[Vengeful Ghost Sect Breathing Technique II]
[3 -Resentment Gained]
[-5 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced]
[-100 x10 HP]
[Karma +100 x10 Gained]
[100 x10 +Resentment Gained]
[Ghost Pot (+100/0)]
[3 x218 -Resentment Gained]
[Karma +5 x0 Gained]
[20 x100 +Resentment Gained]
[Karma +50 x100 Gained]
[Resentment: +526660/-166676]
[Max Will: 9,579,451]
[HP: 9,576,475]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1831238/24277088]
[Current Qi: 1905490/957945100]
[Current Karma: 97108352/107275977]
He wasn’t lying.
I’m literally being carried along, surrounded by a phalanx of chanting monks, swinging incense and carrying small braziers barehanded, -- Like absolute bosses. Dude there’s only a handful of monks left. My Sect mates are dicks. How are they generating this much Resentment? And why? -- eating and vibing.
They really did gather up my dishes and shit. I finish one bowl? They hand me another. I run out of food in my last bowl? Fresh, monk-picked toxic greens. It kinda looks like someone tried to prepare some of them for cooking before giving up.
Some smart ass found a pot they attached to a long pole of some sort, making a makeshift gong that they sound with their Qi right next to me. I scream, rear up and gong right the fuck back at them.
[New Skill Learned]
[Death Knell Successful]
[-1 Condensed Qi]
[10 Karma]
[-30 -Resentment]
[30 +Resentment]
[Ghost Pot (+100/0)]
[Resentment: +526690/-166646]
[Max Will: 9,579,451]
[HP: 9,579,451]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1831238/24277090]
[Current Qi: 1905491/957945100]
[Current Karma: 97108352/107275977]
Assholes. The fuck are they cheering for? I go to my Logs to find out this was a setup. The bastards have been trying to coax me into making funeral bells for a while. That’s why the hand bell. That’s why the gong. They hoped I’d pick up on the metronome drum bullshit, but I hadn’t, so they got creative.
Wait, what did I just do? Um... Spend -Resentment, gain +Resentment --. No health loss? Already better. Tch! A meagre karma gain... Guess it had to get balanced out somewhere. Aw, tits. The bell purified the negative resentment, so I can’t just suck that up after doing the bell thing. Tch! No double dipping? Boo...
If I knew what this stuff was for I’d probably care more and know which one to grab. Pretty sure accruing negative resentment is bad though, so...
[Death Knell Successful]
[-1 Condensed Qi]
[10 Karma]
[-30 -Resentment]
[30 +Resentment]
[Ghost Pot (+100/0)]
[Resentment: +526720/-166616]
[Max Will: 9,579,451]
[HP: 9,579,451]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1831238/24277093]
[Current Qi: 1905495/957945100]
[Current Karma: 97108372/107275977]
Oh, gross. I have to do it on purpose? There’s no auto Toll? Too much effort and not as much Karma. I’ve been stuck between Realms for decades! I think. Either way.
[Vengeful Ghost Sect Breathing Technique II]
[3 -Resentment Gained]
[-5 Karma]
[Last Rites II Enhanced]
[-100 x10 HP]
[Karma +100 x10 Gained]
[100 x10 +Resentment Gained]
[Ghost Pot (+100/0)]
[3 x218 -Resentment Gained]
[Karma +5 x0 Gained]
[20 x100 +Resentment Gained]
[Karma +50 x100 Gained]
[Resentment: +527720/-166837]
[Max Will: 9,579,451]
[HP: 9,578,475]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1831238/24277341]
[Current Qi: 1905495/957945100]
[Current Karma: 97109367/107275977]
If nothing else at least I’ve got a quick blast attack for undead assholes. Wonder if it’ll purify the ghost ick weapons? I finish another bowl and one of the monks darts out of formation to pick up some more toxic weeds, -- holy shiz, did the disciples plant this stuff or are they this prolific? -- coming back and adding them to a sack before someone dips into the sack to refill my bowl.
Cool.
Before, if any of the ghost soldiers try to run in between any of my releasing breaths, the monks run interference until I take another one, but now I’ve got a undead stunning bell of my own. It works on weak Ghost Flame attacks, too. Snuffs them right out.
So I’ve got guards with perfume, food, and they loot for me. Kinda. They dig up bodies for me to bank, ghost soldiers buried as booby-traps, and any corpses they find that are out of my range they drag over into my range.
