Volume 1 - Sidestory 1

Damn... Am I just going to die like this...?

I've lost track of how long I've been suspended in the air, some sort of invisible vine had been holding me in place the entire time. My vision fades as hunger and thirst overwhelms me.

Volume 1 - Chapter 19 - Posterity 3

"There he is!" The catwoman points at a figure in full plate armour on the other side of the three-headed dog. The youth readies his aim at the figure, "wait, wait, Rick, I think that three-headed dog is the boss here. Let them deal with it for now."

"That's right, he is called [Cerebus]. He's located on one of only two proper islands within this lake of lava." Niji compose himself before interjecting, "The island he is on is just big enough to fit around 40 people, so we were never able to overwhelm it with numbers."

Volume 1 - Chapter 18 - Posterity 2

*doro doro*

"Are... you... serious?" Rick stammers as he reaches the top of the hill. The group had fended off all the monsters on their way to the top of the hill, where a large lake of lava resides; filled with floating pieces of rock that have melted. Due to the change in formation as well as Niji adapting tactics suggested by both Bell and Kun for when monsters attack from the side, there hasn't been a single casualty save for that 1 warrior.

Volume 1 - Chapter 17 - Posterity

"Wa-"

Bell and Rick dash off into the tunnel where they came from, a few [Shadowhound]s have already appeared since they walked by previously.

"Nya nya nyan NYAN!" With her halberd partially extended, the felinoid slashes and runs down the [Shadowhound]s in the way, opening a path.

Volume 1 - Chapter 16 - Kill

*pi*

"Are you sure this is the right way?"

"Don't worry, we mapped it out with Dosnak."

Volume 1 - Chapter 15 - Unexpected Outcome

"Good job Mak'ra, De'muel."

Bell is going through the parchments of records concerning the loot inside an officer's quarter in the Orllewinwell barracks lent to her by the guards. Bell, Rick, and Till were carried into the quarters while they were logged out. They would've been happy to wake up in the caravan, but it seems the captain wouldn't have any of it and said they should be treated as important guests and brought them here. Now Bell is reviewing their spoils of war with the help of 2 of the oldest students.

Volume 1 - Chapter 14 - Surprise

*gaoooo*

The wall on the opposite side of the large room reveals a peek of the glowing night sky. To be exact, the night sky is illuminated and the slowly melting masonry is just revealing the scene as though it's a cinematic. It would be amazing if the heat isn't so intense that they feel like they are being roasted.

"God damn it, is Kun sending fireballs our way?"

Volume 1 - Chapter 13 - Success/Failure

I change my gear to those that'd been worn by [Monochrome Blades] members as I go around looting the bodies and shattering crystals along the eastern edge of the former outpost. I grab one of the smallest, high quality mantles and wear it to hopefully confuse any survivors. Embroidered with a crossed pair of dao, vertically divided in half, the left has a white background with parts of the swords in black; on the right, it has a black background with the parts of the swords in white. I am also wearing a hood and veil that I found among the bodies, it might be hot and uncomfortable, but I'd rather remain anonymous for the time being if I can.

Volume 1 - Chapter 12 - Failure/Success

"What the deus?! Everyone! Get behind me!"

I gather all the students into a crouching position before setting up walls of ice and earth between us and the fireballs.

*DOOON rinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn* *gara gara gara gara*

There is a deafeningly loud explosion, leading to a constant ringing in my ear. I couldn't hear anything aside from a droning hum, but I can feel the earth rumbling continuously as each of the fireballs land.

How the hell did it turn out like this?

Volume 1 - Chapter 11 - A Bolt from the Blue

Home » Forum » Discussion » General

Topic: BREAKING NEWS Subject: Assassination of King Kalladi and the Holy Kingdom of Missouri

As of August 11th, 114 NC, the kingdom of Masault ceases to exist on Amoatlz. According to users, a guild named [Salvation] assisted with the assassination of King Kalladi and helped Chancellor Utorsk in claiming the throne and effectively abolishing the monarchy, ending their 600 years of history. The leader of the guild declared himself First Primarch and named Utorsk the First Apostle, the kingdom will be renamed to Holy Kingdom of Missouri and its religion will be the Church of Latter Day Saviours. According to some posts below, there are suspicions that the users belong to the Alman Theocracy in midwestern North America since that's the name of its state church as well . With no additional information, your guess is as good as mine. Users are warned to stay away if they do not belong to the Church as rumours of heresy trials are rampant within the region. This marks the first time users have gained control of an entire kingdom, this will no doubt lead to an age of hegemony as users vie to claim lands of their own. Let's hope it doesn't spill out from the center of the continent to elsewhere. I sent some emails to Levi. Corp. to ask about the Kingdoms administration system since it isn't in the manual or the tutorials and got a bland, generic response.

