Hey guys, sorry it took so long. I had to send my computer back to the shop twice before they finally fixed the problem. That took about four weeks. So only once that was done, could I start writing again. And by then the holiday season was upon me. Turns out it's really easy to get sick when your family wants you to take them to a science museum with literally hundreds of kids running around.
Given what happened last year, I wanted to write a few chapters ahead of what I released so I wouldn't feel so pressured, which took more time.
I'm so sorry it took so long, but here is a new chapter.
Also, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but most of the non-canon tians I have in my stories are just random NPCs that are there for convenience and can actually be forgotten. Like this next one.
"Talking"
Thoughts
'Mental Communication or using a magic item'
[Debuffs]
Skills/Systems
Chapter 28 – Taking a Step Back
Mint lavender, Clock Tower Clan Base
As a tian working for a Clan of mostly Masters Mint had seen many strange and interesting things. The creation of unimaginable machines, Embryos that broke the laws of this world, and an assortment of outfits that seemed intentionally designed to be overly colorful in ways that even the people of Legendaria might consider too colorful…or too revealing.
Not counting the fact the Clan Owner dressed as a whale or the Sub Owner looked like some nightmarish werewolf. Supposedly that was a monster from the world Masters came from. If so she hoped never to go to a place that can produce creatures even monsters consider soulless creatures of destruction. (1)
but she digressed.
She was assigned to work the counter for the parts distribution branch today.
So far it was pretty standard, a few Masters or tians, came in, picked up an Inventory with their orders, and left.
Aside from some minor small talk and that one woman who acted like she was the Saint or something. But now and again you'd get someone like that.
Then she walked in.
Crescent Rose had only joined The Clock Tower recently but had already made a name for herself to both tian and Master alike. Be it her mastery of the Mechanic job, blowing up an entire hanger, or her Embryo, who looked like a cute girl with an eye patch, in some type of black costume randomly abducting smaller Embryos, or even children if the rumors were true.
Needless to say, just about everyone in The Clock Tower knew her by name and face.
And now she was heading towards her counter.
She's going to go on another weapons-buying binge, isn't she?
As she moved closer, Mint felt rather surprised. Despite her…eccentricities, Crescent had always seemed the bubbly happy-go-lucky type of Master. The one before her had bags under her eyes and looked gaunt and malnourished.
Was this someone who had equipment similar to Crescent? If so why was her Embryo following them?
Was this the result of some Embryo-related debuff?
What happened next, Mint hadn't expected in the slightest. Crescent's Embryo, Wotan if she recalled correctly, to run up behind her Master…and knock her unconscious…before being dragged away…?
Even more shocking, if that was possible, was that Wotan, the Embryo Stealing Maiden as some called her, walked past several smaller Embryos, her prime targets for abduction, without so much as turning her head.
At the sheer absurdity of all of it, a small mechanical bird-like Embryo with a slowly rotating gear in its head making it resemble a rooster summed it up pretty well, "Mooo?"
Well, Masters couldn't actually die…and Embryos were supposed to be part of their master, right(?)…so it was probably fine.
Maybe?
/-/
Mechanic, Crescent Rose
[Unconscious]
She had been staring at that same Debuff for the last fifteen minutes. Floating in a white abyss that seemed to stretch on for eternity with nothing to do.
She could simply log off, but she was honestly just too tired to care. So, she waited.
Somewhat mentally kicking herself for her mistake.
In a world as real as Infinite Dendrogram, there weren't such things as "safe zones" where combat was impossible. Yes, there were places where you could be fined, arrested, or even put on a Wanted List for fighting, but there was no mechanic stopping you from attacking, besides the consequences afterward.
Ruby, a.k.a., Crescent Rose had forgotten this fact and falsely assumed no one would attack her in her clan's base of operations.
Granted that would mean potentially picking a fight with a clan with hundreds of masters armed to the metaphorical, or in some cases literal, teeth. And that wasn't even counting the fact there was a Superior in the clan.
