On the fringes of human controlled space in the distant future, a weathered scientist carries out the thankless task of creating complex artificial entities— AI. Humanity needs and fears their greatest creations in equal measure, because without AI they will never travel the stars again. A team of Mercenaries, led by a demolitions expert calling herself Princess, has been tasked with bringing critical components, along with themselves, to a space station secreted within a debris field left over from a galaxy spanning war, The Synthetic Revolution. When the job's darker nature surfaces, the team will have to contend with killer robots, an unhappy client and the lingering scars of wars both recent and long past in order to finish their contract with their lives and their pay.
60.73 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 15:38
Jay Campbell | mystery | Complete
'Little spark . . . you are changed.' Antissa has come under Ratheine attack; not from the walls, but from below - her ancient pipes. The flooded Hub threatens collapse of the Deep under the fortress, while the scheming Sanhedrin council creeps ever closer to removing Rusper Symphin as Viceroy; the engineer whose protection of the refugees from Naemia amounts to treason. Tool to a nation on the brink, a Naemian boy enters the desert. Armed with the Disc's arcane "Sight", Florian Flint now takes his place on a secret task-force contingent led by the High Commander Plamen. Its urgent purpose - in nine days - to locate the hidden river system by which the Rath accessed the pipeworks: the key strategic advantage in Vorth's return to open war. The Disc itself has other thoughts. Cover art by Natasa Ilincic Additional images, inc. maps: https://photos.app.goo.gl/CdNo1rEjvR7RdVzD7 Tools of Waris the 2nd volume of Deep Mettle, a 2-volume fantasy fiction. Pipes and Fusils,the 1st volume,is also available to read on Royal Road. Available from AMAZON in paperback, hardcover & e-book formats. Find out more at https://www.voidstep.com/
76.66 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-22 18:43
Camrad RIP | comedy | Complete
The cruel conditions of the bet put him on edge! Can the smart, energetic and fat hero find the right path to the customer? Where will the great and almighty Delivery System lead him? Translation of the original work by Michael Dulepa. The original is here.
51.29 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 10:12
palendrome_girl | romance | Complete
Xie Yi-jun; the King of Hei'an City, is a statue. Of course, he wasn't ALWAYS this way! And the curse itself, cast by the snake demon; Su Lan, can indeed be broken! This is good news... bad news? The only one who can break the spell is the King's soulmate; Jin Songcai. Who as it happens, is dead. Fast-forward about 700 years, and the forest where Xie Yi-jun was first turned to stone has become a bustling city. The old man on the corner tells the legend; that only The Stone King's true love can awaken him.Children, travelers, everyone goes to try it out, laughing at the old man's tale- Wen Reian, a young apprentice visiting the city has all eyes on him suddenly, as it seems The Stone King has been finally released!Could Reian be the reincarnation of the King's first love; the infamous Jin Songcai? Unfortunately, whether they want to know or not, the questions still remain; is Xie Yi-jun only destined for failure at the hands of his ancient enemy? Will Wen Reian ever realize the scope of his natural power?!And are they truly soulmates, or is there something else going on that could threaten to tear them apart forever? Book #1 of the After The Long Night series
89.90 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 10:59
FAHyatt | adventure | Complete
William Drake, a modern day Illinois blacksmith, is no stranger to unusual orders, but the latest one is odder than most. He has been commissioned to create a sword of bizarre specifications, and the sword isn't the only thing that's strange. His customer, Markham, is definitely not a local, and balks at the bill. The sword is stolen by Markham, and William storms after him, finally retrieving the blade at the top of a rented Scottish tower. During the confrontation, William is transported, artifact in hand, to an alternate world called Wayland.Sly bartering demons, the Aos Si, wish to claim Wayland, as does a rival duke and his mage, Veddick. Meanwhile, a banished dieity, Credine, is seeking return to Wayland by using William as his unwilling avatar. Caught in a web between the three competing powers, William must unravel the mystery of the sword he has forged, stave off the encroaching god Credine and save the residents of Wayland from the god, the usurpation of the rival duke, and the Ao Si.
