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After leaving the room, while Lucien was walking downstairs, he dispelled the spirit mark he left on Doro, as he didn’t want Smile to somehow find out his own unique way of tracking.
 
Carefully, Lucien approached the back door. Again, with some easy spells, Lucien managed to leave Copper Coronet quietly and no one ever noticed him. Just in case, Lucien took a very roundabout way first, instead of going back to his place directly, 
 
Lying in his bed, Lucien felt kind of encouraged since now he was certain that he was not alone. He was comforted by the fact that there were still other apprentices working hard while carefully hiding from the church. He wondered how many apprentices, sorcerers, and sorceresses were there in Aalto in total.
 
…………
 
In the following few days, Lucien’s life was pretty plain but peaceful. Lucien got up early in the morning to do some work out and then went to work. Sometimes he read music books, and sometimes religion and travel book, sometimes he read in his own spirit library and analyzed the magic structures.
 
Although Pierre could be kind of weird sometimes, when he was reading his music books, Lucien almost couldn’t feel his existence. And luckily, Wolf had been out of town for a while, and no one else in the association would ever give them a hard time.
 
Life was almost perfect these days. The only pity was that Lucien didn’t have a chance to see Ms. Silvia, the famous violinist who was still single. According to Pierre, she was a goddess-like lady and was very talented. Since Pierre kept mentioning her for countless times, Lucien also started feeling curious. However, Mr. Silvia didn’t come to the association very often.
 
While learning music, Lucien was still learning how to read, but the time spent on the latter was much shorter now, since he was learning really fast. Like the rest of the music students, after finishing the class, Lucien would stay at Mr. Victor’s place and start another two-hour piano practicing. Lucien’s quality of being persistent helped him a lot. He never stopped practicing until he had really sore fingers and arms and sweated a lot.
 
The evening was reserved to the study of magic. Nothing could pull Lucien out of the magic world in this period of time.
 
On Friday evening, what Lucien was on his way to auntie Alisa’s place, he noticed there were some doodle-like patterns at the very corner of a wall. Lucien quickly understood what they meant.
 
“Ten o’clock. Saturday night. The abandoned house in the easternmost area in Aderon. Owl.”
 
Lucien’s expression did not change at all. He kept calmly walking toward Alisa’s place as if he had seen nothing unusual.
 
…………
Lucien arrived at the place ten minutes earlier in his black robe, with Ice Revenger on his left hand. Before Lucien left his place, he also checked all the magic reagents in the pockets of the robe.
 
There was neither moon nor stars that night. Thick clouds covered all the light in the sky. 
 
As soon as Lucien arrived, he heard an owl hoot in the darkness. It was Doro standing on the tall willow, serving as a sentinel. Under the tree stood Smile in a black robe. In order to let Lucien recognize him, Smile didn’t wear his hood.
 
“Welcome, Mr. Professor.” Smiled walked toward Lucien and put on the hood, “I told the other members about you, and they were looking forward to your presence. Several apprentices also wanted to ask you for help with some magic problems. Of course, they will pay.”
 
Knowing that Smile was trying to test him, Lucien, however, didn’t feel nervous. He was pretty sure that he was more advanced than most of his peer apprentices, although he couldn’t guarantee that he was able to solve all the problems, “I major in Astrology and Element magic. So if these are questions related to those, I shall be able to help them a bit.”
 
Smile nodded, “Then please follow me, Mr. Professor.”
 
Smile stopped in front of the old wood door of the abandoned place. After knocking on the door in a unique rhythm, Smile mimicked an owl hoot.  
 
A few seconds later, a man wearing the same black robe opened the door slowly. When the man saw Lucien, he slightly nodded towards Lucien, “This must be Mr. Professor, then.”
 
Lucien could tell it was not the man’s real voice as well.
 
“Yes, this is Mr. Professor,” Smile’s voice was also lower than the other night, “and Professor, this is Fire Wolf.”
 
“Nice to meet you.” Lucien lowered his head slightly and greeted him. His left hand stayed in the sleeve, and his Ice Revenger was ready.
 
After walking through the living room and another door, Fire Wolf led them to the storage room. At the corner of the room, there was a staircase that led underground.
 
A basement! He wondered why he never thought about building a basement under his shack, instead of taking the risk and going down into the sewers every time. And at the same time, he could build a bigger crypt in Melzer Black Forest for practicing more powerful spells.
 
This was not a very spacious basement. Eleven low stools were placed surrounding a long table. Flickering candles sparsely illuminated the place. The other eight apprentices were already sitting there. All of them were wearing black robes.
 
Lucien walked downstairs with great caution, followed by Fire Wolf and Smile. They closed the door of the basement before they sat down.
 
“Everyone, today we’re honoured to have Mr. Professor here to exchange ideas and thoughts with us.” Smile stood up and started the introduction, “Mr. Professor is a real sorcerer. I’m sure our apprentice group meeting would benefit a lot from Mr. Professor’s profound knowledge.”
 
Then Smile started introducing the apprentices present one by one, “This is White Honey, Morning Star, Reindeer, White Glove, Oak, Philosopher, Mercury and Hanger.”
 
“The honour is all mine.” Lucien slightly bowed, “Please forgive me for being so direct. I come here largely because of the journal, Arcana. Can I take a look at it first?”
 
“No problem, Professor. Take your time and we can do random discussion first.” Philosopher nodded and slowly handed Lucien a black hardback book. His voice sounded pretty old, “Besides, I heard from Owl that you need a whole set of labwares and I brought them here tonight. I’ll be glad to give them to you as a gift if you can solve a problem for me later.”
 
Lucien didn’t open the book instantly, but carefully checked the cover of the book first.
 
There were a few separate silver lines joining together in the end on the black cover, which formed the word, Arcana, right in the centre. Under the name of the journal, a line of words wrote “Volume 11, the year 392 of Saint Calendar”. There were parchment pages inside it.
 
