《THE RELIC GUILD (and other stories) Updated regularly.》CHAPTER FIVE: The Resident (part 6)
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The tram track ran right through to the other side. Dirty lamps fitted to the ceiling above the power line provided a sickly and dim light. Samuel felt his way along. The bricks of the walls were slick with moss. Water dripped. The tunnel ended at a set of iron gates that were already open, almost invitingly. Samuel hung back in the shadows.
Through the gates was a large forecourt where the sleek black bulk of the Resident's personal tram was parked. Beyond it, the wall of the Nightshade served as a vast backdrop. The dark stone was mostly smooth but engraved in places with square maze patterns. The Nightshade stood at the most northern edge, as if it were the head of Labrys Town; and behind it, beyond the mighty, hundred-foot-tall boundary wall, began the endless alleyways of the Great Labyrinth that completely surrounded the town and stretched away into the unknown.
The Nightshade had no doors or windows or obvious entranceways at all; you did not enter this building unless it wanted you inside. There was no checkpoint at the gates, no armed guards roaming the perimeter, for they were not required.
In the forecourt, upon pedestals rising from the ground like evenly-spaced stalagmites, sat eye devices. Unlike the eyes on the streets of Labrys Town, these eyes were full, head-sized spheres, seemingly dead in the dull, fading glow of Ruby Moon. But Samuel knew that these pedestals surrounded the Nightshade and he had only to step into the forecourt to activate the eyes; the milky fluid within them would flicker into illumination, and he would be seen.
Would he be welcomed?
For nearly forty years Samuel had been a bounty hunter. Violence and death had always been his trade, but there had been a time when he'd known a sense of loyalty and duty. Times had changed, and by reputation alone he was now a marked man. In Labrys Town good bounty hunters were always in competition for work, but these days a bounty hunter would hunt and kill his fellow kind simply for being competition. And no scalp came bigger than that of Old Man Sam.
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Samuel's list of friends had dwindled over time; there weren't enough alive now to occupy the fingers of one hand, and those who were left he had spent long years avoiding. He belonged to a past generation, and was sick to the stomach of living his life with one eye looking over his shoulder. How long before someone younger and stronger caught up with him? It was only a matter of time.
Long ago, things had been very different. The Houses of the Aelfir had made life good, interesting – free. But with their departure, the Labyrinth had become isolated. The only things now waiting outside the boundary wall were the wild demons of the Retrospective. The denizens already had all they would ever get. And the man responsible for the change, the source of the nightmare, had returned tonight ... and Samuel had let him take Marney.
The Nightshade and its law loomed before him like a gigantic puzzle box, bland but deceitful. Inside were secrets – secrets and monsters. Van Bam was the current Resident, and few denizens knew much about him at all. But Samuel knew, and he knew well.
Flexing fingers, his face grim, Samuel took a breath and stepped from the tunnel's shadows, through the gates, and into the Nightshade's forecourt. One by one, the eyes on the pedestals flickered and hummed and bathed Old Man Sam in bright light.
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The Butcher of Gadobhra
Life is rough. Jobs are non-existent. And far too many people live in poverty in the real world and can only find work online in VR worlds. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but most of them are destroyed. Now everyone is scrambling to get into the GENESIS Engine, as it becomes the new global market place Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck. Four friends find they are locked into five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money and buy their way to freedom. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways they can take advantage of the system.When they give you a mob and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.
8 160Mythical Conquest
*THIS STORY HAS BEEN REWRITTEN AND WONT CONTINUE HERE! USE THE LINK BELOW FOR THE NEW & IMPROVED VERSION!* Here’s the rewrite link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/20225/young-adversary Because of certain events in his past, Logan Cross isolated himself and did everything possible not to stand out. This is despite possessing a body and mind that far surpassed the normal human. One day when taking his normal route home, through the back alleys, Logan was caught up in an incident that led to him killing a group of men before dying himself. Now finding himself in complete darkness, Logan was offered a second chance at life by the dragon goddess Tiamat. To which he replied: "No thanks. Just make me a panda or something. They have it easy." Tiamat of course denied his wish, and plunged him in a world where every being of myth not only exists, but they even choose champions called Proxies to represent them in a war that decides who rules the world! This is a story about a boy who made it his lifetime goal to eradicate the gods! Watch as he slay gods, demons, heroes, and beasts; and become the Ultimate Evil!
8 193Reincarnated as a Dragonman (On Hiatus)
Marcus was your average teenager, going to school, working part-time and that stuff. After a string of unfortunate events he has died and was chosen by a goddess as one of the 10 who will journey to another world and entertain her. Before, he had to live with what the world gave him. Now, he will force the world to give him what he wants (with a little gift from a certain goddess)
8 131Anchore (Re-Write in Progress)
Not everything can be done without a problem, even when the world come to peace a shadows always lurked to find the opportunity. The Gracia Continent a virtual world created to improve the Arificial intelligent technology have harassed by a constant Virus attack, A researchers along with a few selected students dive inside the Gracia Continent to make it safe with the Anchore. A special device created only to fight inside the new world. Can they keep this peace? Or will the Virus run berserk and make a Chaos on the Earth?# I am still new with this so I have some grammar problem. Please help me if I have some mistake. Enjoy.. note : My grammar is bad, beware of headache and confusion after reading my story...Additional tag : Slow Romance, Misunderstanding, War
8 167The Humble Divine [hiatus]
Game element apocalypse story. Making chapters as i see fit.
8 63MICK SCHUMACHER | EROS
the greek god of erotic love
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