These really are the good guys. They don’t rove out too far, just a quick, slow march around the perimeter of the town before going through it.
When we stop in the center and the monks take a deep breath of the not grey air, they cheer, but no one joins them. I think all the real villagers died. I do see some salty faces pouting. Very familiar salty faces.
-You fuckers tried to kill me!- I shriek.
The monk holding me casually sets me down, looking away as I launch myself, transferring me and a monk that tackled me, -- how the fuck did he grab me before I transferred. Got dang! -- but the Ghost Fuckers disappear. There’s a marking stone set off to the side, but I can recognize them now. Assholes.
“What’s your problem?” I snap at the monk as he tries to pick me up. I shift to my hunan form, and now I’m just perched on well muscled arm leaning against well muscled chest, draped across broad shoulders. “Why do you have to be so fit? This is distracting. And comfy,” I grumble as I stretch out. “Like I can literally just lay down. Why you so firm...”
Halp... Sleep... Nu...
“How disgusting.”
Warning bells go off in my facking soul when I hear Yellow Corn. I sit up and she’s literally standing near the marker, slowly walking away, but not directly, just off to the side.
Shit. She’s going to kill the monks.
“How much you want to bet if he carried you you’d embarrass yourself? If you get more excited, you’re not allowed to touch any of them with anything, ever!”
That’s the best I got. “I bet you won’t” and “I bet you will” are almost as insidious as “I dare you” with people who care about their images. And based on those robes and hair, -- why the fuck are her teeth so yellow! Is that plaque? Or is this like the black teeth thing? That supposed to be gold or is she showing off a rare plant dye? -- she absolutely gives a fuck what others think of her. And she knows what looks good, which is even more annoying.
I narrow my eyes at her as she saunters over to the blushing monk. Ooh! Wait! Did they catch what I did? Go team!
The monk picks her up and I feel grossed out by the sounds she makes. Is she bucking?
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“Ew. Nope. Violation. Illegal! Off the field. Someone throw her in jail!” I shake my head, waving for the monk to put her down, and I literally have to snatch and throw her away because she won’t let go. She leaves red marks, but luckily she didn’t break the skin. “I hope that washes off,” I tell him before dumping a basin filling amount of water over his head. “That should help.”
He just scrubs at his face, keeping his head bowed while some of the others laugh lightly and snicker. They look so relaxed. Why the fuck are they still here?
“Hey. Assholes,” I whisper loudly, a few of them looking over. “Run!”
I tell them to run, the little stone turns into a stone marker, and I get lifted up by Dumb Tower. The world flickers and he throws me to the ground in front of another White Masked elder, -- I wonder if they know that there are ghost servants with white masks or if they go around like that in the hopes people assume they’re ghost servants so they can audit people... -- who immediately goes in on me. How dare I cost the Sect so many resources? Fuck you. Wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t already afraid of Widow’s Sigh.
“These disciples practice and study and work very hard to get where they are, and for what? You interrupt their exercises, disrupt their rituals, you cultivated their hard won Resentments! And for what? You can go out to the Graveyards without stealing from the other disciples! What have you contributed to our sect, you greedy bug?!”
“First off, if we’re not supposed to attack anyone, why was the guy with the flame tornado allowed to attack me in the Graveyards without consequence? You dropped me off, I just got a servant, and he attacked me unprovoked. Where were your rules then?” I ask politely. “I really wanna know. Or do they not apply to everyone?
“I go to find new ways to farm Resentment from the monks, to take it into myself, ‘cause that’s all I was told. Gather the Resentment of the dead? It’s called purifying, apparently,” I add. “I did that. And you’re berating me?” I walk up to Widow’s Sigh.
If he hits me he hits me, but I’m gonna trap him in my void when he does. I’ve got boxes in boxes, bish.
“You say I disrupted their ritual? What ritual? How was I to know? I was doing what I was told. Then, when I’m eating lunch, I get attacked. A ‘ghost’ weapon right through me. Where were your rules then? Did you punish the one who attacked me?” I ask and Widow’s Sigh just stands there, letting me talk. Okay, I’ve got more. “What about all of the disciples that tried to use Ghost Flame on me? It didn’t work, but that’s fine? There were quite a few that fed me their ghost armies, attacked me with ghost flame, and I didn’t hear about them being punished. Were they punished?”
