Melina didn't know what to do. Through Sienna she had clearly seen a cragjaw drake appear. Their connection broke off soon afterwards, as the wyrm had to concentrate on protecting herself rather than maintaining their link.
"Dammit! What can I do? Should I rush to the Monster Realm?" Melina bit into her thumb and paced around her room nervously.
She was supposed to be still resting today, but how was she supposed to rest when a drake that was attacking Sienna, Alistair, and ...
2025-07-20 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Nobody plans for these things, but they happen anyway. This morning I went to the ER after trying to combat the illness myself for about 5 days. I was hoping it'd get better, but it didn't. Diagnosis – acute tonsillitis.
I've been prescribed antibiotics and bedrest, and it's likely I'll be fine, but I won't be able to post Taste of Magic next week. I'm sorry for this!
On the bright side, I had already scheduled two chapters Magpie Girl Evolution, so you'll be able to enjoy those...
2025-07-19 09:33:21 +0000 UTC
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Her beautiful feathers were covered in mud and some lake gunk. This was horrible. Fighting was horrible. She wouldn't let the ugly toad get
Her beautiful feathers were covered in mud and some lake gunk. This was horrible. Fighting was horrible. She wouldn't let the ugly toad get away with what it had done. There would be vengeance.
Determined to dispose of the toad, she tried to take flight. The partial paralysis the ugly thing had inflicted upon her sent odd twitches throu...
2025-07-19 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Alistair had feared that the night might still be present in the Monster Realm. However, as he exited the misty space between the realms, he exhaled in relief. It was daytime. The weird seaweed shrubs swayed peacefully while the whistlewisps flitted from one rocky tree to the next one, occasionally glancing at them curiously.
"Wow… it's so… different…"
"It's kind of pretty. I like it."
"I expected something more… dark."
The adventurers were looking ar...
2025-07-18 06:00:06 +0000 UTC
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"I have to go on patrol now, but please rest. Don't start pushing yourself too hard just because you don't have to rest in bed all day," Alistair warned Melina after eating breakfast.
"I've already understood my mistake. I won't push myself, I promise," Melina said. "I might clean some stuff around here, but nothing too strenuous."
Alistair gave her a warning look, but Melina just smiled innocently at him. Technically, she wasn't lying. She wasn't planning on doing anyth...
2025-07-17 06:00:08 +0000 UTC
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2025-07-16 06:30:05 +0000 UTC
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"Chak-chak-chak?" She cocked her head. "What is the System?"
"You must be wondering what the System is! It's like a magical guidance assistant that will help grow, level up, learn skills, and even evolve!" The gem said excitedly. "With it, you'll be able to grow stronger."
That sounds vaguely familiar. Is it a human thing? I feel like I've encountered it in my past life in… what were they called again? Ah! Video games.
The memory made her fee...
2025-07-16 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The big day is here everyone! Demon Queen Wants to Paint Volume 1 finally released on Amazon. You can buy both a paperback and read it on Kindle.
Big thanks to FuyuDust for the beautiful cover. I know it's going to sit in the most prominent shelf in my house, once I get my hands on it.
Get your own copy here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FF2TDX9K
I'd be really grateful for your support. You can leave...
2025-07-15 06:57:52 +0000 UTC
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Melina had no clue how she would live down the shame. She was sure that half the town had seen Alistair carry her to the apothecary, and the other half would find out soon enough. Grannies and other rumor mongers would be quick to jump to conclusions, and soon enough, Leliana would likely pay her another visit, resetting their tentative peace once more.
"You're saying she collapsed suddenly?" Heilia questioned Alistair.
"Yes, and her forehead felt hot to the touch," he n...
2025-07-15 06:00:09 +0000 UTC
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"Why have we come to this place? I thought we were supposed to learn new, powerful magic?"
"You think they'd just give us all the good stuff without doing any work first?"
"But this is stupid! Why do they need all these people to transport some small trinket?"
"You think it's just a trinket? It must be vital to the mission. You should be honored that the higher-ups are trusting us with such an important task."
Oh, shut it! Noisy humans with their yappering so early...
2025-07-14 06:01:02 +0000 UTC
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Before you riot as to what will happen to Taste of Magic, rest assured that Taste of Magic is still my main series. I will upload 4 chapters of it each week. NOTHING will change.
