《The Juggernaut》Eleven
Advertisement
The stalls either side of them were almost buried beneath piles of scrap metal, pipework and cables. It looked like someone had torn apart some huge machine and left the pieces where they fell.
Malachi poked around for anything he thought might be useful while Ellie settled herself beside Tila.
Ellie ate her portion delicately, one piece at a time.
Tila wolfed hers down, then checked the stallholder was looking the other way. ‘Is he looking for new tech?’ she asked Ellie as she surreptitiously wiped her fingers on the cloth draped over the table.
‘You mean old tech,’ said Ellie.
‘What’s new in this place?’ said Malachi. He had finished his segments too and was using both hands to look for buried treasure. He seemed fascinated by everything on offer, but as far as Ellie and Tila were concerned it was still only junk.
Ellie delicately sucked orange juice from her fingertips. She hated getting her hands sticky. ‘I don’t know what you expect to find,’ she said to Malachi. ‘Nothing that old is going to work, anyway.’
‘What if I told you that I was looking for something for your racer?’
‘Oh, then please carry on!’
‘Anyway, Tila’s staff is old and works fine,’ Malachi replied without looking up. ‘It’s paleotech for sure.’
‘So you keep saying, but we don’t know if it’s paleotech,’ said Tila, dismissing his opinion with a wave of her hand. ‘We don’t even know what it’s made of.’
‘All the more reason,’ Malachi said as if this were obvious. ‘You have to admit that it checks all the right boxes.’ He counted off fingers. ‘One, we don’t know where it comes from. Two, we don’t know what it’s made of and three, we don’t know what it’s for or how it works. Uh, four. So it must predate the war.’
Advertisement
‘So how do you know it works properly if you don’t know what it does?’ said Ellie.
‘I know how it works, and I know it’s a weapon. And I know without it I wouldn’t be here now,’ Tila said. ‘I don’t need to know any more than that.’
‘Maybe you should find out what it’s worth,’ urged Ellie. ‘Then we can buy our way out of here.’
‘I’m not selling it. Ever. We’ve come a long way together. It’s worth too much to me.’
‘But how much is it worth to me?’ Ellie said with a grin.
There was a cough behind them. ‘Excuse me, ladies, did one of you mention paleotech?’ His eyes darted to the short staff on Tila’s back, evidence enough he had overheard their conversation.
‘It’s not for sale,’ Tila said quickly.
‘Oh, I understand! Really, I do. But items like this don’t pass through here every day. Could I at least look at it? Maybe I can tell you what it’s worth?’
‘It’s not for sale, there’s no point. I don’t care what it’s worth,’ repeated Tila.
‘You don’t care what it’s worth?’ He sounded appalled at the idea. ‘But it could be ancient tech, before we lost contact with Earth. It could even be from Earth! How can you not want to know?’
‘Because none of that matters to me. I don’t care where it came from, or how old it might be. It’s mine now.’
‘But…’
‘It’s not for sale, and no, you can’t touch it.’ Tila said firmly to stop him leading the conversation where she knew it was going. ‘And stop romanticising everything, you too, Malachi. It was barely a hundred years ago we lost contact with Earth. It’s hardly ancient technology.’
Advertisement
He grumbled something, realised there was no profit to be made and vanished behind his stall, muttering to himself. A few seconds later he reappeared with a broom. This time he was brusque and demanding. ‘You can’t sit there.’
The girls looked up into a scowl that resembled a face.
‘You can’t sit there. You have to move,’ he repeated.
‘We’re not in the way,’ protested Ellie.
‘You can’t sit there. This is my space for my trade. Clear off. You want to sit there you can rent the space.’
Ellie tried again. ‘We weren’t in the way a moment ago. We’re not stopping anyone. Tila?’
‘Come on, Ellie. Not today. I’m trying to be less confrontational, remember?’
They gathered their things. Malachi reluctantly tore himself away from the parts on offer. Tila held her staff close to her body to ward off curious hands. Ellie continued to grumble, and together they dived back into the fast-flowing waters of the market.
