OptimysticStories posts
Posts: 234
Files: 2
Chapter 111 - Taking Risks
59th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleThe deinonychus had tried everything. It flew up and slammed Newt to the ground half a dozen times, it slashed, bit, and even slapped him with its tail. Newt endured. He poured all his spiritual energy into the effort, the earthen half protecting hi...
Story preview - Dandelion's previous life - Chapter 1 - Born in Fire
Day 1, 7:30 PMI gasp for breath, my lungs filling with scalding, acrid fumes.Smoke.My head swims, but I have enough presence of mind to scan my body and find my chest hurts, my left arm is numb, and my feet are burning. My new body is bound to a stake, its previous owner had died of a heart attack j...
Chapter 110 - Hunter Hunted
59th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleAm I cursed? Newt almost started muttering obscenities as he searched his ninth fourth realm spirit beast and found its core had shattered. Both Dandelion and the books said it’s one in ten, one in five if you kill the spirit beast before it uses ...
Chapter 109 - Progress
58thof Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleI think I got it. Newt stood after spending days in meditation, considering what the Valley of the Lost was doing, and how to counter it. In the end, he decided that resisting it was not the way. Defying a natural phenomenon potent enough to overpowe...
Chapter 108 - Safety
55th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleNewt had taken another page from the book of Dandelion. After he closed the distance to fifteen feet, the stegosaurus turned sideways to greet the unseen opponent with its tail. Newt seized the chance and exploded with speed, his glaive stabbing str...
Chapter 107 - Danger
55th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleObsidian was a lot more nervous than he revealed to Rose and Jas. Newt was strong, there was no doubt about that, but he was still merely at the third realm; he needed to sleep once a week. He would have to sleep alone, with nobody keeping watch. Al...
Chapter 106 - Assumptions and Guesses
55th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleRose’s heart galloped. Something was stuck in her throat as she stared at her empty hands. A mountain-sized rock, based on how she was feeling. The young woman opened her mouth, but failed to utter a word.“Are there any spirit beast ambushers in...
Chapter 105 - Challenge
55th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleThe fourth geyser field came with a realization. It was over. From that point on, the Valley of the Lost would continue to grate at Newt’s nerves. Things had reached their peak, and the only way forward was downhill.We have about three to four day...
Chapter 104 - Release
54th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleThe group was wrapping up their third geyser field with over two hundred pieces of misterium in their bags, their main goal long since completed. His companions’ greed annoyed Newt, but he kept his mouth shut. His irritability was growing by the h...
Chapter 103 - Frustration
52nd of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleNewt was about to leave the geyser with his twelfth piece of misterium when the inevitable happened. He slipped. His foot slid across the smooth stone, but instead of falling down, pulled by the earth, he went up, lifted by the torrent. Newt’s bod...
Chapter 102- Misterium
52nd of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleThe night was drawing to an end, and the campfire was slowly fluttering out, flames dying and only embers glowing in the dark. Obsidian had grilled the fattail kebabs over the spell formation Newt had scribed onto the ground, and once they finished ...
Chapter 101 - The Right Path
51st of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleIf Newt had to describe the previous day, he could summarize it in two words - surprisingly smooth. While fighting the hadrosaurus he realized how much tougher his body had gotten compared to the time he fought the frostworms. Even without relying o...
Chapter 100 - Small Victories
50th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleThe beast was unlike anything Newt had ever seen. Hadrosaurus were large, docile herbivores; wild beasts beyond doubt, too massive for common folk to tame, but sometimes used by first realm cultivators as beasts of burden.The monster that appeared b...
Chapter 99 - The Valley of the Lost
50th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleThe mountains were much closer to the port than they seemed, mere thirty miles away, and third realm cultivators covered such short distances in half an hour of relaxed jog.Hazel was still with Newt’s team when they reached the mountain’s peak. ...
