In a world immersed with efficiently manufactured merchandise, there's an unquestionable appeal and warmth to things created by talented craftsmen. Each stitch, weave, and fold tell a story of dedication, creativity, and tradition. Among these artisanal treasures, rugs, area mats, and baskets stand out as timeless pieces that not only adorn our spaces but also infuse them with character and soul. In this article, we delve into the captivating realm of handcrafted rugs, area mats, and baskets, exploring their history, craftsmanship, and enduring appeal.

The Artistry of Handcrafted Rugs:
Step into any home adorned with handcrafted rugs, and you'll immediately sense the difference. These exquisite floor coverings are more than just decorative elements; they are works of art meticulously crafted to adorn and enhance living spaces. From intricate Persian rugs to vibrant Moroccan carpets, the diversity of styles and techniques reflects the rich tapestry of cultures and traditions worldwide.

Crafted with care and precision, each rug tells a unique story, reflecting the heritage and craftsmanship of its makers. Whether hand-knotted, hand-tufted, or hand-woven, these rugs bear the imprint of human hands, imbuing them with a sense of authenticity and soul. Beyond their aesthetic appeal, handcrafted rugs also boast superior quality and durability, ensuring they remain cherished heirlooms for generations to come.

Area Mats: Adding Flair and Functionality:

In the realm of interior design, area mats play a vital role in tying together disparate elements and defining living spaces. Unlike their mass-produced counterparts, handcrafted area mats exude a sense of individuality and charm, elevating any room they adorn. Whether woven from natural fibers like jute and sisal or crafted from luxurious materials like wool and silk, these mats offer both style and substance.

From bohemian-chic to minimalist elegance, there's an area mat to suit every taste and decor scheme. What sets handcrafted area mats apart is not just their visual appeal but also their tactile richness and attention to detail. Whether showcasing intricate patterns or bold geometrics, these mats invite touch and exploration, adding texture and depth to any room.


Baskets: Functionality with a Touch of Artistry:

Beyond their utilitarian function, baskets have long been revered for their aesthetic beauty and cultural significance. From woven wonders to intricately coiled masterpieces, handcrafted baskets come in a staggering array of shapes, sizes, and styles. Whether used for storage, display, or as decorative accents, these versatile vessels marry form and function with effortless grace.

Crafted from natural materials like rattan, seagrass, and bamboo, handcrafted baskets evoke a sense of rustic elegance and eco-consciousness. Each basket bears the hallmarks of its maker's skill and ingenuity, from the meticulous weaving to the finishing touches. Whether adorning a shelf, housing potted plants, or organizing household essentials, these artisanal creations add warmth and character to any space.

Conclusion

In a world of mass production and fleeting trends, the allure of handcrafted rugs, area mats, and baskets endures as a testament to the enduring power of human creativity and craftsmanship. Beyond their decorative appeal, these artisanal treasures embody a deeper connection to tradition, culture, and the natural world. Whether adorning a living room, bedroom, or hallway, they transform mere spaces into sanctuaries of comfort, beauty, and soul. So, the next time you seek to imbue your home with warmth and character, consider embracing the timeless artistry of handcrafted rugs, area mats, and baskets—crafted not just by skilled hands, but by the heart and soul of their makers.
Crafted By Her

