《The Account of the Golden Bamboo》In the sin of his we live (1)
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A few weeks have passed since that night. Bern and Ev continued taking care of Tar, giving him two meals a day, and although Tar complained inwardly about the bland food, he still felt extremely grateful to Bern and Ev.
Often, Tar had this blank look on his face and sometimes, even silently cried at night. Whenever this occurred and Bern and Ev happened to see it, they would steal a glance at each other, and thought to themselves to not press him for information.
One day, Tar woke up with Ev sitting beside him, smiling at him. After a few blinks, he made out Ev’s plump cheeks that were in front of him, and he was surprised that he felt calm and refreshed despite all that happened some weeks ago. This made him feel a bit guilty.
After a very modest breakfast with Bern and Ev, Tar was told to go somewhere with them. Tar wanted to ask where he was being led to, but he stopped himself when he saw the seriousness of their expressions. It was about half an hour’s worth of walking distance, but since his leg was not healed completely, they took a little over an hour to get there.
At the centre of the temple, there were three incense sticks, whose tips burned out long ago. Looking past them into the main hall, Tar saw the many stone tiles on the wall, all of which had names engraved onto. Bern replaced the three incense sticks with three new ones and lit them on fire by striking a flint, before walking into the main hall and clapping three times. Ev and Tar followed what he did.
“Say your greetings to the young man there,” Bern pointed to a stone tile. “Happy birthday, son.”
Tar learned that Bern’s full name was Bern Compass, and Bern and Ev were married for over thirty years. They had a son named Dhar, who died defending Eustacia at the young age of eighteen. “So the calligraphy was probably Bern’s farewell gift to him before Dhar went to the front line,” Tar thought.
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“Back when those Tzappians lusted upon our land and invaded us, Dhar fought in the front line. In that battle three years ago, we had those grey rats surrounded. But that traitor… That traitor!” Bern fumed. “I don’t know what deal that traitor made with those rats… But he turned his back on his comrades. His army betrayed us in the middle of the battle!
“And it was all downhill from there. After no more than a few weeks, the grey rats and the Traitor’s army headed east. That’s where Dhar died defending East Frey. I still remember the day Vidi brought my boy’s body back home. How shocked we were… How empty everything felt…”
Tar noticed Bern’s voice started shaking and Ev’s eyes became moist. “They lost their family just like me…” He thought. He couldn’t help but tear up a bit when he was reminded of his father.
“That traitor, heh, finally met his end. I wish I was there to witness it,” surprisingly, it was Ev who said this with a smirk. “I wanted to look him in the eye and see how he struggled to live like a cockroach, how his eyes dimmed as he remembered all the terrible things he’s done, how his body shrivelled as he pleaded for his life… I want to see it!”
Tar jumped a bit inwardly when he heard what she said. Wanting to change the subject, he asked, “He died?”
“Oh yes, just yesterday,” Ev smiled in relief. “During the big fire at the Amber Manor.”
There was a feeling of wrongess but he could not pinpoint it. “Is it the terrible things that have happened to the old couple? Is it Ev’s sudden shift in attitude? Or is it…?” He couldn’t think of a reason. He didn’t want to think of the reason. But he had to confirm it. There was no way… right?
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“And who is the Traitor?”
“Remember well, Tar, his name, so you can spit on his grave if you ever come across it,” Ev answered coldly. “It’s Torc Im.”
Tar’s heart sank. It took him all his might just so his knees would not give out. He could not believe what he just heard.
“It’s impossible! Papa is not some traitor! Papa is my Papa!” He argued internally. “But all the new people we met when we moved three years ago… They were all very tall. And had beautiful grey hair. And long names too. Are they… Tzappians? But they were not ruthless like how Bern and Ev said those filthy Tzappians were! But then again…”
He stood in place, mouth wide open. The old couple merely thought that Tar was surprised by how they lost their son.
“Eustacia turned into what it is now because of him,” Bern said. “Millions suffered and still are suffering because of one man’s betrayal, because of his sin.”
He paused for a while and let out a sigh. “Even though Im is the most popular family name in Eustacia, if possible, you shouldn’t mention it. Promise me?” He asked concernedly.
“Ye-yes. I’ll do that,” Tar replied, suppressing the urge to defend his father.
After getting a quick meal nearby, the three of them walked back home to find a slim man with long wavy black hair, roughly forty years old, standing outside, holding a small brown pouch.
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Silver Amelia
Amelia used to be a positive, brimming girl loved by those around her. Once tragedy had befallen, her view of the world has changed. Her sight was no longer filled with blooming flowers. Her eyes bore those of an actor. Her body knew what true pain was. Lastly, her heart was filled with the resolve to continue her Grandfather's legacy. The dream of a world that accepted diversity. However, in a series of events, Amelia was jolted with another realization. The ancestors of her family, Laurel's Royalty, descended from a being far from what humans could call a relative. Now, her ancestral blood forcefully awakened by a grand scheme, Amelia found herself unsure of her own identity and purpose. Would she live as a human and only lay the foundations for diversity? Would she accept her newfound identity and become immortal? Even so, no matter what option she chose, she needed to prepare on how to accommodate the Heroes summoned from another kingdom. _____________________________________ Author's Notes: This novel is a participant of WriTE This novel will be re-written after I finished it and gained more experience in writing. Anyway, feel free to join Amelia's journey. My first work. Light gore only. Added traumatizing content just in case. Comedy is less prioritized when the story moves. Tags will be added as the story goes. Feedbacks are appreciated. Release schedule: 1-3 chapters per week (Updates on Weekends) Unknown Chapters: Stalled (Read at your own risk, but the continuation will be posted at a later time) Feel free to join this discord: https://discord.gg/duFTzZr *Cover is mine.
