《The soul will tell》Chapter 13 - That fucking jumpsuit
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Chapter 13 - That fucking jumpsuit
Kifirin found herself in the middle of a forest. Ugly ass, eerie forest. It went well with her jumpsuit. Her fucking fluorescent ORANGE jumpsuit. Jumpsuit that she could not un-equip. Well, neither could her companions of infortune. It made her happy.
They said misery loves company. They were damn right.
Oh right! Kifirin, Vyx, Ankara and Lennart had a new friend: Bluebell. He also had the jumpsuit so no worries here. Apparently he was here for banging the wrong girl. It seemed personal the way Parish was giving him the I-will-use-your-dick-to-make-me-a-candle-while-you-watch stare. It smelled like authority abuse here. Meh! The more the merrier right? Kifirin Laughed *My laugh is hollow right? Right. We’re screwed*
By the way, Bluebell did not know who they were AT ALL. He expressed a certain liking at their titles though… right before they were replaced by the forced tittle offered along with their new jumpsuit ~I am a miscreant~. Somebody had a sense of humor, somewhere.
Our bluebell did not have the slightest inkling about their identity. Incredible, as the whole world knew of them. No wait. 2 worlds knew of them though the Mayhem’s run. Talk about superstars... When they explained their regrettable circumstances, he admitted having heard something akin to a commotion while otherwise engaged but… he was busy, ya know?
The boyos smirked when they heard that. Well, it must have been some laid then! Must have been worth it. But worth THIS? Probably not. So, authority abuse. No recourse though. Nope. Our happy lads were MAROONED in this shitty piece of land. STRANDED. MOTHBALLED.
Oh, they could get out alright, but only once they finished cleaning up the land plot. Why yes! Land plot. This part of the maleficarum forest was, in fact, a land plot of 1 000 hectares owned by the chaotic church that needed to be reclaimed. It was to be cleared in order to be farmed.
Well actually it was not owned by the church per se, not yet. Clearing it offered ownership to the one that did the work. Ooooh that reminded Kifirin of old history lessons. Monks did it in the middle ages. Anyways… they would do the work but the ownership of the land would be transferred to the church as reparation for the damages they caused.
Nifty huh? Though… it did not account for the jumpsuits. Nor for the fact that they were not allowed to leave until accomplishment of said job (thank you jumpsuit, nice one!). Weren’t there some hard labor laws in this world? Not for convicts apparently. And the jumpsuits were just mean. Meaner towards bluebell though. His title was ~Sex Offender~ after all.
Faced with their new reality, they totally felt like whining. And so they did.
……..
So, welcome to the nowhere penal colony, a total backwater town composed of a total of 5 happy clams! Well, they only have the basic camping supplies, a few axes and hoes as well as a real strange fashion sense, with the orange jumpsuits and all, but shhhhh! That’s hick mentality for you!
So they say.
Penance trial
You and your 4 fellow convicts have to clear this 1 000 hectares plot of forest in order to be allowed to leave it. It has to be ready for farming.
You have been supplied with 5 axes and hoes as well as 5 small tents
Remaining: 1 000 H / 1 000 H
Time limit: None
Reward: You may un-equip the convict’s gear
After –morosely and- superficially scouting the land with Bluebell, Kifirin called for a meeting. They needed a Plan. Plan with a big P, or else they were screwed. It would take way too long to clear the land normally. The good ol’ way wasn’t gonna work. Nope.
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Our girl opened the conversation “Well peeps, we’re in a tight situation. We need to clear 1 000 hectares of forest… and if I must say? The faster the better. I don’t fancy camping nor creepy critters. Here, we’ll have to deal with both. So, if anybody has any genius idea, go on. Stupid ideas can also do. We’re not real picky right now.”
Lennart titled his head “Hmm maybe we should talk about our skills first. I mean, we need to know of each other’s abilities in order to cooperate right? There’s no way any of us can complete the challenge by his lonesome, so we’ll need to improvise.”
