Slycerr
Getting out there.
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Gamer of Capes and Worms
Gamer of Capes and Worms 6
New
Slycerr
Getting out there.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
- 20
- Likes received
- 153
-Matt McCartney-
Waiting always made him nervous.
Waiting for school to end, waiting for the bullies to come.
Waiting for friends to leave him.
To be fair, the last one hasn't happened in a while.
His boxing friend group started with just Spencer recommending it, to fight off the bullies and gain a bit more confidence in himself.
Ironically, the boxing gym did help with the bullies, but not because he fought them off.
No, that was because of the friends he made there. They found him familiar, and when he told them which school he was going to and why he was there, they stood up for him.
Spencer and Leia were from the drama club and asked him to help with writing and correcting spelling or grammar mistakes, making it so he could sit with them now at lunch.
Johnathan, or John or Johnny, helped with keeping the jockeys away from him. As a thanks, he helped him with homework and understanding lessons, although sadly it wasn't enough to not make him repeat a year.
Which doesn't make Johnny stupid, he just wasn't book smart and he knew it irritated him to no end.
But he never acted that frustration on him, which he appreciated.
Kevin was just that 'everybody likes him' guy, a bit oblivious maybe, considering he didn't know anybody was being bullied in the school. But he was the type of guy you couldn't stay mad at.
As for Brian,
He listened.
You could talk about anything with him and he would listen, maybe not enthusiastically, but he asked questions and let you get it out of your system, good or bad topics,
He listened.
You did have to worry when you talked about anything martial arts related, then the two roles of speaker and listener could change pretty fast.
He was certain the group would have been disbanded when they finished high school (well except Johnny), but here they are, months later and still hanging out regularly.
And then Liam came into the mix.
Brian was honest with them and said his dad asked him to invite Liam, they were okay with it.
It wasn't a bad deal, if it clicked then they had a possible new friend and made Mr. Laborn happy.
If it didn't, well then they could at least say they tried and it didn't work out.
That does make him wonder if Mr. Laborn had anything to do with his current friend group…
Looking at his phone for the time, it was 5 minutes before the agreed upon time.
"Hey Matt! How are ya!"
"WAH!" Turning around, I glared at Liam.
"Don't scare me like that!"
Looking confused and abashed, he answered,
"Sorry, it wasn't my intention to scare you."
Glare slowly disappearing, I just huff and wave my hand.
"S'fine. Anyway, anything you'd like to do today?"
Grinning at me, Liam just shrugs. "Not really, you're the one who invited me and I didn't know if you had something in mind."
Cheeks reddening in embarrassment, I voiced my plan.
"Well, I was thinking of just going for a walk on the boardwalk and maybe visiting the bookshop here, maybe grab a bite later."
Putting his hands in his pockets and looking completely at ease, he smirks.
"S'fine by me, maybe stop by the sports store while we're at it."
Confused, I replied, "What you need there? New boxing gloves?"
"Nah, I want a metal bat for at home, there's been an attempted break-in at one of the apartments and I want something to defend myself."
Bleaching a bit at that, I asked, "What happened?"
Another shrug, acting completely nonchalant, but I could see something in his eyes.
"It was apparently pretty close, but the moment the robber saw the light go on in the room, they bolted. So it was probably a druggie wanting some cash but not yet gone far enough to kill or hurt someone over it."
Grimacing, I remember what kind of city I live in. That story happens far too often, but there is little that can be done about it, and the police just take your information and throw it in the trash on the way out.
Seeing my expression, Liam just gestures that he appreciates the worry but wants to leave the subject.
So we walk and talk around the boardwalk, over boxing and reading, over the bowling we did last week, over anything really.
And that is where Liam is good at, going with any topic and talking with you about it.
That isn't to say he knows everything; if he doesn't know he will just tell you and say to keep talking about it if you want to.
And that is what makes Liam fun.
Because while Brian listens, Liam listens and is interested.
So we talk, mostly about fantasy stories; he recommends stories online and I recommend books.
At the end, we ate at Fugly Bob's and were about to leave when a floating girl with her companions came in.
Glory Girl came in with her sister and Panacea and the ward Gallant.
"Come on Ames! That guy had it coming! You should know to not be aggressive in front of a cape! Should I have not stopped that fight from happening then?!"
Speaking loudly and with animated hand motions, Victoria Dallon, better known as Glory
Girl, told her sister for anyone to hear.
With an exasperated breath, her sister answered, "No Vicky, what I'm telling you was to let
Gallant handle it because he is better at defusing… which you know by the way."
