"It didn't really resist," I muttered as I kicked the head of the Sarcouzia away from the spindly body.
It had taken me a few hours to trace down the final one, and the battle was more than a little anticlimactic.
"Of course it didn't! It had used all of its energy chasing you in its empowered state!" Fnip said.
"So, time to finally do what I came for," I said with a sigh, walking towards the central pillar. I was praying Fnip wouldn't bring up the cleaning duty he had told ...
2021-07-08 20:37:43 +0000 UTC
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Authors note: So, I did it again. Somehow I posted the wrong chapter previously. I fixed it by putting the CORRECT chapter 16 over the previous one. You can find it by following this link. https://www.patreon.com/posts/53131834 After you read 16, this one (17) should make more sense.
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Two disheartening gong sounds came from my status, showing I was lo...
2021-07-04 18:51:42 +0000 UTC
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I decided to put out a short update on what's been going on and what will happen in the next few months.
First, a bit about the writing:
I'm working on something called a chapbook for NBB A sphere's tale. That means the story will be divided into three or four parts, each roughly a hundred pages. I'll release two of those before NBB3. I'm doing this because the editing costs have steadily been going up, but the income from books only goes down. I need to find other ways to g...
2021-07-04 06:22:53 +0000 UTC
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"I wonder who she killed," Bastian whispered as he clenched his fists. "I want to be the one that puts an end to that firefucker's life!"
Bastian had been muttering the same thing for a while now, and I wasn't sure how to answer. We were sneaking through the corridors, making our way to where the Sarcouzia and the Prime were shouting and screaming for us to come to save our last friend. Now and again, a muted scream of pain came that was quickly cut short.
Every step, I felt energ...
2021-06-30 19:38:55 +0000 UTC
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GD18s mind spun quickly, scanning around. He sensed nothing, but he didn't believe Mutar would just make this up. Although he had no map of the city, he did have a road map of the area. Through the status popup, he quickly searched for Terento. A spaghetti-like roadmap appeared, and he zoomed in on the city to determine his current location and the directions out of the city. With only one six-lane road in the city and two spots with the setup of ramps he had just passed, he located himself. ...
2021-06-27 19:05:50 +0000 UTC
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"How is he not dead yet…"
Bastian's confused mutters were the first I heard as I slowly came back to. My head was pounding like crazy, and I felt an infernal itch on my shoulder. It was so bad I couldn't stop myself from reaching up to scratch.
"No, don't!" Bastian hissed, and I felt two hands lock around one of my arms.
I groaned as I opened my eyes. Everything was covered in an odd ruddy tint, and Bastians eyes seemed to glow with an inner red light. It looked positively...
2021-06-23 20:21:08 +0000 UTC
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Bastian stepped through the rubble, kicking at some books. He was wearing a massive backpack stuffed with rations and other things needed to stay here for a while.
"You two made a mess of things," he said before bending over and examining a book.
I snorted. "This was all his doing."
"And you are sure he is gone now?" Bastian asked.
"No. I can't guarantee anything, but Rathica said this should work," I said.
Bastian tossed the book away, and as it thudded on the g...
2021-06-20 18:49:22 +0000 UTC
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TD18 moved towards a passage between two buildings. A four-story building had collapsed against the one beside it, which was only still standing thanks to being stuck against the collapsed side of the cavern. The thousands of small legs that lifted him had grown stronger, and although he was still far from dexterous, he did feel he could make ten percent turns if he had to now, instead of being limited to almost straight lines unless standing still.
Keeping as quiet as a forty-meter lon...
2021-06-20 18:35:38 +0000 UTC
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I woke to feel refreshed and fit and stretched until my joints popped. Voices came from the main temple room, but I ignored them and crossed my arms behind my head. I kept my eyes closed and took deep breaths, enjoying the relaxed feeling.
After I got up, I had no idea how long it would be before I could rest this comfortably again, so I was determined to make the most of it.
After a while, I remembered the ping I'd gotten from carving Barry, well Barry 2.0, but who was counting. ...
2021-06-16 20:43:27 +0000 UTC
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As soon as Mutar was out of sight, GD18 started preparations. The longer he was here, the more dangerous it could be, and he still needed to choose his upcoming evolution. He summoned his modified status window and opened the list of potential evolutionary trees he had prepared as suitable before moving into this body. They covered every possible situation he could find himself in, with a slew of different types and requirements. Below each was a section of in-depth information. He minimized ...
2021-06-13 19:17:54 +0000 UTC
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Before Laurel could vocalize the shock on her face, low rumbling laughter filled the room. The three of us turned to the door, where Ulderion was shaking his head, still with his back towards us.
