《Jumpspark》Chapter 6 - Beautiful Day
Advertisement
I woke abruptly to someone pounding at the door. While I hadn’t felt tired the night before, as soon as Batuhan had left me in the small room set aside for travelers I had collapsed on the bed almost immediately. I groaned as I sat up and wiped the sleep out of my eyes. I hadn’t gotten a good look at the room last night, but now as the soft light of dawn filtered in through the solitary window I was able to see how truly small it was. Barely large enough for a bed, with no chests or wardrobes apparent to store personal belongings, it had more in common with a cell than a bedroom. The bed was more comfortable than I’d expected, though. I half remembered my medieval history professor in college talking about lice and straw stuffed ticks. This bed seemed to have more in common with an old feather bed that my great-grandmother had during my childhood. Just another reminder that I wasn’t home on Earth, I mused.
“Coming,” I called, as the unseen terror that interrupted my sleep continued to bang on the door. Moving a to the door and opening it, I was greeted with the smiling face of Batuhan.
“Irma set out to see the Hermit this morning, I figured you’d want to know. Also, I’m working on breakfast if you’re hungry,” he said.
I was about to protest that I was not, indeed, hungry and would prefer to get more sleep when my stomach let out a low growl. I also realized, right around that time, that my brain was fully engaged, and more sleep probably wasn’t in the cards. I’d never been a morning person but once I was awake I tended to stay that way.
“I suppose I could see myself eating. What’s on the menu this morning?” I asked.
Batuhan grinned, “Leftovers! We didn’t quite finish off the stew last night, and you seemed to enjoy it, so in the name of not letting it go to waste I thought we could finish off what was left. I did make some tea though, cider is a bit much for me in the mornings.”
“Tea sounds fantastic. I don’t suppose there’s any coffee to be had around here is there?” I questioned as we made our way into the dining area.
Advertisement
“Coffee? What’s in it? I’ve never heard of it before,” came the sadly expected reply.
I explained to him what coffee, and by extension caffeine, was while we were inhaling our food. The same energy surge zipped through me as I ate the stew. Last night it had banished my fatigue, even though I was able to sleep within an hour of eating. As I plowed through my bowl for breakfast, however, it seemed to clear my thoughts and energize my body. I needed to run, or lift weights, or go do something to burn off the energy. I felt like an over carbonated soda that somebody had shaken up, like I was about to fizz my way out of my body.
When I questioned Batuhan about the feeling he cocked his head at me and answered, “It’s spirit beast meat. Have you never had it before?”
I finished my bite and answered, “Not until last night, no. What makes it so different than regular venison?”
“Well, spirit beasts, yeah? They’re steeped in Qi, we absorb small amounts when we eat the beasts. No substitute for actual cultivation, of course. And there’s the fact that they just taste better,” he said. “How do you not know this? It’s common knowledge.”
I sighed, filing away the comments about Qi and cultivation in the back of my mind, “There’s a lot of common knowledge that I’m going to be missing. I’ll be happy to tell you whatever the Hermit tells me that I can. For now, just think of me as an adult with the knowledge of a child.”
He nodded slowly, “You seem to be very sure that the Hermit is going to take you as a student, or even meet with you at all. I’ve lived here most of my life and I’ve only spoken to him at length a handful of times. Say what you will, but the fact remains that the man likes his privacy. Otherwise he wouldn’t be here or be called the Hermit.”
Stew finished, I pushed back my bowl and toyed with the wooden spoon for a moment before answering, “He may not take me as a student. I just have it on very high authority that he will. Maybe he’ll change his mind and I’ll have to make a go of it on my own. He has free will, same as anybody else.”
Advertisement
Batuhan nodded, “Well, we’ll find out soon enough. Irma left just before dawn and it’s only a few hours out and back. She should be back with your answer in time for lunch. Which will be another bao, by the way. Room and breakfast were included in what you paid last night. Lunch is extra…although if he says yes to taking you in as a student I’ll feed you on the house.”
I grinned, “I’ll take you up on that offer. Anything I can help with until then? That spirit beast has me feeling energetic.”
“Figured you’d want to cultivate it off, but there’s always firewood to be chopped if you feel like physical labor. Anybody good enough to apprentice to the Hermit could likely go spar with the guards, but Tarkhan didn’t seem to be too taken with you last night and he’s the guard captain. He’d likely beat you half to death and call it a training accident. Good guy, but he’s very protective of this village.”
“I’ve chopped plenty of firewood. Point me to the wood pile and lend me a splitting maul. Sounds just like what the doctor ordered” I said as I stood.
Batuhan gave me another puzzled look, “Never heard of a spirit doctor ordering a patient to chop wood, but the pile is out back and there’s a maul in the tool shed along with some wedges.”
