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Chapter 158: You Dont Have These?
Now, how to singlehandedly steal a slime princess I know nothing about, in an area I know nothing about, without the people who live here getting suspicious of the strangers in the area?Calvin opened up a leather bound case of vials, with each of his mutations clearly labeled on the glasses, running his fingers over it to remind himself of his options in a visual way and possibly spark some idea.Hmmm Mesmerizing Eyes, Heart of the Swarm.Calvin could turn into a Lure, actually. They had the ability to focus their effect on a specific creature,...
Chapter 157: Peer Pressure
Welcome, great heroes! The matriarch of the Ooze Weaver tribe said, making the odd flag-waving motion as they approached.Norlocks didnt have their own language. They were asocial creatures and generally not intelligent enough to learn speech until they reached a size impossible by normal standards. The language must have come from the Ooze weavers, and Calvin was pleased to see himself proved correct. Eating the norlocks tongue had given him access to ooze weaver languageDidnt do anything for body language, though.Rather than assembli...
Chapter 156: Fishing By The Lake
***Ykuingi, Daughter of the Chief***Ykuingi led the way through the canopy, leaving a trail of Binding behind her, making a safe trail for the for the rest of the troop to follow, her hearts pounding as she moved. How could she not be nervous?The chief had told them to observe the humans in the case they balked in the face of Yninquiak. If they did, she would be required to fulfill her duty to the tribe.The cruel tyrant keeps demanding the largest of us, and sends its spies to confirm. If this goes on, well be nothing but dumb animals. To Yku...
Chapter 155: The Bigger they Are
***Ykuingi, Daughter of the Chief***The creatures were hideous: Skin dry as a desert, strange mosslike clumps growing on their crests. They had thick stumpy limbs, and they only used two of them, so they tottered around in an extremely ungainly manner as they stepped off their raft.They looked somewhat like a Guar, in number of limbs and ungainliness.Look at this guy, Nynguik said, nudging Ykuingi Every step he takes, he looks like hes gonna fall over. The farmer gave a burbling chuckle when one of the creatures actually did trip step...
Chapter 154: Welcome Snot
Learners notes: day 256: on grieving.Death is what happens to these humans when a cascade failure in their specialized units leads to total unit shutdown. Some of these organs are so delicate that a nick the size of the tip of my pinky can lead to cascade organ failure.Truly poor design, but I already knew this.Instead, what I have studied today is the social behavior of how humans respond when one of their own has died. In the city, Im sure there were plenty of examples of this behavior, but it was generally rare and hidden behind clos...
Chapter 153: Swept Away
And lo, one day it started raining, unrelenting for four months. We suffered every manner of rain there is. Stinging rain, Heavy, brooding rain, Rain that swept in sideways, and sometimes rain that seemed to rise from below. Forsooth, it even rained at night.- Translated to Gadveran from an ancient fableFive days upriver, the expedition ran into its first major threat. It wasnt roaming monsters, or genosian ambush.It was rain. The godsdamned inanimate, mindless weather.Weve got to pull off the river! Ella shouted. The genosian fighter h...
Chapter 152: A day in the life of Goob
***Goob***The life of a lab assistant is rough, Goob thought, yawning as he walked back to his tent after a long day of organizing research data from the knick-knacks. While the knick knacks were smart and coordinated, they often missed variables that were obvious to a living, breathing human being. For example one of the inks was accompanied by uncontrollable weeping, which Goob struck off the list of possibilities.It was also Goobs job to watch for opportunities that werent obvious to a machine. Their task was solely to find an ink that a...
Chapter 151: Inked
While Calvins adoptive mother was busily scarring people for life, Calvin got busy making the ink, recalling the briefing on Genosian Tattoo rituals.In a Genosian bonding ritual, Ella had said, The man chooses the ink and the pattern. The woman chooses the size and location. During the tattooing, the man must remain still and suffer through wherever his prospective mate chooses to apply it.So you could put it on my face if you wanted to? Calvin asked, hesitantly.Yes. Actually, many women who arent particularly enthusiastic abo...
Chapter 150: You wouldn't hit a baby, would you?
Calvins army of humans and Cobalts sat in a swath of land cleared by the knick-knacks as they constructed the dock and the barges. Calvin himself was eating breakfast on a tree stump and watching Karens first lesson as he considered his Genosian breeding tattoo. Turned out Ella had bought tattooing needles from Mujenan, just in case she should she ever have the need.Calvin rolled his eyes at the thought and centered his attention on Karen, strutting back and forth in front of the assembled army, with her baby tucked in the crook of her musc...
Chapter 149 Jungle Love
Its driving me mad, its making me crazy! Elliot caterwauled in the back of Calvins head as they trudged through the dense forest, smacking mosquitos off every couple seconds.How do you know so many songs? Calvin thought as he killed yet another biting insect.Oh, they dont have a crystalization of all human knowledge where you come from? Elliot clicked his tongue. Sad.It was times like this he questioned his decision to walk all the way to his land rather than fly there.Sure there were reasons, like laying down a simple trail with his kn...
