Gabby was going to the kitchen when she saw Alex there. She looked at her wrist watch to look at the time. It was too early for her sister to be here, she was supposed to meet with their aunt. In the end, she asked her sister on why she got home fast. 

"You came back early! Have you met aunt Lucia?" Gabby asked.

"We didn't get to see each other."

"What about our tickets? Mom will be waiting for us, we can't afford to delay the flight. She just applied for three days day-off, she'll be busy again with the business the following day. They have an upcoming big project to handle."

"Don't worry. Cassie contacted me and said that she will come here tomorrow to deliver the tickets. By the way, she also invited us to go have a shopping while she is here with us."

"I can't come with you tomorrow. I will be going to the bookstore downtown, the next series of the book that I'm reading will be released and it's a limited edition, so I need to grab a copy as soon as possible."

"Fine, I will just tell it to Cassie then."

"By the way, is she staying here? I will ask someone to arrange a room for her."

"She didn't tell me, I'll just ask her tomorrow. Anyways, I'll go now."

"Sure, go ahead and I'm still going to grab something to eat."

-

The next day

Gabby was busy preparing when Alex suddenly knocked on her door. Her sister was already done dressing up, she was wearing a peach flowy dress which makes her look more feminine and beautiful. On the other hand, she was wearing a shirt and pants which make her look boyish. She can't help but compare herself to Alex.

"I'll be going now, Cassie is already there."

"Okay, take care! Please send my regards to her and tell her that I'll make it up to her next time."

"Likewise, bye!"

After checking her things again, Gabby soon left too. She went straight to the bookstore downtown and checked the book that she was looking for. Unexpectedly, the book was unavailable in this store, so she had no choice but to leave and sent a text to Alex to ask where they are, so she can follow them and try to look in the mall's bookstore as well.

Gabby was waiting for her sister reply when a man suddenly shouted her name. It's been months already, but she still turns around when someone shouted 'Alex', it already became a habit.

"Alex!" She saw a familiar guy on the other side of the street, it was the same guy who sneaked inside their house.

Gabby panicked when she saw him, so she didn't have a choice but to hail a cab before the guy reaches her. She was already feeling regretful that she turned around when someone called her name, actually her sister's nickname.

It may also be her name but apparently their parents already decided that Alex was to be called Alex while she was to be called as Gabby to avoid confusion.

On the other side, Chris was baffled on why Alex would abruptly leave when he called for her. He was sure that she saw him, she even looked at him.

"Hey! Why did you suddenly leave me and shout in a public place? Did you see a friend?" Miguel asked him.

"Uh…yeah!" He scratched his head, he forgot that he was in a public place.

"Where is he? Did he see you?"

"It's not a he, she's a girl! I think she was in a hurry, she rode a cab after she saw me."

"Maybe, she got scared at you!" Miguel replied while laughing. Chris just smacked him in return.

"By the way, I also knew a girl named Alex. What a coincidence?" Miguel added.

"I've never expected that Alex is a common girl name, for you to even know a girl with the same name." Chris responded, he thought that Alex was a unique name for a girl, who could have thought that it's a common name for girls nowadays.

They decided to go to the nearest mall after roaming around here. He was with Miguel the entire day because his mom asked him to guide and assist Miguel while he was staying here. Apparently, his cousin wanted to roam around the vicinity. After roaming around, they decided to watch a movie before going home because it was still too early.

Luisa Smith and Gabriel Smith are sought-after figures in the field of accounting and finance. They have their own accounting firms and most of their clients are known figures in politics, business and other different fields. 

Due to their outstanding capability together with their clients’ background, Luisa and Gabriel are facing threats every day, it became a normal occurrence for them, but it changed when Luisa got pregnant with twins. They got afraid that something may happen to their children, so they made it a secret.
 
She asked the help of their clients to make her pregnancy as a secret. In the end, her children lived peacefully and enjoyed their life inside the four corners of their home. When the threats stopped coming, she let her children go outside their home and start living their lives as a normal teen.

With their parent’s connections, it was easy for the twins to get in a university even though they lack some important documents. To have less trouble, the twins decided not to attend the same school, Alex Louisse were the one who got in university first. On the other hand, Alex Gabriella was still waiting for the university’s feedback.

Alex don’t have a problem with mingling with other people, so it was easy for her to adapt with the changes. On the other hand, Gabby is not doing well, she can adapt with the changes but because of her personality, she’s having a tough time interacting with other people.

Unexpectedly, the twins happened to fall in love with the same guy or that’s what they thought and because of that, the twins started to face some difficulties in their life.

The question is…

Do they really fall in love with the same guy? and

Will they have the strength to succeed in overcoming their problems?

Russia, where the people (Wizards) don't like strangers, that is currently in political and economic turmoil. Having arrived safely albeit with a headache and nauseous from the Portkey, which felt like he'd been dragged by his face through a narrow tunnel.

Then as he was trying not to puke his breakfast all over the Russian Ministry's floor, a worker came and dragged him away to another room. They began to ask him various questions mostly regarding his purpose for coming to Russia and his Identity specifically if he was a Muggle born or a Half Blood.

After he answered all of their questions and showed them his introduction letter he was let go. Yet they also didn't provide him with anymore information pertaining to his situation, so as he exited the room he made sure to slam the door.

"*Fucking assholes...*"

That wasn't the end of his troubles, because apparently his aunt's house wasn't connected to their Floo Network, which meant that he'd have to go there in person. So after asking for directions to his aunt's home and where the nearest Gringotts was he went towards one of their chimney's.

Ron's destination was Moscow's Magical Shopping District, Mesto Neizvestno. located near Moscow's famous Red Square. So after entering the chimney he stated the name in the best Russian he could muster and was surprisingly engulfed in bright red flames.

_

Unlike Diagon Alley, Mesto Neizvestno resembled Knockturn Alley with it seemingly looking desolate and dark. Even the shops didn't seem welcoming with many looking dusty and old while others had windows that looked like they hadn't been cleaned in decades.

Being a bit curious he went in to what looked like a bookstore, at least he guessed it was because of the piles of books stacked against its windows.

*Ding*

As soon as Ron took one step inside the bookstore his nostrils were assaulted by a foul, putrid smell he covered his nose and made his way to the counter which a decrepit old man was leaning over.

"( What do you sell.)" 

"( Beast Books.)"

Having a vague idea of what he meant, Ron started to look around the store and sure enough most of all the books in the store were made from beast skins. That in it of itself was grabbed Ron's attention but off to the side he saw books that were actually moving, very reminiscent of the Monster Book Of Monsters.

"*I didn't know there were more... They look different, so does that mean they're on different subjects?*"

He went towards one and tried to first inspect them since he knew the English ones were known to bite Wizards. One in particular looked quite fascinating it resembled the head of a dragon, with two onyx eyes and sharp row of teeth.


"( How much.)"

"10,000 Kusokzolta."

"*Hmm, that might be the tourist price, let's see how low he'll go. Not like I care but it wouldn't do me any favors if I become an easy mark.*"

"5,000."

"10,000!"

"7,000."

"9,000!!"

Hearing that the old man went down from his initial price Ron knew the book wasn't worth any where near 10k.

"( 7,500 Last offer.)" 

"( Fine.)"

The old man sighed and nodded his head, seeing that Ron took out the Kusokzolta in waves of thousands and with a wave of his wand the old man collected them all.

Knowing how dangerous the Monster Books could be, Ron carefully got close to it before throwing it inside his pouch.

"*Let's hope this wasn't a waste of money, otherwise I spent thousands on a cool looking book.*"

Exiting the bookstore Ron went to another shop a few doors down, a apothecary. Potions and Magical Ingredients were subjects that he'd prided himself in knowing well. so when he entered the shop he feelt a bit smug about it.

"*It's not that bad, I even think they have some Progelin ears those are quite rare and expensive.*"

Unlike the bookstore owner the lady running the apothecary was very welcoming even charming. As Ron saw it there were a lot of words that could describe the woman who was a tall blonde bombshell.

*Gulp*

-

Once he came out of the  apothecary with a large amount of Ingredients and no money he realized she was a Veela or at least half.

