《Colossus' Legacy》(0) Prologue.
Advertisement
On the edges of a ravaged battlefield, a lone figure quietly navigates the sea of bodies. Clad in a blue robe and with a tome, reflecting a metallic glint, held close to his chest. The figure’s gaze remains fixed on a collapsed carriage. His pace is steady as he approaches.
Clinging onto a woman’s corpse, a small boy cries silently. His family was tragically caught amid a fierce battle. He managed to survive because his mother hid him, but she, unfortunately, perished in the process. Merely three years old, he struggles to understand his unfortunate fate.
Looming over the crying child, the blue-robed figure says, “Come now child, there is no sense staying in this dreadful place. Follow me, a much grander fate awaits you.”. The figure bends down and gently takes the boy’s hand, guiding him towards his feet. “Come,” the robed figure says again.
In front of the duo, a bright portal opens. Pulling the boy along, the robed figure steps through, both disappearing from the battlefield. A boundless atrium filled with countless hallways greets them as they exit the portal. Dimly lit by numerous magical lights and completely dust-free, the enormous structure is seemingly underground without a window in sight.
The atrium is circular and entirely hollow with an untold number of books lining its walls. A single spiralling staircase connects the thousands of floors. At the top of the atrium, four bridges span the wide gap. At their centre, a single platform is suspended in the air, and a huge crystal hovers above the platform.
“Come, child, we have no time to waste. The system doesn’t take kindly to delays, and I have a great deal to teach you,” the figure urges, making his way towards the central platform. Underneath the glowing crystal, a small podium sits. Frightened by the seemingly bottomless pit, the child tightly grips the robed figure’s hand as they cross one of the four bridges.
Advertisement
After walking close to an hour, they reach the podium. “Place your hand on top of the podium and let fate take its course,” the robed figure urges. Frightened and dazed by the day’s traumatising event, the child hesitates, but the robed figure urges again, “Don’t be scared, place your hand on the podium and all your worries will disappear.”.
A bright light flashes from the crystal above as the boy’s hand touches the podium. All attachment to his family disappears and a new bond forms in his heart. The light changes his body, reforging and perfecting it. His will becomes interwoven with that of the Library, and his purpose becomes clear. In the boy’s vision, a notification appears.
Librarian Trainee Title granted for being the Librarian successor.
Title enhances the trainee’s race and strengthens the trainee’s body and mind, to facilitate Librarian training.
“Good, it seems to have worked. You are now my successor young one, the hundredth Librarian destined to roam these halls. Thus, I will dub you Centum. All Librarian’s share a name, but our surnames are unique. To outsiders, we are called Sage. I am Novem, the ninth of my name. Now come, you understand our purpose and goal, but you still have much to learn.” Novem says, beckoning Centum to follow. In front of them, a new portal appears.
“The system guides us, creating doorways to places we are needed. We don’t control our destination; we only follow in the systems guidance. The system may be vague in its instruction, but that’s because it has confidence in our judgement to recognise what needs to be recorded,” Novem explains, pulling Centum through the portal.
Stepping through, a wide mountain range juts out of the landscape. Magical creatures float in the air, going about their daily lives. “You must learn to cope with any environment and be strong enough to face any foe. History doesn’t appear in a peaceful town but on the edges of life and death. You must learn to read, write and speak all languages. We’ll start your training immediately,” Novem explains.
Advertisement
--- || ---
Under the canopy of a mystical forest, an aged figure wearing a blue robe with a tome in his arm strolls through the dense foliage. Next to him, a young man clad in a purple robe follows along. “Centum, I’ve trained you for fifteen years. You’ve absorbed all my teaching. The time has come for me to complete my tale,” Novem says, a bittersweet melancholy permeating the air.
From the underbrush, a blue wolf leaps at the duo. Without flinching, Novem grabs his tome in one hand and strikes the wolf out of the air. The creature explodes into gore and guts as the strike lands. “Remember Centum; we are merely the observers and recorders of history, there’s no reason for us to take action. You may question our reason for this creed, but in time you’ll understand,” Novem continues, a portal appearing in front of the duo.
