Unprepared Castaway Chapter 5
Added 2024-03-13 05:28:37 +0000 UTCChapter: https://cathfach.co.uk/chapters/Chapter5/53.php
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> Greg woke up in the sort of bleary-eyed way that might make the phrase 'came around' more accurate. Maybe even 'regained consciousness', although that implied a totality that wasn't present. There was still plenty more consciousness left to regain. LUL > He paused for a moment, realising that upon waking he'd unscrewed the lid of a water bottle without thinking too much of it. Normally, that wouldn't be an incident worthy of consideration, except that last he remembered, his right arm had been paralysed. Not to mention blue. > "I... recovered?" Hmmm... > He thus failed to hear the quiet creaking approaching from all around. Uh oh... > It wouldn't even require them to remove their mittens, although even if not required, they probably should. The opposite side of the world from where Lumen Glaciei shone down from its frozen mountaintop, the realm was far too warm for mittens. LUL > How many of the large, grey ones, that could destroy a node simply by stepping on it? Elephant? > If the darts had been blocked or dodged, it would be understandable, but ignored? How could anything survive it, however alien? Maybe the darts didn't make it through the elephant's hide? > After all, if the things had no mana, they were not alive in the first place. Would you believe this isn't the first work of fiction I've read where something convinced itself Earth's life couldn't be alive due to having too strict of a definition of life? > If they moved around, it was for the same reason clouds drifted or rain fell Huh. That suggests that rain actually *exists* here. > For that strange thing with the external teeth and exchangeable hide, there would be no escape. Oh no. > "It's a bloody plant! Plants aren't supposed to take revenge!" LUL > More vines ran down the street, one poking into each intact doorway and window. None tried to invade the rubble, though. The sight just rubbed in the fact that the damn things were specifically looking for him. Oh my. > If he ran, there was little chance of finding food and water, but sticking here forever had zero chance, unless the planet had occasional marshmallow storms or similar. LUL > Unlike the first time, this time the venom had an overwhelming effect, leaving his whole body burning. But what it was doing to the rest of his body was nothing compared to his right arm, for which no words existed to express the sensations. 'Burning' was a reasonable start, but so was 'freezing'. You'd also need words like 'agony'. Unthinking, he desperately tore at his makeshift armour, pulling off his glove. Yikes. > Beneath it, veins flickered blue, irregularly shifting between eye-searingly bright and almost imperceptibly dull multiple times a second. And then they flashed a blinding white, and the screaming cut out as Greg collapsed to the floor. And then his arm exploded. > The resulting burst of blue flame was visible across half of Regnum Ligno. Welp. > The radius of the explosion had been ridiculous. RIP Greg, I guess. > The damage was done, but the creature wouldn't have survived the explosion. You sure about that, mister plant... thing? > The walking mana bomb was heading directly towards them. > And the foolish stuck-up plant was going to just let them have such a ridiculous weapon. Oh. Oh my. Well, I think I was right about the tingling coming from mana, but I had thought it was uniformly distributed in the air, not coming from springs. Also, it looks like we might be getting to see how Earth humans interact with mana without any summoning or reincarnation mucking with things.
Tim Burget
2024-03-19 18:34:49 +0000 UTCMagical elephant!
Scott Crawford
2024-03-13 19:21:59 +0000 UTC
