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2021-02-14 07:00:06
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The Least Common Denominator XXXII.III Solve for Y
"I suppose I shall continue."Love's tone never wavered despite everything that's happened in front of her for the past, I don't know, hour or so since this whole open forum thing started? Then again, I never really saw her show any other sign of emotion except for the rare smirk or the small spark in her eyes whenever she felt excitement or some other thing that I couldn't quantify.I crossed my arms under my chest as Love began her version of what I was like back then."As I've said earlier, you are an unparalleled genius in regards to your fields of specialty. Your philosophies in battle strategy and ingenious ways of using the environment to your advantage could only be attributed to your uncanny ability to, as you say, think outside the box."The sheer amount of platitudes the two-braided woman was showering me wit
The Least Common Denominator XXXIII.I Permutation
Learning a new skill was always a pain in the ass.Okay, maybe not as much if it came to a life and death situation, but adding a brand new skill set to an already existing set of skills took far too much time and effort from a person that sometimes, it was honestly not worth it in terms of the potential gains one would acquire from learning the given skill in the first place. It was also highly dependent on the person's competence since skills didn't just magically materialize in the person's head after a few tries in getting it right. No, it took years to build instinct and muscle memory to the point where you could use the potential skill to its fullest potential. There was a reason the best kids in playing piano started when they were, well, kids."This sucks...""You did ask for this, Leader," Lace chuckled at my misery. "You wanted to learn w
The Least Common Denominator XXXIII.II Permutation
Another day, another slow trek across the snow for us to get through.Don't get me wrong, it's still a pretty fun experience to traverse through the snow every once in a while. But the moment you start doing something every day was the moment the novel turned into the routine, and that routine would turn into a chore.And right now, the routine was starting to annoy me enough that I was starting to consider it as a chore.The vast expanse of white and green never seemed to end as my feet dragged across the snow-filled forest; my right hand using a long stick of wood as a guide to make sure that I won't step into a deep pocket of snow by accident. Temperatures were at least getting warmer with my estimates being at probably twelve degrees Centigrade, and the mid-morning sun was doing wonders at illuminating the path with just how bright the snow loo
The Least Common Denominator XXXIII.III Permutation
Okay... It was definitely getting warmer now.Shedding my fur coat to better acclimatize to the heat, the sweat running down my back was a welcome sign that we were finally leaving the cold nothingness of the north for the relatively temperate nothingness of... wherever the hell we were at the moment. The snow underneath our feet was still there, albeit thinner, and the forest behind us still screamed winter time to anyone that would see it, but looking beyond the horizon from our vantage point, the lack of white amidst the luscious green of the fields were a sight for sore eyes. Granted, it was still rather cool, what with the north winds still picking up behind us. Also..."I'd think that we were out of the north with what I'm seeing, but the better question would be where are we right now?"Lace removed the hood from her coat, letting her one br
The Least Common Denominator XXXIV.I Arc
Weird dreams all-around had been had in the past few days. Angles and squiggly lines littered my vision whenever I closed my eyes, all while numbers, various formulas, and calculations drifted across my headspace whenever I indulged in my favorite pastime of staring off into space. Funnily enough, I somehow managed to make sense of it all. Was it because of my one year in engineering school? Probably. Or maybe it was the memories of my old self starting to seep through, which meant that I was exhibiting classic amnesia recovery signs.That's gonna be a doozy to experience first-hand.Either way, sleeping had become an ordeal after this whole 'flashback' business began, and I'm pretty sure that the twins were starting to notice my increasing irritability. Especially since we were trying to be as inconspicuous as possible while staying at an inn in a possibly hostile city.
The Least Common Denominator XXXIV.II Arc
"Cool..."My eyes drank in every last minute detail of the world around me, my heart trying its best to drown out the sadness and guilt roiling inside me with any kind of stimulus my body could find. The sound of street-side vendors peddling their wares, the smell of freshly cooked meat, the weird sense of nostalgia from seeing children running around barefoot playing a game of what looked to be tag. It all came to me in an avalanche of senses that I actually found myself drowning from it all.Finding myself in the middle of a massive market, I could only feel my feet walk forward as I let them dictate just where I'd go next. My mind was too busy processing the sights before me; of a bustling city that looked straight out of a medieval festival. It was clear that the nearby plains were giving this place riches in terms of sheer agriculture. And wouldn't that be the best for an
The Least Common Denominator XXXIV.III Arc
Wakey wakey...Whu..."..ey..."I don't wanna open my eyes just yet... capisce..."..eet..e..."Huh... I guess I was having another one of those... wet dreams... or something... It wouldn't be the last time... I dreamt up another girl from my sick fantasies...".on't make... prod...."I hummed in blissful ignorance at the immaculate voice calling out to me. She sounded exactly like how I'd imagine someone that was more responsible than me would sound like. A deep, seductive alto... a tone that wouldn't look out of place coming from a disciplinarian..."wake up..."Smiling at the sensation, I actually felt her poking my cheek twice as she tried to get me to respond. Well,
The Least Common Denominator XXXIV.IV Arc
"T-This isn't a good idea, Sweetie!~"I ignored my unwilling companion's warnings as I braved the dark alleyways of the city. Far from what I saw earlier as a lively and bustling city, Ablegra seemingly turned into some kind of ghost town in under the span of a few hours as the silence smothered us like a fog on a horror game."Lace? Love?" I called out as we rounded another corner. "I'm here!""Stop yelling," Arya shushed me as we continued on my journey back to my true companions. "What part of dangerous do you not understand?"The urgency in her voice would've tipped me off earlier if I truly trusted her. Alas, her earlier stunt had put me off on that notion as I tightened my grip on her unnaturally cold wrists. "It's not like anyone's out here, right?""You idiot," the blue-haired woman
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- The Least Common Denominator
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
- The Least Common Denominator
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
- The Least Common Denominator
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
- The Least Common Denominator
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.
- The Least Common Denominator
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
- The Least Common Denominator
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
- The Least Common Denominator
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
- The Least Common Denominator
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
- The Least Common Denominator
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