With a "Hmpf," Vicky turned away from Panacea with her arms crossed.
Meanwhile, Gallant was in between them trying to ironically… defuse the situation of the sisters arguing.
"Hehe, now now Ladies, what do you guys want to eat? Today is on me, okay?"
That brought the sisters back to where they were and they saw all the people staring at them.
And as professional capes… they just ignored us and went to order.
Looking back at Liam, I saw him being really focused on the heroes; there was even a moment when his staring was so much that Gallant started looking at us.
"First time seeing New Wave and Gallant?"
Turning back towards me, a bit confused, he took a second and replied.
"Oh? Yeah, first time. Up close anyway, I've probably seen Glory Girl flying in the distance."
"Really? You live close to New Wave?"
Amused, he shrugs.
"Don't think so? I live in the nice part of the Merchants; if New Wave was close by, I would think they'd have cleaned that part up already."
"True, I didn't even know the Merchants had a nice part haha."
Joking and bantering, we left Fugly Bob's, not realizing Gallant was looking at us on the way out.
Not that much later, Liam and I parted ways and went back home.
Today was a fun day.
-William Brooks-
It's been a month since my last, and first, dungeon run.
The first thing on my to-do list was already done.
Get a metal bat.
My stats and skills are also steadily improving.
[Status]
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered/ [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 162
Body Force: 135
Money: $4523
Soul Force had the biggest increase with 53 points, and Body Force at 35 points.
My cultivation speed was steadily improving; while before 50% looked fast, I was now sitting on 130% without the movement bonus of meditation, which itself was another 12.5%.
I've also dropped training in the gym on Wednesday to do more traditional cultivation.
Technically with the Heavenly God Technique, I don't need to physically work out anymore, but the gym gives me more than just that.
For one, I'm actually learning how to fight there, plus it's basically my only social interaction I have except for the get-togethers I have with Matt and the group.
Soul Sense has also leveled up nicely.
Soul Sense Lvl. 17
The ability to sense Soul Energy outside the body.
Current distance: 51 ft
It's the skill that leveled up the most, probably because I've tried to never not have it on.
Now I shouldn't be surprise-attacked anymore by a koala-dropping ghoul.
Soul Reinforcement is another skill I focused a lot of my time on; this one was harder to level because it still requires some amount of focus, but I suspect that another week and I can go back into the dungeon again with this skill a useable part of my arsenal.
Not to say that it doesn't already give a considerable boost.
Soul Reinforcement Lvl. 11
The use of Soul Force and reinforcing your body with it, a must for every Cultivator.
Adds 11% of Soul Force towards Body Force while in use.
Right now that's an extra 16 points to my Body Force making me technically halfway into Bronze Star-2 of the Fighter Rank.
Which doesn't sound like a lot, but with good technique that bit can add a massive difference.
Or
You could use the force multiplier known as 'baseball bat'.
With all that, Soul Manipulation is going up bit by bit in the background, sitting at Lvl. 29.
I think it's high enough to try some techniques I've known from the story Tales of Demons and Gods where the base of my power came from, like the Secret Soul Techniques.
I'll probably need to practice on zombies first before I use it in the real world though. After all, Shen Yue used it to overpower Nie Li in the beginning of the story and was worried he would actually try and kill him.
My Soul Realm is much stronger and I'm in a world where nobody even has Soul Force or barely anything, because I could still sense them with Soul Sense.
Other than that, it's maybe a good time to start seriously researching this city and its power players.
So, getting a pen and paper, I use my phone to research my city.
The results were… worrying.
First, the Merchants. So far I found they are just a group of drug dealers backed by a few capes.
Skidmark isn't that dangerous by himself for me; his power basically lets him deflect things weakly. And while it theoretically could be stacked to increase the force it deflects back, he hasn't shown any sign of doing that the last few years.
He's basically as dangerous as a normal guy, but probably with a gun.
Squealer is a tragic tale, or maybe a fortunate one in a tragic setting, because the moment people hear of a tinker they try everything to snatch them up.
Because while the Merchants are bad, they are infinitely better to be under than the Nazi regime if you don't believe in it, or Lung's tyrannical rule.
Still, if I can get her out of that situation, then I will.
Then we have Mush, which I almost have pity for.
To have the power to become a trash monster is at the same time a lucky pick in this city, but besides being a Case 53, one of the worst powers you can have.
Useful, but disgusting.
As for Trainwreck and Scrub, so far I can remember they only join the Merchants after the Leviathan attack.
