dragonheartednovels

[Closed] Collecting Short Story Prompts for Feb 2022

Once again I'm here to ask all of you for short story prompts! I'll take the more popular ones (or that I particularly like) in the comments and make a poll at the start of the month. The winner will be made into a short story of a few thousand words.

Not many rules on what you can suggest at the moment. That will mostly be figured out as we go. Besides that, the short story will come out before the end of the next month.

Rules for prompts:

• No NSFW (Patreon would proba...
  2022-01-25 06:00:50 +0000 UTC View Post

[Archived Short Story] Corruption and Repair

...

...

...

[Heat Rising]

...

...

[Slush At Critical Levels]

[Slush: 76.352243%]

[De-Slushing]

...

[Slush: 72.244582%]

[Slush: 67.978452%]

...

[Heat Rising]

[Slush: 53.688268%]

[Heat Rising]

...

[Slush: 40.547732%]

[Slush: 25.000000%]

[Slush: 24.999999%]

[Slush Below Critical Levels]

[Forming Swarm]

[Commencing System Recovery]

...

...

...

[D'sP] Death Worlds - Chapter 187

Doyle nods his core in response to Ally’s question. ‘Yeah, I didn’t quite have enough Wisdom to accept the Guild’s contract and keep the first floor automation and the two loot rules I have running.’

Ally looks really aggrieved at this. ‘So you, who had just recently reached the limits of your soul, decided to buy a new path? Didn’t the pain from before push it deep enough into your mind to not do that? You haven’t even gained a level! I’m surprised you didn’t howl o...

[D'sP] Turn About Is Fair Play - Chapter 186

Ally answers the door quick enough, though she doesn’t look all that happy. ‘So I hear you’ve made a pact of some sort?’

Doyle’s core tilts to the side and freezes, ‘Huh?’

Ally raises an eyebrow, ‘You made a pact, without talking to me first.’

Doyle tilts to the other side, ‘I was messing with some stuff and the town finally got to put in the adventurers guild. Got some stuff from that. Oh, and I got a path to afford the contract.’

Ally sighs and ...

[NR] Not A Tree, But A Herb - Chapter 357

The problem Jason had with naming the gloom weed however was that none of the names he could think of quite fit and he had a good few. Null, Void, and Guiding herb to name a few. That last one in particular floated up when he discovered the most recent use for the plant. Sure, anyone of those names would work, but Jason felt it needed something better.

‘What is the core of a gloom weed? A lack of power, a redirection of power, or even just an imbalance. The plant acted in a way so dif...

[NR] He Bought The Sugar In Town - Chapter 356

The night passed quickly as Jason finished meditating on his new understandings and was ready to test them out the next day. Not that anything happened the next day. While the wilds are dangerous, it isn’t like he is currently in an actual danger zone, like last time. After all, these might not be the most traveled roads but they are traveled. If someone on the road was attacked literally every day, the nearest kingdom would send an army out to clear things up.

Jason can only sigh. Th...

[D'sP] Path To Wisdom - Chapter 185

There was one more thing Jim had learned, but he held back on it. You might even call it crucial information. The problem wasn’t the non-disclosure he signed with the guild. Rather, he felt the information wasn’t something that should be shared, even with Ace. See, the adventurers guild wasn’t a universal organization. It wasn’t even an organization that just covered everywhere this system was implemented.

The adventurers guild was multiversal in scale. Jim didn’t know what th...

[NR] Backsliding Percentage - Chapter 355

Jason mentally took a step back and observed his path. A wall to protect. A field to feed. A pillar to support. The walls protect the field that feeds the pillar and in turn the pillar supports the rest. Jason freezes.

“Wait, support. I’m missing support. I’m missing the virtuous cycle. My concept of [Ascendance] includes things like power, magnitude, beyond, and will. There is even a bit of purification in there. However, nothing in that is used to benefit the rest. Just like wit...

[NR] Conceptual Imbalance - Chapter 354

With both the bandits dead, Jason takes a moment to loot them, but doesn’t find much. He can only shrug, assuming if he wanted more than 12 coppers and a couple bows of worse quality than beginner gear he would need to manage the leader. A thing he very much does not want to try at the moment and so continues his escape on foot for the extra speed. Though not before dismissing his gains from that short fight.

{Brachiating Break Away: +3 Agility

Double Header: +2 Agility, +1 Stre...

[D'sP] Hot Potato Job - Chapter 184

Back in town a couple days have passed and a new building can be seen standing just a few doors down from the town hall and what a building it was. If the town hall had that rustic hunting lodge look with all the bones and woodwork, this thing took it to the next degree. Though just on size alone it already drew attention to itself.