"That's why you're growing so fast! You're an imbalanced one," he laughed again, then waved his hands around.
The earth around him cracked as saplings shot up, growing so fast it was hard to follow. A wave of grass stretched out from below Ulderion, quickly flowing into the room like wate...
2021-06-13 17:45:09 +0000 UTC
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When GD18 finished inscribing the vocal pattern, Mutar still wasn't back. GD18 wasn't worried. He had seen how fast the undead had gotten used to his body during the battle. If anything happened, he should be able to flee.
GD18 focused on the skill and rumbling moved through the tunnel. Stones began bobbing up and down, and dust fell from the ceiling. A soft buzzing followed, and for a few minutes, odd sounds echoed around. Then a soft, surprisingly smooth, and mellow voice echoed throu...
2021-06-09 18:48:27 +0000 UTC
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I closed the door, my eyes on Laurel, who was still pleading in front of the statue with a voice close to breaking. The pleading in her voice reminded me of something I'd rather forget. A moment when I'd pleaded like that, but for a different reason. For a moment, I was lying on the sidewalk again, the kicks landing hard on my curled-up back. Then the moment passed.
I couldn't recall the last time I'd remembered it this strongly.
Rathica's statue began glowing brightly, and a mome...
2021-06-09 18:39:51 +0000 UTC
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An hour later, they found themselves at another crossroads, and this time the choice was easy. GD18 turned right into a much wider tunnel from which came a thick, pungent smell. Sickly and sweet, he knew what it was, his body instinctively told him as his massive lined stomachs rumbled.
"Are you breaking?" Mutar asked while he held onto the scales with fingers turned to claws.
No. I am hungry, GD18 replied.
Another silence followed.
"What?"
It's comp...
2021-06-05 19:08:39 +0000 UTC
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"You're joking, right?" I said, staring in disbelief at the small, dusty, and doorless room. It was carved out of the rock of the eastern cliff.
Haltir and I stood in a dirty alley after walking through what had to be the worst part of town. All the buildings were rundown with closed and shuttered windows, while dirt and waste littered the narrow streets.
"There isn't another place, Est," Haltir said with a grunt before walking into the room. He took a quick look around. "Go do yo...
2021-06-05 18:36:26 +0000 UTC
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Dammit! GD18 cursed as he pulled in as much data from the next database as he could. The connection kept destabilizing like some archaic over the air network. The second it finished, he selected the third and probably final one he could download before the connection terminated.
He had planned on taking over a dozen sets of data but now had to make do with the three most important ones. The first had been mainly inscriptions, the second anything about math, science, and a choic...
2021-06-03 18:02:49 +0000 UTC
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GD18 scrutinized the skeleton. It was different from the ones it found in its databases, reminding him more of humans. Scanning through the plans he had laid out for after he had taken over the Wyrm, he realized he needed to make some changes to how he dealt with Mutar. He had to quickly get the skeleton out of his new Wyrm body because of how vulnerable he would be without defenses on the inside. He started creating dozens of contingency plans and only stopped when he felt secure in having t...
2021-05-30 17:37:35 +0000 UTC
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"It has to be a demon," Laurel said as she stared across the table laden with plates of food.
I shrugged, gnawing at what looked like a haunch of meat, but what Laurel told me was actually a mushroom. It tasted a bit like beef, but it wasn't as stringy and a bit too soft for my liking. Swallowing another bite, I wondered if I could ever get some normal food again, earth food. Still, this was the best breakfast I'd had in a while.
I swallowed the last of the not-meat and grabbed a ...
2021-05-30 17:23:22 +0000 UTC
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With my gaze firmly locked on the hallway through which Ellis and Richal were, I began cooking up a plan to get rid of them.
I felt something inside me struggle as different ways of killing the two primes played through my mind. I'd never been ruthless, but I felt little as I imagined tricking them into a dangerous room or into some trap. Partially this was because I didn't feel like I had much choice in the matter. I had come here because I needed to find a way to disguise my body, and...
2021-05-30 17:23:11 +0000 UTC
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A stunned silence hung in the stomach as GD18 stared wordlessly at the chessboard in front of him. That was almost at the level of a grandmaster, he thought as he analyzed the forty-one games they had played, again and again, creating graphs and with curves that went up so steeply until they culminated with the last game.
"You won again," Mutar said, sounding annoyed.
Yes… but if we continue, soon I'll need to use my own processing instead of a fake grandmaster to w...
