Worm (Parahumans #1) - Chapter 173: Monarch 16.5

“How did you know? I’ve been careful so that no one could find out.”Adrian Kaiser von der Palzgraf, the heir of the Pa...

“Devouring Lifespan to grow stronger!!”When Ricky Stormwind—a washed-up office worker—drank himself to death, he expected eternal nothingness. Instead, he awoke in a new world… as a mosquito.Weak as an ant. Fragile as a piece of paper. Prey to everything.But this world is no ordinary one. Magic, monsters, and powerful beings dominate the land, with ruthless forces waging war for supremacy. And Ricky? He possesses a terrifying ability—he can drain lifespan from any living creature and use it to evolve.A single bite can grant him hours. A feast?..... Years!!Now, in a forest filled with predators and beside a village on the brink of destruction, Ricky must climb the evolutionary ladder—from insignificant pest to a calamity that could devour the world itself.But when his first real meal triggers a mass sacrifice, the world mistakes him for a rising Demon Lord. Bounties are placed on his head. Armies march to hunt him down. And lurking in the shadows, a forbidden power calls to him, promising a path beyond mere survival—one that could reshape reality itself.In a world where everything is prey to something greater, something horrendous… he will rise to become the apex.

I created a game character.Instead of taking several perks, I added restrictions.▶Restriction (I): “Curse of Sensory Seal”─Permanently seals a chosen sense.─Choice: Sight, Taste, Smell▶Restriction (II): “Curse of Short Life”─You are born with a body doomed to a short life.▶Restriction (III): “Curse of Silence”─Speaking causes you pain.When the next day came, I couldn’t see anything.

Excerpt:“Are you satisfied?” he asked, walking to the fire where she already sat. “Can you yet call yourself the greatest knight?”“Not until I can beat you,” Irene argued.Despite how serious he looked only moments before, he cracked a smile.“But you saved my life,” he insisted.Synopsis:With a second chance given to her after a pathetic ending to a life she didn’t want, Irene Litharion decides that she will follow in her father’s footsteps and become a knight.Waking up in the body of her eleven year old self, she’s reinvigorated to follow her heart. She has the rare blood of ancient warriors in her veins and promises to not turn her back to it anymore.Prepared for the sacrifices she will have to make to live the life she wants, a new challenge is presented when the only way she can become an apprentice knight is to turn her back on femininity altogether. The years she spent being forced to attend etiquette lessons go out the window and instead, daily sword practice takes place.Her father does all he can to get her into the knighthood, but it’s up to her to show her strength and skill to stay in it.However, it’s different than she expects when the Monster War ravages her homeland, she learns the sting of loss, and secrets of her own blood present themselves the more she leans into the thrill of battle.