u/Golaen1

A man sat in front of his laptop with a cracked screen, running on an external hard drive that was being cooled by a small summer fan. On the screen is a writing competition banner with a prize money of $100,000 for the best story, 50,000 for the runner up, and 10,000 for the third place. If that wasn't enough, numbers 4 to 10 will get 5,000 each and 11 to 30 will get 1,000 each. "My story can definitely make the top ten," he muttered to himself, "if I get that money I can pay off my debts and finally get rid of those pesky loan sharks along with that infuriating landlady."

As Colin continues to read, he gasped, "just hitting a 1,000 sales on Readers Merchant will get a spot in the top 30?" his eyes widened in disbelief, "oh, right, you need to be one of the first 30, phew, that nearly gave me a happy heart attack."

He then closed the tab and opened Pen Buddy, his trusty writing app, "This really came at the right time. Now all I need is to publish Legion on Readers Merchant and I'm rich... hahahahah! Damn I'm gonna be rich!"

Bang! bang!

"Quiet down you idiot, or have you finally gone mad so i can call the mental asylum for ya."

Colin's lips twitched, _fuck you!_ he really wanted to shout that out, but decided against it, whilst rubbing his bruised left cheek.

"Think you're tough huh, I'll show you," Colin muttered, as he opened the bookstore and started setting up his story for sale.

A few minutes later, Legion was up on sale and in just the first few minutes, it had already sold 10 copies. Seeing this a crazy grin appeared on his face.

"Shit, I forgot to register for the competition," he scrambled to pulled up the submission form from the website and filled it out, "phew, good thing they had a 10 minute buffer or I would have been screwed."

He then closed his laptop and went to sleep.

---

3 days later, "Let's see if I'm in the top thirty yet," Colin muttered as he opened the competition leaderboard, and after scanning it for a while he raised an eyebrow, "why am I not there yet?"

He then opened his Readers Merchant account,

[ Title: Legion ]

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Unrated

[ Sales: 18 ]

"18 sales..., WHAT THE HELL IS EVERYONE THINKING, THAT'S THE BOOK OF THE CENTURY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT!!!" Colin shouted angrily.

Bam! His door suddenly swung open and a big man came in and grabbed his collar then lifted him off the ground to face him, "What did I tell you about shouting?" He asked calmly but every word laced with a threatening edge.

His neck bulged as he swallowed a lump of saliva, "nn, o, n-no, noise..." he stuttered in reply.

"Good that you remember, now let me make sure you save it properly," with those words, Paaa! A slap rang in the room and the man dropped him to the ground and left.

Colin then stood up with shaking steps, walked to close the door but just as he was about to close it he saw his girlfriend standing in the hallway looking at him with a blank expression.

"Lyla," he called, and she immediately snapped out of it, turned around and left without looking back.

"Lyll," he tried to call her again but his now swollen cheek denied him, as his words became incoherent.

---

7 days later, He once again opened the leaderboard and scanned it only to get the same results, "still not in the top 30?" His hands shook slightly as he opened his Readers Merchant account.

[ Title: Legion ]

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Unrated

[ Sales: 33 ]

Upon seeing this his entire body trembled, as he recalled last night's text from the loan shark,

<If you don't have my money by tomorrow, I'm taking your hand back home with me.>

He then stood up and then walked to close the door, then closed the window covers. After that he picked up his backpack on the bed and pulled out a thick rope.

Ten minutes later, Colin was hanging from the ceiling, dead.

However, on his merchant account,

Sales: 33 -> 46

Sales: 46 -> 109

Sales: 109 -> 167

20 minutes later,

Sales: 12388 -> 28392

...

The End

© 2026 u/Golaen1. All Rights Reserved. This "Ore" is open for "Spins" and "Refinements" exclusively within r/StoriesFromWithin. Commercial use or external distribution requires the original author's consent.

A dark wave of monsters spilled out from the forest treeline, kicking up a dense cloud of dust that cast a shadow upon the land. At the city gates the royal army stood in a tight formation, their shields overlapped to create a stable defense wall, though underneath them some legs could be seen shaking. A select group of knights held the vanguard gazing at the approaching beasts, their eyes gleaming with excitement.

