《Immutable》Pitted Against Another
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"I hate everything," Caleb said as he sat tied to a pole in the middle of the Jora ship. The aliens didn't even have the decency to give him something to wear. Though it wasn't like these guys had much in the way of clothing either.
After getting captured the Jora had taken him out of the underground palace and back onto the surface of Varnoss. There Caleb saw the giant asteroid in the sky. He wondered how it sat up there without falling. He never got a chance to ask. The Jora holding him had met up with two of its companions and was gesturing at the asteroid with Caleb in hand.
Whatever was discussed, the two aliens had crouched low and interlocked their hands. Caleb's captor then stood on the other two and curled up into a ball with Caleb inside. Pressed between muscled arms and a robust chest, Caleb could only groan in complaint. He felt a lurch and realized they were sailing upwards.
The Jora uncurled and Caleb saw they were high in the sky and had covered two-thirds of the distance to the asteroid. But they were starting to descend. That was when the Jora chucked Caleb like a ball and he rocketed towards the asteroid at insane speeds. The wind scratched at his eyes and he saw a fiery ring envelop him as he shot into the stone headfirst. He smacked against it hard enough to create a small crater from the force.
Another Jora had been standing by and grabbed at Caleb. Once again he was subject to the insane whims of these creatures. He was pulled in every direction, his head twisted as far as it could go, and he had even been submerged under some sort of oily liquid for long times. Finally, the aliens had stopped messing with him and tied him to his current abode.
Caleb retched as one of the Jora scratched at their nether regions covered by a crude loincloth. To distract himself, he imagined what would happen to him. Maybe surviving all these tortures meant he was to be their king. Or maybe they were trying to tenderize him to cook. It was most likely the cooking one, eighty twenty odds he assumed.
A smaller Jora, what Caleb assumed to be a child, ran up to Caleb and tried tugging one of his fingers off.
"Could you not?" He asked.
The Jora babbled something and grabbed at a toe.
Caleb sighed. It wasn't even fun to quip. The aliens didn't understand him and didn't react to anything he said.
"You guys are killing all the fun!" He yelled.
The Jora grabbed at his mouth and tugged with curiosity. Unable to speak clearly, Caleb sat in stoic silence while the child pulled his lips every which way. The Jora then grabbed at Caleb's teeth and played amateur dentist, only stopping when a larger Jora came to grab Caleb.
He was tugged off the pole like a fish off the line and was brought into the center of a circle of Jora. The aliens were all hunched over and covered in wrinkles. Caleb was placed in front of the oldest one, or at least the most wrinkled, and his captor spoke in its indecipherable tongue.
The old one listened, twisting its body so their ears could hear the younger Jora. Caleb struggled at the ropes as they talked. He knew he wasn't in any true danger but he didn't like being tied up like a captured pig. He tugged at the ropes with all his strength, not having to worry about it biting into him.
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The younger Jora finished his speech before Caleb could break the ropes. In one quick motion, they grabbed Caleb and presented him to the old-timer with all four hands. The old Jora took Caleb with two of its four hands and tried to pull him apart.
"How much déjà vu do I have to go through today," Caleb grumbled.
The old one finished with their inspection and moved Caleb to one hand. They nodded to the younger Jora, which caused a whooping from every Jora in the circle. Their mouths moved rhythmically in their popping laugh while the younger Jora threw all four hands in the air in celebration.
"The heck is going on?" Caleb said. He struggled in the grip of the monster, unable to break free.
A few of the old Jora's eyes turned to Caleb. Seeing he wasn't about to escape, they turned back to the young Jora who was now pulling a second into the ring to dance. The ring started to clap and drum as the two whirled around, stomping their feet in time to the beat. The dance finished when the young Jora offered all four hands to the other and they took them with all four of theirs.
More cheering resounded and the two embraced in a hug. As the cheering died down the old Jora stood and walked over to the couple. He grabbed his loincloth, pulling off a strip and handing it to the younger Jora. The Jora took it and wove it into their loincloth. As he finished the circle stood and bowed.
"Seriously, what in the world?" Caleb said.
