Lord Joyde The Madman: Heylo, everybody! How are you all doing?
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Lol, well those were not the results that I was expecting.
Meh.
Still works. I'm glad you guys liked the triva so much!
I might do something like that again, once the lore and trivia levels enter suitable levels!
Anyways, here comes the next chapter of EUPHORIA! I sincerely hope that you enjoy, let us begin!
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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break....
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Unknown time... - Unknown place... - Leonardo's Point Of View...
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Huh.... well this certainly feels familiar.
Performing fifty-sixth nerve jo-ah. Abort operations!
The [Lifeform Supreme] has awakened.
Adolf?
Good evening, sir!
We have urgent news to report.
Let me guess. We are a pool of strange, energy-filled liquid with a giant red crystal inside of it?
... Uh... No.
But we ARE, a giant red crystal with strange, energy-filled liquid inside of it.
Oh.
I guess that means all the liquid must've crystalized then. But how and why is the question...
Maybe for another time, though.
Uhm..
If it would not be too big of a problem, could you explain the situation to us, sire?
What? You mean you don't remember this place?
Strange... you guys were with me here before.
*THUNK*
OW! What the hell?!
We.. were here before?
Re-checking memory databases...
As for what just happened: Master, the crystal we are is acting akin to a human [HEART]. It pulses once every thirty minutes, spewing a bunch of crimson liquid out of itself which appears to then crystalize and cause our new body to grow. Before the pulse comes a wave of hot, white energy originating from a portal within the crystals core.
In short, the heart itself appears to possess a lesser heart within it and the lesser one has a portal leading to... somewhere. We have confirmed that the [PORTAL-CLASS] is alike to the one which had previously connected you to [CHAOS].
... and also every pulse sends us slamming against whatever solid surface appears to be our current ceilling.
Our new body is outfitted with an extensive nervous system which has much greater capacity than the human one we are used to, with a much greater concentration of nerves sourrounding the [LESSER HEART], acting as our current [BRAIN]. We have established an [UPLINK NODE] upon it.
Oh fuck.
That means I've outgrown my little Chaos-given hidey hole. Hmm... I wonder if I can use my psionics in this body.
Focusing myself without having eyes to close is proving a bit harder than I originally imagied, but I manage to grab a feel for every bit of my power.
Mana.
Psi.
And Qi.
All of my energies are there. Ready and waiting to be used.
But for what?
There also appears to be a limitless font of raw energy in my new body's direct center, just as the collective told me about. Focusing onto that font, I take note of a single white-hot tendril protruding from the portal. Ah, this body has a direct connection to the Life Engine.
And it is constantly dishing out life energy from the other side.
Man, this kinda feels like being in a permanent Chaos Form.
Memory found...
Master, these memories... they have existed since before our sapience.
... for a very, very long time.
Huh? What do you mean?
Master, if these memories of...
Stillness.
Of nothingness.
Can be trusted... Then, we have already existed for millions of years.
Ah.
I see.
No wonder that all that liquid has been crystalized.
Then again, why should time have any meaning to me now? I'm becoming an Implausible One.
... I'm outside of time.
Huh.
Feels weird just realizing that now for whatever reason.
Master... this logic-less state that we have been forced into...
What is its purpose?
We are here to create life, Adolf. The white-hot energy leaking from the portal is pure life-energy and we must learn how to use it. So please, do go analyze it for me while I try to expand our breathing space.
Acknowledged!
We shall do our very best for this noble cause, [Lifeform Supreme]! May the life we usher forth one day reach for [PERFECTION]!
Indeed.
Now then, where was I?
Ah yes, my energies.
Instinctively, I reached for my psionic energy and recalled the feeling of reaching for gravity. Hmm.. the gravity around me is.. heavier.
Harder to control.
Possibly because it is simply higher than the Earths, considering that we are upon a Chthonian world. Or were upon one, anyways.
Extending my psychic reach and feeling my sourroundings with gravity, I find that it was terribly easy to discern differing masses of matter simply by their gravitational acceleration.
