A Practical Guide to Sorcery - Chapter 10: Playing Detective

This is a time of great powers: The vast Persia, Sparta that was founded by force, Athens with its trade and business, Thebes the rising star, The ambitious Macedonia, The twin heroes of the Western Mediterranean, The rising Rome and so on.

This is an era of brilliant stars: Agesilaus II – the last king of Sparta, Epaminondas – the Rising General of Thebes, Philip II – the founder of Macedonian’s hegemon, Dionysius – the tyrant of Syracuse, Camillus – the Roman dictator and savior…

This is an era of contention among a hundred schools of thought: Plato – the great philosopher, Antisthenes – founder of cynicism, Pythagoras – school of number, Democritus – the encyclopedia scholar, Hippocrates – the father of western medicine, Aristophanes – the great dramatist…

What will the hero bring to the world when he comes to this age as a humble mercenary through rebirth?

A life filled with regrets.Once he realized his faults and decided to lead a new life, it was too late.His family was already gone.He had borne through each day with pure rage.Finally at the end of his misery, his wish reached the heavens—an unforgiven one.He goes against fate to raise his sword.

What life is left for a warrior when there is no more enemy to fight?

…He knelt before her in the posture of a soldier giving honor to their Queen. And she didn’t even know it.

“Harth,” he rasped, “I come empty-handed. I bring no weapon. Because I swear to you, I will never choose to harm you. Never draw your blood—in anger, or in fear. I bring no shield. Because I vow I will never defend myself from your eyes, your hands, your mind. I am yours.”

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After a year of peace in Anima, Tarkyn finds himself… lonely. As the Captain of the Queen’s Guard and a lion-shifter, he has met every female in the tribes, but never found his mate. Certain he must have overlooked someone, Tarkyn undertakes a grueling ritual, pleading with the Creator to reveal her. But the ritual presses him to the end of even his formidable strength.

Yet, the Creator heard his cry…

Discovered on the brink of death by his mate, Harth, and nursed back to health, Tarkyn now faces the most difficult battle of his life. Because Harth isn’t just a stranger to the Anima, she is a weapon of the humans who tried to destroy them.

Can the love of a warrior and his enemy bring peace to Anima? Or will they be torn apart forever by war between their peoples?

*****

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STANDALONE STORY: While Tarkyn’s story is a part of the Anima world and fans will be reunited with some of their favorites as side-characters, Tarkyn and Harth are new POV characters and their story is a new plot arc, so their story can be enjoyed without reading the previous books! But please add Falling in Love with the King of Beasts, and Taming the Queen of Beasts to your library to enjoy later!

It was the twenty-third year of Tianxi*. Rumours traversed the streets that the all-knowing Imperial Advisor suffered a great calamity and could not help but enter seclusion to focus on cultivation. However, the commoners secretly clapped their hands and rejoiced. In the winter of the same year, a young monk appeared in the Hui Zhou Fu’s Ningyang District.

The monk’s monastic title was Xuan Min, his memories all missing, yet was versed in the arts of Feng Shui Kan Yu**. On the very first day arriving in Ningyang, he did not hesitate to take care of a dangerous manor, picking up Xue Xian, who was hidden there, along the way.

Since then, Xue Xian – who had been all-powerful in the first half of his life – gained a new life pursuit: to get this baldy*** who had only a good outer appearance to take his last breath and “smile from his grave”.

Xue Xian: If you are unhappy, then I will be happy. If you die, I’ll laugh my ass off.

Xuan Min: …

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