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384 - Phantom Winds of Fate Pt. Final [Sturmblitz]

Compared to harvesting errant vestiges, claiming the vestige of someone she had slain in single combat was a touch more involved. She brought out the Sword Phantom Scripture, its pages unsheathing at a mere thought, encircling Leopold’s vestige, gradually separating a distinct “chain” connecting him to an unseen something inside the corpse — his actual soul, which had yet to pass on.

She recited the appropriate incantation, word for stilted, antiquated word.

“In...

383 - Phantom Winds of Fate Pt. 6 [Sturmblitz]

Leopold suddenly found himself skewered through the chest to the sect’s main doors. It was a pillar of black ice, accursed glyphs thrumming beneath its surface, sapping the strength from his sword-arm. The moment he realized what they were, boiling blood burst from his eyes.

He blinked once more, and he realized he was back in the arena, and his technique was still in motion… For another half-second. The thunderous roar and the flash of black came all the same, tearing through his s...

"Nameless Sage" Artwork

382 - Phantom Winds of Fate Pt. 5 [Sturmblitz]

Much like the real wall, Leopold’s defensive formation could be impenetrable or selectively allow things through. Leopold’s mastery of it, though imperfect, would more than suffice to cut down this upstart.

There was no use to it on its own. It could buy time.

But the wall was wrought of his own rampaging swordlight. It could, as easily as a guard became a lunge, change from a defense to an offense. And, if the Blackwall was the Ankhezian Empire’s supreme defensive monument,...

381 - Phantom Winds of Fate Pt. 4 [Sturmblitz]

No matter how quick the aura-blades were, however, she saw them coming, and saw their faults. They were infinitesimally thin, so thin as to be almost invisible head-on — the efficiency of Leopold’s technique was unparalleled, allowing him to spit out this blender possibly indefinitely. If not indefinitely, then the thing to give out would be his body, not his aura. But Zefaris could still shatter them from the side, or else throw them off-course, so long as her bullet had even the slighte...

380 - Phantom Winds of Fate Pt. 3 [Sturmblitz]

Leopold snorted derisively, “Cloak and dagger? You flatter yourself. My knowledge of our arts is unrivaled, and I have thoroughly reviewed not only your sect’s “Sturmblitz Kunst 0,” but also detailed reports of your personal battle arts. I am well aware of your devilish necromancy.”

Zefaris allowed her confusion to show through a raised eyebrow, and she was certain that Leopold took it the wrong way. The fact someone had surface knowledge of the Sword Phantom Scriptur...

247 - Give Me An Excuse [Cherno]

Brizogia took an obnoxiously long sip from her drink. It was barely coffee — a cup of hot milk with a shot of espresso and four spoonfuls of sugar. 

“Putting all pleasantries aside, I believe I’ve made myself abundantly clear in our past communications — as limited as they have been. To my knowledge, you have been an independent for the full duration of your short, if rather eventful stay in my city. You stand only to gain by working for the Silversword Agency…�...

246 - Brizogia Rasug al-Imuzat [Cherno]

Actually getting access to the killing-house and getting the people working there to look the other way turned out to be easier than she had expected. Some rings to grease the foreman’s palms and a few hand-rolled cigarettes to fill his mouth with smoke was all it took. Krahe placed two arrays of explosives — one within and around the stairway, and the other inside the basement, painstakingly carving away sections of wall to properly hide them from sight. She then concealed a trigger-rece...

245 - Snare Set [Cherno]

She left the dead-drop point alone for now, knowing full well that they would be paying attention to it. The possibility of being attacked at that cafe didn’t particularly concern her — it was one of, if not the most public place she visited, not far from the central square. No, she just wanted to let them stew for a bit, and to give herself time to take other actions and observe whether the stalkers reacted to them, thus proving their employer was connected.

Razem welcomed...

244 - Catching Up Pt. 4/Actual Real Gangstalking [Cherno]

After only a few days’ wait, Krahe could count among her possessions a somewhat portable sort-of-computer, customized for security and equipped with what was functionally an aftermarket firmware and operating system. It came inside an unbranded, reinforced, and warded suitcase, which had extra space for a spare thaumine canister and several memslates. The cogen’s internals resembled a mechanical ribcage filled by countless armatures, the spine being a series of inte...