I gave him a nod and went around the back of the inn. True to his word, there was a rather large pile of wood ready to be split and stacked. I grabbed the splitting wedge and got to work. A few hours later I had made a rather sizable dent in the pile and was pondering taking a water break when Irma came around the corner with Tarkhan, Batuhan, and an older man that I didn’t recognize. He looked to be in his late forties, or perhaps early fifties. His hair was a dark red and was kept in a long ponytail. He wasn’t tall, 5’6” at the most, but was built like a tank.
She pointed at me and said, “That’s him. Karlus, he said his name was.”
The older man looked at me. I suppose I could lie and say that his eyes were a piercing shade of blue or green and that they held the secrets of the universe as they bored into my soul. In reality, they were a sort of muddy brown and he just looked vaguely uncomfortable, like he wasn’t completely relaxed being around people. I cannot deny, however, that he had a presence. It was a vague sort of aura that tickled at the edges of my senses and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. This man was dangerous and my subconscious was doing everything it could to announce that fact to me.
I rested the maul on the stump I’d been using as a splitting pad and wiped my forehead. “Time for lunch already? I suppose you’re the Hermit? I’m Karlus,” I said, extending my hand toward him.
It instantly became apparent to me that I’d made yet another faux pas when all three villagers made a sharp inhalation. The Hermit didn’t miss a beat though. He gave me an old-fashioned wrist-to-wrist handshake and gave me a nod.
“I was on my way to meet you here when Irma met me on the road. I understand you caused a bit of a stir last night when you arrived,” he said.
I nodded in the affirmative, “I didn’t know what to tell them. She said I could tell you, but that I’d have to trust you on who else I could talk to. Made for a rather awkward evening. Will you teach me?”
“I will,” he said, “but first we’re going to eat lunch. I think you’ve chopped enough wood to earn it, and if I know them you probably didn’t start with much.”
I shrugged, “There was a bit in my backpack, but I don’t know how much. Doesn’t matter though, lunch is on the house.”
As I moved to put up the splitting maul I noticed the three villagers looking at me with incredulous expressions.
“What?,” I smirked, “Batuhan said lunch was on the house if I ended up as his student, and you all just heard him say he’d teach me. With how well Batuhan can cook there’s no way I’m going to pass up a free lunch.”
Advertisement
- In Serial53 Chapters
Who Says This OL Can't Become A Splendid Slime!?
A journey that began with a simple wish, taken horribly out of context. 'Ah, I wish that I could change my life. I wish for something truly exciting to happen.' Follow our heroine as she surmounts increasingly difficult odds! As she battles with heavy topics such as 'Is it really safe to eat this?', 'How am I supposed to slay a wyvern!?', and the ever-popular 'Does this shade of pink make my slime look fat?' "For the record, I've never asked that last question you bastard narrato—" Follow her as she traverses the world and seeks out her destiny! Thrown into the world with nary a leg to stand on, what will our gelatinous heroine do next? Will she become a savior? Or this world's very own Demon King!? "Wouldn't you mean Queen? Aside from that, please stop talking like I'm not here." But at the end of the day, there is one foe that she just may never slay. Despite all her efforts, will she be able to overcome the barrier that is ... her marital status!? "Alright, I'm going to Devour you too." We hope you enjoy the thrilling conclusion! "It really isn't that exciting. Please don't expect too much."
8 367 - In Serial10 Chapters
Legendary Farmer (available on Kindle July 2022!)
