OptimysticStories

Chapter 111 - Taking Risks

59th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

The deinonychus had tried everything. It flew up and slammed Newt to the ground half a dozen times, it slashed, bit, and even slapped him with its tail. Newt endured. He poured all his spiritual energy into the effort, the earthen half protecting him, the fire half cooking the deinonychus alive.

The seconds stretched, the brief battle exhausted Newt like a drawn-out, hours-long conflict. He tried to reshape his improve...

Story preview - Dandelion's previous life - Chapter 1 - Born in Fire

Day 1, 7:30 PM

I gasp for breath, my lungs filling with scalding, acrid fumes.

Smoke.

My head swims, but I have enough presence of mind to scan my body and find my chest hurts, my left arm is numb, and my feet are burning. My new body is bound to a stake, its previous owner had died of a heart attack just as the fire was starting.

Like every time, blue screens flash before my eyes, informing me my body is failing, that my bonuses are applied, and th...

Chapter 110 - Hunter Hunted

59th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Am I cursed? Newt almost started muttering obscenities as he searched his ninth fourth realm spirit beast and found its core had shattered. Both Dandelion and the books said it’s one in ten, one in five if you kill the spirit beast before it uses significant amounts of spiritual energy. So why zero in nine?

Ever since realizing how to find and approach spirit beasts in the Valley of the Lost, ...

Chapter 109 - Progress

58th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

I think I got it. Newt stood after spending days in meditation, considering what the Valley of the Lost was doing, and how to counter it. In the end, he decided that resisting it was not the way. Defying a natural phenomenon potent enough to overpower and confuse cultivators at the ninth realm was possible only if you were at the tenth.

Newt’s original idea was influenced by his unyielding elemen...

Fido, chewing on careless cultivators

Chapter 108 - Safety

55th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Newt had taken another page from the book of Dandelion. After he closed the distance to fifteen feet, the stegosaurus turned sideways to greet the unseen opponent with its tail. Newt seized the chance and exploded with speed, his glaive stabbing straight for the base of the spirit beast’s head.

The sudden appearance of an enemy from the dinosaur’s blind spot terrified the creature for the briefest moments, which we...

Chapter 107 - Danger

55th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Obsidian was a lot more nervous than he revealed to Rose and Jas. Newt was strong, there was no doubt about that, but he was still merely at the third realm; he needed to sleep once a week. He would have to sleep alone, with nobody keeping watch. Alone inside the Valley of the Lost. And while overhunting the danger zone would eventually force the elders to kick him out, what were the odds of that happening?

Newt would ...

Chapter 106 - Assumptions and Guesses

55th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Rose’s heart galloped. Something was stuck in her throat as she stared at her empty hands. A mountain-sized rock, based on how she was feeling. The young woman opened her mouth, but failed to utter a word.

“Are there any spirit beast ambushers in the geysers?” Jas’s voice trembled, and Rose’s eyes grew wet.

No! No, nonono! Her lower lip wobbled. Not again!

She was suffocating, de...

Chapter 105 - Challenge

55th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

The fourth geyser field came with a realization. It was over. From that point on, the Valley of the Lost would continue to grate at Newt’s nerves. Things had reached their peak, and the only way forward was downhill.

We have about three to four days left before we leave this place. I can endure it.

Knowing what was wrong and why would help Newt cope with his dark mood better. At least he hoped it would...

Chapter 104 - Release

54th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

The group was wrapping up their third geyser field with over two hundred pieces of misterium in their bags, their main goal long since completed. His companions’ greed annoyed Newt, but he kept his mouth shut. His irritability was growing by the hour, and deep down he knew there was nothing wrong with wanting more resources at the expense of several hours, or maybe a day or two, of honest work. He would have been all for i...

Chapter 103 - Frustration

52nd of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Newt was about to leave the geyser with his twelfth piece of misterium when the inevitable happened. He slipped. His foot slid across the smooth stone, but instead of falling down, pulled by the earth, he went up, lifted by the torrent. Newt’s body careened, he spun head over heels straight towards the heavens.

