A tense atmosphere hung in the air after Jia’s question. Anyone else might have been offended by the accusatory tone in her voice, but Dae simply chuckled.
“Why am I here? Well, more or less the same reason as you, I imagine. I’m looking for the gang boss who’s name you share—and more importantly, his benefactors.”
Jia crossed her arms and channeled her inner Eui to level her best glare at Dae.
“That doesn’t really answer my question, does it? Why are you aft...
2021-12-31 22:11:50 +0000 UTC
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Finding the gang’s base of operations had been pretty easy, all things considered. Jia’s memories served her well, despite how long it had been since she’d last prowled the streets of Yangye. Jia had never been privy to the places where the gang conducted their business, but that hadn’t stopped her from wondering exactly where the goods she stole for them ended up. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her as a child, and she’d once followed the man responsible for collecting their...
2021-12-29 22:08:35 +0000 UTC
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In the end, Lee Jung agreed to let Jia take Narae in as an apprentice, though Jia wasn’t a fan of the title. Apprentice felt too impersonal—Lee Narae was her sister, and Jia would prefer their relationship to be defined by that. Was there a better way to describe it? Sister disciple? Apprentice sister? Apprentsis? Jia shook her head—that last one was too silly. The title didn’t matter anyway—Lee Jia loved her little sister, and she would fight to the last to protect her. It was a li...
2021-12-27 20:54:09 +0000 UTC
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“I still can’t believe you’re a mage now.”
Lee Jung repeated herself for at least the third time since they’d left her shack. Even after being healed, her body was so weak that she practically had to be carried, which Jia and Eui were more than happy to do, but it was Ja Yun who ended up offering her shoulder. Strangely, nobody seemed to notice or care about their departure, which suited Lee Jia just fine. Lee Narae and her mother had both looked around in starry-eyed awe when...
2021-12-24 21:13:50 +0000 UTC
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Hey there! Tsuu has finally gotten back to me with WIPs for the commissions from the last poll. She's been pretty busy lately, but I'm very happy with how these have turned out. You might noticed that Jianmo is not here despite winning the poll—that's because I'd paid in advance for the commissions before knowing which characters would win the poll, forgetting that Jianmo would actually be two characters in one. Neither the time nor budget allotted to the commission would fit the piece I ha...
2021-12-22 23:12:42 +0000 UTC
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Lee Jung was not as Jia remembered her, but neither could she be mistaken for anyone else. Her once-beautiful brown hair had grown thin and patchy, and her hazel eyes had gone dull and gray. Her long rabbit ears drooped miserably, and her skin was sallow, stretched thin across her bones. She looked so fragile—as if she might crumble to dust at the barest touch—and yet to Jia, she was the same strong big sister that had protected her all those years ago. Her low, raspy voice broke Jia from...
2021-12-22 20:54:54 +0000 UTC
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Lee Narae. Lee Jia told herself it didn’t mean anything—it was a common name—but her mind raced with possibilities. Yangye had felt familiar, even if she didn’t explicitly remember the people or locations. It had been about seven years since she’d left the orphanage—when she’d abandoned the unnamed little sister that Lee Jung had left in her care. Narae was about the right age. It was so unlikely as to be nearly impossible—what were the odds? Jia’s intuition was screaming at...
2021-12-20 21:40:31 +0000 UTC
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“Elementals?”
Jia was surprised. Jianmo had never so much as mentioned elementals as a potential faction. Supposedly the number of deities in the divine realm powerful enough to break through the seal on the world could be counted on one hand, but Jianmo had neglected to mention who they were. She could be such an infuriating teacher. Hwang Sung nodded.
“Indeed. They’re a rather unusual lot. When they first appeared they simply started asking questions and making demands o...
2021-12-17 20:20:31 +0000 UTC
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“You guys are so going to get me fired!”
Yoshika had just spent the last few hours filling Ja Yun in on her relationship with Jianmo, her vague quest to recover the artifact that Jianmo’s master hid away in a secret realm somewhere in their world, and her own nature as a gestalt entity comprised of Jia and Eui—and sometimes Heian. She wasn’t taking it particularly well as she paced back and forth, jittering with anxiety and chewing on her claws.
“I have to rep...
2021-12-15 20:51:07 +0000 UTC
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Jia stared at Jianmo in confusion.
“Wait, back up—I feel like we’ve skipped a step somewhere? Sacred Arts? Isn’t that a xiantian thing? Only xiantian cultivators can control divine essence.”
Jianmo scoffed.
“Pfft, who told you that? Use your head, little kitty—you’ve already done it! Back when you two first broke through. It’s half the reason I was so interested in you two.”
Jia frowned. When they had first broken through? In that cave wher...