“I’ll take those word to heart, teacher,” Centum promises, following Novem through the portal. On the bottom floor of the boundless atrium, a single bookshelf solemnly stands in the centre. A small desk, with a single chair, is placed next to the bookcase. Novem comes to a stop before the desk and takes a seat. The large metallic tome, held tightly against his chest, is placed on the table. Only a single page is still left blank.
Next to Novem, Centum stands quietly, not daring to disturb his teacher during this critical time. Taking a magical pen from his robe’s pocket, Novem completes the last page of his life’s story, “After a thousand years of service, Librarian Novem, the ninety-ninth successor of the Primordial’s library, completed his duty and passed on his duties and responsibilities to Librarian Centum, the hundredth successor of the Primordial’s library.”.
Placing down his pen, a blank expression appears on Novem’s face. His body begins to disintegrate as it’s absorbed by the tome. The tome slams shut as Novem completely disappears. An empty feeling grips Centum’s heart. Without saying a word, he picks up the metallic tome and walks past the numerous rows of books that line the bookshelf. At the ninety-ninth position, he carefully places his teacher’s tome. A small sigh escapes his lips.
Making his way up the countless flights of stairs, he approaches the central pedestal. On it, a blank, metallic tome lies shut. Filled with determination, Centum places his hand on the metallic tome and announces, “I am ready to accept the duties and responsibilities of the Librarian.”. A bright light flashes from the enormous crystal with a notification appearing in his vision.
Librarian Title granted for being the Librarian.
Title enhances the host’s attributes and grants them the right to manage the Library’s portals. Name: Sage Centum Race: Spirit Human Titles: Librarian Unique Trait: None
Taking the tome under his arm, Centum’s heart quivers. His eyes are drawn towards the end of the bridge, where a new portal takes shape. It beckons him to enter. To continue the duties of those before him. To write down the tales of heroes and legends. To uncover the truth hidden from all living creatures.
Advertisement
- End492 Chapters
Reincarnator
Humanity has been gradually transported to the Abyss by a bored god to compete against other races and monsters.The problem is… humanity failed. In a last desperate push the strongest survivors chose a comrade to travel as far as possible back in time.
8 833 - In Serial36 Chapters
The Laptop Hero (Portal/Isekai LitRPG)
[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] - April 2022 Silas got summoned to another world—by a group of kids attending magic school who seemed rather unhappy with the results of their ritual. After a brief glimpse of his summoners Silas woke in the town dump. Unable to speak the local language, a misunderstanding escalated and before long Silas wound up in a jail cell, the locals having confiscated all his worldly possessions aside from his laptop, which had formed some strange bond with him. Now he can summon his laptop at will, and he can view his Status, level up, and gain powerful skills and magic as if he were some character in a video game, which is great and everything, but all Silas really wants to do is sit in a dark room and play games on his laptop. Only, life isn't a game, and Silas needs to get his act together because everyone else is playing for keeps. Or does he? Maybe for Silas life is just one big game now, with everyone else stuck playing by his rules. Assorted Disclaimers, in no particular order: I am only posting this on RoyalRoad.com, so if you find my story elsewhere it was not posted by me. Please do let me know! While I do consider this a progression fantasy, and have tagged it as such, Silas's Status improvements will not necessarily proceed in a linear fashion. His RPG stats will have ups and downs, exploits and nerfs, periods of growth and stagnation. Such is the life of a gamer, to be held under the thumb of the all powerful devs, or in this case a certain goddess devoted to the idea of Balance. SIlas himself should learn and grow, improving and progressing in areas where he struggles, or rather, to show such is my goal. The story is told from multiple points of view. While other PoVs will come and go, Silas shall remain the only lead character. The world Silas finds himself on is not a nice place. Expect him to encounter gore and traumatizing content and bad people who do bad things for selfish (or possibly noble) reasons from time to time. Some characters will use profanity, however due to cultural differences the curse words used will differ from those used in our corner of reality, so I'm not including the profanity content warning. Silas himself isn't one for foul language. No explicit sexual content here. This novel is intended for mature readers, however, and will include mature topics, including, but not limited to, sex, violence, death, and taxes. No harem. Might be an eventual romantic interest, possibly even some competitive jealousy, yet as his story begins Silas is too overwhelmed with other concerns to consider long term plans. Musophobics might want to steer clear of this story. Same goes for turophobics. You have been warned. Keep in mind, however, if my other disclaimers didn't make this clear, I only have the faintest of outlines at the moment. This story will take me where it will. My goal with this story is to write it to the end, something of a long-term writing exercise, with the hope others might take an interest in my work and encourage me to keep at it. I've started a number of works before, even finished a few, but this is the first time I've shared any work in a public forum. My temporary cover was made by me, in GIMP using public domain images. If you can do better I'll happily accept your submission and give credit for your work here!
