The warehouse stunk to high heaven, but this was often the case when it came to spare hideouts. They needed to be discreet, and in this case, spacious. Comfort was rarely a requirement.
‘Still,’ thought Kaiser as he stared at his assembled forces. ‘An air freshener would do marvels. At least the sweat and sewage would be replaced by something a little more pleasant.’
The quivering subordinate in front of his throne avoided a...
2025-01-28 08:47:21 +0000 UTC
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One time when I was in elementary school, Mom took me to a food stall market that popped up near her office. There were all sorts of crazy food items, not just from Japan, but from all over the world. Greek wraps, lasagnas, curry dishes, even oversized deep-fried American food, the kind that makes your poor stomach wail in sheer agony by the mere sight of all that oil and fat. In short, food paradise for a kid like myself. Heh, I remember Mom dragging me away from the king-sized plate of waff...
2025-01-24 11:40:04 +0000 UTC
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Soon after the drum and the bell had sounded, the Dragon Kings of the Three Oceans got the message and arrived promptly, all congregating in the outer courtyard. “Elder Brother,” said Aoqin, “what emergency made you beat the drum and strike the bell?” “Good Brother,” answered the old Dragon, “it’s a long story! We have here a certain Heaven-born sage from the Flower-Fruit Mountain, who came here and claimed to be my near neighbor. He subsequently demanded a weapon; the ste...
2025-01-17 20:09:52 +0000 UTC
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Sun Wukong was no stranger to discovery. In his long life, he was treated to new sights every time he ventured forth from his beloved mountain. From the physical constructs of man and nature to the immaterial essence that composed knowledge, he treated every newfound revelation with the care it deserved. If it wasn’t for this trait, he would’ve never found the woodcutter who led him to his first master, who bequeathed upon him a new realm of knowledge with the secrets of the Dao and immor...
2025-01-16 08:54:38 +0000 UTC
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The Dawn at Driftmark is regarded as one of the most memorable acts of magic during the Dance of Dragons. While some histories mark the start of the Dance with the death of King Viserys the First, we shall use the accounts of Archmaester Monterys, from his personal journals and in his tome Dragons, Blood and Magic, who marks the birth of the king’s son Aegon as the start of House Targaryen’s fracture, whose measurements have since been used by other ...
2025-01-09 21:45:12 +0000 UTC
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Again they heard the monkey yelling, “Further still! Further still!” So Tripitaka and the others went still further until they had left the mountain. All at once came a crash so loud that it was as if the mountain was cracking and the earth splitting wide open; everyone was awestruck. The next moment the monkey was already in front of Tripitaka’s horse; completely naked, he knelt down and cried, “Master, I’m out!” He bowed four times toward Tripitaka, and then, jumping up, he ...
2025-01-07 16:01:55 +0000 UTC
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From below the Immortal Elder Ge, the Celestial Master, 8 also brought forth the report. “Your Majesty, the Minister of Darkness, King Qinguang, supported by the Bodhisattva King Kṣitigarbha, Pope of the Underworld, has arrived to present his memorial.” The jade girl in charge of communication came from the side to receive this document, which the Jade Emperor also read from the beginning. The memorial said:
“The Region of Darkness is the nether region pr...
2025-01-07 16:00:42 +0000 UTC
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Poison-crafting is a delicate art, with tra
2024-12-31 19:01:26 +0000 UTC
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Poison-crafting is a delicate art, with traditions and disciplines as varied as the leaves of the cypress.
At the root, there is the most basic form: have your enemy ingest, unknowingly or unwillingly, a substance that causes severe distress to their body, mind, or even both. Any simpleton can manage such a feat; all he needs is some spoiled food thrown into the target’s soup bowl.
But to truly be named a poisoner, a novice must ...
2024-12-28 21:18:39 +0000 UTC
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Neither sky cares, nor earth will hold,
By liquor's laugh, bold spirits unfold.
In drunken dreams, a cosmos wide,
Wake with worries cast aside.
Rare was the revelry for the minor guais who patrolled the mountain paths, their delights not granted but taken in human guise, thieving sustenance from unsuspecting townsfolk. The chara...
2024-12-25 15:59:20 +0000 UTC
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“Hold still, Aegon!”
