2021-01-11 07:00:14
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
The Least Common Denominator XXIII.VI Factorial
"If that is all, then I'll be on my way before I am discovered out of my post."The ensuing pause after my own confused deliberations didn't even last a whole ten seconds before our guest and benefactor finally decided to leave. She was probably aching to do so even earlier, but had only been trying to accommodate for my clueless ass in an effort to show sincerity. But still, I was left with more questions than answers as I watched the Prime leave her seat. And wasn't I only supposed to be out of prison temporarily?"And no, Lady Crimson. I already made arrangements for a.. 'fake paper trail', as your sister would've called it." I hadn't even managed to open my mouth before the Prime intercepted my unspoken question. "You are officially, if not legally, free from your incarceration."I was taken back. A well of happiness threatened to overwhe
The Least Common Denominator Interlude IX: Olivia V
She didn't know what to think.Olivia had thought that she was already over her sister being somewhat of a clueless idiot when it came to matters that weren't relating to her safety, but it would seem that a part of her was still touched that her sister was still trying despite the older woman's own lack of care for the well-being of others."Vaio is the neighboring kingdom to the east of the Empire," she found herself explaining dutifully, her hands running on autopilot as she rummaged through her chores. "They're a threat to this land, apparently. Often doing experiments on those that they manage to capture."That revelation was something that she learned a few months back during one Lady Love's earlier visits. The fact that a kingdom was kidnapping people only for the pursuit of science was repulsing, not to mention wasteful if she recalled her
The Least Common Denominator XXIV.I Coordinate
Getting back into the swing of things was both a blessing and a curse for my bored mind and lazy soul. While I could feel my guilt easing with every productive task that I manage to complete, my chronic laziness borne from a year of doing nothing but boring fodder tasks kind of threatened to make me relapse into the complacent idiot that I was back in my first life. Doing chores for Livia's shop was fun, and I could have settled with living like this for the rest of my life if not for the pressing concerns still knocking at the back of my mind.Having had a few weeks to acclimatize myself back into a working schedule, my brain also returned to its overthinking and hyperactive state of paranoia. Love was still giving correspondence with us, sometimes offloading a few extra resources for Olivia and I to use while we shared a few more tidbits of basic modern techniques and sciences as recompense. The welcome
The Least Common Denominator XXIV.II Coordinate
Pulling an all-nighter was, and will always never be a part of my plans, but I guess fate had something else in mind when I accidentally spilled ink over the last few pages of my book. As a result, someone who has never been fond of staying up late for work was forced to redo the last few pages of her handwritten book. And as one might think, it was a complete and utter pain in both her back and her wrist.Needless to say, that person was me."Fuck me..."I stared at the finished product with exasperation and relief. The ink-stained pages of a few hours ago laid strewn around behind my desk as their newly-written replacements shone in their white backgrounded splendor. The Art of War. Something that I'd never thought I'd actually write down, let alone even remember this well, to be honest. At least buying the damn thing was well worth the price of
The Least Common Denominator XXIV.III Coordinate
"How?"I struggled against the urge to flash the biggest smirk of the century as I went about the usual daily chores around the shop. The sun was just beginning to rise when Livia forced both of us out of the bed. Ever since, I had been doing my usual share of smithing for tomorrow's wares while my sister simply watched me with the biggest gaping awe that I had ever seen her have on her face."Practice, Livia," I droned out, not trusting myself to stop the chuckle trying to escape from my throat if I ever gave off the usual smile. "Practice, and skill."While she was used to seeing me as the better craftsman between us, she had never seen me work at this rate of efficiency before, even during the time when we were rapidly cranking out armor and weapons during our Furnace breakout. My hands moved like a blur as I systematically popped out a decently
The Least Common Denominator XXIV.IV Coordinate
The Art of War. As far as I could recall, pop culture and genuine curiosity drove me to buy and read the small guidebook religiously for a few months. And while I didn't really participate much in real-time strategy games as I did before, the knowledge imparted within that orange hardback book wasn't lost to me. In fact, if one was able to skew their logic and preconceptions a bit, Sun Tzu's teachings and observations can be applied to almost everything that even remotely relates to competition and wargames. From business meetings to basic life-advice, the Chinese general must've been a tactical and strategical genius if he managed to codify what amounted to something akin to basic tactical instinct into something quantifiable and easily readable. The debates on whether the damn thing was actually written by the guy or if it was actually written by a bunch of generals were wholly irrelevant to me as its teachings were useful regardle
The Least Common Denominator XXIV.V Coordinate
As a breakfast connoisseur, it was both within my pride and interests to learn and master various breakfast dishes like a wannabe foodie. What started out as an actual healthy curiosity, however, turned into a stupid bout of pride and whim when I managed to learn how to make omelet rice. Ever since, I'd made it my mission to at least know how to make every breakfast food imaginable. Granted, nothing was able to top my mastery over fried rice, but that was because it was the most basic of all the dishes that I knew."Is it to your liking?"Usually, I wouldn't ask such a question since I found it rude, but the burning curiosity inside me demanded an answer. Was it good? Was it bad? Did I put too much salt into it? Perhaps there were pockets of cold rice that I had neglected to mash into the heat of the wok?The anxiety as an amateur chef was killing
The Least Common Denominator XXIV.VI Coordinate
Hmmm.... I honestly thought that this news would shock me more than I expected. Was I that broken already that the possible combined might of the whole Prime Thirteen had become inconsequential to me?"Huh."It was quite a sobering thought. To think that it was finally happening had lifted some kind of weird weight in my chest. Anxiety wasn't the proper term for it, but I guess it was the closest word that I could use to describe it. I was worried, and yet somehow I felt strangely relieved that the perceived threat was finally coming. Now the question was that did I really even care anymore..."S-Sis?"I was brought back to reality as I heard my sister call for me. Looking at her, it was clear that the news had shaken her up a tad bit. She was even sweating despite the relative coolness of our current location.
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