Volume 1 - Chapter 10 - Unexpected Visit

*kua*

It's a nice day, the noisy ones are gone and no one's home, guess I'll go for a nap. Bro has been sleeping on that bed thing a lot lately, guess I should try it.

I casually walk my way back home, entering the door. I wipe my feet at the doormat and make my way to the book room. I open the curtains, letting the sun into the room. I hop onto it, it's nice. I can see why he's always on this thing. As the sun warms my body, I close my eyes and fall asleep.

Volume 1 - Chapter 9 - Isolate

*pyu*

An arrow cuts through the air from the top of a guarded gate, burying itself in front of a mounted horse. The horse bucks as its rider struggles to keep it under control.

"Get lost! No one's getting in or out!"

"We just need to buy some supplies!"

"Imperial orders, all immortals from the western borders are to be turned back! You lot could be carrying the Reaper for all we know! Archers!"

Two squads of archer appears on top of the 4.5 meter high walls, notching their arrows.

"Damn it! Retreat!"

Volume 1 - Chapter 8 - Instigate

"You did what?!"

"Hehehe, don't worry, he didn't see us."

"You cheeky little..."

Bell reaches over and starts pulling Till's cheeks, who just make little giggle sounds. Revising their plan for the king of Sardon, since Till already met him albeit under a different circumstance than previously planned.

Volume 1 - Chapter 7 - The Calm before the Storm

*Wa*

"Iiiyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Go Rick-sama~"
"Go captain! Show him the strength of a Feian!"

There are small crowds that completely filled up the various inspection galleys at the barracks. Teenagers, boys and girls, wives of the elders and guards, off duty guards, anyone that had free time that knew about the fight had shown up. In the moderately sized, empty training field, two figures faces off against each other while covered in dirt. One was a young blonde man wielding two wooden daggers, with several more daggers strapped in place front and back with a harness with loops to hold them, quite a few of the loops are empty. The other is a middle aged man with a scarred face wielding a wooden longsword, moderately armoured in various bronze pieces, holding a large, significantly dented kite shield.

Volume 1 - Chapter 6 - Killing two birds with one stone

Formulas are limited to physical, mental and abstract forms. So the source always has to go through the user. In theory, we can probably make an ultimate skill if we can somehow make the spell reactionary and control it instead.

Volume 1 - Chapter 5 - Incognito as Shadow

The group has created, scrapped, revised, created some more, scrapped some more, revised some more plans until Rick had to log off. Out of all the plans, there's a very simple and devious one that can greatly benefit them. Make the two guilds fight to the death and then gain credit for it among the non-users. There are some risks involved, but considering the current situation, even if they were to get caught, there will still be bigger fish to fry than for the two guilds to go after them. Not that they can even if they want to, since the group is relatively unknown save for Feia. The ones in the most dangerous position would be Bell and Till, but surprisingly, it was Till who made the final suggestion.

Volume 1 - Chapter 4 - It's never too late for revenge

Ouch... wait, I'm alive? How did I get here?

I, Mikhal Donavic, was sent from the Sardon War Council as part of a group of 3 to request aid from Feia. Even though they can't even be call a city-state, their guards have the most combat experience among our allies since they frequently deal with wild beasts out in the frontier. I wouldn't be ashamed to say that we wouldn't be able to take over the town without losing the majority of our force.

Volume 1 - Chapter 3 - Blessing in Disguise

In a workshop, next to the farming fields beyond the main academy building. A bull-horned young man, a deer-horned young man and a harpy-like young lady surrounds a big, translucent, jelly-like humanoid, who's staring at the item between them nervously.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" The translucent figure look at his three seniors timidly.

De'muel looks at the deer-horned Mak'ra and the feathered Isnic before nodding. "I think this is what the headmistress would've wanted, Dosnak."

The jelly figure shakes for a moment, as though something has tapped a soft jello. "But I've never worked on something like this before."

