Scarlett wasn’t sure why she’d expected anything to look different just by glancing at her hand. The fragment from the altar hadn’t entered her, after all. It had been absorbed by Thainnith’s legacy, where the other Anomalous One fragment already resided. And her connection to the legacy was more metaphysical than physical.
Still, she was feeling somewhat odd now, even if she couldn’t quite put a name to the sensation. The closest word might have been dis...
2025-05-15 21:09:37 +0000 UTC
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Ringing.
That was the first thing Scarlett registered. A sharp, hollow tone that filled her ears like a cracked bell held too close to the skull. It pulsed with each heartbeat, echoing through her blood, vibrating against her eardrums. Rising and falling. Drowning out everything else.
Her vision swam as she pushed herself upright. Dust hung thick in the air, drifting in pale, lazy spirals through an unnatural silence. The terrace—what remained of it—was a shat...
2025-05-12 20:21:33 +0000 UTC
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Next chapter up tomorrow
2025-05-11 21:22:13 +0000 UTC
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Scarlett stood silent for a long moment, her gaze sweeping over the newly arrived group.
How had they made it this deep already? That part still didn’t make sense.
Her party had been the first to enter Beld Thylelion. That much she was sure of. The system itself had essentially confirmed it, and she had little reason to doubt it on that front. They’d also taken a near-direct route toward the middle layers of the ruins. Even if another group had entered right after them, they s...
2025-05-09 21:50:12 +0000 UTC
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Next chapter'll be up tomorrow
2025-05-08 21:28:29 +0000 UTC
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“There’s something I need to do.”
Fynn’s words hung in the still air.
Scarlett and the others stared at him. A low, restless wind curled around their feet — barely more than a whisper, but enough to graze their skin like an early warning.
“…Hey, buddy,” Rosa said. “What kind of ‘something’ are we talking about here?”
Fynn turned his head. Not sharply. But not exactly slowly either. Just…intent. Deliberate. His bright yellow eyes settl...
2025-05-05 21:51:48 +0000 UTC
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Leon’s voice barely left his throat.
“Your Highness—?”
The title snagged behind his teeth. For a moment, the world slowed. Not from fear, but disbelief.
She was standing there. Here. Inside Beld Thylelion, of all places. Poised in the open, face serious, stance firm. Her eyes locked on the alabaster construct at the chamber’s centre. Veins of dark magic curled around her arms like living shadows, feeding into the shimmering motes orbiting her. Each flicker...
2025-05-04 10:21:39 +0000 UTC
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Due to some unpredictive schedule stuff, today's chapter will either be up tomorrow or the day after. The next chapter might also be postponed one day, though we'll have to see. Sorry about that, but thanks for your patience with me.
2025-05-01 21:36:11 +0000 UTC
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The halls of Beld Thylelion stretched onward, silent and enduring, as if sheltering the ancient whispers of the Zuver within their stone bones. Raimond walked at an easy, unhurried pace, his footsteps faint against the floor. His gaze traced the walls, studying the frequent glyphs and finely etched lines that wound along their lengths like delicate veins. They resembled the markings he had seen on the surface—the same flowing geometry, the same impossible precision—but here, the patterns ...
2025-04-27 20:42:34 +0000 UTC
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Scarlett stepped along the stone bridgeway, her gaze drifting past the illuminated railing and into the abyss below. The darkness stirred thickly, impenetrable and devoid of any sign of life or depth.
She’d never been one to fear heights in any debilitating sense, but they undeniably made her uneasy. It was the peculiar awareness of emptiness beneath her feet — knowing that nothing but void separated her from solid ground. That just one misstep, a slight loss of balance, could mean ...
2025-04-25 21:03:43 +0000 UTC
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Next chapter will be up tomorrow
2025-04-24 20:50:10 +0000 UTC
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Leon couldn’t quite place it, but there was something about the air here. A presence that felt dense and watchful. The more he tried to focus on it, the more it seemed to deepen, like the lingering tension of a held breath stretched too long.
The architecture and markings carved into the stone walls were undeniably Zuverian. That much he recognised. Which meant he was likely inside Beld Thylelion. But where, exactly, was the question.
