《Project Burnout》Chapter 34: Chattering Mess
Advertisement
“I should’ve mentioned, here,” Tomobi got a handkerchief and helped the VitaNav as they tried to clean themselves.
“No no, you said it was for my throat. Should’ve guessed it was hot,” the VitaNav hacked as he wiped himself, though once they got a hold of what was happening their eyes widened.
“YOU!” he grabbed Tomobi, immediately catching Seeno’s attention, who let out a sharp snarl.
“Oh shit sorry,” The VitaNav let go.
“I just need to check, did you get the snake pieces?” He looked about and saw Rookie and Kiorif by the remains of a snake, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Oh thank goodness. Wait, did I introduce myself?” The VitaNav looked over to Tomobi, who awkwardly looked away.
“Great, now I set myself up as an asshole. Okay, let’s try this again. So, hi. My name is Leonardo. But friends sometimes call me Leo. Or people who don’t want to say Leonardo. Even me too when it gets too long. Right so Leo can be fine if you don’t want to call me Leonardo, what about you my good sir,” the now-named VitaNav offered his hand on Tomobi.
“U-ahem, well I am Tomobi. It’s nice to meet you,” Leonardo shook Tomobi’s hand aggressively, leading to Seeno now eyeing this newcomer aggressively. Though it wasn’t alone, with Kiorif still trying to read this weirdo.
“Well of course it was nice to meet me. You saved me from that bloody basilisk, amazing work,”
“But all I did was carry you,” Tomobi downplayed what he did
“Away from death, not everybody would have the confidence to do that,” This caught Tomobi off guard, remembering how he responded differently to his first encounter with dangerous beasts.
“Not downplaying you guys,” Leonardo turned over to the rest of the group, giving Kiorif a chance to step in.
Advertisement
“That is fine, though I have some questions,”
“Sure, ask away. What harm could it do?” Leonardo shrugged happily, though once Kiorif pulled out the whispering grey orb from his pocket his smile fell.
“Care to explain what this does?” Before the group could question Kiorif on how he got it, Leonardo went to draw from his belt, but a quick reaction from Rookie and a hiss from Seeno told him the outcome.
“That is mine, and I would like it back,” Leonardo rested his hand, but his body seemed tense.
“Answer the question,” Kiorif still held it in his hands, though even Rookie seemed unimpressed.
“Kiorif come on,” Rookie went over and tried to snatch the gift out of Kiorif’s hand.
“He isn’t causing problems,”
“Well he should have no problems answering the question then,” Leonardo twitched and clenched his hands about as he puffed his cheeks, but he gave in with a sign.
“Fine, it’s my gift. No-”
“I know it is a gift, now what does the gift do?” Kiorif still pressed his questions.
“Noises,” Leonardo just blurted out with a childish look.
“It makes loud noises, and cause I’m not stupid enough to through a temper tantrum while using it, it will be fine for me to have it back. Mainly cause you three scare the shit out of me to do anything,” Leonardo pointed to the soldiers and Seeno as he held his hand out.
“Like I’m genuinely scared of miss scales over there, just wow, those are some large chompers, So my gift back, pretty please. Why am I even asking?” Kiorif still gave a pause before doing anything, but a little nudge from Rookie eventually let Leonardo get his gift back.
“See I ain’t so bad, now my second request. Can you give me the snake parts, I wanna see what I could use,” Kiorif was to continue his questions, but Rookie dragged the remains of the snake for Leonardo
Advertisement
“I mean it was heavy, what would you even want with it?”
“Well, we will find out if it has something interesting. Say VitaNav, the one who was nice to me and gave me hot tea, didn’t take my gift out of nowhere. What was your name again, right Tomobi,” Leonardo wrapped his hands around Tomobi’s, getting really close to his face.
“How would you feel as to help me with my brilliant works of art?”
“Um,” Tomobi was unsure about Leonardo’s sporadic personality. When looking over to Rookie, she gave him a wide smile and two thumbs in support.
“Sure I gu-”
“Excellent, follow me,” Leonardo tried dragging the snake along with his bag, but as he puffed his cheeks as he struggled he let out a deep breath and lay on the ground.
“Oh this is tough,” Leonardo paused and took a couple of breaths.
“Hang on, don’t push yourself. Seeno,” Tomobi stopped Leonardo from his second attempt of dragging the corpse and went to Seeno.
“Um Seeno can you help with this,” Seeno reluctantly rose to help, but with a quick flinch, Seeno stopped and rested again. At this Tomobi noticed a lash running across one of Seeno's forearms.
“How did I not notice this,”
“You didn’t pay attention,” Kiorif shot.
“Cause we told you to help Leonardo, I mean it was fine,” Rookie interrupted immediately trying to downplay the wound, though shooting a dirty look at Kiorif. Though at this Leonardo’s eyes actually widened.
“Wounds? Is that what I’m hearing?” Leonardo stopped what he was doing and began to tunnel through his bags.
“Hang on, I’ve got something for it. I FOUND IT,” with an excited hackle as he tried to get out of his bags he pulled out a new small orb, this time gleaming with green as faint red and blue thin swirls danced about.
“Now does anybody have lunch for me and mr toothy?”
“Why what are you gonna do?” Rookie curiosity grew as Tomobi immediately went to make a last-minute lunch for them.