Or lack thereoff, for that matter.
Anyways, my sourroundings looked something like this.
I, was currently a massive fourty-eight meter long and six meter wide glowing crimson crystal which pulsed and slammed into the celling every so often.
What little breathing space I had was filled to the brim with a strange form of gas. I had no idea which gass this was, but if I had to guess it was problably carbon monoxide due to the probable lack of oxygen around us.
Above me was the same giant slab of basalt that Chaos put there the last time I was here and other such volcanic rocks, though there were also several masses of something much more malleable than the basalt. I believe that this might be some form of prehistoric dirt.
Y'know, the kind without all the organic bits inside of it.
However above that, was a full on danger-zone. Though the planet appears to have cooled off a little since the last time I was awake on this plane of reality, it was still pretty much a magmatic world.
Below me on the other hand, was just more rock and dirt. With the occassional lake of lava flowing through it but that much was to be expected, honestly.
Thankfully, due to my recent consumption of a certain Russian esper, I had the genetic data required to create and form bio-titanium, which wasn't all that different from normal titanium. The only real difference was in the amount of carbon that each mineral had, with natural titanium having less than its organic variant, obviously enough. As a result, bio-titanium was considerably harder than natural titanium, but natural titanium was much tougher in contrast.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Why am I saying this now though? Because this knowledge allowed me to take note of the rich mineral veins sourrounding me and also the exact amount of psionic energy that I'd need to use in order to gravitationally dig my way through.
*SPLASH*
Another sound was registered by whatever organ I had for it right now as I pushed the solid matter away from myself, mainly focusing my efforts below my body, causing my crystal self to basically repeadetly fall into the pool of crimson liquid which I've secreted up till now.
Hmm, something tells me that I should keep the liquid safe and I do so by making it hover around me while I continue my excavational efforts.
A few minutes pass, I know it was minutes since I've been counting the seconds, and I've managed to hollow out a rather large underground room. It was as close to a hundred meters... tall, I suppose I should say, and fifty meters wide as I could make it to be.
Granted, I didn't have any kind of exact measuring instruments around but I did my best to follow through with my plans to make the room like that. Don't ask me why, OCD can be a terrible thing sometimes.
Anyways, now that I-
*THUNK*
OURGH- DAMMIT.
Good fucking god that hurts... everytime my body pulses now, I basically jump up only to slam back down... thankfully, my fall is somewhat broken by the mass of water which has just now filled around twenty-five percent of the room I just made.
Hmm, looks like the light of my crystal just dimmed a bit. And I feel kinda lighter.
Man, I must've been pent up or something. Suddenly, I feel much better than I was moments ago. Ah, the explosive energies within me have been expunged so theres nothing clogging up my nerves now!
I can feel my energy much better already!... though, that probably means that the next pulse is gonna hurt way more than the last few.
Wait, pulse.
Thirty minutes pass-.. I guess counting seconds is meaningless.
Hmm, how do I save myself from the next pulse of pain and basically urination?
...
Hey Adolf, can you guys move outside of my body?
Attempting...
We can, but our bodies lose sapience when too far away from the collective. May I ask why?
Thats okay, you wont need to go far away from our body.
I want you to use the genetic data we gained from that Russian esper and create giant chains to bind our body to the metals around us. This will stabilize our body and allow the crimson fluid it makes to free-fall into the pit below.
Acknowledged.
Calculating Operation Parameters...
Complete.
Commencing Operation [HIGH RISE].
Using my psionics to sense the area around me, I *watched* with interest as bio-titanium chains grew out of my crystal body, erupting outwards from my upper half and lifting it upwards into the air before another set of chains grew out of my middle section and connected to the walls, the former duo of chains retreating back into my body.
The remaining four chains dug deeply into the earth, entrenching and stabilizing the massive crystal in mid-air, suspended just in time for another pulse to ripple through me.
*SPLASH*
A mass of liquid erupted from the cracks at the crystals surface, flowing downwards and into the massive lake of red below us.
Master, we have completed our analysis of the [Life Energy].
