Kali released her grip and sat down next to me.
"Interesting," she said. "Who'd think that brat would create such a cruel dynasty."
"What?"
"I'm talking about that Callum brat. The first one, not the seventh or whatever. I thought you let him live?"
I didn't. How old are you," I asked.
She pondered my questions a bit. Chewing on it like a piece of meat, wondering if she should answer or swallow the question.
"I'm old. Very old. A friend groomed just like you did but got too attached. He adopted an orphan and raised her like she was his own, only to kill her when she reached the peak of her skill. He changed after that. That's why I
The pool slipped its way into my pores and every hole on my body. It squirmed inside me, pushing something out of my chest.Everything was dark except for the eerie blue-green glow of light shining from the surface downward. The water was clear but foggy. I swore I saw something in the distance. It was large, or maybe it was nothing.I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.I couldn't fight back because my body wouldn't move.I couldn't talk back because I couldn't speak.Then I heard her."Jamie?" Jamie. James. James!"My eyes shot open.
My blood poured out onto the floor as the water washed into the foyer of the apartment. Lana was gone, and only the water remained.I glanced up to see my apartment. But the piles of garbage bags were missing. It was clean and looked like a couple was living there. They had matching mugs with a single letter on them. There were photos of a man and woman together. I couldn't make out who they were. The bathroom had two different coloured toothbrushes and two different body wash.I limped through the halls holding my side. Lana or whatever it was had punched a small hole into me. She had sliced me pretty good as well. My body was riddled with cuts.The apartment was mine; I knew this, but why couldn't I remember who I lived here with. I couldn't remember; everything was fuzzy.
The bottom of the pool was...peaceful. I don't know how long I had been down there. In the water, alone. Even as I looked out into the darkness, I could feel something staring at me, but I'm too small for it to be bothered.My body had regained its sandy brown complexion—a very different shade from what I was born with. I had a tanned pale complexion in this life. I looked more like a European or American, and my blonde hair enforced that. Now in the pool, I looked more like my old self from my first life. My hair was a dark brown and had grown long enough to touch my toes. It floated above me like tendrils seeking out and trying to catch prey (there wasn't anything small enough to catch in the pool).My feet felt planted in the ground, like a solid brick that has been left out too long. You know when you pick it up, and you just
Sex is a fantastic tool. Humans need it to carry on their species. When the world was made of stone and bone, it was one of society's many basic needs. Food and shelter being the other two. Yet peace changes things. Some may say that in the 21st century, there is only an illusion of peace, and I tend to agree. Even so, it is a peaceful era. Food comes quick, and we've become smart about getting it. Shelter is not hard to find, and an individual with a reasonable amount of income could easily find an apartment or house.So why talk about sex? Because the idea of producing to carry on the human race is an afterthought. Kids are an investment, and parents wave them around to show how rich or miserable they are. But the act of sex is something else. When two like-minded individuals connect, the world just fades away, and they only focus on each other. You notice things about each other, thin
A clear blue summer sky."This is where it took place, my guy," said a scruffy middle-aged man. His clothes were made from animal skin and fur-lined on the collar of his jacket. He wore a large blade that hung around his waist horizontally with a small buckler on his left arm. He held two shovels.Two more men stood behind him. They, too, wore clothes of animal skin but each with a different weapon."Brett, what's the point of coming here," said the tall and lanky one. His name was Jack, and he sported a spear which he hung his arms overusing it to brace his neck.Brett turned around and rubbed his scruffy beard."The prince, the arch wizard, the warrior of lightning, and the knuckle
I adjusted my new jacket making sure the fur wasn't scratching my neck. The clothes that I had pillaged from the bandits were a bit small for my new body, but it was better than running around naked."Was this where you fell," asked Kali. She didn't sound too impressed. I had died begging my sisters for my life. Even though the fight I believed was decent, it was nothing compared to what Kali had experienced, I assumed."Does it matter how I died," I asked. Looting the decapitated bandit."Of course. If you die alone with no one to witness it but your enemies, it can be twisted to their liking. If you died by being betrayed, you could learn that you weren't as smart as you thought you were.""Sounds pointless to me. When you're dead.
