《The World of The Tower》Leafers 4
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Every group rushed with all their strength and tried to get on the safe, dry land. Two teams panicked and every member capable of movement on water tried to escape on their own leaving their comrades with no way to survive.
"That is the danger of second floor, it's not like this in every corner but you need to be very careful of where you go. One wrong turn and a second of inattention is all you need to become dinner for some monsters." Elizabeth warned her team.
Few experienced adventurers nodded in approval while newbies made mental notes of her words. They took a short break to give the Ice Elementalists a chance to breathe and recover some strength after using their abilites continously for a long time. Arath was assigned to the scout group together with Earth, Wind and Light Elementalists, one of each department. They moved at a slow pace to make sure nothing could surprise mercenaries behind, and left signs indicating where monsters went. The main force followed at a distance of fifty meters and got rid of any enemies that showed their faces. This went on for three long and exhausting hours, when no one had any remaining strength to fight they assigned guards and set up a temporary camp. To everyone's surprise one of newly recruited mercenaries was a cook hired by Elizabeth, who made a little campfire and prepared hot soup. The taste wasn't bad and there was not a single person whose belly didn't rumble so everyone wolfed down their meal and spent the rest on talking and laughing.
'That was a smart move, to bring a cook here even though we will be back home in few hours. Everyone is content right now and morale are high, she is certainly the best leader we could have.' Arath praised Elizabeth's skills in his mind.
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After the rest, scout team changed it's members and Arath could vent off some steam this time round. The most common enemies were Giant Cave Spiders and Amphycertas, a lizard-like creatures with membranes between their legs and arms. It wasn't particularly dangerous, but thanks to it's unmatched speed in water and incredibly sharp teeth a group of them could easily kill even an experienced person. The corridors were so wide the group could move arm-to-arm and still fit, the only obstacles were streams of water blocking their path. From time to time the tunnel would become a huge well with water falling from higher caves, the sound generated from that was defeaningly loud and Elizabeth had to shout orders at the top of their lungs in order to be heard.
"Ice guys, freeze the pond, don't give them place to escape! Fire, boil them!" She ordered when over two dozens of Amphycertas started to walk out of water only to fake an escape trying to get their prey to walk into water where they had advantage.
The operation was finished in a blink of an eye, the creatures were now boiled and ready to be eaten. Elizabeth hit two birds with one stone, not only did she kill the monsters, she also prepared them. Amphycertas were renowned for their delicious meat, so catching over twenty of them was surely going to be turned into good money. Their bodies, the size of a human's head without a long tail, were packed and the group moved forward looking for opportunites to get some money.
"You are probably counting on getting a Blood Bat, aren't you?" Elizabeth asked him when she got some free time, when the other commander took over.
"Yeah, how did you know?" He asked sarcastically. "What gave me away, my unconcious friends? Thought so." He laughed when he saw flabbergasted face the woman made.
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"It won't be as easy as you might think, Blood Bats don't live in tunnels. Your best bet would be to sneak into a small hole on the side of the Well and hope that you meet some in there. It won't be easy because the water will be pouring on you all the time, and no one can stand the strength of the waterfall unless they are a Water Elementalist. But don't worry, as weird as it might sound the Well is this level's tower. We, right now, are on the floor, not inside the dungeon, so eventually everyone will have to climb to the top. This will be your best opportunity as we will probably encounter some Blood Bats then." She explained.
"Don't worry, getting the blood now wouldn't make much sense. I don't have enough money for a good Poison Elementalist to extract the antivenom." He said with a grim expression.
"Oh, one more thing. Only two subspecies are immune to the Giant Cave Spider's poison so you need to find the right one. Killing them blindly won't really help you." She added.
"How can I recognize them?" Arath asked.
"Look for bats with red hair, huge ears and white spots on their foreheads."
Arath wasn't sure what to think, he had been certain that after entering second floor all he would need to do is find a random bat kill it, save some money and the job would be done. Now knowing what this level looked like he didn't know if he would be able to achieve his goal before being eaten by the Leviathan or other monster.
'Clara, I hope you will see Anga's worried face, you know? She has been taking care of you all this time. Ruby, who is the most tight-fisted person I have ever seen pays her even when she can't come to work. Carl and Ben, you fucked up in the last fight and it was partially your fault but you are good guys and I will need your help if we want to achieve something in the Tower. Our, normal people's, power are no match for monsters from higher levels so make sure to recover, you bastards!' He thought as he clenched his fists with frustration.