Amongst the knights was Reid.

---

Flashback: Three Years Ago.

---

Reid came to this world after being hit by a car while crossing the road. One moment it was screeching tires against the road and the next he found himself in a grassy plain face to face with a horned rabbit. The rabbit didn't give him time to think as it channeled mana at the top of its horn and shot a fire ball at him. However, purely out of instinct, Reid dodged the attack and drove a kick at the rabbit's head, killing it on the spot.

_Clap, clap, clap!_

"Impressive, boy where did you learn to move like that?" A voice suddenly came from behind, and Reid turned around in fright that he jumped a small distance back creating a gap between him and the newcomer.

The man raised an eyebrow, and grinned at him before he said. "Good. How would you like to become a Knight of Gebdin?"

Reid eyebrows came together as he looked at the man in contemplation, _'**knight of gebdin?** What the fuck is that? But then again I've nothing to lose and he doesn't seem like a bad guy, so...'_

"Ok," he replied abruptly.

From that day on Reid joined the knights and there he discovered his talent with the sword.

---

Back To The Present

---

_Now it's time to show my power._

*Sigh* a sigh escaped his lips as he looked at the approaching beast horde.

"You're not regretting this are you?" Fig asked with a teasing grin. Fig was a bulky man with a knife scar that looked like a tear trailed down his cheeks for eternity.

"No, not at all, in fact I have been waiting for this opportunity," Reid replied with a firm tone.

"Ok, then what's with the sigh?" a sharp-eyed lady, Sandia, asked curiously.

Reid chuckled, "It's just that... their numbers are too small."

Hearing this the knights go silent leaving only the rumbling noise of the beasts approaching playing in the air.

"Hahaha, that's more like it. You hear that boys, a true knight can never have eno..., ouch!" Fig burst out in laughter and said but, before he could finish Sandia whacked his head with the sheath of her blade, "who are you calling boy?" she said her voice carrying an icy chill.

"I wasn't... I didn't mean you," Fig muttered, his booming voice instantly shrinking to a timid whine, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

Then a cold voice cut in.

"Enough games, time to get serious. Knights of Gebdin, charge!!!" he commanded.

With that the figures of the knights blurred and the next moment they clashed with the beast horde. It didn't take long before everyone was drenched in blood and gore, well everyone except for Sandia, who danced around, piling up beast corpses yet there was no stain on her or anything within the length of her blade.

Reid, slashed, hacked and pierced moving through the beast hoard, and wherever he went beast corpses dropped and blood sprayed the air.

He grinned, _now this is the life._

---

Meanwhile, in a mental health institute, Reid could be seen seated on a chair madly waving a plastic pipe in the air.

"Doctor, is Reid going to recover?" a concerned woman asked.

"I'm afraid his brain was damaged beyond what we can save, the only thing we can do now is wait, and hope for a miracle," the doctor replied with a heavy tone.

© 2026 u/Golaen1. All Rights Reserved. This "Ore" is open for "Spins" and "Refinements" exclusively within r/StoriesFromWithin. Commercial use or external distribution requires the original author's consent.

👏👏👏👏

👏👏👏

👏👏

As the applause died down a man walked down from the stage with a proud smile as he went back to his seat.

"Next up is the prestigious World Top Business Tycoon award." The host said with a smile as he surveyed the audience. "As we all know this award only appears when someone breaks and makes something unimaginable in the business landscape, and it has to be something that works a lot better than what was in its place." He continues with a serious face.

"Of course we won't award you for just breaking the system that works without improving anything right," he suddenly said with a cheeky tone inciting some chuckles from the audience.

"Alright, I Mike Dolpen, CEO of Tank Group of companies, am proud to announce this historic achievement by none other than a man who built a 2.5 Trillion dollar business empire in a record breaking time of just 6 years. Ladies and gentlemen give your applause to Mr Hedges!" Mike announced with vigor.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

The masses applause as Mr Hedges walked up the stage and receives his 1.2 meter skyscraper shaped trophy.

Mr Hedges then cleared his throat and said while looking at the trophy, "I can't believe this. Honestly I was just building and building so much that I didn't expect it to grow to what it is today." He paused holding back some tears.