From what she knew of the Clan Owner and his Embryo when he stopped making whale puns and got serious he could take on the twenty-nine remaining clans in the Clan Rankings by himself and win.
Had another clan rebelled? Had a PK'er snuck into the clan building? Did an experiment go horribly wrong and she was knocked unconscious due to the flying debris?
That last one seemed the most likely.
Despite some of the members of The Clock Tower sounding like they were veterans of the mechanical and electrical engineering world, some of them would easily be classified as mad scientists.
Granted, after blowing up that hangar, she was probably on the list of "crazed" mad scientists as well.
Wotan's "cuddles" with other people's Embryos probably didn't help her image much.
Crescent didn't know why, but she felt tired all of a sudden. Since the incident with the giant magic-spamming mechanical moth, she had been working nonstopped to get Red Rose not only back up and running, but also improve on her design as well as make use of Storm's Core…which was still a bit difficult.
Sure she knew what it did now, but that didn't make integrating it into her Magingear any easier. If anything it would be like modifying a VCR to respond to wireless signals sent via laptop. It's something that can be done, but doing it yourself is still a bit of trial and error, especially when working with technology that doesn't operate in ways she could understand.
Modern Dryfe tech functioned almost identical to Remnant's. Just replace Dust with MP and it's almost a one-to-one conversion with only a few minor quirks. Mainly adding skills to objects, but that was easily compensated by using her Engineer and Mechanic jobs.
But pre-ancient civilization was just…different.
If she had to put it into words, it was like both types of tech followed the same overarching rules, like how two different video games follow the same button response patterns for the same controller, but pre-ancient civilization tech was designed for the controller, but with more buttons. Buttons she didn't have access to.
More than once this week she's been banging her head against her desk.
That was on top of the last few days of ID had been nothing but completely insane, including, but not limited to, the mass migration of Masters to Huang He causing a surge in monster extermination quests, apparently even low-level grinding spots can spawn strong monsters if left alone long enough, someone stole the remains of the giant mechanical moth, so there was no way to upgrade her baby without those parts, and some big military guy put in a big order and even provided a magic generator core which meant the Pilot didn't need to supply MP for it to run and she wasn't picked to be part of the team to work on it.
Maybe this was why she felt so tired.
When did gaming become working?
Granted, she did enjoy working on her baby.
Although, is this what life will be like when she graduates from college? Just work and sleep?
Suddenly, the white void around her disappeared as she opened her avatar's eyes to see…a floor.
Blinking a few times, the red-haired Master with blonde tips confirmed that she was looking at a floor.
"Miss are you sure you want me to massage you while you're in your costume?" a voice asked. He sounded like a man.
Getting up Crescent realized two very important things. One, she was in some type of massage room. The view she had had was from her face resting in the hole for one of those massage tables.
Two, she was only in her towel, which was now around her waist as she looked at the man who looked equally shocked as her at her suddenly sitting up – and subsequent flashing – and Wotan who was lying on an identical table in her wolf/raven costume.
"WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
/-/
After apologizing to the masseuse for screaming – and slapping him – Crescent learned that one, he was a woman who just looked and sounded manly, something she would also apologize for, and two, Wotan was the one who knocked her unconscious and dragged her to a spa.
She was now, wrapped in a towel, face down on a massage table, "So let me get this straight."
"Oh, that's so good." The silver-eyed Master mewled as another woman seemed to know just where her stress was built up and how to unleash it.
"You knocked me out, stole my lir, and paid for the most expensive and comprehensive spa treatment they have?"
"Yep," Wotan said with a smile. Even though she couldn't see Wotan's face, she knew her Embryo was giving her the mischievous smile she had begun to associate with her Embryo.
"You've been working yourself mad, you needed a break." She continued.
"Miss, how is your tail wagging, I saw that this is a suit?" Wotan's masseuse, the one from before, asked a mix of confusion and anatomical curiosity in her voice.