I wait, leaning forward and Widow’s Sigh doesn’t say shit!
“Oh! It’s fine if the hunans attack me, but as a non-hunan, I’m not allowed to fight back?” He sucks his teeth, standing up straighter and crossing his arms like I’m being unreasonable. At least I got a response. “And you say I’m not contributing? How am I supposed to contribute? No one told me shit. What am I supposed to contribute? How would I know what you want? Did you tell me anything? No!
“Go out and collect Resentment. Meditate and collect Resentment. No one even told me there’s more than one kind! Do you want any kind of Resentment?” I ask, rolling my head around dramatically because I know I’m going to be attacked and I’m gonna be obscene with my upcoming bullshit. No such thing as a fair fight, and I don’t know if they need the markers intact to use them. “How am I supposed to move up in the ranks? You say don’t fight, but they’re fighting. I beat them so how do I advance? No one told me how to advance, but that’s how it works, right?”
I glare around at the gathering, noting one or two familiar faces, but either the people I downgraded aren’t here or they ducked out when I started calling them out. I spot Fashionista, pointing at them and loudly calling out.
“You! You attacked me before I even passed the Graveyards test! Did you get punished or did you just talk shit when I kept beating you, huh?!” I shout at Fashionista who doesn’t move, doesn’t hide, just stands glaring back at me as the people around them quickly move out of the way. “Well? Is it okay to attack people who are hoping to join the sect with ghost soldiers and Ghost Flame tornadoes? Or were you supposed to wait and attack me after I got accepted? You did both, asshole!”
“Noisy bug!” Widow’s Sigh says and I know I’m going to have to kill them, too. Somehow. Everything I pointed out and I’m just a noisy bug? Fuck you! “Follow me! There’s a way to exchange your hard work for rewards! Greedy bug!”
“Insult me one more time,” I snap. “I don’t hear you talking shit to anyone else. I’m not hunan and it takes a lot more to kill me. You know who I am? You know what I am? You know how many people have tried? See if I don’t start eating your Ghost Flames!”
“Come here!” he snaps, pausing just long enough to turn and shout at me before he continues walking.
As I follow him I go over what I’ve learned. I have a tone that can disrupt attacks. I shift slightly, going even more buggy. I shrink for some reason, going more tiny bug than my true form, like my hollow mass is just reshaping. Cool. Just means I have a smaller hit box. Ooh! More legs. I should be able to scurry, too.
I can’t eat Ghost Flame, yet. I didn’t have the stones to try to bite into it. I can collect it, and I can purify it with inner peace. I guess. Unless I have some internal function that’s a mantra machine chanting when I’m at rest. I don’t know why the fack the breathing exercise counts for Last Rites.
What else?
Food! I can literally throw food at people! It’s not poison to me, assholes!
I haven’t broken down that fucking ghost pick thing, so I don’t know how to reproduce that, and I don’t have enough skill to wield it, but I should definitely disarm people with ghost weapons first.
“Here!” Widow’s Sigh shouts, hand out to indicate two translucent girls sitting on a pile of the marker stones.
Did this asshole take me to a brothel?
“I don’t breed with the living, why would I fuck ghosts?” Yeah, no. That’s that third insult.
“This is a store!” he snaps. “You want to raise your Rank? Contribute! Make tools, sell them here! Buy tools others sell here!
“Donate! Early Disciples are expected to be able to donate 100 Resentment yearly! You can do more? Your position in the Sect goes up!
“You eat poisons? We sell poisons! You can buy or sell poisons!
“You need a guard? Buy spirits! You have too many spirits to use? Sell them! You can literally buy and sell spirits here!
“You have Resentment? Spend it! Here! Or trade with the others!” he finishes, full screech as he throws his hands up.
Oh. He’s frustrated. Hmm. Cool. Hold my tea.
“How.” Asshole. “You keep saying spend it, trade it, but how?”
“Re-sent-ment. Stones.” he hisses, pointing at the pile of black rocks the ghost girls are sitting on.
“Are made by...?” I trail off, prompting him to continue talking. You wanna pull teeth? I’m supposed to sleep for thousands of years, see if I don’t outlive you.
Am I really going to have to spell everything out for him?
Mmm. Losing respect. This dumb motherfucker isn’t scary. He’s pay to win.
