《Blood Demon's Retirement》 Prologue - When something ends... "Why she''s called the Blood Demon you ask? Well... She''s like a demon in battle, and the rivers run red with blood when we do her laundry after the battle." - Desi, camp follower for the loyalist army during the Al-Shan Civil War ¡°And we presume there is nothing we can say to change your decision at this point.¡± Such was said by Xain Haroone, Emperor, Protector, and sole Ruler of the entirety of the Al-Shan Archipelago. It was not a question, more a resigned statement of fact delivered in the tone of voice of a child who sulked, which was not far from the truth. As rare a sight as it was, the Emperor looked and acted his age for once, all of sixteen tender years, barely a Human child who just entered the beginning throes of adulthood by most recognitions, one forced, matured and learned beyond his years by the civil war that had raged for longer than he had lived, sure, but in the end, still a child who barely outgrew his childhood days. A child that felt completely unenthusiastic of the prospect of separation from the figure that has simultaneously served as his Guardian, his General, his Advisor, his Mentor, his Savior, and as close to a Mother as the child had ever known in his short life. Said figure stood tall in the audience chamber, barely ten steps away from the emperor¡¯s throne, far too close compared to what most imperial protocol would demand, yet nobody in the room seemed to pay much heed to that fact. Everyone in the room knew of her. More than half of the Generals and other military officers in the room owed their life to her. Some on multiple occasions even. Most of the current civil officers knew her personally, mostly from the days when they all served as tutors to the young then-heir to the throne as the civil war raged around them. A figure better known by the moniker both her enemies and allies called her by due to how she fought on the field of battle. Celeysria Ambervale, The Blood Demon. Among the mostly Human populace of the Al-Shan she stood tall, easily half a head or more taller than the average man, courtesy of her Half-Elven heritage, one that mostly manifested in her height, her slender frame, and the normal sized, yet pointed ears. As was the norm among any with Elven heritage, her features would be considered aesthetically pleasant to most, though said features were marred by the many criss-crossed scars that were visible on both her face and arms, with many, many more hidden beneath her simple tunic and pants. And that assumed one had not found her unnaturally pale complexion, snow-white hair, and the way her red eyes seemed to shine a downside. ¡°You know this day has been long in the making, Xain.¡± She said, as she addressed the emperor directly by his name, a grievous breach of protocol that would normally be considered lese-majeste in most any other place, yet simply ignored by even the most traditional, stuck-up official present in the audience hall. Though perhaps not without some exasperated sighs and rolled eyes. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°The Oath is fulfilled, and I¡¯ve been here more than a human lifetime already. About time to close the book on this chapter of history, so to speak.¡± So said, Celeysria stepped forward and wrapped up the young emperor in a warm, loving hug, and patted his head with one hand, much like how a mother consoled their sulking child. A sight that warmed the heart, though for the many military officials present one they felt weirded out by, as they had mostly known her as the Blood Demon, the Scourge of the Battlefield, the berserker who would charge straight through the enemy lines and not return until she was very literally bathed in blood, both her own and her enemies. The same person who¡¯d come out of many a battle with injuries that would have killed any normal person, yet looked none the worse for wear. Their minds knew it was mostly due to her magical prowess, yet with how rare Blood-attuned mages are in the archipelago the sights they have seen still implanted a healthy dose of fear in their minds - alongside their copious amounts of respect to a comrade with whom they have shared life and death on many occasions. The Oath mentioned was something that only the archivist had known of, as it had been made by Celeysria¡¯s father to an ancestor many generations removed from Xain more than a century ago, an oath to repay the kindness shown when the travelling Elf washed ashore on the archipelago with little more than the clothes on his back due to the bad luck in that he had been on a ship that caught a particularly bad storm at sea. An oath to render what aid they could, should one day the Haroone lineage ever fall into danger regardless of the source. An Oath that Celeysria felt was due for repayment when the previous emperor - Xain¡¯s Grandfather - was assassinated by his own cousin who then assumed the throne and tried to eliminate the main branch of the family to which Xain belonged to, an act which plunged the archipelago into a Civil War that lasted four painstaking decades. When she managed to reach the survivors, only one royal descendant was left alive - all because she had not been present in the capital when the coup happened - the youngest princess, a sickly girl nobody had much hope for. She was left to live life contentedly at one of the royal family¡¯s vacation houses on a different island, free to do what she liked, until she became the last of her line and thus the one everyone loyal to the family wanted to put on the throne. For what it was worth, Princess Dinah acquitted herself remarkably for the role she never hoped for, or even wanted. She became the loyalist¡¯s shining beacon of hope, with Celeysria - a long time friend of the princess to begin with, as a humble herbalist prior to the civil war - her trusted advisor and general. Yet for all that, Dinah was always a frail, sickly girl. Fell in love late in life, to a brave man who passed away on the battlefield unaware of the life sired between him and his beloved princess. To give birth was always a risky proposition, much less at a relatively advanced age, and while Dinah survived the birth of her son Xain, complications from the birth claimed her not even a year after. Leaving Celeysria as one of several who took on the job to raise the orphaned child while she fought the civil war at the same time. ¡°The war is over. The usurpers all lay dead, that much I have seen to personally, and I trust your ministers enough to know they will not treat you wrong in my absence.¡± She muttered, as she still absentmindedly rubbed the child-emperor¡¯s head - who quietly cried into her bosom - with one hand. ¡°I have never seen the lands beyond the archipelago, the lands my father has told me of, from the waterfalls of Madginfjord to the dunes of the Navata, and now that you are in safe hands, and the Archipelago knows peace, you can do without me, kid.¡± ¡°So I¡¯ll be retiring from your service before old Halmout there busts a capillary from my breaches of protocol.¡± She added with a smirk, if a somewhat melancholic one, on her face. Halmout Mansoor was the current Prime minister of the Al-Shan Empire, an old man with sparse beard and moustache, all grey with age, who currently just shook his head and sighed loudly. Celeysria had known the old man for decades, and while their personalities often clashed, they held respect for one another''s competence in their respective fields. "At least please accept a parting gift from us." Xain said, his eyes still red from how he quietly cried into Celeysria''s chest. On his gesture a young page strode forward and passed a small, ornate box to the child-Emperor, which he then gave to Celeysria. "We beseech you keep this in a safe place, and open it not until seven days have passed. Please know that no matter what, you shall always have a place to call home here." Celeysria cocked an eyebrow at the strange request, but paid it little heed, and wrapped the child-Emperor in another hug as they said their farewells. Chapter 1 - Another begins "Why does everything I care for have to be so flammable!?" - Last words of King Down Under Ulfred Stonehammer, last of his name, after a (failed) ritual attempting to capture and enslave Igunacio, the Deity of Fire. One week later, Celeysria was on a trading ship halfway between the Al-Shan Archipelago and the Alcidean Continent. It had taken her a couple days to settle what leftover business she had in the capital and procure the supplies needed for the journey, and another day of travel by boat to reach Shan-Hu, the port island that served as the gateway for traders between Al-Shan and Alcidea. Once there, finding a ship heading for the Alcidean continent was easy, she had merely needed to wait a day longer before the ship she booked a passage on hoisted its anchor and departed towards the continent. The first three days of the journey were uneventful, she mostly spent the time either walking around the deck or chatting up the ship''s captain, and it was not until the third day that she remembered Xain''s parting gift. "Oh, that naughty little brat!" Celeysria cursed after she opened the box that contained the parting gift Xain gave her after their tearful farewell. She humored him when he asked her not to open it until a week later, and had thought it was probably just something that needed time to ripen or similar. She definitely did not expect anything bad out of the parting gift from the emperor who''s probably as close to her as a child can be. Not that the "gift" was anything bad, if anything her issue was that it was far too good! At a first glance, it was just a simple pendant, made out of platinum and engraved with the imperial crest. Somewhat fancy for her liking, maybe, and definitely quite costly due to its material alone, but neither of those were the issue at hand. The issue at hand was the storage space the size of a house and its contents that she found inside the unassuming pendant after she channeled a bit of her mana on exactly such a suspicion. Magic storage artifacts weren''t rare, in fact they were very common items such that most adults typically had one of their own. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. However, ones with the internal storage the size of a house were most definitely not a common sight. In fact, most countries would have considered such items at the level of a national treasure. The "common" ones that most people used barely had storage the size of an adult''s fist or so, good for some money and keys and other small items but little else. Richer soldiers and most adventurers? Theirs might have storage the size of a backpack or so, enough for a limited amount of supplies. Even the old artifact she inherited from her father barely had space the size of a large room within. Also stored within were supplies of all sorts - clearly the brat was not happy when she left the Empire with practically just her weapon and a few changes of clothes - among which were at least three folded tents, twice as many comfortable bedrolls - definitely expensive ones judged from their silken material - at least a dozen sets of what looked like high quality leather armor and shoes with half again that number in tunics and pants - all properly made in her size of course - and even a chest full of dried Hartbloom petals, a local Al-Shanian plant typically used to make tea that most people considered an "acquired taste", yet was one of her favorites. At least the brat had the decency to not stuff gold in there as well. Other than the items she also found a letter inside, which she quickly opened and read. Dear Cal, We hereby wish you good winds and tides for your journey. Know that we will never be able to repay all that we owe to you, for all we have now, has been earned by your help. Al-Shan shall always be a place for you to call home any time you wish, at least while we still hail among the living. Please do visit us again when you can. We miss you already. -Xain Haroone P.S: Gifts are not returnable. With an exasperated sigh, Celeysria, or as those few close to her called her, Cal, folded the letter and put it back into the storage pendant. The boy meant well, truly, and all the supplies packed with the pendant definitely would save her quite a bit of hassle and money, even if she wasn''t by any means short of the latter anyway. She just wished he hadn''t overdone things like this and used a more reasonable storage artifact. As she decided to just go with the flow, she spent the next fifteen minutes busily emptying her old storage - the one she inherited from her late father - and moving its contents to the pendant, and after a moment of deliberation, moved to do the same to her trusted weapon. It was a halberd taller than her, its silvery head sprouting an crescent-shaped axe blade and a beak-shaped warhammer from the sides of the spearhead, all made from a mithril alloy. It was bound to a shaft of elven ebony heartwood, as dark as the night itself, as tough as the best steel, yet a good bit more malleable and durable. It was the other last memento she had of her father, who insisted on the use of his heartwood staff and mithril mesh inner armor to have a last gift crafted for her when he felt his time approaching. Elves lived long lives, but her father was already in his nine hundreds when he washed ashore, already an advanced age even for his race, and when he passed on at the old age of one thousand and forty-three half a century ago, he had already outlived his wife, Cal''s human mother. She herself still had a long life ahead of her, barely one hundred and twenty two years of age. Her lineage ensured that she had at least another two to four centuries of life, barring a premature end by illness or violence. With everything packed up, she stood up, and checked out of habit to ensure that the four machetes that hung from her belt were secure in their sheaths, before she headed out towards the deck to get some fresh air. The trip has been uneventful so far, but as she had learned from her father''s story, she preferred to be prepared just in case. Chapter 2 - Fishy Shenanigans "For the adventurous, there is no better place to delve into unknown cuisine like a merfolk city. Do keep in mind that this only applies for those of truly strong stomach and mind, however." -E¨¤gun Godfridsdotter, (self-proclaimed) world-famous Half-Orc bard and lover of fine foods. As she came up to the upper deck of the ¡°Kraken¡¯s Bounty¡±, Cal once again marveled at the splendor of the massive ship. A good one-hundred forty meters long and fifty-five across, the four-tiered rectangular Junk ship with its seven masts simply looked majestic - at least compared to the much smaller ships that served the waterways between the islands of the archipelago. Then again, this ship was meant for the week-long trail between the Al-Shan Archipelago and the Alcidean Continent, through much deeper waters full of creatures the likes of which she had only heard of in stories or read in books. ¡°Lady Ambervale! The Ocean¡¯s blessing that you joined us on this fine day!¡± When she glanced towards the sound, Cal spotted the ship¡¯s captain - not that anyone would be able to identify the man from how he dressed. With how he sported ragged shorts and only wore an open vest over his chest, Bresilas Gtou¡¯rergh would have easily passed himself off as some random sailor, something made easier by his atypically bulky, muscular build, and how his powerful muscles rippled under his smooth deep blue skin. He was also someone Cal made fast friends with over the past three days, partly because they were the only two people on the ship that spoke elvish, as well as their shared half-elven heritage. Although Silas - as he insisted everyone called him - had the other half of his parentage from the merfolk instead, whose features he strongly inherited. He stood even taller than her one meter ninety, his bald head easily topped two meters, and that was without counting the tall, ridged fin-like crest that ran along his spine and ended near his forehead, which gave the man what looked like a giant mohawk. The gills on the sides of his neck and abdomen, as well as his webbed fingers and toes, further made him look much more a merfolk than anything elven-blooded. Other than the small, pointy ears - full-blooded merfolk have no outer ear structure at all. His bulky build on the other hand was atypical to both his parent races, both of which leaned towards slenderness or even lankiness in build. He had busied himself near a bench with a raised metal container filled with hot coals, as his deft fingers wielded a long kitchen knife that looked far too slim and delicate to be used by someone of his size and build. With the knife in hand, he expertly stabbed and sliced through the carapace of what looked like a black, human head-sized ball of spikes, and clearly enjoyed the look of abject horror from a human couple nearby - both looked like merchants on their way back to the continent, and the man had already turned a shade of green by now. While Cal wasn¡¯t familiar with the creature - it was called an urchin or something? She didn¡¯t know why someone would call such a creature with a name that evoked homeless children - she knew it was considered something of a delicacy among the merfolk, and many of the fishermen she knew of as well. She chuckled as the man turned greener when he saw how Silas pulled out the creature¡¯s guts with a deft hand. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Captain Silas.¡± She replied. Now that she was close enough she could see that he had a couple breadfruits toasted on the other end of the coal brazier. An unusual fruit with flesh that tasted of freshly baked bread when toasted, and easily kept for a few months when stored in a dry place. Definitely preferable food to hardtack to say the least. ¡°Care to partake of a little afternoon snack, milady?¡± Silas asked. Cal didn¡¯t even bother to tell him not to call her with any title. She knew a lost cause when she saw one, and asking most anyone who lived in the archipelago to not call her by any sort of weird title was by now a cause as lost as it can be. ¡°Definitely won¡¯t mind some. I got some good wine to share in return.¡± She said, as she casually pulled out a sealed clay urn from her pendant. It was small enough it would have fit in her old storage artifact anyway, so nobody would have any idea she had a new, bigger one. Silas gave out a harsh gurgle of a sound that was the merfolk equivalent of a booming laughter. ¡°Well, well, ain¡¯t never saying no to good wine to go with some snack, guess I better make this neat in a jiffy~¡± The Mer-Elf deftly plucked five orange, tongue-like organs out of the creature as it still twitched, and gently laid them side by side on a fine wire mesh. He then placed the mesh on top of the coal brazier and watched the organs as they seared for a little while on one side while he lightly sprinkled the other side with a pinch of salt and what looked like red flakes Cal was unfamiliar with. Less than a minute later he pulled the mesh out of the brazier, and picked up the breadfruits, sliced them open with a cleaver to expose their white, fragrant, steaming, fluffy interior. After he removed the seed at its core, a couple quick moves sliced the fruit into five crescent-shaped pieces. Skin peeled, the fleshy fruit looked much like white bread fresh out of a steamer. Silas then laid one of the seared and spiced orange organ on each slice before he offered one to Cal. On her side, Cal pulled a pair of wooden mugs out of her pendant and unsealed the urn, as she allowed the strong, fragrant alcoholic aroma to spread out, before she filled both mugs by four-fifths each. A dose of alcohol that would likely send most anything not a dwarf straight to the sickhouse with alcohol poisoning, but then again, both Cal and Silas were Water-Major Blood affinity mages. Their livers could take the abuse, even if it took a complete regeneration of the organ to do the trick. ¡°You spoil me milady! Aged spiced blackrice wine from In-Sel if my nose failed me not?¡± ¡°One delicacy begets another, as they say¡± Cal said, as she accepted the proffered food and raised it as if to toast him, before she bit down a good half of it in one bite. She had to close her eyes and resisted the urge to moan as the creamy sweetness with a distinct briny flavor of seafood from whatever it was Silas cooked flooded her taste buds. The fluffy, soft, pillowy breadfruit was slightly sweet and fragrant, and it mellowed the strong flavor of the sea. Then she took a tentative sip of the wine and it felt like her mouth exploded from the kaleidoscope of flavors that emerged from the combination. It was nearly a minute later before she opened her eyes and let out a satisfied sigh, looking at Silas who had a wide grin plastered on his face, and a still-squeamish human spectator behind him. ¡°Gods above, that was one of the fucking best things I have ever eaten. What is that thing?¡± She asked, now full of eager curiosity. ¡°I totally see why your folk called it a delicacy.¡± ¡°Balls.¡± Silas answered in a deadpan tone before he started to giggle like a prepubescent girl, a completely paradoxical image on a man that size and shape. ¡°Balls?¡± ¡°I mean that literally.¡± He finally said after he managed to stop his mirth. ¡°Those are to these things as balls are to human males.¡± He still had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he said that. ¡°Eh.¡± Cal just shrugged before she popped the other half of the food to her mouth. ¡°Then balls taste great I guess. Lemme have another.¡± She said, as she reached for another of the delicacies. Behind Silas the human passenger turned completely green and ran towards the railings, then hurled the contents of his stomach over the side. Chapter 3 - Bountiful Kraken "Take a Squid. Or an Octopus, works too. Now think of one so large it can gobble you, your fat aunt, and the house you live on as a snack. You have a Kraken, ladies and gentlemen, both and neither." -Yog Aldermann, creature sciences professor on the Levain Institute of Higher Learning. The little ¡°snack¡± and the now-empty urn of wine left Cal with a pleasant buzz - even as she subconsciously worked her magic to help her liver survive the ordeal - that was completely worth it. Even the human spectator from earlier seemed to have recovered as he no longer emptied his stomach over the rails, while he was cared for by his companion - probably his wife? Cal was just about to get up and walk around to let the meal settle down when she heard a splashing noise off to the side of the ship. As she stood up, she looked at the starboard side where she heard the noise from, and saw what looked like a large fish with particularly long fins as it jumped out of the sea and fell back in. Whatever it was, it was headed in the direction of the Kraken¡¯s Bounty. ¡°Anything to worry about?¡± She asked Silas, who by now also stood up and looked at the same direction. ¡°Depends.¡± He replied. ¡°All passengers! Please vacate the deck unless you wish to partake of some afternoon exercises!¡± ¡°We take no responsibility if you get eaten by a sea monster while exercising!¡± He added with another laugh-gurgle. ¡°So, not the sort of sea monster we need to worry about then.