Re: Blood and Iron - Chapter 466: Regional Alliances

Religious and cultural schisms wreak havoc on its internal politics, while revolutions are brewing in neighboring kingdoms. The aristocratic houses play endless power games amongst themselves, and the Emperor desperately abuses what little influence he has left to keep his rivals down.Amidst all of this, Arnold von Hohenfels, first son of the Margrave of Hohenfels, finds himself in the unfortunate position of having to attend the Imperial Academy, a notorious battleground of wits and brawn for ambitious young nobles.Armed with a magical gift that is as much a blessing as it is a curse, he must learn to navigate the treacherous waters of aristocratic entanglements. In the name of his family’s ambition, he must represent House Hohenfels' interests in this microcosm of Imperial politics, deal with his formidable enemies, form alliances of his own, and somehow keep his brash cousin Friedrich out of trouble.Frankly, he would much rather be anywhere else.

The youthful Qin Ye was born almost a century ago, but thanks to immortality granted to him by the ‘fungus of aeons’ he can pass for a high schooler.

# PRETENDTOBEAFOOL

In the empire, both men and women would awaken Beast Essence once they reach the age of eighteen. Beast Essence was hidden in human bones, and the bone is called Beast Bone.

The more important the position of the Beast Bone was in a human body, the better the Beast Essence, and stronger Beasts would hatch from the beast eggs in the future! Kong Rui was going to be eighteen soon. She wanted to awaken, and then escape from this colosseum.

She wanted to escape this deceitful place where she was only entertainment for others, and had to fear her fate in order to survive. However, she was caught.

She was tied up and her sister dug out her entire backbone, because Kong Rui had awakened a Phoenix that had not been seen in a thousand years! She was stripped of all hope and thrown into a ravine filled with demonic energy like a dead dog.

Everyone thought she wouldn’t survive, but they didn’t expect her to have two elements in her body. She found a master under the cliff and even became a pampered princess of the demons there. The demons: “We’ll cut off the head of whoever touches Little Rui!”

Walking out of the abyss, she used her power to defeat the heroes, and no one dared to say the word “genius” in front of her! The Beasts that no one could conquer were as good as babies in her hands!

Countless peerless bosses came out just to accept her as their disciple! The bigshot that everyone feared even hugged her waist and whispered, “Do you want the entire empire? Why don’t I give it to you?”

A conversation with a handsome stranger leaves Ariane chained in a cellar with a strange affliction. She soon discovers that the darkness of the nineteenth century’s Deep South hides many dangers. Mages, wolf shifters and the humans who hunt them play a risky game where to stumble is to die, all under the amused gaze of the apex predators of the supernatural world: vampires.

It is never healthy to attract the gaze of the aristocracy of the night. It takes much to survive in this merciless world, but Ariane will not let that deter her. The southern belle has a bite, and she is willing to learn and to grow in this hostile new world. She will use whatever means necessary to reclaim her freedom, be it guile, charm, or those intriguing new instincts that make blood so delectable.

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.

Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco

Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.

Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:

https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8

The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.