Mythshaper

Mythshaper - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Awakening Ritual

I could taste the success at the tip of my tongue—or the more accurate expression would be, at the tip of my essence threads. Covered under the blanket, I fiddled with the Arcane Knot as flickers of green and blue light shimmered.

With Arcane Acuity, Arcane Affinity and my mental attributes working in tandem, I found it easier to manipulate the mess of essence threads within the cube. But of course, there was a difference between easy and easier. F...

Mythshaper - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Arcane Affinity 

Eran moved animatedly, his cane swinging in a wild arc of Walking Mountain.

I was thoroughly familiar with the moves and was already on the move to fend him off. While my friend's techniques were executed near perfectly, they were predictable after months of practising together.

I only had to wade through his attacks and find an opening to execute my blow perfectly. And that was exactly what happened. I read my frie...

Mythshapter - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Artifact

“Why a gift now?” I asked, weighing the small box in my palm. “My birthday's still a month away.”

“It’s tradition,” Mum said. “We give a newly awakened child a gift soon after their awakening to congratulate them. Besides, can’t I give my son a gift for accomplishing a noble honour?”

“I guess,” I said, unable to hide my excitement.

Sucking in a deep breath, I opened the box and found a jade-green ornate pen ...

Notice: Some changes made, and Chapters are delayed by a few hours

Sorry, I spent yesterday and my early writing session making minute but important changes to earlier chapters... and now I have a stomachache...

Anyway, the changes are not so important that you'd need to read them again... Either way, I'll list them at some point for easier grasp...

With this, most of the urgent problems are solved, and now I can fully focus on editing chapters...

I will be dropping 2 chapters from now on to get to at least 10 chapters ahead by the ...

Mythshaper - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Fire Shaping

The third sword form, Walking Mountain, was by far the most complex form among the three. It consisted of nine movements, most of them defensive, building up towards a full-blown swing.

That didn't sound all that complicated, but the difficulty lay in seamlessly moving between defensive and offensive stances to perform it. The form was also more intuitive than the others, requiring to leverage over the opponent's flaw. 

"Remembe...

Mythshaper - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Fabricating Runes

The idea that I would be magically adept at shaping skills and casting after awakening was horribly inaccurate. Besides gaining the ability to move essence out of my body and finally utilise my Gift, the awakening had been mostly anticlimactic.

I was not complaining, merely stating a fact. I had anticipated the moment for so long that it had taken on an almost mythical presence in my mind, only to be thoroughly devastated when I tried to forge a run...

Mythshaper - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Fractal Soul

I returned to my room, inching every step carefully so as not to disturb the engraving pen hovering between my palms. Two pairs of essence threads latched onto either end of the pen—one pair holding it aloft in the air while the other pushed it around in a continuous spin.

This was one of the easier exercises Mum had shown me. The more straining exercises required me to divide my attention into two parts, spinning the pen along horizontal or parallel l...

Mythshaper - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: The Colour of Essence

As it turned out, the explanation of the test was far simpler than I had presumed. The pendant was made from a rare ingredient called Holreum, more commonly known as Halostone. It possessed characteristics of both metal and gem. However, what was important here was that Halostone could be used to store one's essence, serving as a top-tier reservoir in times of need. There was essentially no loss of essence, regardless of the time that passed.

Fo...

Mythshaper - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Shaper

Father handed me a hefty sandwich as I finished recounting the surreal nightmare to Mum. I had no other choice. She refused to answer any of my questions regarding my awakening until I told her about it.

“Is this like the nightmares you used to have when you were young?”

I blinked, then shook my head. For one thing, I couldn’t recall any of those nightmares. However, the one I had just woken from remained fresh in my mind—the details too signific...

Mythshapter - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Nightmare

Gloomy darkness greeted my sight, as my eyes snapped open. My body was heavy, resting on something cold and hard. Groaning, I rolled to sit upright, feeling the pain raking through every fibre of my being. 

I scanned my surroundings, searching for Mum—or anything to anchor me back to reality. My parents, who had been by my side during my awakening, were gone. This wasn’t even the familiar ground of our home. Instead, I found myself in the midst of so...