"That doesn't matter." She waived off.
""I feel like it does."" Both Crescent and the masseuse said at the same time. Sitting up, the two of them shared a look before the silver-eyed Master laid down again.
"What's important is my Master finally letting herself enjoy life. You've become so obsessed with upgrading the Red Rose and all the other side projects you've forgotten to have fun and enjoy yourself. Do you even recall your original goal of entering the Duel Rankings?"
Crescent opened her mouth to object but closed it.
"I guess I got so wrapped up in the world that I kinda got a little sidetracked from what I wanted to do."
The blonde Maiden Embryo snorted, "I would say you got more than a 'little' sidetracked."
"Yeah", she acknowledged. It felt like years since she had even thought about the Duel Arena.
"Oh, by the way, we passed the Colosseum on our way here and I grabbed you a sign-up form. It's in your Inventory."
"Uh, that actually -ooohhh- brings up -uh oh – two questions Wotan." Crescent continued in between the woman hitting just all the right places to make her stress disappear.
Any game that could create this level of realism and impossibly good stimulation automatically got her pick for best game ever.
"What- oooohhh you know how to work the wings my friend –" her Embryo almost seemed to melt, from the sound of her voice, as the masseuse worked the wings of her costume. Apparently in this world working on non-standard humanoids, including those with wings, was normal. "W-what would those be Master?"
"Why did no one react to you carrying me unconscious through the street and spa…also who undressed me?"
Surprisingly it was the two masseuses who answered, "We've seen enough weirdness from Masters to not bat an eye about this kind of thing and I think your Embryo here was the one who undressed you."
"She's right and her hands are sssssoooooooooooooooooo right." Wotan mewled in confirmation…and partially melted (?) or was that just her suit shifting? Sometimes it was honestly unclear with Wotan.
"I guess I just got too caught up in the world to enjoy it. I ended up racing forward and tripping over myself." Crescent sighed.
"Yep. The world's a big place and wanting to explore it is something you really should do, but you need to pace yourself. The world may change by the day, but if you try to see everything, you don't see anything and you'll keep getting distracted from what you originally intended to do."
"Like Cheshire said. 'It's all up to you. If it's possible, then you can do anything you want.'"
Crescent felt the corners of her mouth turning upward, "Just like the Embryo on my left hand, what's about to begin is infinite in possibility." She repeated with a fondness that surprised even herself.
"Exactly Master."
/-/
The Master and Embryo pair were now seated in two vibrating recliners next to one another. They were wrapped in some type of seaweed while a team of tians gave them each a manicure and pedicure.
Wotan had decided to remove her costume. Minus the eyepatch.
The latter part made the cucumber resting over it seem…well pointless, but Wotan had insisted and the staff, already VERY familiar with the bizarre madness that could come with Masters and their Embryos didn't so much as bat an eye.
Their faces were caked with a smooth, teal-colored goop that Crescent could have sworn smelled like a dip for chips, but decided it was probably a better idea not to ask.
"I know what you said about possibilities, but what happens if I get sidetracked again?" Crescent asked while another tian massaged her temples.
"Then I'll do this again. But maybe next time with a cat café."
"Oh, that sounds adorable."
"I know right." She seemed to pause for a moment, "Do you want to go to one after our spa day?"
"Does Dryfe have a cat café?"
"Well, it's more like cat-like monsters, but yeah. It's near that place we got those remberry crepes"
"Let's stop there first then the café."
"How about before and after the café." Wotan grinned as the two laughed.
After a few moments, Crescent was able to stop laughing, it felt so long since she had laughed, but as a thought crossed her mind, the edges of her lips dipped, "But what if-"
"Master" Wotan interrupted, "Everyone makes mistakes, the important thing to know is when to listen to other people and learn from them. Odds are you will make more mistakes in the future, but that means you can also learn from them and become even better."
