Alex stood before the mirror in his darkened room, examining the golden symbol on his shoulder. The mocking jester’s face stared back at him—its grin as malicious as ever—faintly glowing like some self-satisfied tattoo. Alex inspected it carefully, looking to see if it had changed. Did it actually look different or was he imagining things?
He peered at it in the low light.
Yeah, it definitely looked smaller.
A chill went through him.
‘Why is it shrinking?’ he...
2022-02-09 23:32:39 +0000 UTC
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As the days passed and both the demon summoner and The Games of Roal receded into memory, things started to return to normal in Generasi.
Classes resumed, that atmosphere of competitiveness—as folk had prepared for The Games—faded, and summer grew closer to fall. Soon, the greatest concern the students of the University had wasn’t who would win medals and prizes for feats of combat and magic, or where the demon summoner would strike next; it was about more ordinary things, like as...
2022-02-09 01:21:08 +0000 UTC
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“Hannar-cim…Hannar-cim,” the chancellor rolled the name around in his mouth. “Interesting…there’s a familiarity to it.”
“Really?” Alex sat bolt upright.
“Yeees….hold for a moment.” Baelin’s eyes seemed to glaze over as though he were seeing something that was invisible to the naked eye far off in the distance. “Yes, I remember now. Roughly five hundred years ago, I summoned a demon for the purpose of killing a number of rats creating havoc in a cellar, ...
2022-02-06 00:18:54 +0000 UTC
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“So there has been no pain at all?” the blood mage asked Alex as he examined his sling.
“None,” Alex said. “My arm was itchy until a couple of days ago, but even that’s almost gone now. It’s healing, I’d say, though I’m obviously not the expert here.”
“Good, good,” the medical staff member jotted down a note and readjusted his monocle. “Sounds like things are healing up nicely.”
Alex and the older man were sitting in an office in the infi...
2022-02-05 01:53:56 +0000 UTC
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Theresa, Alex and Selina stared at the sheathed blade in Mr. Lu’s hands. The blade and its twin had held legendary status in the Lu household while they were growing up: always to be kept stored away from prying eyes and curious little fingers.
They’d gotten used to seeing Theresa carrying the one she’d ’borrowed’, but to see its twin in Mr. Lu’s hands now…had taken all three of them by surprise.
“I won’t lie,” Mr. Lu said as he walked up beside his daughter, w...
2022-02-03 23:44:15 +0000 UTC
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‘I have a feeling this won’t be the last memorial service I attend,’ Alex thought grimly, his eyes falling on the stone monument as a sombre feeling welled up in his chest.
A grim image formed in his mind: another monument being erected somewhere in Thameland or Generasi, one that had familiar names etched into the stone: Lady Isolde von Anmut, Prince Khalik Behr-Medr, Thundar, Son of Gulbiff; Grimloch…maybe even Theresa Lu.
He quickly shoved the...
2022-02-02 22:35:08 +0000 UTC
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“Hey Selina,” Alex said as he and Claygon trudged up to her on the path. The golem’s massive clay feet splashed through the growing puddles on the cobblestones.
“Hi Alex,” she said. “Are you all done with your spell practice stuff?”
“Well, ‘done’ might be a strong word, I think,” he said. “I-Argh!”
Brutus padded up to Alex, shook the water from his fur—with all three sets of jowls flapping—then licked the young man’s face.
“Ag...
2022-02-01 23:05:26 +0000 UTC
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Alex’s Wizard’s Hands flipped through the pages of Life-to-Mana’s spell-guide as he gently scratched the skin around the dressing under the sling on his left arm. The healers had warned him that his arm might get itchy, but to never remove the elbow splint or the dressing on his forearm.
If he didn’t mess around with it and made sure to exercise that hand, then they should be able to take the splint and sling off in a couple of weeks, and finish whatever healing he might need to...
2022-01-29 21:42:11 +0000 UTC
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In the next few days, Generasi focused on healing and justice.
First came the grim task of collecting the bodies of all those who had fallen, and returning them to their families. Alex and his friends made sure to stay far away from the stadium as it was being cleaned up. Apparently, The Watchers were surveying and purging the battlefield on Oreca’s Fall Island of any remnants of the attack.
As the bodies were being collected, so were other things.
Over the dark hours of a...
2022-01-29 00:07:58 +0000 UTC
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“You mean like…summon any demon I can and ask them a bunch of questions about the one I’m after? Or try to work out a deal with them?” Alex asked his professor.
“In a sense…but there is a bit more nuance to it than that,” Professor Mangal said.
She waved a hand.
Crack.
Alex startled as one of her statues—an ugly creature perched on a shelf—moved, shifting in place with a cracking and grinding noise. What looked like a little stone gargoyle sh...