From the content page, Lucien found there were twenty-four articles in the journal. The first one was Discussion about the Fifth Failure of Finding the New Planets. Lucien felt interested in it and started reading.
 
“The theory of gravitation proposed by Douglas could explain lots of force field spells, even most spells of the Astrology school. Besides, the three laws of planetary motion also derives from that theory, which is of great significance for guiding the field of fortunetelling.
 
“Based on this theory, we have created many new and powerful spells. Thus we can say, if there are two major columns supporting the classical magic system, the theory of gravitation could be valued as the most important foundation for one of the columns — force field study.”
 
……
 
“There is still one question remaining to be demonstrated: The theory of gravitation enables us to figure out many guiding formulas, and thus we know that the continent where we live in also belongs to a planet. The planet keeps rotating and at the same time revolving around the sun, so do the rest of the planets in the sky. Following the formulas mentioned above, we can also locate these planets. 
 
“However, no one, not even the greatest sorcerer or sorceress, ever managed to reach the planets using the most advanced space magic, including me. Even we can calculate the coordinates of them, we can find none of them in the presumed places in space.
 
“When I was trying to cast the advanced space magic, although I could not reach the planet, I could feel the gravity of the target planet from my presupposed transit spot. The planets are there, but at the same time, they are not there.”
 
When Lucien found out that the planets in this world could tell destinies, Lucien was already quite surprised. Now he felt surprised again, and very confused.
 
 


"A falling star has brought the chaos. The throne of fate has lost its master. The nonbeliever who walks in light and darkness will make his debut."
In this magic world, knowledge is power.

The old man looked up at Vy and was stunned for a moment by her beauty. It was rare for an old man like him to see a pretty lady these days. He asked to examine the ring and Vy happily obliged. Potto took the ring from her and examined it closely under the light of the lamp that hung above them. 

"The craftsmanship is a little rough on the edges and time has caused some damages. But it's definitely worth something. Young lass, would you be keen to sell it?"

<Simple ring appraised>

<Simple ring has been identified as a damaged gold ring.>

Vy was surprised but she did not show it. 

-System, can the ring be fixed?-

<Yes>

-What is the current value of the ring?-

<It is currently worth 10 silvers.>

-After it gets repaired, how much would be then?-

<It would be worth 25 silvers.>

"If I am looking to sell it, how much would you offer," Vy asked Potto. 

Potto stroked his beard and thought for a while. He knew it was a gold ring, underneath the damage that had been done. Since the girl seemed nice enough, he decided to give a reasonable offer. 

"8 silvers."

-He knows the value of it and has a pawnshop owner, he would need to make a profit too. That is a fair deal for both of us. But I can't let go of the fact that it would be worth so much more after being polished and fixed.-

Vy pondered for a moment and thought of a reply. She could only hope that the shopkeeper would agree. "What if I were to pawn it instead? How much would I be able to get and by when do I need to return to get it back?"

"You seem like a nice enough girl. If you were to pawn it, I'll give you the 8 silvers. If you can come back with 10 silvers before 30 days is up, you can have it back."

Vy smiled. She put out her hand and said, "It's a deal!"

Potto smiled and shook her hand. After her transaction with Potto was complete, Vy paid Carole what she owed her. With the additional income, she also decided to purchase a small leather sling satchel, to carry her items with her, as well as a belt for her to holster her dagger. 

Carole had a changing room at the back of her store, so she invited Vy to change into her outfit. After changing into her new clothes, she stepped out of the changing room and Carole brought her a full-length mirror to have a look. 

"So, what do you think?"

For the first time, Vy looked at herself in the mirror. The clothes fit her well, her dragon necklace sat beautifully in the centre of her chest. Her hair was passed her shoulders and a little curled, despite the little care she had given, they were not too tangled. She smiled, as she examined the satchel and her dagger on her belt. 

"It looks great. Thank you Carole!"

Carole smiled. "Actually, are you planning to stay in the town to look for a job? If you are, I could help you to ask around."

"That would be great actually! If you need an extra pair of hands around your shop, I don't mind helping out either."

"That's actually a great idea. It could be useful to have an extra pair of hands. With the big harvest festival coming up in a week or so, it does get busier."

"A harvest festival?"

"Yes, it happens twice a year and this is the second one this year. It is also the bigger one so more people will be swarming into the town. There will be many festivities and there would also be a larger market set up right outside the town to cater to the travellers and farmers who would be coming in."

After bidding farewell to Carole, Vy realised it was getting late and most of the stores were closed. She made her way back to the inn and went back up to her room. Closing the door behind her, she locked the door and went to put away her things into her satchel. Taking off her boots and jacket, she laid down on the bed and drifted off into sleep. 

The next day, Vy went out early to explore the town a little more, hoping to better understand her surroundings. Since it was still early in the morning, the streets were pretty much silent apart from a few snoring drunks on the side of the road or the occasional townsfolk who was rushing off to open their shops for the day. 

After some time, came across a shop that caught her interest. It looked pretty ordinary from the outside, but the signboard indicated that it was a place for books. The shop had a sign that said it was open so Vy did not hesitate and walked in. 

The little bells that were hung on the door chimed as Vy walked in. She called out to see if the shop owner was around, but there was no reply. Without much thought, she looked at all the books that lined the shelves and those that were scattered all around. 

There were books piled up everywhere, all hardback and leatherbound. Their designs were simple, simply embossed with the title of the book and the name of the author. Vy realised that the language of the world was different from her own. 

-System, is the language of this world different from the world I come from?-

<Yes, that is correct. The World of Gaeian has multiple languages. The language you are able to comprehend is the dominant language that is largely spoken by all humans and other beings.>

-There are other beings? Other than humans?-

<Yes. There are many types of species that exist in Gaeian. The humans of Gaeian are also different from where you came from. While most humans are able to use small amounts of magic, others have varied abilities.>

There seemed to be so much that Vy did not know of. She needed more time to process all the information. As she continued to browse the shelves, a book caught her eye. While it was leather-bound, just like the rest, it had the head of a dragon embossed on the cover. Vy picked up the book and read it. 