“True” answered Bluebell “I’ll present my abilities first. My class is ESPER. Mainly I can do Psychometry, Psychokinesis and Pirokinesis at the molecular level, Teleportation as well as Clairvoyance. I also have whip mastery but I don’t think it’s relevant here. “
Lennart blinked “No, not really relevant. If your pyrokinesis is high level maybe you could just burn down the forest with witchy there? I could also help by buffing you guys paladin style”
“With Magical fire? Fire feed by mana? I don’t think so. Not if you wanna be able to farm on this land later…. Which is a prerequisite. So, no.” Sighted Vyx.
“Alright. Well, as you can see, I’m a Paladin. However I’m not affiliated with any church because I’m a Spirit Paladin. So… I pretty much have the normal skillset, but my support skills are linked to elements. I can tank, attack and buff way better than your everyday paladin though I don’t really see how I could help there… other than buff the ones implementing the plan that is.” Shrugged Len
“Maybe I could flood the land with water magic and then we would just have to sink the vegetation deep into the mud? Oh. Right, I forgot! My class. I’m a blood witch. A normal witch who has, well… mastery over blood as a bonus. That’s not gonna help either… sap doesn’t seem to count as blood. At least not at my skill level.” said Ankara. She had gotten better and was now on friendly terms with the rest of the group… even Kifirin. They were all told about the hidden status effect and held no grudge.
“The flooding plan seems… interesting, but let’s keep it as a last ditch effort shall we? There’s so much that could go wrong that it ain’t even funny. Good idea thinking about it though, at least we have a plan D” winced Vyx
“… So, I’m a red rogue. A rogue affiliated with chaos. I have nothing to do with the churches though. Let’s say that my skillset is…. chaotic. But I have nietch that would help us clear the land. Really, I’m focused in assassinations, sneak attacks, dps, impersonification, thievery, and other related stuff. Rogue skills, ya know?”
Kifirin offered a blinding smile. “No need to be wary though, I have integrity. Boy scout’s promise! … It would also be stupid to go against each other, we’re all needed here. And I like you guys. Honest.”
Obviously, Ankara did not remember her new friend trying to relieve her of her life and optionally her valuables at their first official meeting. It was not surprising though, with the hidden status effect out of her system, her life under its rule had become kinda hazy.
Was it her mind trying to protect itself from her outrageous behavior or just an aftereffect? Good question…
Nodding at Kif, Vyx went on. “I’m a trader, but that’s not the point. What’s important is that I already have a profession, Maker. That may be our salvation, but we’ll need to work hard for it”
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Interested, they asked him for an explanation
“To make it simple, as long as I can mana-weave a template of something, be it inanimate, liquid, automated, motored or whatever, then I can burn it down on ore. By activating the sygil, the creation is released into existence and can follow its intended purpose until deactivated or destroyed. Unless it’s a consumable, then the process is a bit different but it’s not the point here.”
His audience’s eyes widened. That was real handy.
“I obviously cannot create life, but tractors and stuff? Yes. If you give me blueprints and supply me with mana, then you shall have your wish. The problem? It’s a real bitch to weave a new template, and we’ll ALSO have to invent a forest destroying automaton from scratch. I, for one, don’t know of anything like that.”
Smiling, his four companions of infortune saw the light. Vyx’s skill would allow them to fuck up this forest real fast. They decided that it would be a viable solution as long as one of them came up with a blueprint for the automaton. They needed to do research though.
Google, here they came.
Registering as friends, they decided to meet 12 RH later with at least a few automaton propositions each. They had forgotten that they would also need ore. There laid the difficulty... because it would not be just any ore, nope.
----------xxx----------
Back in her room Alya proceeded to search for a “tree uprooting machine", but came short on the actual results. However, she still had some nifty blueprints idea and was sure that with the help of her new friends, they would find a solution.
Thinking of actual real-life friends, she dressed up, grabbed some money and ran for her car. She would miss Danny, but her brother could take care of himself fine. That would not stop him from whining about having to make dinner on his own though. The guy had stopped ignoring her but was still being cold. Well… he knew to behave, because he didn’t want her to send to certain video to daddy dearest.
