《From the Ashes》26 one in three
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After only a few minutes he was out of the area of his fire storm scroll and the land had quickly returned to ‘normal’ barren landscape of the blasted lands, there were however the occasional lumps of charred bone, or a clump of still on fire goo that he tried hard not to think about, then thought ‘ ohh look – a leg’.
But he cleared that area fast enough so after a time the firestorm was just a black smudge on the landscape behind him – he did have time to think on it, and he wondered if the spell scroll was always that powerful or if it had been magnified by this place like it did to his own magical energies, he did decide it would be best not to try this out – but rather find someone knowledgeable in scrolls and see what they thought, Aurora was good at enchanted items and gear .. but she could probably point him in the right direction. After traveling along for a few hours and no sight or sound of anything around him, Kadin started to approach the dip in the hillside. Now being closer he could see the dip was actually a path that lead between two massive rocks, the space was cramped and tight, small enough that he had to push himself through side on, leaning his back against one wall and his chest catching on the one in front. He could see signs that someone had also passed through here recently and he had no doubt it was his target so he squeezed himself through following. After a few meters the wall in front of him began to pull back and the area around him widened, then quickly the ground in front of him fell away leaving a steep drop just in front of his boots. It was as if this hill or mountain had had a big chunk in the centre of it carved out, the drop in front of him lead to complete darkness but there was still sky (well clouds) above his head and after slowing sliding along the ledge he was on, after a while it started to widen and level out until he was on a tiny valley path halfway up the mountain, but as he finally made his way a few hundred meters further in the giant towering wall to his left and right closed in around him until he was in a small plateau with three caves in front of him, one lead down and twisted to his left, the middle one lead down at quite a steep angle and the one on the right lead up and to his left so after a few feet he would be directly over the middle cave.
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The ground was bare of anything and he had no idea what cave entrance to take. He moved over to the left one and listened for a bit but there was almost no sound, only the occasional drip of a drop of water magnified a thousand fold. The middle cave leading down he tried to listen at too and he felt more than heard a deep slow rumble as if the two side of the mountain seemed to grind against each other deep underground. The last cave that lead up there was a low slow groan as of a never ending gale of wind that is just too far away to hear fully but could still hear the echo off.
Kadin decided to use his long sense again to see if he could get a feel for which way to go, he prepared and triggered his spell, he could feel the pulse expand out from him. There was no sense of anything behind him, and he could feel some minerals in the caves in front of him but after a second everything dimmed down again. He didn’t pick up anything, he decided to risk a larger pulse this time, and then immediately cursed his own stupidity. He went to the nearest tunnel, entered and went a few meters in until the cave entrance was hidden from view – then used his long sense again but this time he didn’t drop the connection (he was in a cave after all), after a few second of reaching out as far as he could he felt a bolt of lightning impact the mountain off to the side, but he could feel something more ahead of him – it wasn’t a life form it was something he couldn’t place – but it did have a magical energy to it, ahead of him and up. So with that he went to the right most tunnel and started to climb.
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Digital Haven
The modern world fell into a deep depression, and few options remained for the suffering lower class. The global economy crumbled under a growing energy crisis and overpopulation led to the creation of a virtual frontier known as Teurilia, the first full immersion virtual reality. Teurilia introduced a world of adventure and exploration leaning on human nature for greed and power. The world, built to be a realistic role-playing game offered players nearly unlimited freedom and became wildly popular around the world within weeks of its initial release. Originally intended to be a temporary relief from the real world, the world’s governments soon realized the potential of virtual existence with the release of technology to permanently transfer consciousness from physical bodies into virtual ones. Supported by economists of the world and political power from the United Nations, Teurilia received limitless funding to support the migration of millions of new citizens. Eric Williams like many low-class citizens immediately saw the potential new life in Teurilia offered and signed up for the migration program within the first week of its announcement. Eric always dreamed of grand adventure and Teurilia was his golden ticket. This is his story…
8 278My Dear Alice - A Dark Awakening
He’ll cross a lethal land to bring her back home. But is she willing to be found? Appalachian Wasteland, 2072. Jamie Henderson wants to forget all about his ex-girlfriend Alice. Except this nonviolent fixer has been hired to find her after she went missing in the ongoing AI-controlled war. But his quest through the hostile post-apocalyptic terrain turns deadly when a roadside raider attack sees him captured by a terrifying matriarchal clan. Stranded in dangerous territory, Jamie’s jaw drops when he discovers his ex among their numbers. But with her personality split and scattered, his own survival will depend on reaching through her fragmented mind… Can this pacifist hunter make the truth known before he’s sentenced to death? My Dear Alice is a fast-paced companion story that bridges Seasons 1 and 2 of the gripping Cyber Overture dystopian series. If you like complex character studies, gritty worlds, and shocking twists, then you’ll love D. B. Goodin’s outlander opus. Note: This should be read after Sonorous. This story has been published, but I'm adding it here for Royal Road readers to enjoy.
