Ryn of Avonside - 51: Soft bark

Kai’s life was small—coffee-stained mornings, cracked recipes, and a system in his head that tweaked toasters and dough like it was nothing. Then the sky shattered. Aliens—Skraiths, jagged and brutal—invaded, tearing his city apart with green-glowing weapons and relentless claws. Superhumans rose to fight back, fire and lightning blazing through the chaos, but Kai’s world crumbled with them.Hiding in his apartment, Kai stumbles on blood—human and alien, smeared on his wall after a superhuman battle. His system, once just a tinker’s tool, awakens, offering him a choice: mimic their powers, temporary and wild, through the blood itself. Desperate, he takes it—stealing pyrokinesis, then electrokinesis, then kinetic energy, each power burning through him, fading fast. But it’s not enough. Armed with a humming Skraith weapon and a body tougher from alien blood, Kai joins a ragtag crew of enhanced fighters—Liv, Rylan, Jace, and Tucker—scraping to survive in a warzone where every shadow hides death.As Skraiths swarm and the city burns, Kai’s system pushes him deeper, analyzing, integrating, crafting minor enhancements—durability, strength, sparks of power that could make him a target or a savior. Government factions, rogue scientists, and the aliens themselves start sniffing around, drawn to his strange tech and blood-stolen abilities. By the time Kai crafts his first super-powered enhancement—an artificial strength boost—he’s no longer just a tinkerer. He’s on the edge of something bigger, something dangerous, where blood and sparks could forge a hero—or break him entirely.In a world unraveling, Kai’s fight for survival becomes a desperate race to master his system, outrun the Skraiths, and confront the truth: the power he’s chasing might destroy him—or remake the world.

There are only two destined outcomes for an illegitimate child of the Meng family.

One is to be useful and then being used to death. The other is to be exploited for being a useless person.

After being reborn, Meng Ting chooses the second option without the slightest hesitation.

As a result, he’s being married off.

“Oh.” =.=

***

This is a story of a beautiful young man who wants to become a degenerate after coming back to life from death, but is rejected by his upstanding husband in various ways.

This is a story of saving others, and being saved by others in return.

You are my beloved, and I am the light of your life.

Meng Ting: “Nonsense…”

Yan Sui: “Everything my wife says is correct.”

- Description from Novelupdates

In the back of the forest lives Allen, the antisocial wizard. He is feared by the people around him and called the “Demon Lord”.One day, while living out his life as a hermit, he finds a young girl named Charlotte who collapsed. Although innocent, she was accused of evil wrongdoings, had her engagement broken and was forced to flee her country.Upon hearing that, Allen recalled the bitter experience of being betrayed by a party he once believed to be his companions. Hearing the story of the 17 year old’s exploitation, Allen decides, “I’ll let her live in my mansion, and I’ll teach her all sorts of bad things…”