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B4 Chapter 40-41: (Ysanna Interulude)

The portal closed and she leaned forward, dropping her face into her hands. Her partner swam to the surface and coiled around the throne, resting her head at eye level. It was a kind gesture and she reached out to stroke her scales, just between the ridge of her nose, where she knew Zolnja liked it best.

"We've certainly bitten off more than we can chew," Ysanna chuckled.

The storm clouds exploded as Zolnja's tail flicked in annoyance. The water around her scales vibrat...

B4 Chapter 40: Farewell Divinity

A portal opened up, the great tidal wave of electrified water sloughing off the excess to form the archway. Reality split down the middle and peeled back, revealing a familiar manor with a black-iron gate.

Ysanna pulled us closer with a flex of her finger, drawing the platform toward the portal. We stopped just before it, the goddess and her companion bearing down from overhead.

Cal had already left, off to visit someplace far to the west. So my familiars were packed inside my s...

FHC B3 Chapter 42: The Rite Part 2

From what was explained in the brief rush over, and from what I learned over the myriad of conversations with Devon and Alice, the strain a Grimm acquires is both within and without their control.

It was like the sorting hat of houses, it knew best but if you truly desired something you would be able to argue with the system. Or at least, that was the gist of it. In reality, the process involved far more intricacies that went beyond simply choosing.

For all the myster...

FHC B3 Chapter 41: The Rite

During the rush through the tunnels I was given a sliver of information that was important: namely that I was to remain silent throughout the ritual and not to interfere.

It was exciting in its own way to finally see how Grimms were made and how that differed from my own experience. From what I learned of Alice during her ritual, the immense pain was there but nowhere near the level I had undergone.

Who knew that waves of hellfire and ice baths weren't normal?

I chu...

FHC B3 Chapter 40: Conversation

I wasn’t sure what to feel. On one hand, what the siblings had gone through was a tale of tragedy and loss. On the other, they found family with the Grimms and have lived a better life.

Alice thumbed the rim of her cup, having finished speaking.

“So your village is just gone, permanently?” I asked.

“There was never a chance to rebuild. There were only three of us alive before Devon and the others came. And Mr. Albenack took his life the morning after,” she said...

B4 Chapter 39: Earth

Cal lifted Zagreus and spun fast enough to send him flying into a comically large pool filled with jello. The adolescent hydra sank into red goop like he belonged, giving up his form to become one with the food.

Cal adjusted his jacket and sat beside me. As he did he rummaged through his pockets and pulled out another crystal.

"That was a beautiful picture. Cherish it."

I took the crystal and sent mana through the channels, revealing the picture inside.

"That's a good ...

B4 Chapter 38: Backstory

Sereza's tail lashed the air menacingly. Her tongue flopped in her mouth but no words came out.

Not the worst reaction. I wonder if I can borrow the camera from Cal.

"I knew it!"

Huh?

"You knew I was from a different world?"

"No!"

"But-"

She stomped closer and grabbed my jacket. "I knew you weren't from Solunaria. Your speech, your cadence, the attitude! The lack of common knowledge! And a felkin? You could have come from the ...

FHC B3 Chapter 39: Grab Some Grub

[Alert] You have slain: Corrupted Blood Chimera x27, CB Chimera Prime x1

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Calculating Hunt Reward

Applying Strain-Modifier: -25%

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[Alert] Portion diverted to repair Lore Matrix…

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2024-07-03 17:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post

FHC B3 Chapter 38: After Effects

Alice sipped at her tea while Astra fussed about. She looked relatively the same sans the the eyes. But there was a slight difference that you really only noticed if you paid attention.

“Your hair is longer. Like an inch? Did mine grow after the incident?” I asked.

Astra stopped and carressed a strand of Alice’s hair. Her lips pursed and she jotted down another measurement before returning to her previous task of attempting to measure Alice’s mana.

I had seen the dev...

B4 Chapter 37: Celebration

A chill shot down my spine. Cal's eyes bulged as he tightened his grip.

I didn't dare to breathe, or even blink.

The silence carried on for what felt like eternity before a sharp laugh cut through the storm.

"Really? Resorting to mind games now?" Ysanna said.

Aurelion chuckled and there was a spark of ether from somewhere above. "It was a good try. After all, what a better place to hide than under our noses."

"Leave. Last warning," Zolnja threatened. 2024-07-01 17:19:01 +0000 UTC View Post

FHC B3 Chapter 37: Alice

 Grumbling from my gut pulled me to consciousness. I sat up in time and saw a sack thrown my way.

