[Cycling II (Void) Successful]
[Successful Use: 25/100]
[Con. Qi 100]
[Qi 100]
[Karma 100]
[Aura of Suppression Successful]
[Successful Use: 26/100]
[Con. Qi -90]
[Karma -900]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1,842,499/23,886,304]
[Current Qi: 332,623/5,850,300]
[Current Karma: 95,545,218/107,275,977]
[Max Will: 9,597,021]
[Mortal Wallet: 10E,26K,228P,154R,179Da,155De,105k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1199Di,126Co,10526St]
♪ Bread~ factory! ♪ I get a line production going. Mixing on this counter, proofing in this corner, baking in these pots, and banking when over!
-Bread!- I scream as I start winding down.
Bank open, void cycling, bread, --. Fack! I forgot to make stew! I'd taken the veg stew down and started making bread in the pots.
-Maybe White Silk has some food?-
I wreck the city, disappear, and then come back for food. Heh. I shift out of my void, into the shattered remains of Golden Rivers, and a bright oil sheen sky.
-Da fuq?-
There's a snarl, someone tackles me, and there's a loud *cronch*. Hollow crunching? Did someone just eat me? I look over and there's a very large dog slavering from a broken jaw, still trying to bite into me.
-Aw, puppy...-
It looks like a rabid feral choco Lab and a snake had a baby in a ruined building, and the baby replaced some of its scales with shards of rock. Dog head and chest and upper front legs terminating in scaled claws, back half scaled and ending in a tail with a ball on the end, and scaled hindlegs.
I feel awful. I want to put it out of its misery. It looks horrible. It's large enough to be well-fed, it looks well muscled, most of its scales appear to be intact, for what that's worth, but I don't think it realizes how broken its face is right now. And its chest. And front legs. Fack. Tackling me did a number on this poor boy.
-Can you hear me?- Maybe it can be rehabilitated?
-Eat the bug, eat the bug, eathebug!-
The fuck? Aw... My heart... Tss. Hearts. It just wants to eat? I found my spirit animal! Can I fix it? What is it? Where'd it come from? What happened when I left?
-I don't know if you noticed, but you broke a lot of stuff trying to eat me,- I try to soothe the dog.
It's really hard to restrain it. I'm scared my legs will sink into the meaty bits or descale the scaly bits, and this dog has so much energy.
-You're probably too excited right now, but I don't know how to calm you down. And I don't have any meat --.-
-Meat!-
The dog freezes, hopping back and roaring -- fack. That backfired -- before I watch a feral domesticated sacred lion do to the doggo what I think the doggo was trying to do to me.
-No~!- I stare after the mobile mauler in disbelief. -Come on!-
The fuck is a cart pulling not-unicorn doing rampaging through the city? What was the dog? Where is everyone?
[Launch Successful]
[Successful Use: 7/100]
[Con. Qi -2]
[Qi -2]
[Karma -5]
[Aura of Suppression Successful]
[Successful Use: 27/100]
[Con. Qi -90]
[Karma -900]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1,842,397/23,886,053]
[Current Qi: 332,622/5,850,300]
[Current Karma: 95,544,213/107,275,977]
[Max Will: 9,597,021]
[Mortal Wallet: 10E,26K,228P,154R,179Da,155De,105k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1199Di,126Co,10526St]
And I'm tackled before I can get a body length off of the ground. By another frickin' "I am speed", sleek, muscular sum bish. Why are cart horses so angry?
-Dude.- I can't get mad if all the people left and all the animals are taking care of themselves. -Could you not?-
-Oh?- Who the fuck is this snooty lordling? The horse?
I get yeeted, landing on my side while the not-unicorn canters a short distance away. Why does this one have delicate horse everything? I thought they were all tiger-y? Did I almost get eaten by a house horse? Well, not almost, but it tried.
-You're not a sacred lion?- Way to go, me! Coming in with the hard hitting questions!
