Maikana

Book one is done, what's next?

To address the slime in the room and alleviate any worries off the bat, there's still a chapter coming tomorrow and it will be the (or one of the) prologue(s) for volume 2. Yes, this does mean that it is going to be a non-Kori chapter again.

Okay, with that out of the way, I wanted to give you an update on what I'll be focusing on over the next while. As always my primary focus will be to provide all of you wonderful people two chapters every week. Alongside that, I will be aiming to e...

Book 1 Epilogue – While the youngling’s away, the elders will play

Korse

I swear, if she keeps this up one of us isn’t going to make it to her Class Day, maybe both…

Korse kept his grumblings to himself as he sat alongside the comatose form of his young charge. She’d gone and done something ridiculous again. They didn’t know what exactly she had done to get her into this situation yet, but they were certain that it was either profoundly stupid or absolute genius. Or both. Like usual, it was probably somehow both....

Stats at of the end of Chapter 94!

Given the potential for spoilers, I'm going to lock it to the same access as 94 until that drops to Hatchling tier.

Chapter 94 – The easy way, the hard way, or the Kori way.

Voices drifted in and out the same as Kori drifted in and out of consciousness. Never quite awakening, simply brushing against the world around her for brief moments.

“I’m honestly not sure what she did this time… if Plk hadn’t sensed something wrong with the mana we probably wouldn’t have found her in time.”

A familiar aged voice spoke the next time she heard “Mana corruption? I’ve never heard of…”

A parade of voices passed through over time; each one sh...

Chapter 93 – Taking what isn’t yours

The flask’s place on the list seemed especially relevant on that particular day, given what was occurring elsewhere above their heads.

“Do you even remember how to make them, Kori?” Asked Kora.

“Mostly?” She replied, tilting her head as she tried to recall the proportions of the various ingredients. “Do we have any of the pure alcohol?” She assumed that they would at least have the fraxinella, for the stinging cloud flasks, and most of the other ingredients amongst t...

Chapter 92 – Blowing hot air

A/N: Sorry it's late, posted in the discord chapter releases channel that I was delayed due to a migraine last night. If you're not already on the discord, it's where any adjustments to schedule will be announced.

-----------------

Kori and Ortik continued their conversation for a while, talking about her, non-goblinoid, experiences on the surface and some of her newest creations. He was genuinely curious about the methods and herbs that she had employed and whether they could fi...

Chapter 91 – So does that make Kori slime-like or are slimes Kori-like?

Bolst asked Kori to keep the secret as well, almost as an afterthought.

Did he forget I was here?

“Just try not to blurt it out if someone brings up the spiders again…” He pleaded.

“Okay, but I want to see all your notes on the spiders! Oh, and any recipes you used their venom in!” Kori’s takeaway from his story was definitely not the same that most others would have. Bolst reluctantly agreed to share, but only after she had her class and had raised pois...

Chapter 90 – forbidden petkeeping

Since she was apparently going to have to guide Kora down here the following day, Kori insisted that she be the one to take the lead on the way back and that the Elders should only correct her after she made a mistake. They only needed to do so the once, when they had walked for a few hundred meters down a side tunnel that was heading in roughly the right direction, but would have taken them to a small community where the miner’s had lived when the quarry was active.

She would have no...

New years update

Happy New Years everyone!

It's now officially been a full year since the first chapters of Emberscale Alchemist became available for readers and I have to say I'm blown away by how everything has gone.

The year certainly had its ups and downs, and further downs, but 92 chapters (94 initially, but I merged some of the prologue), over 225,000 words, and counting, all without Kori even getting her class, was definitely not how I saw things going.

I know I haven't been as reli...

Chapter 89 – Plans within plans.

A/N: I'll start with what you want more. there'll be a quick update post made in a few minutes.

-------------------------

“We were… umm… just making some ointment?” Kori answered, trying, and like usual failing, to not sound guilty of something.

Har simply looked over the no longer neatly arranged equipment, and soiled tools that were arrayed in front of the two. “And I suppose you made a mess of the store room too digging for the ingredients?”

“Nuh-uh, d...

Chapter 88 – Things that go glomp in the night.

