jmclarke

Chapter 345: Considering Dead Clues

The explosion rocked the forest with a concussion that stunned both flora and fauna. Nearby trees bent from the force, shedding leaves like rain. Any monster near the windmill was thrown backward, tumbling through the air with Alex’s air elementals. The summons flew end over end, pushed by the inferno’s power until they righted themselves and flew a safe distance away, sparking with blue bolts.

Dust, debris, monster parts and soaring flames erupted from the mill, shooting through th...

Chapter 344: Months in the Making

Alex’s thoughts raced.

The clawed monster had spoken to him. It had said something about a master? Who was this master, and how had he wronged them?  How did he become its enemy when he didn’t even know who they were?

The monster roared, then fixed him with an odd gaze. Its lips parted. A word was forming.

Alex focused on the creature. What would it say?

He took in every detail: its body language, its voice, its eyes…

…its eyes.

It wasn’t loo...

Chapter 343: A Living Clue

The scene was a sea of chaos.

Ravener-spawn became puppets and the potion mist their master, tossing them into tree trunks, sky, or ground, it didn’t matter which. The result was the same.

The crich-tulaghs and beast-goblins had no need for air; murteidheann vines had long removed the goblins’ need to breathe. So, unaffected, they fought through the vapour. Still, there were less monsters now  and Claygon had more room to manoeuvre.

His fire-beams were powered-up, f...

Chapter 342: The Hunted

A familiar form writhed through the moonlight, chilling Alex to the bone.

“By the Traveller,” he whispered.

“What was that?” Gwyllain screamed, his head darting back and forth. The wind whipped by as he and the young wizard soared through the night air. “What hap—Oh by the fae lords, what is that?”

Alex had seen the creature in his worst dreams.

He’d faced it in what seemed like a lifetime ago. Deep within the Cave of the Traveller.

From ...

Chapter 341: Make Like a Tree and Leave

“Stop,” Alex called as his summoned army reached the forest’s edge.

The aeld tree shed a green-golden light in a clearing ahead. It was alone, unguarded, and an old windmill rose behind it. Gwyllain had been right. Something was wrong with the sapling. Alex had done some reading on aeld trees after the asrai had offered to bring him one: the spiritual plants projected their feelings into the air.

And this tree?

Fear, panic and pain emanated from it. He felt for the you...

Chapter 340: The Fruits of Summoned Labour

Silence-spiders scrambled through the treetops, gangly monsters lurched through the underbrush.

But, Alex was ready.

“Go!” he barked, sendings Wizard’s Hands among the horde of spiders.

Crunch!

Wooooosh!

Sleeping gas spread in a dense cloud, enveloping Ravener-spawn, stealing control of their movements. They wavered back and forth, shooting webbing, but missing their targets, growing weaker with each breath. Until, in the ...

Chapter 339: The Summoner's Commands

Summon Small Water Elemental.

Summon Small Fire Elemental.

Summon Small Earth Elemental.

Summon Small Air Elemental.

Summon Small Ice Elemental.

Summon Elemental Beetle Swarm.

Summon Aervespertillo.

Summon Viper-Devil.

Summon Taranea.

Summon Hellhound.

Using the strange power that reached across planes combined with months of practice, Alex filled the moors bordering the forest with a small army of monsters. He used Hsekiu’s Techni...

Chapter 338: An Otherworldly Muster

“Gwyllai—” Alex cut the word off, realising the little fae was being stealthy because he was trying to avoid attention.

“You surprised me,” the wizard whispered. “I was just thinking about you this mor—Wait, did you say you found an aeld sapling?”

The asrai nodded as vigorously as a happy child proudly confirming she was ready for dessert. He climbed over the parapet, did a graceful somersault onto the wall then pressed his body to the stone, becoming part of the s...

Chapter 337: For a Price of Three Wasps

When Alex Roth awoke, he had no idea he was on the cusp of one of the greatest battles of his life. He wasn’t alone in this though, most folk tended not to see what was coming until it was staring them square in the face, so, many spent their last hours worrying about mundane things like life’s daily troubles.

As for Alex, from the moment his eyes opened, his mind was already taking stock of what he had to do.

First, there was organising the data from his special training.

Chapter 336: A Lack of Repentance

Third Apostle Izas’ face did not twitch.

Only a light nod acknowledged what he had just heard, but when he turned toward Rioran, the young man’s heart thundered.

“What is this, Rioran?” the ancient priest asked. “The Chosen saw you? Confess what has happened, child.”

For a wild moment, an urge to lie surfaced, almost overpowering the sandy-haired man. He’d been trained to lie, and he’d told Catherine and Stanwic only that he’d been caught by Cedric...

