of light whizzed upwards, blossoming into magic circles in the sky, looking like a fireworks display of sorts. Sound effects of the spells wove in with the music. That was the direction of the goat’s hut if I wasn’t mistaken.

How dare they celebrate, whatever it was, without me? Herald Stone was the mandated center of every festivity!

Should I go there and assert dominance? Players around me also stopped to gaze at the lit sky, muttering amongst themselves. Th...

GH - 198

On the way to the auction house, I passed by Clement’s stall. I needed to stock ammunition for a possible bidding war.

Clement told me he sold all of my products. “People love the Frigid Yew Salve, my good friend,” he excitedly said. “Especially the parties without healers. When you think about it, it’s cheaper per point restored compared to regular health potions since it restores percentage health.”

“That’s exactly what I told you why it was going to sell well.�...

GH - 197

“I have it!” I excitedly whispered. “We can make those two problematic ingredients.”

“Are you sure, dear lad?” Gula’s expression was disbelieving.

I took it out of my inventory and materialized it in the real world. Making sure my body blocked the guard’s view, I showed Gula a container the size of a large mug with a lid on. It was made of rough material, like that weird stone for scrubbing feet. Exfoliation was what Nelly said when she gave me an oblong s...

GH - 196

“Do you think Mum will live in our house for good?” I asked. “Or is she just there for the duration of her stay in Egret?”

“Visit me no more, lad,” came the reply.

“You’re no help.” I sighed, shaking my head. It was nice to feel my strong lower jaw weighed down by girthy tusks again. “Where can I get an answer ‘round here?”

“The souls of the dead cling to my horns,” she said. “I do not want them to pull yours as well. Leave.”

“Maybe I ...

GH - 195

“My goodness!” Mum gasped as she gazed up at our house. Rays of the sun high above made her graying frizzled hair sparkle like a steel wool sponge.

We were on the sidewalk, right next to waist-high hedges bordering the elegantly landscaped lawn surrounding our house. Again, Jimmy stayed in the car. Nelly, Sawyer, and I exchanged pleased winks. Mum didn’t seem to be faking it. And it was obvious whenever she’d fake liking something.

“It’s just like your father and I ima...

GH - 194

“Uh… Pops…” I hesitantly said.

Mum and my sisters expectantly looked at me. This was also another mini-tradition when visiting Pop’s grave.

No idea who or how this started, but I sorely wished for a time machine to prevent this from first occurring. Each of us had to give Pops a message, tell him about what was up with our lives, our plans for the future, anything we could think of. Essentially, we’d talk as if he was still alive and we were meeting after a long time, ...

GH - 193

“There it is,” I said from behind Mum as soon as I recognized Pops’ headstone a few rows ahead, pretending I knew the way all along.

It wasn’t easy to willfully scrub what the headstone looked like from my mind because I was the one who had it made around five or six years ago—a three-foot-tall slab of exquisite marble, obvious from its sheen compared to its neighbors, with subtle engravings that popped under the right angle of the sun. Pops’ name was carved deep into the st...

GH - 192

“Herald, why don’t you put that big basket away?” Sawyer popped over the shoulder of my seat. “Jimmy can’t see the right side-view mirror.”

On my lap was a nicely woven basket full of white flowers, piled so high that the top ones were level with my forehead. I couldn’t see the road, and Jimmy definitely couldn’t see the window on my side. A few leaves tickled my chin. The sensation of phantom tusks arose as if something long and weighty pulled my jaw down—that’s...