《An Arcanist's Guide to Eorzea》Guide to Success III
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Just before the sun graces the horizon, you are violently shaken awake by Mina. By the look on her face, you can tell she was too excited to sleep. Luckily, your recent stays with your mother have caused you to slip into a morning-friendly sleep schedule, so you aren’t too tired. The same can not be said for Vincent, who seems a bit comatose. You end up needing to call his name four times before he registers your question-- do you want some coffee? He pauses and nods his head.
The air has a certain chill to it. A sentiment you would have voiced, were you not surrounded by the realm’s biggest know-it-alls, who would smugly inform you that it is due to the bank of corrupted wind crystals nearby.
The two sellswords are a curious lot, and seem to be having a brooding contest with one another. The ninja is a Viera woman-- When you ask for her name, she has something of a what's-it-to-you look on her face before answering with ‘Kuromi.’ The daggers on her hips remind you of the Limsan rogues, which mostly just makes you on edge. You yourself have, of course, done your own fair share of contracting business, but you can usually tell when someone’s doing it for a quick buck and when someone has done it their whole life.
The samurai, a Hyur man, more readily offers his name to you. Fordwin Obinata. Merely writing his name down will cause many a lightbulb to go off in readers’ minds, but in case you’ve never been anywhere or done anything in your entire life-- Fordwin Obinata is one of the six classical Warriors of Light upon Hydaleyn, though perhaps the most well-known of the ones we’ve met so far. For the less studious readers, those are Phekda Minoris and Lakiki Laki-- but we’ve gotten a bit off topic. Of course, neither he nor any others had earned their title just yet. For now, he was but any other adventurer.
Getting into the palace is no easy feat. As said before, most of the lower floors were or still are flooded, so the safest way to get in would be from the top, which had been exposed to the sun for several months now and was almost certainly dry. From there, slow and methodical descent would be the safest way to investigate. Fortunately, you are a group of intelligent arcanists, and have no intention of just barreling through the front door like any random adventuring party might be tempted to do.
Mina puts together a grappling hook and hands it to our marauder, who gives it his best launch, aiming to land it through the aforementioned open roof. He finds his mark, and after a moment of rigorous pulling to check its stability, it is greenlit by Mina as a ‘probably safe’ means of entry. Fordwin goes first, and Mina reminds everyone that if they fall, activating the lodestone she gave them will save them from certain death.
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As exciting as it would have been to write about a dramatic scene where someone nearly died, real life is not so whimsical-- in fact, the entire ordeal is just dreadfully boring and slow. Not wanting to risk anyone’s safety, no more than two climb the rope at once, and make no mistake; it is terribly tall.
When you reach the top, the rooms are mostly empty-- devoid of any signs of life, be they past or present. Moss covers the masonry, and small puddles of water occupy divets in the floor. Mina helpfully informs you that these sections have already been looted-- though she doesn’t say looted. ‘Their useful components have been salvaged.’ Anything for research, you suppose.
Every step you take in this place feels you with a deep unease, but there’s also something familiar about it. It’s hard to place, but the entire city distinctly reminds you of Mizu-- not that you think she’d particularly like it here. Most of the stairwell is out of commission, but previous expeditions have left ropes to navigate between the levels, still tightly secured and safe, leading through large holes in the floor that have been left by the ravages of time.
You send Brick down a floor, who sticks the landing like a pro before hissing wildly. His topaz glow illuminates the room around him faintly as he backs up toward a corner, and through this luminescence you can see the faint outlines of Tonberries; sickly green creatures that wander the halls of the city with knives and lanterns. Upon seeing your carbuncle, lanterns begin to light up quickly.
An inexperienced adventurer might see the fact that these small, vaguely humanoid creatures can move no faster than a waddle and assess that they are of little threat since their only means of attack is a very short range stab. This would be the last error they could ever make, as these monsters stab hard, very hard, and will not patiently wait for your healer to patch you up before twisting the blade in your stomach. Good luck working through that pain and maintaining enough focus to fight back.
Anyway, to nobody’s surprise, you do not wish to see Brick become roadkill, and quickly unleash a cast of holy spirit on the tonberry closest to him. This works much better than you ever assumed it would, knocking the creature unconscious in one strike. Vincent is quick on the upkeep, directing his carbuncle to hold a torrent of wind to keep the enemies at bay, if just for a little while.
Seizing the new opportunity, your party’s frontliners quickly descend down the rope and secure some space for each of you. One at a time, you watch them go, until it is Kuromi’s turn, and you realize she has vanished altogether. You, and everyone else here, will come to learn that this is normal and should not be given much presence of mind.
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Taking advantage of your allies’ protection, you follow suit and rush to your carbuncle’s side, commanding him to shield your marauder. He nods attentively, waiting for enemies to advance closer. Vincent slides down the rope and wastes no time before channeling wind through openings in the building to lacerate your foes.
After enough focus, Brick does a leaping front flip in place, sending a torrent of aether around your tank, surrounding him in an orange hexagonal-grid barrier, protecting your marauder from his would-be killers. Mina makes her presence known by creating a wave of arcane energy that harmlessly sweeps through each of you and decimates the tonberries as it collides with them, providing you all an opportunity to push forward.