With that, the old Jora walked over to a small cave with Caleb in hand. The inside was a humble living quarters. Cloth scraps mimicking a bed sat in one corner and a small alcove of food sat next to it. The old Jora brought Caleb past that and into a tunnel. They moved in darkness for some time, Caleb still struggling to break free.
The tunnel opened up into a larger cave. Inside Caleb saw all manner of precious gems and metals. Uncut diamonds, lumps of titanium, and other unknown materials littered the cave. Caleb stared at the treasure trove in amazement as the old Jora threw him down into it.
Caleb landed on a heap of gems. He turned back to the alien and saw the old one was already leaving.
"Was I seriously just some present for an old guy?" Caleb said. "And are they really this dumb? I can easily cut these ropes with the stuff here."
He went to work finding a slightly sharp piece he could use to saw the ropes off and found a shattered piece of metal that would work perfectly. With a few motions he sawed the ropes off and freed himself.
"Right," He said. "Time for a stealth mission."
He walked back towards the place the old alien had thrown him and looked for a way up. He noticed there were holes in the side at regular intervals. The only problem was he was terrible at climbing.
"Stupid unchanging body with no upper body strength," He grumbled as he put a hand on the first foothold.
The way up was slow going. His muscles tensed up at around the halfway mark. He hugged the wall as close as he could for some rest, the stone cool on his skin. Finally, after what felt like hours, Caleb heaved his body over the pit edge and collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.
"Stupid. Body." He said between gasping breaths.
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He didn't get time to rest. While he was on the ground, another Jora came through another tunnel, this one holding onto a metal stick all too familiar.
"Bat!" Caleb exclaimed. And then realized his error. The Jora hadn't seen him quite yet but his outburst made sure of it. With a quick leaping bound over the pit, the monster landed right next to Caleb and looked down at the exhausted man.
Unable to move, Caleb was picked up again and tossed over into the pit with Bat. The two clattered onto the ground, surrounded by metals.
"Damn it, me and my big mouth," Caleb said.
Bat rolled onto the ground next to him, smile facing Caleb.
"Yeah I'm happy to see you too," Caleb replied.
He spent some time catching his breath and then grabbed Bat. "Alright, now what?" He said to himself.
He still had the rope, and now he had Bat. Maybe he could make some kind of grapple to help him get up. Make it so he wasn't as tired. It still kinda amazed him that these aliens hadn't done anything to trap him in.
The universe decided to answer his thoughts with the roof slamming down onto the top of the pit, enveloping Caleb in darkness.
"Oh come on!" He cried.
Now that it was pitch black Caleb couldn't see anything around him. His feet connected with several pieces of treasure as he shuffled towards the edge of the wall.
"Stupid universe and its stupid timing," He grumbled.
His hand hit the wall after a short walk. With nothing left to do, Caleb turned his back to the wall and leaned against it. He sighed. "At least I have you with me Bat."
Bat nodded in agreement.
Light spilled into the pit, emanating from the holes in the sides. And then Caleb felt something fall onto his shoulder.
"Aaah!" He screamed involuntarily. He brought Bat over to swipe at the thing. A slug of some kind fell off his shoulder.
It was the same neon swamp green as the Jora, but had none of the aliens features. A large mouth sat at one end, serrated teeth lining the edges like a lamprey. It landed on the ground and slithered towards a piece of titanium.
Caleb watched in fascination as the slug crawled up to the titanium and stuck its mouth on one end. He heard the grinding of teeth against metal. The slug bit into the titanium like a cracker and munched in delight. "Oh that can't be good," Caleb said.
More of the slugs were falling out of the holes, making their way towards the treasure trove on the ground. Caleb did his best to stay out of the way, kicking at any slugs that had the curiosity to check him out. He made his way to a side of the pit that had less of the slugs. He held Bat up like a sword and prepared to hold out.
The slugs chomped everything. Diamonds were shattered and titanium bitten through as the slugs gorged themselves. Caleb noticed that they grew as they ate, their bodies enlarging. Once they reached the size of a small child legs started to grow and a cone shaped head appeared.
They were baby Jora. And they were eating some of the strongest materials Caleb knew of for breakfast. Soon, the materials ran out and Caleb was the only meal, aside from Bat, left. Some of the slug children waddled over to him on stumpy legs while others slithered along the ground. A few others had decided that their fellow brethren were a quicker meal and were tearing into them.