Mythshaper - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Awakening

Once we returned, I handed the essence bead to Mum for her to deal with it. Her eyes narrowed as she recognised what it was.

She peered over me to look at Father. “A forest fiend, out here?”

“Leecher vines,” he said. “A lone one, from what I found.”

“Good thing you dealt with it,” she replied, “before anyone unfortunate stumbled upon it.”

Her gaze returned to the bead. “Now, what am I to do with it?” ...

Mythshaper - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Leecher Vine

It was a rare, perfect day of summer. The temperature was mild, the sky an abstract of more white than blue, and the absence of dust storms made it ideal for an outing in the wild.

A few stray clouds swirled gently as morning sunlight filtered through the atmosphere. The warm weather allowed us to enjoy the day without putting on traditional heavy clothing, though we wore the best hiking gear we had on hand.

I wore a simple tunic wit...

Mythshaper - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Progress

"When are you going to teach us the third form?" I asked, wiping a line of sweat from my face. My wooden training sword rested on my other arm, its brown colour darkening over the past month, marking the time I had spent with it.

"When it is time," Father said vaguely.

"Blight and ashes, you’re becoming as bad as Mum," I swore.

"You have not yet mastered the first two forms," He said. "There is no need to rush."

"If I haven...

Mythshaper - Chapter 20

Author Note: 

Before you read this chapter, you should know I made some changes in the previous chapter ... Instead of 10 more points in the Arcane attribute, Arilyn needs it raise it to 25 points now.

Also, I have made the rewards from each way more uniform, which caused the points in each attribute to shift a little. The most in Arcane Acuity; before this chapter, he has 12 [The distribution is, Essence Sense IV (2) + V (4) + VI (4) + Run Engraving I (2)] p...

Mythshaper - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Failsafe

While I took my seat in Mum's workshop to practise my rune penmanship, she settled on the other side. She usually did paperwork or worked on designs for her next project, but today, she was redecorating the place.

I would have liked to watch and help out if I could, but she told me I needed to practise my elementary fire rune. Mum didn’t enforce the 10,000-hour rule zealously like the Spell did. She said I could move on to the next elemental script if I en...

Mythshaper - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Perfect Form

Books were arguably my favourite things, right on par with delicious food, but I could not eat indefinitely. Thus, books remained my most cherished leisure activity. A captivating story or a book on mystical subjects could keep my hunger at bay for hours.

Though some time had passed since I brought home the thirty-odd books, the urge to devour them all was still as strong. I wanted nothing more than to speed-read, moving from one book to...

Mythshaper - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Fabricator

“So, when do I begin?” I asked, a little of my curiosity returning after finishing the meal.

More than getting my primer in forging, I was excited to finally experience Mum’s workshop. She had built the forge underground when she single-handedly constructed our house, and since then, she had never let me enter.

“In a couple of hours,” she said. “After you’ve had some rest.”

“Or you could cast the rejuvenation ...

Mythshaper - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Swordsmanship

The soothing wind curled around my thin, sleeveless vest as I swung the duelling cane in practice arcs, shifting my balance from front to back foot. My arms ached from the repeated motions. I had been moving through them for close to an hour.

I did not complain. Not about my aching arms, not about the exhaustion, and certainly not about the stupid sword form. The two people sitting on the porch, my parents, were probably waiting for me ...

How do you want to read the chapters?

Wondering which format is best for the readers... I have noted many posts on Patreon with pdf or epub files...

I'm fine with either of the methods...

Mythshaper - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Natural Awakening

“Are you feeling well?” Eran asked.

“Mhm, yeah?”

“Then why are you walking so slow?”

Because I was coming up with a believable excuse about the bruise and torn cloth so that Mum wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. Regrettably, I saw no way out of it. Maybe if I sneak into the house and change my shirt before she notices… but that was almost akin to lying.

“So, when did your Da start tr...

Mythshaper - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Duel

Eran released a slow breath, following it with the release of his bowstring. The arrow cut through the air and almost struck the middle of the target. It missed by only a fraction, which was still a win.

