syringe

197. From the Perspective of the Archvist

Death. Streets washed with fresh blood. Gutters filled with the discarded remains of the tasteless. An urban complex of sewerage mixed with what could barely pass as homes ran through the city. Where the red, cobblestone streets were its veins, its inhabitants were its blood, and they bled thoroughly with each passing day.

Life was miserable. Murder was prevalent. To walk out in the day meant one of three things: You were a part of a Syndicate and therefore, could not be touched; you we...

196. A Mother's Love

Hellen could never forget their faces. It hadn’t been that long to begin with. With the whole time dilation shenanigans and everything they’ve gone through, Frost felt like they’ve been separated for years.

Hellen was one of the few people they could trust. She been with them through thick and thin in Grandis and was aware of Frost’s identity as the Amalgam. Moreover, Hellen and Alice were under the protection of Act X so long as they were in possession of the Strings.

The...

195. Hellen's Store

The rumor of Mimicry was one of several in the Nex Megaloplis. Unconfirmed threats and gossips were categorized by the awareness and commotion they generated amongst the populace, whether in Nex Megalopolis or afar. They began nothing but rumors because one could never prove their existence.

But slowly, they climbed and crept into the minds of countless like creeping ivy.

Ara was well versed with the processes of the city. Despite her wealthy heritage, he was born in the ...

194. And the Store Clerk is No More

Hellen’s music store was located along H5’s main strip. Vocalis was the name of its major city, and the nearby settlements were named similarly after instruments. This city was, to Frost’s shock, named after Hellen the Vocalist by the late Green Composer.

It was no wonder that people immediately recognized her. Hellen was far more famous than she could have ever imagined.

“Fame can only take you so far. No one knew who Hellen was except for that annoying woman. You know, t...

193. Nav's Wish

Farewells were exchanged, and everyone was prepared to depart. Before this, Frost had privately spoken to Kissaria regarding the Oboros Infinitas. To her surprise, she knew of the name but not their purpose. They were an Atelier that apparently did not exist in any records, and all attempts to uncover them usually resulted in the curious seeker’s disappearance.

But she did have one tidbit of knowledge. The Oboros Infinitas was an esoteric existence and were highly tied with Justica Ar...

192. Goodbye, Navigator!

Nav never spoke another word since it received its Atelier Item. The sweet nectar of morality couldn’t have been crueler. It dangled before Nav, just out of reach.

Suspended was the cupcake, left to wait until the day Nav gained its body.

Frost tried to comfort Nav. It was her closest friend next to Jury. Despite its inability to express itself, the silence spoke a thousand more words than Nav ever could. An AI, machine, human – Frost didn’t care what Nav was.

Nav was ...

191. Their Atelier Items

The Derma layer smelt of fresh blood. Due to the disparity of time between the Epiderma and the Derma layer it was as though they had never left. Ruined walls gushed with blood. The remains of the City of Vocals was one colossal dilapidated fountain.

They arrived at the summit, gazing down from the base of the fallen spire. Frost lamented the loss in silence as Kissaria devoured the world with unmoved eyes. The world reflected off her crimson irises as the cavern mourned the dead with a...

190. Why Do Birds Fly?

“Why do birds fly?”

Frost tried to find a hidden meaning behind this question. But no matter how hard she pondered, she could only arrive at only one logical answer.

“Is it because they’re given wings?” She uttered, causing Kissaira to smirk, then slowly shake her head with sealed eyes.

“Then why can’t healers fly? The roost of the slaughter looks to the skies and flaps their wings in their pastures. They cannot fly either, yet they were given wings.”

S...

189. Kissaria's Process

“Lift yer chin. Take a deep breath. Push out your chest like a baboon lookin’ for a mate! No… MORE!”

Kissaria coached Frost somewhere on the newly formed 4thfloor. A yellow tint defined this level, as did giant, spacious corridors which would allow larger Corrupted to fit. It was like an arena more than anything else, but much to her surprise, the floor was slightly smaller than the ones above.

This was because floors did not emerge in their maximum size immediately. It ne...

188. The Impulse Artificer

Time operated in mysterious ways. In the minutes that Frost had spent in the presence of the Site Core translated to hours outside. Her body was described to have been frozen to an observer. Like her time had stopped.

