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2024-10-29 19:42:56"What the hell!? Why's a square like this here right at the start!?" Exclaimed Lilac indignantly.
"Hey, I tried to warn ya," I shrugged wryly, my ears perking up as the sound of the door opening echoed out as I picked up the dice and rolled it.I got a four...good, it's a safe spot..."I'm home, Lilac, Topaz!" Came Iris's voice, as she shut the door and the sound of her footsteps approaching echoed out.Hm? Why does Lilac look so tense?"Hey, you okay-...?" I started to ask her."Crap, crap, crap!" She whispered sharply with an alarmed look in her eyes, snatching the box of cookies from me and looking around frantically before starting to slip the box under the couch.W-wait, don't tell me she..."Hey, you guys, what are you upt-...are those my cookies?" Iris began to greet us, before frowning and narrowing her eyes at Lilac, he voice going low and cold.Oh, no. This isn't good..."N-no...," Stuttered Lilac, as she slowly slid the box under the couch.You idiot, it's too late for that now...damn it, why'd she have to drag me into this? I get it now, she wanted an accomplice to share the risk and blame with."You obnoxious...little...brat...! First of all...how many times have I told you not to snoop around in my room when I'm not at home, huh!? I could've sworn I locked it-...no, that's beside the point, I shouldn't have to lock it in the first place! And secondly, I specifically warned you to stay away from these cookies...I saved up for months, do you have any idea how expensive that box was!? But I still gave you a few cookies, hoping that'd be enough to keep you from stealing any...but oh no, you didn't just sneak a few out, you took the entire box!" Snapped Iris, her face growing progressively redder as her shoulders trembled with rage."Okay, in my defense...you only gave me, like, three, and they were so good that there was no way such a small amount would satisfy me! And you didn't give To any at all, I felt bad for him, missing out on such premium sweets, so I had no choice!" Lilac shot back, as she hid behind me and peeked out at Iris from behind my shoulder.O-oh, God, she's making things worse...!"H-hey, leave me out of this!" I protested in alarm."Is that you have to say for yourself? Alright, fine, if that's how it is...both of you, down in the training room, NOW! Or else...," Iris threatened us icily, letting out a growl as she cracked her knuckles before slamming her right fist against her left palm, her eyes gleaming with anger.Ah. She wants to beat us up. She plans to use 'training' as an excuse to absolutely destroy us. And not being very subtle about it, I might add."H-hold on, I had no idea these were yours! I wouldn't have touched even one if I did, so spare me!" I exclaimed in alarm."Hey, you can't just abandon me!" Protested Lilac as she shook me by the shoulders."I don't care...you're both guilty as far as I'm concerned. But I'll give you a few less hits, Topaz, since you're not the main offender," Responded Iris, before walking over and grabbing each of our wrists and dragging us towards the basement...you've gotta be kidding me, damn it, she just wants an additional target to take her anger out on!I didn't do anything to deserve this! Damn it, she's way too strong, there's no way I can break free of her grasp!"Y-you idiot, what were you thinking!? Why'd you have to drag me into this, damn it!?" I yelled at Lilac as I struggled in vain, a heavy sense of dread in my chest as the stairs leading down to the basement came closer and closer into sight."Well...if we go down, we go down together...partner," She replied with a nervous smile, giving me a thumbs up.I think the fear might've just broken her..."Don't worry, you two...I have some Healing Elixirs on me. I'll be sure to splash a couple on you once we're done...," Trailed off Iris ominously.I gulped as I felt my blood run cold...sh-she, uh, she's not gonna hold back on us, i-is she...?......"Hey, what's up, To? You wanna-...?""No," I cut her off dryly, rolling around in my bed as I flipped the page of my book."You're not still mad about yesterday, are you?""Oh, I don't know, what do you think?""Come on, I said I was sorry-...""No, you didn't.""Didn't I? Huh, could've sworn that I did. Oh, well, it's the thought that counts, right? Anyway, come with me, I wanna show you something!" She grinned as she walked over and shook me."Stop that. And I'm not interested," I huffed in response."I'm sorry, okay? I just...I really wanted those cookies!""Yeah, and because of that, I went through the worst beating of my life! Or at least as far as I can remember, anyway. I can still taste the blood in my mouth...," I shuddered traumatically.I'm not gonna go into the details of what Iris did to us yesterday...but let's just say that I've developed a deep, paralyzing fear of wooden swords..."I took more hits than you did...""Yes, well, I'd have preferred taking no hits, which would've been the case if you hadn't roped me in!" I pointed out as I flicked the tip of her nose."Ow! Okay, in my defense...I only gave you one cookie, you made to choice to go for some more!""Are...are you serious right now?" I responded incredulously."Come on, please? This won't even take that long, maybe twenty minutes tops? I promise it's worth it, and it's nothing that'll get us in trouble, I swear!" She assured me, as she flopped herself on top of my right side and repeatedly tugged on the top of my ear."Grr...you're really starting to-...," I growled irritably, trying my best to ignore the sensation of her body pressing down on me, especially her chest on my shoulder..."Pleeeeaaaaasssseeee?""Damn it...alright, fine, but only for ten minutes, no longer than that," I gave in reluctantly...really hope I don't regret this...