‘Wha?”

“Its jerky. If you want to get a real meal you can go to the mess hall,” Astra said from across the room. 

She was still working on the book, cataloging the runes while activating it every minute to conjure a new batch for her to quickly sketch down.

“Any progress?”

“I’...

B4 Chapter 36: Divine Intrusion

That... sounded bad. But then again...

"That's a little much, don't you think? The Weave couldn't have booped me with its divine-creation tentacles and be done with it?"

Eraztis pointed a clawed finger at my chest but he shivered and collapsed, dropping his head between his knees.

"We're gods. We experience the Weave's touch on numerous occasions. But your damn mortal body doesn't even have the capacity to feel all that transpired. And yet..."

Ysanna continued to strok...

FHC Chapter 36: Frustrating Runes

“And that’s how Alice got her boon,” I said. “After that I retrieved the bones and we waited for Grim to arrive.”

“You mean the sack on your hip contains the bones of our fallen?” Astra asked, pointing to my waist.

Ahhhh.

An audible smack echoed through the room as I dragged my hand down my face. “I completely forget. I was supposed to give them to someone but then Adeline came along, and Alice fainted and�...

FHC B3 Chapter 35: Catch Up

As we made our way up the mountain, we passed several groups of Grimms, them tending to rove in packs of two or three. Some I barely recognized, others I didn’t. But they seemed to keep to themselves, going out of their way to avoid our path.

All except one, who beelined for Adeline, drawing her away into a conversation. As they got into a heated discussion, I lightly bumped into Kierra, drawing her attention.

“So what’s been going on? What d...

B4 Chapter 35: Divine Reactions

Why did everything have to hurt as much as it did?

If the last portal made my body feel wrong in every way imaginable, the journey from the dungeon to the goddess' realm was like raking raw wounds against a road made of salt and limes.

It hurt, and it cut deep. But a gentle pressure squeezed around me, shunting the pain to the back of my mind while my familiars got to work. They soothed the pain away, mentally and physically. But they couldn't ease the hurt inside my ve...

FHC B3 Chapter 34: Not-so-welcome Welcome

I stood up, unsure of what to say. I didn’t actually expect him to come rescue us, if anything I figured the portal would appear and we’d return ourselves. Instead, Grim seemed to barely contain his laughter as he breathed in.

His eyes flickered and dimmed into a dull scarlet before he ran his hand down a nearby trunk. The bark flaked and left his palm black, but he didn’t seem to mind–going so far as to taste the soot.

“Familiar,” he muttered. 2024-06-24 17:06:00 +0000 UTC View Post

B4 Chapter 34: Dungeon Overload

"Ge-get off me!"

I rolled my neck and cracked open my eyelids to see Isaac slapping a wall of furry flesh. His lower half was trapped underneath, and he even had a few tendrils out trying in vain to pull him free.

My body wasn't hurt, but it felt wrong in every flavor. I could taste colors again, and some burned others were too cold, and a few actively felt like acid eating my skin.

The explosion of wrongness lasted long enough for me to cough before...

FHC B3: Chapter 33: Still Waiting

The stone consumed his head and expanded untill it became the same marble slab as when we first arrived. I sank my claws into my palm, allowing the flames to die now that the threat was gone.

Alice stumbled and I ordered Freki to emerge. As she nearly collapsed, he served as a brace and she buried her head inside his fur.

“Ride Freki. I’ll grab the blood,” I said.

She didn’t protest and waited till Freki laid on his stomach...

FHC B3 Chapter 32: Sacrifice

For a moment, and only but, did silence fill the room. No rattling chains, random lightning bolts, or the tinkling of broken glass, just pure silence.

I licked my lips. The anger inside retreated step by step. It hovered just outside my thoughts, ready, and willing. But the Keeper’s ascent had satisfied the urge.

Alice was the one to break the silence first. She cleared her throat and motioned to my satchel. “The book.”

Nameless’ toes...

FHC B3 Chapter 31: A Bargain

Chomp!

Hot flames flooded the area as his fur came to life and he continued to crunch down. Before I could I could reach for his jaw, Freki swallowed. He released flames into the air and shook himself free with a long howl.

“Wulf!*

The buzzing stopped and I realized what it was that bothered me. Freki continued to shake as his fur regained some definition, the shadows splitting apart to reveal finer details with the flames settling...

B4 Chapter 33: Dungeon Escape!

We rushed through the passages and headed for the exit a few minutes out.

