《Arcane - A Progression LitRPG》4: The Hollow Cave
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Lindley dreamed of himself inside a massive cavern, looking down at a complex words of magic carved into the floor. The place was completely void of the living and the dead. This profound silence was only broken by his own hurried heartbeat as he looked around in fear.
All around him were strange symbols, magical signs engraved from the mouth of the cavern to the base of a stone staircase, spiralling upward.
It twisted over forty yards up through the air, stopping less than a yard short of the cavern's ceiling. He followed the signs and symbols around and around until he reached the foot of the stone staircase. At the center of each step was a symbol that kept on emitting faint golden light.
In his short existence, he had never seen runes like those before. He felt the urgency to turn back, but the need to forge forward won him over. After a brief pause he put his foot squarely on the first step.
Immediately his foot touched the step, the rune flares brighter which scared him further. With his eyes always moving to the next runic shape, he continued his climb until he reached the top. Here, the air felt thinner.
Lindley squeezed through a passage in the stone ceiling and found himself staring at a shrine inside another cavern. A cavern above a cavern? Strange but epic.
In every direction, he could see great chambers of countless statues carved from the same ancient stone as the walls. He knew where this path would eventually take him. It was the same place every time, but still he walked through unknown chambers, always hoping that the next turning will be the way out.
Once more, Lindley found himself in an enormous chamber, where a stretch of wall fifty yards long had been savagely ripped open. Picking his way over the rubble he entered the forest of statues.
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Inside this place we're carved images of warlocks, sorcerers, rogues, mages, barbarians, knights and the others stood in anticipation of whatever was to come.
He was wondering about the statues when their eyes came alive, giving him a sudden jolt which startled him awake. Slowly, he opened his eyes and found himself in a close space of darkness.
He realized he had been dreaming. Was he dreaming about acquiring the mage class too? He quickly uttered the word, calling up his system. He smiled when he saw the mage class and the magic skill, Saving Grace, whatever that was. Now, he knew he could learn magic.
With his squinted eyes, he looked around and discovered that he was in a cavern. A cavern? He wondered how he got into the cavern, but there was something that seemed familiar to him about this cavern. Something...
A few seconds later, after his eyes had fully adjusted to his surroundings, Lindley realised that he was inside his childhood cavern. He used to play the hide and seek game inside it when he was younger.
The hollow cave.
Quickly, he checked his body and heaved a sigh of relief. The hilt of the Harbinger sword lay, hard and unyielding, beneath him. He drew further comfort from the feel of the blade, his only ancestral possession.
He stirred and was about to leave when he heard the voice of someone not far from him. He remained still and listen carefully. He could hear the voices now.
"What did you see, Byram?" came the sudden grave words, loud and close.
"A village scorched to ashes, Borden. The whole village. Never seen that before." A slightly deeper voice replied.
"Was it a raid?" The one addressed as Borden asked again.
"Can't say, Borden. Can't say."
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"What do you mean?"
"Raids always leave marks behind, Borden. But in this village, there was no signs of any raid at all, yet everyone in that village is dead. No weapon's marks, not even a stray arrow was to be seen anywhere."
"I'm finding that hard to imagine. The whole village burnt to ashes?" Another voice asked.
"Yes... the bodies were burnt beyond recognition but they weren't looted." There was a brief pause. "See this ring, I found it on one of the hands."
"Byram, are you saying the whole village caught fire by itself, huh?" A voice, deeper than the rest, asked sarcastically. "And the rest fell over just because they were tired of standing up, eh?"
Tensed, Lindley continued to lay still, peering into the darkness.
"Enough, Elford." The voice of Borden sounded out again. "Hmm... powerful flames that can destroy a village like that, can only mean one thing."
"Dragons!" Calder's voice was lower still, and grim.
"Dragons?" Borden's voice rose almost jestingly. "How so?"
"What else could it be?"
"A powerful wizard." Byram quipped in. "A warlock."
"Hmm.."
"I doubt any warlock would go around burning a whole village to ashes for no reasons."
"There must be a reason."
"True, there's always a reason."
"What of a dragon lord with a score to settle?"
"Or a contracted one?"
"Hmmm, strange but certainly possible." There was a brief silence, and the voice continued. "If any of you think of a better answer, let's hear it."
"I can't think of any other reason, and I believe we can all agree with me."
"Alright then, let's agree it was a dragon riding warlock. So for now, we have to tread carefully."
"Aye." Came the reply in chorus.
"Alright, let's go."
"You can all go. I'll stay this one out."
Then there came the sounds of scrambling and scuffling by the mouth of the cave, and then clattered and were still.
