《Children of Nemeah (epic progression fantasy)》City of Nemeah - Chapter 8
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After relaying the request to the tavern-keeper, Siegfried left the small establishment— still in deep thought. Back in the narrow alley, a young woman let out a surprised gasp as he nearly walked into her.
"Sorry, miss, I wasn't looking where I was going," the equally surprised guard apologised. It was unusual for him to space out like that.
"Oh, 's not a problem, Sir Guard, nothin's happened," she answered with a heavy dialect, sounding as simple as she looked. From the brown linen tunic to the plain facial features, everything about her was unremarkable.
Save for the look of recognition in her eyes, that was. It was just a flash of change in her gaze that sparked with a degree of intelligence that betrayed her way of speaking.
Siegfried decided that he might just be overthinking things. After all, he wasn't in the best mental shape right now. Dismissing the short encounter, the guardsman continued walking for a few minutes until he stopped a second time.
Another unforeseen confrontation waited before him, but it would be much more dreadful than the last.
Standing with crossed arms, as if he had been waiting for someone, the man with the mirthless expression they saw earlier that day blocked the passage.
In the long, red mantle, he gave off a pressuring air of overwhelming finality. As if he impersonated the glowing red heat of the all-consuming fire that would swallow any heretic soul it came upon.
An enforcer.
"Siegfried, 'The Just'," the enforcer curled his lips to a snide grimace. "Isn't that the title, which the common folk unofficially bestowed upon you?"
A bead of cold sweat formed on Sieg's forehead. "I am humbled to know that my name has been heard of by a presentee of our gracious goddess, Your Honour. I have never acknowledged that title for my own." he added, lowering his gaze in feigned deference.
In the City of Nemeah, the enforcers of the Red Brigade were judge, jury and executioner. And by everyone except their own and the priests, they were to be addressed as such. From the arrogant, impassable voice and matching grimace, Siegfried concluded that playing submissive would be his best chance to get out of this situation.
"At least, you do not seem to be overconfident. But otherwise, the chance of you surviving not only once but twice in the face of such aggressive changelings would have been abysmal," the enforcer said with a belitteling guesture. "As my primary assignment already led me into this district, I opted to indulge myself in my curiosity. 'What kind of man would this Siegfried be to impress the people by such an ample amount?' I asked myself. And so, I decided to be present at the holy rite of fire."
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Siegfried swallowed. He knew he would have to confront the Red Brigade sooner or later after taking a glimpse at their real face. But this was far earlier than he hoped.
The enforcer's lips stretched into a vicious smile. "Your reaction to the sacred words of our esteemed priest was most intriguing. As were those of your two companions. I have decided that all of you will accompany me to Sector One for rehabilitation."
Siegfried steeled himself. He had never seen an enforcer in action, but going with him would spell his death all the same.
"I am afraid, Your Honour, that I cannot accept your verdict," Sieg stated while drawing his trusted sword. In his mind, he apologised to Bolverk. Today would likely be the first time he would be late at the barracks.
The young guardsman focused on his opponent with every part of his mind. Emotions faded, thoughts stilled. His unnaturally piercing gaze fixed the enforcers eyes— unmoving, so even the slightest motion would register in his subconsciousness.
"This is unfortunate. I like that intimidating glare of yours, but it seems your tale will end today, Siegfried The Just."
With supreme confidence, Akali's deadly agent drew his own short-sword. He set his right foot in front, bent as if readying for a sprint, and raised his right arm horizontally across his chest just as though he wanted to execute a backhanded slash.
As the enforcer's eyes narrowed in concentration, a faint aura of scarlet red seemed to emanate from within him like thousands of tiny red light beams.
On instinct, Siegfried started to throw himself to the right and simultaneously gripped his weapon with both hands in a block on the same height as the enforcer. He counted two heartbeats since the red glow began until his enemy vanished. He felt an explosive impact against his sword, nearly ripping it out of his hands and twisting his dive into a crash on his backside.
Agonising pain shot through Siegfried's left arm. The trusty steel in his hands had a deep nick, level with the cut in his arm. He fought down a cry into a grunt of pain as his body fully registered the wound, and blood started to flow out. The severe gash went through the muscle and partly into the bone.
A slow clap sounded from behind him. The red-clad fiend had cut Siegfried while passing by, stopping eight houses further down the small street in the blink of an eye.
"I am impressed, guardsman. I intended to slice through the whole of your chest. If by luck or skill, no report of an unblessed human deflecting an enforcer's blade has ever reached my ear." A sneer of cruel, sadistic satisfaction formed on his face. "I'm going to savour this and cut you up bit by bit so you might live long enough to realise the absolute hopelessness of your situation."
