Writing prompts from me to you. I personally cant write well, might aswell share ideas.

While Sukehime was stalling for time outside the Nether flame array, Inside it unlike the rest of the team James did not go back to practicing, Instead he was in a deep thought, this thought has been bugging him from the very beginning the team had entered the Terror world but rest of the team seem to have forgotten about this. With a frown on his face he was intently staring at the prompt logs of his status screen.

The prompt at which James was looking at was the one which appeared informing him about the scenario and main taskline. 

This prompt not only informed them about the Scenario and its Main taskline but it also Alerted them about Leon using the scenario search prop ' Nether Flame Fiends Bone fragment '. not only it alreated them about his betrayal but also about the consequence of using the Scenario search prop. 

The team is now facing two penalties for the usage of the Scenario Search prop. 

Penalty 1 : Scenario reward decreased by 10%

Penalty 2 : Explore by oneself

The first penalty is not that serious but still causes a huge loss to the team as the scenario clearing rewards are decreased by 10%. a 10% reduction may sound less but it is enough to decrease the grade of the reward by one level but at least it did not bring any risk or threat for the survival of the team or affect their main task. Even though James was not rich enough to ignore this penalty, he valued his life more. Therefore this penalty did not trouble James very much. 

The Second Penalty was tricky, Explore by oneself ? What do you even make of it? This penalty raised red flags in James's head. It was like the system was telling the team that it had hidden a landmine in the scenario and they had to be 20 times more careful than they are to avoid stepping on it.

Fortunately, this type of penalty was mentioned in one of the books of the school library. According to the predecessor's memories this kind of penalty is not new, previously Terror walker teams have faced this penalty for using different scenario props, but the success rate of clearing a main task with this penalty could not be calculated because of insufficient data. as only two teams ever made it out to report such a penalty. Even though these two teams made it out alive they had faced heavy casualties and deaths. The surviving members had to disband their team and join other teams.

Even though both teams faced the same penalty 'explore by oneself' they faced totally different enemies.  

The first team found out that one the character of the main task in their scenario was not who he claimed to be and he would kill one team member every night. unable to find out the culprit their team slowly fell apart with internal dispute. But fortunately they were able to finish the main task on the 4 day after the 3rd night, but by then they had already lost 3 team members. The remaining 2 team members after the completion of the Main task did not dare to spend an extra second in the Scenario and return to the earth. After submitting their completed task to World Terror they came to know how their comrade's died in the scenario summary prompt shown in their Status screen. 

The second Team faced a different type of an situation, their scenario main task was to join the main lead and stop a group of cult people from summoning the demon but when they were about to stop the cult people their penalty kicked in and their main task suddenly changed from joining the main lead and stopping a group of cult people from summoning the demon to Joining the cult people to successfully summoning the Demon and then slay the demon. Clearly the world terror wanted them to face the Demon as penalty. Inprocess of slaying the demon their team once again joined the Main Lead shamelessly and finally managed to kill the demon. But in this process they lost the strongest member and the medic of their team. Once they got back to earth they had to disband and join other teams because their team could not find a trustworthy Medic and damage dealer.

Either case would be a disaster for the team as they are very weak, anyone one of Sukehime or Hito or Masako could easily massacre the entire team without breaking a sweat. Clearly, the 2 penalty is a serious threat but the team could not do anything about it except be more alert. 

James wanted to tell the team about the 2 penalty at the beginning but then he decided against it because at that time the team was already at the brink of breaking apart under the pressure of the terror world and the fact that one of them betrayed them all. At that time telling them how serious the 2 penalty is, would be like dropping a bomb on an already demolished building.

With passing time even James had put this issue on the back of his head, but James noticed an unusuality a few moments ago which made him think of the 2nd penalty again. 

Fortunately this unusuality was also recorded in the prompt log of the status screen, proving that James' doubts were not unfounded. James scrolled through the prompts in the Status screen, the more he looked at these prompts the more confused he became. 

[ Ding! Host has received a 9 star occupation prop ' Animal Totem ']
[ Ding! Host has received a 9 star occupation prop ' Elemental Totem ']
[ Ding! Host has received a 9 star occupation prop ' Teacher Totem ' ]
[ Ding! Host has received a 9 star occupation prop ' Healer Totem '  ]

These were the prompts James read when he got the 4 totems from Sukehime, then James scrolled down again and saw the prompts he received after taking the Vitality core from Masako.

[ Ding! Host received a 7 star Scenario Item 'Vitality Stone' from Npc Masako. ]
[ Ding! Check status for further information on 'Vitality Stone'. ]

Looking at both the prompts in the log James easily spotted where the unusuality was.

When he received the totems from Sukehime there was no mention of Sukehime in the prompt, this did not look suspicious it looked like a normal prompt but when you compare this to the Masako's prompt, it raises flags.

In the prompt received after taking vitality stone from Masako it clearly mentions that the vitality stone was given by NPC Masako. 

The system seemed to clearly identify Masako and her NPC status but for some reason it does not seem to identify Sukehime. Clearly it is a clue left by the prompt for them to explore the 2nd penalty. 

Though the clue did not clearly mention the penalty, it was clear that it had something to do with Sukehime and her Identity. 

Then James compared his current dilemma with what his predecessor had read in the school's library and came to a conclusion that what he was facing right now was somewhat similar to what team One from the book faced. 

According to Team one Survivors one of the Characters of the main task line was not who claimed to be and killed one team member from their team every night in their sleep, which they knew from the Scenario Summary in the Status screen. So, the Identity of one of the characters was false and he seemed to want to kill one member every night in their sleep. 

The Identity problem with one of the characters in the main task was similar to James's problem with Sukehime and her identity. As for the killing part, James thought Sukehime would not do such things as she can kill the entire team with a wave of her hand, but he still can't be sure because still 20 hours has not passed since the team has entered the Terror world therefore they never slept not giving the chance to Sukehime to kill them in their sleep.

After all the brainstorming even though James could not solve the mystery to why Sukehime's name did not appear in prompt but one thing was clear that Sukehime was not who she claimed to be and the team was in grave danger.

James wanted to alert the rest of the team but then thinking about their acting skills he decided not to do so because Sukehime knows that they are on to her will only hasten their demise. And also because even if the team knew about this they could nothing but panic adding to James' currency problems.

So James decided to improve his strength for now and see what sukehime as planned for them. Thick of increasing strength James thought of learning the four totems given dy Sukehime. 

James chose Elemental totem as he had attained a wind elemental Natural rune 'boundless wide' so it would be easier for him to master this totem first. Thinking that James used his Soul organ to connect with totem and make a copy of it. 

[ Ding! Host used Moneta's Fork on 'Elemental Totem' ]

[ Ding! Moneta's Fork connected with ' Elemental Totem']

[ Alert! A harmful Inscription detected ' Charm slave Inscription ' ]

[ Warning! Requesting host not to use spiritual strength to scan Elemental Totem, Using spiritual strength on Elemental totem will lead to Host being attacked by ' Charm slave Inscription ']

Reading these Prompts on his status James cursed inwardly 'WTF!'

World Terror is about a male lead who reincarnates in a parallel world which is facing Apocalypse under the threat of World Terror, the ruler of Terror multiverse. Terror Multiverse is a dark sandy cloud above the Original Multiverse, Terror Multiverse is formed of every Dreams, Imaginations, fears, fantasy's, wishes and regrets ever thought or created in the original multiverse. Terror Walkers, the heros and the last hope of this parallel world's Humankind walk the various Terror World's while gaining strength and continuously evolving themselves in order to save the Human Kind from World Terror and other foreign Invaders. The Male lead having reincarnated into a fantasy world decides to climb the top of the new world's food chain with the help of his powerful and unique soul to ensure his and his loved ones safety.
...................
Schedule - 7ch/week.

