《Arcana》Chapter 36 - A Jewel On Barren Soil
Advertisement
It has been quite some time since brother disappeared.
No one stopped looking.
There have been many sleepless nights hoping there’d be the slightest clue on where to find him yet after all this time, it amounted to nothing.
My father wouldn’t allow my mother to work anymore since she was really depressed on brother’s disappearance so she was at home a lot.
I on the other hand searched everywhere; literally.
I went to different villages, forests, nearby mountains and today I’m descending from one of the mountains I’ve climbed… still no luck.
“Oh dear brother… please come home already” [Ember]
This mountain was a place where no one would come to since it was barren.
You’d mostly find dead trees and wild vines everywhere-
“Eh? Oh no… just my luck” [Ember]
All of a sudden, it started raining. I have to find shelter… maybe this place is good.
It was at a bottom of a cliff where many huge taro plants grew and the leaves were just right for shelter.
“… This just had to happen huh” [Ember]
I finally escaped the downpour.
There weren’t any signs of the rain stopping soon but night time is still a few hours away so I’ll probably be fine.
Ah… I just remembered.
One of the reasons why this land became barren is because of the irregular changes of the weather here.
This really sucks…
About an hour has passed and there still weren’t any signs of the weather calming down
“Haaa~ I want to go-“ [Ember]
I tried leaning to the wall; the bottom of the cliff and it was a big mistake
*thud*
“Ah! Ouch~” [Ember]
I fell to the empty space that I thought was a wall, it seems that the vines did a good job covering it up.
This would make a good hiding…place…!
Advertisement
“Maybe… this time!” [Ember]
The adrenaline kicked in.
The chance that my brother could be here isn’t zero, I built up the courage and slowly walked in.
The cave was getting smaller as I progressed but there was only one passage so it wasn’t all that hard.
There weren’t any tracks or signs that any living being was here so far or maybe that’s just how good of a sneaker my brother was!
The cave is now back to the size it was as I came in.
There were a few blind curves… the suspense is killing me.
It’s like I’ve been here for hours!
Then-
“Woah… What is this place?” [Ember]
All so sudden, there were fireflies all over the place.
It was dark outside because of the rainclouds but in here it’s all illuminated.
There were jellyfish-like creatures which couldn’t be since this isn’t underwater…
The whole hollow room looked like it was built on a single swoop; like when you throw a rock in the river, the water forms a cover around the impact.
In the middle of the room, there was a stone…
No, more like a mineral.
I was restless but the beauty of this place kept me at ease.
I don’t have a strong arc but I could feel a power swelling up inside that rock… as if it was calling to me.
I don’t know what came to me but I approached it.
Slowly and being as alert as possible… I had clearly forgotten that the reason I came here was that maybe my brother was here…
Sorry bro…
Now, in front of me was the rock…
I tried touching it then-
crack
CRACK
CRACKKKK
*CRACKKKKK!
“!”
CRUMBLE
Hiiiiih!!!
I-I-I-I-It broke!!!!
What should I do… it was my fault!
It was just a light touch, why?!?!?!?!
Advertisement
After a few moments of shock because of the broken rock, I collected myself and examined it.
“…is that… a hammer?” [Ember]
So there broken rock was a mold to this thing that resembles a hammer.
The hammer had a feeling to it.
I don’t know how to describe it, it just felt…different.
Like before, it was as if the hammer was calling me but this time it felt stronger, like I couldn’t stop myself.
I reached out for the hammer and grabbed its’ handle.
As I did, I felt a jolt of electricity run through my entire body.
“Eeek! Oh wait… it’s gone” [Ember]
I let go of my grip and moments later, the hammer started glowing.
“W-What’s happening?!” [Ember]
The hammer floated in the air then became a liquid substance then-
VOOOM
“HEY! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!!!” [Ember]
The substance suddenly flew to my chest.
A web cocoon was forming around me whilst my chest was its’ center.
Instinctively, I knew that my body was being scanned; examined.
Soft needles that weren’t piercing me but was all over.
Moments later, the substance creeped down to my ankles then down to the bottom of my feet.
The substance took away my boots then it was molding itself to my feet’s form.
At his point, I didn’t struggle anymore. I was just confused but I accepted it.
As if gears of a watch, I could feel everything connecting.
It was alive but it wasn’t.
It finally took its’ shape… a majestic pair of boots that fit me perfectly. It felt like wearing a sock instead of a shoe.
Momentarily, frames appeared on the outmost part of each boot then a few floating tiles made of transparent scales that resembled wings followed.
After this, the substance retracted to the bottom of my feet.
“HAHAHA THAT TICKLES!” [Ember]
Why am I laughing out loud at a time like this…
If anyone was witnessing this, they’d probably think that it was dangerous but strangely, I was sure that it wasn’t.
