Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 46

Chapter 451

It took a whole day, but the group finally got all the large metal blocks back at the tower. There was some discussion on what to do with them, but everyone just shrugged at the end.

In the afternoon of day 57, Iratus and the girls were working in the small garden area with Aestus and Resonantia holding the babies. Aestus was giddy to show the babies the garden, while Resonantia was tired as Ignis and Victoria rested inside the tower.

Iratus, "Should we get the other two here to discuss the problem at the burned-down place?"

Venatio and the two children, Studium and Fuligo, were busy harvesting various vegetables.

Resonantia, "Leave them to rest; it has been a busy day."

Venatio and the kids walked up with their baskets full of food.

Venatio, "It has barely been a few hours."

Iratus turning to the old fox woman, "How serious is the thing down there?"

Venatio, "I don't think what's down there is the problem. The Sin Lord person thing has been doing something related to it, so we need information first."

Aestus, "How confusing. What is in the former city?"

Everyone had been heading back inside.

Venatio, "Apparently some sort of bunker. Somehow, the monsters have been moving these resources around, and we will find out something when we find the building."

They moved up to the commons room where the other two girls were, and of course they were just lazing about.

Ignis, "Ah, love. Come to burden us with more work?"

Iratus, "Technically, I have not asked for your labor. You girls just farm and stitch up my gambeson on your own."

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Chapter 452

Iratus washed some of their veggies and handed them out.

Iratus, "We need to make time to check out the burned city."

Ignis, "I've not seen any ashborn in that city, nor any odd buildings of which you speak."

Victoria, "Yesterday you talked about the ashborn taking these heavy boxes over here, and yet no one here has seen them or seen any tracks what so ever."

Iratus, "It's even worse with us not finding anything that would indicate that the creatures were transporting anything."

The raccoon girl jolted upright.

Victoria, "Wait, hold on. Then how do we know about this secondary place?"

Venatio, "I found a shipping manifest that outlined that Japanese city over the river."

Victoria, "Are you sure it was that city?"

Venatio, "Positive."

Iratus, "At this point, it may have to be the two of us going into that city."

Venatio, "Not today. I am already pooped out."

From the third story, the babies started crying again, and all four girls drooped in their chairs.

Iratus, "I'll handle them this time."

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Chapter 453

The next day Iratus was at the Cobalt's homestead, a normal occurrence, with the family and Iratus placing milk jars onto the mouse boy's cart.

Iratus, "With that over, I'd like to talk to you about exploring, scavenging, and fighting at other locations."

Commercium, "Unless it's about the industrial place outback or the insect panther hovels, I'm not interested."

Iratus, "I seriously need some aid. I need manpower."

Commercium, "You've got a lot of prospects already."

Iratus, "My loves are usually too tired or busy with other work to delve into dangerous places, and Venatio and the two kids are in a similar situation by shoring up the hole in our workforce."

Commercium, "Then you will have to go yourself."

Iratus, "What could I pay you for your services?"

The rabbit man shrugged.

Commercium, "I guess it would be anything that could radically improve my family's standard of living or safety."

Iratus, "Killing nearby monsters isn't part of that?"

Commercium, "I just really don't want to get into a fight; I have a family to take care of."

His hyena wife spoke up from behind.

Abrasione, "I'd join you, but I can't leave my baby for too long."

Iratus, "Understandable." Then he turned back to the rabbit. "Not long ago, you were quite happy to search locations with me. These days, you have been quite the recluse, what happened?"

Commercium, "I have...a family...to take care of. What I can't understand is why you recklessly risk your life, like, for nothing."

The mouse boy gave a sigh.

Iratus, "I've fought gray masks and treeskins that have attempted to invade my home. These things spread, move about, and change the very land itself. There are these freaky ass masters of these monsters playing their grand game with my tower caught in the crossfire. I may not know the plans of the ashborn, but I assume it has something to do with furthering their influence or killing more people. I'll fight as long as there are threats near my home and family."

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Chapter 454

Iratus returned home and placed some of the milk jars in the cold room while bringing the rest inside for everyone to whip up food and drink.