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Support my main contracted novel and winner of Writing Prompts #26 - The Legendary Mage!

Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn!
https://www.webnovel.com/book/12013957905760805/Desolate-Mage%3A-A-Legend-Reborn!

* * * * *

If she were smarter, it wouldn't have taken a life threatening encounter to trigger the idea of using her self-created skill. She would have integrated it (as well as her footwork and own unique style of movements) days ago, since she had used it to penetrate Stefan's highly resistant armour.

If it worked against the divine armour (albeit weakened by several orders of magnitude), it should definitely have been effective against others as well...

Though her Unique Skill: Handshake wouldn't have been useful against Reeve; since she couldn't land a clean hit anyway. And she realised she couldn't have used it either... Humans would pop like watermelons from the intense tremors...

That's what she called her skill - Handshake. Forcefully vibrating her muscles and transmitting it through her hands to shake up the target. Hence, Handshake. It was a pretty good name... Or at least she thought so. Simple and clear. Little did she know that every historian and warrior would outright reject that ridiculous name, and call it the First Palm: Disruption instead.

The stalker backed away for the first time so far, allowing Sam some much needed respite. Despite not using mana, Handshake placed immense stress on her entire body; as the vibrations were generated from her footing up through her waist and to her hands.

It released a low growl. Then it crouched down low. Sam felt uneasy, her danger senses tingling.

Then it roared aggressively and pounced at her.

?

But why did it seem to not be moving any closer...?

To Sam's horror, the creature was facing her, but running backwards - towards Reeve.

"No!" Already half a second slow, she could only repeat her earlier move of extreme compression of her leg bones and muscles to intercept the creature.

She shot forth, quickly closing the distance and collided with the creature, sticking to its chest as they rolled on the ground, tangled up together.

To her horror, the stalkers maw widened in a smile, as if a tasty fly had fallen into its trap. Then it chomped down on her shoulder.

Pierced by the inch long razor teeth with her flesh and blood corroded by the acid spit, Sam screamed in pain and rained blows on the stalkers neck.

Again and again she smashed her fists, palms and chops into its head and neck, while the creature shook its head to widen and deepen the wound. She managed to breach its armour and mash up the inner flesh and muscles with her attacks - but she was running out of breath and dizzy from blood loss.

(Is this as far as I can go...?) She thought, even as her hands did not rest.

Then she realised that their tangled up bodies rolling around on the dirt ground were moving closer and closer to Reeve.

(Reeve... Well, even if I die, I'll make sure you're safe...)

She gasped as she saw him stirring and raise his head. Then raise his hand and prepare to throw his sword over.

"No!!!" She cried out in anguish, as the stalker decisively released her mangled shoulder from its jaws and pointed its claws at Reeve. The longest middle claw began to rotate, and with a disgusting slushing sound, the glossy claw fired at Reeve and embedded itself into the centre of his chest.

Reeve collapsed at a sickly angle, sword clattering down at his side and began to dissipate - a bad sign.

"!!!" Sam opened her mouth in silent anguish. Her body released eerie cracking sounds as she began to shrink - back down to her former 150cm size. Then in the blink of an eye, she vanished - then burst through the stalkers chest and out of its back. Her body seemed to blur as she induced intense vibrations throughout her whole body, causing her skin and blood vessels to rupture.

Now covered entirely in her own blood and the creatures acidic blood, the inhuman pain nearly knocked her out - it was only the rage and adrenaline that kept her from passing out. She landed behind the now kneeling monster and pivoted to release a powerful chop that cleaved through the base of its neck until her palm exited near its tailbone.

Where her chop split it in half, the muscles, blood vessels and armour at the edge of the wound began to hemmorhage and disintegrate, and the monster fell, this time for good.

Her body reverted to her normal tall form with sickening cracks and pops, and she watched it for a second or two, then, satisfied that it would not be able to regenerate, she collapsed with one thought in mind.

(Reeve... Live.)

* * * * *

Near the temple area, at the very edge of the commercial district stood a plain 3 story building. It was made of red-brown bricks and was solid and well built, despite being simple and unadorned.

The lower floor had an entrance wide enough for a small wagon to pass through, where a set of plain double hardwood doors stood. Right now, the door was open, and one could see 2 men standing just inside the doors, ready to help carry the injured, or to deny entry to troublemakers.

Further in, 3 people were seated behind a long wooden counter, above which a sign with the words "registration" hung.

On the 2nd floor, there were 2 long passageways with numerous rooms on either side. One of the rooms had the door open, where a short, balding old man stood beside a big bed. The bed looked very big, especially because the room was cramped despite having nothing else but one more chair inside.

On the bed lay a person wrapped from neck to toe in bandages, which from the pungent smell were seeped into low to lower mid-grade ointments and herbs. The person was beginning to stir for the first time since the disaster last Monday which left 1 student dead, 4 injured and 1 teacher unaccounted for.

The physicians and priests had done all they could, and sighed, regretting that they could not do anything more - not without top-grade healing materials. And even if they had the resources, they would need someone who knew how to utilise them for healing.

With all those conditions met, it was still only enough to salvage the person's life, with no hope of advancing any further in cultivation.

Sam had awoken earlier in the morning, startling the nurse who nearly dropped her medicinal pastes. Sam could only weakly croak for water, before her consciousness drifted away again. She did feel wetness on her lips and in her throat though, so the nurse remembered her water.

Now Principal Snow was here to wait for her to wake up - as he felt responsible for calling Mikael away during the critical moments of the spar. The remains of the enhanced nightmare stalker were cleaned up - though they could not find traces of how the level 8 bio-undead managed to materialise in the middle of the defence formations.

Mikael had insisted to investigate Nadal's background, and even volunteered to lead the inquiry himself. But Principal Snow could only stay silent - Nadal's backing wasn't something their little town and academy could take on. Even if the victims were great talents, and even if the mayor's son was among the fallen...

The balding man sighed, adjusting his brown overcoat over his voluminous white tunic. He twirled his monocle in his right hand between his index and middle fingers. He rubbed his temples, wondering what to do with the Baron's proposition... Without Reeve and Sam, there was only Joe's son, Bob. But he doubted the Baron would choose the boy.

Coughing, Sam Sat up slightly in her bed and opened her eyes a crack. She craned her stiff neck to look for water and grunted at the pain landing through her shoulder. She forgot - she was still wrapped up in the physician's offices.

"Here, have a drink." Principal Snow held the cup to her lips, then was surprised as she downed the entire cup in quick gulps. Then she continued coughing, calming down only after a good 10 seconds.

"Feeling better...? It's a miracle you survived. And a miracle you be recovered so well."

She looked at him without expression, then gasped when she remembered the most important question.

"Reeve... He..." Sam didn't know how to continue, as she choked up and the words couldn't leave her mouth - because she saw Principal Snow's face fall and grief mar his face.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then he looked down at the floor, as if the words were too heavy to be spoken. He took a deep breath, looked up and said to her, "I'm sorry... He - he didn't make it..."

Two streams of tears flowed down Sam's cheeks as she lay her head back onto the pillow and closed her eyes.

Taken aback at the girl's grief, Principal Snow tried to speak when a nurse burst into the room.

