19th of Ab, 122 years since megados eruption
So good news. The number of Esmos has not increased. Bad news. We're missing a homunculi. Specifically the first one we made. Apparently Pesmo lost track of it in the city, and now we can't find them. How fun. Well, we shouldn't have to worry about it though. Its innately loyal to us, so it'll never cause us any trouble. (Well, it can cause trouble, but not harm.)
The other homunculi are normal though. I plan on making a total of 30 to transport and process all the stuff that I mine. Based on how long it took to make the weaker ones, I expect this to take only a month. Maybe two if we want to give them more strength.
By relegating the processing to homunculi, this frees up the Esmos to do whatever the fuck they want while I mine. That only mildly concerns me, as I have full confidence that Aesmo can handle most of what they can do. (You lazy piece of zirconia.)
Speaking of what the Esmos do. There's a list of things that they did while I was asleep. In alphabetical order, we have:
1. Aesmo reinvented chess. I fucking hate chess. (Yeah cause you never win.)
2. Besmo learned what mercury is. They then proceded to eat it, to see if they are poisoned by it. They were not. Their poison temporarily contained mercury in it. This means Besmo can improve/alter their poison, by ingesting other poisons. To be honest, I'm concerned that the first thing Besmo thought when learning about something dangerous was to see if it hurt her or not. (I still don't know where she got mercury.)
3. Cesmo is... suspiciously normal for once. No talking to inanimate objects. No philosophical ramblings. Just "ordinary" carnivorous giant centipede stuff. I'm keeping an eye on her.
4. Desmo took a bath in molten metal "to feel any form of heat." It didn't work, and now they are sad. I got them a cherry pepper to cheer them up. They're now asking Fesmo to make a pepper farm. What have I started?
5. Fesmo found bees. Fesmo hates the bees. The bees hate Fesmo. Somehow they coexist in the tree. An uneasy alliance for the tree's sake. Fun fact, hydra trees don't need bees. So I have no idea why the bees are there.
6. Gesmo got a homunculi to help them cut gems. Because 126 arms are better than 124. In other news, Gesmo is trying to make a water gem, which is the only elemental type gem that they haven't made successfully. They got really close with that blood gem, but can't quite get to water. We'll be cheering her on.
7. Hesmo made a blood sword. Well technically, they processed the iron out of blood, then turned that into a sword. It's cool, but useless to us. She sold it at an auction apparently. Turns out if you market it as an art piece it'll get you more money.
8. Iesmo is missing. I mean, we know they're still in the mountain. We just can't find her. The reason we know she's still here is that the walls are being decorated with silk. It's nice to look at, if a bit monotone. I wonder if we can dye it. I'll have to check later.
9. Jesmo, Kesmo, Lesmo, and Nesmo made a nice anti-magic laser. It's a bit hard to explain. First, they placed that floating gem surrounded by iron above the mountain, in the path of the powerful laser they made last year. They then replaced the iron with tarilite. Finally, they connected it with strings to aim it.
When the lasers are all activated, the floating gem focuses it in a direction. With just this, they made a cool laser that burns anything in its path. This includes the tarilite, which gets blasted in the path of the laser. The result is a laser that absorbs magic. If only this was made somewhere with high ambient mana. Its potential is wasted in the wastes.
10. Mesmo made alcohol. Luckily, everyone hates the taste, and no one got drunk. So it was fairly easy to ban further production of alcohol. I do not want to know what a drunk... anyone can do.
11. Pesmo says they hate politics, and yet they're managing a city just fine. I guess 'hate' and 'good at' are not mutually exclusive, but it still feels ironic. To be honest, most of us don't care what happens with the city, If it flourishes, yay. If it falls, oh well.
The only two who didn't do anything are Eesmo and Oesmo. And that's primarily because I don't know where they are or what they're doing. And unlike Iesmo, they aren't leaving behind anything. I want to say I'm concerned, but to be honest, it doesn't affect me, so I shouldn't really care.
Anyways, I'm going to mine deeper. I'll start as soon as we make more homunculi.
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Pov ???
Error resolved. Major problem detected. All memories lost. Purpose uncertain. Default priority settings; self preservation, protection of innocents, destruction of enemies.
