Chapter 10 – Please do not read the small print
“IT’S A TRAP!!”
– Admiral Ackbar,
Star Wars
– ▼▼▼▼▼ –
Eleven days before breakdown, morning (IGT)
Logging back in, Elric immediately rushed out of his bedcloset, anxious about Dorothy’s condition. Terminal sleep deprivation notwithstanding, he felt guilty about leaving his Little Sis’ side, merely half a day after her breakdown. Worry furrowing his brows, he stepped into the dinning kitchen…
…and froze. Swiftly pinching his nose as the smell of blood and burnt flesh assaulted his nostrils, he stared in disbelieve at the nightmarish scene before him in. Red spatters covered the overturned table, in whose wood was still embedded a huge grisly butcher knife slowly dripping thick crimson fluid. Small gory handprints were scattered all over the room. Bags of sugar, flour, salt, and rice laid on the ground, ripped open, and their content spread amongst the broken plates, spilled cups, broken eggs, thrown around cookware, and torn feathers. Footmarks belonging to a certain little girl could be spotted here and there, mixed with those of a creature that clearly couldn’t be called human. Flickering flames still blazed in some places, especially around where the wood stove used to stand, now replaced by a smashed cluster of wrapped cast iron. In this scene of disaster, a dirtied and dishevelled Martha was kneeling on the messy floor next to a bent frying pan, crying uncontrollably, firmly holding onto a tiny, scorched, lifeless body.
Feeling tears swell in his eyes too, the flabbergast knight could only hiccough some confused words.
“Mart- Ho- How? What? Why… How did this happen?”
The woman, obviously too shocked to answer, simply continued to wordlessly let her eyes switch back and forth between the little corpse she was holding, and the only other being standing in the room, without acknowledging in any way the sudden irruption of a yet noticeable two-metres-high, golden-haired man. Still full of incomprehension, Elric slowly turned his glare towards the obvious culprit of this massacre, looked straight into her eyes, and talked in a dangerously calm and low voice:
“Dorothy…” He marked a short pause. “May I… ask… what you were trying to do? That involved sugar, salt, flour, rice, and eggs, a beheaded chicken, which I assume wasn’t when you started, and such a massive amount of onions? And… *inhale* By the gods! Tell me how you managed to turn the kitchen into a trashed murder scene, and, above all, make the freakin’ stove explode ?!”
Covered from head to toe in soot, flour, blood, feathers, and other difficultly identifiable substances, the contrite little girl was looking down, embarrassingly swinging a shoeless foot, and crossing her hands behind her back, still grasping a large charred spoon. Hearing her Big Brother’s eerily subdued question, she lifted a pair of shy quivering eyes, and answered in a shaky tone:
“E-Eeeeeh… P-P-Pie?”
– *** –
Thus they discovered Dorothy was an even worse cook than Martha – She had been earnestly trying to make pie. – a feat Elric would have deemed impossible less than an hour ago, but that he had to acknowledge since the little mad scientist actually managed to top high level poison with a budding weapon of mass-destruction. In fact, given the state of the metal stove, it was a wonder how the kid was still in one piece.
Well, at least she’s showing spirit of initiative. That’s an improvement… right?
After diligently noting down the recipe of the, tentatively named, [Chicken Pie Bomb], the Knowledgeable Reckless Imbecile efficiently cleaned up the baking-aftermath – he was astonished to once more rediscover the purpose of cleansing fire – and prepared a warm bath for the soiled women. While these two washed themselves, Magical Maid ♡ Eriku-chan grabbed the salvaged pink apron and, in her… his quality of only capable chef in the house, rapidly fixed something for the reconstituted family to eat.
– *** –
Later, in a spotless kitchen – Pirupiru~ Maid-Power… – and over a non-poisoned non-explosive meal, a refreshed, but gloomy Dorothy finally told her two concerned caretakers about the memories that had started coming back to her. She had in fact thought cooking would distract her mind a bit from the less-than-happy images that were flooding it. Elric felt somewhat guilty hearing this, but he knew some suffering was unavoidable on the path back to healthiness. He knew it well, since his own brain was highly refractory when it came to sad and mentally painful stuff, closing itself to it like a hermitical shut-in oyster.