"Principal, you'll want to come upstairs. Reeve woke up."

The Principal gave Sam an embarrassed smile; sheepish that his prank/ joke was seen through so quickly.

If Sam weren't wrapped up and crippled, Principal or not, she was angry enough to punch his teeth out. She settled for throwing her cup at his shiny head, smiling when she saw the water dripping down his face and a red bump rising.

Systems? Transmigrators? Gods?
No problem! All will crumble under my fists!
Smashing dragons, devils and heros into meat patties!
Still, she has a dream - "When will I have a boyfriend...?"

"If the wretched heavens are against me..."
"...Then I shall BREAK the heavens!"

Sam is an orphan with a dream: a simple life and happy family. Nearly talent-less (and ahem, a little slow witted...), she has only her two (overpowered) fists to rely on in a world that seems determined to make her forever-alone.

Follow her story as she falls in love and learns what it means to experience loss;
Shares thick and thin with the most unexpected companions;
Faces betrayal by the ones she thought were the closest;
And learns to open her heart again to trust.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEVER DROPPED UNTIL COMPLETED.
...but major slow down as I am focusing on Desolate Mage.

Note: Romance will take time - and chapters :)

Join the Discord Chat Channel!
https://discord.gg/sT3TG3f

BONUS CHAPTERS Updated 29/11/18
Top 100 = 1 ADDITIONAL bonus chapters!
Top 50 = 5 ADDITIONAL bonus chapters!

Five: "Just letting you know. I just signed a contract with the Hurricane Alliance. I have the [Void Contract] with me in case something happens though. I'll look into what they are doing to deal with the E26. They have so many dungeons in the empire; they have most probably already found the dungeon."

Iris: "The Hurricane Alliance? They wanted to recruit me earlier but I turned down their offer. They were quite persistent and sent a few threats but became silent all of a sudden after your battle with Farsight. They probably asked you to meet the other players there. You should be careful with who you interact with at alliance."

Five: "I was not aware of this. What do you mean by that?"

Iris: "From your answer, I can tell you never accepted the friend request of any other player."

Iris: "In every alliance, there is a group called 'Anarchy'. They are a group of players who used to be members of an international criminal group in reality before the game. They still maintained contact with each other and although they were forced to sign contracts with the alliances to develop quickly, the members of that group are all actively seeking to break free from their contract and reform their group."

Iris: "Actually, they have a few members who refused to join any alliance and these people have already formed a group. They invited all the dungeon masters not affiliated with any alliance, including me. To be honest, I am considering joining them. It would be more accurate to describe them as a community; they have no actual obligations. They are more like a mercenary group and if the reward you offer is high enough, they will lend you a hand."

Five: "Never heard of it. But I will keep an eye open for this. Thanks for the info."

Iris: "No problem. Look for any information about the owner of the E26. The problem is intensifying at my dungeon; my monsters are catching at least one title holder per day."

Five: "Build a quarantine at the gates and deny them entry. You cannot continue killing them or the inhabitants of your town will start worrying about their own security."

"Cough Cough."

At that moment, Dreidus lightly coughed, bringing Five back to reality.

The latter embarrassedly glanced at the lich. 'D*mn! I got engrossed in the conversation. I said I would keep my distance and only send one message per day. She just had to reply so quickly and hit an important point at that...'

"Master, look at the screen. The monsters are coming," said Dreidus as he pointed at the screen. With the Eye Extender having fused with the dungeon core, they were now able to see the forest outside the dungeon.

On the screen, several black dots in the sky were making their way toward the dungeon. Five nodded and quickly typed on his chat log.

Five: "I got to go. Something to do with the alliance."

Iris: "Gotcha. Remember to keep your [Void Contract] in your inventory in case something happens."

Five closed his interface and focused his attention on the screen. On a second screen, he saw Harriet, Ignis, and Ishan waiting at the entrance. The monsters had rather gloomy expressions.

Harriet had been in this mood since her defeat against Ivan. She blamed herself for the death of so many monsters and wanted to get stronger. She wanted to prove herself and show to everyone that she was strong enough to be the guardian of the dungeon. This wave of monsters was a huge opportunity for her. She would get to level up a lot and once she reached her level cap, the rest of the monsters would be given to Ishan and Ignis.

"Don't you think that Ishan is in a bad mood? I said nothing yesterday but he looks like he wants to murder someone," commented Five.

"Yeah. If we mentioned it yesterday, it would be like rubbing salt on his wounds. He failed his evolution." Dreidus explained.

"So that's why. No wonder he wanted Ignis to come with him. His level cap is only level 45. He should be able to quickly reach that level. When you see him, tell him not to worry, he will have other opportunities to evolve. By the way, are you sure you do not want to join them, Dreidus?" 

The lich shook his head. "No. After our defeat, I fell down to level 39. This is perfect for me if I want to become a high-quality Lich Journeyman. If I was at level 40 and went through the ritual, I would just become a low-quality Lich Evoker. Because going through the ranks using the system only increases levels by ten, it is better for me to be at high quality."

"I see. This way, the last digit of your level will always be a '9' rather than a '0'."

On the screen, Five saw his monsters retreat into the dungeon, allowing the enemy monsters to enter the dungeon. If they were killed inside the dungeon, he would obtain the full amount of DP. 

The monsters were a large group of birds. There were level 20 Black Ravens, level 25 Flying Rainbow Pheasants, level 30 Dark Hawks, and so on. The birds entered the dungeon and obediently landed in front of Harriet, waiting to be killed.

Five watched the scene with interest. The old dungeon masters were not allowed to directly send their monsters to younger ones and among the players, no one could afford such a large army of birds. It could only mean that all these birds were wild animals, just like the Black Raven who agreed to join the dungeon a few days ago when delivering the letter. 

'So many birds... Just like Entomology, someone has a core of Ornithology? I would not be surprised if that was the case.' 

The massacre started. With the birds not resisting, they all perished after a few hits but there were so many of them that Harriet's attacks seemed to be ineffective. Outside, a massive flock of birds was circling around the dungeon.

Five briefly glanced at his DP count and saw it increasing rapidly. There was no point in watching his monsters dealing with the birds. instead, he took out a few items from his inventory.

[Demonic Shackles]

Activate to bind the prisoner of a dungeon core. Once bound, the prisoner will be forcefully weakened and require more resources to break free from his prison.

Max upgrades of Dungeon Core before the prisoner can break free +1

The Core of Madness reacted as soon as the Demonic Shackles appeared. It flashed emitting a dim light. It was scared; Lavenus instinctively knew the effects of the Demonic Shackles.

Five was amused by the Core of Madness' terrified reaction. "What? You are scared now? You say you were wrong and want to apologize?"

He smiled evilly. "It is too late."

The Demonic Shackles shone and like two snakes, they rushed toward the Dungeon Core and disappeared inside. Five received the notification that the Demonic Shackles were in effect, but there were no signs showing it. 

"Good. Now, let's feed you the Cores and see what we'll get from you," said Five. He took out the two Phantom Cores and the Core of Wilderness.

Starting with a Phantom Core, Five fed the core to the Core of Madness.

[System prompt: Your Core of Madness has successfully consumed a Phantom Core.]

[System prompt: You are awarded 400000 DP.]

Five disappointedly looked at the system prompts. "That's it? Nothing else? Quite disappointing."

He grabbed the second Phantom Core and again pushed it into the Core of Madness. The Phantom Core disappeared and the same system prompts appeared but that was it.

