LONG chapter for you!
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There was so much packed into Cirayus’ words, Vir hardly knew where to begin. More than the mention of the Akh Nara, though, there was something else the giant said that caught his attention.
“One born in the Ash. You’re telling me I was born… in the Ashen Realm?”
“You are Ashborn, aye.”
“Ashborn’s just a misnomer people have for demons,” Maiya said with a frown.
Cirayus heaved a great sigh...
2023-06-16 17:24:05 +0000 UTC View PostNOTE: Welcome to Arc 5! Very curious to hear your thoughts on this section - it underwent a bunch of edits since I wasn't happy with the 1st version.
Also got a poll coming up, so stick around for that!
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Vir’s mind went blank. Of all the words Cirayus just said, one in particular filled his head, drowning out all the others, but before he could ask, Maiya beat him to the punch.
“Sorry? Did you just say Prince? As in… royalty?”
Vir s...
2023-06-16 17:23:01 +0000 UTC View PostNOTE: Decided to split up an arc 4 chapter on RR into two, so it'll offset the chapter numbers by 1. Doesn't impact anything else on patreon, but tomorrow's chapter will be 153, not 152 :-)
The moment Vir glimpsed red in the corner of his eye, he threw on his rucksack, grabbed Maiya, and jumped, not waiting for the inevitable attack that was bound to hit them.
Not a second after he’d Leaped off Maiya’s Acira, Cirayus’ enormous greatsword sliced across where they’d...
2023-06-15 17:31:48 +0000 UTC View Post“We need more firepower,” Vir said. “It’s obvious we aren’t hurting him.”
“Right. So what—Vir!!?” Maiya shouted in panic, right as Cirayus pummeled Vir with his tower shield, sending him flying.
They’d both kept their eyes on the four-armed giant the entire time, yet it was as if their enemy had used Blink, giving Vir no hope of dodging.
Despite that, he’d concentrated his body’s prana into his arms, cycling prana just in time. Parai...
2023-06-14 17:09:09 +0000 UTC View PostNOTE: Three parter for the arc 4 finale!
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Vir made the first move, launching an Empowered chakram at the demon, further augmenting his throw with Parai’s channeling technique. His new upgrade sent the disc ripping through the air, almost as if the chakrams had a mejai speed enhancement on them.
They didn’t; only Vir’s katar had the benefit of Maiya’s Enhance Speed, but he hardly even saw the disc before it collided with their enemy.<...
2023-06-13 16:23:24 +0000 UTC View PostNOTE: Quick PSA - Been working 12-16 hr days editing + writing recently (been spending more time editing to get the chapters to a higher level of quality, which takes a ton of time). This isn't really sustainable, so as of today, RR has shifted to a 4x a week release cadence. Patreon will stay at 5x for at least another month, before shifting as well.
I understand this is a disappointment, and is less content delivered, but my hope is that the content will be of higher quality instead. ...
2023-06-12 17:18:21 +0000 UTC View Post“You ready?” Maiya asked, standing proudly in Vir’s doorway. It wasn’t quite the look he’d expected. In fact, it was just about the opposite. While training, Vir had thought of several ways of cheering up his best friend, though none of that seemed like it’d be necessary.
“I dunno if I’ll ever be ready for this.”
While he’d worked as fast as he could, he’d only inscribed Parai’s simplified cycling technique onto the muscle groups on both legs. ...
2023-06-09 15:55:00 +0000 UTC View PostVir returned to his Undercity home exhausted. Though as much as he envied Neel, who promptly curled up on the floor and fell asleep, there was far too much left to even think about resting. Most important of which was growing his power.
If there was one thing he knew for certain about the Ashen Realm, it was that no matter how much strength he possessed, it would not be enough. Perhaps it was foolish to wish for more power at this eleventh hour, but he had to at least try. ...
2023-06-09 15:51:25 +0000 UTC View PostTwo red demons faced off in a ring, though one was considerably larger than the other. They wore only loincloths and stood barefoot atop the sandy floor, appraising each other, each sure of his own victory.
“Fight!” the referee shouted, jumping away just in time to avoid a haymaker. The larger demon had made the opening move, but the smaller one easily avoided it, ducking low for a counterattack.
“See? Isn’t this a spectacle?” Badal said, munching on some fr...
2023-06-08 14:27:51 +0000 UTC View PostNOTE: I split this chapter up on RR, so the patreon version technically contains two chapters worth of content.
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“You’ve been through the Ash…” Vir said in disbelief. “And you survived?”