The other powers in this city are much more powerful and numerous, both in capes and gang members.
So much research that after 30 minutes, my head actually starts to hurt.
Research done for today, both because I'm tired, and because I'm disturbed.
Putting on the TV for some background noise, I go to the kitchen to make myself some tea.
Waiting for the water to boil, I hear the TV suddenly change from the program it was on.
Going back to look, my face pales and my mouth opens in shock for a second before a guilty sigh of relief comes over me.
In big black letters with a red background, four words flash on the screen.
ENDBRINGER ALERT IN MADISON!
I completely forgot about the Simurgh attack in Madison.
The attack that would bring The Travelers to Earth-B and make them Simurgh Bombs at the same time, and create another S-Class threat in Noelle's power.
Watching the news, one brave or suicidal reporter is standing at the meeting place of all the capes that is rapidly filling up.
But despite all that I can see, and the knowledge that thousands of people will die and millions will be ruined,
One question keeps coming back to the front of my mind.
Could I have prevented this?
AN: This chapter was a rollercoaster for me. At first I thought meeting between Matt and Liam was a good opportunity for an interlude, to see if I could do a good job with it or not.
Do tell me if I did btw, does he feel different from Liam's thoughts? I think he does.
I also tried to write the conversation differently; did you guys like it? Or should I go back to how I wrote them before?
Then we came to the downhill part, Liam's POV was tough—not it being him per se, but more of what the fuck am I going to make him do that is helpful but not the same thing as I did before.
So I made him do research that I realized halfway would be a massive info dump and had to change it to something else. This is where the Endbringer comes in, Simurgh right before Christmas.
I even have a reason why Liam doesn't think or talk about the holidays. That I had totally planned beforehand…
PS. Also, it's my birthday!
Waiting always made him nervous.
Waiting for school to end, waiting for the bullies to come.
Waiting for friends to leave him.
To be fair, the last one hasn't happened in a while.
His boxing friend group started with just Spencer recommending it, to fight off the bullies and gain a bit more confidence in himself.
Ironically, the boxing gym did help with the bullies, but not because he fought them off.
No, that was because of the friends he made there. They found him familiar, and when he told them which school he was going to and why he was there, they stood up for him.
Spencer and Leia were from the drama club and asked him to help with writing and correcting spelling or grammar mistakes, making it so he could sit with them now at lunch.
Johnathan, or John or Johnny, helped with keeping the jockeys away from him. As a thanks, he helped him with homework and understanding lessons, although sadly it wasn't enough to not make him repeat a year.
Which doesn't make Johnny stupid, he just wasn't book smart and he knew it irritated him to no end.
But he never acted that frustration on him, which he appreciated.
Kevin was just that 'everybody likes him' guy, a bit oblivious maybe, considering he didn't know anybody was being bullied in the school. But he was the type of guy you couldn't stay mad at.
As for Brian,
He listened.
You could talk about anything with him and he would listen, maybe not enthusiastically, but he asked questions and let you get it out of your system, good or bad topics,
He listened.
You did have to worry when you talked about anything martial arts related, then the two roles of speaker and listener could change pretty fast.
He was certain the group would have been disbanded when they finished high school (well except Johnny), but here they are, months later and still hanging out regularly.
And then Liam came into the mix.
Brian was honest with them and said his dad asked him to invite Liam, they were okay with it.
It wasn't a bad deal, if it clicked then they had a possible new friend and made Mr. Laborn happy.
If it didn't, well then they could at least say they tried and it didn't work out.
That does make him wonder if Mr. Laborn had anything to do with his current friend group…
Looking at his phone for the time, it was 5 minutes before the agreed upon time.
"Hey Matt! How are ya!"
"WAH!" Turning around, I glared at Liam.
"Don't scare me like that!"
Looking confused and abashed, he answered,
"Sorry, it wasn't my intention to scare you."
Glare slowly disappearing, I just huff and wave my hand.
"S'fine. Anyway, anything you'd like to do today?"
Grinning at me, Liam just shrugs. "Not really, you're the one who invited me and I didn't know if you had something in mind."
Cheeks reddening in embarrassment, I voiced my plan.
"Well, I was thinking of just going for a walk on the boardwalk and maybe visiting the bookshop here, maybe grab a bite later."
Putting his hands in his pockets and looking completely at ease, he smirks.
"S'fine by me, maybe stop by the sports store while we're at it."
Confused, I replied, "What you need there? New boxing gloves?"
"Nah, I want a metal bat for at home, there's been an attempted break-in at one of the apartments and I want something to defend myself."
