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76 - Ekarone Days Pt. 3 [Cherno]

“I had several sub-brains slaved to my main one so that I could function and survive even if a big part of my head got blown off. Eyes that could see magnetism, heat, even into my world's plane of information, to appraise everything in my field of view, to see up to five kilometers in perfect fidelity. Similar for my ears. Balancing units that didn't rely on liquid, obvious one. Fibre-optic nerve replacements to nullify any delay in my reactions. Near-zero impedance wire made of nanomachine...

246 - Return to Fort 57 Pt. FINAL / Unassuming Logging Hamlet[Sturmblitz]

“Sure. I’ll hold you to that offer,” Lydia smirked, snapping Victor out of his brief descent into internal pondering. “I was already planning on taking a hike down south anyway. You just gave me a reason to do it a little sooner. Turns out, the Sangers don’t like it much when you’re walking around using their techniques and mixing them with a rival sect’s teachings.”

“What rival sect?” Jorfr asked.

“Yours. Who else?”

“Oh? I was not made aware that e...

245 - Return to Fort 57 Pt. 8 [Sturmblitz]

The redhead stabbed his staff into the ground, stepped away, and began performing an impossible hand-sign sequence; his left hand for perfectly possible ones, his right hand for strange, stiff signs befitting its size, and his third hand performing serpentine, undulating signs behind him. His dome of brambles closed in and closely enveloped all his victims. A bead of black flame formed within the ring of his staff, the core of his belt flaring and his armor’s many vents spitting small gusts...

244 - Return to Fort 57 Pt. 7 [Sturmblitz]

Before she could ask the redhead who he was or why he was here, he just… Fell into his steed. In a few brief moments it transformed around him and formed a monstrous armor.

“More are coming. My sword’s power is spent, but I can still fight,” she said to him, pulling Vysaga free of Idda’s still-warm corpse.

“Take care that you do not suffer serious injury. I will handle the reinforcements,” came a rather young-sounding voice from within the helmet. He...

243 - Return to Fort 57 Pt. 6 [Sturmblitz]

“See, Omniudex would’ve marked these pussies for punishment too, just something lighter to satisfy their guilt, like some light scarification or what have you. Iusticia is soft like that,” the smoke cultivator commented.

“Very well, let us hear what the people of Fort 57 think and we can make the final decision.”

That didn’t take long thanks to the fact a number of the bandits were known by people in the fort, and in the end, the judgments would turn out very close to ...

75 - Ekarone Days Pt. 2 [Cherno]

On a day that stood out from the others in no particular way, Krahe sat with Casus, smoking while the Banisher read a thick tome of history. On the table, she had stacked up several books of her own, set next to a plate stacked with small slices of ekarone. It reminded her very much of that time at Favonia’s safehouse, and thus, a question came to mind.

"I'm curious - what is Favonia like? Looks, demeanor, everything. Paint me a picture. You seem to respect her a great deal."

Ca...

74 - Ekarone Days [Cherno]

“So what now?”

Rather than answer, he got up and went over to the censer-wheel, spinning it back and forth as if it were a safe dial. Then, he sat back down.

“We wait. Someone is on the way from the city’s central temple. I intend to report the incident, then lay low for a few days while the church handles the cleanup. If you wish, this would be a good entry point to becoming an official church contractor. You will not be restricted from joining agencies, excepting those w...

73 - Case Two Closed [Cherno]

“Make me not want to kill you. Say something that’ll make me think you might be useful beyond your grafting skills. I want information,” Krahe said.

“Someone very high up has Damrus Hashem himself on their strings. These so-called Benefactors. They want human bodies, but not for grafting, as I told you already. Who would want such a thing, hmm? Perhaps…”

Krahe saw him reaching for something, or perhaps trying to do something behind his back. Acting on instinct she rush...

242 - Return to Fort 57 Pt. 5 [Sturmblitz]

When he had taught the redhead tracking and other hunting basics during their time together, Jorfr hadn’t expected him to use the disturbance in environmental monads to trace his prey. He still sucked at it at the start, but it nonetheless felt strange that some people could simply see the spiritual side of the world, even if those eyes came from merging with an ancient and powerful ancestor. He had been worried that Victor might become arrogant or that his fortune might be lost on him, but...

72 - Guilt Repaid in Cold Blood [Cherno]

Having gotten one Hound apart from the others, Casus pressed in the eye of his Coupler. Anathema rushed through the suit and towards his arm, his blade wreathed in a silver glow that trailed behind it. All at once, he forced through the Hound’s Barrier and buried his arm up to the elbow into its body, annihilating its skull and power plant in one fell swoop.

