Waifu Catalog Beta Tester: Free to Play Skyblock

Gil's body stood, extending a long white blade of bone from his arm. His eyes surveyed the men forming a living wall, holding their enemies at bay in the space immediately around the breach. The body vaguely remembered Ixus, marked as easy prey by Gil in an entirely different context. With a flick of the wrist, the seru generated a blast of furnace heat that ignited the young hunter's clothing.

Well damn. This is fucked up. Gil thought distantly, watching as his body moved on its own. His thoughts were garbled, mostly disconnected from the scene unfolding before him. His legs charged the young man, as Gil distantly wondered how this creature operated. His body sustained multiple stab wounds from Ixus, but most of the blows fell upon his armored left arm, where the seru was tightly wrapped around him. He distantly registered the pain, and wondered what would happen if he was still possessed when the portal closed.

The fire seru pumped Gil's body full of elemental energy. He was flooded with adrenaline, pushing him forward with hysterical strength. The seru didn't care about its host's survival, only the strength their union brought him. The gimard was nothing but a vessel for the mist's rage, as it had once been a vessel for the wishes of humans. Few mortals could face such an overwhelming onslaught; Ixis was not such a mortal.

When Ixis lay dying at his feet, Gil had a moment of relative lucidity. The seru hadn't put much effort into defense, so he was bleeding quite heavily. Gil briefly tore his right hand from the gimard's control while it wasn't paying attention. He reached for his belt pouch, pulled out one of the small bags of dried leaves and rubbed it haphazardly across his own wounds. It was probably improperly done, but the bleeding stopped regardless. Scabs formed in seconds.

The gimard selected another target, a hunter slashing at the outer membrane of a great pile of green slime. Light green liquid would spill through for a few moments before the cut sealed itself, leaving the slime slightly smaller and slightly weaker. The fight was taking the hunter's full attention, leaving him vulnerable. Gil's body started to charge the man.

"SLASH!"

Vahn's foot impacted Gil's back with enough force to send him sprawling across the dirt road. His body rolled over, despite the pain, and faced the young blue haired man in an animalistic crouch. Vahn's body was engulfed in a red aura, leaving behind afterimages as he settled back into a confident unarmed stance. Gil noted the scaly red armband on Vahn's left wrist, which he recognized as Meta from his dream. The gimard was briefly confused at seeing a fellow seru strike it, but confusion immediately gave way to rage.

Gil charged at Vahn, but without a tremendous advantage in strength and speed, Gil's body was doomed. While the seru imbued Gil with incredible strength, it operated on pure instinct and impulse. Meta generated a short lived force field, catching the first frenzied strike with little effort and allowing a punch to Gil's solar plexus. Vahn quickly followed up with a sweep of the leg and a heavy stomp.

Gil's leg broke with a sickening crunch, and he was distantly glad for the detachment granted by possession. His body collapsed to the ground, allowing Vahn to move on. The gimard dragged Gil across the ground after Vahn, but he wasn't much of a threat anymore. On the edge of passing out, Gil shoved a healing leaf into his mouth. The leaves mixing with his saliva was probably the only reason he didn't die.

••••••••••

When Gil woke, an elderly woman pushed a cup of bitter tea into his hands. He looked around with a groggy expression, vaguely recognizing the elder's house.

"Drink, lad. We've set your leg." She assured him, "stay still, and it should heal back just fine."

Gil dutifully drank. He had seen the results of healing gone wrong, both natural and magical, and decided to lay back and take his medicine. As he drank the herbal potion, the dull ache in his leg faded in intensity.

"What happened?" He managed to ask, though his tongue felt thick and heavy. "Is Ixus okay?"

"No." She answered sadly. "Don't blame yourself, young man. You couldn't have stopped it. I can't imagine how you must feel. For what it's worth, your warning saved us. Vahn and that strange seru of his awakened the Genesis Tree, and the mists were pushed away from the town completely. Who knows how long it will last, but we have time to repair the walls. You did a good thing. Seven of our brave men died, Ixis among them, but it could have been so much worse."

"Damn." Gil groaned, and examined the state of his body. His right leg was tightly wrapped with a basic splint, immobilizing the ruined limb. An unpleasant prickling sensation enveloped the leg as the bone fused back together.

Gil was alarmed to find that his left arm was still enveloped in the black stone sheath. The gimard was silent, making no effort to control him, but he still wanted it off. No sooner did he have the thought than it became so. The seru seemed to melt away and formed into a two foot long coffin shaped stone tablet.

"Ah, wondered when you'd notice that." The older lady said with a sigh, refilling Gil's cup. "I wish we could have taken it off for you, but you can't just rip a seru off. Even before the mist, that could be dangerous."

She leaned down to pick up the Gimard, but it was as heavy as solid stone. She shifted it off to the side while Gil looked around the room and sipped the rest of his tea. There were five other men, all hunters, filling every bed in the room. In the corner, his belongings were piled up in a jumble with his tablet on top.

"Can you bring me the red glass rectangle?" He asked. "I need it to check something."

The older lady did as he asked with a bemused expression, and Gil checked his status. He had three hours left before the portal closed, but he was in no state to go back to the skyblock. He hoped that he wouldn't be penalized too badly for nearly dying, but trying to jog a long distance on a broken knee was just asking for a permanent limp.

Ixis was still listed as a member of Gil's retinue, despite being dead. He could even be sold… with the same two options available. Gil cracked a smile as he opted to sell Ixis with erased memories. In the worst case scenario, he'd just stay dead. Best case scenario? Cheating death is always a good way to start your day.