Chapter 335: A Theft of a Sapling

“Oh quiet, you silly birds!” Catherine shouted at the crows in the canopy.

But they paid her no mind and cawed, flapped, and cavorted like there was an autumn festival in the treetops.

“Ah, leave them alone, Catherine,” Stanwic said. “Maybe the tree’s got ‘em happy. They say that every part of an aeld tree is good for food and medicine, and they bring luck wherever they grow. Maybe the animals are happy to be near one. It’s a thing of beauty, ain’t it?”

T...

Chapter 334: Like a Titan From the Tales of Old

It was like someone had taken a curtain off the world.

He could see better: colours were brighter, things detailed and objects easier to make out in the distance. He could also hear better: the musicality in a person’s laughter, the song of the wind, the thunder of someone’s heartbeat. His sense of smell was better, he could perceive scents in ways he never could before.

Taste.

Touch.

It was all enhanced.

Then there were other physical improvements: sharper r...

Chapter 333: The Shedding of Filth

“King Athelstan will be most pleased with what you’ve done here, Professor Jules,” Reginald said, bowing his head to the professor from the back of his horse. Around him, the entire Thameish delegation looked on, mounted and ready to depart under the morning sun.

“Court Wizard Errol will also be pleased,” a representative of the court wizard said. “So pleased that I have a feeling—with what we’ve seen here—he’ll want to witness your achievements first hand. If I know...

Chapter 332: An Impressive Demonstration

“Before we begin—” Professor Jules said to the Thameish representatives.

“Wait, I have a question!” a man with thick, white mutton chops raised his hand. “Is this er…quite safe?”

The professor paused, looking at their surroundings. They—the representatives, Heroes and researchers—had all crammed into the bunker at the chaos essence-dungeon core testing site. Thick walls protected them. Layers of force sheathed the window. Blood mages stood at the back—behind ...

Chapter 331: Curtains of Tension

Rioran was pushed deeper into the shadows, his captor gripped his shoulders so tightly, he dared not move.  The eyes that were fixed on him held his; eyes that had seen the death of countless, both man and beast.

“Just what in all bloody hells do ya think yer doin’, creepin’ about in the dark like some kinda thief?” A man’s voice whispered through clenched teeth.

He looked around for anyone else.

Thankfully, they were alone.

His attention turned back to ...

Chapter 330: Treachery in the Dark

“Caw! Caw!” A crow called from its perch, watching a cloaked figure moving silently from shadow to shadow.

“Shhhh,” Rioran hissed, crouched in the crevice between two tents. “Quiet, bird. Crows should sleep at ni—”

His words died on his lips. Was that bird one of the wizards’ familiars? Had they already caught him? He held his breath and peered from between the tents. Nothing moved.

Evening had quickly darkened into night—as fall marched on, the da...

Chapter 329: A Bigger Fish

Up ahead, Alex spied his friends gathered around a campfire.

“Look what I found!” he called.

Theresa, Thundar, Khalik and Isolde looked up. They’d been taking turns feeding Brutus bits of meat; a pair of the cerberus’ drooling heads swivelled between them while the third turned to Alex and the Heroes, his eyes flashing in the firelight. Nearby, Najyah perched on top of Khalik’s tent hungrily watching birds circling above, her talons gripped a horizontal pole.

The p...

Chapter 328: Assessing Each Other

Rioran was a spy.

Or at least, that was what he’d be sent to do.

He’d had the training—every layperson in the Uldar’s Vale did—but he never thought he’d be one of those chosen to leave the holiest of his god’s places and travel out into the world.

When the messenger had come down from the escarpment, entered the cheesemaker’s hut and pointed at him, he thought he’d died or must've been dreaming. But he was neither dead, nor dreaming: Uldar’s holiest order...

Chapter 327: New Sources of Power

Isolde and Alex exchanged a look as Professor Jules chose the two teams. All around, whispers and murmuring buzzed through the air like a swarm of bees. It wasn’t everyday that royal representatives came calling.

But Alex had few thoughts to spare for his land’s king.

After all, most of his life King Athelstan was just a face he’d seen on objects like coins. Since coming to Generasi, he’d met and become friends with an actual prince: so the thought of meeting royalty didn�...

Chapter 326: A Moment of Tension

Alex’s physique transformed.

By day two of his gruelling training, blood magic, and mana manipulation  regime, his strength had shot past Khalik’s, much to the prince’s horror.

“This is it…” Khalik sat on the floor of the gymnasium with his head cupped in both hands. Alex had just pressed four hundred and fifteen pounds. “…the natural order of the universe is undone. Up is down. Red is blue. Cats are hyenas, worms are dragons... This is the end.”