Chapter 98 - Sailing
50th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleThings were in such rapid motion, Newt thought he was dreaming. He was standing on a ship’s deck, rushing towards a chain of distant mountains standing proudly beyond the vast expanse of water. All three of his roommates were there with him, along...
Chapter 97 - The Talk
49th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleNewt placed his hand on Obsidian’s trembling shoulder. The big man’s nervousness grew more and more palpable with each step they took up the stairs. Obsidian turned around and gave him an appreciative nod before opening the door with a quivering...
Chapter 96 - Adventure Awaits
49th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleNewt enjoyed the two training sessions which followed his short spar. He was slowly learning how to use his spiritual energy outside himself, how to shape the terrain and how to keep his fire forms stable longer. While he was certainly not at the le...
Chapter 95 - The Long-awaited Spar
49th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleObsidian was nervous. It was almost impossible for something world-shaking to happen again during his and Newt’s spar, but a part of his hind brain kept asking, ‘What if?’It was a foolish notion, and yet the wary gazes of countless elders focu...
Chapter 94 - Tribulation
48th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleFinally alone in his room, Newt stood from his bed and sensed something off. He stopped and examined himself, but failed to find the source of his discomfort. Newt made a careful step, but his leg jerked too fast, too far. He panicked and froze, one...
Chapter 93 - Path Forward
48th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cyclePillar of light? What the hell happened? Why me?“Pillar of light?” Newt clamped his mouth shut when he realized he was stuttering the words aloud.“Yup.” His sixth sister nodded vigorously, beaming with joy. “I wasn’t there, but I saw it ...
Chapter 92 - Bad Habits
45th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleSect master Greenthorn nodded. “I see.”He made a dramatic pause before steepling his fingers and looking Alabaster in the eye. The weight of his gaze was like that of a mountain, and Alabaster did all she could not to buckle under the pressure....
Chapter 91 - The Day of the Inferno
45th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleObsidian was waiting for his teammate. He did not want to admit it, but he was excited. He had heard of geniuses who reached the second or even the third realm before hitting twenty, he had even seen some of them, and Roselilly was close to that cat...
Chapter 90 - The Summer Solstice
45th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle“Thank you for helping me pick the glaive, Master.” Newt had spent the first part of the day’s training with Elder Alabaster picking a heavy weapon for his spar with Obsidian.On Newt’s insistence, his roommate agreed to a duel at noon. Newt ...
Teaching Methodologies
30th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle“He is a rare gem,” spiritual energy danced in Alabaster’s ear, carrying Flameax’s whispered words. “Are you sure you’re not being too hard on him? Maybe he needs a bit of acknowledgement, encouragement? Someone telling him he’s specia...
Chapter 88 - Foundations
16th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleStanding at the training area, Newt brimmed with satisfaction at making something practical, something which would help another person do their job more comfortably. Better yet, he got some tasty food out of it.“Let’s recap. What are you going t...
Chapter 87 - Taking it Easy
15th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleNewt felt like banging his head against a rock. Elder Woodhopper may have appeared like she was enjoying the spring of her youth, but she was his master’s generation. The whole situation felt absurd. He had a crush on a woman who was at least a th...
Chapter 86 - Cultivating on Sick Leave
7th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleObsidian left behind one confused Newt as he closed the door to the recovery room. Newt gazed at the pale-blue ceiling, considering the implications of everything he had heard. Average third realm inner disciples of major sects were between fifty and...
Chapter 85 - A Childish Plot
7th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycleNewt spent his first day at the Chamber of Healing in quiet cultivation. Within his realm, he arranged fire-attributed runic arrays along the lava flows, often thinking about the two nearly identical energy capturing spell formations Dandelion had sh...
Chapter 84 - Stupid Kid
6th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle“Stupid kid, you were practicing tracing without supervision.” Elder Alabaster said the instant Newt regained consciousness. She knew her disciple was awake even before he opened his eyes. “You were in an induced coma for a day and a half. You ...