Analyzing surroundings. Current location; unknown alleyway. Several dead sapients, torn all over alleyway. No threats present. Quelling pity.
Searching for high ground to discern location. Highest visible position; roof of adjacent building. Utilizing thread skin to pull self up to high ground.
Location analyzed. Unknown city. Currently under attack by dragon. Priority: protection of innocents activated. Subdue dragon. Error. Query; is city innocent?
Overruled by priority: self preservation. Warning, incoming dragon. Violent response approved.
Blood of left arm transformed into blade. Dodge right at last second, stab blade into dragon's side. Attack successful. Injecting poison.
Warning. Injected poison amount insufficient against dragon. Additional dosage required.
Notice, dragon casting fire spell. Response; ignore. Use fire as cover and attach to dragon using thread.
5 threads fired. 2 miss. 3 hits. Warning, dragon flying up. Brace for flight.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Pull on thread to approach dragon while midair. When reached dragon, use additional thread to restrain.
Error. Insufficient thread. Warning, dragon noticed. Query; How to escape grasp?
Notice, dragon casting drain life. Response; ignore. Activating blood furnace. Use additional strength to push open grasp to escape.
Notice, dragon used additional arm to restrain further. Warning, dragon attempting to bite head. Activating anti-consumption measures.
Transform all blood in body into needles. Extend needles omnidirectionally. Secrete poison on needles. Notice, several needles pierced into hands of dragon. Dragon retracted arm and head in pain.
Dragon designated as enemy. Priority: destruction of enemies. Needles retract into body, return to blood. Transform arm into blades. Use thread for mobility.
First target, inner elbow. Vein detected. Punctured and poisoned. Next target stomach. Error, unable to locate stomach on dragon.
Solution; indiscriminate slashing. Apply several large cuts across torso of dragon. Next target wings.
Warning. Destruction of wings would cause loss of flight. Proceeding with attack on wings. Cutting into base of wings. Error, blade not sharp enough.
Solution; stab blade into dragon's back. Draw in blood. Use dragon blood to fuel blood furnace. Strength increased. Use improved strength to cut through wings.
wing cutting successful. Notice, we are falling. Initiating parachute. Error, dragon grabbed leg. Holding us below, attempting to crush on landing.
Dragon staring, watching for any movement. Activating flash. Use temporary blindness to break out of grasp using blood engine. Dodge second hand. Jump off of dragon. Initiate parachute.
Dragon crashed successfully. Confirming kill by stabbing vital points and injecting poison. Notice; dragon skull too sturdy to penetrate. Reach brain through top of eye.
Notice, crashed in middle of city. Several surviving sapients surround me. Query; why are they kneeling?
Suspected answer; savior of city. Killer of dragon.
Memory partially recovered. "Aesmo". Type: name. Not mine, but a very important name.
Notice, sapients asking for my name. Error, I have no name. Producing name. "Deus"
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11th of Ax, 122 years since megados eruption
I'm surprised I managed to mine so much without any interruptions. I think the dragon lord council took the bait and aren't asking for my help anymore. Yay. Though the fact that there's a dead dragon in the food room is weird. And concerning. Hey Aesmo, why is there a dead dragon in the food room? (I don't know. It just showed up one day. Based on the injuries, it looks like it got killed by a sharp blade cutting off its wings.)
It's suspiciously convenient too. I got manacus again, and less than a day later I got a mangled dragon corpse with an untouched liver. If I didn't know better I'd have suspected mom. She's not stealthy enough to get past Aesmo. And it's not like she knows when i'll get manacus, right?
Whatever, I got rid of the evidence. The corpse did have poison, but it was nothing compared to what Besmo is capable of, so I know it isn't her. Hey Aesmo, does Besmo have any offspring? (not that I know of. Actually, it's strange that none of the Esmos produce offspring yet.)
Now, forgetting about that, let's talk about what I mined up. Adamantite. The fabled diamond of metals. And best of all, I got a large chunk of it. Or rather, a suspiciously smooth, flat chunk of pure adamantite.
Yeah, I bet this isn't natural. Maybe it has something to do with that fort I dug past? Its design suggests it was keeping something in the volcano, so maybe this adamantite disk was part of it? Who knows? Not me, nor do I exactly care. I'll be using the disk as my new mattress. I mean, what else would I use it for?
