《The Butcher of Gadobhra》Chapter 107: Heavy Reading
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Ben envied Ozzy's ability to sit quietly and calmly as Leroy blatantly presented his twisted version of what had happened. It annoyed Ben beyond words that he was getting away with any of this crap. He retreated from the courtroom before he said something stupid.
There was a lot of work that could be done, but he was ill suited to the heavy lifting. Instead, he made himself useful for a few hours helping cooks distribute food, running errands for Jorges, and fetching beer or water for thirsty workers packing half ton blocks of stone. Finally, exhausted, he retreated to a small empty room he had found on the second floor. With most of Sammy's crew gone, there was room for all the workers in the barracks. His current belongings amounted to two blankets, a straw pallet, and a pillow.
And a book detailing some rather nasty bugs.
A book he didn't remember taking out of his courier ring, but there it was, sitting on his bed. Harmony had warned him about these things wandering around and following their owners. Seeing the book made him happy, because it reminded him that he might be part of something larger. It also reminded him of Harmony.
But he was annoyed with great uncle Damien. If he was going to bequeath him with an enchanted book, at least let him read it. A book on beetles and cutworms didn't seem like great reading material, but it was the only book he had. He turned the heavy volume over and eyed it from all angles.
He tried again to pick the two heavy iron locks that held the book shut. Ben had been much better at picking locks in other roles. The emperor didn't seem to think his couriers needed that skill, so he was relying on what he knew from before he'd entered the game. The locks were frustrating, seeming to lack any parts he could manipulate. Rusted shut? Enchanted to not move? Why give someone a book they couldn't open?
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Each lock seemed the same, except for markings on the rivet just above the keyhole. The rivet on the left had a small '+' inscribed onto it. The one on the right seemed to have a '-'. Perhaps a mark put there to remind his old uncle which key to use on which lock? Books obviously didn't have polarity.
...or did they?
Ben put one finger on each stud and concentrated on the spell he had learned when he took the Storm Aspect of magic. A slight electrical charge came from one finger, hit the left-hand stud, and arced to the right-hand rivet. With a small click, the locks snapped open.
Ben opened the book, and realized the family had vastly under-estimated great uncle Damien. He wasn't hiding secrets about flies and chiggers. The book was a fake, disguising a hollow interior with several partitions. Two of those partitions held journals. One was titled Electromagical Theory and Experiments and the second, Taming the Heavens Without Losing All Your Hair.
Both were written by hand, with copious notes in the margins, sketches, diagrams, and references to other books he had written. Enough reading material for a thousand sleepless nights.
Nestled into its own cavity was a signet ring of heavy gold. The shield shaped signet was silver with a diagonal red slash. A stylized 'F' was centered on the red with golden phoenixes above and below. The other quadrants held red dragon heads. He'd seen this coat of arms before, on Harmony's scabbard and belt. The ring smelled strongly of magic and ozone. Hesitantly he put on the ring, and turned it around to look at it from different angles. It fit him perfectly.
A sudden electrical pulse from the ring caused his muscles to seize up and he toppled onto his bed, nearly unconscious.
Franklin Bloodline detected and accepted. Attunement complete. Storage is 90% full.
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Divine Empress of Chaos
A mysterious old man appeared before Yu Liang and her younger brother one day, throwing her peaceful world into chaos. Trapped inside the Divine Chaos Pagoda, she must safeguard her brother and reach the top while fending off enemies if they wish to escape the tower. Just what secrets does this pagoda hold? With the promise of a legendary divine artifact as a reward, bloodshed and sacrifices taint the path to the top. Yu Liang wouldn’t bat an eye at the gore. Her steel cold heart disregards all besides her brother. But since when has he made a dent in her iron heart? The allure of the legendary divine artifact pales in comparison to the devastating male evildoer. Is he a friend or foe? If she has to make a choice between her brother and him, will she choose the familiarity of family or the unknown future of love? The old man entwined our fate together, but it is up to us to choose the path of destiny we wish to embark on. Note: This novel is also posted on my blog at Queendrops.wordpress.comPlease visit my site for faster release and access to the story. Thanks!
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8 63Tides of Time
One moment Elvie Harper is playing along a beautiful beach in Australia, the next she is lying on a cobblestone street in 1930s London. Except this London is different... it is part of a world with magic. Thrown into a world with different rules, Elvie desperately hopes to learn magic to make her way back to the future. But the road for a magician is never a simple one, and the politics and intrigues of the 1930s have the world on edge. There are things stirring in the darkness, and those who seek power amongst chaos. What hope does one girl have in such a world?
8 187Mage of the Abyss
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8 138Anime World?
In this era, anime has spread to the entire world; people are indulging themselves in anime so much that they’re calling themselves as ‘Otaku’. They’re going to conference and events that’s related to anime. Some people quit their social life and choose to indulge themselves in figurines, manga, light novel and animes. Some of them are teens that are been bullied or has the same circumstance, some of them just choose to be a ‘Hikikomori’ (People who withdraw their social life) just because they wanted to. But one day, one after another, people who called themselves ‘Otaku’ starts to disappeared. Their relatives are confused since they never see the person leave the house so it’s still a mystery on why they suddenly went missing. That strange phenomena continued until it finally takes it final victim, Carlo Delacruz suddenly disappeared. When the people around him got interviewed by the reporters, they said something like “That guy is a thirty years old virgin who has no family left beside him” or “I always so that guy loitering around the park meeting with his nerd friends, maybe they’re the one that took him” But none of them surely knows what happened to Carlo and the other person that went missing, but there’s a fact that only a little of people knows, and in fact all of them are the ones whom went missing. All of them, all of the ‘Otakus’ that went missing knows this. The fact that all of them are transported into a another world. But not just any other world, they have been teleported to an Anime World.
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