I've posted this last year and some things happened which made me quite proud and I'd like to share how things went. So recap and then update:
So... When I was little, I lived with my mom and stepdad, things were great and we were very happy. Then my mom passed when I was 7y, so I moved with my father and stepmom, things were complicated. Currently, I have no contact with him (he's not a good man nor a good dad), and I live with my aunt (since 2018) and her husband (he came along in 2019).
Me and my aunt had an amazing relationship, she was my favourite aunt and all that. However, things started to go wrong when I started living with her, I made the mistake of answering that yes, I wanted to be treated like her daughter along with her 2 sons (one my age and the other 3 years younger). I had a desperate "need" for a mothefather. She became a kind of "maunt" (mother+aunt), and her husband a "stepdad"... Oh how do I regret this
Well, she has a favourite son, the oldest. He's lazy, arrogant, disrespectful, a typical golden boy who got spoiled his whole life and now he doesn't give a damn about anything other than himself.
For being the other woman in the house, she constantly pushes house chores to me, instead of the boys (subconsciously, i believe), pretty much only asks me about things, where her sons are, if the dogs were fed, if the boys cleaned well whatever room they were supposed to, stuff like that, and she's also constantly very, very rude to me (at the point of her husband arguing with her about it). And I got this whole syndrome of everything being my responsibility and anxiety when it comes to her, which became extremely exhausting over the years.
I came out to her about my bissexuality about 4 years ago, i thought she would take it well. She didn't. She masks her disapproval, but she clearly doesn't like it. I was really let down, I genuinely thought she would be supportive and everything we expect, but she first got confused, then annoyed and has said some very hurtful thing over the years. Currently I have a gf (she's 22 years old), we've been dating for over a year. They don't like each other very much, my gf doesn't like her because of all the things she does to me. And my aunt doesn't care about my gf at all because... well, she a girl.
Ok, that's the context. Now here's what happened.
My aunt send some kind of agressive messages over something silly, and that caused my anxiety on fire for the gazillionth time, only that time I had enough. I called my other aunt (by consideration, she's married to my grandad) and asked for help (she knows everything that goes on), if i could move in with them, she said yes. I then replied my aunt with a text saying i had enough and would move in with my grandad. She got upset and said (among other things) that "i had her blessing to leave, even though i didn't ask for it". She called my grandma (we are very close), and my grandma sent me some awful audios of how disappointed she was, how I made my aunt sad, of what would people think, that i used to be such a sweet girl and now this, of how loving is a choice and i chose not to love my aunt, stuff like that. Aunt and her husband went to dinner with my grandad that night without my presence, and told them we had an amazing relationship, that she didn't knew what happened, that my problem was I couldn't take a "no" for an answer, etc.
Two days later, we sat down to talk, she told me to start, I said all I wanted. She then started saying how that kind of thing should not have been adressed through text (which I agree, but I had to text or I'd freak out), that she was harder on me than the boys because (in another words) the world was rough and she loved me the most.
And then her husband also spoke about how he understands both sides and blablabla, and said that i could go to my grandad, but that they felt like i should understand that i would only go because THEY allowed, if they didn't wanted, i would not go, no matter what my grandparents or aunt (grandad's wife) said. He basically wanted to state their power position.
(Since my mother's death, my whole family on her side feel responsible for me, so i see all of them in the same way. None of them are my mom and dad, they are in the same "level" to me and have the same "right"... Him saying that made me burn inside, like they're entitled to me, I don't belong to them or anyone. They're my aunt and "uncle", that's about it, they think they have something on me that they... Don't)
And then my aunt said that I could go, as long as I told my grandad about my sexuality and girlfriend. Now... He's kind of old fashioned and i'm scared he'll reject me... We have an amazing relationship, I have lunch with them every wednesday, and I'm the closest grandkid he has (the others aren't so invested). So I don't know if I tell him the truth and manage to leave (depending on his reaction) or if I don't risk it and stay in the toxic enviroment i'm in.
UPDATE - 14/05/2024
Hello! So, things got much worse before they got better. Let's give them names so the story telling will be easier, let's call my girlfriend Bea, my aunt Leah, her husband James and my "aunt" (my grandad's wife) Rachel.
I basically swallowed my anger because I couldn't bring mysef to speak to my grandad about my sexuality, my grandparents are the most important people in my life as they've always been there for me and I was terrified to be disliked by him. That was until december.
Early december I was leaving for work and before I left, I tried to "notify" my aunt that Bea would be spending Christmas and New Years with me and my siblings (note: my siblings had been looking forward to her being there, specially my brother and my SIL (Luke and Lyla), they made it a question that she'd go. I have 3 paternal siblings, so there's NO relation between them and my aunt Leah. We'd be staying in a city 3 hours away from mine at my brother and SIL's house, every year we do this). She immediately said "you know I don't like this", I said "yes", she then said "good morning" and I left for college.
The next morning, I was eating before going to work and Leah started talking about it and we started a conversation that developed into a fight. She said things like how dare I "notify" her, how that's not how things work and that it would not happen because THEY (she and James) don't feel confortable with this, how THEY think Luke wouldn't like this because "no one likes to have people over for a week" (he and Lyla were super pumped for Bea to go), how THEY don't know my girlfriend enough (come on, we had been dating for over a year already), how THEY wouldn't like me going with her to a stranger's house (in complete disregard to my point of view, it's my freaking brother, whom they met a couple times btw, not a stranger. But to them, the only meaninful point of view was theirs). She had even called my brother to basically "check my story", like?? She also said that we we're only teenagers (seriously, 22 and 20) , and I said "no, she isn't and neither am I!", she said she didn't say Bea was, I then said "and neither am I", she said I was, because I didn't act like and adult, then I got mad and talked about how I do literally everything around the house, always walk the dogs even when I get home tired at 10PM, even though they got there at 7PM, I help with groceries purchase, pay the water bill, clean the house, do the chores her boys lack to do, and when I'm not home, I'm either at work or college, but when she disagrees about something, she just puts me back in the "teenager box". And in the end, she said that my raising was not like this, this made me laugh in anger inside, she's been with me for 5 years, I'm 20 lol.
So that was it, I left for work and got a text from her, apologizing for being rough, saying that she loved me and wanted it to work, that they wanted to talk to me when I got home. I replied saying the same.
Later that day when we were all home, we gathered in the living room, I was literally against the wall and it intimidated me deeply. James started saying how much they loved me and wanted to see me happy, as they want that for all their children (aunt Leah has 2 boys, my cousins, and James has 3 girls). I then talked and expressed how I was feeling, then Leah started talking and basically said in a nicer tone the same things she said earlier, plus how they want me to be happy and want things to work for me, but they think it's too soon, they believe it's not the right time, they they, and therefore, despite being against what they want, I could take Bea, but only in ONE of the two holidays, which I could choose. I was in a bit of a shock (you see, me and Bea had bought the bus tickets a while earlier), had no support, against the wall, I was feeling purely defeated and tired, I only said "Christmas then...", she then said we would sleep in separate rooms and would not go on the 22th after work because "she had already allowed an extra night by allowing her to stay there until the 25th". I stayed in silence, they asked if there was anything I'd like to add, I said no. It wasn't a conversation, in no moment did they actually listened and considered me, they had their minds set way before we sat to talk. I went to my room and rolled all night in pure anxiety. This was thursday
Friday I was a wreck and went to Bea's house to check on her (she was sick that week) and to talk to her about what happened. She noticed something was off, I told her, she got mad and sad, we cried, etc. I went home feeling awful, my anxiety had been 100% all day long and I was in a really bad place and feeling deeply frustrated.
Saturday I woke up worse and decided that I had enough and was not having that anymore. I went outside and called grandad, talked about how I wasn't feeling well and asked what did he think about me leaving home, he said that their doors were always open and that I could just tell my aunt that "I was going to live with my grandad and that was it". I reframed the question asking what he though about me leaving to live alone, he then got worried and said that he didn't think that was necessary, that I had them and didn't need to do that. He then asked me to come over and talk to him and aunt Rachel. I accepted and told aunt Leah I'd sleep at grandad's.
I got there and ate a bit because I didn't want them extra worried, although I felt like throwing up at every bite. Everyone went to sleep and so did I. I woke up a bit later feeling worst, that's when I started to throw up, there was barely anything in my stomach and all I could do was throw up.
The next morning I was better and had already told aunt Rachel about what had happened, she found it absurd how things went (she had met Bea a while back and they clicked very well) and was upset about the things aunt Leah said. I decided to talk to grandad, I couldn't disappear with the subject again, specially now that he was worried sick about me.
So... I sat on the couch and told him what was happening, explained everything, told him that I'm like his stepson's MIL (she's married to a woman. It was the easiest way I found to introduce the topic), told him everything. He asked what I wanted him to do about it, I said that I just wanted him to still love me the same and remain normal with me, that I am still the same person and have always been this way, he just didn't knew about it, but that it changes nothing about me. Aunt Rachel then joined us and asked what he was thinking about it (she knows everything and is amazing to me), he said he wasn't pleased, but that it was my life and he had no say in it and that I should do what's right for me, said that if I wasn't gonna change, then neither would he. But basically, he got much more worried about my mental health than my sexuality, he said that the doors were still open and always would be for me, that he thought I needed a home and thinks they can offer me that. Aunt Rachel said that they wouldn't be obsessive after me, demanding to know every step I take and bossing everything like Leah did, that I have my graduation, I work, make my own money, am responsible, have my own life and am not a child, I'm a 20 year old adult and they would treat me as such.
So that was it. I went back "home" muchhh more confident and waited until nightfall because everyone was having a good time and I didn't want to spoil that. I realized aunt Leah and James were awake and went to talk to them, and that, my friends, is when hell went loose.
I started by saying I talked to my grandad about Bea and my sexuality, Leah asked how it went and I said it was great. Then I said they could talk to him (since they wanted to "decide" with him about my going), she said ok and asked when I wanted to go, I said that it could be in the same week since I was on vacation from college, she frowned, stood firmly and said "you know this won't change our decision about the holidays, right?" then it went boom, I said I didn't agree with them and that it wasn't right for them to dictate about such things. Told them their values and beliefs don't have to be mine, Leah asked "WHY NOT?", then I replied "because I have my own!".
Told them they were controlling and that made their kids lie to them, that since they liked to compare raisings (they criticized Bea's mom's raising because she gives her kids freedom to live their lives and fully trusts), then fine, I went on to say how Bea and her mom have an amazing relationship, full of love and trust, how Bea turned up great, works hard, just made it to psicology at university, helps immensely at home, and so has her sister. As for theirs? They raised their kids poorly, they are overbearing and that makes their kids not trusting them and lying a lot because of this necessity of them to control everything. I stated that the raising they gave their children was not my own, that I had multiple raisings and that no, they didn't "raise" me, I'm 20 and they've been with me for 5 years. Said that was clear, just look at the difference between me and her boys (I won't delve into this bit because it's not relevant, but the difference is nitid).
They said I couldn't take a no for an answer and that was my dad's fault, I said they didn't know what they were talking about, I know how it actually went whilst they made a story in their heads and believe it's the truth, since I knew how my dad used to tell my family one thing and do another.
They (again) said they wouldn't treat me like an adult because I did nothing to behave like one, I said that they didn't treat me as I deserved and they would always put me in the "teenager box" whenever I acted differently to what they thought was right (but I was adult enough to lend James almost 1k without Leah's knoledge lol).
She obviously tried to blame Bea, saying she was putting things in my head and that the last conversation was fine and now I was throwing a fit, I said that I said nothing else then because I felt cornered and realized it wasn't a conversation, it was them simulating one only to tell me what they were going to all along.
I told them they didn't know Bea because they didn't want to and I wasn't confortable bringing her as it was an enviroment unwelcoming to her, she then asked if i would go another year like this until I "felt confortable", I said yes, if that's what it took, that I didn't really need to introduce anyone if I didn't felt comfortable to it.
She once demanded to go meet Bea, after throwing a fit at my BIRTHDAY because Bea planned a day for me and my MIL wanted to make me lunch and they weren't invited, it was super uncomfortable. My aunt described this day as uncomfortable, in this argument I said "and about that day you guys met Bea and her mom? It was uncomfortable? OF COURSE it was, I TOLD you it would be! I told you that was barging in and no one wanted it!". Which Leah said that no, that wasn't the uncomfortable part, the uncomfortable was how Bea was "daring her, being all over me and kissing me in front of her, that she had to be respected!".... Lol, the being "all over me" was me shaking from the anxiety and Bea holding me to keep me in my feet, the "kissing" was ONE greeting kiss. And Bea did nothing "daring" towards Leah, believe me, if she had, aunt Leah would definitely know lol.
At the end, they asked if I was taking Bea, I said, yes, Leah said no, since she called my brother and told him how "things would go down" (amazes me everytime I remember this, she wanted to dictate how the holidays would go IN SOMEONE ELSE'S HOUSE). Lol, my brother was just texting me saying how Bea could go spend the whole holiday and we'd just say she left after Christmas. So it wasn't a very good argument on Leah's end. I said it was my business and I was sorry, but it was MY brother, MY family, MY relationship, MY life, and it wasn't up for them to dictate on it, they shouldn't feel comfortable or uncomfortable since it had NOTHING to do with them, and that my family who mattered in this were not only comfortable but very excited for Bea's presence.
I told them I knew I wasn't wrong since grandad and aunt Rachel agreed with me, so they could go ahead and talk to them if they wanted to. They ended up showing me their tumb and I left for my room.
Aunt Leah left to grandad's house in like, 5 minutes, cried to him and all. She got back, went in my room and in an ironic tone, said "sorry, I know I'm not your mother, stay with your raisings, I'm just glad and relieved my father wasn't as ok as you thought (her saying this seriously hurt me), he accepted for reasons ans beliefs he has, so go ahead and pack your bags this week, you're free to go. Sorry for the flaws, I was trying to get it right, be careful when you take that sticker off, don't ruin the painting." aaand she left.
The next day, grandad came and we took 90% of my stuff and I started officially living with him and aunt Rachel. Christmas was a bit awkward (my maternal family does this early Christmas so everyone's free on the 24th), but I was glooming feeling like the weight of the world had left my shoulders.
So... I went with Bea to spend the holidays with my family, my siblings, my SIL's parents and even my 1 year old nephew absolutely adored Bea, they now ask about her even before asking about me lol. My paternal grandmother loved her and was amazing, told my aunt (her daughter) that Bea was adorable and loving. It was amazing and I cannot imagine 2023 Christmas and New Year without Bea with us, she added sooo much.
Recently we've been to Luke's and Lyla's at Easter and made Easter eggs together, watched movies, went out, went to a family gathering where Bea, my uncles, cousins and grandmother (who was really happy to see her since Bea couldn't go to her birthday because she had to work) all got along really well.
We see each other frequently, living with grandad and aunt Rachel has been amazing, I'm finally gaining weight! MANY people have noticed it and it quite frankly scared me a bit, I had no idea it was so evident. But yeah, I'm doing great!
Grandad isn't ready to deal with this, so we don't talk about it. He doesn't like it and doesn't really understands, but he's doesn't meddle. Grandma (maternal) texted these days wanting to meet Bea (finally!), since she found out through aunt Rachel that me and Bea are still together and going strong for 1 year and a half already. I think she took it seriously now.
Anyway, it was hell, lol. But things turned out alright! Thank you for the people who commented in my first post, it was nice reading the comments and taking the options into consideration!

