Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 16

Chapter 151

Iratus and the others spent the morning as they usually do, exercising. This was now the 46th day since Iratus came to this strange place, and the days of fighting had left the mouse boy with a number of scars. Most of the scars came from the monsters called treeskins, which drill their roots into their prey. His leg was healed from the bite wound, and his face was basically healed as well, leaving a few small lines on his face.

The girls also bore scars. Victoria, the raccoon girl with gray fur and black hair, had a few old cuts, with the only real scar being on her forehead from an attack by an ebony that struck her face multiple times. Aestus, the red-furred and red-haired otter girl, had her arms messed up many times and somehow got away with minimal scarring. Resonantia, the shark girl with white hair, had a few scars all over her body from battles Iratus didn't ask about, though her cheek still had stitches from the fight with her killer. Finally, there was the black-haired, golden-eyed, red panda girl Ignis, who managed to avoid damage and has received no scars from the fights.

The girls had a fit and somewhat muscular physique from working hard every day and the sheer amount of physical labor everyone endures to survive. The girls have not been cutting their hair, giving them all a feminine appearance. Resonantia was the only different one, with a more athletic build and just enough curves to still be considered feminine. Iratus himself had an increase in bulk, though he still had a lithe muscular form due to his mousey body.

While the girls did their exercises, Iratus practiced his sword skills. He really only knew the high guard stance, where the sword is wielded in front of the user's head. So Iratus practiced strikes that turned into stances he had seen other soldiers use. He did a rotation of stances ending in the high guard stance, then began the process all over again.

With the morning passing, everyone got to work planting more plants for the garden area and even expanding it with a fence, something the girls had been working on throughout the past few days. They had four regions that were smashed up where they lived, a byproduct of this strange world called Nexus Prime.

Iratus, "I noticed many of these plants are from different regions. Are they capable or surviving here?"

Aestus, "The environments seem to stay alive and live around each other just fine."

Ignis, "The heat, though the cold season be upon us, differs wildly between the east side of the river and that strange forest west of it."

Iratus, "Like, it's a jungle on the river; it's just up there and between the hills where the biome actually changes."

Aestus, "I am sure that the Nexus Prime works in ways that make it work."

Resonantia, "If the temperature is radically different, then perhaps the weather is the same."

Iratus, "Such a strange planet."

Resonantia, "Is this place a planet?"

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Chapter 152

Resonantia, "Good question. We know we are dead and that we and probably everything here were summoned by the original inhabitants of this place. However, the Invaders talk about this place...maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed off. Then there is the fact that there are no moons or stars. What I am getting at is that it does not feel like a planet."

Iratus, "Considering how even the environments are mashed up, I understand. Now, if we are not on a planet, then what are we standing on?"

Ignis, "Ludicrous, a thunderous sound of disbelief, I denounce this conversation. This clearly looks like a planet, for I cannot imagine what a non-planet planet even looks like."

Iratus, "If there is nothing but darkness when the sun is away, then underground?"

Resonantia, "Still, what about the sun? Oh, and before you answer, Gelus told us that suns are just stars."

Aestus, "The shiny things in the night sky?"

Iratus, "Something my people had a theory about, of course. What is a planet if there are no stars and no moon?"

Aestus, "Maybe I don't know what a planet is. It's just a round rock, right?"

Iratus, "Mostly spherical, yes."

Aestus, "How does one figure that out?"

Iratus, "My people figured it out by measuring shadows. The shadows have different lengths if they are far enough apart."

Resonantia, "We have multiple civilizations where I'm from, and I'm sure most of them saw our planet's shadow during a lunar eclipse."

Ignis, "Equivalent here."

Victoria, "Yeah."

Aestus, "So are we on a planet?"

Iratus, "I think it's more like, what is Nexus Prime? This is a planet, I'm sure of it, or maybe it seems like one."

Resonantia, "Without the proper tools, it may be impossible to determine."

Iratus, "So we got nowhere as fast as we could."

Ignis, "Which means we now have a fountain of focus for our garden. Get to it."

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Chapter 153

The garden was large, with many heaps of dirt hiding seeds underneath and trees and other plants transplanted successfully.

Iratus, "I've noticed you plant crops every now and then. Why don't you just plant everything at once?"

Aestus, "Then you harvest everything at once and have too much surplus food, where if you plant them over time, you harvest what you need without too much of a surplus."

Iratus, "Ah, that's pretty smart."

Victoria, "Aren't you the super-educated guy? Imagine not knowing basic farming."