So far, all the system buildings had taken up about the same footprint. This new building claimed a three-by-three space for itself, even if the building pr...

[D'sP] An Open Path Yet Travelled - Chapter 183

Doyle takes a moment to think over what Ally had just told him about raids and comes to the crux of the matter. ‘Even if the system doesn’t directly recognize raid groups, that doesn’t mean I can’t. They managed to beat my fifth floor with a minor raid, which I guess should be considered decent enough. Though the amount of loot they got was a little up there, I can see why. They had been consistently delving that floor and mostly getting potion drops because of my one path. This final...

[NR] Why Run When You Can Brachiate? - Chapter 353

Jason rolls his eyes at the low normal rating on the claws. While he didn’t exactly have a butchering skill, he should have more than enough ability to get better. There was likely some sort of catch to harvesting them that he had missed. Though, after a closer look at the description for the two feathers, another idea comes to mind.

They specifically mention that the magic from the wing has been focused on them. With that in mind, Jason guesses that he had made a mistake in harvestin...

[NR] Combine It With An Owl - Chapter 352

Jason sighs, by now the owlbear is basically a universal monster despite having its origins being completely within the realm of the earliest rpgs. A strange experiment that at the most basic level glues the front end of an owl onto the back end of a bear. Dangerous but not particularly spectacular as the two animals have different hunting strategies.

The owlcelot, on the other hand, is a much better combination with what Jason considers a pithier name. Because of course, once one mage ...

[Closed] Deciding the Short Story Prompt for Jan 2022

Below are the full prompts as the poll doesn't allow the full text. I'm going to run the poll for five days. The short story will be finished in January and will be available to all patrons. For the moment the stories will remain patron only as despite my thoughts last poll I've since become not sure if/when to make them public.

AI Nano Drone Swarm - You wake up to blackness and see a computer bios prompt for booting up.  Vision comes in and you see a ruined cityscape.  Everyt...

[D'sP] Craftsmanship And Raid Size - Chapter 182

Suffice it to say, everyone was interested in that helmet and what exactly a craftsmanship of first drop dungeon boss loot actually meant. Before that though, they have to decide what to do. They just beat the fifth floor and so could move onto the next, but for some reason felt not quite up to it. The only thing they are sure of is that they all want to at least go through the portal.

Jim heads through first to take a look and is suitably impressed by the scene. Now, he can tell that t...

[NR] Smashing Victory - Chapter 351

Not that it mattered to Jason whether the wound itself was fatal or even all that successful. Just the fact that the hit had caused visible damage was enough. The centipede was not having it however, and while Jason dodged out of the way of the mandibles themselves, some of the acidic venom sprayed out and landed on him.

Jason however fought through the pain and bashed the mandibles away. This was not how the fight was supposed to go. He was supposed to constantly be plagued by the cent...

[NR] Ape Attack - Chapter 350

Jason sits back and laughs. To force things to match how he feels they should be? Classic arrogance, a common trait among cultivators. More impressive than the arrogance is that in theory they might just gain enough power to do so.

Jason shakes his head. He is still a good bit away from that level of power no matter how you slice it. Plus, now is time to rest and he figures getting as many nights of sleep as possible could save him trouble later.

After that bit of introspection, J...

[Archived Short Story] Jeremy's Steadfast Creation

Jeremy opened his eyes as a hint of light streams in through the window. A much more pleasant experience compared to an alarm clock, a feature they thankfully left out of this particular HappyAfter VR Digizen realm. Though he would occasionally feel the loss of some of the more convenient system features most other places allowed.

He stands up and stretches, allowing any of his scales that managed to get out of whack overnight to realign themselves. An important part of a kobold staying...

[Closed] Collecting Short Story Prompts for Jan 2022

A little late for this one but the short story for Dec took a bit more time than expected (holidays and what not). Anyway, Once again I'm here to ask all of you for short story prompts! I'll take the more popular ones (or that I just like) in the comments and make a poll at the start of the month. The winner will be made into a short story of a few thousand words.

Not many rules on what you can suggest at the moment. That will mostly be figured out as we go. Though there are two prompts...

[D'sP] Dashing Back And Forth - Chapter 181

Both sides square off but despite the numbers advantage, Ace’s side is tired out from the protracted fight. The remaining kobolds had been fulfilling leadership roles for the most part with only the archer kobold having suffered any serious injuries out of the bunch. Of course, now that the kobolds are surrounded and out of casters the delvers don’t have to rush.

