World Keeper - Chapter 21: Believe It!

In Dwarkam, people are not born equal.Some are born Halocrats, wrapped in power and worship.Some are born Gutterborn, taught to keep their heads down and their mouths shut.Zane Atlas was a Gutterborn.Eighteen years old.Hungry.Beaten.Invisible.The world taught him one rule early:Filth shouldn’t look up.When the Golden Slab descended from the sky, it gave power to those who caressed it.Most gained skills.Some gained status.Many gained hope.Zane gained something else.Something that was never meant to awaken.Something that watches before it judges.Something that acts only when survival is at stake.[ Conflux System ]It does not reward obedience.It grows through choices.And it can merge anything Zane owns…including his body, his instincts, and his will to survive.Now Zane walks a thin line between staying alive and being discovered.Between obeying a world that hates himand becoming something it must erase.The churches are watching.The crowns are stirring.The monsters are waking.And Zane is learning one terrifying truth:Sometimes, being chosen is worse than being powerless.——— ——— ———Support Me - ko-fi.com/khyaalJoin My Discord For Reference Arts and much more - https://discord.gg/zmUcswM2N5

Ever since the appearance of the Tower of Genesis twenty years ago, children's dreams began to change. Becoming a Hunter became the most popular aspiration.The same was true for Nathan Cole. But unfortunately, the Tower had yet to summon him. The Awakening he longed for never came.Until one day, he was suddenly summoned into the Tower. He was overjoyed—but the happiness didn’t last long.Nathan had been summoned… because of a bug.

The world was consumed by a vile corruption brought from beyond – the sun dimmed, and life as we know it was almost extinguished.And yet it was not the end but merely the beginning.Long after the disaster, a lone survivor awakens with a newfound power to wield the divine flames and many questions about the past. He embarks on a long journey to burn the rot away, discover what's left of the old world and maybe, just maybe, ascend to divinity.

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.