“I nearly did not,” the man said, taking a seat at their table. He leaned back, rested a bony elbow on the table, and narrated his tale, his eyes wandering to a distant memory. “Decades ago, I joined a Kin’jal expeditionary force—disguised as a hum...
2023-06-07 14:40:31 +0000 UTC View Post“What is this?” Maiya said in wonder, prompting Vir to chuckle.
“That was my exact reaction. This is the real Pagan Order. It seems most other royals know that the country’s a demon sanctuary, but few know of the Undercity.”
“But there’s so much light here! Magic isn’t supposed to work. What’s going on!” Maiya said, practically jumping off the lift as it touched down.
“That is electricity. A form of non-magical li...
2023-06-06 15:11:39 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Vir entered the Tribunal’s audience chambers, he expected he’d be alone. Instead, all twenty of the raiders from last night’s raid stood in a row, hands clasped behind their back. His first reaction was to panic seeing so many exposed demons.
They’ll be discovered!
No longer in disguise, they wore a variety of casual clothing and showed off their red skin. Then Vir suddenly remembered where he was, and the panic washed away, replaced by relief and pride.
<... 2023-06-05 16:49:56 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m sorry, Vir. The Pagan Order’s heresy must be brought to light,” Tia said, standing in front of the leaders of every major nation in the Known World. “Tell your people. Tell everyone that the Order is a haven for demons. They plot to overthrow you even as we speak!”
“No! Tia, stop!” Vir shouted, but his voice wasn’t heard by any of those assembled.
The scene rippled, like a drop of water falling on a perfectly calm lake. Now Tia stood in front of an Executor....
2023-06-02 18:40:27 +0000 UTC View Post“What are you doing here?” Vir whispered. “Why are you—!?”
Before he knew it, Maiya had enveloped him in a hug, his thoughts blown away by a crimson wind. And when her sweet-smelling, nostalgic fragrance touched him, he lost all capacity for thought.
“I’m so, so sorry. I couldn’t reveal I knew you because it would be bad for you to have any connection to me because then you’d have even more people after you so I wanted to avoid that but I screwed up and ...
2023-06-02 17:47:45 +0000 UTC View Post“You’re not just saving these demons,” Princess Tiyana seethed. “You're allowing humans to die because that's exactly what they'll do if you free them. I'm sorry, Apra. I'll not stand aside and watch this tragedy unfold. I was powerless to prevent the deaths of my parents. Never again.”
Vir looked shocked. Maiya could practically read his mind because she felt the same.
After hearing all that—after listening to his story—
For the longest moment, Maiya simply stared. It was akin to walking into one’s home and finding a Prana Swarm lurking in the corner. Or an Ash Gate. Or something equally as ridiculous.
How? Why? No. Maybe it’s a mistake. Maybe it’s only a bracelet that ‘looks’ familiar. But look at him! He clearly recognizes me. Those beady eyes of his. It has to be him! Oh, gods. What’s going on?
Maiya struggled to piece the ...
2023-05-31 18:05:14 +0000 UTC View Post“What would you suggest we do, madam?” Garrison Commander Rohin asked, bowing deferentially.
Don’t ask me! That’s your job, isn’t it?
Only through pure strength of will did Maiya suppress the sigh she wanted to let out so badly. It had been this way since the beginning of the raid. Her presence had turned this veteran commander into a meek man-boy incapable of making decisions.
“Commander Rohin. I am but an observer, here to inspect the garr...
2023-05-30 16:18:45 +0000 UTC View Post“We have incoming!” Badal shouted over the wind as they soared above Kin’jal territory. Clouds obscured the moonlight, darkening their surroundings, and Vir wondered how the pilot flew the Acira without Prana Vision.
“What’s wrong?” Vir asked.
“Aciras on our tail.”
“Kin’jal?”
“Likely.”
“Why? I thought you said they were expecting us.”
“They are! Doesn’t mean they won’t pick off as many of us as they ...
2023-05-26 17:04:08 +0000 UTC View PostMaiya descended upon Kin’jal Garrison Nihira at dusk, anxious about what was to come.
Princess Ira had seemed innocent enough, at first, with her teddy bear collection and pink room. Someone with a soft sport for such cute things couldn’t possibly be a monster underneath, could she?
As it turned out, Maiya had been very, very wrong. Ira was pure evil. An Ash Beast in disguise, capable of heaping such a monstrous workload upon Maiya’s back that ...
2023-05-26 17:00:49 +0000 UTC View PostNOTE: Now that the $10 tier is at 35 chapters ahead of RR, all tiers gain more chapters. The $5 tier goes up to 8 chapters, from 5, and the $10 tier goes up to 18, from 15. Enjoy!
