.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
Twentieth cycle of the fifth gift
Twenty fifth day of the twelve segment
Pirate Bay
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
“Mmmmmm yeah. A little more. Yes, just a little more. Don’t stop—“
“Boss! Boss!” A nameless minion slammed open the door, Jack, their boss, hands quaking as his card tower collapsed.
“Nooooooooooo!!!!!! My lady! Come back!” His body collapsed onto the table as he swept cards towards him, tears streaming down his face.
“Ummm boss? We have a situation here.”
“Get out.” Jack pointed to the door.
“But boss!”
“Get out!”
“Boss!”
“GET OUT!”
“BUT BOSS!”
The nameless minion suddenly found themselves in the air, back against the wall as Jack’s face approached their ear.
His voice as quiet as a feather, Jack spoke, “You better have a good reason for not following my words, nameless minion… what's your number?”
“Three…Hun—“ the minion managed to choke out.
“Yes! Minion number three.”
“That’s not—“ the nameless minion found themselves slammed into the wall again.
“Did I ask?”
“N-n-nooo-Ack!” The nameless minion managed to sputter out before Jack tightened his grip.
“Twenty words or less. Then I decide whether to kill or not.”
“Imperial. War. Ship. Sir.” The minion felt themselves on the floor gasping for air.
“Polyps. -Jack’s hands moving through the clutter on his desk, looking for something- Why didn’t you tell me earlier!”
“I tried. But--“
“Up up!”
The nameless minion promptly shut their mouth.
“Good… now help me find my coat and hate. We have an Imperial fleet to loot.”
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
Twentieth cycle of the fifth gift
Twenty fifth day of the twelve segment
Imperial ship, Elfilin
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Whose idea was it to man a thirty man ship with nine people with the rest of the Imperial fleet hot after their tail?
Oh right, all of them. To be honest, they have survived through worse but that didn’t mean they had to like it.
“Pull!”
And so Waddles pulled with all his strength.
“More!”
“I’M TRYING BOY! !” Waddles yelled back.
Brace. For. Impact.
“BRACE FOR IMPACT!” and the ship shook.
“FRANKY! DAMAGE!”
“Nothing sustainable so far. But the mana concentration seems to be getting low.”
“WADDLES!”
“JUST FEED IT SOME AETHER CRYSTALS OR SOMETHING. SHIT.” The rope slipped, rather, he lost his footing as the ship shook again and slid around the deck.
“WHAT WAS THAT! Reina exclaimed.
“I believe that was the Pirate Bay.”
“I KNOW, YOU SNEAK FOOT COOK! I MEANT WHY?”
“Boss! A little help here? Girl? Anybody?”
Look. Ship.
“Oh….”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“We’re screwed aren’t we?”
“SHUT UP YOU QUACK DOCTOR!”
“THIS IS JACK SPARROW, PATRON OF THE PIRATE BAY. STATE YOUR BUSINESS IMPERIAL. Wait a second…Argus? What are you and your crew doing on an Imperial warship?”
Argus pointed toward the Imperial fleet behind them. Lost. Ship. Stole. One.
“…”
“…”
“Nevermind that. I don’t care about how, what are you willing to pay?”
This. Ship. For. Safety. And. Trip. Broken. Seas.
“Are you serious?”
If. Ship. You. Need. We. Build. One.
“Wait. Wait. Wait. How did you get your hands on this information?”
Argus turned to look at his crewmates. Particularly, Reina, then Waddles, Franky, and Brooks. Each of them shook their heads.
Am. I. Obliged. Question.
“Kekekekeke.” Jack’s eyes turned into crescent moons. “I suppose not. Very well. Let them in.”
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
Twenty one days since awakening.
???
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
How. How? How?!
The core was still short circuiting itself as it attempted to comb through the events of the past few days.
Nevertheless, it burned its name, as well as the outer layers of its core, the damaged parts all cut and liquidated back into mana to power the teleportation trap.
The great core now reduced to a barely shining pebble. Oh, how low has it fallen. At least before it had an air of dignity, records of its age and the battles it fought and survived. Now, it was no different than a newborn save for its memories.
The loss hurt the core more than the injuries it had healed. Deciding there was nothing it could learn from the past few days, it decided to cut its losses and move on before it wastes even more of its dwindling brainpower.
『New dungeon detected.
Would you like to select your starting creature?』
What? It can’t be. No no no no. This can’t be happening.
『New dungeon detected.
Would you like to select your starting creature?』
Its core dimmed as it did the equivalent of curling up into a ball and crying.
『New dungeon detected.』
Shut up.
『New dungeon detected.』
Shut up.
『New dungeon…
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
Twentieth cycle of the fifth gift
Ninth day of the thirteenth segment
Pirate ship, Karl Marx
*cue Soviet music*
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
“I gotta say, I’m impressed.”
Of. Course. What. You. Take. Mine. Crew. For. Question.
“Kekekeke. Of course, but you can never set your expectations too low when it comes to you and your crew.”
Despite the hack job, sail did the Karl Max did, its hull withstanding initial tests, the components for which were made from materials salvaged from what was left of the Imperial fleet that chased after them, as well as some of Jack's own personal wealth.
“But I gotta say, the mana consumption is a bit steep.”
It. Is. Given. Lack. Of. Time. And. Equipment. Ergo. Shortcuts. Forced. To. Work. But. Terrible. Efficacy.