Volume 1 - Chapter 2 - First train, then teach, when teaching, be trained

Mana is present everywhere, it is the very essence of all existence. It can never be created nor destroyed. If that’s true, then where it comes from? That is a question that has been asked since at least ten million years ago, and likely even before then. It hasn’t been answered yet, or if it had, it was never shared. But we are here for another reason, so lets put that aside that for now. Mana consists of four states. Free State - this is mana in its basic form, it exists everywhere. Its power and concentration is extremely low, so it can’t really be used by most people. Sages and Hermits are said to be able to harness this power, but this was never verified. They are reclusive beings, so it’s highly unlikely we will ever know. Moving on. Ever seen specks of light drifting around in the night sky? Or bursts of them emitting from leylines? That happens when enough free state mana have gathered together to manifest itself into the Light state. Light State - this is the fundamental state of mana that’s used by almost all [Mage]s. In this state, mana can be manipulated with formulas to produce tangible results. The formulas themselves can come in many different shapes and forms, [Mage]s tend to use complex calculations to produce more intense results whereas [Warrior]s use it to boost their physical strength. This is because mana in this state is very fluid and easy to move. Every living, even some non-living, things produce a certain amount of it in their bodies. How it is used is dependent on the users, it’s commonly divided into [Growth], [Skill]s and [Spell]s, although other form of it exists. Refer to other books for a more detailed explanation in regards to them. Physical State - this is the state that we are all aware of. Everything we can touch, see and feel is mana in the physical state. As enough Light State mana gathers together, they will eventually form a physical body. From the largest to the smallest grains, it’s mana in the physical state. Many diseases are the manifestation of malignant physical mana affecting one’s body, that’s why it’s rare to see intermediate and higher [Mages] to become sick. This also concerns the effect of manipulating Light mana. Take a [Fire Bullet] spell for example. The practitioner will gather the necessary Light mana and run it it through a formula to convert it into a flame that will fly forward. It will keep going until the mana is dispersed. The scatter will either become scattered Light mana or convert into Free mana upon dispersal. Ethereal State - this is the highest state of mana that we, the council of San’na, are aware of. We are not sure not how it’s formed, but all living creatures have it. Others also call it the soul. From what we can understand, it’s the state when “Thoughts” can occur. The legendary talking sword, the Abysmal Sun, is said to be forged from a combination of Ethereal mana and specially treated ores. The Ethereal mana is unique to each individual, affecting their aptitudes in handling mana and their capacity to store Light mana. Demihuman souls for example generally has an aptitude for [Growth], Alfin souls generally enhance the host’s ability to use [Spells], humans souls are more suited for [Skills]. But regardless of the type of soul, we have determined that the more intelligent and knowledgeable a soul becomes, the more Light mana it can hold. There is also a cycle of mana, which can be observed by closely observing nature. Whenever there is rain,

Bell is reading the [Theory of Mana] with interest while Kun is reading [Introduction to Magic]. Till is leading the children, actually, officially now, students, to teach them about [Foraging] in the forest. De’muel and Mak’ra were also on hand to teach everyone about the defenses they can use in the forest.

The group have decided that they will get some sort of lesson plans going first before they can go out and start recruiting students. As such, they were each tasked with selecting a role after one week. Bell has started on going through the more difficult books since she is the older and more knowledgeable of the group. Kun on the other hand focused on the more practical and hands-on subjects. Till wasn’t interested in any of the books, calling them boring, so she started teaching the students about the forest. Rick has excused himself from doing anything, saying he has to move during the week.

I put [Theory of Mana] away after reading it in its entirety. The sun shines in through the window, I pace around the window to catch some rays.

Ahhhhh… if only I can see the sun after logging out. Just have to endure a few more months! But those books… are all of them handwritten? The capacity for Light mana… isn’t that referring to our MP? So if one of our students have a large pool, doesn’t that mean they are gifted with intelligence? We should run a test for this later. It’s intriguing that mana is basically the concept of mass-energy, but does E=mc^2 not apply here? The details is amazing for merely a game.

I continue to think while enjoying the warmth of the sun, suddenly…

“Ah!”

“Huh?”

*pasha*

A small blob of water flew into my face as I turned. I didn’t have a chance to dodge so I close my eyes on reflex. A small marble of water splashes refreshingly on my face. The amount of water is quite small, I am more surprised than hurt. I open my eyes slowly to see Kun in a weird stance looking unusually dumbfounded.

“Is there any particular reason for throwing water at me?” I can see Rick doing this, but Kun? I thought he was more mature than this, did Rick’s stupidity spread that quickly?

Kun drops his stupid pose, looking at his hands and me back and forth a few times with a blank expression.

“I think I just accidentally casted [Water Beads].” He’s alternately start turning his hands, clenching and unclenching them.

“But you are a not a mage, how can you cast anything?” The tutorials and game manual were pretty clear, new users are restricted to the four basic class of [Warrior], [Mage], [Archer] and [Craftsman] after they advance from a [Novice]. [Spell]s and [Skill]s are all divided evenly for every basic class, with [Craftsman] being able to use inferior version of them from other classes. This is on top of the fact that there is no “Kun has learned [Water Beads]” notice in the announcement tab.

“Maybe they did a silent update?” Kun was making an awkward face while scratching his head.

“You know what, just do it again.”

