akasoindustries

130 - Battlefield

“The stench isn’t particularly attractive either,” Zefaris added wryly, popping the cork of one bottle and taking a swig. “Oofh, that’s strong.”

Strolvath also took a long swig of the liquid, letting out a satisfied sigh as he corked the bottle back up, “It’s their version of Liquid Vigor, I think they call it Vitamax or so...

129 - Close Encounter

Something about the stones felt timeless, like they had been here for far longer than they had any right to be, had endured things that would’ve destroyed any natural stone. When she walked upon them her steps were lighter, her stride quicker, and this effect clearly extended to both Zefaris and Strolvath. Enchanted paving stones?

For a ...

128 - Departure

It wouldn’t have been much of an issue at all, were this a normal journal - he could’ve just flipped through until he reached a part actually interesting to him. But, being encoded, Makhus couldn’t help but decode it linearly to ensure he didn’t miss out on anything. Hours passed, and the alchemist continued decoding the journal bit by b...

127 - Multitasking

“It will be a few days’ trek there and back,” Crovacus explained as Zel and Strol both intently looked at a map that had been laid out overtop the mess on the desk. “I could get you access to motorized transport, but that’d be like painting targets on your backs.”

“March there, exterminate the bugs, march back,” the singer ...

126 - Infestation

The gut feeling. He wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. Zel maintained eye contact, but from her peripheral vision, she could make out the papers that covered Crovacus’s desk.

Photos. Documents. Letters. Some printed, others handwritten. One was written in panicked, shaky handwriting, stained with blood.

“Could you please exp...

125 - Unforeseen Consequences

For a little while, there was silence while Zelsys processed the flood of information. She was not at all used to the manner in which the older woman trailed off on tangents so easily. After blinking a few times, she managed only a question whilst she pulled a quartet of silvers from her belt pouch to pay for the ammo, “Why’s it that it seem...

124 - The Quiet Morning

“Alright, done,” Makhus said, reaching into one of his pockets for a cotton swab and pressing it against the point of entry as he pulled the needle. He squinted at it up-close, as if trying to peer into the tiny glass window of the mostly metal-encased syringe. Zelsys was just about ready to turn and walk out before he tried to further invol...

123 - Rebound Pulse

Even her wounds were practically gone, only the deepest stabs holes in her back still felt when she stretched. In perhaps a day more, even the faint scars would fade, and her skin would be spotless as the day she climbed out of that bunker.

“Should probably take a bath myself,” she pondered as she returned to lounging on the b...

122 - Mysticism

“Probably less than you,” the markswoman laughed in response, but still began an extensive explanation of what she knew. “Aside from what’s common knowledge, they really didn’t tell us much, in part ‘cause Fog-breather families were more protective of their secrets than most governments. In many cases, they would intentionally mystic...

121 - A Day Off

The chef’s entire workstation was laid out bare for the customers to observe, and he clearly took great pride in making a show of his work, flicking pieces of meat high into the air with a cleaver only for them to land on an upward-facing skewer. Despite his piercing gaze and ice-cool attitude, Zelsys felt no apprehension as far as approaching...

120 - Momentary Respite

By now, they had caught on and regrouped back to back near the remnants of the campfire.

He could charge in and kill one, perhaps two by leveraging his sheer physicality, but that wouldn’t be enough.

A war-knife’s center of gravity was a little strange for throwing, but with some effort and his momentarily superhuman strength, Si...

119 - Vision Quest

The phantom sound of distant guns drowned out the noise of the street outside the window. The yelling of men, the foreboding crackle of a campfire and rustling of a bush. All these noises were familiar, to all these noises he fell asleep. In their absence his

mind occasionally conjured phantoms, much like it was doing at this very moment.<...

118 - Training Montage

Attempt after attempt, they spent hours on this fruitless effort, dragged along by Zef’s continual incremental improvements. But they were too incremental. She might develop a sort of Fog-breathing eventually using this brute method of teaching, but there was clearly a greater issue at the root of how she viewed the method.

Perhaps she n...

117 - Breathing Method

A/N: God I don't look forward to fnagling the blueboxes when this chapter comes out on RR

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A shake of her head and another sigh, “Almost got it. Almost. Was that really necessary? Not that I mind, but…”

“Figured you’d have an easier time...

116 - Code-speak

Emerging from the cornfield still gripping her cleaver, she saw Zefaris standing over the motionless corpse of the pistol-wielder, pointing her revolver at his heart and breathing heavily. Her face was flushed pink, Fog pouring from her nostrils with every breath.

