"Look at the map," Reivyn said to Jekle. "See, your forces are here and their forces are there. Look at the terrain and devise a way to engage the enemy. Where should we go, and how should we attack?"
Reivyn had brought Jekle with him to lunch with his officer group, and like he had suspected, none of them had begun to delegate authority to smaller groups within their platoons. They had asked about Jekle's presence, and for his part, he had been a bit hesitant to engage in co...
2022-09-02 19:25:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
Reivyn marched in front of the platoon of volunteers formed up. Each of the Lieutenants were instructed to take charge of their platoons in their various locations. They weren't all together, so as to give a more intimate meeting between their platoon commander with the troops, but they were still nearby. Each of the platoons was formed up in their own little space, separate from forming the entire battalion.
Reivyn surveiled the fifty-man platoon. There were only a few membe...
2022-09-01 22:48:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
Reivyn was pleasantly surprised to find that, despite what was said in the classroom and on paper, once they entered the field for practical application, the tactics and diversity of weaponry was much more complex than they were led to believe. Two platoons of regular soldiers, a squad of mages, and a squad of cavalry were pulled to assist with the training. They were equipped with javelins, pikes, halberds, swords and shields, hammers, and bows.
Instead of having everyone in...
2022-09-01 02:07:24 +0000 UTC
View Post
"What does it mean to be an officer?" Major Dobrik asked, addressing the Candidates who had passed the initial evaluations.
The schedule was much more relaxed after having been through two weeks of intense physical training. The higher ups had seen the grit and guts of the Candidates, and now they were to learn how to actually be officers. It wasn't just the pomp and circumstance classes that were cut, though, as they still had to mount an imminent rescue operation. The typic...
2022-08-31 01:14:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Candidates were dismissed for the day after they were given the order to fall out. They weren't directed to the the barracks to wash up, and they weren't led to the mess hall. They were instructed that they were on their own until they were mustered in the morning.
Reivyn noticed that, despite the lack of direction, there was still the presence of soldiers with clipboards in the distance, watching and taking notes.
"C'mon," Reivyn said to Jek. "Our bodies...
2022-08-29 23:58:29 +0000 UTC
View Post
"I see that we have a couple more new additions," the man at the front of the conference room said as Reivyn and Fira took their seats. "I will just say that I am Major Dobrik, and I will be your Commanding Officer. Your Company Commanders will be introduced to you during training. There's a packet being passed back to you to cover the information you've missed so far. It isn't much, we've just started."
Reivyn sat attentively and accepted the packet of information that was p...
2022-08-26 20:20:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
"We'll probably split up from this point going forward," Fira said as the Party sate around the tavern table. "Sera will go where I go, and I'll be going to the Mage Corps. Sten, Dowell, and Cinna, you'll most likely go to the regular infantry. We don't have our own horses, and that's a requirement to join a calvary unit - they don't supply those to anyone but officers - and you're a bit young and inexperienced."
Sten shared a look with Dowell and Cinna.
"We ...
2022-08-25 22:03:24 +0000 UTC
View Post
The Party made good time on the road to Oreck. It wasn't all sunshine and roses between Reivyn and Fira the whole time. They understood their other companions were under stress from the possibilities involving their families, so they mainly just took opportunities during resting hours to sit near each other and have discussions. They didn't want to flaunt their budding relationship in front of the other Party members during this time.
Sera relaxed in her scrutiny of Reivyn when she...
2022-08-25 00:56:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
It only took them a few additional minutes to verify that Dowell and Cinna's family were in the same situation as Sten's. There was no indication that anyone had been killed, so they assumed they had been taken. That was all it was at this point, though: an assumption. It was better than assuming the alternative.
"Let's go search the Adventurer's Guild and see if their communication tools are still around," Fira said. "If it was another kingdom that attacked, they would have ...
2022-08-23 17:48:28 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Since we're pushing through during the day, you should carry your armor instead of wear it," Fira recommended. Reivyn nodded his head. "It's quite cold in the desert at night, and we've been careful to use shade to rest during the day, so you haven't experienced the full extent of the heat yet. It's not as bad outside of the desolate sands, but it's still hot."
Reivyn removed his armor and contemplated how to carry it along. He didn't have a convenient way to strap it to or ...