NOTE: Legendary Farmer is now COMPLETE. The first book, Clearing, was released on Kindle Unlimited July 5, 2022 with significant edits. I will post the first chapter of Clearing, as well as three chapters of Cuckoo's Dream, another novel in the LF universe, as a stub, with a link to the first book, so if you love LF and want me to be able to keep writing consistently, please go give Clearing five stars! In the VRMMORPG, Veritas Online, things are getting a little stale. Since the game launched, only one world- wide event has occurred, and that was a year ago.. The players are still having fun, but everyone agrees it’s about time for something big to happen. Everybody tends to forget that big things grow from small things, and little things are always changing in Veritas.The human country of Quarternell is at peace for the first time in... ever. Aspen, a former war hero, feels like he’s earned a quiet life together with his animal companions. They’re tired of fighting, and other people in general. They plan to live peacefully, far away from the city. As soon as Aspen figures out this farming thing out, he’s never going to go anywhere again. Unfortunately for Aspen, his country and his goddess aren’t quite done with him yet.Rouge the Rogue is a casual gamer in Veritas Online. She’s just a kid, and her focus is supposed to be on school and hanging out with friends. Emphasis on ‘supposed to’. She’s already pretty good at the school thing, and she doesn’t actually have that many friends. What she really loves is exploring all the cool ways the developers of Veritas found to make their game unique and realistic. Then she’s offered a very special quest, and an opportunity to go beyond the average player. She’s never been that much of a rule follower anyway....Clearing is appropriate for most ages. It has minimal foul language, no sex, and some violence. It is LGBTQ+ friendly. (P.S. IMPORTANT! This book contains very mild profanity, no sex, and is meant to be FUN. Yes, the characters sometimes think Deep Thoughts, and idealism pretty much runs rampant, but, in the end, I hope you just enjoy reading it. Laugh, cry, share it with your kids, read it to your dog, whatever makes you happy. My goal is for it to be accessible to everyone from ages 12ish on up, so you could definitely consider it YA, but with lots of big words because I don't believe in talking down to my readers.) Book Two: Harrowing (Starts after the original Chapter Fifty, now Sixteen, since I condensed chapters from the same perspective together.) Zoey has started her summer internship at Veritas Corporation, and she can honestly say that being an adult is boring. Until she starts learning secrets she was never supposed to know. In game, Rouge is finally making progress on her big quest. Apparently Duke Penbrooke took too long to return to the world, so the world is coming to get him... in the form of a few assassins. Aspen is going to have to face the life he left behind, and deal with the fact that it's not as easy being 'dead' as he thought. When what he'd hoped would be a short trip back to civilization to resupply turns into a whole lot more, he'll have to fight for his life, his friends, and his kingdom. Book Three: Sowing Rouge and Aspen have reached Bright, only to find that their enemies were already expecting them. They will have to quickly unravel the mysteries of who their opponents actually are, because they're already ten steps behind. Rouge and Aspen are finally home, but that doesn't mean they can return to their peaceful days of farming. Their enemies are hot on their heels and determined to destroy everything they've managed to achieve. Join them and all their friends for the final volume of Legendary Farmer.
8 218 - In Serial22 Chapters
Samsara Cycle - Xianxia - Villainous Reincarnation [COMPLETED]
A thousand lifetimes ago, Qiu Xuanwu stood atop the world as the King of the Underworld. He sealed the righteous deities and reigned alone--until the last remaining righteous deity, Kai Bailong, tore him from his throne, released the righteous deities, and restored order to the world. Instead of exterminating Qiu Xuanwu, Kai Bailong consigned his soul to enter the cycle of samsara, experiencing countless reincarnations until his soul purified. Kai Bailong followed him into the mortal cycle, watching over the evil deity. For eons, the two reincarnated together, locked in eternal moral combat. As orange trees, bees, cats and dogs, and a thousand other lifeforms, the two struggled endlessly. A thousand lifetimes later, Qiu Xuanwu awakens as the young Chen Wuya, finally reincarnated into a human form capable of cultivation. With Kai Bailong nowhere in sight, he sets out to once more become the strongest martial deity and finally complete the vengeance that led him to become the King of the Underworld in his first life. Though a thousand lifetimes have passed, nothing will keep him from his goal... unless that damned Kai Bailong finds him again! -Low-fantasy for Xianxia, high-fantasy in general -Lightly comedic, mostly action/adventure -Updates biweekly Mon/Fri, daily updates until I catch up to backlog!
8 141 - In Serial22 Chapters
Under Wicked Sky
[Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] The apocalypse has arrived. And it has feathers. On the afternoon of April 22nd, magic returns and sweeps across the globe, bringing terror in its wake. Everyone over the age of seventeen mutates into a terrifying bird-like creature, and they’re all hungry for human flesh. By evening, children are all that remains of the human race.
8 145 - In Serial15 Chapters
Wild Hunt
Portals to a different world appeared in the world suddenly thirty years ago. Beyond them, a different world exists, one where monsters which drop magical cores exist. Left alone, these Portals eventually collapse, causing the monsters behind them to spill out onto Earth. Those who are Blessed with superhuman abilities to slay these monsters are Hunters. Kim Shiwoon, an everyman in South Korea wishing for a chance to be something more, finds himself thrust into becoming a Hunter. However, he quickly finds that it is not all glitz and glamour in the life of a Hunter... Updates every other day at 5 pm(GMT +8). -Tentative cover is not mine: taken from https://www.clipart.email/download/2425346.html
8 124 - In Serial38 Chapters
Camille
Camille use to live in her father's library when he was away on trading, and wait till he was back. Her mother never approved of her being stuck in books. But when her father dies unexpectedly, she just might become what her mother wants.While at school, she use to get letters from Lucas, her childhood sweetheart, but when he suddenly stops, she's heartbroken and the reason behind it, will hurt worse. But after her Coming Out party, she discovers something hidden within the old books, that will flip her world inside out.She's gonna learn that High Society comes with a price, and that her father has left secrets for her to unravel, that aren't going to end with happily ever after...*Book 1* Also, being edited!
8 161