"*Who ever came up with the idea of hiring a Veela as a saleswoman knows that, Sex Sells. Even more so when they have that charming aura about them, I'm sure that if I was older and in puberty I'd offer to buy the whole store.*"

Left with no more money he finally made his way down to the bank, which surprisingly was almost identical to the one in Diagon Alley. The major difference he noticed was the colour scheme here was red and gold instead of white with gold. After exchanging his Galleons for Kusokzolta and his British Pounds for Rubles he left the bank.

"*Now how am I going to get to Tiksi? The lady at the Ministry said I could go by plane or take a train and then a boat...*"

Walking a bit absent-mindedly Ron failed to notice two men approach him and shove him to the ground. He was going to retaliate but then had an idea and didn't move when the men took his red pouch and ran.

-

Two shadows hastily made their into a alleyway, they wore hoods over their heads to hide their faces but one of them was holding non to a crimson pouch.

"( Open it! Open it!)" 

The one without the pouch excitedly yelled out as his accomplice was eagerly trying to do so. Seeing as it wasn't opening regularly the man holding on to it took out his wand and chanted a spell which was able to open it.

"( Stupid rich boy!)" 

"Zhe he he he-"

"*Stupefy!*"

A sudden wave sent the laughing man crashing to the ground, seeing his partner on the ground the other man quickly countered with a spell of his own.

"Vindr!"

A strong gust of wind shot out of the man's wand towards the alleyway's entrance. Not wanting to be found by the authorities the thief began to flee in the opposite direction.

"(Fuck!)" 

He didn't make it very far when his foot was caught in a hole, trying to stand up he found the hole was slowly closing.

"(Fuck!)"  "(Fuck!)"  "(Fuck!)" 

The thief became more hysterical and even pointed his wand towards the ground in an attemp to free himself. Then as he was going to chant a spell, a voice sounded behind him.

"That's an old spell used for farming, made it easier to plant seeds into the soil. Now I use it to get rid of rats... Legilimens!"

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling.
I don't own the Cover Image: Credit to Patilda on DeviantArt.

Mc is reborn in the Harry Potter world as Ronald Weasley. Unlike the rich Malfoy, smart Hermione, or famous Harry follow Ron!

Discord: 

https://discord.gg/qZNwXS

I'm going to make ALOT of changes to the story, this novel is based on my own personal knowledge. So if anyone knows more please let me know if I get something wrong or if I'm missing something.