"Yeah, you're right Wotan."
"I'm always right." She could feel her Embryo beaming with a wide grin.
"Still, I wonder what's happening in Huang He, I mean the war has had to start by now."
/Mean ᘺᕼᓰᒪ-
[jwrite: What just happened?]
[Wotan: Master needs to relax. No war, no monsters, just relaxation until she's back to normal.]
[jwrite: I'm the writer, what can you do to stop me?]
O̵̤̅̀̕͠h̶̢̛̜͈̜̯͒̄̓̀̓̀̈́,̵͕̝̖͔̟͈̝̓͒͂͒̅̓͝͝ ̢̺̹̹̲̞̮̗̉͝d̷͕͉͚̙̝̩̂́͘ö̱̲̩͕͔̥̫̽̃͜n̫̘͔̻͇̟̻̳̋̅̒̃̾͌̉͝ͅ'̷̺̹͊̌ṯ̷̡̩̫̤̲͖͖̙̋̎͐̍̐̈́̉͘͘ ̶̦̪̈́̾̏̇̚w̢̢̥͈̭̞̳̉̍̈́͜ö̢͖̐̈́̉̎̒̃̈͝r̴͇̯̂̽̈́͛r̴̢̛̝͖̹̜̞̚y̶̧̛̝̠͇̮̽́̑̈̿̎͘͝,̴̛̥͇̣̼̻̪̈́̿̍̀̌͗͐͂ ̶̢̦̘͚̈́͐̔͛́̄̾̔̚y̵̰̿͛ò̷̠̲͎̖̆͒̇̽̍́͝u̵͚͂̾͘'̷̛̰̣̞̬̎̈͛͘̕l̶͓͙̒́̃̇̒͐̆̎̏͑l̵̯̫̪̹̣̪̹͂̅̈́̂͘̚͝͝ ̴̧̰͍̗̭̞͎̬̓͊̕͘͝f̴͙̭͚͖̙̼̻̝̒̆̉̅̂̎̒͜ĩ̵̧͇n̶̨̤̖̱̣̲͉̥̬͇̈d̵̫̖̣̙̃̽͋̂̓̎̃̆̚͠ ̶͍͋͊͊̽̆̉̾̕ö̵͖̫̮̰̝́̊̈́̆͜͝u̴̳̱̮͑̉̔̂t̵̢̞͖̱͔̓͂̅͜ͅ
[jwrite: wait, who said that?]
[jwrite: how did you get in here?]
[jwrite: where did you get that flaming chainsaw?]
[jwrite: why am I still typing this?]
insert Wilhelm Scream as writing desk explodes* (2)
Insert sounds of screaming, flaming chainsawing, begging for one's life, and the squeaking of a rubber duck*
/-/
Maiden of Metal Runic Script, Wotan
"Wotan"
"Remnant to Wotan."
sigh, "Please don't tell me she got this from me." A faint voice said somewhat self-deprecatingly, "Chocolate cookie crepes."
The wolf/raven maiden seemed to come out of her trance in an instance, "I'll have six." The tail of her suit wagging excitedly.
She could feel her Master wondering if this was what her older sister felt like.
Personally, Wotan would liken herself to the big sister in their relationship, but one thing at a time.
"Right, are you okay, you were staring off into space for the last thirty minutes?" Crescent said, concern clear on her face, "Are you okay? We passed a bunch of child Masters and their Embryos, and you didn't even glance at them."
Now that was disappointing. Small Masters were adorable, and their Guardian Embryos were always adorable too. What a waste of prime cuddle time.
Her Master waved the crepe in front of her, making sure to show that she was taking a bite of the same kind. She did have the best Master.
Grabbing it so fast her Master had to check to make sure she still had all of the fingers on that hand Wotan bit into the crepe with reckless abandon. The soft, thin pancake gave way to a mix of chocolate chip cookie crumbs, bananas, strawberries, and whipped cream.
