Shadow Slave - Chapter 2523 Art Imitates Life

“THE NEW GATE”, an online game that trapped its players and turned into a death game, was now releasing the thousands of players that had been dragged into it, thanks to the efforts of Shin, one of the most powerful players. But after having defeated the last boss and freed everyone, he was swallowed up by a strange light and found himself inside the game world 500 years in the future and unable to leave.

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)

Shen Ran transmigrates to a fantasy world and becomes a disciple of the Empyrean Sword Sect. Problem is, everything about him is ordinary— ordinary talent, ordinary temperament, ordinary life… In this cruel world where cultivation talent determines how far one could go, this means that Shen Ran’s future can be seen at a glance. Banished to the servant quarters as a servant disciple, his daily grind is to attend to mundane chores which will go on until he dies of old age a hundred years later.

Then he comes across a narrative modification system which makes it possible to rewrite entire lives! An avid reader of online novels in his previous life, Shen Ran relishes the chance to read the narratives of everyone and everything and alter them. The narratives modified by him will become reality!

This is the story of how he transforms his ordinary life by editing his narrative and going on to cultivate the Dao, handle calamities, and rule the ages. And he is limited only by his imagination!

Harry Morton was born in an age where magic and mana ruled everything.

He was unable to awaken his affinity and to make things worse he was born with a broken mana core foundation which meant he would never be able to create or develop a mana core. Since he couldn’t create a mana core, he would never be able to draw mana—not even the slightest strand.

He was the first person to be born without a mana core foundation, the only one with the inability to draw mana. Due to this, he was regarded as trash by everyone: his parents, his friends, the society and even the academy he attended.

It was until one day, during a mana beast attack when he almost lost his life.

He saw a strange white line rapidly moving downwards, towards him. Unbeknownst to him, the white streak went into his body.

When he woke up the next day, a strange message appeared in front of him.

DING!!

[Welcome Host to the Manaless mage system]

However things didn’t end there, a lot of secrets were revealed to him, things greater than he could have ever imagined.

Now that he had the power, would he save humanity?

Follow the protagonist in his journey as the Manaless mage, as he rises to the absolute top!