Srsli

152: Epilogue B3

Simon had only been on the road for a couple of weeks now, but it had felt like a lifetime. Currently sitting in an inn at a small village just south of Elarith Vale, he listened to the rumours from merchants as they travelled through.

What he heard just got worse as every new rumour came through town, and boy were ther...

151: Responsibilities

Once we made it back to the house, I was surprised when we entered because it felt alive. The new staff were already working as Archie welcomed us back, again with more scrolls of parchment in his hand.

“Welcome back, Trevor, Sir. We’ve had several more messages delivered to the house in your absence,” Arch...

150: Commission

I tried to finish the candy as fast as I could, but there was only so much I could do. I suppose I could have put it into storage and finished it later, but I’d probably forget.

“You know, Trev, Micca will never be able to sell these, right?” Hari said.

I nodded. “Yeah, I know. These were for the party. I ...

149: Lemon Drops

Entering in the kitchen with half a day to spend before we’d need to leave, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to make. I knew I’d need to make breakfast, especially with both Lily and Liane staring at me.

“Do we still have bacon?” Liane asked.

“Not much,” I said, pulling out the third of a belly I h...

148: Chaos

I looked in the library’s direction as I entered the foyer, when Archie showed up a moment later.

“Excuse me, sir, if I could have a moment?” he said.

“Just Trevor, and sure,” I responded, as Lily vanished from behind me.

“It’s about the other staff, s—Trevor sir. Well, how to put this… the...

147: Unexpected

Looking up at Liane, all I got out was, “I can use wine in cooking?”

“Trevor, that’s great, did you hear me?” Liane said, frustrated with the response.

“Oh sorry, I’ll cook another steak. It’s okay,” I said, waving it off, still looking at the plate that Lily was now clearing off.

Liane jus...

146: Family

Hari fell into his chair and sat in silence for a long while.

“Hari, you’ve got to tell him,” Jen said softly.

“I know. I know. I don’t know where to start,” Hari said.

“Alright. The start.” He drew a slow breath. “I was young—only about your age—when I got my class. At the time,...

145: Visitors

Interlude: Marcus

The last couple of weeks had been stressful for Marcus. After the first messenger arrived, four more followed quickly after.

One from Boltron claimed this boy—just an orphan—had provoked the Tempest Dragon, causing it to destroy its own temple, along with a landslide that inflicted incredible damage on the city, and...

144: Feast

The room was filled with the smell of roast meats, herbs, and spices. It was impossible to pick out one meal from them all, but the food kept coming—familiar meats that I knew, like a platter full of rabbits, grumfels, and large buvul roasts with a rich aroma of herbs, mixed with the musky scent of fats.

There were al...

Happy New Years!

I hope you all have a wonderful new year as we see off 2025 and welcome in 2026.

First, I want to genuinely thank you all so much for being here, for supporting this story and for making it what it is.

What a year it has been, back in early June, end of May I had a random Idea that we needed more cooking stories, ...

143: Tension

Entering the dining hall, I noticed several sets of eyes on me immediately, all sitting around a very long wooden table in the centre of the room. Several of them looked shocked as Lily and Crisplet came in behind me.

The room itself wasn’t as opulent as the grand hall. The walls were lined with banners that I had to ...

142: Palace

Chasing after Liane, I noticed she vanished as she went through the door to the stairs. Her laughter, however, was not hidden.

“Wait, Liane! What do you mean I’m causing trouble?” I said, rushing down the stairs.

Reaching the foyer below, I stopped, noticing Hari and Jen both wearing the red suit that I had ...

141: Tailor

Looking down at the suit in my hands, I quickly convinced myself the minor alterations would be best. After all, I’d only met Alira once. I knew that Lily and Crisplet would probably prefer to represent me.

Racing out the door, I saw Cameron heading through the hall.

“Sorry, Cameron, before you go, you ...

140: Dressed

I looked around before I made my way into the garden itself. I wanted to be fairly sure I wasn’t being observed.

“Lily, you wouldn’t happen to know if I’m being watched right now, would you?” I asked quietly.

She wasn’t out in the open, but her presence never left, so I assumed she was likely still wat...

Update 22nd of Dec!

Happy holidays all!