Advertisement
The Realm Beneath: A Dungeon Story
This is the story of a dungeon, not a reincarnated soul or a human trapped in a soul gem, but a dungeon. Born as a dungeon, it lives as a dungeon, and kills like a dungeon. Guided only by its experiences, vague ideas and knowledge from somewhere else and the mysterious system that greets it upon awakening it strives to build and live and learn. Immerse yourself in the tale as you read about the dungeon and the adventurers that challenge its depths, puzzles, traps and creatures. Read about the realm beneath as a world comes to life within a mountain in the centre of the land. Forests, swamps, deserts, tundra and more can all be found in the cavernous chambers that blossom with life. Author's note. There is an overarching plot that is more than just the dungeon getting bigger. I will be uploading at least one chapter a week until furthur updates on my schedule get posted and hopefully more once I finish off the other book i'm working on. You can expect me to try and craft unique challenges and floors, stuff you most likely haven't seen before in dungeon books whilst still having a hopefully decent plot. I can't promise much about it but I will certainly read all the comments, respond where appropriate and take on board suggestions. I promise to keep you updated and not drop away without saying anything. I would consider this to be part of the writers pledge but if circumstances force my hand I may have to drop it. (no plans) A Note on tags: Profanity: Not excessive but where i find appropriate. Gore: Well that depends how well I do my job doesn't it. If I can paint a vivid picture that has the potential to be gory, then my writing may be to an acceptable quality. Traumatising content: Again, this depends on my skill as a writer, I guess I hope you find it traumatising - no that’s not right. Well you know what I mean anyway. Hopefully I can paint a vivid picture in your mind that makes the book all the more special.
8 197Calamity of Hope - A Divine Apocalypse LitRPG
Hope is a dangerous thing. Yet for Mark, it's the only thing still keeping him alive. Thrust onto a dying world by the Crazed Titan, and forced to suffer through the whims of ancient deities, he must first fight against the titan's maddening power coursing through his very veins. And from the relentless waves of monsters, to the poison that is the aether-saturated atmosphere, the residents of Mark's new world have all but resigned themselves to their inevitable fate. Will Mark's efforts manage to restore the people's hope? Or will the titan's gamble plunge the world into a new age of calamities? Author's Note: Contestant in the [Royal Road Community Magazine]. This is supposed to be a somewhat darker power fantasy, were the MC struggles to overcome and come to grips with the obstacles that lay before him. What to expect: - A simple LitRPG system - Challenges & loss, not just wins - Few, hard won but versatile abilities - Desperate people in an unfair world What NOT to expect: - real world takes on religion - harem/romance etc. Feedback is both welcomed and encouraged!
8 59Avenging Rohit (OR, the ICT exacts revenge on Sofia Hayat)
"You touch one of us, you touch all of us."Sofia Hayat is an utterly disgraceful woman who has been trying to defame Rohit for a long time. Finally, Virat decides that enough is enough, and the ICT has to act.Sofia Hayat doesn't have any idea about what has hit her.She doesn't know... there's NOTHING our team can't do when they stand together 😂😂
8 135Yearning
When Shouta Aizawa lets his best friend convince him to go to a strip club with him (despite his better judgment) he might just have met the love of his life. And he might also have invited a lot of problems into his life.HEAVY TRIGGER WARNINGS. SMUT HEAVY. Read at your own risk. Dead Dove - Do Not Eat.
8 84Don't Leave me (Stranger Things) (Stranger Things character X Reader)
Your stuck in a love triangle. Well not really there's three boys and you so that really wouldn't be a love triangle more like a trisqua- forget it we are calling it a love triangle. You moved back to Hawkins Indiana. It's been two years since you left. When you come back you had no idea what would follow the next day. You spent a pretty normal first day with your childhood friend Will when suddenly he disappears out of thin air only having a fallen bike as a clue. An adventure and mysteries await you. The day you learn of his disappearance you stick to his three best friends and a odd girl.
8 168A Place Called Perfect
8 135