It was about different races of beings, some who have the ability to take different forms, yet it was different from a shapeshifter. Taking the form would not consume their energy or magic in any form. If they chose, they could exist in that particular form for extended periods of time. There were records of humans choosing to do so and never regaining their human form. 

"Eventually they forget that they were even human," a voice spoke from behind. 

Vy was stunned and her reflex caused her to drop the book. She turned around and pinned the source of the voice to the bookshelf with the dagger in her right hand.

“Did you just reply me?”

“You can talk? You can converse with me?”

Vyrena was amazed. She knew from the memories of the host that this has never happened before. This was new.

-Why are you in my mind?-

-Adapt? Adapt to this new world?-

She pondered what that meant, but she had more pressing questions.

________________________________________________

Join Vyrena on her journey as she tries to figure out her mysterious past after transmigrating into a brand new world! She will make friends, enemies, gain new powers and become the greatest warrior she could ever be!

Will she find out who she was before? What will the new world bring? Join the journey and find out!

I hope you enjoy the story! If you love it or maybe not, give me some feedback in the comments or in a review! All feedback would be greatly appreciated~

Upload Schedule: Aiming for 1 to 2 chapter a day! *cross my fingers*

Word Count per chapter: 700 to 1,200 words

PS: The art work is designed by @lushiette on Instagram! Thank you for bringing my girl to life~

A huge thank you to everyone who supported me in posting my novel XD you know who you are~

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I just want to give a seriously sincere apology. I read a really heartbreaking review just now where a reader said they were giving up on the story because of my slow updates. For all the early readers, most of you know I have always been slow on updates due to juggling my studies and work which were always a priority to me.

I have been busy recently working on publishing the first volume of "A Gatekeeper and the Celestial Sovereign" as a Paperback/Hardback with illustrations (proofreading, editing, typesetting etc). 
I have been working with an amazing artist named Rodrigo Gil Chavez who has made some amazing art for the upcoming physical Book. 
You can see the trailer for the book and some of the great art on my website, Writing Pilgrimage, or on my Youtube which has the same name. 
 I really wanted to make something special for all my amazing readers who have stayed with me despite my slow updates to commemorate the end of the first arc which is only two chapters away.

Because I've been working on that and I was waiting on a good time to announce it, I have been holding back on publishing more chapters.
I feel awful though for making you all wait and for having a lot of you disappointed in me.
So I will publish the last two chapters of this arc/volume this Saturday at 10am GMT.

If you want to keep up to date with the official Book release of the first volume than subscribe to my website or YouTube channel: Writing Pilgrimage.
If you want sneak peeks of the amazing illustrations by Rodrigo than definitely check out the trailer which is on YouTube!!!!

After this I solemnly swear to update with at least three chapters a week.

Mao Lu is a regular Beijinger, well except for the fact that he's in a lot of debt and is best friends with a conglomerate heir.
 He works hard to make money and struggles with his daily life until one day he receives a letter. 
A letter that changes everything. 
Follow his adventures as he travels between dimensions, falls in love with a powerful prince and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy.

The first volume will soon be available as a fully proofread and edited eBook and Paperback with illustrations. To be ready for the pre-order and pre-release join the mailing list on my website: https://writing-pilgrimage.com or subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5vuT5l1K1uVnfLTQQpNAuw

Official cover: Art by Rodrigo Gil Chavez

Support me on Patreon for early access to my latest chapters! http://patreon.com/WritingPilgrimage

Discord chat: https://discord.gg/3kWfcfp
Follow me on twitter @writingpilgrime
Follow me on Instagram @writingpilgrimage

This is a Danmei Novel

-Release schedule: Crazy, I am the worst at regular set updates.

-If ranked in the top 100, 1 bonus chapter
-Ranked top 50, 2 bonus chapters and some extra romance. 
-Ranked in top 10 (If that ever happens I would be so grateful.) 3 bonus chapters ***on the following Wednesday the week after rankings.

I reply and/or like every comment!

If you didn't know, the first volume of this series is published on Amazon and Kindle with all art scenes done by Jourd4n. 

currently, volume 2 is coming closer and closer to being completed but from now on I'm doing all the art scenes myself for all my other novels.

[ Sadako The Demon Of Neodeka ] still has a long way to go but when this story is completely done I'm planning to publish it as a full blown hardback book. Definitely going to put a little more pazzaz into the final product for this one. 

BUT THE BIGGEST NEWS OF ALL 

As a Halloween special I'm posting the first chapter of Welcome To The Afterlife (graphic novel version) on Instagram in full color. Look for it on Thursday @lyranichi

The difference between life and death is a fine line. 

  Evan Shadows; A 19 year old boy who finds his way into another world after dying in a tragic accident.
      
  In the world of Neodeka there are horrifying monsters, dragons, and ofcourse pretty girls. 

  Though, after getting scratched by a terrifying creature, it seems he must set out on a quest with his new friends to find something called a 'Life Crystal' before he starts to turn into one of those monsters!


---------------------------------------------------------



Continuing In Volume 2




Evan Shadows and his friends finally defeated the evil dragon Atsuko the world of Neodeka broke apart. Everyone was separated in the fall, ending up in yet another strange world.

The world of Jigoku. A kingdom preparing for war under their king Goliath A.K.A Sadako's father. Evan, Sadako and Basa are alone on their journey thus getting to know one another and becoming trusted allies. 

Avery Volk has been on a rampage in the world of the living for 2 years, torn up over the loss of his beloved Blair. Until one fateful day an old friend shows up with news for hope, a way to save Blair, revive her from the Phantom realm. Unfortunately, Avery will have to face Goliath himself in order to get Blair back. Though, Goliath seems to know Avery even though they never met before, or so Avery thought...