She looked… Disturbed. Extremely so. The reason became clear when the sold...

115 - Roadside Robbery

Another cock of the hammer. Another can. The subtle anvil-clang of the hammer striking the ignition glyph, the violent thoom that accompanied the blazing lance of hot lead. A disgusting splurge as the can’s contents splashed over the dry soil.

One more shot, seemingly just for good measure, obliterated the old helmet.

She heard an ...

114 - Doing the Honors

With a mild chuckle, the markswoman peered into the open box… And froze in place, entranced. She stared at the gun, taking in every detail for a good minute and a half before she snapped out of the trance and reached in, visibly surprised by the distinct lack of bulk as she hefted it up with little effort.

“...It’s light,” she muse...

113 - Tinkering

“Alkahest solution’s good… Burner’s good… Seals are good…” the alchemist murmured to himself, meticulously adjusting the tangle of glyph-etched glass and ensuring all of its myriad components were in full working order.

His mind was not entirely focused on the task at hand, but what distracted him was no longer the need to fi...

112 - Samples

He could afford to price it cheaper than mediocre whiskey, and still manage a decent profit margin. A small taste of the liquid came first, a drop that hung from the edge of the faucet. Less aggressively herbal than he was used to, but more minty. Weaker than the military recipe, perhaps ten to fifteen percent Viriditas by volume rather than the...

111 - Implication

Both of them made their way up the stairs and into the front of the store, with Makhus taking the lead in dealing with a stranger as was usual for them, whilst Sigmund just delivered the wizened soldier stare that came so naturally to him. After all, it was just his resting face.

“My apologies, but uh…” the alchemist began, giving th...

110 - Pentacle

“What even is cold-iron?” she wondered, but dared not ask. Cold-iron Sovereigns didn’t look any different than tarnished iron, they were far less richly detailed than even silvers, with naught but a simple line design on either side. The only special property she could discern was the fact they remained cold to the touch no matter...

Zefaris Bust - Finished

New chapter later today, having some sleep pattern issues so my schedule is all fucked up.

109 - Spoilt for Choice

Zefaris looked around, squinting her eye as she looked for price tags. They were present on the lower-grade pieces, but not on the uniques. “There are no price tags,” she stated flatly as she looked back to the gunsmith. A sly smile formed on the old woman’s face, and she put the cylinder back in its place before she tapped on the side on ...

108 - Locusts

He tossed it over, and little squares of laminated parchment spilled out, bearing eerily detailed photographs, clearly taken in moments where the lengthy process of using a traditional camera would have been impossible. The contents of these photographs, however, were far more shocking than the implication of fast image capture technology.

107 - The Governor

“I didn’t expect the occupying governor to defend an Ikesian patriot from the soldiers of a country allied to Grekuria,” she shot at him with all the snark she could muster, confident that he wouldn’t take it personally. She almost lazily slipped into the chair and idly scanned the room, its lacquered wood and velvet cushioning as comfor...

106 - Displays

Zefaris briefly froze in place, then let out a frustrated exclamation of “Hey!”

The blonde markswoman let out a short sigh, just about catching a glimpse of her lover’s rear end as the town hall’s doors closed behind her. She could feel her face burning up, and knowing that it wouldn’t go away any time soon, decided to just cross...

105 - Errands

“Just strips should be enough. I need at least two sets of chest-wrappings that won’t remain torn up if they are damaged. Can you do that?”

“Of course, that’ll only be a couple days. Anythin’ else?”

“Underwear.”

A small, self-satisfied chuckle from the old man, his trained eyes already making educated guesses ...

104 - The Tailor

They passed by more closed stores, dust-covered displays staring at them from the empty storefronts. Pottery and porcelain, paintings, even moth-chewed dresses that hung off the skeletal frames of puppet-like mannequins. Then, for a good long while, nothing - just the front ends of perhaps a dozen houses. At the other side of this gap, nearing a...

103 - Riverside Promenade

Neither Makhus nor Sigmund were to be found anywhere on the ground floor when they made their way down those old, wooden stairs. Both of the women looked about for a few moments, soon realizing that the metallic rattling coming from the basement was caused by their compatriots. They vaguely heard Makhus yell something along the lines of, “Ther...

102 - Nonverbal Persuasion

But then, he was rather curious as to how the lab looked, and forcing Makhus to stop acting like a petulant manchild was something that bothered him far less than the prospect of disturbing what was doubtlessly a bonding moment for the two warrior-women.

A small albeit very real part of the reason for his apprehension towards disturbing th...