Iratus, "Commercium is still a no-go."

Aestus, "A no go?"

Venatio, "You're picking up a lot of my jargon, perfect."

Iratus was pouring out several glasses for everyone to drink and serving them. The girls, Venatio, and the two kids took what they could, but it was clear they were getting sick of all the milk. 

Iratus, "When can the lot of you make time for the exploration?"

There was a moment of silence.

Resonantia, "I'd love to, but I think we would need better planning in our job arrangements."

Venatio, "I just need more time to rest."

Iratus sat down at the table.

Fuligo, "We could join you."

The young otter girl stood up, raising her hand, while Studium just buried his head away.

Iratus, "I prefer the two of you to stay out of high-danger areas."

The otter girl sat back down with a pout.

Iratus, "Look, I'm just going to go alone; don't worry about it."

Victoria, "Hold on! That is way too dangerous."

There were a few more voices of descent before Iratus quelled them.

Iratus, "I understand, but I have fought monster solos before."

Venatio, "It is still incredibly dangerous. As a group, "

Iratus, "I am well aware; you don't have to go over all that. It will be fine. I won't get into combat with anything above my limits."

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Chapter 455

The day was close to the sundown mark, but Iratus was fine with this as his golden eyes reflected the dimming sunlight. He arrived at the burned, blacked, and ash-covered city with a determined look. Most streets were unrecognizable as layers of ash and debris littered them, with many skeleton-like wooden structures looming over Iratus as he diligently searched the city. Through a lot of scrutiny, the mouse boy found nothing that stuck out and so headed into the castle hill, where the burned-down castle was perched atop.

As Iratus wound the castle area and headed up past the roughly intact gatehouses, a few ashborn would slowly spring up from time to time, and luckily he wouldn't have to work too hard to slay them.

Near the base of the hill, Iratus found an abnormal construction sticking out of the base fortifications. It was something in between high technological precision and shanty town slabs of sheet metal, all of which fit seamlessly. Iratus thought back to the last time he came up here, and there was no such building, meaning this thing was recent. Nearby were also several crates with large bricks of various metals in them, mostly iron.

Iratus looked around for any sort of tracks or vehicle marks and found nothing of the sort, so he just shrugged and headed for the shanty building. The door was heavy and took considerable effort to open, but the mouse boy eventually shunted the slab door open enough to enter. Inside the building was a dark and oppressive room that was similar to a mine, but instead of stone, it was a ruined castle with beams just like a tunnel to prop up the fallen structure.

Iratus still had to maneuver around debris and charcoal buildings to move forward, with a few lazing around ashborn being the only source of light. From ruined furniture to scattered weapons and armor, Iratus did his best not to make a lot of noise and eventually came to another section of the area that was walled like the outer structure was, the metal sheets, and a wide hole with an insanely bright and hot light coming from it.

Inside was a large pit of fire, something like a smelter with metals and their impurities swimming inside of it. Next to the pit was a samurai of average size for their time, clad in the red armor this city's military wore, but when the creature turned to see Iratus, the mouse boy could see the pale corpse of a human inside of it, with only the vibrant and nearly glowing eyes revealing anything alive.

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Chapter 456

From the burning pit, a person walked up from it, a creature like a human but with a lizard tail like the ashborn, a being made of dull bronze. The samurai backed up quite a bit as the bronzeborn turned from him to Iratus and finally pointed to the mouse boy. With that, a pile in the corner of the room shifted, revealing it to be an ashborn that looked like a dead sun with not an ember in sight and left ash trails from the slightest of movements. It stood nine feet tall (274cm) and grabbed a metal sword made from slag designed to be held by a giant like itself.

Iratus, "Oh, I see I'm not welcomed. Please allow me to just run the silver away."

Iratus turned to leave and ran as best he could in this tunnel with two more piles standing up, meaning that Iratus now had three dustborn, the best name he could imagine, on his heels. Luckily, the tunnel was small enough for those large creatures to crouch forward instead of taking a normal walk. A few ashborn stood in Iratus's way, and he had no choice but to gain a defensive position and deal with them safely, which allowed the three dustborn to close in on him. Iratus turned to face the monsters, and they started to kneel down to grab at him, with Iratus slashing away their hands.