My house is a 1964 ranch in the southern part of Michigan: 1280 sq ft first floor (+ 1280 sq ft conditioned but mostly unfinished basement). I had a blower door test last fall, and things are much tighter than I'd thought - air leakage rate 1364 cf/min @ 50 pascals, with avg fresh air exchange rate of 4.3/day or .18/hour. I sealed and insulated the attic and sprayfoamed the basement sill plate before the test, and would like to add dense-pack cellulose to the walls and replace windows in the future.
My area is 5° F winter / 89° F summer design temp, and CoolCalc says my demand is 55k heating, 24k cooling. The house came with a 1989 Carrier 80% 80k natural gas furnace and ~8 seer 2.5 ton central AC. Ac died last fall, and while furnace seems to be working OK I figure 35 years was a good run and might as well replace it at the same time. I'd do dual fuel if I go with a heat pump, as natural gas is very cheap here. Other note: our power grid is not the best - I expect two or three multiple day outages each year that I use a portable generator to manage.
Most quotes were right in the same range - about 12-13 K after rebates/credits, but the two sales guys that I felt were most knowledgeable were the following:

Company 1

Great reviews, medium sized local operation, more heat pump experience than most
Option 1

• Daikin DM97MC 98% modulating furnace (60K or 80K)
• Daikin DZ6VSA Inverter HP (2 or 3 ton)
• Daikin CAPEA evaporator coil (2-4 ton)
• Daikin DTST-TOU-A communicating thermostat
• new venting/intake
• new lineset if required (3 ton HP option only)
• condensate pump, 5" MERV 11 media filter cabinet
• 2 inline surge protectors included (condensefurnace)
• Warranty: 12 years parts, 1 year labor. Can add Daikin 12 year labor (Asure) for + $990 fee.

$14770 total after energy co. rebates (before $2600 federal credits)
Salesman quoted multiple size options here bc I'm between 60-80K BTU heating / 2-3 ton cooling - he thinks that ducting can support 3 ton HP, and since that is within spec of inverter oversizing for heating load could be best comfort for all eventualities. Will do manual J calculation as part of job (or $350 fee if we don't opt for install).
Option 2

• Lennox EL296 70k 96% 2 stage furnace
• Lennox ML14 2.5 ton single stage AC 17 seer Condenser
• Lennox CX35-36B Coil
• Lennox iComfort thermostat
• Warranty: 10 yrs parts, 1 yr labor
• all else same as above

$12500 Total after energy co. rebates

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

Company 2

Great reviews, smaller operation, recommended by energy consultants. Highly recommends option 1 (highest degree of improvement for the buck/dependable equipment); generally doesn't think variable is worth it in on a smaller house in our region. For option 2 is unsure of long-term reliability of Bryant's rebranded HP.
Option 1

• Bryant 926TC 60,000 2 stage 96% furnace
• Bryant 126SAN 2.5 ton single stage AC 16 SEER2 Condenser
• Bryant 2.5 ton Evaporator Coil 31/17
• Honeywell 8000 thermostat
• new venting/intake
• flush/reuse existing lineset
• condensate pump, 4" media filter cabinet
• Warranty: 10 yr parts, 5 yr labor

$12900 Total after energy co. rebates (no federal tax credit)
Option 2

• Bryant 926TC 60,000 2 stage 96% furnace
• Bryant 38MURA 2.5 ton heat pump instead of AC (requires change of disconnect box, outdoor air temp sensor)
• all else same as above

$14960 Total after energy co. rebates (but before $2000 federal tax credit):
Option 3

• Bryant 987MB 60,000 modulating 98% furnace
• Bryant 189BNV 3 ton variable 19 SEER2 Condenser
• all else same as above

$16890 Total after energy co. rebates (but before $600 federal tax credit)
In general, I'm wondering what would make more sense: stick with the simpler end (2-stage furnace/single stage AC) and put the money I saved into windows/insulation/eventual HRV/ERV, or go for more potential comfort with variable furnace/inverter heat pump? Let me know what you think, thanks.

We are in the process of building a home in SW Ontario after demolishing an existing house on the same foundation. We took everything down to the concrete, cut off the back foundation wall and added more foundation to expand the footprint and poured a new floor to match existing. A new sump pit was added in the new part of the basement.
As part of the process on the recommendation of the builder there was a new weeper installed around the whole foundation old and new and fed into a new sump pit. So far so good.
Old house had a sump pit which remained and was disconnected from the weeper.
The grading is not yet completed and eavestroughs not on, but the house is sealed, foundation waterproofed/wrapped.
Now when it rains, the old sump which is only open to the gravel under the old slab (10 feet from the new exterior wall) fills up through the disconnected weeper connection and water seems to seep through the saw cuts in the new part of the foundation. Also - I am not seeing come into the new sump pit through the 4” weeper, only through the holes drilled in the sides of the sump pit which pick up water from the gravel around it.
Builder keeps dismissing this as a concern and insists that grading and eves will solve this issue - but I’m not convinced. If lack of grading was the problem the. I should still be seeing the new sump fill up first.
Yes I can install a second pump in the old sump pit (which is what I have been doing to keep the basement dry) but if the new system was working correctly - I shouldn’t need to do this
Am I missing something? Is there someone I can call for a second opinion?
PS The Builders contract was only to get the house closed in which we have almost reached and he is looking to get paid out.

My girlfriend and I moved into this townhome mid march, but signed for it in mid February shortly after we viewed it. Upon viewing it, he handed us a paper that explained all the new amenities and whatnot, and on it was listed “NEW washer and dryer” along with several other things. The new wash/dryer was a big selling point for us as my girl is a total germaphobe. While walking through we noticed there were no blinds on our windows on the second floor and he told us they were in the mail and would arrive and be installed before we moved in, or right after.
Upon moving in we discovered that the wash was just pumping dirt in for every cycle and contacted him about it, he said he would send someone right away, he did this after a couple weeks of us not having any way to do our laundry and when the appliance guy came he had to replace a piece and said it was 100% used and on top of that not properly maintained by whoever had it last. Finally we could wash our clothes but then we checked out the dryer and filthy on the inside and literally had trash and all kinds of bullshit in the lint trap. We still hadn’t received blinds and noticing some weirdos in the neighborhood wanted to lock the windows only to discover there’s no locks.
We contact him again and say we want this washer and dryer thing sorted out, locks on our windows, and where the hell are the blinds?!? Every week he says next week, or there’s some kind of problem but we have neighbors right outside our main living space constantly and he adamantly REFUSES to allow us to put up our own blinds, we have no privacy!
His response was that they could get new washers and dryers and add 50$ a month to our rent, or we could get our own and store his old ones in our garage, (side note: when we moved in we had to remove a bunch of old shit that was left in the garage by the previous renters and he told us to throw it out) and why would we store that in our garage I looked in the lease there’s nothing that says we have to store anything here that’s not ours. He also told us they don’t make the locks for these generic ass windows anymore (super highly unlikely, like what?) and that he can nail them closed if we want them locked, or leave them like that. So we have the sun blazing in with no blinds no privacy and his fix is to cut off air flow in the house? Isn’t that also a fire risk?
We moved in March 15th it’s now mid may and we still have no locks, no blinds, and old washers and dryers and his solution is for him to nail the windows closed and raise our rent to provide the falsely advertised appliances? We’ve also got a few things like a broken shelf below our sink and missing caulking between the backsplash and counter that haven’t been fixed since we requested it about a month ago. This was supposed to be a nice experience of me and my girl moving in together and it’s turned out to be a fucking nightmare, what can we do? I mean we pay 2300$ a month. Please and thank you sorry for the rant.

The Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul is suffering from unprecedented floods. The international media coverage is lacking, so I'm trying to bring more info there from Brazilian media.
But first, let me tell some facts about the affected area: Rio Grande do Sul is one of Brazil's largest states (by area). With 281,730 km², it's bigger than Colorado or the country of Ecuador. It is home to 10.9 million people.
Now, picture this: the whole state was impacted, 90% of its cities are claiming damages from either the floods or the rain. 618,000 people are now displaced. The water level reached 30 meters (98.4 ft) in some cities. 148 confirmed deaths, 127 missing people so far. The capital, Porto Alegre, has seen water reaching 2,6m (8.5 ft) from the street level. Its International Airport is now closed and will remain for a long time — it's filled with water from the runway to the gates. It's being compared to the Katrina floods.
[This article has a satellite imagery comparison for Porto Alegre before and after the flood]
Millions lost their cars, their furniture, their documents and will have to make repairs to their houses (or demolish it) when the water goes down. Talking about water going down, it's going to take weeks to months for it to go away.
Why did it happen? Basically, a cold air mass came from South but faced a hot air mass just north of Rio Grande do Sul. The water in the hot air mass condensed and it rained 700mm over 15 days (5 months worth of rain). Geography did the rest, with downstream rivers and lakes accumulating water from upstream rivers and flooding. And it's still raining right now, 300mm more rain is expected for the next days. To make matters worse, temperature is going down and it's expected to reach 5°C (41 F) this week — with thousands of displaced people having nothing but the clothes on their back.
I don't even need to say that this rain is linked to climate change. Past floods in the state never reached this level, even the worse ones.
[More pictures and comparisons]
However, Porto Alegre was technically prepared for such events. It has a dike and drainage system that could handle up to 6m of water (relative to the Guaíba lake), more than the current flood (5,3m). Still, there was so much water that pumps started failing, causing more pumps to become overflowed in a cascade effect (it didn't help that the local government ignored some maintenances too).
This is what extreme weather events look like. You can tell yourself that you're safe because the geography of your area is different or that your local government is trustworthy, but ask yourself: are you really sure your city can handle 1,000mm of rain over a couple of days? Can the lake or river next to you handle it without overflowing? Can you reach the next city if all bridges get destroyed? Because extreme rainfalls and hurricanes are becoming more common thanks to global warming, and very few cities in the World are ready for this. The collapse of Rio Grande do Sul is a cautionary tale for the whole World.
Side note: because of the hot air mass, at the same time Rio Grande do Sul flooded, many Brazilian states were suffering with the hottest April/May on record and one of the driest. So that's the World at +1.58 °C, where cities just 500 mi apart are simultaneously suffering from a record flooding and a record dry hot wave.