Shangguan Heng jerked his head in defiance, struggling to get rid of that surge of admiration for his companion's enshrouded greatness. Coldly, he shot back, "Not even the grandmasters of the Dharmakaya who are capable of flight questioned such absurdity. What possessed you to make such baseless postulations? The Primogenitors of Buddhist and Taoist teachings will answer in the debate of the Origins. There is hardly a need for you to burden yourself with such things beyond your comprehension."
"Indeed," replied Meng Qi softly with a deep sigh. The night grew darker still as the hour edged closer to dawn. The countless twinkling stars in the borderless expanse of the heavens filled his view.
"Of course, there have been a multitude of Dharmakaya prodigies and even great legends of old that have walked this very Earth. How could they not know if the Heaven and Earth are flat or round? How could they not tell the difference of the gleaming stars and the burning sun?"
Meng Qi reached forward and plucked another blade of grass. He set the grass between his teeth and leaned back against the large green rock. Dreamily, he wondered aloud, "Long ago, during the Fall of the Celestial Court and the scourge of the demons and devils, and then recently, at the Cataclysm of the Demonic Buddha, there has been little martial knowledge imparted from the ancient antiquities. More so of the scarce historical books and records entrusted to us through the decay of Time. How do we know what lies between their pages?"
"Still,the Dharmakaya marvels of this age possessed the ability of flight. But what of the Samsara, were they too capable of traversing the Samsara Realms?"
"The world may be of a spherical Heaven and a flat Earth, but what of the many Samsara realms and dimensions? Where did the mysterious worlds of the Samsara dwell between the planes of Heavens and Earth? Were they merely figments of imagination of the Dominator of the Six Samsara Realms, or were their origins and births related to the essence of the cosmos, the arcane mystics of the Earth and Heavens?"
"There have yet to be any chronicled records of the Samsara realms or any other dimensions and worlds, not to mention the lack of information on whether Dharmakaya masters are capable of passing through the Samsara realms."
"As such, how does one quantify the Lanke Temple, which has long borne the truism of 'So Close, Yet So Far'? What can be said of the other Pure Lands of Buddhism? How and where did they dwell between the Heavens and the Earth?"
"What of the Earth before the present Earth? What of the Cosmos before the present Cosmos? What relationships linger between them and the present dimension?"
If Meng Qi had not endured the experiences of his struggles in the Samsara realms nor experienced the enrichment of the knowledge from his past reincarnations,he would have dismissed all his present doubts and debates of a Dharmakaya's ability to soar through the winds long ago. He would have succumbed to the banalities and trifles of the present age just like the common folk.
Meng Qi's question had stumped Shangguan Heng despite being endowed with great acumen. He regained himself before replying, "History has frequently suffered blank intervals, and still the Wang family of River East endured. They have prevailed despite the passing of Time, and through adversity and woe. Surely they do not lack records of their deeds."
Meng Qi breathed in the cold night air. He smiled, "I see. You have seen the ancient records of the Wang family of River East?"
Shangguan Heng's expression darkened. "How could I? Everybody knows that the Wang family of River East guards their ancient lore books closely as if they are their most treasured possessions. They would never allow strangers pore through their scripts and uncover their secrets..."
His voice trailed of at the end and his tone grew soft. It struck him that his words had inadvertently confirmed Meng Qi's inference.
"I see. Perhaps, in the former epochs, there was once a different understanding of the Heaven and Earth..." murmured Meng Qi, his voice inflected with mystery and intrigue.
Watching Meng Qi lying on the great rock with the green blade of grass in this mouth, a sudden envy crept into Shangguan Heng's heart. The picture of ease and nonchalance curiosly overwhelmed him, and he staggered backward to collapse under a large tree. Defiantly, he snapped, "Your words are nothing more than delusions. One can barely count the number of reasons the Wang family of River East would want to closely guarded their secrets. There are other families of the aristocracies and important martial sects that have bequeathed their martial knowledge and tradition till today. Their heritage too, has endured since the Ancient age, the Medieval times."
Despite his deep reflection on the enigma that was Heaven and Earth, Meng Qi had not the faintest notion of where to begin. But Shangguan Heng's words sparked something in him. Revealing nothing, he turned to his companion with a smile, "True. The heritage of martial knowledge was not lost with the passage of Time. I trust that the great legends of old would have embodied their teachings about the Dharma and Logos, the martial techniques of the Dharmakaya caliber just not the perception of the Heaven and Earth. Given delicate rumination and study, one might learn the knowledge and philosophy needed to substantiate one's own understanding."
"Grasping and mastering of the laws of Nature will be displayed in devastating and powerful martial techniques that one learns during one's ascent to greatness. This is a realm where one must take the mystics of supernatural invincibility upon oneself. Surely the ancient legacies bore the teachings and philosophy of the Heavenly Primogenitor's creation of the Heaven and the Earth so that the Primogenitor's teachings that have existed since Creation endure to this day?"
"Heh. The remnants of the past are but fragments of Dharmakaya techniques. The same can be said of techniques of the Enlightened. Hardly sufficient provisions to meditate on, right?" Shangguan Heng sneered smugly.
Meng Qi stretched lazily and spat the grass from his mouth. He continued wearily, "Well, enlightenment is not the only goal, right? Studying different legacies and institutions of the ancient legends may yield an insight to understand the order and nature of Heaven and Earth."
A thorough comprehension would combine elements pertaining to one's course of study and learning. His current skill and level of perception would have left him confounded and disoriented by the sheer vastness and the complexity.
"Legacies of different ancient legends or techniques of the Dharmakaya..." Shangguan Heng muttered, wondering if Meng Qi had sunk into another of his many delusions once more.
The smile on Meng Qi's face did not slip. A moment of silence hovered amongst them both, then Meng Qi rose wearily, patting his robes clean. The powers of the Eight Nine Mysteries conjuration, the Heavenly Golden Scripture spell, the Divine Nine-Annihilation technique, and the inheritance of the Buddha's Palm technique he had at his fingertips. He was hardly lacking any subject of meditation.
The stars of the dark night were glimmering radiantly as Meng Qi stood, his gaze far away. Shangguan Heng eyed Meng Qi suspiciously. "You are setting off again?"
"Something has come to me. I want to head for the nearest city as fast as I can," Meng Qi answered. Whisking his sleeves as he glided forward as if borne by the wind, and he was off.
His jaunty manner in which he spoke and took flight once again gave Shangguan Heng another rush of begrudging envy.
Dawn came, pale and clear. Meng Qi emerged from amongst the shadowy overcast of the mountain paths and walked through the gates of the nearest city. Determinedly, he headed straight towards the nearest bookstore.
"Shangguan," he asked his loathsome companion, "it has occurred to me that I have been in North Zhou Dynasty for quite some time. But why were you the sole contestant to challenge my skills?" Meng Qi's strides did not falter even as he talked.
Shangguan Heng had kept to his word. He had persistently followed in Meng Qi's wake, a mere paces behind Meng Qi now. Sourly he answered, "You defeated me with one single stroke. There would not be so many experts left who are confident to challenge you. It will be some time before others appear."
Shangguan Heng's prowess would have placed him just behind Cao Er, the Without Embroiling Earth Immortal in the Ranking List of Young Masters. His crushing defeat at Meng Qi's hands in a single stroke had scared off almost every aspiring contestants, even those who might have been marginally stronger than Shangguan Heng. Meng Qi's astounding coup de grace had elicited fear amongst the warriors of North Zhou Dynasty.
"I know," Meng Qi answered, "But what of the masters who covet my skills and Precious Weapons?" He strolled casually through the streets with his hands behind his back, his eyes darting around as he looked for a bookstore.
Shangguan Heng could not help but feel irked that he had become a simple footman for Meng Qi. Exasperated, he said, "You might have been a dishonorably expelled disciple of the Shaolin, but you have maintained close dealings with prominent martial sects and various members of the aristocracy. Despite the many encounters with death, you have endured as the second-best warrior in the Ranking List of Young Masters . One might wonder if there are strong invisible hands behind your ascent to greatness and fame; or perhaps you are a prodigy,blessed with ungodly talents and flair in the martial techniques. Your reputation precedes you so that none dare incur the wrath of the former and dispute the latter."
"Seasoned elders of the Exterior would customarily have had their own Precious Weapons forged long ago," Shangguan Heng continued, "Only fresh fighters whose footprints have barely been imprinted past the threshold of the Exterior would harbor such naive inclinations. Yet how many would have thought of this? Options and opportunities abound everywhere despite the peril that lurks."
Without the motive of incensed hatred or alluring gain, none would relish antagonizing a person who might be capable of amazing feats; one who has been ordained with both powerful invincibility and tremendous fortune.
Meng Qi grinned at his companion's remark, ending the conversation without a further word. He knew as well, that his unpredictable trail through the wilderness had deterred many budding challengers from seeking him out. The primary reason for his frivolous wanderings was to elude his pursuers from the Myths and the foul folk who harbored greivous intentions towards him.
He left the street and slipped into an alleyway. There, he found a bookstore where he purchased a good many Buddhist and Taoist scriptures and sutras after browsing extensively through the shelves.
"What in the world has possessed you?" asked Shangguan Heng incredulously.
Su Meng, the Killing Blade, was contemplating a change of heart and becoming a Taoist or a monk?
Without so much as a word, Meng Qi paid for the books. Past the doors of the bookstore, he found a corner where he sat and began to leaf through the pages of the books he bought. He would have been mistaken for a beggar if it were not for his clothing and impressive bearing.
The reference of the unbroken heritage from the long past in his debate with Shangguan Heng had inspired him. Knowledge and understanding of the Heaven and Earth was contained not only in the martial knowledge that has ancestral roots of old but also in the Buddhist sutras and Taoist scriptures. By getting rid of frivolous gossip, he would fully comprehend the Buddhist's and Taoist's outlook on the matter.
His mind whirred as the pages flew by. There Meng Qi sat, unmoving, for two days completely oblivious to the people and events that happened around him. The sudden transformation befuddled Shangguan Heng. "Has he gone completely mad and delusional?" he asked himself.
"Not to mention the countless throng of mythical aspects of the Buddhist lore; the Sun-Moon Division, the Six Heavens of Desires and the Brahmā worlds form the small Lokadhātu. One thousand small Lokadhātus added with the Ābhāsvara worlds form the small Chiliocosm. One thousand small Chiliocosms added with the Subhkrtsna worlds form the Dichiliocosm. One thousand Dichiliocosms, with the Brhatphala worlds and the Four Formless Spaces, constitute a Trichiliocosm. Three thousand Trichiliocosms create a Buddhist Realm, where Buddha is present. All forms of Buddha are but various different facets of Gautama, the Shakyamuni Buddha..." Meng Qi mumbled incoherently, without tearing his attention off the pages.
"Planets and stars gather to form a star system, and star systems gather to form galaxies, and the multitude of galaxies are collectively referred to as galaxy groups where they are dwarfed by the vast universe. In the early beginning, the universe was but a tiny speck. Indescribable, without an origin and without its end. These descriptions seem familiar..."
The similarities of the former were most recognizable to Meng Qi. It was systemic classification based on the accumulation of collective units. But the description of the Buddha and his present understanding of the primordial origin would require deeper thought.
"Still, discrepancies between the descriptions exist between the Buddhist and the Taoist accounts of events. There was the account of the primordial beginning, the reasonable doubt of the Buddha's irreverence to the Cause of All Karma, the creation of life, and the Buddhist nature that resides in all life – the sign of the Buddha..."
In the tumult of thoughts that cluttered his mind, a line from his memory surfaced:
"Watch not the boundless shifts in vain; Eternal immortality shall be yours to gain; Trust with no doubt that all are trivial; The wisdom of Buddha to accept the immaterial."
It was the final line in the Volume of the Enlightenment Stage of the Eight Nine Mysteries discipline. He had failed to comprehend the meaning of the words then. But the words made perfect sense to him now. The lines contained two messages, two separate teachings that would eventually manifest into two different techniques of the discipline, the Immortal Golden Body and the Golden Body of Bodhi.
Under the premise of the two distinctly divergent routes of understanding of one's self and the nature of Heaven and Earth, there would surely be more definite differences.
"The Hidden Latch indeed!"
Meng Qi has grasped a shred of insight during his training for Divine Nine Annihilation and the Five Thunder Bombardment disciplines. But, the lack of further knowledge had impeded any further deliberation, but also, the very nature of the vast world he lived in.
The discovery of greater wisdom brought joy and comfort to his heart. He abruptly broke out in laughter, dropping the book he held in his hands, oblivious of the judging eyes of the passersby and Shangguan Heng that bore down, seeing not just beggar, but an insane lunatic as well.
"You have finished?" Shangguan Heng asked, the edge of his lips twitching, "What have you discovered?"
For two days he had guarded Meng Qi from afar, perching in a quiet corner where he had meditated and regaled in passersby's curiosity of Meng Qi's beggar-like demeanor.
Meng Qi grinned delightedly as he replied, "Considerable insight. But I have another pressing matter to attend to. One that takes precedence over the truth of the Heaven and Earth."
"And what may it be?" asked Shangguan Heng curiously.
"My stomach. I am famished. I am already salivating hungrily at the prospect of good food," Meng Qi revealed happily. He rose from his seat and drifted unconcernedly to a restaurant, seeking food.
A clear expression of displeasure and distaste appeared on Shangguan Heng's face. In a low voice, he muttered,
"I know of a mystic. No, rather a demented maniac, who lives to ponder about the truth of the Heaven and Earth. But most dangerous and precarious is the site of his dwelling. Do you dare to come with me?"


I care not of my past and neither of my future.
Conquering all heroes and foes while looking with disdain at the horrors of the Samsara, I yearn only for a life of thrilling wonders!
History will repeat itself after many ages as the menace of the Great Calamity rises once more.
Which will rise with triumph in the face of adversity; the Golden Form of the Great Buddha or the invincible Heavenly Taoist Form?
Which will seize all glory amidst all struggles; The Buddha's Palms or the  Seven Strokes of Heaven's Interception?
From the sanctum of the Shaolin Temple, Meng Qi's adventures and struggles through the Samsara begin as we follow his climb to claim the title of "the Unrivaled and the Invincible One"!