However, I'm also going to upload 3 chapters of Magpie Girl Evolution each week. The backlog for this story won't be as big, so it'll have equal number of chapters on both Admirer and Fan tier. If you like Magpie more, then I suggest subscribing to Fan tier.
You might wonder why don't I just write 7 chapt...
2025-07-14 06:00:11 +0000 UTC
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"Master, don't you think you should have mentioned something as important as the whole festival to me?" Melina gave Gilbert an annoyed look.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Aren't you busy enough as it is with the bakery and your extra work at the blacksmith's?" He countered, taking a deliberately slow bite from his rye bread.
Melina narrowed her eyes. It wasn't like she had spent most of her Sunday scrubbing the floors at the smithy while Sienna was melting metal for Et...
2025-07-13 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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"Good morning, Melina," Alistair greeted her with a bright smile, being the first customer that morning. Some adventurers had arrived shortly after him and were watching the exchange curiously.
"Good morning, Alistair," she returned the greeting, somewhat nervously. He looked a bit too… cheerful for the serious talk they had yesterday. As if she had told him that he would become the king, not that they destroyed the world together. "What would you like?"
"One of everyt...
2025-07-11 06:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Melina couldn't believe it. Had Alistair really kept the skill? But why? It had caused him so much trouble and nightmares. He looked quite eager to get rid of it before. What changed his mind?
"I'm sorry, Elowen, but would it be possible for me and Alistair to discuss matters among ourselves?" Melina said, peering at Elowen.
The elf didn't look pleased by the request in the slightest, narrowing his eyes and staring at Melina and Alistair in turn. "If it pertains to...
2025-07-10 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Why is Elowen here? Why is he together with Alistair?
Melina did her best to appear calm, but she could feel her hands trembling. Alistair noticed her distress immediately, inserting himself between Melina and the elf. "How have you been?"
"I-I'm alright… I…" She couldn't concentrate, her eyes drawn to Elowen.
Does he remember what happened? He seems to recognize me. Or at least I seem familiar to him. Does he have a skill similar to <Gene...
2025-07-08 06:00:07 +0000 UTC
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It was Thursday afternoon, and Melina finally didn't have to go to the blacksmith after work. Somehow, she had managed to scrub off all those blasted tools from the soot. It was like the blacksmith had been avoiding cleaning them for years on purpose. Perhaps, he was planning to torture his would-be apprentice with it, but sadly, Melina got there first.
But the tools were clean, so Melina was free from the blacksmith until Sunday. With today's pastries sold and the majority of...
2025-07-06 06:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Alistair sighed deeply. He was so close to reaching the Architect, but yet another hurdle was put in his path. Perhaps it was because he didn't sleep well with all the wyrms scuttling around at night, but he felt a bit irritated. He just wanted to get rid of these damned visions and return to Sunglow.
"So, how do we choose a path forward?" Elowen asked, staring at each tunnel in turn.
"I don't know. Do you hear anything?" Alistair asked, wondering if perhaps enhanced elv...
2025-07-04 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Alistair and Elowen proceeded cautiously while holding their weapons at the ready. Much to Alistair's surprise, the thick pine forest was suddenly cut off as if by a knife and replaced by what could be best described as a rocky valley with peaks of various sizes scattered about.
This kind of scenery he would have expected to see somewhere far south where water was sparse and heat dominated through most of the year. Yet here it was.
"How did this place even come to be? It's as if f...
2025-07-03 06:00:07 +0000 UTC
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"Two loaves of pumpkin seed bread, three pear rolls, and one Sunglow cream puff," an elderly woman, one of the bakery's regulars said, then added in a whisper. "My husband accidentally burned himself this morning."
Melina pondered for a moment. Burns was a nasty type of injury which in essence destroyed cells completely. Even potions struggled to completely heal more serious burns, leaving behind nasty scars.
"How bad is his burn?" Melina asked. If the injury was more serious, the...
2025-07-01 06:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Much to Alistair's chagrin his meeting with the elders was postponed until morning. Meanwhile, he was announced as a guest and led into one of the many houses. Of course, the guest thing was only a ruse to keep the regular elves calm. However, it didn't seem to help much as most elves they encountered regarded him with great suspicion.
It was likely aggravated by the fact that Alistair had two guards standing outside his little tree hut during the night. He had hoped that maybe, by some...