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The Fractured Mage Chapter 12 - Lilac(Part 3)
"Hey, you can let go of my arm, I'm not gonna run away," I sighed as she dragged me along with her as usual. "It's not that, you just walk way too slowly on your own," She replied, as she led me to the back door, leading out into the yard behind the house. "No, you just walk too fast...""Oh, please, I've seen old ladies who walk faster than you, you're so lazy, To," She grinned as she opened the door and stepped out, finally letting go of my arm. "Whatever...okay, so what is it that you want to show me? Did you tame a new Monster or animal?" I inquired, glancing in the direction of the shed. She possesses the Tamer Class, currently at the Basic Tier, which is also called Tamer. She's pretty close to reaching the required level to unlock her Ascended Tier though, which is called Summoner. And the Apex Tier of the Tamer Class is called Assimilater, though no one of the Tamer Class has reached that Apex in over a century. Mainly because the Tamer Class is among the least popular Cla
The Fractured Mage Chapter 13 - Lilac(Part 4)
"...-like they won't even listen to me! It's so annoying!" Huffed Lilac, as she moved one of her pieces forward. "Yeah, that sucks," I replied with a nod, as I caught her piece in a trap and claimed in. "...are you actually listening?""Yeah, that really sucks.""Hey.""I see, how awful.""...hey.""Mhm, that sucks.""Hey!" She exclaimed indignantly, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. "Huh? What?" I responded as she startled me."You weren't listening to a word I said, were you!?""N-no, I was totally listening," I averted my gaze as she glared at me."Okay, what was the last thing I said?" She narrowed her eyes at me. "Uh...you accused me of not listening to a word you said.""Before that.""You said, uh...that sucks?""No, that's what you said! You jerk, you were totally tuning me out!" She pouted as she shook me by the shoulders again. "Okay, to be fair, you were rambling on and on for ages, you can't expect me to-...h-hey, stop shaking me!""I'm gonna repeat myself, and thi
The Fractured Mage Chapter 14 - Am Not, Are Too
"Woah!" I exclaimed in alarm, as I narrowly ducked under the horizontal swing of Iris's wooden sword, before letting myself fall back and swinging my feet up as my palms landed on the floor. Iris swiftly tilted her body back to avoid my heels crashing onto her face, before I used the momentum to backflip, springing back a few paces as I landed, getting some distance. I grimaced as she immediately shot towards me, driving the wooden sword straight at my face as she closed in on me rapidly. I quickly tilted my head across to evade it, the wooden blade grazing my left cheek and nicking the side of my ear, before I drove my right fist towards her. As my fist closed in on her chest, she swiftly took one hand off the handle of the wooden sword and grabbed my forearm, stopping my punch before flicking her other wrist and whipping the wooden sword down as I began to drive my knee up towards her waist. I let out a hiss of pain as she struck my ankle with the wooden sword, slowing down my kn
The Fractured Mage Chapter 15 - Ether Magic
I took in a deep breath, before slowly exhaling as I focused and locked my gaze onto my target...I then raised my hand, taking aim as I formed a swirling ball of Ether in front of my palm, intensifying the force it was generating as much as I could without losing control. Okay, it's ready...here I go, ready, aim aaaand...fire! I fired out the swirling sphere of Ether, which rapidly shot forward in a straight line, hitting the middle of the empty glass bottle I'd set up as a target, shattering it into pieces upon impact. "Damn it...," I muttered, clenching my fist in frustration...so close, I was off by about three inches... "What's with the sour face? Looked like a bullseye to me," Came Lilac's voice, from over by the stairs. I glanced in that direction, to see her seated on one of the bottom stairs, watching me. When did she get here? I didn't even notice...I was focusing too hard, I need to be more aware of my surroundings. "I was aiming for the bottleneck, my goal was to try a
The Fractured Mage Chapter 16 - Four Months