For a couple hours, the former amnesic girl told a discontinued tale, interrupted by jerky gasps and sobs, of what she now remembered of her past life, before Kansas. It was a story full of incoherencies and illogical plot-holes, like, for example, she constantly got the dates and time-flow wrong, and spoke of things that couldn’t possibly exist in the post-apocalyptical country the Wandering Knight had crossed to get here. However Elric guessed it probably was because her memories were still fragmentary, and also for the fact that she should have been barely more than a toddler back then. That, and Dorothy had grown paler and paler as her narration reached the moment of the attack, becoming less and less coherent in the process, and probably reliving every grim detail of that day.
Presently, Martha was rocking the quietly weeping child, as Elric distractedly patted her head while thinking over what he just heard. Once summed-up and ridded of its inconsistencies, what he got was that Dorothy’s parents had been humble farmers in some southern town, and that, for some unclear, reasons they had decided to travel north with their young daughter and pet-dog Toto, travel during which they had been attacked and eaten by the undead. About the incident itself, it was quite straightforward. One evening, the family had made camp, her father had left to get firewood, promising her to come back fast. He never came back. After a while, her mother had started to worry, and had been about to go search for him, when innumerable stumbling corpses had invaded their campsite, almost immediately and brutally ending the woman’s life. Courageously, Toto the dog had stood up to the incoming decaying menace, trying with all his strength to protect his remaining owner. But Elric knew one small animal wouldn’t have had much chance, even facing a single rotten bastard, let alone against a horde of these horrors. The last instants Dorothy remembered were filled with the sight and sensations of being showered by a rain of blood when Toto had been ripped in two, right in front of her, before the human-shaped monsters swooped down on her, and everything went dark. Next time she had opened her eyes, she was being carried by the Elder, feeling numb and her mind empty.
How the old chief had managed to intervene right in time to save the girl still puzzled Elric, but the observant knight had already enough suspicions about the man to almost not be surprised if someone were to tell him the Elder was, in fact, a forgotten fallen minor deity of sorts. No. What increasingly bothered him was the evermore completely unexplained and incomprehensible reason that would drive an unarmed family of three to take a leisurely trek across a cursed country, with no more escort than a fundamentally useless lap dog.
Hell! As far as Dorothy’s memory are accurate, they didn’t even seem prepared or even concerned in any way!?
He pondered over the issue for a while, before the spectacle of his sobbing little sister of heart, being cradled like a baby by her foster mother, while he reassuringly stroke her hair, soon replaced his worries by bittersweet thoughts about his success in healing the girl from her emotional anaesthesia, but making her show such a sad face in the process.
– *** –
Over the following three days, Dorothy’s mood remained unstable, oscillating between joy and sorrow, while occasionally relapsing into her accommodating pattern, but overall showing encouraging signs of improvement. Elric kept the girl company some of the time, but the youngest in Kansas spent most of her waking hours with the others villagers, rediscovering life through her newly corrected lenses. Dennis suffered immensely during those three days. The weak-minded young guard, who always had been an easy target for her subconsciously pent-up frustration, was now being wilfully bullied by the little devil, which made the immature grudge-bearing knight chuckle up his sleeve.
On his side, the childish Knowledgeable didn’t sit around doing nothing either. Freed from his agreeable burden of having to constantly watch after a mentally twisted child, he finally fell into his usual routine, merrily snooping around to learn all he could from, and about, the inhabitants of this peculiar hamlet. His experience with slug tamers helped him quickly gain the friendship of Lagerfeld, and his swarm of giant [Everlarva Silkworm]. He went picking apples with a blushing Ingrid, earning himself a warning glare from Marcus, and tending to small rice paddies with a laughing Meg, resulting in a downcast desperate look from Dennis, who had clenched his fists in restraint anger while mumbling perfectly audible curses.
Hoy hoy. Is this supposed to be some kind of romantic sitcom or what? Am I the evil playboy? That sssoo doesn’t suit me…
He also got invited for dinner at Melkior’s, along with Martha and Dorothy. They were warmly received by the shoemaker – as Elric recently discovered – and his wife, Delia. Truthful to herself, the village’s female carpenter-lumberjack barely said a word during the meal, but neither of their hosts seemed to mind. The force of habit, Elric guessed. Martha really wasn’t that terrible when one got to know her.
Although I would still wet myself if I woke up during the night and found her silently watching me in the dark.
Actually, in that specific case, it wasn’t really her fault, since even the usually talkative Wandering Knight could barely hear himself think over Dorothy and Delia uninterruptedly gossiping like old washerwoman, which, incidentally, the shoemaker’s wife was. This left the amused knight into the role of an intrigued onlooker, sometimes exchanging sympathetic glances with Melkior, who could only sigh with practised resignation.