8 181 - In Serial12 Chapters
Forged in Fear and Fury - An Apocalyptic LitRPG
In an attempt to prevent Earths ensuing demise, it is ripped from the void by an entity known as The Totality. It is then fused with a Lost Dungeon World to increase its inhabitants chances of survival in a new, system-enhanced universe. Cade Vale barely avoids death in the first second. Will he be able to overcome the rigors of this new world and survive? Will he be able to carve a new life out of the aether for himself and those whom he loves most? ...Will he be able to avoid becoming everything he hates in order to do so? Artwork by Kayla Basciano - Instagram: vulpix1323 Inspired primarily by the systems in The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound, The Genesis System, and The New World as well as by Savage Divinity, Azarinth Healer, and Shovels in Spades in general. I haven't been able to get these worlds out of my head and I've been waiting for something to fill the void left by the hiatus of Genesis, but so far nothing has scratched that itch as much as ProfoundMagician was able to with the world he created. I figure if I'm going to be thinking about this stuff as much as I do I might as well get better at writing while playing with a number of those ideas that I love. I have a number of specifics and events I want to show in the story, but a lot of the fun is coming up with ways to branch those together cohesively. This is an attempt to alleviate my depression by channeling my creativity into a hobby. Hopefully it's as enjoyable to read as it is to write.
8 180 - In Serial56 Chapters
Things Left Unspoken (SandersSidesAU)
This is a HighSchool AU that takes place at a boarding schoolA protective brother who is fearedA kind but closed off muteA roommate who helps however he can A kid with a heart of gold who only wants to help his cousin A punk who is willing to do whatever it takes to stay in the school A younger brother who just wants his brother to smile again And a secret that ties them closer than they know. TW: There may be descriptions of violence, bullying, some mental heath troubles, swearing every once and a while, and some angst. There may be brief mentions of earth based religions. As much as I would love to put trigger warnings at the beginning of each chapter, I will probably forget to so this is your warning now that there will be not too nice topics discussed. If there is anything that I miss, please let me know. Constructive criticism is welcome This is a story that will start off with rough topics and slowly get more fluffy (I am hoping as I haven't finished it as of now.) All characters belong to Thomas Sanders, I own nothing
8 148 - In Serial70 Chapters
Vox Corpis [Harmione]
Following the events of The Goblet of Fire, Harry spends the summer with the Grangers, his relationship with Hermione deepens, and he and Hermione become animagi.DISCLAIMER: THIS STORY IS NOT MINE THIS BELONGS TO MissAnnThropic. THIS IS ORIGINALLY BEEN POSTED IN FANFICTION.PORTKEY.ORG BUT THAT WEBSITE IS NOW DOWN. I AM ONLY POSTING IT HERE FOR YOU GUYS TO ENJOY IT. THIS STORY IS NOT MINE.
8 121 - In Serial1299 Chapters
Jackal Among Snakes
The royal bastard of House Vasquer, Argrave, changed after his stay studying magic at the Tower of the Gray Owl. The sickly man's awkward posture and cruel behavior have been replaced with a neat dignity and acerbic wit. Though once listless, he now strives towards his goals with a life-or-death tenacity. Most come away thinking he seems to know too many details about too much. Few can claim to know his motives or his goals. Yet behind that confident appearance, the primary contributor for an open-world RPG's wiki battles existential dread and things far beyond his ken as he struggles to adapt to a grim, gothic fantasy world mirroring his favorite game. The prospect of fighting against a world-ending calamity loses all of its appeal when it transitions from entertainment to reality. Argrave is spurred towards unwanted heroism to preserve his life as he struggles desperately to keep this sinking ship afloat. ##### Releases 5x a week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday! Cover by Mitchell Kirby: mdkultra.com
8 201

