Emica Kana is 18 years old. She has always loved writing stories., They were her escape from reality. She always wished that a man would come and save her like they always do in the stories.
Well, she got her wish.
Emica entered a small writing school that was near a river. Her friend had joined her. But, the teacher had an odd vibe around him. Emica became a little scared of him. She especially became scared when the teacher started to pay more attention to her. One day, when she runs from him, she falls into a world of adventure, risk, and abnormalities. 
But, her teacher is what scares her more than this new world. What secrets and schemes did he use to get her here?

"More than that, we should look into her background. In the initial research we did about her, we thought she had no lover, but it turned out she had one. There must be more we missed then."
Carl narrowed his eyes, and he didn't have to ask to know Edgar was afraid of asking her.
"Thinking about it, a letter from her cousin at the Academy should arrive soon."
"Yes, it will arrive any time now if she used an ordinary posting service."
Only wealthy nobles could afford to exchange quick letters using messenger birds. Plus, Aron's Academy was just too far from Seritos. Angela couldn't have had the time to send a letter during the journey and, even if she had sent one as soon as she arrived at the Academy, it would arrive a day or two later.
"Bring it to me first before she reads it. I want to know if there's any information on it."
"Okay. I will also find out about her belongings, just in case."
However, Edgar was hesitant.
"Is that necessary? She brought almost nothing, except for what she was wearing."
"Your Grace, in my opinion, intercepting her letter is even worse."
He was right, so Edgar couldn't say anything to that. Actually, everything he was trying to do now wasn't right, and Rubica would most certainly be mad if she ever found out.
'But I cannot ask her right away.'
He didn't know exactly what he was afraid of. Whatever the outcome will be, their relationship which he had managed to keep only barely till now was going to be no more. If it would change for the better, he would not hope for anything more, but if it was going to become worse, he just didn't want to find out.
'I need a safety net.'
He wanted to find a clue that would at least let him guess what Rubica would say when he asks her. He wanted to brace himself and carry it out after calculating how Rubica would take it.
"Just carefully ask the maids so that Rubica wouldn't get to know. Don't make it too big."
"Okay then, I'll ask them if something has happened to her. The smaller the risk, the better."
It was like Carl could read Edgar's mind. The risk he was talking about was probably not about Rubica's heart but Claymore. However, Edgar was just glad to take a step back from that subject.
'Don't be nervous. I still have enough time.'
He decided to look into the matter in time and changed the topic.
"And what about Lord Sesar?"
"The searching party found his camp in the mountains. There were some of his belongings, so they will probably find him today."
"Good, bring him to me as soon as he is found."
After that, Carl left while Edgar sighed. Then, the duke opened a drawer to take out a blueprint. It was time to work on the development of the weapon which he spoke about with the king for a long time.
The king wanted to take the Golden Land from the dragon Ios to solve the kingdom's problem. That was why he had agreed to send the new weapons from Claymore to the southern kingdom. He wanted to dispatch an army for that and steal strategies to fight the monsters and dragons' underlings.
'And research on the plants that only grow in the dragons' territories has to be done as well.'
Maybe Lord Sesar's wish was about to be granted. He could be permitted to write a book on the plants in the dragons' territories. Edgar smiled at the possibility.
Carl was worried something bad might happen if he didn't answer to the king's summon, but actually, he was the one with the power.
The king had proposed attacking Ios from the sky as it was a land dragon that couldn't fly. Edgar called the king a sly old man when he got mad, and the king called Edgar a serpent without any feelings when he got bored, but basically, they did acknowledge each other's capability.
-You want me to make a weapon that can attack the dragon from the sky? Do you want me to die from overwork?
-Hahaha, well, even you are not that smart, right?
The king said slyly.
'That fox.'
Edgar had to try hard to not yell at him. The king was doing it only because he knew Edgar would not refuse, and he was right. Edgar could never say 'I can't.'
'Focus. I must finish it quickly.'
Edgar started to study the blueprint. Making a machine fly was an extremely hard try. A few scientists at the Academy had tried it before, but they all failed. Still, there was no other way to defeat Ios.
-Making the impossible possible. That is the power of Claymore.
Edgar remembered what all of his teachers had told him.
Yes, if birds could fly, why not humans? First, he checked if there were any helpful references among the previous works of the Academy's scientists. Then, he started to draw the blueprint first.
He was going to work on an engine that could fly and test it first.
'I should keep it a secret before I finish it all.'
He decided to name the weapon 'Stella'. He wanted it to be the guiding star in the dark future of the kingdom. However, it was way too dangerous. He was planning to destroy it after driving the dragon out of the Golden Land.
What if it fell into the hands of conquerors?
He didn't want to even think about it. It was good that the king of Seritos only cared about his people's living.
If he could, he was going to make the weapon, get the land, and destroy the weapon and its blueprint while he was still alive. And for that, he had to make it as soon as possible.
However, what was going on? His hand was moving fast, but what he was writing had nothing to do with his work.
-Something needed for work, not necessary but good.
He kept writing it. Rubica had said she had ultimately fallen for Arman after he invented something that wasn't necessary but really made her work easier. He wondered what it was.
-It helped a lot of people.
Now Edgar even drew a circle around it and added a star. He had to focus on the blueprint, but he couldn't help being distracted.
'But what is it?'
To find that out, he had to know what Rubica usually did and what she found difficult. However, she hadn't had any reason to do anything difficult ever since she came to the Claymore Mansion. It was hard to guess without any information.
"Hu."
Edgar sighed and looked at the handkerchief on his table. Imagining Rubica embroidering it herself made him smile. He couldn't even dare to use it and just kept staring at it. She had embroidered the Claymore symbol on every corner, so she must have put a lot of effort into it.
'Wait.'
This is the difficult work I've been looking for!
He immediately wrote a list of things needed for embroidering. Needle, thread, scissors, fabric, frame, etc. Then, he wrote what made embroidering difficult.
-Something that wasn't necessary but made my work easier.
Edgar was going to find what it was and invent it. He then pushed Stella's blueprint aside. Of course, the kingdom's future was important, and the weapon had to be invented.
'But I must survive first!'
What he was trying to invent now was about being creative. It wasn't going to take much time. On the other hand, the development of Stella was going to take at least three, four years. Then, a delay of three, four days wasn't going to be a problem.
He hadn't been able to focus and that wasn't just going to change now, so he decided to work on inventing what was more urgent to him.
Just like that, Edgar postponed what he was supposed to do today to tomorrow for the first time.
-Something that isn't necessary but makes work easier.
His long journey to find it had just begun.
 
