Iron Blooded Hound - Chapter 21 - : The Fight Over Rubies

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

After a year of relentless effort, Alex becomes the first to conquer a tutorial quest deemed impossible by the entire playerbase of Endless Leveling Online. But instead of loot or leaderboard fame, he earns something far stranger—an invitation from the God of Games.His prize? A one-way trip to Arcana, a living, breathing world where stories shape reality—and a chance to become the Protagonist of his own story.In a land of endless possibilities and ever-shifting destinies, Alex would try to bend the rules, rewrite fates, and forge his own legend. But being the Protagonist means more than glory.It carries a heavy responsibility.As secrets unravel and alliances are tested, Alex must decide whom he must protect, and save before the world collapses under the weight of its own story.

In the kingdom of Veridian, Prince Lucien Damon is known for his charm and charisma. But his kingdom is facing economic ruin, and his father, the king, in an effort to alleviate the economic strain on his kingdom has arranged a marriage between Lucian and Prince Alexander Silver of the neighboring kingdom of Avaloria.In the kingdom of Veridian, Prince Lucien Damon is known for his charm and charisma. But his kingdom is facing economic ruin, and his father, the king, in an effort to alleviate the economic strain on his kingdom has arranged a marriage between Lucian and Prince Alexander Silver of the neighboring kingdom of Avaloria.

“I'm going out to do something, so I can't take care of you any more. You can go down the mountain and have fun. But if you can't find someone who matches your Innate Pure Yang Body in three years, you're finished!”These were the last words the old man, who was Lionel Yeager's teacher, threw to him before he vanished. Meanwhile, having mastered most of his master's skills, Lionel Yeager went down the mountain and took his first step into civilization for the first time in years.With his unparalleled medical and martial arts, he sets forth on a journey, befriending new allies and crushing all the enemies that stand in his way, as he attempts to resolve his Pure Innate Yang Body constitution, and cultivate to the top of the world!