¡± Cal responded, her two-meter halberd firmly held in her grip. ¡°Not unless you¡¯re dead drunk with hands and legs tied up no.¡± Chimed Silas in reply. ¡°Some Deepmaws if I see it right. Makes for good dinner. Good jerky too with some molasses.¡± ¡°Huh. Didn¡¯t those things live like, deep down under? Why would they be at the surface like this?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll see~¡± By now Silas had his shit-eating grin plastered back on, much like someone in the know of a joke she missed out on. Any further questions she had were forgotten at the moment because the first of the Deepmaws literally jumped out of the sea and landed with a wet Thud on the starboard deck. It let out a deep-throated roar that had scared the last few non-combatant passengers, as they scurried like rats down into the hold. Then another four jumped onto the ship. The Junk even slightly listed to the right for a moment due to the added weight of the creatures as the last one jumped aboard. ¡°By the Ocean!¡± Said Silas, now with a large harpoon half again as long as he was tall held in his hands. ¡°We¡¯re totally going to have a big feast tonight!¡± Cal calmly surveyed the creatures. They definitely looked intimidating at first glance, each measured at least a good ten meters from the snout to the base of the tail, with sleek grey leathery skin and six long fins, on which they dragged their barrel-shaped torsos forward, capped by a horizontal fish-like tail on the end. Their heads measured at least a quarter of their whole body length on its own, with a large maw filled with dagger-like teeth. Clearly not a creature that subsisted on vegetation then. There was only one problem. These creatures were definitely lethal to civilians, and extremely dangerous creatures in the waters where they belonged. They neither faced civilians, nor were they in water. And they had only marginally better mobility outside water compared to a beached Leviathan. Naturally, the fact that none of the sailors were stupid enough to walk into the reach of their maws needed not to be said. Most of them just casually walked around the stranded sea monsters and jabbed them in the side using long spears, a couple younger sailors even made a game, where they got close to the creature and jumped back with a laugh when it inevitably tried and lunged at them and failed miserably. Cal herself simply walked up the fin of the nearest creature, its slippery skin gave her not even the slightest pause in the ascent, and stood firmly on the base of its neck, then she slammed the hammerhead of her halberd down on the creature¡¯s skull hard. There was barely much of a splatter, as the creature gave a dying squeal when the hammer broke through its skull and into its small brain - one had to wonder how a creature that large could have a brain that small. It twitched a couple times and laid still, the only sign there had been any ¡°fight¡± were the bits of blood and brain Cal cleaned off her weapon. Utterly anticlimactic as fights go, but she definitely would have fancied her chances differently were she to face one of these things in the water. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. As she looked around, she saw the sailors had already mopped up the other four monsters, and were even already busy as they dragged the corpses nearer the center of the ship so their weight ceased to tilt the ship to its starboard side. Nobody was even injured other than a deckhand that sprained his ankle when he jumped away from one of the creatures. Everyone laughed at the poor lad. Peculiarly however, she spotted how Silas stood with one foot on the starboard railing, and several deckhands were busy as they transported some barrels from the ship¡¯s hold and stacked them behind him. He peered out to sea as if he waited for something to come. ¡°Something the matter?¡± She asked, partly out of courtesy and partly curiosity. ¡°Just waiting for the old coot to pop by, milady. Gonna have to ask you to refrain from knotting yer panties soon, I fear.¡± He replied, still with that shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Cal was about to ask what he meant when she spotted it. A deep, dark, humongous shadow rose up from beneath the sea, not ten meters off their starboard railing. It had not taken long before it breached the surface, and although she only saw what was clearly a minor portion of the creature, its size was monstrous. Its two pupil-less yellow eyes were easily as large as she was tall, and she could already see how it raised a massive tentacle as thick around as a tree trunk higher than their ship¡¯s masts. The gigantic monstrosity¡­ Waved at them? To her shame Cal had to admit that it had taken some effort not to proverbially get her panties in a knot at the sight of the colossal Kraken. For that was definitely what the creature was, an ancient one at that, one more than large enough to have devoured an entire fleet of ships the size of the one she¡¯s on with utter ease. And next to her she saw as Silas waved back at it with that shit-eating grin still plastered on his face. She heard him as he shouted several sentences in the gargle-like tongue of the merfolk, and she could have sworn she saw that the kraken gestured in answer with its tentacle. Then he said a few more sentences and Cal nearly rolled her eyes when she saw how the kraken coiled its tentacle into four stacked circles, with its tip showed up behind. A God-Damned Ancient Kraken had a chat with Silas like it was his buddy and gave him a fucking thumbs-up! ¡°So, Silas.¡± She finally interceded. ¡°Am I going batshit insane here or are you god-damned Vitalis-Fucking buddies with a fucking Kraken!?¡± Silas just gave another of his gargle-laughs in reply, as he clearly and obviously found the situation funny. ¡°Ah- Beg your pardon- haha. Old Ragiula there has been an esteemed trading partner of the Kraken¡¯s Bounty since my great-great-grandma¡¯s time as captain. Don¡¯t tell me the ship¡¯s name wasn¡¯t a giveaway?¡± ¡°I thought Krakens were mindless monstrosities that just obliterate every ship they run into? That does explain those deepmaws I guess.¡± ¡°No, you see, they are actually quite intelligent, as Old Ragiula and her brood have shown my lineage many times. It¡¯s just that most of them never found anything of worth from us small folk, until ma¡¯ offered a tribute to her when they ran across each other back then.¡± Silas explained, and his shit-eating grin went right back on. ¡°Who knew that this one happens to have a taste for fine dwarven ale? And smart enough to realize that it could get a steady supply of it by trading too!¡± ¡°So you trade dwarven ale to the kraken in exchange for safe passage and some dinner then?¡± ¡°Hah! No, no, no, safe passage is something she guarantees, and the dinner was just a gift. Watch and behold!¡± So she had. And what Cal saw was several other smaller krakens as they surfaced as well, items in their tentacles tenderly brought to be deposited on the ship¡¯s deck, while they gently coiled around a barrel each on their way back. She saw vibrant, colorful deep-sea corals of many kinds, all she knew to be highly prized material to have decorations and furniture crafted out of, especially popular among nobles with more money than they knew what to do with. And that was barely the surface of the bounties of the deep sea they offered. She also spotted many herbs that only grew deep under the ocean, that her herbalist mother only learned from books that were written based on examples that got uprooted and washed ashore by chance, in quantities that would have driven any herbalist crazy. Those alone definitely more than made up for the costs of the at least hundred barrels of fine dwarven ale they traded them for. But then Silas spoke at length again with the Kraken, or Old Ragiula if one wanted to be correct, and elicited a clear reaction from the creature. Cal saw some parts of it turned into a vibrant green hue for some reason. She didn''t know why, but the vibrant color seemed to tell her that the creature was¡­ excited? She had not noticed that one of the smaller Krakens dove back into the sea, but she noticed some deckhands as they very carefully handled five particularly ornate barrels made of ashwood with lining done in platinum. She would have to be an idiot not to have noticed something about those barrels, so she glanced at Silas with an obvious questioning look. ¡°Oh, just some priceless stuff it said it wanted to taste like a century ago.¡± He shrugged nonchalantly. Sometimes it could be easy to forget how long-living some folks can be, Silas already well over twice her age at three hundred ten. ¡°Just a few barrels of hand-crafted dark spiced mead, courtesy of Braumeister Orloff Himmelsbrau.¡± That got Cal to raise an eyebrow. Even someone who never left the archipelago all her life like her had heard of that name. The greatest Rot-affinity mage in the world, the dwarf who turned his talent for a magical affinity typically associated with diseases and sickness into methods on how to make the finest gods-damned liquor the world had ever seen. The dwarf formerly known as Orloff Steinlager, whose brew was so good the dwarven king granted him a new name and ennobled him, a feat of highest honor amongst the dwarves that had never before been done for that sort of achievement. She knew each of those barrels were easily worth their weight in gold. Thus it did not really surprise her when she saw one of the smaller krakens come back with what she assumed was the payment for the mead. It gingerly deposited what looked like a giant oyster on the deck, one easily as large as one of those deepmaws that now lay dead in the middle of the deck. She was not even surprised when the younger kraken expertly pried open the oyster¡¯s shell with two of its tentacles. On the other hand, when she saw the luminescent, pale pink pearl the size of her head it revealed she only barely refrained a gasp in amazement. ¡°The Kraken definitely did not know what market price was, did it?¡± She asked Silas bluntly. ¡°More like it doesn¡¯t care.¡± He replied. ¡°The things it gave us are plentiful where it lives, and worthless to it other than maybe that oyster for eating, while finding a willing supplier of rare booze is definitely more than worth its time.¡± When Cal considered how the ancient kraken itself very tenderly picked up the barrels of mead with ultimate care as if it cradled a priceless treasure, and the color of excitement she saw spread over its humongous figure, Cal just sighed in defeat. ¡°Oh, please keep our esteemed trading partner here a secret? Most people just assume we traded with one of my folk¡¯s deeper colonies for these.¡± Silas said still with his grin, obviously confident she would keep the secret even before he asked. ¡°Like who in the eighteen hells would even believe the truth were I to speak of it!?¡± Chapter 4 - Land Ho! "When I was a wee lad, folks always said Rot was only good for dirty things, war at best. Oh, how those tongues that waggled end up putting their own foot into their flapping jowls." -Braumeister Orloff Himmelsbrau, in his acceptance speech after being granted nobility for the crowning achievement of having brewed the best damned ale any dwarf had ever tasted using Rot affinity. Cal decided as she just shelved the absurdity she had been witness to in a deep corner of her mind in the end. Not like there were any regulations that forbode trade with gigantic monstrosities anyway, and not like it hurt anyone - except maybe Silas''s competitors, but it''s not like that''d be something she cared about. And nobody would have believed the tale anyway. Hell, she would not have believed it herself had she not been there and witnessed the whole thing. At least Silas hadn''t exaggerated when he said they would have a good dinner. The grilled deepmaw fin they served that night won accolades from literally every passenger on board, with one enterprising merchant who even went as far as to have negotiated the purchase of one creature''s worth of jerky for resale further inland after he had a bite of an old jerky from their previous batch. Some of the passengers were more averse to the stew full of various organs harvested off the creature however, which just left more for everyone else - Cal included - to polish off. It was with an overly full stomach that she laid down in the hammock that served as her bed that night. ----------------------------------------------- The remaining three days of the trip proved uneventful, the weather blissful for a sea voyage, with plenty of good winds that helped and hastened their pace towards Port Serda, their destination on the Alcidean Continent. Not part of any "country" so to speak, Port Serda was part of a local polity comprised of an alliance of approximately forty to fifty city-states - the number tended to fluctuate often. As a port town it naturally thrived on maritime trade, and its relative proximity to the archipelago made it the first stop for any ship travelling from Al-Shan to Alcidea. The fact that Port Serda was actually located on the tip of a peninsula that jutted out of the continent proper, easily half a day''s worth of travel by sail away from the closest ports next to it, also played a factor of course. As their ship docked, Cal bid Silas good bye, as she intended to head further inland. She would miss the brawny sod somewhat, but chances were they would meet again in the future, as long as neither of them met an unexpected premature end. She walked down the wooden plank that served as the walkway between the ship and the pier with just her usual clothes, though this time she also wore one of the leather armor sets. She kept her halberd in the pendant, but openly displayed the four sheathed machetes on her belt, and weighted down the end of her long, tightly braided hair - which fell nearly to her waist - with a modified spearhead crafted for that exact purpose. No reason to go into a city she had never been to while she looked like an easy target after all, and not like she wouldn''t attract attention either way with her white hair and red eyes. People of elven descent were not rare, much less in a port city where folks from all walks of life and races mingled, but albinism was by its nature rare. "Name and purpose of visit?" Asked the tired-looking middle-aged woman who stood by the end of the pier as she approached. She both looked and felt like a bored official just in the midst of another day''s menial job, which she likely was. "Celeysria Ambervale, just passing through enroute to the next city over. Maybe staying a day or two at most." "Any dangerous item to report? Explosives that can level the city? Ritual tools for mass blood sacrifice? Actually, nevermind that question. Nobody is ever daft enough to say ''why yes, madam, how do you know?'' to that, still got to ask for formality''s sake." She grumbled. "I''m actually tempted to say yes to that after hearing that, but sadly no, no world ending artifact of some lost eldritch deity to report here." Cal answered with a slight chuckle. "Bureaucracy! I never understood why they bother making us ask questions nobody in their right minds would answer to anyway." Replied the woman. "But I digress, any forms of identification to offer, or would you like the aid of the registrar?" Identification was something typically registered in guilds related to whatever a person''s profession was. Silas for example, as a seafaring trader, has his registered on a merchant''s guild, and the identification issued there would be considered valid elsewhere, though there might be difficulty when he needed its authenticity ascertained should a town somehow have no merchant''s guild. Typically nobody bothered to double check with the guilds themselves unless the individual in question was embroiled in some sort of trouble however. Cal herself was registered as a healer, - something her affinity allowed her to do, as limited as it was. And as a herbalist -, a craft she learned from her late mother. She was also registered in the adventurer''s guild, where every soldier was registered by default. It was considered the most likely career they might partake in once their soldiering days came to an end one way or another. Being registered in multiple guilds like her was the norm in the world. "Healer, Herbalist, Adventurer, good enough?" She asked, as she handed over three metallic tags taken out from her storage. Each tag had a hidden pattern meticulously crafted that allowed their respective guilds to easily have its authenticity ascertained. "Plenty." Replied the woman, before her eyebrows rose at the color of her adventurer tag, and the implication it signified. In the end, she shrugged and handed the tags back. "Should anyone try to cause trouble with you in town, I would like to ask you to please refrain from damaging them too badly. Regardless, most troublemakers should just hide with their tails between their legs should you flash that shiny tag of yours." The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Can''t promise that, depends on whether someone actually pisses me off or not." Cal replied nonchalantly while she placed the tags back into her storage. "Oh, dear, I actually hope a certain someone does." Replied the woman with a savage grin on her face. "While I would not want you to trouble yourself over our local brats, if you do happen to run into him? Let''s just say some people are far overdue for a good spanking." Cal laughed in response. It wasn''t her problem, but should said problem choose to make itself her problem? She definitely wouldn''t mind doing a little good deed that needed to be done. "We shall see, I guess, any inn you can recommend? Preferably one with good food as well." "If you want to try some local cooking I''d recommend The Hungry Wench. Good portions for the price and last I heard nobody ever complained of rats or bugs there. Take the main road heading for the city center till you hit the fountain, then a left, can''t really miss it." "Sounds perfect, thanks." Cal said, as she lightly tossed a silver piece as a tip for the woman, who deftly caught it and made it disappear into her robes with a smile. ---------------------------------------- As inns went, The Hungry Wench was a good and reputable one. The fare they served - a local specialty of various kinds of seafood stewed together in a rich stew - was definitely tasty and plentiful. The straw in the bed was clean and dry, and her room free from rats and bugs as advertised. Cal had a good night''s sleep, woke up refreshed the next morning, and left after she partook in some breakfast - a local seafood porridge with some chewy bits she thought looked a bit like snails, good food either way. It was not until she reached the gatehouse that she saw any sign of discord. Everything in the gatehouse looked fine at a glance, the guards processed the travellers as they went in and out of the city, everything except the richly-dressed man to the side who repeatedly proposed his intent to a pair of young women - lower rank adventurers by their looks - who very clearly wanted nothing to do with him. Some travellers gave the situation a questioning look, while most of the ones who were about to leave the city behind just looked exasperated and disgusted, a look shared by the guards on station. Even the two rough-looking types who stood behind the richly dressed fop - she assumed them to be his hired bodyguards by their stature and manner of dress - looked on with distaste evident on their features. From the looks shared by many of the people who watched, this sort of situation was likely not the first time it happened. She watched it unfold as she progressed through the line of outgoers, with an ear kept to the situation as it escalated. The older of the two female adventurers had bodily shielded the younger one as the fop became more and more aggressive in his approach. At a glance, she suspected the two were related due to the similarities of their facial features, sisters, perhaps? Cal just watched, at least until the younger adventurer accidentally ran into her in her retreat. "Ah! My apologies!" The girl sounded surprised and distressed. Probably surprised because when she ran into her, it must have felt much like she ran into a wall - or it could be the still-present scars on her face and arms, - those wouldn''t properly fade for another month or thereabouts. "Three is better. You! I grant you the privilege of serving my noble self! Be grateful that your unsightly visage shall be graced by nobility! Now carry these two wenches and follow me to my mans¨¦!" The fop interjected before Cal could speak. For a moment she stared him straight in the face, baffled both by the absurdity of the situation and by the fact that someone just said those lines she only ever heard of in stories and plays in real life. Even his bodyguards cringed as he spoke. "You were talking to me?" She asked, her finger pointed to herself, still half in bafflement. Around her, the other travellers and guards nearby all gave a look of equal amounts pity and exasperation. "Of course you! Are you daft, woman!?" Said the fop. "What do you even want with me? And them?" "Wench! It is a privilege for a peasant like you to serve as bed-warmers for a noble scion of house-" His words abruptly cut off into a high-pitched pained squeal, a sound not unlike a pig being butchered. Everyone in earshot thought they heard a noise akin to an egg that had violently cracked open just before that. Everyone also saw that Cal''s right shin was pressed right against the fop''s crotch, where a wetness spread visibly. Said fop was also no longer in contact with the ground, his feet, even on tiptoes, just barely hovered above the ground. The moment Cal retracted her leg in disgust, the fop crumbled onto the ground, curled up in a fetal position with his hands clutched around his nether regions, and still squealed like a pig all the time. Most of the spectators looked on with wide eyes at the unexpected violence in broad daylight, many among them however, sported satisfied smiles, as if someone scratched an itch that had long annoyed them. "Ma''am, I apologize but we are obligated to-" Started one of the bodyguards before Cal cut him off mid-sentence, her adventurer tag tossed at him. To his credit the man didn''t fumble and caught it cleanly, before he gave it a quick inspection. His eyes widened as if they tried to escape his face the next instant. His fellow bodyguard caught the expression and glanced over before her expression immediately aped that of her fellow. "Our deepest apologies! Our contract just requires us to respectfully ask that you spare this worthless piece of trash''s life, ma''am!" Said the bodyguard rapidly, as he now respectfully bowed and proferred her tag back with both hands. "Quick on the uptake, aren''t you kids." She teased back. "He should live, though I doubt you would get certain¡­ things ever functioning again unless you have a saint nearby." "What brings you to work with this sort of trash, though? You kids seem decent enough?" She added after a quick thought. "City lord hired our whole band to safeguard his extended family from assassination while in the city premises. We drew the short straw on who gets assigned to who this week. To be honest, were it not for our contract forbidding us from harming or interfering with our clients I think