***
 
Elise had gotten used to working as a lady-in-waiting, and now Ann could trust her with simple things.
'Will this amount of soap, perfume, and cosmetics be enough for Her Grace?'
She couldn't read the overall flow of the household yet, but she had been assigned to the purchase of simple goods. She checked on the list of things she was supposed to buy from the merchant, who would come in two days, again and again lest she made a mistake.
Moreover, Rubica was working on her plan for the tea meeting that was going to take place in a month.
"Hmm, I think there should be a lot of sweet dessert at the tea meeting."
Rubica wasn't talking to anyone in particular, but Elise replied without noticing it.
"Dessert? Would it be necessary? Tea is so refreshing. I think serving only tea would be enough."
"Ha, ha, ha."
Rubica smiled awkwardly. To Elise, tea was a sweet-smelling drink, but to the others, drinking that bitter drink without a sweet cake was going to be torture.
"Carl said it is not strange to serve dessert at tea meetings."
What Carl had meant was one candy and one cookie per person, but Rubica decided to ignore that.
She thought she had to give out at least a whole cake per person as compensation for drinking that weird drink.

How much money must I spent for you to divorce me!?

Rubika dies in a war without being able to confess her love for Arman but is instead sent back in time.

A new life, she will not live in vain

But what are these new obstacles?

------
© Jeonryeongga 2018 / D&C MEDIA 

The amazingly handsome, rich and powerful Duke Claymore wants to marry her!?

Support my main contracted novel and winner of Writing Prompts #26 - The Legendary Mage!

Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn!
https://www.webnovel.com/book/12013957905760805/Desolate-Mage%3A-A-Legend-Reborn!

* * * * *

[Active quest (Hard): Defend the portal until Duke Alcadis and Marquis Zusthra get through.]

[Time left until fully charged: 15 minutes. Portal HP: 100%]

Sato hesitated as he re-read the quest contents. He didn't have enough info such as where he would be going, and what enemies he would be facing.

He was now at the front of a queue of countless little demons; now his turn to enter the portal to the site of the Burning Legion's planar war.

He recalled the time of his reincarnation.

He remembered being surrounded and floating upwards in a sea of red warmth. At first he thought it was a mother's womb; but when he saw rocks and melting skeletons floating past, he realised he was swimming in magma.

(Looks like I'm immune to fire? Or strengthened by it?)

Checking his body, he saw that he looked like a beautiful human. And he let out a breath of relief - he was male. (And pretty well-endowed it seems...)

Swimming upwards, he felt quite strong; stronger than his previous self by many folds.

He burst out of the magma pool and found himself near the rim of an active volcano's mouth. Glancing around, he noticed what looked like a recruitment line - countless other demons were emerging from the magma and heading over to the southern edge; where many demons gathered in front of a gorgeous dark-skinned woman with the body of a demon and a face of an angel examining and talking with them. Her black, bony wings did not detract from her beauty - instead adding a degree of exoticness to her charms.

She was sitting at a registration counter of sorts - made of two demons on their hands and knees, while she sat on another as a chair.

He heard the conversations in front of him as he too queued up; as various types of demons queued up to be registered with her. 

"Ah! Sergeant Vince! Welcome back." She was speaking to a demon which looked like a minotaur, save that it only had one horn.

(A uni-taur then...?) Sato wondered.

"Good light-time, Major Helena. I'm glad to be among those resurrected in time for the great planar war."

She gave him a faint smile, and replied, "May the Burning Legion live forever! And our immortal souls be ignited! Until all is ashes!"

"Until all is ashes!"

The minotaur demon nodded and smiled (bared his vicious sharp teeth) at her. He stamped his finger/ claw-print on the paper she handed him and passed it back. Sato shivered as he wondered what material the "paper" was made of - he doubted they used trees to make the paper here.

(Resurrection... Their souls return and are reborn here...?)

Bearing that in mind as he drew nearer to the front, Sato tried to rehearse a script. He lacked the confidence to bluff and pass himself off as a resurrected demon... Probably a story of how he had no memories...

One thing he felt bad about was - he was naked. And a bit embarrassed - but since every other demon was naked and nonchalant about it; he steeled his heart and tried to fit in.

He faced his first problem even before he reached the registration counter. It was his turn next; but now he was in close proximity to the sexy demoness. She was dressed only in black leather undergarments, similar to the pictures of succubi he had seen in games and anime. Which meant; he could see almost everything that a man wanted to see...

(Dammit... Not now!) He desperately thought of his grandparents making out; of 300 pound men slamming into each other in a sumo fight; of mecha combat - anything to get his mind off the seductress and prevent an *ahem* reaction in open view of the stunning beauty.

He managed to force his "reaction" down before it was his turn. When he was walking up to the counter, the demoness looked up and smiled a sultry smile. Sato gulped.

"Mmm..." She made a seductive sound. "You're a real looker..." She looked very pleased; much to Sato's horror and delight as he almost couldn't control himself from "reacting" anymore.

She sniffed, as if smelling his scent, then said, "A demon captain! Excellent!" She stood up abruptly, startling him, then called over a fully-armoured demon.

"Lieutenant, take over the registration. I'm bringing the Captain directly to the portal area."

"Yes Major!" The demon bowed then took over the registration process, shouting, "Next!"

As Sato was stunned at the quick turn of events, the demoness held his hand, her silky-smooth skin bringing him to the brink of losing self-control.

(Must... Not... React...) Sato helplessly followed along. She was pulling him along at a high speed.

As they were walking, she asked his name, stating that she had never seen him before among all the centuries she had been doing registration for planar wars.

Blanking out, he blurted out, "S-Sato."

(Oh shit! What if that name doesn't work...?)

But his fears were unfounded, she just nodded and continued along the journey down the volcano's side to a base camp. They traversed the 2km journey in less than 5 minutes, arriving at a gigantic portal.

"Our great Prince Malcan has given our Duke Alcadis' 109th Division the honour of spearheading the planar war! And our 3rd brigade led by Marquis Zusthra of 3,500 demons will be the vanguard!"

She led him to the vicinity of the portal, where more than 2,000 quasits were queuing up to jump in.

"Our mission is to keep the portal open on the other side; and gather enough energy for the Duke to cross over." She pointed over to a great tent erected on the eastern quarter of the base camp.

Sato nodded; the mission matched his quest description.

"Alright, Captain Sato. This is where we part. Until all are ashes!" She looked at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to jump in joy or celebrate.

Sato gulped again. "Un-until, all are ashes..." He said dejectedly; then looking at the portal, he felt apprehensive. Wasn't she going to like, give him an army of demon knights, or a legion of Ba'atezu or something...? He felt like he was being sent as a lamb to the slaughter!

(What setting have I been born into this time...) Sato quickly checked his quest again.

[Active quest (Hard): Defend the portal until Duke Alcadis and Marquis Zusthra get through.]

[Time left until fully charged: 4 minutes 38 seconds. Portal HP: 100%]

(What about my stats...?) Sato began to call out his stats when he felt a piercing cold against his neck.

"Go on, Captain Sato. Or are you intentionally hindering our great Prince's plans...?" Major Helena's blade was pressed against the nape of his neck, ready to strike him down on suspicion of rebellion.

