PreCursive

Interlude 5 - A Patient Promise

The hunter waited patiently on a hill overlooking the town.

This must have been the fourth such small settlement that the hunter had investigated over its months-long search, but they were optimistic about this one. So many of the towns that...

Chapter 52 - Coming to a Decision

“He wants to WHAT?!” Azarus shouted, accidentally slamming his hammer down onto his thumb in surprise. With a shouted curse, he hurled the hammer away from him into the corner of his forge before turning to face me.

I was leaning up agai...

Chapter 51 - Damned

Later that night, Grey and I were relaxing in his room. The sun was setting, and his room was lit by flickering candlelight by now, casting everything in dancing shadow. Azarus had called an early night, citing some business he had early in the mo...

Chapter 50 - Switch-Up

Time passed, and before I knew it, two weeks had gone by.

I was busy during that time. Every day was devoted to trying to train my usage of Aetherial Melding. If I wasn’t trying to refine my control, I was trying to understand the Professi...

Chapter 49 - Thunderheart Oath

Inside the back room was the same preparation room I’d seen weeks ago. It didn’t seem to have changed all that much. It was still tiled, with knives and tools scattered across the large wooden tables situated along the wall. It still had hooks...

Chapter 48 - Ghrian Dorcha

“Interestin’.” Azarus said idly, cutting into the steak on his plate.

After we had gotten back from our lunchtime break, Grey and I worked on testing my new Profession for the rest of the day. In between breaks to let my mana recover, ...

Chapter 47 - Testing

I awoke to the sound of rattling drawers and the muttering of Grey. I was laying in his bed again, in a mirror of my first day here. He must have moved me here after I had…passed out? Was that what had happened to me? Groggily, I raised my head ...

Chapter 46 - Aetherial Melding

“And, well, my entire Profession pane has changed. Again.” I said to Grey.

It had. Again. For like the third time or something.

Where before it had been a series of seven concentric circles with an eight in the middle, those were a...

Chapter 45 - Sculpted

“Until this point in time,” Grey said. “AutoVants, the Sculpted, were legally considered to be property. Naturally, they objected to this legal status. Even before the Second Initialization, there were individuals that protested before the H...

Chapter 44 - Explanations

I took a longer bath than usual, taking the time to try and decompress. I must have just lay in the tub for nearly half an hour after cleaning myself, simply trying to clear my mind. I don’t know how successful I was at that, but at least I was ...

Chapter 43 - Gift of Aether

I wasn’t able to see the clearing fully from how far back I was, but the sight still gave me a rush of wild hope. Somehow dredging up more energy from my exhausted frame, I accelerated, putting on a burst of speed. The bear creature recovered fr...

Chapter 42 - Class Selection

The tree might but holding up fine, but I wasn’t for how long. The repeated assaults of the bear-rabbit had started to splinter the base of the tree. Eventually, I think the monster was going to knock my tree over and then slaughter me like a pi...

Chapter 41 - The Hunted

I slowly drifted back to consciousness, laying on my left side facing a tree.

Honestly, this was a surprise to me.

As I gradually became more aware of my surroundings, I tried to move. I immediately stopped due to the flair of pain. I ...

Interlude 4 - Malice

The silence in the clearing was oppressive.

After Nate and the other slaves had been forced into the forest, Magnus had ordered his guards to go fetch the usual things he needed for a ‘hunt’. Namely, his small mobile gazebo, complete wit...

Chapter 40 - Creeping Crimson

I tried to move through the thick brush quietly, as I made my way deeper into the forest. It was difficult though, as the forest was much thicker in this part. The trees were closer together, as were the bushes. That wasn’t even mentioning how m...

Chapter 39 - The Hunt Begins

I sprinted through the forest for perhaps five minutes before I started to slow down. Coming to a stop, I hunched over and put my hands on my knees in order to catch my breath. But I was fighting something else that was making me breathe hard, and...

Chapter 38 - Stone Broken

Azarus’s whole body tensed. His arm thrown across my shoulders began to feel more like a steel bar. Whatever he was planning on, he didn’t get the chance to act on it.

The guards advanced on us with startling speed.

One of the guar...

Chapter 37 - Welcoming Ceremony

My breath hitched in my chest. Oh…fuck. What the hell was he doing here?

Lord Magnus of House Savoy was much as I remembered him to be. Dark of hair and beard, both were worn long and elaborately styled. Shorter than Azarus, he was dressed...

Chapter 36 - Family Politics

Azarus and I traveled in companionable silence for most of the first day. We didn’t even really stop in order to have lunch, we only stopped the cart when the sun went down. Once we did, I helped Azarus set up our campsite for the night. Thankfu...

Chapter 35 - Greenrise [Vol. 2 Start]

It had been nearly a week since Azarus and I had arrived in Rhoscara at this point, and we were leaving soon. The other day, Azarus had joined Elysael and I for dinner and told us that he had finished his business in the city. It was time to leave...

Interlude 3 - Kragsdwarf [Vol. 1 End]

The fading twilight stretched across the city of Rhoscara, glittering among its crimson and gold spires. Beneath them, the work of the city began to die down, after another frenetic day of creation and trade. Carpenters and masons, bakers and chef...

Chapter 34 - The Coral Room

For the next maybe quarter-hour, we ate our breakfasts in awkward silence. Well, awkward for me at least. In a casual setting like this, I didn’t know how to speak to Elysael. What kind of chit-chat did you have with literal royalty? I didn’t ...

Chapter 33 - Uncertainty

After the incident in the Prince's office, nobody seemed to be in the mood to talk anymore. Elysael told Azarus and me that we would finish the conversation later, before calling a servant to lead us to the rooms that had been prepared for us. Sho...

Chapter 32 - Judged

“Well,” The Prince began delicately. “That wasn’t quite how I was expecting things to go.”

Once the Prince had ended court for the day, Azarus and I had followed her out of the throne room through a small, recessed doorway off to t...

Chapter 31 - Performance of a Lifetime

I didn’t pay much attention to the next couple of people that came to petition the Prince. I was more focused on the implications of Olgar’s petition, instead.

It sounded to me like the human kingdom was involved in some kind of war.

Chapter 30 - The Prince of Ravens

So, this was Olgar.

Not gonna lie, he was pretty intimidating.

Azarus hummed noncommittedly in response to his greeting. He turned his gaze away from Olgar for a moment in order to drag it along the crowd of perhaps fifteen other dwarv...

Chapter 29 - Complications

Before long, Azarus and I had reached the top of the long winding stone stairway that led to the palace district proper. We made the trip in silence, as Azarus seemed anxious about something. Personally, I spent the time admiring the grounds that ...

Chapter 28 - Afternoon Stroll

I wasn’t watching this time as the wagon entered the city, but I could feel when we made the transition. The wagon went from rolling smoothly along the hard-packed dirt outside the gates, to trundling along atop cobblestones with a jolt. Shortly...

Chapter 27 - The Good Captain

As our wagon slowly trundled its way toward the gates of Rhoscara, the spectacular view of the city slowly faded. It was replaced by the less dazzling view of the walls that surrounded the city. The walls themselves were still made of the red ston...

Chapter 26 - Breathtaking Beards

Azarus was right  for once when he said the trip to Rhoscara would take about four days.  The trip itself wasn’t that bad, however. I’d had certain expectations  for the journey, after my last in a wagon. When we were moving, Az...