David Lingard: Author

Chapter 34 – Embracing Chaos

"I can sense something different about you. Why don't you talk to me, tell me why you are down here and maybe we can help each other?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Henderson repeated for the tenth time as the voice in the darkness continued to try to draw him into a conversation. At first, he thought there had been another prisoner down there with him, but eventually he came to realise that the voice was in his head, and that he was almost certainly going insane.

The cell that Hen...

Chapter 33 – The Battle of Renatus

Not having learned anything either new or exciting in the Class with Ferran Torres, or even the combat class with Theodore afterwards, Titus had begun to wonder if anything he was going to learn over the next couple of days was going to be useful to him and his friends for their upcoming fight against the Frostbite Spider. It wasn't that he wasn't trying to put in the effort or listening to what the Instructors had to say, but once he'd decided in both cases that there wasn't anything new to ...

Chapter 32 – A Hole in the Head

Titus stared at the noticeboard in their room, Jordan to his left and Petra to his right. He chewed on his bottom lip as he peered at the names of the monsters they were able to fight next for the enjoyment of the people carved into its hard surface.

"Do you think it's a mistake?" he asked, tilting his head to try to see if he was missing something.

"Do you think something like this is going to make mistakes?" Petra asked.

"Maybe?" Jordan asked. "But that just seems... a lit...

Chapter 31 – The Truth Will Out

"Titus, are you back with us?"

Miss Kane's voice forced Titus's conscience back into the world of the living and by all accounts, deep down inside he was grateful, not thinking that anyone else would have been more appropriate at that very moment. Not wanting to test his eyes immediately, he realised that they were still closed and decided to give them a moment before opening them, or at least trying to.

"I didn't die then?" he asked.

"Well... actually..." Miss Kane said. "T...

Chapter 30 – The Voice in the Darkness

By the time Titus had woken up, he was alone in silence and relative darkness. There were torches lit all around that presumably were permanently so, and if they were lit by magical means as he suspected, then it meant that nobody was required to tend to them. The last time he'd been down in these dungeons, he didn't know what had drawn the Grandmaster to him, but somewhere deep down inside, he hoped that it was going to be the case again. Because if nobody found him soon, he was pretty sure ...

Chapter 29 – Surviving the Onslaught

"He better get back soon, or they might make us throw the fight," Jordan said as he and Petra walked out onto the arena sands and away from the wrought iron gate that now stood proudly open to allow them entry onto the field of battle.

They’d not stopped to think that Titus might not be coming back at all, with the Blue-Ranker having been very convincing in his act indeed.

"Yeah, I don't think they're going to make us throw the match," Jordan said. "That's not something that I'v...

Chapter 28 - Betrayal

"Are you Titus?" A boy sporting a Blue armband asked loudly as he ran towards the group a second before they took a single step through the open gateway and onto the arena sands.

Titus turned with a bemused look on his face to see the Blue-Ranker approaching, his short dark hair matted with sweat and his eyes wide.

"That's me," Titus said without missing a beat.

"Thank The God of Balance I'm just in time! Miss Kane said she needs you right now; it's important!"

"But I'...

Book Review: DotF Book 2

Ok I am fully invested. I can’t believe I waited so long to start this series but what’s done is done and we’re all a little embarrassed about it.

Continuing on from the first book, as many sequels tend to do so. DotF follows Zac on his path to become supreme Hatchetman and protector of the people of earth, after the ‘fall’ of the system.

Growing stronger by the chapter with new skills, abilities and titles this book (and series so far) fits into the genre as perfectly a...

Chapter 27 – Arena Preparations

"So the normal way would be for there to be a Defender, that's me," Jordan explained. "A damage dealer, that's you Petra, and a Spellcaster - usually a Healer. For our purposes today, I think we should do what we can to stick to that kind of format, right?"

"Right," Titus said. "But I'm not a Healer, and I don't have any spells."

"But you do have an ability," Jordan said with a sparkle in his eyes. "And really it's not that much different to how a Healer would work. What does it d...

Chapter 26 – Balancing Act

The two Blues had led Henderson away after a fair amount of annoyed grunting and protesting from the Warrior. At one point, as the three disappeared from the sands, Titus heard him proclaim he'd 'show The God of Balance who was boss'. It almost made Titus smile to think what additional punishments the Warrior might've just got himself on the end of. But also, it was now more than clear that taking the easy way out of anything was never going to be the right call.