And how he’d gotten here...
2025-04-21 20:22:07 +0000 UTC
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Chapter'll be up tomorrow. Contrary to what my post last week might have implied, on this particular occasion the delay isn't because of deadlines and other work interfering, but just simple easter celebrations. And candy. Far too much candy.
2025-04-20 22:09:12 +0000 UTC
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The lift’s descent stretched on for some time, accompanied by the low murmur of the others’ conversations and the hum of the platform’s workings. Gradually, the smooth stone walls changed. Pale, etched surfaces gave way to glimpses of a sheer black expanse veined with faint golden filaments — like strands of frozen starlight embedded in the dark.
Then, the shaft opened up.
The walls vanished entirely, and the lift emerged into an immense, yawning cavern that extended in al...
2025-04-17 20:44:02 +0000 UTC
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“…For a relic of the ancient Zuver, this thing’s kinda slow, isn’t it?” Kat remarked dryly, arms crossed as the woman glanced around the platform.
Scarlett gave her a brief look before returning her attention to the engraved panel embedded in the pedestal before her. Its surface shimmered with intricate glyphs and partially decipherable shaft-like diagrams. Around their group, sheer stone walls glided silently upwards as the wide circular terrace descended smoothly beneath the...
2025-04-14 21:48:14 +0000 UTC
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Hi folks. Unfortunately no chapter today/tonight. It'll be out tomorrow instead. Felt like I needed to give some (brief) context this time, as a potential warning for upcoming weeks. I am currently (in my non-writing related work) in the middle of some less predictable but relatively time-intensive projects that has me caught up in things here and there on occasion. This will continue for (roughly) two months, and during that period my upload schedule might be slightly more erratic than usual...
2025-04-13 21:51:12 +0000 UTC
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Fynn shot across the chamber like a bolt of green lightning, trails of viridescent wind spiralling in his wake. Shin stepped forward, sword and shield raised to guard the others. Beside him, Allyssa pulled a glowing yellow vial from her bandolier with one hand, fingers steady around her crossbow with the other. Scarlett donned the [Crown of Flame’s Benediction] and [Eternal Flameweaver’s Athame], the artifacts sharpening her focus.
A sharp crack echoed as Fynn’s fist crashed into ...
2025-04-10 21:00:14 +0000 UTC
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Scarlett examined their surroundings in silence — the walls, the floor beneath their feet, even the intricately designed ceiling that stretched overhead. She scrutinised it all, taking in the endless glyphs and channels of magical circuitry woven seamlessly into the architecture of Beld Thylelion. Illuminated by the ethereal flames she had conjured to float gently around the party, the patterns seemed impossibly precise, as if the entire structure were a single, colossal enchantment.
...
2025-04-06 22:09:17 +0000 UTC
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The space around Scarlett twisted into a web of tangled hues, a lattice of colour and awareness collapsing into a marine void of shifting black. Then, after a weightless beat of silence and absence, light welled back into the world, spilling across her vision as the [Sphere of Serendipity] pulsed gently in her palm.
She stood now in a dimly lit sub-chamber of pale, ivory stone. The walls—pristine and ancient—arched overhead like frozen waves cresting into shadow.
The surfaces ...
2025-04-03 21:16:29 +0000 UTC
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Godwin raised an eyebrow at Scarlett’s question and cast a mildly surprised glance at Arnaud. “I may be leaping to conclusions, but it sounds like I’m missing a touch of context.”
Arnaud was silent for a moment, then gave a small nod. “Yes,” he said simply.
Scarlett looked between them. “Have you met with Yamina Ward?”
Godwin turned back to her. “While I can’t speak entirely for Mister Astrey, I can say it’s been quite some time since I last saw Ward in...
2025-03-30 21:34:34 +0000 UTC
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The Hartford mansion’s foyer buzzed with quiet tension as evening shadows stretched across the estate. Scarlett sat slightly apart from the others in a low-backed chair near the corner, red journal open in her lap. Garside stood by the entrance, perfectly still, as though carved from the same wood as the doors beside him.
