2020-12-07 07:00:11
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
The Least Common Denominator XVII.V Cartesian Plane
I hadn't seen this thing in a long time, even before the incident that took my quiet life away. Mom had only used the sword once as far as I could recall, and that was during her demonstration of her Numerator element to me back when I was... seven or eight? Either way, Dad was particularly proud of this thing; its perch above the fireplace being second to none as its simple, yet elegant design was enough to make even myself appreciate its splendor."Sis, what's- Woah..."I didn't even need to look beside me as I felt Olivia's jaw drop from the sheer craftsmanship on display above us. There weren't any fancy jewels on the thing, mainly just a polished pommel and a modest crossguard, but the sword's beauty laid on the runes that ran across the length of the blade."Is that what I think it is?" Lace whistled from behind us before taking her place on
The Least Common Denominator Interlude VII: Lace
Walking through the caves that got them lost in the first place, Lace briefly let her mind wander as her group traveled in silence with her Leader's self-fashioned little sister lighting the way. It was probably close to sunset by now, judging from the time they had spent waiting for Crimson to do what she needed to be done, but overall, it was still a very productive two days despite getting themselves lost after subtly strong-arming herself to lead their two-man expedition.Heh... she should've admitted that they were lost as soon as she realized she had lost track of their markers.The unfortunate accident was her fault, and she eventually realized it as soon as the temperatures dropped. Crimson had adamantly tried to place her own, but the older woman's pride won out after the younger of the two gracefully relented. And they, unfortunately, paid dearly for it.&
The Least Common Denominator XVIII.I Algebra
I knew that this day would come.I knew it, and yet I was dismayed all the same by the speed with which they managed to find us. I was sure that we had at least masked our trail a bit better than this, but if they found us this quickly, then I guess there was no choice for us but to try and defend from this."What do we do?" I heard Lace whisper behind me as we cautiously approached the besieged settlement. "We can't just barge in and hope for the best, right?"I nodded at the sentiment, "Yeah. It's already a miracle that we're going in from behind our front, but we're gonna have to use the fact that they don't know where we are to our advantage."While pretty shitty on our part to leave the defense on the others' more capable hands, we had to use the chance that was given to us to get some more info and possibly attack
The Least Common Denominator XVIII.II Algebra
"Mark."In a flash, the three of us dashed from the safety of the treeline all the way to the command tent a few paces away from us. There weren't any guards, thankfully, but the few seconds that we spent running on the open ground was the most dangerous part of our assault. If we had been seen, we were dead on arrival before we even began.The ground shuffled beneath our feet as we quietly hugged the thick cloth that was serving as the command tent. With a fist, I signaled for my companions' absolute stillness as I tried to listen for any sign of movement beyond the thick veil.*rustle... rustle...*The sound of rippling grass with each step... That's one... And another...*How are we not through them yet? We were supposed to be done over an hour ago?!*Someone
The Least Common Denominator XVIII.III Algebra
Ten seconds. That was all we had to make ourselves scarce before the brute would begin his search. Knowing this, we immediately went straight to the treeline in an effort to make it harder to track us down. We probably got only a few more seconds left when Lace hurriedly climb on top of a tree; her face showing a mix of anger and annoyance as she gestured for us to climb."We have to stick to the trees" she stressed out. "He can track us as long as we're running on the ground."Say what now?So the guy's a walking sonar as well? Judging from his ability to shatter rock like it was nothing, he's probably an earth numerator. So it was plausible that he can do that, actually. So wait...If he can track us just from the vibrations of the earth, then he probably already knew that we were outside the tent before we even
The Least Common Denominator XVIII.IV Algebra
Seconds felt like minutes as my staredown with the burly man seemed to stretch on far longer than I was comfortable with. The silence of the forest was only broken by the sounds of fighting in the distance as I felt my heart hammering inside my chest. I knew that I had no chance in hell in beating this guy, and that running was the only viable strat that I had left in my arsenal.The only thing I had to look for was a chance to get away."I can feel the fear rolling off you in waves, Miss Crimson," the man chuckled, though his tone was pretty teasing. "I suggest you calm yourself before we begin."My shoulders tensed as I heard the man comment on my nervousness. Dammit... was I that obvious? I thought for sure that Mom had beaten the cowardice out of me in favor of making sure that I used logic in fights... wait...Begi
