Anyway, once the gate to my memory reopens I felt right away that my head was different, more reptilian. Then the mantis are upon me and I don’t get a chance to navel gaze over my makeover. It was time to fight.
Not that I was going to stand for it. Rather, I ran for it. Of course, I now know that wasn’t the smartest idea. Hell, I knew...
2023-10-01 10:39:43 +0000 UTC View PostPain radiated from the hole in my hand as five streams of aqua jelly burst out of the back. Those streams jerked apart and slapped onto the back of my fingers and thumb before hardening into claws. Not just any claws, though. They were jagged organic looking things that felt unfinished and yet sublimely dangerous.
That and the things exten...
2023-10-01 10:39:20 +0000 UTC View PostPain spiked through my body once more but I was ready. I didn’t resist the pain. I accepted it and then ignored it. The pain was still there, more than I had experienced up until then. My mind was cleared and the fear receded like the tide.
If only my reaction had been better. Even with a clear mind, all I could think was “get it away ...
2023-10-01 10:38:55 +0000 UTC View PostNot dying on the first day sounded fine to me. But I did have some questions. Specifically, “How is your contact going to know to help me? Also, I’m a little leery of the whole forcing a talent thing.”
Ann laughed, “And you should be! While most would consider your talent random, it is based on your mind and nervous system...
2023-10-01 10:38:27 +0000 UTC View PostThe scribe scratches his head. “So, what do we do with him? My section is full up. In fact, I think the entire precinct’s budget for newly awakened is spent.”
George nods, “I guess we’ll have to scan him and see if there are any civilian positions available. People who are accidentally awakened tend to have some decent innates so...
2023-10-01 10:37:56 +0000 UTC View PostHarold smacked the other guy. “Come on Jay, we’re supposed to get his shrouded memories of the event.”
George brushed the smack away. “I did! You heard the question I asked and everything.”
Harold sighed, “Then how did he recall an aether damned werewolf!? He even remembers the blighted beast turning back after being knoc...
2023-10-01 10:37:28 +0000 UTC View PostAlvin Smithson was always a loner, with few friends and fewer close ones. It didn’t help that names passed him by like smoke in the wind. Early on, this led to him being bullied. Not that he particularly cared.
Though this probably had more to do with the people who tried to bully him. They weren’t the cool kids, but rather a small gro...
2023-10-01 10:36:15 +0000 UTC View Post
There were things hidden in the darkness and they’re about to introduce themselves to the hood of my car. Not that the knowledge will do me much good. Some Talents aren’t too appreciated by the Powers That Be, and with magic? Sometimes the best opt...
2023-10-01 10:35:24 +0000 UTC View PostOnce again I'm here to ask all of you for short story prompts! I'll take the more popular ones as decided by the number of hearts (or that I particularly like) in the comments and make a poll at the start of the month. The winner will be made into a short story of a thousand or so words.
Not many rules on what you can suggest at the moment...
2023-09-30 07:48:26 +0000 UTC View PostKacel’s finger claws drummed against the armrest of his lesser throne that he kept in the smaller of his audience chambers. For the first few days he had waited in his main one, a proper throne room filled with luxuries few could have afforded even within a HappyAfter VR Digizen realm. The only reason he had it was because it would be temporar...
2023-09-30 07:48:06 +0000 UTC View PostDoyle rolls to the side and sighs, ‘Okay. What about rituals?’
Ally smiles, ‘Arrays are basically free-form magic circles. They’re made of runes and lines. Formations, in turn, use formation flags, anchor points, or whatever else you want to call it. Those are laid out and connected with lines of power. The flags can be just about ...
2023-09-30 06:30:09 +0000 UTC View PostDoyle sighed, the previous monsters hadn’t exactly prepared him to name stuff. After all, the bulk of his patterns are just element plus base monster. Though honestly, “monster” is stretching it since most are actually just some normal animal, but slightly improved.
Though the fact so much of his stuff comes down to patterns is annoy...
2023-09-30 06:29:40 +0000 UTC View PostGood news, I'll have all day to finish it up. Bad news, it is because I had to call off work for a stomach bug. I suspect that the two chapters will be quite late though. Blarg, am I allergic to Fridays all of the sudden or something?
2023-09-29 12:03:03 +0000 UTC View PostAll the strange edge cases and oddities around how the System determines settlements were interesting. However, Courtney was able to report back to the others that, despite the confusion, they should be relatively safe. Not that they couldn’t in theory develop an area into a settlement by themselves, but they wouldn’t be able to manage it ac...
2023-09-27 10:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostTime passes and the team reaches Settlement 306, though they don’t even get to see inside at first. Suffice it to say, the settlement was less than happy to see the three show up there as they certainly didn’t have room for anyone else. There had been an attack just the previous day, where a giant snake had attempted to sneak into the compou...
