The Conciege

ROTLE- Chapter 143- The Dreams Of Some Children

Spiderweb cracks spread through the dome of black and blue mana that swallowed them. Each class lit up in a mix of gold and red. It was the only light with which to see inside the dome.

Aiden stared at the crack in horror. Ted was beyond it. Oncot was also beyond it. But Ted was important. As horrible as it sounded, Oncot could be dead when the dome came down and he wouldn’t be bothered.

Elami stepped up to the dome, eyes glancing around, taking in the cracks as they spread. He ...

ROTLE- Chapter 142- Life Moss

“Who?” the young lady asked, confused.

Drax paused. Had he heard wrong? She’d been talking about a Lord Lacheart just a moment ago. Lacheart was a unique name, even on Earth. So unique that every now and again people had made fun of it, talking about how pompous of a name it was, as if the person had been doing their best to sound important.

“Aiden Lacheart,” he repeated.

Sitting opposite the girl, the boy who looked a lot like her, handsome for a man as she was te...

ROTLE- Chapter 141- Respect Me

There still wasn’t much light in the cave, but Aiden kept the time. Judging by how long they had been within the cave, it had to be morning outside.

He wondered if Zen was practicing. Chances were that without him present to force the boy out of bed, he would probably choose today for his rest day.

His whole body has to be killing him, Aiden thought with a smile.

For all his strength and determination, Zen had hated training in his past life. He hated sparring ses...

August Intruder- Chapter 152- Road To Fallen High

Felix was giving the both of them an odd look. It was the least of their worries.

“Why did you drop it?” Ark asked.

“I didn’t drop it,” Melmarc said, still panicking. “I just didn’t take it.”

“You should pick it.”

“God, no. It’s your phone.”

Ark paused, scratched his jaw, looked left, then right. “Sir, can you do us a favor?” he asked Felix.

“No,” Melmarc said before Felix could answer. “He’s an innocent bystander. You ...

August Intruder- Chapter 151- Two Million

The wait was not very long, but the awkwardness made it feel like a thousand years. Melmarc and Ark stood to the side, Spitfire kneading on Ark’s head while occasionally leaning down to lick at the burn mark on the side of his face.

Melmarc stood with arms folded, hoping that the incident on the plane didn’t hit the news or go viral. More than once, he brought out his phone, checked it for nothing at all, then put it back into his pocket.

He just wanted something to do, but he...

August Intruder- Chapter 150- No Dissonance

He hadn’t seen so much pain in physical presence before. It was a strange thing. He had broken Ariadne’s ankle, shattered her shoulder blade, even ruined Anji’s shoulder. Yet somehow those levels of pain paled in the presence of this one. There was something deep about it. The sense of betrayal. The loss.

Then there was the fear.

Melmarc met the man’s eyes in the mirror and held it. It was the least he could do for the man. They stared at each other while Ark sat silently ...

August Intruder- Chapter 149- Jesuit

It took them less than fifteen minutes to get a cab. Melmarc waited consciously aware of his tattered state and slightly embarrassed by it. Ark’s state of clothing was far worse than his, bad enough that his boxers were showing, yet he stood in the alley, resting against the wall as if it didn’t matter. He might as well have been dressed in a three-piece suit and still not cared any different.

The area looked as equally occupied as it was abandoned. The buildings looked like a mix o...

ROTLE- Chapter 140- Blood Man

Oncot stood amidst a sea of corpses. White and dull, limbs and heads and torsos littered the floor around where he stood. His shoulders heaved as he panted like a war torn warlord. White liquid stained him in different places, dousing his shoulders like an extremely thin mantle. In front of him was the remains of a [Doppelganger] too large and big, at least three times his size.

In what was supposed to be his off hand, Oncot held his cleaver. His dominant arm was a mess. Twisted and bro...

ROTLE- Chapter 139- All Beings Are With Sin

The skies above looked down with the graceful innocence of an adult who does not know the chaos in their own home. It was, in the shortest sense of the word, hypocritical.

Rometo stood under the night sky looking up at it. Once upon a time, as a child born to royalty, he had looked up at it often wishing for power. But power was a fickle thing, especially when you come of age and the greatest power granted to you was the class of [Time Walker].

He had been angry, wanting nothing t...

ROTLE- Chapter 138- Crystal Cave

He thought he could feel the night’s chill on his skin, but Jang Su doubted it was the case. Temperature was a foregone thing for him. He was always at an optimum temperature, cold enough to be comfortable and hot enough to be comfortable.

Still, he thought he felt the chill.

It’s your disappointment, he told himself. There was a part of him that was angry. It was not vengeful, not baleful, just angry.