2022-08-22 23:24:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
Reivyn settled down in the shade of one of the rocks. There were several hours left until sundown, and the other Party members had segregated themselves to get some rest. Reivyn surmised that he had the highest stats, he was always the last one to suffer fatigue, so he volunteered to keep a lookout while the others got some sleep. He wouldn't have been able to sleep at the time, anyway, so might as well do something useful.
There really wasn't much to keep watch for. It was m...
2022-08-20 01:44:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
"A misunderstanding?" The Elder Lizaldon said. "Your 'misunderstanding' caused the deaths of seven Lizaldons. Yes, quite a 'misunderstanding.'"
"No, see, that is the misunderstanding," Reivyn argued. "I didn't bring the spiders. One of your sentries shouted really loud when he saw me. I was just trying to get away from the spiders after I ended up down there on accident. I tried to tell the sentry about the spiders, but he didn't understand me, and he got ta...
2022-08-18 20:13:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Are you saying that you're down here all by yourself?" Kefira asked, eyebrows rising in surprise. The young man in front of her shrugged before nodding. "You came down here without anyone watching your back? You don't even have a light source, how are you getting around? Are you crazy?!"
"More like a fool," Serilla snorted under her breath. The man's piercing eyes glanced at Serilla, surprising Kefira. I could barely hear that comment, and I'm standing right nex...
2022-08-18 02:44:47 +0000 UTC
View Post
The new army of lizardmen charged into the horde of spiders. The tunnel wasn't very large, but there were many combatants suddenly filling the entire space. Reivyn found himself surrounding on both sides by hostile enemies.
The lizard people in the front ignored Reivyn, just giving him a glare as they squeaked and shrieked, as they engaged the spiders. Reivyn could Sense that they were the more experienced, higher Level combatants of the lizards. They set about killing the sp...
2022-08-17 00:06:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
Reivyn sat up, stretching the kinks out of his body. His head was still fuzzy with sleep as he looked around. He didn't remember where he was, and he couldn't see anything but darkness. He rubbed his eyes to try and clear them, but he still couldn't see.
Have I gone blind? He thought with momentary panic. Oh, wait. I'm in some pitch black Dungeon in a cave. The panic went away before it could fully manifest, but he still wasn't completely calm from the memor...
2022-08-16 00:10:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
The blinking light in the bottom left of his vision let Reivyn know that there were more Notifications to be viewed. I guess my soul coming into balance was more important and got a pop-up all on its own, he thought as he pulled the notification up.
[Skill Unlocked!]
[Tier 2:]
[Poison Resistance (0 ->1)]
Huh, where did that come from? Reivyn was confused. He thought back to the recent events, and realization slowly dawned on h...
2022-08-12 20:16:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
Reivyn's consciousness faded by more than two-thirds as the other fractions of his awareness faded to darkness. Swirling lights coalesced within his remaining four, eventually forming a different scene within each.
Reivyn was still unable to form coherent thoughts, and without the guide of the central orb pulling the separate awarenesses together to form a whole, he was left watching dreams that formed from the energies invading his body, wracking it with pain. He wasn't awar...
2022-08-11 13:11:32 +0000 UTC
View Post
His eyes opened slowly, the gunk and blurriness making it hard to see right away. His head was swimming, and he shook it to clear some of the cobwebs out of his mind. Through the haze of his vision, he could see an orange glow with a large shadow sitting in front of it. The sounds of wood crackling from a fire reached his ears.
Galwit sat up and rubbed his eyes, clearing away the vestiges of unconsciousness. His vision cleared, and he was surprised to see that he was in a com...
2022-08-10 13:04:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
"You want to absorb the Veridical Realm?" Reivyn asked with mounting horror.
"Of course," the Masked Man responded. "The road to immortality is long and arduous. There is only so much energy available to go around. The Realms might seem to be infinite, but so are the denizens of those Realms. I will lead the Abyss to consume the Veridical Realm, and that will just be the start. I will be a Hero to my people."
The Mas...
2022-08-10 03:13:42 +0000 UTC
View Post
Reivyn walked out of the Dungeon feeling good about the situation. The familiar Notification popped up as soon as he stepped across the threshold.
[Exiting Dungeon]
[Calculating...]
[First Floor: Complete]
[Combat Experience: Exp +0]
[Boss Defeated: Exp +0]
[First Floor Completion Bonus: Exp +500]
[Calculating...]
[Second Floor: Complete]
[Combat Experience: Exp +0]
[Boss Defeated: Exp +0]
[Second Floor Completion Bo...
