Otherworldly Desert Dust - Chapter 464 - 419 The Treacherous Snake and Scorpion

At six, Jiang Huai stubbornly clung to the thighs of the fairy in white and wouldn’t let go. She took him back to the mountain and made him her only direct disciple.At fifteen, he changed his way of addressing his master from ‘mother’ to ‘sister,’ and after being severely beaten, he corrected himself to ‘Master’. Jiang Huai harbored a grudge in his heart for a full six years.At twenty-one, he learned how to talk back to his master.

Welcome! If you want to jump in without any spoilers, feel free. Otherwise, here's a story primer, with a list of more specifics on what to expect from my work further below.Our story follows a fallen knight haunted by his past, in a world afflicted by war and supernatural wounds. Alken is the Headsman of Seydis, an executioner tasked by the divine powers of his homeland to hunt dark sorcerers, warlords, and traitors of all varieties, lest they drag the world into calamity.Once a paladin, this role ill suits him. Forced to cross lines that shake his beliefs, tempted by dark forces, and seen as an ill omen wherever he wanders, his path is often a bloody one. The longer he spends in the shadows of his world, the more he comes to realize just how many have been disenfranchised by the existent order. During his lonely battles through a land haunted by the restless dead and ancient magics, his journey becomes increasingly strange and personal.Enter a realm where the dead stir in every shadow and brooding demigods wage a millennia long war for a ruined heaven, where blessed knights wield gilded flames and sorcerers battle with weapons forged of their own souls. Enter a world of faustian alchemists, of saintly demons, and of time-weary elves.From Oathbreaker you can expect— A setting heavily inspired by Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Fromsoft games, and authors such as Michael Moorcock and Kentauro Miura. — A first person POV from an older protagonist who already knows a lot about his world’s history and cultures, who shares this information with the reader as it becomes relevant.— A mix of action adventure and quieter moments where the focus is on character development. Lore is shared piecemeal, usually only as it relates to a particular arc or character beat.— A heavy focus on mystery, both with the setting and the protagonist. The main character’s backstory isn’t shared up front, and a lot of the narrative involves learning about him a bit at a time, either from his own narration or other characters interacting with him.— A semi-soft magic system where many mages manifest unique powers tied to their own soul, or gain unique powers through eldritch pacts.— Romantic elements. These don’t crop up much until later in the story.— A variety of supernatural beings, such as elves, vampires, gargoyles, chimera, and trolls. Many are familiar, some are not, and most of the familiar ones have my own twists put on them.—Nobledark fantasy. This means that the world is often themed around tragedy and horror, but it’s not dedicated to being gritty. There are elements of high fantasy intermixed with the scarier stuff.—Episodic arcs. Each story arc usually has a specific locale and antagonist or set of antagonists, but certain overarching plots tie them together.— A long running narrative. I don’t have a specific projection of how long or how many arcs or books, but you should expect this to be equivalent to a long running serialized work.This is my first web serial! I hope everyone enjoys it. For trigger warnings, readers should beware that there are some heavy topics in here. When I think something might upset certain readers, I’ll put a warning in the author notes above a chapter. If I miss or overlook anything, feel free to let me know in the comments! I am currently publishing the same story on my wordpress, which is linked below and in my profile. I release three chapters a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Thanks for reading!(I originally had a link to a wordpress, but I'm in the process of overhauling that space. It's not a priority since my readership is all here, but just in case anyone noticed and was wondering)

I became a wizard of the Illusion Magic School and decided to create a virtual reality with illusion magic to play a tabletop role-playing game (TRPG).It was great to create a virtual reality, but I was in trouble because there were no suitable players. During that time, I received an offer to be the professor from the Royal Academy.The offer was to use illusion magic to fill the students’ lack of practical experience safely. And so, I became a professor at the academy.“Send me back, send me back to that world right now-!”“Outer god, someday an outer god will be our doom, we’ll all die!!”“I am not the bastard of the Redburn Ducal Family. I am the foremost disciple of the Great Namgung Clan, Namgung Qinghui!”But it seems there is a bit of a misunderstanding.This isn’t a spell for dimensional travel, kids. It’s fiction…

Kael was once a being so powerful even the gods feared him—until he was thrown into The Null, a realm of endless torment and eventually cast into inexistence. But he returns, reincarnated as a powerless beggar in a broken world ruled by monsters and corruption.With memory of godly blood on his hands, he is determined to reclaim his strength, survive the Nexus's deadly trials, and tear down the heavens themselves.But it's a matter of time before the gods and celestials know he’s returned. And this time, they will not make the same mistake twice.> ◇ Ravager (Rank E) Eliminated. 20 VRP Gained.> ◇ 0.00109% Memory Unlocked. Forgotten Technique: Blight Shield Relearned.> ◇ Ather'valis, The God-Killing Blade, has been acquired.