Lyran Ichihara comes into contact with a handsome boy with wings. Though they get along just fine, he doesn't want to tell Lyran his real name for some reason. Instead, he goes under the alias 'Angel'. They travel the wasteland in search of the rest of Lyran's party into the town of Selina which is cut off from the overbearing rule of the demon king Goliath. Until news comes one day that shakes Lyran to her core, Angel helps her on her mission to infiltrate the king's castle.

Read to find out what happens as some relationships form and some tear away. Also, a new life is created.

------------

[ Sadako The Demon Of Neodeka ]

The tale of the life of the daughter of the king. She was cast out of the castle at a young age and forced to work as a slave. 

This poor lonely girl would one day become the powerful demon known as Sadako Gravestone.

Sakura
March 25, 4:21 pm, Tokyo, Japan
"That half-breed was mad. I don't think I've ever seen him so mad," said Officer Matsumoto. "Honestly I think it was work it just for that."
Sakura learned quite quickly that the taller policeman that helped her yesterday was named Officer Matsumoto. She also learned that he was an incorrigible flirt, a bit of a loudmouth, and had most certainly been checking her out, despite his many protests. She learned all this in the past hour, listening to the recording from the microphones she placed in the car. Bunta had sent her the files earlier, along with a long message about how if she was planning to spy on police officers, tell him about it beforehand so he can give proper equipment.
"If you don't tell me, I can't give you the best stuff," he complained. "I wouldn't want my one journalist contact to get caught cause I gave the wrong equipment."
Sakura, for her part, apologized, then did her due diligence to Michi and talked to him about college, or another job.
"How about you pay me for these 'favors' then?" He has snorted.
"Maybe once I get paid what I'm actually owed," Sakura had grumbled in reply.
Still, she thanked him for the recording and his help, and went on to listening.
Honestly, there want much more to learn. Other than the fact that the foreigner was apparently half-Japanese, and the fact that he was very angry at what happened yesterday, the officers didn't talk much about the case. Sakura supposed that only made sense; it wasn't really much of a case. They'd written it off as some sick prank made to waste the police's time.
If only they would mention the foreigner's name.
Still, the plan wasn't a total loss. Sakura had managed to track the plates of the foreigner's van, which was apparently a company van.
To a research laboratory.
Sakura double checked to make sure she was seeing this right. A laboratory? For...pharmaceuticals? No, that was before. Now it's just a...research lab?
Researching what? Dead bodies? Sakura recalled the stratcher taking the body at her friends grave disappearing into a black van, as well as the stretcher that came out of the same van yesterday.
This was where the bodies were being taken. To this research lab.
But why?
Sakura had spent the night researching the lab, and managed to find out that it was a foreign company, with roots in England, of all places. She was surprised it wasn't American, but aside from that...
Nothing.
Still, Sakura could help but feel like she had finally broken through; she had found a leak in the dam. A laboratory taking bodies from a crime scene? If it wasn't illegal, then it would at least be suspicious. Her hunch, while not completely proven, was starting to bear results.
Now, all she needed was something a little more solid, more tangible.
So here she was, in person, scouting the place out, camera in hand. She had less than a week to show something concrete to her boss. She needed results. Fast.
***
March 25, 8:23am, London, England
Ms. Kang burst into my office, as cool and calm as ever. The only reason I described the intrusion as 'burst' was because her glasses were microscopically askew.
"Ms. Kang? To what do I owe-"
"I believe we finally have some suitable candidates for the superhero storyline." She interrupted.
I was torn. On the one hand, she was getting a little too bold. On the other...
SOME suitable candidates?
For the superhero storyline?
The storyline that had been dead for over a year now?
I could see where she was coming from.
Ms. Kang bowed her head.
"Apologies, I overstepped," she said, making my job much easier.
Seriously, I don't know how I would have managed this without Ms. Kang. She cleaned up her own messes promptly, as to never bother me. The perfect secretary.
I acknowledged her apology with a nod.
"The candidates?"
"I have sent the relevant information, sir."
I picked up my tablet and opened my email. Within minutes, I was reading the files Ms. Kang had sent.
I had mixed feelings by the time I had finished reading them.
"This is...I don't know..." I began.
"Their chemistry is perfect," said Ms. Kang. "Furthermore there is personal tension. It's all in the file."
"I know, but..."
Ms. Kang was looking at me as if she didn't understand why I was so reluctant. To be fair to her, what she said was completely right. In terms of viability, drama potential, and entertainment factor, it would be hard to find another couple this perfect.
"This couple would even solve the ratio of heroines to-" began Ms. Kang.
"I know, I know," I snapped. "It's just...personal preference..."
Ms. Kang raised an eyebrow.
"How about I show you their chemistry then?" She said. With that, she opened up the projector, and started playing a recording.
"We can debate more afterwards."
I nodded unwillingly, and let her play the recording.
***
Gadiel
March 25, 5:00 pm, Canberra, Australia
The rain poured relentlessly over the streets, forcing people quickly move under cover unless they wanted their umbrella to break under the force of the falling droplets. The rain had come suddenly, and so there were still a couple of people caught out.
"Seriously? You've been here for a year, and you still haven't bought an umbrella?" said Gadiel Kazem. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and spoke in a deep, easy Australian accent. He held up the umbrella for his shorter partner, who was shivering slightly.
"Ah, now I have the chance! I have always wanted to say this."
"Say what?"
"Shut up."
Gadiel laughed, and they both jogged to cover.
They had been on their way back to their university lodging when the rain suddenly came pouring down. Luckily, they were still in the CBD area, and there was plenty of cover from the rain in front of the shops lining down the street.
"You want something to eat? I want something to eat," said Gadiel.
"We ate before the movie."
"But I'm hungry again."
"What are you, a...un cheval?"
"Horse," translated Gadiel.
"Yes! You eat like a horse!"
"You've never seen a horse. You don't know how much they eat."