Iratus, "Thanks..."

The garden had plants from the four different areas, with a group going to harvest goods from the new forest area. From the southern tropics, they pilfered small fruit trees that wouldn't bear fruit for a long time and root crops such as sweet potatoes and yams. They planted leafy vegetables like spinach and some plants known for various healing properties, such as ginger. Other crops, like coffee, were also planted.

From the subtropical area they currently live in, they gathered tomatoes, bell peppers, and various beans. The temperate woods northward had apple trees and blueberries, while the new forest area contained plants for tea and persimmons. All of these were just fragments of what was now growing in the garden and fruit trees around the area as well.

There were large fence blocks to create shade for the plants that required cooler temperatures; some soil was transplanted as well to help certain plants. A watering schedule was created for the different plants, and finally, items were made to protect the garden from other extreme weather conditions.

The day was still warm when the party finished everything they set out to do. So with their gardening finished, they returned to the commons, where Ignis and Victoria cooked up something to eat, mostly meat, for their bodies were mostly carnivorous. Victoria managed to create something like a metal grill in the past few days, which made cooking easier and more interesting.

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Chapter 154

Ignis and Victoria dropped on the table some grilled venison, fish with some sort of salsa dip, and a papaya salad with shredded green papaya, lime juice, and chili peppers. Finally, there was some prawn stir-fry using improvised bok choy by using other leafy greens in place of the specific cabbage, and the group even had cooking oil on hand, which was created by melting animal fat.

Iratus, "Woh, you girls have outdone yourselves this time."

Ignis, "A mighty meal awaits us all from now on, as long as we have the time, of course."

Victoria, "This girl knows a lot about cooking. I have learned so much already from her."

Iratus, "Well, as long as we can harvest these kinds of goods, then let us finally have some good food."

The food was swiftly scarfed down, and everyone relaxed for a while longer before doing anything else. Everyone agreed that a trip to the hot springs was in order.

Iratus, "Alright, I'll wait here then until you all return."

Victoria, "We are not having this important gathering without you."

Iratus, "Someone needs to watch the tower. Besides, you four don't need a stinky male around you."

Resonantia, "I, for one, have grown quite fond of your scent."

Ignis, "Most definitely."

Aestus, "Looks like you have no choice but to submit and have a great time with us."

Despite the cooler weather, the days still had their peak time of being hot and humid, and even if anyone didn't want a hot bath, cool and cold pools also existed in the hot springs cave, allowing everyone to be excited for the trip to wash away the day.
 
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Chapter 155

The party entered the cave with caution, as always, as the ebonies were still out there and caves needed to be entered with caution. The group followed the path down into the deep subterranean area, where a maze of pools and elevations with differing sizes of water sprawled out. The plant and insect life shone with their luminescence, but the creatures were nocturnal, so they didn't make much of a fuss, as usual.

Iratus shopped around to find the right pool for what he was feeling for the day and immersed himself in a large, warm pool in the lower stratum, which was also far away from the hot steam that filled the upper area. The girls could be heard in the distance.

Aestus, "What should be our next building project?"

Ignis, "A barrier to entry in the form of a stone structure surrounding the tower is a good project."

Iratus, "Walls."

Ignis obviously teasing, "Unruly and repugnant male!"

Resonantia, "Shattered glass, a wall would be amazing. I'm willing to bet the gray masks could climb over it, but what about the other monsters?"

Victoria, "Someone needs to mention that no gray masks have been seen recently."

Aestus, "And I have yet seen any monster capable of climbing."

Victoria, "The downside is that a wall would be a massive construction project for us. I don't even know if it would be worth it if there is literally anything else we could build."

Iratus, "A proper scribe room would be nice."

Ignis, "We have fundamentally the same thing in the library."

Iratus, "Hardly."

Resonantia, "Maybe some sort of sports area or running ground. The common area just doesn't do enough in that regard."

Iratus, "I love running; several times a day I'd go for a run. Now as for why I have not been doing that...I ain't running in the subtropical area we live in. Perhaps in the mornings this season I'd run, but if we are building a track, let's build it in one of the woodlands."

Resonantia, "Ha, yeah. Let's build a running track that goes through the metalhead-infested area."

Iratus, "Hey, it would help you find more resolve to run."

There was some laughter at that.

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Chapter 156

Iratus, relaxed more and closed his eyes as he submerged himself for a second. When he lifted his head out of the water, the four girls had already come over and started to dip themselves into the pool.

Iratus, "Uh, e-excuse me."

Victoria, "You're not excused."