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Many Minded
Synopsis: Issa Pyxis, Spacer orphan and illegal heretic, graduated from living on the streets to running with a gang years ago, but now it looks like that’s all going to change. Her inheritance, more specifically who—or what—she is, is catching up with her, and on a planet with the Emperor’s inquisitors slinking around in every shadow, nowhere is safe and no one can be trusted. What will she do? A cyberpunk story about identity, loneliness, covert infiltration, evil dystopias, and much more! Features: - Cyborgs and cyberpunk galore - This is indented to be somewhat “rational” and “hard” Sci-Fi story - Original Fiction however parts of my worldbuilding are inspired by other Sci-Fi stories (duh) Rationale: The future is cool, AIs are kickass, and questions about consciousness are simultaneously existential and yet unanswered. To me, this story is a vehicle for exploring these topics, and also, I wanted to write a story where the protagonist was unafraid of themselves and where their self is more like a git-repo than a meat computer. Disclaimer: This story primarily takes place in what we’d describe as a “cyberpunk dystopia” with some extra technocracy, autocracy, and religious fervor thrown into the mix, so there will be some “grittiness” in this story. Caveat emptor. Also, [insert your favorite boilerplate “views expressed” disclaimer here]. I shouldn’t need to say this, but the main character and other characters in my story can be wrong on occasion (gasp!) and the way they view the world isn’t always objective truth (if such a thing even exists) nor do their views and opinions necessarily reflect the views of me, the author. Cover art by me! [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 83Carus - Libertas
participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge and also having a go at NaNoWriMo this November. This was a first draft published as it was written for Nanowrimo November 2020. A little rough around the edges, I hope to come back and edit at some point, and then continue the story on. In the grand scheme of things Elias was nothing special. Which was why he was surprised by a random company on a new colony planet buying out his contract. That was the problem with the large companies that ruled the colonies, once they owned your contract, they owned you. Imagine the greater surprise when he learnt that the new company held the promise of freedom. Not from the constant battle against the Swarm that were also trying to claim the colony planets for their own. Nor from the Crust, the mysterious substance that covered the same planets and held the resources they all fought for. No, the freedom from being oppressed by those with more power and to finally decide where to go and where to set down roots and call home.
8 139The Purpose of Wings
Selen Moonlit had hoped death wouldn't be the end for her, but never expected it to come so soon -- or for her salvation to come in such a strange way. Given the chance to take over for someone who would've died in another world, she picked the life of a young bird-girl. Now she lives in the post office of a river city lit by crystals, and her adoptive family wants to know what classes and statistics she wants to develop. She knows enough about games to guess how this kind of rule system works. But she used to be an aspiring chemist with a good knowledge of other science. All alone in an unfamiliar world, yet surrounded by family she barely knows, what can she do to make this new life meaningful? This story is a companion story to "Rising World", which currently exists in full on Amazon and has a visible preview here on RR. Many thanks to the readers who saw it while it was being written. This story is currently being posted separately under its own name, where it will soon catch up to what's under the RW title, and this version is a revised edition.
8 196Pentagram
Melanie Donald was born in 2000: a less than average, ordinary girl struggling through school and stumbling through life as a square peg in a round hole.Blaze Thompson was born in 2008: a girl of immeasurable talent, who surpasses everyone around her and conquers every challenge set before her. In 2016, the city in which they lived was destroyed, and Melanie was killed. It is now 2024. Blaze is as old as Melanie was when she died, and attends a private school that was once a naval academy. She seeks answers about the true nature of the disaster she survived.What caused it? How could it destroy an entire city? How can this school, of all places, be so important? And if Melanie is dead, how can she be here? Of course, her search for answers grows just a little more complicated when a secret society makes the first move in its hunt for the two girls. A work in progress. This is only a first draft of a final story, and it'll be refined before it's finally released. Thanks for your patience. Updates: Later.
8 69Tann Angle's Formula
She was the creator of 'the world', she had the ability to bend the principles of sciences, she had the ability to change everything. However, this ability was taken away. She was left in a world of danger, haunted by the Hetzers. She had to face reality, to blend into the society created by her own hands, and to make relationships that she used to consider as 'unreal'.
8 184Fighting for the Lord of Earth
A fleet of alien spaceships were detected coming into the Sol Universe heading for Earth. During the initial talks with the humanoid aliens their leader took control of the planet itself becoming the lord of Earth. He demanded the world leaders send him subjects that would be trained and fight for him who fought for the King of space. In return the Earth would be protected and their primitive knowledge would be greatly expanded. Roughly 6,000 people from all around the earth were gathered into their ships and taken to another planet for training. After they would be dropped off the ships would return several times to pick up the full numbers demanded. Kohn Lowson was the first to step on one of the alien ships.
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