Caleb circled around the monsters, easily outpacing the slow pace of the baby Jora. More and more were devoured by each other until only a few stood ready. Each had grown out their legs and their cone heads held multiple mouths. Infantile ears and eyes were starting to grow in as well. These Jora had fully grown two of their arms while the final two were poking out the sides.
The final few turned to Caleb with watering mouths. Caleb held up Bat. "I'm not looking to be baby food fellas."
Bat shook in Caleb's hands. He looked down. Bat was trying its best to put Caleb between it and the monsters, jerking Caleb's arms so they flailed behind him.
"Bat you're the weapon here, not me!" Caleb accused.
Bat stopped to give Caleb a look with its smiling face. Caleb grumbled, "Fine, we'll both run." He was tired of these aliens pulling at him.
He dodged past an awkward swipe from one of the Jora and went to the opposite end of the room. The few remaining Jora turned in stupid slowness which gave Caleb time to make a plan. He knew he couldn't outrun them if they all worked together but maybe he could get the final few to attack each other instead.
As they all moved to attack Caleb, he dodged behind the outermost enemy and pushed them into the others. The Jora fell into the others, knocking everyone onto the ground in a heap. They scrambled over each other to stand up and along the way one got upset and punched out.
The punch connected and caused another Jora to rage. Soon, the entire group was punching and kicking at each other in a frenzy. Caleb wasted no time. He rushed over to the edge of the pit and started to climb the side.
He made it up to the roof of the pit when the last Jora screamed out in triumph. He looked down around his should and saw one single Jora standing, the size of the young one he'd seen earlier. Four arms pounded its chest in triumph and clear eyes stared out. They saw Caleb up top and jumped up to grab him.
Except the creature didn't know its own strength and crashed into the roof, cracking and shaking it with the impact. It fell to the ground, stunned. Caleb tried to shimmy out away while the monster was out of it. But it stood after a few seconds and jumped at him again.
This time the monster connected with Caleb headfirst. With a meaty thwack the head connected with Caleb's back and rebounded. Once again the Jora fell in a heap. It stood and tried again, but put more power in it than before and struck the roof again.
The second time the roof was struck Caleb noticed it had shifted in the air, leaving enough space to escape if he timed it right. He turned to the monster below, watching to see when it would jump. It was picking itself off the ground. Caleb noticed it had no privates. So why did they wear loincloths?
The momentary distraction almost cost him. The monster moved and jumped straight at Caleb. "Ohshit," He breathed. Caleb jumped stepped over to another foothold while the Jora sailed through the air, putting him far enough away that the creature would strike the roof instead of him.
But Caleb was luckier than he thought. The creature hit the corner of the pit and the roof, squeezing himself through both and acting as a wedge. It struggled helplessly between the heavy stone, four arms trying to find purchase to push them out.
"Ooh, tough break man," Caleb said as he passed by. "Don't worry, I'm sure someone will come and get you."
Finally out of the pit, Caleb picked a random tunnel and walked out of it, Bat at the ready. About halfway through the tunnel the whole area shook, stumbling Caleb.
"Oh now what?" He complained.
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Tomb Raider King
The tombs of the gods have appeared in the world!People who were able to collect the artifacts inside these tombs could use the abilities of heroes of lore, granting them wealth and power.Then, an unknown Tomb Raider who started to loot those artifacts suddenly appeared.He is known as the Tomb Raider King."Damn it, this is driving me nuts! That damn bastard looted everything here too!"What's yours is mine. What's mine is obviously mine.The Tomb Raider who revived in the past after his death will start to take every tomb in the world for himself!