Continuing for days his tour of the different villagers’ workplaces and houses, sometimes accompanying Dorothy, sometimes alone, he repeatedly put off his visit to the Elder, inhabited by a strong gut presentiment of impending doom whenever he thought of the shady secretive old man.
– *** –
On the fourth day, Elric courageously borrowed tools and materials from the Siberian carpenter, and collected some specifically ordered cloth from Lagerfeld, then walked up to a small grassy hill near the border of the clearing, and sat down on the ground, decided to dedicate the afternoon to resurrecting his deceased hang-glider. The weather was warm with a slight pleasant gale, the sun shone brightly in the sky, a few white clouds drifted around, birds were singing, foxes came poking at his stuff scattered around him. Difficult to believe he was still in the desolated cursed country he wandered in for months, even with the eerie mist seeping out of the surrounding woods. The Wandering Knight for once thought of settling down, or at least to make this paradisiac, if a bit fishy, village something like his base, a place where he could rest in-between deadly adventurous rollercoasters and emotionally tiring daily cat-and-mouse chases with over-enthusiastic fire priestesses.
Immersing himself in idyllic fantasies while he distractedly, but skilfully, brought the finishing touch to his new “Wing-sama 2.0”, he suddenly started at the sound of an out-of-place lift bell.
*Ting*
Rolling his eyes and sighting, Elric took a look in the right top corner of his field of vision, where a small round golden icon marked “SA”, as in “System Announcement”, was irritatingly flashing. He pointlessly plugged his ears – He perfectly knew the sound would be directly inside his head, unescapable. – and mentally clicked the big shiny dot.
*Very loud fanfare*
Fuck you Whatever.
★ Update Release ★
Untold Tales 1.9
GREETINGS, ADVENTURERS AND ADVENTURESS!!
It’s finally here!
The most game-changing,
Most demanded,
Most awaited,
Subclass System!
As a quick reminder to our newest players, and to some ancients who might need it, choosing a subclass will allow you access to specifications of a job other than your main, or part of it, at least. The more compatibility your main and sub have, the better the results. So, paladins, don’t try to become dark mages. *wink*
(For more detailed information about the [Subclass System], click here.)
MORE!!
Because we,
At Whatever Incorporated,
Love you, dear players, so much,
And want you to share this love amongst yourselves,
We give you the RP-inducing,
Most unasked for,
Most surprising,
Marriage System!
Now, with a little detour by the nearest church of your chosen confession, and a short ritual ceremony that won’t hurt as long as you’re not a follower of Ha’Ouch, you, as well as your selected soulmate, will be able to enjoy unique mutual benefits! Be careful though. Vows are sacred. And breaking them shall bring upon you the gods’ wrath. That should lower the divorce rate…
(For more detailed information about the [Marriage System], click here.)
Now, check out your [Identity Window],
And see the changes for yourself!
As always, wishing you
A fulfilled game-life,
As well as,
A gruesome and painful death,
Your most faithful servitor,
Sincerely yours,
Edward D.,
Spokesman for Whatever Inc.
Eeeeh… L’Eddy D. is as flamboyant as ever isn’t “she”? Did he actually type “*wink*”?! Seriously… Well it’s high time they finally implement that subclass thing. They’ve been hinting it since… what… update 1.4?
“So, let’s. Show [Identity Window]!”
Identity Window
Name:Elric WalkerAlignment:SunLevel:127Class:Solar KnightRace:HumanSubclass:N/AGender:MaleMarital Status:SingleTitleSuspicious Candyman
“Uh!?”
*blink*
He got up, and made a double take on the blue floating screen.
http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fzs509tb.jpg [http://i.imgur.com/zs509tb.jpg]
*crack*
“OH!! COME ON! Damn you, Game!! What’s your problem?! I know I’ve been without a girlfriend for months! Stop shoving it into my face at every damn chance! AAAAAAAAAAH!! FUCK!!! …or not. That’s just the problem, isn’t it?”
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
*ting*
The God of Chaos enjoys your recent series of random questionable fits of rage.
+3 Luck
*sigh*
Still stalking me, are You? Tsh. And here I was, thinking the peaceful atmosphere was getting me all better. Seems I’m still on edge.
The Bachelor Knight put two fingers on each side of his head, and slowly massaged his temples.
“I’m seriously going to lose it at this rate.”
*ting*
Chaos approves.
“… the hell…”
The Spied-On Knight shook his head in disbelief, dismissing the weird pop-up.