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Arrogance, good. Surviving the first strike gave Siegfried a lot of information to work with. He gritted his teeth against the pain of his, now useless, left arm and stood up in a more flexible stance again. Both legs bent, sword in a middle guard, he entered a state of indivertible concentration once again.
The enforcer held his ornate weapon out to the right middle, clearly going for a horizontal swipe again. This ascertained Sieg that his enemy couldn't move while focusing on his gift and had to get into position before that.
Two heartbeats.
At nearly the same instant as the red glow started, Sieg dashed left. A gasp of pain slipped as the movement rattled his injured arm, but the only new wound was a superficial cut to his upper body on the right side.
"Just as I thought," Siegfried said with feigned humour in his tone, "the gift speeds up your body but not your mind. You can only execute one priorly planned move. Guess that's what makes you third-class."
"You impertinent dog!" The anger was clearly visible in the enforcer's posture "Let us end this farce!" He clicked a button on the ornate grip, and the pommel shot out far enough for him to use two hands.
The preparation told Siegfried that his opponent was going for a more direct blow this time. A two-handed grip so the force at such speeds wouldn't fling the enforcer's sword from his hands.
Siegfried adjusted his stance, watched for the angle of the next attack and adjusted again. When the foreboding red glow started, he abandoned his block for an overhead slash and swung down with full strength. He cried out when part of his own blade suddenly stuck out of his left shoulder. But there was another groan coming from behind him.
The arrogant enforcer had dislocated his left shoulder, and his hands were empty. The valuable sword stuck halfway in the wall to Siegfried's left, undamaged, but he doubted he could free it with only one arm.
There was not much fight left in the heavily injured guard. He was losing too much blood, starting to feel lightheaded.
His opponent drew a dagger, readying himself to strike once more. The enforcer was looking at the ground below Siegfried, measuring the distance between them.
He was going for a stabbing attack. The broken sword was useless in this case, so Sieg threw it away.
The grin on the enforcer's face indicated that he took the gesture as resignation. The ominous scarlet glow manifested, and in the last instant, Sieg moved half a step back and raised his hand, palm facing the enemy.
The enforcer stopped right in front of him, the dagger in his outstretched arm, aimed at Sieg's throat.
But his reach was off as Sieg had stepped back, while the long, white enamel blade, coming out of his palm, pierced through the red mantle, into the heart.
"Overconfidence is why you are third-class, Your Honour." He stared in those unbelieving eyes until they went glassy, and the member of the Red Brigade fell over.
††† Siegfried †††
The alley seemed blurry and somehow lopsided as Siegfried fell to one knee, unable to hold his balance, the muscles in his thigh refusing to obey his will. The gaping wound on his upper arm still spluttered blood, pouring out his remaining strength onto the ground. He needed to stop the bleeding quickly. Sieg tried taking off his leather vest with one arm but couldn't muster the effort.
"Siegfried!" an unfamiliar female voice shouted out.
In the foggy haze of his view, a brown shape mixed into the blur of light and colours. It wasn't until she was directly in front of him that he recognised it as the woman he nearly ran into earlier.
"Siegfried, you are—"
The organic blade was still visible. The woman quickly recovered from the surprise, ripped off a generous part of her tunic and wrapped it around his arm. He couldn't stifle a painful moan as she fastened the bandage. "You have to stay with me, Siegfried. We need to get away right now. I have a hideout not far from here, but I can't carry you," she urged him, agitated but not panicking.
He grunted with effort, willing his legs to hold up his bulk once more. His mysterious saviour tried to support him, slinging his healthy arm over her shoulder. Upholding his weight would be an impossible feat as the big guard outweighed her delicate body by at least three times. But she could steady his balance, allowing him to focus only on moving forward.
It felt as if his body was made of solid lead, and it took all of Sieg's willpower to set one foot in front of the other. After the first steps, he fell into a kind of trance and lost every sense of time and distance. It couldn't have been long before they stopped in front of a shoddy wooden house. The door creaked as if it would fall from the hinges any time now. But despite looking like an abandoned, rotting shack on the outside, it was clean and well-aerated inside. Siegfried dropped on the only straw mattress in the room and drifted into unconsciousness immediately.