They tell you to get yourself thick skin. The world is harsh, and the people in it are harsher. They will say things to you that will break bones and cause your heart to fail. It will try to make you callus to the horrors of this world. Your home is supposed to be your safe haven from such abuse. A place where you can be yourself, cry all you want and be as sensitive as you need to be. When that is taken from you. You can only do two things; find a new home or suffer.My house wasn't burnt, but it was damaged. A tree had started growing out of it, breaking through the thatched roof for sunlight. I walked up to where the door used to be and entered. It was dusty, and I could feel it on my skin. Even more than that, I could smell decay in the air.My mother, I loved her so, lay dead on the floor holding her heart. She was mostly decayed b
"James. Jamie. I wonder what happened to him," I thought. I leaned back against a tree and held the fishing rod tight. The water was calm, with only a gentle breeze making small little waves. Today was a good day. It had been good days for years. No heavy storms or monster hordes, not like I had to worry about the hordes.You see, I live quite far from any civilization. A small cabin deep in the Black Forest, which surrounded most of the west region of Chadel. Far away from anyone, especially my siblings.I was born in a family with seven step-siblings. According to them, I was the fifth son just by a couple years. The other seven were full siblings. They shared the same mother while mine was a concubine and was treated very poorly by the main wife. Children tend to mimic their parents, and soon my loving siblings bullied me as well. At
Samuel Belmont, Vanessa Mast, Jacob Decker, and Lorcan Ravenswood. These are the four heads that rule Chadel under Callum the seventh. Each family holds a considerable amount of power. One single decision from them can make the simple lives of the commoners a living hell (not that it's already a living hell, just remember you can always fall even further down). Each team of the Underbelly was in charge of taking on each family, with Team Delta being regulated to the Ravenswood family. They were in charge of spreading the religion of Drykena throughout Chadel and the rest of Rolrista. At first, I thought this was bad news, but then I realized this could be a blessing in disguise. There wasn't any incentive to go after the Ravenswood family because many of the rebels followed the religion. We were backups for Team Alpha, Beta, and Charlie. We were told that we would assist them on mission
Documents. Everywhere I look, only documents. A papery grave as sharp as any blade or sword. I had always had a problem being organized, even when I was a teacher at the Chadel Royal Academy. It had almost cost me my job a couple of times. Lucky for me, I had an eager little student. She wasn't really little, but she worked hard to make a name for herself. It was a... peaceful time at the academy—past tense. Everything went to shit when Julius Darcey showed up. I don't know what a prince or princess does every day. I would imagine it would be learning royal customs and how to manage the country—wishful thinking on my part. Julius is a prodigy in the magic department, taking after Callum the Third, once called The Magic God. A being referred to as the closest person to the first Callum's power. I never lived through such a time and can't fathom what kind of power Callum the First held, b
Katar, Ben, and Chris were the last three members added to the group (Katar was the elf). Jofrorli was still made captain even though he was the only one out of the eight that had the hardest time trying to learn [Shadow Step]. I was sure it was due to laziness on Moses, who didn't want to correct the mistake of making Jofrorli captain. Plus, the dwarf seemed quite happy being in charge. Team Delta was the name of the team. We were the fourth and last group to be created. Our purpose was a bit of an enigma. I couldn't wrap my head around us being just assassins. There was no way the nobles of Chadel would just let this ragtag team of adventurers run rampant in the streets. I didn't know how powerful the Nobles were but there was no way they were weak enough to be shaken by us. I started to regret ignoring the inner workings of the Captial. All of my information now came from Kali and wh