The surviving hounds, both damaged and missing a leg, didn’t hold up for long. An uppercut destroyed one, and a simple flying ...

241 - Return to Fort 57 Pt. 4 [Sturmblitz]

“Do you really think my backers will just let you walk away even if you somehow kill your way out of here? You, a demonic cultivator with a cursed sword?!” Idda spat, seeming to wholly believe her own words. Jorfr knew better, both about Lydia’s cultivation and her sword, but he kept his mouth shut. Another arrow from the treeline. This time he was ready, and a Wide-wuth leapt ahead to intercept it before leaping back to its original position.

He quietly sent out an aetherwave mes...

Relevant Regions, Nations, and Races of Zastreon [Cherno]

This post is by no means exhaustive. These are just specific subjects that could be immediately relevant to the story in the immediate future.

Edit 29th May 2023: Added the Agertian Peninsula and amended the specific location of the CRC's territory. Added Xaugeth. Added Xaugeth Herculeans and Xaugeth Mothmen.

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ZASTREON, THE PLANET

Significantly larger than Earth. More l...

240 - Return to Fort 57 Pt. 3 [Sturmblitz]

"Explain, if you would," Jorfr prompted, intensifying his aura just enough that the bandits wouldn't flee but not enough to kill. A handful nonetheless collapsed, and one did so in an unfortunate manner, smashing his forehead on the road.

Slowly, Lydia approached, flicking her wrist upward. The sword Vysaga dragged itself out of its sheath, slowly rising until it freed itself and slammed into the ground by her side. It slowly dragged along, its handle only centimeters behind her outstre...

Talisman Mistress Yao Fu [Cherno]

You'll see her in Cherno Caster.

An example of how the Seven Spokes System is by far not the only one on Zastreon, despite its prevalence.

71 - Mamon Knight Silberblut [Cherno]

There came a sound from behind and to the left, the building in whose basement the Silberblut Coupler was supposedly stored. It was a strange, hard to place sound at this distance, and right afterward, dust and debris went flying out of the hole in the wall. From within the building then came a voice so loud that it carried easily to where the two of them stood. A distorted, powerful voice, one carrying either a sense of unimpeachable righteousness or unimpeachable conceitedness, depending on...

239 - Return to Fort 57 Pt. 2 [Sturmblitz]

His ring alighted with a pale-blue glow, and so too did the sigil in the man's forehead. In a sudden flash, a ghostly projection of the eight-pronged sigil manifested itself over the real thing, thrice as large as the original and seemingly held in place by a ghostly headband, forming a circlet.

It was not through the formation of a helm or cloak that Jorfr’s presence manifested itself, but through the living ice which made up one-quarter of his body. Its subtle whiteness, barely dist...

70 - Re: Slaughterhouse 9 Pt. 10 [Cherno]

Krahe ran out back the way she had come, forming another Isotope smoke grenade and raising her Barrier. Simultaneously, she summoned a cigarette, lit it, dragged down half of it, and used the smoke to prepare a normal smoke breath.

The moment she emerged from the gorestrewn alleyway, her plan was set into motion. Start exhaling. Lob the grenade. Cinder Gatling suppressive fire, aimed at the Foreman’s head, hoping not to kill, but to impede him with flashing lights or hopefully damage ...

238 - Return to Fort 57 [Sturmblitz]

Finding a competent alchemist wasn't hard. She had some, right here, in Arches; those who had worked with the Order of the Dragon were skilled and some of them learned quickly, but quickly wasn't good enough. At least she didn't have to be worried about obtaining raw resources to make pills from.

She did, after all, have the corpse of Ten Billion Fathoms and the unique ecosystem which had sprung up around it. It wasn't quite the flesh and blood of a living Dragon Descendant, but she ful...

69 - Re: Slaughterhouse 9 Pt. 6 [Cherno]

Casus’s High-Pressure form had the same main traits as Omniphage: A blade on the right arm, a mostly faceless visage with sculpted lips, and an overall slickness of form that blended with the armor’s own aesthetic, in this case that of a humanoid racing bike. It also looked like it was an inch from crumpling like a paper bag after taking that hit, a crack in the helmet exposing Casus’s left eye.

He peeled himself off the wall and zipped across the battlefield to Krahe’s previous...