The girls splashed in and continued their conversation.

Resonantia, "So once we get a forge, we can make nails and start building around the tower."

Victoria, "If we knew about stone construction, we could construct a castle off of the tower."

Iratus, "Excuse me, uh, uh, males and females bathe separately."

Victoria, "You've seen everyone here naked in one situation or another."

Iratus, "And I try to respectfully turn away. There is a reason the sexes bathe separately."

Resonantia, "I bet there is. So, we could make a wooden castle. I know it would be another massive project, but if we had more room, we could accommodate a larger population."

Iratus tried to make himself small and tried not to gawk at the girls' female forms on display.

Aestus looking at Iratus, "Which construction project are you most interested in?"

Iratus, "Walls. I don't see us increasing our population anytime soon, and even if we did, we have the new rooms and guest rooms to fill out first."

Victoria, "It won't be enough in the coming years. Uh, just think about how many people we've met in the forty-ish days we've lived here."

Resonantia, "The train is an anomaly. Other than that, I think Grandpa is the only legitimate traveler you've run into."

Iratus, "Fourty days, and I've run into three people. Guess you got me there."

Resonantia, "Oh, and then there are the Invaders, but we've got no idea what's in their minds."

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Chapter 157

Iratus, "I'm just going to go over there."

Vicrotia teasingly, "Coward."

After getting out, Iratus searched for a path away from the girls, but he saw something wrong with the wall. With a confused look, he walked over to the strange occurrence in the wall and found it to be a tunnel, with the tunnel wall giving an optical illusion when looking over here.

Iratus, "Yo, I found a tunnel here."

Aestus, "I smell adventure."

The girls got out of the pool and headed over to Iratus.

Iratus, "Should we grab our gear?"

Victoria, "Never."

Resonantia, "Lead the way for us, please."

Iratus, "Ugh, fine."

Down in the tunnel, a trickle of a stream flowed through the tunnel. The whole tunnel had a layer of condensation all over the walls, and the group got chilled as the temperature decreased as the hot springs faded in the back.

There were few bioluminescent plants and critters here, so it was a bit darker in the tunnel. Once they turned around a few corners, sunlight filled the tunnel, and the group came upon a large room with one wall replaced with a massive window open to a small chasm. The room was made of smooth stone, including the floors, walls, and roof. In the middle was a large classical bath with statues of formless female mousefolk in sensual positions, with two muscular mousefolk near the window. This place was a real bathhouse, and as the girls swooned over the bath, Iratus was thinking and looking around.

The chasm had a small opening and wasn't very deep, with Iratus trying to figure out where it was by thinking about the travel in relation to a mental map.

Iratus, "Must be next to the second river."

Victoria, "The second river, as in the one that is eaten by this cave?"

Iratus, "Yes."

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Chapter 158

Three streams of water flowed into the bath from the left wall, while the bath itself leaked water out of the chasm. It seemed like a way to refresh the water, though the water wasn't looking too pleasing, but there was a maintenance closet in here, which the girls immediately went for.

Iratus looked out into the chasm and saw the discarded water become its own stream and wash further into the chasm. Iratus turned around and tried to ignore the girls' naked forms as he searched for something. Iratus had a suspicious look that made some of the girls confused.

Aestus, "Something wrong?"

Iratus, "Very. Like someone is mocking me."

Aestus, "What? Huh?"

Iratus grabbed one of the statues and pulled it, as it was designed to be moved. A passage down with a ladder was revealed. Iratus climbed down to a tiny room that had a stone shelf filled with books. Iratus had an annoyed look on his face but then grabbed one of the books.

Victoria, "Treasure!?"

Ignis, "What be this?"

The mouse boy glanced at the books down there and eventually climbed back out with a book in hand.

Iratus, "Back in Providence, there was a very famous book series."

Victoria, "Yeah, you guys had massive paper and book industries."

Iratus nodded and showed off the book.

Iratus, "The series was called Bathhouse Reviewers, and like I said, it was super popular."

Victoria, "Is that all? No treasure?"

Iratus, "In the book, the Absconditus Bathhouse is supposed to have a secret treasure down there, but instead there is just this entire book series."

Victoria, "Wait, this Absconditus Bathhouse, which is from the book, is what this place is?"

Iratus, "Even the hot springs cave The cave was a front, just as the bathhouse itself was hidden and a reward for those who found it. Someone created a copy of the Absconditus Bathhouse in Nexus Prime and replaced the treasure with the book series."

Resonantia, "What was the treasure supposed to be?"

