John Davis
Stories
4
Chapters
1,426
Words
411.5 K
Comments
0
Reading
1 d, 10 h
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By the time Arthur’s He also noticed a marked uptick in attention from the audience. He could not hear them, of course. Only see their reactions. The seated crowd was no longer craning their heads to look at other fights. More and more were gesturing to his and Penn’s quadrant. He supposed he and Penn were putting on quite the odd show. One boy who had the clear advantage, punching down another one who occasionally dodged but more often took the hit, then kept getting up over and over. Arthur…-
71 •
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After the meeting with the hive leaders ended, Arthur opened the door to his room was unsurprised to find two large men dressed in hive colors waiting for him just outside. They had the air of guards come to march a prisoner to his execution. Though they were polite when they greeted him. Arthur had no doubt they had some card magic up their sleeves if he refused to go along quietly. However, he was resigned to his fate. As they walked down the hall — the two men flanking him on either side — Arthur…
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71 •
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Arthur stopped in front of the door to his room, tugged down his shirt and then smoothed it out again. He was already dressed as nicely as he could be, but when faced with the prospect of a private meeting with the leaders, he felt it wasn’t enough. Lastly before he stepped in, he activated his Charming Gentle-Person card. Valentina and Whitaker stood near the balcony. They faced each other and looked like they were in the middle of an intense, angry conversation. They broke off whatever they were…
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71 •
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"Now, what do I mean by off-type cards?" Ismael said, over the murmurs of people all around them. Arthur leaned forward, fascinated. He couldn't help but think about Joy's hatching and how she had nearly died because she couldn’t link with an appropriate card. Did that mean, on top of everything else, Legendary hatchlings were less likely to die than lower ranks? "Let me make an example of myself and my dragon,” Ismael smiled up at them, and to Arthur it felt like a practiced, showman's smile. A…
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71 •
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Marion guided Arthur to a room to the side of the gym he claimed was a sauna. Thick clouds of steam wafted out. The moment he and Marion stepped inside they were greeted by a servant in a hive uniform. "Do you need any assistance, sirs?" "Full scrub down for my friend, top to bottom," Marion said before Arthur could reply. "Very good, sir." "Now wait--" Arthur started. The man gestured and the thick steam coalesced around him into a warm syrupy cloak. Arthur didn't have time to be startled or worried…
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71 •
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Arthur slowed down a stop as he read through the message. That had been a mistake. He hadn't realized how much sheer momentum and stubbornness had been carrying his body forward. The moment he let himself pause and become distracted, abused muscles protested all at once. Arthur crumbled ungracefully to the dirt track to the sounds of 'ohhhs' from watchers all around. When had he gathered watchers? He could barely think about that. Every long muscle from the soles of his feet to the tops of his legs…
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71 •
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The first thing Arthur did was to dip into his personal space. He stood in the middle of the large room. All the tools and supplies he had purchased from the Wolf hive commissary were there, stacked neatly as possible. "I should add shelves," he muttered to himself. "But I have no idea how I would attach them to a wall.…" Perhaps a skill or two in woodworking would do him some good. He was stalling, and he knew it. He turned, half expecting to see the frozen visage of Penn, Marion, and Echo standing…
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71 •
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Had Arthur not had any guidance he would have surely frozen. That would have been a dead giveaway he was hiding something. He had already been leaning hard on his Though no one else dared to move, every jot of the attention in the room was on him. "My father believes my sister has shown promise, even at her young age," Arthur said evenly. "Meanwhile I was sent to the hive to gain some knowledge of the real world and link a dragon if I could. Linking a Rare or a Legendary would bring prestige to the…
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71 •
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A knock came at the door just as the last tones from the sixth hour morning bell faded into the distance. Arthur was already dressed and waiting, as was Marion, Penn, and Echo. They had expected the summons to come in the early morning as it was an easy way to throw someone off. After exchanging a look with everyone else and receiving nods in reply, Arthur rose to answer the door. A severe looking man dressed in fancy robes stood on the other side. His badge was emblazoned with the crest of the silver…
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71 •
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In the next moment Arthur found himself inside his Personal Space. Penn and Echo stood like living dolls in the middle of the room. Arthur turned away from them and instead went to the pile where he kept his tools. Though he shoved everything into the Personal Space, the items collected more or less according to a category. He had not been thrifty during the impromptu shopping trip and he'd gathered everything he could think of from extra utensils to basic tools he thought would be useful for roughing it…
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71 •
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