NOTE: Apologies for messing up ch 42. I accidentally mashed 42 and 43 together & released them both as 42. So here's 44, an actual new chap for today.
Vir flipped the hourglass, setting it onto the obstacle course’s first platform. Then he launched into action, sprinting over the first balancing beam, jumping onto the next beam in seconds. The third beam came and went, and he wa...
2023-02-06 19:53:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Maiya gazed at the transparent orb in her hands, which reflected the afternoon light in odd ways she’d never seen before. Almost like it was cracked inside, but cracked in extremely regular patterns. Beautiful patterns. Nestled in between the cracks were a myriad of runic characters, arcing and crisscrossing inside—like a utility orb, but far, far more compl...
2023-02-06 19:16:35 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone, if it's not too much trouble, I'd appreciate it if you could upvote my post on r/progressionfantasy, here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgressionFantasy/comments/10vevpt/check_out_my_new_progression_fantasy_series_on/
It'd really help gain the fic some visibility.
And with that out of the way, new chapter inco...
2023-02-06 19:12:29 +0000 UTC View Post
I ended up releasing this earlier than planned on RR, so I'm posting it here on patreon too. This was made with wonderdraft, and took me several dozen hours XD It's more or less to scale.
2023-02-05 18:16:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Only a few minutes remained before Vir’s heart stopped pounding in his chest, dulling the effects of Prana Vision. Settling down on the warm sand of the training dome, he got to work, determined to use every moment he had to its fullest.
He thought back to what he’d just learned. When Riyan had activated the Talent Leap, Vir had clearly seen Earth affi...
2023-02-05 16:56:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Vir was not happy.
Maiya was off training with Tanya, no doubt learning more secrets of the mejai.
He could’ve been spying on them right now, absorbing the mejai’s teachings—knowledge that might help him unlock the secrets of his own prana. Instead, he was stuck here, forced to duel Riyan against his will.
Of all the times he could’ve picked, why now...
2023-02-04 20:21:59 +0000 UTC View PostDouble release on RR today, so 2 chaps on patreon too! The fic is on Rising Stars right now, so if you haven't rated it or followed on RR already, please do so! That really helps me out.
“And what do you think you’re doing here?” Tanya asked with arms crossed, shooting Vir a gaze that made him want to shrivel up and cry in some dark corner. The fully black le...
2023-02-04 20:20:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Woof woof!
“That’s a good boy,” Vir said, patting Neel, who’d bounded up to him the moment he’d entered. The bandy was now furiously licking his face, ruining what was left of his makeup. “Haha I missed you too, boy! Were you good? Did you behave? You must’ve been so lonely!”
Awoo!
Maiya got the same treatment soon after, though...
2023-02-03 20:52:41 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone,
First off, thank you for becoming my first patrons. You can't know how happy it made me to see you all sign on.
'Good guy' had some great feedback after catching up to ch 38. Namely that the trip to Saran didn't have much in the way of progression. I agree with this feedback, and so I've incorporated his suggestions, and here's a quick summary:
29: When Vir & Maiya are accosted by pirates, Maiya now shows off her improved riding skills. She used to be bad at...
2023-02-03 20:50:52 +0000 UTC View Post
“You… want me to break your arm?” Said Maiya with a blank expression.
“Well, don’t break my arm, but just hit it hard enough to hurt really bad,” Vir said.
Maiya wrenched her gaze from waves—now lit by the first rays of dawn—and pushed through her seasickness to embrace Vir. “I know we’ve been through a lot lately, Vir. First we had the pi...
2023-02-02 20:18:51 +0000 UTC View PostVir reeled as he walked deeper into the dark hold packed with sweat and slaves. Some slept. Others wept. And others still eyed him with predatory gazes. Both men and women were present. All dressed in soiled rags.
The only sounds in the hold were soft groans, the shuffling of shackles, and the creaking of the old wooden hull against the sea. Awfully quiet for a room packed with prisoners.
How did they end up here? Vir wondered. He’d heard of slaves, of course, but this ...
2023-02-02 04:59:04 +0000 UTC View Post
“Tomatoes, check. Onions and bell peppers, check. Rice, check.” Vir went through Riyan’s supply list, crossing off each line on the parchment as Maiya and Barid raided the merchant’s store. Alda had hung back this time; the more people they had, the more they risked detection, so it was just the three of them there.
Lack of illumination was a problem, but Maiya’s Magic Candl...
2023-02-02 04:58:27 +0000 UTC View Post
“So, where are we headed, exactly?” Vir asked Alda as his leather shoes’ soles clacked on Saran’s cobblestone harbor roads.
Magic Lamp street lights bathed the entire pier in amber light, setting a rather melancholic mood, and the bracky brine hit them full force, now that they were right next to the ocean. Vir didn’t mind it—the many ships docked at the harbor ca...
2023-02-02 04:55:45 +0000 UTC View Post
“Wait wait wait!” The girl hissed, her eyes wide with fear at the two katars that pressed against her throat. “I can explain!”
“Then explain,” Vir said. “You have thirty seconds. Starting now.”
“Uh, okay, okay. Um, so, like, there was this man, right? And like, yeah, so um—”
“Coherently!” Vir growled, pressing the blade of his ka...
2023-02-02 04:54:55 +0000 UTC View Post
“Vir!? Vir! Oh, gods!”
Vir heard someone’s voice, but as his consciousness ebbed in and out, he found it hard to even walk.
“Into yer cell, boy!” Said the jailor.
A great force crashed into Vir’s back, sending him to his knees. His palms scraped against the rough stone floor, tearing his skin. His arms, unable to bear his weight, gave out, a...