Waiting for her friends at the entrance of Cat’s cradle, her favourite live music club, she checked the news on her HUD. Nope, the commotion about the Mayhem’s run had not died down at all… in fact it was getting even bigger. Everybody only had words of the event on his lips. It was pretty insane. People used one recurring word to describe the situation: FUBAR. Indeed, it had been ‘Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition’. Pretty much so.
Some even said FUBAR BUNDY, because certainly, the key players must have wished that they were dead at some point. ‘Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition But Unfortunately Not Dead Yet’
Nice title. She liked it.
The feel though… she really missed the high! The thrill! Even as scared as she had been for her virtue, it had still been fucking awesome. She wanted seconds!
SitumCorp - Somewhere in the Mayhem's Run thread
…………
“What are you doing Ally?” Asked a pretty blond to the absorbed busybody.
“Huh? Oh Delhia you’re early! I uuuuh…. I was checking the feeds on the Mayhem’s run. Quite something isn’t it?” answered Alya. She was still wondering whether she should confide in Delhia about her involvement in said event.
“My goodness yes! The vid totally made my day. It was a GIANT joke. I don’t know how those poor retards hit the “jackpot” but it was GREAT! The odds for such a chain reaction event to happen are madness! I wish I had been in the city at the time…. It must have been unreal to witness it! I would even have been happy ending up trampled like Kathy” Gushed out the over-enthusiastic girl
“You would? No wait. Kathy? She was there… And she died trampled?” Paled Alya
“Didn’t I say so? Apparently she was right into the path of the beasts. Many died that way ya know… but most took it good-naturedly, contrary to our resident party-pooper, Kathy.”
“She’s mad? Damn”
“Why do you care? It’s not like you have anything to do with the event anyways. Were you there by the way? You said you were still in Heimlin yesterday didn’t you?” asked Delhia as Kathy made herself known. She had arrived a while ago but decided not to interrupt the interesting conversation. Yes, INTERESTING conversation, alright…
“Ah um… that is… I missed it. I was not playing… too bad huh? Haha.” unconvincingly said Kifirin before acknowledging Kathy’s presence. She knew of Delhia’s personality flaws and admitted that her secret would not be safe with her. It was too hot a topic around the world for the girl to keep quiet and not bask into the fame she would get as THE Kifirin close friend. Now… Kathy? Well NO, she didn’t really feel like dying right now.
“Aww shucks. Too bad yeah. Hey Kat? Wanna do a recount of the events for our Alya right here? You know… with your getting trampled and all” Smiled the blond
Suspiciously watching Alya because of her dubious answer, the brunette politely declined and addressed the fidgeting fiend. “Mind coming with me for a sec Ally? I need to talk ‘bout our SPE math project. You kinda MISSED the whole university day, and I MUST give you the new parameters. Right NOW.” Her eyes said that no was not an answer.
Wincing because she knew she was about to be busted, our heroine asked Delhia to wait for them in the club. Said girl knew not to protest when Kathy got THE LOOK, and quickly vacated the area.
They moved to the closest back alley.
“So…. From your missing college for no good reason, I know that you were playing. From your reaction at the mention of the Mayhem’s run, I am 100% sure that you were involved one way or another. From the guilty look AND your abysmal luck I also feel pretty sure that you were one of the key FUBAR players. From your dubious name tastes, I place the sure bet that you are Kifirin. What do you have to say for your defense?”
“Hmm…. That you’re a good detective? Though it’s still cheating cuz you know me like the back of your hand” tried our girl
“Ally? I died. TRAMPLED. ” Her gaze was stern. Unforgiving even.
“Well, yeah… sorry. You do know that I almost got X-rated things done to me by the witch and whole bunch of animals right? That balances the sheet doesn’t it?”
Kat’s lips twitched “…. I must admit that I did find the situation funny. Even the more so that I am now aware of the fact that you were the head-runner.”
“I’m forgiven then? And you won’t tell Delh-Delh?”
“Yup. But damn, such an outrageous event. Talk about one hell of a ‘train’. I KNEW you were involved as soon as I understood the sheer magnitude of it. There was no way a bullshit-magnet like you could not be involved when present in the city.” Kathy smirked. Her friend’s answering pout sure was sweet.