"N-no! I'm going, I'm going!" Sato muttered as sweat poured down his face, before being instantly evaporated in the heat of their plane, the Burning Abyss.

Continuing his habit of cursing (this time mentally), Sato jumped into the pulsing red portal; after which the portal dimmed significantly, indicating that it was low on energy and would need to be recharged after a high level demon - Sato - had gone through.

"Come on! Where are the next batch of energy sources? Marquis Zusthra will flay us and eat our livers if there are any delays! But before that, I'll eat your eyeballs from your eyesockets - while you watch!" The beautiful demoness casually barked out vicious orders; sending countless quasits scurrying to comply

Over on the other side of the portal; a long line of hundred of quasits could be seen to be carrying pulsing red crystals the size of their heads. They would bring these crystals into the portals base; where the crystal would shatter, the fragments absorbed by the portal as power.

And the quasits themselves were sucked into the portal; which was also recharged by sacrifices - whether demon lives or humans.

Systems? Transmigrators? Gods?
No problem! All will crumble under my fists!
Smashing dragons, devils and heros into meat patties!
Still, she has a dream - "When will I have a boyfriend...?"

"If the wretched heavens are against me..."
"...Then I shall BREAK the heavens!"

Sam is an orphan with a dream: a simple life and happy family. Nearly talent-less (and ahem, a little slow witted...), she has only her two (overpowered) fists to rely on in a world that seems determined to make her forever-alone.

Follow her story as she falls in love and learns what it means to experience loss;
Shares thick and thin with the most unexpected companions;
Faces betrayal by the ones she thought were the closest;
And learns to open her heart again to trust.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEVER DROPPED UNTIL COMPLETED.
...but major slow down as I am focusing on Desolate Mage.

Note: Romance will take time - and chapters :)

Join the Discord Chat Channel!
https://discord.gg/sT3TG3f

BONUS CHAPTERS Updated 29/11/18
Top 100 = 1 ADDITIONAL bonus chapters!
Top 50 = 5 ADDITIONAL bonus chapters!

Saleen said to Marquis Carloranna, "I'll take care of Pompeii City. You won't have to bear much of the brunt from the assault. You can use the materials I provide to build new armies, which can be trained when attacking Pompeii. The true battlefield should happen between us and the Holy See."
"Your Highness, you've brought less than 2000 with you!" While Marquis Carloranna was very impressed with Saleen's powers, he still deemed it to be too straining for Saleen to take on the Grand Duke personally. From his perspective, the power of one person was always limited.
"No, I brought 100,000 with me and there are hundreds of level nine ones among them. The Grand Duke's Pompeii's estate is not a true duchy, so he can't have amassed too large of an army. Take down Pompeii City and it'd be the end of everything. I'll leave the rest to you."
Marquis Carloranna knew that the mage would not lie to dupe his allies, but the marquis was unable to see Saleen's army. Saleen smiled. "I can guarantee that my demon army has absolute loyalty."
"Well then, Your Highness Saleen, I've heard that you're capable of employing special equipment to mobilize large demon armies. Now I wonder if we can be of help in anything at all."
"Marquis, whether Lex ends up becoming empress is of no concern to me. What I'm concerned about is your loyalty towards her, and how far you'd back her. The war between the Holy See and Qin might slow down due to what is happening in Daliang City, but the war will come back sooner or later. The south side of Qin is connected to Cloudflow geographically. Would you fight Cloudflow for Lex?"
Marquis Carloranna answered without much doubt, "I and the other two marquises are willing to back Her Highness Lex to become the next empress, but our current emperor… well, he's still Lex's biological brother after all. We'll only be able to keep things as they're now until he steps down, not supporting any of the prince's decisions."
His words were as clear as they had to be. The current Qin emperor was of common folk and of poor health. Lex, on the other hand, was a level nine sorcerer and could live at least for over 1000 years.
"There are more than 300 nobles in the southwestern region other than you, and they have considerable military power. How many of them do you think you could sway to your side?"
"274 of them. The others are not worth buying over."
"Excellent. Few places in southwestern Qin are connected to Cloudflow. What you need to do is to make sure the remaining ones will not get any chance to sneak up on you. Your enemies will come from Cloudflow."
"What about Pompeii City?"
"I won't be handing the city over to Safilos once I'm done taking it."
"Are you sure about that, Your Highness?" Carloranna did not fear Safilos. What he meant was if Saleen was sure that he could hold Pompeii City. The city was right beside a river, which made it tactically important.
"Safilos won't be a problem. The problem is Alchemy City." Saleen paid close attention to Carloranna's expression. No fluctuations were seen on Carloranna's face. He's truly a golden grand swordmaster. They might have reservations about mages, but they do have limits.
"Your Highness, Alchemy City has never posed a threat to the empire. It was due to the expansion of the empire's power throughout the ages that led to how things are today." Carloranna's view was new, but Saleen had no intentions of delving deeper to see if it was accurate. He only needed Carloranna and the nobles to not fear Alchemy City.
Saleen asked for 20,000 soldiers from Carloranna. He did not ask for them from Carloranna alone. It was a total gathered by all three marquises as well as some from other nearby nobles. The 20,000 soldiers were tasked with escorting Saleen into the grand duke's estate, and he had no intention of saying hi first. If that proved inadequate in angering the Grand Duke, then Saleen would resort to writing a letter demanding the Grand Duke to hand over his son.
Southern Qin had always been prosperous and powerful. The three marquises and over a dozen nearby nobles took just one day to gather the needed numbers for Saleen. It had to do with being prepared, but being able to mobilize a 20,000-person army meant that the southern nobles' combat capacity had always been intact.
Saleen stayed at Gauss City for two days before meeting the southwestern nobles, signing over 300 contracts and taking the 20,000 soldiers onto the Grand Duke's turf.
Saleen only took notice of the perks provided by his status. He was able to get the southwestern nobles to comply because he was a king and had land and troops. It was as if he was begging for help even though it was a joint operation.
The wars that Saleen participated in before usually involved millions, but wars involving 10,000 were large enough. The 20,000-persin marched and protected Saleen's entourage all the way into the Grand Duke's territory. The nobles siding with the grand duke panicked.
The first to rise against Saleen out of panic was a viscount who attempted to mobilize his forces, about 1000 soldiers, to stop Saleen's attempt. Saleen was invading, after all!
It was the kind of response that Saleen had wished for. He commanded his army and crushed the noble's personal guards. The viscount did not expect Saleen to truly make a move, and Saleen did more than that. He took well over half of the opposing forces prisoner.
While hostilities between the southwestern nobles were not really serious, but Grand Duke of Pompeii's actions had led many to resent him. The Grand Duke's noble army suffered over a hundred casualties and the rest were taken prisoner by Saleen, who then handed them over to the southwestern nobles to be returned to their respective territories. They would be dealt with after the war was over.
Qin people did not have a habit of killing prisoners, especially with skirmishes fought between nobles within their own country. While the prisoners all looked dejected, they knew well that it was a fate better than dying on the battlefield.
Saleen deliberately slowed down and headed for the coordinates of the temple. Less than 2000 miles took Saleen almost ten days. Even to the Qin people, that was too slow.
Saleen had to deal with opposing forces coming to harass him over and over. The forces were always small, even mercenaries. Saleen kept the casualties in check, as the lesser nobles were not at each others' throats. The troops consisted entirely of Qin locals. If he went too far with the killing, it would be bad for his rule in the future.
When the weather gradually turned cold, Saleen's forces reached outside of a city.
Saleen dispatched a messenger and wrote a letter to the city lord. The letter was written in an incredibly pompous manner and made his intentions very clear: he wanted to take this city for himself for six months. During that period, everyone in the city were scattered outside. The city lord, a veteran earl, included as well.
Saleen then set up magic cannons outside the city, aimed at various targets in the city. His cannons were all installed on artificially created hills, allowing the weapons to fire directly into the city.
The earl read Saleen's letter and got incredibly angry. His underling, however, knew the power difference. "Sir, Saleen is a king, which means that he's being incredibly callous with his actions. You're not his match, sir. How about this? You agree to scatter the people of the city, but he would need to pay for the losses suffered."
The earl thought for a bit and figured that the proposal made sense. While he had over 3000 elite troops, but the lesser nobles before had already proven sufficiently that if he went against a 20 thousand-strong southwestern noble army, it would be like throwing eggs at a stone wall.
Saleen watched in the military camp outside the city. He knew what the Qin elites were capable of. Despite having become a level ten mage, he remained as elated as he was before.
The prior battles had proven the demons' combat prowess. With the cannons set up, the city before him could be taken at a very small cost. The troops, however, did not let their guard down about the upcoming battle. The camp's atmosphere was tense. Even the soldiers feeding the horses were on guard.
Military discipline was strictly enforced and the troops were divided into two major camps. Things went very smoothly, which meant that the troops' training had been done professionally.
Saleen patrolled the camps, accompanied by the commander when a soldier delivered the news, that the messenger dispatched by the city asked to meet His Highness Saleen.
"I'm not doing it. I don't want to risk getting angry and killing the messenger. Just tell the messenger what I said." Saleen fully intended on shooing the messenger away before Nailisi whispered in his ear. Saleen stopped the soldier and took out a piece of paper, writing several lines on it with magic and handed it to the soldier. "Tell the messenger to take this back to the city. If they dare dispatch anyone else, I won't go easy on them."
The earl waited anxiously for Saleen's reply. He was thinking about running even if Saleen refused to compensate him. It was stupid to fight such a powerful enemy. However, Saleen was there to ask for trouble. The letter that the messenger brought back contained news that brought him to tears.
Saleen told the earl that in order to show that he meant business, he had decided to bombard the House of the Lord with the magic cannons. Saleen gave the earl an hour to tell his family to run.
There was a map drawn below the lines of words, which clearly showed the layout of the city, as well as the location of the House of the Lord. Saleen drew a red line around the House of the Lord, and area inside the line was where he intended to launch his attack.
"How can this be! How can this be..." The earl mumbled in pain. He stared blankly at the paper. It would only take him over a few minutes to scatter everyone; he was grieving over the treasures in the House of the Lord.
Saleen is going too far. Does he even see me as a noble?
A streak of magic light lit up on the paper and a powerful line appeared before the earl, glittering in the air.
"Earl, I'm here to invade the place, so be quick about it."
Saleen's words made the earl jump. He yelled, "what are you all still waiting for? Get the hell out of this blasted place now!"
The earl understood that Saleen had no intentions of killing anyone, but he did not necessarily have any reservations about killing. Ironwall City served as a good example. While he was an earl, the city had 80,000 people, less than one-tenth of the Ironwall City's population.
The House of the Lord was emptied within half an hour. Everyone saw the magic cannons outside the city and knew how precious life could be. As for hidden treasures, the earl could only blame himself for not storing them in the imperial bank.
However, it was something that all nobles serving the Grand Duke of Pompeii did. They were all afraid of problems when putting their money in the imperial bank.


