hermitscave

Chapter 376 - Full Control

From within his command tent, Corco watched the so-called ‘league’ of lords slowly trudge across the horizon. In loose groups, the warriors of the league advanced like tired schoolchildren at the end of a field trip. Either out of a lack of motivation, or out of exhaustion, they didn’t seem to eager on this war. Most likely, it would be both. Compared to them, his own men were in far better condition. After all, their preparations were much more thorough.

“Tell the troops to get...

Chapter 375 - Regret

On the plains east of Puscanacra - the seat of Governor Mayu Saqartu - the army of the league of lords had constructed a large camp, ready and waiting to receive their orders. Warriors numbering in the tens of thousands were camping in the shadows of the city’s wooden walls.

As the strongest city of Sachay and the seat of the governor, Puscanacra had never been directly attacked, not even during the civil war. Thus, a proper stone wall had never been necessary. The people of Puscanacr...

Brought the Milk

Hi. Yes, I'm back.

This isn't something that I was expecting to do, considering all the stuff that happened on my end, but I saw the preview to a patron's message a few days ago, and the timing happened to be right, or wrong, really.

So yeah, I'm here again, and really, deeply sorry for all the nothing I've done in the meantime. It sucks, I know. Still, I want to thank anyone here for their patience, and... just generally, for not blaming me too much for just disappearing. At leas...

Chapter 374 - Breaking the Isolation

After Corco had spent a while in contemplation, Fadelio came back from distributing his orders. Both returned to their seats, and continued their work in silence. Now that they had finished cleaning up the mess from the previous night, it was time to prepare for war. Although the troops were already being assembled outside, there was still much work left to do behind the scenes. Allocating wages, putting together the supplies for the army, appointing officers to various missions, most of the ...

Chapter 373 - The Morning After

The next morning, the world had changed. Though if one were to look at the empty streets of Saniya, no one would think so.

After a night of chaos, the city had finally calmed down again. After all, its people had just spent several days eating and drinking themselves stupid. And after that, they still went crazy over the miracle they had witnessed. Whatever energy they had left over, they expended by running through the streets and spreading the miracle message to everyone they saw.

Chapter 372 - Consequences

At the height of Saniya’s winter solstice festival, a bomb exploded and burst apart the ancient shackles which had bound the Yaku people for generations. The two lightning strikes, combined with the two speeches afterwards, had changed life in the city forever. After months of depression and centuries of suppression, the people of Saniya were finally free. Together, on this solstice festival, they celebrated their newfound freedom, at last without restraint.

Gone was the depressed atm...

Chapter 371 - Miracle

After Corco’s order had sounded out, lightning bloomed right before his eyes. Back and forth, the light-blue streaks crisscrossed inside the cage in front of Rapra Castle’s entrance. Together, they formed a net that obscured the shocked faces of the crowd beyond it.

Even thought Corco knew how the tesla coils worked, it was still fascinating to watch in person. However, he didn’t have time to admire the spectacle. There was important work to be done. Thus, he nodded towards the sh...

Chapter 370 - Last Chance to Repent

Several minutes before the two great lightning strikes shocked all of Rapra square, the recently reclusive King Corco was standing inside his castle’s entrance, hidden by shadows, and observed the crowd. Front and center, right in front of the entrance, sat the arrogant new masters of the city.

This silly league of lords, as well as their priest allies, seemed really eager to show off. They were laughing, drinking and shouting, a loud and obnoxious bunch that disrupted the fun of ever...

Chapter 369 - Saniya's Longest Day (3)

“More wine?” Before Lord Rafun could reply, Priest Watayi leaned over from his upholstered lounge chair and filled the lord’s half-empty wine cup again.

“There can never be too much wine,” Rafun said, a shallow smile on his face. This was the life he had imagined as a young man, when he had first learned about his privileges as a lord. With great satisfaction, he looked around. While the wine was good, the company was even better.

Surrounding him like the stars around th...

Chapter 368 - Saniya's Longest Day (2)

That was too close.

Shivering from fear more than he did from the icy rain, Sami looked back at the soldier and policeman he had stumbled into by accident. When he saw that the two made no attempt to catch up with him, he felt his heart start beating again. Soon, they disappeared in the crowd behind him.

A sigh at least somewhat relieved his anxiety, though there was still some ways to go, and much could still go wrong. Thus, he clutched his robes tighter and forced his w...