2023-09-27 10:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDoctor sighed, he had known what he was signing up for, but it was still frustrating. Way too many people failed to realize his name was Doctor. Not “the doctor”, but just Doctor. Though even before making the change, he had been ready for jokes about where his sonic screwdriver was.
There was a reason he went with a dehumanizing name,...
2023-09-22 19:50:06 +0000 UTC View PostWasn't feeling too hot (headache) yesterday and didn't get the chapter finished. Will try to have it up later today. Blarg, not sick, just blarg.
2023-09-22 11:18:23 +0000 UTC View PostThe instructions from the badgerfolk guard were easy enough to follow and so the group was easily able to head directly to settlement 306. Of course, easy does mean fast. Though the first part of the journey was even quieter than on the monster front that previously.
As for why? That was obvious enough, there were too many travelers. Even ...
2023-09-20 10:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe badgerfolk guard tells them to wait a moment and walks back into the checkpoint building. It takes the guard fifteen or so minutes, but eventually he returns. “Well, now, there are a few options. Though I have to ask, you want a more foresty forest area or just a light speckling of trees?”
Courtney, “Deep jungle style forest, if ...
2023-09-20 10:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostTime was passing and Ace was getting frustrated. No one besides his core people seemed to realize the situation they were in. Sure, for the moment, everything was fine. In fact, they had decades of safety from anything too outrageous.
But things weren’t going to get easier. It wasn’t even going to stay on an even keel. The world would ...
2023-09-15 11:07:07 +0000 UTC View PostWith the new knowledge on how smelting magical ore works, Doyle needed to learn more about arrays so he can hopefully improve what he alread
With the new knowledge on how smelting magical ore works, Doyle needed to learn more about arrays so he can hopefully improve what he already has. Worse, Ally wasn’t able to help him all that much. ...
2023-09-15 11:06:26 +0000 UTC View PostWhile level 25 was shockingly low compared to 499, three breaks was nearly half way through all the bottlenecks. Yes, you could find areas in NeoRealm with monsters going all the way up the scale, but the higher end wasn’t like the lower. There weren’t volcanos packed to the gills with level level 300 plus red dragons.
You might find f...
2023-09-13 10:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe trio end up talking much of the night away, going into detail about various things, with Courtney occasionally dipping out to fact check. And surprisingly, Jason was correct whenever it came to the most basic facts. Sure, some of the high level details varied, but not basics such as the range limit on conjured spells.
Then, as the next...
2023-09-13 10:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDoyle shook himself and considered his options. There was the jungle area and he could stash a few monsters in there. A particularly good ch
Doyle shook himself and considered his options. There was the jungle area and he could stash a few monsters in there. A particularly good choice for that are the assassin vines since they would blend ...
2023-09-08 10:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostRosha, “Well?”
Jason sighed, “You already have a hard enough time believing my whole reincarnation thing. I did pick up knowledge on the subject, but the source is even harder to believe. Though I can explain the reasoning behind it all.
“Well, that may be exaggerating a little bit, but I can explain some of it. Anyway, for n...
2023-09-06 10:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostCourtney didn’t really get why that cycle specifically was so informative. Because yeah, five different cycles, but that is just something you can figure out with time.
Jason smiled, “Why is it informative? Because the cycle isn’t perfect. Metal collects water? Sure, water condenses on the stuff and what not, but that isn’t like a ...
2023-09-06 10:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostBelow are the full prompts as the poll doesn't allow the full text. In the case of ties the first option that got there wins. The short story will be finished by the end of the month.
Doyle turns back to the thirteenth floor and sighs. He had been distracting himself, but that was only delaying the inevitable. He needed to
Doyle turns back to the thirteenth floor and sighs. He had been distracting himself, but that was only delaying the inevitable. He needed to make a jungle and something inside him wasn’t going to le...
2023-09-01 12:50:00 +0000 UTC View PostDoyle pauses as he tries to think of something else to add. Maybe a random assassin vine in the jungle? Besides that, there wasn’t really much need for other monsters. Well, an extra tribe of kobolds in the jungle couldn’t hurt, but that would depend on available points when the time came.
Though speaking of tribes, what kind of family...
2023-09-01 12:48:28 +0000 UTC View PostOnce again I'm here to ask all of you for short story prompts! I'll take the more popular ones as decided by the number of hearts (or that I particularly like) in the comments and make a poll at the start of the month. The winner will be made into a short story of a thousand or so words.
Not many rules on what you can suggest at the moment...
2023-08-31 14:14:54 +0000 UTC View Post