It is said that the true meaning of a mage is to fully understand the truth of the world. A mage named Saleen Metatrin goes on many missions as a normal mage to try and change his fate. This in turn led to many problems and adventures.  

A fiber of connection from miles away...



Our places on this earth are divided by oceans setting us apart from one continent to another. Several countries speaking several languages to understand each other. People with several cultures and beliefs. Different personalities and opinions.

In this chaotic world, we live in called real life we search for a place to escape from that reality. To be accepted as who or what we are. We have found that in the music we sing. In the books, we read. In the movies we watch. In the places, we travel and visit. Everywhere in which we get inspiration to face reality head-on.

We write stories or poems to inspire others, reading the words we weave from our own world. For some of us, it is simply an escape from reality into a world in which we can use our imaginations to dream make-believe or to live our secret fantasies or just plain be creative.

Getting on the web gives us more ways to share and get connected to other people with the same kind of thinking from across the ocean. Some of the people we meet along the way give us reasons to smile again. It's where we become friends, get to know them well, and get so close that we even trust them enough to share our own greatest fears.

I was a living a kind of living death when I found solace here on Stories Space. A place to write, camouflaging my hatred and sadness from myself when I was reading all the poetry and fictional fantasies created by the writers. I found another escape from reality and indulged in reading.

My feelings from my own troubles in life had made me feel so empty that only through laughter and reading could I be free and somewhat whole again.

I made my own heaven in purgatory.

A friend told me to write down all of my pains and troubles in poems or stories. Another friend of mine told me to be fierce in my poetry writing. I found friends who helped me give my own life a reason to continue living again through writing.

Writing makes me calm every time my mind gets into a panic mode. The pains and the fears of the unknown are my muses for writing.

When I met someone who understood me and made me feel needed and loved my poetry changed its tune. It made me think of happy thoughts. I got inspired by the things I saw and the happy memories of my childhood that I could write about.

Painful memories and realities were always there and so I wrote about them from time to time.

When that someone left me I continued writing. The same inner muse I had gained I used to keep on writing.

Then, out of nowhere, I got to know you. I became happy again. This time I got even more inspired and more creative, experimenting with my writings.

I set aside my shyness and reservations to write creatively. I still can't overcome some of my shyness and reservation but I am blooming, inspired by you.

You became my muse.

The man in the moon. The stars in my darkest hours. When at night I can't sleep thinking of you calms me to sleep.

The sunshine after the heavy storm. Where all the dead trees come to life again. That keeps me warm when everything gets chilly.

My own little heaven in my real life purgatory.

Writing...