Managing diabetes goes beyond monitoring blood sugar levels; it encompasses handling the various tools we use, such as insulin pumps and different insulin formulations. Throughout my journey, I have encountered numerous challenges, especially with skin reactions to different insulin types and pump cannulas. I hope sharing my experiences will help others facing similar issues make informed decisions.
Understanding Skin Reactions
Skin reactions in insulin therapy can stem from multiple sources and often develop progressively with more exposure:

• Adhesives: Adhesives are a common cause of skin reactions, characterized by redness, itchiness, and sometimes pain over the entire area where the adhesive was applied. Reactions can intensify and occur more rapidly with repeated exposure. These can be easily overcome by underpatches or completely removing the adhesive and replacing it with hypafix glued with hotglue.
• Cannula Material: Individual reactions to cannula materials vary. 'Plastic' cannulas (made from teflon) initially worked for me for about five years before they started causing reactions, prompting me to switch to steel cannulas. Cannula skin reactions are subtler than adhesive reactions, usually presenting as redness and bumps at the cannula site with intense itching.
• Insulin Formulations: Distinguishing an allergy to a cannula from an allergy to an insulin component can be difficult as both present similarly (itchiness and redness around the insertion site). In my experience, ingredients in insulin, particularly m-cresol, have triggered skin reactions. For example, both Humalog and Apidra contain higher levels of m-cresol and caused significant issues for me.

Differentiating Between Cannula and Insulin Reactions
One way to differentiate between an insulin skin reaction and a cannula skin reaction is to switch from a teflon cannula to a steel cannula. Unfortunately, with devices like the Omnipod, you cannot use a steel cannula. Instead, have your healthcare professional fill the pod with saline instead of insulin and wear it for 2-3 days to see how your skin reacts. If there's no reaction to the saline, it's likely the insulin causing the issue.
Investigating Skin Reactions: My Personal Journey
It's crucial to be vigilant when interpreting changes in symptoms, as improvement with a steel cannula may not necessarily indicate resolution of the issue. In my case, switching to steel cannulas initially appeared to resolve the problem. However, after about two years of use, I began experiencing local absorption site problems despite careful rotation of injection sites. To address this, I experimented with inserting the steel cannula more superficially by bending the Tandem trusteel needle at about a 45-degree angle. While this improved absorption, it also led to a recurrence of skin reactions. This led me to conclude that the teflon cannulas were not the primary cause of the reactions, but rather the insulin itself. Infusing the insulin more superficially, whether with a teflon or bent steel cannula, allowed me to observe the skin reactions more clearly, while deeper infusion masked them.
This hypothesis was confirmed when I conducted the saline test with Omnipod and experienced no skin reaction, indicating that the issue likely stemmed from the insulin rather than the cannula material.
The Role of M-Cresol
Research indicates that m-cresol in insulin formulations can cause skin reactions. Insulins with higher concentrations of m-cresol, like Humalog and Apidra, are associated with more inflammation. Studies suggest that removing m-cresol can lessen these reactions.
Detailed M-Cresol Concentrations in Insulin Formulations:

• Fiasp and NovoRapid: 1.72 mg/ml
• Humalog: 3.15 mg/ml
• Apidra: Approximately 2.8 mg/ml
• Lyumjev: Same as Humalog, 3.15 mg/ml
• Biosimilars: Like Admelog and Trurapi, mirror the m-cresol content of their originals, providing no benefit for those with sensitivities.

My Personal Journey with Insulin Pumps

• Initial Experience: I used a Tandem teflon cannula for about five years before developing skin reactions.
• Switch to Steel Cannulas: After switching to steel cannulas, I thought the problem was resolved. However, about two years later, I began developing problems with local absorption sites. This was exacerbated when I bent the Tandem trusteel needle to direct insulin more superficially, improving absorption but leading to renewed skin reactions. This prompted me to conclude that it might not have been the teflon causing the initial reactions but the insulin when infused more superficially.
• Saline Test with Omnipod: Conducting a saline test in the Omnipod confirmed no skin reaction, which reassured me that the teflon cannulas were not the issue.
• Experimenting with Insulin Types: I tried Humalog (Ademlog) insulin with an Omnipod, but after just 2 days, I immediately started experiencing local skin reactions, despite using FloNase before applying the pod.
• Switching Insulin Formulations: We then decided to switch to another insulin with less m-cresol, Fiasp. It worked wonderfully for about 2 weeks, but I then developed insulin resistance, a phenomenon described by many people after some time using Fiasp. Fiasp is the same insulin as NovoRapid, but it contains vitamin B3, which is used to facilitate faster absorption. Some people hypothesize that this vitamin may increase insulin resistance over the long term. Despite trying various strategies to mitigate this, such as combining Fiasp with other insulins or alternating between Fiasp and other insulins, I still experienced resistance and skin reactions.
• Transition to NovoRapid: I have now started using NovoRapid, which contains less m-cresol than Humalog, and everything seems to be going fine for now.

Skin reactions can be mentally taxing and complex. The best approach is to methodically test different cannulas (teflon/steel), different perfusions (insulin/saline), and different insulin types until you find the right combination. Research on removing m-cresol from insulin formulations has shown promising results in animal studies, offering hope for less inflammatory and equally effective insulin therapies in the future (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsptsci.1c00047).
Also, if you keep having skin reactions even with insulin containing less m cresol, know that some physician were able to desentitize a children to this component so he could use insulin in insulin pumps https://jmedicalcasereports.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1752-1947-6-263
References
· https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9760098/pdf/nihms-1843053.pdf
· https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1398-9995.2007.01567.x
· https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11095-017-2233-0
· https://jmedicalcasereports.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1752-1947-6-263
· https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsptsci.1c00047

Hi all, just looking for some advice and support.
I’m 6 days postpartum, and my goal was to exclusively breastfeed up to about 4 months before I return to work but I’m 6 days in and I already feel like giving up, I feel like a failure. Baby always wants to feed even if he’s just been fed, I feel trapped in the house unless we’re travelling by car, because I don’t feel comfortable feeding in public and over here in the uk there’s not many feeding facilities that I’m aware of where I live, I’m tired from the strain of doing all the night feeds (especially on nights where he wakes every 1-2 hours). My boobs and nipples hurt despite being told his latch looks perfect and the amount of wet and dirty nappies he’s having also suggest this. And of course my hormones aren’t helping this; but I’m crying from stress every single day. I just wanted to give my baby my all and it’s killing me that I’m feeling like this. And I don’t want to introduce him to bottles because I don’t want him to get confused, and pumping makes no sense to me right now and I don’t want to send myself into an oversupply I can’t keep up with, I’ve already been struggling with my boobs being engorged and I’ve just about got rid of that.
I’m drained and I just don’t know how much longer I can go on like this. I’ve just spent a ridiculous amount of money on a hands free pump I can’t return. I just need help. I really don’t want to turn to formula. Please tell me that this gets easier 😞

Hi all, just looking for some advice and support.
I’m 6 days postpartum, and my goal was to exclusively breastfeed up to about 4 months before I return to work but I’m 6 days in and I already feel like giving up, I feel like a failure. Baby always wants to feed even if he’s just been fed, I feel trapped in the house unless we’re travelling by car, because I don’t feel comfortable feeding in public and over here in the uk there’s not many feeding facilities that I’m aware of where I live, I’m tired from the strain of doing all the night feeds (especially on nights where he wakes every 1-2 hours). My boobs and nipples hurt despite being told his latch looks perfect and the amount of wet and dirty nappies he’s having also suggest this. And of course my hormones aren’t helping this; but I’m crying from stress every single day. I just wanted to give my baby my all and it’s killing me that I’m feeling like this. And I don’t want to introduce him to bottles because I don’t want him to get confused, and pumping makes no sense to me right now and I don’t want to send myself into an oversupply I can’t keep up with, I’ve already been struggling with my boobs being engorged and I’ve just about got rid of that.
I’m drained and I just don’t know how much longer I can go on like this. I’ve just spent a ridiculous amount of money on a hands free pump I can’t return. I just need help. I really don’t want to turn to formula. Please tell me that this gets easier 😞

