Theo’s entire face lit up.
“I love fishing!”
“I—wait, you what?”
“I love fishing!” he repeated, half yell, half whisper. “I’ve never come across another angler—you’re doing it so openly!”
I blinked rapidly, a smile spreading across my face.
“Theo, mate—you’ve just been upgraded from acquaintance to friend.”
...
2023-07-18 11:18:21 +0000 UTC View PostMy eyes went wide as the reel and rod transformed.
A rushing of power came from my core, along with an almost unnoticeable nudge from the System, no doubt trying to spew incoherent nonsense at me.
The rod seemed to blur, then sharpen.
The bracket, which wasn’t yet properly attached to the reel, secured itself. The metal warped and grew, sprouting a section on the side closes...
2023-07-18 11:17:47 +0000 UTC View Post“No...”
Unbidden, my hand shot out, discarding my almost-empty cup and catching the full cup of coffee with a single lightning-fast movement.
“No...” Maria said again, her voice tinged with grief.
Barry looked up at her second utterance, his eyes red with tears.
His face transformed.
A smile of the purest joy swept away any hint of sorrow,...
2023-07-18 11:17:24 +0000 UTC View PostTheo stared the man down, waiting for a response.
George cleared his throat.
“Well, you see, the thing is...”
George gesticulated, searching for the correct word or phrase; Theo was happy to let him squirm.
While Theo rarely liked the reputation his profession held—that of inscrutable and ruthless investigators—he didn’t mind leaning into the stereotype when it...
2023-07-18 11:17:05 +0000 UTC View PostGeorge closed his door behind him, letting out a sigh of relief.
Geraldine rushed him from behind, wrapping her meaty arms around him.
“That was wonderful, George—absolutely perfect!”
He kissed her on the forehead, delighting in the way her plump skin pressed back against his lips.
“Thank Poseidon’s girthy shaft that it’s over—we can get back on track with ...
2023-07-18 11:16:45 +0000 UTC View PostThe sun was midway through the morning sky, its warm touch and a cool breeze highlighted by the silence that spread over the crowd.
George cleared his throat once more, closing his eyes to collect himself.
Poor bloke, I thought. For someone with debilitating social anxiety, addressing all these people must be a nightmare...
He started speaking, his ...
2023-07-18 11:16:12 +0000 UTC View PostCorporal Claws felt more than saw the changes to her body.
Her entire being expanded, shifting her perspective as it did so. Her claws grew, teeth sharpened, and muscles bulged, filling her with new strength.
With a soft pop, her body condensed again, and her vision cleared.
She took in the surrounding scene.
She was back on her perch atop the pond, the bra...
2023-07-18 11:15:43 +0000 UTC View PostIn a room long since abandoned by the god that created it, something miraculous occurred.
A construct whirred to life.
For centuries, this creation had lain dormant, lacking both the energy and parameters to perform its tasks. Well, except for a single instance in the recent past, but that was, most certainly, an anomaly.
Another construct—a harvester—had facilitated that ...
2023-07-18 11:15:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe air thickened around me.
The chill morning breeze stilled, and the warmth from the sun seemed to vanish as if a cloud obscured it. I glanced up, seeing not a single cloud in the sky, then looked back at Barry.
His eyes were fixated on Maria, and she stood like a mouse beneath a predator’s gaze.
“B-Barry?” she asked, the word soft.
As soon as the air had shifted...
2023-07-18 11:14:47 +0000 UTC View PostI’d seen Snips excited before, especially when waking me up, but the fervor with which she woke me this morning was at a previously unseen level.
She and Claws both led me toward the saltwater pond, running ahead of me on the sand and urging me on with varied noises, gestures, and bubbles.
The sun had not yet risen above the eastern horizon.
The landscape slowly lightened, t...
2023-07-18 11:14:22 +0000 UTC View Post“W-what?” I asked, rather dumbly, by my estimation.
Corporal Claws and Sergeant Snips both turned to me, their eyes going wide.
They had excavated the pond further. It was twice again as deep as the last time I’d seen it, and was lined with dark rocks. Semi-opaque, opalescent stones broke up the tedium of plain rocks, the sun’s rays hitting them and casting rainbow colors. 2023-07-18 11:13:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Sergeant Snips, first chosen of master Fischer, sentinel of these lands, and de facto leader of the local Rock Crab population, collected some rather lovely looking rocks.
She’d picked them for their pretty color, and as she inspected the opalescent stones already piled up, she nodded.
Master will like them.
She and her squad of crabs hadn’t collected many. Well, ...
2023-07-18 11:09:11 +0000 UTC View Post“No, Fischer—you lost!” Barry called back, exulting in the relief of knowing the fields wouldn’t wash away.
He bent down, picked up the single stalk of sugarcane that had been lifted from the soil, and pressed it firmly back down.
“You fool!” Roger spat, stomping toward Fischer with sodden steps. “Do you know what you almost did? Do you know how much you a...
2023-07-18 11:03:10 +0000 UTC View PostI woke from a wonderful dream, one in which I was surrounded by a veritable sanctuary of animals.
My legs were inexplicably warm, and I opened sleepy eyes, glancing down toward them.
Corporal Claws slept atop my bed, letting out soft snores each time she inhaled.
I stretched my arms, doing my best to not move and wake the peaceful otter.
This proved a pointless gesture.<...
2023-07-18 11:02:49 +0000 UTC View PostSergeant Snips scuttled beneath the waves surrounding Tropica, searching.
The moon high above shone its light down atop her, brightening the sea floor.
Despite the myriad benefits of her new body, it also had its detriments.
She no longer looked like a simple crab, and the moment any fish caught sight of her steady movement through the water, they fled.
A new tactic was ...