Rune's Prose & Poetries

LUCID DREAMS

my wandering crazy mind is just doodling in the sands...

it's just me ...this is a collection of my amateurish writings of poetry, short stories, and prose...

These are all short stories compilation a different story per chapter.

WARNING: Adult contents, please be advised that you're reading EROTICA


ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
RuneMcGrey
Copyright©2014-present

All writings remains MEG Cabingan a.k.a. RuNe also known as runemcgrey's property.
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"I don't mind going to the Grand Council for you." Kevin Gu stared at her with his blue eyes. His gaze smoldered with so much passion that Daisy could not make eye contact.

    "Mr. Gu, don't fool me. I don't want to be murdered by your admirers." Kevin was acting strangely, which raised her stress level. That had never happened before.
 
   "Are you scared?" Kevin, acutely aware of her reaction, could not help but feel depressed. 'Daisy, is there only room for one in your heart?

   "What's on the agenda tonight? I haven't been to such a lively party for a long time." Daisy deliberately changed the topic. Her heart was beating fast at the moment. She was not familiar with this side of Kevin. She wanted to keep her distance, and she didn't know why. 
 
  "Well, let's go and have fun. I'm sure you'll have a good time." He knew that she was trying to pull away, so he stopped flirting. He didn't want her to be uncomfortable and withdraw into herself, so he gave Mark an order to come over. But she still didn't notice his tender love. 
   
"Let's go then!" Daisy felt defeated. Kevin's words were full of suggestions, and his eyes were so weird. He was fixated on her. What would she do now? 
 
  Kevin was dejected. He sadly watched her join the rest of the group. Was he a dreadful monster in her eyes? Why did she run off so fast?
  
  Although Daisy was playing with them, she still squinted at him from time to time, with puzzlement in her eyes. He was so casually leaning on the tree, looking a bit lonely. He just got a promotion. Major General, now. So why did he look so unhappy?
 
Kevin was destined to be alone on the path of his secret love, because Daisy did not feel the same way at all. Though she loved Edward for so many years, she had never been in love with someone. She really couldn't understand Kevin's love for her, and it was not her fault she wasn't more receptive.
  
  The night was getting darker, the sky speckled with stars. The lights of the city were not quite able to blot out the buildings that towered over everything. Down in the streets, blinking crossing lights and neon reigned supreme.
  
  Edward confidently stepped into Sexy World along the East Road near the Square. He'd swapped his expensive suit and tie out for the more casual light sweater and a pair of nice, tailored pants. Several strands of wet hair covered his forehead, making him even more rugged and handsome.

    Ignoring the bevy of beauties who Ignoring the bevy of beauties who showed great interest in him from the moment he entered, he made a beeline to the suite his buddies had reserved. Like always, he was late. Duke was accustomed to his habit, and not surprised at all. But another certain someone had a different reaction. 
 
  "Edward, come on. Don't you have any sense of time? You are always the last one here. Shake things up. Be creative. Be on time for once." Rain lazily reclined on the sofa, his blue earrings shining in the light. He was also dressed casually, a button-down and jeans, far from the dazzling suit in the morning. This way he looked less aggressive and more attractive to women.

    "What do you mean by creative? Whether you want to be kept as a mistress or keep a mistress, I can help you design a plan and make sure you learn new things every day." Edward walked over to him slowly and sat down. He said these evil words very deliberately, and instantly Rain's smile disappeared.
 
   "I did ask for it," he said sheepishly. Rain chastised himself silently. It was really stupid to put himself in the line of fire. He should have seen Edward's gloomy face and gauged his reaction.
  
  Edward glanced at him and picked up the Hennessy on the table. He didn't mind Rain's teasing at all. After his phone call with Daisy, he felt out of sorts, and figured a night on the town was just what he needed. Maybe he could sort out his emotions and relax. 
 
  "Tell us! What's on your mind?" Duke knew him well. Edward would not call them out so late if there was nothing wrong. He recently became more well-behaved and rarely went to places like this late at night.
 
   "Can't a guy just invite his friends out for drinks?" Edward tipped the glass of wine to and fro, the liquid rippling with a beautiful arc.    
"I've known you for a long time. Long enough to know when things aren't all right." Duke called him out on his reticence. He had never been so depressed like this before.
 
   Edward snorted and emptied the glass. He didn't stop to savor the cool liquid.
 
   "When did you become so interested in me? Or are the rumors true?" Edward had an evil glint in his eye. Edward would never forget how bent out of shape Duke got when he pretended to flirt with him. He figured he might poke that old wound.
  
  "Edward, the more you lash out, the harder it will be to help you. I'm not going to force the issue. You don't want to talk about it, fine!" Duke kept his own counsel. It made no sense to force Edward to talk. His friend would talk about it when he was ready.
  
  "What game are you playing?" Rain looked at them, lost for the moment.
    "No game. Drink your wine!" Edward glanced at him irritably, poured some wine into his own glass, and then lean back into the sofa gracefully swinging his long legs.

   Alright! Dont tell me then. I don't want to know. No need to be so mysterious. "Rain looked at them annoyed. This was between Edward and Duke, and no one else would understand.

You're my wife in name only, on paper only. My heart and love will never be yours.

 Edward made it clear to Daisy that she was nothing to him.
They were both victims of family greed--- the marriage was arranged for them.
 6 yrs. passed she remained quiet, gaining a reputation in the army as a tough as nails colonel. When she walked into his life again, Edward fell inlove with this woman, unlike he had known. She surprised and delighted him.

 But will Daisy take him back?
Can their son keep them together? Can the rift between them be held??