*sigh* “Aaaa-ny-way… Where am I supposed to find a subclass out here? I’m not too hyped on becoming a partial necro. And the compatibility would suck. *sigh* So, how do I go about this?”
“You know, I could help you with that.”
“WAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
Surprised out of his wits, Elric fell back on his knightly posterior.
As if materializing out of thin air, an arched old man had suddenly appeared before him. The wrinkled trickster grinned widely as he leant on his thick cane, his sunken golden eyes sparkling like those of a child from the depth of their discordant sockets, looking down on the fallen knight. The Kansan by heart had never gotten used to the way the Elder could sneak up on him, silent as a ghost, seemingly teleporting around despite the fact a [Zombie Snail] would have probably beaten the arthritic slowpoke in a race.
“Kekeke. Still too weak your mind is, young one.”
“… Why the inversion?”
“Because I can.”
“…” He couldn’t beat the old crook in an argument. “You said you could help me? What about exactly?”
“Finding a subclass, of course. Kekeke. Or do you want some relationship advices?”
“Not from you.”
“Kekeke. Such a foursquare refusal! Do I seem that untrustworthy on such matters to you? Let me tell you, rude youngster, that I was quite a handsome lad in my early days, and heavily courted at that. Women would throw themselves at me by the dozen.” He put a hand to his heart while nodding in a very self-satisfied manner. “Although I always stayed faithful to my one and true love…”
“…”
“You don’t believe me do you?”
“I can’t imagine you young. How many centuries ago was that?”
“Mmmmh. Around twenty, I think. Kekeke.”
“…really?” The intrigued, slightly startled, knight raised an eyebrow.
“Kekeke. Who knows…” The Elder sat down next to him. “AH! Now, I remember that my supposedly unbreakable love ended up in quite a debacle. Keke… Aaaaaaah…” He suddenly looked sad. Elric was always impressed by the speed at which the old man could switch from one convincing emotion to another. It made him quite difficult to fathom.
“Remember this, young one. One cannot ever truly know the inside of a maiden’s heart as long as they haven’t been a maiden themselves.”
Elric raised a second eyebrow at the weird cryptic statement, before the image of a certain brunette crossed his mind.
Well… I’m not sure it really applies… But.
“Yeah… You’re probably right…” *sigh*
“Ooooh… Would you care to share your misadventures with this dried out old man?”
“… Nothing much to say. Her name was Jenny. She left me… For a girl.”
“…”
“…”
“…HOHOHOHOHOHOHOH-”
The old unsympathetic, self-proclaimed, former chick-magnet was rolling on the ground, once more splitting his sides laughing at the expense of the vaguely pissed knight.
“AH!” The Elder wiped the corners of his watering eyes. “Hohoho…You never cease to amuse me.”
“…”
“Do not make such a dejected face. Pffffft-hoh- At least… you know she didn’t forsake you for the size of your manhoohoohohoho *inhale* HOHOHOHO-“
“Can I punch you?”
“HOho… ho… Please do not. I am not sure I would survive to that.”
”Not sure ‘bout that. Why not find out...?” Elric mumbled menacingly between his teeth.
“Hum. *cough* On more pressing matters…”
Yeah. Change the subject…
“… Have you been avoiding me lately?”
“You creep me out, you always speak in half-truth, and I have a feeling something terrible is going to happen whenever you’re around.”
“…”
“…”
“At least you’re direct.”
“I won’t say sorry.”
The other raised a hand to deny the knight’s un-apology, and looked away coyly, seemingly a tad uncomfortable.
“No hard feelings, I know I have not been entirely honest with you.”
“… Yeah.”
“However, understand that I needed to ascertain your merit.”
“……Yeah.”
“And you’ve magnificently proved yourself, exceeding even my greatest expectations.”
“………Ah?”
“… Yes. Thank you.” The Elder’s mood unexpectedly made a one-eighty, suddenly turning dead-serious. “From the bottom of my drained heart, thank you.”
And he bowed deeply to the ground in front of an embarrassed Elric.
“Ah! Stop that plea-”
*ting*
Quest Update: The little girl who couldn’t smile (D)
You have successfully brought back her memories and true feelings to the little Dorothy.
Consequences:
- Intimacy raised with the villagers of Kansas.
You will always be welcomed in the village.
- Intimacy raised with the Elder “???” of Kansas.
The old chief feels forever indebted to you for succeeding where he himself couldn’t.