“I will reward anyone who can donate Resentment Stones to the Cataclysm,” Widow’s Sigh says, all calm and collected. Bet he’s sweaty and splotchy under that mask, though.
“Hmph.” Fashionista walks up with a drawstring purse, slowly opening it before upending it, dozens of flat, black, oval stones, the marker stones, falling out. He smirks and puts his purse away while the others around us, the peanut gallery, loudly whisper behind their hands. “This is a simple thing.”
“Each stone is condensed negative Resentment,” Widow’s Sigh says, turning to me. “It’s easier to pull it from the dead. It’s harder from the living, although you don’t seem to have the same restraints...” he trails off thoughtfully. “Pearls are made from positive resentment. Each black oval of this size is one-hundred negative resentment,” he indicates the pile on the ground. Fashionista, the asshole, could have offered me the purse, but he probably wants to make me pick them up to humiliate me for his many failures. “The larger stones you see, from the lanterns, to the paths, are all made from condensed Resentment, to better help with cultivating. If you want to contribute you can also maintain any structures you see that appear to be fading. We have ways of tracking this.
“The pearls made from positive resentment also range in size. This type of regard is harder to gain, but condensing a pearl the tip of your pinky is made with 10 positive regard, and is worth 100 negative resentment.
“Take those stones. Learn to condense Resentment. Tools made from this are very potent, as you well know.”
I bank the stones while slowly turning to glare at him. I lost so much karma, and that fucking pick hurt. It felt like it was frying me from the inside out! And he’s gonna just casually point out that the weapons hurt. Yeah. I do know.
“Assholes,” I grumble, pulling out one of the stones and munching on it. It’s like a giant cookie, crumblier than I thought, dry, which was to be expected, but kinda spicy, like ginger spicy, which I was not expecting. “Hmm... It’s like gingerbread.
“What’s they’re deal?” I ask, pointing at the “shop window” with my ghost will biscuit as I munch away.
“They’re dangerous ghost with a high upkeep,” Widow’s Sigh says patiently, ignoring Fashionista’s crestfallen expression. If watching me eat your money is upsetting, stop watching! “Ghosts have a regular upkeep that must be paid to keep them bound and functioning, otherwise their Resentment or their bodies will fade, leaving them just a husk.
“These two cost 100 Resentment to keep. A month. Most cannot afford it, so they stay in the shop. It would cost 1000 to buy them. You’re better off starting with a better servant,” Widow’s Sigh sighs, and I wanna know who snitched on me dumping Fuck Face, and how the hell they found out.
I finish the stone, absorb the others, and I can condense -Resentment. There are so many levels to it, but it’s just stretching the balloon, not condensing it properly. How inelegant.
Pffft. What?
Condense Negative Resentment
Achievement +100
[1,000 -Resentment Stones Produced]
[-100,000 -Resentment]
[Resentment: +527810/-76747]
[Max Will: 9,579,451]
[HP: 9,579,451]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1831238/24277341]
[Current Qi: 1905495/957945100]
[Current Karma: 97109397/107275977]
So one-hundred is impressive? Get on my level. I spread my legs out, turning what might still be silk makers, -- I’m not looking under there again, -- into a metaphorical stone mint, -- I’m not changing anything, I’m just being blatantly disrespectful with where I let the produced stones fall, -- and “shit” money. I slowly climb as I form a pile as impressive as the ghost girl zen garden.
“One-thousand Resentment Stones,” I say, tilting my head and looking down at the pile below me. “You’re right. It is fairly simple. Once you know how to do it.” I shrug and turn to Widow’s Sigh. Fashionista stares at the stones, jaw dropped, and I’m so disappointed that he doesn’t try to take any when I move away.
“There’s your reward. As promised. You’ve been rewarded ten-fold for your contribution,” is all Widow’s Sigh says, turning slightly to face Fashionista before giving a quick head jerk to the pile of money rocks.
[1 Tear of Resentment Produced]
[-10,000 -Resentment]
[Resentment: +527810/-66747]
[Max Will: 9,579,451]
[HP: 9,579,451]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1831238/24277341]
[Current Qi: 1905492/957945100]
[Current Karma: 97109397/107275977]
“They belong to me now!” I snap holding up what looks like a crystal tear with a cut-off image of a blue flame inside, gesturing to the two girls trapped in the window.