It is as you have already said: the energy is erupting from the portal and into us at regular intervals, its origin seemingly infinite. As this energy fills our new body up, it comes into contact with the other energies that this body contains.
Mana.
Psi.
And Qi.
It then merges with each and every one of these energies, becoming something else entirely before most of it is expunged from our body while the rest seems to be used up as fuel in order to create the very energies it is merging with.
Analysis of the created energy is... difficult to describe. The best designation we have for it is [CHAOS ENERGY].
And yet, while it has the same effects as [CHAOS ENERGY], it is nowhere near as potent. We believe that this is your version of [CHAOS ENERGY].
Hell, you are probably right.
Anyways, what about the liquid? What is it, really?
In short; it is your genetic material which still has its [RETRO-VIRAL] properties.
In its most base form, without the confining directives of Human DNA.
To put it bluntly; it is primal bio-matter. Something which we may use to create life.
Then we better ensure its safety. It may be limitless in a way, but we must make the most out of every single drop.
Use the chains you've already forged as a base and extend a thin protective layer of bio-titanium across the underside of the room.
Make a bucket for the liquid, basically. Thats the best we can do for now in order to keep it safe.
Oh and we are going to need to expand our area of influence. Create four separate bridges around five meters below the chains. We will use them as waypoints for expansion.
Why not consume the chains and simply create one whole platform then, master?
Doing so would blockade us from easily accessing the liquid. Also, can you make me some damn eyes? I want to see whats around me.
Acknowledged and right away, master!
Truthfully enough, I don't need the eyes but using gravity constantly is just wasting precious psionics. Psionics which could otherwise be used to create more primal liquid.
Within what appeared to be seconds, the construction is complete and four long bridges extend from my crystal body.
You know what? I might as well start calling this my dungeon heart at this rate. I mean, it has chains and its red and glowy and all...
Wait, dungeon heart.
Dungeon hearts often create these stupid little workers that don't cost anything to maintain and act as a tireless workforce, right?
Say Adolf, what prevents you guys from leaving my body?
We rely on your psionic energy to maintain our sapience, your mana to maintain our souls, your QI to maintain our lives.
Then lets try to make up a body separate from the crystal that can hold a smaller amount of you. These avatars will be our workforce!
We are running out of matter to use in construction, master.
To use any more would cause the crystal to wither.
Lets use the liquid then.
Ah, we should probably also use some of the natural titanium around us too!
Acknowledged.
Developing suitable body now.
A cocoon of crimson strings and virus-like tendrils grew out of me and fell onto one of the cold, metal bridges we just made, connected to me by a singular crimson thread.
Kinda like what Chaos and me still share. How odd...
Anyways, I reached outwards with my psionics once more and gravitationally pulled out a large chunk of titanium. My new cybernetic eyes which seemed to freely move around the crystal body to wherever they were needed helped a lot with my ability to focus and channel energy.
Really brings things into perspective, does it not?
The chunk of titanium was then compressed and fed into the egg-like object.
Soon after, a small creature ripped itself out of the egg, the remainder of which was unceremoniously thrown back into the pool below. The.. thing, was more robot than flesh.
A cybernetic creature, half a meter tall and half of that wide, hunchback and outfitted with six limbs. Its two legs looked like a strange mix of feline back legs and human feet, with the toes being elongated for what I could only assume was jumping ability.
Its hands were separated into two distinct versions. The hands which grew out of its lower stomach appeared to be mostly organic, with only its joints being made out of metal and were basic human hands with five normal fingers.
The other two hands were half robotic and half organic, growing out of its hunched backside with their origin being right where the things shoulders are supposed to be. The organic half, which was the one that grew out of the things shoulders, was pure muscle and literally nothing else.
The metal part of the arms were actually wicked claws and created not so much for digging as much as for grasping and ripping the stone out of the dirt.
Its stomach was appeared to be bulging out, as if full of something.
The creatures head appeared to be host to two cybernetic eyes, much the same as the ones I had right now. The thing had no nose, seemingly not requiring to breathe at all. Its mouth was a wide gaping hole without any teeth, but a strange greenish substance leaking from the inside.