Bleaching a bit at that, I asked, "What happened?"
Another shrug, acting completely nonchalant, but I could see something in his eyes.
"It was apparently pretty close, but the moment the robber saw the light go on in the room, they bolted. So it was probably a druggie wanting some cash but not yet gone far enough to kill or hurt someone over it."
Grimacing, I remember what kind of city I live in. That story happens far too often, but there is little that can be done about it, and the police just take your information and throw it in the trash on the way out.
Seeing my expression, Liam just gestures that he appreciates the worry but wants to leave the subject.
So we walk and talk around the boardwalk, over boxing and reading, over the bowling we did last week, over anything really.
And that is where Liam is good at, going with any topic and talking with you about it.
That isn't to say he knows everything; if he doesn't know he will just tell you and say to keep talking about it if you want to.
And that is what makes Liam fun.
Because while Brian listens, Liam listens and is interested.
So we talk, mostly about fantasy stories; he recommends stories online and I recommend books.
At the end, we ate at Fugly Bob's and were about to leave when a floating girl with her companions came in.
Glory Girl came in with her sister and Panacea and the ward Gallant.
"Come on Ames! That guy had it coming! You should know to not be aggressive in front of a cape! Should I have not stopped that fight from happening then?!"
Speaking loudly and with animated hand motions, Victoria Dallon, better known as Glory
Girl, told her sister for anyone to hear.
With an exasperated breath, her sister answered, "No Vicky, what I'm telling you was to let
Gallant handle it because he is better at defusing… which you know by the way."
With a "Hmpf," Vicky turned away from Panacea with her arms crossed.
Meanwhile, Gallant was in between them trying to ironically… defuse the situation of the sisters arguing.
"Hehe, now now Ladies, what do you guys want to eat? Today is on me, okay?"
That brought the sisters back to where they were and they saw all the people staring at them.
And as professional capes… they just ignored us and went to order.
Looking back at Liam, I saw him being really focused on the heroes; there was even a moment when his staring was so much that Gallant started looking at us.
"First time seeing New Wave and Gallant?"
Turning back towards me, a bit confused, he took a second and replied.
"Oh? Yeah, first time. Up close anyway, I've probably seen Glory Girl flying in the distance."
"Really? You live close to New Wave?"
Amused, he shrugs.
"Don't think so? I live in the nice part of the Merchants; if New Wave was close by, I would think they'd have cleaned that part up already."
"True, I didn't even know the Merchants had a nice part haha."
Joking and bantering, we left Fugly Bob's, not realizing Gallant was looking at us on the way out.
Not that much later, Liam and I parted ways and went back home.
Today was a fun day.
-William Brooks-
It's been a month since my last, and first, dungeon run.
The first thing on my to-do list was already done.
Get a metal bat.
My stats and skills are also steadily improving.
Name: William Brooks
Class: NA
Soul Realm: Red
Soul Form: Disordered/ [Redacted]
Soul Attribute: Neutral
Sp. Physique: NA
Soul Force: 162
Body Force: 135
Money: $4523
Soul Force had the biggest increase with 53 points, and Body Force at 35 points.
My cultivation speed was steadily improving; while before 50% looked fast, I was now sitting on 130% without the movement bonus of meditation, which itself was another 12.5%.
I've also dropped training in the gym on Wednesday to do more traditional cultivation.
Technically with the Heavenly God Technique, I don't need to physically work out anymore, but the gym gives me more than just that.
For one, I'm actually learning how to fight there, plus it's basically my only social interaction I have except for the get-togethers I have with Matt and the group.
Soul Sense has also leveled up nicely.
Soul Sense Lvl. 17
The ability to sense Soul Energy outside the body.
Current distance: 51 ft
It's the skill that leveled up the most, probably because I've tried to never not have it on.
Now I shouldn't be surprise-attacked anymore by a koala-dropping ghoul.
Soul Reinforcement is another skill I focused a lot of my time on; this one was harder to level because it still requires some amount of focus, but I suspect that another week and I can go back into the dungeon again with this skill a useable part of my arsenal.
Not to say that it doesn't already give a considerable boost.
Soul Reinforcement Lvl. 11
The use of Soul Force and reinforcing your body with it, a must for every Cultivator.
Adds 11% of Soul Force towards Body Force while in use.
Right now that's an extra 16 points to my Body Force making me technically halfway into Bronze Star-2 of the Fighter Rank.
Which doesn't sound like a lot, but with good technique that bit can add a massive difference.