Alya didn't comment on the bullshit-magnet thingy. It was the truth.“Sooo… what know? You’re aware of my avatar, so there’s no sense anymore in keeping yours a secret. We’re almost lvl 100 anyways.” (Koff Koff!)
Indeed, the girls were blissfully ignorant of each other’s game character and had decided it would be so until they all hit lvl 100. No leeching, no safety lines, no premade party.
The idea was to fend for themselves and gain independence thanks to the experience. It would also force them to create new relationships in the game, a plus for Alya who always needed incentives in order to be social. At least she did in reality… and had no such problems in game. Weird…
“Well I guess I would have told you sooner or later. I’m a founding member of Eden”
“The crafting guild?” Alya was surprised. She had assumed her friend was a priest. “What’s your class?”
“Alchemist. I’m having a lot of fun with creative mixing. My name is Wattica… you may have heard of me… I’m pretty well known for synthetizing the bobbly pets.”
At her friend’s questioning gaze she went on “The cute slime creature that almost everybody has got on its shoulder? It’s mine. I made it. Geez, do you ever mind what’s going on around you?”
“Ah that.” Alya made a face. “You’re talking about the colored wiggly thingy that people baby-talk to? I’m pretty sure my QI dropped last time I witnessed the empty babbling. It’s so ridiculous I first though they were retards, but then I saw that the behavior was generalizing, so I kinda gave up on human-kind. Shame on you Kat, you’re rushing the extinction of our race.”
“Who cares? People are happy and I’m getting filthy rich”
“Yup, that’s humankind for you!”
“… Whatever. Let’s go to Delhia. It’s a surprise performance today… so I hope we’ll be agreeably surprised. However…. If it’s metal again I’ll totally make them eat my jacket”
“You’re on”
As they left, a shadow took off.
………………
Nicolaï Volkov was taking a breather in the back alley of Cat’s cradle. He liked emptying his mind before performing, but this time a hushed conversation interrupted the process. He did not mind it though. Nope.
The gossips hadn’t noticed him and dropped one hell of a nugget before leaving.
Smirking, he reentered the club through the back entrance.
…………..
Alya and Kathy found their friend flirting with a guy near the scene. It was so sticky sweet that they got cavities. Used to it but still wanting to avoid the drama a little longer, they went to order soft drinks.
On the way back, Ally tripped on something and fell into the arms of a spiky blond, splashing him with a healthy dose of coke. He felt…. familiar?
“Wow, I knew I made girls fall for me, but it’s the first time one tripped all over herself in order to get to me!” Winking while delivering the cheesy line, the guy then laughed at himself and proceeded to get Ally back onto her feet. Wiping away the coke with a nearby napkin, he smiled cheekily at our girl before presenting himself: “So… Nice to meetcha coke-girl. I’m Nicolaï. I don’t generally spout cheesy lines but the situation was asking for it. If you went from feeling sorry to embarrassed for me, then it means I did it right!”
Giggling at his goofy behavior, she gave him her name and carried on with the conversation. It was nice and friendly with a bit of fun in-between. Even the reserved Kathy pitched in from time to time, finding the blond interesting as well as easy to get along with. Before parting ways to get back to their respective friends, they ordered their HUD’s AI to do a mental handshake, exchanging contact information.
Back to a pouty Delhia that obviously had not scored as wished, they enjoyed their drinks while waiting for the surprise performance to begin. They wanted to dance, so they hoped it would be a nice group.
……………
In the club’s backroom, Nicolaï put on black shirt and leather pants. He then removed his common HUD to slip on a big silver one that hid a third of his face from view, thus protecting his identity. Almost ready, he un-spiked his hairs and stuffed his backpack with the soiled clothes before cracking his fingers. His AI told him that the digital piano had been placed on the scene.
It was time for him to make an entrance.
He did that kind of secret impromptu concert once a month, randomly selecting clubs all over the world. The fans were kept on their toes and loved it. Plus, the feel of a small room allowed him to really feel the audience, which he loved. He was a musician at heart, and adored being able to surprise and please people.
