akasoindustries

262 - Alternate Mysticism

The hard part would be actually developing it, being that her default was “Iron”. While she was already there, she looked further into various cultivation tomes, one in particular catching her eye for the image upon its cover - a striking reimagining of the Four Circles, depicting the circles as three rings with a human curled up in the middle “fourth” ring, and three figures labeled as “Archons” arrayed in a triangular pattern around the outermost circle. A fiery masculine figure...

261 - The Stones Will Walk Again

Just as Kanbu had predicted, he soon was faced with a plea for aid from the newfangled elder of Willowdale’s resident cultivation sect. The way she asked for said help, however, was not one he had predicted; in the stead of threats or simple demands, there was a downpour of questions, accusatory and pointed.

“Tell me, what will you do if we fail and Ubul runs rampant?” she asked with uncharacteristic calm, the absence of smugness or joviality a greater verbal force multiplier than...

260 - The Reaper's Visage, Panzerpope, Re: Bickering Immortals

The Grekurian Deserter had wisely set up shop right across the street from the only cluster of active worksites in the general area, one of which included a tannery, the stink growing nigh-unbearable despite the aforementioned facility having long converted to more modern methods than soaking rawhide in boiling dogshit.

The Grekurian Deserter - unsurprisingly - was a surly, bearded Grekurian that stunk of booze, sweat, and rubber.

Dealing with him was, however, refreshingly straig...

Zefaris Design Update Color Mockup

Subject to changes for story consistency, i.e skin tone, facial structure, etc.

259 - Visage

“I see, I see, a practical snow devil mask…” he murmured as he flicked through the pages with speed and agility entirely unbefitting his bored-to-death demeanor, setting the fingers of his left hand between pages as he went through the massive index book.

“There was one that did both, but he left with the last convoy… So your choices for the actual respirator part are the G-Kaisers, or Breath of Life Industries, the uh… “Foremost supplier in respiratory protection devices�...

258 - As Good an Excuse as Any

Zefaris remembered Mogralt ammunition being like this, but not quite like this. The ones she had seen being fired were more of a vaguely directed burst, not… Well, a burrowing spiral. This had to be Collier’s doing - Zef remembered that the container had an alchemical formulation scribbled on the inside of the lid, alongside a description: “3-step Re-enrichment - Directed Supercriticality”. However, she had no time to investigate, as the Mercenary gladly and amusedly ...

257 - Ballistics Testing

So it was that the Newman Sect’s Elder and Willowdale’s Provisional Governor spoke on the matters of people who might be able and willing to aid in snuffing out Ubul.

From those she had met in the old church fighting pit such as Berga, to those likely to agree such as the Mercenary, and even the less likely options like Kanbu. Strangely, Estoras seemed thoroughly convinced that Kanbu would refuse, but nevertheless encouraged Zelsys to ask him for help; “On the one-in-a-thousand ch...

256 - Options

“Compensation aside - and well-compensated you will be - it is important that you are well aware of and have a hand in selecting the support you will have. The unique environmental conditions of Ubul’s Tomb render it counterproductive to deploy Willowdale’s full military might, modest though it may be in the grand scheme. Instead, the bulk of our forces will focus on creating a defensive apparatus around the “Fulguric Denial Zone” in order to hopefully finish him off should he get t...

Zefaris Design Update First Sketch

255 - Things to Discuss

“In fact, thanks for pointing that out - I’ll have to draft a tax relief incentive for those who keep arms and lend them out to the militia.”

“But… Surely, there should be some sort of regulation as to what weaponry independent citizens are allowed to own. Guilds and organizations with the proper documentation sure, but we can’t have people without the proper backing just buying personal tanks!” said the Grekurian with an assured chuckle, clearly considering the mere idea ...

254 - Re: Tyrant Muncher

She put it down on the counter, reaching underneath again and retrieving a downright tiny version of the gun - its barrel and magazine tube both only half the base model’s length, and its stock only long enough to facilitate the slide-action’s operation, forming a lengthened sparklock-esque handle.

Breaking it in half, Collier showed just how compact the shotgun could be made to be, “I’ve made accommodations for situations where every bit of space counts, such as backup weapons ...

253 - Vaceran Pt. 2

“They’ve made themselves easy to spot so far…” he shrugged his shoulders… Or his stumps, she supposed. “And I’m not about to cross the border to start hunting rice farmers for sport. Besides, deserving or not, if they’re actively trying to kill me, I don’t exactly have a choice.”

Zelsys didn’t see anything truly wrong with that response, at least considering that it was obvious Vaceran was entirely honest in his claim… But there was something there, something he ...

252 - Vaceran

Closer and closer, she saw the stream - running through a deep gash in the earth, itself just barely not quite a river, and a tree at the other side had been knocked over to form a makeshift bridge, with a good chunk of its upper half having been… Not quite cut off, as much as smashed off, like someone had used a steel baton or a dull axe to batter the hardwood apart.

Entering the barn through its half-rotted doors, she came upon a makeshift gymnasium within - though calling it a “g...

251 - The Candidates

A/N: There won't be a chapter tomorrow. I have a good bit written but it needs editing.

Also, Zefaris is getting artwork sometime soon.

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First on the list was Mata Gano - about as easy to pick out of a crowd as she could’ve been, despite her relatively diminutive stature. Zel found her exactly where the dossier had stated she would most likely be, at one of the markets halfway across town, in...

250 - Incandescing Demon

With mental focus and a deep breath, he brought the rising blaze under control, the flames receding and growing pale until both his beard and right arm smoldered a pale blue rather than outright burning. The beamwand’s wood-like structure sucked up the self-same glow, its point shining bright blue.

He pointed it, directing his body’s smoldering heat through it at the already chewed-up nearby target block. A cone of writhing, flickering flames erupted from its point, deep orange at f...

249 - Tempesta Pt. 2

Cultivation methods built upon a foundational gnosis of “Death” are neither as common nor as macabre as one might expect, but time and again, they arise from similar circumstances of long-term high-mortality. Subject ZF exhibits no extraordinary affinity for the arcane, but displays an uncanny, if unconscious grasp of the Fourth Sight:

“By which one may witness the failure points of all that which lives, and therefore walk as one with the reaper.”

Whe...