The apartment's air was scrubbed down to nothing and rebuilt with expensive lavender molecules The climate control system cycled at a frequency just below human hearing. It took five days of his old apartment's rattling ventilation and the constant smell of mildew mixed with his neighbor's cheap weed for Cole to finally relent. Though now this sterile perfection felt like stepping into someone else's sim.

  "Silk sheets! Real silk! Cole, you have got to get this place," Jess's voice bounced off the master bedroom's acoustic dampeners. She was already sprawled out on the king-sized bed like conquered territory, her street boots leaving scuff marks on pristine hardwood. The kind of wood that once had roots, not the printed polymer everyone else pretended was good enough.

  "Get your dirty boots off the merchandise," Damian called from the kitchen, deep in negotiation with every smart appliance. The refrigerator had just sung to him in pleasant soprano about automatic grocery orders based on his metabolic profile and nutritional requirements. "This fridge knows I'm lactose intolerant. How does it know that?"

  The thing probably knew his blood type, his porn preferences, and what he'd eaten for breakfast six years ago. That was the price of luxury in the sprawl—everything watched you back, filing away your meat-habits for some algorithm's pleasure.

  "It scanned your biometrics when you walked in," the realtor explained. "The entire apartment has an integrated health monitoring system. It can detect allergens, toxins, even early signs of Domain corruption."

  It had been five days since Cole had almost met death three times in one day. In that time, his world had shifted on its axis. He had the newly installed software from Michael, an appointment tomorrow with Al for the long-awaited cyber legs, and his bank account, while lighter, was still heavier than he’d ever imagined. Not to mention Vertex’s celebration tonight.

  The apartment realtor, a young woman in a sharp corporate suit whose smile was starting to look strained, cleared her throat. Her name was Madison. He'd already forgotten her last name. She'd been showing them properties for three hours, and her commission on this place would be minimal. That explained why she kept trying to steer them toward more expensive units. "Uhh, Mr. Walker… so, what do you think?"

  Cole walked to the massive, floor-to-ceiling armored window, momentarily tuning out his friends' antics. The glass was twelve inches thick, same as Lia's place, but this had an additional feature: reactive tinting that could turn opaque at a thought. He pressed his palm against it, feeling the subtle vibration of the energy shield just beyond. He considered the numbers. The total was 2,600 credits a month.

  The place had a pool on the top floor, heated by excess energy from the building's main reactor, a platinum-level medical contract with the local trauma hospital for immediate emergency assistance within the complex, a sauna and a steam room, both of which could be programmed for Domain-specific recovery protocols, along with top-of-the-line biometric security at the bottom.

  It was impossibly cheap by any standards, and he knew why. He was getting such a low price because his window didn't face the glittering spires of the city, but the raw, untamed expanse of the Wastes outside the city's shimmering energy shield.

  "The view," Madison had said when they'd first walked in, her voice faltering slightly, "is certainly... unique."

  His view right now was of a colossal Accoran beast. Madison had tried to sell it as a 'dynamic and unique vista,' but her voice had cracked on the word 'dynamic.'

  The things could kill you with negative energy bursts, but they were beautiful in that way lethal things always were in the Wastes. Like chrome on a gun barrel or the way a virus looked under electron magnification.

  A procession of diamond-shaped entities drifted through the sky like they owned it. Their crystalline cores pulsed with harvest moon light, warm and wrong against the city's neon bleeding. Massive bastards, house-sized at least. From their lower points, translucent tentacles trailed like ghost-comet tails, weeping luminous golden liquid that dissolved into shimmering motes before hitting pavement.

  It was just another reminder that humans had lost their place as this planet's apex predators a long time ago. Now we were just witnesses to things our brains weren't wired to understand, taking notes while trying not to get dissolved.

  The Accoran noticed him monitoring. One of its tentacles drifted closer to the shield, and where it touched, reality rippled like water.

  "That thing could kill everyone in this building," Jess said, suddenly beside him. "If the shield ever fails."

  "The shield has never failed," Madison interjected quickly, though she'd taken several steps back from the window.

