《Unstable World》Vaulting Over
Advertisement
Garrett checked out the wall where the coffin room used to be. Once again, he found that the wall had no seals or cracks or anything that would have indicated that something was there in the first place. He wondered what would happen if he decided to stick something in the wall, like his sword, next time before it happened. Still, there was the risk that it might trap the sword inside the wall and then he'd be defenseless. After confirming with the wall, he caught up to Min-Tul and Xul, who had already gone ahead. As the party got deeper and deeper into the Darge, they occupied their time with some idle chatter.
"So, Xul, were you really just here to see if there were any adventurers who might have needed you?" Min-Tul asked, leading the party.
"I mean, for the most part," Xul'Gomoth said, forming the middle of the party, their voice trailing off at the end. "The treasures and stuff don't really mean anything to me."
"Why not?" Garrett asked at the rear of the party. "It seemed like most adventurers here are trying to get the Treasure of Amer-Turul."
"It's the bodies that interest me the most," Xul said, spreading their arms wide. Garrett could see that their arms were stitched together like their face was, a bizarre patchwork of skin tones and textures.
"The bodies?" Min-Tul asked, turning around to face Xul. "What are you exactly? I'm normally not one for Species Bashing, but you don't look like any kind of species that I know of."
"Yeah, that's cause I'm kinda not," Xul said, turning away from Min-Tul's gaze. "Look, I told you it's a long story. Tell you what though. We don't die getting this treasure of Amer-Turul, I'll tell you all the nitty-gritty details."
Advertisement
"Sounds like a plan to me," Garrett said before noticing Min-Tul's gaze.
Min-Tul kept his gaze trained on Xul, not moving at all. "Well, it doesn't suit me. I need to know what you are."
"And what concern is it of yours?" Xul asked back, clearly getting annoyed.
"Because," Min-Tul said, taking off his backpack. He opened it up and showed off a large array of herbs in containers that he had neatly organized within. "If something happens to us, I need to know if I have to use any of my emergency supplies on you. I'm not about to waste precious antidote on a reptilian or risk using holy water on a demon. So, what are you?"
Both Garrett and Xul breathed a sigh of relief as Min-Tul explained. The serious nature of the conversation quickly lightened up as Xul turned their head back to Min-Tul. "Oh, so that's what you were worried about. Look, don't worry. You don't have to use any of those resources on me. Not unless you got a bottle of Dark Xir in there." Min-Tul shook his head. "Then we don't have anything to worry about, both good and bad."
Min-Tul nodded and turned back around, leading the party down into the Darge. Through the hallway they went, the path split into two directions. The left path led downwards deeper into the Darge while the right path led upwards.
"I saw we go right," Xul said, looking at the two paths. "Call it intuition." Min-Tul and Garrett exchanged glances before nodding in agreement. The trio took the right path, being careful of traps. After a few minutes, they came across a large open room. Everyone quickly moved to the side of the walls out of sight. Inside were various creatures made of rock moving all around the room.
Advertisement
"What are those?" Garrett asked, taking a peek into the room before ducking back into the hallway.
"Servants for the Elemental Lord of Earth," Min-Tul said, taking another good look in. "They must be patrolling the area. Guess that means there's something important here they're guarding. We'll have to find another way around, but I think we're close to the treasure."
"Guess I was right," Xul said with a smile on their face.
Garrett looked down at his weapons and flashes of his fights so far appeared in his mind. He turned to Min-Tul and nodded, but something caught his eye. He inched slightly towards the room for a closer look to confirm his suspicions. To his surprise and dismay, there was a large cage in a section of the room where some prisoners were being held. Most of them looked absolutely ragged, but there was one prisoner who stood out. This prisoner had very flashy and gaudy clothing. He appeared to be a large lizard of sorts, but not quite the same as the lizards that Garrett had encountered before. Garrett groaned at the sight of him.
"Come on, we need to find another way into this room," Min-Tul said, waving Garrett to backtrack with them. With a nod, Garrett hurried along. The three of them walked back to where the path they had taken previously split in two. "Alright, let's check this other path." The three of them nodded to each other before heading down. The path slowly grew deeper and deeper into the Darge. The crystals illuminating the walls slowly and slowly began to dim out as they got farther down the path.
"I don't think this path will lead us anywhere useful," Garrett said, noticing the fading light surrounding them.
"Well, we aren't strong enough to face down that room full of guards," Min-Tul said, beginning to prepare a torch.
"Again, I suggested going back to town," Xul said with a smirk, but Min-Tul put his hand in front of their mouth.
"Wait, look." Min-Tul pointed to a large metal door that was embedded into the rock wall.
Cautiously, the trio of adventurers approached the door. There weren't any markings on it or symbols anywhere to indicate what it was or what might be behind it. It seemed to be made out of iron and sounded solid. Xul was the one who nervously placed their hand on the door, the trio breathing a collective sigh as nothing happened.
"Okay, I'm going to open it now."
Garrett nodded and held up his shield, bracing himself for whatever might happen. Min-Tul crouched behind Garrett, giving him some support in case anything came barrelling out of the door. Xul nodded back to Garrett and pushed into the door. The door slowly opened with a loud groan as the gaping maw of the darkness invited them in.
