Amber Atlas Stories

[ToM] Chapter 71 – Silent Weeping

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Melina sat on Sienna's back, carefully looking through the rockpine forest for signs of any cooking ingredients or other valuable materials. Whistlewisps flew all around them, sometimes so close that the wyrm let out an angry snarl to make the birds back away.

Alistair walked right next to wyrm, doubly as vigilant as everyone else. Remi and Illitran also walked close by. Leon however was walking noticeably further away from the group and Barrett stuck with him, just so the mag...

[ToM] Chapter 70 – Night Realm

Melina had expected plenty of resistance from Gilbert. She had expected the Guildmaster to completely reject her request and perhaps even send people to watch her to make sure she wouldn't sneak away. What she had not expected was for Alistair to get mad.

"Melina, this is out of the question! It is the Monster Realm we are talking about, not just the forest beyond Sunglow's walls. We cannot predict what will happen there," Alistair said, his eyebrows furrowed in an angry scowl. It was a...

[ToM] Chapter 69 – History of Sunglow

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Heiliger and her priests left Sunglow the very same day, departing on the first ship that sailed south. Melina felt intense relief when she heard the news. She had somehow managed to avoid the worst-case scenario—being dragged away to the main monastery on the grounds of being a System user.

However, it had been far from the flawless exchange Melina had hoped it would be. Heiliger suspected her, and she promised to return, likely together with someone who could see her full ...

[ToM] Chapter 68 – Albino Gaze

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Although Heiliger along with other priests had left, Melina couldn't help but feel uneasy. People around her cheered, presuming their victory but she didn't believe they had won yet. The Bishop wouldn't back away so easily.

But what did Leliana say to make her leave so abruptly?

Sadly, Melina didn't have a chance to ask. She had to continue the hectic service, fulfilling people's orders and watching how the pastries on the shelves slowly dwindled. As it became a...

[ToM] Chapter 67 – Sunglow vs the Church

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Melina's heart thundered the whole time she was making pastries in the morning. The more she thought about it, the more holes she found in her plan. Her hands trembled while she kneaded the dough and she dropped several pastries to the floor when pulling them out of the oven. Sienna had made short work of them, but she still berated herself for her clumsiness.

Despite that, Gilbert wasn't angry. He could probably sense her nervousness and continued working in silence, letting ...

[ToM] Chapter 66 – The Truth

Melina didn't know what she had expected to see beyond the locked doors—a storage room, a library, or maybe even some equipment for Gilbert's secret hobby. One could never know who secretly harbored a passion for art, wood carving, or some other creative pursuit.

But she certainly had not expected this in a bakery. The room beyond the locked door was filled with what could only be described as treasure. Three beautifully polished sets of armor were displayed right across the entrance,...

[ToM] Chapter 65 – Forgotten Legend

"Why didn't he come this morning?" Melina muttered as she swept the floor of the bakery. Sienna was scuttling about on the ceiling, chasing the spiders out of their cozy corners and burning up the cobwebs that they had managed to weave during the night. Gilbert was sitting behind the counter, counting the earnings they made that day.

"He comes every morning," she grumbled, angrily sweeping the dust outside. 

"Will you give it a rest, girl? I'm sure your boyfriend will come so...

[ToM] Chapter 64 – Skill Inspection

"Oh, Melina is—" Leon began but Alistair cut him off.

"Leon, we should be paying attention to our surroundings, not spreading rumors," Alistair said coldly, glaring at the mage. He noticeably paled, clamping his mouth shut.

"I suppose now is not the best time," Heiliger agreed solemnly, but Alistair sensed that she was hiding curiosity beneath the calm exterior. Once they were out of here, Alistair would have to be careful to keep the Bishop sufficiently occupied. "These fruits ...

[ToM] Chapter 63 – Into the Monster Realm

For Alistair, Melina was a mystery he couldn't solve. She tamed an ember wyrm with nothing more than a tart and readily accepted it as her familiar just a few minutes later. She stabilized a passageway to the Monster Realm in a way Alistair couldn't begin to understand. He still wanted to ask for an explanation of how a System user who wasn't even a mage could do that.

In his opinion, a girl who could do that should have nothing to fear. Yet it was clear to him that she was scared of th...

[ToM] Chapter 62 – Arcane Baker

I cannot go to the Monster Realm. I cannot go to the Monster Realm. I cannot!

Melina kept repeating this chant in her head from the moment she opened her eyes in the morning. She knew it was an awful idea. Absolutely horrendous idea. Not only was she forbidden from going beyond the wall without proper escort—which probably meant she had to talk to the Guildmaster about it first—but she also had no guarantees that she would even find any useful ingredients in the Monster Rea...

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[ToM] Chapter 61 – Bitter Medicine

"Help them with my rolls?" Melina asked in horror as she looked down on her vile creations. There were so many reasons going through her mind to let Sienna incinerate the damned things where they stood. 

The flavor for one—she had never eaten anything as putrid before. No, not even when she was starving on the brink of death and rotten food was her only option. It was an absolute affront to the culinary arts. 

Second, if Melina started handing out these rolls to other ...

[ToM] Chapter 60 – Horde

"Find the shamans!" Alistair ordered as he lifted his shield to protect himself from a volley of incoming arrows and rocks.

A horde of goblins was spread throughout the forest, attacking the defending adventurers and guards with whatever dirty tactics they could. Their primary strategy was to overwhelm the defenders of Sunglow with sheer numbers. However, there were also a few hobgoblins and goblin shamans among them, making everything a lot harder.

The adventurers had actually be...

[ToM] Chapter 59 – Healing Pastry

Melina had a hard time concentrating on her work. She had <Mask of Deceit> activated the whole time, making her forced smile appear more natural. But she couldn't help but feel worried. Alistair had gone to fight off the monsters attacking Sunglow. He wasn't alone this time, he had the rest of the adventurers along with him. 

But she still felt nervous, and Melina wasn't the only one. There were fewer customers than usual, and those who had come whispered among themselves. Us...

[ToM] Chapter 58 – Suppressed Curiosity

When Melina opened her eyes early Tuesday morning, the sun was already peeking from beyond the horizon. The sun rose earlier each morning, signifying that summer was coming close.

"Good morning, Sienna," Melina stepped out of the bed and greeted the sleepy ember wyrm, coiled up in the corner of her stone trough. Sienna yawned dramatically, revealing a row of small but razor-sharp teeth. "Did you have a good rest?"

Sienna let out a satisfied chirp and blinked her eyes several times...

[ToM] Chapter 57 – His Name

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"Melina, you're a System user?" Alistair asked Melina with a pained expression. She shook her head in horror, but couldn't bring herself to answer. "And you were hiding that from me? Me?"

Blood suddenly began dripping down from the corners of Alistair's eyes and from his mouth, which twisted into a sick smile. Melina jumped back from him as he reached his arm towards her. "I died for you, and you won't even tell me the truth? You're despicable."

"No...