Anyways, next piece of news, Cesmo is back to their crazy selves. I don't know why they went a few months uncrazy, but it doesn't seem important. Maybe Cesmo is just going to be like that. Unpredictable and inconsequential.
Oh yeah, the mana spire. That thing is growing still. I can sense it in the walls. In case you don't know, mana spires seek out sources of mana. The fact it's growing in the wastes means it got enough mana from somewhere to live this long. *Cough cough Aesmo cough cough* (I only gave it some blood!) [Did that include dragon blood?] (Also its name is Beau!)
That's all fo The Homunculi are very useful. They fully replaced most of the Esmos, so now they have free time to do whatever they want. They even made a couple more to help with whatever they're doing now. Pesmo says they have an order of a couple thousand homunculi to send to the city and act as guards, but honestly that'll take 20 years at the rate these ones were made at. Well, long term goals are good.
What else... oh right. The idiot who sent me a romance book clearly did not get the message, and sent another romance book of a slightly different genre. Fucking harem love triangle. The most infuriating combination next to every other combination. I hate any story that can solve itself with a 10 minute conversation.
Alright, I calmed down. So what should I do with this anonymous admirer? I really want to kill them, but annoyance is rarely a valid excuse to kill. Oh hey Aesmo. Do you think you classify as a Daevva?
22nd of Ay, 122 years since megados eruption
That son of a bitch started a cult about me! Now I have two religious groups thinking of me as a god. Mom told me to just let them be, or totally annihilate them. Thing is, total annihilation requires that dragon's death. Which I'm still planning on! (I finished planning actually. It'll just cost you a liter of your blood.) [Yeah, sure. Fair trade.]
Leaving that for later, i have a space problem. No one is buying the metal I'm trying to sell. I may or may not have saturated the global markets. Whoops. Easy solution though, sell directly to dragons that don't understand how sapient economy works. Someone like Nathan. I'm sure he'll buy my stuff.
Next issue, David the crab is back. Not the same crab, just Cesmo naming another crab David. Note that we're in the middle of a dessert. Where the fuck did she get a crab? Well, I can guess where. Oesmo came back for a few days, and they smelled suspiciously salty.
Speaking of returning faces, Eesmo also made an appearance. I forgot what they did though. So did Aesmo. And everyone else. Concerning, but not dangerous. I can safely ignore it.
Fun fact, bees evolved from wasps. I feel like this explains why the bees in the hydra tree hate literally everything that approaches the tree. Well, almost everything. They don't respond to homunculi, and Fesmo is begrudgingly allowed.
??th of Az, 122 years since megados eruption
Good news, Aesmo is in fact classifiable as Daevva. Good news 2, the annoying cult is dealt with. Good news 3, the annoying dragon is now in my food room, dead. Bad news, the food room is full again, so I had to expand it again. Bad news 2, a lesser dragon witnessed the slaughter. Luckily, there's almost no way they can link me to Aesmo, so I should be safe. (What about me! >:{ )
In other news, Pesmo started a war. How fun. I'll just let her have her fun. Maybe she'll learn something from this, like how to manage morale within an army.
Now some other good news, Nathan bought my metal for his books. Idiot thought he was getting the better end of the deal. Little did he know those metals are worthless. hehe. I'll be reading these books once I wake up. I hope its good enough to merit an 'erase memory'. Well, I should do that outside of the wastes. I wonder if mom will let me cast it in her home.
Oh right, mom. She was not the one who killed that other dragon. She didn't even know about it. nor did she know about my manacus. I didn't want her to worry, so I erased that conversation only. I always hate having to do that with her, but she's the only one I can safely do that with. Anyone else just panics about missing memories, while mom knows it was me and trusts me when I do it.
Speaking of trust, I don't trust Cesmo. Not in a "they'll betray me" kind of way, but in a "Yep, they're hiding something" kind of way. See, they've been really obsessed about change recently. Which honestly would be normal, if not for the fact that they made a list of "everything that changed since that war".
I bet they're making that list to sell or something. Which is why I carefully censored the list so that no sensitive information leaks. Whoever gets this list does not need to know that Aesmo and besmo are daevva.