This is just a reminder for everyone that this week there will be fewer chapters than normal; however, I still will release 3-4, just not the normal 5 :)

As an apology, I've added a picture of Lily as a kitten

Also, the floor plan picture of the house is over on Discord if you're curious....

139: Tour

A nudge broke me out of my stunned silence as the King stood just outside the wagon.

Lily bumped her head into me again, forcing me to my feet as I noticed Liane chuckling behind her.

“Alright, alright, but how can this be my place? I can’t take care of all this,” I said, leaving the wagon.

The King la...

138: Introductions

The group slowed considerably while I was trying to get a good look at the King.

I knew very little about him. From the books I had read, his name was King Marcus Ashivar. I knew from my texts—although usually just known as the capital—the city itself is named after the royal family name, Ashivar.

“What is w...

137: Reception

Double-checking the abilities, trying my best to understand them. I would not pick anything until I had at least completed the rare ingredient quest.

“I got two options,” I said to Milo, before listing them off exactly as they were written.

Milo rubbed his chin. “They are interesting, but importantly, the la...

136: Mana Potion

We stopped early that night, and there appeared to be some tension between Hari and Jen. Hearing that we’d be stopping early, I had started to use Arcane Foraging along the road. Currently, it used five mana per minute, so I could run it for a little over two hours before I’d run out of mana.

So, I’d only need to ...

News update! 15th Dec

Hello all!

I hope you're having a wonderful week, and your holiday season has not been too stressful.

A couple of things I wanted to announce,
1st: edits for book 1 and 2 are now done, the narrator has been chosen for the story, and artwork being nearly finished from the pubs as well for the cover! I believe...

135: To the Capital

Waking up the next morning earlier than expected, I contemplated heading back to sleep. I was curious whether it was possible to get a storage ring large enough to store a bed like this.

Getting up, I made sure I had everything collected. We’d be heading to the capital today, and to the meeting with the King, and I wa...

134: Mystery

Heading outside, I couldn’t help but stop, looking back at the shop.

“Wait… his name is Morlin. Same as the journal. It’s him, right?” I said out loud.

I knew the answer already. It’s why I paused when he told me, but my mind just couldn’t comprehend what that meant. The old man behind the counter lo...

133: Lunch

I thought that despite visiting several stores for roast meat and several pastry shops, they wouldn’t eat a lot for lunch.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Liane had found a restaurant just outside the main market. From the outside it didn’t look like much; there was a sign saying lunch specials on it: a Buv...

132: Lessons

I had Crisplet in the brazier, who reached out to me using mana, I assumed, expressing excitement and curiosity.

As we walked through the streets, we passed the bookstore that I wanted to visit. Heading towards the building without thinking, Micca locked her arm with mine, guiding me away.

“Nope, you can go ther...

131: Past

Coral looked at Wyatt with wide eyes. “You’re feeling what I’m feeling, right? What do you mean, it’s Lily?”

Wyatt shook his head. “It’s her name, Lily. Anyway, let me make some introductions. Coral, you obviously remember Hari and his team, but they have a new member now—his name is Trevor.”

Wya...

130: Wyatt

The giant man held Hari at arm’s length by his shoulders.

“You’ve fought something more dangerous?” Wyatt said seriously.

Hari shook his head. “The wording was encounter something, but we won’t talk here. Got somewhere quieter? I have some people to introduce to you.”

Wyatt straightened ...

129: Farnox

When I woke in the morning, Lily was sleeping next to my bedroll. Normally, when she had stuck around while camping, she’d be asleep near the fire, so it was unusual to wake up and see her so close. Perhaps it was because of Colin?

Stretching and getting up, Lily followed me to the fire where I pulled out the bacon th...

128: Colin

As we travelled along the road, I could tell everyone was a little on edge, but Colin was happily chatting to Milo on the front bench of the wagon. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear the conversation from the back.

After about fifteen minutes of riding, Jen rode up and handed me a piece of parchment.

Show nothing, l...

127: Bacon

I spent the rest of the night making more candies—forty-five mana ones using Frost Nettles for flavouring. They were light green in colour and provided +2 Intelligence, mana regeneration, major fire resistance, and minor earth magic potency.

Milo took twelve of these for himself—well, eleven, because Liane stole one...