"Cyrus, what did you do?!" Sereza shouted.

"Nothing! Maybe I met god but this isn't my fault," I snapped.

"God? But there are multiple gods. Did you mean Cal?"

"Uh well no..."

"By the gods he met something beyond divinity. We're fucking dead," Isaac growled.

"Shut up," Teddy ordered. "Cyrus left or right?"

"Right."

We hopped over a cleverly concealed pitfall and...

B4 Chapter 32: Evolution

I was the storm, the fire, and the raging tide. Within me was calamity and chaos. But I wasn't ready, it could not be channeled within my soul.

If I continued on my path I would fall short. From the wellspring of potentia, it would reduce me to ash.

Ding!

The bell erased the flurry, the smoke and the darkness. The upside-down triquetra loomed above, an eye of a being so far beyond any that I've met.

It judged, and found me lacking.

 Its strings...

FHC B3 Chapter 30: Off With Its Head

We moved further to the edges of the city, the tall walls serving as a shield to the remaining firestorm that bulldozed through the ruins. 

“Why keep the place untouched if you planned to rig an explosion to it? I don’t get it,” I said.

Alice set the box done and flipped the lid, revealing its contents; a book with a gold cover and scroll of paper bound by green thread. She pulled the book out and tried to flip to a page but it remained ...

FHC B3 Chapter 29: Carved Lore

I lead us down the same path Freki took to get to the building. He greeted us at the entrance, his tail leaving scorch marks along the stone. 

“Wulf!”

“Good boy. Return to my shadow for now, I don’t trust this place,” I said after scratching behind his ears.

Freki barked and dived between my feet. Alice pulled out her axe and ran her hands along the stone door. 

“It’s smooth,” she said.

B4 Chapter 31: Ascendence

"And you're sure that you can't activate your aura skill?" Celenae asked for the hundredth time.

I backed away and slid behind Arturous, using his fur as cover.

"Cyrus,” she growled.

"Listen here, devil woman. Enough with your testing. You'll get to grill me after I do the thing. Be gone!"

I peeked and the elf had her arms crossed. Luckily, Arturous came to my rescue and slowly nudged her back with his massive snout.

"Fine. But just know that you'll be gla...

FHC B3 Chapter 28: Underground City

The mana sucked the breath out of my lungs before depositing us onto a rocky platform. When the cold stone hit my back I rolled onto my front and shot to my feet.

“What just happened?”

I spat out ash and spun slowly. We were underground somewhere. Skylight filtered through the remnants of a broken ceiling while the skeleton of buildings stood, barely more than walls of stone and ash. We were inside one of the buildings, a home if judging off the size.

B4 Chapter 30: Dangerous Actions

"Wha-I... Ahhhh."

My consciousness tried to form something but was rebuffed. Instead, I pushed closer and came within spitting distance.

The fairy had bronze skin that gleamed in the golden light. Her eyes were golden orbs and her hair was rivulets of oxidized metal, filled with splotches of green. Her wings were an amalgamation of floating blades and gears that spun in place.

"Go away!" the masculine voice screamed.

" 2024-06-07 18:19:01 +0000 UTC View Post

FHC B3 Chapter 27: Hard Fall

Flesh ripped, feathers scattered before they broke down and joined the dust. The leader swallowed the monster whole, liquid oozing down the sides of its mouth. As it devoured, the bubbling of its flesh stilled, and it dragged its claws down its cheeks.

The other monsters wailed at the sight, but none dared to run away.

While they were distracted, Alice and I slowly moved back and some of the closer creatures started to turn our direction before sto...

FHC B3 Chapter 26: Pecking Order

No time to hide, I grabbed Alice and lifted her up as Freki materialized below us. She gripped his fur and leaned forward as we bolted through the forest. The monsters followed, the howling falling behind but a shrill whistle pierced my ears and I swung my axe.

The cheetah-like monster leapt off my arm and crashed through a tree. The wood exploded beneath it as an ash cloud formed above. Freki took a sharp left turn and zig-zagged through a dense section as the cre...

B4 Chapter 29: Ambush

We turned a final bend only a couple of minutes away from what I deemed the 'fortress. But as Sereza stepped a foot past the corner mana screamed in my senses as a sharp vibrating spike of pressure.

I grasped her jacket and flung her behind me as a beam of energy engulfed the corridor. It pushed me back, burning my right leg. 

Zharia rushed in and sucked in the flames while I shot to my feet.

"Sereza! You okay?"

"I'm good. What the fuck was that?"

"No idea."...