Chapter 148: The Reception
Freeform mode is dangerous. One day Goob was testing it while we were still working out the kinks, and his concentration slipped for just a second, creating a horrific monster that was half attractive yandere next door, half grilled cheese sandwich.The girlfriend/sandwich monster was born.Now it seeks to finish what it started, suffocating Goob in an avalanche of scalding hot cheese and kisses. Unfortunately for us, it wised up after the first couple times we nearly killed it, so its learned to be more stealthy and judicious about when it str...
Chapter 147: The Birthday Presents
Learners notes, day 221: Birthday parties.Ive come to learn of something called peacocking from Kala, whereby a male flaunts his wealth or style in order to attract a female. She said that its practically expected at her birthday parties, which make them tremendously dull for her.When asked what a Peacock was, Kala didnt know. Strange that the etymology of so many words in modern society are shrouded in mystery. This leads me to suspect some cataclysmic event in hoot - human history that destroyed everything but oral histories. I wou...
Chapter late
aunt in law died this morning. had to spend time with wife and family.(unrelated to the pandemic) sorry I missed last night and today isnt looking great either. I took the suggestions for altering the timeline and edited the time skip to seven months.thats been fixed, plus a paragraph or two added and a character sheet at the end of the last chapter.i got 1280 words done before I got the news and had to head out. Will get back to work ASAP.you can probably expect at least 1 make up chapter this weekend.
Chapter 146: Birthday Party
Extensive training has increased your attributes!+12 Endurance+12 Strength+12 Kinesthetics.Old Salt has reached level 14! 70% CorrectionDrafting has reached level 17!Chained Spirit has reached level 24!Abyssal Alchemy has reached level 12!Trait Doctoring has reached level 16!Calvinian Summoning has reached level 28!Bent Manipulation Has reached level 12! .***7 Months later**The time passed quickly for Calvin, between literally cleaning up a war, being present enough to keep a firm hand on Uleis, preparing to lead an expedition into the jungle ...
Chapter 145: Zoomed out
***Calvin***So youre saying we shouldnt kill the monster? Calvin asked.Kala sighed. Like I told Grant before, her experiences are currently shaping her personality, so be nice.Its a she? Calvin asked.Kala squinted and peered over at the doppleganger poking the meat slurry. Its still up in the air, but shes leaning that direction, yes. She thinks women ultimately wield more influence than men.Calvin scoffed. How did it come to that conclusion?Probably watching children and their mothers.Ah. Calvin said, nod...
Chapter 144: The Blender Spell
Im going to get some wasps to fly it out of the city, Calvin said, raising his arms. Before he could cast Calvinian Summoning, Grants hand grasped his shoulder.The damn thing has an aura that seems designed to ruin your day, kid.Explain, Calvin said, eyeing the monster barreling down the streets as terrified civilians dove out of the way. As it came closer, Calvins eyes were able to make it out. It looked emaciated, with paled flesh sucked in tight against a lean ribcage with token breasts and a wildly extended torso. The crea...
Chapter 143: Instant Irony
Learners Notes: End of day 15.Irony is the word I was looking for. Curse irony.After being on my own for a few minutes I realized that Ive never actually seen a hooter in public without the strange cloth they wear to supplement their weak skin. I realized this after quite a bit of staring while we carried the insensate Kala back to the palace. Responses were varied.I was also gently informed that bitch was also a derogatory word. I had simply heard Ryan say it so often that Itd gotten routine. Still so many things I dont know! Each...
Chapter 142: Dorans Havok
Learners notes: Day 15On combat:The most common way for hooter to permanently deactivate, or kill each other, it to damage the structural integrity of their physical forms beyond the individuals tolerance. The three most common ways of doing so include poking holes with sharp objects, cutting with bladed objects, or crushing with blunt objects.All of these techniques seem to be aimed at relieving the hooters body of the red specialized units that transfer nutrients across its body, or damaging the strange specialized organs inside t...
Cover + Back to work tomorrow!
Here's the cover of Calvin getting chased by Karen. It's not gonna be great for everyone, but I think it's alright. I decided to let the artist leave the boobs horrifyingly big because when the entire thing is thumbnail size, you gots to be able to pick out the boobs.plus boobs.Aanyway, I'm on schedule to get back to work tomorrow. I'm thinking the next segment of the story is going to take place in the deep jungle, once this war gets sorted out, and I'd like to adopt a slightly spooky feel to it, at least for a couple c...
Chapter 141: Coward Bad
Learners notes: day 15cow·ard/?kou(?)rd/nounnoun: coward; plural noun: cowards. A person who lacks the courage to do or endure dangerous or unpleasant things.Example: Ryan, who left his caste-mandated superior yet physically weaker, lumpy hooter behind is a coward. And an asshole. But I already knew that.Ive heard hooters call each other names and have achieved a rough understanding of derogative terms, enough so that while some derogatory terms are used as terms of endearment, the word coward has always led to a fistfight between fla...