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Vir awaited his summons for the raid by meditating cross-legged in the subterranean room the Pagan Order had given him. His room. One that would remain his possession, even if he left.
Come to think of it, I haven’t had a place to call my own ever since Brij…
He was j...
2023-05-25 16:48:24 +0000 UTC View Post“O-Oh hi, Apra! Fancy seeing you around here!” Tia said, waving energetically.
Does she know? Was Vir’s first reaction. It seemed unlikely; Haymi hadn't given him up when she'd healed him. Why would she now? Besides, Tia was much too friendly for having learned he was a demon. He'd have expected her to level her spear at him if she did.
“Tia, you’re not gonna convince me that this is a coincidence. Why are you here?”
“Well, you won’t believe...
2023-05-24 15:15:18 +0000 UTC View PostZora led Vir through the maze of tunnels, away from the Undercity, descending as they went. Vir rightly grew anxious as they descended deeper into the bowels of the earth. Vir’s history with deep, dark places hadn’t exactly been stellar—first with the Prana Swarm, then again with the Narapazu.
It was almost as if the realm’s most horrifying denizens claimed the abyss as their territory.
And yet, the well-lit hallways told a different tale, as did the dozen checkpo...
2023-05-23 16:05:15 +0000 UTC View PostWhen the lift finally stopped against the rocky earth of the great cavern, it wasn’t the four armed demons bustling around that caught Vir’s eye first. Nor was it their looks of happiness and joviality.
“These lamps… they’re not magical, are they?”
“That’s the first thing you notice?” his Ashborn friend said. “Name’s Badal, by the way. Thanks for not killing me back there.”
“I, er…” Vir scratched his head and looked away, causing Badal ...
2023-05-22 17:14:08 +0000 UTC View Post
“Somebody better start talking,” Vir said, cautiously eyeing the dozen soldiers in the room. Dance of the Shadow Demon was ready to go anytime.
“Allow me,” Reth’s ‘slave’ said, tossing her collar aside. “This was a test. Perhaps a foolish one, but one designed to determine your loyalty. I fear far too many demons have succumbed to human brainwashing. This would not be the first time we’ve been betrayed by such agents.”
“You could’ve just asked,...
2023-05-19 17:53:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe moment Vir stepped foot into Lord Reth’s audience chamber, he knew he’d made a mistake.
The ruler of the Pagan Order sat on an enormous throne. Vir guessed even King Rayid’s throne in Daha couldn’t compare to the dizzying array of jewels, gold, and carvings that adorned his seat.
The man himself sported a large, bushy mustache and greased black hair. He looked like the sort of man no one would trust. Sleazy, fake, and manipulative. He wore an opulent, form-fitting robe...
2023-05-19 17:51:33 +0000 UTC View PostBalindam was… not what Vir expected. Not at all. In fact, he was half-convinced the pilot had lied, and that he’d fallen prey to some elaborate trap.
The only ability he could use in the air was Prana Blade, but Vir doubted he needed any Talents against the pilot; he lacked affinities of any kind. Then again, even if he did incapacitate the pilot, Vir didn’t have any faith he could fly the Acira himself.
Yet there was no doubt they were in the Voidlands. Th...
2023-05-18 15:16:36 +0000 UTC View PostVir prepared to use Dance of the Shadow Demon to enter his shared bedroom suite. Partly out of a desire not to wake anyone, but with as big as the space was, that was hardly a concern. Rather, he wanted to grab his things and get Neel with no one noticing.
At least, that was the plan, until Prana Vision showed that everyone was awake.
“You’re all up?” Vir asked with a broken voice, entering the traditional way. “I thought you went to bed?”
“Well...
2023-05-17 15:33:50 +0000 UTC View Post“And then he said, ‘I’m not dead’?” Vason said, doing his best Vir impersonation.
Haymi giggled while Tia burst out laughing, spitting her mead all across the table in a very unladylike fashion.
All four of them were too busy laughing to reprimand her—Vir included.
“I wasn’t that shocked,” he said with flushed cheeks. “Besides, if I remember right, you cried like a baby.”
“Did not,” Vason retorted, clearing his throa...
2023-05-16 16:03:41 +0000 UTC View PostMaiya groaned at the monstrous pile of tomes in front of her. When Princess Ira had said that her chores would be reduced from now on, she’d jumped for joy.
Now, she’d give anything to get those chores back. Anything was better than this.
Once again, she peeked at the Magic Clock in the corner. Still another ten minutes to go.
Of course, it wasn’t as though anyone was forcing her to spend every waking hour of each day sitting in ...
2023-05-15 17:07:57 +0000 UTC View Post