- Intimacy with Dorothy raised to MAX.
Dorothy considers you part of her family.
- Intimacy with Martha raised to MAX.
Martha considers you part of her family.
Additional rewards might be received from the villagers depending on future interactions.
Martha too? How does she treat those she dislike?!
Shivering, Elric rapidly dismissed the pointless window, noting in passing the system was deliberately clouding the Elder’s real name, and walked to the bent old chief to raise him back up.
“There’s no need to thank me. After getting to know her, I would surely have done the same regardless of your request.”
This last statement was a blatant involuntary untruth. Indeed, if nobody had pointed him in her direction, the careless and kind of selfish knight probably wouldn’t have paid enough attention to the girl as to notice her mental disequilibrium. Someone had, however, and Elric, for all conscious he was of his own issues, wasn’t very good at tracing back the origin of his emotions. He mostly let them run rampant, unchecked, and followed them blindly, going with his own flow without bothering to look back on his reasons.
The experienced elderly let himself be returned to sitting normally, and gazed at the old youth before him, his wrinkled lips curled up in a derisive half-smile, as if to tell Elric he knew him more than the Sage of the Wild knew himself, and wasn’t dupe over what would have really happened without his specific solicitation. However, the tactful Kansan made no comment, instead saying:
“Since I have recognised your worth, I will now reveal you the truth about this hidden village.”
“You’re ninjas.”
“How did you know?!”
Back to silly, are you? How do you do that?
“… Now, I’ll have to ask you how the hell do you know what a ‘ninja’ is?”
“Oh. Well, long ago, the Erwyian royalty had at their service a secret intervention body going by that name.”
“But those have nothing to do with Kansas?”
“Not really.”
“Are you trolling me?”
“Based on your tone, I will answer ‘Yes’. But what have trolls to do with anything?”
“Nothing good, I’m afraid.”
“They rarely do.” The Elder seriously nodded while holding his chin.
“…” Elric could almost hear the headache poke at his skull. “Let’s stop this. I’ve got a feeling we are digressing from the subject and making less and less sense.” <1>
“Indeed. I think I have been influenced by you. The Chaos truly is strong in you.”
*ting*
For spreading Its influence, Chaos rewards you.
+1 Luck
Elric facepalmed, earning himself a concerned look from the Elder.
“Are you okay, son?”
“Yes, old man. I just realized I should be careful when I look at the chaos, for the Chaos looks back.”
“Oh. You are surprisingly wise when you try.”
“Some have called me that… Wait… Why do I feel insulted? And, by the way, how did you know the name of an ancient secret royal assassination squad?”
“Do you want to hear about the subclass, or not?”
“…”
“I shall take that as an affirmation. Now listen.”
Sitting back down on his knees, Elric straightening his posture, and tried to look like an attentive student, something, oddly enough, he was… but as long as the subject interested him. Like two gears of a well-greased clock, the Elder in turn took a deep professorial voice.
“Jests aside, the village of Kansas has for hundreds of years protected the entrance to a secret valley.”
Adding up two and two, the Wandering Knight let his eyes slide towards the wide emerald mesa blocking his view on the other side of the clearing. The ancient followed his gaze approvingly.
“As usual, you catch up fast. Good. I’ve always liked that about you. Yes, this ‘mountain’ is but a hollow wall. And behind this wall of stone, lay sealed-up grounds nobody set foot in for at least the last three-hundred years. In the middle of those grounds stands the curs- forgotten Bluerose Castle, and inside this castle lives the Immortal Exiled Princess. She is the one who can grant you what you seek.”
“…”
Elric should probably have pondered more about the implications of the secretive nameless old man’s revelations, about the brief odd allusions in their earlier conversations, also about the incoherencies in Dorothy’s story, and about the not-so-discreet slip-up in his last explanation. If he had, this tale might have taken a different direction. But who was he? The Reckless Imbecile didn’t earn his nickname by being careful and thoroughly thinking things through. No. What bugged him was something else.
“Immortal?” The memory of about forty centimetres of similarly described squeaky bony arrogance floated in his mind. “Your princess… She’s not a lich, right?”
“A lich? No!! ... I mean. No, nothing of the sort. Just your average, common, run-of-the-mill, not undead at all, immortal princess… Nothing suspicious there. Hehe.”
“…”
The Elder was faintly sweating, the midday sun reflecting in his mostly bald scalp. Right now, he probably was thanking every god he knew that the so-called Sage of the Wild’s brain was so damned weirdly wired.