Kuromi reappears from the shadows with a raging inferno erupting from her daggers. As she cleaves a tonberry, the fires lunge from target to target, setting their ragged clothes ablaze. In mere moments, the fighting is over-- the empty halls echo the sound of broken glass as lanterns slip from dying hands and clash upon the brick floor.
You notice as the frightening little creatures collapse, puffs of astral aether pulse out from their body and form a flicker of flame, eventually growing into a wisp-like creature. As the flame forms, their previous bodies dissipate into aether, leaving behind only the clothes they wore and the lanterns they held.
As one of them fades into oblivion, your ears twitch to the distinct sound of crystal hitting the ground. In the corner of your eye, you notice a dark blue crystal seems to have been left behind, and its design reminds you somewhat of your mother’s soul crystal, the symbol which represents her appointment to the Sultana. Seeing a crystal of similar design here more than simply piques your interest, so you instruct Brick to grab it as quickly as he can.
You try your best to use your holy magic to dispel the wisps that are taking form before each of you, but to no avail. Any and all effort expended on destroying them, be it magical or physical, have no influence at all. Once they begin raining fire upon the group, Mina calls for a retreat, prompting each of you to awkwardly scurry up the rope one at a time.
One of the dastardly little flames sets your means of egress ablaze, so you have no choice but to begin using your Lodestones. You dismiss carbuncle and stuff his gem into your pocket before activating yours, causing all of your vision to be blurred over. When you come to, you’ve safely arrived at the Aetheryte along with everyone else. The gap in consciousness unnerves you somewhat, but you try not to let that fact show.
Mina seems equal parts confused and frustrated by the immortal wisps, insisting that they most certainly didn’t form the last time they were killing tonberries. Before she can finish collecting her thoughts, you hand over the crystal that Brick picked up for you-- it was her expedition, after all.
The moment the crystal touches her palm, it sparks to life, trailing pure light aether into the space between each of you. After a moment of coalescing, a fairy-like creature springs into being, harmlessly fluttering in place. Before you can say or do anything, they begin to teleport about the area, looking through windows and examining rocks.
“S-S’anah’to, where on earth did you find this crystal?” Mina asks you, trying her best to keep an eye on the faerie.
“One of those tonberries dropped it when it died.” You explain. “I had Brick pick it up before we bailed.”
“Hmmm…” She ponders. “If only I knew more of this creature…” As she finishes her sentiment, the faerie seems to respond to the...request? And moves over to each of you. They are a bright red faerie wearing what could be described as an almost floral-esque dress with a bright white design. Their shoulder-length hair hangs loosely in curls, and they stand attentively, but seem to be distracted by any sudden noise.
Your operation is called short...for now. Mina is clearly desperate to investigate the ruins further, but until more is known about the wisps and how to defeat them, there is little that can be done. Mina tries to compensate you for your time, but you leave before she can actually give you any Gil, which makes her fume with anger. The experience was enough, and always will be.
Taking the break away from your studies unfortunately did not magically provide you with a solution to your problems, but your mind is caught up thinking of Mina’s new...pet? Companion? So you try your best to doodle them from memory, and while the rendition does come out looking fairly cute, it isn’t terribly accurate.
After a few hours toiling away in your tome, Brick paws at your leg, wishing to go for a walk. You let out an exaggerated sigh, because he always does this when you feel like you’re about to make a breakthrough, but really you’re grateful because otherwise you’d never remember things like how long it's been since you’ve eaten.
Whenever Brick wants to go for a walk, you usually go from Limsa to the Summerford Farms and back, making sure to grab an orange from the nearby orchard on your way through. This time, as you’re fumbling to grab one, you hear a rustling from nearby, and quickly draw your grimoire in defense.
“Who’s there?!” You say in your best ‘commanding paladin’ voice, channeling a modest amount of aether.
“...H...Help…” A familiar voice begs, as Erden limps through the trees with a deeply red-stained coat. Before you can ask any questions, he collapses-- his blood dripping from fresh wounds into the soil below.
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The Dungeon Hive
One thing I noticed about most dungeon stories is that most races mistakenly believe that dungeons have a hive-mind and I go, “That make sense.” Considering the various powers and how big dungeons can get, wouldn’t it make more sense for them to have a hive-mind? So this is it; my take of the world’s first dungeon and the hive that controls it. Watch as it stumbles, fall, survive, strive and…procreate? Watch as it changed the world of Ioplon…for better and for worse. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For edited version of the story, the full trilogy (Book_1: Fantasy Begins, Book_2: Dungeon Flames, Book_3: Spread of the Dungeons) are now available on Amazon. Please take a look, and leave a rating. Thanks
8 288Core Defect
In the 264 years since the Great Singularity Wars, the world has been irrevocably changed. Technologies like nanobots and rogue artificial intelligences have caused the planet's wildlife to evolve in dangerous and powerful ways, pushing humanity to the verge of extinction. However, the remaining survivors are not without ways to fight back. Nanotech can enhance humans just as well as beasts, but perhaps most surprisingly, humanity has found an unexpected ally: a group of human-neutral AIs called Daemons. Val is a 22-year old woman striving to become a User: a nano-empowered human paired with a Daemon that serves as society's final and most powerful line of defense. When a critical issue in her nanosystem's core seemingly leaves her unable to serve as a User, she's given a difficult choice: give up on her dreams or accept a potentially unstable AI, Noir, as her Daemon partner. Val and Noir are stronger together than they are apart, but can they survive long enough to unlock their potential? Can they find a place among the other pairings like them, shunned by society but essential to civilization's survival? If Users are humanity's last line of defense, welcome to the sacrificial first line: the Defects. Updates are currently once a week, aiming for the weekend. Chapters usually 2k-3k in length.