The banquet for the higher-ups of the Blood Race consisted of debauchery and degradation.
Nobody knew that the higher-up Dracula, who resembled a demon king, didn't play indescribable games with the female descendants as per usual after the banquet ended, but instead went to the study room. 
This is Dracula's forbidden area. Any Blood Race who commits the offense of trespassing into this area will only have one outcome—to be punished with fire and burnt to death! 
Compared to the rash Caesar, Dracula praised himself as a wise being. He even gathered all the descendants with high intelligence to specialize in writing a set of words for the vampires and even create books to record everything. 
At this moment, Dracula put down his wine cup and stroked the handle of a chair, flicking a switch mechanism. 
Crack! Crack!
A secret door appeared and revealed a staircase leading down. 
He carried an oil lamp and walked down silently.
This secret chamber was very small; the four sides were empty, and a mere statue of a man was erected in the center.
"God? Dominator? Or maybe some sort of indescribable greatness exists… You created me, but I have many doubts that I want you to answer in person…" the Grand Duke Dracula mumbled.
Although he has already conquered half of the mainland, he would never forget the scene where he had become a newborn and the face of that youth.
"If you are God… That hatred engraved in my blood is the destiny that you've bestowed upon me. I will complete it and exterminate those damned werewolves!"
Dracula kneeled on the floor and prayed like a devout believer.
The statue, which had a face resembling Fang Yuan, didn't display any emotions. An indifferent look gazed down, as though it were overlooking all living creatures. 
In the Yin-Yang Continent during the 72nd era of the Blood Race, under Dracula's leadership, the vampires finalized the modifications to the system and created strict ranks. This turned them into precise fighting machines.
In the 73rd year, a war between the Blood Race and the Werewolves broke out!
Over tens of thousands of vampires and werewolves congregated on the plains, the entire scene looked very majestic. 
At this moment, Grand Duke Dracula, instead, rode a giant beast with his body clad with thick armor. 
Mining and smelting were also techniques that were discovered by the vampires. 
At this moment, the army of fifty-thousand vampires that were under his command was, impressively, dressed in full body armor. Not only did they wear full body armor like hauberks and plated knight armors, but they also held intricate swords. 
In comparison, although the werewolves on the other side had sloppily gathered about seventy to eighty thousand in strength, it was easy to notice that their situation felt full of barbarism.
Fang Yuan, who was watching the war from up in the clouds, saw this scene and inadvertently associated it with the resistance between the medieval knights and the barbarians. 
Roar! Roar!
Many vicious beasts roared angrily under the crotches of the vampire knights. Some of them also wore metal armor and seemingly looked like the pillars of a steel fortress.
These were produced from the time when Dracula tried to domesticate the giant beasts that he had previously captured and used to breed the smaller descendants.
These beasts were obtained after nurturing. Not only did they have endless strength, but they were also born with sharp claws and teeth that could tear raw meat. 
Now that they were ridden by knights, they could definitely fling the horses away. 
Roar! Roar!
At this moment, a wolf's howl suddenly came from the werewolves camp. 
Ahwhoooo!
This sound was high-pitched and carried with it an indescribable sense of motivation. 
Nearly all of the werewolves, upon hearing the sound, inadvertently became red-eyed and transformed into the form of an upright, roaring werewolf. 
Pack Enrage skill!
The innate skill of the werewolves blood and the abilities of the vampires were often restricted by the werewolves, and they were far too inferior during individual combat. 
Ahwhoooo!
Ahwhoooo!
Amidst the series of wolf howls, many werewolves charged forward with their hands and feet.
"Pass the order down, dispatch!" 
Dracula silently watched this scene as he brandished and shook his long sword.
The hysterical screams of the forerunner were transmitted to the ears of every single vampire knight through Blood magic, and all of the knights instantly charged forward on their beasts.
Kaboom!
They charged forward endlessly with increasing speed, and they, ultimately, even transformed into a torrent of steel.
Thump!
The two armies viciously clashed together.
The werewolves were horrified when they realized that their sharp claws and teeth that used to take pride in, at most, merely left a deep scratch on the steel plates during the clash. They were fundamentally unable to injure the vampires protected inside.
Nevertheless, with this stunning technique, the steel-clad giant beasts roared and directly crushed them, leaving behind a path of flesh and blood. 
Even the power of the werewolves couldn't even match up to the descendants of the giant beasts!
"This is the power of the system, the power of metal and blood…" 
Dracula looked at this scene with a slight smile. "Early on, before the war, I released a decree. Whoever contributes to the victory of this war will have more land and be awarded one rank!" 
Although the concentration of the Blood Race was fixed, as long as it wasn't the second or third generation of the Blood Race, it was very easy to raise the level of a few vampires to a first generation ancestor like him. A drop of fresh blood will suffice. 
However, this was actually enough to spark excitement among the entire Blood Race. 
In front of the enthusiastic vampire army with strict military discipline, excellent equipment, and motivated with a reward, the werewolves who were still stuck in an uncivilized tribal era were instantly at a disadvantage. 
In just one charge, the wave consisting of the bravest werewolves was completely exterminated. More of the werewolves were, instead, shouting frantically and choosing to flee from the battleground.
This act of fleeing not only pushed the other werewolves towards an irredeemable abyss, it further caused their backs to be exposed easily in front of their enemies. 
In the midst of their pursuit, the vampire knights obtained a victory result that was ten times better than before but with minimal casualties. 
"Kill Caesar!"
"Kill Caesar!"
Seeing that victory had already been set in stone, a trace of red inadvertently flashed across Dracula's eyes as he loudly cheered.
"Kill Caesar!"
Many vampire knights shouted hysterically, charging towards the core of the werewolves.
Ahwhoooo!
A sad and shrill cry ran out.
Dracula clearly saw a giant wolf with a body full of pure white fur and a forehead with a golden imprint appear. Just like a king, it tore apart a few vampire knights and rapidly escaped from the battlefield. 
"Caesar… My old enemy. You exceeded me in the path of individual transcendence, but it's no use…" 
The Grand Duke murmured softly upon seeing this scene.
…
When the sun set, the vampires set up their tents and happily enjoyed the fruits of war from their victory. 
"In this war, we directly killed twenty thousand werewolf knights and took thirty thousand as captives, completely defeating the powerhouses of the werewolves!" 
Dracula drank the blood of the werewolves and suddenly knocked on the table. He lowered his voice. "However, Caesar ran away. This old nemesis possesses an unimaginable intuition. If he continued to delay for just a moment, I would've unleashed Blood magic with the Blood family's board of elders and completely trap him to death!"
"Now, it can be said that the entire mainland is in our possession. However, the war against the werewolves has to continue, hence, I've decided… to turn all the captured werewolves into slaves. We need them to help the higher-rank Blood Race mine, smelt… even become the warriors of our Blood Race!" 
Dracula knocked on the table. "Of course, this isn't something that can be done overnight. It requires a long period of training, but we have to put forward the patience that we used to domesticate those giant beasts!" 
"What?"
"Retain those werewolves?"
"Even if they're used as slaves, we're letting them off too easily!"
Just as imagined, this suggestion instantly roused torrents of activity and talk among the vampire nobility. 
Even though they were high-ranks amongst the Blood Race and could slightly control the hatred in their blood, they were ultimately still unable to repress their natural instinct. 
"If Caesar had already been beheaded, I would definitely exterminate all the werewolves and wipe these brutes completely from this realm…" 
Dracula said slowly, "But the key issue now is… that Caesar has escaped. With his existence, the werewolves wouldn't become extinct, hence… we need to change our approach. Every Blood Race member is precious. We can let all the werewolves kill each other! This is my decision!"
Using the authority of the rank of Grand Duke in the Blood Race, this decision was ultimately fully implemented. 
The thirty thousand captured werewolves would be reduced to slaves, and they even wore specially created chains and shackles that could suppress their ability to transform into wolves. 
They would offer their service to the nobility in the form of humans, withstand all the hard labor, and even become sources of fresh blood.
…
"Countess Catherine!"
Inside the army camp, many werewolves were close together and the stench was horrible.
A lady wearing a high-class evening dress walked in leisurely and looked over each cage.
The Blood guard who was keeping watch instantly bent his body and bowed. "Your honor, what's the purpose of your visit?"
"Following the Grand Duke's orders, I want to choose some slaves for myself!"
Catherine smiled charmingly. "The iron mine in my territory requires at least ten thousand werewolves to exploit, and… I need to find a little fun for myself at the same time."
As she was speaking, she stopped in front of a cage and looked at the werewolf inside.
At this moment, the other party had already completely undone its wolf transformation and had changed into the appearance of a human teenager. 
That golden yellow curly hair and sky-blue eyes made the matriarch's eyes sparkle as she licked her red lips. "This is a teenage wolf right?" 
"Correct, in the perspective of a werewolf, he is indeed only a teenager, but he's very aggressive and has injured many of our knights. In order to suppress him, we even had no choice but to unleash a spell!" 
"Alright, I want him then."
Catherine laughed as her leather boots entered the cage and stroked the teenager's chin. "What's your name… Never mind! It's not important at all what you were called before. From this day forth, you are my slave—Sisay!" 
Roar! Roar!
The teenager's gaze revealed a hint of aggression as he struggled, as though he wanted to bite someone.
"Hehe… I cannot allow you to bite me!"
The countess smiled as she retracted her beautiful feet. "In the future, I'll 'love' you dearly.
"Sir?"
The Blood guards at the side instantly looked a little lifeless. 
"Prepare a slave collar for him, engraved with the name Sisay!"
Catherine returned to her cold arrogant look. "In addition to that, add his master's name. From this day forth, he's considered to be my property, do you understand?" 
"Yes, my lady!"
A few vampires loudly answered.
However, the teenage werewolf inside the cage was still clueless, and he totally didn't understand that its destiny had already been changed. 