2025-06-29 06:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Alistair knew that he would be stopped by the gate, but a small part of him had hoped that perhaps the guards would be too sleepy to ask for identification. No matter, he had prepared for this occasion although he had hoped, he wouldn't have to resort to using that.
He lowered his hood over his golden eyes—those were a tell-tale sign that he wasn't just a regular citizen. "Good day, I'm heading out for Guild business."
Alistair gave the guards an Adventurers Guild registration c...
2025-06-27 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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"5 gold coins for a waffle iron? That's how much I'd expect to pay for magitech," Melina exclaimed in outrage.
"Do not mock me, girl! This waffle iron is made from the finest materials available in Grenardia region. Not to mention all the effort I put into just the handles alone, not to mention the griddle and the custom engraving. You'll be advertising your bakery each time somebody eats your waffles," Etan retorted, looking almost offended that she thought he was just trying...
2025-06-26 06:00:06 +0000 UTC
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"It did?" Melina asked in surprise, activating <Mask of Deceit> to keep up her smile. She had expected the people to notice that her pastries weren't normal—that much was inevitable. But she hadn't expected it to happen so quickly. The very next day she gave out healing cream puffs.
"Miss Baker, is it a secret?" The girl whispered, probably sensing some of her apprehension. "If it is, then I won't tell anyone."
"I'd appreciate it," Melina nodded at the girl...
2025-06-24 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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"I never expected that we'd get something this fancy in our little town!"
"Mommy, could we have some of those tiny pastries too."
"At least a box of them for me, please!"
"Hey, leave some for others!"
The customers were more than excited to get their hands on the new puff pastries.
"Do not worry. Cream puffs will become a regular item in our bakery," Melina said to the customers with a smile. "Just make sure you eat it the same day. They do ...
2025-06-22 06:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Melina had never expected to have such trouble with a mere pastry. Sure, the bread dough was tough to get right the first time, and making puff pastry felt like an absolute nightmare at first. But choux pastry was on a different scale entirely, and she soon regretted having wanted to incorporate her healing caramel into something new.
The whole afternoon and evening after she gave the letter to Alistair, Melina concentrated fully on making the choux pastry. Mostly it was to ke...
2025-06-20 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Melina managed to get really good insight from Leliana. The girl had rather sensitive tastebuds and was brutally honest when she didn't like the flavor. Two sauces were effectively eliminated right from the start. She claimed that they tasted more like sweetened medicine than actual caramel.
Satisfied with Leliana's opinion, Melina gave her three feyfruit and two sapmelons. Melina had many to spare, although she had her doubts about whether the girl would be able to grow the m...
2025-06-19 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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"You went to sleep late last night didn't you?" Gilbert noted in the morning. Melina was barely able to hold her eyes open. She couldn't help but experiment with the crystalized ooze she managed to create. Unfortunately, no matter how she tried to incorporate it into the pastry itself, the cream, or even arrange it on top of the fruit, in the end, the crystallized ooze was too hard to chew and remained last, leaving a mildly bitter aftertaste in the mouth.
It was a vast improv...
2025-06-17 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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"Really? All you got was some fruit and whatever that nasty, oozy thing is?" Guildmaster Arianne scrunched her nose up in disgust at the weeping sapmelon. Melina shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. It was understandable that the melon would be useless in her eyes, but for Melina, it was a treasure. She never expected that she'd be lucky enough to get actual sapmelons.
When she was an [Archmage], she had managed to get her hands on them only a few times. The fact that they gr...
2025-06-15 06:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Update: Demon Queen Wants to Paint now available for preorder on Amazon!
I have some exciting news for everyone who enjoyed Demon Queen Wants to Paint. Volume 1 of the series will release on Amazon on July 15th, approximately in a month. I've been working with a publisher to get it ready for release for more than half a year now, so I'm happy t...
2025-06-13 06:14:45 +0000 UTC
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Alistair watched in horror how Melina ran towards the near-invisible monster, her hands lifted for a throw. Barrett restrained the beast to the best of his ability, but with injured hands, he couldn't hold his grip for long. The monster broke free and Melina threw the smushed-up feyfruit at it.
She missed. The feyfruit fell on the ground with a sad splat. However, when she tried to close the distance between herself and the monster, she stepped on one of the black vin...
2025-06-13 06:00:05 +0000 UTC
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