His anger was pointed firmly in one direction—himself.

ROTLE- Chapter 137- Strong Men And Refusing to Talk

In the wide expanse of the open space, the sun hung high, casting long shadows across the gritty terrain. Dust swirled gently with each gust of wind. The wind carried with it the possible heat of the sun and the taste of the dust. At one far corner, Aiden squatted in silence, arms resting loosely on his knees. His eyes were sharp yet unsteady as he tracked the movement of Ted and Jang Su in the center of the clearing.

Ted and Jang Su moved with purpose. Each strike, dodge, and counterst...

ROTLE- Chapter 136- A World Enchantment

“So, there you have it.” Aiden waved with too little enthusiasm. “The new member of our crew.”

Done with the introduction, he slumped down onto the ottoman in Zen’s room. He had—by the surprising life of him—a headache.

What the hell did the [Sage] hit me with? He groaned, hand held against his head.

When he’d woken up last night after his fight with the [Sage], he had been on Jang Su’s back with a headache that felt like two mountains fighting in ...

ROTLE- Chapter 135- Enchanted World

Aiden tore through the room. His spear flashed out in stabs and swipes as he used his environment to his advantage. He couldn’t count how many times he had swung his weapon.

He had used almost everything in his arsenal of weapons. He couldn’t count how many times he had picked up his sword and discarded his axe, or picked up his axe and discarded his spear.

He’d been fighting for so long that he had gained three other foundational skills from using the axe. Excitement could ...

ROTLE-Chapter 134- Reach For The Impossible

King Brandis, fourth of his name, ran a hand through his hair, worried. He was seated in his study, wondering where things had gone wrong. Sending the summoned all the way to Trackback had been the right decision, made by him under the influence of nobody else.

He had been doing this a lot recently, making decisions without his wife’s input or the [Sage]’s. He was seeing the toll that it was taking on his wife and it hurt him. Every day she wondered if he was displeased with her bec...

August Intruder- Chapter 148- Bravery And Stupidity

Melmarc eyes shot open. He woke up gasping for air with a sharp pain in his eyes. He heaved, turned to the side, threw up. Then he threw up again.

Broken bones and torn flesh flashed in his mind. Crushed organs and terrible bleeding. Pain was a phantom in his mind. It demanded his attention.

He would be crippled for a while. With a shattered spine he would be unable to move. Brain fluids leaking from skull fractures, he would be a vegetable. A piece of his spine somehow making his...

ROTLE- Chapter 133- Knight Killer

The slow tapping of a stick against a wooden floor filled the silent air. Aiden’s ears picked it out, listening even while frozen within the [Sage]’s words. The [Sage]’s tapping did not end. Its rhythm remained, following a simple pattern.

It was further confirmation that the Order had something to do with the [Sage]s. Most of those who had absorbed the combat teachings of the Order well enough to be given the title of instructor had a similar… habit.

They tapped their wea...

ROTLE- Chapter 132- The Rules Be Damned

“I would not advise it.”

There was a casual deliverance of the warning, so much so that it didn’t sound like a warning. Instead, it sounded like a man simply giving you a piece of information for your own good. Like telling a child who was sneaking a handful of coffee beans not to eat them.

Aiden stood, rooted in place. He wasn’t going to run. When a [Sage] advised you not to run, you obeyed. In his past life, he had seen a lot of people think that they were special. They ...

ROTLE- Chapter 131- If It’s Not A Skill, What Is It?

Trackback had gone silent. As silent as a lawless city could be in the dark of night. Midnight stretched its cold fingers across its expanse, smothering the last warmth from the sand. Where the day had been warm and bright, the night now wrapped the world in a deep chill. Above, the stars shimmered like distant eyes, bright and countless. Just enough to see with.

Aiden felt none of it. Not the warmth of the day or the chill of the night. He was already transcending the temperature of na...

ANNOUNCEMENT

Hello everyone, me again,

So, I looked at the comments of the last general announcement and have returned with another announcement. Today, i address three things.

The first, as usual for the free members, any other possible reason for being here that was not offered previously will be truly appreciated. If it's something reasonable that my hectic life can make possible, I don't see why not.

The second, I intend to keep ROTLE at a healthy 20 chapters plus ahead of RR for now...

August Intruder- Chapter 147- Attempt To Release Debuff Detected.

Dorthna sat quietly in an empty room. The Lockwood house was empty today. The parents had taken the children to school. They would be gone for at least a few months. He wasn’t sure when Ninra would be coming home. That one would be at least another month.

He lay back, lying on the floor of the empty room where he had been looking over Melmarc and Ark's training for the past few days. Where he'd watched Melamrc lose to his older brother while fighting without the use of pure mana every...

