Lupa comes over, scruffing me, -- fucking how?! I don’t have skin! I’m a bug! I’m literally in my bug form, but she’s grabbing something, -- and starts walking, the tips of my wings occasionally dragging on the ground. I try to drone loudly but she just repositions and starts swatting me with a front paw until I stop. How the fack am I getting smacked around by a wolf? I stop droning to glare at her and she continues carrying me.

  Into the “training” building which isn’t empty. There are a few items here and there, more metal torches shaped like the most common lanterns and markers used by the Sect. Pretty sure there are a few real ones seeing how my Servants can use them, but I don’t know which one is which.

  Lupa carries me off to a side room where it actually looks like someone uses the room regularly. There are cushions, tables, tapestries, and the weird handstanding square diamond lattice bookshelves for scrolls or non-typical typical bindings. And there’s actual writings already slotted away.

  Lupa sets me down then puts a paw on my back, pushing me to the ground when I try to go to the bookshelf.

  -Oy!- I shout trying to glare at her but she straight up ignores me.

  “A Ghost Familiar with its own Familiar?” Widow’s Sigh says breathlessly, turning to Little Corpse. Think he’s got another fan. How’s he gonna steal my credit?! “Truly we’re in a time of chaos and legends.”

  “Apologies, but that is another of my Master’s Servants,” Little Corpse says, bowing to me while Lupa considers to sit looking noble while standing on my back!

  “A pet with a pet...?” Widow’s Sigh lowers his head, his hand coming up to cup his chin.

  -“A pet with a pet”?!- Tch! What about that part about a time of Legends? Now I know how Shimmering Steel felt. -*“Pet” your face! Could a pet join the Sect and exceed as I have? Could a pet create a Familiar capable enough to join the Sect and do even better?

  -“A pet with a pet?” See if I don’t make you call me Master!- I grumble as I remember that a lot of people thought they’d be my master and claim my shit but I do treat my Familiars quite nicely. - Tch! You’d probably like it...- The fact that this grown-ass man’s head tips slightly to the side and he’s actually thinking about how well he’d do if I was his overly generous master? -Tch!-

  -Knock it off, fuck face! They came with a job that actually pays!- Little Corpse snaps, glaring at me during a bow to Widow’s Sigh. Whom he also outranks. -Tch!-

  “Master, Widow’s Sigh has come with a request from a few Patrons that we check the nearby Portal and bring back more information on the hell it connects to,” Little Corpse says respectfully, bowing to me as he does.

  “A few of the old monsters are willing to exchange favors for the information. If you’re willing,” Widow’s Sigh says, and I remember him saying favors were good things to have but I don’t know the “old monsters” well enough to know if having them owe me is useful or not.

  -Depends on which monsters, but you can also use the favors to advance when the time comes,- Little Corpse points out.

  How’s that helpful? I’ve been over-achieving all over the place! I can gather Resentment quickly without them, and no one really practices with Qi for me to try to exchange anything for it. Can I exchange Resentment for Qi?

  -Focus!- Little Corpse snaps, and Lupa gives him a look of maternal disapproval.

  -I am! What use are favors if they have nothing to give?- I point out before going back to my thoughts.

  Devouring Resentment weapons allowed me to create and condense better ones, even make crystallised ones, but I want to start Devouring shiz better. I doubt I can learn from anyone here considering how these noobs need to manufacture whole-ass Mills just to suck less.

  -Would our guest like more tea while our pack-leader thinks or would they like to come back at a later date?- Lupa intones, looking dead at Widow’s Sigh. -One would infer that your presence here is for more than delivering a simple message.-

  “Yes, she just spoke to you,” Little Corpse explains while personally setting up snacks seeing how Widow’s Sigh already had tea. “What use would my Master have for silent servants?”

  There are hesitant footsteps and Lupa’s ears go back before she bares her teeth, quickly scuttling away from me, tail between her legs, making herself as small a target as possible. Seeing this obvious sign of fuckery I turn to the hall, keeping an eye on the room angling towards the hall with UltraVision, just catching Silvered Curl as she starts coming down the hallway. Lupa growls, Little Corpse sighs, Widow’s Sigh, brings out his blade and climbs to one knee as Silvered Curl hurls a rectangular block of true blackness at me.

  [Brick of Get Fucced Devoured]

  [+10,000 -Regard]

  [+100 Qi]

  [-500 Karma]

  [Ghost Pot: +1000/-0]

  [Resentment: +8037180/-463023]

  [Current Condensed Qi: 1852064/29934153]

  [Current Qi: 118780/2397478200]

  [Max Will: 23974782]

  [HP: 23974782]

  [Current Karma: 119736613/234520515]

  I pause as I realize the item was named and condensed Resentment molded into a familiar shape.