Chapter 140: Lets Put Our Evil Heads Together
Shadowboxing 100% repaired. Please refrain from imagining trans-dimensional or existential attacks while using this Ability. Doing so may cause side effects including, but not limited to, shortness of breath, sneezing, itching, anxiety, nausea, Gran-mal seisures, stroke, aneurism, detonation.Any further abuse will be reported to System Admin 562Hah, sucker.Did it say detonation?****Calvin barged in on the planning committee, namely Andra, The HashMaje I dont remember his name! Kurawe, and Nadia, overlooking a map of Mujenan and the su...
Chapter 139: Test Subject
Learners Notes: Day 9Hooters use something called money to exchange for goods and services. I find this odd as it has no inherent value. Sure, copper and silver could be melted down into tools, but gold is simply useless. Somehow everyone has surrendered to the same delusion that the shiny substance has value, and goods and services continue to change hands over and over again in front of my eyes for nothing more than an idea.The metal is useless, and yet many wealthy hooters will wear a lot of it to display how much money they have t...
April Vacation plans.
A lot of people have told me to take a break if I need one, and I think that's probably a pretty good idea.So here's the plan.The story is beginning to mature and change, and it's kind of going into more of a kingdom-building direction. I don't know how to write those, exactly, and I also don't have a solid grasp of plot going forward.So I'm going to take the first seven days of April off. Up until that point, I'll keep writing chapters as usual, but when April rolls around, I'm going to take time off. This shoul...
Chapter 138: A Brand New Life
Magenta sprinted through the jungle, digitigrade legs outrunning the underground fires as goopy film sloughed off of her body. She was losing bits and pieces of unhardened flesh that should have become her armor. Unfinished.She was unfinished, half-formed, all she knew was her name, her mission, and basic information harvested from thousands of Gadverans. Everything the Polyp knew about the Vessel had been given to her, along with a deep rooted sense of enmity.More than anything, she wanted to kill the Vessel and return his soul to One. It was ...
Chapter 137: Magenta
Learners Notes Day 8:I am unable to gather as much information about the System as I wish due to obvious issues with communication, so I instead improved my hearing and language processing centers through trial and error.By listening to every hooter conversing within about a hundred body-lengths, I have been able to pick out more tidbits about the System here and there, mostly from flabby hooters to hooters just on the verge of differentiation.It seems as if in order to get the System, one must Break. This means one must achieve a lethal dose...
Wrestling with caffeine and burnout
So my health was starting to suffer as a result of drinking monsters and coffee, and I decided to cut it out.the Problem is concentrating on writing has become much more difficult With caffeine withdrawal. I was only able to get about half of my usual amount done today: 1300 words.the other problem is burnout adjacent. Im just not sure where I want to take the next arc, and thats causing some of the slowdown. That problem is solvable though. I would love to hear ideas about where you think the series is going. As usual If its better than ...
Chapter 136: Dangerous Hugs
Why summon me and not your new zealot? Nadia asked with a scowl, folding her arms over her chest.Youve got smaller fingers, now get over here. Calvin said, holding up the team of thumb-sized knick-knacks on the palm of his hand. They looked like little spelunkers with lanterns on their heads, getting ready to plumb the depths of an unexplored cave. They even had little coils of rope over their shoulders.Unfortunately in this case, Im the cave.Nadia stepped forward and took the knick-knacks from calvin, marveling as the shrew-sized c...
Chapter 135: Thats a lot of blood
Turned out a refraction Spinner couldnt see. How could they with a constantly diffracting surface in front of them? And no eyes.The sudden lack of senses brought Calvins swarm to a grinding halt while he tried to interface with the alien creatures senses.Thank the gods hed had a Tarak skin for a while now, because that was the closest analogue he was able to make, and it helped him quickly acquaint himself with what was going on.As it turned out, the many fingers of the refraction spinner are maddeningly sensitive. It felt to Calvin lik...
Chapter 134: Harpooned
Jinnei leaned against the palace walls, the last line of defense against the encroaching horror that was slowly consuming the city of Mujenan. Her belly ached from the reduced rations as she waited for the Alpha strike.Surely after weeks of fire and fury, the monsters wouldnt simply decide to starve the last of them out and yet everything had been quiet for the last seven days while she and the last remnants of Gadvera held on.The only time they were showed any opposition was when they tried to leave. Hordes of creatures would descend to sho...
Chapter 133: That Flesh
Learners notes: Day 7 Cont.Ryan took us to something called a library today. When I spotted the hooter scribbles on the flat sheets of pressed pulp, I was somewhat intrigued, but when I saw the hooter put it back, I realized the entire wooden construction was supporting three hundred and forty-two of these sheet binders full of hoots.A strange sensation went down the center of my back, where the knobbly bone bits are, as I gazed across the contents of the entire library. If each of these sheet binders was of a different subject, then ...