8 639Entangled Fates Book 1 - Quantum Beginnings
“By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.” —Eliezer Yudkowsky Hey all, we're moving over to book 2. This content is in a state of transition. The book is now availble on Amazon (includes extra chapters): https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B07W1534R8 Artificial intelligence was nearly mankind’s last invention. AI took off like a rocket, then when it racked up an impressive death toll, it crashed before it could blossom and took most high-tech industries with it. Resistance and fears became deep-set. Two decades after the infamous Rev. 4.6 incidents, humanity hasn’t quit dreaming of the wealth and power that could be at their fingertips. A new generation of mega-corporations rose from the ashes. When one melds a quantum computer to a barely functional mental patient as a PR move, there are those who seek to profit, those who want to destroy it, and Alex. Alex Sage is a typical college student trying to keep up his grades and maybe find a meaningful connection with the fairer sex. Then, an automated semi crashes into his home, killing his family and turning his head into a pin cushion in the process. Alex awakens to find most of his memories gone and an illegal AI hidden in his brain implant. Now the pet project of a tech billionaire and heavily in debt, Alex struggles to stay valuable enough to be kept online. Still grappling with the repercussions of his injuries, and threats from a dangerous anti-augmentation political movement, there are no easy answers and threats loom around every corner. Alex must use whatever resources he can to escape from under the thumb of a ruthless corporation, while keeping those he comes to love safe. Chapters will stay up on RRL until Aug 10. It'll go up on Kindle Unlimited after that. How do you get those extra chapters I didn't have planned for RR? If you want them, they'll be in the published book. Book 2 will still make sense without them - I made sure of that. But... isn't $3 a lot for extra chapters? Think of it as tipping me for a good job and you'd also be getting my eternal thanks. If you enjoyed it so much that the idea of missing out a few chapters haunts you, I did my job as an author and made an engaging story. What's in those extra chapters? Resolving a few issues, set up for the cybernetic revolution, a rather intense sex scene with a new partner, revelations of who's really pulling strings, and a bit of set up for book 2. Complaints that people missed out on it when it was published here won't help (sorry!). I posted this for the folks who helped me shape the book, which is you all! (Again, yay!) But... Why! Why not keep it all on RR forever? My editor likes being paid for one. For two, I'd like the ability to get broader readership. If I break even on editor costs, I'll be incredibly happy. What about book 2? Drafts for Book 2 will go up around Sept 10. My draft of Book 2 is done, and it will be handed to the editor once Book 1 is published. Feedback has been even more positive. Beta readers devoured it and wanted more. I'll add a link to Book 2 once it's up on RR. I'm more or less, using you all for Beta Readers, so you get it before it's "canon" and edited. I invite active and meaningful feedback during this process. In return, you get early access to chapters. That does mean that the book content or plot might be adjusted before it gets published as I refine it. Sex Y/N? Yes. I heard the feedback, 90% wanted it explicit. You all will get the "full" experience. Will I dump all of book 2 here? Honestly, I'm not sure yet. At a minimum, it'll be up to the 75% mark as we collect feedback, much like what I did with book 1. It really depends on how good the feedback is and how nice people are. Lots of support + meaningful feedback to make it better = higher likelihood you get all the book. Will be it up here indefinitely? No, it'll probably go up on KU at some point, but I'll make sure there's enough time for a large readership to grab it here. Then we move to book 3 which already is around 60K words already. What about other adventures in the same universe/characters? Yep. Absolutely. Nothing ready to share yet though. I plan to keep those side chapters and more slice of life stories as RR exclusive. Since I'm carving this off in book-sized segments, I'll have to figure out where those disconnected story arcs belong. I'm open to suggestions.
8 142The Champion's Ring
After Chen Yi received a bunch of Criticism due to his poor performance, he decides to end it all, and put his miserable life to a end, as his last breath draws near, he opens his eyes, only to find himself, lying on a bed, and as he opens them, he hears a voice, which tells him, congrats on waking up.
8 143Fallen Blood
Born with a mysterious force inside him that makes him aware of the bad intentions others have for him, Karim has lived his life devoid of answers. As a child, being able to notice the envy, hate, jealousy, hatred and despise from others regardless of how well they hid it behind insincere smiles was too much for him. So his family, the Noble House Night, unable to understand his affliction, labeled it a mental demon and sent him to live in isolation. What is this mysterious force? Why does it reside within Karim? What lies in store for him when he eventually returns to the family?...who knows. One thing's for sure though, nothing is as it seems. Fate is at play.