Iratus dove into the arm of one dustborn, left a massive cut with his long sword, and then sprinted out of the range of the second dustborn. The third one started to crawl around to cut off Iratus's escape route, but with less pressure, Iratus boldly came towards the giants again and managed to slice the throat of one, which made it instinctively jolt backwards and into the wall, which made the ruined castle thunder and shake violently. The second giant shoved Iratus, which wasn't damaging, but the force dragged him against a wall.

Iratus resisted falling to the ground and stood up, defiant, with dustborn number two taking a long step forward now that Iratus was against a wall. The mouse boy dodged the incoming strike and chopped into the giant's finger, but then Iratus was suddenly sent flying. "Ah!" And as he crawled back up, he saw that dustborn number one had recovered and struck Iratus with its slag sword.

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Chapter 457

Iratus was starting to become enraged as the threat of death closed in from three sides. With reckless abandon, he charged at the second dustborn, which tried to clasp Iratus, but the mouse boy dropped to the ground to dodge the attack, and with quickness, he stood back up and, with a thrust, stuck his blade into the giant, with it leaning down completely. Iratus cut straight into the eye and ripped it out, dragging out a fountain of black ash, and the dustborn itself rolled on its side, staggered, and voicing out a silent scream. Iratus didn't stop, his haggard and angry breathing picking up as he ran to the third dustborn. The first giant swung its sword horizontally, with Iratus jumping and slamming his back on the passing blade, which traveled past him.

Iratus landed on his feet and charged at the exit, with his foe bending a knee to punch at Iratus, which was a close shot but was terribly aimed. Iratus stuck to the giant with three cuts, all deep but most likely not very damaging. The giant came in with his palm this time, which did clip and knock Iratus to his knees, but he stubbornly bounced right back up to close in and cut the giant's back foot off his enemy. The dustborn fell on its butt with Iratus diving out the large door, with the first dustborn slamming its sword into the door to catch Iratus, though the door was not open enough to follow the mouse boy.

With that, Iratus ran as much as he could before slowing down to a fast walk. He would turn back sometimes to see if he was followed, but when he saw and heard nothing, he just continued on to the tower. Several times also, Iratus had to stop to take a breath with him eyeing the trees back across the river, and with nothing ever coming, Iratus was finally able to walk calmly with his mind further at ease.

Iratus forcefully walked into his home with only his lovers still up and around, each one asking how his day was, but all he could do was groan as he headed upstairs and fell onto his bed. The otter girl walked up to their room, her eyes reflecting the dim lights from the darkness outside.

Aestus, "But you are okay, right?"

Iratus, "Yeah. Just let me lay here for a while."

Aestus, "Impossible; you are getting ash all over the bed. Luckily, I am an expert in getting you dressed for bed."

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Chapter 458

At day 59, Iratus and the girls were having breakfast with Venatio, and the two kids were coming in like a storm, playfully demanding their share of food.

Iratus playfully, "I don't know; do you have any funds to buy our premium foods?"

Fuligo, "Hey! We worked really hard yesterday, so we get to eat."

Iratus, "But that was yesterday; how will you pay for today?"

Fuligo, "We live here; you cannot deny our right to eat."

Studium, "And work here, extra hard too."

Iratus playfully, "I'm still not convinced."

Their playful banter continued until Venatio set their plates on the table and the kids dug in.

Venatio, "Did you ever find the bunker in the burned-down city?"

Iratus, "Bunker is a strong word. Then again, I don't know what I'd call it. But yes, I did discover a building that was tunneled into the ruined castle."

Iratus told Venatio what happened and watched to see how she would react, which was a comtiplative posture.

Venatio, "Interesting. I can't say I've heard about a pale person with bright eyes, but I am aware of the ashborn, or dustborn, as you call these variants, and I also know about the metal creature. It sounds like a bronze born, and that smelting pit sounds quite interesting."

She paused as she stuffed her face with meat, pancakes, and milk.