"Did you see that!" Pet...

Chapter 25 – An Easy Fight

It wasn't long before lunchtime arrived, and by that point, Titus had all but switched off in his Spellcasting lesson with Instructor Torres. The man had spent more than a reasonable amount of time displaying the Fog of War spell for the entire class to witness. When finally everyone present claimed they'd been offered the skill by The God of Balance, it only seemed to double down on Torres' resolve to get full coverage. With that being said, it quickly became apparent that the Instructor was...

Chapter 24 – A Challenging Choice

"OK, new blues," Theodore said as he surveyed the ten newly promoted Blue-ranked Contestants before him. "This is where we all part ways; I hope you've learnt something, something you'll remember if you ever get stuck in a position where all you have is a sword and your steadfast determination." He paused. "Now, if you're a Warrior Class, you're going to want to wait right here for the rest of your classmates to arrive. Defenders likewise are going to be using the far side of these training s...

Chapter 23 – Blue Ranks & Bloody Contracts

"The way I see it is that if I can hold the monsters back while Miss Stiletto poisons them up, you can focus on making sure we're kept fighting fit," Jordan said through mouthfuls of almond croissant.

"I was hoping for more of a mysterious title than 'Miss Stiletto'," Petra replied.

"Well if the shoe fits..." Titus said.

The large wooden doors then flew open, and the breakfast hall turned silent as everyone watched Miss Kane stride purposefully up the central corridor betwee...

Lucius the Bloodied

Or how I see him! What do you think?

Chapter 22 – Hidden Potential

"Seriously, did you see how badass my Stiletto looks?" Petra gloated as the three left the Merchant Hall. Petra had tapped out after buying the Stiletto with her and Titus' coins, and Jordan had bought a small, round wooden shield and a steel sword for two silver coins. They each gave his constitution a boost of one point, which he told raised his health points from fifty to fifty-nine. It wasn't anything major, but it was a pretty big bump percentage-wise. Titus couldn't help bus wish he had...

Chapter 21 – New Gear

The Contestants had all arrived at the breakfast hall and taken their usual seats, tucking into whatever they could get their hands on - which as always was a plethora of every culinary delight that they'd ever imagined.

Again, Titus wondered how many people such a feast could feed and how easily the City could be kept well-fed if indeed this feast was provided by magical means. Whatever the cause for the food to be present for the Contestants, there always seemed to be so much left ove...

Chapter 20 – Unexpected Encounters

Titus sat in front of Miss Kane with Petra to his left and Jordan to his right. The fights had all concluded, and the day's events had been rounded off with a celebratory feast. However, before the three could escape and head back to their dorm room for a well-deserved night’s rest, they'd been led away by the Grandmaster into her office for the second time since they’d been Contestants. Titus in particular,

wanted to head off to bed; the day having worn on him.

"Congratulatio...

Chapter 19 – Class Struggles

"And the winner is Petra!" Miss Kane announced with a huge smile on her face. Then she looked pointedly at Henderson's father. "And all done without one of the Contestants dying. So let me be clear: for the rest of the bouts, armbands will be worn. There won't be any death here today. Now… are you both OK?" She'd turned her attention to both Petra and Henderson, who were both slowly returning to their feet. Henderson nodded, looking a little sheepish.

Petra was staring down at herself...

Chapter 18 – An Unforeseen Victory

"It's nice of you to finally join us," Henderson said as the three arrived at the training sands to join in with whatever it was that was happening.

The wide open room was filled with all kinds of people, from Instructors to Contestants to their friends and families.

Titus' eyes bulged at the sheer number of people there were present, given the fact that there were only ten White-Ranked Contestants in the Arena, who all stood in a line like they were cattle at a market.

Hend...

Chapter 17 – Unravelling the Truth

When Titus finally awoke again, he found himself in an unfamiliar room and he had to force his eyes to open. Glancing around, he noticed nine other beds similar to the one he was lying on, and his own bed felt hard and uncomfortable. Thankfully though, Jordan was lying in the bed next to him, asleep, which brought a smile to Titus's face.

Somehow, against all odds, they had survived the harrowing ordeal they had faced. Titus had a sense that everything was going to be okay. While his he...