Iratus, "The book from which this place came never revealed what it was."

Victoria, "This is crazy!"

Iratus, "You're telling me. At least we now have some proper reading material to read."

Resonantia, "I don't know; it sounds kind of pervy."

Iratus, "Yeah. I'm still going to relocate these books and shelve them in our library."

Victoria, "Sounds good. Now how about you get into the bath first?"

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Chapter 159

The girls splashed and were having fun while Iratus did his best to wash up.

Victoria, "So, Iratus, what do you think of this place?"

Iratus, "Thinking about it, I think whoever made this really loved the book series. For me, I enjoy this place. The hot springs and this bath are amazing; everyone agrees."

Resonantia, "Everyone does agree."

Aestus, "Yup."

A few minutes passed before another conversation popped up.

Ignis, "So, how was everyone's life like before they died?"

Victoria, "Ha. Yeah, well, my life was in tatters. The rebellion ended with the rebels taking over without much bloodshed. The people cheered that they were now free of oppression, whether or not they were oppressed. The new government took steps to make sure nobles and aristocrats could never appear again by granting noble titles to the most loyal to the government and allowing certain companies to amass wealth and take over the aristocratic class. Everyone else has to be lucky enough to know none of us will ever crawl out from under the feudal system by switching out lords and self-enrichment for everything run by the government. You grow food, and it belongs to the government because people growing more than others makes them feel bad, so everything had to be distributed evenly. Everyone's shares diminished over time, so people had to go bandit if they wanted to eat, and I mean nearly everyone."

Iratus, "By silver, that sounds rough."

Ignis, "Her nation would dispersedly fall victim to countless revolutions. I remember telling you this, but it is still ironic that my people broke free of revolution and replaced it with war by law while yours did the inverse. Once my nation valued the nation as a pillar of true virtues, we were stable enough to expand and enrich the entire population. Once the poorest nation, it has now transformed into the strongest and wealthiest nation in the world. The cognitive thought on politics was also enlightening, but I wasn't brave enough to get into that cesspool. We invented mass industry, and the future was ours for the taking."

Victoria, "Yeah...lucky you."

Aestus, "I lived with my tribe, and we played in the river every day. That's it. Honestly, my luxuries have increased since living with Iratus. I have so many new things and foods now, more than ever!"

Iratus, "Happy to be of service. So it's my turn. Basically, everyone lived in family communes with houses that had up to one hundred to two hundred inhabitants. Every house had a scribe room, a training room, and a private garden in a wilderness area. I...didn't get to live such a life. My family was complicated, and I didn't get the normal lifestyle everyone else got. We kept moving further north all the time, and once we were no longer near large cities, my education became useless. So, I couldn't get a job, and I just stayed at home."

Resonantia, "My turn. Well, I've already talked on forever about my training days to become the family soldier, training in the bow, of course. I had to go to parties and watch theater performances. I had two horses and a pet fox. I don't really know what else to say. I was busy, but that was either due to training or family duties. I've read books and played games too, as well as studied various topics and religion."

Iratus, "Did you do anything other than train?"

Resonantia, "Hm, not really."

The day was coming to an end, and the party went back to the tower. They played a few more games and wrote out a plan to build a wall later, while the night crawled over the day. They ate dinner, had some tea, and then continued to converse.

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Chapter 160

Ignis, "We must, in due time, create a stove."

Iratus, "First comes a griddle. We have plenty of metal we can flatten out and use it to bake stuff on."

Aestus, "Let's see. We already have a mortar and pestle to grind stuff up. How about a strainer?"

Iratus, "An easy find at Last Mistake. I'd also say a butter churn if it was possible to obtain milk."

Ignis, "A durable coop we should build and gather those wild chickens up."

Iratus, "Oh duh! We really should have done that sooner. So, using this rough map with our future wall, where do we place the coop?"

Victoria, "We can take a section of future houses out and replace them with a coop and maybe a pen if we find some cattle animals."

Eventually, the night continued on until Iratus felt like going to bed. His ears twitched as he passed the barracks and didn't hear the girls, and when he reached the top floor, he saw the girls looming over his bed.

Iratus, "Are we going to argue about my large, spacious room again?"

Victoria, "Yes! We still have small rooms while you have all of this."

Iratus, "Still doesn't have much. Ok, what are we going to do then? Reduce my room size again and enlarge the library?"

Victoria, "No, we have decided that we'll just sleep here from now on."

Iratus, "I guess that makes sense. Give me my sheets, and I'll take an empty room."