Iratus, "How do you eat such a large breakfast? I can barely eat anything in the morning."

Venatio, "Skill issue."

Iratus gave a, "Ha!"

Venatio, "I need to examine that area. I've never heard anyone witness the birth of the born creatures, and if this is how they make their kind from metal, then it is my duty to investigate."

Iratus, "Oh, now we are going to make time, huh?"

Venatio playfully, "Oh, I suddenly came down with the tired. Guess we will have to wait for another year before we investigate."

Iratus, "Jeeze, fine, sorry."

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Chapter 459

In the early evening, Iratus was standing with Venatio, Studium, and Fuligo. The two kids were kitted out with metal spears, short swords, and knives, and the ruined bits of metal armor from the storage were tied together to make makeshift metal armor. The group looked around at several dead ashborn that were guarding the shanty tunnel building.

Iratus, "And that's why my lessons were free."

Fuligo, "To be fair, most of your lessons were about sword play and not really spears."

Iratus, "But I still taught you two the basics."

Fuligo, "I guess."

Studium, "Well, I appreciate your lessons, Iratus, sir."

Their playful banter was interrupted by Venatio.

Venatio, "Focus please. Iratus, is everything how you remembered it?"

Iratus looked around.

Iratus, "Well, I guess the ground is a bit more burned than last time, but that's probably from the ashborn walking around."

Venatio, "Or worse. Let's proceed carefully."

The door was left wide open this time, and inside was a lot worse, with the tunnels not faring well. The battle yesterday left the tunnel in an unstable state.

Iratus turned to the kids and said, "Actually, could you two guard outside?"

Fuligo gave an exaggerated, "Yes, sir!" While Studium gave a serious, "Yes, sir!"

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Chapter 460

Iratus and Venatio traveled down the tunnel and would find the dried-up slag that was once the smelting pit. The old fox woman held her rifle tight as she scanned the area, with Iratus watching their escape route in case more creatures popped up from the ash. He turned to Venatio to watch her get up close to several items until she finished her investigation.

Venatio, "Worthless. I am so upset that I am here without my tools, and it has broken my patience, and only by the one God am I still sane."

Iratus, "You alright?"

Venatio, "This pit can't be any sort of makeshift smelter, but with those born monsters, it seems like they don't need much for an excellent and pure process. Imagine you primitives trying to make proper metal from ore only to have a damnable monster do it with half the effort and technology. Disgusting!"

They started to head back outside.

Iratus, "So that's a no?"

Venatio, "Ack, I am fine. We just need to plan to invade that derelict industrial area. I need tools, and I'll even invent nuclear power if that's what it takes to have power."

Iratus, "We could use the petroleum from the boat shop since we still have some left in there."

Venatio, "Perhaps."

Iratus, "Wait a minute. I still don't know all your technological terms, but isn't nuclear power like super advanced or something?"

Venatio, "Advanced, pfft. I guess I am on a list since I do know how to build a nuclear weapon. Get at least some uranium-235 for fissile material; get the bomb to set off a chain reaction by splitting atomic nuclei, etcetera, etcetera."

Iratus, "You lost me at 235."

Venatio, "Or plutonium, whatever you want."

Outside, the two kids were taking their watch quite seriously and were delighted when the party came out of the building tunnel.

Venatio, "I hope you kids don't mind a crap ton of more walking."

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EPISDOE 46: END

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Episode 46 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 15
Coverings: blonde fur, white gambeson (many repairs, some leather patchwork), leather gloves, tactical vest, tailorcraft backpack, leather plate helmet, delicate gold chain with a small pendant shaped like a lion's glare, flashlight
Weapons: Long Sword, 3x Knifes, Short Sword
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 29 oval copper coins, 6 small silver bricks, 20 fine silver coins,15 fine gold coins, metal keycard