  It was a breathtaking sight, a glimpse of a world ruled by impossible, alien gods. But it was also a constant, silent reminder of the threats lurking just beyond the city's protection. Cole could see his reflection in the glass, superimposed over the monster. The symbolism wasn't lost on him. He was becoming something just as alien, just as dangerous.

  He thought of the 60,000 credit quote from Al for the next round of essential upgrades. Legs that could create their own reflective surfaces: 22,000. Enhanced plating: 20,000. Omnisonic processors: 18,000. That was survival. This apartment, this luxury… this was something else. This wasn't a Chrome Doc or a software upgrade, things he needed to survive the streets and dangers of the outside world. This was a home. The question was, could he afford both?

  "You're doing that thing," Jess voiced quietly, so Madison couldn't hear. "That thousand-yard stare where you're calculating if you deserve nice things."

  "I'm calculating if I can afford nice things," Cole corrected.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "Same thing with you. You've been sleeping on a mattress whose springs magically leave a cybernetic spine numb. Your shower has three settings: cold, colder, and glacial. You deserve this."

  "Deserving and affording are different things."

  Damian chimed in from where he was testing the smart-glass opacity settings. "Dude, you made 150K on one job. That's more than I've made in two years of hacking."

  "And almost died earning it," Cole reminded them.

  "Which is exactly why you need a safe place to recover," Jess countered. "Your old place? Anyone could kick down that door. Here? They'd need military-grade explosives just to get past the lobby."

  Cole turned to Madison, who had been pretending to check her tablet while obviously eavesdropping. Her pupils were dilated; she'd been using neural accelerants to stay sharp during the long day of showings. The slight tremor in her left hand suggested she was pushing her limits.

  "2,100 credits a month. Final offer."

  The realtor looked at him, her smile faltering like a glitching hologram. She glanced nervously past his shoulder at the Accoran beast hovering in the background. One of its tentacles had just dissolved a passing bird into constituent atoms, the particles drifting down like flecks of molten gold. For a normal person like her, the sight wasn't a unique vista; it was a preview of humanity's extinction, especially since the complex was so close to the edge of the shield.

  Her gaze went unfocused for a moment, fingers twitching in that telltale way people did when accessing neural interfaces. Running the numbers, probably weighing commission against vacancy costs.

  She visibly shuddered, then forced her smile back into place. "I… I think we can swing that, Mr. Walker. Though I'll need the first month, last month, and a security deposit. Corporate policy for... high-risk units."

  "High-risk?" Damian laughed. "Lady, our friend here fought a Shard Stalker. This view is basically a relaxing screensaver for him."

  Madison's eyes widened. She looked at Cole with a mixture of fear and newfound respect. "You're a Domain?"

  Cole nodded, letting a small refraction of light dance across his palm. Nothing showy, just enough to confirm.

  "That... actually makes me feel better about renting to you," she admitted. "The last three tenants were normal humans. One had a nervous breakdown after a week of observing the monsters. Another tried to paint over the windows. The third..." she paused. "Well, the less said about what happened to them, the better."

  "They jumped," Jess said bluntly. "I remember the news. Said the constant reminder of humanity's fragility drove them to it."

  Madison didn't deny it.

  Cole looked back at the Accoran, tracking as it drifted past, its tentacles creating reality distortions in its wake. In his old apartment, the biggest threat was toxic mold and the occasional rat. Here, the threat was existential, separated by glass and energy. But that was his entire life now, dancing on the edge of annihilation.

  "I'll take it," Cole decided.

  Madison's relief was palpable. "Excellent! I'll draw up the contracts immediately. We can have you moved in by tomorrow if—"

  A chime in Cole's neural-link interrupted her. A message from Lia: "Celebration starts in two hours. Don't be late. And don't come in your bloody clothes. This place has a dress code."

  "I need to go. Can we finish this tomorrow?"

  "Of course!" Madison was already pulling up the digital contracts. "I'll send everything to your neural-link. Just authorize when you're ready."