2022-01-28 01:43:40 +0000 UTC
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“The festival of ghosts will be different this year…I think.” Khalik poured himself a third cup of wine before sliding the pitcher back across the table.
“Thanks, man,” Alex said, picking it up and pouring himself a second cup. It was a bit of a struggle with one arm in a sling, but he’d rather help himself as much as he could. He was also glad he could call on his Wizard’s Hands when he needed them. For a moment, the moon peaked out from behind dark clouds above them and ...
2022-01-27 01:39:13 +0000 UTC
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“Imagine my surprise when I learned that you were a former student of Generasi,” Baelin said.
The ancient wizard sat at a white table across from a young man who had so many white chains wrapped around his body, that he more resembled a mummy in metal wrappings, than someone living. Each link was covered in glyphs forged into their surface: enchantments that disrupted mana for spellcraft. It was obvious that the city was taking no chances with this particular criminal; behind Baelin...
2022-01-26 01:24:22 +0000 UTC
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Alex couldn’t remember the last time he felt so tired.
He’d been teleported into the middle of the stadium by one of the referees, and immediately began searching for his family and friends.
“Selina!” he cried. “Mr. and Mrs. Lu!”
He desperately scanned where they’d been sitting in the stands, but there was no trace of them there. The stands were mostly empty now. Some spectators had been able to run for the exits when the demons appeared, some fought, others hi...
2022-01-23 00:33:29 +0000 UTC
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Every object the demon’s radiance touched shattered like light passing through a prism. Plants, soil, and stone were undone down to their component elements before Baelin’s eyes.
The chancellor’s jaw hardened as an ancient tree collapsed, turning to black carbon, gases, and its component metals. The stones the light touched separated into quartzite, sand, metals and other precipitates.
‘Admirable control over the physical form,’ Baelin thought. ‘The ability to break do...
2022-01-22 00:43:03 +0000 UTC
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Alex dodged across the beach as Burn-Saw rushed after him, churning loose sand beneath his hooves.
“Little wretch!’ The demon screamed, half-delirious with rage and sensory impairment. “You coward! This is how Hannar-cim, the great Yushaero acts? Where is that power that destroyed my commanders? Cease your foolish, childish games. Fight me!”
“Listen, friend.” Alex ducked away from an axe swing. “If this is how you do against ‘childish and foolish games’ I’m not...
2022-01-21 01:01:34 +0000 UTC
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“He’s here,” the abyssal knight announced.
“What….who’s where?” the summoner asked.
“The powerful wizard. The horned one that bears the likeness of Baphomet,” the demon said. “I feel his power. He is here in this green place.”
The summoner’s blood ran cold.
One of the rules they never deviated from was to only summon the abyssal knight in remote places away from prying eyes. He would always appear in close proximity to the summoner’s chosen ta...
2022-01-20 01:14:11 +0000 UTC
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The world seemed to slow down around Alex while his mind worked to process what had just happened.
A demon had spoken to him—directly to him—like it recognised him…like it knew him.
‘No, maybe not me specifically,’ he thought. ‘Maybe it recognised that strange power I feel with teleportation spells.’
The battle raged on as the demon slowly approached, its body language was a jumble of menace, viciousness, happiness, sadness, pain, openness, secrecy…
Ale...
2022-01-19 00:26:52 +0000 UTC
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The demon summoner had taken every precaution, but knew there was a risk. Sometimes though, a risk had to be chanced if the cause was just.
And there was no cause more just than this.
As they chanted, the noise of mindless cheering in the stadium as filthy priests spoiled a contest celebrating mortals’ triumphs over the divine, came to mind.
They shook their head; it always started that way.
With cheers of approval.
Priests would make their way to communities...
2022-01-15 23:57:21 +0000 UTC
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Kybas cocked his head toward the dull thud of heavy footsteps above his lair. At first, he hadn’t paid them much attention: he’d heard the odd person passing by earlier, but they hadn’t lingered, they’d just moved on about their business.
But the way this mysterious person was moving around up there—repeatedly pausing, then walking around, but not leaving—had caught his attention. He thought of the jungles back home that the Clan Chulu had claimed: his tribe had dodged and b...
2022-01-15 00:07:27 +0000 UTC
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The ambush was devastating.
Vesuvius shimmered into being beside Tyris, and the pair poured lava and flame down on Claygon and the elemental knights from the Outcasts of the Divine Wind. The knights could not escape the torrent of lava and flame and were instantly blasted from the contest.
Lava continued to pour over Claygon, weighing the golem down with the full weight of molten rock. Three of Tyris’ team suddenly appeared, adding a barrage of ice magic spells to the onslaught,...
