A Test of Knives

Averichollie | mystery | Complete

In a world of unending rain, hacker "Vio" is invited to interview aboard the Salieri Crime Family's starship; Salieri's Shadow. The other candidates have their own secrets, however. Ones they'd do anything to protect. Soon Vio finds herself caught in a deadly cat-and-mouse game of twisting alliances and dark secrets. Dogged by merciless criminals and clever conmen she must figure out who to trust before the secrets of Salieri's Shadow claim her too.

12.28 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 12:06

The Ill-Favoured Five: Children of Discordia (Grimdark Fantasy)

Sivios | mystery | Complete

Set in an alternative, dystopian future In 2017, two worlds, Earth and Lumina, seemingly merged. Entire countries were wiped off the face of the planet, tsunamis the size of mountains crashed into deserts, and monsters immune to gunfire rampaged through the survivors. This was known as the Great Merge. As millions were displaced across the new world, the kings from Lumina herded the survivors into enormous cities. This story begins 40 years after the Great Merge, following a mercenary team in New London tasked with intel gathering on a recruiter for a supposed terrorist organisation. However, all is not what it seems. Secrets are being withheld and a certain team member has a complex history. Join them as they butt heads with the Children of Discordia, a group hell-bent on creating chaos while unravelling a puzzling mystery. This story is not for those who are faint-hearted. You have been warned. Sivios.

70.01 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 12:08

Ravenous reflection (A short vampire story)

sarvashaktimaan | mystery | Complete

Woe is upon the town of Drezin. It knows it not. A magister had come on a hunt, invoking a prize beyond refusal and a secret not understood - one with consequences beyond the wildest estimation. Of course, no one could know that. Not even the vampire who the offer is made to. And the request was so easy: Help capture a variant demon that devours its victims through reflections. Take the payment in blood, then run before the past catches up with them. That is of course, unless an opportunity presents itself to outrun said past. And none are more keen to do that than the immortal with millennia behind and centuries ahead. Or - as any descendant of the Hungerer ought to - devour it whole. Expect: Unapologetically evil strong protagonist, fast pacing, a peek at fantasy from an angle not commonly discovered. Participating in the Royal Road Community magazine event of June 2023. It is a 16 thousand word self-contained finished story. If you like my writing I have an ongoing long term story which you can check out here.

9.26 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 12:11

The Arcane Soul

Epsilon Twilight | psychological | Complete

When a lost soul awakens in the underworld without any memories of its previous life, it is offered a choice between eternal suffering and a second chance by a mysterious goddess. The soul decides to take a second chance and is reincarnated as a violet-colored elf in a magical metropolis. As the newly born elf navigates this fantastical world and its curious elven culture, he discovers the secrets of arcane and soul magic, from weaving mana to unlocking the mysteries of life and death. Join the elf on a journey of self-discovery as he learns to harness his newfound powers and unravel the secrets of the world and its inhabitants. Book 1 micro-synopsis: Slice of life, children, school, introduction to Ferilyn and magic, arcane magic. Book 2 micro-synopsis: Academic pursuit, adolescents, academy, advanced magic, soul magic, some action. Book 3 micro-synopsis: Political drama, adults, military, highest magic, a lot of action. Updates every week. Author's notes: -Expect a slow burn and heavy descriptions in the early stages of life. -The story will evolve in setting and genre as the soul progresses in life. -This fiction is greatly inspired by Mushoku Tensei, Mother of Learning, and Warcraft. -Cover art by @AruOwlsArts

190.51 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 12:25

Very Yummy Poison

Doctor Zero | psychological | Complete

The human brain is the most valuable resource on Earth. But only if you use it. You can't just pile them in your basement. Doesn't work. Candy is the Guardian of Humanity. It's not going well, but she's cautiously optimistic. A chatbot has destroyed the economy by being better at white collar jobs than hung over dudes. Candy has a plan to fix that. The government wants to send half the population to debt prison. Candy has a plan to fix that. Several super weapons have been stolen, and are turning up in the hands of desperate people. Candy has no plan for that. She's working on it. Very Yummy Poisonis a near future, science fiction, romantic comedy, political psychodrama. It's fun. Try it.

