egathentale

Fantasy Economics 101 - Chapter 15

A chance meeting not for the history books

Wise men say, time heals all wounds. Whether that applied to the ones left on the face of a ghost or not was, until recently, little more than a question of purely academical relevance. For the record, the answer was yes.

"No, no, no! Apprentice, pay more attention!"

The birds perched on the roof of the woodland cottage stirred and scattered in fright upon hearing the vailing of the old ghost from inside. Even the crickets stirrin...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 130 - Part 3

"Aw, man! This is going to be much harder than I thought…"

While the unusually lethargic Celestial girl at the other end of the cafeteria's table made it sound like she was talking to herself, she was obviously angling for someone to address her. That someone was my draconic girlfriend.

"What? Tennis practice?" Elly inquired, looking genuinely intrigued.

It was lunch-break-o-clock, and our entire group was sitting around one of the larger tables in the corner of Blue Cherr...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 130 - Part 2

Life had a way to dissipate tension. Just the other day, I was freaking out over being bitten by a space-whatever, and yet once the initial shock passed, I quickly found myself drowning in other issues demanding my attention. Yet, even with all of that going on, I would occasionally find myself spacing out and just going with the flow. Like right at this moment.

"Chief? Can you pass me the red paint?"

I turned to Judy, and her hand held out to me and raised a single brow.

"â...

Volume 5 - Epilogue

(Author's Note: For context, check my comment under the extra chapter posted before this one. TL;DR: The Hot Springs Arc is now it's own volume, and this epilogue slots in between Chapter 110 and Chapter 111)

At the same time, in a familiar not-dark not-room, things were getting just a little hectic in the aftermath of the recent events. Out of the four inhabitants, only The Woman and The Girl were visible, the two of them appearing standing n...

Volume 6 Extra 6: For Want of a Nail, a Butterfly Flaps Its Wings

As it was already established in the past, despite its ominous name, being inhabited by definitely-not-demons, and ostensibly being a prison island of sorts, the Abyss was considerably less weird than its Celestial counterpart. While the architecture was admittedly more gothic than the Elysium's fancy, organically grown crystal spires, the technology level was considerably more up-to-date. It wasn't quite up to the standards of Timaeus (especially after our inadvertent efforts caused...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 130 - Part 1

Getting out of my girlfriends' post-coital embrace was a little tricky, as usual. In the past, I tried just Phasing out of the bed, but my weight suddenly disappearing from the mattress made it bounce the girls up and wake them anyway, which completely defeated the point. As such, I had to do it the old-fashioned way, by waiting until they were fully asleep and then very slowly slipping out of bed.

For once, I didn't mind it though, as it gave me lots of time and opportunity to think an...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 129 - Part 4

"I tell you, boss, there's nothing wrong with you."

I levelled a skeptical stare at Fred and flatly uttered, "Check again."

"We already checked three times!" he exclaimed and waved a clipboard holding a whole bunch of graphs and data tables in front of my nose. "Look! Everything's normal!"

"Mostly normal," Mr. Plague Doctor noted from the other side of the workshop. He was in the middle of calibrating the soul-analysing machine, and after a long beat, he looked up and added,...

Update

Hello, dear readers.

As I mentioned in the comment under the latest update, thanks to a friend of mine, we finally hammered together that Discord server that I floated... I don't even know how long ago.

I've never ran a Discord server before, so we're going to roll this out experimentally: for now, it's only going to be the active $10+/mo patrons. Maybe it will serve as an incentive to pick a higher tier? I have no idea; as I said, it's my first time trying something like this. I...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 129 - Parts 2 and 3

Part 2

"Seriously… Why does everyone have to be related to someone?"

There was a short beat hanging in the air at the dinner table, and after Judy finished swallowing, she nonchalantly answered, "It's a trope."

"I know that, but it's still so contrived!" I continued to grumble as I helped myself to another portion.

"But it's dramatic," Elly pointed out, and following her unsubtle gesturing, I also picked one of the side-dishes she made before letting out a sigh. 2023-11-20 16:41:20 +0000 UTC View Post

The Simulacrum - Chapter 129 - Part 1

Just a single day spent in school, and somehow my life started to feel normal again. Going to school with my friends, attending classes, eating unreasonably scrumptious meals at the cafeteria, and beating Josh in basketball. Everything was exactly how it's always been. Just the normal life of a normal high-schooler doing completely normal things on a normal Monday, such as… giving a strategy briefing in an underground base.