By the time her first day was done, more than a few hours after it should have been done, they had unpacked basically all of the tools and glassware, some of which she still didn’t understand the purpose of. Kori was both exhausted and elated, it was finally beginning to look like what she had imagined she was going to see when she walked in that morning.

They of course hadn’t even cracked the first crate of ingredients open, that was a job for tomorrow. There was also the ...

Chapter 87 – Everything but the kitchen sink

A/N: Last chapter before the holidays, the next will be either Sunday the 28th or Monday the 29th, depending what unexpected familial obligations arise and the following will likely be later in the week, entirely dependent on activities, and in what state they leave me in, on NYE.

Like I said last time, Happy/Merry whateveryoucelebrate!

-------------------

Kori’s exaltation reverberated through the chamber, her echo returning to her like a physical force that drove her en...

Chapter 86 – Yes, my Lab!

A/N - So apparently I left this sitting in drafts since Saturday... I was starting to wonder why I hadn't gotten much in the way of comments or notifications on the chapter...

Also this is now the longest single chapter, at nearly 5000 words, so I hope you enjoy. The next will be up the evening of the 23rd, so probably the early AM of the 24th, then there'll be a short break until at least this weekend while I do the family holidays thing.

Just a reminder, for anyone who wants t...

Chapter 85 – A strategy for training

The rest of the day went about the same, Blonc corrected her form, they reset their stances, then Kori ended up jabbed with a wooden knife. Sure, there were steps in between like Kori trying to do the same to him or to slip inside his guard or any number of other feints, but the pattern mostly held. It also didn’t always end with a jab, sometimes it was a slash and sometimes she ended up on her tail instead.

And like all of his training methods so far, Kori had a hard time co...

Chapter 84 – Bringing a knife to a knife fight

By the time she stumbled into the brood chamber that evening, a few hours after she had been expected, everything hurt. Even if her Status didn’t show she was missing any Health, she was sorely tempted to apply some of her currently limited supply of ointment to her feet just to see if it would help.

There were still unasked questions that were expected from her siblings, but after taking one look at her drooping eyelids and wobbling gait, all but the most persistent decided to let he...

Chapter 83 – The R word.

There was of course another issue with the choice of knives, Blonc’s argument against them had never failed before, so they didn’t have any practice knives. This meant another trip to see the disagreeable quartermaster, Lhka. Though thankfully Kori was just following along this time and didn’t need to make the request directly.

“Hmm?” The disgruntled old warrior questioned as he looked up at their approach, “What brings you over boss, the little one too scared to come back a...

Chapter 82 – differing perspectives

She woke the following morning to the prodding of Losq’s foot. “You’re missing breakfast.” Was all he had to say to dissolve the final few threads of sleep that lingered over her mind. Unfortunately, the images of pastries the idea of breakfast had come to conjure for her during her time in Whatzakt, also dissolved away as she remembered that she was back home.

She ended up adding a touch of her spicy oil to the undersized portion of steamed fish that made up their morning meal ...

Still alive. Chapters resuming as of now.

I'm sure you've all been worrying about the lack of posts or updates. I'm sorry for not at least making a post to let you know how things were going. I am having some health issues and over the last month have been dealing with severe insomnia, to the point that I was placed on a sedative. Unfortunately that medication created just as many issues as it helped with, and apparently ADHD and it don't mix well...

I apologize for my lack of communication, it's something I struggle with when ...

Chapter 81 – A not entirely incorrect assumption

A/N: Sorry it's late, between the holiday weekend and then being ill for a few days and going about 60 hours with only ~3 hours of sleep, I wasn't able to get much done. I've set aside tomorrow and Monday for writing, so barring unplanned interruptions I'll have more for you soon.

-----

Kori wanted nothing more than to crawl into her den and pass out, after taking off the armour at least, but like everything else that had happened that day, what actually occurred cared very little...

Chapter 80 – Have you tried taking it off and putting it on again?

By the time the meeting had ended, a rough plan had been made. Kori would be something akin to an apprentice to all of the Elders and none of them at the same time. Ortik would govern her duties and schedule, while each of the others would ensure that she reached the potential she herself had laid claim to.

If she wanted all of it, then she was going to get all of it. From herbalism with Ortik, or a member of the Circle if he was busy, to toxins and lab safety with Bolst, to mana traini...

Chapter 79 – Why not?