48.79 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-21 13:32

The Bloodline Duet: The Thief's Folly // The Weapon's Heart

montythemeowl | psychological | Complete

For magic to ruin a life, all it takes is one blink of an eye. Forest elf Rorri is desperate to forget the war that destroyed his home. He starts a new life in a city filled with magic, petty crime, and forbidden romance with his noble magic tutor. But Rorri loses control of his illusion magic during a high-stakes heist. In trying to save himself, he makes a terrible mistake that could have him arrested or killed  if anyone finds out. Rorri must hide from the Guard, his friends, and even his own thoughts, lest he lose his found family and the woman he loves. But he can't hide from the dark elves who burned down his forest  and when they infiltrate the city, only his chaotic magic has a chance to save them all. Then, somewhere else in time, Rorri reads a young man's mind and sees the city's dirty secrets through his eyes& ----- Book One and Book Two are available for purchase on Amazon! The formatting is much nicer if that kind of thing matters to you. Support an indie author today! :) Covers by getcovers.com

103.98 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:11

Demon's Journey

Virlyce | romance | Complete

Palan is raised in the harsh world of the demons, depending on himself to survive while raising his sister. One day, his sister falls sick and he's forced to make a deal with an angel in order to save her life. Unfortunately for him, that deal sends him a world away from his sister. What happens when a ruthless demon is thrust into the world of the heavens above?The story is complete.Warning: Tagged 18+ for violence.By the author of The Blue Mage Raised by Dragons

258.19 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:38

The Demon Lord's Lover

redknight3996 | romance | Complete

Julius Goldforge knows howthe world works. He knows his role. Really, it's destiny by this point. The mentor dies, the hero gains motivation, and the demon lord falls to their blade. Except...something's clearly gone wrong here. Written by Redknight3996 and Indismile, The Demon Lord's Lover is a fantasy comedy/romance featuring a jaded, middle-aged adventurer who's damn sure he's going to die on this new journey with his students and the ambitious Empress of the Dark Lands, whose drive to conquer the entire world winds up putting both him and her on a bizarre course of attraction and impulsive decision making. Includes (but is not limited to): action, adventure, big fights, elemental-themed temples, demons, angels, fumbling romance, competence, incompetence, nudist druids, the crimes of the past influencing the current age in myriad ways, interpersonal issues, fatalism, and being a decent uncle to one's adoptive family. (We've also got a discord~! https://discord.gg/Mbba6g7)

237.62 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-21 15:05

Tome of Stealth [A System Anti-Apocalypse]

DragonOfRochester | romance | Complete

When the Passivity Precept takes over the world it snuffs out all brutality, leaving its MMO-like Violence Simulator as humanity's only source of physical violence. Knowing how much she can make from selling epic gear, Grace Winston enters the simulation and discovers that it's more than just a game. Somewhere in there are the answers to who started the fire that killed her father. For far too long, Lorevinel Silvercat has been stuck as the Ravenborn clan's free-roaming prisoner. They've held a grudge against his clan and have used him to vent their hatred. Having planned his escape for several years, he has everything ready, but he needs a specific artifact from the Rogues Guild to finally start his journey. Will Grace find her answers? Will Lore gain his freedom? Can these two unlikely people, both alien to each other, find common ground and work together while dealing with an unasked for soul bond? ToS is a Lite LitRPG (meaning very few stats with a focus on story). Expect cursing, sexual tension, descriptions of breeding dungeon rats, and a little gore. TL;DR- The System Anti-Apocalypse forces everyone to be peaceful and only commit violence inside its Magical VR game.

