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Chapter 192 - Prince Trajan

“You’re late,” Prince Trajan growled in deep and gravelly tones. When Aquillius was about to try and apologize, Trajan simply scowled and waved at the chairs next to the other Legates sitting before the dais.

Understanding the gesture as the order it was, the group of diplomats took their seats, with Anna retrieving several small rolls of paper from a satchel and delivering them to the Prince.

“These are the terms for the non-aggression pact,” Aquillius explained. “Nothing w...

Chapter 191 - Meeting the Prince

In the short few hours the diplomatic party was waiting for permission to walk the last quarter-mile or so to the Northern Horn, Leon practiced drawing objects into his soul realm. Unfortunately, he didnÂ’t make much progress.

The key to performing this technique was actually rather simple to understand; Leon had to project some of his magic power outside of himself and envelop an object with it. Then, he had to draw that magic back into himself while keeping the object within completel...

Chapter 190 - Returning to the Horns

Finally getting the non-aggression pact heÂ’d worked so hard for turned out to be almost frustratingly easy for Aquillius after Leon left the throne room. In fact, he and Rakos formalized the treaty in less than five minutes, leaving the diplomats to return to their guest rooms and figure out what the plan was to do next.

In the end, with the task of negotiating peace with the southern giants complete, they decided to return to the BullÂ’s Horns. Aquillius informed Rakos of this, and th...

Chapter 189 - Power of the Gods

The first thing Aquillius did upon returning to Rakos’ hall was to point at a chair and say to Leon, “Sit.” Leon complied, with an apprehensive Anzu hiding behind his legs. Aquillius then turned around and left the guest room to meet with Rakos, with Juliana, Antonius, and half a dozen soldiers in tow.

The others gave Leon a wide berth, giving him nothing but the occasional curious or slightly hostile look. Even Alix and the other diplomats avoided him, with Alix choosing to quietly ...

Chapter 188 - Lapis

Heyyy, so if you didn't notice, I finally wrote and posted the BTS explaining names that I promised to several months ago. I also explained all of the noble ranks in the Bull Kingdom because it was past midnight, I was tired, and it seemed like a good idea. Check it out here! I also made all other BTS posts free. Beware minor spoilers.

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The entire crater was silent. The stone giants w...

BTS 4 - Names and Ranks

Well, I have a bit of writerÂ’s block so I decided to finally explain something I promised to several months ago. ItÂ’s time to have a quick chat about names, or more specifically, the rough guideline that I use when naming my characters. Hopefully this comes out coherent and understandable. As a side note that IÂ’m writing after finishing this, I also for the fun of it threw in an explanation of the noble ranks in the Bull Kingdom. Because I could.

And, before we star...

Chapter 187 - Judgement of the Giants

I really hate to sound like a broken record, but I've fallen in Royal Road's rankings by about 20 places over the past few weeks, sooo... Don't forget to visit Royal Road and leave a rating or review!

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Leon raced out of the collapsing dome with a terrified Anzu in his arms. For a brief momen...

Chapter 186 - Lightning

The giants gathered around the platform of basalt pillars that held up the Cradle. Rakos stood in front, with Lapis and the chiefs of the subordinate tribes right behind it. When Aquillius and the other members of the party arrived, the giants were standing stock-still and silent as they seemed to stare at the Cradle.

Golden lightning continued to strike the top of the dome at least once a second, and the hundred or so humans were forced to be just as silent as the giants, as the thunde...

Chapter 185 - An Unexpected Storm

Leon stared at the light in the Northeastern corner of the Northern Vale heÂ’d grown up in.

“What is that doing there?” he muttered incredulously.

[What is it?] Xaphan asked.

[I grew up here,] Leon replied, pointing to the relatively tiny Forest of Black and White on the map.

[Oh? Then whatÂ’s that light represent? It looks like the Cradle, your archives, and that place are marked, so it should be a location of some importance to the Thunderbird Cla...

Chapter 184 - The Map

It would be immensely helpful if you could visit Royal Road and leave a rating or review, if you haven't already! =D

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By the time Anzu had finished off the food Leon had laid out for him, his caution was long gone. He immediately bounded forward and rubbed up against LeonÂ’s leg. Leon chuckled and pulled out a few more strips of dried meat and Anzu began eating them out of his hand. 2018-12-31 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 183 - Anzu

I made a slight error last chapter, which has now been fixed (thanks Vitality'sVirus for pointing it out). The tl;dr is that opening the plate by activating the runic circle broke Leon's invisibility. Other than that, nothing else is different.