2023-07-18 11:02:28 +0000 UTC View PostBarry’s face scrunched in obvious disgust as the oyster’s flavor and texture hit him.
He bit down a single time, and his disappointment only deepened.
He swallowed it whole, his whole body trembling.
“Yeahhhhhh,” I said, “they can be a bit much for the uninitiated.”
“W-water,” he begged.
I pointed toward the house.
“Inside.”
He nodde...
2023-07-18 11:01:57 +0000 UTC View PostIn a long abandoned room, high in the capital city of Gormona’s castle, a construct sat among a sea of similarly forgotten relics.
Despite there being no-one present, not a single pair of eyes there to witness its efforts, it sprung to life.
Text typed itself out on the screen, a single line intended to inform the long-departed rulers of this land about a cultivator’s advancemen...
2023-07-18 11:01:39 +0000 UTC View PostI removed the hanger from the forge when it glowed red, just as Fergus had suggested.
He passed his pliers, and I started shaping it.
I started with a smaller hanger, not wanting to waste any of the smith’s metal if it went poorly.
The metal bent easily, and I turned the round curve into a shape approximating an Aberdeen hook.
I made the bend slightly squared, then str...
2023-07-18 11:00:34 +0000 UTC View PostWith Sergeant Snips and Corporal Claws napping peacefully in the sun, I made my way toward the fields.
Those two really did a number on themselves by working all night.
As soon as the food had settled, they both started falling asleep, and I stroked them until they passed out.
The passage toward the fields was pleasant; the sun warmed my skin, perfectly contrasted by ...
2023-07-18 11:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostBarry sat straight-backed, his legs crossed before him as the sun started to peek over the eastern horizon.
“This was such a good idea, Barry,” Maria said.
Roger harrumphed from the other side of his daughter.
“It’s lovely, but we have fields to work.”
“Dad, you are such a grump—we have all day to work, and Barry even offered to help us. The least we can do...
2023-07-18 10:59:51 +0000 UTC View PostI stopped my hand before it got too close to the otter as I realized what I was doing.
Noticing my outreached hand from the corner of its eye, the otter turned from the crab, giving me a questioning chirp.
“Is… is it okay if I pet you?”
It made no move, staring between me and my extended hand.
It gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.
Slowly, keeping my hand...
2023-07-18 10:59:32 +0000 UTC View Post“A pond?” Roger spat the word, turning it into a curse.
“That’s right—a pond.”
Maria peered down at the hole, curiosity etched on her features.
“What does it have to do with fishing?”
“Well, while you can fish in a pond, I don’t intend to use this one for fishing—I want to use it for bait.”
“... bait?” Ma...
2023-07-18 10:59:03 +0000 UTC View PostMaria’s body struck mine, whisking my thoughts away.
I hadn't realized how much I’d been missing physical touch, and my heart seemed to jump at the impromptu embrace.
Her toned form latched onto me like a lost sailor clinging to a life raft, and she buried her face in my chest.
I hugged Maria back, matching her fierce grip and resting my chin atop her head.
“Can I ...
2023-07-18 10:58:40 +0000 UTC View PostAs was becoming a welcome part of my morning routine, I woke up to a crab looming over me.
Sergeant Snips tapped my nose delicately with her claw, blowing bubbles that were instantly recognizable as a mix of excitement and pride.
Her soft touch tickled, and I wiggled my nose.
“Morning, Snips.” I said around a yawn.
I rubbed the top of her carapace, causing her to swa...
2023-07-18 10:58:17 +0000 UTC View PostSergeant Snips, best friend and protector of Fischer, huffed on the shore as she glared at where the otter had disappeared, daring it to show its face once more.
The otter seemed different, and Snips suspected the creature had experienced some sort of awakening, just as she had.
It was, as some might find surprising, not at all incongruous to Sergeant Snips’ expectations.
As I took one last sweeping stroke with the file, the reel seemed to transform.
It shrunk and smoothed out infinitesimally, the change so minute that I hoped the brothers wouldn’t notice.
Along with the transformation, the System tried to send me another message that was, thankfully, suppressed. What wasn’t suppressed was my eyes being drawn into the reel, as with my previous cr...
2023-07-18 10:57:21 +0000 UTC View Post“What in Apollo’s delicate lute are you planning behind that toe-like face, Trent?”
Trent, first-in-line to the throne, and only marginally resembling a toe by his reckoning, closed his slackened jaw.
He turned away from the parapet he leaned over, facing the speaker.
His sister Tryphena stood behind him, blocking his way down from atop the wall. Her usually schooled and...
2023-07-18 10:56:49 +0000 UTC View PostTrent, the first-in-line to the throne of Gormona, wiped his sweaty palms on his velvet pants.
It didn’t help.
He sat in a waiting room, his slow brain churning at an entirely unusual speed.
There weren’t many things in this world that could unsettle his rock-like intellect, but ever since discovering the powered-on artifact in his favored room of hiding, it had been stead...
2023-07-18 10:56:27 +0000 UTC View PostWith the midday sun beaming down, I held on for dear life.
The fish on the other end of my rod swam away in a straight line, the momentum of its body gliding away above the ocean floor. Its weight felt immense.
Just how big is this thing…?
The line went taut even as I stepped closer to the water, the fish coming to a slow stop as my rod held firm.
At that mome...
2023-07-18 10:56:07 +0000 UTC View PostI crouched, creeping across the sands as I approached my quarry.
The morning was the coldest yet, an icy breeze kicking up and petering out in the pre-dawn light, but I barely felt the chill, focused as I was on the hunt.
One final step, and I was looming over my target.
I reached down, a thrill running through me. With careful silence, I started tickling my guard crab.
...
2023-07-18 10:55:41 +0000 UTC View Post