I’m finally putting the pump away after 3 (almost 4) of the darkest and mentally draining months of my life. I have learned and realized so much, and I want to share my story to hopefully help someone else who is currently in the position I was in.
Before I had my baby, I planned to BF as long as I possibly could. When I felt like a failure because BF didn’t work for us, I became obsessed with the idea of exclusively pumping. And Lord, I had absolutely no idea what I was signing myself up for. EP is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Harder than birth. Harder than losing a family member. Harder than my previous battles with mental health. I was drowning in the sea of stress with having low supply, on top of pumping every 2 hours, on top of having a newborn, on top of cleaning the pump, on top of cleaning the bottles, on top of being alone with my baby for 12-13 hours a day while my boyfriend was at work.
I completely lost myself. I had never been so full of anger and hate. I fully blame the stress of feeling like I had no choice but to BF or EP for my extreme postpartum rage. I broke things. I screamed. I said things I will never be able to take back. Thankfully I was blessed with such an amazing partner and father to my child. But even with him being the most understanding and patient, I almost lost him, too. Our fights were so terrible. I felt like no matter what he did, the labor of raising our daughter was never equal, and I started to hate him. It had gotten to the point where we barely even spoke to each other because so much had been done and said.
Still, I was convinced, she HAD to have breastmilk. And being on that pump was literally sucking the life out of me.
My daughter and I left and had fully planned to start living with my mom. During our stay at her house, she noticed I was slipping. She told me she didn’t recognize me. She suggested that I drop down to 2 pumps a day and supplement with formula for the rest of the feedings. I hated her for even making the suggestion, but out of pure exhaustion and desperation, I caved. And thank god I did. I had been pushed over the edge so long before that I couldn’t even see it anymore. After just 8 days of staying with my mom and supplementing formula, I felt the fog clear. I felt the wave of guilt crashing over me when I realized I was responsible for hurting the two things I love most in this world- my daughter and her father. I robbed my baby of the smiling, joyful mother she deserves, and I robbed my partner of the bond we had spent 2 years creating.
I became so obsessed with the benefits of breastmilk for my baby that I caused more harm than good. Moral of the story is, fed truly is best. And when you’re in the trenches, sometimes you’re too far gone to see that as the truth. But it is the only truth. I realized that breastmilk isn’t essential to my baby’s development- but a stable and happy mother is. I called my boyfriend. I came home. I washed my pump one last time, and put it in my bottom dresser drawer. And instead of mourning my “giving up”, We opened a bottle of alcohol and celebrated my success. And the strength it required to realize it was time to walk away. My baby gained 4.5 pounds because of my boobies, lol. She had breastmilk for 107 days. She is healthy. She is happy. And I finally have my life back. No more stressing if i’m eating enough- I can just stop when I’m full. No more feeling tethered to the house- we can go out for dinner or walks or family Target trips:) No more living my life on a timer. And most importantly, no more missing out on beautiful moments with my baby because I am miserable.
To all of the amazing mothers who continue to make this sacrifice for their babies everyday, I want to say I am so so proud of you. And I hope you never forget what an amazing thing you’ve done to give your baby any breastmilk at all- even when it felt damn near impossible. And thanks for reading my lil life lesson as a first time mom. ❤️

I’m having trouble finding any information on this, but how much water is reasonable for a sump pump to discharge in a 24 hour period. I know there are a ton of variable to consider, but I just installed a sump pit in my 1955 home after the city installed new water lines in front of my house in November. Never had a sump pit/ pump one before. Never needed one. Now, after the slightest rain it will cycle as frequently as every 140 seconds, usually for 36 hours before tapering down to once every 10 minutes after 5 rain free days. I measured the volume to be almost exactly 5 gal/ cycle. Seems to me like 3000 gal/ day is a bit excessive after not needing a pump at all for 68 years.

I have a Leo 1.5KW (2HP) submersible borehole pump which was working fine, but now has a problem. The pump is connected to a control box using a 40 meter cable that is showing signs of significant deterioration due to age and climatic conditions here. The cable is a 4-wire: black, blue, brown, ground/earth.
When I start the pump, the circuit breaker in my house goes off. I disconnected the control box from the cable connected to the pump, and I checked the wiring of the cable with a multimeter. This shows that there is continuity between the black and blue wires. Can anybody tell me if this is normal?
Thanks for any advice.