The motion had barely started when the rope suddenly snapped tight, jerking him to a halt. The three loops ...

Chapter 102- Misterium

52nd of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

The night was drawing to an end, and the campfire was slowly fluttering out, flames dying and only embers glowing in the dark. Obsidian had grilled the fattail kebabs over the spell formation Newt had scribed onto the ground, and once they finished preparing the meal, they scrapped the temporary spell formation and started a fire just for the sake of creating a warm, homely atmosphere.

Newt had offered to take the nigh...

Chapter 101 - The Right Path

51st of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

If Newt had to describe the previous day, he could summarize it in two words - surprisingly smooth. While fighting the hadrosaurus he realized how much tougher his body had gotten compared to the time he fought the frostworms. Even without relying on techniques, he could physically overpower third realm spirit beasts, and the roaming monsters of the Valley of the Lost’s outermost layer were no match for him, let alone for ...

Chapter 100 - Small Victories

50th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

The beast was unlike anything Newt had ever seen. Hadrosaurus were large, docile herbivores; wild beasts beyond doubt, too massive for common folk to tame, but sometimes used by first realm cultivators as beasts of burden.

The monster that appeared before the group was massive, nine feet tall and twenty-five long, but that was where the similarities with the rest of its species ended.

Instead of the unassuming ca...

Chapter 99 - The Valley of the Lost

50th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

The mountains were much closer to the port than they seemed, mere thirty miles away, and third realm cultivators covered such short distances in half an hour of relaxed jog.

Hazel was still with Newt’s team when they reached the mountain’s peak. And as Newt ascended the summit, he realized that the entire mountain range was in fact a single, titanic volcano, the mountain peaks were jagged tips of the volcano’s cr...

Chapter 98 - Sailing

50th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Things were in such rapid motion, Newt thought he was dreaming. He was standing on a ship’s deck, rushing towards a chain of distant mountains standing proudly beyond the vast expanse of water. All three of his roommates were there with him, along with Roselilly’s second sister.

The fourth realm disciple was escorting them on their one-day trip to the Valley of the Lost, but once she saw them there safely, she woul...

Chapter 97 - The Talk

49th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Newt placed his hand on Obsidian’s trembling shoulder. The big man’s nervousness grew more and more palpable with each step they took up the stairs. Obsidian turned around and gave him an appreciative nod before opening the door with a quivering hand.

The five-o-four’s common room was dark, but not pitch black, and no lights seeped in beneath the doors to the girls’ bedrooms. Obsidian’s chest rose as he took ...

Chapter 96 - Adventure Awaits

49th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Newt enjoyed the two training sessions which followed his short spar. He was slowly learning how to use his spiritual energy outside himself, how to shape the terrain and how to keep his fire forms stable longer. While he was certainly not at the level of the third realm cultivator who could hurl his flame bolt thirty-odd feet, Newt’s technique had come a long way compared to its starting point.

Using earth to trip a...

Chapter 95 - The Long-awaited Spar

49th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Obsidian was nervous. It was almost impossible for something world-shaking to happen again during his and Newt’s spar, but a part of his hind brain kept asking, ‘What if?’

It was a foolish notion, and yet the wary gazes of countless elders focused on them reinforced Obsidian’s absurd fear. Newt was handling the situation well, all things considered. The only sign of his nervousness was the death-grip he had on ...

Chapter 94 - Tribulation

48th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Finally alone in his room, Newt stood from his bed and sensed something off. He stopped and examined himself, but failed to find the source of his discomfort. Newt made a careful step, but his leg jerked too fast, too far. He panicked and froze, one leg up, just about to touch the earthen floor.

What the?

He looked at the pitcher of water on his nightstand and carefully lifted it. Three pints of water am...

Chapter 93 - Path Forward

48th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Pillar of light? What the hell happened? Why me?