-We are not,- its tail flicks dismissively, its coat shimmering pearl and brilliant flashes of sapphire. -We are a protector of purity. You and the black dog are of similar hearts, but you are far more dangerous. It'd be better that I sacrifice myself to end your threat than to let you roam free.-
-Or you can guide me to the bad things you want me to eat, but that still doesn't tell me what you are.- Yeah, yeah, Devour, consume, but what are you?
-I am light and darkness, guardian of sages, - -- puller of carts --, -I am she and he and they.- And a pretentious cart horse. -I am a qilin.- Apparently my blank stare is offensive. -A unicorn?-
-I was told you're not called unicorns!- The triplets are liars!
-I am, the one that ate the black dog is not, and there are many hunans that, in their ignorance, tend to lump all large four-legged creatures together. Blasphemous,- it sniffs, turning its head away, but keeping an eye on me.
-And you pull carts.-
It slowly turns its head, looking down on me, gives a small sniff, then, chin raised, turns its back on me, and starts prissy cantering away.
-You will follow. There is much that needs to be fixed. And you may prove to be of service.-
So I haven't eaten a unicorn. But I might. I get to see as one of the long, thin ears whips back to focus on me in exclusion to everything else. Busted!
The cart horse darts forward, just dodging a black dog that keeps snapping at the air even as it overshoots and keeps running on its path between the unicorn and I. The cart horse high steps away, tossing its mane, which flows. I thought it was styled upwards. Might still be. Cultivators!
-This one you may eat,- the cart horse says before jumping over the dog that scrabbles and stares after it like it's a runaway tennis ball.
Oh~...! That's why it's not attacking.
[Piercing Shot Successful]
[Successful Use: 37/100]
[Qi -30]
[Karma -5]
[Binding Sigil Successful]
[Successful Use: 11/100]
[Qi -50]
[Karma -5]
[Aura of Suppression Successful]
[Successful Use: 28/100]
[Con. Qi -90]
[Karma -900]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1,842,217/23,885,600]
[Current Qi: 332,542/5,850,300]
[Current Karma: 95,542,403/107,275,977]
[Max Will: 9,597,021]
[Mortal Wallet: 10E,26K,228P,154R,179Da,155De,105k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1199Di,126Co,10526St]
And~ banked. I sit, waiting for the cart horse to continue moving, and it just stares at me.
-Did you eat it?- They sound horrified.
-I'm not hungry. I'll eat it later.- They're freaked out because they thought I swallowed it whole? Understandable.
-Where'd you send it?- They look so dejected.
Holy shiz, did I just steal their dog? Was this a test? Why would they do that? They're so mean!
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
-My bank...?- I'm so conflicted...
There's a period of time, like an "are you sure?" where nothing will happen, but then after that I'm pretty sure it's an instant kill. The poor doggies... They're just hangry boys. Who was taking care of them before?
-You~'re a void bug?- I get to watch as the not-horse's eyes slowly split outwards instead of crossing. Looks painful.
-What happened here?-
The fuck is going on? This place went from tourist trap to haunted house. Rabid stray dogs, rampaging horses, and demolished buildings.
-There was a battle with a spirit of hunger and a messenger of the gods. A bubble of corrupted aura started spreading, a beacon to all things that devour...-
This guy is so full of shit. This girl? They. They're so full of shit. I cleaned up after myself. And the messenger. I ate all the shit then went back to my bank to recover.
... Oh~. My anchor... While I was eating to get better I was anchored here. Fack! That leaks? Wait. I'm not a spirit of hunger. I'm a Devourer... A mutatey Devourer...
I should probably change the subject before they realize that all of this is my fault.
-So we're in a bubble? How do we get out?- Whoo! Go, me!
-We would have to strengthen our spirit or take on aspects of hunger in order to leave. Only those that devour may pass unimpeded...-
That sounds like a terrible idea. Why would no one break the bubble if it was attracting dangerous things? What makes the surroundings safe? If they get in, and don't find any food, what's to stop them from leaving and trying to devour the outside?