Fynn was seated cross-legged on the floor by one of the walls, eyes closed in meditation. He’d spent nearly the entire day like that, and it unsettled Scarlett —...
2025-03-27 21:58:26 +0000 UTC
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“These are the Chain Devil Gloves,” Scarlett said, holding out a pair of deep crimson leather gloves. Chains coiled around the wrists, the metal etched with faint, arcane script. “And this is the Candleflame Claymore.”
From a stand beside her, she lifted a long, broad sword. Its blade gleamed with polished steel, a glowing gold-red rod embedded along its base. The hilt branched upwards in a strange, ornamental design, reminiscent of an iron candelabra twisted into the shape of a...
2025-03-23 22:12:37 +0000 UTC
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Scarlett frowned.
She knew this day would come. The last time they’d met, he’d even hinted that he might call in her favour when they next crossed paths. That was one of the reasons his appearance here hadn’t entirely surprised her. She’d been prepared to repay her debt from the moment she agreed to it — but she still had no idea what he might ask.
“Speak. What is your request?” she asked, tone firm.
The Gentleman studied her in silence. Empress meowed again, t...
2025-03-20 22:13:25 +0000 UTC
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Scarlett observed The Gentleman closely for several moments. His polite, enigmatic smile didn’t waver.
“…Since you are already here, I suspect my preferences hold little importance,” she finally said, gesturing to the empty space on the couch beside Rosa.
“On the contrary, Baroness, the decision remains entirely yours,” The Gentleman replied—just a touch too smoothly—as he began to cross the parlour, his cane clicking against the polished marble floors. “I am har...
2025-03-17 22:25:25 +0000 UTC
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Today's chapter will be delayed for one day. (My sincere apologies for the semi-cliffhanger)
2025-03-16 22:44:26 +0000 UTC
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“I imagine you are all wondering why I have gathered you here,” Scarlett said, letting her gaze sweep over the faces of her closest companions and confidants in this world.
Allyssa sat beside Shin on a sofa, absently toying with the protective leather goggles in her hands. Shin leaned back in his seat, arms crossed, wearing a patient, unreadable expression. Fynn, by the window, stared outside, his thoughts seemingly elsewhere. Rosa rested her chin on her palm, watching Scarlett with...
2025-03-13 22:13:44 +0000 UTC
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Kat wasn’t really sure what she expected to see when she returned to Freybrook. Streets reduced to rubble? People going about their lives as if nothing had happened? Turned out, it was something in between.
She rode past entire blocks where the only remnants of homes were broken beams, scorched stone, and piles of ash. Then she’d reach a public square where the streets buzzed with movement — merchants standing behind makeshift stalls, kids weaving through clusters of adults, and o...
2025-03-09 22:13:36 +0000 UTC
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It was one thing to hear of the wonders the Zuverian civilisation had wrought at the height of its power. Another entirely to witness their remnants with one’s own eyes.
Raimond walked at the centre of the procession, a convergence of figures from different walks of life, faith, and steel. Priests and adherents moved in robes adorned with the golden sunburst of Ittar’s graceful Followers. Mages and wizards bore the sigils and colours of their towers and orders, their flowing garment...
2025-03-06 22:34:33 +0000 UTC
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The murmur of voices and the rustle of parchment filled the chamber, punctuated by the creak of wood as people shifted in their seats. Bookshelves climbed the walls, and banners bearing the Shields Guild’s sigil—an upturned triangle enclosed by a shield and the hilt of a sword—hung in still vigilance. The air held the quiet focus of those used to serious dealings.
Livvi moved around the central table, placing a fresh set of documents before each of the gathered individuals. The gl...
2025-03-02 22:27:49 +0000 UTC
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“—I received a report that monsters were sighted near Stillshire as well, but the mercenaries we hired to guard the keep and surrounding villages managed to deal with them,” Evelyne said, flipping through a thick stack of papers in front of Scarlett. “The incursions still seem concentrated on larger settlements. I suppose that’s a silver lining — if barely.”
Scarlett nodded absently, her gaze skimming a document spread across the desk. “The Tribe may have assembled an im...
2025-02-27 22:29:05 +0000 UTC
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