My car's transmission is on the fritz, so it's in the shop and I'm working from home for at least today. Thank goodness I can even work from home, or things would be a lot more complicated. Anyways, that's just a bit of a vent. I've also decided that I might do little lore-esque prechapter bits for some extra flavor. Hope you guys enjoy them! I find them to be fun little thought experiments on how people might perceive the world I've created from within vs from my own perspective. Enjoy some crafting and some romance!
First Previous Next
We know that the spots that are caused by looking at a source of light are, in fact, damage of some sort to the eye. This is confirmed by the spots rapidly disappearing should someone be healed whilst experiencing them. But why? Is there a divinity within light, beyond what our mortal eyes can withstand? Is there some sort of invisible emanation that comes alongside the light that damages us in some way? The discovery of light damaging the eye has opened more questions for me than it has closed.
-Musings on the Relations of Light and Fire, by Jarwic Leftun
\***
Xander carefully opened the door, finding Gabrelle already asleep, and sat down on a chair. Maybe he could get that adaptive camouflage to work right on bright colors. Surely he had some colorful things in his inventory.
He did in fact have a few colorful things in his inventory, and he whiled the rest of the night away making small adjustments to the runic array that was embroidered into the cloth. He was satisfied before dawn, the cloth now performing as well with light colors as it had with darker colors. Now he just needed to make a cloak out of it. He briefly considered coating his armor with the array, but discarded it. There might be times where he’d want to be seen. Besides, a hooded cloak would better break up the outline of his figure, the ripples of fabric, especially if he were to crouch or lay prone, obscuring his outline even more. In little time at all, he had a long, deep hooded cloak of the color shifting, runed cloth in his hands. He stashed it in his inventory for now, as he had no particular need to sneak up on something right now. The rest of the time before dawn he spent silently sitting in the chair he’d chosen, trying to keep his thoughts to a minimum, just daydreaming. Night dreaming? He couldn’t sleep anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to let his mind wander.
As the dawn came and the sun began to shine through the window of the room, Gabrelle slowly awoke, once more finding Xander sitting in a chair rather than in bed.
“Mmf,” She grunted as she stretched. “Morning, Xander. You got back late.”
“Morning, yourself,” Xander said, turning his head to look at Gabrelle. “Yeah... Yeah, I guess I did.”
“What were you doing, anyway?” She asked, curious. “You didn’t mention that you’d be out late, just that you were going to go to see Valteria at her shop.”
“I uh... went on a date.”
“I knew it! ‘Comparing notes’ was a date!” Gabrelle exclaimed triumphantly.
“It was not!” Xander complained. “But we went to a tavern in the evening and it sort of... turned into a date on the way there.”
“Awhh, that’s so cute,” Gabrelle said. “Did it go well? Is she nice? Did you kiss?”
“I think it went well. We talked a lot about different projects and ideas we had. I also got to meet another [Godsmarked] - he owns the tavern we went to. I think she’s nice. Maybe a little shy. I think she’s gotten used to being treated differently by people. I don’t think she really believed that I wanted to go on a date with her, at first. ...And yes. We kissed.”
“Ooooh, look at you! You’re growing up so fast!” Gabrelle teased.
“Oh hush. I’m older than you!” Xander huffed, then returned to seriousness. “But ah, if I’m going to be dating someone... we need to have a conversation, Gabrelle.”
“We need to stop sleeping together?” Gabrelle quickly deduced before Xander could say it himself.
“Yeah... It doesn’t feel right, even though it’s just platonic between us. I don’t think I would appreciate being in Valteria’s situation and knowing that the person I was seeing was sleeping with someone else at night.”
“Well, I figured this would happen eventually,” Gabrelle said. “Either you or I were bound to find someone eventually. Don’t worry, I’m not upset. Don’t get me wrong, the snuggles were nice, but like I told you a while ago, I don’t have nearly as much trouble sleeping when I’m with the team.”
“Thanks for not being upset, Gabrelle.”
“You know this means you have to start paying for your own room, though, right?”
“Ah, shit, you’re right. I forgot.”
Xander left the room to allow Gabrelle some privacy to get dressed and meandered back down the stairs to see if any other members of the team were already up. Looking around, he spied Graffus eating breakfast at at table and moved to sit with the dwarf.
“Mornin’” Graffus greeted Xander through a mouthful of bread.
“Morning,” Xander greeted back.
“Glad to see you made it back, we were wondering if you’d be out all night,” Graffus told him, after swallowing his bread.
“I was out a bit late, I suppose. I let the time get away from me.” Xander said, not really wanted to be teased again about going out on a date. “So what are you planning to do today?”
“Bah, Frazay has roped me into helping her do research for the drakeling. So reading is what’s in store for me.” Graffus tore himself off another piece of bread from his plate and slathered it with jam. “You going to be going back to that [Tinker] you’ve been spending time with lately?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. I’m supposed to learn more about converting mana types today, and also help her fix the suit of armor that I wrecked.”
“Welp,” Graffus said, now on his last piece of bread, “I hope ya learn something new. Never had much to do with [Tinker]s – not saying I dislike them, just that I haven’t had much experience with them – so it don’t make much sense to me. Using a hammer is about the only overlap in our professions.”
“I think your hammer is significantly larger than the one most [Tinker]s would use,” Xander chuckled. Thinking about what he should be doing before he headed to Valteria’s, he asked Graffus, “Hey, I might need to buy some monster parts or elemental cores, something like that, for practice. You know where I would go to find stuff like that?”
Graffus shrugged. “Dunno. My guess would be an alchemy and reagents shop. That’s generally what we’ve sold monster parts to that didn’t go to a smith or leatherworker.”
“Thanks, Graffus.”
The two of them chatted for a while longer, catching up on what each other had been doing. Graffus excused himself to finish getting ready for the day, saying he needed to tend to his beard, leaving Xander downstairs. Deciding to be productive and proactive, Xander stood as well and headed out of the inn to find an alchemy shop.
It wasn’t long before he found one, a familiar scene of an eclectic collection of powders, liquids, crystals, and strange organic things floating in jars inside the building. The proprietor was a dwarf, seated at a workbench. They were grinding something into a powder as Xander entered. He received a distracted greeting before the dwarf returned to his work.
Xander wandered about the shop for a few minutes, looking at the various materials throughout the shop. He identified what he thought might be an elemental core, a jagged piece of crystal looking material that seemed to have an inner flame. As for the monster parts in jars, Xander had no idea what was what. He finally felt he’d waited long enough and moved closer to the worktable that the dwarf was still sitting at, working away at the mortar and pestle.
“Excuse me,” Xander said, grabbing the shopkeep’s attention.
“Mm?” The dwarf said questioningly. “Can I help you find something?”
“I was wondering if you had any elemental cores. Something small, I just need one to practice with.”
“Aye, I’ve a few of them around the shop. You want something to practice with? So a relatively weak core, then – not all the small ones are weak. Do you need any particular type?” The dwarf stood up and stretched, moving to one of the shelves.
“Uhm no, just whatever is cost effective, I suppose.”
The alchemist rifled through the various bits and bobs on one of the shelves nearby before producing a small chip of what looked to be a semi-translucent stone. It was tinged slightly yellow with streaks of white. “This here is a chip off a lightning attuned core. Pretty weak, but it does still produce mana.”
Xander could see the dwarf’s arm hair standing up as if from static electicity as he held up the stone. “How much?” He asked.
“Twenty gold.”
Xander shrugged. Twenty gold wasn’t an issue for him anymore, and he didn’t feel like haggling. He always hated haggling. “Sure.” He fished out the coin and handed it over to the dwarf.
The dwarf handed over the stone to Xander and the pop of a static electric shock could be heard as a tiny arc passed between the two of them. The dwarf grunted and shook his hand. “Thanks for the business,” he told Xander. “Anything else you find yourself in need of?”
“Not at the moment, but thanks for asking.” Xander waved goodbye to the dwarf and pocketed the tiny elemental core. He continued down the street in the direction of Valteria’s shop, thinking about how he was going to undo the welding job he’d done on Valteria’s armor. He’d need her to guide his repair efforts.
Xander returned to the inn momentarily to grab one of his golems. He settled on Atlas for now, as it was the most basic of the humanoid forms he’d created. No extra arms or weird feet on him, no sir.
Arriving at the building that contained Valteria’s home and shop, Xander knocked before opening the door. “Morning,” he called out.
“Xander! Hello!” Valteria called out. She was at the same work bench she’d been at yesterday. Jarrett didn’t seem to be in the shop at the moment, as Xander wasn’t able to spot the man.
Commanding Atlas to follow him in and closing the door behind him, Xander started walking towards Valteria. “How’s it going?” He asked.
“Good, it’s going good,” Valteria responded as Xander brought a stool over to her workbench. “How about yourself?”
“Not bad. The upside of not sleeping is that I never struggle in the mornings now. I used to hate waking up.” Xander laughed. “I even ran an errand before I came here! Picked up this.” Xander fished around in his pocket until he found the small chip of elemental core and held it up for Valteria to see.
“Core?” She asked distractedly, staring at Atlas. She tore her eyes away and looked closely at the small crystalline stone. “Lightning attuned?”
“That’s what the [Alchemist] at the shop said,” Xander affirmed. “Said it was a very weak one, but that it did still produce mana.”
“Mmm, a good practice piece, then.”
“I thought it would be, too. Not that I know what to do with it, yet.”
“Well, how about this: I teach you to set the stone and make some conduit, and then you can help me fix my armor. All the glue has turned to dust by now, thank the gods.”
“Sounds fair enough. So, how do mana conduits work?”
“Well, the concept is simple enough. It’s a tube which conducts mana,” Valteria began to explain.
“Mmhm.” Xander nodded along.
“What you need is a setting – usually of silver, as it has good mana conductivity – which will be the first step of conduction, taking the mana from the stone. Simply wrapping the core in silver wire can work well enough, drawing in the mana that the core puts out through its surface, but for a more effecient setting, small holes are usually drilled into the core to set the wire into as well, giving more surface area to draw from.”
“So we care about the mana conductivity of the material, then? That makes sense, I just hadn’t thought about it. I actually did a little experiment with my rune work to test which fillings were the most conductive.”
“Oh really?” Valteria said, interested. “What were your results?”
“Well, gold and silver were high up there in conductivity, and probably make the most sense for someone who has to physically manipulate material without use of a skill – both for a core setting and for inlaying a rune – but I did find that sapphires and rubies were even more efficient at transferring mana than gold and silver.”
“Mmm... interesting. I’ve heard of gemstones being used in very high-grade settings, as well as various other exotic materials. I read an account of one [Mechanist] who used tubes of mercury to conduct mana, though the relative effectiveness compared to silver wasn’t mentioned.” Valteria cleared her throat. “Uhm, now, where was I? Right, basic settings. Once you have your core – or monster organ, if you’re going that route – you connect it to the conduit. Usually, this is also silver wiring. I like to braid several smaller wires together, personally. I find it to be sturdier and hold up to flexing better. From there, it needs to be tied into a device. Which is a topic for tomorrow.” Looking around the shop, Valteria seemed to identify something on one of the shelves nearby. “I have a core that you could watch me set, and then you could try setting your own, if you’d like.”
“That sounds good to me,” Xander said. “I always love to see a master as work,” he added, opting for a little flattery.
“Follow me, then.” Valteria said, standing up from her stool and waving for Xander to follow.
Xander followed Valteria as she walked over to the shelf she’d been looking at earlier and took a palm sized, bright green stone from it. “Nature attuned core,” She explained, holding it for Xander to see. “I’m told it was taken from some kind of moving tree.” Valteria then moved to another worktable, on which were several of what looked to be drill bits to Xander. There was also an apparatus that look like it was designed to hold the bits, which was confirmed for him when Valteria slotted one of the small drill heads into the device. “This thing,” Valteria said, waving the drill a little bit, “is a life saver. I used to have to drill holes with a hand cranked one. Worth every single coin I paid for it to get an enchanted one.” She turned a dial on one side of the handheld device, which Xander was coming to think of as a magic dremel tool, and it began to come to life, the drill bit beginning to spin with a quiet whirring sound.
“Neat.” Xander commented. He watched patiently as Valteria drilled a series of shallow holes in the stone, the distinct screeching of metal on stone echoing through the shop floor. “So where’s Jarrett today?” He asked.
“Oh, he has the day off today. He asked for it about a week ago, not sure what for, though,” Valteria said distractedly. Soon she was finished with the holes she was drilling into the core, and moved to another workbench. “Now we create a setting for the core. This is a fairly simple way of doing it, mind you, but it is effective.”