Jury was the only one who could interact with Frost. All other attempts simply caused their hands and objects to pass through the phantom Frost. This was why she had found herself resting on Jury’s lap. What she experienced was similar to whenever Jury explored the Etern...

187. The Sound of a Gentle Clock

Frost began to move again, and this time, she noticed that she was finally able to approach the Site Core at a reasonable rate. The Black Horsemen never allowed her to get close. The flames she possessed frightened it despite its relatively moot tone.

“Why are you so afraid of me? Hey… Hey! Please, listen. Is… Is it true that I destroyed the old world?” She asked.

“I believe you should not feel guilty as you are, for you do not remember your old self. The Original would ...

186. The Black Horseman

The term ‘if you gaze into the abyss, then the abyss stares back at you’ carried a tangible weight. It was not just a mere figure of speech, or the uncanniness of gazing into the unknown.

Rather, she felt as though something within stared back. Something familiar that she couldn’t put her finger on. The overwhelming sense of familiarity was shared with the disembodied Nav, who could not describe the sensation it felt within its presence.

The Site Core must have originated fr...

185. The Site Core

Frost’s mind immediately went to Jury. She couldn’t help but wonder if her ticking was anything similar to the Aberrations. Nothing suggested this was the case, and she was shooting blanks for all she knew. But she still entertained the idea.

She had heard the ticking before, and it sounded nothing like Jury’s. Nothing did. Not even the analogue clocks of the Site. Just the mere thought of Jury wanted her to return, but no matter the direction she took she would always end up in t...

184. A Stroll Around the Site

Nights in F-H5 were filled with an eerie silence. The worst nights dipped to sub-freezing temperatures in the Twilight layers, which were level 3 and 4. It was much warmer above in the Shallows, and it seldom saw a night that deviated from the perfect room temperature.

The Site lacked any forms of temperature control. One had to wonder just how much colder it became as one descended. It wasn’t a thought Frost particularly enjoyed because those horrible temperatures were what Workers a...

183. Last of the Tribulations

They were at the dawn of the 4th day. The morning Tribulation was a breeze, just like the previous few. Today, their first encounter was with the Bloody Festival. They sent their sluggish Reorganizers, only to be incinerated by Frost's fire magic.

Her skills saw incremental improvements thanks to them. None had reached over level 10 yet, but Inferno was close, sitting at [7/10]. Out of all the Impuritas they had fought thus far, the Librarians were what she considered the worst solely d...

182. Impuritas and Their One Wish

She barged into the northern room and left the crowd of Workers and Employees shocked by the state of the hallways. They could not believe a healer was capable of such combat prowess, and not to mention that her speed was so swift that she leapt over them as the Overseer immediately opened the westmost door, where she was surprised to find it empty.

This L-shaped hallway was one of the few spared from the invasion. Usually, upwards of 4 hallways on each floor would spawn the Im...

181. Tribulation Dungeon: Crimson Hunger

There were 3 rules when it came to Tribulations.

The first was that all Workers needed to immediately cease all activity and return from mandated breaks to deal with the threat. It did not matter if they were asleep or ill. It was an ‘all hands-on deck’ operation.

The second required all Workers and Employees to remain within one of 4 wings of their floor, or the central room where the elevators were located. Anyone outside would be met with a gruesome end unless they...

180. A Slightly Normal Cer

A Corrupted created by Frost’s own trauma.

The thought that such a thing existed caused conflicting emotions to arise. It was a weird, almost motherly feeling. But there was also a begrudging sense of hostility. The Vengeful Red-Hooded Assassin was an A-Classed Threat, and it wielded an oversized anti-materiel rifle.

What boggled her mind the most was how it was only categorized as A with something that could cleave right through the thickest of metal. In fact, a rifle ...

179. The Origin of the Biggest Red Sniping Hood

“Have you ever gotten a positive outcome from it?” Frost asked, looking at the counter which had a giant ‘X’ on it, indicating that the Corrupted was incapable of escaping.

“Once, that’s how we know it’s useless. But it produces a substantial amount of Nex when two or more people interact. We think It’s Obsession because it’s probably a flower meant for one person.” He explained, and further added on its revealed backstory.