“It...

Chapter 325: A Special Kind of Training

"You're doing what?" Khalik raised both eyebrows.

"It’s very simple!” Alex’s excited voice rang with a touch of mania as he quickly slid steel plates onto a heavy bar. “I'm turning myself into a giant mana generator so I can tear my muscle fibres down and rebuild them stronger, faster and better than ever. In other words, I’ll be cracking my limits like eggs for breakfast!” His eyes gleamed.

The prince’s mouth opened and closed like a dying fish before he th...

Chapter 324: Warping Flesh

The idea had come from meat, which was a bit strange.

Meat wasn’t exactly inspirational, unless someone was looking to create a new dish, or an artistic taxidermy object for their library. Alex, however, hadn’t been inspired to make a new culinary breakthrough, and he didn’t have a library.

The idea for a new physical breakthrough had sparked and was burning in his mind as he quietly practised Warp Flesh in his room by moon, and forceball light. He was filled with e...

Chapter 323: Sleep Demon

A massive demon burst into the world through a column of fire and brimstone.

The flames crackled with an evil intelligence, clawing at the invisible walls of the summoning circle and hissing their rage when they couldn’t break free. Within the inferno, a shadowy form materialised. Arms the size of tree trunks. Legs as thick as temple columns. A towering height—approaching twenty-five feet tall— scraped the soaring chamber ceiling.

A snarl twisted the Lurker’s face, the fla...

Chapter 322: The Mana Fountain

A current of power exploded through Alex’s mana pool, threatening to flood the entrance pathways. The muscle in his jaw clenched hard while he fought the mana tide flooding in. It had to be controlled,  slowed, if it wasn’t, the deluge would tear his fibres to shreds and burst his mana pool like soap bubbles. That wouldn’t be a good thing…at all.

‘Think of Ito’s Spiral,’ he thought, calling on the Mark’s power. ‘Think of the Cleansing Movements: no rush of power. ...

Chapter 321: Dance and Ignition

The pair must have made for a strange sight in Greymoor’s early evening light.

The sun drifted lazily toward shadowed hills on the horizon, signalling day’s end for circling birds dotting the sky. Of course, there would be others replacing them soon enough.

Some birds loved the sun. Some loved the moon. But no matter the time of day or night, there always seemed to be birds circling the Generasian encampment.

Always seeming to watch those below.

Fl...

Chapter 320: The Set Up of Mercantile Schemes

Thmp. Thmp. Thmp.

Alex knocked on the office door.

“Come in,” Toraka Shale’s voice called from within.

Straightening his clothes and hair, the young wizard stepped into the office of his boss’ boss.

The room was much as he remembered: a large, well-ventilated office with older sturdy-looking chairs and a table covered in sheets of paper. Several sweating, copper pitchers lined a side table, surrounded by cups. The liquid within smelled strongly of mint...

Chapter 319: A Wizard's Integrity

The campfire blazed, drawing Alex’s eyes to the flame.

He was alone—or close to alone—warming himself and idly turning Ito’s Spiral in his hands. The explosion had dampened the mood in the encampment, casting a shadow over everyone. Much of the research team had returned to Generasi, wanting some distance from Greymoor for the day. Those who stayed had turned to relaxing activities, finding calm in simple things. The young wizard was staring at ...

Chapter 318: The Potential Horrors of Discovery

Burning grass steamed as water fell in waves from above. Smoke trailed into the sky, and the coolness of the autumn day burned away until it felt like the hottest summer day in Generasi.

“The last thing we need is a grass fire,” Professor Jules said grimly, watching flames hissing and dying along the slopes. Watchers flew above, drowning the fires in streams of conjured water, while summoned water elementals helped smother the flames.

Jules sighed. “Things are bad enough wit...

Chapter 317: A Fallout of Dust

Alex lay on the ground flinching as a noise like turbulent water coursing through a waterway throbbed in his ears. He grabbed the sides of his head and tried to make sense of what had just happened. All around, the world was raining dust. ‘Why? What hap-...the experiment. The chaos essence and core remains had exploded!’

Charred grass, soil and bits of debris fell on everyone and everything, while the earth rumbled beneath him. Through the rushing in his ears, the s...

Chapter 316: An Explosion of Chaos

Dust.

The word ash stayed with Alex, even during his next trip to Thameland.

Time’s passage ground people to nothing more than dust, as Baelin had said.

How many Heroes, knights and soldiers of Thameland had been killed in the wilderness somewhere? The Heroes would at least be laid to rest in tombs within the capital. History books would remember their names, but for those who had no glowing golden marks?

They were largely forgotten, except in vague mentions of great...