8 149The Ruby Eyes Serpent
Disclaimer: The Original story 'Ruby_eyes' belongs to Drogan. The MC is a tomboyish girl called Ruby who possesses an unusual trait, ruby-red eyes. She lives in a rural-urban village till one day where one of her few friends make her do a dare that ultimately ends her life. From her death, she is reborn in a dark place, as a monster with her distinctive Ruby Red Eyes, and so the legend of the Ruby Eyes Serpent will now begin.
8 65A Misleading Shell
Noah has trouble showing emotions even though he feels them, which mislead people around him and caused them to have an unfavourable impression of him so he grew up isolated until the age of 18 where an incident took place. After he woke up from the incident, he noticed that he wasn't in a hospital, but on a bed in a small hut. huh? "Where a- why are my hands small?" Noah said with a blank face. Wait it wasn't just my hands!! My whole body shrunk! He sat up on the bed, is this a dream? He pinched his cheek, ouch! so this isn't a dream but why am I small? He glanced to the side only to find two corpses that have black bubbles on their skin. No this is definitely a dream, right?! Wake up! please? Suddenly, excruciating pain burst in his head and images started flashing, as if he was seeing memories. Magic? Elves? Fairies? Demonic beasts? Those exist here? So is this not Earth? It seems just like those fantasy worlds he's read about. Well my priority right now is to leave this village, everyone seems to have died to a disease and I don't want to catch it. Then he found out that he was in the middle of nowhere. Oh no. After some years... "Nice to meet you! my name is Amaris, what's yours?" Asked a beautiful girl. Amaris... Amaris? Aeyora? Bête noire? A fantasy like world with beasts and mythical races? !!! It's that dating simulator game!
8 167Mysteries of the Q Files: Rueben's Revelations
After five stories about Trick and Naomi solving the mysteries of the Q Files, things are about to take a different turn. Rueben, the teller of these strange stories, has treated them as if he was the one telling them. But there is much that missed his gaze. First of all, the stories he's been telling are real. Secondly, they are more terrifying than he ever imagined. But most importantly, it is only the beginning of a much larger adventure and a glimpse into a bigger conflict than Rueben, Trick or Naomi could ever imagine.
8 156ADDICTIONS
Izuku, a kid who had life completely shit on him. He's always been around drugs and violence. At a young age he was abandoned by his own parents who were suppose to love him. At a young age he was out on the streets learning to survive.One day he meets a boy named Kira, their connected like glue. So, like the teenagers they are they fell into trouble together. Partying, doing drugs, drinking.... Especially izuku.But before this izuku tried being a normal kid. Went back to school after dropping out. Katsuki bakugo and him soon started dating. He was beyond elastic....Until izuku just had to ruin it. Izuku was a druggie who slept around. Maybe the break up fucked izuku up. Because after that day he felt broken. I mean, Kira and katsuki were the only ones who cared about him. Literally.This is a story about izuku, katsuki, and Kira. The trials of being an adult at just seven, you'll take a look at the broken mentality of izuku. His life with crime, drugs, and sex. With all these bad things...There just had to be betrayal. Than right after betrayal comes the death of close ones.
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