8 117The Chronicles of Artharian Dagworth
Back in 2020 there were many theories on how the world would end. From the many religions apocalypses, nuclear wars that would leave the planet inhabitable, global warming doing the same, biological weapons getting out of control, viruses mutating into unstoppable diseases to the dead raising to prey on humanity, either due to a virus or just because hell filled up. Also, aliens, from the war mongering kind to the ones so advanced they didn’t see us as more than worms. And of course there was the fail proof theory that the world would end when the sun died. In a bunch of billion years give or take. Althougth some new scientist were discussing if the end would be on the take side, since when the sun started dying things would go haywire on the entire solar system and we would collide with mercury or maybe mars way before the expanding sun engulfed earth. But I digress… Now, those were the mainstream theories that the everyday Joe, who didn’t know the big secret, worried about. So, if you were to ask me which theory was correct I can tell you that I haven’t seen any little green man, at least not from another planet, and so far the sun is still shining, although it’s been only 9 years since everything went to hell, not the few billions (give or take) the scientist predicted, so that one isn’t ruled out yet. These two aside, I'd say all of them. Hey everyone, this is my first attempt at writing. I have been planning to do it for a really long time, and while this is not the one epic fantasy idea I ever wanted to write, I think it's a good one. The plan is to write an end of the world urban-fantasy series. Think a world like Dresden Files, Alex Verus, Iron druid, where magic is real but exist hidden from society meets the apocalypse. It will be written in first person in the Dresden Files style, no plans for other POV for now. As you probally alredy guessed from my style, english is not my first langague, so while google corrector helps, expect grammar errors, and I'd be gratefull for anyone to point them. I plan to write 2 to 3 chapters a week, 2000-4000 words each. Might change as I get more experience and depends on my free time. Cover image from the colections of getwallpapers.com
8 188The Single Lightning Elemental Magus
Lear-bane H. Selverbern is born in a world of magic, but there is a twist in such a fantasy world. In his world, every 5 years people as young as 14 years old must fight (And most died due to severe injuries) with other countries' magicians with their magic. Lear-Bane volunteers to participate in such a violent and death-taking game. Read as he utilizes his power to dominate everything we know.Read as Lear-Bane will challenge even the whole world to protect those he cares about, all in the hope of accomplishing his dreams, creating a better place, even if he have to make the world suffer and hates him first....---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If there is anything that need clarification, just write it in the comments and i'll explain. Thank You. (Art work not done by me, i do not own copyrights of art-work)
8 103Fluffy Tails and Horned Heads
A man, a martyr, sacrificed for the good of humanity, is now confronted with the lack of body. someone not calling themselves a god in any way decides that the only way is reincarnation, whether the man likes it or not. :3 ah, yes, the classic reincarnated as a monster trope in a fantasy world of magic and stuff. funsie funs. I'm not gonna come and say I've turned it on its head or anything, I'm just gonna say that the main character is a rabbit, he does not have any knowledge of any o these types of novels, the "god" character is not a god in any way, the evolution process is gradual and there are no screens telling him all the usual information like "what is that" in summary, don't expect anything great, but I hope you'll be along for the ride. :^))
8 181The Reborn: Book One
[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]What would you do with your second chance? Chance was living the high life: He had his dream job, an amazing wife, and generally was happy. All of that changed when Chance was killed in a “freak accident.” Without having any memories, Chance must learn how to survive this new world. Follow Chance and his new partner, Sage, as they advance in this new world. With the realms hanging in the balance, they must work together to stop the forces behind the corruption. The Reborn is a series that borrows from RPGs. Characters have classes, abilities, and more.
8 128Transmigrated Into a Blind Woman’s Body
"What?!?!” Seeing nothing in her view, she then opened her eyes that had a blindfold covering around her eyes. Seeing colors appear before her as she saw blue in her view, then feeling sadness from above which made her heart ache. ‘Is this… another sense… for my eyes.’ Thinking about it, she did not know if any of this was real or not. “Ning’er! Your awake!” Hearing a woman say, she was hugged by the woman when she could not see who they were. “My silly daughter! Why did you jump into that pond?!” Hearing the woman crying, she had no idea who this was. ‘W-Where did I end up at?!’ Not knowing where she had gone, her mind ran with thoughts since the last thing she could recall was the sound of the bus that she took crashing. *** Time skip… “Are you really fine with a blind woman like me as your wife?” Lin Ning asked the man who had proposed to her. “How many times have I told you.” Wrapping the woman with his single arm, he sealed her lips with his. “Do not ever call yourself a blind woman. You are the woman that I chose out of all of them.” “But…” “Do you regret falling in love with this cripple man?” Cutting her off, he did not allow her to finish.
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