Xander watched as she took sections of pre-braided silver wire and fitted the ends into the holes she had drilled. Once each hole was filled with a section of wire, Valteria began to pull wire from a spool, wrapping the stone until it was completely covered with silver wire and binding the braided sections to the stone in the process. “There,” she said, setting the stone down on the workbench. “A perfectly serviceable setting."
“So, if I understand correctly, you coat the core in a mana conductive material – the more surface area, the better, hence the holes – to create a setting?”
“Mmhmm,” Valteria said, nodding.
“Seems fairly straighforward. And then you connect the silver wiring that’s wrapped around it to more wiring, and attach that to your device? Why the distance? Why not just connect the setting directly to the device?”
“You absolutely can, if space isn’t an issue. Technically, the connection between the mana battery and the device, even if it’s just a single point with no distance, is still referred to as a conduit, though, so it’s considered a three part creation.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do you want to try making your own, now? I don’t mind lending you a little wire.”
“Sure, but I should be good on material, I can produce it with my skills. Doesn’t last without a source of mana, but I guess the core itself might provide enough. Think this little chip is a bit small to put holes in, though.”
Xander looked at the small piece of crystal in his hand. If he just need as much contact as possible with a mana conductive material, his best bet would be to embed it into a sapphire or ruby. He decided on ruby, for no particular reason. Still holding the chip of core in his hand, he concentrated on his [Creation] ability. Valteria watched, amazed, as a ruby began to take form and grow around the piece of core until it was completely coated in a thin layer of gemstone.
“So, you can just... make things?” Valteria asked, sounding jealous.
“Well, it costs mana, and anything I make that isn’t provided a source of mana that leaves my person disintegrates in a day, but, yes. I can just make things with my skills. But,” he added, cutting off Valteria’s complaint of unfairness, “I have never received a skill that actually lets me improve a material. Sure, I have runes, which generally makes up the difference, but I don’t have any skills that improve the things I make. So, if you made a mana battery, and I made a mana battery the same way with identical materials, yours is going to be better, I assume, because you have skills that passively improve the things that you make, am I right?”
“Okayyy,” Valteria huffed. “I guess that does make it a little less unfair. But ugh! It would be so nice not having to source materials.” She looked at the ruby with a piece of core set inside it that Xander had made. “Well, I guess that about does it for making a setting... I thought it might have taken you longer to make one. I guess we can move on to fixing my armor even sooner! It’ll be nice to have it up and moving again.”
“Sure, sure, we can do that. Where is it, anyway?” Xander asked, looking around the shop again like he somehow would have missed the eight foot tall suit of armor.
“It’s in a shed behind the house,” Valteria explained. “I have it on a hoist so I can work on it.”
“Ah, that would explain why I haven’t seen it around.”
Exiting the shop, stopping for Valteria to put a small ‘closed’ sign on the door, the two of them made their way around the building, where Xander saw the small shed that presumably held Valteria’s armor. It looked like it could just barely hold the armor and one person – two, if they were comfortable with each other – inside it.
“So this is where the magic happens?” Xander asked.
“If by ‘magic’ you mean maintenance and upgrades, then yes,” Valteria agreed. She opened the door of the shed, which comprised most of the front of the tiny little building, revealing her suit of armor, which was currently hanging from several chains attached to pulleys on the ceiling. Plates of armor were laying strewn about the suite, leaving the joints and inner workings more exposed.
Xander whistled, looking at the inner workings of the suit. He could see gears, cogs, and joints, and throughout the entirety of the armor were running filaments of silver wire, which he assumed were mana conduits running to and from elemental cores and the various mana powered aspects of the suit. “This thing really is impressive. Almost as impressive as the woman who made it,” he said.
Valteria giggled, “Stop it! You’re supposed to be fixing this mess, not flirting with me!”
“Awh, can’t I do both?” Xander asked, trying to sound as saccharine as possible.
“Mmm, I suppose that if you are sufficiently skilled at multitasking, I might allow it,” Valteria said in a mockingly thoughtful tone.
“Well, I just so happen to be an expert, so flirt away I shall,” Xander replied. “Now, how about the beauty in front of me shows me exactly where the other beauty in front of me needs some repairs?”
Valteria sighed at Xander’s antics, but he could see the slight flush in her face. “Well, you welded the wrist joints, elbows, and knees. They aren’t welded all the way round, it’s more like you smoothed over a portion of it like it was wet clay. So if you could just... put it back? Shape it back to how it was, that’s should be all that’s needed.”
“Pretty straightforward,” Xander said, standing behind Valteria as she pointed out each joint. He could see the misshapen parts where he’d slapped a weld onto the metal. He leaned over her and put his hands on the elbow joint that they were closest to and began to shape the metal back to its original form.
“You’re... very close,” Valteria murmured to him as he formed the metal.
“Would you like me not to be?” He asked, carefully.
Valteria was silent for a moment before answering, “No...” quietly.
Xander carefully shifted to be a little closer, but still not quite touching, as he moved on to the wrist joint of the same arm. The process itself was simple, but he was enjoying taking his time. As he finished the wrist, he turned to look at Valteria. He found himself looking right into her eyes, as she was staring back at him. Unable to resist the temptation he leaned in a little closer, gauging Valteria’s reaction. When she, too, leaned towards him, he closed the small gap between them, drawing her into another kiss. Valteria pressed herself against him, the shed hiding them from any prying eyes on the street, and let out a small noise as Xander squeezed her tight. She was breathing a little bit harder than before the kiss as they separated again.
Valteria let out a breath. “You’re… a really good kisser.”
“Yeah?” Xander said, pleased with himself. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“And you’re a tease, looming over me like that in this tiny little shed,” Valteria continued. “Now you’ve got me all flustered, how am I supposed to work now?” She mock complained.
Xander was glad to see that Valteria was comfortable enough with him to joke like that. “Forgive me,” he said formally, making a deep bow, “How ever can I make it up to the lady?”
“Oh stop it, I will tolerate no bowing and scraping, even in jest,” Valteria said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder, as he was still holding the bow. “You can make it up to me by fixing the rest of these joints! And by taking me out to dinner?” She added, hopefully.
“I think that can be arranged,” Xander said. “Is there anywhere you have in mind? I will admit, I haven’t become very familiar with the local restaurant scene, what with my… dietary restrictions.”
“It doesn’t… make you feel bad to go out to a restaurant, does it?” Valteria asked softly, watching his face for a reaction.
“Nah, don’t worry,” Xander said, waving off the question with one hand. “It doesn’t bother me too much. Sure, I miss the taste of a good cut of steak, but I was never that into food. Eating was more of a thing I did because I had to, so I’m not completely devastated by the loss. And I can still get some vicarious enjoyment out of watching someone else enjoy their food. Really the worst part is awkwardly having to refuse ordering anything,” he said with a laugh.
“Alright, if you say so,” Valteria said, letting out a slight breath of relief. “I was just worried that it might be upsetting to you, is all. I know I would miss eating.” She paused for a moment, something clearly on her mind. “What do you miss? If you don’t mind my asking. I just… well, I’m curious what it’s like for you.”
“Mmm, in a lot of ways, life is still the same, and in other ways, I’m technically doing better than I was before. I’m incredibly resistant to damage now, even without my armor. I do miss sleeping, though. I try to give my mind a rest and just sort of daydream and let my thoughts wander or do some meditation during the nights, but it’s just not the same. Also means I’m the one that pulls guard duty through the night,” he grumbled. “Let’s see, what else, what else. Ah, right. I can’t smell anything. Or taste. I haven’t worked out how to recreate those senses, yet. Though no sense of smell can be handy sometimes, I suppose. I don’t know if you’ve done much merc work – you mentioned being surprised that I’m not just moonlighting – but uh… the smells that you encounter on a battlefield are… unpleasant. To say the least. It was weird not having a sense of touch either, but I’ve resolved that. It’s a little bit different than my previous, natural sense of touch, but I’ve become accustomed to it to the point that I don’t much think about the difference anymore. I think I’ve even got the density of receptors down in certain areas compared to others, so I'm more sensitive in some areas than others now, just like I used to be. I’m still immune to being tickled though, so don’t even think about it – that’s a fight you’ll lose.” Growing a bit more somber, Xander continued on. “I think… the biggest thing I miss is just the feeling that I fit in more. Now I always worry about being different, there’s that nagging fear that anyone I get to know well is going to reject me once they find out what I am. Like I’m secretly lying to everyone around me with this façade I have going on.”
Valteria nodded sadly. “I get that. I’ve been… rejected before, too. At least it happens or not right from the beginning for me. I get to know if they look down on me for being different immediately instead of fearing they might later down the road.”
“Yeah,” Xander said. “People can really suck sometimes. But at least I can just, like, not tell people what I am if I so chose. You, my teammates, and the guild, since it’s on my status sheet, are really the only people who know. I keep it pretty private. You can’t do that, so I think you probably have to deal with a lot worse than I do. Not that I’d want you to hide what or who you are,” he added. “I happen to be quite enamored with who you are,” he said, teasing a smile from Valteria’s sad face.
“Sorry to bring up such a dour topic,” Valteria apologized. “I didn’t think much on it before I asked.”
“No worries,” Xander told her. “Honestly, I think it’s good to be able to talk about it with someone. It’s healthy to be able to get you feelings out there. And it helps that I feel like you understand where I’m coming from with it, though from a slightly different perspective.”
“You’re surprisingly thoughtful sometimes,” Valteria said, only half teasing.
“Only sometimes?” Xander asked with a faux expression of hurt on his face. “By the way, you didn’t react much to my comment about moonlighting as a merc. Do you ever go on contracts?”
Valteria shrugged. “I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as a professional mercenary. Moonlighter is an apt descriptor, for me, I think. I have gone on a couple, here and there, mostly on kill contracts that would net me a core or organ that would be useful for my work.”
“Mm, that makes sense. I suppose it could be handy having access to the ability to take contracts that would give you access to specialty materials,” Xander said.
“It’s also good for business,” Valteria explained. “Mercs tend to like to buy from someone who has at least been out on a contract or two before.”
“Ah, that makes sense. What kind of things do you sell to mercenaries, anyways? I saw Jarrett with a crossbow yesterday, but I imagine you make other things, too.”
“Oh all kinds of little things. Portable, flameless heaters for cooking. Water purification sieves. Mm, let’s see… I’ve made a few custom order devices, too. One customer wanted to be able to shoot a jet of flame from their gauntlet, that was a fun one.”
“Ooh, that does sound fun… reminds me of my flamethrower.”
“Your flamethrower?”
“Yeah, it’s basically a big tank with a hose attached to it. At the end of the hose is a pump that causes the flammable liquid – I use dragon’s tar – to shoot out. Add a flame that the tar passes over and bam! You’ve got a giant stream of flame that will coat anything it hits with sticky, flammable tar,” Xander said, excitedly describing the device.
“That’s… impressive. And kind of horrifying,” Valteria responded.
“Mm… I guess you’re right. I mostly use it on giant spiders. Blugh,” Xander shuddered. “But yeah, I suppose it’s not the nicest of ways to go. Very effective for area denial, though. Ah, actually I have an idea for crossbow bolt head that would ignite when it shatters! We should make that sometime and see if it sells.”
“Hmm, I think that would draw some buyers. A flaming bolt head you didn’t have to light first could be desirable to certain buyers.”
“Put that on the list and we’ll get around to it sometime.”
“We have a list?” Valteria said confusedly.
“We should!” Xander said with a laugh. “Now let’s get the rest of these joints done.”
The repair of the other arm and the leg joints that Xander had locked into position during the tournament was a short affair. Looking over the bare metal frame of the armor still hanging from the ceiling, Xander clapped his hands together, mimicking dusting them off. “Good as new!” He exclaimed. Looking over to Valteria he asked concernedly, “It is good as new, right?”
Valteria had been staring at the armor as well, lost in thought about how she was going to improve it next. “Hmm? Oh, yes. It’s right as rain again, ready for use. Thank you, by the way. For fixing it,” She said awkwardly.
“Well I’m the one who broke it, so it’s only fair that I fix it. So what do you want to work on next?” Xander asked. “I could do some rune work for you. Orrr… we could kiss some more?”
Valteria flushed at the question, but didn’t immediately say no.
A few minutes later, she found herself on her tip toes and lightly pressed against the interior wall of the shed, her lips pressed against Xanders.
Once the two of them were done acting like teenagers parked in a secluded parking lot, they made their way back into the shop. Stepping inside and closing the door behind them, Valteria let out a breath. “I think… you are going to have to do a lot of rune work to make up for how much you just kissed me, Xander.”
“What, you didn’t like it?” He said with a raised eyebrow.
“I didn’t say that,” Valteria said with a smirk.