As if nothing happened, I wore the boots that were taken off earlier and went outside.
When I left, all the lights illuminating the room were gone. The rock became unrecognizable and any traces of the hammer were gone.
Luckily the rain was already over when I was outside so I rushed home so that my parents wouldn’t worry any more than they already have.
I was confused and couldn't think straight but...
I have to go home
Advertisement
Grand Design
Humanity once ruled space, building an empire that stretched across hundreds of stars. Now Earth is a cold cinder in the void, its colonies and ships annihilated in an instant. For five thousand years the surviving races have huddled in the dying light of those few stations which avoided total destruction, eking out their existence in the shadow of the long-dead humans who built their homes. When a piece of that lost legacy resurfaces, the few who still remember humanity have one last opportunity to find the truth and avenge the fallen. Cover by Harry Rowland - https://www.instagram.com/rowl_art_/
8 216The Black Hand: A Pirate Deckbuilding LitRPG
Cast away onto a strange world, Clay Summers has a chance to live the life he's always wanted. A life of adventure; a life of magic. A life on the high seas.
8 138The Interstellar Artship
Hello? Traveler? Hi. My name is Silas. I’m the Chronicler around here. Might I entreat you to stay with us a while? We are a meager fleet of artships, eking our way across the charred and shrewd universe. Please, join us around the table and tell us your story. Our lives depend on it. I’m sure you know this world proves demanding, strange, and lonely. But here we go together, a caravan fleet of spacefarers, challenging the starry frontier, investigating the strangeness. Our warp-drives run on inspiration—a volatile fuel collected from the active minds of the artists, writers, and musicians among us. But the clock runs out—the Heartless in their scarships seek to destroy all that is beautiful, systematically deconstructing all creativity in order to fuel their weapons and feed their evil powers. We’ve all been hurt by those hateful devourers. We’ve all lost loved ones. But no more. No more, I say! Together we unite and make our arduous journey to the dreadful Shattered Suns—the home of our enemy. Once and for all the question shall be answered—the path to life shall show itself. **** If you would like to read the Artifacts which Silas and the Sojournor crew restore, visit our patreon page. The Chronicles are cowritten by Paul T. Gibson and Lydia Donaldson. The fantastic cover art is by the great Kyle Sneed. **** Patreon supporters: Certified Pre-owned Utility ShuttleThomas GibsonThe Centennial Hawk (Rae)Seraphite Storm (Bizarre Bladesong) The Steel Miner's Extraction RigThe Washburn Revenge (Manderson)
8 95Villain: The Play of Destiny
Keith, a vieux riche, spoiled and cherished, heir to the Demiliore Consortium, lives his life at large. Power, Wealth, Fame; He has it all. But is it all just a dream? With a set of memories, the knowledge of the future, in a play orchestrated by the destiny, knowing well that he is born to be a Villain, will he prevail? Or is he going to fall at the hands of the Child of Destiny just like he did in the nightmare that haunts him? Author's Note: Yes, the story is heavily influenced by Urban-Fantasy Chinese Novels. Don't read if you have a problem with those types of plots. 'Cliche' plot elements are bound to appear, so if you easily get triggered by such things, keep away. And I would advise you to not even start the story if you are the ardent believer of 'Good shall prevail over the Evil'. Keep away! MC here is a Villain! But yes, he is not someone deprived of emotions, even though he is a Scum. So, do not expect an outright Evil MC either. I don't write Netorare. Don't worry about it! Warnings: > Dark Elements > Sexual Content> Traumatising Content> Gore> Manipulative MC> Parallel World (Almost a new World)> Fantasy Elements (Full-fledged Fantasy later)> System> Slavery > Contains themes that are viewed as Taboo in our world, but not in the world this story is based in. Update Schedule: Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday on WebNovel, ScribbleHub, MSB, and RR. More frequent releases on Patreon with 25 or more chapters each month.
8 93Left the World as Villager A. Came Back a Mecha Pilot.
Synopsis:Myst Evrard was your typical rural village kid. He once dreamed of fame and a life of adventure but quickly gave up on the idea after realizing he just wasn't cut out for that sort of stuff.It doesn't really help that his best friend became a monster and demon slaying hero and his first crush turned out to be a long lost princess of the kingdom. As he finally resolves himself to live a mundane village life, he suddenly encounters an unfortunate accident and dies. Just when he thought things couldn't possibly get any worse...But when he opened his eyes next, fully expecting to find himself in the netherworld, what he saw was... Giant robots?! What the heck was going on?
8 153Bottled up wishes
The desires of man is unfathomable. Clearly wanting it all, but afraid to even reach out for it. And then there was a boy, a socially inept and akward one at that. Who just happens to stumble upon something when he was trying to find his way home, but little did he know that he was soon going to run for dear life. He's a hapless one. ... Or is he?
8 185