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It Started with Slime
Before we jump in, let me say that the MC starts stupid, so the language and writing style is straightforward to reflect this. The writing improves with the MC and as the chapters progress (I hope). It is also a gradual growth story, so no zero to hero in ten seconds... with that out of the way: An alchemical experiment has gone wrong and results in a Slime Monster. It doesn't have a name at first and is something that it will need to work out! This story follows a Slime that starts as a Micro Slime with some level of consciousness, and there is more to it than meets the eye. Survival is the name of the game. To improve, it works hard to grow, evolve and become more powerful to survive its harsh new reality. There is a lot more going, and only time will tell if this Slime (all its various versions) can become strong enough to make it through the strife to the other side. It's a harsh world, after all. It Started with Slime is a story with a Monster Protagonist Evolution story. There will be no profanity and no sexual content, and there will be some violence and fighting descriptions. I am a native English speaker, and so the English here should be to a good standard. That said, even though editing, there may be some corrections and typos, so if you see some, let me know! If it bothers you a lot, I am working to make sure all chapters have no typos, but of course, some might slip through. I will endeavour to correct any picked up, though! Also, I started this a few months ago and so any feedback is always appreciated, also reviews and ratings! If you like or don't like the story, let me know in the detailed reviews! That always helps me see what is good and what needs improving. Working on releasing chapters twice a week, I will try to increase that as time goes, but at the moment, that is what I can release. Patreon has more. If the story gets more popular, then I will increase the releases. I am aiming ultimately for a chapter a day if I can get to that. Chapters are roughly 1500 words, with Interludes every five chapters being more or less than that! Enjoy! Edit: Book 1 finished on Patreon, and the format for Book 2 is slightly different with Interludes every three chapters, and the release schedule will be three chapters a week. Cover by: Faren Discord: https://discord.gg/eDuZaEAAqG This story is published and available on Royalroad, Webnovel, ScribbleHub, Wattpad, and extra chapters on Patreon!
8 98Awakened; Dungeon Tales
For decades now, strange places inhabited with monsters have been appearing across the globe. People call them dungeons and those who enter them delvers. For years, delvers explored and conquered, becoming beacons of hope—idols in a world wracked by war. Nowadays, thousands of youths each year undergo the Awakening ritual, foregoing their mundane life in favor of a more magical one. Marco is one such youth. He has a cushy life and a good family that wishes only what is best for him. He isn’t satisfied, however—he wants more. What exactly, he doesn’t know. He only knows that inside the confines of what is considered normal, he won’t find it. I update twice a week, on Tuesday and on Saturday. P.s. Before you start reading, I would like to say a few words. For starters, I never thought I would one day publish something on this website, and I want to thank all the other authors who inspired me to do so. I would also like to thank whoever spends their time to read my novel—it means a lot. So, thank you. Finally, I think it is imperative I warn you. I’m not a native English speaker: English is not my first language. If you see mistakes, feel free to point them out. I will correct them as soon as I have the time to do so. Cover: It was done by Ioannis Ioannidis. It can be found for free on Pixabay. Should the author ask, I will remove it immediately.
8 183Choice: An Important Thing
Choice. An important thing is it not? We always make choices. Every day of every week of every month (of every year), we do “choices”. I want to show you how important it is and I would gladly welcome the attention. I heard somewhere that the best way to make someone understand is to just let them experience it, so, here’s your first choice. CHOICE 01 Would you play this game, or not? Take your time, I’m not waiting for the people who chooses the latter anyways.
8 231dark circles ༄ bang chan ✔️
those dark circlesaround his gorgeouseyesspeak volumes aboutthe darkest demonshe fightsto find his way fromevery night.your part of the "fatigued" piece.TW for self harm, suicide, fear, abuse
8 142An Invisible Girl
Not all Isekai is Human This is the story of the last survivor of her race, who is offered the option to be reborn in another world to continue the fight against the monsters that consumed her species. The new world is a horrible death world. It is filled with both beauty and horror, strange sentients of various types and perhaps the most dangerous monsters ever conceived. Humans. Two aliens. two violently opposed cultures. Is One little world big enough for both of them? First note: Please don't expect immediate action and slaughter and sex. There's a lot of conversation, drama, and interaction, as she learns about her new world. Second note: This is not 'humans as monsters'. It is more like "There are monsters, but humans can make their own". Technically I guess it qualifies as a system apocalypse, but it never really hits the apocalypse parts. Third note: This IS a Litrpg and the 'classes' provide some superhero-style action, eventually. It isn't strictly superhero, though. a lot of bits are contemporary fantasy, some are pure sci-fi, and some are superhero, depending on how people choose their new abilities. The overall theme is technically sci-fi, but soft like a baby. Fourth note: there is some sexuality (not sex) involving a protagonist in a 17-year-old body. Her mind is over 50 years old, though, and the body was created at that age in order to give her 6 months' leeway to learn to be human. This is not juvenile sex stuff, as the character is fully adult, just not adult as a Human.Plus it's mostly included for humor and alien context.
8 96Best part|| Notti Osama
"If life is a movie than ur the best part"
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