The Least Common Denominator XVIII.V Algebra
With a calculating gaze, I squared my shoulders as I assessed just what the fuck I can do to someone that can move earth with just a single thought. And after a split second deliberation, I was... eighty percent sure that I was fucked six ways to Sunday unless I've got a miracle solution hidden in my non-existent pockets. There was just no way for me to compare against a Numerator that can shape the battlefield at will, especially in my current state.But that didn't mean that I can't go ahead and try any way. I can't afford not to.I can feel my hand shake lightly from my unwanted weakness; the lack of food and proper rest taking its toll on my poor body as I did my damn best to focus on the task at hand. At the furthest of my periphery, Olivia sat still as she leaned on the earth wall for support, my mind constantly going back to her despite the fact that I was staring down
The Least Common Denominator XVIII.VI Algebra
Anger was a tool; a resource to be used when the situation called for it. When experiencing it yourself, a small boost in tenacity and strength can be expected at the cost of control. When experiencing it from the enemy, you can abuse their lack of control to easily predict their movements. Normally, I would be on the latter side of this equation; abusing anything and everything in my power to tilt the situation to my favor, and hopefully tilting the enemy along the way. It was one of the most tested and viable strats in the world of any competitive event, and when fighting against a superior foe, would help you in avoiding the most debilitating blows while chipping away at your opponent.Which is exactly what I was about to do now.Fortunately, my opponent was fairly easy to rile up. His hang-ups about justice and honor were laughably easy to exploit. Just one comment on his
Latest Chapter
CV.V Cotangent
I don't even know what's happening anymore..."Huh... That looks far too complex even for you, Crimson," Phillipe snarked at my work. Technically Anne's as well, to be honest. "A square rune with that many parts? I don't think that'll work out in the long run.""You and me both," I rolled my eyes with the sarcasm of an overflowing dam. "Seriously, why are you here?""You're being annoying."I raised an eyebrow at the blunt delivery of his oh-so-important announcement. Giving him the best sarcastic inquisitive eyes I could muster, I let out a scoff as I began whatever this talk was going to end up as.'Right behind you there.'You always are, Ica. "And?"Phillipe smirked at me as if he knew exactly what I was thinking, "You're wasting
CV.IV Cotangent
"Let's go crazy..."With a borderline manic whisper, I let my imagination cut loose as my hand moved on its own. Traps within traps, earthen sigils meant to sprout at a moment's notice, the world was my oyster as the goodies slowly accumulated with each stroke of my charcoal.'Don't get too carried away, Master.'I know. I'm not dumb enough to overload the thing before it even came to fruition.And that was the biggest risk to such a massive array as well. With so many moving parts, any wrong line or overlapping rune will pretty much make the whole thing explode. I couldn't stress it enough, even to myself. Do not make this thing more complicated than it already is.'And yet here you are having fun with it.'Don't test me, Ica. Or maybe I'll just assert me being
CV.III Cotangent
Fiiiineee... You win, my precious Ica.The stuttering that ensued at the back of my head was like a soothing tune as I looked over my work. The communication arrays were gonna stay, as would the Essence storage runes at strategic parts of the palace grounds. Hmmm.... Wouldn't the communication arrays be two-way anyway? So why even bother with surveillance runes like last time?My hand moved to remove the minor additions I added on the dirt parts of the grounds, leaving me with more space to work with in terms of... well... anything, really. What kind of runes would even work on shaky ground? Dirt couldn't hold anything beyond the basic types of runic arrays. Anything more complex than a three-layered circuit would blow up instantly from the strain. I could maybe run- wait... why not just do that?The charcoal streaked across the outskirts of the pa
CV.II Cotangent
*ruummbbllee...*The sound of a sputtering engine echoed from behind me as I drew up yet another set of circles on the board. While I kind of put the general purpose of the massive multi-circuit array at the back of my head, I really should try and solidify that stuff properly before making the main control array, shouldn't I...'Good thing you remembered that, Master.'I grumbled through the dull pain I was feeling at my knees as I focused myself back on the doodle that was supposed to be a defense system for the palace grounds. It was far too small of a circle, now that I thought about it. The size of the drawing did little to help me ascertain the types of circuits that I drew on it in the first place. Squinting even further, it felt as if I was reading my own handwriting from how jumbled and nonsensical it all looked with hindsight.