He stepped on the stage. As silence descended on the public, his hands hit the keys
………………
Alya was gently teasing Kathy about a supposed crush on Nicolaï when Delhia loudly gasped. She was staring wildly at the stage. Startled, the girls focused on the dais. The sight was unexpected.
HAL.
This was a secret concert.
As the music took on a life of its own, the girls moved over to the dancefloor and began to dance. Guys got turned down as they concentrated on the feel of the sound, letting it electrify their skin. They went all out, and pulling out the moves on the steady rhythm, they simply enjoyed themselves, a smile on their lips.
Hours later the concert reached its end as their sweaty bodies hit their limits, stamina completely depleted. It was a good healthy feeling. Resting on the side until the end of the encore, they left satisfied as HAL pulled yet again a disappearing on his legion of fans. He never gave autographs at unofficial venues.
…………
On the morrow, she had to put up with her brother whining about the concert. Apparently it was her fault that he missed it regardless of the fact that he rarely went to the cat’s cradle. Golden boy was extremely self-centered, and she had no time for his antics. She wished he would grow up...
Cutting him off mid-complain, she left the kitchen and prepared to play.
----------xxx----------
Back at the camp, she saw Bluebell. He was miserably staring at a mutant stag beetle. He was also poking at it with a stick
“Blue? Are you alright?”
“Say, Kif… do you know what’s the total female population of this place? 2. And both are totally off limits. This is nightmarish. I’m also not looking forward to the debuffs. Damn”
“… off limits? How so? Not that I’m interested in you or whatever, you know, but I’m curious as to why you decided not to make any moves on us”
“Well…. You? hmm…. How to explain? My instinct is screaming at me to stay the fuck away from you. Clairvoyance also is giving me vague warnings…. something frightful related to a strong presence that I don’t wanna expand on, so don’t ask. And Ankara? Somehow she has a sisterly feel and it feels gross to even think about doing her. Yuck.” The guy shivered.
“… I see…. Your instincts are SCREAMING at you to stay away from me huh? Humpf. Now what’s this about status debuff?” Her tone was a bit cold
“Oh that? Well it has to do with my profession. I’m a Manwhore. Whenever I give an orgasm to a girl, I get stat points. However I must do at least a girl per day (1 per 12 played Ghours) or I earn status debuffs that get stronger the longer I don’t score.”
“Wow Blue. You sly dog, you” amusingly snorted Kifirin, displeasure forgotten.
“Well… yeah!” He waggled his eyebrows in appreciation. “So… if we want to take care of the dungeon we spotted when scouting…. The faster the better. I already have a -5% debuff from yesterday.”
“But…. didn’t you do the deed? That’s why you’re here right?”
“We were interrupted in the middle of fucking. Neither she nor I reached climax so it does not count.” He shrugged
“Well, it should be alright. We’re all monsters here anyways.”
“Huh?”
“I can gauge battle prowess. We’re all off the charts…. even the resident merchant, Vyx.”
“Interesting…”
Talking about random stuff, they focused on the discreetly fleeing insect (busted!).
…………..
A dozen of minutes later, after the agonizing death of one poor stagbeetle, the whole group was online and ready to talk. Pooling together their different blueprint ideas and discussing the technicalities associated with maneuvering engines in a forest, they finally agreed on a final sketch. It took them a while and some got vocal, but they nonetheless had a pretty good time tossing ideas around. A strong sense of comradeship was born between them all.
“I’ll only take me a few hours to mana-weave the template if you guys supply me with mana. Here, take this.” Getting 4 suspicious round lumps of black ore out of his pockets, he gave them to the group. “I call these Koins. They are pieces of ore burned with a template. You see the blue sygil in the middle of said koins? It’s the one for mana transfer. Just focus on it to activate the device, then direct the flow at me.
You can do whatever while I work, but stay in a 10 meters range from me. Once I’m done, you’ll just have to deactivate the transfer. Questions?”
