Bruce_Sentar

AO 5 Ch 31

Chapter 31

After a night's rest and a morning debriefing with Uncle Valken and my anchors, I set off into the market with Eva in tow.

She held tightly to my arm as we walked glancing over at me every few seconds.

Emlyn had dropped her guard persona, now becoming Eva's anchor, while Aurelia remained mine and walked with Emlyn behind us. At the end of the day, Zuri needed to remain my accountant if we were to manage the mercantile part of our ruse.

Marib...

AO 5 Ch 30

Chapter 30

The rest of the trip to Fargo was largely uneventful. Despite traveling in a single carriage, Eva tried to give me a little space, but she did press her advantage. 

During a few necessary lessons using my serpent sphere, I made sure to be physically close to her during these lessons. She also tried to test me, hiding in the darkness and making me use my magic to find her. After finding her, she surprised me with another kiss and then she would disa...

AO 5 Ch 29

Chapter 29

I was laying in Maribelle’s lap when all of a sudden Eva ran out of the forest. I sat up, readying my magic for something to come roaring out of the forest, but that didn’t make sense as Emlyn and Zuri followed behind her, chatting and laughing.

Eva beelined towards me and I waited to see what she had to say, except she did not stop. Her body slammed into mine and her lips pressed into my lips.

I squawked like any unprepared man would do and f...

AO 5 Ch 28

Uncle Valken let out a long sigh as the carriage bumped along. I had given him the rundown of what had happened since he had left us and he wasn’t my biggest fan at the moment.

"Let me confirm I have this correct. You met with rebels. You completely failed to hide your identity. You then attacked a Garrish supply depot, stealing supplies, hid them, and then snuck back to town where you pretended to be drunk last night. And you're mad at me?" He pointed a finger at himself.

He mi...

AO 5 Chapter 27

Chapter 27

"Missy, it's," I struggled, rubbing my hand against my forehead. "Missy, you're clearly the fucking Hollow Mage. It's not like you've actually tricked me in any of this.” I could tell that the goddess was stupefied by my reaction. Then again, I hadn’t actually had a conversation about this with anyone because you never knew when the goddess could be listening.

"What, do you think I'm an idiot? Actually, no, don't answer that." I held a finger up to stop her. ...

AO 5 Ch 26

Chapter 26

I was on the way back from battle with my anchors, having taken a number of small, high-value items with us. Meanwhile, I had put on a show of taking some larger bulk goods, only to bury them underground in the forest. We would come back for them later when the military wasn’t looking for them and I didn’t have to cart them around with magic.

I even helped move the stone of the estate to allow the bandits to rifle through everything and collect what...

AO 5 Ch 25

There were a few clangs of metal in the distance and shouts. However, the fighting was being taken care of by the rebels. Only a few hiding soldiers were being discovered in what little remained of the depot.

The estate that served as a depot itself was barely standing. Only a corner of the building had actually survived the fight, which was saying something in and of itself.

Boss walked up to me with an older woman in tow. I could tell instantly she was the mage that had been flo...

AO 5 Ch 24

Chapter 24

A giant golem of flesh and steel cast its shadow over the battlefield, still maneuvering itself into place.

The two mages were gone. Guided by my sense of soul, I could discern that they were now part of the grotesque amalgamation before me. It was not only filled with the souls and corpses of numerous dying bandits but also the living corrupted. In fact, it was the corrupted bodies that held the entire thing together. Their minds had been warped, trick...

AO 4 Ch 23

Emlyn ripped her sword out of the charred corrupted, only to backhand another. Her hand never connected, as lightning poured out and struck the corrupted for her, causing him to convulse.

Lightning seared black marks across its chest, only for them to heal as quickly as they were being made.

"At least they aren’t making it too easy," she chuckled, feeling like she was the eye of a storm.

That giant push on metal that Ard had just done had opened his wolf-spheres fully. Thi...

AO 5 Ch 22

Chapter 22

Clarence knelt in the canoe. It was a makeshift thing carved up in the woods, but it would do.

Ten other men were stuffed into it with him. A few of them were pushing against the bottom of the river with sticks, trying to move downstream as quietly as possible.