"What? Where is the upgrade? You already had three cores if we count the Core of Flames from before. Still no upgrade? You are going to cost me a lot to upgrade!"

Five narrowed his eyes as he grabbed the Core of Wilderness. "There better be some results this time." He brought the two cores together and to his delight, he received the following system prompts:

[System prompt: Your Core of Madness has successfully consumed the Core of Wilderness.]

[System prompt: You are awarded 400000 DP.]

[System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. The Core of Madness has been upgraded to Grade 3]

[System prompt: The Core of Madness can now display an additional effect. Please choose from the following:
1. Entomology - Increase the breeding rate of all insect type monster by 150% and increase all their stats by 3
2. Flame Birth - Unlocks the ability to Build Flame Nests. Each Flame Nest can give birth to one societal Fire-type Monster per day.
3. Wilderness - Increase all the stats of non-societal monsters by 10%
4. ??? - ??? (Currently locked due to low level)] 

"Finally!" exclaimed Five as his eyes lit up. The dungeon core finally upgraded itself after consuming four cores! 

'Looks like the number of cores required doubles each time... It is going to be hard to upgrade it again.'

He turned his attention to the new options available to him. He was familiar with Entomology; it was one of the bonus he was offered last time but its buff was improved. It now increased all stats by three instead of two. The breeding rate was higher too.

However, Five was more interested in the other two buffs. Both were extremely useful; Flame Birth would allow him to save a lot of DP while Wilderness would greatly boost the power of his monsters. Non-societal monsters represented the majority of a dungeon's monsters.

'Only two new buffs and they seem to be associated with the Core of Flames and the Core of Wilderness. I suppose Phantom Cores are just bad quality cores that do not offer any bonus,' thought Five. He turned toward Dreidus and explained the different buffs to him.

After a few minutes, they came up to a conclusion and another system prompt sounded:

[System prompt: You have chosen Flame Birth. Updating the Core of Madness]

[Information]

[Core of Madness](Grade 3)(Upgradable)
Controls the overall operations of the dungeon. Once taken out of the dungeon or destroyed, the dungeon and dungeon master will be destroyed

Effect 1: DP gained +8%
Effect 2: Dwarfism - Increase the crafting success rate of all monsters shorter than 1.5m and increase all their stats by 1. 
Effect 3: Flame Birth - Automatically builds two Flame Nests. Each Flame Nest can give birth to one societal Fire-type Monster per day.
Effect 4: The Dungeon Master and all the dungeon's Boss Monsters will also learn the skills provided by the Core of Madness.

Skill: [Frenzy], [Hysteria], [Berserk], [Surrender to Madness]

[Frenzy(level 2)]
User temporarily sacrifices part of his Intelligence and Wisdom in exchange for an increase in Strength and Dexterity:

Intelligence and Wisdom -5
Strength and Dexterity +8
Duration: 4 minutes

Can be used thrice per day.

[Hysteria(level 1)]
User sacrifices HP and MP in exchange for an increase in Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom.
HP & MP - 8/second
Strength and Dexterity +4
Wisdom +4

The skill automatically comes to a stop if the user's HP or MP is insufficient.
Can be used twice per day

[Surrender to Madness]
Exchange one-third of your soul and obtain the power of the Mad King Lavenus for one hour.
Cost: One-third of your soul
Duration: One hour

[Berserk(level 0)]
User becomes unable to distinguish between allies and foes in exchange for an increase in all stats.
All stats +2
Duration: 2 minutes
Can only be used once per day and in the presence of an ally.

Five wore a satisfied smile. All the skills given by the dungeon core improved. As for the new skill, [Berserk], Five did not know how to react to it. Its effects were definitely powerful but so were the drawbacks! Furthermore, it could only be used if an ally was present; it was like the dungeon core was saying that it wanted the user to harm his allies.

Five did not need to explain the detail to Dreidus. Due to one of the effects of the core, he automatically learned about the properties of the new skill.

The dungeon core flashed as two bright orange spheres emerged from the galaxy inside the orb. They landed on the wooden table and roll toward Five.

The latter briefly glanced at the orange spheres and an information window appeared.

[Flame Nest]
Sacrifice one monster to the nest. Every day, the Flame Nest will give birth to a new monster from the species of the sacrifice.

Note: Boss Monsters cannot be sacrificed.

After being betrayed, framed and kicked down to the ground, our protagonist was sentenced to life imprisonment. But a few days later, a global disaster occurred, people from all nations migrated to underground refuges.

As a prisoner, he thought his life was over, abandoned by everyone. However, he wakes up, greeted by Gaia, the person responsible for New Earth.

New Earth was a second chance for him, watch as he builds up his own dungeon and become known by all as the Emperor of Madness

Note that this is a slow novel and dungeon building only takes place after 40 chapters

[Note: I am also posting this novel on RoyalRoadLegends: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/18115/new-earth--the-dungeon-of-madness]

Here's an edited version available on Amazon: 
Book 1: https://amzn.to/2MwyMBG
Book 2: https://amzn.to/2U9R6lp
Book 3: https://amzn.to/2UdVbVx

Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/nikostar2

TMS is now well and truly ended.
Thank you Islinda for giving this story a chance for a contract. I hope it proves well for Webnovel.
To all TMS regular readers and supporters. I won't name you individually to respect your anonymity.  With my deepest respect, thank you for your time, interaction and support.  A story can be written.  It's only when it's read that it becomes a tale. 
And I won't forget those from Tapread and Wattpad who gave Hinata and Eiji's drama a chance when it was there.  I've been blessed.
Here is an omake about its own small journey to close the curtains. 
---WPC #46 - To My Sunflower's Journey---
A moment of nostalgia as I look back to the contest that helped me form the concept for this story. Otherwise, I would've never written it.
---[[Writing Prompts Contest #46:Fall in Love with a Soldier
"Believe it or not, the only way we kept in touch was through letters. We would write to each other about our days, about our lives. They were all innocent letters, but they were amazing because it gave me an insight into how simple a person he was."
What it feels like loving a soldier?
"When you fall in love with a soldier, you fall in love with your country; when you fall in love with a soldier, nothing is set in stone on your end. Plans can and will change at the drop of a hat and planning ahead is impossible.
Though all that is true, so is when you fall in love with a soldier, you've found the best there is.
When you fall in love with a soldier, you've found someone who not only loves you more than his own life but loves his country more than his own life as well.
When you fall in love with a soldier, a kiss is worth a million dollars, and no expensive gift can compare.
When you fall in love with a soldier, you've fallen in love with someone who appreciates having a bed, running water and warm food.
When you fall in love with a soldier, you've fallen in love with not who you've prayed for, but someone so much more.
Thank you, God, for letting me fall in love with my soldier."
(Emily Richeson)https://forum.webnovel.com/d/18335-writing-prompts-contests-45-46]]---
The winner of my prompt was a book that is now on hiatus. No other entries qualified. At the time I didn't realize that having votes was the rank qualifier. So my book was instantly disqualified.
Despite not making it past the car park, so to speak, I kept this story going. I had moved it to Wattpad and continued to post chapters there.
I entered it into a Wattpad community award, and had eventually won the award for Historical Fiction, but never received the prize for it. 😆
That's okay. Knowing that my writing was enough to be a winner in a judge's eyes was cool. It won over some quality stories as well. That was a prize enough for me.
After some time, I started posting the story to Tapread where it picked up read interest there. Then I got a ping from Islinda who liked the lone chapter I had left on the book page.  
This story has been a blast to write. I'm proud of what I've been able to achieve with it. I have no regrets of what I leave behind, as I have given my best shot.
♥♥
Arigatōgozaimashita.  
Until next time. Take care.♥


Hinata longed for his Eiji to return from war. Alone in the idyllic countryside whilst other areas of Japan were torn asunder. One day, he receives a letter from his lover filled with the scent of sunflowers and his undying love for him. Followed by official news of his presumed death at Iwo Jima. Heartbroken. Yet determined to honor his promise to Eiji; to live the life they were unable to live together.