The silve
2024-12-20 16:57:40 +0000 UTC
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“Hold still, Aegon!”
The silver-haired boy smirked at the sight of his mother Alicent fussing over his drunken excuse for a brother. From the stain next to his neck, he must have found the ship’s liquor stores. The deck lurched beneath his feet as the faint creaking of wood tinged the sounds of the sea.
Seawater splashed over the rails and onto his hair, making him shiver and step away. He stared at the horizon, where a coastline had formed behind the mists...
2024-12-18 15:55:21 +0000 UTC
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Peizhi Luo thought that he could get used to his houseguest. That, despite the talking monkey-man barging into his life from out of nowhere, he could maintain some semblance of normalcy in his daily life. Yes, he knew he was hosting a cape, and yes, everyone knew they got into trouble one way or another, but he imagined something more along the lines of beating up gangsters or joining the PRT. And that it would happen far away from his shop where it wouldn’t get destroyed. He didn’t trust...
2024-12-14 16:28:40 +0000 UTC
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Sun Wukong came to me in a dream and whacked me for not making his fight epic enough. I have repented and changed the chapter! Go check it out in the original post!
2024-12-08 21:55:41 +0000 UTC
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“Dear Monkey King! He jumped to the bridgehead and employed the magic of water restriction. Making the magic sign with his fingers, he leaped into the waves, which parted for him, and he followed the waterway straight to the bottom of the Eastern Ocean. As he was walking, he suddenly ran into a yakṣa on patrol, who stopped him with the question, “What divine sage is this who comes pushing through the water? Speak plainly so that I can announce your arrival.” Wukong said, “I am t...
2024-12-03 16:17:11 +0000 UTC
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The bar was quiet, as it was most days. To most people it would be seen as a sign of bad business; no customers means no pay, and no pay means no bar. Not for Kurogiri. The walking fog candle was content with the serenity that absent customers brought. The patrons who did frequent the bar were not known for their cleanliness or politeness. Every time more than five people came, toes and egos would be bruised and property damage would be incurred. He wasn’t the target of their ...
2024-11-27 15:31:05 +0000 UTC
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Greetings and Bienvenue, my readers!
I'd like to formally welcome you all to my little writing corner. It has blown up in the past couple of months, and I am super grateful to all of you! I never imagined it would grow like this, but here we are!
Now, I admit my update schedule isn't the most consistent when compared to others, but I will try and endeavor to post something every week or two (around afternoon or evening CET), be it a preview or an entire chapter. Desp...
2024-11-21 17:50:16 +0000 UTC
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“Done shopping?”
I shoot a mild glare at the burnt man’s question. “Yes. I apologize for that last-minute errand, but it couldn’t be helped.”
Dabi grunts and pushes himself from the wall he’s leaning on. “What was so important you took a detour all the way to the market?”
“New knives,” I respond, whipping one out from my left boot. “My suppliers did not have them on hand so I h...
2024-11-17 20:03:52 +0000 UTC
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Scarcely had the Jade Emperor finished speaking when the Long-Life Spirit of the Planet Venus came forward from the ranks and prostrated himself. “Highest and Holiest,” he said, “within the three regions, all creatures endowed with the nine apertures can, through exercise, become immortals. It is not surprising that this monkey, with a body nurtured by Heaven and Earth, a frame born of the sun and moon, should achieve immortality, seeing that his head points to Heaven and his feet w...
2024-11-14 16:27:06 +0000 UTC
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“Done shopping?”
I shoot a mild glare at the burnt man’s question. “Yes. I apologize for that last-minute errand, but it couldn’t be helped.”
Dabi grunts and pushes himself from the wall he’s leaning on. “What was so important you took a detour all the way to the market?”
“New knives,” I respond, whipping one out from my left boot. “They did not have them on hand so I had t...
2024-11-08 19:10:18 +0000 UTC
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Thick clouds in vast formation moved o’er the world;
Black fog and dusky vapor darkened the Earth;
Waves churned in seas and rivers, affrighting fishes and crabs;
Boughs broke in mountain forests, wolves and tigers taking flight.
Traders and merchants were gone from stores and shops.
