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Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos Epilogue (2)
It was like this energy was a part of him, yet it was clearly a foreign substance. Apparently, the first step to learning how to become a knight was channeling it into a blade. Most swords made for knights were made of special magical metals and enchanted. The glow that Edvard had seen so often was the process of the metal being filled with ether. Activating its magical properties, and naturally, the effects of the enchantments. Edvard’s blade was apparently different from the norm. It did not glow when he pushed the strange energy into it. Though, Edvard suspected that was because the amount he could gather and focus was too little to affect the magnificent blade. While Edvard still had a thing or two to nit-pick about regarding the Vespes prince, he had to accept that he was only alive thanks to the prince’s ‘gifts’. While hell, the illusion had truly prepared him for the harshness that this world was filled with. “Can you teach me how you form spells?” Edvard asked. “I can’t be
Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos During (Part 1)
"Everyone, get ready to start." Ven's voice traveled through the speakers, reaching every single place in the facility.Slowly she started the countdown, during which most nervously swallowed. Everyone had the same thought going through their minds as the words slowly counted down: 'Moment of truth.'Everything started well, things going as they predicted they would. But slowly, as the reactor reached higher and higher temperatures, it became clear that things would not continue as predicted."This is too fast, stop everything now!" Ven shouted once she saw that they were already at 1% of the total predicted energy levels.This might not sound like much, however, it was supposed to take ten minutes; only one had passed.Everyone scrambled as Ven's shout reached them over the speaker. But... They failed.By the time the team responsible for manually deactivating it arrived, after the automatic system had failed them, the reactor was already a
Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos During (Part 2)
"Yawen! Yawen! Have you seen Yawen?" Edvard shouted and asked as he ran past panicking colleagues. After helping Ghakarhi and Maxwell out of the reactor room, he had quickly done his best to stabilize them and then rushed to find his wife.A total shutdown meant they could no longer contact the outside world, the force fields completely cut them off from the rest of the world. Which meant it was too late to contact their families. Edvard now only wished to spend his last moments with his wife.In this rush and panic, time froze… Yet it did not freeze.Everyone could still feel, see, and reason. But they could not move. Things which had been falling were now stationary, people who were bleeding now seemed to stop. The sound of the alarm was no more and so too the flashing of the lights.'What the hell?' Edvard asked as he tried looking around, finding that he could not move his sight. He was completely stuck, but aware. He could not even move his ey
Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos After (Part 1 - Ven)
Gasping for air, Ven struggled to flip herself from her current position; face down in the dirt. It took her a few tries as her body struggled to follow her commands.Back against the dirt, face staring at the canopy of leaves, she spat a few times to get rid of what she had eaten in her struggle.Taking a deep breath, she felt the dirt mix with her saliva slipping into her throat, causing her to cough from the irritants. After a few more bouts of spitting, she finally managed to breathe comfortably.'Gods… How long has it been?' She asked herself as she stayed on her back and enjoyed the rays of sunlight flickering through the leaves. This simple scene a rare one on Earth.She had no idea how long she had been in that frozen state. Where she had seen her friends and colleagues dissipate and die. It had felt like years, but surely that can't be right.It took some time for her to come back from these thoughts, tears flowing down her cheeks a
Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos After (Part 2 - Ven)
'Then again…' Ven doubted for a moment. Her entire belief in science had been rocked due to the accident, a pulsar being able to support life made her doubt herself even more.She had been brought here because what they knew was wrong. The way they believed everything worked… Was wrong.'No, believe. That is all I can do… And hope…' Her thoughts returned to her children as she cleared her mind of doubts. Pushing through the pain and tiredness in hopes to find a water source.She knew that doubts would do her no good, that it would be even worse than worrying about her children. So, she allowed the latter to keep her mind occupied as she followed the moss on the trees.Recalling what she had read, long ago, she tried her best to not follow the false moss.Ignoring all that grew near the ground, she looked for moss higher up. Choosing her waist as the cutoff height. While this would do little for direction, it should hopef
Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos After (Part 3 - The Others)
Gasping for air, Edvard struggled to get up. Much like Ven, he ate a few mouthfuls of dirt before managing to turn around. Also like Ven, he was in a forest and fatigued to the bone. This forest was less dense, with sparse undergrowth and no vines. Making visibility far clearer.His first actions and thoughts were similar to Ven's, only his desire to go back was far stronger. He knew the first thing he needed was a source of water, yet he could not keep his thoughts focused on that.Unlike Ven, his search was interrupted much sooner too. He saw a monster, an orc, come through the treelines in a panicked sprint. Edvard froze upon seeing the fantasy-like creature.The orc looked exactly like the fantasy representation of orcs. Large bulging muscles, tusk-like teeth, and dark green mud-colored skin. It looked vicious and like it could kill him with ease.Edvard did not freeze for long, realizing that the orc was running towards him, he looked for a place to
Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos Vespes Prince (Part 1)
"What the fuck? Where the hell am I?" Edvard asked as he finished emptying his stomach. No longer caring for being silent after the horror he just witnessed.Looking up he couldn't help but feel like some divine being was torturing him. First the endless timelessness and now a monster-invested forest.'Is this some kind of sick joke? Was atomizing the mercy?' He wondered, certain that he would soon end up like the orc. It certainly had a much better chance than him at putting up a fight yet, it had died so easily.While the orc had not had any weapons, it was well over 2 meters with muscles that would send most athletes crying about the unfairness of life.Adding onto that, the orc was a native of this world. Of this forest. Edvard had no idea where to even find food or water, and he dared not try and find them.Moving back to his hiding spot, Edvard took out all the items he had on him. His last bit of hope vanishing as he found everything no long
Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos Vespes Prince (Part 2)
'It is the world we live on. Let me clarify. We are not communicating through a language, nor through words. We are talking through concepts, as such, I can understand you and you me. You do not have to worry about how you say things, I will understand.''Wha-… How is that even possible?' Edvard asked in exasperation, this contradicted all he knew of telepathy.'It is a skill some of our kind may gain through the test of time. Not many, and only I in this group.' As he said this the elf, or Vespes, pointed to those around him.Having calmed down greatly, Edvard's mind could actually take in the details his eyes presented him. All of the elves looked handsome like they had carefully picked genes. Edvard also noticed that there were no females in this group.They were all dressed similarly; beautiful silk with strange patterns hidden behind their unique leather armor. No stitches nor anything showing that it was crafted visible, almost like the cloth
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- Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos
Epilogue (2)
It was like this energy was a part of him, yet it was clearly a foreign substance. Apparently, the first step to learning how to become a knight was channeling it into a blade. Most swords made for knights were made of special magical metals and enchanted. The glow that Edvard had seen so often was the process of the metal being filled with ether. Activating its magical properties, and naturally, the effects of the enchantments. Edvard’s blade was apparently different from the norm. It did not glow when he pushed the strange energy into it. Though, Edvard suspected that was because the amount he could gather and focus was too little to affect the magnificent blade. While Edvard still had a thing or two to nit-pick about regarding the Vespes prince, he had to accept that he was only alive thanks to the prince’s ‘gifts’. While hell, the illusion had truly prepared him for the harshness that this world was filled with. “Can you teach me how you form spells?” Edvard asked. “I can’t be
- Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos
Epilogue (1)
Edvard stirred, his entire body afire. Grimacing, the previous events slowly came back to him. ‘So, I survived…’“Careful now.” Abigail instructed, bringing a cup to his mouth and having him take a few small sips.The herbal tea helped soothe the blazing fire in his throat, sadly it did little for the rest of the flames. Trying to force out any words caused his chest to explode in pain, so he remained quiet. Taking sips as Abigail offered them.“I can’t believe how reckless you were.” Abigail said, Edvard noticing that they were in the shade of some tree. The gentle sound of a stream was barely audible. “I really thought you were going to die on me when you didn’t stir for two days.”Unable to form any words, Edvard simply held his peace. Listening as Abigail detailed what had happened after he had lost consciousness. Atop the horse, she had rushed with him along the main road, heading deeper into the kingdom. Stopping long after night had arrived.That night, she had cleaned most of
- Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos
The orc horde (Part 11)
“He made it…” Edvard forced out these words as he continued to shoot arrow after arrow. No longer was it possible to keep the rooftop clear of orcs. The best he could do was kill them as they gathered their footing.The continuous pulling of his bow was showing its strain on his untrained body. His shoulder acts, his fingers burned, and his arm trembled. Yet, he pushed on. He had to. He couldn’t die here.He still needed to find Yawen. He still needed to find a way home.The screams from below had long since died. The knights had fought valiantly. But valiance was not enough to turn the tide of a battle.“Are we going to die like this?” Abigail asked, forcing herself to stay calm and take deep, steady breaths. Collecting her focus and doing her best to gather the ether in the surrounding. Thanks to overusing magic and a lack of sleep, her mind was already foggy. Yet, she pushed on.“That… isn’t… part… of… the plan.” Edvard replied between the twang of his bow. Luckily, he had more tha
- Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos
The orc horde (Part 10 – Salvation)