“Do we have to keep the koins in our hands?” asked Ankara
“Nope, put them in your pockets. Not your inventory though, it’s your real pockets I’m talking about.”
“Alright!” said the 4 friends in unison. As Vyx began working, they found themselves with nothing to do. Bored out of their minds from too much inactivity, they finally decided to play cards. Strip-poker it was. Lennart lost, with Bluebell as a close second. Kifirin couldn’t keep from evilly twirling her inexistent mustache as the girl-team totally powned the poor sods. They got an eyeful, but nobody really saw the other that way, so it was all done in good fun.
“Oh noes… I'm down to my socks and underwear!” went the paladin in a mockery of moaning, “what should I take off next?”
“Keep the socks” answered the leering witch
Kifirin grinned “Why Kara… I didn’t know you had a socks fetish!”
“Socks are sexy. I had the best of fun with this parameter. Imagine an innocent-like girl solely clad of white socks straddling you. Then picture her pushing you to the ground and using those tiny white pieces of heaven to slowly squeeze your—“
“TMI Blue, TMI.” Interrupted Vyx in the nick of time. The others were way too busy watching the trainwreck to try stopping it “I’m done by the way. Share window of Forestbane template.”
Forestbane template (#1 series)
Template created by Maker Vyx, this incredible feat of mana-weaving can force into existence 10 trunks uprooting machinas that shall become trees’ worst nightmare.
Because of the insufficient skill level :
• The requirements of burning are higher than they should be
• The durability is highly reduced (You’ll have to make a series #2 to get more)
Type: Machina (mana powered)Name:ForestbaneDurability:10 burnings[tr]Requirements:10 pieces of crystal ore
Be proud, you’re working for the deforestation’s cause! (shame on you)
>> Infamy: +50 per created koin
“Now we have to somehow obtain 50 pieces of crystal ore. I though it may need gold or maybe platinum… but apparently the machina is a little bit too sophisticated for my current skill level, which exponentially raised the requirements. Sorry.”
“50 pieces of ore?” wondered Ankara aloud
“Yep, 10 for each machina. We’re five, which makes 50 pieces” said Vyx
“Hmm? Ah not it’s not what I meant! I know how to count…” muttered the red-faced witch. “The thing is that I am in possession of 2 crystal coins. I got them as payment for a sculpture.... at least I think so. Can they be converted?”
“If we’re talking about the automatic game conversion, then yes. The conversion rate is of 1 coin for 10 pieces of ore. With a blacksmith we could have gotten 1 to 5 more pieces per coin, but well… we don’t have any on hands, do we?” asked Lennart
Kifirin sighted “Well, I’m friend with a founding member of Eden, so I could find us a skilled smith, but I don’t think it would be worth the wait. We’re kinda in the middle of nowhere.”
Why wasn’t Kifirin volunteering her fortune for this? It’s not like it would hurt her.
Because it wasn’t on her. It was at the bank.
It would have been insane to walk around with that much money considering her high infamy… the drops levels were no joke when you had 500 000+ infamy. Kiri may have been the only one to shoulder said infamy, but Kifirin wasn’t gonna take a chance.
Why yes! Kiri was the Nb 1 most researched person of the Empire. Hear hear!
Shouldering the red Calamity's infamy hadn't helped. She had jumper for moreor less 250k infamy to over 500k. Yay! Low key....
“It’s too bad there are no mines here, I could have gotten us the ore…Plan B then? We make as much money and loot as possible in the dungeon, which we will proceed to automatically convert into crystal coins, then into crystal ore. We’ll be making huge losses, but it’s not like we can be picky… there are no active merchants around. Then again, we can still sell the forestbane koins for big bucks later…. we’ll have the monopoly after all” Stated Vyx
The convicts approved of the plan. It was costly but would work better than their other options. They all converted their money into bigger coins (Copper
9 300 gold coins. Dayum.
They needed to farm that dungeon. It was apparently a lvl 200 instance, but they knew that together they would manage alright. They had gotten to know one another pretty well while generally fucking around and killing mobs around the place. They had come to understand that they were all strong in their own rights. Save from the fact that they had no priest, they were making for quite an interesting party.