No single man was seen at sundry marts and malls.
The king retreated to his cham...
2024-11-05 16:55:29 +0000 UTC
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Sun Wukong twisted and turned on the thick mattress as he played with the thin blanket his host had given him. It was a very soft mattress, which he learned was a standard of this land. It couldn’t compare in the slightest to lying upon spring clouds or the golden silks of the Palace of the Polestar, but much better than woven mats. He looked at the cracked ceiling, with its splotches of dirt and the empty lightbulb hanging in the middle. A simple mechanism, turning lights on and off with a...
2024-11-02 20:43:48 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 32: Bazaar
"Still as busy as ever, eh?" I glance at the masses of people wandering the complex. It was exactly like last time; full of people going around and buying whatever they want or need.
"It's a mall during the weekend, Ritsu," my mom replies. She'd gone for a greenish-gray coat over a black top and a thin dress. "What else did you expect?"
I shrug. "Nothing, maybe that's the problem."
She raises an eyebrow before shaking her head. "I sw...
2024-10-31 11:25:54 +0000 UTC
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“Where did you go, Great King?” they cried. “We never expected that you would acquire such skills!”
“The year I left you all,” Wukong said, “I drifted with the waves across the Great Eastern Ocean and reached the West Aparagodānīya Continent. I then arrived at the South Jambūdvīpa Continent, where I learned human ways, wearing this garment and these shoes. I swaggered along with the clouds for eight or nine years, but I had yet to learn the Great Art...
2024-10-21 17:02:25 +0000 UTC
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The bright moon and the cool, clear dew, Though in each corner not one speck of dust.
Sheltered fowls roosted in the woods; A brook flowed gently from its source.
Darting fireflies dispersed the gloom.
Wild geese spread word columns through the clouds.
Precisely it was the third-watch hour—
Time to seek the Way whole and true.
- Journey to the West, Ch...
2024-10-13 17:59:35 +0000 UTC
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The Monkey King searched diligently for the way of immortality, but he had no chance of meeting it. Going through big cities and visiting small towns, he unwittingly spent eight or nine years on the South Jambūdvīpa Continent before he suddenly came upon the Great Western Ocean. He thought that there would certainly be immortals living beyond the ocean; so, having built himself a raft like the previous one, he once again drifted across the Western Ocean until he reached the West Aparago...
2024-10-07 16:36:49 +0000 UTC
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“Ahhh, now that is a drink. Waiter! Another one!”
Bahamut couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose at the sight of the woman’s - ‘Dimaria’ he reminded himself - enthusiastic drinking. He was certain that they made quite a sight: a boy and a girl drinking juice with an older woman drinking ale like no tomorrow. He might’ve laughed if the situation wasn’t so bizarre. And from the looks she shot her, he felt that Kagura was thinking the same thin...
2024-09-30 19:26:59 +0000 UTC
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A visual flashed in the visor, and he wasted no time responding.
“This is Armsmaster.”
“Armsmaster, this is PRT Captain Dunlow. We’d like to report something.”
“What is it?” he replied, even as he kept tinkering with his halberd.
“We got a call from Brockton P.D. about a few Empire thugs lying on the streets. They were beaten up bad and are at Brockton General right now.”
2024-09-22 19:53:47 +0000 UTC
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“As busy as ever, eh?” I glance at the masses of people wandering the complex. Nothing changed since the last time; still full of people going around and buying whatever they want or need.
“It’s a mall during the weekend, Ritsu,” my mom replies. She’d gone for a greenish-gray coat over a black top and a thin dress. “What else did you expect?”
I shrug. “Nothing, maybe that’s the problem.”
She raises an eyebrow before shak...
2024-09-13 21:06:39 +0000 UTC
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“Beyond the ocean there was a country named Aolai. It was near a great ocean, in the midst of which was located the famous Flower-Fruit Mountain…there was on top of that very mountain an immortal stone which measured twenty-four feet in circumference…Since creation it had been nourished by seeds of heaven and earth, by the essences of the sun and moon…One day, it split open, giving birth to a stone monkey endowed with fully developed features and limbs. Having at once learned to r...
2024-09-08 20:11:57 +0000 UTC
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