Wounds: none

Relevant Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, several leather items, 2 glass jar, 12 empty bottles, 1 fish net, primitive sewing kit, a bunch of small wooden figures, wooden dice, metal scrap, lots of rusted metal, several small fish nets, sextant, some bedrolls, a tent, a large barrel, writing material, 73 cloaks and other clothing materials, some fabrics, 5 carts, 8 tattered tents, skin drum, beautiful arts of tropical scenery, floatation devices, wildlife figures, lots of tropical clothing, ancient era hyenafolk clothes

Armory: 10 wooden spears, 45 short swords, 47 knifes, 23 daggers, 31 metal spears, 21 rusted weapons, many armor pieces, semi-automatic rifle (no ammo), 3 hunting traps, 3 snares, 4 backpacks
Aestus: leather vest, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword
Victoria: scrap metal breastplate, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword, crossbow, flashlight
Resonanita: breastplate, metal helmet, metal spear, short sword, compound bow, flashlight
Ignis: leather helmet, metal spear, crowbar

Treasure: 52 oval copper coins, 19 oval silver coins 44 ancient metal coins, 8 fine silver coins, a tarnished silver brooch, a small ornamental figurine, a handful of sparkling glass beads, a few antfolk tapestries, some antfolk art, 46 copper lion coins, 5 silver lion coins, 2 gold lion coins, 57 wolfen metal coins, bronze lantern, bronze idol, some jewled trinkets, iron lantern, several large blocks of various metals.

Home Base, Tower: Large Storage Area (many crates, clay pots, and wooden chests), Basic Workshop Area (lots of tools, woodcarving tools, glue, sandpaper), Kitchen Area (many tools, many cutlery items, pots&pans, makeshift grill), Library, Armory, Infirmary Room (surgery tools, first aid kit, plenty of medicine and equipment), Guest Quarters, Master Bedroom (proper bedding, sensual antfolk sculpture), Six Bedrooms (proper bedding)

Outside Base: Butchering Hut (modern butchery kit, smoking rack), Tannery Hut, Underground Storage Area, Garden Area (fenced in), Tool Shed (fishing gear and supplies, trowel, woodcutting axe, woodworking tools, lots of rope, rope ladder, plows, hoes, sickles, rakes, shovels, scythes, chisels, anvils), Partially Built Wall, Small Cabin

Books: 3x woodworking books, weathered leather-bound journal, war game booklet, sketch book (from warband), Bathhouse Reviewers (entire 80 book series), cards, Fractura's Notes, Tempestas's Notes

Year 1, Day 59

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TOWER FOLK:
Iratus of House Lionheart
mouse, male, blonde fur, blonde hair, gold eyes, 6'4 (193cm), age: 15
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Victoria
raccoon, female, gray fur, black hair, brown eyes, 6'2 (188cm), age: 15
-
Aestus of clan Riversinger
otter, female, red fur, red hair, blue eyes, 5'11 (180cm), age: 14
-
Ignis Yang
red panda, female, reddish-brown/white fur, black hair, golden eye, 6'3 (190cm), age: 15
-
Resonantia Diamond Heart Steel
shark, female, blue-gray hue skin, white hair, blue eyes, 6'3 (191cm), age: 15
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CHILDREN:
Negligere
shark, male, steel gray skin, white hair, gold eyes, age: 0
-
Ruina
otter, female, orange fur, vibrant orange hair, blue eyes, age: 0
-
Gula
red panda, male, brown fur, dark brown hair, gold eyes, age: 0
-
Tenacitas
raccoon, female, silver fur, dark blonde hair, amber eyes, age: 0
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NEIGHBORS:
Venatio of Wise Storms, Mother of House Black Jewel
fox, female, red fur, red hair, brown eyes, 6'6 (198cm), age: 71

Studium of Winter Winds
fox, male, gray fur, black hair, blue eyes, 5'6, age 12

Fuligo
otter, female, black fur, blonde hair, blue eyes, 5'4, age 12

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THE COBALTS:
Commercium Jade Blue Cobalt
rabbit, male, white fur, black hair, gray eyes, 6'8(203cm), age: 24
-
Abrasione
hyena, female, tan fur, blonde hair, gold eyes, 6'5(196cm), age: 20
-
Kuxatura
hyena, male, tan fur, black hair, gold eyes, age: 0

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