Kifirin battle-sense had informed her that they were all rated between 8 and 9
The paladin would tank and buff.
The witch would make for most of the damages.
The maker would use rail-guns to rain down hell on enemies while stunning them
The rogue would massively chip at their foes’ heath till it was too late.
The esper would work on molecular level. Attacking. Protecting. Healing. Buffing. Debuffing…. He was versatile in a good way, because they were mostly subskills of telekinesis. (no jack of all trades here, but a master of one)
Yes, after testing the waters in the forest they were ready. Cooperation would not be a problem… they worked surprisingly well together. Once they got the ore, they would have Vyx burn down the machinas, and then there would be some serious forest genocide going on.
Indeed, it had become personal between the Maleficarum forest and them.
Its name sucked anyways.
***********************************
I'm done with the Arc 2 postings for now. There are others chapters, but I haven't finished them / reworked them.... and the last are still to be written
I'll see later how my revisions are going, and if I get the writing itch... well... ^^
I'll probably be posting a minor teaser of the next chap ... maybe? The 'real' action, will begin then, but it's not my strong point, so it'll take me a while finishing it (Yup. I write whenever a chapter comes to me... so yeah I have chapters in the 30+ and 40+ already written xD)
Please give me feedback, I wonder what you guys think of this fiction...
- Do you like the characters?
- What do you think about the world building?
- Have you understood what is going on with Kifirin? (It's supposed to be strongly hinted at, so if you don't get it it means I did it wrong)
- Are you having a good time reading this?
- Are the grammar / spelling mistakes bearable?
Thks
-Nergal-
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Tur Briste
A Druid cultivation novel. Borrows concepts from Wuxia and Xianxia but using Druid myth and lore. More on this at the bottom. Crow is son of Maddox, a Druid with an ancient bloodline and a people with a story spanning toward the beginning of time. Cursed, unfated, and a heap of bad luck have brought him only pain and suffering, but nothing will stop him. Nothing can stop him. A son of Maddox doesn’t bow his head. A son of Maddox understands that only a man with roots, with something to lose, will fight until the last drop of blood leaves his body. The Draoidh were once a proud people. They were both respected and hated for their form of righteousness. Power wasn’t something they gained through the might of their arms, but through intelligence. Their fall was all the more disheartening for the weaker cultivators. The tens of thousands of years that followed… chaos reigned. They forced Draoidh until most fled to the lower realms, nearly wiped out and exhausted. They went into hiding and became known as the Druids of the Oak. The Druid Order wasn’t the powerhouse it had been, and only nine of the major clans survived the calamity. Their bloodline weakened, as well as their prestige. Even the remaining clans fought amongst each other. Already on the decline and near extinguished, the Maddox clan can only struggle for survival, but their foundation wasn’t a joke. Weakened, but not weak. The other clans will understand this difference soon enough. Tur Briste, the Shattered Tower, awaits Crow’s ascension. Reaching the upper realms is only the first step in reestablishing the Draoidh. The Druids of the Oak remembered every betrayal and grievance, and they’ll return to power and reclaim what once belonged to them. The upper realms may have forgotten, but the Druid Order has not. Please Note:1) This is harem story. There are only a few chapters with sex, and it’s not a focus of the story. I’ll only add graphic sex if I feel the story needs it, so not gratuitously. Either way, Crow has several women. This is in line with Druid/Celtic history, and harems/reverse harems were an accepted part of their culture. Further, they had open marriages, meaning the man or woman could end their marriage at any time. While it was still a patriarchy, women had almost equal power. They were a very progressive culture. 2) There is a period of a 30-50 chapters where Crow loses the ability to cultivate like a Druid so he adopts an eastern body cultivation method for a while. This is temporary, but some people feel it’s misleading, so I am pointing it out ahead of time. I promise, the Druid stuff comes back, and 90% of the lore/myths/creatures/gods are all related to Druid/Celt/Irish/Scottish history. 3) I use many original names, most of which are in Gaelic or Irish. In the story, I refer to this language as Ancient. I enjoy all kinds of folklore and myths, so I encourage you to google those original names as they arrive. I give some background on them at the end of the chapter in my author’s note. 4) I use Ogham runes a lot, these are like the Druid alphabet, and they based each rune on a sacred tree so they also have symbolism associated with them. Again, feel free to google that too. It’s pretty neat stuff. Quick Translations:Draoidh = DruidTur Briste = Shattered Tower or Broken Tower Release Schedule:As of Oct 1, 2021- 3 chapters released every Sunday (May have up to two bonus chapters)- Side character chapters… this might be bonus chapters I release through the week. So they won’t count toward the 3 chapters on Sunday.- Please understand I work full time, have two kids, and can’t spare as much time as I’d like toward my writing. Maybe in the future I can switch to doing this full time, but for now 3 chapters is a comfortable pace for me. Lastly… I very much appreciate all my readers and thank you for allowing me to entertain you!
