《New Earth- The Dungeon of Madness》Chapter 11: Goblin Village
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The next morning, Five was again woken up by Harriet but this time, he did not tense that much when he heard the door opening.
"You already leveled up? That's great." It was the first thing Harriet said as soon as she entered. She could obviously see the change in Five since her level was much higher than his.
After a quick breakfast, he followed Harriet to meet his mentor.
Today, he learned about the Dungeon Shop; a service that even him had access to. Not only could he buy monsters from it with DP, but many miscellaneous items could also be bought: weapons like the Harpy's Blood he used, ores or food. However, he obviously could not afford much right now, especially after spending his DP to level up.
"Ok, now that you know the basics of the shop, it is time for a break. You should continue visiting the floors of the dungeons. I recommend going to the tenth floor since it is quite different from the other nine," declared Kroff to end the lesson.
Five quietly nodded, when suddenly a green scaly creature appeared right next to him. The creature was tall and had a thin tail; its two vertical irises stared at Five. The latter felt rather uncomfortable. Five jumped in fright as he did not even notice the presence of the creature before its appearance but fortunately, it was not hostile to him. With a single glance, Five could guess that this creature was a lizardman; it was clearly a monster on par with Harriet.
With a very deep voice, the lizardman spoke, "I will be your guide for today. My name is Roy." He signaled Five to follow him.
Five quickly walked up to Roy and greeted him. He was surprised to have a different guide, but after thinking about it, he concluded that it was to be expected. Harriet still had duties and tasks to accomplish and could not spend all her time with him. It was after all, just the second day; that might just mean that the person guiding him would change every day.
The lizardman was emitting a dangerous aura, looking very unfriendly Nevertheless, Five initiated the conversation:" Is it possible to go to the first floor? I would like to farm some slimes, then we shall go see the goblins."
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Roy simply nodded and guided him through the tunnels. He was told by Kroff to bring Five to the tenth floor. It did not matter if they went to the first one for some time. Five still could not distinguish between the tunnels; to him, everything was the same.
A few minutes later, they arrived on the first floor. Roy silently stood behind Five with an expressionless face. The latter could only awkwardly ask, "Can you please lend me a weapon? Farming slimes without any is a bit hard..."
The lizardman frowned for a second but quickly, a spear appeared in his hands. With a reluctant expression, he silently gave the spear to Five.
[Ancestral Spear(Grade 3)]
Damage: 39-43
Effect: [Armour Break]: ignores 20% armour
It was the first time Five actually held a spear. It felt very awkward. It was a rather short and thick spear, clearly meant for close combat. The texture felt weird; it was neither wood nor metal. Five held it like a sword and started hunting.
The unfortunate slimes that met Five all perished one by one. Compared to yesterday, the rate at which he was slaying the monsters was at least twice as fast, partly due to his increase in Strength stat but mostly due to the spear. The spear had higher damage than the Harpy's Blood.
...
One hour later, Five finally took a break. He killed enough slimes to earn 200 DP. He wanted to continue, but he knew he could not abuse Kroff’s hospitality. And so, he asked Roy to bring him to the goblin's village as Kroff advised him to.
With a nod, Roy led the way through the tunnels. He remained silent and expressionless as always. It did not take long to reach the teleportation platform. The tenth floor was not too different from the first; the tunnels and rooms were much larger, and goblins could be seen instead of slimes.
Anxious that he would be attacked by them, he quickly asked Roy about it, but the latter quickly told him that they would not attack him unless he attacked first or offended them. Not waiting for Five's reply, the lizardman let out a growl which caused the nearby goblins to turn and look at the two.
But they did not approach the duo. The goblins simply stared at Five and Roy with a respectful look.
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"Just look around. We can go to the goblin's village afterward," declared Roy while positioning himself behind Five.
The latter nodded and started to explore the floor. He was surprised to not find any human guards. There were so many yesterday when the secret room was revealed and yet, none could be found now.
It did not take long for Five to get bored. The surroundings were very repetitive; there were only rooms filled with goblins. He quickly decided to ask Roy to bring him to the goblin's village; it was the one difference this floor had compared to the others.
In front of a seemingly normal wall, Roy turned to look at Five, "That's the entrance. As long as you go fast enough, you will be able to get through the barrier," declared the lizardman, not giving any more explanation.
"Asking me to run into a wall?" doubtfully thought Five. It sounded like something nobody would ever do, but he recalled that there was something like that in one of the movies he watched in the real world. Full of doubts, he sent Roy a questioning look, but the latter ignored him.