Not so much as a scale brushing against the stone floors could be heard as the assembled Elders stared at the youngling, their faces contorted in confusion at her response. No one spoke, no one moved, no one so much as twitched a tail for several long seconds.

Feeling their stares, the silence dragged on the confidence with which Kori had made her proclamation. The longer it went on the more it felt like she had done something wrong.

The first to say anything was Ylst, “All of t...

Chapter 78 – Sheer avarice

Kles’ inflammatory statement rippled through the Elders, many stunned into silence with their jaws hung open, but the pair who’d been the subject of her verbal slap looked more like it had been a physical one.

Har’s jaw opened and closed like he was trying to say something but no sound escaped his maw.

While the one ineffectively attempted to protest, the others rage finally boiled over. Blonc could only be pushed so far, even when the one doing so was the matron.

Chapter 77 – Too old to care about being polite

A/N: I think I've finally figured out the formula.

Maikana + nothing = useless
Maikana + ADHD meds = not useful enough to get writing done.
Maikana + More ADHD meds = Too useful... hyperfocus gets me fixated on the wrong things.
Maikana + ADHD meds and an afternoon espresso = Sweet spot where the writing happens!

Now I just need to get more beans, I ran out two weeks ago and didn't realize the impact it was having on me until I got a latte this afternoon and fo...

To pause or not to pause

That is the question.

Billing has remained paused since before the summer when I started to have issues keeping chapters coming. In that time there have been issues due to the pause with Apple Pay users and returning members being unable to resubscribe and losing access to chapters that have affected a few of you.

Ultimately, I’d like to end the pause soonish, but I also want your input on the matter.

There is also the issue of extra chapters for the youngling and kobold t...

Chapter 76 – The mousetrap

A/N: I'm a bit late on this one, it was fun to write but it is also probably the most dialog heavy chapter I've ever done. It's also the second longest one, with the longest having been the fight itself. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you get the reference of the title, it's probably the least known detail of a very known thing.

--------

She wasn’t sure whether it was her memory making the trip up feel longer or because they we going downhill, or maybe just because she was dreadi...

Chapter 75 – Fear recognition

A/N: I'd like to think this is the first chapter back to true form and proper length. It won't even be a long wait for the next, it's already in progress and I'll be finishing it tomorrow for your enjoyment!

--------

With the camp as secure as it was going to get and everyone still reeling from the previous day’s events, the mood remained listless and subdued. Which the less-than-ideal portions of their evening meal did nothing to alleviate.

Kori spent much of her time avo...

Chapter 74 – Round and round she goes

A/N Another short one. I think there will be another on the weekend and hopefully two next week as well. I'm setting a two a week goal to get back into the groove and will hopefully be back to three before too much longer.

Thanks everyone for your patience and understanding!

----------------------

That night might have been the longest Kori had ever experienced. She didn’t so much as sleep, as eventually pass out. Even that was short lived and disturbed by dreams of...

Chapter 73 – All these things that I’ve done

A/N: Sorry everyone, it's been a bit. A lot of stress and some less than solid medical decisions on my part had me out of commission and struggling for a bit. I can't say I'm 100% yet, but I'm trying. This first chapter back is a bit of a short one, though it's because that's where it was right to end it. I hope to have another for you soon.

Communication is not really my strong suit, especially when things get rough, but please know that I am not going anywhere, the story will go on an...

Chapter 72 – Where’s a medicine skill when ya need it?

Slain?! But I didn’t… it was Zln… wasn’t it?

She sat in stunned silence, barely remembering to keep pressure on the open wound beneath her hands, hoping that the concoctions she’d administered would keep him alive long enough. The flask wasn’t supposed to be lethal, but there it was, big and bold and writ six times over, ‘You have slain a foe’…

It took an indeterminate amount of time for a crate, small despite being nearly half as tall as she was, to thu...

Chapter 71 – Scales 1, Skin 0

If she weren’t so pre-occupied with herself, she’d have counted another reason that there would be no missing the event she’d just engendered. Namely the screaming and wailing. Some small portion of which originating from the young kobold.

Tears streamed down her scales, drawing lines in the residue that coated them only for yet more to become entrapped by the moisture and get washed away as more tears fell, leaving room for the cycle to repeat. She tried blinking away the irritat...