-Question!- Might as well ask. -If the doggos can get out, why don't they?-
-There is food here,- the maybe-actually-unicorn lifts its nose to look down at me, turning away and trotting off.
-So there are more dogs eating people than there are people killing dogs?- So far it looks like the dogs are losing.
True, I've only seen two fights, but the dogs seem easy to distract. Maybe they're harder to kill? Those jaws snap fast, but it looks like the doggos have a hard time processing a miss.
-Very focused.-
-Hm?- Oops. Said that out loud. -They are very focused on consuming, making them fairly easy to lead in a battle, but, at most, we can only distract them then flee.-
-So... To get out you have to beat doggies?- But. They're just snacky puppers...
-There are many corpses that prey on the living, draining their victim's Qi to prolong their returned lives.- Did the unicorn just snark nightmare fuel at me?
How many people died when the messenger rampaged through town? Not everyone left and stayed gone. There have to be so~ many dead bodies. And they're possessed and hungry for life?
-Is there a way to pacify --.-
I get to see a dog running full sprint, not covered in rock scales like the first, not coated in wood like the second, just a dog living its life until it leaps at me. I remember that these are hungry doggos, that they are going to try to eat me, killing me not a necessity, as it gets a mouthful of wing.
I have amazing reflexes. That I don't want to use. I could cut its head off. I can bank it. I can wrap it up. But I want to give it treats and see what this high energy pupper is like when it's not hungry.
It snaps its jaws, chewing on me, and trying to tongue my wing out at the same time. It's literally doing the peanut butter on the roof of the mouth thing as it backs away, eyes manic, then confused, then panicked. It backs off, still lapping and trying to push something out of its mouth, slobbering and drooling glitter.
-Oh, no!- I squeak. It got a mouthful of scales!
This is not gonna end well. Those scales are Qi and element and all kinds of craziness. Ack. Do I bank it or kill it? I have to put it out of its misery before it actually starts to suffer. But then that feels cruel, too!
I'm stuck trying to decide when to put down Cujo when the dog does a couple of chomp and swallows, tail wagging furiously before it turns to look at me and white-and-silver-clouds-bracketing Moonlit Cloud Covered Sky. Ears perked, eyes clearer than it has been, even when it was focused on trying to clear its mouth, the dog gives a couple of hesitant tail wags.
-Is... Is it 'kay now?- I ask while the unicorn stares, one leg drawn up, head back and eyes wide. I'm not sure if Cloud Cover farted and caught a whiff or if something magical has just happened, so I turn back to the pupper. -You 'kay?-
-Food!- the dog crows, bouncing up on its hindlegs over and over again before spinning in circles, not chasing its tail so much as just full zoomies.
-What?-
Turning to Cloud Cover I see that they're not staring at the dog. They're staring at me. I ruffle my wings, getting things back in place, and Cloud Cover bolts. From me or the dog? What happened?
-You have food!- the dog crows loudly, barking and giving little bows before bolting off and coming back.
-Do you know how to get out of here?- I ask, not sure how Aware this ball of energy is.
-We can find you food!- the dog crows then takes off at a dead sprint.
Um... Sure... I run after it before I realize that maybe it is intelligent or really, really stupid. Last thing we saw was Cloud Cover. We're not going after Cloud Cover. It looks like the dog just took off in a random direction. Does it have a plan?
[Aura of Suppression Successful]
[Successful Use: 29/100]
[Con. Qi -90]
[Karma -900]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1,842,127/23,885,375]
[Current Qi: 332,542/5,850,300]
[Current Karma: 95,541,503/107,275,977]
[Max Will: 9,597,021]
[Mortal Wallet: 10E,26K,228P,154R,179Da,155De,105k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1199Di,126Co,10526St]
This pupper leads me on a merry chase, racing in a zigzag, with no goal in sight. We come across three other dogs, two of which were actively barking and snapping at each others faces. Reared up on their hindlegs, forelimbs wrapped around each other so it looks like they're arguing loudly while hugging. But they don't try to actually eat each other.