2021-05-25 18:55:26 +0000 UTC
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The guard just looked at us for a while, his eyes seemingly glued on our mounts. The muted sounds of festivities came from the door behind him. After a moment, he beckoned us forward, and Laurel dismounted, guiding the goat forward by hand. The gate was obviously meant for cindermares, as Laurel and the goat fit through fine.
I dismounted and followed her through the three-meter thick wall. Looking at the massive square stones that made up the wall, I noticed symbols inscribed in them. ...
2021-05-25 18:44:24 +0000 UTC
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"I'm bored," Mutar said, sitting motionless on the rock and staring into the slowly bubbling white liquid that was the stomach acid.
"So you've told me forty-seven times already in the past week," GD18 responded, wondering if he should have named the skeleton 'Annoying' in the ancient Latin language. At first, he had thought it was useful for the skeleton to gain emotions, but as time passed, it was getting on his artificial nerves.
"Yes. Tell me about the past again."
N...
2021-05-19 19:57:02 +0000 UTC
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Ten minutes after we had begun fleeing from the Inrel Demon, I couldn't hear the Torpels anymore, and a cursory glance had shown there was nothing following us. Haltir didn't show any signs of stopping, though. With a pounding headache and tired as if I hadn't slept in a week, I was having a hard time holding on to the mount, my pack, and my ax as I constantly bounced in the saddle.
"I think we can slow down a bit now," I groaned.
"No," Haltir said, shaking his head sharply. "That...
2021-05-19 19:48:57 +0000 UTC
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We walked our goats through long, four-meter high, six-meter wide paths that led straight through the mountain. A dim light came from smaller corridors to our right.
Taking a look at the one we passed, I looked at the well-lit area that lay beyond. Small openings were barely visible in the corridor. Doors that led to sizable apartments with a common room, two bedrooms, and a kitchen. Each had windows that gave a free view of the other side of the mountain, beyond the river.
"I've ...
2021-05-16 18:26:10 +0000 UTC
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For the next few weeks, GD18 paid close attention to anything the Wyrm swallowed, quickly coming to the conclusion that there was far too much sand, stone, and debris for it to be normal. That meant the Wyrm was below ground or in a canyon system.
Three weeks, two days, and a few hours later, another rumbling indicated the Wyrm was eating something again. As GD18's scanners were put to the maximum, a host of debris and skeleton remains flushed down the throat again. Halfway in, a flaili...
2021-05-16 18:25:25 +0000 UTC
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We searched around the mountains for three days, trying to locate a good spot for a city, resting either near Torpel Trees or close to the coast. We didn't find any other food, and the fish didn't taste any better after it was dried. Still, even with the constant fear of monsters, we slept well and weren't going hungry.
On the fourth day, we were moving a little deeper into mountains, following a ten-meter wide river that was flowing around a steep hill. The goats were easily navigating...
2021-05-12 19:35:00 +0000 UTC
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A bright blue light suddenly snapped on in a moist and dark chamber with soft and contracting walls, and a crisp female voice began speaking.
~ Massive influx of ambient undead energy radiation… Damage sustained due to blunt trauma. Using energy to initiate basic repair program. ~
The blue light began pulsating, and dozens of beams of it scanned the surrounding walls. The process lasted until the pulsating stopped again.
~ Reparations complete. Converting ambient undead en...
2021-05-09 20:01:35 +0000 UTC
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I stared at the group of four Vengeful Sprayers as I had dubbed them. A fifth one was en route to the sea to get his first load. It was becoming light, and although I was tired, I was also incredibly content.
Three rudimentary bows lay beside me, only lacking a string, while two shin guards sat attached to my legs, but my attention wasn't on that. I was staring at Laurel as the four Sprayers stalked closer to her sleeping form.
"Now!" I whispered loudly, and immediately they spray...
2021-05-09 19:50:05 +0000 UTC
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"You're sure we can't remove it?" I asked, staring at the beautiful vista behind a massive fungal growth.
"Impossible. The seeds will be deep in the ground, and it will regrow, infecting everyone and everything," Laurel said as she inspected the massive mushrooms and fungi.
We were standing on the edge of the sparse forest, looking at the top of a hill not too far away. After scouting around for a while, it had looked like one of the few promising spots, at least from far away. It...
2021-05-06 17:34:16 +0000 UTC
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** Note from the author **
My proofreader hasn't had the chance to read this yet, so you might find some errors. I'll put up the edited version as soon as I get it.
** -- **
Chapter 1: A new goal
"Do you think he will stop pouting soon?"
"Leave him be. He just heard that a massive amount of his people died."
I tried to ignore Haltir and Laurel and their barely suppressed whispers as I stared out across the sea far below. A chill...
2021-05-02 19:13:13 +0000 UTC
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