8 146Blue Road
Richard didn't heed his guardian's warnings about the mysterious and shady place from the flyer he came across. He wanted a big break and a chance to make quick and easy money, but never expected to find himself tricked and caught in a twisted experiment conjured up by scientists. Transformed into a monstrous blue, blob-like creature, Richard flees the scene in a panic. He teams up with a ghostly child named Fawn, who wants revenge on her parents' killer, and leaves town to find the one responsible for their (recently) destroyed lives. Federal Agents, corrupt corporate heads, shady scientists, and even the police are all on his trail. Richard will need to use his newly honed skills to uncover the truth of who's really behind the scenes, and who to trust. What will they uncover? [Heads up, it's going to be a slow burn, and will take a while for the story to really get going.]
8 534Ant Tensei (Original) and (Redux)
A WhiteSamurai original Web Novel _______________________________________________________________ :Redux Synopsis: _______________________________________________________________ . . . The Official WhiteSamurai Rewrite of Ant Tensei: Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, yet for some reason it has always repeated itself. The tides of destiny and the passing of time are unstoppable forces that dictate our lives and paths. Yet, within a single point in time, within a single universe, on a single planet, a single being was born of tragedy and suffering, to break this cycle. This man, was named by those who followed him, as Aristocles. Through sheer willpower and an unparamount tact through wisdom gained with research and study to become closer to being human himself, he became something more, more than just human. Over time he became hope, a hope in a better tomorrow, a hope in a future. No matter the crisis at hand, this man eventually rose up to defend humanity in their darkest hour, nearly leading them to a great victory. It was then, that they destroyed the world?! Join us in the journey of life, death, and hope that was forged by this unbelievable spirit. A journey of pain, a journey of enlightenment, a journey left behind into the chronicles of the universe, and well, a journey as an Ant... Well, no matter how far into the future one goes, none will ever say that this life failed to make a difference. . . Status: [Ongoing] . . . _______________________________________________________________ :'Original'Synopsis: _______________________________________________________________ . . . Aristocles was no normal guy. Living his life on the edge of insanity and daring, he led the charge on every military campaign you can think of. He toppled governments and seized control over nearly half of his world in less than a few years of beginning his military campaigns. Nearly a decade into his reign, aliens from another world invaded his world. With his whole race on the line, everyone swore fealty to him in hopes for victory. When taking the field, he and his forces took the field, they easily drove the aliens to the brink of defeat. Just when it seemed the day was saved, Aristocles came across what seemed to be the ground leader. """"Do you yield"""" Aristocles stated with a mighty and intimidating voice. """"Blow up the planet"""" was the response. In the next moment, Aristocles looked into the sky as a beam came to pierce his planet. His last words were """"You cheated"""" """"So?"""". Upon his death Aristocles heard """"This one has finally died, though his world is gone, will now reincarnate in different universe. Error, memories retained, changing reincarnation to ant, solution verified, confirm."""" Just like that, Aristocles woke up to discover that he was a larva in a small ant hill. Not only that, but he could see an experience bar and hp bar in the corner of his eye [HP:1] [MP:0] [EXP: 0/1]. How will Aristocles survive as the weakest being you could possibly think of? Join me in the great adventure of ANT TENSEI! . . Status: [Being Re-written/ Discontinued/On Hiatus] 'Final' Chapter: Chapter 14 . . . _______________________________________________________________ :Official Rewrite Notice: _______________________________________________________________ . . . As of May 18th, 2015, the particular version of Ant Tensei now being titled 'Original' was discontinued in favor 'Redux', the official rewrite of the novel. The reason being that I wasn't actually taking it seriously for more than half of the chapters. All of my Fantasy-Styled works were never originally intended for publication, but after a surprising amount of attention during the initial weeks of release on a different medium, the decision was made to develop my Fantasy-Styled works at my professional level. This decision has thus sparked the decision to Re-Launch Ant Tensei as "Ant Tensei Redux". If there are still a number of those still interested in the old version of the story that was written as a way to relieve myself of excess time, then i'll eventually look into reviving the original intent for Ant Tensei Original and draft off an independant series for it under the title "Ant Tensei Original". For now, however, "Ant Tensei Redux" shall be the only version being progressively developed and released. Please share your thoughts on this early version of my original novel, Ant Tensei. There were 14 chapters of Original released before the development of Redux began, the chapter 7.5 special not included. . . . Enjoy the work. ~White Overall Status: (Ongoing)
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