Lindley waited for a long time, but heard only the sound of the wind. They must have all gone. Carefully he rose, stretched his stiff arms and legs, and crept forward in the darkness, around the corner—and almost onto the point of a sword.
"And who might you be, boy?" The man that was holding the sword said calmly. He wore tattered leather armor, old leather gauntlets and helm. He had a heavy, stubbly beard. "You're from that village, aren't you?"
"Please, don't hurt me." This close, Lindley could smell the stench of an unwashed man in armor, the stink of oil and wood smoke. "I don't want any trouble."
"And why should I do that? You're just a kid, and..." Byram squinted at the partially displayed blade under Lindley's cloak, and then stopped.
"What?" Lindley asked puzzedly, with a degree of caution.
"By the living gods! Is that the Harbinger Sword?" Byram asked in utter surprise. "Gardu's beard! Shouldn't it be in the tomb of Godric, the godking of Azmar. How come it's in your possession, boy? Now, hand it over."
The half-knight held out his hand for it.
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Above Your Head
Kwan Dae-ha.A second-year high school student who looks ordinary but is not ordinary.He had a secret he couldn’t tell anyone…And it was that he was able to see the ‘Affiliation’ and ‘State’ above the heads of the people.Is this world where people's titles are visible real?It was already tough as it was, but he keeps getting entangled with his ability and extraterrestrial beings!Today, the boy dreams of peace....Although it will be hard.
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8 159Heaven's App
Liam was at the point of his life where he couldn't care about anything at all. After being kicked out of his classroom from sleeping, he opened his phone just to notice that it doesn't have any app besides one. The Heaven's App. Having nothing to do, for the time being, he curiously opened it and he saw things that weren't quite pleasing to him. "This is lame." After a few interactions with the app, he vanished into thin air. He opened his eyes and realized that he came back to time. No, he teleported into an alternative world where monsters live to destroy humanity. With the mysterious app he received, he decided to turn the world around his way. --- --- --- cover art: Polygonatic
8 68Eldritch overlord
In the year 2094, the DMMORPG Andorra online was released to the world and dominated the gaming scene for decades and showed just what could be achieved in VR. In Andorra, a person could be anything they wished, from a cyborg to a fucking bunny if they wanted you were allowed access to all races they could think of except for a select few. Now for all of what Andorra accomplished this story is not about Andorra, it's about a player that went by the monicker of daiko. Daiko was your average salaryman that didn't accomplish much in life so he sought an escape. Wich he found in games and Andorra allowed him to escape and more. Okay, I was lying slightly. Daiko was not your average salaryman he Hated humanity. Now, you're probably asking why he hates humanity well It's quite simple really. He was abused by his parents and all of his so-called friends just used him and the only ones that card were his pets so he loved them with his entire heart until his dad shot them anyway. So as far as the world was concerned everything that humans touched was destroyed and he wanted nothing to do with them. Andorra was another chance, another life that wasn't absolute shit. Well, as it turns out that heteromorphic characters aren't looked at positively and well he didn't want to play as a human so he persevered until he rose through the ranks and reached the upper echelons of the game. Now I know you're wondering what was his character well his character was a...well I guess to find out the rest you'll just have to read the story, won't you?
8 79Tyrant Named God
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8 175Me? Dragon
Synopsis The life of a baby dragon, from birth to unknown heights. Born as a red dragon Rue will experience the benefits of such a prestigious race and the downsides. Dragon hunters, surviving in the wild, the journey will be difficult, but when you can breathe fire and weigh in at a couple of tones, pointy sticks don't do much… The world they live in is magical with many different beasts and races, and hopefully, our young dragon will live to “taste” all of the finer points of life. The story contains a litRPG element but I still like to have a natural feel to the way the world works. Please forgive me for mistakes and kindly point them out. I'm still new to writing. The Basics: Spoiler Magic: Yes Smartphones: No (Dragons Can't Use Them) Martial Arts: No (Ever Seen a dragon Punch?) Monsters: Yes Adventure: Yes Basic Physics: Yes (Fire….lots of Fire) Dialogue Boxes: Yes Updates: Well, we will have to see, at least once a week though. most likely every day for the first little while. I have a backlog of chapters I will release to kickstart the story. Author : This is my first attempt at writing a fiction from a female point of view, even if it is a dragon. I hope I get the tone right, please be lenient. Content: The MC will be a fauking dragon, that's all you really need to know. Please give it a shot. Notes: (I do not own the art for the cover of this novel if someone wants it removed I will do so promptly)
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