《Deo》Chapter 20
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(Kasm)
Deo barely got to enjoy the feeling of Kest’s hand in his before she dropped it. “Here, train with these guys.”
At first, Deo was confused, unsure what she was talking about as he could only see her. Then he tilted his head down and saw the smaller children around. He tried to look back to Kest but she was already gone.
“New kid!” A voice barked. Deo snapped his gaze to the voice, subconsciously straightening up his spine. The voice came from an older boy standing above Deo and the little kids, “get in line,” he ordered.
“Huh?” tumbled out of Deo’s mouth before he could stop it.
The teen boy sighed then spoke through gritted teeth. “Get. In. Line.”
Deo looked around again and saw that all the kids were standing in orderly rows, equally distant from each other. Deo tried to shuffle into place. Eventually, the teen boy sighed again. “Whatever, close enough. Let’s begin.”
Deo did his best to follow along, limping through the motions, but found himself playing constant catch up. He quickly grew too tired to move. Finally he broke from the formation and limped over to the teen boy in charge, “I’m going to rest now, ok?”
“Huh? Who gave you permission? Get back in line.”
Deo flinched, curling in on himself a bit, “...but Kest said,” he responded in a weak voice.
“I don’t care what Kest said, she’s not in charge. Now, get back in line,” he waved his hand to dismiss Deo and turned his head. Deo looked around, hoping to find Kest but it was impossible to pick her out in a sea of kids that looked exactly the same. He took one step forward and his vision was swallowed by darkness.
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Nero Zero
Monsters plagued the lands for too long. No matter if one had fangs, beak, teeth, skin, fur, or feather, or was tall, stout, or diminutive, the people suffered. Until the Gadgeteers came with a device that could allow people to fight back. Powered by one's own magical power, feeding off of monster Essence, the Arbitrium bracer turned the tables. It also changed society. Strength of one's level cap was all that mattered. The strongest were Kings and Emperors. The weak or those too poor to afford the marvelous device, destitute. And so it has been for millennia. All that mattered was one's level cap. High, low, a fate decided the moment the strange contraption came alive. Too high and you were a threat to those interested in keeping the status quo, a weed to be nipped before it could grow and take root. Too low and you were nobody, fated to be a bit more than a simple farmer. What if someone, somewhere, came up with a zero for their level cap? Unable to use Essence, unable to level up. On all of recorded history, it never happened. Until it did. In a small village of fur-less and tail-less ape-beastkin, a boy found out he was uniquely handicapped. Nero's level cap was Zero. But he'd never let that stop him from reaching his goals. ------------------------------------------------ All stories have already been told. We merely reuse elements from them. From Joseph Campbell's Monomith to Stephen King's advice, and that encyclopedia of tropes you've visited, fiction has been dissected and reassembled countless times. One will surely find elements inspired on other works here. Just like cooking from basic ingredients, the recipe and presentation is what really matter. This is a fantasy adventure, of someone that goes from a zero to a slightly bigger zero. It will have romance but no harem. Cruelty but with hope dimly shining ahead. Lightweight where it can be, heavy where it must. Thanks for reading. Cover Credits (The cover is CC-BY-NC-SA): Steampunk Spider Bracer, by Daniel Proulx. CC-BY-NC-SA Picture Frame, @anaterate, Pixabay license. Some odds and bits from here and there.
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No one ever pulled a fast one on Jase Hamilton. For one, Jase had learned his lessons young, acquainted at an early age with the ways of a conman. Too, he decided that in a world of charlatans, he would make sure that he always beat them at their own game. For a decade, his plan works perfectly - until he meets someone who refuses to play his game. Despite his intelligence, good looks, and skills at intrigue, he finds himself on the other side of the globe on a fool's mission in Southeast Asia. Faced with an enemy bigger than he can handle, Jase realizes that his perfect persona has a flaw. In fact, he realizes that his greatest enemy has never been the hustlers or the crooks. His greatest enemy has always been himself.
8 354Observer 001's inter-multivursal log
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