Edvard took a deep breath and calmed his heart. Abigail was next to him, responsible for blasting any orcs who made it to the roof, back to the ground. She was still tired. Unlike Edvard, she had no sudden recovery thanks to a strange magical sword.Yet, she was determined. She took deep, steady breaths, focusing on the surrounding and doing her best to remain calm. The destruction of her hometown had certainly sent her heart into shock. She was ready to accept that none of her family had made it out.Even so, she had many friends in the town. She hoped and prayed that some of them might still be alive.“You ready?” Edvard asked, his targets in his sights.“Yes, let’s do this!” Abigail replied, determined to fight to the last. Even if their mission ended up unsuccessful, she wanted to kill as many of these damned orcs as possible before her dying breath.“Right.” Taking another deep breath, Edvard could feel a strange energy filling his lungs. Distributing itself to the rose patterns
- Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos
The orc horde (Part 9 – I’m no strategist)
The roses imprinting themselves into Edvard caused him to glow. Abigail gasped in awe at the sight, his entire body lighting up like he was some sort of angel. Until it all vanished, leaving only faint outlines of the roses. Like fading tattoos.“A-are you alright?” Abigail asked.“I feel great!” Edvard replied with a warm smile. Filled to the brim with energy and more confident than ever. “Let’s go see if the town is still holding out.”Edvard took the lead. The two followed the path created by the orcs when they had chased Edvard, having cut down all plants in their way, allowed the two to move swiftly and in an almost straight line. Their return taking them no time at all.Smoke was the first thing they noticed upon exiting the forest.“Ahhh—” Edvard moved quickly, stopping Abigail from making any further sounds.“Look carefully, the smoke isn’t acting normal. I think someone is controlling it to give cover to survivors.” Once he was sure she wasn’t about to shout in concern, Eldri
- Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos
The orc horde (Part 8 – Tree of light)
Edvard slowly stirred, fighting the sleepiness that filled his entire body. He fought to simply stay conscious. Sleep was a tempting mistress, but his years in the illusion taught him never to let sleep dull his sense. He needed to confirm the situation. The last thing he recalled was seeing Abigail among the carnage.Abigail was sitting near a fire, her clothes a mess of blood and tears, having used her clothes as bandages for Edvard's wounds. Forcing himself upright, Edvard smiled. She was a beautiful girl, far too young for him, but he could at least enjoy the sight as the fire illuminated her hair. Her hair was no longer a shiny bright green but rather a deep dark green. Yet it was still enchanting as a shine would come through as the flames of the fire played in the wind. Edvard was lying atop some large leaves, close enough for the fire’s heat to reach him. His own clothes were tattered, his toning muscles reflecting the light of the fire. A few more months, and he would be at
- Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos
The orc horde (Part 7 – Their struggle)
As the despair grew and the atmosphere became heavier, it was all too clear that no one thought victory was possible. They had sacrificed so much just to stall the orcs on the walls yet here they were. Some had been optimistic, believing they could stop the orcs in their tracks. Sadly, even the wilds gate where the orcs had attacked in rage had managed little against the far lesser number of orcs. The other gates had lost far more and killed far less, this fact added to the heavy air of despair that filled the air. None were still optimistic. Everyone understood just how terrifying their enemy was. In their retreat they had not given up. A number had taken shelter in the abandoned homes. While some of those were praying not to be found like cowards, most were waiting. Waiting for the movement to strike. When they could make the largest difference while sacrificing themselves. For if they were to die, they would have it be in an effort to save their families. Sadly, even this was
- Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos
The orc horde (Part 6 – The siege)
The rivers going through Erendale had done nothing to slow the orcs. They had not even needed to deviate to the bridges to cross them. The rivers were after all not that deep nor that strong.As a result, all three gates had been assaulted with little difference in timing. Locking everyone inside the town with no way to escape. The orcs ramming the gates protected underneath their shield of fireproof logs.Jaune looked at the charging orcs with a slight smile, they had been truly bothered by the orcs’ patience thus far. The gates would not last long, they needed to thin the orcs on the walls before falling back to the keep. Sadly, the keep could not hold everyone. Some had to die here first, they could only retreat once it was clear that the walls were lost and after enough had died. It was terrible but it was their best bet. The attack had simply come too fast.Luckily, now it appeared that the orcs would indeed scale the walls, all thanks to Edvard. And to top it off he had taken ha
- Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos
The orc horde (Part 5 – Image of their god)
Edvard could feel that his body lacked the strength to fight on. Lacked the basic energy required for him to move. He had long since started running on fumes fuelled by his will, and even his mind was becoming foggy. As he was slipping on towards sleep, a welcomed sleep. The eternal sleep, Edvard’s mind flashed with his Yawen’s gentle smile. His body recalled her warm embrace. Her tender love. This flash of memories long past filled him with endless warmth and strength. It soared through him as he realized that she could very well be somewhere on this planet. He prayed that her situation was better, but if it was not. ‘I cannot allow that to happen!’ Edvard looked at the charging orc, his determination like fire. His will and bloodlust so strong that the orc paused for just a second, a second was enough. Edvard stood next to the orc, his sword dripping with blood. Taking a deep breath, he recalled this smell, he relished it. He suddenly recalled his last moments in that hell. ‘I s