2021-12-13 19:33:41 +0000 UTC
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The trip to Yangye was not nearly as eventful as their travels from Noguchi to Nayeong. The gaudy palanquin had been replaced by a simple carriage drawn by oxen instead of being carried around by people, and beasts of burden had been purchased to take over carrying the supplies. Jia didn’t even bother entertaining the carriage this time, preferring to go by foot and not waste any precious time that could be spent training while on the move.
True to her word, Ja Yun generally stuck clo...
2021-12-10 20:48:39 +0000 UTC
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Jia and Eui were meditating with Heian when Tae In-Su came knocking on the door to their quarters in the not-so-temporary consulate. It was unusual for Tae to come visit them directly—usually, he just gave them an update whenever they checked in with him at the city hall. As Jia answered the door he burst into the room, practically vibrating with exuberance.
“I’ve done it! Those Yeong bastards were crafty, but I did it! Miss Eui is now free and clear! Er, sort of.”
Jia rai...
2021-12-08 19:55:57 +0000 UTC
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Though she was a little bit leery about leaving her fate in the hands of the person who’d had her thrown out of that very city years ago, Jia had to admit that Tae In-Su seemed to be making good on his promises. Which was great, because Jia was learning that law was absolutely not one of her fields of interest. She had imagined intense debates, dramatic accusations, and a surly arbiter making determinations about who’s interpretation of the facts was more accurate. Indeed, that had been f...
2021-12-06 19:03:06 +0000 UTC
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A bloody field of corpses stretches before her in an endless tide of red, drowning out everything else. She strode across it, searching for survivors and recognizing the faces of the dead. Naturally she sees her victims—Sun’s fiance, the kindly traveller who had caught her robbing him, the mage from whom she’d stolen her invitation to the academy. It doesn’t end there, however. She sees Yan Zhihao, Miyata Toshiharu, and Ozaki Keiji, and Tokuda Ryo—enemies whose deaths she caused...
2021-12-03 20:40:55 +0000 UTC
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“Pfhahaha! Tae In-Su!? How the fuck did he think that was a good thing?”
Eui was doubled over in laughter after hearing Jia’s retelling of what had happened. As promised, the caravan—including Eui—had been allowed entry into the city without any further issues. The ‘consulate’ was a four-story building that had originally been an apartment complex. Many of the walls had been removed to convert it into a single cohesive structure, which Hayakawa had immediately sta...
2021-12-01 20:56:55 +0000 UTC
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It was a little bit surreal, walking through the familiar shanty town outside of Nayeong’s walls. Well, technically Jia and her escort weren’t walking through it, since the slum-dwelling denizens knew better than to set up too close to the road. Jia recognized some of the more permanent structures—rickety wooden shacks that served as dwellings for those trying to eke out an honest living at the edge of the city—but the majority of the town consisted of temporary shelters such...
2021-11-29 20:06:04 +0000 UTC
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A Yamato-style forced march really was quite impressive. Without time wasted on resting or carrying around that ridiculous palanquin, what would have been the last week of their journey took only a couple of days. The entrance to Nayeong City’s shield formation was marked by a familiar gatehouse—the same one that Lee Jia had been ejected from on that fateful day three years previous. It looked a little bit silly from a distance—a single wooden archway over the road, not attached to any ...
2021-11-26 20:14:15 +0000 UTC
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It wasn’t until after a full day of running that the group finally relaxed enough to return to a more normal pace and settle down a little bit. The retreat towards Goryeo had been surprisingly orderly—apparently owing to military discipline that had been instilled in most citizens of Yamato during their mandatory time serving in the armies. The mortals and pack animals hadn’t been able to keep up with the pace of the martial artists, but apparently Yamato doctrine had a plan for precise...
2021-11-24 21:44:17 +0000 UTC
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Yoshika stood frozen in the overwhelming presence of the mysterious xiantian level cultivator. He did not wear the same uniform as the demon hunters, and the casually oppressive force of his domain bearing down on hers reminded her more of the strange three-eyed demon she had seen during the descent than anything else. He swept his cold gaze across the group one time before sniffing in dismissal. His gaze settled on Yoshika—more specifically, Eui.
“A red-eyed demon who wields a blad...
2021-11-22 21:29:49 +0000 UTC
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Jia tried to suppress her panic as one of Rika’s clones went to confront the enemy cultivators—her real body staying hidden within the palanquin.
“What do we do? Should we hide? What if they want to check the carriage—wait, Eui and I can disappear with Steps of the Stalker!”
Jia punctuated her statement by gripping Eui’s hand, and nearly began to use the technique on the spot before Hayakawa held up a hand to stop her.
“Just wait for now. We don’t know what t...