Eiji fought honorably for Japan at Iwo Jima. He fell injured in a banzai charge to be classified as dead. He recovered with the aid of an American lieutenant, who escorted him back into the mainland for espionage work. His one chance and hope of return to Hinata's side.

A compelling risk of a war story set at the end of the Pacific War, 1945. Two sides of the war, on Japanese soil, are shown from the individual perspectives of same-sex lovers Hinata and Eiji. 

More than a boys love. This story is an emotional drama, revealing heart and souls of people surviving America's assault on Japan. The consequences suffered at war's end.

Draco's lips twitched vigorously. He felt like his horizons had been broadened. 
As a Legendary Tradeskill, how could he have been so naive as to expect any other outcome? Even Magical Engineering swallowed Aether Crystals like they were water, much less Scrivening. 
Draco suddenly understood why the lore for Boundless had been structured in the way it was. If players were to play in a world like the old era, there would be little room for growth, because the NPCs would own everything. 
Epic and Legendary Tradeskills required truckloads of Aether Crystals to function, so by establishing the lore as every single Dragon getting slaughtered, it put the world into an Aether Crystal deficiency. 
With this, it didn't even matter if a player was so outstanding that they received an Epic or Legendary Tradeskill as a fair reward, because it would severely limit how much they could benefit from it and thus a proper balance could be kept in this section of the game. 
But how could the AI have predicted that a beast like Draco would exist? Even if it somehow could have accounted for bloodlines before this, what were the chances of a Serpent God Inheritance member possessing the affinity of a genuine dragon? And a Black Dragon, at that?! 
Even that would have been fine because without bloodline compatibility, they couldn't learn Draconic skills or spells before Update 5. However, Draco had gone to spray his DNA over the AI wickedly. 
Not only that, but he had also abused his future knowledge with Eva's help to discover the only remaining White Dragon on the material world, who had an entire global story event revolve around her once players reached the higher Ranks and began to encounter True Gods. 
All of that went down the drain once Hikari was 'captured' by this vile beast, who proceeded to lay his monstrous claws on her fair skin. 
If it was just that, the AI could have swallowed the bitter pill and re-organized the events of the quest. However, the fellow had then built his bloody settlement over the Aether Mine and used it to form his current City-State. 
His claiming of Hikari led her to grant him the Aether Production passive skill, paving the way for Draco's ensuing evil. 
Afterwards through the fellow foolishly underestimating the immensity of the heavens and earth by playing with the Aether Conversion Orb in the Anomaly Realm beneath the Aether Hall, his Aether Production had been upgraded to the Aether Conversion, which was even stronger than what Hikari possessed. 
He had become a factory for Aether Crystals, and just selling a batch he had spawned over the course of slightly more than a week had made instantly turned him into the world's richest man. 
However, there always had to be balance in life. He had gained the Magical Engineering and Scrivener Tradeskills which were huge Aether Crystal sinks... 
This had been designed to act as a limiter on the Tradeskill's productivity in order to prevent the crafters under this category from becoming far too potent, especially on the NPC's side. 
At the end of the day, Boundless was a game for players, so they would be given better treatment and a higher priority. 
Draco sighed and let it go. He had come here to test the validity of the Tradeskill in order to craft some items and get a hand for its procedures. Once he raised its level with his accumulated Tradeskill experience, everything would become better. 
As such, he paid with 1 medium-grade Aether Crystal to have both Sword Skill 1: Inclined Slash and Sword Skill 2: Parry converted. 
A progress bar appeared beneath both Tradeskills, signaling that it would take 3 hours for the conversion of each of them. 
Draco frowned at the long duration, but attributed it to his low Tradeskill Rank. If he went higher, it was likely that he would be able to shorten this process to mere seconds. 
At least for the basic Tradeskills, higher level meant less time and resources, so it should be no different here. 
In the meantime, he rested his tired mind by mediating in the silent library. He felt his lapsing concentration solidify and his headache begin to diminish slowly. 
The other Tradeskill masters occasionally glanced at their lord who had been silent ever since he entered, with his eyes dazing into the air. They wondered what was going on with the fellow. 
Not only that, but he suddenly began rubbing his temples and whispering expletives under his breath. Such a thing would be inaudible usually, but in this silent atmosphere, he might as well have been yelling. 
Many of them felt their faces redden, because some of the combos Draco used were truly too amazing. They, who were 'intellectuals' who would never reduce themselves to uttering such profanities were naturally exposed to the dark side of the world. 
Many of them were awed. One could actually put such vulgar words together to achieve such a critical hit? Wow! I must try this on that enemy of mine… 
Caff! 
Of course, this was just a passing thought, it wasn't like we would do such things in reality, hahaha! 
After the two techniques were converted, Draco's mind had recovered by 90%. This had taken 6 hours, meaning that the day was almost over. 
However, he wasn't bothered. By spending such a great amount of effort recording his first 100 techniques, he could slowly convert them over time. 
That was another thing, the conversion timer. As Scrivening didn't require one to be at a set location, he could easily pay for the conversion anywhere and have it work in the background. 
So, he could fight, explore or craft while the conversion was going on, maximizing his efficiency. He had chosen to meditate because his splitting headache prevented him from doing anything else. 
However, it had largely recovered now, so he had no problem. As such, he decided to continue the process of Scrivening and learn what its end result was like. 
First, he checked the converted techniques, and saw that they were presented like a skill book in his mind, with their details highlighted. 
 
｢Sword Skill 1: Inclined Slash – Active Skill 
Rank: Common 
Effect: Swing one's sword in a 45° angle to inflict severe lacerations. Deals 20% sword damage on contact. 
Cooldown: 5 seconds.｣ 
 
｢Sword Skill 2: Parry – Active Skill 
Rank: Common 
Effect: Enter a defensive stance that parries a single attack from an enemy wielding a similar weapon. 
Note: This only negates damage, but not the physical force of the attack. 
Cooldown: 10 seconds.｣ 
 
