《The Gate of Wills》Chapter 5
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"Who are you talking about?" Crow asked, hoping to catch them off guard.
"A friend," Mel replied calmly. "We were supposed to meet him in-game, but we didn't see him."
"There should be many spawn points around the city. Why didn't you look around for him?" Crow tried to keep his voice neutral, which was not so difficult when his mind felt like it was made of something similar to the sludge-things that were still creeping around behind him.
"He should have entered the same node we did," Thomas said quickly. He lifted a hand as if to continue the explanation, but lowered it again and relaxed visibly. "Never mind him," he said with a little laugh. "Let's rest and figure out that new spell of yours instead."
Node? That was not a word an ordinary person would use, and Thomas had seemed oblivious to most of the technicalities, but Crow just nodded and told them what he had found about so far. He had just intended to give a brief explanation, but soon they had him working with it again. No, he couldn't make little holes in it. Yes, he could open it like a sheet. Somewhat. He could let it drift away from him but it was difficult to maintain control.
"That's enough," Crow said eventually. He had a headache coming on. It was draining to maintain the barrier, as they had decided to call it.
It was getting darker, the shadows from the nearby trees lengthening. Loran and George made their way toward them, carefully avoiding splotches of slime were they had been destroyed. Loran still carried the spear that they had been so successful with, but it was in a sorry state after having been thumped into the ground so many times.
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As they drew near, George said, "look at this," and opened a slimy hand to show them.
There were a number of tiny stones there. Or not stones. Fragments. Like shards of broken glass. They glowed slightly in a bluish color.
"We found them inside the slime," Loran stated unnecessarily. "I bet that is what the stranger picked up. He knew about it."
"Are they really valuable?" Mel asked. "They don't look like much."
"They have to be if he picked them up," Loran said defensively. "We should try and sell them."
"If we can even find an NPC," Crow said. He still believed there must have been some error, or rather, he knew there was some error since he couldn't log out, otherwise he would have by now. He was exhausted enough. He cursed himself for letting himself go so far. He had been far more athletic not so long ago - until he had lost everything there was. Everything except the immersion chamber.
"I think we should leave them," Thomas said. "Maybe they need those shards," he said, gesturing vaguely toward the slimes, but he didn't sound convincing.
"We need to get back before it's dark," Crow said. I don't want something to jump me while I'm sleeping. Not that the city walls had inspired feelings of safety.
"But there is more," Loran said triumphantly. We went to the top of the other side, he said and nodded toward the side as if they had made a tremendous journey. "We saw a shoe-print there."
"So, someone with shoes," Crow said. "Then we know who we are dealing with."
"No need to be snarky," Loran said. "Someone is following us. And the pattern was all wrong."
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"All the more reason to go back then," Crow responded. They hadn't leveled nearly as much as he had hoped, but he was too tired to continue, especially in the dark. His leg was still hurting, but the pain was starting to recede. Thomas hadn't even slowed down a step when he had been hit, the bastard.
"We better be careful then," Loran said and started back toward the treeline.
Which reminded Crow that he hadn't gotten an answer from Thomas and Mel. He didn't care to pursue it now though.
They followed the winding river through the brush, but much slower this time, and in near complete silence, which made Crow more aware of all the strange noises which came from the brush. Bugs, he hoped. He didn't care to get jumped by something right now.
There were few incidents though, and soon they could see the gray walls the city again, which looked more impressive from a distance where several segments of unbroken wall were visible. Crow cast a few uneasy glances to the left and right as they exited the forest. He was still of the opinion that playing with 100% pain threshold was just foolish. Well, at least they had made it back safely, and his thigh was mostly numb now, which was infinitely better than before.
They made it through the same opening in the wall and soon found themselves back at the place at the river where Thomas had planted a stick in the ground.
"Time for some snares anyways, mate?" Thomas said with a smile.
"Fire and shelter is more important, but go ahead if you want to," Crow replied. They didn't have a knife to carve anything with, so he wasn't even sure they would succeed. Survival games were only fun the first time around - few tried again.
"I want to see what the others are doing," Mel said.
"Probably looking for shelter," Crow said. "It's getting dark." He had found a nice rock rest on, and wasn't moving for anything.
Just then, a voice called out to them and a slender young woman came running toward them. "I'm here to warn everyone," she said when she arrived. "Someone just died. We can die in this game."
Crow's first reaction was that it was a joke, but something in her voice and expression made him doubt it. "What do you mean? Didn't they respawn?" Perhaps this was a way out.
"No, he didn't," she said in a voice that sounded as if she verged on tears. "His corpse is still there."
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Curse of the Immortal
"You can't tell me what pain is and what it's not. I've lived for thousands of years searching for her, longing for her smile, her touch. Waking up each morning not knowing where to go, where to look, but still holding on to that hope. That someday I will find her again, to make her happy and protect her from harm." Tears started to well up in his eyes as his voice became coarse. "Only to find out that in the end, I've already found her and yet I've caused her death... again." He knew that she died to protect the people she cared about... He wasn't powerful enough to break the chains that bound his life... "I may not be her nor will I ever be, but you are the reason why I am still living." she was just a normal girl of the 21st century, but due to her soul, she was tasked to maintain the balance of the realms. Will she be able to fulfill her duty even if it means putting an end to the immortal?
8 211Afterlife
This story is set in a future reality where technology has advanced to the point that people may choose to discard their bodies in order to start a new life in a world of their choosing. The elderly and those with terminal illnesses or disabilities are offerred this option as a painless way to leave society and keep contact with their loved ones through the Virtual worlds they move on to. We follow the story of Thomas Reiner, an old man who is passing on to his new environment of Magras, a realistic world of monsters and magic.
8 136Maxneil Oneshots And Headcannons
So im obsessed with this ship and I keep getting these little stories in my head in class so why not put them in here rightAlso there are going to be some angsty chapters bc i love angst so much-
8 185Steam of Britain
Instead of being taken off the rails, these engines each now work on British Railways in a livery of their choice. They each work together, and have fun being really useful, as they learn to deal with the dirty Diesels that are now nationalized. (Fantasied AU)
8 192His Unexpected Gang
"I'm the leader of Mayhem, Lynn," Ashton says, smirking. I immediately glared at him.I get up from my chair and walk up to him. "You guys ambushed our trade," I say, jabbing my finger at his chest. "They told us you guys didn't have enough money and wanted back up," Ashton says, restraining my wrists."That's impossible, my friend checked the money, and we had the exact amount," I say confidently. ~Published on May 18, 2018~~Completed on September 1, 2018~This is the sequel to The Nerd is a Fighter, but you don't have to read that book to understand this book! :) Tags: #action #adventure #badboy #book2 #completed #drama #enemies #enemiestolovers #friendstolovers #gangs #hate #highschool #humor #rivals #romance #secrets #shortchapters #shortstory #teenfiction #teenromance #unknown
8 82Shadow
T.W for the entire story violence and gay shitVirgilBroken was probably the best way to describe him, during the day at least. At night he was the one doing the breaking.LoganHe was the biggest nerd at school and although he didn't fully understand emotions he knew his best/only friend Virgil was hiding something and he was going to figure out what.PattonEveryone's best friend but he was hiding something big. RomanHe may or may not admire Virgil but he can't stand how secretive the kid is, he is determined to find out what is up with him. For better or for worse.Together they could be an amazing team, the only problem is that sometimes it is too hard to let someone in even if they are trying to save you.
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