"Yeah? Who is it?" I called out, as someone knocked on my door. It's definitely not Lilac, she would never knock. "It's me. May I come in?" Cane Ifeus's voice from outside the door. "Sure, come on in," I responded, sitting up as the door opened and he stepped inside. Another month or so has passed, it's now been about four months since the start of my current memories. It's around 10 PM at night right now, I was getting ready to go to sleep, so I hope this doesn't take too long. Ifeus and Iris have been busier than usual in the last couple of weeks, while Lilac has put all her focus into training, since she's close to reaching her Ascended Tier and wants to make up the remaining difference as quickly as possible. I've been sparring against her every so often, and at this point, I'm a fair bit more powerful than she is. I've learnt to use my Ether Magic to boost my physical attacks upon impact, and that's helped improve my physical strength as well. It works by channeling the Eth
The Fractured Mage Chapter 17 - Progress Check(Part 1)
"Okay, one round with you only using martial arts, and then one round with you going all out. Fair warning, I won't just be playing defense this time, I will attack and counter," Ifeus informed me. "Fine by me," I replied with a nod. "You can do it, To! Kick his ass!" Called out Lilac with a grin, waving at me. Both her and Iris were seated on the stairs, watching this. I could do without the audience, but I highly doubt they'd leave just because I told them to. "Wha-...hey, come on, you're going to hurt your dear old dad's feelings, Li," Responded Ifeus with a wistful sigh. "If I'm being honest, I'm rooting for Topaz too...I did train him for quite a while, so he's kinda my student. It'd be nice to see him give you a run for your money, at the very least," Chimed in Iris with a smirk. "Well, now, looks like I'm gonna have to take this seriously. Nothing personal, kid...but I gotta look cool for my daughters!" He declared as he met my gaze. "Yeah, nothing you just said was anywh
The Fractured Mage Chapter 18 - Progress Check(Part 2)
"You know, now that I think about it, wouldn't it make more sense for me to be the one who tests Topaz? Even if I don't hold back at all, he won't be completely overwhelmed, which will certainly be the case if you go all out, dad," Remarked Iris objectively. "Oh, it's fine. I can assess his current level a lot better if I'm the one sparring against him than if I was just watching him fight someone else. And after that first round, Topaz, I can confidently say that you'll be easily able to pass yourself off as a Martial Artist, an Ascended Mage of the Physical Class, with solely your hand to hand combat skills. I mean, there's no way in hell that a Basic Mage could ever land a hit on me, and you came close to landing two! Actually, considering the level you're currently at...I'd say you've been at the required level for at least a few weeks now. I know it's been a while since I last checked in on your progress, but you've exceeded my expectations, I'm intrigued to see how far you've c
The Fractured Mage Chapter 19 - Progress Check(Part 3)
"I wanna know too, what did you do back there? The speed you displayed was incredible, not to mention the amount of force you generated behind your punch," Remarked Iris with an intrigued look on her face. "Well, it's kinda simple, actually. About a couple of weeks ago, I realized that the three Arts of my Ether Mage Ascended Tier don't necessarily have to be used in the same sequence. Ether Materialization manifests Ether outside of my body, Ether Modelling lets me control and give shape to the manifested Ether, and Ether Emission lets me fire it out. Obviously, I can't use Ether Emission without first using the previous two Arts. Well, I technically can skip Ether Modelling, but then my output has no real shape or momentum to it, resulting in a weak attack. I can also technically use Ether Materialization on its own, but that limits me to using the manifested Ether at close range only. The game changer was when I realized that I can use Ether Modelling without using Ether Material
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- The Fractured Mage
Chapter 96 - Monster Army(Part 3)