  -Did you just throw a brick at me?!- I gasp, scandalized. I jump to my Logs to see that it really is an honest to gods brick of Get Fucced. -Oh-ly shit! You could abso-lutely kill someone with that?! You awesome psychopath!- I thrash, making sure not to turn my back on her while she apparently reviews my Logs. -That did 500 points of Karma damage!- I turn to Little Corpse, not sure if I should demand she be punished or rewarded. And she’s got such amazing manipulation ability! -*Dude! What world did you come from?!*-

  “Not inside the house, and not near our guests, please,” Little Corpse sighs. Widow’s Sigh is braced, blade up, one hand keeping him propped up from where he’d fallen backwards on his ass, his knees up, just silently frozen as he cowers stoically.

  -It explodes on impact, but you ate it, so I can still see what it does, kinda,- Silvered Curl murmurs, finger raised as she pokes at the air, either at a window I can’t see from my angle or to her thoughts. She nods and then looks around when Lupa growls at her. -Oh. Shit.-

  Silvered Curl races off with a snapping Lupa hot on her heels, the Shadow Matriarch not at all amused. Part of me wants to wince in empathy, but I know for a fact Silvered Curl was too focused to check her surroundings before she’d tested her latest item on me.

  -*A fucking brick? Shit! Now I have to keep my eyes open to make sure she doesn’t use a bat!*- I shudder at the thought of a nailed bat that takes Karma with each nail contact.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  -She truly is a genius, but that was unpardonable,- Little Corpse side-eyes me while apologizing to Widow’s Sigh, helping him to his seat and trying to find out how we can show how sincerely bad we feel about his near brush with Resentment corruption at our hands.

  -So she’s innovating harder than I ever could, so what could any of the old monsters offer? We can afford to buy information, so what favors could we ask for?- I ask Little Corpse. We’re going in, but I don’t want anyone getting spicy because we’re not telling what we found. -We really don’t need help advancing, so not even entertaining that,- I tell Little Corpse with an eyeroll.

  There’s a sustained shriek so I guess Lupa finally caught up with Silvered Curl. What did we need?

  -I think we finish up the Burning Shadows Sect thing before we try to get any favors. We might just get good shit from there in the course of advancing,- I point out. -Tch! We’ll have to wait for Silvered Curl to heal, too.-

  -We can investigate the Portal while we wait for them to heal?- Little Corpse suggests.

  We can have servants here, go investigate, people can study more, and we’d be giving the others time to heal before we all left home.

  -I’m not against it,- I shrug. -Put it to a vote and see who wants to stay versus who should go.- Then I remember what happened the last time Little Corpse just went into a new hell and sigh. -Hold up. Drop me in first and then we’ll plan.-

  -Volunteering?- Spring Chicken says, grabbing me by the base of my wings, scruffing me. So that’s how they do it.

  -Hey!- I don’t want to lose my stained glass of suspended Essence although I’ve lost my wings before. Spring Chicken doesn’t readjust to tuck me under his arm or over his shoulder, and literally just carries me outside by my wings.

  “Like a chicken,” he whispers right next to my head.

  Ass. I take on my hunan form, my wings disappearing into my body and now I’m just a hunan standing naked, feet braced shoulder width apart, knees bent and fists clenched as I glare at him. He and blade have taken to walking around shirtless, but he at least wears socks and shoes. I wait to see if he still has the monk aversion to nekkid girls and he just rolls his eyes.

  “Which is easier to avoid? Knowing food is in a different building or having a plate right in front of you! We’re not prudes! We’re trying to avoid temptation,” Spring Chicken shakes his head at me and I smirk, ‘cause he’s not being half as handsy. “Get dressed!”

  I snort, flinching when he takes a step towards me but he quickly steps back, turning his head away again before glaring at me with a frown. Why do I know his expression despite the mask? And Quiet’s. Silvered is just always lost in thought.

  A woman, not Silvered Curl or the girls, dressed in a short kimono with long sleeves, picks me up, -- she’s wearing shorts. Thank gods! -- slings me over her shoulders and just angrily storms off towards the walls. Guess Spring Chicken called for backup.

  Tch! Her robes are stiff so I can’t be sure, but I think my neck is wider than this bish’s waist. What the shit? Whatever. Where was I?

  Oh, right, I was wrong! False on being always distracted. Silvered Curl occasionally has a super excited expression that shifts to determination. Ah... Innovating! Shit. What else was she innovating? Fack. The circles!

  I get yeeted off of the wall and get to watch this rando hop back into the compound. What the fuck. I flip, intending on landing on the ground and end up diving feet first into a black hole, yelping as I go.

  The world around me compresses lightly, dark and close, and I can faintly see that I’m in a long tunnel. I don’t know if the blue indicates light on the other end or not, but I just sit in what feels like gel or very dense water, and wonder why the fuck I didn’t check “who dis?” with Little Corpse like I normally do. Was she just some rando who thought she was going to get rewarded for killing me? Was she a beneficiary of some old monster who was tired of waiting for me to cross over into the unknown hell?

  -Hello?- I ask, unwilling to go back to the others until my face stops burning.