Chapter 15 - Understanding

Titus couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed. Two Blue-Ranked Contestants, but no, more than that, two young individuals who weren't much older than Titus himself, had just been killed. Killed in front of everyone, and nobody seemed to care.

A lump formed in his throat as the crowds began to filter away from the arena sands, though Titus didn't feel like leaving with the rest of the Contestants because when he tried to stand up, his legs felt like jelly.

He couldn't take his ey...

Chapter 16 – The Harbinger Nightmare

Titus stared at the statistics that The God of Balance had bestowed upon him and wondered what Silas and Evangeline would've been staring at when they'd done the very same thing. He thought about how high those numbers would've had to have been for them to have kept their lives when they'd fought the Rockhide Ogre. Would another ten health points have been enough? A hundred? A thousand? There was no way for him to know, but there was one thing he was sure about: If he was going to have to fig...

Chapter 14 – A Desperate Battle

The training proceeded in much the same vein for the rest of the day, and then again for the next two, until a new Arena battle was to take place. It was clear in every lesson that a handful of the Contestants were used to fighting and had been trained to do so before they'd been sent in, most notably Jordan and Henderson.

They'd trained with swords, shields, spears, staffs, heavy shields and empty-handed; they'd trained until they were sick, and they'd been told to think about what Cla...

Chapter 13 – A Foundation in Combat

"Can you believe that ability?" Jordan was beside himself as the group made their way from the Arena sands and towards the room they'd been told had been designated for combat training.

"What... what was that thing?" Titus asked.

"I've heard him call it his 'Last Stand' before, but I don't really know if it's a real skill or just something he says," Jordan admitted. "I never really knew that things like that were actual skills or anything. Makes you wonder how many skills someone ...

Chapter 12 - Solo

"I can't believe we get to watch an Arena fight as the first part of our training," Petra said as the three made their way from breakfast up the steps to the segregated area in the stands set aside specifically for the Contestants. "Just… do you think there'll be many spectators so early in the day?"

"My grandfather wouldn't miss a single fight," Jordan said. "He said it was an honour to watch the men and women who offered up their lives to keep the rest of us safe."

"He watched...

Chapter 11 – A New Friend

After she'd OK'd it with Titus, Petra told Jordan all about Henderson and what had happened to them because of Henderson, and then about the Grandmaster afterwards. She left in the part about getting a tiny amount of experience points but left out the part about Titus being gifted a Class and an ability by The God of Balance. They'd only just met Jordan after all, and Titus internally agreed that Petra had made the right call, even though they hadn't really had the chance to talk it through p...

Chapter 10 – Revelations & Roommates

"If you need me, you know where to find me," Miss Kane said as she turned and swept out of the doorway after leaving Titus and Petra at their dorm.

The dorm room was located close to the food hall, but it was very clearly still underground as pretty much all of the Arena was. There were three beds set out and made up with warm sheets and comfortable pillows lying ready for them. It had three desks, chairs, and a shared toilet behind a wooden door. There was even a window displaying a gr...

Chapter 9 – A Boar’s Trial

"Move, now!" Petra shouted and she pushed Titus out of the way a moment before the boar was about to impact them both. Titus fell away from the girl and to the ground, which he discovered was just as hard as it looked. Petra, on the other hand, had used her momentum to roll back and away from Titus, splitting the pair and saving them both from certain death.

The boar crashed loudly into the iron bars behind them, which Titus saw dropped its HP by a single point. It didn't seem affected ...

Chapter 8 – Locked in the Darkness

The rest of the class with the Instructor centred around discussions of what a Defender does and a handful of the general skills they could have, two of which Titus had already seen in action during the arena fight and used by the boy named Benjamin. The first skill, 'Root in Place,' Mr Sinclair said, was given to many Defenders upon adopting their Class and usually didn't cost a skill point, as the first ability could be thought of as a freebie, and taunt was another of these possible starte...

Chapter 7 - Pathways

"Did you see that?!" Petra wailed as the three Blue-Ranked Contestants left the arena. "I mean, talk about a great team, right?"

"It really was something," Titus replied still partly awestruck. "But... you don't seem surprised by any of that. That was the most amazing thing I think I’ve ever seen!"

"Surprised? Why would I be surprised?" Petra replied. “This is the Arena!”

"Because we just watched two people cast spells. Like for real," Titus replied. "And you're acting...