2021-11-19 20:20:48 +0000 UTC
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Over the next few days, Jia and Eui spent their time reviewing what they knew about spellcraft and cross-referencing that with what Hattori could share of onmyouji techniques. As Yoshika, they redoubled their efforts to glean some understanding from the unimaginably complex formations that they had memorized—including the likes of Do Hye’s barrier, the reflecting pool, or the spell that Seong Misun had used to carry their friends away from the academy two years ago. Unfortunately, they we...
2021-11-17 19:49:28 +0000 UTC
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There was quite a bit of excitement after the demonstrations, and Lord Noguchi was intent on keeping the mood going, but when Hayakawa made an excuse to retire for the night Yoshika and Rika were quick to follow. Hayakawa’s quarters were elsewhere in the castle, but Jia and Eui were joined by Rika on their way back to the guest wing, chatting amiably.
“I cannot believe how much stronger you two have gotten! You did all that while you were lost in the woods!?”
Jia scratched h...
2021-11-15 17:51:55 +0000 UTC
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After thoroughly trouncing Rika, Yoshika was just beginning to worry that she’d overdone it when Lord Noguchi broke the silence.
“Kami preserve me, you weren’t boasting, were you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a fine display of martial prowess—and I’ve had the privilege of meeting Master Ienaga Yumi herself!”
Yoshika shook both heads emphatically at the comparison.
“No, no, no! We trained under her, and we’ve seen Master Ienaga fight all-out...
2021-11-12 20:12:30 +0000 UTC
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The rest of the dinner passed relatively uneventfully as Hayakawa and Lord Noguchi discussed some vaguely political sounding things that Jia didn’t pay much attention to. With the exhibition agreed upon, Jia and Eui’s exoticism faded into the background—their hosts' curiosity deferred for later. Jia hardly had to do more than address the occasional comment about her prodigious appetite as she made a point of sampling every single dish on the table—and surreptitiously storing some of t...
2021-11-10 21:33:20 +0000 UTC
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The guest quarters assigned to Jia and Eui were easily the nicest accommodations that either of them had ever experienced. The room was as large as the entire house that they’d lived in back at the academy, consisting of a sitting room with a low table surrounded by cushions separated from the huge bedchamber by a sliding door partition. The bed was bigger than both of their old beds combined, and the mattress was so soft that Jia thought that she could happily just live out the rest of her...
2021-11-08 20:02:42 +0000 UTC
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The commissions from the September poll are finally finished, and they turned out amazing! But wait, who's that? Yoshika wasn't on the poll, but after so many requests for her, I figured there was no need! No poll this month due to Tsuu's super long waiting list. I've still got plenty of new artwork lined up, however, including the October Poll. I'm looking forward to sharing them with you all!
Also, I've now got a gallery where I'll be uploading all the future art commissions for Fates...
2021-11-07 02:39:41 +0000 UTC
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After bidding farewell to Lady Tennin and the villagers of Urayama, Jia and Eui left with Hayakawa and Rika to return to the provincial capital of Noguchi. Before leaving, Jia gifted the Ito family a few gold coins—while they hadn’t really made use of Suzu’s hospitality, Jia still wanted to repay her for all the trouble. Leaving Minister Kano behind, the four of them sped through the wilderness, crossing what had been described as a multiple week-long journey in only a day.
Hayaka...
2021-11-05 18:38:19 +0000 UTC
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“You were hunting beasts in the wilderness the entire time!?”
Rika shook the entire table as she smacked it for emphasis, nearly spilling tea everywhere. After some brief tension, the group had collectively agreed to deal with Jia slapping Hayakawa by quietly pretending it never happened. Minister Kano clearly knew better than to press the issue if Hayakawa herself was inclined to let it go, and nobody else dared comment. Even Eui had mostly kept her comments to herself aside from s...
2021-11-03 19:33:26 +0000 UTC
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Takeda Rika was currently regretting her decisions. She hated Lord Noguchi’s stupid face and his simpering attitude. She hated getting dressed up in a kimono and wearing makeup. She hated the deference she had to show to ‘Lady’ Hayakawa in order to preserve the shogunate’s reputation. She especially hated how slow they had been travelling—a result of bringing along a significant entourage that was apparently appropriate and expected of a political envoy. Finally, she hated ...
2021-11-01 19:40:51 +0000 UTC
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It had been a few days since their arrival, but there wasn’t a whole lot to do in the village of Urayama. Despite its size, the village didn’t even have anything like an inn. Instead, Jia and Eui were offered lodging in the Ito home, which Suzu shared with her husband, two sons, and a daughter. It was a cozy home, and Jia found herself enjoying the atmosphere of the Ito family, despite Suzu’s near-constant state of panic when they were around. Out of consideration for their hosts, Jia a...
2021-10-29 19:23:52 +0000 UTC
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