"It's an expression. Don't they teach you about expressions in your Bachelor of Languages?"
"Do they teach you how much horses eat in your Bachelor of Arts?" Gadiel teased back.
They chatted for a while longer, walking down in front of the stores, standing a little too close to each other to just be friends. They passed by a few take away restaurants, making Gadiel's stomach rumble. His partner noticed, and Gadiel grinned sheepishly.
"I did say I was hungry," he said.
His partner rolled his eyes.
"Fine," he said. "Let's get something to eat."
Five minutes later, Gadiel was stuffing his face with a kebab*. His partner watched him with open disgust, and maybe a hint of fascination.
"You wanna try some?" asked Gadiel.
His partner shook his head.
"C'mon Tarik," he said. "It'll warm you up."
Tarik de Gaulle shook his head. He was short for his age, but more than made up for it with a wiry, but impressively muscled physique, and a smile that could light up an entire room. When he deigned to smile, that was. He didn't very often, and most people considered him rude or pretentious at first glance. His French accent probably didn't help much in that regard either, but here in Australia, it seemed to surprise most people. Tarik suspected it was because he was originally from Gabon, Africa; Australians just didn't expect a black man to speak French like a native. Nevermind the fact that French was the official language of Gabon.
"How about you just give me your jacket instead?" said Tarik dryly.
Minutes later, Tarik took a bite out of Gadiel's kebab while wearing his oversized jacket.
"Mmph!" his eyes grew wide as he chewed and swallowed.
"I don't know how I haven't made you eat a kebab before now," said Gadiel, shaking his head. Sans jacket, he now only had on a white shirt that was just a little too tight. His arms were crossed, rubbing his thick triceps for some semblance of warmth.
But that was okay. He was having fun. There was never a dull moment between him and Tarik.
They had met last year, both in their first year of their respective Bachelors' Degrees. Both were taking advanced French; Tarik because he thought it'd be easy, and Gadiel because he wanted to continue learning French. From there, they had become close friends, and now...
Well. Gadiel wasn't sure what they had now.
The boys chatted a bit longer, about food and other random things, before Tarik came to a stop.
"What, did you catch your reflection in the mirror again?" said Gadiel.
"I'm not you," said Tarik automatically.
Gadiel walked back to where Tarik had stopped, and looked at what he was gazing at. It was a sort of...antique store, with all sorts of knickknacks; from old vases to weird kinds of jewelry.
"Something catch your eye?" Gadiel asked.
"No," said Tarik casually. "But I kinda wanna...see if there's anything."
"Sure," said Gadiel, and they walked in.
"Do you collect stuff?" asked Gadiel.
"No...but I like old things," said Tarik absently, already in the middle of the store, looking at a bunch of pots.
"Yeah, History Major," Gadiel smirked. "I remember."
The elderly Asian man at the counter in the back of the store looked up from his books as the boys walked in, then went back to his book. Gadiel couldn't help but stare at the book for a moment; it was bound in red hardback, with no title. He supposed it was written inside instead.
Gadiel watched as Tarik looked at every item carefully, as if he were appraising it. He seemed very into what he was doing. Probably didn't want to be disturbed, so Gadiel started looking around too.
There were a couple vases and stuff that looked pretty cool, and a few really old books...but nothing that exciting. He sifted through a few old volumes, but they were all in English, which was boring, or Chinese, which he could not read. He glanced over back to Tarik, who was now staring deeply at a pair of earrings.
Huh. Jewelry. Maybe there'd be something cool there.
Gadiel walked over, and found that there was plenty of interesting things here; an old, gold ring with a deep green gem, an pair of silver earrings shaped like feathers, a bracelet fashioned as an Eastern Dragon eating its own tail…
Gadiel's eyes were suddenly drawn to a pendant. It had been there the whole time, but somehow, it seemed to become the center of his vision. It was a simple, Yin/Yang pendant, but with the black dot in the white had details that made it look like a moon, and the white dot in the black replaced with a white sun. He reached forward to touch it-
-and accidentally touched Tarik's hand.
Gadiel instinctively withdrew his hand, then grinned at Tarik.
"If you want it, I can buy it for you," he said.
"Didn't you want one as well?"
"I think it'd suit you better, actually."
"Which one?" asked Tarik.
"Huh?"
Tarik picked up the pendant, only to show that it was two pendants, interlocking.
"There's two," he said, stating the obvious. "You can take one and I'll take the other."
"Do you always buy matching jewelry for your friends?" Gadiel laughed.
Tarik raised an eyebrow.
"Only for friends I like," he said sweetly.
Gadiel smiled, but inside he was sweating bullets. What did that mean? Was that some kind of innuendo?
Did he mean like as a friend, or like as...
No. Just because Tarik was bi and he was gay didn't mean that they had to end up together. Not that Gadiel thought Tarik was a bad guy or anything. In fact, Tarik had quite a lot of good qualities, like his wit, his-
"Are you coming or what?" said Tarik from the counter, looking bemused at Gadiel's frozen expression.
Gadiel quickly shook his thoughts away, and joined Tarik at the counter. They presented their items, gazing at the large, multicolored curtain behind the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper, in turn, barely looked up from his book.
"Just take it and go," he said, still reading.
Tarik and Gadiel looked at each other, then back at the shopkeeper.
"But we haven't paid yet," said Tarik.
"Don't care. It's closing time. Take what you want and get out," he said, waving the boys away.
Gadiel blinked in confusion, and looked back at Tarik. He seemed just as confused as Gadiel.
"Just...take it?" said Gadiel.
"Are you deaf? Take it and go!"
They did not need to be told a fourth time. Gadiel and Tarik took their pendants, and left.
"That wasn't just me, right?" said Tarik. "That was definitely weird, right?"
"Maybe the pendants are cursed," said Gadiel, eyeing the Yang half of the pendant. "Maybe he told up to take it so he'd pass the curse along."
"Lucky I'm immune to curses then," said Tarik casually, putting on the Yin half of the pendant. "My aunt told me so on my seventh birthday."
As the boys joked on their way back to their dorm, the shopkeep finally put down his book, and took out his phone. He sent a message, and waited for a reply.
…
Two hours later, he received a text.
"PROCEED."