With no other choice, Five could only do as he was told. After taking a few steps back, he charged at the solid wall. As he was about to hit the wall, he instinctively closed his eyes, but the collision he expected never occurred. Five opened his eyes, only to find several goblins curiously looking at him.
The goblins wore puzzled expression, "How could a human have found the way to get into their village?" They were about to attack when another figure appeared behind the human and warned them to not attack.
After Five went through, Roy quickly followed behind. Such barriers were very common, especially for higher floors which usually housed a village of the creatures guarding it. With the same expressionless attitude, he silently stood behind Five.
"Fiouff," The latter let out a sigh of relief. He doubted Roy for a second but fortunately, nothing went wrong. Seeing Roy, the goblins quickly changed their attitude to a respectful one and went back to their own tasks.
The goblin village consisted mainly of females and children, with a population of about 3000 individuals of which only 20% were males. Goblins had a high reproduction rate. Normally, a female could give birth once per month. Despite that, the birth rate of the village could not sustain the death rate of the floor, Kroff still needed to purchase goblins via the Dungeon Shop, but the village still decreased the expenses significantly.
Five strolled around the village accompanied by Roy. The houses were made of wood and straws, looking very rustic. But there was nothing interesting to see; most goblins had nothing to do, except for a small group that was patrolling the outskirts just in case a human would randomly decide to charge at a solid wall and went through the barrier.
The goblins did not need to hunt or farm since all the food was provided by Kroff who used DP. All their daily needs were being provided. Their only task was to reproduce and replenish the population. It was no different from cattle on Earth, raised and fed only to be later slaughtered.
Five quickly got bored. He could not communicate with the goblins who could only make sounds similar to grunts and squeaks. At the same time, they did not dare approach Roy who was standing just behind him.
He continued to explore the village. Sometimes, he would see children running around and playing, but they would quickly turn around and flee when they noticed Roy’s presence.
In the distance, Five suddenly noticed a different building. It was much larger compared to the others and seemed to be completely made up of the wooden material. The building also looked like it was isolated to some extent, compared to the other houses which were closed to each other. There were no houses within a 15 meters radius of that one. Compared to the rest of the village, the building and its surroundings also seemed cleaner.
Intrigued, Five proceeded towards the building. There were no goblins nearby. Turning to Roy, he asked him why that building was different, but the latter replied that he did not know since each village was different; he could simply go and have a look if he wanted to know.
Followed by Roy, Five promptly stopped in front of the building's door and pushed it open.
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The Arduous Path
Life has never been kind to Alex, but today, today was just one of those days where life sought you out, bent you over, and had her way with you until nothing but a jumbled mess remained. Today was one of those days. Just as the small housewarming party for one of Alex's friends was taking place in the dead of night, the starry sky opened its cosmic jaws and thrust upon the world its wonders and terrors. Frantically trying to make heads or tails of the situation while not dying is going to prove itself much more of a challenge than Alex ever expected to encounter in his miserable but safe life. Still, behind all the adrenaline and danger of this fateful event, Alex feels there may be more awaiting him than simply a grim future, and he will not let this opportunity escape his grasp. P.S - I'm aiming at making this a pure cultivation story, so no blue boxes, I'm sorry. [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 354My World To Live
[Do Not Read this version, New FINAL version uploaded August 9th, 2021 as separate fiction, click to link here on RR. Essairyn had never felt truly alive on Earth. It felt like something was missing ever since she was born, but even after nearly 20 years of mundane living, she could never pinpoint what this or the emptiness in her heart was. Suddenly, she awakens in a grandiose, primordial forest and encounters both demons and spirits in a parallel world called Sol'h'meyr. She befriends, in particular, a sassy fox-spirit named Akari who just reincarnated after three millennia. Essairyn is an abnormal human with elemental powers, and Akari is being chased by those of her dark past. Together, they set out on an adventure in a world of magic, danger, mystery, and intrigue. But this not a game. That simple adventure is actually the modest beginnings in a chain of disruptions that tear even the dimensional fabric of time and space. No one, not even Essairyn, was who she thought she was. And not even the gods can change the destiny of the universes... A single promise shook eternity’s existence. — Fantasy || Adventure || Romance || Action || Mystery || Drama || Science Fiction — The My World To Live (MWTL) series, the alternative short name is Canaan, is comprised of three books symbolically named My World, To Live, and My World To Live. Two years prior, the entire story had been planned and detailed out from start to finish before actual writing. Thus, the story will never be dropped. While the genre is largely Fantasy, the book is comprised of many other elements including a School Life (Magic Academy) story portion. MWTL has a lot of scattered symbolism and allusions, hence, the mystery aspect. The science fiction elements progressively become more pronounced, and the slow romance is a late bloomer. The female lead is strong and independent, and her backstory and identity unravel as drivers of the plot. Expect lots of action/fighting throughout and scattered philosophical and psychological themes arising. It's a human journey to find the essence of one's living and purpose. What kind of world do I wish to live for? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I hope to share the journey with you~! Canaan's Original and New Covers: If you're curious about my art and the various covers I made for this series and other authors, I have a RR thread that makes free covers and shows art processes. [October 1, 2020 Notice: Hello, I aplogize to all followers for suddenly taking an extended hiatus. Life threw a lot at my face and then the pandemic happened, so I hadn't been able to write until around the last month when I decided to challenge myself and finish the first book in this series. I am ok now, and thank you for your patience and understanding. No words can express how much every reader means to me. RR was the first writing platform that I ever felt accomplished to any small degree, so I am forever grateful to it. Multiples changes have been made since this final revision and writing of the ending, so please see the latest chapter detailing the update. This also includes my decision to submit this story to the 2020 Wattys contest (the deadline was Sept 30th). That means I will not be posting the updated version of this story on here until the contest is over (since I doubt I'll win anyway lol). And so, if you want to read the full, now completed (woohoo!) story, please go to my Wattpad. Thank you once again, and wishing you all the very best health and happiness! FINAL UPDATE, March 7, 2021: The complete story has been re-posted after the Wattys. This version that was on Wattys is the one being re-posted. However, the Final Version (which will be on a separate book from this to remain organized, and is technically the fifth version of the story xD) will be released May 2021. For more information, please read this update linked here. Thank you to all readers for taking this two year journey with me!
8 187False Prophecy (Prelude)
Everyone knows the Prophecy of the Fated King. Everyone knows of his Six Signs and Seven Trials. Everyone knows he is the one destined to lead an army of soldiers and fae into battle against the spectral invaders known as wraiths. But what if the Fated King failed, and his Prophecy never comes true? What if he was killed surrounded by loved ones and devoted allies? What if he died four years before the inevitable war for our world’s soul? Humanity could not possibly survive without him. Could we? Nise, 107-563 P.R. False Prophecy is a high fantasy saga about a world that loses its chosen one four years before their apocalypse. The Prelude takes place during the five weeks prior to this tragic event, following a husband and father named Kon. When discovered to be a Seer - a human blessed with the power to see and bond with the magical fae - Kon is taken away from his family and conscripted into the Fated King's army to play his part in the coming war. Inspired by Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive, Wildbow's Parahumans, and countless anime. Disclaimer: FP's Prelude Novel, A Sung Prophecy, is slow burn and character focused. Expect lots of worldbuilding and an extensively large cast.
8 150The Dark Lord Gillian - Tales of Prompted Madness (Complete)
There's an evil wizard. A dark knight. An elf with a shovel. There's a dude with a car. And there is a lot of just complete and total chaos. ... As an explanation for those mildly interested or mildly confused: this is a story that was crafted from the beloved-madness that is r/writingprompts. From one prompt, to the next prompt, to the next, with no other way to progress except taking a new prompt and using it. Far as stories go, this one was spawned by a mix of blind-clicks, and dice-rolls, more than any true selection process. Fantasy driven, it was written mostly in my spare hours between work-projects and on lunch breaks (whenever I was lucky enough to get those) by clicking on reddit writingprompts that I could find within those windows of time. Title is notable cliche, and I'm far more than just open to alternative suggestions. This story is complete and will by copied and pasted in with minimal to no clean-up. It will not be held to much in the way of quality standards. So if you have corrections, just keep that in mind... But, on the brighter-side of things, there will be an awful lot of it. Apologies ahead of time.
8 184The MMRPG Apocalypse
A gas station clerk at twenty-seven with no future prospects on the horizon—Mike Reynolds is a drop-out with an addiction to video games and a less-than-ideal living situation. Life definitely isn't great, but could it really get much worse? When monsters appear on Earth and begin destroying the fabric holding together humanity, that thought is thrown out the window—things are getting worse, and fast. 'Is my world becoming an MMRPG Apocalypse?' Can Mike make good on his prior experience and carve a foothold for himself in this RPG world?
8 255Mage Blood : Rite of Death
Peter was a servant in Portos castle. One day, he learned his father was a mage. Hoping to find more clues about his father, Peter went on a voyage with a group of people. However, their ship sank as a huge storm hit. Stranded on a remote island, they have to face dangerous adventures. Together with Borin, his best friend, Anna the healer, Susan the mind-reader, and Pogna the hunter, they must unravel the mystery behind a long-lasting human sacrificial rite.
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