2022-08-08 22:00:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Once we move past the boss room to the third floor, the corrupt Mana in the Dungeon will become dominant, and it will suppress your abilities," Reivyn reiterated to the older Adventurers. "It won't just make it harder to channel Mana, either. If what I saw of the other two melee combatants in my last Party are any indication, it will affect your Stamina abilities, as well."
Reivyn had signalled to his protectors using the method his parents had shown him after his meeting wi...
2022-08-05 21:27:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
Reivyn bent over and gasped for breath. The Party had sprinted all the way to the second floor boss room and taken up position at the top of the stairs. They had waited for twenty minutes for the horde of Revenants to appear, but they never did. After determining that the third floor monsters wouldn't pursue them to the second floor, the Party had retreated all the way to above ground. The feeling of suppression from the Abyss Mana lingered, and they didn't feel relieved until they were once ...
2022-08-05 02:19:43 +0000 UTC
View Post
Reivy, Teilon, and the three roommates strolled through the streets of the Dungeon Town. Reivyn and Teilon would comment point out the changes for the other three boys, explaining not only how it looked when they came to the town last time, but also what it was like during their conscription.
Reivyn's four friends weren't built the same way he was, and they grew restless just training inside the manor complex all the time, so they decided to add exploring the Dungeon Town as ...
2022-08-03 19:35:25 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Aaahhh!" Teilon screamed as the fire washed over him. He ducked down and tried to hide behind his shield. He was completely unused to using it in a real life situation, though, so he appeared awkward with. He had the Skills, and he had some experience, but especially after forming the Adventuring Party with Reivyn and Kimberly, he had hardly used a spear and shield combination, so he was rusty.
Kimberly chuckled, not even bothering to hide behind her own shield. She let the flames...
2022-08-03 06:36:17 +0000 UTC
View Post
I'm just now getting able to sit down to work today. It might come out after midnight (I'm in CST), but I'm going to publish the chapter "today." Busy, busy IRL.
2022-08-03 02:17:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
Reivyn stood in front of the large, clear orb. There were bands of multi-colored light swirling about within the crystal. The only instructions Reivyn had received for the end of year Affinity test was that he could take it at any time from the last week of the second semester until the end of the first week of the last month of the summer semester.
The Academies only had a total of 10 testing orbs between the two of them, and they were extremely important resources. They wer...
2022-08-01 20:51:21 +0000 UTC
View Post
[Skills Leveled Up!]
[Tier 1:]
[Aim (27 ->29)]
[Light Armor (9 ->10)]
[Memorization {Social} (14 ->15)]
[Piano (16 ->17)]
[Tier 2:]
[Mana Absorption (50 ->51)]
[Tier 4:]
[Dual Casting (13 ->15)]
[Affinities Leveled Up!]
[Tier 1:]
[Air (55 ->57)]
[Earth (55 ->57)]
[Fire (55 ->57)]
[Water (55 ->57)]
[Tier 2:]
[Ice (30 ->31)]
<...
2022-07-30 00:43:21 +0000 UTC
View Post
"Pretty convenient that you just happened to have that Training Brew lying around," Reivyn remarked to his father as they watched his friends fumble along with their Mana weaves. "Were you prepared for when they would come by or something?"
"It's not actually 'training brew,' as such," Refix said with a slight smile. He glanced at Reivyn. "It's just 'brew.' There are times for celebration, for your mother and I - and our people - and regular alcohol doesn't really do anything...
2022-07-29 01:32:30 +0000 UTC
View Post
A haze filled the air as Reivyn and his Party made it back to the capital. A half day's travel on horseback didn't mean half of a full day, but half of normal daylight hours. The trip took about six and a half hours, and the sun had yet to set by the time they reached their destination.
"I wonder what's going on with this haze, or mist, or whatever," Teilon commented as the city came into view. The haze was localized to the city, and it didn't appear to be natural. There was ...
2022-07-27 22:06:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
The officer nodded his head to Lance and turned to face Reivyn and his friends. Reivyn still stood over Lance's bodyguard, sword at his throat, and he calmly watched the officer walk over toward his group. He didn't waver and continued to give an impassive look as if he wasn't involved in the situation at all. The officer frowned as he noted Reivyn didn't move his sword away even after he obviously knew the reason he was walking over to confront them.
"Fighting in the Militar...
2022-07-26 22:48:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