*On the east coast of Australia, a kebab is a type of wrap of Greek or Turkish origin.

"This world is truly...boring."

The Mage King, overthrown and killed by his own people, escaped via one last spell. Reincarnated in the body of a weak baby, he sets off to conquer the world once more.

Except somehow, he has been reincarnated into a completely different world. A world with no mages...aside from him.

What is the point in ruling such a boring world? He might as well reincarnate again. Until the TV catches his eye, and he sees a certain animation from a far east Asian country...

Maybe...maybe I can do something here. Maybe in this world without mages, a mage is what is needed to spice things up a little. Maybe this boring world needs...a Demon Lord to rule it from the shadows.

If this world isn't interesting enough, then I'll force it to change with my own hands!

"A Demon Lord needs henchmen, so I will create my own!"

"I also Heroes to fight against, so let's make those as well!"

"Hmmmm...I like System novels, let's give a Hero a Gamer system!"

"I also like superheroes and romances, let's create some superheroes and make them fall in love!"

"What's this? A thriller? Hmmm...maybe I can make something like this too..."

Cover was drawn by @yikes-psychic-pen, go check her out at https://yikes-psychic-pen.tumblr.com/

(Updates Tue - Sun)

While unpacking, Rowan heard an unpleasant voice from behind her say, "Hey freak." 

Rowan turns around to face the sour-faced Petunia with light hair and pale eyes. Petunia widens her eyes at recognizing Rowan. "Sorry, that wasn't intended for you to hear."

"Even if that was for Lily that is still quite ill-mannered on your part, Petunia," Rowan chided as Petunia blushed in humiliation. 

"Well, she deserves it," Petunia grumbled not feeling very repentant anymore.

Rowan merely raised an eyebrow and said, "Does she have tentacles?"

"What ick, no!"

"How about a tail?"

"No!"

"Turns into a man every third Wednesday of the month?"

".... No, and that is strangely specific."

"What about any other anomalies?"

"No."

"Then she's not a freak according to the dictionary because that particular word only applies to one who behaves or is behaving in a wild and irrational manner, typically due to extreme emotion, mental illness or drugs. Nor is she any way some sort of monster or strange outer-worldly being," Rowan confidently countered.

 "As such, Lily might be a bit weird even strange, but most certainly not a freak. Might I suggest oddball might be the proper term you've looking for."

Petunia gapes like a fish for a moment, before saying, "You're still the same as I remember, Rowan, a know it all."

"Ah, but you forget, I also have a rather violent streak," Rowan said as she took a step towards Petunia, who instantly took a step back.

"You used to get into fights with the older boys," Petunia warily said as she folded her arms over her chest rather defensively.

"Yes, well, they used to try to mess with Severus," Rowan said with a shrug. "I couldn't very well allow them to harm, my precious younger brother."

Petunia snorts and says, "So, are you going to that fre-, that magical school too?"

"Yes, as is Severus."

"Oh, I knew that fre-, that terror would get in too."

"There's no reason to be jealous, Petunia," Rowan said causing Petunia to turn purple in anger and embarrassment.

"I'm not!" Petunia sputtered. "You couldn't pay me to go there!"

"Mm, that's not what you said to Dumbledore," Rowan said causing Petunia to pale.

"How, how do you now that?" Petunia stammered with fear and disbelief.

"I suppose a freaky talent of mine as you would so incorrect put it," Rowan mused out loud. 
"However, that being the case, I don't understand why you care so much. It's not as though it is all cut out to be."

"Of course, you'd say that," Petunia snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Name one thing that goes wrong in your fairytale world."

"The wizarding world through progressive in some ways is very much antiquated in other ways," Rowan grumbled. "The wizards and witches still dress like it was still the Victorian era."

"Really? What else?" Petunia curiously asked with narrow eyes full of misgivings.

 "A friend of mine in our second year was told that her parents had signed a marriage contract that would come into effect upon her graduating Hogwarts. How's that for being too young to be engaged?" Rowan drily said upon thinking of Tiffany's situation.

"Isn't that illegal!?" Petunia bellowed in utter horror.

"Not in the Victorian era of the wizarding world. Nor does magic solve everything," Rowan wryly muttered. "And besides I'd think that you'd be much more enthusiastic about the era you are living in, Petunia. I don't mean to sound a bit of a Feminist, but this is an era, where women can be anything, they want to be from a CEO to an airplane pilot, a doctor, etc. The question is what do you want to be?

Petunia flushes and glances away. "I'm not much good anything beyond becoming a housewife."

"There's nothing wrong with becoming a housewife, if that's what you truly want. But why not try to become a pastry chef? I've heard from Lily that your pudding is most excellent and that she envies your talent as she can't even make anything beyond scrambled eggs and toast," Rowan not so subtly suggested.

"Really?" Petunia seemed intrigued at the idea that Lily might be jealous of her for so something so trivial.

"Swear on Scouts honor," Rowan said as she held her hand up in the scout's pledge. Not that it would do Petunia any good as Rowan wasn't a scout, to begin with.

Before Petunia can say anything else the phone begins to ring. It is quickly answered, before Mrs. Evans shouts from downstairs, "Petunia, one of your friends on the phone."

"I'll see you later," Petunia said as she rushed over to her room and jumped on her bed. On her bed, there was a bright pink cord phone connected to the pink phone receiver. "Hello?"