This is the story of a boy who lived a secluded life in the mountains, tending his farm, rearing his fish, and dreaming his dreams. Eh? Did I suddenly conquer all worlds and become the big boss? Or am I still in a dream?

A lowly child beggar, a noble prince, a monster viewed as the enemy of the entire world. If you possess all three identities at the same time, which identity would you choose to help you earn a better ending?
Thales did not have the answer.
He only knew that he came to a different and magnificent world, and he had to face a future that was as difficult to handle as a nightmare. The glorious Empire had already been destroyed for one thousand years, the dying royal family suffered many problems, the legendary sacred battle had plenty of conspiracies, the divided world was in chaos.
But Thales had nothing. 
The only thing he had left was an unswerving determination to preserve his own identity, bravery which would allow him to survive in a perilous situation, and a belief that he would never submit to principles he did not believe.
“A King does not gain respect by virtue of his bloodline. The bloodline's glory rests on the deeds of the King.”
Darkness will baptize light. Fire will create true steel. The forbidden prince’s story starts here.

On the Icy Peak of the Black Forest in the northern part of Norton Kingdom.
More than four months ago, the Norton Kingdom's army thwarted the first attack from the Dark Elves at Icy Peak. From then on, they charged straight forward through the forest and into the Pralync Kingdom.
As they moved forward, Icy Peak also changed from being a battlefield to the rear camp of the Norton Kingdom's army. Now after months of construction with almost unlimited funding, it had become a large-scale fortress.
Today, the weather was as terrible as usual with the dark clouds in the sky and the biting wind whistling through the air. The low temperatures here could easily freeze people's ears off their heads. Nonetheless, the guards of the fortress dared not take their duties lightly even in such weather. A team of soldiers patrolled the outer walls of the fortress. The soldiers rubbed their hands and stomped their feet to keep warm, but their eyes remained sharp and vigilant as they guarded the northern wall of the fortress.
The Black Forest was gloomy and bitingly cold. When the wind blew through the forest trees, it would make an eerie howling sound. Moreover, the forest seemed to be packed with crows which would appear suddenly and caw loudly.
It was as if the Black Forest was haunted!
Just then, the soldiers heard the clip-clop sound of horses approaching the fortress. The guard captain immediately shouted an order, "Everyone, on guard!"
The soldiers gripped their weapons tightly. The archers nocked their arrows, while the other soldiers locked their eyes on the direction where the horse was approaching. If they noticed anything wrong at all, they would not hesitate to attack instantly.
The horse approached closer and closer, and after about half a minute, a group of knights emerged from the dense forest. There were a total of 13 knights, and all their armor had been stained red with blood. The knight in front was clad in dark green armor, and he was carrying a bleeding and dying Magician on his saddle.
"I'm Falcon, Royal Knight of the Norton Kingdom! Open the gate!" shouted the knight who was carrying the Magician.
Falcon, a Royal Knight of the kingdom, was a Level-6 Warrior and the captain of the vanguard. His weapon was the Holy Cross sword. Once Battle Aura flowed into this sword, it would light up in a holy, silver light that was unique to the sword.
The soldiers looked at the sword and waited for another five or six seconds. After determining that Falcon was not pursued by any enemies behind him, they slowly opened the gate of the fortress and let him in.
The knights sped through the fortress gate before it closed up again immediately as all of them had entered. Not a single second was wasted.
Once they were all inside, Falcon carried the dying Magician down from the saddle of his horse and gave him to the knight beside him.
"Quick," he ordered, "take Artor to the priest!"
The knight then held the young Magician and ran towards a small chapel of the fortress. The Magician, Artor was slashed in the neck, but fortunately, none of his vital veins were cut, so he was still alive.
Falcon continued to gallop more than 150 feet into the fortress square before dismounting. He gave the horse to a soldier nearby while he himself rushed into the command hall.
Inside the hall, there were loud voices from different figures of various positions. Some were generals and officers, while others were clerks and soldiers. They were all discussing their strategic plans.
Falcon walked to the entrance and wiped the blood traces that had been frozen to ice off his face.
"My lord," he loudly said, "the vanguard camp has been attacked!"
All of a sudden, the hall fell silent. Everyone's eyes turned to Falcon. Duke Abel, who sat at the head of the long table, turned to Falcon with an expressionless face.
"What did you say?" he asked. "Repeat yourself!"
Falcon rushed into the hall with signs of panic still in his eyes.
"Those ghouls blinded our guards early this morning, my lord," he reported. "Then the Black Tooth Legion of the Dark Elf army suddenly launched an attack on our camp. There were 5000 soldiers in the vanguard…but only 13 escaped."
The ghouls were a terrifying group of Dark Elves that suddenly appeared on the battlefields since the war started. Their speed was as fast as the wind, they were almost invisible, and their strength was inexhaustible. Ordinary swords and weapons could never kill them, even when their vital points were struck down. In short, these ghouls were close to supernatural!
Only 13 soldiers in the vanguard camp escaped out of 5000. In other words, the entire camp was annihilated.
Duke Abel's face turned hard and cold.
"What about Karnose?" he asked Falcon. "Wasn't he in the vanguard camp? Where is he?"
The Black Forest was where most of the ghouls lay; that was the area around the vanguard camp. To help combat them, the Dawn Swordsman was sent there. As the only Level-8 Warrior in the kingdom, he was deemed as the best person who could eliminate the threat of these ghouls. But no matter how powerful the Warrior was, in the end, he was just one person, while the total number of ghouls wasn't clear. So far, according to reports, there were more than a hundred of them now. The presence of the Dawn Swordsman could do nothing but temporarily suppress the wild attacks of the ghouls.
Falcon's eyes turned red as he thought of Karnose.
"I don't know, my lord," he said. "To protect us and make sure that we escaped from the camp, Lord Karnose decided to remain there and fight. As for what happened to him now, I…I don't know."
It had gone so quiet at this point that a pin dropping on the floor would echo throughout the hall.
The people here had been through wars before, so they knew its harsh brutality well. They knew that even if Karnose was an invincible Warrior when faced with an army, the most he could do was kill a hundred of the soldiers. He still wouldn't be able to escape certain death himself.
