Mecanimus

Bob the Calamity Part 18: 182 - 190

For your reading convenience!

The Calamitous Bob 197: The Legend of the Sneaky Kark

The wind. It was always the damn wind that got to you in the end, if a silex arrow from a kark hunter didn’t poison your guts first. That damn wind just never stopped. Even when it did, your ears would ring from the sudden silence, the same way a starving child dies if you feed them rich food like that. It just wasn’t used to nice things anymore.

The man in red leather sighed. His burly second spat on the ground with more anger than usual, then left to scream at the mount...

Chapter 196 retcon

Due to some really good feedback that made sense to me, I’ve decided to make two adjustments to the previous chapter. The chapter in question was already updated but I'll repeatthem below for your convenience.

The first adjustment is to make clear the Hadal woman who was ready to sacrifice herself for Viv actually survived.

A woman interposed herself between the elemental hell and the coming doom. Shon’s eyes widened. The woman had gra...

Changeling part 41

The next morning, Nestra walked into the Beacon’s archives with a team of mooks and Stibbs who had been hired for the occasion. It felt good showing her temporary ID to a baffled worker.

“I will need unrestricted access to Internal Affairs’ servers.”

“What?”

“Now,” Nestra insisted.

The office drone hesitated, undoubtedly because Nestra didn’t fit the bill for high level management. Too many scars, not enough...

Announcement: Next Journey Book is out!

Sadly the Journey tier is closed but hey, at least everyone can see the pretty artwork.
Here is the link if you're interested. https://www.amazon.com/Thorns-Hunger-Journey-Black-Book-ebook/dp/B0CYYFRWBL?ref_=ast_author_mpb

IF YOU HAVE PURCHASED OR INTEND TO PURCHASE, CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW. That is Amazon's most important metrics and how we Indie ...

The Calamitous Bob 196: Harrakan Viv’s Instant Portable Rearmament Program™

Once again, the Pure League called for salvation and once again, the Dark Blades answered. They left their fortress, their families. They fled the light of the day to gather in secret spots so that they may snatch victory from the jaws of disaster. Those of them that were left, anyway.

It was a thankless task. Deeds carried in the dark so that others may reap the rewards, bask in the glory, as always. The Dark Blades would fight and bleed against impossible odds before disapp...

Changeling Part 40

Nestra changed in a nicely provided changing room that smelled of old sweat, under the baffled gaze of a couple of army gleams. Her Wellington suit was nice and familiar, even after some time out of it. She felt protected in it. Funny how the human Nestra loved armor but her Aszhii self disliked anything touching her skin that wasn’t some eldritch symbiote out of hell. She next walked to the ‘antechamber’, a vast bunker with medical and storage facilities designed as an airlock between ...

The Calamitous Bob 195: Changing the Ways

By the time Viv returned to the ravaged village, the kark were well on their ways to finish the cleanup. There were more survivors than she expected though those who had made it were shadows, haunted by what they’d seen. Most of them were children, teenagers, some mothers with their children. All of the men capable of fighting had died in front of the village buying precious time for their people to run. 

“They will be absorbed by other clans. We are down to seventee...

Changeling Part 39

Nestra aspired to some respite after having been cooked to medium-rare by the dungeon and its denizens, but that hope was soon shattered. Her visor screeched in alarm the moment her human self returned to the world. Sereth was more than happy to leave her frantically going through her notifications on her way home since he had things to bake.

Nestra walked into her living room in a state of panic. Seven different calls mostly from the same person using an Internal Affair extension. And ...

The Calamitous Bob 194: The Darkest Side

A wave of excitement followed Marruk’s declaration, yet the council was not immediately swayed. They devolved into arguments and declaration. This was all very shocking to them. It went against tradition, a soldier explained to Viv. A woman could not become a warchief, just as a man could not decide how a child ought to be raised. Those were customs that had lasted since time immemorial. Before long, elite warriors gently pushed them away from the stone while the elders deliberated.

