《The Final Test》[7]
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It was just me and Scotia now, staring at our trays and clenching our utensils a little too tight.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “For what it’s worth, I do believe you. Something doesn’t feel right here. It never has.”
Even our names felt wrong. Gregis had shown us a map of our home planet once and many of the names of each nation had looked similar to ours. It seemed strange to me then, but only now did I question it. If we were all humans, why did we each look different? Why would they gather children from every part of the world during an evacuation? Wouldn’t it make more sense to gather whoever was closest?
“But there’s nothing we can do about it,” she finished for me with a sigh. “I know. That’s what you’ve always done, right? Accepted things as they are.”
“Doing otherwise wouldn’t change anything,” I replied, biting my lip as she rolled her eyes. I could tell she wasn’t mad at me but at our situation.
“You don’t know that,” she said, picking up her tray. “I’ve always despised that part of you, Indi.”
My heart clenched painfully.
“You’re one of the smartest among us,” she continued, standing above me. “You always have been, but you and Libyci always held yourselves back. You always told yourselves you couldn’t change anything so you never bothered to try. Your potential is what I hate the most because you never use it!”
I clenched my teeth, angry at her for being so cruel yet angry at myself because I agreed with her. I knew the exact number of trees in the training room, their every location and height. I could remember how many breaths Gregis took when he was in the room with us. I knew how many steps he took when judging us, how many millimeters he’d grown through the years. I could list every skill and weakness my friends had, from how often they cleaned their teeth to how precise their aim with a paint gun was.
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But all those numbers and memorizations were useless when it came to battles and especially when it came to finding answers.
“Just promise me that if we do actually get out of here, you won’t hold yourself back,” Scotia said, leaning down so she could look me in the eye. “Promise me you’ll do everything you can to survive, even if it scares you.”
“It’s harder than you think.” His anxiety overtook his entire body sometimes, making his heart feel ready to burst.
“I know, Indi. I know because I get scared too. So did Congo.”
If she was scared, how did she manage to fight so bravely every day? How did she make it look so easy?
“Fear isn’t meant to slow us down or scare us away. It’s meant to drive us, motivate us to push through it. It makes us stronger in the long run, in here.” She pointed at my head, then my heart. “That’s what I think Congo would say, at least.”
I smiled a little. “He would.”
She smiled back and my heart leapt, then her stoic expression returned and the moment was gone. “See you tomorrow, Indi.”
“See you.”
I cringed as I deposited my tray and headed to the showers.
I hated that our first real conversation happened the day before deployment!
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Arduous New World
Alright, so I'm using this as a whetstone to practice my fiction writing. I have dyslexia, so bear with me if I have any mistakes, if you point them out I'll try and correct them. The story is LitRPG, I'll try and avoid some of the tropes, see FAQ. What happens is that the world turns out to be a simulation coming to an end, and beginning on its new simulation, in this process the system of the universe declares that the new simulation will be rpg-based. The protagonist however is thrust into an empty space before the simulation comes to an end, he escapes and finds that the world as he knew it is gone.Chapters will come sporadically as I'm quite busy IRL. FAQ1: There will be no Harem. 2: If any sexual content, it will be be below the screen, example sentence [they made love - or - they had sex]3: I'll try to keep character motivations steady instead of having characters who says and does one thing in one chapter, only to change their mind in the next one. 3: Villains or "bad guys" won't be charicatures. Of course, as in real life, you can meet these people, but as far as big bads or antagonists goes, they will have some modicum of intelligence. 4: The MC does not have an encyclopedia of random knowledge. 5: OP'ness won't happen overnight, and it is something that I'm wary of in terms of adding it, of course eventually the MC will grow more powerful, but there won't be any cheats, except hard work; and the luck factor will be more or less similar to the rest of the population. 6: He won't be opposing the universe, no matter how powerful he grows, he is too insignificant7: he won't become friends with god/the ghost in the shell etc, no matter how powerful he grows, he is too insignificant, and an ancient simulation ai has no interest anyway, why would it ? Okay that's that for now.
8 79Storm on the Horizon
When stars fall from the sky and monsters roam the streets, who can hope to save the royal city of Farone? ~~~~~ Llain, an apprentice blacksmith who feels adrift in the hustle of a big city; Kalia, an eager initiate of Izael's temple seeking her destiny in the form of a prayer; and Lavinia, trained from a young age to be her master's knife in the dark, find themselves thrust into danger as their seemingly disparate lives intertwine to rectify the mistakes of the past. But as they chase the stars on a quest to find meaning, their own history threatens to undo everything they love.
8 106Rise of the Spear Hero
• [An Alternate Reality where Takehide Eno replaces Motoyasu Kitamura]• [The Green Mage is Rino in this Continuity.]• [Like in the Anime Continuity, all party members join at the same time.]• [This Spear Hero does not possess the Time Reversal ability.] Takehide comes from a world where Japan never experienced the Pacific War and emerged victorious over the Second Sino-Japanese War. In this world, they had reinstated the Samurai as an alternative peacekeepers organization and lawmen of the Chinese Mainland as well as the Japanese Islands that aid the Police Commissioner boards. However, things are not as peaceful as they seem to come to the year twenty-first century. Dying at the hands of his Ex-Girlfriend during a Robbery, Police Cadet Takehide Eno is transported to another world shortly after death. There he wakes up finding a strange spear-like armament in his hand and an icon in the corner of his eye. Before him is a group of what he could only describe as teens in the same position as himself. The only thing that confuses him is the fact that... He has no idea what's going on!
8 128Soul Kiln Saga
Were there was two, hereunto lies but one. Two souls cast into the abyss of the void, forever lost. One stands anew. Shall it be the lesser for it, or rise to heights unforeseen. Here lies his story, one most enthralling. You may have heard of him, but what do you truly know. Come sit by the hearth, pour an ale, and let this bard weave his craft.
8 103Cards of the Royal Guard
Within the laws of the world, only 16 people are allowed to obtain a given "name". The Gods deemed these 16 people as the rightful rulers of the world and demanded that any being who obtains a name would be punished. They designated one person to become the "Queen" of the 15 people. Once the "Queen" was chosen, "Queen" was then allowed to name 15 other people as the chosen ones to her Royal Guard. A chance encounter with Queen gave birth to King's name and with that he became the first to be named as one of her Royal Guard. Hidden beneath her smiling gestures of kindness towards King, Queen bears a daring spirit against the rules of God. Her agenda? To obtain the right for humans to give names to themselves so that everyone may be of equal value. But to do that, she must first find a way to break the ruling of the Gods and the various problems surrounding "names".
8 101Smile
"I've been through a lot of shit and something you'd think would give me a break is love, but nopeThat's kicking my ass too."-(G!P You)
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