70.96 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:14

Mary Susan Oceanrunner and the Brutus Saint's Academy

MachineCapybara | satire | Complete

Join Mary Susan Oceanrunner on her quest to do... erm... something really important for the world... probably... Ahem. Long gone are the days when every hero could do whatever they wanted - now, we are civilised. We have government. Law. And proper forms. Lots of proper forms. (Final episode 25/07/2022. Also - beta readers far into the book rate the 'gore' degree as below 2/10, so the warning is a bit much) Mary Susan Oceanrunner is a poor girl from the orphanage, who like many others before, has to fulfil her destiny. The prophecy had been told, and she is the only one who can make things right. Erm... probably. Anyway, she can't just go and kill monsters like in the middle ages. First, she must apply for the appropriate permissions, fill the forms, learn about the proper loot taxations... Hey, no one said adventuring would be easy, right? Disclaimers: No claim made by any character by the book should be treated as the author's or anyone else's opinion on any subject. Most likely, it was just the funniest thing the Author could think of at the time of writing. This book contains many references to other works. It will probably be best enjoyed by individuals familiar with at least some of the following: 1) Computer games2) Fantasy in general3) Science fiction4) Tabletop RPGs5) Conspiracy theories6) Corporation work life7) Long forgotten prophecies uttered millennia ago in almost as forgotten languages under a starless night three dusks before the great convergence8) Filling any government-mandated form9) School10) EnglishMy ultimate goal is to make as many people experience something akin to joy while reading (think ~a bit louder exhale through the nose). It doesn't mean every scene will be funny or joyful because that's not how this stuff works. I can neither confirm nor deny having any other hidden agenda outside of that. (11.01.2022 NEW COVER by Philippa_and_art. You can find her here: https://www.instagram.com/philippa_and_art/)

60.44 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:18

The Tale of Jun Ze the Fearless Bladesman

Larkspur Wren | satire | Complete

[Participant in the Royal Road Community Magazine, January 2024] Legend tells of a vagrant herofearless in the truest sense of the wordfor whom no opponent was too strong and no odds too steep. He travelled the Four Seas, quashing evil and uplifting downtrodden folk everywhere he went. But when his latest quest puts the Fearless Bladesman on a collision course with the one thing he fears in the world, he's forced to confront his own mortalityand the measure of a life truly lived.

4.82 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:11

Noblesse Oblige

Urikson | satire | Complete

24 hours. 10 bidders. 1 winner. A Princess from Earth is invited to an auction on a distant planetoid only to learn that she's the item on sale. Her foes include: a Chinese space pirate, a Russian duelist, a Japanese high-tech samurai, a Venusian mafiosi, two expert French poisoners, a floating Swiss banker, a German Baron with more ties to her family than she can imagine, and a British gentleman who also happens to be a pterodactyl. Her arsenal consists of: vague memories from classes she mostly slept through, a pile of gadgets for which she's never read the user manual, excellent table manners, and a ferret who's loyal to a fault. This will not be easy. Hey, so since the novel was published by WordFire press, I can't leave the whole thing online. You can get the whole thing here though. There's even an audiobook. If you read it on RR, a short Amazon review will be really appreciated. It helps a lot! Also, my second novel is here in full. It's a litRPG about a dwarf paladin who really, really wants to get a domain of her own...

25.19 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:17

Do You Believe in Aliens?: A Satirical Flash Fiction

Kaylie Night | satire | Complete

Diane has been a prankster for as long as Megan has known her. So when Diane announces that she's an alien, Megan is waiting for the punchline . . .

0.60 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:17

Herold's Extremely Legendary Parenting skills in another world.

Cynical Stranger | satire | Complete

Herold just bought the house he worked so hard for just to get a heart attack and die. But it was not the end of him. He lived again, waking up as a poor homeless man in a fantasy world. After going through the 5 stages of grief he found that the man he was in the body of now was a sort of father figure to the many homeless orphan children of the town. Soon enough he found a new purpose. One that might prove to be much more meaningful than his new house or the money he spent on it. Be the best parent he can be and help the orphans fulfill their true potential.

1.23 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:18

Dandelion

JCLouis | sci_fi | Complete

Amber Houston was born light-years from Earth, aboard the enormous colony starship Dandelion. By the age of fourteen, she has spent her entire life training as a "Ranger," ready for the day when she will be among the first humans ever to set foot on an alien world & build a new civilization. When Dandelion suffers an emergency toward the end of its journey, Amber & her fellow young rangers are evacuated & land on the planet New環ome years ahead of schedule. While the adults left behind on Dandelion slow the ship & turn it around to come backin eight yearsAmber & her friends must build lives for themselves amid revelations that will change Humankind's destiny forever. Meanwhile, aboard the ship, secrets that were buried over three hundred years ago finally come to light&

67.97 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:22

Legacy of Terra: Forgotten

M. R. Aze | sci_fi | Complete

I'll be blunt. I am NOT going to finish this story, not in its current state. That's why, I'm rewriting it from the very beginning. The new version of Forgotten, and the one that will have a proper ending, you can find here on Royal Road under a brand new title - Terra's Demons: Forgotten. Lucas, codename Helix, is the combat techno-medic of Demon squad. It was their task to protect Station 37-H and project Goliath. All Lucas is certain of is that something went terribly wrong in what was going to be their last stand. He was prepared to meet them on the other side. Instead, he finds himself in a familiar place surrounded by faces he has never seen before. His last memory separated by centuries from the present. His first priority is to find his squad. His second one is to keep the secrets of Goliath.His third priority is to figure out how to achieve the previous two because he and the entirety of Demon squad have become nothing but spectres in the annals of history. He has become forgotten.