I...

Changeling Part 38

Obsidian Tails slept on the shores of the many islands like dark obelisks of serrated edges. There were a handful of them and they were rather large. From her vantage point, Nestra could see a meandering path edging their resting grounds as it snaked across the apocalyptic landscape. It disappeared near a forest of reddish crystals populated by bobbing ruby lights — probably some sort of environmental challenge.

One of the reasons old religions had survived the incursion was the overw...

Announcement: surprise week off due to low brain juices

I an terribly sorry. I just need one week to plan the next arcs. I've been pantsing it for a month and it was going fine but the inspiration is finally hitting a low so I need to do the horrible thing I hate doing: sitting down and planning.

I apologize for the inconvenience. :/

The Calamitous Bob 193: Taking Steppes

Wind buffeted Viv, high up over the kark homeland. It was as unceasing as the plains that extended from horizon to horizon, a vast tapestry of gold and green crossed by the distant shapes of large beasts lurking under the tall grass. When the wind truly picked up, vegetation flattened like the fur of a wet beast while distant clouds drifted at dizzying speed. High above, Viv experienced an emptiness that was almost enough to give her vertigo. It lingered when she returned to the ship, though ...

Changeling Part 37

“I got something,” the young intern said.

He proudly lifted a small vial. In it, his superior spotted the cut head of a cotton swab. Thick congealed blood stained the white material.

“I knew the killer would have missed something.”

“Great job,” his superior said.

She picked the vial. It was properly labeled and everything.

“I found it on the ceiling. In a corner. It’s as you said, ma’am. The devil’s in the details.”

“And you have the...

The Calamitous Bob 192: Is Wimdy

One year later

“Lord Sidjin will not attend,” the pale messenger said.

Viv sighed before thanking the southerner, one of many new recruits into their army. Sidjin was throwing himself into resurrecting the remnants with a vengeance and that was taking entirely too much of his time, but she could hardly blame him. The remnants were beset on all sides by monsters and tribes. Sidjin perhaps saw this as a second chance, an opportunity to save one more people from cruel neighbors. ...

Changeling Part 36

Stib checked the electrical setup one last time. She was thorough, Nestra thought. Wait, no. She was nervous.

“I’ll be fine,” Nestra said.

“The Sight Killer murders powerful C-class like it’s nothing, Nes. You might be a big scary demon girl but you’re still low C-class. It won’t be as easy as you think.”

“If I thought it was easy, I wouldn’t prepare so thoroughly.”

Stib remained silent as every light on her datasheet turned green.

“You’...

The Calamitous Bob Chapter 191: Controlled Growth

Ban surveyed the newest seven warriors joining the One Hundred, as seven others would leave it. The One Hundred needed people at the top, and there were few who could do this in all seasons. Warriors who’d been part of the One Hundred even once were called ‘Numbers’ in the other regiments. It was a mark of honor.

Two of them were returnees. Kinei was an old Enorian who stood at the limit of what the One Hundred demanded. He tried to join every season as a matter of pr...

Changeling Part 35

“I think we need to find a better way to do this,” Nestra said.

Sereth smiled that goofy smile that made her want to smack him over the head and remind him he was supposed to be older and wiser.

“I showed it to Siobhan by the way. She said if you were a man you’d be very hot!”

Nestra glared.

“I am sure you were not supposed to tell me that.”

“Oh. Maybe you’re right.”

“Because she’s my best friend.”

“Is it really awkward eve...

The Calamitous Bob 190: Recruitment Drive By

Even with the teleporters shortening distances to a reasonable level, it still took Viv over five days of travel to find where her potential general was hiding from the nearest active portal. As to why it took so long, the answer was that he lived out in the fucking boonies.

West of the port city of Zazas, the northern lands turned into wind-swept moors and craggy hills peppered with copses of small pines. It was a desolate place, sparsely populated by hardy folks who survived on huntin...