52.13 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 11:26
Joe Coates | drama | Complete
Fia McCrae looked past the ancient oak with its brace of blood-stained bodies spinning peacefully in the slight easterly breeze. The light was seeping out of the evening sky, leeching the colour from the yellow gorse that covered the southern hills in such profusion. "Where's the ruddy comfort in dyin'?" the slumped man bleated miserably at her feet. "Well," Fia said over her shoulder as she walked away, "you've a fine evening for it." Exiled and grieving, Fia McCrae has spent the past eleven years wandering the island nation of Fallaros, with its numerous seperate tribelands, trying to atone for a mistake that has come to define her life. Raised in privilege. Fallen into disgrace. She rides the lands trying to redress those small wrongs that she can, using her innate ability to find that which is lost. Torsten Gunn is the most infamous outlaw to ride the roads, valleys and hills of Fallaros. Unencumbered by the notion of law, and accompanied by his loyal crew of bloodthirsty longriders, he has made it his merciless mission to make the lives of any Counts and Countesses that ride the roads of Fallaros a living hell. Chafing impatiently as he waits for his mother, who sits the High Seat of Fallaros, to die, Redmond Marr plots on how he will be the first man to subjugate all five tribelands. It is a feat that has never been attempted before, but to accomplish it the ambitious Marr has made a deal with an unknown power from across the sea. A power who has more than the dominion of a single island nation in mind. As Fallaros falls into chaos, witches are burned in the streets, longriders roam the roads, and dissent amongst the peasantry begins to boil over. As the threat of war from across the seas draws nearer, an unwilling Fia soon finds herself coerced back into a life she'd thought she'd left behind. What starts as a simple hunt for a wanted man quickly escalates as hidden truths start to emerge. Before long, Fia is confronted by a revelation that might bring her to her knees, even as the people of Fallaros need her to stand and fight. "You can't try do good without rubbin' someone up the wrong way," Fia said. "Folk'll do some truely disgustin' things for pride. Only thing they'll do worse things for is pay."
51.37 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 14:32
Moby The Unpopular | comedy | Complete
Max Tenebri, a rather crude and abrasive university student (and quite healthy, not at all socially inept otaku) seems to be lacking ambition, and generally suffering from a malaise that he'd rather keep to himself. After a confrontational exchange with his girlfriend (how on earth he got her, no one knows), he suddenly gets enveloped in a cloud of dense black smoke and awakes to find himself trapped in a version of Japan that can only be described as fictional. Strangely, the fiction looks all too familiar for an anime fan like himself...
60.42 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 15:29
Yuanmi Latte | drama | Complete
Just when they thought their relationship couldn't get any worse... Under mysterious circumstances, Yuzuru and his sister Sara find their lives uprooted as they are brought into Arcadia - a fantasy game world unlike any they can imagine. Separated and lost, they must each come to terms with their new reality and fight to survive. But as the race to save the world and themselves begin, they come to realize there are gods at work here, and they are but pawns.
58.58 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 15:46
EnhancedBeing | drama | Complete
Enhanced Beings. Humans with the ability to do something astonishing. Some learn to use it for good. Others for bad. But most are content with the 9-5 and walks with the dog.But use it for bad, you'll answer to& The Enhanced Beings Collective! USA's taskforce in the fight against Enhanceds who threaten America's national and global interests.They say it's better to regret things you've done than what you haven't done. But for our heroes, the feeling is the same and cuts just as deep whatever the reason. Volume Two: Regret, explores the aftermath of Volume One's finale and how the team moves on with their own sources of regret.With some new additions to the team and a roster of new villains as well as some familiar, our heroes are busy travelling beyond the galaxies to more Earths, making bad judgements, uncovering secrets and fighting& for& survival!Woodland Warriors Vol 2 - Kimona aka Agw� joins the team temporarily as they reel from the attack on The Lodge. There's travel to colder climates, a flashback to Tobias getting his enhancements and the team changes again! It's not straightforward keeping things balanced within the heart of America... It's forests. The Rodeos Vol 2 - Effie and Reuben find themselves learning more about their past and what it has to do with defeating Outlaw and the curse upon him. There's a hostage situation at a dog food factory, a spider bite and an clash of two different worlds as our western duo saddle up once again!