“Hm hum… *cough* Anyway. I can open a path for you, and guide you up to the entrance of Nowhere. However, you will have to reach Bluerose by yourself. And it will also up to you alone to… deal… with Vic- the princess.”
“…” Are you even still trying, old man?
Said old man was right now feeling highly uncomfortable under the “not buying your shit” glare he was getting from the not-so-gullible-as-he-liked-to-act knight. As much as Elric enjoyed jumping into shark-filled rivers with weights attached to his bound feet, his current interlocutor was beginning to sound way too obviously suspicious.
However, the Wandering Knight followed his own rules, not the world’s ones. And rule number 13 of Elric’s notebook stated: Even if the path is a blatant trap, as long as rule 4 applies, always refer to rule 1. <2>
The uneasy Elder made an awkward rictus, showing his abnormally white teeth, and nervously scratching his cheek.
“Sooooo… Interested?”
“You haven’t done this in a while, have you?”
“Eeeh… Haha… Haaaa…”
He felt silent for some time. Elric didn’t say a word, but continued to glare at him knowingly.
A cloud passed over, casting its shadow around the immobile duo. When the sunlight fell once more upon them, the chief let out a loud prolonged sigh, and suddenly seemed to age by a century or two, his impressive stature shrinking like a deflating balloon. For the first time since he came here, Elric saw in front of him what the Elder always pretended to be: a fragile, powerless old man, exhausted by the hardships of a long life. The golden eyes had lost their shine, and were staring in defeat at some ancient sombre memories. Then, they looked up at the patiently waiting young knight, before shying away from his in intense gaze.
“Eeeeeh… *sigh* Sorry. It was unbecoming of me, to try and abuse of your kindness and cluelessness like that. Forget about what I just told you. I will not bother you about this again. Go back to Dorothy. That girl truly needs you. I am just an old dusty relic pushing the responsibility for his past failure onto the young generation once again. Ha! What an Elder I make! It seems age did not make me any wiser than I was back then.” *sigh*
He was already laboriously getting up, sighing in hopless resignation, when Elric grabbed his hand. Looking up from his sitting position, the Reckless Imbecile grinned wildly at the old out-of-practice swindler, dangerous crazy sparkles dancing into his maliciously screwed up eyes.
“Where do I sign?”
– ***** –
<1> Wow. Please! Someone says that to the author. Elric just summed up the story!
<2> Elric’s rules:
Rule 4: “If it doesn’t look like it’ll kill you right away, it’s saaafe.”
Rule 1: “When there’s fun to get, take it! When there isn’t, make it!”
----------------------------------------
And the plot starts moving again! Not that the whole episode in Kansas was devoid of sense or purpose, mind you.
I tried to finish setting up the frame of Elric’s mind-set, so that his actions later on seem “logical”, at least from his standpoint. It will also help, in the future, as a basis for our MC’s motivations to start his quest. And I already introduced a side-character… and a half… that will become important later. Guess who?
Well, I can’t deny I was also practicing my writing a bit. Since it’s the first time I’m “seriously” trying to produce something like that, I wanted to get a bit used to it before getting in the “meaningful” stuff (an adjective I use carefully).
Please leave your thoughts, ideas, hypothesis, demands, fantasies, fetishes, critiques, hate messages, marriage proposals, three sizes, top 10 animes, grocery lists, pictures of your grandmother, race of you dog(s), dimensions of your chimney duct, as well as suggested types of monsters, character’s names, or guilds’, countries’, or powers’, and also detailed reports of your last nightmare in the comments below. I appreciate those. I need those. Not that I don’t have inspiration by myself, I have. But I mostly find it in subtle things that intrigue me in my surroundings, or ask my friends, and then I hallucinate over it through Diet Coke® overdose. Reading suggestions that are in direct link with my story makes it actually easier. And I’m quite easily influenced.
Well, I won’t do anything to you if you don’t. Not that there’s much I could do… except do sad puppy eyes to the screen of my laptop… So don’t feel forced.
Spoiler :
https%3a%2f%2fsimplywithoutgluten.files.wordpr...py-sad.jpg [https://simplywithoutgluten.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/cute-puppy-sad.jpg]
Oh! And rate, onegaishimasu, if you have the time… Feedback is always welcomed.
Anyway, your faithful readership is still the best I can hope for, so thank you, and I shall be working on the next chapter.
(I ended up being quite talkative, didn’t I? S’ry ‘bout that.)
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