Showing results for "Core" in Literature & Fiction

It was just supposed to be a quick trip to the pet store for some cat food, but the universe had other plans for Florence Valentine. Good for nothing kids and some annoying store employees were giving her a hard time, and then things got worse when she was killed by a delivery truck. Instead of angels, pearly gates, and eternal rewards, a voice in her head keeps telling her that she’s become a dungeon core, whatever that is.

The Tutorial is over. Humanity has been surrounded, forced to confront those who summoned humanity to the Convergence, Liam is forced to fight to survive. The sky shattered as the Zones opened. The Drakkhan Empire proved its readiness, and Liam must now fight with everything he has. In order to protect humanity and save the ones he loves, his limits must be furthered.

Summer 1911. A scorching heatwave engulfs the quiet town of Littleton Cotterell and brings about an unusually early harvest. The villagers are thrilled, but events quickly turn sour when one of them turns up dead in an apple orchard, stabbed through the heart. Amateur sleuth Lady Hardcastle and her trusty lady’s maid, Flo, suddenly have a juicy case on their hands. Might the mysterious stranger they recently met in the village be to blame?

The power to devour souls and grow stronger with every kill. In the monster-infested wastelands where the very air burns at night, James must learn to control his abilities and hunger. A cultivation fantasy where power comes at the ultimate price. Alongside Luna, a demi-human shunned by society, James carves a bloody path through Forsaken-infested ruins, collecting corpses, crafting makeshift gear, and struggling with the monstrous instincts rising inside him.

One moment, everything was normal. Then the World Core woke up and slaughtered almost everything alive so it could harvest their Chi. After that, it rebuilt everything and put the survivors in a game-like environment, pitting them against monsters and each other. The rules are different now. Chi power is as important as being able to fight. I'm one of the survivors. With my knowledge of martial arts and my special Chi skill, I'm turning myself into a force to be reckoned with. And the women I meet along the way? Let's just say there's more than one advantage to joining my party.

The first of the trials was just the beginning. The next ones are just as dangerous, but they come with an opportunity as well. They’re all about leveling up, more than I ever thought possible. If I can help my women (and my monster dog) make it through, we'll unlock the keys to infinite Chi. And we’ll have to, because the World Core has put together one final stage. It’s a tournament against the most powerful competitors left in the world. It’ll take a miracle for us to get through.

The first stage is done, but the World Core hasn’t finished with us yet. Now, the trials are about to begin, and time is ticking. Between the carnivorous plants and the mutated competitors, my whole team needs to collect as much Chi as possible if we hope to survive. Leveling up is the name of the game. Growing more and more powerful to compete with the monsters standing in our way. That’s where my special Chi skill comes into play. It gives us an advantage that others can’t match.

Wynne might have been human once. It's hard to say. Now he's a bunker core, a nanomachine controller responsible for an entire complex. Of course, the place is a bit wrecked. And the world outside is in ruins. And he's pretty sure that whoever put him here is going to come looking for him at some point....

Belissar has always lived a peaceful life, if not a particularly easy one. Though he lost his parents, he was taken in by a kindly villager who taught him his life's calling: beekeeping. But one day the local lord's ruthless son, Ruckanos, comes to their humble village to claim his own tower, slaughtering everyone. Luckily for Belissar, as he lies dying with an arrow in his back, a tiny worker bee decides to interfere, and he wakes up not only alive but a whole new bee-ing.

Kate Winthrop, the only child of a wealthy shipping magnate, has the course of her life charted for her by her parents. She's expected to marry well and produce a successor to the Winthrop empire. But Kate has a very different path in mind. Her true passion lies with photography - and with women. Alone in the city after losing her brother, Sicilian immigrant Giuliana Russo starts working for the Winthrops as a maid. Despite their different social status, Kate and Giuliana become friends, much to the dismay of Kate's parents.

One moment, everything was normal. Then the World Core woke up and slaughtered almost everything alive so it could harvest their Chi. After that, it rebuilt everything and put the survivors in a game-like environment, pitting them against monsters and each other. The rules are different now. Chi power is as important as being able to fight. I'm one of the survivors. With my knowledge of martial arts and my special Chi skill, I'm turning myself into a force to be reckoned with. And the women I meet along the way? Let's just say there's more than one advantage to joining my party.

Light years from home, an off-the-books corporate mission beyond the boundary goes horribly wrong, and the crew’s starship crashes onto an alien world that shouldn’t exist. To make matters worse, they trigger an ominous light that appears in the sky, and provoke the native wildlife. Though saved from disaster, the survivors learn they’ve moved out of the frying pan and into the fire.

But Wynne has traded one set of foes for another, and a hunter in old tech armor wants him for sinister purposes. Neither fully man or machine, it's up to this new bunker core to rise up against all odds, using his wits and technology to prevail against twisted animal-folk, shining mutants, and threats literally from out of this world.

David Innes was a captive in Pellucidar, the strange world within a world that lies under the Earth’s crust. To rescue him, Tarzan comes into that savage, prehistoric land at the head of an expedition equipped with every modern device. But Pellucidar is not like the jungles the ape-man knows. Here are saber-toothed tigers and every savage creature from the beginning of time. Here the horizon curves back on itself and the sun hangs always in the middle of the sky. And now, for the first time, Tarzan is hopelessly lost in a land teeming with unknown, gigantic killers.

In a realm of epic quests and powerful gods, the tiniest Dungeon Core ever created is about to prove that size isn't everything. Armed with a mysterious System, and a handful of fiercely loyal creatures, the Core must grow, adapt, and defend itself against a world that sees it as prey.

Every beginning is also an end. Rem, the Foxkin Oracle of the Wildwood, knows this better than most, seeing as he is on his second life. Most people don't get another chance at the whole life thing after a stupidly oversized adventurer's hammer uses their head to paint a tree, but a goddess on the Pantheon of the Divine sees great potential in Rem. Granted salvation by his Patron, Rem becomes a Dungeon Core, a magical entity tasked with creating the trials essential to helping adventurers become the true warriors they were meant to be.

Dominic Thompson becomes an Infernal dungeon core and is given one task: honor the dark goddess by killing adventurers. Choosing an avatar is merely the first step. To become the greatest, he must make the other dungeon cores submit to him. And that means shattering their jeweled hearts. Or seducing their avatars. Lucky for Dom, the dungeon’s avatars are beautiful monster girls. But they’re also the fiercest warriors in the realms, and there’s a fine line between murder and seduction.

Ryan doesn’t remember much about his life before becoming dungeon core. Only that he had a bit of a disagreement with the church - something to do with a beheading? Now reborn, Ryan begins to arm his darkness dungeon with devious traps, bestial zombies, and ill-named skeletal creations, without doing anything too evil. Well, mostly. Some adventurers just deserve a stalactite to the head. But Ryan quickly learns being a darkness dungeon isn’t all loot and bone puns.

Not long ago, all Belissar wanted was to be left in peace to tend his apiaries. But that ended when Ruckanos, the brutish son of the local lord, slaughtered his village to make way for his new tower. Rescued by a bee—who happened to be a core—the one-time beekeeper then became king of his own bee realm. Belissar quickly learned how to thrive not only as a leader but as a fighter, using his winged minions to battle the dreaded Hunger that threatens all life. Now, aided by the mystical bear folk who share their knowledge and wisdom with him, he must continue to grow.

Ryan lived his life on Earth trapped in his own body. The doctors couldn't explain what was happening to him, but slowly, his body was crystallizing. Then, a portal opened up on the ceiling of his hospital room. He'd seen that one in enough anime to recognize what was happening. It couldn't possibly be worse than the hell that was his life on Earth, not that he was given any choice.