Swordsmeister of Rome - Chapter 164: Core

Hadica was built around one of five Towers, an infinite structure filled with floors of monsters, magic, and treasures that the city plunders like clockwork. Most of the city, at least. Growing up in Westhill, Micah's family abstained from all of their Tower's bounties. He became an [Alchemist] at an age younger than most and just wanted to level in peace, but soon ran out of mundane ingredients to brew into potions. Ryan is a budding [Fighter] with the strange ability to mimic beasts, including monsters, but he doesn't understand it or even himself. After a Tower climb goes horribly wrong, their lives and the world around them begin to change as they try to figure out who they want to be.The Salamanders is a slow-paced story about characters growing up in and exploring a fantasy setting. It updates sporadically. Please mind the tags.

In a world where Lycans and werewolves are sworn enemies, Eve Valmont is a werewolf cursed by a prophecy and framed. Betrayed by her own pack and imprisoned for years, her fate takes a darker twist when she is offered to the Lycan King, Hades Stavros—a ruler feared for his ruthless conquests and deadly prowess. Bound by an ancient prophecy and haunted by the ghosts of her past, Eve is now at the mercy of the one being she should hate and fear the most—The Hand of Death himself.Hades, a king carved from blood and his own soul's decay, determined to avenge his family's slaughter and rid his people of the werewolves. He believes Eve is the key to his victory. To him, she is nothing but weapon foretold by prophecy, a tool he will wield to destroy the opposing forces threatening his pack. Yet, he finds himself craving this powerful yet broken woman. Leaving him questioning if she is truly his weapon or the one destined to unravel his carefully laid plans.***He stalked toward me, a predator closing in on its prey, his eyes dark and unreadable. “So, you laugh?” His voice was low, dangerously soft, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.I swallowed hard, suddenly aware of how difficult it had become to breathe. “Hades, I—”“But you only laugh at other men's jokes,” he interrupted, his gaze piercing, devoid of any humor. “Not your husband's.” The accusation in his tone was sharp, slicing through the air between us.A nervous chuckle escaped me. “You can't be serious... He’s your beta, for Goddess’ sake.”In an instant, he closed the distance between us, so fast it left me breathless. His hands gripped my waist, pulling me flush against his body, the heat of him making my skin tingle. I gasped, but before I could say a word, his lips crashed onto mine, claiming my mouth with a force that sent shockwaves through me. The kiss was punishing, hungry—I couldn't breathe, couldn't think.When he finally pulled back, I was trembling, my chest heaving as I struggled to regain my breath. His eyes, dark and stormy, searched mine with a possessive intensity. “You can’t laugh at my jokes...” he whispered, his voice a dangerous rasp as his fingers trailed lower, sending a shiver down my spine, “but you’ll come with my fingers.”I shivered, heat pooling low in my belly at his words, his touch. The world around us blurred, fading into nothing as his hand slipped lower, drawing a ragged gasp from my lips. The look in his eyes told me he knew exactly what he was doing to me, and there was no denying the primal connection between us in that moment.“I don’t need your laughter,” he murmured against my skin, his breath hot on my neck. “I’ll have every other part of you instead.”

Most people already have their life planned out. Or at least they feel they do.They already have an idea of what and who they are going to become, and how they are going to go about achieving it.But more often than not, life always has an entirely different thing planned. And sometimes, it's something better.This was the same for James. As someone who already had his life planned out, with the best and the safest plan on how to go about it, he knew what had to be done.All he just wanted was to graduate and become a world renowned mechanical engineer. And this was why he studied hard and worked extremely hard at his part time job.Even with how life kept tossing him around and making it seem like he was the only one not moving forward while others were, he was still focused on his dreams.The truth is that he also wants to be like his peers. He also wants to drive the flashy cars the rich drives. He wants to travel the world and experience the best that life has to offer, but all that comes at a cost—money. Something that has eluded him even after busting his ass, working for three years.To make things worse, the job market wasn't looking too good either. It was looking like the two years he has already spent in the university and the two more years he's going to spend are going to be a waste. And there was very little he could do about it.Coming back to his apartment one night, after getting fired from his part time job, James just wanted to give up on everything. But no matter how much he wanted to do that, he couldn't. He has people he wants to make proud.Frustrated with everything and even more with himself, James went to bed after hoping that the next day would be different.But he had no idea that his wish would come true. Out of nowhere, James got a system and one with a feature that fixed the biggest problem he has.[Ding!][You spent $280. 10x Rebate has been applied. You have received $2,800. The money has been sent to the host's bank account.]“Oh, yeah! That's what I'm talking about!”.....Disclaimer: “World Domination Begins With Getting a System in a Modern World” is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.This book may reference real companies and organizations, but these references are for narrative purposes only and are not intended to depict actual conduct or involvement of these entities. The use of these names and references is not meant to harm, defame, or discredit these companies or organizations.

Chen Xu traveled to the parallel world, and was surprised to find that many classic and excellent games in the previous life did not appear in the parallel world.I wanted to make a big picture, but why did I still have an ’emotion collection system’, and the emotions such as happiness, sadness, excitement, fear, anger and other emotions provided by players who have played games made by themselves can make them stronger?But why is it so much easier to get resentment than happiness?Looking at his points harvest, Chen Xu expressed puzzlement.As a result, Chen Xu’s career as a game designer gradually turned crooked.In “Under the Legend”, countless players beat the table and shout: I was played by this game!In “Escape”, countless players shouted, my cabinet moved, and I stopped playing.In “Dark Souls”, when countless players entered the game with a smile, “Go away, please go away, leave the fire girl behind and go out with your fire, we don’t want to spread this fire!”Soap, Xiaoqiang, and Ghost sacrificed in “Call of Duty”; Zack was killed and Alice was killed in “Final Fantasy 7”; Arthur and John were betrayed in “Red Dead Redemption”;Countless players went berserk: Nima Chen Xu old thief, can’t we be kinder to the protagonist?Q: How do I feel about players’ anger towards themselves?Facing the reporter’s question, Chen Xu smiled slightly: What kind of verbal criticism is this, this is the encouragement of players around the world to me, this is love! Thank you all, I will keep up the good work!