Draco was extremely impressed with his sword skills. They were the first ones he had created, a basic offensive slash and a defensive posture to resist one attack, but they had been further amplified by the conversion. 
20% sword damage on the first one was almost on the level of an Uncommon skill. Not only that, but the cooldown was great, only 5 seconds! 
An average swordsman with this skill would really be crucial in a raid. He could deal 20% of his sword damage every 5 seconds. This was almost as good as the Common Rank Fireball spell which dealt 15% fire damage every 7 seconds. 
If it wasn't for the Sword Skill requiring one to be within arm's length from the enemy, it would be even better than a similarly ranked magic spell! 
As for the second one, it was even better than the previous one because it negated physical damage from one attack every 10 seconds. 
Of course, the attack had to originate from a sword, and even then, it only negated the damage, but did not removed the physical force of the attack. 
Still though, it was an extremely good skill for PvP fights between swordsmen. The one who had this skill would easily wipe the floor with another. 
Draco nodded with satisfaction. Both skills could be used by many players and NPCs of the world, meaning that it would have a great selling value. 
Paying 50 Low-Grade Aether Crystals was equivalent to 50,000 platinum, but if this skill was mass produced and sold, one should easily be able to recoup costs... eventually. 
After all, the AI would have to be very foolish to create a Tradeskill where unless one had many cheats like Draco, it was impossible to profit off it. 
If that was the case, why not just slap "for Draco's use only" on the Tradeskills and let matters rest? 
Draco went to the third screen, which was to pen the skillbook itself. Here, the options were to prepare the ink, prepare the paper and then Scriven. 
Draco selected to prepare the ink, and found that a new pop-up appeared, asking him the Rank of the skill he was choosing to pen. 
He chose the Common Rank, and then a list of materials was shown to him. Aside from that was a detailed process of how to prepare the ink itself. 
When Draco saw the materials, he slapped his forehead. Most of them were Common Rank materials that could easily be acquired. In fact, many of them were already present in the Rank 7 Castle. 
He understood everything now. To make a skillbook at a certain Rank obviously required materials of a similar Rank. How could he use Legendary materials to make a Common product? 
Of course, this logic only applied to writing Tradeskills. Engineering was a Tradeskill were one could make even a Common Rank war weapon with Epic materials, much less Magical Engineering. 
However, it was the end result that mattered. A creation from something like Magical Engineering could warp reality itself, and also could be used by multiple parties. 
Skillbooks could only be consumed once and then they were gone for good. Basically, it was like comparing a printing press and a car manufacturer. Which one cost more to make, a newspaper or a car? At the same time, which one sold for more, a newspaper or a car? 
Draco nodded and called over Darnia again. The pretty, yet young Head Maid entered the room of solemnity, attracting the various gazes of the fellows working here. 
After a long day of work, getting to gaze upon a beautiful woman was truly a pleasing sight, so they took this chance to take a break. 
Naturally, the old woman who managed the library harrumphed unhappily and looked away. When she had been at that age, she was 'naturally' an empire toppling beauty herself, but time was merciless. 
After receiving Draco's orders, Darnia went to collect the necessary items posthaste. In almost no time, she went down to the storerooms and collected some lamp black, honey, some gum arabic as well as supporting materials. 
Draco thanked Darnia and selected to begin crafting the ink. The process was not too complex at all. Since he was making simple black permanent ink, it was simple for the early stage. 
First, he mixed together the egg yolk, gum arabic, and honey. The end result was a strange smelling and yellowish-brown liquid that was extremely viscous. 
Honestly, it looked like someone's diseased phlegm, but Draco didn't want to think about it too much. He made sure to slowly stir in the lamp black, adding it to the yellowish-brown mix. 
Suddenly, the color became pitch-black and the funny smell changed. Now, it stank like good old ink, a very familiar smell that anyone who had gone to school would know with ease. 
The final product was a thick paste that could be stored in a sealed container. However, it wasn't usable yet, because there were some extra steps that needed to be taken. 
Draco took the shavings of a low-grade Aether Crystal and mixed it with the paste, which made its black color glow with a certain magical shine. 
Now, he had the necessary ink to write skills and spells! 
He quickly stored it in a metallic container. Since he planned to make a single book, he had only made two servings of the ink, meaning he would have to make more later. 
Draco inspected his creation. 
 
｢Special Ink – Material 
Rank: Common 
Use: Scrivening｣ 
 
He nodded his head with satisfaction. He would work on the paper next, as he would need to bind it into a book form in order to function properly. 
As for the paper, the process was even simpler than the ink. All he needed was some common rolls of papyrus that hadn't been treated yet. 
He then unrolled and cut rectangular segments to form sheets. Draco used his subjective magic to form a miniscule wind blade that vibrated at a high frequency, so it acted like a razor. 
It was attached to the tip of his index finger and was about the length of his fingernail. With his mechanical accuracy from Control's Body of Godliness, as well as his Void of Perfection's ability to perfectly measure everything within its domain, his incisions were no different from modern day machines. 
He cut out 20 pages of paper, since that was the limit for Common Rank skillbooks. It didn't matter whether it was word or picture heavy, 20 pages was the maximum one could have. 
Draco then used some more Aether Crystal shavings to treat the pages, though he melted these shavings into a syrupy form before applying them. 
After that, the paper glowed with a healthy color, like it had been infused with the breath of life. He then bound them together using some string made from a Rank 3 monster called the Ferrous Spinner, which was a spider that made metallic webs with high tensile strength. 
Next, he used some sturdy, yet soft cardboard to form the cover, sticking the pages to its spine with a supporting material called Gerald's Glue, which seemed to be a material created by a fellow called… Gerald. 
Anyway, it was quite useful as it had the best adhesion available in this world for a simple product, and Draco was able to tie off the process with its help. 
He then painted the cover and spine with a light brown color, adding in some aesthetic designs he liked. Naturally, he repeated this process for the second book, right down to the very same colors and ridges. 
After both were done, he then moved onto the Scrivening process. Funny enough, this one wasn't as hard as he thought. 
He just had to follow some "on-screen" prompts. Basically, just like with the Personal Workstation, he entered an Augmented Reality situation where he was given a 3D guide to follow in writing the book. 
With his very same mechanical accuracy, this was a cinch. Within no time, he had filled the book with all the necessary details of the skill, it even needed some diagrams to be drawn in it, amusing Draco to no end. 
After this, the ambient Worldly Energy was dragged into the book in torrents, creating a small tornado in the room. All the other Tradeskill masters were stunned out of their minds when they encountered this. 
Just now everything had been peaceful, how did things become so chaotic in just a few seconds?! 
Many could only scream or cry when their hard work over the day was pulled into the whirlwind and destroyed. The fortunate ones had just started today while others had been working on this for a month. 
When the torrent subsided, Draco gazed at the book with a smile. It looked no different from a typical skillbook, and his inspection proved that. 
 
｢Sword Skill 1: Inclined Slash – Active Skill 
Rank: Common 
Effect: Swing one's sword in a 45° angle to inflict severe lacerations. Deals 22% sword damage on contact. 
Cooldown: 4 seconds.｣ 
 
Draco looked at the other Tradeskill masters and shook his hands. "Report your losses to Darnia and I shall reimburse you all. I also apologize for any damages or losses incurred." 
His words mollified them greatly. Most would ignore them and leave them to sort themselves out heartlessly, but at least he had apologized and promised to reimburse them. 
While it couldn't recover the precious time and effort that had gone to waste, it was better than being ignored completely. 
"I'd advise you leave the area, as I have one more product to make." Draco warned with a light smile. 
Hearing this, his audience fled the library as if there was a fire on their bottoms. Once bitten, twice shy! After being victims of their Lord's "work", they were now fearful of his presence. 
Draco only smiled before Scrivening the details for the second sword skill in his repertoire. After he was done, another mini-tornado spawned in the library, which made the old woman pound her chest in pain. 
Many of the books here had been ravaged by this beast who called himself 'Lord', yet he didn't even have the guts to look her in the eye so that she could glare at him with hate! 
Of course, Draco wouldn't dare to look at her. After almost destroying the library, how could he have the face to gaze at the librarian? Even Qiong Qi would quietly leave with his tail tucked in. 
 