243 - Catching Up Pt. 3 [Cherno]

“One dose of Class-3 rejection suppressant,” Krahe offered.

“Oh, that’s good, but I can’t ‘member where exactly I filed last month’s report. Hope not that memslate that snapped in half before I made a backup…” he continued haggling as they reached his computer and he hopped up into his chair.

“Final offer: One dose of Class-3 painkiller, two doses of rejection suppressant, and I won’t accidentally torch your smut collection,” Krahe offered, raising her hand...

242 - Catching Up Pt. 2 [Cherno]

“Any experience with evolving an eidolon?” Krahe asked.

“Yes and no. What I know will not be helpful to you. Your methods are simply more refined in all ways that matter. You are a Lost Sun Society member, no?” Yao deadpanned.

“How convenient of you to bring it up,” Krahe said, facetiously. “I mean to ask Zachariah for access to the Society’s restricted materials. Could you pressure him to accept my request without questioning it?”

Yao’s annoyanc...

241 - Catching Up [Cherno]

Rather than actually beeline straight to Yao’s paper-walled fortress, Krahe bumbled around the city for a short time and eventually made her way to Gashward Road. There, she found nothing. No deliveries waiting for her at the nearby shrine, and no signs of break-in. Everything was exactly as she had left it, if dusty.

And so, she waited, passing the time in any way she could, making for Yao’s only when the time felt right. The talisman mistress, unlike Garvesh, express...

Zelsys next artwork WIP

the boots are not final and the impelling arm will be reverted to the previous design

240 - Back Into the Saddle [Cherno]

Krahe wasted no more time, making her way to baneworm-run tailoring shop which Garvesh first referred her to. Even if they couldn’t produce the more complex of her choices, she was certain they could furnish her with more variations for her wardrobe. Somewhat irritatingly, they made a fuss about her arrival, closing down the shop just for her. Apparently, as she learned from them, Garvesh had reached out to everyone he knew in an attempt to find out whether she was alive, and even after rec...

239 - The Demon's Return (Goes Unnoticed) Pt. 2 [Cherno]

Despite the rumors, Krahe’s re-emergence into the city went unnoticed. She simply appeared from a particularly well-hidden door in a random basement safehouse, one of over a dozen possible exit points for the tramline. From there, she wasted no time in putting her affairs in order. When she went to pick up her order of upgraded lenses for the Prospector’s Eyes, the craftsman remarked that she was late. He hadn’t sold them — if anything, he grabbed them from right under the counter, as...

"Blackhand" Artwork [Cherno]

238 - The Demon's Return (Goes Unnoticed) [Cherno]

“I fear I cannot do exactly what you wish, but… There is an option. It will entail not just a graft, but also further brain surgery, and it likely will not allow you to simply enter that state at will. If I were to guess, it will make it easier to enter and maintain it,” the grafter said.

“There’s a catch. What is it?” Krahe asked.

Firminus smiled.

“We don’t have the parts,” he shrugged. “The truth is, I was not able to conceive of a manner to directly tr...

237 - Nemea [Cherno]

Over the coming days, the Adamas Organ settled in, and Krahe began noticing the changes. They were subtle, at first, only for her skin to rapidly begin turning black and growing stiff, starting on her side right where the organ had been implanted. Over the course of around half a day, the affected area would return to normal, shedding in a manner resembling forgescale. It progressed outward in waves, leaving behind subtly firmer flesh. Firminus described this as a normal part of the process, ...

236 - Adamas Organ [Cherno]

“I think I remember,” Firminus said, looking off into space for a few moments. “Something about needing a reagent and a custom ritual. The eidolon should tell you what reagent you need through the system. It uh… I think it needs to gestate for some time before the ritual? You are not asking the right person here, you know.”

“Not many options at the moment,” she remarked, observing the grafter’s blade split her skin as if it were paper. The Adamas Organ appeared no less a...

235 - Tuning Complete [Cherno]

A/N: Longer than usual because I really don't want to have a chapter be half system readouts but I want to include them as a refresher.

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As the grafters progressed, so too did Krahe gradually notice improvements. Less resonance at first, and thus, less pain. From thereon, however, the resonance returned, but this time, it was cold, almost comforting. After Fidelia finished a thirteen-hour session of meticulousl...