Or
You could use the force multiplier known as 'baseball bat'.
With all that, Soul Manipulation is going up bit by bit in the background, sitting at Lvl. 29.
I think it's high enough to try some techniques I've known from the story Tales of Demons and Gods where the base of my power came from, like the Secret Soul Techniques.
I'll probably need to practice on zombies first before I use it in the real world though. After all, Shen Yue used it to overpower Nie Li in the beginning of the story and was worried he would actually try and kill him.
My Soul Realm is much stronger and I'm in a world where nobody even has Soul Force or barely anything, because I could still sense them with Soul Sense.
Other than that, it's maybe a good time to start seriously researching this city and its power players.
So, getting a pen and paper, I use my phone to research my city.
The results were… worrying.
First, the Merchants. So far I found they are just a group of drug dealers backed by a few capes.
Skidmark isn't that dangerous by himself for me; his power basically lets him deflect things weakly. And while it theoretically could be stacked to increase the force it deflects back, he hasn't shown any sign of doing that the last few years.
He's basically as dangerous as a normal guy, but probably with a gun.
Squealer is a tragic tale, or maybe a fortunate one in a tragic setting, because the moment people hear of a tinker they try everything to snatch them up.
Because while the Merchants are bad, they are infinitely better to be under than the Nazi regime if you don't believe in it, or Lung's tyrannical rule.
Still, if I can get her out of that situation, then I will.
Then we have Mush, which I almost have pity for.
To have the power to become a trash monster is at the same time a lucky pick in this city, but besides being a Case 53, one of the worst powers you can have.
Useful, but disgusting.
As for Trainwreck and Scrub, so far I can remember they only join the Merchants after the Leviathan attack.
The other powers in this city are much more powerful and numerous, both in capes and gang members.
So much research that after 30 minutes, my head actually starts to hurt.
Research done for today, both because I'm tired, and because I'm disturbed.
Putting on the TV for some background noise, I go to the kitchen to make myself some tea.
Waiting for the water to boil, I hear the TV suddenly change from the program it was on.
Going back to look, my face pales and my mouth opens in shock for a second before a guilty sigh of relief comes over me.
In big black letters with a red background, four words flash on the screen.
ENDBRINGER ALERT IN MADISON!
I completely forgot about the Simurgh attack in Madison.
The attack that would bring The Travelers to Earth-B and make them Simurgh Bombs at the same time, and create another S-Class threat in Noelle's power.
Watching the news, one brave or suicidal reporter is standing at the meeting place of all the capes that is rapidly filling up.
But despite all that I can see, and the knowledge that thousands of people will die and millions will be ruined,
One question keeps coming back to the front of my mind.
Could I have prevented this?
AN: This chapter was a rollercoaster for me. At first I thought meeting between Matt and Liam was a good opportunity for an interlude, to see if I could do a good job with it or not.
Do tell me if I did btw, does he feel different from Liam's thoughts? I think he does.
I also tried to write the conversation differently; did you guys like it? Or should I go back to how I wrote them before?
Then we came to the downhill part, Liam's POV was tough—not it being him per se, but more of what the fuck am I going to make him do that is helpful but not the same thing as I did before.
So I made him do research that I realized halfway would be a massive info dump and had to change it to something else. This is where the Endbringer comes in, Simurgh right before Christmas.
I even have a reason why Liam doesn't think or talk about the holidays. That I had totally planned beforehand…
PS. Also, it's my birthday!
Last edited:
Nicohals J Westerberg
(Local Lurker)
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I don't know if it's because Im on mobile but some sentences have a weird gap in between them
Slycerr
Getting out there.
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I don't notice anything at first glance, but I'll check more indepth later.
Neondagger
Versed in the lewd.
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Happy birthday and thanks for the chapter
G1 Convoy
Versed in the lewd.
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TFTC and Happy Birthday.
If you were only trying to portray Matt as a socially awkward, (post?) highschool teen, who is trying to navigating relationships in his social circle (and nothing more), then you did okay.
If you were only trying to portray Matt as a socially awkward, (post?) highschool teen, who is trying to navigating relationships in his social circle (and nothing more), then you did okay.
Slycerr
Getting out there.
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Thank you!
And that was what I was going for yes xD.
Also yes, Liam's friend group recently graduated, well except Johnny. They are also a year older than Liam, but he himself doesn't go to school and is basically 'home-schooled'.
Slycerr
Getting out there.
- Joined
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- 153
Thank you!
Slycerr
Getting out there.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Messages
- 20
- Likes received
- 153
Thanks!