Re: Level 100 Farmer Chapter 6
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Li and Old Thane followed the main road their cottage stood by. It led out from Riviera's main gate and into a great forest called the Winterwoods, so called for how unnaturally cold it became during winters.
"You should feel the grass during winter," said Old Thane as he pulled his wagon. It was loaded to the brim with berries. His boots crushed thickets of tall grass underfoot with each step. "Some adventurers come out of here and need to have their feet cut. The cold rot turns them black and as hard and brittle as ice."
"And how do you manage?" said Li. Cold rot, as far as Li could tell from the symptoms he'd heard and read about, was what the people of this world called gangrene. He walked by Old Thane, feeling a little bad he wasn't doing any work other than being on guard duty, but the old man was too stubborn to let go of the wagon.
"I'm from the north, lad," said Old Thane with pride. "We brave winters far harsher than what these southern pups yelp at."
Gritting his teeth, Old Thane picked up the pace as he hefted the wagon through the Winterwoods. Normally, he talked much while walking, but right now, he was focused on getting to Modeste, the nearest village, as soon as possible.
Li did notice that Old Thane's accent was far different than anyone else's here. In real life terms, Old Thane's accent sounded Scottish while the regular Rivieran had a heavy French accent. Li's accent was apparently quite eloquent, sounding proper and enunciated like a noble.
Li didn't have much chance to really explore this world, busy as he was with farming, so he still learned many things as he went. He barely interacted with anyone other than Old Thane, and, on the old man's recommendation, always wore a hood when he went outside to prevent people from noticing that he was foreign. On top of that, he had switched out his Celestial robes to shabby common wear to fit in.
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But really, in the end, he didn't care much about the world - his only world was the farm.
The trip to Modeste was two hours long on foot, but just shy of an hour in, there came a problem.
The road was blocked.
Not by bandits, thankfully, but knights. Three knights stood guard on the road, their blades and shields drawn. Their armor glinted silver under the moonlight, their thick, bucket-shaped helms
Behind them, the forest had been cleared just enough to form a rudimentary camp. There were eight tents emblazoned with insignia bearing a purple rose. The coat of arms of the Lys, ruling family of Riviera. One of the four major noble families under the duchess Vivienne.
In the middle of the tents was a blazing campfire with a pot of stew boiling atop it. Amid a makeshift bench hewn out of a fallen log, six more knights sat, chatting and drinking with their armor off.
"Halt," said one of the guarding knights lazily. It was evident he was quite tired. "The road is blocked on order of lord Dulance Lys."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Old Thane. He dropped the wagon and walked up to the knight. The knight stiffened a little but relaxed when he realized Old Thane was blind. "For what reason?"
"We're on royal assignment to rid these woods of the deserter Drosso and his band of thieves." The knight took a pitying look at Old Thane. "If you wish to spend the night in our camp and head back under the safety of the sun, you may."
"A good offer, my friend, but pray, do tell, how long will this blockade last?" said Old Thane, his brows furrowed in anxiety.
"The bandit scum here multiply and hide like rats. Lord Lys intends to root out every single thug and hang them in the name of the good duchess."
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"How long?"
The knight shifted uncomfortably. "Perhaps two weeks, maybe more. But fear not, we, the knights of Lys, are renowned for our bladework. You shall walk this road untouched very soon."
Old Thane shook his head and came back to Li. "This is awful."
"Why?" said Li. "Can't we come back in a week or whenever they're done?"
"Our food, Li. It's been a month since I made this trip last, when I met you. We're running out. We'll have to trade at Riviera, but my berries will fetch so little coin that even two days' worth of bread will be hard to come by."
Li understood. He hadn't cared that the food was running out because he didn't need it to survive. Old Thane probably thought Li was just being polite. Li felt a twinge of guilt for not considering that Old Thane was only human.
"Two weeks, maybe more – with two of us eating, we'll have nothing," worried Old Thane. "I may have to sell the field, barren as it may be."
That settled it. For almost thirty years, he had dreamed of being a farmer, and now he was living his dream. The farm was his passion. His golden treasure. His art.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, would stand between Li and the farm. Not lords, not kings, not demons, not gods, least of all bandits.
Li reached out and squeezed Old Thane's shoulder. "Don't worry, old man, you won't have to sacrifice anything. Stay the night at this camp where you'll be safe."
Old Thane grabbed Li's arm with trembling hands. "Don't do anything stupid, lad."
"Don't you worry." Li smiled as he pried Old Thane's hands away. He patted the old man's back and cast [Deathbloom Triggerseed], placing a nondescript, tiny little black seed on his shirt. If the old man was attacked, then the seed would sprout, protecting him in an enclosure of defensive vines.
"I make this promise to you," said Li as he started walking away, down the road and into the dark. "You wanted your farm to live beyond you, right? To pass it down to me and see your life's work continue. Well, I swear to you that your farm will never fall."
Something came over Li. His words felt strange, almost disembodied, as if someone else was speaking for him, but he knew that they were the words he wanted to speak.
"Your work will triumph over the tests of time. It will bloom when kingdoms wither. It will stand when gods fall. When the Cycle waxes and life flowers, your work will bear fruits than to awe man and beast alike. When the Cycle wanes and life withers, your work will still remain fresh and green, reigning supreme over death itself. This, I promise and more."
Whatever came over him left almost as soon as it arose, and Li left Old Thane in an understandably confused state. Li understood that he would have to explain what he did and what he said later, but over a month of living with Old Thane, he trusted the kindly old man to keep his lips sealed.
