《Semblance of Brutality》Not Your Average Demon Slayer
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Within five minutes of being in the house, Yang and her friend had cleaned their plates... and my fridge. I stand in front of my empty fridge, my mouth hanging open. Behind me, Yang belches as she finishes the last of my food. I turn to the two of them, admittedly more angry than I should be.
"How can two kids eat so damn much?" I ask angrily.
Yang presses her hand to the back of her head.
"Sorry, Qrow," she apologizes.
"'Sorry?' You two have eaten me out of house and home! Now I've gotta use the rest of my Lien on groceries!"
I let out a long sigh. Yang appears much more sincere about her apology than she had a few moments ago. I can't stay mad at them, even if they did eat all of my damn food. I pull out my pocket flask and take a swig.
"Listen," I start, "I'm sorry. It's been an interesting couple days. I didn't think I'd have to use the rest of my money on groceries. Look, why don't you two go do something while I go buy more food."
They nod in agreement before seeing themselves out. I sit still for a moment before yelling "And no eating it this time!" after them. I hear a couple giggles from outside and relax a little more. I wait for a couple minutes before heading out myself. As I leave, I take another swig before screwing the lid back onto my flask and tucking it back into my shirt.
The Haven market is crowded, almost abnormally so. I am barely able to walk two feet before bumping into another oblivious shopper. I hear the sound of a porcelain vase shattering behind me, and tuck my hands a bit deeper into my pockets, hastening my stride. Damn semblance, I think ashamedly. Even if it isn't my fault, I still feel like it is; I guess that's what being a bad luck charm will do to you.
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I make it a point to pick up my groceries as quickly as possible. I grab a couple loaves of bread, some lettuce, a few potatoes, and other, miscellaneous foodstuffs, hardly counting the Lien I throw down as payment. Before I even know it, I am quickly leaving the marketplace with my food in a paper bag. I am almost home when the caw of a Nevermore echoes overhead. Another Nevermore? I ask myself silently.
The ground shakes as it lands over a hill in the distance. I drop my bag of groceries, draw my sword, and begin running towards where the Grimm bird had landed. When I finally near the Nevermore, I see Yang and her friend have already started fighting it. She is using her Ember Celica to keep it off-balance, while Doomguy uses what appears to be some sort of chainsaw-sword hybrid in an attempt to kill the beast. I pull in on a lever on my sword's hilt, transforming it into a scythe.
I dash towards the sinister bird and clip its wings with two accurate slices. It screeches in pain before kicking me backwards. I try to control the momentum, but fail, and end up falling onto my back. I look to Doomguy and shout "Now! While it's distracted!" He nods and, with one slice of his chain-sword, cuts the creature's head off. I stand up and brush myself off as the body of the Nevermore dissolves into ashes.
"Haha! Suck on that, birdie!" Doomguy shouts triumphantly.
"Nice sword," I announce. "Where'd you get it?"
"We had Ruby design it while you were out. Once she got the idea down, we went to the nearest weapon-smith and had them make it," Yang explains.
"That quick?" I ask, a bit astounded at how fast the weapon had been created, especially considering its seemingly-reliable quality.
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"What can I say? Haven smiths are something!" she answers.
"Tell me about it!" Doomguy agrees. "Check this out: not only is it a sword with a freakin' chainsaw blade, but..." he pushes a button on the hilt, "it can turn into a shotgun!"
"I'll admit: it's a nice blade. Make sure it doesn't go to waste," I warn him. "Now, if you two will excuse me, I have to go finish carrying my groceries to my house."
I stow my sword and shove my hands back into my pockets before beginning to walk away. I hear Yang shout "Thanks, Qrow!" from behind me. When I get back to where I'd dropped my bag of food, I see all of it has been lying on the ground, unprotected by the paper bag. "Freaking Grimm..." I grumble to myself while picking up my groceries. When I am almost entirely sure I've gotten everything, I stand up and resume the walk to my house as the sun begins to set.
A couple hours later, I hear the front door click shut. I open one eye, still laying on my back in bed, and listen for any voices or words. When I don't hear any, I grab my sword and quietly make my way out into the living room and see Yang's green-armor-clad friend. I put my sword away and shake my head to myself.
"Where have you been?" I ask from the darkness, startling him a bit and giving me a little laugh.
"Geez, Qrow; don't do that to me," he says, trying to calm down. "And I was with Yang, trying to work on my semblance. We think we came close."
My eyes widen a bit, partially because he'd been with Yang all this time, but mostly because he'd apparently come close to unlocking his semblance. Ah, screw it; this isn't the first time curiosity has gotten the better of me. I plop down on the couch, narrow my eyes a bit, and make unwavering eye contact.
"So," I begin, "How'd you do it?"