"Stahl!" The voice of a young woman could be heard as she was looking for a young man, who swiftly turned around from stepping off the ship, noticing Evalia approaching him.
"Oh, hey!" Stahl exclaimed with a bright smile, and Evalia smiled back at him. "So… How about we meet at the market later when you're done with everything?" She asked, so Stahl immediately nodded his head.
"Sure! I'll just message you when I'm going there then." Stahl responded, so Evalia smirked back at him.
"Alright, then I guess I'll see you later?" Evalia asked once more, so Stahl simply nodded again. "Of course." He said as he swiftly turned around and made his way over toward Komer, who was currently talking to the workers at the harbor. Stahl really wanted to finish the trading as soon as he could.
And after Komer finished talking with them, he turned to one of the workers from the ship, told him something, and then jerked his head toward the street to tell Stahl that they should get going now. "What did you ask those guys? The guys from the Harbor I mean." Stahl then asked curiously, before Komer looked at him with a smile. "I was talking about fees, of course… The Harbor's pretty full at the moment, so a big ship like our's is a bit of a hassle to deal with. I managed to haggle it down a bit though. Oh, and I asked for the nearest Bookstore as well." He explained, so Stahl lightly tilted his head to the side.
"A bookstore? Why that? I thought we only needed to get materials and stuff like that." Stahl added, and Komer nodded his head. "Yeah, but we need to know the actual locations of the shops. Most bookstores at least offer maps of the town, and although they aren't necessarily filled in with most information, a bookstore owner is usually someone pretty knowledgeable. So, we'll ask him to fill us in. Oh, and obviously for Sky as well, I told someone to let him know where it is." The young merchant answered, before Stahl quietly whistled impressed.
"Nice, I wasn't aware of that. But just wondering, you're still basically just wearing your starter clothes… Why is that?" Stahl asked, and Komer looked down at his body before shrugging.
"No real reason. Eisen said he'd make me something more merchant-like at some point, but he didn't get to it yet. And as long as I have the money, people don't care about what I'm wearing as long as I'm not completely dirty and somewhat respectable-looking." He explained, before scratching the back of his neck, pointing at the a store at the end of the street with a wooden sign displaying a book as well as a writing pen.
"That's the bookstore. Ever haggled before?" Komer asked with a smile, but Stahl just shook his head. "Not really… Usually I just pay the price people tell me. You can't haggle at McRonald's, after all." He said with a smile, and Komer nodded his head with a smirk.
"Yeah, you don't usually haggle when ordering food anyway, at least not when it's a small order at a restaurant or food stall. If it's what we're getting later, we're hagglin', but otherwise, that's not the norm. Anyway, you have the confidence to haggle, so I'll just show it to you at the bookstore, and then we're going to some random stall to get you the Trading skill." Komer suggested, while Stahl just nodded and followed behind him, before they made their way into the Bookstore.
There, Komer immediately stepped up to the counter and looked at the man behind it. "Good morning, Sir. We'd like to buy a map of town, if possible." Komer said with a smile, cutting right to the chase, before the man nodded his head with a similar business-smile. "Of course, wait just a second." He replied with a nod, before stepping up to the shelf behind the counter and looking at a few different items, making some small talk while he was at it.
"Are you two travelers, by chance?" The man asked, and Komer immediately replied with a bright smile. "Yes, Sir, we're just passing. We're leaving again in the evening." He answered, so the man nodded his head and with a smile pulled a rolled up piece of paper out of the shelf, opening it on the counter and weighing it down with some small pieces of metal at the corners.
"This is our basic map of only Kahn. As you can see, it's quite clear and easy to see the different streets, even the alleys, as well as the individual houses. We also offer a version of only the streets including the street-names, a version with this amount of detail with the street-names, as well as a map of the outside of town so that you can navigate the fields and forest if you wish to." The Man explained with a smile, and Stahl just shook his head.
"That's fine, this map here is more than enough." Komer answered, and at this point, Stahl noticed the situation change immensely, as if a lever was switched that tensed up the atmosphere.
"Gladly. That would be 50 Copper coins, then." The man said, before Komer began to slightly shake his head and blink quickly as if surprised, or even borderline insulted.
"50 Copper? That is quite a sum, isn't it? I'm more inclined toward 5 copper, personally." The merchant answered, and now it was the man's turn to act baffled, although Stahl was rather unsure whether he was acting as well, or actually baffled.
"Sir, I'm sorry that we can not sell this map for only 10 Copper coins. We can put the number down to 40, though."
"How do 10 sound?"
"…I offer 30, but I can not go down any further, Sir." The man replied, all the whilst keeping up a bright merchant-like smile, although Stahl noticed that he was most likely not nearly as calm as he was showing himself to be, but Komer just continued.
"15?"
"Sir, my last word is 20. I will not budge any further than this." The man exclaimed finally, and Komer smirked as if he got the man where he wanted him.
"Alright, let's go for 25." Komer said with a smile, before the man looked at him confused, although glad that he got to sell the map for a higher price than he would have settled on. But Komer still wasn't finished, "But on top of the 25 for the map, you mark down the locations of a few shops that we need to visit after this. Deal?" Komer asked with a smile, before the Man nodded his head, feeling somewhat relieved that he wasn't asking for anything else major.
And after Komer then asked about the exact locations of different shops to be marked down on the map, he and Stahl made their way back out of the shop, before Stahl turned to the young merchant with a wry smile. "Damn… You're really a Devil, aren't you?" Stahl asked, and Komer just shrugged. "Hey, I got us a 50% discount, stop complaining. He wouldn't have sold it for that price if it had brought him to ruin. And I'll give you a little tip here…" Komer said, before quietly looking around and speaking to Stahl in a low voice.
"With my element, I can see a rough price range of what an item is worth when I infuse it into my eyes. The range for that map was 20 to 40 copper. He was asking for far too much anyway, so I started the lowest I could go. He knew that I far underpriced it, but he also knew that I knew that he overpriced the map, so he accepted the starting 'bid'. I was going for the lowest acceptable price, because any lower than that will really not bring him any profit, and I didn't want to do that to him. But, because that was the spot where he only barely made profit, I raised the price and asked for a small favor instead. He was aware that we're travelers, because he asked about it at the start, so instead of doing us the favor for free to get us to be returning customers, he could have asked for a fee to tell us the locations of the shops. And instead, I raised the price I would pay him a little into the place I wanted to get to anyway, and then added the favor into it." Komer explained quite lengthily, while Stahl listened quite curiously before scratching the back of his head.
"Couldn't you have just taken the 20 he would have given you and asked for the favor anyway?" He asked curiously, because he was really just unsure how you should normally handle such things.
"I probably would have if I didn't need that favor, but with it, I thought I'd use that chance. I know especially I shouldn't say that, but you know, I kinda wanna turn over a new leaf. So, this is how I deal with things. That way, when we get back to this town, he's going to have positive memories of me as a customer, if he remembers me at all." Komer explained, and that did really seem to make sense to Stahl, although he was curious about something else now. 
"You just said 'when we get back', as if it was a sure thing… why that?" Stahl asked, and Komer just turned to him with a wry smile. "Wait, you didn't ask anyone why we're stopping here last?"
"Not really, no…" The young man responded, somewhat embarrassedly, before Komer replied with a sigh. "This is the largest commercial town in the area, and quite coincidentally, also one of the closest cities to the Islands through the regular routes. There are some that are a bit closer, but those are all Military-controlled, because people have been wanting to take the islands over for a while now."
"And why didn't they manage to? Surely they should have stronger forces than we do, right?" Stahl then asked, but Komer just shrugged. "Not a single clue. I think it has something to do with the fact that they're islands of the gods, but I really don't exactly know. You'll have to ask Sky about it, he knows more about them than anyone on the ship."
With a low laugh, Stahl nodded his head before crossing his arms. "He knows the most in general, doesn't he?" 
But immediately, Komer shook his head, which surprised Stahl a good bit. "Nope. He and Bree are pretty on-par on the amount of their knowledge. Bree knows most things that you will need in your daily life in any way, and she's pretty knowledgeable about general geography, skills, magic, and so on. Sky just knows a lot more about different myths and legends, because he grew up in one." He explained, and noticing Stahl's confused expression, Komer continued.
"Sky grew up in a Fairy-Forest. That kind of place is inaccessible by regular people or monsters, only those with special permissions can get in there. It's a place filled with all kinds of magic, and it has a lot of really strong, legendary creatures in there. Because of that, the Fae had a lot of information about legends and myths." Komer explained, before pointing at a random stall with a few small items.
"Anyway, get over there and get the Trading Skill, please. We need to get going so that everything will be delivered in time." Komer explained, and Stahl nodded his head. "Gotcha. Any item in particular you want me to buy?" Stahl asked, while Komer shrugged. "I'll take a look around and see if there's anything interesting. Just butter them up for a little while."
"Gotcha, Boss!" Stahl responded before rushing over to the stall he was told to and then took a look at the different items. And to his surprise, there was something else going on. A young woman wearing a beginner-player's clothes was standing behind the stall, acting as a saleswoman.