2022-01-14 00:41:54 +0000 UTC
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“That’s it!” Baelin loudly clapped his hands together.
Far below, the battle between the two remaining centaurs from the Outcasts’ team, and the team of his COMB-1000 students who were filling his ancient heart with pride—they really ought to have named themselves—raced toward its conclusion.
“So…at last you reveal your divinities,” he said, watching as a centaur conjured a bow through a miracle and fired it into the grass toward Alex’s scattering team. The arr...
2022-01-13 00:26:00 +0000 UTC
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Tyris Goldtooth grinned as her lava blasted the final wizard on the enemy team. The marsh boiled around her, sending steam rising into the air while Vesuvius roared in victory.
“Perfect,” she said, flying forward and snatching the flag from the fallen enemies’ flag-bearer. “Your flag makes a fine addition to our collection.”
She handed it to her team’s flag-bearer and gazed proudly on her teammates: only one of them had been eliminated so far, and their mana reserves w...
2022-01-11 23:37:25 +0000 UTC
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Derek Warren gripped his sword as he waded through the sea of grass. There was something comforting about having a weapon in hand, whether blade, or pen.
The other Ursa-Lupines pushed through the grass around him, and flanking them, were the two teams they’d allied with.
His chainmail rattled over his shirt. From the south, he could see smoke rising, and from a distance, a low buzzing reached his ears.
“It’s like being in a war isn’t it?” Gregori said, smilin...
2022-01-08 23:22:00 +0000 UTC
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“All goes well?” Baelin asked.
The ancient wizard floated high in the sky, speaking to what seemed to be nothing but empty air. Silence for five heartbeats followed his words, and then-
Whooosh!
-the wind rose up around him, rushing through his beard-braids and billowing his robes. His bronze beard clasps tinkled.
The wind carried a voice from the grounds of the university.
“All is peaceful, chancellor,” said Gemini’s voice in the proper, clipp...
2022-01-07 23:17:00 +0000 UTC
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Hello everybody and welcome to the second cover for Mark of the Fool!
This artwork done by the magnificently talented Shen Fei and the lettering by Asviloka! This...this really puts a smile on my face. I wanted to do something for the new year and this is it!
2022-01-06 23:44:43 +0000 UTC
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The enemy team soared from behind the ridge, ready and poised to attack. Mana from their spells blazed in Alex’s senses, growing as they closed the distance. Incantations roared through the air. Alex’s teammates were still scattered; the cloud of dust still filtered around them but as it dissipated, so did their cover.
“Keep moving!” Alex shouted. “If we stay apar-”
“Wait!” a voice shouted from the enemy team. “Everyone hold your spells! I know t...
2022-01-06 23:29:24 +0000 UTC
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“Surprise, friends!” Alex called cheerily as he raised the hidden trap door of a tunnel. A few of an enemy team—packed into the hole—startled, caught off guard. “Nice plan, hiding down here to ambush us, but my friend Brutus over here smelled you guys from a mile away. Or at least a hundred feet away. I dunno, I wasn’t counting exactly. Plus my friend’s pretty good with earth magic, so he noticed where you guys had disturbed the ground with your tunnelling antics.”
The t...
2022-01-06 01:43:41 +0000 UTC
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Alex charged through the forest with his team at his back.
He heard Claygon’s thundering steps, Grimloch’s crushing rush through the trees, the clinking of Svenia and Hogarth’s armour, and the heavy panting of Brutus’ three heads. Isolde, Khalik and Thundar quietly chanted spells just behind him: force armour, body enhancement and armour of earth.
He couldn’t hear Theresa’s movements, but that meant nothing: she moved so quietly that even when running through a forest ...
2022-01-05 00:19:59 +0000 UTC
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Their team marched through the dark, armed and equipped with every resource and weapon they could bring.
Alex had a full bag of potions—both regular and booby-trapped—hanging at his side. Theresa had one of her great-grandfather’s swords and her massive hunting knife belted at her waist. Isolde’s stiletto blade hung from her belt, while Svenia and Hogarth clinked along in chainmail. The two warriors held halberds, while shields, bows and quivers were strapped to their backs; swo...
2022-01-02 02:02:13 +0000 UTC
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Theresa beamed, standing atop the podium with Thundar—who was pumping his fists in the air—and a grinning Grimloch who spread his hands in a ‘come on’ gesture.
The crowd roared, chanting their names: “Grimloch! Grimloch! Grimloch! Thereeeesaaa! Thereeeesaaa! Thereeeessaaa! Thundar! Thundar! Thundar!”
Their names echoed throughout the stadium. Alex could almost feel the energy in the air as their gold medals were hung around their necks.
Grimloch had to get ...
2022-01-01 00:25:40 +0000 UTC
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