Point-of-View: Iris Lero———————————————————————————I began to point my blade at the Dragon as it raised its arm up, before I lowered my weapon in surprise, as the Dragon... "No, wait-...!" Began Lilac, before abruptly trailing off as the Dragon plunged its claws into its own throat, killing itself.Blood gushed out of its neck as its body went limp and collapsed onto the ground, sending tremors across the area as blood poured out of the deep gash in its neck, pooling around its head."Wow, uh...that was hardcore. Wasn't expecting that from you, Lilac," Remarked Rex in surprise."N-no, I...that wasn't me. I linked with the Dragon using Thought Communication and managed to free it from the control it was under, I was going to set it free after that. It was in a frenzy and immensely enraged, even though I managed to establish a telepathic link with it, I couldn't get it to listen to me. I think it thought that I was going to take control of it instead of letting it go, and it chose t
- The Fractured Mage
Chapter 95 - Monster Army(Part 2)
Point-of-View: Iris Lero———————————————————————————"Damn it, there's just no end to them!" I snapped, as I slashed off a Monster's head with my sword, before rapidly extending the blade towards a Monster barreling in towards me from the right, piercing through the top of its head and splitting its skull open as I swung my blade up while continuing to extend it out.I then whipped my arm across, the blade slicing across several flying Monsters and bringing them down, before I began to spin around as I sensed a Monster springing up behind me.As I turned around, a massive blast of flames came shooting towards the Monster from its left, eliciting a deafening roar of pain from it as the flames enveloped it and set it ablaze, its agonized roars soon fading as it got burnt to a crisp."I know you probably had that under control, but you're welcome regardless," Grinned Rex, beads of sweat running down the sides of his face, before firing out a scorching wave of flames from his mouth at a g
- The Fractured Mage
Chapter 94 - Monster Army(Part 1)
Point-of-View: Lilac Lero ———————————————————————————"Thank you for coming, we really appreciate the assistance," Smiled the Guildmaster of the Praepotentia Guild, a grateful look on his face."Don't mention it, we're all on the same side here, so it's only natural that we help each other out when necessary," Replied Iris politely. "Yes, of course, I completely agree."Hah, yeah right. Pretty sure this guy used to mock our Guild in the not so distant past, guess him showing genuine gratitude like this despite his previous attitude towards us means that the situation here must be pretty dire.After Sapphire wiped out all the Monsters around the capital in the direction we'd come from, we entered the city and made our way to the Praepotentia Guild. We came across a Goblin on the way in, I used Forced Tame on it to confirm that these Monsters are being controlled by someone with the same Class as me. We then arrived at the Guild shortly after, and there were a lot of people here, wit
- The Fractured Mage
Chapter 93 - Perpetually Exhausted
"Too slow. Come on, I know that you can do a lot better than that," Remarked Ifeus, before firing a telekinetic blast at me.I quickly countered with an Ether-negating wave, before firing a barrage of swirling Ether spheres at him. As my projectiles closed in on him, he vanished from sight, before I stiffened as I sensed him reappearing behind me.I began to fire out a shockwave of Ether from my body, before I found myself falling as he swept at my legs with his right foot, tripping me over. My left shoulder hit the ground with a painful thud, as I let out a weary groan..."Come on, man, give me a break...I haven't eaten anything in almost two full days now, and you only let me sleep for like two hours last night. I can't fight like this, I'm completely drained," I complained as I tried to catch my breath, my stomach rumbling and my vision blurring."Oh, don't worry...I'll let you have some food and a bit more sleep tonight. But there's still a few hours before night time, so we're no
- The Fractured Mage
Chapter 92 - Request
Point-of-View: Lilac Lero———————————————————————————"Damn it, I miss To," I sighed irritably, feeling restless and impatient."Yes, I know, you've been saying that every single day, multiple times a day, for the last month. I'm sure he'll be back soon, try thinking about something else in the meantime," Responded Iris as she gave me a pat on the head."Don't patronize me, you stupid gorilla...""...just this once, I'll let that slide. But only once, got it?"Yeah, whatever. Today's the 15th of August, 505 PA, and we were currently on our way to the capital, Rosnoir City. There had been an immense spike in the number of Monsters around the capital, attacking around the outskirts of the city. Which is very unusual behavior for Monsters, they tend to dislike hunting in unfamiliar territory. Though, from what we've heard, they're not hunting, they're just attacking and killing without really eating the people they kill. Which is even more unusual and unnatural for Monsters. Even smal
