Anthesis of Sadness - Chapter 5: First Battle, In the Shadow of the Incantation

Book I: Lost ThingsTristan Abrascal is a thief, one of many making their living under the perpetual twilight of the greatest city in all of Vesper. Quick wit and a contract with a capricious goddess have always kept him one step ahead, until one night he crosses a line by accident that burns all the bridges he had left. But not all is lost, as his mentor offers a way out of peril that turns out to be more than a simple escape.It is also an opportunity to get even with the infanzones, the nobles he’s lived under all his life, and it so happens that Tristan has a full ledger’s worth of scores to settle with them.Lady Angharad Tredegar has fled halfway across the world, leaving behind a ruin of a life: her family butchered by a ruthless enemy, their estate torched and their nobility revoked. Yet no matter how far she flees the blades of assassins follow, and she finds herself growing desperate for any protection. She has one relative left to call on, her estranged uncle, but she finds that the safety he offers comes at a cost.Angharad has sworn revenge, however, and her honour will allow for no compromise. She will do what she must to survive so that one day bloody vengeance can be visited upon her enemies.The paths of the two take them to the doorstep of the Watch, but for desperate souls like them enrolment is a lost cause. They will have to do it the hard way instead, by surviving the trials on the isle known as the Dominion of Lost Things.Where every year many go, and few return.Book II: Good TreasonsThe trials of the Dominion are over.The four survivors have become students of Scholomance, enrolling together as a cabal, yet even on those infamous grounds they soon learn none are beyond the reach of their pasts.Angharad Tredegar is returned to a semblance of the world she left behind, but finds her honor sorely tested by bargains offered - every bit as tempting as in the stories and even deadlier.Tristan Abrascal needs answers. Mysterious enemies keep trying to abduct him, his classroom does not exist and he’s now had several conversations with dead people. Worst of all, his carrots keep dying.Maryam Khaimov is going mad, which would worry her less if it were happening on schedule. More frightening yet is the possibility that she is not, and there truly is someone else going around wearing her face.Song Ren must forge the others into a functional unit, all the while fending off enemies on all sides: rival cabals, vengeful countrymen and the deluge of implacable foes her companions simply cannot seem to stop attracting.Failure is not an option, for Song must bring back honor to her family’s name whatever the cost: it is the only way to keep their disgrace from literally eating them all alive.And as the four chase shadows in Scholomance, in the distance looms the greater test awaiting them in the Asphodel Rectorate. Asphodel is a faded power, the rotten carcass of what it once was, but under that rot looms darker things - of which monsters might just be the least dangerous.Besides, is treason really such an evil when you have the best of reasons for it?

Died while saving her friend, reborn into a world much different than her last, Faith must begin a new life as a dragon girl and face the hardships of the reality of this new world. With a mysterious system that enables her to grow stronger, Faith must cut out a path for herself as she journeys and discovers the wonders of this place she now calls home.

************************************

Join my Discord!
https://discord.gg/79yyJSD

Show your support and buy me a coffee or join patreon!
https://ko-fi.com/invayne
https://www.patreon.com/invayne

Three hundred years since the founding of the Great Jin Dynasty, the fortune of the country has been prosperous. In the imperial court, there are great Confucianists who make their promises.

Zuo Daoqi traveled to this world and became a little eunuch who was about to be thrown into the cold palace.

The court was treacherous, and the rivers and rivers were vicious. He just wanted to live on honestly.

But accidentally opened the script of life, can see through other people’s future scripts, and can get rewards after completing tasks.

The first thing that caught my eye was a little loli who was about to become an empress…

From then on, Zuo Daoqi planned to stay in the cold palace, study the game script well, and train the future empress by the way.

In my spare time, I’ll talk to the queen mother, imperial concubine, princess and so on.

His original purpose was to protect himself, so that he could leave the palace as soon as possible and become a rich man.

…

Until one day, a little eunuch came to Zuo Daoqi’s side,

“Nine thousand years old, the empress dowager said it’s time to serve her tonight.”

- Description from novelbuddy

Riding out the apocalypse on a tropical island isn't exactly a vacation. When mana arrives on Earth, Coop finds himself isolated in paradise with only one real option to survive. He needs to claim a civilization shard and level up. Coop maximizes his chances by carefully selecting a class and committing to progression. He’ll need to grind thousands of monsters to compete on the system's leaderboards while upgrading his settlement to represent the factionless.