73.50 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-25 17:01
Vachel Thevenot | sci_fi | Complete
Do you believe in ghosts? Flint does, especially since he is one. But, Flint's sense of purpose died along with him, and a century after his own death, he struggles to find meaning in his immortality. His galaxy's interstellar war has been at a stalemate for nearly a hundred years, and nothing that Flint does in the conflict seems to make a difference. But things change when Flint makes a shocking discovery that could give him the sense of purpose he seeks in his strange existencea discovery so great that its mere existence could bring an end to the galaxy's endless war. New chapters weekly on Sundays. Also available on Scribblehub and Webnovel. Feedback is welcomed and highly appreciated!
71.05 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-26 10:54
Luna only has one more heist left until she can put her life of crime behind her. When she accidentally gets caught up in the schemes of rival nations, this girl from the slums will need to use every last trick from her troubled past in order to save the ones she loves most.Cassian is the prince of Enthamere, so why does he wish he could be anyone else instead? Sheltered and treated like a child, he dreams of exploring the world and going on grand adventures. He learns how quickly dreams can turn into nightmares when circumstances force him to flee his homeland.
60.15 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-26 14:27
joygirl007 | action | Complete
Spellbinding and unexpected, Witch King's Oath is a bold-hearted fantasy adventure packed with magic and intrigue, perfect for fans of Samantha Shannon and T. Kingfisher. Magic and politics collide when Prince Anryn of Ammar survives an assassin's blade at a witch trial gone wrong. On the run and desperate for help, he turns to Maertyn Blackfirea lonely witch cursed with immortality by the mages of Nynomath, Ammar's enemy. Stuck waiting for her missing prince, Beatrice feels she can do nothing but dance the nights away and dream of the day when she will be Queen. Then maybe she can do away with the repressive laws of Ammar. But her ambitions and her heart are pulled in another direction when she meets Ciamon Caelta mysterious man with a shared interest in discovering Prince Anryn's whereabouts. When a brush with Maertyn's past awakens Anryn as a witch under a curse that hides a woman's soul beneath Anryn's skin, the prince is forced to question everything& including who her enemies truly are. Only at the altar where Beatrice waits can Anryn hope to uncover the plot, and save Maertyn from the fate the king's laws decree for all witches: death at the stake.
62.32 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-26 18:17
Matt Redskye | comedy | Complete
Enteico Mamorou is a struggling merchant running a failing business with his best friend, Keith. But when a terrible incident forces Keith to face the demons of his past, they begin to realize that paying rent is the least of their worries, alongside deranged customers, crazy adventurers and alcoholic horses. But all of these problems pale in comparison to our protagonist's ultimate enemy- responsibility. Will Keith sober up and finally confront reality head-on? Or will his path lead him down the bottom of his final bottle?
77.05 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-26 18:32
Princess Nadjela is a fifteen-year-old girl, beautiful and intelligent, as primitive as she is gentle. In her quest to save her people from the torment of a rotten land, she will meet Chester Lancaster, an eccentric and mad nobleman of high birth who has been banished from heaven for a terrible crime.
53.34 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 13:22
beddedOtaku | contemporary | Complete
A story of two people in their early twenties, an always expressionless(?) Aya, and cool(?) Tyson. Loves, friendships, and the small moments pile up in this odd(?) love story. Tyson, suffering from long-lasting unrequited love, meets Aya, an odd, expressionless girl from his classes. As the curiosity about each other draws them together, it slowly sparks a friendship founded on honesty with which the two deal with one another. It is a story about two ordinary college students with their own, small circumstances, and love which blossoms between the two of them. Check out 1 page comics titled Ay's and Ty's Daily Lives for some funny moments between the two:http://fav.me/dc4q2wf COMPLETED
66.56 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 15:31
Samer Rabadi (aka 3seed) | historical | Complete
Hallon Nilsdotter was born in 1268 and trained in the magics of the shamans of old Sweden. Now, in 1924, she hunts for the Calamity, a prophesied disaster. Along with her spirit allies and the young scientist Milo Rabbit, Hallon forces open a tear in the boundary of their universe to travel to another. An old war has ruined this land, breaking its weather systems, and a new war is brewing between the Untainted and those who show strange mutations. On the run after being identified as abnormal, Hallon and Milo must navigate this new world of machine guns, gas attacks, and fallen spirits. All the while, the Calamity looms over them. ----- The book is complete at 46 chapters, although I may revisit with short stories in the future.