53.60 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:23

Romance in the Stone

Damaged | one_shot | Complete

A side story for The Heart Grows, in which romance and intimacy within the dungeon is explored. The main story is to be considered required reading to follow this. When Ludmiller gets outplayed by a dungeon and becomes one of its minions, she thinks the man she loved is lost to her forever. Now living as a kobold within the dungeon, she tries to reconcile her feelingsand she's not alone. Others living within the dark chambers underground find emotional holes in their lives. This is a short side story for The Heart Grows starting around chapter 25 and ending around chapter 60. All my works come with a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. This means you are free to download, publish, and even make derivative works of my writing so long as you include this license, attribution, and don't sell the works. Keep it free!

5.59 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:25

Oneshot - Jack of all Trades: Magical, Mystical, and Miscellaneous Services (Complete)

wercwercwerc | one_shot | Complete

Inspired bythe following writing prompt: Your car changes slightly to accommodate your day, the day it snows, it magically has snow tires, the day it floods, it becomes a four by four. Today you walked out the door, and it's a tank. (Complete)

3.22 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:26

The Bounty Hunter's War

Icalos | one_shot | Complete

Soldier. Survivor. Killer. Hunter. Legend. Hero. In truth, Jhena Cuuhl was but a drifter, wandering her way across the stars, plying her skills to the highest bidder. Little more than a weapon without a wielder, cutting her way through an uncaring galaxy. And then everything changed. A strange message crossing her eyes. The boundary between worlds collapsing. Death and destruction raining from above the skies, deadly creatures spilling out from beneath the ground. A catastrophe engulfing the entire universe. And so the galaxy turns to her, and places its fate in her hands. One last mission. One last chance. Can one woman save the universe? A System invades novel set in a Sci-fi universe. SciFi vs. Fantasy! Technically LitRPG but we won't see the MC's status much for story reasons. My entry for the June 2022 Royal Road Community Magazine Contest. Now complete at 15,653 words!

9.24 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:28

{The Dragon Within} (Completed)

SlyOkami | tragedy | Complete

Meeting his fate at the hands of seven great heroes, the wicked drake now stands in Death's hall. Met with the Grim Reaper itself. Defeatedand its pride broken, the drake doesn’t beg or grovel, it simply awaits judgement. It waits for the God of the afterlife to send it on its way, to either the heights of bliss and peace or where it knew it would be sent. The depths of agony and torture, the halls of Tartarus, the father of monsters. Grim looked up from its oaken desk and down at the creature that would haveotherwise, if grown wiser and older, matched the reaper itself in power. Its faceless guise, hidden by a black hood and whirling shadows, it briefly stared at the drake. “You are unfit for the sky yet also too fit for the abyss,” Grim spoke, its voice a cracking whisper. “Your time came too soon, the actions you have taken will lead your world to ruin…Be reborn, pitiful serpent. Yet remember what you have done, see what your actions have made that realm into. Let me show you, how your greed and gluttony have warped such a wonderful place and time.” Grim raised its black-feathered pen towards the beast “Be reborn, as the weak pitiful creature you should have been born as. Take this both as a punishment and…a learning experience. For failure, can be the best teacher.” The drake took a step back, hoping to escape this cruel fate. Yet none escaped Death, less so its embodiment. Screaming shadows engulfed his form, ripping away at his body and shape. Fangs of darkness sinking deep into his draconic flesh, warping it, changing him into something else… Opening his eyes, the wicked drake felt none of its power, none of its magic and none of its might. As it stood at the edge of a cliff, looking down upon a ruined valley of rot and miasma. It glanced down at itself, seeing none of its sturdy scales or sharp claws. The drake had been reborn... As a Human. Will also be posting on CreativeNovels found here;CrN Where chapters will be posted earlier than RRL.

177.72 Ten thousand words | Updated at 2024-03-29 15:37