Out there - Patreon (for all those curious or wanting to support :))
At the Beginning
Adventure Arc - Arc 2
Wilderness Arc - Arc 3
Academy Arc - Arc 4
Nobility Arc - Arc 5
Previously on Leveling up the World...
Reality shifted, transforming into an endless forest of purple glowing vines among green and yellow trees. Minuscule creatures of all shapes and sizes flew about. To the untrained eye they seemed charming, even beautiful, yet they were all parasites taking advantage of the richness of magic threads for sustenance. They weren’t the problem, though. Other entities were also present in force—aether golems.
Summoning a clay cylinder, Dallion unleashed a ray of destruction, shattering hundreds of the crimson-purple constructs like glass. The spell was followed by a spark infused spiral attack directly below.
​
Realm section damaged!
Overall completion 78%
​
Large chunks of land erupted at the impact, transforming into clouds of dirt high up in the air. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any more golems hidden in the soil.
“Seventy-eight,” Dallion said as he gently floated to the ground. “Mages really don’t maintain anything, do they?”
The life of academia is filled with its own challenges, dear boy, Adzorg protested, practically admitting the statement. That’s a domain ruler’s job.
“I suppose it is.”
Dallion looked at his feet. They were there, along with his shoes and the lower part of his trousers. Nothing seemed to be wrong with them, yet this was only a fake projection. In the real world, they no longer existed.
There’s no reason to be alarmed. With your magic and body levels, you should be able to have them restored in a matter of months. Until then, you’ll just have to use aether stand-ins, or even a good illusion, if you prefer.
Dallion considered it. If there was someone who’d know, that would be Adzorg. The mage had his hands severed not too long ago. Looking at him now, no one would be able to guess that they had been gradually restored over the course of months.
​
REALM INVASION
​
Red rectangles filled the sky.
“Seems like they’ve taken me seriously.” Dallion stood up. His real-life troubles would have to wait.
Knowing Alien, he probably only modified the golems to treat you as an intruder. The area guardian must have stepped in.
“Doesn’t the emperor control this? Or an overseer?”
The Academy has always been sort of different, dear boy, Adzorg explained. While we serve the emperor, we’re technically autonomous.
“Like the Order.”
To a certain degree. Think of this realm as isolated. That’s why moving it around isn’t as easy as moving everything else. Due to the magic concentration and frequent experiments, the area has become… more susceptible to other worlds. That’s why I did my experiments here—it’s far easier to break through the protective barrier here than elsewhere. Well, except the fallen south, possibly. The old mage added with a brief laugh. To prevent anything spilling out into the rest of Tamin’s domain, the Academy is isolated from everything else.
“That shouldn’t stop him from coming here in case he wants to,” Dallion said.
Not in the least. That doesn’t make it desirable, though.
That was a strange statement. There were too many benefits for the emperor not to get involved. Even if he were afraid that someone might do what he had done to the archbishop. Either way, the faster Dallion could take control of the domain, the better. He knew he couldn’t keep it, but that wouldn’t prevent him from transporting a few pieces to his own territory. As for what was left, he’d make sure that no one could take advantage of it in the future.
Aqui, he said within his personal realm.
The orange-scaled dragon emerged within seconds. Ten times larger than in the real world, she was doing her best to present herself larger than she actually was. Even so, her present level was clearly visible should anyone look at her white rectangle.
“Grasped the concept of eating?” Dallion looked at her.
The large dragon snarled.
“Can you do it from within the realm?”
The anger changed into bewilderment.
“No one can consume magic from within a realm,” she said defensively. Dallion knew for a fact that wasn’t the case. He himself had done so many times and he wasn’t the only one.
“What about outside? How fast can you drain the area of magic?”
“Why?” She lowered her head, bringing it to Dallion’s level.
“I’m going to do something and when I do, we’ll have to get out of here quickly.”
The dragon snorted right at Dallion.
“It would be nice if you can reach level ten at least.”
Pride filled the dragon’s body, as blue blobs the size of houses emerged within her. There was no way that she would only level up to such a low level. Of course, Dallion’s subtle use of music skills had also helped in the making of the decision.
Before anyone could say anything more, a cluster of aether cones flew straight at him. Free of the confines of reality, the armadil shield teleported between him and the projectiles, growing three times its size.
Unable to counter the force, Gem was pushed back dozens of feet to the point it reached Dallion himself. Extending one hand, the otherworlder easily countered the attack.
Aquilequia, on her part, had used her natural speed to move away before the cones even got close.
“Best leave.” He said, glancing at her new location. “After I’m done, I’ll need you to be at least as strong as this.”
The dragon didn’t respond, yet didn’t leave the realm, either. Curious as every low-level companion, she moved a safe distance away, eager to see exactly what was referred to. Meanwhile, Dallion sprang into action. With speed surpassing that of Aquilequia, he dashed around the shield, heading straight for the source of the aether cones. To little surprise, they were being released from five spell circles, at huge intensity. More curious was the entity that had cast them.
​
LEARNING HALL GUARDIAN
Species: COPYETTE
Class: SHADOW
Health: 78%
Traits:
- BODY 45
- MIND 60
- REACTION 55
- PERCEPTION 50
- MAGIC 100
Skills:
- ATTACK
- GUARD
- ACROBATICS
- SCHOLAR
- CARVING
- MUSIC
- SPELLCRAFT
Weakness: NONE
​
“Never thought you’d be a copyette,” Dallion said as he performed a series of slashes targeting vital points on the guardian.
Each of them hit, yet instead of red rectangles, the form transformed into cyan sludge that splashed onto the ground.
“Lucky coincidence?” Dallion split into instances, using his music skills to add doubt and weight into his words. “Or were you working for the Order all this time?”
“Nice to see you too, apprentice.” A new figure formed. It was very different from the first, taking on the form of Alien. Spells circles formed in different spots hundreds of feet from Dallion, each releasing anything from lightning to aether shards.
Despite the overwhelming amount, not a single one of Dallion’s instances got harmed. Performing a three-sixty line attack with his harpsisword, he sliced through the new appearance of the guardian, breaking the spell circles in the process.
Don’t be overconfident, Giaccia said. Experience trumps level every time.
There was no way Dallion could disagree. There was a time when he, too, had defeated opponents many levels above him. While it was said that a ten-level difference was insurmountable, the guardian was a copyette with a very high magic trait.
“You can always surrender,” Dallion said, looking in all directions with his instances.
“It’s just like you to offer.” Two forms of the guardian appeared in different locations, now taking on the forms of children in Dallion’s class. “And no, I’m not working for Simon, even if he put me here.”
Dallion dashed, appearing next to one of his former classmates, slicing it to bits using a multi attack.
“Wrong one.” The other form laughed.
Dallion was fully aware that both of them were wrong. His real goal was to try and figure out where the rest of the guardian was hiding. As a copyette, he could create dozens of copies, all an insignificant part of his overall body. Destroying each individual one wouldn’t do anything; harming the one considered the main one might.
He’s stalling for time, Giaccia said.
“Your music attacks are rather good.” Two more copyette forms emerged. “Sadly, it doesn’t depend on me. You’ll have to deal with the main guardian for that. I’m just here to obtain information. Being a hunter, you should know that.”
“It’s been a while since I was a hunter,” Dallion replied. “I’m not an apprentice, either.”
“That’s true. You made full mage, didn’t you? Also, I heard that you were an archduke shortly before rebelling. Quite the achievement.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m just like my grandfather.” Dallion let it slip.
“Your grandfather?” Confusion emanated from the copyette. “I was about to say that you’re like Jeremy. A lot more straightforward, to be sure, but the drive is there along with the skill.”
Going by large areas, there had to be roughly ten guardians responsible for the realm. Defeating them would effectively make Dallion the new owner. A faster and more challenging way, though, was taking on the main guardian.
No time to hesitate, the harpsisword Guardian reminded Dallion.
It would be a lie to say that Dallion wasn’t. Even with all the copyette’s tricks, he had enough raw power to defeat the guardian, destroying a large part of the realm in the process. It was no accident that of all the key guardians, this one had been sent to reveal his skills. Dallion had spent a significant part of his life in the Learning Hall. While not particularly long in terms of time, it had marked a significant change in Dallion’s life. Before that he was little more than a skill game piece—barely defeating the Star, he was on the run from Countess Priscord, and in debt to the void. His life at the learning hall of the Academy had elevated him to the point that the emperor, the Order, and even the Moons themselves had taken notice.
“Yes.” Dallion sighed. “There’s no time for hesitation.”
Summoning his aura sword, he slashed the air, casting a flight spell that propelled him up like a rocket. Half a mile above the ground, he stopped.
“Sorry, Learning Hall,” he said, slashing the air in what appeared to be a multi attack. Magic symbols and connections were drawn, yet instead of casting multiple five-circle spells, Dallion cast one complex spell chain.
A vortex of spell circles emerged beneath him, shooting bolts of magic draining lightning.
​
Realm section damaged!
Overall completion 77%
​
Realm section damaged!
Overall completion 76%
​
Red rectangles popped up as the ground became covered in craters. Aether projectiles shot up to him in response, most of them blocked by the aether shield before reaching Dallion himself.
“Thanks, but no need,” Dallion unsummoned the shield, unwilling to have it be accidentally affected by his magic draining spell.
​
CRITICAL STRIKE
Dealt damage is increased by 200%
​
A few purple rectangles appeared among the mass of red. At the current rate, the Learning Hall guardian would be defeated in a matter of seconds. Hopefully, there would be enough left for Dallion to restore afterwards. Were this to be the Hall’s realm, there would be no concern on the matter—defeating a guardian merely improved it. In this case, the realm was the Academy, though, not the Learning Hall itself.
Suddenly, a sun gold colossus emerged less than a few hundred feet away. A massive hand reached out and grabbed the vortex from beneath Dallion. Sparks of lightning enveloped the fingers, yet had no effect whatsoever.
A second hand reached for Dallion himself, but he had already darted further back, safely avoiding the attack.
So, that’s the Academy? Dallion looked at the glittering mountain of gold. When it came to the colossus, he shared many of the same characteristics. The one major difference was the colossus’ “attire.” Not the usual Roman-Greek design that Dallion had seen before, the design followed twenty century Earth norms.
“It’s been ages since a domain ruling mage has ventured in this realm,” the colossus said in a booming voice. “You’re the second so far.”
“What happened to the first?” Dallion concentrated. Not a single domain marker appeared anywhere along the guardian’s body.
“He created this area and made sure that no other mage will be able to take it.”