66.65 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:04
TEZofAllTrades | mystery | Complete
A brand-new story set in J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Find out how the magical world and fan-favourite characters have changed since Voldemort's defeat, in this modern-day tale of magic, family and friendship. British-Style spelling, punctuation, grammar. As a baby, Gideon was found at the centre of a mysterious magical accident, and the Ministry of Magic took drastic action. Ten years later, Gideon is finally leaving his Muggle primary school and looking forward to attending Hogwarts with other magical children. However, when his acceptance letter doesn't arrive, his life begins to unravel, and so do the secrets surrounding his past. When faced with the shocking truth, can Gideon withstand the looming darkness? Or will it consume him? INFORMATIONGenre: Fantasy/Mystery. Word count: 2.5-3.5K (10-15mins) per chapter, ~160K (~13hrs) total. Publishing dates: Started 6/20, completed 5/21, posted to RR: 12/21, edited 1/23. Style: Novel format, single POV, third-person limited perspective,British-Style English.
92.79 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 16:44
When a serial killer emerges on the robot-populated planet of Zynima, a few machines form a group of vigilantes to end what seems like a simple open-and-shut case. Join Aural Automaton and Shock System as they uncover the ugly truth behind this string of murders. Also in the AUU-16 universe: Soulless (Apparently) The Departure Night Game Ystets Lake
55.07 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-11 14:07
MagusJosh | adventure | Complete
Talia Redowl, daughter of the goddess Athena, expected - and definitely wanted - to work for her mother when she graduated. In particular, she was hoping to be assigned as an aide to her older sister, Danae, their mother's Avatar. So when Talia's graduation assignment is to become the Avatar of Hades, the legendarily anti-social and brooding god of the Underworld, she protests&the position has gone unfilled for two thousand years. Why her? Why now? The Fates weave a tangled web, and more is at stake than Talia's plans for her own future.But before she can take up her new post, Talia Redowl must die.Death is just the beginning&
87.43 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:35
Phillip Rayne | comedy | Complete
New Dive Assignment: 0B5 Personnel: Citizen of Gamma G-037-072 Jonathan Kelly World Designation: Epsilon H-037-072-030-010 Classification: Pre-industrial Exotic World, significant outliers in biosphere including atypical flora and fauna. Quarantine protocol in effect pending more data and acclimation testing. Further anomalies include populations of morphologically distinct humanoids, and aberrations in otherwise normative physics laws. Causal chain appears provisionally stable. For the purposes of delaying onset of collapse as well as above mentioned factors, only one subject is cleared to Dive. Initial mandates shall proceed with scouting and surveillance. Further details are classified. Warning: All other qualifying personnel are currently dispatched. Refusal will result in deployment delays and possible unsupervised causal decay. Do you wish to accept this assignment? Note to Readers: This is not MC isolated in a new world. This is new world joins the multiverse. What I'm tentatively coining Subverted Isekai (Formerly I used 'reversed' but, as pointed out, that would be fantasy MC goes to the modern world. Hey, there'sidea! Not this book though.). There is plenty of scientific and philosophical stuff; I know that can be a turn off for some. It has a strong bearing on the story, but is mainly covered in the 'Comments & Calculations' section (optional reading of course). If you are looking for an extreme suspension of natural laws with no technical considerations, you will not find it here. Formatting Notes: Audio chatter from characters that are not currently in the scene I format in "inverted commas and italics". Given the layered nature of modern communication, I thought this distinction was best denoted visually in my prose. Critique is welcome. Language Notes Jon is a South African ex-pat. As such he will use some Afrikaans colloquialisms plus a dash of Japanese. Most importantly he says "Ja" meaning "Yes". Pronounced with a J sound like "yo" and an A sound like "bar". As in: "Yo, let's go to the strip bar." "Ja." And not the Rastafarian /jya/. Other words: Nee - /niya/ : no Juffrou - /yif-row/ : Miss Lekker - /lacker/ : nice, good, delicious Nooit - /noit/: never The rest is mostly swear words. Indisputably the most useful words in any language and simultaneously holding the least innate meaning. Fok - "fork" without the "r": fuck Bliksem - /Bluksim/: darn, damn. Also common noun meaning damn person or thing. Donner - "Dorner" without the "r": originally meaning thunder, can also mean darn or damn. It is often used as a verb meaning: to hit hard' Kak - /kuck/: shit Voetsek - /foot-sack/: go away
69.93 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-27 18:38