Chapter 367 - Saniya's Longest Day (1)

As evening turned to night, the rainfall worsened, from a drizzle to a steady downpour. Even the water-hardy Saniya people wouldn’t feel like strolling in such a nasty weather. However, they didn’t have to, and neither did the softer visitors. Kind souls were guiding them towards the light. Or rather, those lights were in turn guiding them towards salvation.

To combat the darkening sky, workers from the city government had ignited glass-covered oil lamps all along the city’s major...

Reason for more Delays...

Hello everyone.

Writing is hard. These days, I've tried to write an important chapter for the novel... and it sorta got more and more important as I wrote it... Or rather, it's probably the most important chapter in the novel? It'll certainly dictate the novel's direction for a long time.

Anyways, it was a complete pain to write, so I had to take my time. The whole thing needed a lot of research, and was a huge balancing act in several regards. I even finished some later chapters ...

Sorry About the Delays.

Hey everyone. I hope you had happy holidays!

 Sorry for the delays over the past few days. My PC went down over the holidays, and I only got the parts to puzzle it back together today. So I couldn't do any work at all over the past few days, and couldn't unlock the chapters for last week either. Doing that now.

Cheers,

S.H.

Chapter 366 - During the Festival (Part 2)

“Bring me your best wine, boy!” Lord Rafun shouted at the commoner who sat behind the stall, before he turned to his host. “Priest Watayi, this lord is excited to see if the drinks from this tavern are as extraordinary as they are made out to be.”

“Not to worry, Lord Rafun. This Amber Cup tavern is one of the most well-known in the entire city. Surely, they are famous for a reason. Lord will not be disappointed. Is that not right, boy?”

“Yes Lord, Of course, Lord.”...

Chapter 365 - During the Festival (Part 1)

A warm breeze from the Verduic Sea entered through the harbor and heated up the streets of Saniya. Up above, the gray sky released a drizzle of rain. Each fallen drop melted away another little patch of the snow that had been collected in the city since the start of winter.

Shielded from the elements by the walls of the large stall he sat inside – as well as by his generous coat – Sami the carpenter could quietly muse about the humid weather with a mind at peace, and in harmony with...

Chapter 364 - Silent Ultimatum

Since Chanca’s vague request sounded urgent, Sami followed his host through the crowd, towards the back of the room. However, halfway to wherever they were going, the host stopped for a second, changed directions and walked up to a table with an expensive porcelain bowl on top.

“Hey, you want some punch?” Chanca asked out of the blue. Before Sami could ask what ‘punch’ was even supposed to be, the host had picked up one of the porcelain cups next to the bowl and had begun to l...

Chapter 363 - Quiet Resistance

Exhausted from another long day of labor, Sami left the Tasa manufactory around dusk. When he had taken the job, he had never thought that his work would be so physically draining. Of course, even after all these days, the manufactory still wasn’t operating the way it was supposed to, despite their previous plans.

Rather than overseeing the mass-creation of luxury furniture like he was paid to do, Sami had spent his recent days in the half-destroyed leftovers of his previous place of ...

Chapter 362 - Gathering Allies

Compared to the loneliness of several days ago, now Corco’s little retreat within Rapra Castle was much more lively. Now, people from all walks of life had come together in this place. They sat, ate, and drank, as they discussed their various views on life and humanity, as well as the future of the world.

At this moment, Corco watched a particularly heated disagreement between some of his guests.

“No, should the warriors really deserve the same rights as everyone!? Why!?” Ek...

Chapter 361 - Switching Sides

For the first time in years, advisor Iyo saw hope. As he descended the stairs towards the archives of Rapra Castle, he gathered the courage for the big decision he was about to make. When he saw that only one unarmed official was keeping watch outside the archives, he let out a sigh of relief. As soon as Iyo appeared, the watchman stood up from behind his desk, to show his respect for the higher-ranking official.

“Official Iyo, hello,” the watchman said. “What brings you here? You...

Chapter 360 - The Dangerous Life of a Treasure Hunter

A bit worried, Drachimine looked over to the alchemists again, but they were busy with work, seemingly lost in their own world. Like so many of these wise men, they seemed utterly disinterested in any real-life issues. Maybe they weren’t even aware that the balance of power had changed in the city outside. Surely, they wouldn’t notice if he went off to explore the workshop on his own.

Thus, he motioned to the rest of the warriors, who split up and search the large laboratory for the...