"You have five hours to get the basics of this skill down," said Moses. Thirty -five of us stood before him. Each of us well-rested and ready to start the second test. I noticed that everyone had one of the knock off masks. Either it was on their face or hanging to the side. It was a weird sight to see because it felt like whoever was in charge of the Underbelly was a fan of mine. I don't remember making fans when I was traveling in Chadel. I only remember making enemies. "Now watch carefully. I will only show it once."Moses took in a deep breath, making sure his body was ready for the task. He put his foot forward and took another step. His body slowly started to dissipate into the air, like smoke rising from a candle, disappearing into the atmosphere. It started from his head till it was gone. I felt that he was taking his time on purpose for us to deduce what he was doing. A little a
Moses gave each team a room. It wasn't in the castle because there wasn't any room in the castle. The castle floors had been occupied with different departments and sub-departments. The tour through the castle reminded me of an American military base. Anything that wasn't a part of the main goal was kept in the barracks, and barracks were kept outside the castle.Logistics department, strategic department, magic department, espionage department, blacksmith and Armoury department, food department, shelter department, and registration department. Everything was organized with nothing left unturned. The whole area wasn't that wide but told a very good secret. Kaminarimon was built on the remains of New Kaminarimon. Kali immediately recognized where we were before anyone else. It was like she was visiting an old hometown of hers.After the tour, I wanted to rest, take a load off
I only remember him being quite charming in a pitiful way. He was blond and wore a black mask; personally, I thought it should have been white. It would have suited his blond hair. His clothes weren't any better. A black bearskin cloak and leather clothes. It was cheaper than the burlaps and cotton. He was very awkward around women, and his humor wasn't any better. It felt like he was trying too much.He only asked for a mead and a simple meal. He had money but wasn't loaded. His hands were rough from practicing with the sword. He would even spar sometimes with the local guards.I don't know when I started to like him, but he stayed in our little town a bit longer than he expected. I remember old Ravod telling us not to hang around him. There was something about his mask that Ravod didn't like. "Anyone that wore a mask like that was up to no good." I didn't accept that. I be
It took about a couple of hours after we had finished for the other six circles to end. It wasn't as clean as ours. Most of the participants left their pride and reputation at the door after my little stunt. Killing became an easy excuse to get rid of the competition here and outside."How fickle of them eh," said Jofrorli Duskjaw, the dwarf. "Before they were all wondering or not to take life. Just one little scare and they all become savages." He peeked over at me and saw that I was not listening to him. I was making sure that Robert was okay. He wasn't a seasoned warrior like us and was still trying to catch his breath. "Ya know it's rude to ignore someone you know.""T-thank you," said Robert. He was looking a bit better now. "What was that?""Killing Intent," I said, ignoring Jofr
[Mirror Eyes] has one gaping flaw. If it's directed at more than one person, it can be detrimental to the user. When I was fighting the five covert Shi, my body felt like splitting apart. Even after the fight, I noticed that some of my muscles had ripped through the skin. The brain had been given far too much information and couldn't decide which direction I needed to go in, so it opted out and told my body to go in all directions. With [Mental Resistance], I reduced that burden and tried to block my body from doing unnecessary actions. Meaning I had to use this skill wisely, not just for every fight that comes my way. I am not hoarding skills anymore; I'm building a foundation for myself."I should look for other elemental skills," I said, glancing around at the forty-eight other participants in my circle. "Maybe water.""Okay, I'll just sit here then," said Kali taking a s
"Welcome, scum," said a man in shorts and a blue polo shirt. The man wore a black hat with the letters HTH on it. A whistle hung around his neck. There was a scar that started from the back of his head and down his spine. He had a clipboard in one hand and a pencil in the other.A group of teenage boys stood and sat before them. Most of them riddled with the dreaded acne. The smell isn't great either. Most of the boys are lacking in hygiene. Their hair was matted and greasy. There are a couple of exceptions like me. "You may call me Coach S. Baseball is a military sport. It builds muscle and builds teamwork. When you are in this room, you are no longer friends or enemies. You are equals. I will push, I will bend, mold you into a man. This school has never won a baseball tournament ever. That's going to change. I'm going to give you all hell." The man glanced down at his clipboard he was having a hard time reading