2023-02-02 04:54:05 +0000 UTC View Post
“You can’t be serious! This is highway robbery,” Maiya exclaimed. “Ten coppers for these vegetables? You understand what’ll happen if my father finds out about this, yes? Eight is the highest I will go. Not one copper more!”
The flustered grocer bowed repeatedly, apologizing, but standing his ground. “Young ser, I assure you that these are the freshest produce you’ll f...
2023-02-02 04:52:57 +0000 UTC View Post
“Guess the makeup worked pretty well after all,” Vir admitted, guiding Bumpy through a set of double portcullis gates. The myriad of murder holes above them painted a grim picture for any poor soul that dared to enter unlawfully. “Can’t believe we just fooled the guards in a major city.”
“I know, right?” Maiya said, her voice breaking. “I seriously thought m...
2023-02-02 04:51:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Vir was out the moment his head touched sand, and for the first few hours, he slept like a log. Then, as the sun rose, and the temperature went from pleasantly warm to unbearably hot, he began to toss and turn, as did Maiya.
It was the sweat that dripped into his eyes that forced him to wake up. His armpits had turned into a river, and his back was just as...
2023-02-02 04:45:36 +0000 UTC View Post
“‘The coast was safe, he said! Travel by night, he said!’ I’m going to wring Riyan’s throat when we get back!” Maiya shouted from behind Vir as they fled from the pirates.
What rotten luck, Vir thought. They’d avoided the road. They’d traveled by night. They took every precaution possible. Who could’ve predicted pirates showing up on the ...
2023-02-02 04:44:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Starlight reflected off of the crashing waves to the left as Vir and Maiya traveled north on Bumpy’s back. With only the dim stars for illumination, nighttime travel was usually treacherous, but Vir’s excellent nightvision offset some of that risk. And thanks to Prana Vision—which was always active, even while dormant—his eyesight had become even better.
Adventu...
2023-02-02 04:43:34 +0000 UTC View Post
“Sit still, Vir! How am I supposed to work with you fidgeting around like that?”
“Maiya, this is awkward. Like, really really awkward,” he replied, sitting on a stool in a storeroom that Maiya and Riyan had converted into a makeup studio. She’d forced him to sit there for hours as she worked, applying foundation, coloring, bronzers, and other nonsense wor...
2023-02-02 04:42:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Vir carefully stepped onto the first suspended balancing beam, pausing only slightly to jump onto the next beam, and finally the third.
Both Vir and Maiya had braved Riyan’s dome of horrors every single day, and while there had been some close calls, neither had taken any actual damage from falls… Yet.
But the truly dangerous parts of the course came late...
2023-02-02 04:41:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Maiya sat on the edge of the training dome, shivering as she watched Vir trade blows with Riyan in the early morning chill. She felt cold, but she was sure neither of the combatants felt the same. In fact, it was the perfect dueling temperature.
Most of the dome’s sandy floor was covered by Riyan’s monstrous obstacle course, but there was still enough room arou...
2023-02-02 04:40:49 +0000 UTC View Post
“Do we really need to go so far for this? I feel like you’re being a little paranoid, Vir,” said Maiya, shivering against the cool desert’s chill. The sun had set minutes ago, painting the sky with a bright blue hue, and already, the temperature had plummeted.
Vir held her hand and pulled her along. “It’ll all make sense soon. We’re almost there.”
The ...
2023-02-02 04:35:36 +0000 UTC View Post
To both Vir and Maiya, the past week had felt like an idyllic dream. With Riyan holed up in the training dome, they had the vast abode to themselves, and Vir enjoyed the experience far more than he’d expected.
He’d never felt that way when Rudvik had left him alone to go lumberjacking expeditions into the Godshollow for days at a time… Maybe it had to do with the size...
2023-02-02 04:34:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Under the starlight of a chilly desert night, Vir threw his chakrams and his chakris at the tree above Riyan’s abode.
He hit, he missed, and then he collected them all to throw again.
The biting cold served as excellent motivation to keep him active—the moment he stopped, his cooling sweat made him shiver and freeze. The metal chakrams didn’t help, sucking the h...
2023-02-02 04:33:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Vir itched to test out his new weapons, but the training dome wasn’t exactly an ideal environment for an amateur to learn, Riyan insisted. His instructor forced him to practice outside, claiming that he’d mar his beautiful room with chakram dents. In fact, the man had barred the room off entirely, doing something inside, but neither Vir nor Maiya had any idea what. 2023-02-02 04:28:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Weeks of training had finally led to this moment: the first 'official' duel between Maiya and Vir.
Official, because the two had been training together daily, so this duel wasn’t the first time they'd fought each other, but it was their first match where Riyan would act more as a judge than an instructor. And if Vir knew anything about his best friend, it was tha...
2023-02-02 04:26:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Vir rummaged through the bedroom for supplies.
“Riyan’s not even giving us ink and paper, so we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way,” said Maiya, casting a grim gaze at the small clay fireplace built into the far wall of the room.
The abode was well insulated owing to being underground, but they both appreciated the coziness of a fire, esp...
2023-02-02 04:25:05 +0000 UTC View Post
“No!” Riyan scolded, grasping Vir’s arm and fixing his form. “Not like that. Like this!”
The fresh rays of the morning sun filtered through the skylights in the training dome’s ceiling high above as Vir worked through his moves on the sand far below.
He threw another uppercut, for what must have been the millionth time. Any more, and he fel...
2023-02-02 04:21:52 +0000 UTC View Post