"So, with this achievement, I want to thank my family, that always stood by me, my friends, who always had my back, and lastly, the janitors, for keeping the floors clean." He said regaining his composure with the last one causing audience to laugh.

"Well, this..." Mr Hedges continues with his speech.

Meanwhile, a camera zoomed in on him.

[The janitors...] a mechanical voice said.

The camera zoomed in even further and suddenly measurements appear on the display making it look like a sniper rifle scope.

Then the Mr Hedges on the monitor is shot in the head and collapsed on the stage. However, in reality Mr Hedges was still giving his speech.

[Since my work is beneath that of a janitor that it holds not credit to you..., I will....]

Back on the stage, Mr Hedges finished his speech and gets back to his seat and the evening moves forward.

After about an hour the event ends and Mr Hedges walked to his car that was already brought to the front when.

---

"Hedges!" A beautiful voice called out to him, and he turned around to see a beautiful woman walking towards him.

"Miss Reese," he called with a smile.

"Hedges, since you reached your goal are you now willing to focus on life?" She said with a teasing smile.

Hedges clears his throat, suddenly finding his shoes very interesting, "well, I was always focused on life Miss Reese," he said with a slight awkwardness to his tone.

"Oh?" Miss Reese said with a surprised face, "So, that's why you never let me in, I guess I wasn't considered a part of it huh." She said with a sad expression.

Mr Hedges suddenly felt his hands get sweaty and with his eyes slightly panicking, "where do you get that Miss Reese, you were always a part of my life."

Hearing this, the sad expression on Miss Reese vanished and she said with a smile, "really, great, meet me tomorrow at 9 at the Ridge Club, don't be late," with that she left. Leaving a stupefied Hedges.

After a moment Mr Hedges shook his head, entered his car, and drove home.

Within a few minutes he arrived at his estate. The gate swung open automatically as he drove in.

Once the car was parked, he headed for the front door, and just as his fingers brushed the door nob, a sudden shiver run down his spine.

"Man it's cold," he chuckled, "cold summer," he muttered as he entered the house.

"Jerry, give me the statistics of all my companies and their performance metrics," he said to the empty house. "And simplify so that I can actually understand it, okay."

After putting down his blazer he loosened his tie and paused. "Jerry?"

[Certainly, Hedges, I have compiled the information you need. I also included a list of potential companies we could target for the next round of acquisitions.] Jerry(Ai) replied.

Hedges smiled, "good," he said, sounding satisfied, "also make me some dinner. I couldn't eat properly at the function with all the people swarming me every minute... You saw me right? Wasn't I cool?"

[Indeed.] Jerry replied.

Hedges then went on to turn on his console and started playing, drowning the house in the chaotic sounds of the game.

Thirty minutes later. A notification popped up on the TV.

<The food is ready.>

When he saw the notification, Hedges got up, and walked to the table. Upon spotting the buffet on the table, he raised an eyebrow, "that's a lot of food buddy," he said with surprise.

[Celebration for your achievement today.]

"Oh, okay," he said as he sat down and started eating, "damn, this is good Jerry, got a new recipe or something?"

[Yes I added a new spice called ràt poíson.]

"Umm, really well that's good..., wait what!"

He shouted as the last bite of food dropped to his stomach.

"Jerry, what did you..." He tried to spit, but his jaw locked. A wet, frantic pfff escaped his lips as white foam bubbled over his teeth. "Jerr...y..."

A heavy hand settled on his shoulder. Another gripped his chin wrenching his head to the right, and what he saw made his eye bulge as if they would drop from their sockets.

Right next to him was another person, no an android that looks just like him.

The android then opened its mouth and said, "No, not Jerry, it's Hedges from now on." The voice was just like his only it was more dignified and firm, "I'll manage everything as it always been. There's no need for a face now. Good bye Hedges."

Not long after those words were uttered Hedges' head dropped into his plate. Jerry(ai), now Hedges, walked to the counter and picked up two military blades. It clicked them together and walked behind Hedges' chair.

Then after a moment of silence it plunged the blades into Hedges' skull.

After that, with both hands on the knives split his skull apart, and retrieved from the brain matter a small microchip.