An acid? To chew through the rock easier, I suppose.
Ironic.
With no other source of sustenance, our creation has to feed upon a diet consisting of the primal liquid as drink and titanium as food.
Each one requires five liters of the primal liquid, which we have decided to designate as [PRIMA] and two kilograms worth of titanium in order to be created alongside one thousand nanomachines which grant it sentience.
It is 75% organic and 25% synthetic. A cyborg creature that possesses a single Uplink Node connected to its spine and a miniature brain formed from your neural cells.
If our work is successfull, then the creature is fully capable to taking care of itself without our aid, but has no real will of its own. As such, any psionic commands you send, it shall obey without question.
Fine work, Adolf.
Now... what to name this little guy?
Truthfully, we have felt that adding gender to it was unnecessarry and so the thing is currently genderless.
Do you wish to change this, master?
No, its just an expression.
Anyways... the name.
How about we name them the Creti?
A single one would be a Cret.
Shortening the word cretin, are we?
Oh well, it fits.
Hey, its our first creation here.
I think we did really well for what little we understand of the place. Anyways, lets make a bunch more of these.
Careful, sire.
While we doubt that the Creti can cause any real damage, trying to simultaneously manipulate a great deal of them may cause unforeseen consequences.
We advise you to start out small. After all, it seems that if we have anything in this place, then that is time.
True...
Okay, lets make only four more and have them start digging.
Affirmative.
... Error: this action will deplete our remaining stocks of prima.
It would seem that the liquid has begun to crystalize into smaller crystals.
Huh. Ah dammit.
Hmmm... Okay Adolf, continue as planned.
I'll figure out how to de-crystalize the prima.
Roger that.
Looking around myself, I notice a bunch of basalt near one of my bridges and a gravitational pulse sent through it reveals a river of magma flowing behind it.
Twisting my many cybernetic eyes towards the newborn Creti, I have them dig out a path while grabbing the stone their shovel-hands throw aside.
Soon after, they open up an entrance into a small cave within the earth where the river of magma flowed. Psionically picking up one of the newly-formed crystals, I momentarily hover it over the magma and applaud myself as I watch it start to drip.
The crystals can be melted back into liquid form... makes you wonder why the crystalize in the first place. I mean, this place should be hellishly hot.
Or maybe not, we are somewhat deep within the earth right now, but it definitely should not be room temperature here.
Throwing the basalt that the Creti dug up into the magma, I turn my attention back around towards the prima and have the Creti start digging out a room from my western bridge.
Which places the original one to the North of me.
The room which they dug out was a small four by four, just enough for all three of them to fit in there as they dug dowards, eventually reaching the same level as the pool of prima.
I then have them dig around the prima, leaving a generous amount of basalt in between the new room and the titanium walls of the pool. Come to think of it, before the walls the prima didn't crystalize.
Guess the metal brough the temperature down?... its possible, but highly unlikely.
Then again, I don't exactly know the composition of the dirt around me so hey, whatever works.
Anyways, throwing away the mined out rock and dirt into the river of magma, I promptly lift a massive amount of lava via gravity and ever so slowly fill the newly dug-out room with it.
Ah, I forgot to save the Creti.
Oh well.
Their charred husks are quickly consumed back into my crystal self, with three new eggs quickly growing outwards as the crystals below melted back into liquid again.
Good work, master!
Shame about the Creti, but they were designed to be disposable anyways.
Right.. anyways... suddenly feeling..
So..
Very...
Sleepy................
Hn.
I guess I've done enough already, haven't I?
A little bit of rest wouldn't hurt at all, right?
... zzzz...
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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break..
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And that is it for this chapter of EUPHORIA! I sincerely hope that you've enjoyed it!
This will probably be the last one before I have to leave.
Maybe I'll do another chapter for Infernal but its unlikely.
Then again, less likely things have happened to that story.
As per usual, I will stay online for a while to edit out mistakes and answer to early comments!!!
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Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!