As she ate, she always kept her uncovered eye on her Master. Both of Wotan's eyes functioned just fine, but she wouldn't be Wotan without the eyepatch.
It had been a while since she had seen her Master smile like that.
That warm – almost – hyperactive excitement was what she had come to associate with her Master returning. She couldn't help but smile.
…the fact she managed to polish off two more was probably a sign her Master had been skipping meals.
As they walked, Wotan took Crescent's hand in her furry one. She knew her Master loved to cuddle with her soft wolf/raven suit, truth be told it was pretty obvious when you consider she alternated between using Wotan and that giant Chesire stuffed animal as body pillows.
As the two polished off their crepes they made their way to the cat café.
"Kitten's Paw." Her Master read the sign aloud. From what Wotan knew of the establishment, it was a Master run business that employed waitresses with the Tamer job.
As soon as they walked in the door, Crescent released an ear-piercing shriek "SOOOOO CUUUUUTTTTEEE!"
Dozens of small cat-like monsters were all over the restaurant. Climbing on top of various cat trees or on top of the tables themselves.
[System Routine Activated]
[Cuddle Protocol initiated]
[Acquiring Targets]
[…]
[…]
[Targets Acquired]
[Targets 1-6 Located]
[Initiating Capture Procedure]
[Procedure Initiated]
[Procedure Complete]
[Initiation Routine: Cuddle]
/-/
Mechanic, Crescent Rose
Crescent moved a strand of her red, blonde-tipped, hair from her face as she gave scritches to the blue and white cat with wings sitting on her lap. Giggling at the half dozen cat-like monsters Wotan was trying to cuddle all at once.
They were all so adorable; one was tanned with a coin on its head, a black one had a crescent moon on it, a white one had a ring on its tail with green little booties on its front paws, a bat-winged one with a red cross on its forehead, and one was even green and in a frog costume. (3)
Not surprisingly, none of them seemed to protest the cuddling.
She didn't know if it was a skill Wotan hadn't told her about, or if Wotan there was some hidden mechanic Wotan tapped into.
Knowing her Embryo, it very well could be both.
She took a sip of her tea as the blue cat she was petting ate the little fish-shaped treats she had ordered for it. She didn't know if cat cafes in Remnant did this, but in ID you could order snacks for yourself and food for the cats, provided it was mealtime.
It felt like forever since she had relaxed.
Wotan was right. She needed this.
Taking another sip, she just let herself be absorbed in the atmosphere, only snapping out of it when someone entered the store and left in a blue blur. She could have sworn she heard someone call her name, or at least the first few syllables of it. But maybe she was just tired.
Someone just probably walked into the store by mistake.
After their entrees arrived, the two dug in. Though Wotan still slipped the cats a few snacks in between.
After paying the tab the two left.
There goes another forty thousand lir. She mentally sighed. But at least it was worth it.
"Thank you for doing this Wotan."
"Any time Master." Her Embryo replied hugging her before transforming into her Energy cape form.
'I've unlocked a new form!'
I know this is a short chapter, but it needed to be written and now we're set up for what's to come. Mainly Crescent FINALLY getting to fight in the Arena.
I'm going to try and keep the two-week release schedule, but the keyword is "try". My boss made me a team leader and now I have more responsibilities with the same level of pay. Wonderful.
(1) In this AU Grimm are fictional and as a result, having a Grimm avatar or at least a Grimm mask is like cosplay for us, but some tians made the mistake of believing these creatures exist on Remnant. The irony, I know.
(2) An iconic stock sound effect that has been used in countless films, TV series, and other media, first originating from the 1951 movie Distant Drums. It was featured in all of the original Star Wars films.
(3) Think of them as cat-like monsters in the form of the following characters: in order, Happy (Fairy Tail), Meowth (Pokemon), Luna (Sailor Moon), Gatomon (Digimon), Chomusuke (Konosuba), Frosch (Fairy Tail)