Chapter 359 - Treasure Hunt

The heavy knocks on the door of Saniya’s royal chemistry lab made Drachimine’s knuckles hurt in the cold, but he didn’t care. This was a famous place, even in this city full of famous places. Here, the rumors said, was where Saniya’s greatest alchemists produced the city’s purple dye, as well as the vanillin powder, which was the newest delicacy popular in the noble circles.

Although he had failed to gain anything from previous workshops, they had been no more than tests for t...

Chapter 358 - Support

Inside Rapra Castle, the King’s study was left abandoned for the first time in years. After Corco’s meeting with Priest Watayi, he had left his usual office and never returned.

Instead, the king had retreated deeper into the castle’s halls, to a courtyard far removed from the usual business of the southern kingdom’s political center. This place was isolated from the rest of the castle, because it was actually intended as a prison for high-ranking ‘guests’. As a result, the m...

Chapter 357 - Chamber Music

The breathy bass of a large bamboo flute rang throughout the room. Then, above it danced the light sound of a violin. Life and melody entered the musical piece. Thus, the beautiful, simple music turned, anchored by the firm sound of the bass.

After several minutes of enjoyment, the piece ended, and Sawo looked back up from his music sheet. Next to him, his cousin Tawo also stopped his play and put down the flute. At the same time, their wives sitting in the front row began to clap, toge...

Twisted Skies, Chapter 18 - Shallow Talk Over a Deep Glass

After another long day of cultivation, Thurain left his shed and stretched his waist in the light of the local street lamps.

“You’re still working, young man? What are you doing, wasting your youth in there? Come with me, let’s have some fun.”

A sudden voice surprised the young cultivator, but before he could react, Theodoro had grabbed his arm and dragged him away. Once he realized, Thurain could have resisted the scammer’s weak pull of course, but he was done with his ...

Chapter 356 - War For the City's Soul

A deep sigh escaped Corco as he watched Watayi lose his mind. Spittle flew from his mouth and the fire of madness burned in his eyes. This was a bit over the top, wasn’t it?

Had this guy actually suffered this much when he had been Corco’s subordinate? And if he was this obvious now, how did he manage to hide it from the high priests? He didn’t look like a good actor. When the high priests had picked their representative for these talks, surely they wouldn’t have failed to see t...

Chapter 355 - Two Masks

Another cloudy morning promised another dire day for Saniya. Before the sun had even come up, an army of messengers had already left the city walls and spread out on the highways all throughout the southern kingdom. Within two days, they would reach all estate capitals in the kingdom, and send Corco’s temporary concessions to Mayu and his supporters.

If Mayu wasn’t too stubborn, the messengers would interrupt his wartime preparations and prevent an immediate war. They would also win...

Chapter 354 - A Round of Drinks

Although they had only addressed one of their two major problems so far, morale in the briefing was already low. While they contemplated their difficult position, everyone sat in thought. In the silence, Sumaci stood up and walked towards the bar in the corner of the room.

With everyone else watching on, the clanging of glass and ice rang through the room, as the queen prepared an old-fashioned with the rye whiskey the city had started to produce. It wasn’t her usual fare. Rather, the...

A Thank you, from me to you.

Right. So... about two years ago, when I started this patreon account, I set a goal that I'd guarantee three chapters a week should the total monthly pledges exceed $250.

Honestly, I didn't think that would happen, ever. Even less after I just kept disappearing over the course of this year. To everyone's shock and surprise (mostly mine), we've actually passed 250 at some point over the last week!

I want to thank you all, for your continued support, despite my streak of laziness an...

Chapter 353 - Emergency Meeting

Despite Mayu’s warning, Corco didn’t feel the need to lift his siege on Kapra. He wasn’t intimidated by empty, vague threats, and wouldn’t do anything without some more intelligence.

Said intelligence arrived a day later, together with a reason to retreat. One of Corco’s runners reached him with a message from Saniya that day. Although the message wasn’t all too clear on the details, the contents were alarming enough for the king to rush back home straight away.

Still,...

Chapter 352 - Chaos in the City

“The end times are here! Listen well, citizens of the accursed city, steeped in sin! Hear the words of the Divines, about the foolishness of those that guide you! Listen well, about the wrath of the heavens that will strike all who do not repent! About the evils that befall those who commit evil, those that forget their past!”

Outside of the yard of the first Tasa manufactory, a priest in a dark blue robe was walking along the street. In his hands he held a stack of papers, which co...