  As they left, Cole took one last look at his potential new home. The Accoran had moved on, replaced by a distant view of something with too many wings circling the shield's perimeter. Beautiful and terrible.

  "Home sweet home," Damian said sarcastically.

  But Cole found himself smiling. After everything he'd survived, a view of monsters seemed almost comforting. At least these ones were on the other side of the glass.

  As they waited for the elevator, a security guard approached—chrome from the waist down, his legs making soft pneumatic hisses with each step. His uniform was crisp, but Cole noticed the telltale signs of a Domain: the slight glow beneath his gloves where a rune would be, the way his hand never strayed far from what looked like a standard stunner, but probably wasn't.

  "Mr. Walker?" The guard extended a hand. "I'm Hendricks, building security. Just wanted to introduce myself. We like to know our future Domain residents."

  Cole met his handshake. "Worried I'll bring trouble?"

  "No sir." Though Hendricks's cybernetic eyes were clearly running a threat assessment. "Just good to know who can help if trouble finds us. That Accoran's been getting closer to the shield lately. Makes the normal residents nervous."

  Jess leaned forward. "How close?"

  "Yesterday it actually touched the barrier. First time in three years. Shield held, but..." Hendricks shrugged. "The building's insurance company sent assessors this morning. They're talking about raising everyone's premiums."

  "Except Domains get a discount," Damian guessed. "Because you're your own insurance policy."

  "Twenty percent off, actually," Hendricks confirmed. "Management figures anyone who can fight a rift beast is an asset, not a liability."

  The elevator arrived with a soft chime. As they entered, Cole noticed it had manual override controls hidden behind a panel, probably for emergency evacuation if the building's AI failed. Everything here was built with redundancy, preparing for catastrophes that might never come.

  "One more thing," Hendricks called as the doors began to close. "When you do move in, there's an informal gathering every Thursday. Domain residents only. We share intel about monster movements, market prices for cores, which Chrome Docs are trustworthy. Might be useful."

  The doors closed before Cole could respond.

  "A Domain community inside a luxury building. That's either the safest place in the city or a target waiting to be painted." Damian said, as the elevator descended.

  "Both. But Cole needs allies. Can't keep playing solo forever." Jess said.

  Upon exiting the elevator to the main lobby, Cole was struck again by the atmosphere. The air here was different. Recycled through filters that removed not just pollutants but pheromones, keeping residents from unconsciously influencing each other. It made everything feel oddly disconnected, like walking through a dream.

  "Got the coordinates, Damian?" Cole asked.

  "Yup, as long as you got the cash to cover us," Damian gave the automated lobby fountain a suspicious glare. The fountain's water formed surreal arrangements, corporate logos morphing into abstract art, controlled by low-grade anti-gravity fields.

  Cole moved toward the exit. "Sure, just try not to order the most expensive thing on the menu.”

  "I can't make any promises." Jess's voice carried from across the lobby. She was already running a finger along a piece of abstract metal art. "This is real Martian iron. They literally shipped this from off-world. One scratch and that's, what, ten thousand credits in damages?"

  "Please don't test it." Cole watched nervously as her finger left a faint heat trail on the metal.

  Blood of Dragons (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

  Some Legends Fade. Others refuse to die.

  soul.

  the World-Eater. Yet, while mortals gaze skyward, a darker horror stirs beneath their feet that will make dragonfire seem merciful.

  What to expect:

  - A gritty, character-driven, 3rd person fantasy series grounded in realism, loss, and hard-won victories.

  - Slow burn character growth and arcs between four interesting and varied main characters.

  - Violent but exciting combat and action.

  - Subtle connection and companionship, combined with humour that’s earned, not forced.

  - A completed, 17 volume, 270,000 word series set in the universe of Bloodtide Rising (Approx 130 chapters total when fully uploaded)

  What not to expect:

  - A chosen one with everything handed to him (or them?)

  - Shiny magic systems

  - Plot armour or plot immunity

  - Anything that wouldn’t survive or fit into the likes of The Witcher, Game of Thrones, or Lord of the Rings

  ***(Daily updates through December 2025, 2x weekly updates through 2026)***