In other words, the top Warrior of Norton Kingdom had now almost certainly died in battle.
Silence lingered in the hall. No one made a sound for three minutes. Then, Duke Abel stood up and took a deep breath then looked around at all the generals in the hall.
"It's time to shrink the line of defense!" he said coldly.
At present, there were 190,000 soldiers in the North divided into ten regiments. These regiments were centered in Icy Peak which then formed a defense line facing the north of Black Forest. The vanguard camp, on the other hand, was kept 50 miles further north of the fortress.
Once the vanguard camp was attacked, there was now only one legion left to protect the fortress. The situation had become a little too dangerous. If the defeat had come from a normal battle, the Norton Kingdom army would certainly be able to counterattack from the flanking sides of the battlefield and teach the Dark Elves a harsh lesson. But now that these ghouls came into the picture, things had gotten a lot trickier.
These ghouls hid in the Black Forest and were almost untraceable. The scouts from the MI3 weren't able to fight against them, and all that encountered the ghouls had died with very little exceptions.
So far, the number of scouts in the forest kept dwindling, and the army received less and less information. By now, the links between various regiments had almost been cut off by these ghouls which made fighting a war that much more difficult.
In this case, the safest strategy was to retreat the line of defense. Duke Abel still had some doubts about the decision, but now that the best Warrior in the army had fallen and the entire vanguard camp was annihilated, he had to make up his mind.
The generals had nothing to say, either. Everyone knew that at this point it was basically impossible to fight on. They'd even begun to draw up orders to get ready to withdraw.
Duke Abel then turned to a man wearing gray leather armor beside him.
"Karnose might still be alive," he said, "I want you to send out a search party and find news of Karnose."
That man was Dilo. He was the commander of the scout team of the MI3. He was responsible for collecting information on the battlefield. A month earlier, he did an excellent job and had almost squeezed the life out of the Dark Elf army. But ever since the ghouls appeared, the tables were turned completely.
Dilo frowned when he heard Duke Abel's order.
"My lord," he said with a lowered voice, "the Black Forest is infested with the ghouls. If we send more people out into the forest, there would only be more people dead."
He did not say this out of cowardice. He'd seen what happened in the last half month how with every team of scouts he sent out into the Black Forest only about 10% survived and came back alive. At this point, all the news the king and the army received was in exchange for the scouts' lives.
Naturally, as the leader of these scouts, he was sad to see his elite members sacrificed one-by-one.
But Duke Abel got furious as he listened to Dilo's reply.
"Stop your excuses!" he spat. "This is a military order! Find him at all costs!" He was well aware of the dangers in the Black Forest. Still, Karnose wasn't just a Level-8 Warrior—he was the source of morale for the entire army.
If even the Dawn Swordsman had fallen, how would the rest of the army find any courage to continue to stay in the North? How would they fight on in this war?
"As you wish, my lord," said Dilo. He had no other choices. Then, he rushed out of the hall and began to carry out the orders.
To everyone's surprise, Dilo returned again to the hall after ten minutes.
"What's the matter?" Duke Abel asked impatiently.
"My lord," said Dilo in a hushed voice as he walked up to the duke. "The princess insisted that she wants to join the search party. I came to ask you for your advice."
"…"
The Iron Duke's jaw dropped for a few moments. He wanted to tell Dilo to refuse his daughter's request, but just as he was about to utter the words, he discovered that everyone in the hall was watching him. They must've heard of what happened now.
He hesitated for a while, but finally, Duke Abel gave Dilo his decision.
"Let her go," he said with a trembling voice. "Don't treat her any differently from other members of the team. The search and rescue of Karnose is the most important thing."
His daughter, Annie, was now only a Level-4 Assassin. In the past, this level would be considered powerful. But now with the ghouls around, sending someone of her level out into the forest would practically be a death sentence for her. Yet now, he could do nothing to stop it; it was the price he had to pay for being the commander of the army.
Duke Abel then stood up and announced, "I must go get some rest."
He turned away from the command hall as all eyes watched him leave silently. The Iron Duke seemed to have aged ten years in the last few minutes. Even his walking gait had gotten weak now.
"Dilo," the duke's adjutant whispered, "you must not let anything happen to the princess."
"I will do what I can," said Dilo with a thin smile. In truth, it was too late for him to do anything now.
…
The news that the vanguard camp was attacked and that the fate of the Dawn Swordsman was unknown couldn't be kept a secret for long. When the search party left the Icy Peak, all tens of thousands of people in the fortress had heard of the news by then.
For a time, the air in the fortress was extremely tense. Although the main force of the army had not been lost, their morale suffered a deep plunge. At that moment, the Black Forest had become less of a battlefield, but more of a deep abyss that sucked lives into its deep and dark underbelly.
No more than half an hour after the search party left, a figure clad in a loose black cloak walked out from the forest near the fortress. It was Link.
He'd just arrived, so he knew nothing about the current situation.
He stared at the strong and magnificent fortress in front of him and couldn't help but admire it.
"They've built such a large fortress in less than six months' time," he exclaimed. "What a feat!"
He then quickened his pace and approached the fortress gate.


Link was the top Archmage in the entire server. He had just defeated the strongest boss, the Lord of The Deep, Nozama with his party. However, instead of going back to town, he was transported to a secret location with pixelated CG. 

It sort of felt like a vacuum, and within it came a glorious and commanding voice that calls himself the God of Light. 

"Link, would you be willing to be the saviour who will pull the World of Firuman out from the churning abyss?"

What a huge mission! If it was in the real world, Link would have rejected it immediately. However, he was bent on being the hero in game.

"Bring it on!" Link answered confidently.

"Then, best of luck." 

And so begin Link's journey of magic, friendship, betrayal, love and despair in the ever changing World of Firuman.

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