§ I stayed on my back but turned my head to face Lady Serera. She remained on her back as well, with only her head turned toward us, showing no sign of waking, but she had clearly spoken, just then.  Aunt Elianora demanded, “How are you awake?” The last healer to visit had put everything she had into a [Sleep] …

A quick reminder that I will be taking off February 21st and 25th. Next chapter unlock is February 28th. I will be taking off the last full week of every other month from now on. It’s anti-burnout insurance. § The prince’s forehead bore deep furrows and his eyes held a shadow that spoke volumes. His father was dead but he …

§ The sun had found spots through which it could shine, as the gray desolation of the morning at last gradually thinned. In that slightly less oppressive atmosphere, an amplified voice broke out from the magic amplifiers attached to lighting masts across the camp. “Attention all troops! Attention all troops! Pipe down and stand by for an announcement from the …

§ A short overview of History, focused upon the Eastern region of the Baris Continent of Huade: “bp” stands for “before present”. All “bp” dates are approximate and rounded off. On the actual calendar used by Orestania, it is currently the 3261st Year of the Imperial Ostish Calendar (which measures from the legendary foundation of the old city of Oste.) …

§ I thought I would take a moment to go through a few names and clarify how they should be pronounced. It hardly makes a difference for the reader, but some people might be interested in how the writer pronounces them. First, our heroine Tiana: Until I thought about it, I though this one was obvious. Then I realized it …

§ I think it’s a good time to discuss more clearly how the cosmology of Substitute Hero actually works. Actually, it was a good time at the end of Volume Six when I originally wrote this appendix, but stuff happens, and I lost the originally text, as well as quite a few chapters. I’ve been doing good just to stay …

§ Greetings, Readers. This is again your author, Eric Fretheim, online as Fushigi on this site and Discord, and as /u/ericthefred on reddit, BTW. I am again offering an afterword, after eight online volumes of Tiana’s story. If you are a free chapters reader popping in to read this when you haven’t read the locked chapters yet. You might want …

§ Lady Serera’s aura was very familiar to me, so naturally I was not mistaken. We went out to find her laying unconscious outside Rod’s tent. She had bandages on all four limbs and several spots on her torso, some of them red with blood. I pushed through the crowd of soldiers and royal knights surrounding her and crouched over …

§ My eyes snapped open as I woke this time to Material Reality. Eurybia or the HR manager had closed the Illusory Reality directly, and probably prevented me from experiencing any dreams, to insure that I did not lose anything. The lamp that had been lit in Illusory Reality was dark again. Aunt Elianora was softly snoring in her chair, …

§ With my body still low on pneuma, I needed very little stimulus. By the time Lady Chiara removed her uniform blouse, my fangs were already grown.  She insisted on a kiss first, but I went directly from her lips to her neck and fed. I was frankly still too tired to do anything else. Which was probably good, with …