For now, Li had some pest control to do.
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Daoist Master of Qing Xuan
What is a Daoist Master? One that is imageless in ten directions and vanishes in the six paths; unrestrained by the three realms and the five elements. After a day at the clinic, Dr. Li Feng met with an accident on his way home. When he regained consciousness, Li Feng found himself in the body of a weak teenage boy who was born out of wedlock, Shen Lian. Who was the father? The mother would not tell. A scripture he found among his mother’s remnants was the only thing he knew about his father. The mother came from a wealthy and well known family. When Shen Lian was recalled back to the Shen family, he was entitled for part of the grandfather’s inheritance and businesses. Despite the grand value, Shen Lian did not take a cent with him when he decided to leave the family. Why would he leave this comfortable life behind? His journey with this new identity brought him into this new world as he travelled between realms in search of knowledge to improve his Daoist skills. As he conquered trial after trial, would he become the chosen one? Will he succeed in becoming the Daoist Master? Only time will tell.
8 1048The Hand of Fate
Little by little, the magic disappeared from the Continent, and today no trace of the Magical Sparkle remains in the continentals. Ethan is tired of living on the Tiburon, a merchant ship that travels the waves of the Four Great Seas of the Continent. His innate nature, which from childhood made him immeasurably appreciate the stories of magicians and warlords of ancient times, pushes him to search for greater stability on the mainland, starting from where he could begin to travel to unexplored areas and respond to his irrepressible curiosity. Garatier seems like the right city to start over and just Garatier and the individuals that Ethan will meet there, will allow him to enter the tunnels of an ancient, hidden, forgotten world that yet has always been there. However, the way in which The Hand of Fate moves the threads of destiny is unpredictable and as often happens, not everything will go according to Ethan's plans because, ultimately, no one can oppose Fate.
8 192A Warm Bed & A Hot Shower
"People think being transported into another world is fun. But it's fucking not." "You think it's all saving the world, mythical treasures, and getting laid?" He yelled, "Life'll bash you on the head and stick it's dick up your ass!!!" "You see that horse over there?!" He pointed at the horse, "You might think it's harmless, but what if it's actually a monster pretending to be a horse?!? What if that tree over there is a trap?! What are you gonna do if the water you're standing in right now isn't water?!" "So shut the fuck up and eat that fucking food!" Word Length = 2000-2500 / Chapter (Sometimes it'll be higher) Please leave a review if you enjoyed it (or not), so that I may grow and be prosperous!
8 101Seven Realms Saga Book 1 - Last Passage
“Travelling into Iodigar is surprisingly easy,” the Ligtyr added. “All you need to do is to die.”The Vren, once creatures of myth and legend, now roam freely across the land, killing all they find in their path.Kollyn, a member of the Realmatic Keepers, is sent into Iodigar where the souls of the dead roam. There he must find the reason behind this sudden appearance of the Vren and a way to restore the natural order of life.It is a journey into the unknown during which Kollyn must come to terms with his past, his power and the role he will have to play in the world-defying events that are inevitably on the horizon.Last Passage, the first installement in the Seven Realms Saga, is a finished novella that can be bought both in ebook and paperback format on Amazon. For those who wish to finish the story already or be in possession of a physical copy, feel free top purchase it. I will be posting 2 chapters every week on RoyalRoad while I finish of the second installement, Scholars Of The Script.Buy on Amazon
8 121The only one of his kind
Nick Salvatore, adoptive son of Damon and Elena Salvatore. Nick hasn't always had it easy, when it comes to life. He goes to mystic falls high, where he is the loner. He reads supernatural books, and sometimes being bullied for it. He himself is supernatural. A hybrid to be exact. Half wolf and half phoenix. He doesn't quite know it. As Damon and Elena doesn't want him to find out. However, he knows about the supernatural things from when he was little as he is friend's with the kids at Salvatore boarding school.His biological father is known to be Malivore, that means he is the half brother to Landon.He is in love with the one and only Hope Mikaelson. Though she is dating Landon and he's with Lizzie. He tries so hard to get rid of those feelings for Hope, but what happens when he also finds out she feels the same way about him?Follow his journey when he finds out that himself is supernatural.Love, fighting, heartbreak, happiness.
8 147The Swarm
Anthony had been looking forward to playing the hottest new virtual reality game. When he put the VR helmet on he was met with a prompt asking him if he wanted to take a test to become a swarm knight. Thinking that this was one of the classes in the game he accepted. Instead of finding himself in the game, Anthony found that he was transported to a different planet. A planet where he would learn the greater truth of the universe. Everything was based on magic in the universe. Except that magic was based on nanorobots, called the swarm, that had been created through highly advanced technology. Genetics determined the access level and the amount of control that someone could wield over the swarm, and therefore their status in this society. Long ago Earth had been cutoff from the swarm. Now that it had been rediscovered, Earth would be reintegrated into the swarm. Unfortunately when that happened all the current technology on Earth would fail and be replaced with the ability to use magic. In effect, it would be the system apocalypse. As someone able to control the swarm, Anthony found himself in the unique position to influence how Earth was reintegrated into the swarm. Perhaps he could change things enough to save most of the people on Earth. But first he would have to learn how to control the swarm and become one of the leaders in the society he found himself in. Warning: If this fiction was a movie I'd rate it somewhere between PG-13 and R for occasional scenes of violence, gore, and nudity.
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