8 207Life, the struggle for existence
What would happen when man had to, once again, fight for its own right to live? Would the evolutionary counterparts of our ancestors manage to life through the struggle for survival? What would happen to society if a new reason for living came up, other than the enjoyment of the well-built environment? A reason that could either unite or destroy humanity.This is the struggle for their right of existence.As earth and its inhabitants are faced with the fear of unknown danger and the peril of monstrosities, some will falter, some will die and some will live on to tell the tales of those forgotten. As reality dictates, most will be part of the first two groups and only a small faction will be part of the latter. *This is my first attempt at writing fantasy, so I do hope you’ll enjoy it. The story is one of apocalyptic nature, with gigantic monsters, unfathomable powers and also a critial view on humanity and what it means to be human. I will definitely try to stay away from any tropes that are not neccesary to write fantasy, as I thoroughly despise non-creativity. There shall be no harems, no unrealistic behavior and absolutely no standard scene of dimwitted bandits that try to rob whatever similarly rock-brained princess they encounter. The main character is not black and white, because no human is completely good or completely evil. They’re human, not some idealistic concept of what one is supposed to be. Enjoy!Warning: Tagged 17+ for the occasional strong language and violence, some mild sexual content can occur in the distant future.
8 144Masters
NOTICE: Upon greater contemplation, I have decided to put this story on indefinate hiatus so as to focus on other projects. However, I have decided to start a new project in it's Place. In an infinite universe full of endless possibility, there lie worlds beyond compare, treasures and resources with great power, monsters that never truly die, and peoples of all kinds with mysterious powers and abilities that can be learned like a martial art. Join Nicholas Xed and his friends as they blaze a trail into the unknown to meet their destinies! Note from Author: This is the first time i've done something like this and as such is a huge learning experience on my part, so please be patient with me if I make revisions. I promise I won't change any of the core narratives or characterizations and will do my best to make this the best story it can be! Note 2: This is a montly serialization without a fixed day in each month, so please expect every new chapter to come within the frame of each month.
8 123The Forgotten Portal
Luke was used to tragedies in his life. He wasn't used to portals, monsters or bad ass girlfriends.
8 156[ Xuyên nhanh ] Tra nam tẩy trắng sổ tay
https://wikidich.com/truyen/tra-nam-tay-trang-so-tay-xuyen-nhanh-XDHyElS4CGWUrvwENhiệm vụ: Xuyên qua các thế giới biến thành tra nam, hoa thức tẩy trắng.Vệ nói rõ là cái kẻ lừa đảo, nhưng hắn không như vậy cho rằng.Lừa cả đời, giả cũng liền biến thành thật sự.Bổn văn vì tô sảng phục vụ, hư cấu vô logic, lôi giả thận nhậpCái thứ nhất thế giới: Tra cha không tra hoàn thànhCái thứ hai thế giới: 90 niên đại tra nam hoàn thànhCái thứ ba thế giới: Tám một tám cái kia tra ảnh đế hoàn thànhĐệ tứ thế giới: Đứa con bất hiếu / phượng hoàng nam hoàn thànhThứ năm cái thế giới: Hảo lão sư hoàn thànhThứ sáu cái thế giới: Trang bức bản phú nhị đại hoàn thànhThứ bảy cái thế giới: Thần côn hoàn thànhThứ tám cái thế giới: Học tra or chó con hoàn thànhThứ chín cái thế giới: Thổ phỉ hoàng đế hoàn thànhĐệ thập cái thế giới: Ta yêu thích là trang người ( quỷ chuyện xưa, sợ quỷ thận nhập ) hoàn thànhĐệ thập nhất cái thế giới: Tay súng tra nam hoàn thànhThứ mười hai cái thế giới: Mạt thế tìm thân lộ hoàn thànhThứ mười ba cái thế giới: Trọng nam khinh nữ gia đình ra tới tra nam hoàn thànhĐệ thập tứ cái thế giới: Ta là hảo hoàng đế hoàn thànhThứ 15 cái thế giới: Hư học sinh hoàn thànhĐệ thập lục cái thế giới: Tu đạo lão thái gia hoàn thànhThứ mười bảy cái thế giới: Tu Chân giới vai ác trưởng lão hoàn thành
8 166