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Kernstalion
One release per week [Hiatus in November due to NaNoWriMo] [Changed the Summary based on reader feedback. Thanks guys!] When Mitchel gets a birthday gift from his girlfriend Sandra - a pre-order version of the newest VR game, he is thrilled. Real-life graphics, full-body senses, and a mysterious world that nobody knows anything about seem like a great way to escape real-life for a few months or longer. Two days later, his dreams of a pleasant pastime are shattered. After meeting a rude welcome-NPC, getting a weak starting body, and having a near-death experience, he finds himself sleeping on the ground, cold and filthy. Unable to log-out, he now has frightening dreams where the tutorial-AI is walking around in his body plotting Earth's conquest. If that isn't enough, he slowly realizes that the game might not actually be a game but that he could very well be in another world. Can Mitchel find out what is going on and where Sandra is? Can he regain his own body, and would he still want to when all is said and done? [The Story] What this story is: A LitRPG, portal-like, slow-moving story with a protagonist who has to balance crafting and 'magic' to survive. The books have a pre-thought-out plot and finish. Also, the world is harsh, and things don't always go the MC's way. What it is not: A drama, romance, grimdark, although these elements might appear. I've had some feedback that the intro seems to set up a very rough life for the MC. There is a reason for this, and I hope you give it a try beyond the first few chapters. Do note, this is not an unreasonably harsh novel.
8 198Blood and Soul
Our realm has always been split into two: Those from the old world.And those from the new. When a deadly and magical plague created yet another caste in our realm, those of the new world thought it a punishment from the gods for their destruction and abandonment of their roots, but those in the old world knew the truth. That was to be the beginning of a long and drawn out war between creatures that have roamed the realm for centuries and monsters that never should have came into being.
8 181Sara's (not really) Fabulous System Armageddon, Book I: The World Ended at Rush Hour
Planet Earth, Monday, October 7th, 2019. 18:30 * * On a fateful day, during rush hour in eastern North America, Heavens and Hell crumbled and fell from their higher dimension on Earth. It came from "above" but not the same above we regard in our tridimensional Euclidean reasoning. No, it came from "above" as in from a higher dimension. Bits and pieces of those places fell on Earth from all directions, this time in tridimensional Euclidean space. Satellites, the ISS, and space debris all were wiped clean from orbit. Even those that didn't crash with the falling debris were knocked off orbit by the shockwaves. On the ground, power distribution lines were disrupted and most power facilities were left abandoned by their dead staff. Most of these had emergency shutdown routines that engaged in a few days. Some others had a survivor among their staff that followed protocol and activated their SCRAM switches, stopping the power plant. Long-distance communication disappeared the internet along with it. The world was plunged into technological darkness. Nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand human beings perished immediately in the pulse of magical energy from the torn spatial boundary. Spirits were rent asunder and vanished, their fate neither salvation nor damnation, only oblivion. The criteria used for this culling was latent magic potential. It didn't discriminate against education, gender, age, or ethnic group. But of the around seven million survivors, most would meet their doom moments later. Those on moving vehicles, like the ones driving on highways suddenly had to contend with high-speed uncontrolled cars and trucks driven by corpses. Trapped in their vehicles and helpless, they became part of the long snake of crushed metal. Very few survived. Those in the air or out in the sea were alone and probably unable to control their rides. Airplanes crashed, and ships kept their course or drifted away, depending on their autopilot. Several ended their own lives in utter despair after seeing their loved ones die in front of them. Another large group would die at the hands of other survivors. Violence and aggression became the norm. Only a few sparse pockets of not-so-sane survivors managed to band together and cooperate for the sake of mutual survival. The sole survivor in a five-over-one apartment building in Georgia, a girl became the keystone to humanity's survival. Sara's fabulous System Apocalypse had just started. She has only one remark. It was anything but fabulous. * * Updates every Wednesday and Sunday. Cover V2 credits: CC-BY-SA Midjourney Cover V1 Credits: Consumed, Jennifer Hansen.jpg (CC BY-SA 3.0) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Consumed,_Jennifer_Hansen.jpg John Martin (public domain): - The Great Day of His Wrath - The Last Judgment - Le Pandemonium
8 86The Cardboard Explorer
In an age of magic, space travel and explorations, humans had far surpassed what they were capable of in the past. In a small planet located in a small star sector, a young man name Cade was living his life peacefully. One day, Cade was playing around with cardboard and he suddenly awakened his system. However, an accident happened and the cardboard he played with became part of his power. Followed Cade's journey in making his name as an explorer in the universe.
8 175System 1: LOL System
A guy gets system based on league of legends the game and goes exploring different worlds only having a limited time in each world. Follow Mr. Traveller in his journey of exploring, teaching, learning, and more (frankly haven't thought tooooooooooo far) PS; He will be travelling to ALL kinds of world. EVERY DIFFERENT KIND OF WORLD. From sci-fi to xianxia to magical. Can't be sure about anime or manga world or light novel world for that matter. X-------X------X Just so you know, I don't write to earn just writing cause it is fun. Don't own League Of Legends just using a bit of their character abilities. Again I intend to make no profit.
8 125forbidden love I : yuchae
a cringe yuchae ff story where in, chaeryeong started to have feelings with her step-sister, yuna.
8 170