••••••••••

Across town, Ixis's father and cousin were building a small boat. Ixis had died bravely; Ferti, god of the sea, would surely carry him away to the Valley of Noaru. It wasn't right. A father wasn't supposed to outlive his son.

"Oh. Oh no. What happened? Ixis cried, running up to his father. "Why didn't you tell me? I'm old enough to help build the coffin. No. No, please don't tell me something happened to Marr. He was healing! The elder said he'd be fine!"

The frantic young man was incredibly confused when his father grabbed him in a great bear hug. He'd just been to Vahn's house to check on his comatose friend. Why was father being so odd? He'd ask that question many more times over the course of the day, as dozens of people who saw his lifeless corpse gawked at him.

••••••••••

Gacha result: Hunter's survival kit.

Send to Skyblock or retrieve at current location?

Gil sent the survival kit home. He tried not to smile when he saw the mission results; only eight men died. He'd even earned the bonus. Thanks to him, both Vahn and the town in general had responded more quickly than would have otherwise been possible. Meta, Vahn, and the people of Rim Elm had awoken the Genesis tree while Gil lay unconscious in the streets.

Survive till dawn without returning to the Skyblock.

Reward: 3 orbs of berserking mist, 2 credits

Bonus: ensure the survival of at least 80% of Rim Elm's population till morning.

Bonus Reward: Beastmaster Sphere Binding, 3 credits

89% of Rim Elm's population has survived!

He sent the orbs home for later examination, but the binding merited immediate study. He opened up the store and found its description almost immediately. The shiny red and white sphere fit comfortably in his palm.

Beastmaster Sphere- Allows you to force a non-sapient, animalistic creature into a state of suspended animation, adding it to your retinue in the process. Anything stronger than a moderately sized dog will potentially be able to escape, but weakened targets have a higher chance of capture and helpless or willing targets will always be successfully captured if hit with the ball. The target will be fully healed whenever your primary portal closes; a creature kept in a ball at this time will be considered captured. When released, the captured creature is unable to harm any member of your retinue and may be recalled to the ball at any time. If the creature breaks free for whatever reason, the ball may be reused after an hour has passed.

Gil suspected that he knew why this binding had been offered in this world. He craned his neck around and knocked the Beastmaster Sphere against the seemingly inert seru. It was enveloped in red light, then dissolved and entered the sphere. The ball shook a few times before popping open and releasing the seru.

Gil wanted the power granted by the gimard, especially if he could maintain his mind while using it. From what he'd been told, he guessed that it wouldn't attempt to possess him unless influenced by the Mist. Unfortunately for Gil, monstrous floating heads attached to giant bone scissors by metal chains were just a bit too monstrous to count as animals.

"Please, whatever you're doing, be careful!" The old lady fretted. "I know it doesn't seem like much, but you shouldn't be twisting around in bed! Do you want to end up like Val?"

"Sorry ma'am." Gil said, settling back onto his pillow. "Would you mind putting all my things with me in the bed? I need to move a lot normally, so I feel more comfortable with all of my equipment and supplies in arms reach."

The gray haired woman pursed her lips for a moment, but relented. She refused to put the ax in the bed with him, but at least his bag of medicines and jerky was secured. He was still wearing his company provided linen garb, which was less than ideal given that it was now torn, cut to ribbons, and soaked with blood. He really needed a new outfit.

The old lady left his bedside once she was sure he was stable, eating, and drinking his tea. Gil laid back and fiddled with his tablet, waiting for the timer to run down.

Zeto was not listed as being in the process of capture; instead he saw Sim-Seru 008. Maybe Zeto was an alias, or the human host for 008? Gil didn't know what exactly a Sim-seru was, but given that Meta had identified herself as a Ra-Seru and seemed to oppose the mist, the safe money was on some kind of schism between different factions of intelligent magical symbiotes. He wasn't sure whether or not he'd be getting involved here enough for local magical politics to matter. 008 was still considered a big name, and he was 4 tiers higher in power than Snow White, so he'd probably have a good sell price.

Gil also had a new mission for The Lands Shrouded in Mist, which appeared the moment he turned in the first.

Convince a Ra-Seru to take you or a non-native retinue member as it's bearer without compromising its mind.

Reward: 5 Credits, Memento Vive, Unlock Basic Inventory upgrade for purchase.

That was a problem for future Gil to figure out. He'd have at least a week to consider it soon. Gil drifted off to sleep again, clutching his supplies. He didn't wake again until he fell onto the soft ground next to his tree. Pain shot through his leg, and Snow White blanched at the tirade of profanity that issued from Gil's mouth.

••••••••••

You failed to return to the skyblock in time! You have been assigned a minor penalty.

Each failure will incur additional penalties.

••••••••••

Canvas (10 stamp credits): You gain purely aesthetic control over your stamp. This allows you or an approved retinue member to use it to create or erase markings upon stamped retinue members. You may apply and erase by holding the stamp to a retinue member's skin and focusing. These stamps may resemble tattoos, makeup, body paint, etc, as long as it is an ink or pigment applied to the body. Requires some artistic skill to properly apply.

Extra Stamp (10 stamp credits): Purchase a one use stamp which works as a non-upgraded stamp binding, but loses all power after being used once. Extra stamps, as a class, count as a separate binding, allowing them to capture an additional person in a world. They do not reward stamp credits upon successful capture.