“Well miss, have you seen this before?” attempting to be dramatic, Leonardo got close to Rookie and held the item for her to see.
“Oh yeah I saw this with the docs at Fresh-Root,” Rookie’s eyes gleamed.
“So you know what this does?” Leonardo’s eyes glowed larger.
“Not really, no,” Rookie deflated for a moment before puffing up again with wide eyes.
“Wait, is this like some sort of magic bandaid,” this left Leonardo confused.
“What, no. This is a gift, not magic, science, not magic okay. I mean it’s like a bandaid, but better,” Leonardo held it pridefully, with Tomobi making a sandwich.
“Perfect, now stand back and prepare to be amazed by my grace,” Leonardo walked over to Seeno, who became tense as he got closer.
“Now, now, cranky snappy. I’m gonna get you all patched,” and when he put the gift in his arm, he shocked everyone as he slapped Seeno's wound.
Advertisement
- In Serial158 Chapters
Nero Zero
Monsters plagued the lands for too long. No matter if one had fangs, beak, teeth, skin, fur, or feather, or was tall, stout, or diminutive, the people suffered. Until the Gadgeteers came with a device that could allow people to fight back. Powered by one's own magical power, feeding off of monster Essence, the Arbitrium bracer turned the tables. It also changed society. Strength of one's level cap was all that mattered. The strongest were Kings and Emperors. The weak or those too poor to afford the marvelous device, destitute. And so it has been for millennia. All that mattered was one's level cap. High, low, a fate decided the moment the strange contraption came alive. Too high and you were a threat to those interested in keeping the status quo, a weed to be nipped before it could grow and take root. Too low and you were nobody, fated to be a bit more than a simple farmer. What if someone, somewhere, came up with a zero for their level cap? Unable to use Essence, unable to level up. On all of recorded history, it never happened. Until it did. In a small village of fur-less and tail-less ape-beastkin, a boy found out he was uniquely handicapped. Nero's level cap was Zero. But he'd never let that stop him from reaching his goals. ------------------------------------------------ All stories have already been told. We merely reuse elements from them. From Joseph Campbell's Monomith to Stephen King's advice, and that encyclopedia of tropes you've visited, fiction has been dissected and reassembled countless times. One will surely find elements inspired on other works here. Just like cooking from basic ingredients, the recipe and presentation is what really matter. This is a fantasy adventure, of someone that goes from a zero to a slightly bigger zero. It will have romance but no harem. Cruelty but with hope dimly shining ahead. Lightweight where it can be, heavy where it must. Thanks for reading. Cover Credits (The cover is CC-BY-NC-SA): Steampunk Spider Bracer, by Daniel Proulx. CC-BY-NC-SA Picture Frame, @anaterate, Pixabay license. Some odds and bits from here and there.
8 272 - In Serial18 Chapters
Star Captain Annie
After a mysterious ship kidnaps the crew of the starship Nightingale, the ship’s nav computer transfers command of the ship to the only survivor – a six-month-old baby girl. Nine years later, Star Captain Annie still commands the Nightingale, searching for the mysterious relic that her family sought when they went missing; the Elder Crown. Hey eager readers, did you know we're always one chapter in the future on my website? Take a look if you want to read ahead! https://starcaptainannie.com/
8 265 - In Serial6 Chapters
The New Guild Master
** Dropped ** I may or may not return to complete this, as I'm currently focusing my efforts on other projects. ** Tristan fell into another world. Literally. Flat on his face. It hurt really bad. Now a cute Elven princess is depending on him to be her 'knight in shining armor'. With no memories of his past life, no cheat skills, and no talent to speak of, the life of a hero in this dark fantasy world seems impossible. So he settles for the next best thing: being a guild master. You know what they say, 'those who can't do, teach'. And the role of armchair general is much more his style and a lot less risky. Unscrupulous friends, helpful enemies, resentful fans and generous rivals- all are pawns in Tristan's epic quest to become the world's greatest guild master!
8 173 - In Serial28 Chapters
bleeding love
THIS STORY IS FINISHED!!! Catherine is being sold - to a vampire. She thinks they're cruel, viscous beings incapable of loving anyone. When she finds out the one she loves, Han's, has been killed by his own Vampire employer, she vows she'll get away from the prison. Vampires just keep humans as pets to feed on and to mess with their heads - or that's what she thinks. Is it possible there's more to her vampire employer, Damien, then she thought?
8 99 - In Serial58 Chapters
God of Chaos
The god of destruction and everything bad is deceived by a group of colluding gods, and tricked into committing a cardinal offense. He was punished by Gaya, the primary god of creation, to reincarnate to the world of mortals. He vows to ascend to the world of the gods and get his revenge. This is my first take on eastern fantasy. Its a good mix of eastern (Chinese) and western (Greek Myth) fantasy. Hope you guys enjoy it. ******************************************************************************* Note: Thanks for reading guys, book 2 is almost completed. If you like the story and would like to help the author, please donate , rate and share the story. Every little bit helps. Also, all further releases will first be posted on Re-Library before being updated anywhere else. Thanks, ~Devine_Exodus
8 162 - In Serial32 Chapters
STAND BY ME ⟦ BRIDGERTON ⟧
SO, DARLING, DARLING STAND MY MEOH, STAND BY ME"TAKE MY HAND" "WHY""BECAUSE I WANT TO ASK YOU TO MARRY ME"
8 193

