《Paladin: Underworld (Reboot)》Origins: First Blood Part 4
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Months of utter desperation and foolish conviction made me sloppy. Even with my pattern recognition, I should've known better that at least one person would be patrolling the halls no matter what. Though my mistake didn't matter in hindsight, I was already paying the price.
My opponent was a blur, without bothering with questions first as they laid a speedy push kick to my side. I barely managed to block its time, leaving me to slide across the damp floor pathetically. My brain could only translate bits and pieces of the man's language in my blindsided state.
"What doing, here?" the man said.
I couldn't answer him, though, still reeling so hard from his arrival that I seemingly froze.
"Crap and a half. Crap and a half. Crap and a half," I repeatedly thought to myself, unsure what to do amidst seeping dread.
My lack of answer got violently met with a swift kick in the torso, one that sent me spiraling towards the nearest wall. In agony, I clutched my stomach, my eyes watering while a geyser of bile spilled out towards the floor. I didn't need a translator anymore as the Caracal looked down on me in anger and disgust.
Those eyes of his burrowed into my soul as he started to stomp me out. Every blow cut into me more than any knife, making me feel smaller and smaller. Slowly but surely, my screams grew shriller, my vision clouded, and my breaths drew shorter. In a few minutes, They dehumanized me into nothing more than a whimpering wretch in a fetal position.
The sight was so pathetic that the Caracal stopped hitting me, knowing any further pain was necessary. My mind continued the suffering for him, flashing through every humiliation I suffered at the hands of these men in a painful panoramic. Each memory made my body tremble with emotions so powerful my blood boiled. I could only think of one thing before snapping among my storm of frayed thoughts.
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"All I wanted to do was have control over a situation, to make an impact that could last a lifetime. And they took that away from me, snatched any freedom I could ever have. So if I can't have any agency through saving a life," I thought while reaching into my rags, "I'll just have to take it."
As soon as that realization was made, a deathly calm soon overtook me, elevating my senses to a razor edge. Years of medical knowledge found purpose again, seeing my opponent in a new light. His open stance revealed the arteries that screamed fragility, timid bones that could shatter with minimal force, and strained muscles showed themselves to me. All weaknesses screaming for me to exploit.
In the blink of an eye, I hardened my expression, pulling out my hidden shiv and stabbing straight into the Caracal's right foot. Immediately my enemy painfully screamed out, a fact I relished while thinking.
"Dorsalis pedis," I thought coldly.
Without a missing a beat, I followed up with a piece to his heel, instantly sending the man down.
"Achilles tendon," I added on.
The Caracal tried unfurling a pistol, but I didn't dare give him the chance, instead rolling and pinning his free hand down. I sliced into his wrist in one motion, instantly rendering it useless.
"TFCC," I thought once again.
At that point, time seemed to slow me down as I next leveled the crismon shiv straight toward the Caracal's face. For a fleeting moment, we both looked each other in the eyes, realizing there was no turning back. So, in shared acceptance, we gave out one last shaking breath before I said out loud.
"Juglar."
After that, I tore out his neck in a final pierce. It was almost alarming how fast his life faded after that. Blood trickled down like a broken faucet, sapping away his life till his eyes became glassy. Before I knew it, I had completed my first kill, one of many. In retrospect, though, the worst part of the whole thing wasn't the act itself at the time but rather how little I let it register—somehow rationalized in a split second that I was returning a favor. As if that somehow made things better.
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From there, a numbing sensation took me over as I mindlessly trudged into the trophy room with blood-stained hands. I took a second to bask in the various ill-gotten gains from stitched together cloths, precious stones, and hundred-dollar wines. I ignored it as I quickly found the journal Jasmine had told me about near a chair.
All those items, though plagued in comparison to the most glimmering sight. Because to the end of the large room laid a peeking window, showing a sky in twilight. To my eyes, it was the first bit of sunlight I had tasted in over a hundred days. Yet, even that meant nothing to me, as I didn't dare stop. Following instructions Io the letter, I ripped open the cover, revealing the dread button. Mindlessly I entered the code.
"111111," I instinctively pressed, not bothering to muse over Jasmine's laziness.
Once done, I immediately broke the beacon, not wanting any lurking Caracal to take control of it, which left me with arguably the hardest part of the plan: escape. Immediately I started creating routes, gauging my chances of survival. With the key in hand, I could go anywhere and lie low. And without a witness, no one would kno-.
The second I figured that out, I stopped dead in my tracks. If I had escaped now, they wouldn't even know who killed their comrade. Instead, they would cover it up, ensuring it never spread among the prisoner and, eventually, chalking the deed to some coward too weak to own it up. And I refuse to be weak any longer. So in my last act of defiance, I threw all common sense to the wind and waited.
When my fallen opponent's brothers in arms finally came, they would get greeted with a hell of a sight. Because through the last dying beams of sunlight raining down their terrified faces, they saw a bloody being, propped up on a throne and cloaked in nightly shadow. However, to the rest of the world, it was the birth of something far greater. That night, Sarah Walters died, with the Paladin nowhere to get seen. Instead, all that remained was a hunter who saw all the world as her prey.
