What is Archas Knights?
Simple answer: Archas Knights is a story blending in all my favorite things about the anime I grew up watching. It has a fantastical world, crazy monsters, power systems, and the emotional core of a dysfunctional found family. And I wrapped it in my own storytelling style. (Which leans more towards western than eastern)
BOOK 1: THE IMMORTAL SPRING FOREST
It starts with the first book that’s pretty much already fully written, The Immortal Spring Forest. The story follows Reba Kotter, a girl born as a Selplian, a race of people with the power to create tools — not to fight. But when her mother is turned into a wrath (a human cursed by a spirit) and dies, she swears to defy the world that let it happen. But without the power of flames, lightning, shadow, or anything useful in a fight, she can only sit back as others with greater power are chosen to slay the spirits she so desperately wishes to see gone from the world. So she learns to fight with her tools and ingenuity. This unintentionally sees her chosen as the first Selplian to enter the Determinations, a brutal survival trial meant to forge the next generation of the elite warriors known as Archas Knights.
But before she can go she meets Cen, a powerful wrath intent on following the determinations into the Immortal Spring Forest. There she believes holds the cure to her curse. (Which makes her uncontrollably transform to different animals when she gets emotional… picture a sad little bear girl) But in order to do so they have to make it to the spring which is protected by spirits that test not just strength, but the very meaning of humanity. On the way, they make friends and enemies alike, they laugh, they cry, they fight spirits and their own traumas to make a sense of a world where outcasts are turned to monsters.
Reba would like the bear to stop crying…
Creation
From conception to release, Archas Knights will have been in production for about 6 years. (My first OneNote page is dated Oct. 3rd 2019) It originally started off as my own spin on Avatar the Last Airbender. I wondered what would happen if the Avatar, spiritual protector of the world, was a tyrant. Who could stop them? How would the world bend to their will? What inner conflict might this avatar have? But a lot of things happen over 6 years… I’ve lived in four different states, worked for a handful of celebrities, got married, dognapped my mom’s yorkie, among other things. And that’s left plenty of time and thought for Archas Knights to morph into a completely separate entity entirely. I sprinkled in my love for mythology, gave it a brandish of my own sense of comedy and comfort, then threw in some dark twists while maintaining the comfort of a nostalgic Shonen anime.
<-Some old sketches of main character Reba Kotter
This story has been through a lot, considering I planned on mostly keeping it to myself when I first started writing. But it turned into a thousand pages of love. It was comfort food writing (like a nice mac and cheese) that just happened to transcend something that should be kept to myself. And I don’t like to do anything halfway so I’m making a show out of the release. If you’ve come here after seeing one of my social media posts then you know what I mean. Also hello and welcome. I’m Ulysses Simon. A freelance television producer that’s now writing novels. Nice to meet you!
If you’re looking for a more in depth description of what the story is about then I direct you to the Archas Knight’s page. That’s where you’ll be able to find all chapter releases for the story and anything else I decide to post about it. You can also find it on Wattpad, Inkitt, and Royal Road if you prefer to read on any one of those platforms. With that being said, starting this Saturday, Nov 15th, Archas Knights Book 1 The Immortal Spring Forest will be releasing in bi-weekly episodic installments. These episodes will contain 5 chapters totaling about 20k words (4k avg. words per chapter) and will continue until the final 13th episode.
It would be a pleasure if you checked it out to see what you think of it. Then find me on discord on social media and give me your thoughts. If you love it, stick around until the end and I trust that you won’t be disappointed whether you’re a fan of heavy emotional drama or just here for some action with spirits, people, and monsters. If it does well, I have very long term plans for where this story goes.
Welcome to the world of Archas Knights!
Peace and Love,
Ulysses S