--donation bonus week (day 5/7, page 1/3)--
“To be frank,” said Haqq, “we do not want you inheriting any of the psychological tendencies that belonged to the previous owner of those bones. There is no evidence to support the idea that this is even a possibility, but I believe the worry is still quite reasonable, don’t you?”
“I guess...”
“So, no strange or unexplained mood swings since you began wearing it?”
“No.”
“Good. That is very good.” He scribbled something into his notes.
Behind him, the man with the gun from earlier fired off a rocket that soared across the chamber and obliterated a target dummy with an explosion so large that it shook the whole room. Flames and gnarled metal spikes leapt across the firing range, taking down several additional targets and even bounding back and cracking the safety glass directly behind Haqq.
Everyone turned to the stranger, who seemed quite pleased with himself until he noticed their stares.
“It works,” the man said in his thick accent.
Haqq just glared at him.
“I will go make adjustments.”
“You do that,” said Haqq. He returned to his notes once the other man was gone.
‘Our apologies,’ Sazandara said to Hector and Garovel. ‘The young ones are always so enthusiastic about their work.’
Lynn took the opening to interject with her own question. “So how do I use Incineration?”
Haqq looked up. “Ah, yes. I did promise to tell you. You may not like the explanation, however.”
She merely folded her arms as she waited.
“In order to invoke the secondary ability, you must be in the correct emotional state. Which, simply put, is happiness. You must be enjoying yourself.”
It took Lynn a moment of blinking to respond. “What? I have to be happy?”
“Correct. There are two things required to invoke it. The first is enjoyment, and the second is intent to use it. Rather simple, really. The problem, of course, is that whenever you want to use the power, you will naturally be in the middle of a fight, which is a difficult environment in which to find enjoyment.”
Lynn still didn’t seem like she understood, and Hector couldn’t blame her. “Wait a minute,” she said. “I have to be... so... what?”
“It is the same as how aberrations themselves harness it,” Haqq explained. “They all have a very strong bloodlust. It is part of their nature, which as it turns out, plays a key role in their power.”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
I'm struggling to decide whether I should read each page as soon as I find them or wait a few days/weeks until I can read several pages in one go.
ReplyDeleteSo far I'm leaning towards checking three times a day to see if there's any new pages.
Hector should ask these scientists about his element since Garovel said it might not be pure iron.
ReplyDeleteWho knows what could result (besides Frost)?
Mr. Frost and the Scientist in the story are the same person,
ReplyDelete“we do not want you inheriting any of [the] psychological tendencies that belonged to the previous owner of those bones."
ReplyDeleteA word is missing.
So Lynn has to basically become a berserker / battle crazy person? Yay for that one XD
I think what I'll do is read each page as it comes out, then reread the chapter at the beginning of each new one.
ReplyDeleteThat or drugs. A cocktail of weak opiates and cannabis compounds ought to do it.
ReplyDeleteOnly three? Amateur.
ReplyDeleteDid you mean "additional" targets?
ReplyDeleteGot it, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI think lynette was trained the complete opposite which is be emotionless when fighting.
ReplyDeleteIs there gonna be another page today, or should I go to bed?
ReplyDeleteThat came out more aggressive than I intended.
Disperse with the implications.
Hey George, where do you live? Or more specifically, what time zone are you posting from, I'm always curious. Especially because it dictates how often I must refresh this page lol
ReplyDeletei wonder if hectors element is carbon. there are many allotropic forms of carbon, and simply by rearranging the molecular shape, different products will emerge. for example certain network solids(allotropic forms of carbon) look like metal and can can conduct electricity very well or very badly. some dont conduct at all while others are in the middle providing good conductivity (ex - graphite) while some are the best at it. very plausible, although there may be some things that im missing that could rule it out completely
ReplyDeleteHectors metal is magnetic, as well as conductive. Carbon is not magnetic.
ReplyDeleteactually certain forms of carbon can be ferromagnetic
ReplyDeleteAh, I didn't know that. My apologies.
ReplyDeleteI don't think any of those things are necessary. It's really more about being able to manipulate your emotional state to feel the way you want. I don't think this would actually be very difficult, but maybe that's just me.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it would be difficult for someone in combat to enjoy getting an advantage over the enemy; or enjoy that the enemy, who is presumably going to be Abolish or other people with ill intent, are getting what's coming to them for their actions. When we don't like someone, we often enjoy hurting them. Achieving that mindset in combat shouldn't be too hard with a little practice. "HAHAHA, EAT IT YOU HORRIBLE BASTARDS!" isn't really an unusual mindset to have when fighting people you consider evil or egregiously wrong.