  Fack, what a noob mistake. I just got kidnapped in my own home in front of my servants and none of us tried to stop her. Tch! We need to work on security and team building exercises. I don’t know any of Little Corpse’s Servants other than he has some, and he could’ve been gaining more! Hells, Silent Howl has to tell me when I get Servants ‘cause he actively checks my Logs for this shiz.

  -Sandy! Can you hear me?- I hear Little Corpse, there’s a quick blast of static, a spot near me filling with small bubbles and then nothing. The bubbles just sit suspended so I’m guessing whatever I’m in is more dense than liquid.

  -Yeah...- What the fuck was that? I keep staring at the bubbles to see if anything else happens. -Hello?-

  -Ah! Hello!- Spring Chicken chimes in with all of his booming high energy. -*We can’t contact you in the Graveyards, but we can speak to you from your Void.

  -Little Corpse attempted to Void Walk to you, but apparently you’re in a pool of acid? It’s very thick and he’ll need to heal, so that’s three people down.- Yeah, but what about the bish who dropped me here? -*Ah! That was Grilled Fish, Little Corpse’s female servant. She’s similar to Silvered Curl. Very bold.

  -Little Corpse had been wanting to explore the hell since he’d heard of this location, but he couldn’t put his explorations before his duties and so hadn’t. I guess she figured that you’d made a decision to go and had just forgotten about it.-

  -So she was being helpful?- I snark. Yeah I make decisions and just kinda don’t follow through, but so what? -What matter is it if I do or don’t bother with the Portal? Oh. Right.- Fack. Not my servant. -*His servants worship him.*-

  -Tch! Don’t be like that,- Spring Chicken admonishes me.

  I tune him out while he tries to explain that Little Corpse is clearly not simple, and he’s a very good leader. Tch! I already made those observations! Meanwhile I’m making new observations of the bubbles. They’re lightly foaming in the middle with larger bubbles around the perimeter, so they’re still eating on something.

  He goes on about how powerful Little Corpse is, -- made him that way, thanks for noticing, -- then tries to explain that he’s a genius, -- I know, that’s why I make sure he has time to keep studying. I’m not using all the information I gather! -- until eventually he gives up.

  I take a breath, unimpeded, no acid, no drowning. Cool. I try to sit up, to re-angle myself, and I can push against the gel easily. It shifts around me, keeping me supported, but it’s not hindering my movements. I don’t know if this is a Will thing or not and try to keep it in mind while moving towards the brighter deep blue in the distance.

  I don’t make it very far before I finally notice what appears to be a large, thick bubble, maybe even a thick-skinned egg. Considering its larger than my head, I am very unhappy with the implications. I check to see if there are any openings, -- if anything tries wrapping my head Imma eat it, -- then move closer. There’s something inside, and when I focus on it, I get to see its inventory like a spatial storage.

  I bank the “mucus sac”, and the giant black and silver pearl that isn’t condensed Essence or energy, and check what all the excitement is about. Apparently pearls are rare treasures. How? Shellfish that would spawn pearls convert irritants of dirt, sand, and other earthly debris into straight up Earth Essence and cycle that to further their cultivation. Finding fully formed pearls, much less large ones, are like finding diamonds. Natural treasures are far more valuable than man-made ones.

  I gain insight into why people are simultaneously impressed and dismissive of me. I was a natural treasure. But I was shaped by hunans. Am I natural or man-made?

  -Nah, I’m just me, bitches!- I mumble while picking through more “blisters”.

  There are a few other things swimming around, all of them worm-like except for one snorkeler with a glowing rock, swim fins, what looks like a life vest made of paper, and a spear tied to their wrist with a rope who looks at me like I’m the weirdest thing down here. I flip him off and he does a double-take before flipping me off. What ensues next is a silent insult off wherein I get offended by him being offended, and he can’t believe I would dare after having the nerve to skinny-dip in such a dangerous area.

  After reading my Logs I double check and realize that I am actually still naked. I turn my head away, putting him out of my sight but not swimming off, and I can see him gesturing smugly, vindicated, until his bright white stone shines blackish red. He fumbles around, grabbing at his bracelet, and then he’s gone. Now it’s my turn to do a double-take. I move over to where he disappeared, finding a metal plate, just a small palm-sized square, with very fine scratches on it.

  I flip it over a few times, ignore the screaming at the back of my mind, and, seeing how I think it’s a transfer script, activate it. I wind up windmilling, my legs against the dirt, but I clench and tense enough to maintain my balance. There’s hushed shouting, half-naked people waving for me to stay down, and I look up to see I’d brain myself on a stone ceiling if I tried. Wet sand below me, water shimmering in the distance, casting light onto the rocky ceiling above me, and a ton of people dressed in weird ripoffs of bath suits and swim trunks screaming and running away as the gel that sticks to me slowly dissolves the sand and into the water, making it acidic.

  -Where the hells am I...?- I ask to myself. Clearly these people are hunan, and clearly they can’t survive wherever I was. -Tch! I still don’t know where I was!- I grumble while sitting on the bubbling ground and waiting for whatever’s on me to fall off.