CV.I Cotangent
Plans upon plans upon plans. I feel like I'm repeating myself whenever I say that I'm obsessed about things going right, and if not, to have plans to be able to properly react to the failure. Fool-proofing something small was easy. Doing it again for something on the scale of a war, however, was a completely different beast. The number of variables at play, hundreds to even thousands of moving parts to look over and take into account. The time, the weather, morale, even individuals that might have other ideas and could stray from the plans put into place... It was so much to think about that hours or even days of pouring over the relevant information wouldn't be enough to take everything into account into one's plans. And even if you think you somehow managed to achieve this impossibility, there will always be something so monumentally out of left field that could just absolutely destroy any and all plans along with its sub plans and
Interlude XXXIX: Grigori
GRIGORI⬛⬛⬛*RRRRRUUUMMBBLLEEEE!!!! RRRRUUMMBBLEEEE!!!*"What's wrong, Lord Stone?! Finally getting tired in your old age?!"Grigori grumbled in annoyance as he found himself standing his ground in his self-made fortress. Truth be told, the former Prime expected his fight to be over over ten minutes ago. However, he severely underestimated his enemies' hidden tenacity and downright stubbornness."I'm just getting started, kid!" he boisterously replied. "I'm far from being done!"Still, even as he said those words, Grigori was beginning to feel more tired than he initially expected. His reserves were starting to run dry from the constant back and forth that the combined forces of Lords Breeze and Inferno were throwing at him. And that's not to mention the current
CIV.IV Transistor
OLIVIA⬛⬛⬛"So Lord Iron truly took care of the problem?"Olivia held her breath as she found herself taking in the state that the young Num was just found in. Broken, battered, and bleeding all over, Tesla had clearly taken a beating of a lifetime as her head lolled in her unconscious state, her face marred with cuts and bruises as her white hair was stained brown with dried blood."Damn... I guess the ranking in the Prime Thirteen's not a joke, huh...""Lord Iron's the Sixth, after all. Lady Static's the Thirteenth...""Fuck..." Olivia swore under her breath, her teeth gnashing as she watched the Imperials gawk at her fallen friend. "How the hell do I get her out of there safely..."The warrior Den tuned everything out as she focused on the unenviabl
CIV.III Transistor
OLIVIA⬛⬛⬛*c..crackle....*The faint sound of electricity seemed to crackle from the distance as Olivia stood in the middle of her self-made carnage. The lack of common sense that she was witnessing honestly made her feel more irritated than amused as she slowly walked towards the panicking commander. Olivia had places to be, and possibly someone to save depending on whether or not Tesla could somehow relay to her that she was okay."No matter," she sighed. "You idiots wouldn't understand, I guess.""No!-"*SLASH!*With a quick step, the commander didn't even stand a chance. His sword fell with an unceremonious clang onto the ground as his head rolled off his neck like a piece of meat. Olivia didn't flinch as the idiot's terrified fa
CIV.II Transistor
OLIVIA⬛⬛⬛*CRACKLE! CRACKLE! KRAKATHOOM!*Olivia ran through the streets of Mathema like a woman possessed. Wreaking havoc across every Imperial contingent she came across, lightning followed her path as she relied on Tesla's ever-encompassing presence to deal massive damage on the enemy while despite being outnumbered by at least a hundred to one. She knew that Her Sister would no doubt disapprove of her current tactics, but if it worked, then why bother changing it?"If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?"*KRAKATHOOM!*"AAHHH!!!!""IT BURNS!"With a smile on her face and blood on her blade, Olivia uttered her Sister's own words out loud as a reminder. Lightning crackled behind her, screams of her fallen enemies saturat