Follow Benjamin Joyce, an elderly man with a passion for blacksmithing who spent his life travelling the world and learning new things. Now, after helping out the developers of the first ever real VRMMO game, he gets the chance to play said game earlier than the majority of other people. 
Taking this chance to do what he loves now that his real body is slowly giving in to his old age and the profession he lives for is no longer as important as it used to be, he starts his journey to become this new world's greatest Craftsman!
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Check out my second novel, Demon's Virtue!
https://www.webnovel.com/book/15238973305579305/Demon%27s-Virtue
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Join the discord! https://discord.gg/uFRQvTe
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Cover by: Belk (belkbelkbelk on Instagram)

Dumbfounded, her mouth hangs open while looking around. She's soaking wet with her clothes on, in the middle of a knee high river. She stood up and turned around, a small waterfall. She focused her eyes to see the end of the river that seemed endless. She stood up and walked for quite some time, trailing the river the doesn't overflow.
"Bam!" "!!!!!!!!" Her head was throbbing with pain again. Praying that her brain was still intact. She extended her hands in front of her and touched  what seemed like a transparent wall. She couldn't walk further so she turned around to where the waterfall was. Looking at the river, it seems deeper on this side, deep enough to swim. No fish, just rocks that were glimmering. She stopped when she realized something.
"!!!!!!!!" It's her space! But how???!" In the apocalypse, she didn't have other powers aside from a 50 sq meter space. Although she wasn't powerful, space users are very important for survival. They can store food, ammos, beds, tents, anything that could be a hindrance while fighting. She heard that there were those who had bigger space but belonged to the military or a strong clan.
She runs and jumps and laughs like a madman. 'Thank God! A miracle!' Touches the dent in between her brows...thinks...'Was it her necklace?!!!'
"Jackpot!!!" Turns around and runs again yelling, "I loooove yooouuuu moooom!!!!" She's very happy pondering the possibilities, the things she can store. Can she bring others inside? Plants? Animals? Cars? House? Looks like she had to redo her list and it will be longer this time. Anyway it's a great thing and she has a lot of time to explore. Grinning and breathless, she noticed that her body is really weak. Now, she's determined to workout and learn some defense moves so she can fight in the future. She can escape to her space in case it's life threatening but she can't do it openly. Keeping it a secret and only revealing it to her loved ones can she feel secure. 'With so many things to do, so how can i get out....'
"Poof" she was standing in her room."!!!!!!!!" She was so thrilled she tried it again a couple of times. She reached for her bag then with a thought, it disappeared. 'Wait, I'll try using only my mind instead of my hands waving like a nuthead.' Then the table, chairs. "!!!!!!!" With a thought, she can move objects four meters from her body! 'Niiiicceeee!!!!' It's very useful, but she should still bring a bag as a disguise and also keep in mind the size of the things she pulls out. Feeling drained, she returned everything, took a bath, cooked a simple meal and crawled herself to sleep.
Waking up feeling refreshed, prepared breakfast and sat on the chair. Looking at the notebook, she had written so many things to buy. Food, ammos, medicine, cars, tents, plants, seeds, beds etc. She also needs to study how to raise plants and animals. It would be perfect if she had a house inside. While  contemplating her thoughts, she saw a bee landing slowly on the budding rose beside her window. "Poof!" the bee vanished and entered her space happily flying. She took the vase and tossed it inside.
So small insects can enter, this afternoon, her task will be buying a fish and a chick. Then she'll try bigger ones like chicken, ducks, goats, sheep, cows, horses etc. Dogs and cats will be at the final coz she doesn't have time to take care of them for now.
Holding a basket, she went to the nearest wet market and bought two live fish, a chick and feeds. She walked in an alley, looked around and moved them in space. In her mind, she can see the chick happily running around and the fish swimming in the river. Now that it's certain that she can bring animals and plants, she wants to divide the space so they won't run havoc inside.
She continued to walk around and saw an old man sitting at the roadside, selling mixed objects. Her attention was on a simple ring with a very small dark blue stone in it. It looks cheap but she had a nagging feeling that she needs to have it. The ring was 5$, she paid 1000$, took the ring and ran off. She pitied the old man. What she didn't know was the man shed tears but was smiling, silently thanking her.
Then she went to the bookstore and bought all the books she could think of, farming, medical, animal raising, mangas, novels, science, carpentry, architecture,  etc. Also a bunch of papers, pens and notebooks that she asked to be delivered to her apartment. She ate in a stall and went home.
Surfing the net, she picked two warehouses for rent. Here she can stock the food and goods that would be delivered. She can't make them disappear in front of everybody so this must be done carefully. She's planning to invite her best friend in the following days and call Uncle Belden tonight. She also needs to search for the houses she can move. Does she want to bring more people? Of course, but she will choose wisely because this treasure could get her killed. If she could save lives, why not? But she will be the queen in her land!!! As for the Chen family, ehem. will think about it in the future. For now, shopping!
In the afternoon, all the things she ordered from the bookstore were delivered. It filled her apartment and it was hard to walk. When they were gone, she sent them into her space. Wait, she needs shelves and cabinets  since there was only soil in the space. Facepalmed and then went online to order them. Could she bring in a whole warehouse? Nahh, this would arouse suspicions if a building suddenly vanished. 'If only I could have a separate space for these things...Unexpectedly she felt an excruciating pain between her brows. She stood up dizzily and tried reaching her bed. The ring on her finger glowed and she collapsed on the floor.

Sky turned red, meteors fell. Screams and explosions everywhere. For unknown reason, people started having magic powers.. Most were happy but it didn't last long. Soon came the undead. To survive, kill or be killed. 

Her mom disappeared. She was betrayed by her ex-fiance' and killed by her step-sister. 
Now she rebirth a year before the apocalypse, equip with magical space, this time will it be the same?


cover pic: https://pixabay.com/photos/moon-eclipse-starry-sky-hills-5338374/

Hi readers, I'm a amateur author. Please be linient with me. This is my first novel so please allow me to grow. Suggestions will be appreciated.Thanks!!!

After the black armored man pushed the golden angel away, he quickly raises his hand.

"ACTIVATE, THORN VINES!!!"  Black armored man is shouting and a big green dome covering all angels army.

"Damn it! Be careful everyone! He wants to…" The golden angel is warning all her army but it's already too late, all of them engulfed in the green dome then all of them vanish into thin air.

"They are gone! What happened? Did he sacrifice himself to kill them all?" Mikhail is astonished then he began to look for the black fairy and the baby.

Mikhail feels like something guiding him and he could find the two of them easily.

"I must finish this dimension gate spell quickly! He won't be able to hold much longer!" The black fairy finger is moving around, writing some ancient runes on the air in high speed, making her finger blurred. The ancient runes that she finished writing will float around and circling around her and the baby.

The more she wrote the ancient runes, the more her face became pale.  Mikhail could see, she must be forcing herself to cast some strong spell.

"Using my power without a master is truly taxing me greatly. To think that I must force myself to use almost all of my remaining power just to cast this kind of spell!" The beautiful black fairy gritted her teeth while keep writing the ancient runes.

BBBBOOOOMMMM!!!

"What is that?" Mikhail heard a loud noise from the place where the black armored man fights and decided to check it. Then he found that the black armored man and all angels army already back to that place.

The situation is quite tragic though. There are countless angels that are shredded to pieces and many of them gravely injured, only a fourth of them are survived unscathed. You could see that the black armored man is truly monstrously strong. However, that has also come with a heavy price for him.

The black armored man's body is stabbed by countless spear and sword that still embedded deep inside his body. His blood is continuously flowing down to the ground creating the pool of blood. The most eye-catching is the golden lance that holding by the golden angel pierced through the black armored man's left chest. 