The supply depot was a beacon on the hill in front of them. Mirror lights lit up the perimeter, while mage lights beamed from inside the buildings. 

The man in front of Clarence ...

AO 5 Ch 21

Chapter 21

I was out walking with Maribelle after a morning spent trying to sell and buy goods. My carriage was laden with all sorts of new goods, but my mind was mostly a jumbled mess. The problem with our two Zenovian guests weighed heavily on me, and I worried about Zuri being separated from me. 

Maribelle was, as always, with me and attuned to my desire. At present it was to just think and walk outside the town.

It was far more peaceful away from th...

AO 5 Ch 20

Chapter 20

Eva was relieved when her feet once again touched the ground. They had reached their destination and she no longer needed to be carried by Zuri.

"So, Ard forgives quickly. How quickly does it take for the rest of the anchors?" Eva said, trying to make light of the tension she had felt the whole way. She had definitely noticed when giving magic to Zuri it had been like trying to push rope. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," the tall, d...

AO 5 Ch 19

Chapter 19

The rest of my anchors took their sweet time waking up.

I must have been brooding for an hour before they trickled down in a small group, immediately spotting me in the corner. Something about either me staying in the corner or Maribelle's presence by my side had scared any other travelers away from the neighboring tables, leaving a small buffer zone between me and the rest of the tavern.

My anchors slid into their seats. Only then did Maribelle s...

AO 5 Ch 18

Chapter 18

The next morning, I managed to untangle myself from the pile of limbs that had slowly accumulated throughout the night. True to the words they had given me and Aurelia, I had some lovely private time, only for Emlyn to become impatient and take one round with me before promptly passing out.

Zuri and Maribelle were far more reserved.

I must have had plenty of energy last night because I woke first in a pile of limbs, though it seemed that Maribelle...

AO 5 Ch 17

Chapter 17

As I sent the second merchant away, Aurelia glanced at me through her eyelashes. She was beautiful and clearly making an effort to get my attention this evening.

"Zuri, why don't you make sure they get their wares?" I nodded to my other anchor. 

Emlyn had returned, but rather than come sit at our table, she'd been talking to someone at the bar, hopefully gathering information. We were all doing our best.

"You sure you'll be a...

AO 5 Ch 16

Chapter 16

"I still think sending Ard over there was a terrible mistake," Melida said. "You have no idea how bad his penchant for trouble is. He'll create some disaster."

General Trevis had his hands behind his back, watching over the wall into Avente territory. The wind pulled at his robes, but he shook his head. "It was the safest place for Ard. He needs to be out of the kingdom."

Melida raised an eyebrow at that statement. "What do you mean he needs to be...

AO 5 Ch 15

Chapter 15

"All right, here they come," the bandit boss got the crew’s attention, his words echoing down the line of bandits. In our short time waiting, I had learned that the leader of the bandits had a very un-bandit-like name. His real name was Clarence.

I snickered at it the first time I heard it, only to be warned by one of his men that he was very sensitive about his name. It was best just to call him Boss.

According to the source, the only time they...

AO 5 Ch 14

Chapter 14

I didn't see hide nor hair of Uncle Valken the rest of the night. Thankfully, Emlyn pried two ladies I was trying to charm away from me and shepherded me back to the room before I actually became a ladies' man.

In the end, our group didn't reconvene until early the next morning as the carriage rolled just out of town. Uncle Valken, Eva, and Aurelia were walking on the road, and we stopped just outside of town to pick them up. 

"So, what did y...

AO 5 Ch 13

Chapter 13

I paused, reassessing my current strategy. Something felt off as I thought about my own time on the other side of the bar.

My mind flashed back to Vivian and the way she would walk into the inn, turning everyone into her friend in the blink of an eye. That's what I needed to appear more like, I’d been trained by a merchant. If I was going to pull this off, I needed to channel my inner Vivian. 

Taking a deep breath, I shot the woman behind t...

AO 5 Ch 12

Chapter 12

I waved my hand in front of my face, making my skin ripple. It was incredibly itchy to try to resettle onto a new face. 

"Mage Arden, there is no need to do that," Lord Valken said. 