some of us might have beaten you to the punch. Much appreciated regardless." Answered the other bodyguard, a tall, shaggy haired, broad, muscular woman of clear orcish heritage evidenced by the tusks that jutted out from her lower lip. Clearly more talkative than what her looks suggested. Neither took offense at her calling them "kids". Cal glanced at the fop on the ground who still squirmed and squaled with a questioning look on her face. "Son of a cousin, loves to parrot on his ''relations'' and drop their names where he can, utterly useless as a male." Answered the orcish woman to her unspoken question. "Doubt anyone''s going to feel suicidal for his sake." "And them?" Cal queried, her hand pointed at the still-baffled pair of female adventurers that in some way caused this situation. "Only thing stopping them from leaving is currently curled up and cradling his family jewels, ma''am, which by your account seems damaged beyond repair. Truly, a loss for this world." Replied the first bodyguard, a tall, fit human with a bald head, and a thick mustache, his voice almost literally dripped with sarcasm and schadenfreude. "I bet he doesn''t even know their names anyway, they should be fine." "Oh look, he fainted." Said the orcish woman in a deadpan tone as she prodded the fop rudely with the tip of her boot. "Well, I guess you kids have it in good hands then, since its my turn, it wouldn''t do to hold the line any longer." Cal said, her eyebrow curled in amusement. After she had left their sight, one of the nearby guards approached the two hired bodyguards, who had apparently debated on how to carry the fop back - neither of them wanted to carry him on their shoulders, not with how he had both wetted and browned his pants. "Who was that woman?" Asked the guard, his voice kept low. "Don''t know." Answered the orcish woman. "Saw her tag, waaaaaay above my paycheck right there." "What do you mean?" "You didn''t see it, but she had a black tag, with platinum borders. That''s basically as high a rank as it gets anywhere. The only other time I ever saw one, it was a Royal Mage." Explained the bald one. "I would much rather piss off the city lord himself than anyone of that caliber. They ain''t paying me enough to die." "Someone that up high? Here?" "Heard the civil war by the archipelago recently ended. She might be from there." Said the orcish woman. "Might be, can''t be that many of that caliber out there. For all we know that was the Blood Demon out on vacation or something." "Hah! Good joke." Chapter 5 - Country Road. "One has to understand, it is not a fine line that separates genius and madness, but how others perceive the results instead." -K?rl Vonnegut, professor of mental health in the Paradise Institute of Mental Discourse. Most people would either have rented a carriage or a horse when they travelled from one town to another. Even mages - with their various means to accommodate long-distance travel - typically had done so, to save themselves unneeded effort. Celeysria Ambervale wasn''t most people. After she left the gatehouse behind, she simply allowed her magic free reign as it flowed and coursed through her. Blood magic was often also called "internal" magic due to how it does not cause anything visible to happen outside the mages'' own bodies, but her well-attuned senses easily felt the mana as it saturated her blood and muscles, how it charged her body with energies she wielded like another of her limbs. When she took a step, she seemed to blur, easily ten paces away when her feet landed, and she just kept that pace as she went down the well-used road, easily overtook several wagons ahead of her, which elicited surprised looks from those left behind in her wake. And she did that while she simply walked at what was to her a leisurely pace. Where experienced wind mages might have used low-altitude flight, and earth mages literally had the earth under their feet move for them, blood mages like her travelled long distances simply, as they infused their bodies with magic, and thus empowered themselves that each step they took covered the distance of ten unpowered steps. She could have pushed it harder and ran, but that would be rather tiresome, and definitely unneeded anyway in her situation. Her current pace on the other hand, she could have maintained all day long with no difficulty. She figured she would arrive at the next city down the road, a large trading hub named Hoststadt, by sundown or so. A journey that would usually have taken a day and a night by carriage done in one-third of the time. Along the well-trodden road she passed by many carriages. Some were passenger carriages, others carried goods for trade, where larger merchant companies typically travelled with a convoy of carriages, usually with a smattering of mercenary guards that rode to their sides. Most paid her no attention other than a glance and maybe a wave, for it wasn''t like mages who travelled down the road on their own was anything unusual. The journey itself proved a peaceful one, where she took in the sights as she walked. While banditry existed, as a whole they were smart enough to have avoided the main roads, and those that weren''t smart enough typically didn''t have a lengthy life expectancy. It was not until she was maybe an hour and a half out from her destination that she saw something she had not seen before, which naturally piqued her curiosity. It looked like a particularly large fleet of merchant caravans - easily thirty wagons or thereabouts - but with nary a mercenary guard in sight. One of the people who rode in the back of one of the rearmost wagon spotted her, and apparently alerted the rest that she approached, for shortly after, a small wagon had split from the group and positioned itself to trail them. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "Hail and well met, traveller." Greeted an old orcish woman who sat beside the wagon''s driver as she caught up with it. "What brings you here?" "Tis'' the road to Hoststadt, is it not? We head for the same destination, matron." "That we do, lass." The old orc chuckled. " Hah! I called ye lass and for all I know yer likely older than me!" She added with a guffaw. "Wise men say one should never ask a woman their age." Cal replied, which elicited more laughter from the old matron. "A wise man indeed." The matron said. "Helga of clan Bronzemane, pleasure meeting you, traveller." "Celeysria Ambervale, of the archipelago." Now that she had time to take a closer look at the caravan she realized why they had no mercenaries with them. Well over half the members of the caravans were orcs, with a smaller portion of other races and some mixed-race for the rest. The caravan must be one of the traveling merchant orc tribes she heard about before. Why would they need to hire mercenaries when likely half if not more of the "merchants" themselves were perfectly able and definitely would have jumped at a chance to have their own mettle proven in a fight? "Never seen a merchant orc tribe before, to be honest." Cal admitted to the matron. "I don''t think we have any back home." "Aye, not many of the kids like the sea, tis'' true. We mostly stay on land, though¡­ if yer from the archipelago did you perchance happen to run into some young bloke on the way? Name''s Duron, kinda skinny, half a mer. He was scheduled to meet us in Hoststadt in a week or so, might be ye ran into him." "Wait, wears lots of earrings on his crest? Gaudy golden ones?" "Aye! That''s me grandkid all right. Guess you ran into him then." "Was on the same ship coming here, we landed yesterday, so I assume he had business to handle still in Serda. Didn''t see him when I left town this morning." "Oh, he''s early, that is good to hear." "Seems a smart enough bloke to be honest. I bet he''s delayed because he''s waiting for the jerky to finish." "Jerky?" "This kind, have a try." Said Cal, as she tossed a small pouch at the old orc matron, because of course she would not let good food pass her by. She had bought out what remained of Silas''s previous batch after she gave it a taste, and had a few crates of the stuff in her pendant. The old orc matriarch plucked out one of the pieces of smoked meat, gave it a tentative sniff, which had her eyebrows quirked in curiosity, before she popped the whole piece into her mouth. Her eyes seemed to glow as she chewed. "Good business sense, that brat. This stuff will sell like hotcakes compared to the barely edible crap most have for sale. You said he''s waiting for his order to finish?" "A Deepmaw''s worth, yes." "I don''t even know what that is but something about its name tells me it''s not something the fishermen fishes for." "Think of a fish-lizard, ten meters long, and teeth the size of daggers. Ugly as sin, but tasted damned good roasted." Cal could see the gears as they clicked in the old matron''s head as she calculated profits from potential sales when heard the words "ten meters". The news seemed to have made the old woman look younger. "Good tidings you bring, and for bearers of good tidings we offer the finest of orcish hospitality for the night should you accept." "I gladly accept. In no hurry anyway." "Good to hear, just a shame we''re out of bear meat, otherwise I would cook my special stew in your honor tonight." "Bear? Any specific kind?" "Not really, they taste the same, why?" "Be right back in a moment." Helga watched dumbfounded as Cal seemed to have disappeared from where she walked along the carriage - now back in its position in the midst of the caravan. It was not three minutes later when the elvish woman reappeared just as suddenly as if she had never left her spot. And carried over her left shoulder was a four-meter black bear, its neck twisted. "This one good?" Cal asked, and it looked like she had not exerted herself at all. The forest was at least a hundred meters away from the road they travelled on, what it would have taken most people to take on a bear that size not counted, and to have brought it back like a sack of potatoes over one shoulder on top of that. Helga gaped for a while before she came back to her senses. "You hunted down a bear? In so short a time?" "Hey, I was curious about your special stew." Helga rolled her eyes at Cal''s reply. The stew was hopefully every bit as good as she advertised. Map of the World This map is intended to show the general terrain of the world of my setting. For those curious about the peculiar positions of the snow caps in this world, the Equator does not run horizontal to this map, the inhabitants of the world having discovered that concept long after maps were long standardized. The actual equatorial line runs roughly from the bottom-left of the map to the upper-right, on a line that comes close to intersecting the towns of Barzum and Sabaya. This map will also remain in use for the latter planned stories in my setting, although for some they will use more detailed maps depicting certain regions instead, but the map of the world will remain mostly unchanged. Note that this map depicted the state of the world as of the current story''s date (Circa 672 FP), and the other stories might present different cities that were either newly built or had been lost to time. This is also not a map of the entire world. Beyond the poles are uncharted regions of deep oceans, where leviathans are said to roam (that sea serpent on the map? Is of actual scale). Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Only major cities are listed on this map, with the orcish towns being listed because they are the two largest permanent settlements that belonged to the orcs. For those that paid attention to the Teleportation Gate Network mentioned in the story centered on Paradise, the 7 current locations it connected to are to Levain, Great Emerald Forest, Kingdom Down Under, as well as the four major cities on the Ur-Teros Continent. Said teleportation network is mostly usable by small parties of people, priority typically given to archmages, and as such aren''t the most conductive to trade purposes, mostly used by researchers and scholars in the pursuit of knowledge. When considering distances, keep in mind that travel by sea is a good bit faster than travel by land in this setting, hence why Cal''s initial journey by ship from Al-Shan (from the south-eastern most island) to Serda (located on the very tip of the small peninsula to the west of Alcidea) took her a week whereas her trip from Serda to Paradise, took nearly half again as long, even with all the stops considered. The travel in the orcish plains are slow in particular because she hitchhiked with the Orcs there, and thus kept to their travelling pace, whereas her own solo traveling pace would easily be three to four times faster than that of a migrating Orc caravan, and two to three times faster than travel by stagecoach and carriages. Please pardon if I rambled a bit, since I cannot post unless I have 500 words on this entry. :D An Abbreviated Treatise on Deities, Magic, and the Races of the World. Deities Deities exist, even if they do not particularly present themselves much to their worshippers. Looking back on the two millennia of written history collected from all over the World, there had been all of two incidents where deities can be considered to have personally acted on the World itself - both incidents caused by what could only be considered blasphemy of the highest order. One was when the dwarven monarch Ulfred Stonehammer, last of his name, attempted to enslave the deity of fire to harness its might towards the gigantic forge complexes that were the source of dwarven prosperity at the time, only to invoke the deity¡¯s wrath that resulted in the immolation of the entire dwarven capital city. The other was when Ver¡¯Dun Slovac, the Mad Monarch, casted a massive ritual sacrifice where he sacrificed everyone in the human imperial capital of the time in an attempt to attain immortality. Vitalis frowned upon the display and turned him into a pulsating mass of tumors, forever in horrible agony, yet undying. Legends has it that to this day the Mad Monarch still writhes in agony in his prison deep beneath the ground under the rebuilt capital. But other than such outlier cases, Deities can be considered laid back and do not meddle in the life of mortals. For all intents and purposes, as best as even the clergy has been able to research, Deities are genderless beings. Popular depiction, however, tend to lean one way or another, often changing between regions, due to cultural differences, much like how Vitalis is typically worshipped as a woman in white among humans, yet the orcish idol of Vitalis would be that of a brutish male with a gigantic phallus. The six deities are as follows: Vitalis - Deity of Life Vitalis governs over life, and in most depictions are described as an all-loving parent to mortals - even if there had been no proven direct interventions in history. Also commonly associated with Fertility, Harvest, Nature, Light, and the Sun. Most commonly depicted as a motherly female in white. The clergy typically adopted the colors of White and Yellow. Tohrmut - Deity of Death Tohrmut governs over death, typically described as an impartial arbitrator that judged all mortals for their sins when they died. Associations include Darkness, Decay, the Night, the Moon, and Disease. Despite what some might expect, nobody considers Tohrmut an evil deity, merely impartial, for after all, everyone was equal under death. Typical depiction is a skeletally thin old man in a black robe - if not straight up a skeleton in a black robe. The colors adopted by the clergy are Black and Purple. Igunacio - Deity of Fire Governs over Fire, considered a patron god to smiths and warriors alike, with most myths claiming a hatred for two-faced falsehoods and a penchant for brutal honesty. Associated with Metalworking, War, Summer, and Passion. Usually depicted as a living flame, sometimes with a muscular humanoid figure inside it. Red and Orange are its colors. Remidis - Deity of Water Governs over Water, the deity most-worshipped by any seafarers, depicted in myths as one with a mercurial temper, whose wrath manifests in raging storms across the seas. Associated with any naval travel, Winter, Cold, and Rain. Depictions usually show either a beautiful young woman or an old hag - or both - clad in waves. The clergy favors Blue and Teal. Aistrofuri - Deity of Wind Governs over Wind, patron deity of bards and travellers, considered a free spirit that does what it pleases, with myths attributing multiple pranks to its lap. Associated with any land travel, Freedom, Spring, and Chaos. Generally depicted as a young man or a boy clad in billowing layers of loose clothing. Green and Gray were the colors associated with it. Pesca - Deity of Earth Governs over Earth, considered the deity of artists and scholars, a patient deity that goes for long-term benefits over anything rapid. Naturally associated with Artists, Scholars, Autumn, and Balance. Typical depictions are of an old man or woman sitting hunched in a thinking pose, with craggy rocks sprouting from their skin. Uses Brown and Ochre as its colors. Magic Magic can be considered something innate to all the enlightened races, something they would be able to use by instinct as they age. Because of the innate and often personal nature of magical gifts, there are no systematic education systems for mages, more of a general one that mostly teach common sense to budding mages - a task usually handled by their parents for those located far from such an institution. Every single enlightened being in the world has the capability to use magic, but for the vast majority, approximately eight out of ten people, they might only be able to perform minor cantrips or activate storage items. Enough to help with everyday life, but nowhere near enough to make a living or career out of it. For the remaining two-tenths, ninety-nine out of a hundred of the ones in this group would be able to use their magical gifts to do things that allow them to rely on it for their life. The exact nature of what they could do naturally differed as their affinities dictated, but in general mages of this category are the ones considered a ¡°mage¡± by the general populace, and typically made a living either as an artisan of magical items or with more direct applications of their magical gifts, be it by a fire affinity mage burning monsters to cinders, or a light affinity being a sought-after healer for example. The last remaining group - typically only one or two around in every hundred mages - are what the common populace refer to as ¡°Archmages¡±. These are individuals born gifted, with mana reserves far beyond the norm, or with their affinity so in sync with their minds they wield it like their own body, or even both of those cases at once. These are outliers, the cream of the crop, the geniuses, the prodigies, and often the mad wizards too. Most of these individuals either die young, or their name becomes renowned the world over. One notable example - both from history and from the current period - would be the Aideen deVreys, The Silver Maiden, the First Unliving, the First known Mortality-Affinity mage. A person whose feats included having pioneered both a new enlightened race and a new magical affinity. Magic in general are divided into their respective affinities, based on the elements a person was born with. Each person has two affinities flowing through them, one Major and one Minor. Each parent would pass on their Major affinity to their offspring, but which one becomes Major and which becomes Minor in the child seems to be random. The Major/Minor affinity manifests not only on progeny, but also directly influences the path a person¡¯s magical gifts went towards, barring cases where both Major and Minor are of the same Affinity. The Affinities are commonly divided into the Six Primary Elements and the Fifteen Derivative Elements. A primari affinity manifests when both parents pass on the same affinity to their child, or one parent failed to pass on any affinity. Otherwise, a derivative element manifests. Six Primary Elements Life - The Primary affinity of life is known to produce the best healers in the world, particularly common among the clergy - regardless of deity worshipped - but also noted for its lack of general use outside of matters that involve preservation of life itself. Death - Death-mages typically serve as mercenaries or soldiers, where their innate talent for ending lives made itself most useful. Not that everyone of Death affinity need to be one of course, many have made a name for themselves by providing peaceful, painless deaths to the clinically infirm and suffering, while others used their gifts of death to make a living exterminating pests on the behalf of farmers. Fire - Fire-mages are generally seen as offensive casters, which would not be wrong. However, the affinity itself was also prized among those occupations where fine control of flames are beneficial, as such it is not uncommon to see Fire-mages embark on a career as a Blacksmith, or an Alchemist, or a Chef. Water - Water-mages tend to lean to supportive roles, both able to aid their allies and with limited amounts of healing prowess. Extremely popular among seafarers for very obvious reasons, also the most common affinity among merfolk. Wind - Wind-mages usually awaken gifts related to movement, either for themselves or applicable to others. As such, they are prized among travelling merchants for their ability to hasten journeys, a role they often happily accept considering how most wind-based gifts tend to fare mediocrely in combat. Earth - Earth-mages are known for defensive prowess, and also in high demand as builders and architects, roles their natural gifts often make them excel in. Many artisans have emerged from mages of this affinity, the steadying nature of the affinity a beneficial aspect, and the best pottery and ceramics in the world are produced by Earth-mages. Fifteen Derivative Elements As Derivative elements are always composed of a mix of two primaries, it is commonplace to call such a mage by [Their Major element]-[Their Derivative element] for clarity. Not every pairing of the appropriate parents produce derivative elements in the child, for in some cases one parent¡¯s affinity is notably weaker, in which case the child usually grows up with a primary affinity. Mist - Derived from a mix of Fire and Water Affinity. Mist-affinity mages are particularly suited to Illusions specifically, often becoming actors or entertainers to make the most out of their inborn gifts. Lightning - Fire and Wind. A completely offensive affinity, with little room for proper usage outside of combat situations. Lightning-mages are amongst the most desired mages for armies and mercenaries, or for adventuring parties. Magma - Fire and Earth. Another heavily offensive affinity that also proved highly desired by metalworkers, given the ease with which Magma-mages can heat metal to the desired consistency. Light - Fire and Life. If Pure Life affinity makes the best healers in existence, Light-mages are second only to them when it comes to healing prowess. Capable of a lot of utility, but offensively mediocre unless facing undead creatures. Another popular affinity amongst the clergy. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ash - Fire and Death. What most people unfamiliar with the element never expected is that the Ash affinity has some wisps of Time under its yoke. Ash mages are highly offensive, and also capable of causing things to age faster. That makes them as popular amongst mercenaries as they are beyond prized by makers of wine, cheeses, and cured meats. Ice - Water and Wind. A very versatile derivative element suited to both combat and non-combat purposes. Ice mages are prized among the civilian populace for their ability to preserve foodstuffs, while amongst combatants they are equally prized for their versatility in combat. Mud - Water and Earth. Mud mages are versatile, but mostly defensive and supportive. Their gifts also find great use in agriculture, for the mud they create is among one of the best fertilizers money can buy. Blood - Water and Life. Blood mages are somewhat of an anomaly amongst mages, for their gifts often lead to effects that improve their bodies instead of creating anything external. Because of this blood mages tend to be well-versed in melee combat as a whole. Rot - Water and Death. Rot mages receive gifts of decay, one that previously was viewed mostly negatively, considered only useful for violent and insidious purposes. Until one enterprising dwarven rot mage realized that the process where alcohol is created is merely a controlled application of decay. Sand - Wind and Earth. Considered one of the most worthless affinity when it comes to combat purposes, Sand-mages nevertheless proved their worth as researchers and artisans, roles they take to with gusto. Space - Wind and Life. A versatile affinity, and one most people are familiar with, for storage artifacts were the creation of space mages. While of middling prowess in battle, their general usefulness in everything else ensures that space mages are one of the most desired types of mages in existence. Void - Wind and Death. Another purely offensive affinity, Void mages are considered to be very powerful, but also very dangerous, both to their enemies and to themselves. The void they create would consume all matter within it, without care for which side it belonged to. Nature - Earth and Life. An affinity particularly common amongst elves, nature mages are also called Druids, and are capable of healing others, and to an extent, communicate with wildlife and plants. Metal - Earth and Death. One of the more recently discovered affinities - the history books claimed that a long-forgotten dwarf ancestor was the one that awakened it two millenia ago - and particularly popular amongst dwarves, where it is prized greatly. Mortality - Life and Death. The newest affinity. Discovered by the Silver Maiden a millenia ago, Mortality is a rare affinity, arguably the rarest in the world. It is one viewed by many with some trepidation, for it governs over the flow of life. Enlightened Races Many races of creatures coexist on the world today, among which, "enlightened" ones are used to denote those races that possess sentience, and are capable of greater feats of the mind beyond mere instinct. For unenlightened races, they are typically considered either an animal - if they have no access to innate magical abilities, or monsters - if they do. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, all races are perfectly capable of cross-breeding with one another. Human - The human race was a race of rather short-lived people in the world, the oldest known human passing at the age of one-hundred and sixty four only. Because of their short lifespan compared to other races, humans often had their sights set more on shorter-term benefits. An average adult human stood one meter and eighty in height and they mature at around fifteen to twenty years of age. They were arguably the most widespread race in the world, present in most corners of both major continents and most of the islands in the great ocean as well. At least a dozen different human kingdoms are spread all over the world. Elves - A long-lived race, elves, often also called the "fairfolk" have recorded elders of ages past their thousandth year. Despite this longevity however, there had been many recorded cases of elves in their later years ending their own lives, as they had lost sight of the joys of living. Because of this, elves tended to cope with their longevity either by pouring their heart and souls to a subject they are passionate about, or by living their life in many "phases", typically a century or so each, after which they would cut off all ties and start life anew elsewhere. The average Elf stands close to two meters, and they are predisposed to slender builds. Elves mature at roughly the same pace as humans do until they hit puberty, at which point their physical development slows drastically. Typically, they are not considered adults before their fifth decade, and would not hit sexual maturity before their tenth. Due to their longevity, elves have a custom in that should they spawn progeny with a shorter-lived race (which is anyone not another elf), the child will always take their partner''s surname to let their lineage continue. While elves mostly lived in smaller communities centered on forests all over the world, the Elven Dominion in the Great Emerald Forest in Alcidea was rightfully considered the center of elven culture. Dwarves - The Children of the Earth, Dwarves typically live up to five or six centuries. They were relatively short, maybe one meter forty on average, but tended to be as wide as they are tall. As they preferred the snug comforts of the subterranean world, most dwarven citadels were either built underground, or inside a mountain. Dwarves in general tended to be very passionate about artisanal crafts of all variety, and have produced many of the world''s most renowned artisans in history. Due to their preference of underground dwellings, dwarves very rarely fought wars over territory with other races, and it is not uncommon for a city of another race to be built literally on top of a dwarven citadel. Dwarves too, were a widespread race, present basically anywhere in the world, with their largest settlement being the Grand Citadel underneath the Borean mountains. Orcs - A nomadic warrior-cultured race, orcs used to be considered monsters in the ancient times. A misunderstanding that quickly solved itself once the issue with the language barrier was solved by mutual learning. Short-lived, an orc rarely saw their hundredth year. They matured fast, being full-grown adults by the age of twelve at the latest, and generally maintains their physical prime for most of their life, but in the final decade or thereabouts of their life they rapidly weaken and age until their life itself withers away. On average, a male orc would stand tall at one meter ninety, with a predisposition to a bulky, muscular build, skin with hues ranging from grey to green, and prominent tusks. Due to their nomadic lifestyle, orcs preferred to live on the vast plains in small, tribal congregations. However, these days many orcish tribes have taken their nomadic ways around the world, as they often lived as travelling merchants or entertainers, and thus the race is similarly widespread all over the world. While there are no formal orcish nations around, any area with several orcish tribes living there would usually have a Conclave, where the chiefs of the respective tribes discuss policy for the collective. Goblins - Another race once mistaken for monsters in the distant past. Goblins were small beings, even adults barely topping one meter twenty, and while they reach adulthood within six years, for a goblin to see their sixth decade of life would be considered a miracle. Highly curious and greedy by nature, goblins are known to be tinkerers, explorers, adventurers, as well as possessing a reputation as shrewd merchants. They also have a reputation for mischief, and while humans tend to lean to the short term, goblins thought exclusively about the short term. Most goblins have yellowish or brown skin, with the majority either shaving their heads bald, or sporting hairstyles that would cause anyone that saw it do a double take. They could be found in most countries, and at least three goblin kingdoms existed in history. Merfolk - An aquatic race, the merfolk had no territory on land, with their settlements located on the ocean floor instead. While they were aquatic in nature, a merfolk was perfectly capable of functioning on land, though frequent access to water was a must throughout the duration. They also frequented coastal cities regularly to trade, and in some cases it has been known of some merfolk to have indulged in "land tourism", where they visited the lands for extended periods. Merfolk lived about two and a half to three centuries on average, blue to grey skin the norm among them, with webbed fingers and toes and gills. They had no hair, but crests grew along their spines and ended near their forehead. Males typically have a few large crests, while females have more smaller crests. Nobody was certain on how extensive the merfolk kingdoms are beneath the ocean, for other races have at best visited the merfolk settlements close to the shores. Therians - A race whose origin was shrouded in mystery. Therians were, for the lack of a better word, sentient animals with humanoid builds. Some had speculated that they came to be from a mad wizard''s experiments long ago, while others joked that they resulted from shapeshifting nature-loving druids who took things too far. They came in all shapes and sizes, and their lifespan fluctuated greatly, dependant on what animal they most resembled. Originally native to the Ur-Teros Continent, some had immigrated to Alcidea by this age, but they were still less common there compared to their home continent, where a Therian Empire stands. Unliving - The youngest enlightened race. Unliving are essentially, undead beings that by some manner of providence, maintained the use of their faculties and personality. Also the one race unable to reproduce with any other race, or reproduce naturally at all for that matter, due to being technically dead. Very little was known and much was speculated about how they came to be, with the first unliving recorded in history appearing a millenia ago. What was known, was that dying people with a very strong attachment to life seemed to have the highest odds of "rising" as one post-mortem. In a sense, the unliving were not a race of their own, as beings of any race could rise as one. Their numbers were miniscule compared to other races in the world, maybe less than six thousand individuals in the current age, but they were functionally immortal unless brought to a violent end usually by way of torture so gruesome it made them gave up on life. Or if they simply grew tired of living. They typically either maintained their corporeal form in pristine shape - either by the aid of a fleshweaver, or by food consumption for use as energy. Some had entirely done away with their corporeal forms. In this form they existed as souls anchored to an object, or most commonly, their own skeletons instead, although typically the ones that chose this approach are powerful mages. Unliving tend to delve deep into research, making good use of their immortality, and many are employed by kingdoms all over the world for that very purpose. The greatest concentration of unliving is located in the Magic City of Paradise, a city known for housing many of the world''s best institutes of magical research, and counting nearly one-third of all current unliving amongst its inhabitants. Chapter 103 - Great Emerald Forest, Past and Present "When one sees the elegant inhabitants of the Great Emerald Forest these days, they would have difficulty in describing what they saw other than grace and beauty. Yet the very same people that nowadays embody grace and beauty, and often kindness, had in the past been a far different people. Meet an elf from a thousand years ago, and they would not offer you hospitality and kindness. They would slaughter you and feast on your corpse instead." Oliven Eradsun, Historian employed by the Levain royal court. Among the many stories her late father had told Cal in the past, other than the stories of his travels, he also often told her of the sins of the race he hailed from once she was older. Those tales were always somber and serious, and the morale her father had driven home, was how the current elven society''s predilections were often efforts to make up for their ancestor''s sins. An example her father often cited was how the current elven society had centered themselves around the great groves of ¨¦g?risv?nov?¨¥n?l, or usually called the "Great Emerald Forest" in common. While smaller societies do exist, typically in groves of their own, the vast majority of elves in existence called ¨¦g?risv?nov?¨¥n?l their home. Supposedly in the past they had been a far more tribal society, and rarely if ever mingled between tribes. Most contact between tribes were that of war, and relations rarely grew warmer. It was when the world around them developed and pushed them back that they started to be forced to interact with one another more often. Which led to the nearly unified race that existed today. The way many elves embraced vegetarianism was also another thing they chose to adopt to "atone" for what their ancestors did. Cal''s father, Calais Edrunviel, had lived a very long life. In fact, he was born among the first generation of elves who adapted to a more "civilized" way of life. Elves of the distant past used to be feared as savage raiders, who were known to not leave even corpses behind, as they ate them with a perverse joy. They had practiced cannibalism, and believed that the act of eating a brave foe would have transferred part of their strength and courage to the devourer. The current elves'' frequent adoption of vegetarianism were seen and understood by most as an effort to portray themselves in a new light compared to their savage ancestors. And with how long elves lived, those ancestors might be as recent as a parent to them. Similarly, their pursuit of grace and hospitality were conscious efforts, made to distance themselves from their savage past. Perhaps those born of more recent generation truly lived their lives that way, as they had not known much about the more savage past, but those of the elder generation were well aware of the burdens of their past. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The Great Emerald Forest, where Cal was headed to next, was the greatest expanse of forest in all the world. It covered nearly the entirety of north-eastern Alcidea, and provided an approximate five hundred thousand elves with homes. Further to the south of the forest lay the metropolis of Alfheim, one of the largest cities in Alcidea, often credited to be where the elves started to embrace civilization. The city was situated amongst some of the most fertile lands in eastern Alcidea, and housed a great many farmers, who together made it the breadbasket of the region. Cal would not head there this time, as she had planned to trek to the north instead, as per her talk with Aideen. She made her preparations for departure, and informed Ying Xiao that she was not to slack on her training during Cal''s absence. The girl''s serious attitude made Cal feel more at ease, and with Aideen to take up the baton and help train the girl, she was in as good a hand as was possible. When her students returned to Levain near the end of their winter break, Fheeri and Fyodor went along with them. Cal watched with some melancholy as Ying Xiao bid farewell to her friends. The girl was still stiff, and far more formal than most, but she had opened up tremendously compared to when Cal first met her months ago. That night she discussed with Aideen and both agreed that they would introduce Ying Xiao to others and let the girl see the world some. Aideen too had grown fond of the girl, and volunteered to take the girl around on vacations around the world from time to time, for which Cal thanked her. She herself departed the next morning, as she packed her belongings and headed for the gate relay building. With firm steps she went through the gate that led to the Great Emerald Forest. The scenery that greeted her on the other side surprised her. Unlike Levain, Paradise, or Al-Shan, the Great Emerald Forest had not kept their gate in a building. Instead it was placed in a large open plaza. All around the plaza Cal saw many other portals, all of them larger in size to the one she came from. They had to be the famed "Ether Road", the one and only large-scale teleportation gate network in the world. From some gates, she saw caravans of wagons emerge, while others disappeared into another gate. Young elven guards checked the credentials of those that arrived once they left the gate, and waved through those already verified. Cal followed suit and walked away from the gate towards the center of the plaza, where many guards busied themselves with verification of travelers. She quickly gained the attention of a young elven guard as she approached, an elf probably only her own age, one that only recently entered adulthood by elven standards. The young guard asked for her credentials, and Cal produced her identification tags, as well as the signet ring Aideen gave her. She watched as the young guard grew wide-eyed at the signet ring and her adventurer tag, before he politely returned them to her and bid her to wait for a moment. Apparently he was not qualified to confirm her credentials and needed the aid of his superior. She waited for less than ten minutes before the young guard came back, but by then she no longer paid attention to him. No, all her attention were directed to the older elf that had followed the young guard. The female elf wore clothes that denoted her higher rank and status, but those were not what attracted Cal''s attention. What attracted her attention was the female elves'' snow-white hair, pale skin, and red eyes, so much like her own, as well as the features that looked so much like a younger, feminine version of her late father. Apparently the realization was mutual, for she saw the female elf also stared at her in surprise, and recognition. Chapter 104 - Another Unexpected Reunion "How often descendants of an elf that travels and lived many lives might meet each other? That depends entirely on luck. Most elves who lived their lives that way rarely if ever spoke of their previous lives to their new families, and with how far they often travelled? Unless the descendants travel around a lot themselves the chances of such a meeting is remote at best." - High Elder Nydia Celearwen, of the Great Emerald Forest. Both women stared at each other in silence as the young guard Cal first met looked at Cal, then at his superior, with a look of someone who had no idea what to do. Fortunately for him, his superior gestured at him to go away, and he was all too happy to follow that order. He quickly scooted away back to a vacant post and went back to his job as the two women were left in relative privacy. "Does the name Calais Edrunviel mean anything to you?" Asked the elven woman once they were alone. "I knew it," replied Cal to the question. "He was my father. And if I guessed correctly, yours as well, am I correct?" "That is indeed the case. I am Idania Edrunviel. It is a pleasure to meet you, sister," said the elven woman as she hugged Cal and kissed her cheeks. A gesture Cal returned in kind. "I had suspected when I saw your face, but was not certain. It had been centuries since he left. Where do you hail from, sister mine?" "Celeysria Ambervale. I hailed from the Al-Shan Archipelago. Father lived his final years there with my mother," answered Cal. "He passed away half a century ago." "I¡­ am saddened to hear that, but given that he would have broken the record of oldest living elf by decades otherwise, it also does not come as a surprise," said Idania. In the slight lull to the conversation that followed the somber topic, Cal took a good look at her newly found half-sister. Idania was taller than her - not a surprise since she was a full-blooded elf - and also looked notably more mature in age. Since she was born before Khal-Est, Cal assumed her to be in the four hundreds or thereabouts in age. "Where are my manners, come, sister, and welcome to ¨¦g?risv?nov?¨¥n?l," said Idania after a while, as she invited Cal to come with her. "Please stay the night at my place. Mother would be ecstatic to meet you for certain." "How old are you?" Cal asked out of curiosity. If Idania''s mother still lived chances are she''s younger than her father by quite a bit. "I will be three-hundred and eighty two come summer," Idania replied honestly. "You, sister? Mother is six hundred ten if you wonder." Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "This will be my one hundredth and twenty fifth year," answered Cal. "How long had our father stayed here?" "Two centuries, give or take," said Idania with a smirk. "He made quite a spectacle when he wooed mother supposedly, even made mortal enemies with mother''s other suitor back then. Then he made it even worse when he left three centuries ago." "Mother always told those stories with such fondness," ruminates the older elven woman. "She would be very happy to see you. She had long accepted that father would not have stayed with her forever, yet she cherished their time together regardless." "We have another half-brother, you know?" Cal pointed out to her sister. "We do!? That''s wonderful news! Mother would be so happy to hear that. Where does he live?" "Khal-Est lives in Gal-Morogh, in the orclands. He also has a son and grandchildren who live in Levain," answered Cal. Then her lips curled in amusement as she continued. "He had not known that he had siblings until I ran into him back then." "Oh this is rich. Wait until mother hears this," Idania said with joy in her voice. She had a happy skip in her step as they walked. ----------------------------- If you are reading this *anywhere* other than Royalroad, Scribblehub, or the Author''s Patreon, you are reading on a filthy pirate site. Please do not support pirate sites that pirate from already free sites and head to the original place to support the author instead. ----------------------------- As they walked Cal marveled at the architecture of the "city". ¨¦g?risv?nov?