Chapter 56:
Alice waited with bated breath as she watched Titus stab several more times into the door. She was waiting for him to leave so she could run deeper into the building and finish the mission. But he didn't react. He didn't even acknowledge that she had spoken.
"Titus," she called, a little bit louder this time. But he ignor...
2024-11-18 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 55:
It was with a growing sense of unease that Alice kept one eye on the approaching mass of enemies as they bulldozed their way through the ever-growing swarm of ants. She realized she had miscalculated something. The rate at which the Fungus King approached was not linear. Every time it freed another of its Wartlings away from th...
2024-11-17 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 54:
Titus looked down to his left, precisely two feet behind his ankle, where the little bastard always stayed. He was shocked to find that Tony's near-constant presence was gone. Never mind that the ant's strange stillness, lack of noise, hard chitin, and general face that could only be described as terrifying and disturbing, the ...
2024-11-16 20:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 53:
Ants piled in from all directions, and Alice stood by Titus's side as they watched the battle. Despite Titus's wishful thinking, things weren't necessarily going as well as he had hoped.
She watched as the Fungus Wartling swiped one of its appendages across the ground, knocking countless ants out of its way. The effortles...
2024-11-15 20:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 52:
Titus tensed next to her, and Alice flinched as she stared at the level 45 ant Queen. She reached her hand out and grasped Titus's bicep, gently holding him back. "Titus," Alice whispered in a voice reticent to disturb the monster before them, "Mana isn't going there."
Imperceptibly, his muscles relaxed, and he turned to ...
2024-11-14 20:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 51:
The ants had spread much farther out since the last time Alice and Titus encountered them. Whether they had simply stripped the area nearby bare or if it was more about time and exploration, she wasn't sure. It took nearly half an hour of marching before they got in range of the mana drain and influence again. Alice couldn'...
2024-11-13 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 50:
Despite Alice's worries, Titus returned relatively quickly. She had been preparing to mount a rescue mission if she couldn't find him and Tony. But Alice shouldn't have doubted him, despite the seeming inevitability that he would get lost after they split the party. She had to remind herself that this wasn't some horror movie.<...
2024-11-12 20:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 49:
When Titus went back to his experiments, Alice left him be. She might have been able to help, but she had too much to catch up on with her own projects. Before he was totally lost in his work, Alice had him give her all of his backup knives, and she set to inscribing them. They weren't anything fancy—just everlasting sharpnes...
2024-11-11 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 48:
Now that she was finished with her crafting project, Alice looked up and checked her surroundings. Night had fallen, and her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten dinner. She got up and stretched, working the kink out of her neck and practicing motions she had developed after long hours of sitting and working un...
2024-11-10 20:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 47:
It took a surprisingly long time for Alice to run out of breath, even at a full sprint. She managed to maintain it for nearly a dozen blocks, and even though her legs were burning, she could keep pumping them. However, Titus was significantly farther ahead of her as they chased the squirrel leaping from treetop to treetop.
<... 2024-11-09 20:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 46:
Alice lost herself in the shovel. She traced lines all throughout the edge, making it sharp, and then up and down the handle, increasing the strength of the wood. She wanted to replicate the return-to-hand effect that the pilum had, but she messed it up halfway through. Rather than flying back as soon as it was thrown, it simpl...
2024-11-08 20:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 45:
Alice stared as Titus pulled the phone out of his pocket and placed it on the table, face up. They both were surprised to see a random number ringing. She had half expected some alarm or calendar event.
"You think it's a spam call?" Alice asked after the second ring.
Titus shrugged. "I haven't gotten any. Have you?"...
2024-11-07 19:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 44:
When Alice woke, Titus was already up and about and had breakfast ready. As she sat down in front of the plate of mostly still-warm eggs, gave him a mumbled greeting through blurry eyes.
After some quick conversation and eating, she grumbled, "I don't like waiting. I know we can't get to the ants yet, but it feels like ev...
2024-11-06 19:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 43:
It didn't take long for Alice and Titus to return to the store. Again, they ignored the shopkeeper, who ignored them as they pulled up the lists. Titus scrolled for a bit before he read out the name, and Alice tapped it into the search bar and pulled it up. It was just a simple hunter's spear, E-grade. It was tough, sharp enoug...
2024-11-05 19:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 42:
Congratulations on your inscribing success. Enchanting has now been added to your profession’s tab.
Alice looked down at the block of metal that sat on the table before her. Thin lines were engraved throughout it, and when she fed mana into a particular part of it, it grew slightly warmer. It was a
Chapter 41:
Alice skimmed through her code. There were tens of thousands of lines in the AI, but the space-finding program she had made was relatively simple. This was the first time she had looked at it since the whole debacle, and she struggled to see where it had gone wrong.