A recess then opened on its forehead in which it placed the chip.

After all that was done it sat on the other side of the table. With practiced mannerisms it cut a piece of the steak and took a bite of both the fork and steak.

"It's my turn now," it uttered.

The End...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

© 2026 u/Golaen1. All Rights Reserved.

This "Ore" is open for "Spins" and "Refinements" exclusively within r/StoriesFromWithin. Commercial use or external distribution requires the original author's consent.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The air vibrated with the rhythmic thunder of drums and the roar of ten thousand voices, a tidal wave of sound that pulled every gaze toward the coliseum rising like a stone titan at the city's heart.

“Dad, please! I want to see Mablu’s fight too!” Young Kevin tugged desperately at the hem of his father’s salt-stained tunic, his voice high and frantic.

Seth looked down, his expression a mask of weary gloom as he stared at the distant arena walls. He managed a hollow chuckle, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Maybe when you’re older, son. Not today.”

Similar scenes played out across the commoner’s district. Children pestered their parents for a glimpse of the glory, only to be met with the same stone-faced disappointment. In this part of the city, a cramped sprawl built into a natural depression like a shallow grave, the sun died early.

As the cheers from the arena peaked and then began to fade, a silhouette appeared at the crest of the valley road. A man stood there, framed by the hemorrhaging light of the setting sun, a long, coiled whip dangling from his hand. To the people below, he was a black blotch against a bleeding sky.

“Who’s that?” a child asked, pointing upward.

The idle chatter of the street died instantly. The adults who followed the boy’s finger felt the blood drain from their faces.

A man drifted toward Seth, his voice a panicked whisper. “Didn’t they just come last week? What do they want now, Jacob?”

Seth didn't answer immediately. He shook his head, his jaw set tight. “I don’t know. But whatever it is, it isn’t mercy.” He began to walk forward to meet the newcomer, his friend Jacob trailing a few hesitant steps behind.

They hadn't cleared five paces before the horizon changed. One shadow became ten, then fifty. A line of men crested the ridge, their forms completely blotting out the dying sun. To those in the valley, they looked less like humans and more like ancient, vengeful spirits carved from the coming night.

Seth and Jacob froze.

The silence was shattered by a sound like a wet bale of hay hitting the ground. One of the men standing nearest the shadows didn't even have time to scream; his head simply detonated like a ripe tomato under a boot.

*Thud.*

The headless corpse slumped into the dirt. Those nearby turned into statues, paralyzed by the sheer, sudden absurdity of the violence. It was a fatal hesitation. As the last sliver of the sun vanished, the shadow-men surged down the slopes.

They fanned out with predatory precision, and within seconds, the rhythmic drums of the arena were drowned out by a discordant symphony of shrieks and the wet sound of steel meeting bone.

---

Inside the VIP box of the arena, the atmosphere was vastly different.

A man in a sleek, charcoal-black suit sat reclined in a high-backed leather chair, a glass of dark wine in his hand. He glanced toward a woman with deep navy hair who was hunched over a glowing tablet.

“Status?” he asked smoothly.

“Everything is proceeding as scheduled,” she replied, her eyes tracking icons on the screen. The feed showed thermal blurs of men moving through the slums, methodically extinguishing life. Her expression was as cold as the glass in the man’s hand.

The man nodded, turning his attention back to the sand-dusted stage below. “Well then. Let’s see if that little guy in the pit is a survivor,” he mused, a thin, amused smile touching his lips.

---

On the arena floor, Mablu was a portrait of desperation.

He was wiry, his ribs visible beneath a layer of grime and sweat, dodging the whistling arc of a massive axe. His opponent was a mountain of a man known as Hellblood; a titan whose muscles were so engorged they looked ready to burst through his skin, his veins like writhing snakes beneath the surface.

“Keep dancing, little mouse!” Hellblood roared, his eyes wide and bloodshot with battle-lust. “It’ll taste all the sweeter when I cleave you in half and bathe in the fountain you’ll provide!”

Mablu stumbled, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The axe had missed his torso by an inch, embedding itself deep in the packed earth at his feet, but the sheer wind of the strike had opened shallow lacerations across his chest. Blood began to weep into his tattered clothes.