｢Sword Skill 2: Parry – Active Skill 
Rank: Common 
Effect: Enter a defensive stance that parries a single attack from an enemy wielding a similar weapon. 
Note: This only negates damage, but not the physical force of the attack. 
Cooldown: 8 seconds.｣ 
 
Thanks to the Legendary tools he used in penning the skillbooks, both of them were slightly stronger than they were assessed to be, and he hadn't even activated the enhancement feature yet! 
Draco sighed and took both books into his inventory before blinking away to his personal room. He dared not walk around too much in case the old woman attacked him with her slipper. 
It was a good thing too, as a hate filled scream echoed out in the library as soon as he left. 
Draco returned to his room to see that both Eva and Hikari were waiting for him. After going through their usual routine, they returned to share updates on the progress of the city as well as Roma and Zaine's pregnancies. 
After that, Hikari stated that she was ready for yet another egg, but Draco gave some excuses about having a headache and pretended to quickly fall asleep. 


Draco had risen to the top of the world through his exploits in the legendary FIVR game, Boundless. 

After years of intense conflicts between his guild, Hellscape and the guild of his former infidel lover, Darkrow, things came to a head when Draco conquered all. 

Now, nothing stood in his way of total conquest within the highly acclaimed second world of mankind, as he intended to fortify his new empire.
 
Unfortunately, a timely assassination sent him back into the wheel of time for reincarnation, but not even the Gods gave him peace of death. 

Thrust into the past, Draco realized he'd been given a second chance at life to start from scratch, with all the knowledge of over fifteen years of almost absolute power in Boundless.

Now, his path to glory will be far shorter and filled with more bloodshed than Hades could handle.
--------------------------

Discord: https://discord.gg/RBSdRcD

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/kotario
--------------------------

WARNING: If you're the type to be triggered easily, please do not read.

Nakagawa Aokiji did not mean literal sacrifice.
"The game that was created by Class 4 of the second grade was a game called [Nonexistent Person]. The rules of the game were straightforward, select a person from the class and ignore him completely. Treat him like an invisible man and pay no attention to whatever he did. In short, treat him like a nonexistent person."
The winter was over, and the spring weather was nice and cool. Even though it was close to dawn, the temperature at night was still freezing.
After listening to what Aokiji just said, a sudden chill came over them as they felt a strong sense of absurdity. It was not because they were frightened, it was because they did not expect that the vast fire incident was all because of a game.
They didn't really understand the details of the incident. They knew that the protagonists of the event were all the students from the fourth class of the second grade, and a transfer student, Ito Shunji.
Indeed. At that time, the students intended to choose the person by drawing lots after they came up with the game.
However, nobody wanted to be the [Nonexistent Person]. So someone suggested that since all of them already knew about the game, it would defeat the purpose of the game, even if they succeeded in choosing someone to be the [Nonexistent Person].
The reason was that the chosen person would have known about this game and that everybody else was just acting. If it were the case, the game would be meaningless and therefore, no fun.
As a result, the students of Class 4 of the second grade racked their brains to think of a way to optimize the game.
Just when they almost wanted to give up, the teacher announced that a student would transfer to their school in a few days.
The students from Class 4 of the second grade were very excited. They had finally found the most suitable person to be the [Nonexistent Person]!
And this was the initial cause of the fire incident in Akichi High School.
"Aokiji, how could we not know about this incident?!" Masato Yamazaki freaked out upon hearing it, but he was not done talking, "You didn't even inform us before coming here."
The others nodded along. Although they did know a little regarding the incident, they were definitely not as well informed as Aokiji.
Aokiji smiled, "I'm telling you guys right now for the sake of intensifying the atmosphere. Wouldn't it be very boring if you knew about it earlier?"
Even though they came to Akichi High School without preparation, Aokiji had already inquired into the incident, mainly to enhance the atmosphere while exploring the high school.
Based on what he could see, it was beneficial.
"But wouldn't the teacher step in?" Chiba Shiori suddenly opened her mouth. She looked at Aokiji and asked, "Normally, when a student transfers to another school, he would have to make a self-introduction… Don't tell me, the game had already started that time?"
Even if the game started and all his classmates treated Ito Shunji as the [Nonexistent Person], he could still talk to the teachers and students from other classes.
If this happened, Class 4 of the second grade would not be able to pull off the game.
Kimura Kazuki glanced at Shiori and nodded. This story was indeed full of flaws from his point of view. Maybe it was just like what Aokiji said, it was only to enhance the atmosphere.
"It was said that even the teachers participated in the game," Aokiji did not ignore Shiori's question and replied directly. "As for the students from other classes, Class 4 of the second grade had told them in advance. The game that was only supposed to be played amongst themselves eventually became a game that was played by the whole school."
Aokiji noticed the doubt on Shiori's face and smiled.
 "At that time, the President of the Student Union of Akichi High School was from Class 4 of the second grade, and he was the biggest delinquent in the school."
"Huh? I thought only those who are good in studies and of excellent moral characters can be the Student Union President?" Suzuki Aichi remarked, "When I was in high school, a senior of that nature held the post of President of the Student Union."
Without waiting for Aokiji to reply, Yasuda Aoi, who was standing next to him, smiled and said, "Aichi, yours was a special case. For the sake of the college entrance examination, the majority of high school students were devoted to learning, both mentally and physically. Along with the addition of club activities, they couldn't serve in the student union."
Aokiji rolled his eyes at Yasuda Aoi, who talked out of turn. He knew that Yasuda wanted to show off in front of Aichi and thus, decided not to say much.
Kazuki nodded quietly, seemingly deep in thought.
One could only do so much. Kazuki could study and hold the positions of the Head of Department of Sword Believers' Club and the President of the Student Union at the same time.
He believed that no one in the school would reject him if he wished to be President.
In spite of that, he did not do so as it would be very tiring. There was a limit to what a man could do, it would be impossible for him to do that.
The person who was serving as the President of the Student Union in Sakura Kyu Academy was one of the members of the Sword Believers' Club, Yanagawa Izumi.
This guy's grades were awful, he did not have the inborn talent for studying. His study plan for the guy was basically useless, which was why Kazuki told him to be the President of the Student Union.
The college entrance examination in Japan was different from those of other countries.
The examination was divided into two sessions. The first session primarily consisted of written exam to examine the capability of mastering knowledge from textbooks. The second session would be either a college interview or a professional assessment, testing one's ability, and also his skill in answering questions.
These two sessions of examination could help in further discovering the students' potentials. They would then enroll the students based on their performance or overall results.
If Yanagawa Izumi fails his written exam, he might still get a chance to further his study, as he was the former President of the Student Union.
"Those female leads in anime, paragons of virtue, serving as the Student Union Presidents and the Head of Department in clubs, bantering flirtatiously with the male lead, are fictitious," Sakai Reiko who was next to him mocked.
Aokiji could not help but smile. The horrifying atmosphere that he rendered just now dissipated after all the interruption.
Contrary to what one might expect, Shiori had been thinking. Unlike Kazuki, she was a real novelist. Even though the sales of her first published work was not very good, at least she had taken the first step to become a novelist.
The editor told her that there were two quick ways to gain popularity.
First, she could write a light novel that was guaranteed to be popular. As long as it was well-liked, manga, cartoon adaptation and popularity would come surging.
Secondly, she could write a non-mainstream light novel, gather some fans first, and make steadfast progress. There was no need to reach for what was beyond her grasp.
Which was why she chose the supernatural genre. And for the sake of writing, today she deliberately came to Akichi High School, a school that was discussed on all paranormal forums and infamous for its supernatural incidents.
"Mr. Nakagawa, how did you know about these?" Shiori realized that she was straightforward and smiled faintly.
"I apologize, I just wanted to know about the incident five years ago as it will help me in my writing."
Aokiji laughed, "There really is nothing to hide. If you investigate thoroughly, you will find out something about the fire incident five years ago. Almost all the students in Class 4, the second grade were taken away. There was actually a sick student who had requested a leave of absence and was resting in the dormitory. He managed to escape death by sheer luck."