The carriage bumped along. We had found that it was surprisingly easy to slip through the border using Cyam to carry us in the dead of night. Depleting their nearby forces mages kept us from anybody who could more easily detect us.

They had really gone...

AO 5 Ch 11

Chapter 11

"So, what do you think?" I said, trying not to bias my anchors. After explaining the general's plan, I found myself sitting with my four anchors around a fire pit. Night had fallen on the fort and with its few occupants it was eerily quiet for how large the structure next to me was. I knew that one of the others around could be spying on us, but I ignored that and just focused on our group.

Zuri gave me an appreciative look. “I know we all swore Ard�...

AO 5 Ch 10

Chapter 10

I returned to the fort with the caravan, only to find the general and one of his wives waiting for us as we ascended the hill.

“The fort appears to be in good condition.” the caravan master remarked, clearly confused.

"Yeah, perfectly fine." I agreed, though I was more concerned with the reactions of the general and his wife. The fort's walls had clearly been worked on since my last visit. Someone had moved my stone blocks into place and added...

AO 5 Ch 9

Chapter 9

The man leading the supply caravan waved at us as Cyam dropped a carriage full of me and the anchors off.

At the front of the caravan the caravan master greeted him, “Mage Aldis” he bowed, a slight chuckle on his lips. "I had worried that you had forgotten about us."

“Me forget about you? No. How could I forget about the vital supply caravan that I had just been guarding.” In my defense it had been a hectic two days and I had been fighting ...

AO 5 Ch 8

Chapter 8

After giving Old Man Trevis and Melida an exhaustive explanation of everything that had happened, I found myself finishing up the wall and rebuilding parts of the fort. We were going to be stationed here a while. It would need to be livable. 

The first thing I had to do was dig out the cellar.

Meanwhile, Melida got pulled aside and reamed out by the general before being put to work trying to reclaim what supplies she could from the ...

Q&A 10-21-24

What questions do you have for me? Please be aware if you aren't caught up, this might be a spoiler heavy zone!

Any question, I'll come back to this for the next 48 hours and answer all that I can.

AO 4 Ch 7

Chapter 7

I woke up, which in itself was a good sign. After everything that had happened, I had not been quite sure that I would see the world again.

I moved my head back and forth, finding myself on a soft, pillow-like lap. As I shifted, I could see Maribelle's outfit.

The maid looked like she had dozed off, but my movement caused her to straighten and adjust my head, ensuring my comfort.

I tried to look at her face, but there were two large mounds be...

AO 5 Ch 6

The magic high above spun out of control, a descending tornado of lightning twisting back and forth, continuing to suck on my magic.

"Now would be a good time to do something worth gloating over," Emlyn said. 

The spinning column of lightning touched down amid the fort, vaporizing some of the stone and sending others hurtling through the air. I heard the snap as a full-grown tree was broken by one of the flying stones. 

"I don't usually agree with everything she sa...

AO 5 Ch 5

I glanced over at Maribelle, who had already returned to her body. "Up for one more trip?" I asked, eager to understand what was happening above us. She nodded, and I threw her up, only for her to rebound a few seconds later. 

"So, what's happening?" Melida urged. 

"It was somewhat difficult to see with all the lightning everywhere," Maribelle said. "However, I believe I saw three elderly Trevis mages standing atop the ruined fort." 

Melida cursed, then cursed...

AO 4 Ch 4

Melida wanted a miracle, and I was in agreement with her.

We likely needed one if we were going to survive the onslaught of soldiers. It had been an absolute fool's errand for us to try and hold the fort against an entire army on our own.

Yet, here I was once again, playing the fool. Thoughts circled in my head as I tried to think of an option.

We were in the fort proper, and there was no way they wouldn't just collapse the whole thing on top of us, saving themselves the tro...

AO 4 Ch 3

Chapter 3

I leaned back against Maribelle, the woman massaging my shoulders amid the ruins of the fort. The Garrish army had been stalled long enough that I had been dismissed to find a little rest and possibly some food amid the rubble.

Well, I just moved the heavy things.

Emlyn was digging through the ruins, finally coming up with a shout of victory. "I found something!" she yelled. She moved over the mound, holding a barrel that was cracked and leaking sm...