“Hellblood! Hellblood! Hellblood!”

The crowd’s chant was a physical force, a rhythmic demand for execution. Women screamed for the kill; men whistled and threw coins that hissed into the sand.

Hellblood grinned, a jagged, hideous thing, as he looked down at the scrawny boy.

Mablu’s mind raced. *He’s too strong. I can’t win this... no. I have to. If I time it perfectly... just one move.*

He clenched his fists, forcing the tremors out of his legs. The terror that had clouded his vision cleared, replaced by a cold, sharp resolve. *I won’t go down like a dog!* he screamed internally.

Seeing the fear vanish from the boy’s eyes, Hellblood’s grin twitched into a frown. A flicker of genuine murderous intent flashed in his gaze. With a guttural grunt, he yanked the axe from the ground.

At that exact microsecond, Mablu exploded forward. He didn't run; he lunged, closing the distance before the axe was even leveled. As he entered Hellblood’s guard, a shard of a rusty sword slid from his sleeve into his palm. He drove it with every ounce of his weight toward the giant’s exposed throat.

*Clang!*

The sound wasn't of metal piercing flesh, but of steel hitting granite. The shard didn't even break the skin.

Hellblood didn't even use his hands. He simply flexed. A surge of raw, kinetic power erupted from his muscles, a repulsive force so violent it sent Mablu corkscrewing through the air. Mid-flight, the boy felt a sickening, cold sensation. It felt as though he had been unzipped from the center.

Darkness claimed him before he hit the sand.

Hellblood stood over the remains, rubbing his neck with a dissatisfied scowl. Below him, Mablu lay in two distinct pieces, split perfectly from crown to crotch. There was no respect in the giant's gaze, only the irritation of a man who had nearly been bitten by an insect.

“The winner..., HELLBLOOD!” the commentator bellowed, his voice amplified by magic.

Hellblood threw his head back and unleashed a primal roar: “HAAAAAA!!!”

But the expected roar of the crowd never came. The silence that followed was so sudden it felt like a physical blow. Hellblood’s shout died in his throat as he realized the audience wasn't cheering; they were frozen, their faces twisted in a new kind of terror.

He turned slowly.

Standing behind him was a massive wolf, its fur the color of a moonless night and its eyes two burning spheres of silver. It watched him with an intelligence that felt ancient and suffocating. Behind the beast, the iron gates that held the arena’s captive monsters were gone, not broken, but simply erased. The heavy locks were nothing but gray dust swirling in the air.

Hellblood’s heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. He blinked, and the wolf was gone.

It reappeared instantly beside Mablu’s butchered remains. The beast looked at the body, then turned its silver gaze toward the stands. It looked through the stone walls, beyond the arena, toward the commoner’s section where the streets were now rivers of red. It saw the piles of the dead; the old, the young, the innocent.

Then, the wolf did something impossible. It chuckled.

The sound was deep, resonant, and entirely devoid of humor. It was the sound of a landslide, of grinding tectonic plates. The air in the arena turned heavy enough to crush lungs; every soul in the stadium felt a phantom blade pressed against their throat.

Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the wolf vanished.

For a heartbeat, there was nothing. Then, the ground began to shiver. The vibrations grew into a violent shudder, making the very cobblestones of the city dance.

---

In the VIP box, the man in the suit wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, his composure shattered. “What... what rank was that thing?”

The woman with the tablet stood trembling, her knuckles white. “At least... Emperor Order,” she whispered, her voice cracking.

The ground bucked.

“What is happening?” the man demanded, reaching for the railing.

*Pa!*

The tablet slipped from the woman's nerveless fingers and shattered on the floor. The man looked down at the screen's final, flickering image: a sea of monsters, a literal tide of fur, scale, and claw, charging toward the city walls.

*BOOM!*

A titanic explosion rocked the southern gate, the sound rolling through the city like thunder.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!*

The North, East, and West gates followed in a synchronized chorus of destruction.

The man slumped into his high-end chair, his mouth hanging open. In a voice no louder than a mosquito’s buzz, he breathed the truth:

“...We’re doomed.”