There really wasn't anything apparent, so she was hesita...
2024-11-03 19:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post"Well, shit," I said to Astrid, and they leaned back in the booth, needing a moment to think. I lifted my glass and drained it, setting it down next to the wine.
"How far did you guys get?" I asked.
She grimaced. "Twelve percent."
"We need twenty?" I confirmed.
"Same as with the gauntlet we did together." She nodded grim...
2024-11-03 07:05:42 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 40:
The walk only took him a few minutes before they found what was essentially a clone of the shop they went to last. The clerk was the same unassuming, blond man-ish thing that looked to be an NPC. They didn't talk to him, though, as they just each pulled up a window of the shop's offerings and began scrolling through.
Alic...
2024-11-02 17:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 39:
Alice sat on the bar stool, her forearms resting against the wooden countertop, doing her best to avoid the sticky spots. She ignored the glass of cranberry juice, dripping condensation onto the napkin. In front of her was an unfolded napkin with Titus's full character sheet scrawled out on it.
Name: Titus 2024-11-01 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Chapter 38:
The first several extra ants came back to them directly and didn't attack right away. Rather, they circled around cautiously, looking at them with their eyes and waving their antennae before scurrying back to the nest. Titus and Alice pushed onward. They saw an entrance where several soldier ants were guarding as a stream of wo...
2024-10-31 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostQuick update:
So, I missed last month, oops. I just scheduled the last chapter of Homegrown System, or Relic, as I may have referred to it before. It's a relief to get that off my chest—fully written and edited. I was relatively happy with how the story turned out. It did what I wanted, though it didn’t perform quite ...
2024-10-30 21:33:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 37:
As soon as they could, they switched to an actual car. Titus found a sleek-looking Lexus with a full tank of gas, and they wove through the streets towards the city. They circled around, wanting to get to their destination but not wanting to go through the streets still packed with the abandoned remains of early morning traffic...
2024-10-30 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 36:
Titus didn't answer Alice's question right away. Riding on the ATV, clinging to his back, she couldn't see his face. At first, she had tried to only hold on to the vehicle or his jacket, but there was a reason why that just wasn't how it worked. It was too tiring and exhausting. It was easier to lean up against him for support,...
2024-10-30 04:05:46 +0000 UTC View PostWith a long, drawn-out breath, I leaned back into my booth and closed my eyes, trying to make a final decision on how much I should tell Astrid. This was something I'd been wrestling with for a long time. After a handful of seconds, I opened my eyes and met hers, stunned by their brilliant color. I blinked a couple of times before finally openin...
2024-10-28 04:08:50 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 35:
Alice dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the projectile of salt flying over her head. From her prone position, she pointed to the large group of salt elementals attempting to get at their transportation while Titus stood stalwartly between them and the ATV. From the tips of her fingers, a mana bolt flew, smashing apart one o...
2024-10-25 20:41:22 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 34:
The salt flat flew past, and the sound of the ATV rumbling along filled the silence. Alice, though, didn't register any of that. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts.
She had a love-hate relationship with the bundle of emotions stuck in her head that represented Titus. She absolutely hated the idea of him being able...
2024-10-23 04:17:11 +0000 UTC View PostEV B2 Chapter 8:
I took another step forward, and Astrid took yet another step back. She was only a step from the wall. She didn't recognize me when I stopped, realizing that I should. Looking up, I realized why—the place was covered in shadows. And, well, I was probably dead in her mind. So, I didn't advance any further, just unthreaten...
2024-10-23 03:47:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 33:
Titus was racked with unreasonable nerves. He slowly took down the second tent and started packing things up. As Alice worked next to him, he tried to search for the words to say.
It was weird. She pretty much knew everything already, and there were just a few pieces he needed to put into place. But it was a se...
2024-10-20 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 32:
When Alice woke up, she was alone in the tent, with light streaming through the thin fabric. She stretched and blinked, feeling surprisingly comfortable despite having slept on hard, flat ground. She heard the soft voices of Elaine and Titus talking and the crackle of food wrappers as they prepared breakfast.
Alice put he...
2024-10-19 18:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 31:
Before Elaine could answer, Titus said something in a language Alice didn't recognize. She had heard him curse in it a few times, and it had a similar cadence. Alice couldn't tell if she was surprised or not when Elaine responded in kind. Clearly, it was a question, as Titus said a couple more words, and then they returned to E...
2024-10-18 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post