“Pillar of light?” Newt clamped his mouth shut when he realized he was stuttering the words aloud.

“Yup.” His sixth sister nodded vigorously, beaming with joy. “I wasn’t there, but I saw it from a distance. As bright as day… Well, brighter. In fact, I didn’t know the world could get so bright. Senior apprentice brother Twochains was there; ...

Chapter 92 - Bad Habits

45th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Sect master Greenthorn nodded. “I see.”

He made a dramatic pause before steepling his fingers and looking Alabaster in the eye. The weight of his gaze was like that of a mountain, and Alabaster did all she could not to buckle under the pressure.

“Your approach isn’t wrong. Neither is Flameax’s. To cycle between softness and hardness is indeed the best way to shape and polish an unsightly lump of jade in...

Chapter 91 - The Day of the Inferno

45th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Obsidian was waiting for his teammate. He did not want to admit it, but he was excited. He had heard of geniuses who reached the second or even the third realm before hitting twenty, he had even seen some of them, and Roselilly was close to that category, but he never expected he would have one on his team.

He spotted Newt from across the training field, the young man returning an excited gaze, as eager to fight as Obs...

Chapter 90 - The Summer Solstice

45th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

“Thank you for helping me pick the glaive, Master.” Newt had spent the first part of the day’s training with Elder Alabaster picking a heavy weapon for his spar with Obsidian.

On Newt’s insistence, his roommate agreed to a duel at noon. Newt believed it was dramatic and symbolic enough, and while Obsidian did not see the attraction, he still agreed to humor his young friend.

Friends, huh? Newt co...

Teaching Methodologies

30th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

“He is a rare gem,” spiritual energy danced in Alabaster’s ear, carrying Flameax’s whispered words. “Are you sure you’re not being too hard on him? Maybe he needs a bit of acknowledgement, encouragement? Someone telling him he’s special. That he’s good.”

If any of her disciples had heard those words, Alabaster would have snorted and made a dismissive face, but free of audience, her features did not ev...

Chapter 88 - Foundations

16th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Standing at the training area, Newt brimmed with satisfaction at making something practical, something which would help another person do their job more comfortably. Better yet, he got some tasty food out of it.

“Let’s recap. What are you going to do from now on?” Elder Alabaster’s voice was icy, her arms folded, her feet tapping the ground.

Newt’s master knew how to douse his good mood in an instant. 2024-12-01 09:06:38 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 87 - Taking it Easy

15th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Newt felt like banging his head against a rock. Elder Woodhopper may have appeared like she was enjoying the spring of her youth, but she was his master’s generation. The whole situation felt absurd. He had a crush on a woman who was at least a thousand years his senior.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he muttered and saw the Chamber of Tomes.

Rocks.

He turned and marched over to the door, his chee...

Chapter 86 - Cultivating on Sick Leave

7th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Obsidian left behind one confused Newt as he closed the door to the recovery room. Newt gazed at the pale-blue ceiling, considering the implications of everything he had heard. Average third realm inner disciples of major sects were between fifty and two hundred years old. Obsidian was not weird, Newt was.

Newt did not ask why Jasmine and Roselilly acted like children, but Obsidian inadvertently answered that question b...

Chapter 85 - A Childish Plot

7th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Newt spent his first day at the Chamber of Healing in quiet cultivation. Within his realm, he arranged fire-attributed runic arrays along the lava flows, often thinking about the two nearly identical energy capturing spell formations Dandelion had shared with him.

They would take up vast swaths of his realm, and if he were to one day switch to lava, like he knew he would, those areas would become forever useless, a dead...

Chapter 84 - Stupid Kid

6th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

“Stupid kid, you were practicing tracing without supervision.” Elder Alabaster said the instant Newt regained consciousness. She knew her disciple was awake even before he opened his eyes. “You were in an induced coma for a day and a half. You fried your heart, your lung, and boiled a good chunk of your right arm from the inside.”

Still dizzy, Newt thought the words were flat, emotionless, but as his senses reco...