379 - Phantom Winds of Fate Pt. 2 [Sturmblitz]

Zefaris saw them first, from where she was — the lookouts in the spire. There came no cry of warning, but she knew that they had seen her, as the sounds of exertion fell as silent as the grave, and the gate swung open. Within, the sect’s disciples had lined up, facing outward in preparation to defend their sect. A middle-aged Ikesian man, covered in scars and exuding a razor-like aura, leapt down from the spire’s second-lowest balcony, gliding through the air as if he weighed less than ...

378 - Phantom Winds of Fate [Sturmblitz]

Ikesia, the country, was new.

Ikesia, the culture, was ancient.

But the land, the land was even more ancient still.

And upon it, countless battles had been fought. Within its soil, a greater number of warriors rested than could be said for any other land upon the central continent, second only to Ankhezia.

And through this land, this unconquerable graveyard of empires, a woman travelled.

From one battlefield to the next, from the recent to the ancient, she made h...

234 - Dead Man's Root [Cherno]

Over the coming days, Krahe underwent yet another battery of tests, and went over nearly a dozen possible lung replacements all with their own advantages and downsides. One purely mechanical model in particular stood out, having an outer shell of articulated metal. These so-called “C-Infuser Mod. 5018s” had incredible performance characteristics, given the listed price — it was clear they were meant for someone with a significant proportion of high-demand musculature, and thus, Krahe wo...

233 - Full Course of Treatment [Cherno]

“Alright, I’ll trust you on this one,” Krahe said. She didn’t quite believe that she had actually said that. “I have two personal requests. First, there’s a certain technique I can use to fight well above my baseline with no physical side effects — but I can’t do it on-demand. Not anymore. When I fought Semzar, that was the first time I entered that state since I came to Zastreon. If I were to reach that state of mind through meditation for you to observe, could you produce a ...

232 - The Adamas Organ [Cherno]

Taking a long puff and ashing his cigarette, Firminus continued, exhaling that strange blue smoke all the while.

“In the short term, we can implant reinforced conduit lines — it’s a permanent version of what many Mamon Armors employ for the same reason, to protect the user from their amplified power output. When it comes to these, the options are differentiated mainly between synthetic and organic. Synthetic conduit lines are physically tougher and generally can withstand more abu...

231 - Debriefing [Cherno]

A/N: Added more detail to the items Firminus brought last chapter, including a pitcher of fruit juice.

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Before she was even halfway done reading, she had already slipped the ring onto her right index finger.

“I will put it down as claimed, then,” Firminus said. “I cannot say I do not understand. Given your apparent habit of punching up, it’s a perfect fit. Next, I believe this is yours.” 2024-09-29 00:22:54 +0000 UTC View Post

230 - The Crimson Star of Autumn [Cherno]

She ate, slowly, cautiously, but she ate. Then, before she even knew it, she was asleep again, her mind echoing with that pipe organ, and into her sight, burned the countenance of human perfection that at the center of the organ’s assembly. That visage of Zavesh, entangled amidst the pipes. Somehow, she couldn’t help but feel a something looking down upon her through the golden orbs that were its eyes. Even as the blackest pitch of a blank, dreamless sleep took hold of her, Krahe...

229 - Awake [Cherno]

Organ music again. Footsteps on stone. The sounds of machinery. Wheezing, thrumming, flowing, an alien mixture of sounds that, nonetheless, evoked the mental image of a vast computational engine.

A computational engine that, with her awakening, wound down to a near-halt. 

Everything ached. Every heartbeat sent pain flowing through her, akin to a full-body headache, as if the insides of her veins had first-degree burns. Breathing was markedly less painful, but refused to give ...

377 - After the Tribulation [Sturmblitz]

While Zel sipped from her cup, a Thundergod took the scroll in its jaws and brought it over to her side of the table. She considered how long it would have taken her to obtain such a technique under different circumstances — from an optimistic perspective, she could expect to find it within the last elder’s Eternal Vault, the same place she had obtained the Walking Way of the Despot of Self. It would just be a matter of rebuilding the Fog Gate, something she planned to do when the Krishor...