¨¥n?l was less a town, and more a sprawling metropolis built amongst the trees of the forest. Instead of roads, walkways were crafted from intertwined branches that grew straight from the trees, which despite their fragile appearance, easily held the weight of entire fully loaded caravans with ease. Rope ladders led to different levels of the city, with the ground level being where the elves foraged and farmed, as well as hunted in the forest. Cal had emerged on the middle level, which was where most governmental and business buildings and workshops were located. The upper level was where the elves had their residences. Cal saw rows of houses built to the sides of the trees. The houses looked less like they were built, and more that they were grown into their current shapes, a showcase of elvish expertise with nature magic. It had not taken a long trip before they reached Idania''s house. It was common for multiple generations of a family to share a house in elven culture, so Cal was not surprised that Idania''s mother lived with her. When Idania opened the door to the house, they entered straight into the living and dining room. Idania''s mother sat there on a rocking chair while she peeled vegetables, and raised her eyes at the sound of the door. Her eyes went wide when she spotted Cal. After Idania introduced Cal to her mother, the old elven woman stood up and embraced Cal warmly, an embrace which Cal returned. She introduced herself as Unitia, but told Cal to just call her "aunt Tia". The three of them chatted happily about their respective lives, and Unitia downright commanded her daughter that they should arrange for a family reunion when she heard about Khal-Est. An idea that Idania seemed equally eager for. A slight interruption to their conversation came when two young half-elven girls entered the house. Idania introduced them as her daughters Elaina, who turned seventy this year, and Sidonie, who was forty two. Her husband, a human, had passed three decades ago when Sidonie was still a child. Both girls quickly grew close to their new aunt, and Elaina in particular was riveted at Cal''s tales of her travels. It turned out the girl had always wanted to travel as well since she was young. In her Cal sensed a kindred spirit. They talked until Idania came and served dinner - she had gone and took over the cooking to allow her mother to spend time with Cal instead - at which point they stopped to eat. Dinner was a simple thick stew of vegetables and smoked meats, with flaky, crispy flatbreads on the side. Idania''s family was not one of the ones that adopted vegetarian habits it seemed. Chapter 105 - Family Time "Don''t ever let an elf hold a grudge with ye. They don''t forget, and tend to pay it back viciously. Bloody knife-eared buggers." - Dwarven saying. Dawn arrived the next day with a gentle light. The leafy canopy of the forest allowed light through, at just the right amount. Neither too bright, nor too dim, and soon after the sun rose over the horizon the dark forest teemed with activity again. Early in the morning, Cal sparred with Idania in the small private garden the family possessed. It was mostly a patch of soil layered over the foundation of woven tree branches, on which the family simply sowed some grass, and flowers at the corners. Idania usually used the garden to exercise, which was why they sparred there. Idania herself was what the elves called Eanve-Nkurth, or "Bladesinger" in the common tongue. She was born ambidextrous and possessed excellent dexterity even for an elf, qualities that allowed blades to truly sing in her hands. Her weapon of choice were a pair of identical swords, each roughly a meter in length, with the blade as four-fifth of the length. The swords, an elven type called an Osuntaph, resembled the daggers Cal bought in Knallzog. They were more slim and slender in construction, but also had a forward-curved single edged blade. That Idania''s blades were craftes from pure mithril was evidence on how well off their family was. She herself held a post as one of the many leaders of the city''s defense force, while her mother, while now retired from duty, had held a post as an active council member for a century in the recent past. "That halberd''s shaft is father''s old staff, is it not?" Idania asked as Cal parried her blades with a spin of her weapon. To the side of the garden her two daughters watched enraptured at the spar. "It is so," Cal said as she drove her sister back with a swing of her weapon. "Father had asked a travelling dwarven smith to craft it for me when he was in his final years. The head used to be his inner mesh armor." "I envy you for having such a nice keepsake~" said the older woman with a laugh as she dodged again from a backswing of Cal''s weapon. "I see you had more work done to it since though?" "Had the head coated in adamant recently," answered Cal as she entangled one of Idania''s blades with between the spearhead and crescent blade of her halberd, and blocked the other with the shaft. "It had started to take damage from frequent sparring against high purity adamant steel weapons." "Who do you even spar with? Those are pretty rare with how expensive the dwarves charge for them," asked Idania as she teleported her entangled blade a little to the side, caught it before it fell, and swung at Cal from the new position. "I have students," Cal said as she blocked the blow with a tilt of her weapon''s head. "Might be a bit soft on them, but I couldn''t bear seeing them run around with worse when I could give them better." Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "You must really like them, huh?" Idania said as she disengaged to avoid a blow from the halberd''s shaft. "That must''ve cost a fortune." "I am¡­ quite fond of them, yes," Cal said as she took a step back to avoid a sudden double thrust from her sister. "It was a bit like the feeling you get when you watch children grow before your eyes." "That is often how it is yes," said Idania in reply while she turned her thrust into crossed slashes. The older elven woman had a slight blush on her face as she continued. "I had my own share of disciples over my centuries. More than a few I grew fond of. One more than the others." "Ooooh, their father?" Asked Cal as she used her halberd to catch both of Idania''s blades right as they crossed. Her eyes gave a teasing glance to her nieces by the side. "Yes, he was," Idania looked to the side as if she heard something at this point, and made no moves to disentangle her blades. "We might want to call it a day, mother is already working on breakfast so we better freshen up before she''s done." "Fine with me," Cal said as she let go of Idania''s blades and withdrew her halberd. "Good spar, sister." "You are very good yourself, especially for your age. I don''t think many in the defense force would be your opponent at all," praised Idania as she placed her blades back in her storage and led the way. "Children, help your grandmother in the kitchen, we will be back soon." Elaina and Sidonie snapped a smart salute to their mother - a balled right fist placed over the heart - before they turned and went into the house. Clearly both kids idolized their mother quite a bit. Where Idania led Cal to was a public bath. Private baths were nonexistent in ¨¦g?risv?nov?¨¥n?l. The public bath itself was more an artificial lake, fed to by a waterfall that flowed from up high in the canopy. Many elves of both genders and all ages were already bathing there when they arrived. "That''s rare," said Idania after they shed off their clothes and went into the water. "What is?" Cal asked from next to her sister, both of them naked as the day they were born in the crystal clear waist deep water. "Usually foreigners have some reaction when they first visit a bath here," Idania explained. "You don''t seem to have any though." "Communal baths are also the norm in Al-Shan, so it''s nothing new to me," said Cal as she shrugged her shoulders and walked under the waterfall. She allowed the flowing water to wash off her for a good while before she walked back out. Idania just grumbled about a missed opportunity until they finished with their bath. After they had breakfast - a porridge made from maize, seasoned with herbs and spices, with chunks of minced meat within, as well as some fresh fruits, all washed down with honey wine - the whole family insisted on showing Cal around the place. The forest itself was far too large an area for Cal to properly visit the entirity of, not if she wanted to reach the north shore by summer''s first month. Her plan was to check out the central, eastern or western, and the northern regions only for this visit. The rest she could view on her next visit. She saw elven farms, either placed on the occassional clearings on the forest floor, or more commonly high among the branches, on artificial plots like the one Idania''s garden was on. Many rare herbs she recognized seemed commonplace in ¨¦g?risv?nov?¨¥n?l, even those known to be very finicky about where they grow. They visited what passed for an elven eatery for lunch, ran and owned by a friend of Idania''s. The younger female elf who owned the place greeted them with all smiles, and brought them her specialty dishes. Skewers of spiced grilled mushrooms with long stalks were brought out, piping hot and straight from the grill. Also served was a refreshing salad of fruits and greens, drenched in an oily and vinegary sauce, as well as copious amounts of fresh fruit, many of which Cal had never seen before. Cal had nibbled on a hairy brown fruit that revealed a verdant green interior when peeled, that had a pleasant tanginess to it, when the owner came back with several steaming cups in her hands. Inside those cups were a thick brown liquid, with some red powder sprinkled on it. Cal tasted the smooth and thick beverage, and found a delicate yet deep bittersweetness, cut with a tinge of spiciness from the powder. Idania said the drink was made from the seeds of the cacao fruit, as she pointed out an eaten cacao pod on the table as an example. The extended family had such a good time with each other that none of them noticed the pair of eyes that were riveted to them since they sat at the eatery. Eyes that brimmed with resentment, and deep seated jealousy. Merry christmas! Okay, I''m pretty certain that by now it''s the 25th everywhere, so I wish to say the following to all my readers who celebrate and otherwise: Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Many extra thanks for those who have helped monetarily support me to allow me to write for a living! Love you all! May this following year be better than this current mess of a year we got, and that all goes well for our lives as a whole! Sincerely, Avitue. A Heartfelt Offering of a Middle Finger to Scrapers First and foremost, allow me to preface this by saying this to all scrapers: "Merry Christmas and fuck all your mothers, motherfuckers!" In case that wasn''t obvious from my author''s notes, though if you''re reading this elsewhere you won''t see those because they scrape those away, the above lines are directed towards all the owners of scraping aggregator sites that pirates off already free novels from Royal Road and the likes. Honestly, I don''t mind aggregators who rip off shitholes like webnovel or the likes, I applaud them even. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. But ripping off already free content? And then having the gall to paywall parts of it? That''s just a fucking new low, man, and utterly disgusting. If you are a reader and read this message on any site other than Royal Road or Scribblehub, please do consider reading this novel there instead, or even better, help support the author instead of some shameless pirates who had already stooped so low their existence would be below sewage. Also in case whichever pirate site scraped this happens to be chinese-based... FREE HONGKONG! WINNIE THE POOH! TIANANMEN FOREVER! And may you dear pirate site owners all get your butts fucked by a dog or something. Sincerely, Avitue Chapter 106 - Ugly Old Jealousy, A Gauntlet Cast "The concept of honor duels existed in most cultures, but few took them as seriously as the elves did. To challenge someone to a duel was generally only done under extreme circumstances, or when the parties involved were mortal enemies. Most of these duels were also fought to the death, a result participants cannot complain about. They knew the risks when they picked up the gauntlet." - Desiree Qastrafia, Elven sociologist "How could you do this, Unitia? How could you smile so while proof of his infidelity stood right beside you!?" Said an old male elf with a tone of accusation. The old elf had barged in front of them shortly after they left the eatery, and the loud voice he used attracted most nearby elves'' attention. Cal had not failed to notice that most of the older ones amongst the elves that noticed just shook their heads sadly at the spectacle. "What I choose to do is my business, Bastille. Who do you think you are to meddle with my family issues?" Replied Idania''s mother with a voice as cold as ice. She confronted the old elf and stared him down while he also stared at her eyes in seething silence. "Who is that, and what''s his issue?" Cal asked to Idania during the staredown in a voice so low that not even the children near Idania caught wind of it. "That''s Bastille Orendia, former leader of the defense force, and also that other suitor of mom''s I once told you about," Idania replied in an equally low whisper. "He always bitched about dad when I joined the force and he was still there, but it was never this loud back then. Or this public." "I guess I might be the one to blame for this," Cal said after she digested Idania''s words. "Or he''s just being a cranky old mean bastard like he is wont to be-" "Why won''t you see! That son of a whore Calais just toyed with you and left you for others! Look at that mongrel he spawned!" Yelled the old elf suddenly, as apparently he and Unitia had held their own private conversation, which clearly had not ended well. "Hey! Cease that insult on my father, or-" said Idania in anger when she heard those words. "Or what, brat!? Do you dare step into the fields of honor with me as your opponent!?" Yelled the old man back before Idania finished her words. Cal saw that her sister actually shirked a bit at the question. More importantly, she saw small pieces of metal appear out of thin air behind the old man - a magical phenomena usually seen when a competent mage lost control over their emotions -, which was all the assurance she needed to make her decision. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "Yes, I do." Cal stated very bluntly, in an irritated tone. The way that old elf acted got on her nerves, especially the way he treated her sister and mother. "Where and when?" Everyone went silent all at once upon hearing her words. Her nieces looked at her with awe, while Idania and Unitia looked at Cal with wide eyes full of surprise and worry both. Even Bastille stared and gawked at her at a moment with disbelief, before he schooled his face into a cruel sneer, and looked at Cal as if she was his prey. His tone was mocking as he answered her. "Tomorrow at noon, at the central dueling fields. I am at least merciful enough to let you make your peace on this last night of yours." Then the old elf turned around and left while he laughed out loud mockingly until he left their range of hearing. ------------------------------- "Sister, do you know what you just did!?" Idania asked with worry when they returned home after the episode. Sadness and trepidation both evident on her face, while her mother walked absentmindedly, as she still had a hard time processing everything that had just transpired. "Challenged him to an honor duel, yes," Cal replied all too nonchalantly. "If I remember my elven customs right, they are usually fought to the death." "Sister, Bastille is the former leader of the defense force because he is one of our best warriors!" Shouted Idania with some exasperation at Cal''s nonchalance. "He is even a war archmagus to boot! Why would you do such a foolhardy thing as to challenge him to a duel!?" "A war archmagus of the metal element," Cal simply stated in a very matter of fact way. "Death-Metal if I see it right, isn''t that so?" "He is, yes. How are you so calm about this!? This is your life you just peddled away!" "No, it is his life he might squander tomorrow," stated Cal with confidence. Before Idania said anything else, she raised one hand and offered it to her half-sister. "Probe me. That will answer the question you likely have now." Idania did as she was told, and so did Unitia, who snapped out of her daze. Cal allowed their mana to probe around, and noticed how both of them gasped when they felt her mana reservoir. Unitia was a middling mage of the wind element, while Idania had little talent with magic - the trick she did where she teleported her weapon a few centimeters to the side about the most she could do - which was why she focused on swordplay instead. When both of them felt her massive mana reservoir - many, many times the size of their own - and the element that flowed through it, both elven women came to a sudden realization at the same time. "Celeysria, child," started Unitia carefully, her hand still on Cal''s wrist. "You''re an archmagus!?" "I am," replied Cal simply. "Water and life¡­ Blood affinity?" Asked Idania with some wonderment in her voice. "Indeed," said Cal with a nod. "I haven''t had the chance to tell you of my past before I went on my travels, but it had not been entirely peaceful." "How much must you have suffered, for your power to grow to such an extent at your age, child?" Asked Unitia sadly. Unlike her daughter - who had accepted her limited magical capabilities and had no longer pursued it -, she was more familiar with the theory behind blood mages. The one thing most of those agreed on, was that pain and suffering were often the greatest catalyst of growth for them. The saying about blood mages went: "Whatever does not kill them, makes them stronger in the end." And for Cal to have reached archmagus at a hundred and twenty five, meant that she had likely gone through her share of pain and suffering. Chapter 107 - Honor Duel "Despite its habit of ending a fight by the death of a participant, elven honor duels were quite strictly regulated. Not only were confirmation and agreement required from both parties, but their next of kin were also made to sign documents that acknowledged the duel as valid - and thus not a just cause for vengeance. Even selection of weapons and armor were limited strictly, with both parties only allowed to carry equivalent amounts of weapons and armor. That last rule came into place after the one time a participant wore full plate mail made of mithril and just demolished his opponent with utter disregard." - Desiree Qastrafia, Elven sociologist. Right as the sun reached its highest point the next day, Cal walked calmly and entered the dueling grounds. The area itself was little more than a flat square floor, weaved from tightly interwoven branches that were much more tightly woven and far thicker than what she saw so far. It made sense, for after all, the floor of a dueling arena needed to be able to take impacts after all. It would have been hilarious otherwise if the ground crumbled away while combatants traded blows on top of it. Unitia''s whole family followed behind Cal. They were somewhat reassured by the revelation that she was an Archmagus caliber blood mage, but they still worried. Her opponent had four whole centuries of experience and training over her after all. Said opponent stared at her from the opposite side of the field, with a cruel grin full of self-assurance on his face. Once they both arrived, two older elves - Unitia told Cal that they were members of the council of elders - walked towards them, one to each party. The old elf - Cal estimated him to be well in his seventh century, if not eighth - politely greeted Unitia, then handed over a parchment sheet for her to peruse. Out of curiosity Cal took a peek at the formal document as well while Unitia unfurled and read it. Its contents were in elven script, which she had fortunately learned from her late father, so she understood what it said. The document was basically a formal agreement, which stated that Cal agreed to participate in the honor duel against Bastille, and should she perish in said duel her next of kin would not pursue the matter. Once Cal read through the document, she borrowed the quill and ink from Unitia and signed her name in the given space. Unitia had also already signed hers in a different place for the next of kin. They then handed the document to the elder elf, who checked it and nodded, satisfied. The two elder elves then showed their documents to the other side as proof. Cal noticed that Bastille''s document had no signature on the next of kin section and queried. The answer she received from the elder - to which Unitia concurred - was that the old elf had no family, and thus no next of kin. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Spectators had gathered around the square, as was expected, and along with them came other members of the council of elders. Apparently it was tradition for the council to witness should one who was presently an elder or used to serve as one get embroiled in an honor duel. Both Unitia and Bastille had served as elders before. The old, slender figure that led the elders was someone Cal recognized, the High Elder Nydia, who she once saw in Paradise''s festival. The high elder''s eyes also flitted with recognition when she noticed Cal, but she said nothing. Nydia walked into the center of the square and beckoned both combatants to approach her. When they gathered in the center, the high elder confirmed once more their desire to carry out the honor duel, and asked if neither would reconsider. "Very well," said the high elder after both sides affirmed their decision. "Bastille Orendia, as the challenged party, you have the right to determine the rules and amount of weapons allowed in this duel. Make your decision known." "Everything allowed," said Bastille with a sneer. He then brought out a dozen steel ingots from his storage ring, placed them on the ground, then tossed the ring to the high elder. He patted the strange flat whip he had rolled up at the side of his waist while he said his next words. "These are enough for me. Nothing else is needed." "You have seen what weapons and armor your opponent chose, Celeysria Ambervale," said Nydia as she turned to Cal. Bastille had no other weapons on him and wore a leather and bone lamellar armor over his torso, as well as forearm and shin guards of the same materials. "You may proceed to choose an equivalent amount. Your storage artifact will be passed to your next of kin for safekeeping no matter what happens." "Understood," answered Cal as she drew out her long crescent-bladed halberd from her storage. Some sharp-eyed elves amongst the spectators recognized the dark glint of pure adamant and gasped audibly. She then pulled out her two shortswords, showed them to Nydia, and sheathed them by the sides of her waist. For her recurved dwarven knives, she brought all four out and sheathed two behind her back, and another two besides her thighs. Cal also brought out a dozen throwing darts, and secured them in slots meant for them in her belt. A suit of sea drake leather lamellar armor was worn over her torso. "I believe that will do for me," Cal said as she carefully removed then handed Nydia her pendant. Nydia nodded and carefully held onto Cal''s pendant, then she signaled the two combatants to head towards opposing corners of the square. She herself erected a strong barrier of wind - one that would have deflected stray projectiles away from the spectators without blocking vision - once she stepped outside the square. "Begin!" Echoed Nydia''s voice within the square, as the high elder used magic to carry her voice past the barrier. From their respective corners of the square, Cal and Bastille assumed their stances. Bastille unfurled the rolled weapon he had. Now that he had it unfurled Cal realized that it wasn''t a strangely flat whip, but was a thin, very long, very flexible sword instead. One that measured at least three meters in length. The twelve ingots of steel he brought levitated into the air as they flattened themselves. Within moments, what used to be blocky ingots of steel took the form of flat wheels, with serrated, razor sharp edges. The twelve floating wheels flew around Bastille as they were tethered to him by his mana. On her side, Cal shifted her halberd to her left hand, and with her right she drew out one of her shortswords that Aelfried had gifted her. Much like her knives and the weapons she ordered for her students, the narrow triangular blade was crafted out of high purity adamant steel, and she recently had them all re-enchanted as well. As razor sharp metal wheels whizzed towards Cal, so had the battle begun. Happy New Year! All right, pretty sure it''s January 1 regardless of Timezone by now, so I would like to wish all my readers a Happy New Year! May the new year to come be a better one, unlike the past two shitty years we had. For me, the past four months has been a transition, from working as an office drone, wageslaving while barely making do from one month to another to writing at home and actually being able to spare money to eat something better than instant noodles more than a couple times a month. Many thanks to all my kind patrons and readers for making this possible. Hope you all remain in good health and enjoy your lives in this new year we''re having! The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Sincerely, Avitue Chapter 183 - Lending a Shoulder to Rely on "No person is an island that stands alone and apart from everyone else. Most everyone could do with having a shoulder to lean on, or even just an ear to listen to their woes." - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden. When Cal woke up refreshed the next day, she walked down the stairs and found that most of the house had already gathered at the table for breakfast. Ying Xiao was already eating, still as timid as usual even around Cal''s family. That said, the presence of the family pets had allowed the young girl to relax more. She was seated between Sidonie and Leila, and their respective animals were all too happy to act spoiled with the young girl in the hopes of treats. Cal couldn''t help but smirk when she saw how the young girl gave in exasperatedly after Sidonie''s pet malamute stood on its hind legs and laid its forepaws on Ying Xiao''s lap, while its tongue lolled as the dog snuggled up to her. She gave it a slice of smoked meat from her plate, which the dog all too happily accepted. With a smile, Cal took a seat by the table, and helped herself to some of the breakfast set on a large platter at the center of the table. It was a simple meal of eggs scrambled with potatoes, tomatoes, onions, herbs, spices, and lots of butter, served with some of the flaky, chewy flatbreads the elves favored. "Thanks for the meal, aunt Tia," said Cal to the smiling Unitia after she took a bite. It was rather easy to tell who did the cooking, as none of the younger half elves were that good at it, which only left the adults. Out of them only Unitia cooked traditional elvish cuisines like these well, as Idania wasn''t that good at it. "You''re welcome," replied the old elf as she smiled beatifically. Apparently Unitia had been in a very good mood every since the family decided to stick together. Vark and Krystal still resided in Levain, but they were a mere gate jump away, so it was convenient for either side to visit often. Her mood was further lifted when Mimia and Drietven had visited back at spring, although the idea of meeting someone who was literally their ancestor was a bit unnerving for the younger generations. They had also promised to visit more often after they went back. "So how long are you staying this time?" asked Unitia when Cal went for seconds of the meal. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Likely a bit longer, until the second month of spring or thereabouts," replied Cal as she set down the refilled plate before her. Her trip this year was notably shorter, as she had waited for Leila''s graduation in spring before she departed, and they returned before winter had set in. In the upcoming year, she would likely wait until Levain''s spring graduation again because her other erstwhile students had expressed their wishes to tag along. Giselle had graduated early, just a couple months ago at the beginning of autumn, whereas Willa and Ognar would do the same next spring. Fheeri would also join them by that time. The course for hunters and trackers at the institute normally took four years, but her prior life in the goblin plains coupled with her natural endowments as a therian meant that Fheeri could simply skip over half the classes as she was already experienced with those subjects. She too would graduate early next spring. But where others joined, yet others would depart. Cal remembered that this would be Ying Xiao''s last year in training before she returned to Al-Shan. She thus decided that she would work with the girl to cover her weaknesses and further hone her skills in the short few months they had. After the meal was concluded, Cal gave free reign to her nieces to do whatever they felt like, while she took Ying Xiao with her as they left the house. Skillwise Ying Xiao had grown tremendously over the past couple of years, though she still rather lacked in experience. What troubled Cal more was the way the girl had reacted back at the slaver''s dungeon. She clearly still had a deep seated trauma from the past she would rather not talk about, and while Cal was not unfamiliar with trauma herself, she was wholly unfamiliar with this sort of trauma. Because of that, she dropped Ying Xiao off at Shi-Huang and Erycea''s place, and told the girl to train well, while she herself headed elsewhere. Cal took a straight path towards Aideen''s mage tower, as she figured that the unliving woman might have some ideas on how to handle such matters given how long she had lived. Fortunately, Cal found Aideen in her tower, as the unliving woman practiced her weapon skills. Cal had to blink in wonderment when it dawned on her what Aideen did for practice. The unliving woman whirled her three-sectioned staff around her body so fast it looked like a blur, despite the blades that jutted out from its ends. Before her was a cut of log a meter and a half long, which stood upright unsupported. Aideen practiced her strikes on said log, each strike so measured that they chipped off exactly the amount and shape of wood she wanted. Even as Cal came in, the rough shape of a scuplture that depicted a wolf as it howled had begun to take shape. Cal chose not to disturb Aideen during her training, and just stood to the side as she watched. She knew the unliving woman noticed her entrance, as Aideen had turned her head and nodded at her, yet her strikes just kept flowing, her movements fluid yet structured, almost like a dance. By the time Aideen was done, the top half of the log had turned into a wooden sculpture of a wolf, as it howled towards the moon. Its quality not much worse than what actual sculptors usually managed. It had baffled Cal that Aideen managed to create such a piece of work using her unwieldy weapon, a feat that spoke of her inhuman levels of skill with it. "So, you wanted to talk about something I reckon?" Aideen asked Cal as she rejoined her weapon into its staff form and folded the blades in via some clever mechanisms, before placing it in her own storage artifact. Chapter 184 - Seeking Opinions when One Draws a Blank "Nobody is perfect. There is no such thing as a person who knows everything, is good at everything, and thus can handle everything on their own. Those too ashamed to seek outside opinions on subjects they are unfamiliar with only court future humiliation." - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden. "So that''s why you came looking for me instead of relaxing with your family, huh?" asked Aideen after Cal explained her worries about Ying Xiao''s trauma to her. Both women sat around the dinner table at Aideen''s tower now, as they nursed mugs of ale. "Pretty much, yeah," admitted Cal as she took a long pull from her mug. It was one of those mugs enchanted to serve a perfect drink that she happened to witness the introduction of the first time she came to Paradise several years ago. "I don''t really have a clue on how to deal with something like this, so I was hoping you would." "Things like these are¡­ complicated, to say the least, Cal. Not everyone would benefit from the same treatment, and to be honest, the way you and Xain treated her was already one of the better ways to approach the issue," said Aideen after she pondered for a moment. The unliving woman paused to refill her mug, then took another quick swig of ale from it before she continued. "That already helped re-establish some sense of self-worth into her, which was arguably the most important first step. Her training also helped, since it would grant her actual power to never again be in the circumstances she once fell into." "I sense there is a but coming, isn''t there?" asked Cal as she too gulped down the contents of her mug, the crisp, refreshing ale nearly as cold as ice as it poured down her throat. "Yes. To deal with how she was averse to males, it would have needed some more direct intervention," replied Aideen as she nodded. "The scars from her experiences still lingered in her psyche, which to be honest did not surprise me with what she had been through. You mentioned that she wasn''t as badly affected during your trip?" "Yeah, she wasn''t. We took some baths together with Dan around, and while I did notice some wariness from her, Dan acted a gentleman and generally looked away, so she calmed down on her own," answered Cal with a firm nod. "Of course, she was also in our midst, so that probably helped as well." "That is likely the case, yes. Being in a group with people she trusted brought a sense of safety," confirmed Aideen as she pondered. She remained silent for a few minutes, during which time Cal let her be as she just helped herself to more of the good ale. "I might be able to help, and I''ll ask Kino for a hand as well. She has more experience with things like these. Think you can drop Ying Xiao by my place in the evening? I assume you''re keeping her training schedule as normal during the day." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "We are doing that, yes," nodded Cal to affirm her answer. She planned to personally train the girl more in these last few months, now that she had the basics and some skills down already. "Unless you would suggest otherwise?" "Oh no, it''s better if you do it like this. The training would serve to keep her grounded, a semblance to normalcy, so to speak," replied Aideen to her question with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Especially if you took personal care of her. That girl practically idolized you, so your presence would further reassure her of her new path in life." "Got it. I''ll fetch her in a bit and bring her over by evening then." It was still early in the afternoon by the time Cal left Aideen''s tower. She trusted Shi-Huang and Erycea and knew that they would likely take good care of Ying Xiao in the meantime, so instead she took her time as she handled some personal business first. A visit to the Giant Bear''s Repose, the eatery ran by Magnus Bronzmeier, resulted in a delicious lunch, as the old half therian showed what his centuries of cooking experience resulted in. Cal still had a hard time as she struggled to reconcile the image of the taciturn but kindly old half therian with him being the champion of fire. In fact, after Cal thought about it, she realized that other than Aideen and the Bone Lord in Ptolodecca, and Ragiula to an extent, every Champion of the Deities she had met so far had adopted a very low key way of living. Most of them wouldn''t have solicited much attention to themselves, as they just lived their lives relaxedly and contentedly. Not for the first time, Cal wondered if she should not just accept the offer she was given, to be a Champion of the Deities. Even so, she shook her head after a moment of thought. It was still too early to decide, and she would rather finish her travels first, before she gave it proper consideration. Cal went to the local guild next, and found that there was mail for her. She opened the envelope - just from the style of decorations used she could tell that it was from Xain - and read the letter inside. Surprisingly, the letter was rather recent, sent just a couple months ago, in fact. In the letter, Xain told her that he would personally visit along with Layla to fetch Ying Xiao back, later in winter. Originally Cal had intended to send the vases and delicacies she had brought on this trip by mail, but now she decided to wait until Xain arrived so she could give it to him directly instead. With a smile, she folded the letter and put it into her storage pendant. It was right at sunset when Cal came over to fetch Ying Xiao from Shi-Huang''s place, the young girl covered in sweat from the workout she had been subjected to over the day. Cal thanked the fellow blood mage and his wife before she left with Ying Xiao in tow. Not long afterwards, they were at Aideen''s tower once again, and Cal brought Ying Xiao in. Aideen and Kino already awaited them, as the two were having their dinner by the time Cal came in. As they were invited to join in, Cal sat down along with Ying Xiao as they ate together, and only left after she finished. Ying Xiao, she had entrusted to Aideen and Kino''s capable hands. Chapter 185 - A Girls Crucibles "Most everyone hated training, but as they grow older and wiser, they would look back and thank their old tutors for the training they were given, as it was often what allowed them to grow old in the first place." - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden. "Put your back into it!" yelled Cal as she pushed away Ying Xiao''s halberd with her own. They were at the stadium, as she had trained the girl from morning to afternoon every day for the past week. Aideen had tagged along, partly out of curiosity, and partly to help the girl heal up, as Cal''s way of training was anything but gentle. Ying Xiao only wore some cheap roughspun tunic and trousers, both of which were in tatters and drenched with blood from that morning''s training so far. She gritted her teeth before her legs pushed against the ground and launched her small figure forward at speed, as her arms thrusted her halberd at Cal. Cal whirled her own halberd around, as she caught Ying Xiao''s weapon by the bars that connected the crescent blades to the shaft between her own weapon''s spearhead and crescent blade. One powerful yank of her hands, and the weapon slipped out of the young girl''s hand. Even so, Cal gave a smile in satisfaction when she noticed that her student had let go of her weapon on purpose, as the young girl charged closer and brought her blade and mace out of storage, and about to swing them her way. The next thing Ying Xiao saw was a slender hand that covered her sight, grasped her face like a vice, and forcefully pushed her down. She felt as if an explosion went off in the back of her head the next moment, and could barely think, much less stand and fight some more. It was an agonizing few moments before she felt a familiar warm flow of healing mana as it coursed through her body and did away with her injuries. She got up to a seated position, and saw Cal right in front of her, with her arms crossed over her chest. "Not a bad attempt, though you should refrain from something like that when dealing with someone you know to be physically superior to yourself," lectured Cal as she watched the young girl get up from where she had slammed the back of the girl''s head against the floor. That sort of blow would have shattered the skull of most people, though to her credit the girl managed to use her magic to brace against the blow. "You still need more training to reach a state where your brain no longer remains a necessity to control your body, however." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "I would like to learn, sh¨©f¨´," said Ying Xiao with conviction and determination in her voice. It has been two weeks since they returned to Paradise, and those weeks had passed swiftly, her mornings were occupied by brutal training with Cal herself, while in the evenings Aideen and Kino worked with her to tackle the trauma that still lingered with her. Their first sessions were mostly just the women talking, as they tried to get her to pour out her grievances and reassured her that while some would view her as diminished due to what she had been through, those that mattered would not have cared about it. It was after Cal told her last week that Xain would come to fetch her later in winter that the girl grew more resolved. She wished to get rid of the shackles that had still bound herself to her past. To that end, she made a bold request to Aideen, one that made the unliving woman laugh so hard she had to hold her stomach for some reason. Ying Xiao naturally had not known that Aideen consulted Cal about it the next day, to which Cal gave her approval. It was the next night, and the nights thereafter that the unliving women then showed Ying Xiao that there was more than just pain, disgust, and humiliation to physical relationships. Aideen also took care to talk to the girl quite thoroughly on what people in general tend to expect out of such relationships, and why she should be vary of those who approached her with ulterior motives. The girl''s response, that she only wished to devote herself to the emperor in any way he deemed suitable, had somewhat surprised Aideen. Cal was not surprised when Aideen reported Ying Xiao''s words to her, as she had learned as much from the girl herself before. She understood the girl, to an extent, as what Xain had done - maybe on a whim - had literally given the young girl a second chance at life, instead of a life condemned to humiliation and suffering. She knew that her young student had basically given her loyalty to Xain blindly, to the point that Cal suspected that the girl would have killed herself should Xain tell her to. That was a subject she would have to talk about with Xain when he came over in winter, she thought. As for the rest, Ying Xiao was a blood mage, and Cal knew that the girl''s future would contain a lot of violence if she wished to serve the empire, so she just did her best to prepare the girl for that instead. In her thoughts, the best gift she could offer to her student was to grant the girl enough power, which allowed her to grasp her fate in her own hands. Cal then explained to Ying Xiao as best she could on how to control one''s body purely with just their magic. As everyone felt magic differently, she could only use more vague words, a general direction for the girl to pursue, rather than specific instructions. What she also did was to demonstrate it for the girl, as she severed one of her hands without a blink then controlled the disembodied hand purely through magic, all while Ying Xiao did her best to sense what she did. Chapter 186 - To Treat Ones Body as a Disposable Tool "The most fearsome of blood mages can fight on regardless of injury. The only way to truly stop them is to eradicate every last bit of them, with not even a trace left, otherwise they would just keep coming at you like the madmen they are." - Written by Mauldin Holcroft, general from the Posuin Kingdom, participant in the first incursion into the orcish lands. "I normally wouldn''t teach this to any of the others, not until they have more experience under them at least," explained Cal as she freely manipulated her severed hand through invisible tendrils of mana, which in turn manipulated the blood within the hand and made it move in Ying Xiao''s hands. "Not to mention that they likely don''t have the capacity for it yet. You, on the other hand, would be a very different case." Ying Xiao listened to Cal''s words as she focused and tried to feel the way Cal used her mana to move her severed hand freely. Her mind thought of ways she could have imitated that feat with her own understanding and instincts. "Though I guess, for us a practical lesson would be best, wouldn''t it?" said Cal as she took her hand back and pressed it against the open wound on her wrist. Aideen sealed the wound moments later with no sign that gave away that the injury ever existed. "Extend your right arm." Without a word of protest, Ying Xiao did as she was told. The girl had not even screamed or shown any other sign of pain when Cal''s halberd severed her right arm at the shoulder moments later, as she consciously manipulated her blood with magic and prevented it from leaving her body. Blood flowed out of the severed arm, however, as Ying Xiao was not skilled enough yet to manipulate severed parts of her body like Cal did just earlier. That was a skill she still had to learn properly. "Try to connect your mana to the blood in the arm without touching it. Imagine as if it was still attached to you, a part of you that had never left," guided Cal as she crouched down to observe the arm closely. Ying Xiao furrowed her brows in concentration as she tried to do as Cal told, yet no change could be observed for the time being. "You could try to manipulate your blood to connect with the blood that flowed in the arm as well, that''s a good way to start." Shortly after Cal said her words, tendrils of blood flowed out from the wound on Ying Xiao''s right shoulder, while the girl kept her eyes closed and her brows furrowed deeply. They reached halfway down her torso before they showed signs of instability and struggled to reach further. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Both Cal and Aideen remained silent as they watched the girl focus and struggle. Aideen looked on with mostly curiosity in her eyes, as it was rare that she got to see blood mages in training firsthand like this. Shi-Huang had leaned a different way to Cal after all. Over the next hour, the tendrils of blood slowly elongated, and reached lower and lower, until they finally touched the blood that flowed out of the severed arm. Yet even as they did, Ying Xiao lost control over the whole thing and the blood splattered to the ground even as the young girl paled visibly. "Heal her, please," said Cal as she rubbed Ying Xiao''s back while she threw up what she had for breakfast. Aideen quickly went to work and had the girl''s arm reattached to her body, though she looked positively curious on what caused the sudden reaction on the girl. "It''s normal to fail the first time. Your mind couldn''t take the sudden extra strain yet, but you''re close to it. Take a rest and have some lunch first. We will try again later." They did as Cal suggested, as they brought the girl over for a meal at Magnus''s place. Ying Xiao ate voraciously, not just because the food was amazing, which it was, but because the way Cal made her use her magic made her realize new possibilities, and that seemed to have stimulated her soul, which led to her mana receptacle growing. That naturally made her hunger for sustenance, and Magnus was all too happy to ply them with some delicious, mana-rich foods from local products. As Paradise was located on a mana vein, and in close proximity to three other mana veins, the lands were beyond rich and fertile, and anything grown - or ranched - there generally contained more mana by a good bit than any other. After the sumptuous meal, they went back to the stadium. Cal noted that someone had cleaned up the mess Ying Xiao made earlier while they were gone, and they repeated the process. Once again, the girl''s arm was severed, and she reached for it with tendrils of blood, infused with her mana. It took Ying Xiao eight tries before she finally succeeded, well into the afternoon. At long last, the girl had not lost her control over her magic once she touched the severed arm, and slowly yet surely, the blood flowed back into the arm, then it was pulled upwards, until it touched her shoulder once more. The limb was not reconnected, the cut still visible, yet the severed arm hovered there as if attached. Thin tendrils of blood were visible from the seam, each as if the flow of blood through the arteries and veins, as well as smaller capillaries continued unimpeded. Ying Xiao gingerly moved her arm a little, then slowly made wider movements. She made a fist and did a few punches with the arm, and smiled. Her smile grew wider when Cal returned an encouraging smile at her. However, when Ying Xiao tried to lift her weapon with the arm, she proved unequal to the endeavor, as she lost control for a moment and the arm fell off once more. While the girl managed to quickly pull it back up, she was unable to do so with the added weight of her weapon. "That''s normal. You''ll be able to do it with some practice," encouraged Cal when the girl looked at her with disappointment visible on her features. "What you need to do is get used to the feeling, and train until you can exert your full power this way. Eventually, your control should be able to extend to your entire body, regardless of your condition." "That said, don''t get reliant on this method," Cal warned the girl as they cleaned up and prepared to depart, their training done for the day. "This is a means to fight in an emergency, not something to be abused. You can only last as long as your mana does in this state, so don''t overuse it, unless you have no choice at all." Chapter 187 - A Spar between Disciples "A sense of competition is one of the best methods to foster growth, used properly. Used improperly it would just make people lose sight of what they ought to improve on and just try to win the competition by any means." - Old saying from the Elmaiya Empire. "Teacher!" greeted Willa vigorously as the wolf-therian girl walked out from the gate building. Cal just happened to pass by it that evening, on her way back from Ying Xiao''s training. The unexpected sight of her other students made her smile. Behind Willa, Ognar, Giselle, and Fheeri walked out, and greeted her more politely, unlike the boisterous therian girl. They all looked well, and had grown a bit in the year she had not seen them, which made sense since they were all still at their growth period. "Already your holidays, huh?" asked Cal as she affectionately rubbed the fur on Willa''s head. Over their acquaintance she had learned that such physical gestures were favored amongst therians like her, so she obliged as her fingers rubbed the smooth fur atop the girl''s head. Cal had needed to raise her hand a bit to do that, as the therian girl had grown almost as tall as herself. Presumably, by the time the therian girl stopped growing, she''d be of equal height to Cal, or even taller. Now that she looked closer, all her students had grown noticeably taller, especially Fheeri who was still right in the midst of her growth period. That girl also had the potential to grow taller than her with a few more years. Ognar filled out more in a sideways manner, his once chubby build nowhere to be seen, as hard muscles filled his broad torso everywhere the eye could see. The harsh training regimen had clearly agreed with the young half-orc and showed very visible results. Giselle remained slender, barely above average in height for a human woman, so roughly a head shorter than Cal herself. The lean, defined muscles on her arms hinted of a lot of corded power held in the slender body, however. Her students replied in the affirmative. For Willa, Ognar, and Fheeri this would indeed be their last winter holiday, as they were slated to graduate early in spring. The four of them had wished to join Cal on her trips next year, something she had not minded at all. After all, while Elaina and Sidonie would still join her on the trip next year, Ying Xiao would have returned to Al-Shan by then, and Leila would not be able to join either. The young drake she acquired needed her presence during its first years for proper training and acclimatization, so she had to remain behind for it. Cal brought them over for dinner at Magnus'' place while she chatted with her students, and asked them how their year had been. She joined in their mirth when they told her that their teachers were all too happy to let them graduate early. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. In the past couple of years, Cal''s students had basically dominated the podiums in the yearly tournament, which more than showcased just how much further ahead they were to their peers - and even students further ahead in years, as the tourney included students from all years - which was one reason their teachers happily allowed them to graduate early. As they heard from Cal that Ying Xiao would return to Al-Shan later that winter, all of them - other than Fheeri, who stayed out of it and just quietly ate her meal while she snickered - were all too eager to have a spar with her while they could. So the next morning, Cal brought them all to the stadium where she usually trained with Ying Xiao, and allowed her students to have their fun that day. She also told them that there was no need to hold back, since Aideen could get them back to fighting fit from anything short of an instant death, and their being blood mages made that a nonexistent worry for the time being. Giselle went up first. None of Cal''s students wore their armor that day as they didn''t really want to damage their weapons or armor much, so they just wore light, disposable clothes instead, with the expectation that those would be in tatters by the time they were done. To Ognar and Willa''s surprise, Ying Xiao made short work of the older girl, as while she was even smaller than Giselle physically, her more advanced magical capabilities meant that she was as fast as the older girl, while her strength was far ahead. Only five clashes took place before Ying Xiao sent Giselle flying away in a sorry state, a large gash around her abdomen from which her innards trailed out. Ying Xiao''s halberd had torn the wound even as the blow sent the older girl airborne. "Forgot to mention, but she''s been making huge progress over these years, so you kids better give it your all," Cal said nonchalantly while Aideen chuckled and quickly fixed Giselle up. The wound would have been fatal to most, but to Blood mages like them it was pretty much just a flesh wound. Ognar went up next, and while he had enough strength to match the younger and smaller Ying Xiao, she was fast enough to run circles around him. It still took her longer to beat Ognar, because the half-orc was notably tougher than Giselle. He finally gave in after Ying Xiao cut through the tendons at the back of his knees, and placed her halberd against his neck as he knelt. On the other hand, Willa actually gave Ying Xiao an even fight. The therian girl was just a touch slower than her, yet vastly stronger, since her magic amplified her already superior physique. They clashed for a good while, where blood flowed as each of them scored injuries against the other. Yet both of them just grinned and continued their fight without a care. Cal noticed how Willa seemed to have instinctively managed to do a little of what she had taught Ying Xiao of late, as several of the cuts she suffered should have disturbed her movements otherwise, yet the therian girl fought on without a care. When the spar between the two girls ended over an hour later, the cheap tunic they had worn had been reduced to shreds, and barely any place on their body were spared from injuries. Both girls knelt down in the middle of the stadium, drenched in their own blood, their control over it at its limit, as the blood threatened to flow out from their many wounds. Willa gave a laugh that sounded halfway between a bark and a wet, raspy cough, which was not surprising since half her throat had been torn out from an earlier strike, and her right arm hung limp against her side, barely attached to her shoulder just by a few stubborn bits of muscle. Several stab wounds on her torso had likely perforated most of her internal organs as well. Ying Xiao was no better off, even as the younger girl returned the laugh. One of her hands held the massive open wound on her stomach, torn apart by Willa''s claw so badly that her blood manipulation alone was not enough to keep her innards inside. Many other deep cuts criss-crossed over her body, as she looked as if a wild beast had just treated her like a chew toy. Cal gave a satisfied nod, while Aideen just shook her head as she worked to heal the two girls, who still laughed with each other despite their injuries. Chapter 274 - Good Tidings from Home ¡°Visiting the hometown you left behind long ago only to be met with good tidings and news of happy occasions has got to be one of the most uplifting feelings in the world.¡± - Old Al-Shan saying. After she spent a couple days in Paradise with the rest of her family - Leila had missed her quite a bit, so had little Ilena, who started to hit a growth spurt and was growing rapidly - Cal went to the portal hub and left for Al-Shan to visit Xain as usual. She arrived to find the Imperial city covered in snow. Winter had come early in Al-Shan as well it seemed, although the hustle and bustle of the town were mostly unaffected by the snowfall, the inhabitants long used to the cold weather and early winters. Cal made her way to the Imperial Palace quietly, sipping on a hot, fatty soup of pork and vegetables in a disposable bamboo tube as she walked to help weather the cold, something many locals did as they walked, which led to brisk sales for the vendors selling their hot, warming foods and beverages by the roadside. The Imperial Palace was quite a sight, all white due to the light covering of snow on it. As usual, Cal was allowed in immediately as apparently Xain had made it a point to always have a veteran in the gate guard rotation at all times just for the times when Cal came to visit. ¡°Oh, hi, Kun¡¯er¡± said Cal when she spotted an acquaintance walking along the gardens. The garden of the Imperial Palace used to be a place where only either the Imperial Family or the gardeners tread, but Xain had long since altered that rule and allowed whoever felt like taking a stroll in the garden to do so. ¡°Taking a stroll again?¡± The middle-aged Huan woman she saw walking was one such person. She wore an official¡¯s robes of office, and seemed to be enjoying the cold winter air as she walked around the garden and admired the views. ¡°S¨¤ng Ji¨¡ngj¨²n Ambervale,¡± replied the woman politely as she gave a bow. She was by no means a stranger to Cal, as she had been part of the loyalists from the second decade of the civil war, when she was but a young girl who helped do chores in their camps. ¡°A pleasure to see that you chose to grace us with your presence once more.¡± Xiang Lee-Kun was also quite gifted with intelligence, something they quickly noticed as the girl grew up, and never forgot anything she saw or read once. By the time she was fifteen Halmout had taken the girl under his wing as a disciple, and taught her everything he knew. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Nowadays, Lee-Kun served as Halmout¡¯s assistant, and was herself a relatively high ranked minister at court. Rumors were aplenty that the aged prime minister had planned to resign, and to have his protege take over as prime minister instead. That rumor had sparked quite a bit of discontent with the traditionalists as far as she knew, as a female prime minister, much less a Huan female one, was unheard of. Naturally, as she had been with the loyalists from long ago, Lee-Kun was one of the staunchest supporters of Xain¡¯s faction in court even while the court was divided. Cal noticed right away that the woman looked far happier and more relieved than she used to be just a year ago, though. ¡°There¡¯s been good news of late I assume?¡± Cal asked as she walked alongside the woman, who fell into step next to her unbidden. ¡°You look as if a great weight had been lifted off your shoulder. Hell, you look almost a decade younger compared to last year.¡± ¡°It is as you said, S¨¤ng Ji¨¡ngj¨²n,¡± replied Lee-Kun with a smile. ¡°This one finds great relief from the news that High Magistrate Wang will never step foot on the imperial court ever again. Nor would most of his faction. On top of that, the Imperial Majesties were blessed with child yet again. How could this one not rejoice?¡± ¡°Oh. Those are indeed good news worth celebrating,¡± replied Cal with a widening smile. She had expected Xain to make his move against the traditionalists either this year or the next, so that news had not surprised her much. On the other hand, the news that he was getting another child was something new to her. Considering how she had not heard of it before she left on her journey, it must have been a more recent development. ¡°I guess that¡¯s one more thing to congratulate the kid for then.¡± ¡°His Imperial Majesty has been busy in his attempt to make life better for his people,¡± replied Lee-Kun politely. She was formerly a peasant, so she knew all too well just what the changes Xain pushed for would mean for the poorer people of the Empire, and was naturally all too willing to support his endeavors. ¡°It pleases this one that his visions are slowly becoming reality.¡± ¡°It pleases me too, yeah,¡± replied Cal with a smile. Lee-Kun¡¯s overly formal manner of speech was something they could never get her to compromise with, the woman almost as much a stickler as her mentor in some ways. ¡°Anyway, nice seeing you. I¡¯ll go in and greet the kid first.¡± ¡°The Imperial Majesties would surely rejoice over your visit, S¨¤ng Ji¨¡ngj¨²n.¡± Cal made her way through the familiar halls and corridors of the Imperial Palace, occasionally greeting an old acquaintance, or returning the greeting of some young ministers - probably fresh from the Imperial exams that year - as she walked by. She made her way straight to the Empress¡¯ wing of the palace, and saw a woman stand guard by the door, one of Mustafa¡¯s girls if she recalled right. The young woman bowed in respect when she noticed Cal and politely opened the door for her. Inside the room, she found Xain and Layla, as well as Ying Xiao and Farah. Ying Xiao was busy ¡°escorting¡± Farah, who had started to actively walk all over the place now that she was one and a half. Her parents were laid down on the comfortable divan in the center of the room, with Xain gently caressing Layla¡¯s belly, which had started to bulge in the early stages of pregnancy. A genuine, relaxed smile formed on Cal¡¯s lips as she saw the sight before her. Chapter 275 - With Promises of More to Come ¡°It was rare for nobles - or rich people in general for that matter - to be strictly monogamous, unless they were raised by orcs. Generally, it was accepted that the well-to-do, with the resources to support the lives of multiple lovers at once, would have at least an additional lover, or three. Gender does not even play a role in this case, as people of either gender had kept harems of lovers with them throughout history, neither does preference, as those harems could easily be of the same gender, or mixed, rather than just the opposite gender. If anything, finding a nobleman or noblewoman who remained entirely loyal to a single spouse in all their life was more a rarity. Usually the one in a position of power would flaunt it to have multiple spouses at the very least. Sometimes though, they were also forced to take on multiple spouses, especially when a bloodline runs thin and the need to propagate the line grows strong.¡± - From a Sociology paper by Leigh Wainwrought, advanced student and assistant professor in the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 695 FP. ¡°You¡¯ve been busy of late I hear, kid,¡± said Cal as she approached them with a wide smile on her face. She gave a gesture to Ying Xiao as well, telling her to carry on with what she was doing, which was mostly keeping up with a toddler who was busy walking all over the place, ready to catch her should she stumble and fall. Both Xain and Layla were about to get up and greet her in turn, but Cal waved them down and told them to remain where they were with a pointed look at Layla¡¯s belly. That simple gesture caused Xain¡¯s protestations to die out in his throat, and instead he invited her to share the divan with them. It was an invitation Cal obliged, since the divan was more than large enough for five people anyway, and he laid down comfortably to Layla¡¯s other side. She joined Xain as he gently caressed the slight bump on the young Empress¡¯ belly, her own touch careful and light on Layla¡¯s bared skin. ¡°The pregnancy going well this time as well, I hope?¡± she asked after a quiet moment. Layla¡¯s first pregnancy was problem-free, and given how she had some of the best healers in the world present during the childbirth there was practically no danger to her or her child, yet Cal knew such things could be fickle, as she had learned from Dinah¡¯s fate. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°The imperial physicians all gave her a clean bill of health,¡± replied Xain with a beaming smile on his face as he answered while feeding his wife some fruit by hand. ¡°They also said that Layla might be pregnant with twins this time, though it was a bit too early to tell.¡± ¡°Twins huh? If you happen to have time to visit, I bet Aideen could tell,¡± replied Cal with a nod and a pleased look. ¡°Heard you also took care of those annoying fuckheads at last. Good job, kid, and good riddance.¡± ¡°It¡¯s mostly Ying Xiao¡¯s good work that made it possible,¡± said Xain with a proud smile in turn. ¡°She had sparked the¡­ incident that caused the old dog Wang to lose his temper, and then took care of him personally in the assault as well.¡± ¡°Glad to see those years of training had not gone unused then,¡± said Cal as she nodded. It was within her expectations that Ying Xiao would be able to handle the traditionalist stronghold with the training she had been given under her hands. ¡°The calls for you to take up another wife has died down I hope?¡± ¡°It¡­ hasn¡¯t exactly died down yet, but no matter. I plan to heed it anyway.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± asked Cal with a raised eyebrow as she stared at Xain straight in the eye. He had been against the idea for a long time that the sudden acquiescence surprised Cal quite a bit. ¡°Who is the lucky woman then?¡± In answer to her question, both Xain and Layla turned their heads to look at Ying Xiao, who was far away at a corner of the room at the time because Farah saw something there that interested her. Both of them also had expressions of fondness on their features that were telling. ¡°Even after we gave her rank and standing, many still refused to let go of her past and spread bad rumors about her,¡± said Layla almost wistfully with a voice too quiet for anyone outside the three of them to hear. ¡°And what you said is true, Cal. I don¡¯t think that girl could live on her own at this point. If we were to tell her that she¡¯s free to pursue her own desires and are no longer beholden to us she¡¯d likely think we¡¯re casting her off instead.¡± ¡°So we decided to make her our equal instead,¡± added Xain to his wife¡¯s words. ¡°Ying Xiao had damaged her own reputations, spread rumors to her own detriment, to help execute the plan we had hatched to get rid of that old dog Wang before. Since the rest of them hadn¡¯t stopped pestering me to take another wife since then¡­ I might as well give them what they asked for, in a way they would not like in the least.¡± ¡°And see how they¡¯d like it if the one they badmouthed had the power and the right to chop their head off for a change, eh?¡± replied Cal with a growing smirk on her own face. ¡°Can¡¯t say I dislike the sound of that idea. When do you plan to hold the ceremony then?¡± ¡°We¡¯re thinking late next autumn, after the babies are born and Layla had recovered, so she could be present to make it clear that the marriage has her blessings as well,¡± replied Xain as Layla nodded. ¡°We would be honored if you could be present as well, Cal.¡± ¡°Late autumn¡­ it should be doable. I¡¯ll arrange my trip next year so I can get here by then.¡± Chapter 276 - A Cup of Mellow Wine ¡°Far too often had people wasted their whole lives in search of happiness, without ever realizing that happiness was right there within themselves, and all they needed to do was to reach for it.¡± - Saying by an ancient Al-Shan philosopher from the prehistoric era. Xain and Layla were soon busied sorting out the souvenirs Cal brought them while Ying Xiao kept Farah busy and away from the pile of items while her parents sorted them into Xain¡¯s own personal storage artifact - one as large as the one he gifted to Cal - one by one. While Cal bought all sorts of souvenirs for the Imperial couple, from elven handicraft and fabrics to dwarven-made decorative - yet extremely functional - weapons and armor, the majority of her souvenirs this time were composed of various bottles of elven liquors and barrels of dwarven ale and meads, the latter of which hand-crafted artisanal examples from the Braumeister Orloff Himmelsbrau himself, easily worth a fortune on the market. Amongst them, some that immediately attracted the young couple¡¯s attention was a few bottles of elven wine that Cal bought specifically because it was advertised to be beneficial when consumed by a pregnant woman. Naturally, she had made certain with the seller that it also worked for humans before she bought it. Xain brought out three glass mugs - the enchanted ones Cal gave him many years ago - and poured some of the wine into it. They stirred the fluid in the mug for a few moments to allow the enchantments in the glass to do its work, and savored the sweet, herbal aroma of the brew while they waited. They took a sip of the wine together, and while Cal and Xain just found it to be a pleasant, mellow wine, Layla seemed to have taken a shine to it and quickly drank the rest of her wine. Apparently the drink was rather invigorating for her, and while she had not suffered much of the ails commonly associated with pregnancy, she still felt a bit sore and bloated, and nauseous at times. Whoever brewed the wine know what they were doing, for it alleviated those feelings after a sip, and downright removed them after she took the rest of the glass. ¡°You¡¯re spoiling me, Cal. I could really get used to this,¡± said the young Empress as she smacked her lips, the aftertaste of the mellow wine still strong on her palate. ¡°Whoever made this would be rich if they just market this worldwide!¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°They¡¯re already rich,¡± replied Cal with a laugh. The wine was one of the products from the brewery Martha had introduced her to, and she only managed to buy the twenty or so bottles they had in stock at the time. ¡°As it is, they barely managed to keep up with the local demand, and apparently the herbs they used for it are hard to acquire in large quantities. Add that to needing an experienced druid to work on the brew and it all made this wine not exactly the most mass-producible thing.¡± ¡°A shame. This drink would be such a boon to all pregnant women out there,¡± said Layla as she took another sip, Xain having refilled her mug in the meantime. ¡°Any dosage I should keep in mind for this?¡± ¡°A couple glasses should keep you from feeling unwell for a week or so,¡± replied Cal as she recalled what the old elf that sold it to her had said back then. ¡°You might want to keep the rest in case you happen to have a bad day, or for your next child,¡± she added with a wink. ¡°Oh, for sure,¡± replied Layla. The bottles in which the wine was stored were large ones, and the four glasses they drank was barely a quarter of its contents. If they kept the rest for Layla herself, a bottle would last her a month and a half to two months, more than enough for the rest of her pregnancy with others to spare. ¡°We¡¯ll also keep some in case Ying Xiao needs it.¡± ¡°With the gate you can also send someone to the Great Emerald Forest to buy more, though it¡¯s even odds whether they¡¯d have any in stock,¡± added Cal. ¡°I happened to be lucky when I visited. They said usually they rarely have any of this wine in stock.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a problem when I can just have a messenger stay there until they get some bottles,¡± replied Xain with a smile. ¡°Also, I have to second what Layla said. You¡¯re spoiling us, Cal. Handmade brews from Orloff Himmelsbrau? I won¡¯t say no though.¡± Xain punctuated his words with his actions as he poured three cups full of a light, mellow mead and distributed them. All three of them enjoyed the sweet nectar while they chatted. Mostly Layla chatted with Cal, while Xain was mostly busy with sorting the rest of the pile of souvenirs she brought. He needed to finish it soon, else it might attract Farah¡¯s attention. His little girl was at an age where she was curious about everything, which had not bode well with the assorted items piled up on the floor at the moment. Thankfully Ying Xiao was keeping the little toddler well occupied for them. Eventually - with some help from Layla and Cal - they finished sorting the pile of souvenirs in time. Not a moment too soon either, as Ying Xiao came over with little Farah holding onto one of her fingers with her pudgy hands, toddling along as Ying Xiao walked slowly over to them. The little toddler wordlessly ran over in her ungainly way, before she tossed herself to her father, who deftly caught her with both hands. Xain raised the little girl high in the air, his hands holding her sides, and Farah laughed cheerfully as she was lifted high. Layla, Cal, and Ying Xiao watched the scene with fond eyes from beside him. Before long, they too joined in and played with the girl, even if Layla did so more carefully to account for the growing life in her womb. Just like that, they quickly lost track of time until the little girl finally grew tired and fell asleep on her father¡¯s chest. Chapter 277 - A Soothing Balm for the Soul ¡°While bloodlines were definitely a remnant from the ages past, from the days where human kings still often used the rhetoric that they ruled by the will of the deities, with some particularly grandiose ones calling themselves descendants of said deities in the flesh, the practice had mostly petered out by the current day and age. Possibly the event that signaled the death toll to these otherworld boasts was the very public - and gruesome - smiting of Ver¡¯Dun Slovac, the Mad Monarch of Vitalica, by Vitalis herself. The event transpired many centuries ago, yet it was recent enough that some old elves were alive when it happened, and thus it remained fresh in the people¡¯s memory. After such an event, it was understandable that most monarchs cut down on their claims relating themselves to the deities, out of fear that they might be smote as well for their audacity. No further smiting happened, but the habit remained on the downslope ever since. In the current age, many human nations had begun to phase out the hereditary monarchies in favor of other systems of governance. A few of the city-states, the Jarldoms of east Ur-Teros, some members of the Union, and the Al-Shan Empire were the nations where the hereditary rule still remains strong to this day.¡± - From a Sociology paper by Leigh Wainwrought, advanced student and assistant professor in the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 694 FP. Cal spent the rest of the week enjoying herself in Al-Shan. At times she simply regaled Xain and Layla with tales of her travels, or she met with other old friends from the civil war days, where they swapped tales of what they had done in the past few years. She also gave Ying Xiao the praise the girl deserved, for she had done her proud with her recent feats. The young girl perked up and seemed to stand taller when Cal said that she was proud of her, and seemed to go about her way merrily for that whole day. Another of her favorite pastimes while she relaxed was to play with little Farah. The toddler girl was an active child, easy to coax into laughter yet one who did not cry easily. She reminded Cal a lot of Xain when he was around the same age, though Xain was quieter as a child, and nowhere near as active. Or as naughty. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. That said, she still enjoyed her time immensely, the child¡¯s innocence a soothing balm for her. Best of all, she could make full use of her position as a family friend and simply hand over the child to her parents when she gets fussy or willful and not have to deal with it. Truly the best way to enjoy a child¡¯s presence, she thought. Cal also learned that over the past few years, old man Mo J¨¬an, the retired soldier whose small tavern played host to her party a few years ago just before Xain¡¯s wedding with Layla, had used the gold she left behind to renovate his little tavern into a large restaurant. Word of mouth had spread of her visit that day, and the stream of customers had been a fortune for the old man¡¯s family. In just a short few years, the restaurant he built changed from a small establishment, to a large, four storied building able to host over a thousand customers at once inside. She even learned that the place had also become a hangout for old veterans of the civil war, who in turn often brought their families along. Said family then often brought their friends as well, which contributed further to the establishment¡¯s popularity. The old man Mo J¨¬an himself had met and served her in person when she came to visit - with Xain and Layla, who went in disguise, and Ying Xiao who came along as their guard, as superfluous as that was with Cal around - and had bowed in gratitude for the gift she left them all those years ago. The old man¡¯s eyes widened further when he recognized the Imperial couple despite their disguise, and he quickly led them to their best room on the top floor. After sampling a good portion of the restaurant¡¯s menu - leftover food was not an issue with two blood mages around - they left the restaurant quite openly, which naturally attracted the attention of everyone who happened to be dining there, what with their Emperor and Empress being present in the same building as they were. Xain publicly praised old man Mo¡¯s cooking before he left, a small token of gratitude from him, but one that led to a massive influx of customers to the restaurant in the coming months as word spread that the establishment served food good enough for the Emperor¡¯s tastes.. It was on such a high note that Cal left Al-Shan that year, as she headed back to Paradise to make arrangements for her travels the next year. Probably the last year of her travels, as with it, she would have visited every region of the world there is to see. Arrangements for transportation that would get her to Al-Shan by late autumn the next year proved easy enough, it turned out. Aideen mentioned that Archie - the unliving captain Arquivaldo of the Faucon Noir - would normally be around the western isles by early to mid autumn given his usual schedule, and a few exchanges of letters later, had agreed to take her to Al-Shan later that year, with the northernmost isle of the Western Isles as their meeting point. As for herself, and those of her nieces and students who wished to come along, she told them to prepare supplies that they would need for living in the wilds, as most of the Western Isles, their destination this year, was an untamed land of forest and beasts, both of the mundane and the magical variety. It was only smart to come prepared for whatever they might face there, even if they have a local guide in Kyara and Ashani to show them the way. Chapter 278 - Preparations and Arrangements ¡°Sure, there are some who would say that preparing before a trip takes some of the magic out of it, but personally? I¡¯d rather have things be prepared and planned, rather than potentially missing my godson¡¯s second wedding for example.¡± - Celeysria Ambervale, the Blood Demon of Al-Shan, circa 679 FP After a peaceful winter spent on rest and relaxation with family, Cal finally embarked on the last leg of her trip on the first day of spring. She left early this time, since she planned to be in Al-Shan by late autumn for Xain¡¯s second wedding. With both her godson and her disciple being the groom and bride, there was no way she would miss the occasion. Her group was mostly the same as the previous year, though this time Fyodor had not joined them, and neither had Martha and Vernon. It was just her, her students and nieces, Dan, Kino, as well as Kyara and Ashani for the trip. Leila joined them once more this time, as had the rest of her family, as both Vark and Krystal were quite curious of the Western Isles. Ilena, now seven years of age and already quite clever, followed along her parents as she rode on Ida, while Leila did the same on Lumi¡¯s back, the two sisters quite a sight to see as they rode their respective animal companions towards the gate hub. While most of the gates were too small to accommodate a beast of Lumi¡¯s size, in the recent years a few of them had been enlarged by nations that desired more trade. The gates towards the Great Emerald Forest, the Kingdom Down Under, and the Lichdom were already large enough to fit in whole wagons since their creation, something others had only recently followed. The culprit was the newest gate which led to Al-Shan, built to the larger specifications from the start as Xain had immediately smelled the profits to be reaped behind trades through the teleportation gates, even with the high fees considered. Their resultant newfound prosperity had lured other nations to similarly ¡°upgrade¡± their gates, and of late the Union, the Elmaiya Empire, and the Caliphate had enlarged their gates. Talks were on the way with the Jarldom regarding a similar upgrade. As for Knallzog and the Northern Plains, they were situated close enough to Paradise that it was simply cheaper to conduct larger scale trade by wagons instead, so they had only built smaller gates. There were even negotiations about building gates for direct connection between the different nations as well, but at the moment there had been little progress in that direction. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. One major reason was trust, or rather, the lack thereof. Most of the nations had a history of hostility towards each other, and did not fully trust the other nations not to abuse a teleportation gate built between their territories. Paradise¡¯s unique stance as a true neutral party in the world¡¯s politics was part of what made the gate network possible in the first place. As it was, the recently enlarged gate to Sabaya was more than large enough for Lumi to squeeze through, though it helped that she was more long and slender, rather than bulky like her parent. It still took some coaxing from both Leila and Krystal before the nervous drake finally walked through the gate with her wings tightly folded against her torso, though. In contrast, Ida just strolled through the gate without a care with Ilena on her back. Cal and Vark had gone through first of course, to forewarn those on the other side of the beast¡¯s arrival and prevent any undesired circumstances from happening at all. Lumi got through the portal without incident, the young Drake easily in excess of five meters now from her snout to her tail, with a wingspan more than twice as wide at full extension. She looked curiously at the room in Sabaya, but quickly calmed down once Leila returned to her back, and obediently followed the group out of the chamber. Fortunately when they increased the size of the gate they also rebuilt the whole chamber, and the new gates were large enough that Lumi could leave without any difficulty. The sight of the massive young drake walking through the city streets was quite something, and got many eyes turned to look at the group in curiosity. Some people instead recognized Willa as the champion of the last tournament, so their group attracted plenty of attention either way. Fortunately the roads of Sabaya were designed for a pair of elephants to walk side by side, an affectation one of the ancient Emperors had, so Lumi had no issues with her size. The group made a beeline for the western gate of the city, where they departed from after a quick inspection by the guards on duty. From there they traveled further west, passed by the lakeside town that existed next to Sabaya, and crossed the river offshoot of Lake Sabaya. Most of the group crossed by boat, except for Ilena, Ida, and Leila. They crossed the river by air instead, as Lumi unfurled her massive wings and took flight after a few beats of her wings with the three on her back. By the time the riverboat finished crossing, Leila and Ilena were already waiting by a food stall on the opposite side, where they were snacking on some local delicacies. Both Lumi and Ida were also feasting on large chunks of meat nearby, and Cal noticed one nearby therian butcher who was smiling very widely as he closed up shop for the day. Before long, the whole group joined the sisters as they sampled the local foods. Some local children also came towards the two beasts, if gingerly at first, intimidated by their large size. Notwithstanding Lumi, even Ida was approaching the size of a horse by then, if one with a longer, sleeker torso and limbs. Finally one of the kids - a little girl probably around Ilena¡¯s size, though probably younger since therian children supposedly grow up a bit faster - gathered her courage and tiptoed towards Lumi, before touching her with one paw. Lumi noticed it and nuzzled gently against the girl in return, making her laugh, which opened the floodgates and made the rest of the children run over to join the fun. Afterwords Honestly, I never expected to reach this point when I started writing out of boredom during lull timed caused by the pandemic over a year ago. Flash forward a year and change later, and now I''ve been living as a full-time writer from home for over a year now, relying on my writing to make a living. Something I had never dared to dream about in the past. The market for writings such as mine where I live was basically nonexistent, and besides, the sort of stuff I write would be greatly disapproved by the powers around here, who tend to hate the sort of things I write, so I have never even considered publishing my novels locally. It was the internet and the web novel scene that gave me a solution I had never thought about before, and had made all these possible. To all my readers, I wish to extend my most sincere gratitude for sticking with me for so long. When I started posting this story, I had very little expectations. I had considered that maybe getting 50 followers and 500 views would be a good thing for my first month, so the warm reception it received was entirely out of my prediction, and helped motivate me to write more. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. I thank you all once again for your devotion, and for enjoying my writings, and will endeavor my best to bring more to come in the future! Let us also give one last salute to Blood Demon''s Retirement, which had completed its story from the start to the end. When I first started this story I had planned it for around 100-150 chapters. Along the way, however, the characters and setting came to life, and I kept writing more and more. This ending was not only planned from long ago, but in some ways much overdue as well. My deepest gratitude once again for having stuck with me and my stories for so long! Sincerely, Avitue Blood Demon''s Retirement 19/08/2021 - 12/12/2022 COMPLETED Announcement: Publishing Some of you folks might have remembered that I once tried to self-publish BDR sometime last year. That came mostly to nothing, partly because I myself was far too uninterested in the publishing process. Since then, I have signed a contract with a small publishing house headed by a fellow RR author, and we had been working on getting Blood Demon''s Retirement to more proper publishing setup since then. The fruits of those labor had recently matured, and as such, I am making this announcement now both to inform those still reading the story as well as those who might be interested in the slightly more polished up version we are going to publish soon. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The planned date is around the end of this month, and since the publishing deal includes both hardcopies and Kindle Unlimited, I will be pulling out most of the chapters that corresponds to volume one starting this weekend. Thank you all for your support throughout all this time. I could not have done all this without you. Sincerely yours, Avitue Blood Demons Retirement Volume 1: Now available in Amazon/Kindle! As the title suggested, Blood Demon''s Retirement Volume 1: To See a Beautiful World, is live at Amazon and Kindle! Civil War had raged on the Al-Shan Archipelago for the past four decades, only recently coming to an end with the enthronement of the new Emperor. This is not his story. The Blood Demon, renowned general of said civil war, was tired of all the fighting and politicking that had described the last four decades of her existence. All she really wanted to do now is to go out into the world and see the many lands from her father''s stories. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Thus she retired, and went and did exactly what she wanted. This is the story of what happens when you toss a (retired) war machine with somewhat lacking common sense into an unsuspecting world at peace. A Cozy travel journal style slice of life fantasy story. You can check it out at the link below: Edit: Have taken down Volume 2 in preparation for launch, prepared for the end of this month. Will update this post when it launches. Blood Demons Retirement Volume 2 is available on Amazon and Kindle! Blood Demon''s Retirement Volume 2 is out for grabs in Amazon and Kindle! Family. That was something Cal, the Blood Demon of Al-Shan, had mostly forgotten about since she was orphaned after her parents passed away. Meeting with a half-brother she had not known she had during her travels was a pleasant occasion, to be sure. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. What she had not expected was to find even more family, other siblings her late father had left behind. Nieces and Nephews, even someone she could consider a stepmother. Others that she never even imagined were still around. Slowly, she started to recall the feeling of warmth and belonging that a family gave out. A feeling she had thought was lost with her parents. A feeling that had been rekindled by her newly found family. PS: Volume 3 slated for release around august/september 2023 Blood Demons Retirement Volume 3: A Peace Found Within, is now available on Amazon and Kindle! It''s been a while, but as of today, Blood Demon''s Retirement Volume 3: A Peace Found Within, is now available on Amazon and Kindle! This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. You can find the link below, while the plan for the fourth volume is a December release. We would probably move on to releasing Unliving next year as well. Many thanks for all your support which have made all these possible in the first place! I had never expected any of these to be possible when I started writing two years ago, much less to reaching life-changing levels like these. Once again, my deepest gratitude for all your support, and thank you for reading! Blood Demons Retirement Volume 4 is now available on Amazon and Kindle! The Fourth and Final Volume of Blood Demon''s Retirement is out on Amazon and Kindle! "As the end of her journey loomed and a pleasant future was laid out before her, Cal was left with but one question to grapple with: Should she should accept the generous offer from the Deities and become one of their Champions? This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. She hoped that she''d find answers that would help her make that decision on the final leg of her journey around the world, where she''d fulfill one of her long-time dreams to see the world beyond the isles where she was born. Whatever the result, she knew that the choice she made would be her own, made without regrets. For all she knew, an ending to one story might well just be the prelude to another..." Blood Demons Retirement Now Available on Audible! Now on Audible: Narration by Kaet Matthews Published by Riverfolk books Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Civil War had raged on the Al-Shan Archipelago for the past four decades, only recently coming to an end with the enthronement of the new Emperor. This is not his story. The Blood Demon, renowned general of said civil war, was tired of all the fighting and politicking that had described the last four decades of her existence. All she really wanted to do now is to go out into the world and see the many lands from her father''s stories. Thus she retired, and went and did exactly what she wanted. This is the story of what happens when you toss a (retired) war machine with somewhat lacking common sense into an unsuspecting world at peace. Announcement We are posting this on behalf of Riverfolk Books, Avitue¡¯s publisher. It is with a heavy heart that we announce Avitue¡¯s passing. Avitue was a pillar in this community and a dear friend. We hate to be the ones to share such devastating news with you¨Chis fans, friends and colleagues. As some of you may have noticed, Avitue has been absent for a few months. This caused alarm because Avi was one of the most reliable and consistent authors in our community. Over the last few months, we exhausted every option at our disposal to find him, and unfortunately, we have now discovered that Avitue has passed. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. --- This is a message from JP Weaver, his long time editor and friend. There''s a bit more at the reddit link in the author notes. I was happy to work with him and I''m sorry to announce this to you all. --- Additionally, we have no control over his Patreon account so we would advise you to drop your subscription if you have one.