Rowan didn't hear the rest of the conversation as she headed downstairs and only heard vague ramblings from the teenage girl. Mrs. Evans was the kitchen preparing a light meal when Rowan crossed the living room. "Feel free to have a seat dear, and watch some Telly if you would like," Mrs. Evans remarked as she battered some dough on the counter that would be used to cover the potpie, she'd be serving for dinner.

"I will watch a bit of Doctor-Who later," Rowan replied. "But thank you, Mrs. Evans, I think I'll read for a bit." On that note, the fourth Doctor should be on right now. The first three were alright, but the fourth Doctor was rather interesting to watch as he was the longest-running doctor until 1978.

Standing before the bookshelf Rowan skimmed through the titles before finding one of her favorite fantasy series. She had plenty of series she'd like to read but as half of them wouldn't be written for some time, she'd have to stick to the classics. Taking the hardback book, she scooted into an armchair and began to read.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort-."

Soon Rowan was lost on Bilbo's journey until Mrs. Evans said, "Lunchtime!" The sound of a door slamming could clearly be heard from Petunia in response. 

Glancing around Rowan asks, "Where's Lily and Severus?" Before taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"They went to play outside," Mrs. Evans said as she placed a neat plate of sandwiches before her with a bowl of crisps and cut up fruit. Grabbing the pitcher of ice-cold lemonade off the counter, she pours Rowan a cup, before placing the pitcher on the kitchen table.

"Aren't you going to have a bite, Mrs. Evans?" Rowan asked as she took a mouthful of her sandwich. 

"I already ate one, dear," Mrs. Evans said as she wiped her hands on her apron. Heading out of the kitchen, Mrs. Evans opens the door and shouts, "Lily and Severus, lunch is ready!" 

Mrs. Evans closes the door lest the cool air escape, but not long after the two flushing figures can be seen running inside. "Now have a bite to eat dears, or you won't be allowed outside until you do."

"Mum!" Lily said in embarrassment as she glanced at her mother.

Mrs. Evans ignored her daughter's embarrassed look and placed two kitchen plates on the table. "Now at least eat something and drink plenty of Lemonade! Or else, both of you might faint from this infernal heat."

"Yes, Mrs. Evans," Severus dutifully said as he sat down and grabbed a sandwich. Lily was too embarrassed to say anything as she sulkily grabbed a sandwich and began to slowly chew.

Mrs. Evans sure that all was right in the world opened the fridge to check on the Fruit Fool. It was a simple dessert made up of custard with whipped cream and fruit. It'd do quite nicely after a long day of work and not to be heavy on their stomachs after dinner. Just perfect for this ongoing hot weather, they were having. With a smile on her face, she went back to rolling the dough one last time, before placing it on the chicken pot pie and into the oven it went. It felt quite good to be a housewife at times like these. And that was something to be rightly proud of.

Before there ever was a boy that ever lived in a cupboard on Four Privet Drive, there was a similar boy in a far worse home that lived on Spinner’s End. We all know the tale of that abused boy who grew up to become a bitter spy. But not all tales end the same for in the many parallel worlds that exist in the universe there are far better endings, and equally as many worse ones. This is a tale of one such condemned universe that for better or for worse chooses to change its own fate.

(All rights to the Harry Potter world and characters belong solely to J. K. Rowling. However, I do claim creative fanfiction rights. Please do not post my fanfiction elsewhere without my express permission. This work will also be partially hosted at RoyalRoad, Wattpadd, and Archive.)

...you have more than one power because magix can only bring prosperity and life not death." 
WHAT! 
How is that possible? How could it be that I have two or more types of powers and how could I not notice that I could turn something into dust and not be concerned? Ugh, I'm so stupid. I got my hand out again and turned the dust into back into the beautiful flower it was before. Vivian the held my hands and in a flash we had been teleported into her library by the secrete/ not so secret laboratory. I wasn't ready for that so I was therefore really dizzy. "Ok you really need to warn me before you do that." I said as I shook my head and the dizziness faded away. "Sorry about that lily I just need to look at my books for a second." 
"So, why couldn't we just walk there like normal people?" I argued 
"Well first we're not normal people and second it's a lot faster and I'm in a rush." Said Vivian as she was scanning along the shelves. What exactly was she looking for in these shelves? "Aha! Found it!" She yelled as she pulled out a dusty, dark blue, hardback book from the top shelf. She had to be on a ladder because though she was taller than me she still couldn't reach them without one. At that moment she turned around in such a rush she slipped and fell of the ladder. I was thankfully right next to the ladder and was able to catch her. Oh my goodness, if this wasn't like a fairy tail I have no idea what is! We stayed there for moments on end just staring into each other's  eyes. I could have done that forever if my arms weren't getting very tired. "Umm Vivian." 
"Yes lily." She said as she her eyes twinkled
"I don't know how much longer...I can... hold you..." I said squirming for energy. 
"Oh yeah!" She said as she leaped out of my arms. I gasped for air and was panting heavily. It was so tiring, I really needed to go to the gym some time. After that, Vivian was skipping and skimming through the pages as fast as she could. She then finally stopped on a page after 15 seconds of fast page turning. I leaned over to see what it said, I was then surprised to see what it was on that page. The picture, the writing and everything in it, it...it all seemed so familiar. 

Dear lily love readers,
I hope you have enjoyed this ,shorter than usual, chapter. Also wanted to note that I am supporting the protesting and the fact that  black lives DO matter. I also wanted to note that it doesn't matter how you look and the only thing that matters is that your personality is pure but with flaws because no one is flawless. And with that said I hope you all have a good day and please don't forget to comment, donate or vote because that would really help me and this story out. And as always I will see you all in the next one. Bye!
  From yours truly CG 
👩🏻‍🦰🐰🍭❤️🥖👊🏻👊🏼👊🏽👊🏾👊🏿<- me

I started walking around inside the embassy, checking pretty much every room on my way, searching for the old Republic envoy. No one was having weird thoughts about my aimless roaming around, since I was the head of security. An initial scan of the building at the beginning of my service here was a pretty normal thing after all.

