MTL - Swallowed Star - Chapter 10 Paramilitary assessment

After his parents died, Alex Roth had a plan: become a wizard. Through hard work, he was accepted into the world’s greatest university of wizardry—but fate had another plan.

On his eighteenth, he is marked as one of his kingdom’s five Heroes, chosen to fight the land’s great enemy. But his brand is 'The Fool', worst of the marks.

Rather than die or serve the other Heroes like Fools in the past, he packs up his little sister, his childhood friend and her cerberus, then flees for the university in hope of refuge, magic and to unravel the truth about his land’s evil.

There’s one small problem: The Mark tries to ruin magic while enhancing skills outside of divinity, combat and spellcraft.…

…that is, unless he can learn to exploit the hell out of it.

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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Dear readers! Without any ads, maybe you will prefer .

How massive must the wealth of a family that has been passed down for five thousand years be? Sometimes, you’ll never know how rich your family really is until you push your parents a bit! Only after inheriting his family’s five-thousand-year fortune did Zhang Menglong realize that the joy of the wealthy is so simple. Bank president, “Mr. Zhang, please, I beg you to deposit your money with our bank, and you can set the interest rate!” Huaxia’s top wealthy second generation, “Does the whole world belong to your family or what?” World’s richest person, “I feel like I am just a poor man!” European Royal Family, “Mr. Zhang, are you lacking a girlfriend? If you are, would you mind finding one? If not, would you mind one more? What do you think about our country’s princess?” Latter, Zhang Menglong found out that the college his parents left him was the most impressive thing. Actually, being a dean turned out to be even more joyful than being the world’s richest person!

Liu Qing resigned.

He wrote on the reasons for his resignation:

“I’m going to inherit hundreds of millions of properties.”

- Description from novelbuddy