My guide ignores them, but when we come to another dog by itself it races up, hug barking the other dog, trying to establish dominance, question mark? Apparently being not hungry makes it the winner, but none of the dogs try to actually attack it to eat it. So what are the hunger rules?
... I think the dog forgot about me. Or at least the quest it set for itself. We're now casually wandering through what I thought was Golden Rivers, but appears to be a hilly area with scattered ruins. There aren't enough buildings, ruined or otherwise, or paving. The streets were paved, weren't they?
Looking up I try to see if I can't see the sky road. Or what might be left of it. To be fair I only saw it as little golden balls lining a path, but I can't tell against this sky if there are any points still up. Yeah, all the colors are probably definitely my fault.
And Updo's. He was the one dumping all kinds of weird energy trying to "purify" the area.
Oh~... I don't think I got all of it, just the part of the blast I was in. My bad. I mean, his bad. Yeah...
I idly note a unicorn with clawed forelegs and hooved hindlegs running up to me and doggo. Not Cloud Cover, but a friend maybe? I ignore them, doggo ignores them, then they leap onto me and start tap dancing.
-What the fuck?!-
I try to tuck my wings in so they don't get fucked, and the bastard is stomping loose a cloud of scales. Doggo is on full attack mode, trying, and failing, to get a hold of the maybe not unicorn, but also bounding all over me. Come on!
[Scale Dust Cloud Successful]
[Successful Use: 1/100]
[Qi -150]
[Karma -1350]
[Aura of Suppression Successful]
[Successful Use: 30/100]
[Con. Qi -90]
[Karma -900]
[Current Condensed Qi: 1,842,037/23,884,813]
[Current Qi: 332,392/5,850,300]
[Current Karma: 95,539,253/107,275,977]
[Max Will: 9,597,021]
[Mortal Wallet: 10E,26K,228P,154R,179Da,155De,105k]
[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1199Di,126Co,10526St]
I will the scales to cling to their shiny smoke and blue-colored ass. They start bugling like someone making seal sounds on a brass instrument, galloping as they start smoking for real, doggo standing on or around me while shouting and not giving chase. Intelligent or nah?
-Yeah! We'll beat you up! We're awesome! We won!-
Is this bish really shouting bro level insults at people? Intelligent or nah? Seriously. Apparently we're bros because it's not hungry anymore, but it kinda hopped all over me trying to stop someone from hopping all over me... Maybe this is the infant level of whatever it is? Or maybe it's still recovering from hangry brain?
-Hey!-
I jump as the dog focuses on me with a strangely vacant intensity. Is it hungry again. Is it gonna bite me or tell me the way out is through my heart. But not literally. And then sprint off into the distance.
-We won!-
Do I have veins in my head? Can bugs die of aneurysms? Gods--. Nope. I will not dwell on this. Happy thoughts. Moving on.
-Yeah, buddy. We won...-
I flinch as the dog crows, loudly cheering our victory and bounding around. I do a quick inventory, then check on the sky again. Still soap bubble-y. I huff out a breath and start walking in the general direction the dog was sprinting in, keeping an eye as it watches me in confusion before I see it as it registers that I'm okay, looks around in curiosity, then pads over to a strange rock outcropping -- seriously, this isn't the fucking town. Where am I? -- to start digging under it. Now what?
Pupper isn't digging frantically, just sniffing and scratching, lightly digging for a little bit, then sniffing around a little. Like the difference in energy levels between "Imma eat" and "I'm good" are insane! And I still don't know what happened!
Sure the unicorn thingy maybe strongly implied that my battle with the upgraded cultivator might have left things a little wobbly, and maybe me leaving my anchor here so long after said fight, especially since I won by eating, -- can't solve my problems by eating them? Then give me something I can't eat! -- and I don't know how long I was out, but why would "god-nommer" be a dinner bell for all things hungry instead of a massive fuckoff? And where are all these hungry things?