- The Fractured Mage
Chapter 91 - Ambushed(Part 2)
I quickly set up an Ether-negating barrier over the alley, ducking as one of the people surrounding me flung a dagger at me, narrowly avoiding it. It's likely that all their weapons have been coated in poison, a single hit might be all it takes to kill me. This is bad...including the woman who'd tricked me, there's eight of them surrounding me right now. The odds are heavily stacked against me, I have absolutely no margin of error here..."How troublesome, it would seem as though we can't use our Magic," Remarked one of them, as they circled around me."It's not a problem. This is just a minor inconvenience, it's no great obstacle.""You know, I'm starting to feel kinda insulted!" I snapped, forming a ring of Ether around me before rapidly expanding it outwards towards them while narrowing and sharpening the edges of the ring.Some of them managed to duck under it, while the rest sprang above it to dodge the attack, several knives coming flying in towards me from multiple directions
- The Fractured Mage
Chapter 90 - Ambushed(Part 1)
Well, this was a massive waste of time. What gives? The hell is going on here, anyway? I mean, seriously, who sent me that letter? Somehow, I don't think this was just some dumb prank... On the bright side, I get to go home now, and since Ifeus is here, I just need to meet back up with him and he can teleport me right back to Skyrouge City.So, at least I don't have to worry about taking the long journey back by carriage. Still though, I'm kinda pissed, I don't like that I just wasted a whole lot of time on nothing.As I walked down the street, muttering to myself irritably, I was snapped out of it as someone came jogging this way, trying to swerve out of the way as they closed in on me, but in their rush, failed to fully get out the way and ended up bumping into me, getting knocked down with an alarmed cry as I stumbled back a bit before regaining my balance."Uh, sorry about that, are you okay?" I inquired, offering my hand to help them up. It was a young woman, she was carrying a
- The Fractured Mage
Chapter 89 - Letter
"Uh...I don't know, this sounds really fishy," I frowned apprehensively."I understand your concerns, but I can assure you, this client is a trustworthy sort. The letter appears to be authentic, this is definitely his seal...so, I don't think there's anything to worry about," Replied Ifeus, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder."Still...given what happened on the last Quest you sent me out on, I figured I'd have to stay cooped up at home for the foreseeable future," I sighed wistfully."Yes, you seem to be quite disappointed that that's not the case. The thought did cross my mind, of course, but no, I won't be doing that...it may be the safer option, but if you just stay at home indefinitely, you're not going to get very much stronger, Topaz. And with the way things have been going lately, you need to get as strong as possible, as fast as possible. And the best way to do that is to keep building your experience level," He surmised, a slightly conflicted look on his face.I mean, I
- The Fractured Mage
Chapter 88 - Failed
"I see, that sounds like it must have been a pretty harrowing experience. I'm glad the both of you are okay, at least," Remarked Iris, as she slumped back in the couch and munched on a chip."Yeah, that could've ended up a lot worse than it did. It really helped that that girl, Luxuria, just kept talking. I probably wouldn't have broken free from her control otherwise," I replied with a grimace, before adding, "Anyway, based on what you said about your Quest, it sounds like things didn't go too much better for you."It was the next day, around 5 PM in the evening. Iris's group got back from their failed Quest early this morning, and she'd just woken up about half an hour ago. She had a bite to eat, and then joined Lilac and I in playing some board games. Before we long, we got to talking about our Quests yesterday... "It was a disaster...we failed to protect our client, and while I'm not too torn up about his death, he was a real asshole, the fact that I was so completely helpless to