Advertisement
Trailblazer
The story of a man who accidentally wrote another world into existence. Everyone breaks away from their mundane daily life in one way or another. Our protagonist, an unfortunate consequence of circumstance, being no different, often escaped the harsh reality of life by writing stories of an alternate world of swords and magic. Though he recognized the difference between reality and fantasy, he could've never imagined what would happen, when the line between the two blurred as lightning struck down from the skies, and his escapism fantasy became all too real... After he came to, he would soon learn that things in the other world aren't quite as he remembered them to be. The world he wrote of had become but a shadow of its former self. Albeit hesitant at first, he sets off on a quest to find out the secrets behind the Trails, yet even then, he can't help but wonder... Can he really bring his world back to its old glory? —————————— I have never written a story before in my life and now I'm doing so in a language I don't natively speak. Groundbreaking quality is probably not something to be expected, but I do my best to keep things readable. With the necessities out of the way, both constructive criticism and other suggestions are very much welcome, and I'll do my best to take them into account when writing future chapters.
8 420Heroic Chronicles Volume 2: Dawn of the New Beginning
Volume 2: Dawn of the New Beginning. [A High Fantasy + Non OP MC + Worldbuilding + Harem Novel] [This story is written in a Light Novel style] Heroic Chronicles tells the tale of a 17-years old protagonist, Claude Leonheart, a lowly Initiate of the Brotherhood of the Sun whose whole world became one of many trials, and challenges after saving the Kingdom's only princess. As he becomes a hero, a new world now awaits him. Follow his adventures of epic proportions (maybe not) as he encounters various adventures upon adventures and meeting new people during his journey as his life would then be shaped by these encounters for better or for worse. Take the journey with him as he learns his power and responsibilities that comes with it. Becoming a hero is not just about saving girls and slaying monsters. The cover is commisioned and done by: Artist: FatCatInTheBox ***** Before you lot bashes me up with my English etc., consider this: 1. This is my first novel. First conceptualized and written some 23 years ago. Only until last year that I did some improvisations and improvements to what I had kept in the dusty corner of my room all these while. This story sees the light of the day because I challenged myself, that's all. 2. English is the 6th language that I speak.And in RRL, I'm using British English mostly to write my story. 3. Easier said than done. Rather than subjecting me to subjective comments/reviews about the language, point it out and suggest an alternative. One or two would do just fine. It goes a long way. The Pledge - This story shall continue till it ends properly.
8 112The one Player
Jacob, an avid Minecraft player in his free time, touched that damn mirror that looked so much like an End portal. And portalled away he was, because the next thing he knew, blue boxes were everywhere he looked. He could craft items, he could roam around. He could enjoy life! With his extensive knowledge of the game, of the mods, of the playstyle... He knew that he would thrive here, in a world so similar to the virtual one where he had spent so many hours of his life.
8 119The Teru Effect
The god of gambling has decided to play a game with the world. Until someone survives his Quest to the end, every day will be subject to a roll of the cosmic Dice, and it's on the mortals to survive however they fall. The Kingdom of Man has sent the usual heroes, and the usual heroes cannot make it past the first dungeon. With the pressure mounting to solve the bizzare problem, and a single hint from above, they are forced to look for their saviors in the places where Heroes don't come from. Dungeons. Prisons. The Tower of Punishment. [Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge.]
8 135After the End: Serenity
We all want to believe we are heroes of our own story - unless we want to be the villain, of course. At the end of everything, the Final Reaper decided he hadn’t been a hero. Driven by a desire to right the wrongs he was subjected to, he killed everyone who wronged him or his people - which turned out to be everyone that wasn’t killed by someone else first. He'd won - but it was a hollow victory. Eventually, Order’s Voice found a way out. If the only existing being would agree to give up most of his power, the Voice could reset the multiverse to an earlier time with a few minor changes. Of course, the Voice couldn't ask it that way. It could only ask if the Final Reaper was willing to start over from when Earth was first brought into Order. It was an easy decision, and yet it wasn’t. Was he willing to go through eons of pain again to not be alone? Yes. In a heartbeat. Not that his heart beat anymore. Now it would. Perhaps he could even be a hero, this time. When he landed in his old body - more or less - on Earth, the Final Reaper once again became Thomas. He was both and neither. He needed a new name for a new life. Serenity. ------------------------------------------ While this is technically a System Apocalypse story, it's a System Apocalypse that is designed to have a large percentage of the population survive and prosper. There are a lot of problems that come with the appearance of the Voice, and it's entirely possible to lose. Earth has some special opportunities, but also special challenges. The first time around, Earth won the first round and lost the second. Serenity has ten years from when the Voice arrives to prevent that from happening. It will be a group effort; Serenity can't win alone - which is difficult for someone who's been alone for as long as he has. Of course, that's only his second priority. ------------------------------------------- Updates Daily A note on the nonhuman lead tag: He isn't human, and hasn't been human for a very, very long time (or maybe not long at all, depending on how you count it). He still thinks of himself as human, either way. The content warnings are mostly to give me room to write; this fiction is not intended to be edgy, but once in a while a character will swear or someone will get seriously injured. The cover image is a Chandra/Hubble composite image of VV 340 / Arp 302 / UGC 9618. While we're not going to space itself any time soon in the story, people from elsewhere are coming to Earth and Serenity will visit other planets. Plus, I like space imagery. [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 505Acting The Part (Completed)
On the set they're lovers, but off of it actress Taylor and actor Bret are sworn enemies. They couldn't hate each other more. So what happens when they have to play out their roles perfectly, each scene getting more and more daring as they go? Will the love the two characters have for one another turn into a shocking reality for the two actors or will their hatred remain deep in their hearts? RATED R FOR LANGUAGE
8 216