While I was walking in the corridors, I noticed a rather old man standing at a corner and watching me. At first, I ignored him; but I slowly got suspicious of him after a while. It was looking like he was contemplating my murder in his head.

I directly approached him. He did not move, or averted his gaze.

"Can I see your ID, sir?" I asked him. He silently reached to one of his pockets, and got his ID chipcard out.

That was the man I was looking for. The retired envoy, Eren Schulze.

"We need to talk." I told him.

"I know." he said. "Come inside."

He lead me to an empty office. There was a table and a few chairs, but the walls were completely covered with bookshelves. Those shelves were almost full, I could barely see the wall behind.

"You seem to read a lot, mister." I said.

"There is nothing better to do when the Republic sends you here and then forgets about your existance for decades." he said. "Reading is not simply a pastime, those books taught me a lot."

"Why do you have so many hardback copies, though?" I asked him as I took one of the books. "You could easily find the electronic versions of all these."

"The books one reads can tell a lot about that person." he said. "I don't read just any book I come across."

I examined the book I took from the shelf. It was titled '2061: Odyssey Three', written by Arthur C. Clarke.

"A sci-fi fan, huh?" I said.

"Please put that book exactly where you took it from." Eren said. "You wouldn't want to mess the order of the series, or..."

"Or?"

"Or I will mess with the order of your digestive organs." he said. I knew he was exaggerating, but he was looking dead serious. I put the book back.

"Anyway..." he said. "How much do you know about me?"

"I... only heard of you just now. I heard you were an envoy." I answered.

"You only heard of me just now, because I was forgotten here on this planet." he said. "But that's how things were supposed to be. The truth is, I was never really an envoy. I'm... more of a spy. But lately, things started not going very well."

"In what way?"

"You see, after the war was declared, I could no longer easily get in contact with the Federation members. And besides, if I was discovered while I was doing something suspicious, this would make the Alliance hate the Republic. So I had to retreat from my intelligence gathering duty... just when I was about to uncover something important. Or, at least... This is what I believe."

"Uncover what?" I asked.

"That part is where you come in, so listen carefully. I think the Federation is developing, or have already developed, a superweapon." he said.

"What? How!?" I asked.

"You see... Ukraine, Korea, Turkey and Japan all left the Federation at the same time. Do you know what those countries have in common?" Eren asked me.

"No." I said.

"They all border the Alliance territory." Eren said. "Those four countries suddenly leave the Federation, and begin an anti-war propaganda. Is this coincidence? I don't think so."

"What is going on then?"

"The Alliance and Federation have been fighting a trade war for many years now, which was seriously damaging the economy of major Federation countries. I say that they were fed up with this, and finally came up with a solution."

"What kind of solution?" I asked.

"A forceful solution." he said. "However, there is an important detail. The Federation, although superior to both the Alliance and the Republic combined, would NEVER want to fight a war on Earth's surface. And I belive this was the cause of concern of those four countries; they would be the first ones to burn down to ashes. Even if they won the war, it would leave everything in ruins, including their own cities and industries; and nobody would want that."

"That much makes sense." I said.

"The Federation easily antagonized the Republic to start a war, since the Republic doesn't have any territory on Earth." Eren said. "But to bring the Alliance to heels, they need something else. Something so powerful that the Alliance wouldn't even be able to strike the Federation territories before begging for peace."

"Does this conclude that they possess a superweapon that would make the Alliance bow to them?" I asked. I had lots of doubts.

"I've been eavesdropping a lot, you see... The Federation certainly has something to make short work of the Alliance AND possibly the Republic should they decide to use it, and the Alliance believes this as well; but they have their hands tied. If they open war, they are probably done for; so they are just trying to delay the inevitable by not joining the war on our side. Shame... We could have a better chance of survival if we just worked together."

"Hold on." I said. The realisation hit me pretty hard. "So you are claiming that the Federation basically has plans to take over the whole Solar System by brute force!?" What he was saying was sounding like a crazy conspiracy theory.

"They always had." Eren said. "I am just claiming that they took this opportunity to make it real."

"What does the Republic officials say about this?" I asked.

"On the international side, they stay silent, because the Federation shouldn't know we are suspecting. On the internal side, they just want more information; and that is why you were sent here. This is too big of a danger to ignore."

"So... I am the spy now." I said.

"Right on point, Commander, right on point." Eren said.

"I have no training or experience with these intelligence gathering matters." I said. "How am I going to be able to help the cause?"

"You will have lots of opportunities to get close to key people around here." Eren said. "Even the Alliance could know more than we do. Just have your eyes and ears all over the place, and we will catch something hopefully. But, in case we are not successful, there are more... active ways of eavesdropping. Those that require some body strenght. Things that I couldn't handle myself..." 

He sighed, looked around a bit, and continued. 

"But look at it on the bright side, if we succeed, we can pull the Alliance to our side with the evidence."

The diplomatic relations between People's Republic of Mars and Atlantic-Pacific Federation have soured. The cold war between two major factions is getting hotter as both parties race for rapid mobilization of their space navies.

At the calm before the storm, Lieutenant Kagan is called back to service aboard his old warship Lodos, under command of his close friend; Rear Admiral Tachibana. The time runs out, and the declaration of war is imminent.

Will they be able to end this terrifying war before it crushes everything they once held dear? Is there right and wrong at the time of war?

How do they know they are on the right side?

NOTE: This is a hard-science Sci-Fi book that follows the laws of physics to the letter, and is likely to include many scientific terms. But don't worry, I included sources for their definitions, so you will understand the novel.

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