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There was little for Leon to do the next day in the Crater. The other diplomats socialized as best as they could with the Giants, which wasnÂ’t that much since Aquillius was the only one among them who could understand the Stone GiantsÂ...

Chapter 182 - The Cradle

Leon stared at the Cradle ruins, conscious of every second that passed. He had about five minutes to get into the Cradle before he decided to call his exploration off while he still had enough magic power in his blood to return to RakosÂ’ hall unseen. His eyes wandered over as much of the ruin as he could see, searching for a way to get inside.

After another minute, he decided to get closer and ran up to climb onto the ruins of the collapsed hall. Over the top of every hall was an enorm...

Chapter 181 - Stupid Dumb Idiot

The tiny white griffin had been badly hurt, as Leon could see trickles of blood staining its downy feathers and newborn fur. It was still struggling to move, but it was far too weak to do anything more than twitch. As Leon cautiously approached, he noticed that the griffin was so young that its eyes were still stuck closed.

[YouÂ’re stopping for this beast?] Xaphan asked Leon in slight confusion.

Leon didnÂ’t answer, choosing to instead crouch down and examine the injured griffin....

Chapter 180 - Exploring the Crater

[This place is truly awful,] Xaphan remarked.

[Too much like that prison?] Leon asked.

[Too much like that fucking prisonÂ…] Xaphan muttered.

[Well, weÂ’ll only be here a few days,] Leon said.

[But thereÂ’s still the worst place to see before we can go,] Xaphan said bitterly, causing Leon to frown a little. [Whatever,] Xaphan continued, [donÂ’t mind me, do what you will.]

Leon could understand XaphanÂ’s antipathy for the GiantsÂ’ sense of archit...

Chapter 179 - The Crater

Much like the Border Mountains themselves, the Stone Giants looked nothing like Leon imagined. HeÂ’d thought they would appear to be extremely similar to humans, only much taller and with an exterior similar to when an earth mage uses their magic to harden their skin into stone.

However, the six Giants that emerged from the dark crevice only resembled humans in the most general sense; they had two arms, walked on two legs, and had a ‘head’, but they lacked visible sensory organs. Thei...

Chapter 178 - Diplomatic Mission

Over the next couple of weeks, Leon and Alix were allowed to do their own thing for the most part, which mostly consisted of Leon getting the two to stay in their room and train. They were taken around to meet many of AquilliusÂ’ other subordinate diplomats, but that hardly took much out of their day, so there was plenty of time to also explore the city and the citadel.

But, the relatively laidback days quickly came to an end the morning that Aquillius and his team were to depart for th...

Chapter 177 - Magic Senses

Leon breathed deep, allowing his magic to flow unimpeded throughout his body. He’d been a fourth-tier mage now for over a month, but he still reveled in the feeling of control over the magic power he now had—he could feel every single drop of mana within him and knew that he could manipulate it in ways that he never could have when he was only a third-tier mage.

After separating from Lucilius, Leon and Alix returned to their rooms and spent some time in combat training. Alix was growi...

Chapter 176 - Meeting the Diplomats

Anna, Leon, and Alix stood before the group that Aquillius was either going to take into the Border Mountains with him or had some role in planning the diplomatic mission. They were four men and two women.

“This is Dame Juliana,” Anna introduced, indicating the woman who had chastised her, “and Dame Eleanor,” nodding respectfully to the woman who had asked for introductions. The latter was relaxing in her armchair with her long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, leaning over ...

Chapter 175 - Anna

Bonus chapter 3 of 3 ;)

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Several hours after sending Leon and Alix on their way, Aquillius put his work down and called it a day. He hadnÂ’t gotten word back from Gerold about whether the former two had been settled in or not, which brought a smile of anticipation to AquilliusÂ’ face.

‘I wonder how that young knight dealt with Gerold’s behavior… No diplomat worth his salt would ever lose his cool when confronted with someone antagonistic, so hopefully, he conducted...