《Dirge》Motley 1.05-1
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The Siblings, or Beaulieu's, were marching towards us five. Kendall was up.
"He's yours right?" One of the brothers asked.
"I don't take credit for his idiocy, no," Kendall said.
This is odd. They'd arrived just moments too late, and now this was happening. Where was the subtle design... or was it staring me in the face?
"He's your summon, your responsibility!" One of the other brothers cut in.
"He's not a summon," Kendall replied condescendingly.
The single sister held up her hand, and the brothers backed off, one with a grin. She spoke. "You and me are the only serious applicants, everybody else talented has a Master."
"Hey!" Hasami protested, half paying attention while he fought multiple programs.
She continued. "Let's get it on the record, right now, who's got a better team. That should clear some shit up in this dynamic. Help you understand some inevitable stuff."
This could have been considered inevitable.
A dare. Sacrifice face, or take a risk of losing it all. I didn't know what the Beaulieu's did, but I had the feeling it was something strong. Her brothers were her weapons of choice, she, the blacksmith.
"We can take them," Odessa said, low and dangerous. One of them scoffed.
"We're not going to beat them just yet. Our teams haven't gotten acquainted," Kendall concluded. "But you, Catherine, and me, we're Magi. I could easily take you."
"It's Cat, bitch, and you're on," she said.
"By the gods..." Odessa swore, walking off. Odd.
Hasami, dabs of sweat on his brow, stepped off the pedestal and threw up his arms. "Have at it, children," he said.
Seconds passed, and Kendall faced off against Cat, occupying opposite ends of the circle. The field dropped, and three tones slowly sounded.
As a bystander, this was disconcerting. But it was none of my concern. Unless Kendall had his ass handed to him. He needed to win.
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One, two... three. Fight.
Kendall ripped out two cards instantly, sending them twirling out. The first one stopped dead in its tracks in front of him, and the second one spun on and towards Cat. She, reaching behind her back, exploded in a fiery ball of death which consumed the entirety of the domed platform. As the violent fires withered away, Kendall emerged unhurt from behind the barrier of his first card. He tread forward and swiftly curb stomped the burning, thrashing, screaming, girl. Her brothers gasped in horror.
Fast and brutal.
There was a blip, and Both Kendall and Cat stood where and as they had been before the fight has started. Kendall stepped down, seeming somewhat shaken. Cat was stuck in a horrified daze, not yet having overcome it enough to move.
"Easily," Kendall reiterated, though lacking confidence in his tone.
He played her. Whatever she was capable of, Kendall had known, just as he'd known her name. She hadn't known him, had underestimated him. Odessa had taken offense at that, apparently; Kendall fighting unfairly.
"Disappointing, Miss Beaulieu." Porter's voice swept through the room. Right on cue.
Subtle design. He had pitted us against each other. Porter had manipulative ability. Though I was willing to bet he hadn't expected Kendall to play the situation so well.
I got the feeling that the three brothers would have decimated us, had things gone as Porter had planned. But Kendall had known that. Excellent.
Win.
Catherine finally snapped out of it enough to run at Kendall and tackle him to the ground. Her brothers rushed forward. I maneuvered to the back of the group easily enough, just as the first brother grabbed Ashes. Ash, looking almost slippery, ducked free and came around the brother to hold a knife to his neck. Odessa stepped out from behind a partition to level her ridiculous sword at one of the other brothers. The final one was sent rolling by a current of wind which looked nearly solid, as Anna held out her hand.
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I turned and with my foot kicked Cat off of Kendall, whom she'd held down and thoroughly beaten with her bare hands. He stood shakily and wiped the blood from his nose.
"Less disappointing, but don't do that again." I looked up and the silhouette of Porter could be seen through the glass of his overlook, leaning forward against it with one arm.
"Children," Hasami said once more. He threw his towel over his shoulder and walked out into the cold, barechested as he had been.
Everyone stayed as they were for a few silent moments. Ash was the first to disengage, stepping carefully away, followed by Odessa, who let her sword's tip drop to the ground. I gave Anna a thumbs up, who looked extremely pleased with herself.
Kendall stumbled over to a chair and sorted through the pocket of his vest, pulling out a card and holding it to his forehead.
Catherine walked off without another word, and her brothers followed after her.
"Kings of the hill," Ashes said. "You're welcome." He grinned at me.
"Well done." I pointed at him.
"I thought I diffused that as well as we could hope," Kendall said, grabbing the compliment. His blood and swelling were clearing up quickly with whatever he was doing. "I looked at her records last night after we met. 'Cause she's right, I and she are pretty much it. The Samurai's not going to make the cut, I don't think. She Imbues people, namely her brothers. We wouldn't have been able to take them."
"Mm, well done," I said, to Kendall this time.
"Oh shut up. I don't need your approval."
Don't care.
"The, Don't Stand a Chance Students, won't be up for another few hours. We've got the run of the place," Ash smiled wickedly
Kendall was up now, fully healed. "Everybody get to it then."