“Did you get it?” I asked, creeping closer.

Eran waited, a shudder running through his body, then his lips curved into a grin. “Yeah, I got it,” he said, making a fist. “It’s two unallocated points this time.”

“You’re going to inves...

Mythshaper - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Journey Home

On our visit to Klearon, I experienced a few great things the city had to offer. We had a sitting with a true knight, the protector of the sacred tree, even if he was in his ill-fitting attire the entire time. I had glimpsed squires sparring inside the empty hippodrome, which was as impressive on the inside as it was outside. Unfortunately, there were no cavalry runs on this visit.

Then it was time to bid goodbye to Aunt and return home. Unlike how her f...

Mythshaper - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Tree of Life

Mum wanted the whole baptism and godmother business completed as soon as possible, but she too knew the value of tradition to get it over with. Thus, at the first break of light the day after, we hurried to the local sanctum.

Cold gusts of wind blew, easily finding its way through the loose ceremonial robe draped on my shoulders. I clasped my arms tightly under my chest and crept between my parents. The biting winds would have miffed me ro...

Mythshaper - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Business of Books

“Oi, boy, quit making a mess of the shelf,” said a gruff voice from behind, breaking me out of my reading.

Closing the book I was holding, I turned to find a middle-aged man putting new books on the emptier part of the shelf. His movements were slow, patient, the kind that only came with age.

“I’m not messing, sir.” I was unaware if he was the owner or only a worker here, but it didn’t hurt to be respectful.

“Of course ...

Mythshaper - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The City of Klearon

The City of Klearon was the heart of the district of Dimir, even though it was situated at the intersection of four other districts. The city was not founded simply because five separate districts met at their borders—history suggested the opposite.

The city was formed first, on account of a stabilised Waygate—which could transport people thousands of miles in mere minutes—then the district came to be. Thanks to the Waygate, Klearon served a...

Mythshaper - Chapter 09

Chapter 09: Essence Unification

“Before I teach you the process of Essence Unification,” Mum said, settling on the mat before me, “you must know that meditation is arguably the best way to train the mind and prepare for essence weaving.”

“Weaving?” I asked.

“You see,” Mum said with a nod, “although ambient essence remains mostly in ethereal vapour form, an awakened can only utilise it through threads of such essence, stitched together in ...

Mythshaper - Chapter 08

Chapter 08: Old Tales

I observed the bearded man from behind the neatly cropped hedge fences as the sun beamed overhead. Mum was there with him in the garden, sitting close, their hands clasped together as though they had known each other for a long time. Well, that had to be true if what Mum explained last night was to make sense.

The man was still barefoot, just as the day he was born and when he arrived last evening, though he had lost much of his homeless bu...

Mythshaper - Chapter 07

Chapter 07: Forgive Me, I'm Late

The sun sank low on the horizon, signalling the end of playtime, but I didn’t even notice, completely absorbed in solving the Puzzle Cube once and for all.

I was on Layer IX now, after solving all the word, number, and maths puzzles that had come before the final problem. It had taken me two whole seasons, close to half a year. Regrettably, the seasons weren’t autumn or winter, when I would have spent long days within the confi...

Mythshaper - Interlude I [Read between Chapter 6 and 7]

Ashlyn

“Now if I can get some wine,” Emi said, wiping her arms with a towel before sinking onto the couch. “I won’t even say no to some cheap ale.”

“I have a house rule against alcohol,” Ashlyn stifled a laugh. “And smoking.”

Emi snorted. “Mighty noble of you to make up some rules like that, since you do neither.”

Ashlyn smiled, and for a moment, it felt like she was back in the old days when the two of them could talk without a...

Mythshaper - Chapter 06

Chapter 06: Birthday

[The Spell wishes you a happy birthday. May you prosper in life and be a blessing to others.]

[The Way of Self-Mastery I (1/10) is now available.]

The messages from the Spell filled my mind the moment I woke up.

"Thanks..." I whispered, yawning. "Is the Way a gift for my birthday?"

Silence answered me.

Might just be a coincidence, I thought, making a mental note to ask Mum how common bi...