Oh, who wasI kidding? Coming out of the Elysium didn't make m...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 128 - Part 3

"Pardon the intrusion."

I spoke on auto-pilot as I entered the nurse's office on the ground floor, without even bothering to knock beforehand.

"Oh. It's you, Lord… I mean, Leonard Dunning," our new school nurse snapped to attention, only to belatedly greet the rest of my company. "Welcome."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Arpachshad," Elly returned the greeting with a polite smile, while my dear assistant only nodded and ever-so-slightly raised a brow at the other occupant in the roo...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 128 - Part 2

Stepping into the gymnasium, we were hit by a wall of noise, like a wave at the seashore washing over a sandcastle. In front of our eyes, hundreds of placeholder students were idling on the basketball court taking up the majority of the gym floor. Nobody was organizing them, yet even at a glance, it was obvious that the individual classes tried to stick together, even while being squeezed in like sardines in a box.

Pressing through the crowd, my sisters soon rubbed off our group once th...

Small update

Hello, dear readers.

Just a small heads-up: I alluded to the whole family being sick, except me. I said it was only a question of time until it was my turn, but then everyone recovered, and I thought I somehow dodged it. Nope. Last night, I came down with a fever and didn't sleep a wink, and it didn't really get any better today. Stomach ache, muscle- and joint-soreness, fever, nausea, the whole nine yards.

As such, I'll be taking a break tomorrow. I'll make it up to you with an e...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 128 - Part 1

It was time for that feeling again.

I have encountered this situation a couple of times before, when, after a particularly tumultuous period, returning to mundane, everyday life suddenly felt uncanny.

"Brother! Hurry up! We'll be late!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I walked down the stairs, feeling slightly unbalanced. My school bag felt strangely unfamiliar in my hands, and while I couldn't have a growth spurt at this age, my usual uniform was feeling t...

Fantasy Economics 101 - Chapter 14

A Campsite Ghost Story

Nights were, for the longest time, struck fear in the hearts of the people of Eksilva. The darkness was the home of many a creature best not encountered, be they common wolves howling at the moon, or the more esoteric and oftentimes regional beasts inhabiting the murky wilderness of the continent. However, humanity was ever-so-ingenious. Be they oil-burning lamps, wax-soaked torches, or mystical stones charged with the eldritch powers of magicks, the dark of the...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 127 - Part 3

The ground floor turned rather lively by the time I walked down the stairs.

"Brother!" a lively voice greeted me the moment I arrived, and Penny beamed at me from the entrance-way, only for her expression to cloud over a second later. "Aw shucks! I thought we got home before you… There goes the surprise."

"Hi, kiddo. Is that the cake you mentioned?"

I pointed at the large, decorative cardboard box in her hands, and she nodded with a sheepish smile.

"Y-Yeah. It's stor...

Fantasy Economics 101 - Chapter 13

There's a first time for everything, including necromancy

"This is sooo exciting!"

Elkayla's enthusiastic voice was carried far and wide in the eerily silent night forest, though there was not a single soul listening in. The sun went down what felt like ages ago, and the skeleton and the hermitess were sitting on one of the toppled stone steles littering the familiar clearing.

"I've never done anything like this before!" Elkayla chattered on in audibly high spirits and swu...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 127 - Part 2

"No. You do not need to stay at my house."

I spoke on no uncertain terms, yet Jaakobah remained annoyingly insistent. We were currently standing at the crossroad leading to my neighbourhood, or rather, one of the inconspicuous buildings right next to it. It apparently 'just happened' to be put up for sale, so the Critias School bought it up and it now served as the impromptu headquarters of the Praetorian Guards. The rest of them were already inside, and based on the sounds, they were i...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 127 - Part 1

"Come on, man! Can't we do this tomorrow?"

I turned a sideways glance at my moaning friend and sharply shook my head.

"This takes priority, so sit tight, and wait for your turn."

For a second, it looked like he would continue to argue, but then his girlfriend let out a giggle, and and dropped the topic altogether.

"Hihi. That tickles," Angie squirmed as Galatea put the adhesive sensors onto her scalp and chest. "It's also a bit cold."

"Just bear with it. It's not...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 126 - Part 4

I might have been just a touch too cheeky back there.

I said I would lead the way, but it's been a while since I've been in this ballroom, and only once at that, so tried as I might, I couldn't recall where the door to the tucked-away parlour room was. Luckily for me, my lovely draconic girlfriend quickly recognized my dilemma, and she stealthily pointed me in the right direction.

