I forcefully blanked my mind out as I pulled up all of the relevant information that I could manage. With a hand still hovering dangerously close to the patient's body, I shook my head furiously as I steeled myself for the inevitable scream that was going to come out of my patient's mouth as soon as my crooked scalpel made contact with his tender flesh.
"Get ready..." I whispered more to myself than towards my assistants as I let the scalpel's edge rest on the pale skin. "I'm going to start the incision."Like a poorly-practiced butcher, I forced myself through the hesitation that was threatening to swallow me whole as I let the blade glide across the abdomen like it was nothing. The edge might not be as smooth as I was used to, but it did the job well enough as I made a vertical incision down at the center of the abdomen; coming from just level with underneath the last bone of the rib, all the way down to just above the bladder-"UUURGGHHH!!!"
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The Least Common Denominator The State of Affairs II
Death was always a concept that I have been strangely intimate with.Yeah. Ironic. Seeing as I killed myself in the first life without even looking back.But now that I think about it, death was always a specter of life that I somehow manage to find myself embroiled in for some reason. Whether it was the death of my grandparents wherein I first felt the call of death for the first time in my life, to becoming a doctor which were always associated with death if you really think about it, my life was, for all intents and purposes, pretty fucking morbid. And as I sit in solemn silence in front of the graves of my fallen comrades, I find it quite surprising that I honestly don't feel anything beyond exhaustion and existential dread."Sis?"Death was always eternal; never stopping, never waiting for anyone. A natural conclusion to the passage of time; nothing is able to escape its firm grasp on the conceptual being of every man, object, or natu
The Least Common Denominator XXI.I Vertex
"Where do you want it, Sis!?"It's been... two weeks? Since the attack? And life has kind of petered back to the same old shit of trying to improve our pitiful human lives. The settlement had been mostly rebuilt; houses and buildings that were once piles of wood and rubble now standing tall once more. Rock and cobble were also starting to appear in most of our designs, as the mines were starting to truly pick up some steam in terms of production. The previously wooden walls were now made of stone, and watchtowers now dotted throughout the settlement complete with an alarm system and some rudimentary sentries. And speaking of which..."Just place it by the gate!" I shouted out towards my sister who was currently straddling the newly built walls, carrying a huge ballista of our own make. "We'll add a ladder to it later!"Yeah... Ballistas. Or ballistae... I don't really fucking remember what the plural term for the thing was, were a thing now.
The Least Common Denominator XXI.II Vertex
I honestly didn't know what I expected. On one hand, I saw this coming a mile away, but on the other, I had hoped that they weren't going to ever come back.Now that was just wishful thinking, no?"Livia!""On it!"Moving quickly, we both sprinted out of the pantry and towards our respective room. Having our old abode destroyed by the first attack, I elected to simply have a room in the town hall for ease of access and overall convenience. It wasn't like I was going to be lazing around in my own house, anyway. And wherever I go, my sister would follow.*boom... boom...*The telltale sounds of explosions echoed from the distance as I hurriedly fumbled to unlock the door separating us from our weapons. Inserting the key, I grimaced as the damn thing refused to open
The Least Common Denominator XXI.III Vertex
Like last time.I didn't even have to ask for me to know just what Lace meant when she said it."I'm sorry..."Her last statement echoed inside my head as my grip on the straps wrapped around me tightened with each passing second.One-on-one... Alone... With a monster that I couldn't even scratch...Was I even supposed to live through this?Livia was seething, though there was a tinge of conflict in her tone as she tried to debate the older woman, "B-But... I can't possibly allow that to happen!""I know that! But it'd the best for us all if we didn't need to fight..."My mind was whirring with possibilities as my two apprentices debated right in front of me. If I wanted to avoid unnecessary casualties, I
The Least Common Denominator XXI.IV Vertex
As a weapons master herself, Mom taught me that I should never hesitate to switch weapons if the situation called for it. We had an inherent advantage over others in a sense that we were far more adaptable than the common warrior; that there was always a suitable weapon for any kind of scenario. Of course, I already knew that, but hearing this come from my Mom was still a treat for someone that was deprived of parental love for almost all of her first life. I drank in everything she taught me, learning the basics of every weapon imaginable as she drilled me nonstop in my earlier teen years.'No hesitation' she said. Let the body flow, do what you think is natural, switch to a more suitable weapon, if possible. That was the natural flow diagram of an accomplished weapons master. Never did she ever say that I should use weapons that I had no mastery with over something that I was very comfortable at. It was
The Least Common Denominator XXI.V Vertex
Okay... Relax... This isn't your first life and death fight by a longshot, Crimson... Ignore the massive urge on the back of your mind to run away screaming like the coward that you are... You can do this... Position your feet to balance... Reassess and recalculate the win condition...With a minor quake every few seconds, balance was going to be the major problem in even trying to get in and do some damage. The terrain has changed to be more dangerous than ever before; with the earth feeling more like mud than solid ground as I felt my feet partially sink into the dirt. Fissures and cracks as well were now scattered across the battlefield making careless navigation a problem. And now that I've seen it, I guess Lace was mistaken about the fact that the Prime had only the gauntlet to use to reshape the earth. That right leg of his glowed with the blue hum of Runic Essence; the greaves lined with runes mean
The Least Common Denominator XXI.VI Vertex
I shook my head at the thought of getting defeated. Being negative now would just make it come true even harder. I had to focus! I couldn't afford to lose here! Especially if Livia was watching, and most assuredly, she was probably already by the sidelines cheering me on. Nope! I had to win this! It didn't matter that he was holding back! It just meant that he was underestimating me by a significant margin.And I could use that.Steeling my resolve even further, I crouched low on the ground before flying straight at the waiting Prime. If he wasn't taking me seriously, then I should take him down now before he even begins to wisen up.*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!*"Such ferocity in your attacks, Miss Crimson," the Prime commented with a finesse that he had no right in having while blocking my attacks. "Now, this is something th
The Least Common Denominator Interlude VII: Olivia IV
"Let me go! She needs help! Can't you see?!"Previously content with watching from the sidelines, Olivia struggled against her comrades' grasp as she tried to throw herself to her sister's aid. While she managed to contain herself when her sister still had some semblance of a chance against the Prime, all sense of control went out of the window as soon as she saw her precious Crimson eat a solid blow straight to the face.The amount of time it took for her sister to stand back up almost made her heart stop."We can't interfere, Olivia," the green traitor whispered for the umpteenth time as she held her bound on her right arm. "You know that. She'll be fine. Master can get through this.""She's outclassed!" the younger sister yelled out, her voice coming out more pleading than she would've hoped. "You don't know what tha
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