Kun’s face brightens, as though he just found a new toy. He reads from a book on the table while making some strange gestures with his hands and legs, a ball of water floats in the air next to him before flying past me and out the window. Kun turns to follow the flying globe of water with his eyes before it unexpectedly bursts a few meters outside.

“Let me see that.” I walk briskly next to Kun, who quickly got out of the way after looking at me. I stand in front of the book and starts reading it from beginning to end. As I put the book down, slightly elated, slightly confused, but 100% intrigued, I notice Kun starting to shoot multiple beads of water out the window all at once without those weird poses of his. He has a stupidly joyful face while doing it, but I’m not going to tease him for that. I wonder what expression I had when I went to read the book.

I start to do some weird gestures of my own, referring to the [Introduction to Magic] every now and then. I learned why Kun was looking so strange. He was trying to gather the Light mana into a pool while forming the formula in his mind. [Spell]s can be invoked simply by directing Light mana through a formula. The formula can be physically written, mentally constructed or even be abstractly combined to produce the [Spell]. I can feel the Light mana gathering, forming a ball of water in front of me. I finish the formula and thrust my paw out to launch the ball of water.

*zabun*

Unexpectedly, the ball of water explodes toward the window. Kun was soaked from head to toe, laughing like a little kid. Strange… there was obviously more water from the splash than what was possible from that ball of water.

We got some cloth and wipe down the wet floor, wall and window. The curtains will have to be dried outside. We cleaned with some undoubtedly stupid looking grins on our faces. I haven’t felt this excited since doing those science experiments back in grade school. It’s probably the same for Kun as well.

*****

The week passed. The magic discovery was shown to Till and eventually Rick. Till already knew about it apparently, she just likes to shout out the spell name since she says that’s how heroes attack, at least that’s what the headmistress had told her. Rick was completely soaked when Bell demonstrated for him. He was eager to learn it until he realized he would need to read a book and so declined to do so.

“So we will go with this plan then?”

“Why do I have all the crappy jobs?”

“You were never here when we were deciding, beggars can’t be choosers. The [Art of Farming] and [Mining Techniques] mainly has pictures, so it’s right up your alley.”

“But why Phy. Ed and PR as well?”

“Because your body is the only good thing you have, unless you want to switch with one of us.”
Bell starts holding up some thick books laid out on the conference table.

“Fine fine...” Rick back off right away after seeing the books.

After some fine tuning, the group makes a rough schedule to follow. Bell will be responsible for theories and concepts, Kun will look after practicality and application. Till is in charge of teaching things related to the forest and oversee funding administration done by De’muel and co. Rick’s main focus will be teaching the students how to farm, mine, train their body, and when necessary, deal with outsiders. Additionally, each of them will teach the students how to fight with whatever they are good at. They will adventure and travel around together when they happen to log in at the same time. Hunting and leveling will of course be allowed, as long as one lesson is done every week.

Zinnia Academy now have 4 new principals/teachers. Lessons are in place, they find that the more they teach the students, the better they get with their own skills. They may be low level users, but they are growing rapidly alongside their students.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, the [Monochrome Blades] and [Dawn’s Moonlight] guilds started to wage war for the rights to [Barghest Dungeon] which lies to the west, just slightly beyond Sardon. No one has cleared the dungeon yet, but several [Raid]s have already managed to reach the [Lord of the Dungeon], so it’s just a matter of time before it’s defeated.

Volume 1 - Chapter 1 - Zinnia Academy

"Headmistress! Look! There are people sleeping here!" The ever cheerful little girl beside me points at the three bodies laying at the edge of the forest.

A battle? Out here?

"Slow down child, let me take a look first." I told her as I slowly approach the bodies. One can never be too careful, especially now that Immortals started to appear frequently over the last six years.

Using my staff, I start to check out those bodies. "«Arcane Hold»! «Analyze»!"

Prologue 1-3

• Prologue 1 : Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
• Prologue 2 : Re-Quest
• Prologue 3 : From Hero, to Zero, to a God

Prologue 1 - Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

*Several shadows dart across a grass swept valley, followed by many longer, shorter shadows*

"Bell-ne, stick to the wall after we clear this ridge and ambush them. Till, keep running for 10 seconds then start casting. Rick, do your thing."

Three of the four figures gave a quick nod as two of them visibly slow down and turn back. About 10 meters behind them, a large red wolf is chasing them, with a dozen other smaller wolves right behind it.

"Here we go!"

Welcome to EC's New Home!

Just got this up and running, since people have been complaining about google doc being a pain in ass for readers (and I agree).  I will be moving the chapters individually once I figure out how this works.

The plan is to have google as my "rough" while posts here will be "final" or "final draft".  Will see how everything will go.  Stay tuned.  o/