That black armored man did not angry or sad about it, there is no hatred too on his eyes. On contrary, he looks surprised then smiling gently at the golden angel and staring at her with glittering eyes then slowly raises his right hand and touch the golden angel cheek, even though the golden angel still wearing her golden full helmet right now. 

"Cough… Cough… So it is you! I never thought I would see you once again for the last time! To think, that I would die in your hands… Pfft… AAHAHAHAHA… Even dying hundreds of times I would not regret it!!!" The armored black man laughing out loud looked very satisfied.


"If someday…  You… Do not feel sorry for me... And… Do not be sad or cried… Your smile is my only wish… Always… Be it in the past, present, or future… " The armored black man is slowly closing his eyes, smiling gently, and died while standing tall.

The golden angel is pulled out her lance and sticking it to the ground. She is staggering while holding her left chest.

"What happened? Why my heart is hurt so much? Is he put a curse spell on me before he died?" The golden angel began breathing hard and gritted her teeth in pain.

"You all search for the other quickly now!!!" She is ordering the rest of them to search while she crouched down in pain. 

"OPEN!!!" The black fairy shouted then all the ancient runes congregate into one, creating a hole only as big as a soccer ball in the air.

"They are over there quickly catching them before they enter the hole!!!" The one of silver armored angel shouted to tell all his comrade while flying toward the black fairy.

The black fairy is flying with the baby quickly entered the dimension hole but the closest silver armored angel reaching out his hand to catch them and manage to grab the baby.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" But the hole is instantly closed mutilating the silver armored angel's hand.

…..

"FFFuuuuhhhh… Thankfully, it is finished right on time!" The black fairy sighed while rubbing her chest to calm herself down but she then aware that her body becomes transparent.

"It looks like I depleted almost all of my power so I cannot maintain my form anymore!" Then black fairy body vanished and turned into an old book.

"EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Mikhail is dumbfounded and almost fainted on the spot when he saw this old book. Isn't this his grimoire? How could it become that beautiful little fairy?

"I cannot fly for too long! I must search for the nearest city and landed there immediately!" The grimoire scanning the entire area then it immediately find the nearest small town. It instantly makes an emergency landing on the softest spot at the garbage dump.

There is a passerby woman that wants to throw garbage. She manages to find the baby and quickly bring him to her home while ignoring the old book beside the baby.

"Mother…" Mikhail's eyes reddened when he saw the woman that picking up the baby.

"Dear, look what I found when I throw the garbage!" The woman is happily showing the baby to her husband.

"It is must be a god's will haha… He gave us a kid when the doctor said we cannot have it!" The man looks happy too and playing with the baby like his own child. His wife is diagnosed with having cervical cancer a month ago and forced to remove it so they cannot have a child anymore. Who knows the god still so kind to them and give them a child with another way.


"Father…" Mikhail murmured and closed his eyes while calming his feeling down.

The scene then went accelerate like when you watched the movie in fast forward, they take care of Mikhail like their own child and so on. 

Then when Mikhail turn 17 years old, the both of them died in a car accident.

Mikhail's foster parent is quite rich. Their saving should be enough for Mikhail to life extravagantly for tens of years later on.

…..

Meanwhile, the grimoire is picked by a child and his parent is the owner of the bookstore. 

"Father, look at this old book! Isn't it looks antique? Could we sell it at the high price?" The child happily asked his father.

"Yes, it really looks ancient! Unfortunately, we cannot open the page anymore. It looks like someone placed sticky glue inside it! Let's just put it in our shed for now!" The father is throwing the old book into his shed and persuades his son to eat together with him.

Mikhail is breaking up with his girlfriend.

Out of heartbreak, he brought all games and food in the store and swore to not coming out of his room until he finished all the games.

After one year, he finished all the games but after he coming out what he found the world is already on its end.

"Ahahaha, you must be kidding with me right? This must be a dream!"

Unfortunately no Mikhail this is not.

Follow Mikhail on his journey with his grimoire!

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Note:
(NEET- Not in Education, Employment or Training aka Unemployed)

The cover picture is only temporary and it is not mine.
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Daily updates 1 chapter/day for sure!
if I am busy and don't have a time to update today then tomorrow I will updates 2 chapters!

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Mr. Webster locked the shop door, flipped the closed sign and turned to Nettie, slipping the keys in his pocket. "Are you sure you won't come to dinner with us, dear? We'd love to have you."
"It's your anniversary, Uncle James. I'm not coming along as a third wheel. I'm going to unpack that new box of Agatha Christie books, and then curl up with a sandwich and my very own copy."
She waved them off, then tied an apron over her nice pink dress and went into the back store room. The box of Christies was right on top of the table near the door, so she didn't need to search. She used a pen knife to slit open the wrapping and started stacking books on the table. She'd already cleared off one of the new shelves out front for the grande dame of mystery's latest work. 
The hairs on her neck prickled and Nettie stopped, looking around. She didn't see or hear anything. After dragging in a breath, she figured it out. Something smelled off in here, but her nose was stuffy from crying all night so she couldn't place it.
A noise, something like a splash, came from the back corner - where the washroom and cleaning closet were. Unlike Eli's spacious house, there was no living space on the first floor of the Main Street storefront.
Nettie moved back. A bulb must have burned out because it was hanging dark from the ceiling when it should have been lit. Her sense of wrongness intensified, so she lifted the first possible weapon she saw - a short length of lumber left over from building the new shelves.
She came to the door of the closet just as it sprang open. Her father stood there, not dead at all but looking nearly so. Crazed and skeletally thin, he held a jug of kerosene in his hands.
Without thinking, Nettie swung the plank, knocking the can from the old man's grip. It clanked and tumbled out of sight.
"Bitch," he roared. "Whore. It won't matter. I've already poured enough around to burn the place to ashes. This last can was for the front."
"You're supposed to be dead." She backed up steadily, holding her plank out in front of her.
"And you were living in sin. What's the matter? Your boyfriend sick of getting the milk for free?" Al advanced, pushing boxes of kerosene-drenched books to the floor. Scattering things, she supposed, so they'd burn better.
"Who died in our house?" She tripped at the threshold of the shop window and nearly fell.
Her father shrugged. "Some drifter. Coshed him over the head with a rock, then cut off his hand so they won't know it isn't me." Al used the time her stumble cost her to light a match and throw it on the nearest pile of books. A second flew in the other direction. Both instantly shot up in flames. Nettie turned and made a run for the front room. Her key was upstairs in the apartment, but there was a large, metal cash register on the counter in the shop.
She made it to the counter, but before she could pick up the register, Al was on her. He grabbed her hair and dragged her back toward the flames.
Before Eli, she might have let this evil man get away with killing her. Even though Eli had rejected her, first he'd convinced her that she was a person worth fighting for. She grabbed the nearest bookshelf and hung on tightly, making Al stumble at the unexpected resistance. When he got close enough, she kicked him in the groin.
"Whore!" he released her hair to grab his crotch.
"That one's getting kind of old." She ran again for the front of the store as the room began to fill with smoke. She pounded on the glass with her fists, and when someone on the street turned to look, she yelled, "Fire!" 
The man nodded and ran toward the fire hall.
By then Al was on her again more furious than ever. He smashed her head into the glass, several times, stunning her into submission.
Outside, the fire bell began to ring.
Al, sensing perhaps that his own escape route was probably cut off, threw her to the ground. He did what she'd tried before, picking up the cash register, but it bounced off the thick pane of glass. When it struck the base of a bookshelf on the rebound, the shelf toppled over, pinning him beneath it.
Coughing, feeling the flames lick ever closer, Nettie crawled for the door. The firemen would be here any minute. The blaze wouldn't reach her that fast. She pulled her dress up over her chin, breathing through the silk.
Help would be here soon. All she had to do was breathe.
Eli was the biggest cad alive. Not only did he think that, it had been confirmed by his mother and sister as well as his housekeeper and the rest of his employees. He was back in his office the next day, mulling over and over his decision to break the engagement and he still convinced himself it was the right thing to do. His leg would never be one hundred percent. And the scars were hideous. Nettie deserved somebody whole, a man who could keep up with her boundless enthusiasm. Eli had even discovered two white hairs in his beard that morning. She wasn't for the likes of him. He did make a note to get Stan to drop off her sewing machine at the Websters. The other volunteers had pitched in and purchased a new cabinet as well as repairing all the damaged mechanisms. They'd planned to give it to Nettie as a wedding present.
When the fire bell rang, he cursed his inability to run the few blocks and hopped into his roadster. At least he could still drive. It was more than he'd hoped for at first. As he slowly climbed out at the firehouse, he saw that some of the men weren't even waiting for the truck, but instead, running down Main Street.
"Hurry up, Eli, it's the bookstore. " Stan yelled. "We need the pump truck."
"You drive it." Eli didn't even stop to grab a helmet, he just dropped his cane and ran, despite the sharp pains in his leg. Not Nettie. Please God, let Nettie be all right.