There was an air of playfulness as the girls continued.

Resonantia, "We actually need these sheets to sleep in your bed."

Iratus, "Use your own blankets and sheets. These are mine."

Ignis, "We are aware, for we wish to sleep in your bed."

Iratus, "Then use your own stuff."

Victoria, "No, because we are going to sleep in your bed."

Iratus, "Then what do I use?"

Victoria, "Your sheets and blankets."

Iratus, "I can't because you won't give them to me."

The girls had a dumbfounded look on their faces.

Ignis, "It is beyond sense, as if we are speaking a different language."

Resonantia, "I'll grab him."

Iratus, "What?"

Aestus, "We want to sleep in your bed, Iratus."

Iratus, "Then have my bed, fine. I'll just leave."

Victoria, "Useless male, get into your bed."

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EPISDOE 16: END

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Episode 16 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 14
Coverings: blonde fur, white gambeson (many repairs, some leather patchwork, minor damage), leather gloves, tactical vest, tailorcraft backpack
Weapons: Long Sword, 3x Knifes, Short Sword
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 33 oval copper coins, 7 small silver bricks, 6 gemstones, 20 fine silver coins,20 fine gold coins

Wounds: None

Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, several leather items, a lot of animal bones, some animal hide, 3 glass jar, 1 fish net, primitive sewing kit, trowel, woodcutting axe, a bunch of small wooden figures, wooden dice, some of sheets, metal scrap, lots of rusted metal, several small fish nets, box of unknown ammo, some medical supplies, semi-automatic rifle (no ammo), a strange device (Gameboy-like device), lots of wooden planks and boards, wood glue, sandpaper, compass, sextant, some bedrolls, a tent, lots of rope, a large barrel, some ink, 7 papyrus paper, 5 hide paper (parchments), 80 cloaks and other clothing materials, some alcohol, some primitive medicine, some fabrics

Armory: 10 wooden spears, 23 short swords, 40 knifes, 22 daggers, 2 hand bombs, 18 rusted weapons, many armor pieces, ruined metal armor

Treasure: 40 oval copper coins, 44 ancient metal coins, 40 fine silver coins, 44 fine gold coins, 23 fine copper coins, a tarnished silver brooch, a small ornamental figurine, a handful of sparkling glass beads, a small wooden trinket box, a collection of delicate, hand-painted porcelain charms, a few antfolk tapestries, some antfolk art

Home Base, Tower: Large Storage Area (many crates and clay pots), Basic Butchering Area (few tools, smoking rack), Basic Workshop Area (lots of tools, woodcarving tools), Kitchen Area (many tools, many cutlery items, pots&pans, makeshift grill), Outside Makeshift Tannery, Underground Storage Area, Garden Area (fenced in), Library, Armory, Infirmary Room (surgery tools), Guest Quarters, Master Bedroom, Six Bedrooms

Books: 3x woodworking books, weathered leather-bound journal, war game booklet

Year 0, Day 47

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Special documentary on Nexus Prime
Author: [DATA ERROR]
Report #: 41
Bloodforged is a name that comes from many ancient religious texts about these specific soulbound. One wonders just how much is true when many bloodforge share a strangely similar religious history as well as some language foundations. These souls were said to have had boiling blood of beasts poured over them by God to create their mortal vessels.

Now about their being, we start with their uncanny similarity to beasts, such as a wolf bloodforge looking like a bipedal wolf with hair and other humanoid-like features. Bloodforge also have powerful senses as well as some of the greatest physical prowess of all soulbound. Even their bodies age slower due to their physique, with their children reaching heights greater than those of other soulbound adults. Their females will have their fertility last into their sixties, and bloodforge usually live up to one hundred years old. These soulbound, the bloodforge, can reach a massive height in adulthood compared to other soulbound, and their natural fitness-forming bodies bulge in musculature, health, healing, and durability, outpacing all other soulbound, with their lack of stamina being one of their weaknesses. Additionally, they also have well-tuned empathy from their excessive senses, allowing them to understand emotions that are not even showing on a soulbound's face.

These beings also carry over their carnivorous needs and find grains and breads to be slightly sickening, like eating too much chocolate. They also require a substantial amount of food to burn, as their bodies require a lot of energy to function. All of this limits their evolution for body mass manipulation, meaning they cannot build up a lot of fat or shift their mass, which limits their strength because they lack mass and forces them to form into a fit body while limiting their dieting ability.

Overall, when these people end up in Nexus Prime, as long as they can find a decent food source, they are the most likely to survive what our home has become.