Apparently, this flower was born by a...

178. Confirming a Corrupted

The Facility never sleeps.

So long as the Corrupted existed then the Workers, the Employees, the Navigator, and the omnipotent Overseer could not afford to take pleasure in leisurely comforts. They had strict curfews and two separate shifts, although, depending on the risks, all Workers needed to be prepared throughout each and every day.

Today was one of the days where every Worker needed to remain vigilant. The Navigator and the Overseer seldom saw rest, if ever. While the Navig...

Special 3: Dreams and Nightmares

Frost couldn’t remember the last time she dreamt. Her nights were so rugged and restless that she spent hours gazing up at the stars. The constellations always looked the same. If it weren’t for the Nexus, then she would have believed she was still on Earth, lost somewhere in the great wilderness away from the clamor of civilization.

The lightless world of Elysia allowed the stars to flourish. The moon casted a beautiful light overhead as Frost laid beside Jury on their third night ...

177. Instruments and the 5-Day Plan

Relationships between Frost and the entirety of F-H5 were strained. She appeared highly arrogant in the rest of the Facility’s eyes regarding her strongarming of the Overseer. As a result, her ground was quickly unwanted from their appointed residential area, which belonged in the heart of the 2nd floor.

This was also due to Ara’s presence. The Workers were uncomfortably being in the proximity of a potential Corrupted, especially within their vulnerable residential rooms. They adama...

176. Taking Ara

Ara was a Blessed Conductor much to their surprise. A Conductor were those that were able to conjure a magical symphony for mostly support. Where potions helped the individual, and where other Professions allowed people to buff people in masse, Conductors could do this in a grand scale.

They were frequently used in wars. A marching band had a practical use in this world, aside from morale.

The first person Frost questioned was the Navigator.

In her defense, the Blessed could...

175. A Musical Prisoner

Frost scoured the first half of the 3rd floor. Each floor increased by 50% as one descended. As large as it was, traversing them was a simple task for their speed. Frost had been compiling the Attributes of the Corrupted and aligning them with the Affinities.

What she gathered was interesting. There were a total of 11 Attributes, but she only had 10 Affinities. The missing Affinity was Amalgamation no doubt. Each Attribute-related Affinity were:

Righteousness – Judgement

R...

174. The Corrupted Coffee Machine

Floor by floor, Frost and her team familiarized themselves with the layout. Each floor was built like a spider’s web, with interconnecting tunnels between each major wing. The wings were located at the ends of the corridors. Each floor had 4 wings.

The residential wing, the infirmary wing, the welfare wing and finally, the information wing. The central wing, which Frost, and the others had first arrived in, belonged to the Unit Manager of the 1stfloor. This person oversaw all personne...

173. Understanding ImpulseWorks

Towns. Cities. Kingdoms. Domains. Empires. These were all Nex-rich environments.

She was surprised to find that even Colors were allowed to have a flick through the Overseer's Manual so long as they were granted permission by Level 1 personnel. This only consisted of the Overseer and the Navigator.

ImpulseWorks was a morally challenging topic. On one hand Frost could not forgive how dispensable people were within the Atelier, as well as the placements of the Sites. But at the same...

ImpulseWorks Training Manual

Link to G-Drive containing PDF.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18TVJ0GcpMUxzUJpQLwBgmPkvxpVC2JC3?usp=sharing

172. An Overview of F-H5

ImpulseWorks Sites were never small. Even the most mundane and low-risked Sites were behemoths that rested beneath rock and soil. The corridors Frost and her group travelled through were made large for the purpose of accommodating Corrupted upwards of 10 meters in size.

These rooms were built at the highest point of F-H5 and did not house the Corrupted. Rather, this was where various Employees such as cleaners, clerks and other administrative and basic personnel called their home. Emplo...

171. ImpulseWorks Site Workers

An array of footsteps rapidly approached. The thick steel doors were raised open as 5 black-suited personnel flooded the room. It was a small mix of individuals with polarizing personalities.

Where one smiled and gave a small, cheerful wave, another just glared in their direction, and one tried to subtly hide themselves between the shoulders of their associates.

Worker

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Soul Rank: 2023-01-17 04:07:24 +0000 UTC View Post