Author:
Cindy Spencer Pape firmly believes in happily-ever-after and brings that to her writing. A multiple award-winning author, she has published almost sixty novels and stories. When not hard at work writing, she can be found restoring her 1870 house, dressing up for steampunk parties and Renaissance fairs, or with her nose buried in a book. Visit her website: www.cindyspencerpape.com.

Beltane Lion
Rhodri of Llyan has returned from the Crusades a cursed man.  On the way home to Wales, a young friend is sorely injured, and Rhodri seeks the aid of village healer, Selene, whose gift for healing is as uncanny as her beauty.  Can Selene’s magic find a way to break the curse, and heal the wounds on his heart?  

Georgie And The Dragon:
Who’d believe that in the enlightened year of 1805, Georgie Burn’s Welsh village still felt the need to make a sacrifice to the local dragon lord?  But since being the dragon sacrifice will save her younger siblings from the poor house, Georgie agrees. When Caddoc sees the buxom, flame-haired beauty waiting for him on the rocks, he flies in for a closer look and the little minx stabs him with an enchanted sword. He takes her back to his lair, shapeshifts to human form, and teaches her what it means to satisfy all the cravings of a dragon.

Unawakened:
Augusta MacLeish has four mischievous younger siblings but no money to feed them. Colin Fordyce has recently inherited an earldom, along with five wards in a remote Scottish castle. When he travels up there, he discovers his predecessor was skimming their funds. He also learns the oldest Miss MacLeish is absolutely stunning. A knock to his head leaves him seeing two of the buxom beauty, just as one kiss from her tempting lips leaves him longing for more.

Marry Me, Marietta:
Marietta James is a proper Victorian widow—until the night fate throws her together with handsome doctor Adam Hamilton. Adam has tried to ignore his desire for his voluptuous neighbor, but when the two of them are alone together, the passion burns out of their control. Now Adam is determined that their relationship continue while Marietta wants to forget their night of passion ever happened. It will take all his powers of seduction and persuasion to get her back in his bed—and into his life for good.

Where There’s Smoke:
Nettie Price supports her abusive father because of a deathbed promise to her mother. One of the highlights of her day is when Eli Lawson, lawyer, and volunteer firefighter comes in to her bookshop for his morning papers.

After one particularly brutal beating, Eli finds her and takes her to his home to recover. As a string of fires heats up the town, things also start to heat up between Nettie and Eli. But between arson and their own insecurities, love just might not be enough to save their relationship—or their lives.

Cyan Salvatore grew up as a normal human being in the world of mortals, not knowing that there are supernatural creatures living behind the shadows.

Devastated and in pain of the sudden lost of her loving parents, alone in the world full of malice, she was left with the most cruel situation of having to find a way on how she will be able to pay all the debts that her parents have left her.

What's going to happen when young, beautiful, and smart Cyan met this sinfully handsome man who didn't just managed to turn her world upside-down, her emotions inside-out, and make her feel the most unusual sensations that even her out-of-the-world imagination, wouldn't be able to form in her mind and heart?

Not to mention that her body always get warm all over, even by a mere gaze he threw on her way.

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BELOVED SERIES: BOOK ONE

MANY months after the Ghotham took in the child they found in the woods behind their house, they received a piece of news. A work of a miracle. Silvia Ghotham was pregnant. They were overjoyed. They thank their God for the gift, they donate every end of the week of the month to the children in the orphanage as a 'thank you' for the gift, and their love for their children became bigger. Silvia thought that Stella was a God's test to her either she was able to be a parent to the child or not and as a gift, she received her own.

Lily was a small child. She loves to follow her sister around. She was a trouble-maker in the family too. But all that made people looked favorably at her. Because she was pretty. Some say she looked like an angel. Like a doll. One that people adored compared to her sister's title.

Lily may smile when people praised her and she smiled too when people talk bad behind her especially about her sister. Her smiles are those as fake as a doll was. Inside her heart, a fire as big as the statues in front of the bazaar ablaze with curses. No one would know or would hear of such curses could be uttered by her pretty smallmouth because all of it was inside her heart.

She never liked her pretty face or her pretty hair or her pretty 'hands' as people said because all these pretty things that they said came from the same mouth that spewed insults to her sister. She hated this kind of person. They were the trash of society. The one that pollutes the world. The one that better off died with their intestines used to choke themselves!

"Lily."

She looked at her sister's face as she broke out of her daydream. "Yes," she replied with a smile that could shine the world.

"Have you found anything that you wanted to buy?" Stella asked.

"Umm, no."

It was a school holiday at that time and it almost over. So, they came to the bazaar. With the money that their father gave, the walked around the huge bazaar on their own since they were popular, so their father had no worries if they were to get lost inside there.

Honestly, they were lost but Lily does not want to make a fuss about it. Stella seemed okay or that she did not know how to read her sister. One of her many failures in making her the perfect little sister to Stella. But they are still small and she just entered the elementary that Stella went to.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of a snack on a stall. It smells so sweet that it enticed her stomach.

"Do you want to eat?" her sister asked.

Lily nodded quickly. Who would pass such an amazing chance for her to eat snacks and sweets?

One of the many reasons why these Ghotham girls were lost was because they kept on stopping on food stall one after another.

After nearly finished all of their pocket money, they found the book shop though this was the first time for them to arrive in that old-musty-yet-luxurious looking book and stationery shop. The bell on the door rang, the click clacks of them walking on the wooden floor, and no one greeted them on the counter.

"Hello?" Lily called.

No one answered. Lily was afraid of going to shop for the unattended shop because people would accuse of them thieving if something goes missing and that if she wanted to buy something, it would be a hassle to find the owner.

"You go find your colour. I'll go find the owner," Stella assured her.

"Okay," she replied timidly.

The book shop was bigger than Lily imagined. The ceiling was high and the collections of books for a book and stationery shop compared to the ones that their father usually brought her to.

As she was searching for the stationary aisle, she saw a big window framed overlooking the town she never sees before. The buildings built were not as cramped as she knows of and the buildings were tall and majestic looking. The houses – no, mansions were built largely apart on the hill and as it descended the hill more townhouses with colourfully painted walls and huge balcony windows that they even put tea table with a parasol. More so that, she saw a moving box by using four wheels, drove through the pavement.

Yet, with all extravagant settings, it's all felt empty. The people walked fast by; everybody was so busy to even greet each other. Their clothes even though they looked so fancy; it was just a parade of wealthiness. Somehow, the humid air of summer does not affect the cold atmosphere of this part of town.

She left the scene and properly started searching for her coloured pencils. It took her 10 minutes to find the isle which was supposed could be done in a matter of a couple of minutes because the isle was located near the entrance. As her father would usually say, that Lily is someone with her head in the clouds when walking but it was more like she does not have a sense of direction. 

When she arrived at the counter, she does not saw her sister anywhere near but only a man of middle-aged. His stature was below average but he looked big to the eyes of a child. He has a big fat belly, plump cheeks, and half-bold. He bore a friendly smile ad his eyes disappeared when he smiled.

"Are you the owner?" she asked curiously.

"Unfortunately, I am," he replied with a heavy sighed.

"Do you know where my sister is? She was supposed to find you."

"That little lady? She went upstairs to look for something. Do you wish to purchase only that?"

Lily put her the coloured pencils that she had selected with her feet tiptoed to reach the countertop.

"I want to go find my sister first," she requested.

"Oh, there's no need. Your sister coming down now," the owner said.

True, Stella was stepping down the staircase from the second floor of the shop with a book tightly hugged in her arms.