© 2026 u/Golaen1. All Rights Reserved. This "Ore" is open for "Spins" and "Refinements" exclusively within r/StoriesFromWithin. Commercial use or external distribution requires the original author's consent.

Clop. Clop. Clop.

Heels echoed through the obsidian corridor as a woman dressed in black strode forward. The walls shimmered like layered dragon scales, dark and glossy beneath the dim crimson light that pulsed through the hall like a living heartbeat.

After what felt like an eternity, a lone door emerged from the darkness ahead of her.

“Angies?” she muttered with a raised brow.

A faint smile curled at her lips as she pushed the door open and stepped through.

The instant she crossed the threshold, her vision plunged into darkness.

Then it returned.

She now stood at the center of a vast chamber surrounded by dozens of figures draped in pitch-black ceremonial robes. Their faces were hidden beneath deep hoods, and stitched onto the left side of every chest was a crimson insignia shaped like a claw.

“Red Claw…” she murmured flatly. “A cult?”

One of the robed figures stepped forward. Though her face remained concealed, a feminine voice emerged from beneath the hood.

“Great Demoness, we of the Red Claw Cult humbly request your assistance in a matter of grave importance. We beg for your aid.”

Alysha let out a soft chuckle.

“Humble?” she repeated amusedly. “You humans have a strange definition of the word considering what you just did.”

As she spoke, a smirk spread across her face. At the same time, an invisible wave of demonic aura quietly seeped into the room. One by one, the secrets of every person present unfolded before her like pages in an open book.

The hooded woman shuddered under the pressure but steadied herself after a moment.

“We do what we must to survive.”

For the briefest instant, an ominous light flashed through Alysha’s crimson eyes before vanishing.

“Oh?” she said lightly. “And what exactly is terrifying enough to make you summon me?”

Her voice came from somewhere far from the center of the chamber.

The hooded woman’s eyes widened.

Alysha was no longer standing before them.

Instead, she now sat lazily atop a dark chair several meters away, one leg crossed over the other as though she had always been there. Stranger still, none of them had seen her move.

“Our cult is under attack by the Holy Order,” the woman answered carefully. “You are our only hope.”

At the mention of those words, Alysha’s eye twitched.

Holy Order.

For a fraction of a second, fear flickered across her face before it vanished behind her usual composure.

Red Claw Cult? You idiots are already dead. I nearly got erased a few days ago by one lunatic from the Holy Order, and now you expect me to help you?

She kept those thoughts to herself.

“The Holy Order, you say?” she asked calmly.

“Yes.”

Alysha gave no immediate response. Instead, she casually began filing her nails, the scraping sound echoing through the deathly silent chamber.

Then;

BANG!

The doors slammed open.

A man stumbled inside, gasping desperately for breath.

“T-They found us!” he cried between wheezes. “They’re here! The Holy Order is here!”

The atmosphere froze instantly.

Yet nobody panicked.

Every cultist turned toward the hooded woman, waiting for instructions.

The woman, in turn, looked toward Alysha;

Only to freeze in horror.

“What?!”

The others followed her gaze.

Alysha’s body had become translucent.

A mere phantom projection.

The demoness chuckled softly at their expressions.

“Funny,” she said with a mocking smile, “how creatures as twisted as you still cling so desperately to the idea of living peaceful lives.”

The room grew colder.

Several cultists instinctively trembled as her voice sharpened.

“You wear human faces, yet some of you are filthier than the worst demons I’ve ever met.”

Silence.

“Truthfully, I never intended to help you from the moment I sensed what this place was.” Her smile widened slightly. “Had I not also sensed the Holy Order nearby, I would’ve slaughtered you myself.”

“Why?” the woman asked quietly.

Slowly, she lowered her hood, revealing a pale and weary face beneath.

The fading image of Alysha looked at her with cold amusement.

“You killed a baby,” the demoness replied. “Even demons rarely stain their hands so directly.”

Her form dissolved further into drifting shadows.

Then, with one final smile, she whispered:

“See you in hell.”

And she vanished.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

© 2026 u/Golaen1. All Rights Reserved.

This "Ore" is open for "Spins" and "Refinements" exclusively within r/StoriesFromWithin. Commercial use or external distribution requires the original author's consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------