The boss realizes this as well and so dashes forward to attack Jack as the rest of the kobolds hunker down to protect the...

[D'sP] Breaking The Gate - Chapter 180

Now that the mages are off the wall, Ace and the rest are able to approach the wall. Not completely uncontested, though. The kobold mages might not be on the wall, but that doesn’t stop them from arcing a few spells over it with the archer acting as the spotter. Though Ruby and Kelly are more than enough to counter these attempts as only one or two in a volley come close enough to the group to matter.

Once the group reaches the gate, though, the other mages take over as the two place ...

[NR] Rearranging Plants - Chapter 349

Once again on the road, Jason quickly makes his way towards the gate in the direction he needs to head. Even though he had already starred a stat, Lily still needed to work on it and Jason wasn’t planning on stopping at just one star either.

Of course, the rest of that day’s travel was peaceful. Jason had stayed in the city long enough they had cleared the recent swarm problems. In fact, it takes a few days of travel before Jason comes across the first signs of trouble. Even then, i...

[NR] But How Fast - Chapter 348

Gregor rolls his eyes. “Well, don’t keep me waiting. Are you going to show me their panel or not?”

Jason laughs, “These things break up my current set and I’m really going to miss that one percent increase to jump height, but I figure these pants are worth it. [System, share the stats of my pants with Gregor].”

{Pants of the Royal Gardener

Description:

Day after day, a king’s personal gardener, whose name has been lost to time, would have...

[D'sP] Overturning The Wall - Chapter 179

Despite the large number of cattle and goats trapped in the pits, Ace’s magic isn’t strong enough to trap them all. So while many of the cattle have been stopped, the much more numerous goats find it easy enough to avoid, bound over, and escape. A problem and a half when they are the most numerous monster on the floor.

Sammy, Jack, Bill, and Tess all move to the front of the wall and begin to smack them away. Jack more literally than the rest. Though no matter how hard they try, alm...

[NR] Lunch First - Chapter 347

Jenny shrugs at Jason’s worry over uncontrolled powers showing up. “While I won’t claim to know everything, what I do know is that instances of the supernatural haven’t been on the rise for the last few hundred years.”

Jason shakes his head, “The natural level of supernatural events for this universe is zero. Having any at all is a bad sign. It is like saying the water from the tap tastes sweet. It’s water, it shouldn’t have a sweet taste. Sure, that might be sugar mixed...

[NR] Telling Mom - Chapter 346

Jason goes back and forth with the man in between bites but eventually all good things have to come to an end. Though with strategic breaks between dishes, what gives out in the end isn’t Jason’s appetite but rather the man’s patience. As they leave the restaurant, Jason flashes the two men a cheeky smile, “Boy, maybe just a bit more food and I might have quote unquote remembered something.”

With a raised eyebrow, the man snorts, “As if at this point we could trust anything ...

[D'sP] Ace And Jim Team Up - Chapter 178

With everything figured out, Doyle turns back to the seventh floor. His grand masterpiece is coming along and was a major reason why he didn’t even consider the engraver path. It had likely come about because of how much engraving he had done. However, it wasn’t complete. This, this would be a crowning achievement.

While simple one word paths have a power in simplicity, Doyle felt something when he saw the path. That wasn’t the place for him to start down that path. So now Doyle f...

[D'sP] Expensive Options - Chapter 177

The horned rabbit pattern had only grown 4 levels. On the other hand, with so little, it managed to grow by 200%. This clearly has more to do with how low level the pattern had started out as, but still impressive, especially as it means all his low level patterns can be quickly advanced. Important not only for his skills in general, but after taking another look at the new rabbits there are clear signs of them just being better in general.

Before he can do more with this though, Doyle ...

[NR] Quality Noodles - Chapter 345

Surf and Turf, a classic combo of red meat and seafood, but also the name of the restaurant. Simple and to the point, that is what they have been preparing for near on a million years. The only shame is that sourcing lobsters isn’t exactly an option at the moment. Jason isn’t particularly torn up about it as the shrimp taste divine.

Of course, Jason and Jenny know not to start ordering like crazy. Wouldn’t want to let their observers notice anything. With that in mind, Jason start...

[NR] Serious Spy Energy - Chapter 344

Sour drinks packed away, Jason arrives at his next location, a massage parlor. After all, what better way to chill after hard training and a big meal? Oh, and the massage was training as well. With his cultivation, a normal person trying to massage him would feel like they were pressing on the tensest person ever and not be able to get anything done. So Jason has to actively relax his muscles as they perform the massage.

Not only does this allow Jason to enjoy a massage from someone who...