8 127Apocalypse Unleashed ~ A LitRPG Story
Summer approaches and, with it, so do final exams. On the day of Aiden and Olivia's math final, things take a surprise turn - the end of the world. But not everything is hopeless. There's a small light in the dark - a way for them to survive. A game-like system that changes everything. - Book one link: Pending Book two will begin posting every day, 2-3 chapters a day, until complete!
8 469Empire of Glass - The Heroic Legend of Heron
Born in a world of constant warfare and political strife, Heron, is the young scion of the Imperial Kingdom of Yamato, the tragic city state that is about to be crushed from within due to the debacles of the tumultuous civil war. Heron, the bright star of his nation took to the grandest stage of warfare – the imperial court. He dazzled and bewitched his political rivals with his wild strategems and his natural charisma and in doing so, earned his Father's trust. At the height of the war, Heron finds himself at a critical juncture which could either make or break their kingdom. Before the decision is made, Heron is struck down from behind and everything turns into darkness. Most stories about the Heroes of legend end here, but not Heron's. After an undetermined amount of time passes, Heron finds himself in a strange world with a different tongue and culture and strangest yet was that Heron himself is in the body of a child! Armed with only his wit and his code of morality, what kind of adventures await Heron? What sort of sorcery could send him to such unfamiliar lands? And why is he a baby?! – The Heroic Legend of Heron is a reincarnation novel that deals with mature themes (politics, treason, betrayal, sex) and violence. The recommended reading age is 18 years old or above or whatever the legal age for viewing this sort of material in your country of residence. Reader discretion is advised.
8 153MMORPG: Dual Cultivation Online
Ben got scammed on ebay when he purchased a broken VR pod for playing the game 'Land of Cultivation'. Of course, the broken pod gave out on his first try and electrocuted him while he was still in the pod! But with misfortune, also came good luck! A weakened immortal's soul wandered into his body, thinking he was dead, but Ben successfully managed to absorb it, instead of being absorbed. "What? You want to take over my body and make a comeback in this life! Just fck off and die already!" And this was how... Ben, a shameless NEET, suddenly came to possess decades and decades of cultivation knowledge and experience, drawing everything from the soul that laid dormant within him. And with this knowledge, his road to success in the 'Land of Cultivation' game was all but confirmed!! Let the cheating begin...
8 175TheOnlyWay
There is only one way to Heaven. Everyone's soul is eternal, it's all up to you to choose; Heaven or hell. God has made it easy with the perfect sacrifice of His Son, whom shed His precious blood to cleans us from our sins. Believe and you will be saved.
8 175A Cursed Life.
In a continent ravaged by war between humans and magical beings, an orphan child has taken residence at the bastion of hope in the human kingdom. Though displaying incredible dexterity, his terrible luck pins him against foes he could not hope to defeat. A chance encounter with thugs leaves him stabbed and left for dead. With an intense desire to live, he awakens the innate and powerful darkness magic to bolster his life and take back what others have stolen from him. This chronicles his journey as he learns to harness his power, whether it is for good or evil, you'll have to read and find out. To everyone interested in this story, I have every intention to finish it, but chapters will be very slow since I am going to college. If my studies allow me any spare time I will update the story and write a new chapter.
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