Kayday

126 - Night Terrors

Even while drowning, Lexie subconsciously opened up her system screen and called her cards, but it was difficult to think straight long enough to choose one.

Even as a card–she didn’t know which–fell into her hands, she couldn’t call out the magic from it. Something had wrapped around her hand entire hand, preventing the connection to her card. 

What the heck? She fought even harder, her breath building in her chest, fear pulsing through her because she felt like she ...

125 - A Mixed Welcome

Lexie had seemingly walked right into a school assembly. 

That was the only way to describe the scene. The hall was filled with about three people in uniform robes and on a raised stage sat about two dozen adults, who she guessed were the professors. It reminded her very much of the scene in Harry Potter when they were all having dinner and getting sorted into different houses, except instead of dinner tables, they all sat in pews facing the stage. 

Lexie swallowed. She ...

124 - Headed to Victoire

The man didn't respond, no matter how many times Lexie prompted him. Finally, she gave up and headed out to answer her father’s call. 

She was still unsettled as she bounded down the stairs and questions plagued her. How on earth did that guy know her name? Was she hacked somehow? Could they hack a cellphone through the Undernet? Had the chess game simply been a distraction for that?

If so, then he was a slimy jerk. 

Lexie quickly sent Isaac a message on her way ...

123 - Exploring the Undernet

The Undernet was like the NET in its most stripped-down version. It was a whole different layout, arranged in panels with everything sort of just there, messy and disorganized. Most of the sites didn’t have a name, only links that were dots and numbers. Opening one of them sent her to a forum, which sent information streaming down the screen, with no one moderating any of it. 

It seemed that people were bidding for a type of alien hardware and simultaneously having an argument ab...

122 - Holding On

“Did I ever have a birthday party?” 

It was the first thing Lexie said the next morning, during the most melancholy breakfast they’d ever had. Neither father nor daughter had spoken much, except Aiden when he was checking up on her. He’d asked her how she was feeling this morning and all she could manage was a shrug.

Aiden looked worse for the wear too, eyebags showing that he hadn’t slept all night. Most likely he’d been thinking about the same thing she was, and...

121 - Bad News

For a handful of seconds, Lexie didn't know what to say or do. She was frozen on the last rung of the steps, staring at the famous S-Rank Hero standing in her living room. 

Stella also didn’t seem to know what to say. She stared back at Lexie with a growing watery smile and emotion glowing from her eyes. 

She was in her hero costume; a bronze spandex top and leggings with a regal-looking cape draped sideways over one of her arms. It had a scarlet trim, the same shade t...

Announcement: I'm Back!

Hi all!
I’m back from my little mini vacation. It was very relaxing actually; I rented a beachside lodge and stayed there for a week. Explored nature, learned how to surf (I use the term learn loosely), and caught up on a lot of books and webtoons I previously didn’t have time to read. Also built up a nice backlog for Ace of Capes so that feels extra good. 

But I did miss posting, and I’m ready to get back into it!. 

So, what to expect? 

As mentioned,...

Side Story 1 - Lara Meets Aiden

Lara hummed as she walked through the crowd, her hands harmlessly tucked in her fatigue pockets.

She was in her combat uniform for the Pierce Military Academy, made up of fatigue pants, a grey top, and similarly dull accessories. The only splash of color in her attire was her recently bleached blonde hair that she had tied up in a ponytail. Blonde wasn’t her natural hair color, but it was the color that made her feel most like herself. Red was a close second, but that was reserved for...

End of Book 2 and Updates

Hi guys! So we’ve reached the end of Book 2 (for the Villain and Mercenary Tier at least), and I want to give you all a huge thank you for all the support. You guys have no idea how motivating, helpful, and often amusing all your comments, corrections, and feedback have been, especially in growing this world of mine. 

Now, to discuss my plans for the future: honestly, I didn’t plan Ace of Capes to be a super long serial. In book form, I imagined the main narrative getting wrapp...

120 - Visitors

News of the multiple dungeon attacks flooded the NET within a few hours, as System access was restored just a few seconds after they killed the last troll. Lexie found it suspicious, thought that it meant someone was watching, and someone had orchestrated this whole mess, but she didn’t know anyone powerful enough to make a dungeon spawn in a certain city. Neither did Aiden when she asked him about it.

He also didn’t know how that last dungeon had seemed to be moving away from her, ...

119 - Arrival

The past few minutes of Monty’s life had been a chaotic blur. Finding that door in Silas’ mind started it all. Silas had almost wrenched back control, but Monty had twisted his pathway, knocking him out before he could, which of course gave him a throbbing headache, but oh well.

Luckily, invading Silas' mind had been easier than it should have been since that…thing wasn’t really Silas. Monty never would have been able to do that to the real Silas, scour his mind and knock him ou...

118 - Imposter

Aiden felt like his veins were on fire. 

His ears rang and his brain hurt as he siphoned mana through too thin an internal tube, releasing it into a blast of force at the monster. It hit straight in its chest, sending it slamming into the building. The troll growled.

Not enough. 

Aiden brought another one out, and while he used his hands to direct it, the real magic came from his neck, through the bit of magic he could siphon through the access point. Getting it ou...

117 - Lexie Vs The Dungeon Part 2

Lexie’s failure was marked by the first tremor to hit the earth, radiating outwards by several feet. A rumble followed but it didn’t sound like that of an earthquake. More like the growl of a monstrous creature awakening underneath

Before Aiden and Lexie could react, or do much more than stare at each other panicked, the ground exploded.

Lexie screamed as the force of the blast flung her high into the air, the deafening sound punching through her eardrums. Her stomach flopped ...

116 - Lexie Vs The Dungeon Part 1

Hartville was a port city-state in District 9 whose only bit of political importance was due to its trade route access and history as a neutral meeting point between all the other city-states. Its proximity to Capital City meant that it was typically a pretty safe area, with very low crime. That was also in part due to progressive policies with high taxation meant to alleviate the lower bracket.  It was the beacon of a middle-income society. 

One thing it wasn’t known for be...

115 - Top Dog Vs Torin Firebringer

Lexie gaped at the field, just as shocked as most of the crowd.

Did Tate just knock out Boris with a kick? That was...impossible. Boris was a Berserker. They had endurance like crazy, and they wouldn't have been knocked out by anything less than a bazooka. You just had to hope that you were able to get them in a submission tap-out or somehow catch them off guard enough to keep them subdued for some time.

A knockout by Tate didn't make sense.

Unless...

Shit.

114 - Exhibition: Boris Vs Tate

“Do I look okay? Covered up enough?”

Xena sighed. “Lexie, if you were any more covered up, you would literally disappear.” Xena was in her usual leather get-up, fresh from the train station, and Dewie was wearing a green and black polka-dotted bow tie. 

Lexie, on the other hand, was wearing a hoodie with a scarf, earmuffs, and sweatpants. Plus glasses. There wasn’t a single uncovered inch of her face and yet she was still nervous. Her eyes kept darting about to make...

113 - Almost Showtime

Lexie frowned at the message, wondering what Shadow was trying to pull here.

Lexie: What do you mean?

Shadow: I mean exactly what I said. Don’t trust him. 

Lexie: Okay but you understand that you can’t just tell me that, with no context, and expect me to take what you said at face value. 

Shadow took a few seconds to think about that one. 

Shadow: He's a sneak.

Thanks...