68 - Re: Slaughterhouse 9 Pt. 5 [Cherno]

Casus met the beast in battle, weighing his own superior agility against its great mass and inbuilt weapons. Its own mobility certainly surpassed expectations, and its flesh had either been processed somehow, or it was being supplemented with good-quality thaumatech. Slowly, Casus stacked up festering wounds while avoiding getting crushed beneath its vast bulk or battered by the Blasting Array in its maw. He couldn’t keep this up for long.

The downside of the Omniphage Dregsteam Cartr...

237 - The Red Lady's Return [Sturmblitz]

Karmesin's return to Arches had gone almost suspiciously smoothly.

None in Arches knew of her escapades in Borea beyond the fact she brought back a bounty of rare resources and relics that could buy a city. Some were what she had taken from the Crescent Jungle herself, some she had traded with the exiles, and some she had received as gifts for participating in the subjugation of Eisengeist. Most valuable among them, to her, was some of the dragon's own flesh and blood. The quantity was ...

236 - Sturmblitz Kunst Vol. 2 Epilogue Pt. FINAL [Sturmblitz]

The plant growing between the skeleton’s legs was unmistakable, being one of the most desirable ingredients for virility pills: Virile Turgid Ginseng.

It had all the hallmarks, especially the stench, which was a blend of fishiness with the stinging of horseradishes. Its root shape was correct as well, bulbous and with vein-line protuberances. By the aura of the corpse, still lingering nearby, as well as its clothing, Shao knew that it was a rogue cultivator… And there was a scroll r...

235 - Matters of Perspective Pt. FINAL + Sturmblitz Kunst Vol. 2 Epilogue Pt. 1 [Sturmblitz]

"I will be certain to bring great honor upon your works, master smith," Jorfr said as he returned to the ground, well aware that Ingvald's disposition precluded him from accepting the very idea that someone felt indebted for a gift.

"I look forward to turning away clan elders trying to get me to make knockoffs for them. Be on your way, I doubt Runar would be happy if you just left without visiting him beforehand."

Jorfr didn't quite leave yet, standing in place, stroking his beard...

67 - Re: Slaughterhouse 9 Pt. 4[Cherno]

The ground shuddered again before they could approach the area where Casus’ belt was held. It was past a corner, through a courtyard, into a building, into the basement, then into a hidden sub-basement under a trapdoor concealed by a rug and something called a “weak cognitive filter”. The corridor to that courtyard was in sight, but a mass of Gor’ah bodies sprinted past the duo and rushed in, quickly building up a flesh clog that blocked the path. Another shudder of the ground, closer...

234 - Matters of Perspective Pt. 3 [Sturmblitz]

Fryg smirked at him, and dispelled the uncertainty.

“When else, but when you awoke as a draugr? By southern terms you can consider death the tribulation, and awakening the Immortal Blood the breakthrough. Having experienced death once has also strengthened your affinity for the Stillness of death, which you should be familiar with considering your gun-wielding shield-sister. I was doomed to defeat when I marched against the Smoke Witch, but my powers grew such that I could slay her wh...

66 - Re: Slaughterhouse 9 Pt. 3 [Cherno]

The Burster soon went tumbling past the wall, sent by Krahe’s precise hand to the other cover wall’s edge so the blast could cover both sides of it. Unfortunately for the gangsters they had only seen Krahe use smoke grenades, and the improved Burster’s shell looked identical to a smoke grenade from the outside. She instantly started Purging when the grenade went out; though a brief lack of maintenance would cause her Armor-hunter’s construct parts to start decaying, it would be easily...

65 - Re: Slaughterhouse 9 Pt. 2 [Cherno]

“Shame,” she remarked, knowing she had one or two bullets left in her gun. “Here I was thinking we’d have it easy and only encounter overconfident morons with no threat assessment ability.”

“No matter how well you hide your aura, nobody with half a brain can be dumb enough to ignore that arm and those impenetrable anti-appraisal measures… And you’re with Silberblut,” Smoker gestured to Casus. “That’s not what the armor generated by an Omniphage Dregsteam Cartridge ...

233 - Matters of Perspective Pt. 2 [Sturmblitz]

“Cleaverlight, then! I’ve lost legs to unorthodox bastards with cleavers!” Hedan exclaimed in frustration. “Does she not- Hold on. Has she simply made no effort to develop swordlight at all?”

“Now you understand. Why bother with swordlight when you already have a weapon with the range of a flying sword? The Dao of the Gun and the Cultivation Dark Age she was born into both precluded her from adopting the idea of a blade as a ranged weapo...