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8 3061Morcster Chef: Reckoning
Adventurers flock to massive crypts brimming with riches and promises of power. Heroes storm the gates of dark fortresses, their swords drawn in the name of freedom. Gods tear the heavens asunder, clashing over the fate of the realm itself. Arek cooks lasagna and tops it with a dash of finely chopped basil. Arek never wanted to fight again, but his plans have gone awry in the best way possible. After joining the Happy Sunflowers as their cook, Arek quickly grew attached to his new friends and party. After escaping a strange dungeon by the skin of their teeth, the group find themselves plunged into a struggle for power that has simmered beneath the kingdom for dozens of years. The strange power that has entered Arek and Ming seems to be spreading to the rest of the party, and none of them know what it wants. Arek's past barks at his heels, but he has no plans of going back to the person he used to be. The future seems uncertain, but there is one thing the orc knows for sure. He has meals to prepare, and, this time, nobody is going to kill his friends. All the recipes in this book are real recipes that I have personally made. The actual recipes will be included at the end of the chapter, and I highly encourage everyone reading to try them out. In addition, make sure to check out the Morcster Chef comic at this link! Morcster Chef: Reckoning is the 2nd book in the Morcster Chef series. You can read the first one on RoyalRoad at THIS link. IMPORTANT NOTE: Morcster Chef is a comedy / fantasy novel. It has equal parts cooking and Dungeons & Dragons style adventuring. It does not have: an OP / bitter protagonist, harems, excessively dark topics, or a depressing storyline. It is meant to be lighthearted. Cover art by CyanGorilla
8 215Transmigrating Upgrade Specialist
After transmigration, Zhang Wu Ji is reincarnated into a youngster body with the same name.Their differences?Before reincarnated, he was a poor librarian that have to sleep in the library because he can't afford to rent a room. After reincarnated, he was a poor bastard that was despised by his two elder brothers because he was born with a worthless Martial Constitution.But as a Transmigrator, he possessed a special System, [Upgrade] that allows him to strengthen anything in this world. How would he fare when he will need to earn, create, upgrade, and upgrade even more to reach the peak of the world? Author Note:This is a new attempt of mine for a serious piece of work. Grammarly already in used, but not the premium version one (it cost me a hundred pounds for a year subscription), I occasionally check my works and read the comments, so I hope more productive comment thanks.English is not my main language, I am merely a graduate that came out to work, live, married, and write. I hope the mistakes that were done in the chapters can be accepted if it could, amended if I can, and advised if I get. Thanks! Very! Much!
8 146Reduced to Stardust
゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚ For many, death is the end. For Lorenzo, it is only the beginning. Lorenzo, the highest-ranking player in MMORPG Battleshift, is murdered in real life as a result of his virtual crimes and sent to the afterlife. There, he encounters God and finds out his soul is tainted, barring him from the pearly gates. There's only one way he can prove himself - by being transported to a fantasy world, where his second life lies in a realm of magic and swords. Only catch is, he's 10 years younger and dirt poor! Guided by his greed and experience as a pro MMORPG gamer, Lorenzo must navigate this strange new land as a 12-year-old version of himself and survive the dangers that await. As he encounters slum dwellers, church plots, and shattered unmentionables - his chance at redemption looks bleaker than ever. New chapters every Friday, 9PM PST! ゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚ Story by: Bonbocchi Art by: God Complex ゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚・。+☆+。・゚
8 139Astral Imperialization
Paused------ Admiral Drake has left for a classified operation with an entire crew dedicated to investigating a planet. Empire’s psychics had spotted an unusual energy signature coming from this planet. Unluckily, asteroid-kun destroyed parts of the ISS Pulsar, thus nearly killing everyone. Fortunately, Drake got promoted thanks to this accident. He’s now the new Imperial Governor of this new planet, Loanose. His new major target? Merely taking control of Loanose and make it a proud example of the Empire’s might. With the help of Alyn, a state-of-the-art AI, and Sylviane, the best political science graduate, they will reform the entire planet's way of life. They will develop a new country using interplanetary logistics, a space station and a good deal of strength. No problem resists a robots’ army and a warmonger psychic. Will Sylviane temper the impatient Drake? There is only one rule left. Abide by the Imperial Regulation and will be considered as an imperial citizen. You will be protected and we’ll offer you means to earn your living. If you threaten the imperial citizens, nobody will save you from the Empire’s wrath! Hope that Drake doesn’t find you before the military arrest you.
8 198Flashback: Siren Song
The year is 1969. Yancy Lazarus—bluesman, gambler, future world-class mage and fix-it man—is just a dumb, unlucky kid serving with the 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines in Vietnam.With just a few weeks left to go until Yancy gets shipped back to the States, he’s just trying to keep his head down and avoid a body bag—no mean feat in Nam. But when his squad is tasked with conducting a routine patrol deep in enemy territory, everything goes to nine kinds of hell, and he quickly sees his chances at survival slipping away.When the radio operators start to pick up some funky, dirty ol’ blues all the way out in the backcountry, it’s a nice change of pace. At least until the men in Yancy’s squad start losing their minds, turning on each other with murderous intent as the music works its deadly power within them. Convinced it’s some kind of new psychological warfare initiative, the squad leader forces the men to push deeper and deeper into the Vietnamese jungle, obsessed with locating the music’s source. What they find, however, isn’t some new technology, but an ancient spirit awoken by the terrible war. Even worse, the music is changing Yancy too, awakening something buried inside of him. Only one thing is certain, nothing is ever going to be the same.See how it all began … *** PRAISE FOR SIREN SONG:Hunter's writing is as low-down, gritty, and insidious as the blues Yancy Lazarus loves. Just like the mysterious music drifting through the jungle toward Yancy's squad, Siren Song will get under your skin and sink its hooks into your mind. —eden Hudson, Author of Halo Bound (the Redneck Apocalypse series) *** Hey everyone, this is James Hunter. This story isn't a full length novel--its a novella length work (25K words), and is part of my Yancy Lazarus series. Its already free on Amazon, so I thought I'd post chapters here for the good folks of Royal Road. If you don't want to wait for updates or would prefer to read it on Kindle, you can pick it up for free here: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B01066TLC0
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