"What you got there, Stella?" she asked interested in the books that looked so old that the bind was barely ably banded the pages.

Stella showed the book that she found. The front cover font was hazy and the colour has seen its better days. Where did her sister found this book?

"Joyce's teeth! Where ever do you get that? I swear that book was in a case last month," the owner said looking surprised after he adjusted his small glasses.

"I found it on the shelves upstairs," Stella replied honestly and Lily knew that her sister is incapable of lying. She does not know if this personality is a blessing in disguise or ticking time bomb because usually, the receiving end of it would be her. It was not a pleasant memory considering her naughty deeds never lasts for more than an hour.

The owner rubbed his chin, his head looking up on the ceiling or that it was his gesture of figuring out the mystery. Then, he laughed. He looked so happy.

"Well, I had that book ever since my grandfather of grandfather opened this shop and it was the last copy too. I kept it in the case in the back store because of how old the book was and it was tattered. I guess it must have found its owner rather than the owner found it."

Stella was caressing that book gently. The way she looked at the book itself (though her eyes were obscured, mind you), it was as if she had made herself attached to it in the matter short amount of time.

"Do you know the title of the book, mister?" Lily asked considering the letters were hardly seen.

"If I'm not mistaken, The Dancing Cat Journal."

A what cat journal?

"Well, if you read the letters using the old language it means 'Lake of Desire' and since your sister to be fond of that book, rather than it collecting dust, I'll give it for free."

"Thank you," Stella offered and the book returned to her arms.

Lily chuckled. There is no stopping Stella if she had said that and since it was rare of her wanting something for her own. Thus, she proceeded to pay for her coloured pencils. The owner packed her belonging inside a wrapper and he also included a few cute notebooks and bookmarks.

"I've been wondering, where are you girls come from? You don't look like you come from around here," he asked while wrapping.

"We're from the humble town of Chamberly," Lily answered.

"Praise my lord, that is so long away from my shop. This is like the nearest entrance to the Upper street of Kimberly."

Lily's face was red with shame. "We're sort of lost on our way to the bookstore."

"You mean to say that you accidentally found my bookstore?" He squinted his eyes.

It was Stella who found it. In the busy road of posh boutiques and modern café, she dragged her hand to this bookstore.

The owner gave the girls the easiest direction to go back to Chamberly and he bid them goodbye as he sent them outside. He waited until the girls disappear from the high street that went straight to Chamberly.



AS they walked back home, Stella was still fascinated with her back that she does not have any intentions of letting it go any moment or do she realize of her best friend coming over to them. They met when they had reached the center of the bazaar. He looked out of breath as if he was running around the bazaar before meeting them.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked out of concerned but that little nut just ignored her and went straight to Stella.

"Stella! Where you've been? I searched for you all over the place and I don't see you. Your father said that you went to the bookstore but you're not there! Do you know how worried I am? Why didn't you asked me to go together with you? What if Kai saw you and bully you and I wasn't there to help you? What if something bad happened to you and I don't know? What if you get admitted into the hospital?"

"Enough!" Lily had to step in before he continues on his nagging like some kind of an old lady with a lost kitten. She shoved his hand from holding on Stella's shoulders. He was shaking her sister from the very start of his nagging until she stepped in.

"Are you some kind of mother bear? Is my sister your cub or what? She has me, so chill. We just got distracted that's all. Right, Stella?"

Stella nodded.

Lily threw Gitto her smug face and that boy was furious. That was not the first time they had this kind of rivalry and Gitto was the only boy that Lily could show her true colours.

After a few minutes of exchanging unsaid cursed words between their eyes, Lily, Stella, and Gitto went back home though having a peaceful walk was useless as a matter of time.

"Why'd you buy that book?" Gitto asked Stella. He was walking on Stella's right side while Lily was on her sister's left.

Lily was curious too as to why her sister picked that book up. Her sister was acknowledged by their family as someone who is a huge curiosity about anything but she seldom picked up the book so suddenly unless there was a reason. Even the title was a bit weird to her too. How does a cat dance?

"The book sings," her sister answered.

Lily and Gitto exchanged glances.

"They called to me; this book is."

"Do they still sing?" Lily never bothered Stella peculiarity instead she loved it. It really what made who her sister is. It made her world one less dull than it is.

Stella nodded.

"Can you sing it for me? The song?" Lily begged.

"Hah? Wait! Stella can sing?" Gitto asked like his mind finally blown away by that fact and they had to stop walking because of it.

"Are you a chump? Don't you hear my sister singing every morning? Are you even our neighbor?"

Gitto furrowed his eyebrow and he thought for a good 10 seconds before his mouth went agape. It was amusing though.

"That was you? That's your voice?"

"Nincompoop," Lily uttered under her breath but Gitto caught her word nonetheless.

"You little runt, you dare say that word."

Gitto was easy to get a ruse on and Lily enjoyed it as much as she can. "Nincompoop, twit!"

"Come here you small sasquatch, you think you can get away with that pretty mouth of yours!"

Gitto was fast. He was popular for his genius brain and fast feet. She knew if she tried to run, it would be a waste so she just let herself captured in her attempt of so-called run away from the monster. He headlock her and twist his fist on her scalp that she had to shout for forgiveness

But, all he ever did to her, it did not feel hurt at all. Furthermore, he was gentle and made it easy for her to run yet she chooses not to. Maybe she was a masochist or maybe she just like him so much that times like this was her opportunity to get his attention.

At that time, the way Gitto treated Lily made her happy. It was different than the others. It was not a fake conversation where they always praised her beauty or having any other motives. It was suck, for seven years old to know how ugly people can be. The only thing that she did not know was how deep Gitto's affection for Stella and how ugly her heart can be.



LILY looked into the mirror. There was a girl, with honey blond wavy hair and a touch of sandy brown highlight, pretty blue-green eyes, high nose, plump limps and she was petite in her navy blue pinafore and white shirt, an epitome of goddess-like beauty (she needs to barf every time she heard that title). That girl in the mirror looked ready and Lily was ready for whatever world want to throw her into.

She descended the stairs and went to the kitchen. Surprise, surprise. He was there.

"Hey, Lily! My little chibi devil."

"Don't touch my hair," she warned Gitto coldly. She even glared at him and he backed away.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," he commented. He took his seat beside Stella who calmly ate her breakfast like always.

"And someone been using our kitchen for his morning crush date," she said sarcastically. She took her seat, obviously away from him. She does not want to ruin her breakfast mood just because of some lousy jealous of her own.

Sullivan laughed. "Sorry darling, I invited him. Saw him at the front gate this morning. Listening to your sister's singing I bet," he defended Gitto but it made her appetite gone.

"More like trying to catch a glimpse of the dawn," Silvia teased while patting Gitto's head and he laughed with flushed on his cheeks.

"Nah," he denied. "I just love to hear her sing. Nothing else." He looked at Stella who religiously focused on her breakfast, not caring for anything in the world. Over the years, it has been hard for Lily to see her sister's face and understand what was she thinking about because she wanted to be someone who received that kind of loving look and still be cool with it.

She stood up suddenly. "My friends here," she said.

"Really? I don't hear them calling for you," her father commented. He tried to rise but was stopped by Lily.

"It's okay dad. I'm going first, bye!"

"But Lily your breakfast!"

"Bye!" she shouted when she reached the door. She slammed it before her mother caught her laying though she met her friends while going down the slope a few minutes later.

She knew that Gitto saw through her heart. He knew that she loved him more than a little sister should and it was hard for her to just sat there and watched. It suffocating her. Her jealousy was drowning her.

All babe was born with a heart. They had their own emotion. Pure and innocent. Yet, she had not. People said that she was heartless. Void of emotion.  

A Human Doll. 

Was it though? 

A week before year-end she fell sick then school starts. Her body started to change. At least that was what she thought it was when something weird happened when her best friend patted her head. 

They said to be a magic wielder, one needs an emotion. She had a Grand Assessment to come and she needs magic. A.S.A.P

If what happened to her body that day was a sign, then she had hope. It better be. It has to.

nearest bookstore

bookstore

Limerence

Ron Weasley: A Noble's Ascension

The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Spending My Retirement In A Game

Isabella's Magical Space

What a NEET Does When The Apocalypse arrives

Love Through the Years

Pretty Unusual (The Vampire Hybrid)

Starry Heart: Black Knight's Oath

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