August Intruder- Chapter 146- Hesitation Is The Beginning To Apples

Arms crossed over his chest to brace for what was about to happen, Melmarc ran straight into the man. Their section of the plane was already thrown into a cacophony of panicked screams and cries and people trying to scatter away.

They young woman had since Melmarc seat. Unsure of what she was trying to do now, Melmarc focused on the more important problem.

Amidst the spreading chaos of raised voices and potential stampede, he rammed into the man. He didn’t tackle him, instead, h...

August Intruder- Chapter 145- Not Necessarily Lies

“So, a lot of the things he’s saying are dissonant?” Ark asked.

Melmarc nodded.

“And dissonant things are lies,” Ark added.

Melmarc nodded, paused, then shook his head. “Not necessarily lies. Just things the person does not agree with or is not confident in.”

“So, he could be lying and trying to rizz up the young mother?” Ark asked with a raised brow.

“While possibly lying about his trip to Tatelat?” Melmarc shook his head. “Lying about ha...

August Intruder- Chapter 144- You... Have My Word

The airport was as massive as anyone could expect from an airport. It was private owned, if Melmarc remembered correctly. Its owner was a man who had begun his career in some tech industry. He couldn’t remember. What he did remember, however, was that the man was not Gifted. Most large organizations in the country had their ownership traced all the way to family businesses or one or two Gifted who’d grown filthy rich from Delving and had chosen to diversify in their resignation years.

August Intruder- Chapter 143- Not My Girlfriend

In the end, they had thought up nothing. Obeying their mother’s wish, they had also decided not to call Ninra and inform her of recent developments. According to their mother, Ninra had a life, a complex yet far simpler one from theirs. There was no need to intrude upon it or ruin it.

Melmarc couldn’t help but agree. Ark had his arguments. Having spent so long with him, Melmarc could see it on his face. Ultimately, he made no arguments and agreed.

In the end, they had reached ...

August Intruder- Chapter 142- Binding Vow

Melmarc stared at the notification.

[You are about to enter into a contract with ????]

[???? Has used Authority Binding Vow]

He was confused about two things. One of them was something he could figure out if he put his mind to it. After all, it was kind of self-explanatory. The other was less self-explanatory.

“Can I ask two questions before we start?” he said.

Uncle Dorthna remained silent, giving him the sp...

August Intruder- Chapter 141- The Free And Unearned Favor of A Supreme Being

[Error Detected]

[Dormant Oath of War cannot be reactivated.]

Why?

As if interactive and answering his question, a new notification appeared.

[Insufficient EP detected]

[Total EP 103]

[Required EP – 4000]

Melmarc stared at the required [EP] not knowing how exactly he was supposed to react. Four thousand was a lot. He’d probably gotten about six thousand m...

August Intruder- Chapter 140- Vigilante

Spitfire chewed on one of Melmarc’s shirts. There had been an ongoing battle between him and the demon that had lasted all but three minutes before he had given up and abandoned the fate of his shirts to the creature. Because of the battle, the floor was strewn with different shirts of his. Each time he fought over one of the shirts, Spitfire let him have it and simply went for another one.

Melmarc was beginning to see the wisdom in wardrobes having locks even if his only roommate was...

August Intruder- Chapter 139- Would You Surrender?

It had been a few days since he’d returned home. Life was slowly moving back into place. Its boring and mundane monotone was only overshadowed by Ark’s minute need for some level of shenanigans.

Ever since their return, Ark had developed a new… game? Melmarc liked to think of it as a game. It included him very rarely but was more inclined towards their Uncle Dorthna who still hadn’t gone off to wherever he usually went when their parents got back from work.

Randomly and co...

August Intruder- Chapter- 138- Dangerous World

The rest of the car ride was done in silence. Melmarc heard Dorthna’s words loud and clear. He committed them to memory. But there was just something about it. He had sensed no dissonance in them, but with Uncle Dorthna, it could’ve been anything.

An [August Intruder]… Protector of worlds.

It was funny how even though he believed the words, he doubted them at the same time.

Protector of worlds.

He had felt like a protector of worlds when he’d ...

August Intruder- Chapter 137- High Places

Ariadne had the audacity to look stunned, in disbelief. As if she had done no wrong and Naymond was overreacting. Naymond had been angry a few times since coming to this world. Mostly, his emotions hung between amusement, intrigue, and fun.

Especially since he’d left the employ of War.

There weren’t a lot of things that could keep him on his toes outside the chaos of Oaths. With the Oaths, his jovial personality hid his worries and fears. No one knew how to deal with you if yo...