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At The Precipice
Defenseless. Scared. Alone. That describes the life of Brock Carter as of late. Following his ‘death’ at the hands of a vicious magpie, Brock is rescued by the machinations of the newly instated, all-powerful System and thrust knee-deep into a brutal world catered only to the strong. Fluctuating between two states of being and trapped within a city ravaged by time, he is told to either seek out the mysterious ‘Source’, or die trying. He just hopes he can do it without scuffing his expensive suit in the process. ***** Honestly, I've just always wanted to write a story. I had a crack at it a few years back, but the entire thing fell apart before it even began. At The Precipice was originally written as a way for me to destress and play with System elements and characters, but eventually I decided that if I was gonna write, why not post it too? Writing's just a hobby of mine, so don't expect this to be at published novel level, I guess, or even anything of relative polish. Updates every Mon-Tues-Wed-Thurs-Fri Average chapter length is 2000 - 3000 words ***** What to expect: - A semi-comedic/light tone, mixed in with a gritty world and brutal survival (not ever grimdark though) - An MC that thinks about what he's going to do and why he'll do it, even if his internal logic is lacking. Is a rather rational person, not often influenced by his emotions, but can be in extreme situations. - A plot heavily focused upon the MC, but one that will branch off to envelope the other characters in the world at times. Often, it's just other people's perspectives of him. - A story of power growth. While the MC is certainly going to be powerful, even over 100 chapters in from what I've written, he still isn't the strongest being on Earth, let alone the entire Multiverse. - Lots of gore, vivid fight descriptions, and often times deaths of people, some even somewhat important to the story ***** Things this story will never have: - Harems - An edgy, villainous MC - An MC that does jackshit about things for 'plot reasons'
8 145Falling Star of Evolution
In the year 2230, 5 years before a test reactor that destroyed humanity went off, a pair of wealthy scientists both husband and wife believed the reactor would never work and tried to persuade the World Government to cancel the test but were denied due to lack of hard evidence. The pair of scientists predicting the end of the world hastily returned to their lab and poured all of their resources into their field of work creating an experimental drug that could initiate an evolved state of human DNA that would increase a human's biological adaption in hopes of negating radiation poisoning . At the time they only had enough for a single dose and so made a decision. Using the highest technology of the their era which was labelled """"Black technology"""" which was banned to regular civilians and only allowed for military use , they wiped their only son's memories and instead implanted memories of the greatest martial artists and styles of combat that Earth had ever recorded in hopes he would be able to survive the new world that would be created by the exposure of radiation, placed him in a cryogenic stasis craft and sent him out of the Earth's orbit. However, the test reactor went above their expectations and completely and thoroughly destroyed Earth. The cryogenic stasis craft had been blown into a wormhole and after a few hundred years, it's autopilot had been finally once more been engaged.
8 407Origin Point
Arc 1 - Azzarath:Origin Point begins with a celebration of the arrival of an Immortal, male kitsune. Whereupon he begins to spin the tale of his origins to a gathered crowd well into such a celebration. The story he weaves begins upon his first world, our Earth, where his first body is dying from something incurable. He is then transferred into a game-like world, and gains a new body that is far stronger. However, this game-like world has its own secrets, which causes the MC to be summoned to a new world. It is here, in this new world, where his personality really comes forth, shaking the world to its very core.Arc 2 - Terra:The story continues with the kitsune's new audience, an army of monsters, as they journey from the forests of Nu'Bai and onwards towards the Lichdom known solely as Necropolis. Whereupon they learn of how he conquered worlds within an area known only as The Abyss. There, his past self meets new creatures and annoyances, as he and his continue to grow ever closer to obtaining their world called Terra. Arc 3 - Abyss:War. The end result in a conflict of words which fall upon deafened ears of those who could not come to an understanding; an agreement. Instead, they must fight one another so that one must come out on top in order to shout to the heavens, "I am right; you are wrong!" Thus is the same in this installment within the series of Origin Point, but instead of outright war, the Ageless speaks to a new audience of Gods, Goddesses, Immortals, and their children of how his past self had to venture into the tutorial world known as Terra where he must fight a War of Attrition. This is so, as he must draw out the God reigning over their world so that he may fight and conquer this deity in order to regain what he desires most. His world. His Terra.Special Thanks to Christian Bentulan for creating the covers for Origin Point.https://www.facebook.com/coversbychristian/___________________________________________________________Origin Point was inspired by the games Everquest and D&D, along with the book series Dragonlance, and the light novel Overlord.This story is a dark fantasy full of torturous experiences. It is not for everyone, but it is tempered with some fluff.
8 481Re:BoredBlood
David has always wanted to change his destiny and try again. Well, Destiny gives him the chance and he becomes a bloodsucking fiend who chooses to adventure in broad daylight with the humans and everyone else...Vampire in daylight? Yep, and he needs something to change his boredom and what better way than to slay monsters and meet women at the same time?Btw, this is going to be a fiction I'll do on the side. my other series Martial Morpher will still continue. cover graphic by tara, and background color/text by me
8 152The Legendary Path
Astler is weak, pitifully so. His cultivation refuses to rise despite constant dedication. But Astler doesn't get discouraged, he only tries harder. Astler cannot solve the mysteries of his own body. Can a predestined encounter change his fate? This is a story about a boy and his path to become legendary!
8 59Nihil
While the Allfather and Allmother decided to end their life, all Intelecti moves up into power, while the balance is tipped, something must be done. This is a story about a boy who are different from any current race, he is the first of his kind, and fate await him, to show greatness, or pure destruction.
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