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Chapter 163: The Fall
The cries of an infant leaked through the heavy set door and out into the dark, candle lit hallway. There were voices within the maternity ward, Lucia could make out proud and confident tones of her father, the weary congratulations of the nurses, and the exhausted, but overjoyed laughter of her step mother.She shifted on the stone bench, kicking her feet and staring blankly at the stone wall oppo...
Chapter 162: Commitment
The uproar of the arena crowd made continuing the quadriad for the day an unlikely prospect. A hundred voices all yelled questions or stood to run off and find somebody who may have an answer. An ageing couple two rows above where Leif and the others were sitting were spewing panic into the air, their flaring fear and confusion a constant tapping on Leif’s awareness.Things got worse when the ann...
Chapter 161: Low Blow
Zane Low closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. He pictured in his mind's eye the courtyard before him, the fifty wooden training dummies, their limbs bobbing slightly in the wind. He exhaled, and every dummy was beheaded at once. The resulting sound was like a dozen coconut trees all giving up at the same time, their life's work clattering to the ground and rolling around.The secon...
Chapter 160: Upwards
The history of the Mekrys empire was an interesting, if highly embellished read. The empire, a collection of provinces bordered large swaths of three, interconnected, seas. The Rien, the largest and most western of the three seas, was what Leif had flown over, then sailed through to reach the academy. The Loriet, the central and smallest of the three technically started at the archipelago, and con...
Chapter 159: Dimid
The seaborn mist was still rolling over the archipelago as Leif stepped through the portal arch, seamlessly teleporting from one hub building to another in less than a breath. Three guards turned at his approach, though they otherwise ignored him as he marched past. There were few students around this early in the morning, but Leif was hardly the only person walking the dimlylit streets and hallwa...
Chapter 158: Link
Chapter Prescript:Sorry for the day late chapter, its a revolving door of illness at the moment. Anyway, here's the chapter, hope you enjoy!===The living room was spacious, though the stacks of paper and piles of books littering every available surface made the room feel cramped. Marcus laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he hurried over to the largest stack. “Sorry, sorry. T...
Chapter 157: Bruises
Leif stared up at the shadowy ceiling of the underground training chamber, feeling as something inside him snapped back into place. He couldn’t feel pain, it wasn’t something his body was physiologically capable of, though he could intellectually understand, and instinctively detect damage to his form. His pride, limited as it was, could be bruised, though losing the fight had been more a reli...
Chapter 156: Unmasked
Leif stared up into the grinning face of the eighth Blade, feeling the temperature in the large stone room slowly drop, though not from anything Mouric was doing. Despite the man’s ice powers, the cause of the drop in temperature was Sieg, who was nervously releasing puffs of icy mist from his hands as he flexed and clenched his fingers.There were several things the scion could say in this situa...
Chapter 155: Hello There
Chapter Prescript:Sorry about the delay, I've been a bit busy lately.Enjoy the chapter!===Leif was about to leave his seat and return to the library, when the sands below were finally cleared of ice. Large sections of the arena were filled with muddy, blackened detritus from the earlier fight between Blades. He perched on the edge of his seat, undecided on what to do. Maybe he should check the...
Chapter 154: Blizzard
“Mouric Voknar! And his opponent, the seventh Blade: Daniella Low! The inevitability of ice clashes with the fury of steel and flame!” The announcer roared, riling up the crowd much as he had done during the previous day. Leif was buffeted by the cascade of noise that washed over him and the arena.Much like the last time Leif had spectated the quadriad, his interests were mostly on the display...
Chapter 153: Consequences
Leif, Hera and Melissa sat in silence within the living room of the apartment turned Blade residence. Night had fallen, bringing with it an sea born mist that rolled over the archipelago like an ethereal blanket. Lucia and Royce had been given a guest room, and from the pattern of their vitality Leif could tell both were asleep.When Melissa had heard the commotion coming from the room she had quic...
Chapter 152: Homes
The carriage pulled up a gentle slope, the well greased wheels and stable suspension making the journey comfortable, if slow. Leif found it strange knowing where his occasional buds of insight on the construction of wagons and carts were originating from, and it was stranger still that those small snippets of his memories and former knowledge had been among the first, and most detailed to have sli...
Chapter 151: Appointment
Lucia felt cold. Even under the afternoon sun and surrounded by the raucous energy of the arena stadium her limbs felt numb and her skin was clammy. She had witnessed the fight between the tenth and ninth blades of the Academy, but in truth she had seen very little of it. Her gaze had been locked on the woman with golden hair, the point all other details had faded into the background.Hearing stori...
Chapter 150: Humanity’s Finest
“It’s starting! It’s starting!” Roy said, bouncing from foot to foot. “We need to get inside!”“Patience Roy, we’re at the front of the line.” Lucia said, placing a comforting hand on her younger brother’s shoulder.“I can’t believe you have an Academy token!” Ella was saying to Leif, the first year student just as excited as Roy, only she was doing a worse job at hiding it...
Chapter 149: Showmatch
Chapter Prescript:It is both hilarious, and very frustrating, that the day after I announce that I will be increasing my writing speed I get sick. Anyway, this was written a few days ago. But I feel like death so I'll probably be going to sleep after I post this.Hope you enjoy!===The expansive collection of ancient stone buildings was even more impressive in person than Lief had expected. Eve...