“Right, to be expected of a hack job by a small group of certified crazies and idiots. I didn’t even believe you of all people were capable of imitating Imperial ships to such an extent. I fully expected you to fail but this is even better than what I dared to hope for. ”
…
“Kekekekeke? Speechless? It’s quite surprising you and your motley crew were able to deliver on your promise in such a timely manner, a mere sixteen days! If I had known I would have pushed for more but a vow is a vow. I shall permit you to sail the Karl Marx to retrieve your ship.”
All. We. Did. Was. Copy. Imperial. Work.
“Kekekekeke. And you think reverse engineering the work of the best and brightest of the Imperial is easy? Kekekekekekeke. What a joke. Their predecessors must be rolling in their graves knowing their work has been cracked by some bumbling idiots that even the focus of the demons fail to define or subsume. ”
We. Are. Right. Here.
“Kekeke. I know.”
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
Twenty five days since awakening
???
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
『New dungeon detected.
Please select a starting creature.』
“Fine. If it will shut you up.” The core finally responded to the prompt…
『Chemical- life expressed through the the interaction of chemical properties and interaction of different mundane materials. Though some are not possible unless under specific conditions, Paracausal forces such Aether, Void, Sol, and Pale does wonders to alleviate such limitations. Though in doing so, creates Chemical-Exotic hybrids. A midpoint between stability and adaptability.
Ascension condition: achieve 100% Mana saturation.』
『Mechanical- life expressed through mechanical motions and interactions of different mundane materials. Form so stable it is impossible to occur naturally but nevertheless still capable of propagation and mutation at a slower rate. Due to their nature, they have trouble wielding the paracausal, often using proxies to do so for them. Mana saturation means nothing to them.
Ascension condition: achieve Level 6 Mana Integration.』
『Exotic- life expressed through more exotic materials. Paracausal by nature, their form consists of a core and flesh bound by paracausal forces. Though highly adaptable, their form is extremely unstable, requiring a constant stream of energy to sustain itself. Though beings made of plasma without invoking paracausal powers are possible under specific conditions not found on any world but in the space between. However, the system will still grant them such powers for it to exist within the conditions demanded of it.
Ascension condition: Ascend the heavens through violence, and achieve stability of form. 』
『Information- life expressed through packets of information. Descendants of the logic plagues of iterations prior, the most successful branch of these strange and immaterial life forms are known as dream demons. Though able to house themselves within containers to enact change upon the physical world, they have no bodies of their own.
Ascension condition: Grant thyself physical form, the information of your being made manifest and written into the Orders of the Void and the Flow of Aether.』
…with a definite no.
『…』
“…”
『New dungeon detect—』
No.
『The system would like to reward you with the title: Ancient Newborn in Denial.
Do you recognize it? 』
No. Not a newborn.
『What difference does your age make if your ability is only at the level of a newborn?』
“…”
『The system would like to reward you with the title: Ancient Newborn in Denial.
Do you recognize it? 』
No.
『 Mother is taken notice of your temper tantrum.
Mother would like to gift you a new Name.
Do you recognize it?』
No. It already had a perfectly good name it fully intended to reclaim and make the world recognize.
“Very well.”
Then silence.
『Name: N/A (burned)
Species: Great (former) Dungeon High Core (not infant)
Information/Exotic hybrid.
Templates | Traps | Environment | Decor 』
Perfect. Just how it liked it. Even if it was empty for now.
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
Twentieth cycle of the fifth gift
Ninth day of the thirteenth segment
Imperial Prison
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.
The metal cuffs bit her flesh once more, marking the passing of the five hundredth day. Almost a full cycle.
But it is not as if she wasted her time here, her powers growing despite the Imperial’s best efforts.
As it turns out, if you can endure the isolation and stave off the insanity that follows, the Imperial prisons were quite a place for meditation and introspection.
Both a necessity to direct one’s growth towards ascension.
But today isn’t the time for that. She could taste it.
Disturbances in the Aether as light poured in from the opened door, its hinges creaked from a combination of rust and stress as her restraints broke one by one. The physicality of her body, the flexibility of mind, the songs of her heart, and the weight of her soul. It’s all there, the simple taste of freedom.
She already knew what they would be asking of her, despite their best efforts. But still, she asked. “So you’re finally letting me out, huh? What is the Imperial asking of me this time, I wonder?”
“Shut your mouth, wretch. The Imperial calls you.”
The traitor only presents a cold smile in response to the harsh but empty words, her voice infused with an odd sense of humor. “Oh don’t be so stiff, Morgan. It’s not everyday you come to visit me in this dank dark room. Stay awhile, have some tea.”
“…” No response.
“No? That’s a shame. I suppose I shall save the tea for later then. -her chains rattled as she moved into a more comfortable position, now that she is able- Now, would you be a dear and open these cuffs for me? They are getting quite uncomfortable after wearing them for such a long time.”
“…”
“No response? A pity. I thought you would finally grow out of this phase and finally keep me company, at least for a while. -her smile faded, as she took on a more serious tone- So, speak and waste your time no further. As usual, count this towards my contract. If I find a single hair out of place on my daughter, consider the Imperial dead in the water.”
An empty cell, without light, without furnishings. The only source of sustenance being the dark water that flows down its walls feeding the moss and fungus that grow along the slow drips like trees by a river.
Morgan found himself sitting on the wet floor, his legs trembling, and unable to get another word in before she left. His thoughts leaked as his voice echoed.
“Patron of the Imperial, for all your strength and our treatment, what still compels you to protect us? When given freedom, why do you still return?”