Changeling Part 34

Miss Teneru was more than eager to talk about the exhibit since she’d stayed there until it closed. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to learn that seemed relevant at the time. The rumors and gossip of the artistic gleam world hardly felt relevant, not when the suspect was an outsider who used the event as a way to show off. She still offered to accompany Nestra for a little bit after confirming she had a gleam protector.

“Unless you prefer to go with your bodyguard.”

“I ...

The Calamitous Bob 189: Taking Off

Being leaderless and fratricidal didn’t stop the beastlings from being a threat to humans,. In the orgy of violence that followed, the humans were no less a target. The only saving grace was that they no longer had to push. They also no longer had to hold back.

Viv unleashed everything she had. Sidjin and Abe did the same. The air was soon filled with the most devastating spells in their arsenals, soon joined by bolts, arrows, jars of naphtha, fire bees, chlorine, and a few more exper...

Part 33

Nestra still struggled with wall slip going up. There was a trick to it, which was to jump and activate the skill with perfect timing. Unfortunately, she had not mastered it yet, and since face-planting then screaming obscenities in Aszhii wasn’t conducive to stealth, she hauled her demon ass through the stairs like a pedestrian. Fortunately, the staff side had a dearth of cameras, and the patrolling gleam made no effort to hide his steps. She just followed in his wake at a careful distance...

Bob the Calamitous Part 17: chapters 170 - 181

Collection of chapters in pdf and epub formats for your convenience.

Bob the Calamitous part 16: chapters 161 - 169

Collection of chapters in epub and pdf formats for you reading convenience.

Bob the Calamitous Part 15: chapters 153 - 160

Another collection of chapters in pdf and epub formats for your convenience.

The Calamitous Bob 188: The Push

The air smelled of smoke and scorched meat. Massive spells striated the low clouds in rays of ominous colors while all around, the screams and shock of battle rang in a ceaseless cacophony. Viv flew to the Enorian formation as they fought the tide, a trio of aberrants bearing down on them.

[Aspect of the destroyer]

[Sequence: Triple Hyperbeam]

Black lasers raked the creatures. Limbs fell down, cancerous flesh parted. Two fell while the third crawled forward on a single, miss...

Changeling Part 32

Nestra woke up to a deep feeling of wrongness. Long ago, her dad glued fluorescent stars to the ceiling so she could fall asleep with a nice view — one of those awkward gestures he would do at random when he remembered he loved her. They were still there, almost twenty years after. Faded, but there. They shouldn’t be. This wasn’t her room anymore.

It was so weird she needed a few seconds to remember what had led her here. Shit.

Her parents had to have returned by now.

...

The Calamitous Bob 187: Kings and Beasts

Sounds of battle echoed throughout the night but Viv, and most Harrakans, slept through it comfortably. She’d set up a portal the night before so they had a new shipment of naphtha as well as fresh food, but she had to close it as people complained about the stench. The beastling lands might smell rank but the Glastian wall had the kind of odor that dove down the nose and left a film of lingering disgust at the back of the tongue. The Harrakan camp was also left suspiciously alone by night ...

The Calamitous Bob Chapter: Oops I forgot the Mana Mastery Upgrade

Viv breathed out, allowing her interface to come to the forefront. Nous’ creation blinked open in the same futuristic configuration as it always did. It was time to see the fruit of her labor and pick a new improvement, this one for mana mastery.

She checked her improvements, of which there were only three. It wasn’t bad per se but she felt her options were getting narrower as her path grew more defined. She was being… trapped in a role. A bit like the gods.

Good thing that ...

Changeling Part 31

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Nestra complained.

Nestra brushed her leg, which smarted something fierce, but regen patch and good coffee were already helping her salvage her evening. Or at least it was trying.

She eyed the person sitting in front of her warily. It was the gleam who’d first interrogated her after she’d found the mausoleum, a gray-eyed woman with short dark hair. Her name was Ashjay. Perhaps she’d introduced herself the last time and Nestra had forgotten...