Chapter 148: Sights to See
“And this is the Pellus public bathhouse. You might be able to tell from the architecture that the building predates the rest of the town by several centuries. Usually the older structures that predate the Academy are used by the Academy, but this is one of the few exceptions.” Their first year student guide explained, leading Leif and the two children along a mosaiced road that curved with th...
Chapter 147: Arrival
Lucia awoke for the first time in what felt like an eternity without the sharp tang of hunger nor the everpresent, bone deep ache that had been a constant tag along for the past year. The rocking of the ship and the warmth of the blankets threatened to lull her back to sleep, and a part of her mind, a part she had thought long dead and buried, wanted to accept that her present situation was all ri...
Chapter 146: Encounter
The pervasive dampness in the tight confines of the lower decks made Royce feel as though the world was pressing down on him. His chest tightened and gunk oozed its way into his windpipe. Even at eight years of age he knew how dire his situation was. Lucia told him he was alright, that everything would be okay. He loved his sister, he truly did. But in the year since everything had gone wrong, Roy...
Chapter 145: Stowaways
Lucia put her head down and worked until her knuckles were raw and her fingers ached with exertion. The dishes, plain creations of carved wood kept piling up before her, accumulating faster than she could clean. Lucia grit her teeth, and kept going. She didn’t stop when the restaurant owner started screaming at her and the other youths to go faster, she didn’t stop when the boy next to her was...
Chapter 144: Core Considerations
The sky skimmer didn’t have individual rooms below deck. Instead it was a wide open space between the reinforced hull and the deck above, the distance between both forced both Leif and the taller passengers and crew to duck, but only slightly. The ‘room’ was segmented not by walls, but by hanging cloth, with over half the space being filled with cargo that was tied to thin metal sheets.When ...
Chapter 143: The Heart of Ahle-ho
Nikolas sat within his spacious and well decorated office. His boots were kicked up onto the desk before him, his chair tilted back as he read through the last of the day's reports. Acquisition forms, personal records, monster activity and dungeon access permits were organised into neat piles. It amused him how his younger self would have hated this part, but now, with his age, experience and ...
Chapter 142: Interlude: Ram’s Retirement
Ram didn’t like cities. He didn’t like towns either, or villages for that matter. Sure, he’d spent much of his early, unintelligent life on the outskirts of northern settlements, but he had never grown to appreciate them. But watching one be built? Now that was interesting.“Uhhh, revered ancestor, sir. Are you sure about this?”“Absolutely. Have it done.”“But… Revered ancestor, no...
Full Character Sheet and Ability Recap
This chapter has no content other than a full character sheet overview. I recommend bookmarking it so you can reference Leif’s skills easily.===Name: Leif VinRace: Scion of AeonsAge: 12Awaiting manifestation: EmblemAttributes:Free: 0Might: 70 (+20%)Alacrity: 65 (+20%)Intelligence: 69 (+20%)Willpower: 78 (+20%)Spirit: 83 (+20%)Charisma: 161 (+130%)Total Level: 54Core Skills: 0/1Monster Classes: 1...
Chapter 141: Qualitative Increase
You have selected [Charisma] as the beneficiary attribute for the +30% bonus! Confirm? Y/NLeif confirmed the prompt, the space around him seeming to ripple as his aura flexed from the sudden rush of power. His [Charisma], after the ten percent increase from the advancement trial and now the additional thirty percent bonus was effectively above three hundred and thirty. None of his other attributes...
Chapter 140: Oversights
Leif stared at the figure made of crimson light, a sketch of a smile stretched across their otherwise undetailed face. “Who- or what are you?” He said, both on guard and alert at the figures' sudden appearance.“Hmmm, little me? Give it a few seconds, you’ll remember. I think so at least.” The red ghost said, its smile widening.“I don’t- wait…” Leif said, a veil that had been ...
Chapter 139: Dignity
It didn’t feel real, and perhaps, maybe, that was because it wasn’t. Could the system really know? How accurate were these projected futures? Were they divergent realities somehow split from the main path at specific points in time? Or were they merely illusions meant to test his character and nature? Leif wanted to be sick, he felt hallowed out, empty, paralyzed with indecision and uncertaint...
Chapter 138: Defeated
Leif stared down at the shattered remains of the Noble, the tiny shards of crystal reflecting light that didn’t exist within the empty world of the trial. Was that supposed to happen? He wondered. Or was he just that fragile? Was the simulated ego really so weak, so easy to break?Glass crunched, the sound jolting Leif from his contemplation. The monster took another step, clawed feet crushing th...
Chapter 137: Duty
Leif’s golden eyes flickered between the four versions of himself the system had created, trying to wrap his head around just what he was seeing. He had said it outloud already, but he truly didn’t understand how any of the people before him were possible. Is the system twisting things? Exaggerating to create a more challenging environment for the trial? And how is this supposed to go? We can ...
Chapter 136: Alternatives
Commencing advancement trial!Experience the paths in life you did not walk!Passing this trial will break the level 50 bottleneck and allow for further advancement!Good luck!The world shifted back into focus, the unreality of the system space giving way to the well kept yard of a hilltop homestead. A man in plain clothes knelt next to a partially deconstructed cart, his concentration on the task be...
Chapter 135: Precipice
There was a quiet rumble to the streets of Ahle-ho, the way people moved from building to building, their steps quick and their heads down as if to ward off misfortune by speed and subtlety. The number of people had risen like the tide, then ebbed down into a trickle. Thousands of refugees had been relocated to what was being dubbed as Ahle-ho’s newest expansion, though as of present, it was mor...