After making a mental note about giving her some extra kisses later, I gestured for Lord Grandpa to f...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 126 - Part 3

As far as fancy dinner parties were concerned, this was…

Wait. It was still in the morning, so was it more of a 'breakfast party'? Was that even a thing? It didn't really matter either way, but now it was bothering me, and…

"Chief? What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, you know? Important stuff?" I told my dear assistant, currently glued to my side.

"Sir, Lord Archon, sir?" Armour-guy tried to get my attention, so I let out a sigh and faced the eight Celestial guards ...

Artificial Illustrations Part 6 - Insomnia Edition

Insomnia is annoying. Couldn't sleep. The night was long. So I made some stuff. Enjoy.

First off, while not 100% perfect, this was the  best Celestial outfit Jaakobah I managed to generate.

Here's Mountain Girl in her disguise. For the other disguised character I'm not naming because this po...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 126 - Part 2

"Sir! With all due respect, sir, as your guards, we should be the ones to lead the charge and secure the perimeter before you return to the—"

"For the last time: there won't be any charge," I hissed at the unusually obstinate armour-guy. "I'm heading through the portal first, and that's final."

I dismissed the man with a frown, and he didn't argue back, much to my relief. This day was tiresome enough as-is, so I wasn't in the mood for quarrelling over something so stupid on top ...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 126 - Part 1

"No, Leo. No. Arson is bad."

Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes, I forced a smile onto my face.

"It's just a joke, princess. A joke."

For emphasis, I tried to hug her, but she held me back and continued to frown at me.

"I'm serious! I know she got you this time, but that doesn't mean you're justified to burn down anything in response."

"She didn't get me!" I protested, maybe a bit too vehemently. "She just threatened to annoy me. It doesn't take a psyc...

A small batch of Images - Part 5

I promised some AI generated character portraits, but damn, I didn't expect that it would be such a pain in the neck.

In short, the problem is that, since the algoritm of NovelAI is trained on Gelbooru images, it has a strong predilection towards certain themes. I have already complained about this when posting the previous batches, mainly in terms of actively having to wrestle with the image generator to keep it from giving everyone huge boobs, and that, since Gelbooru focuses way more...

Fantasy Economics 101 - Chapter 12

It's elementaly, my dear Raol

"Mister Raol! Over here!"

Following the young hermitess's voice, the skeleton morosely climbed to the top of the wooded hill. While they weren't expecting to meet any travelers on their way, he chose to wear a disguise all the same. Due to some purchases in town, most of them at a steep discount in exchange for wondrous tales from the mystical land of the Barbarian Coast, he would have certainly passed for a beginner adventurer, if only from a dista...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 125 - Part 3

What I originally intended to be little more than a quick status check ended up being way more of a pain in the neck than planned. As it turned out, putting together a big science project wasn't simple, especially if it was the 'mad' variety, with some magitech sprinkled on top. Nor was it cheap, and even though I still had a lot of money in my account, I didn't like the number of zeroes Fred and Sahi were throwing around.

On the bright side, at least everything was proceeding relativel...

Update

Hello, dear readers.

So, my PC died this morning. So much for ramping things up, eh?

By the looks of it, the PSU shed its mortal coils, and hopefully it didn't take any of the other components with it. I ordered a replacement, but it will only arrive on Friday, which means I'm out of a PC until the weekend. So yeah, not fun.

This means the next update is practically guaranteed to be late again. I won't apologize this time, since this situation is completely out of my control...

The Simulacrum - Chapter 125 - Part 2

The human mind is such a curious thing. It's been less than a month since I've been home the last time. Much less so if we count the times when I only flung my disembodied point of view here. Yet, the moment I sank into my old padded chair, I could feel the stiffness actively draining out of my shoulders and my face being conquered by a relaxed smile, as if I just returned home after a long hike in the mountains.

Our guest might've misunderstood my actions, as she tensed up like a piano...

Small update

Hello, dear readers.

Just a small heads-up. After a pretty hectic weekend (long story, don't ask), I have crashed hard, and woke up two in the afternoon today. I'm still groggy and out of it though, so today's chapter part is postponed until tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to get my wits gathered by then.

On a side-note, I've actually hammered together the skeleton of a Discord server for the series, but I'm woefully inexperienced with this kind of thing, so I figured I might as ...