Time travelling from the majestic era after the Recuperation of Reiki, he became Kimura Kazuki, a 16-year-old high school student in Japan, one year before the Reiki Recuperation.

Tentatively, he set out to hone himself to the bone, burning candles at both ends to stockpile resources in preparation for the imminent Recuperation of Reiki. His goal was to be many steps ahead of all humanity when the time comes.

However, it seemed like fate had decided to play a cruel trick on him.

One year later, the Recuperation of Reiki... did not happen as expected.

Wassup everyone, yoursexypotato here!

I just want to remind you all that I really appreciate your support, especially those who have added this novel to their library. It really motivates me to write when the numbers go up(yes, I can see the number of people who added this novel to their library).

Just a news for everyone!

I will be entering Writing Prompts Contest #50: Mage. Yay! Not a pro, but why not?

I won't be adding any more chapters to this specific page because I will be transferring it to the other one -- the one I'm entering the contest with. You can all remove THIS specific book, Runes of Hecate (MIGRATED), and add the other one.

Same chapters, same story. 

It's just that, in order to enter the contest, the novel should be newly added to Webnovel. That means at the moment of the novel's creation, you specify the writing contest you are joining. Mine is already out there so the only way to get around it is to create a "new" novel and update that one. It's not against the rules, so that's what I did.

Here is the new link for the novel (which would also be available in THIS novel's synopsis):

https://www.webnovel.com/book/12803477105403005/Runes-of-Hecate

If you like my novel, please support me! I'd really appreciate it if you vote this novel, even just for the week of the contest.

As a compensation for bothering all of you, I'll throw in a couple more chapters in advance! I hope that would be enough :D

Peace out!

This novel has been migrated. Here is the new link:

https://www.webnovel.com/book/12803477105403005/Runes-of-Hecate

Same chapters, same story. I will be emailing Webnovel to remove this copy of the novel soon.

Thank you for all the support!

At the sudden barrage of questions, Lily calmly says, "Calm down, calm down… I'll answer all your questions as of right now. Earlier, you had cleared the Startup Quest, which prompts more information to be released to you. First of all, in this world, other than different professions, there are also cultivators. Cultivation is essential in this world, even if you were to become something like an artist. There are just some things that you can't accomplish if you are lacking in True Energy! Think of it kind of like electricity! It powers things."
"The Mind Tempering Sub-realm is as its name states. It's a sub-realm within the Body Tempering Realm. The Body Tempering Realm is one of the 3 major realms. Within it are 5 different sub-realms, the Skin Tempering Sub-realm, the Bone Tempering Sub-realm, the Eye Tempering Sub-realm, the Mind Tempering Sub-realm and finally, the Heart Tempering Sub-realm. This realm is to build up the foundation of the body in preparation for the second Realm.���
As LIly spoke, Lin Ke had started wandering through the city. There were only a few parts of the city that were densely populated with many people walking through the streets, some other areas of the city were less packed, but only had houses upon houses. 
Lily continues, "There are 2 other Major realms, the Soul Cultivation Realm as well as the Mortal Ascension Realm, but the information for those realms is beyond your reach right now."
Lin Ke thinks back to Master Sal. He had been giving off the vibe that he was some kind of master. "So what Realm is Master Sal in?"
Lily thinks for a moment. "Err. I didn't pay attention to him…" She says sheepishly.
Lin Ke is speechless. "How can you not pay attention in that situation? How…"
Lily tries to defend herself. "Hey! It's not my fault! You were the one who threw me to that stupid little girl who doesn't know how to treat a cute little creature like me! I knew she would be rough! I could see it in her eyes!"
Lin Ke, trying to gain back the advantage in the conversation, switches the topic. "Alright, then what's my prize for completing the mission?"
"Ehem." Lily clears her throat and from out of nowhere pulls out a pair of glasses and puts in on. Then she pulls out a sheet of paper and begins to read. "Congratulations Host, for finishing the Startup Mission: Embark on the Road to Glory. Mission Rewards are the following: 500 Low-grade Chaos Stones, 1 Mid-grade Chaos Stone, granting of a Bone Tempering Sub-realm cultivation level, along with the opening of your personal spatial storage space. The level 1 spatial storage space offers 4 cubic feet of space. Extra features for the space are purchasable at a price. Would you like the rewards deposited now?"
Lin Ke's eyes brighten. 'Those are some good rewards! I get cultivation levels for free? That's amazing! That means I don't have to waste time cultivating myself! Plus I get so many Chaos Stones too! I was downright broke a few moments ago! Not to mention the spatial storage space thing. Sounds pretty neat.'
"Yes, give me them now."
Lily crumbles up the paper and says, "You have claimed the reward for the Startup mission. Your Chaos Stones have been deposited in the spatial storage space. Apply cultivation level now." She gives him an odd smile. "Good luck! Hang on, it'll only take a moment!"
Lin Ke's vision darkens for a moment, everything fading away, the street he was walking on and faded out of his sight.The only thing he could see was pitch darkness. Suddenly, a few words appeared in front of his eyes. It said, "Startup Process Beginning…"

Preparations Complete… Will Host please prepare himself.

Starting Countdown. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5…

Lin Ke gets a very bad feeling. 'What did Lily mean when she said to hang on? Why is this telling me to prepare myself?'

3, 2, 1… Beginning Process.

Suddenly, he felt sharp stabbing pain all over his body. It was also if lightning had zapped him from the heavens. His skin felt all tingly and itchy. However, he couldn't move his body at all. This lasted for only 5 seconds, but already caused Lin Ke to feel very uncomfortable. 

The Sign changes. "Skin Tempering Sub-realm Cultivation Applied. Applying next realm.'

Lin Ke screams at himself. 'There's more? Why didn't it apply it all at once? What is this torture? How is this a reward? Before he could think anymore, the pain came again. This time, it was a bone deep pain. It felt like his bones were breaking apart at their very seams. Lin Ke could barely think straight.
After what felt like 10 years, his vision finally clears. Lin Ke looks down at his hands. They are perfectly fine, his clothes were also fine. However, Lin Ke realizes something vastly different. He felt a type of strength he had never felt before in his body. He felt a mysterious form of energy flowing through his body, one he had never experienced. It was quite a magical sensation. His skin felt smoother and looked as if it glowed, and his muscles felt full of strength. 
"Hey! Move it kid! Why are you standing in the middle of the street looking up into space? Get out of the way!" An impatient voice yells from behind Lin Ke. This was when Lin Ke realized he was still in the middle of the street.
"Sorry, sorry." Lin Ke quickly apologizes and moves to the side. "Lily, why didn't you warn me about the pain?" He looks at Lily, who was on his shoulder… Not on his shoulder. Lin Ke was bewildered. "Lily? Where'd you go?"

Lin Ke, a famous online artist, suddenly died one day from a rock that flew out of the sky. Turns out, it was a unlucky accident by "God", so as "compensation, decides to give him another chance at life. Together with an obnoxious white cat, he trudges along his own path, to become the best artist possible!

Guys I made this story to join from contest I previous Writing Prompts Contest 123: Female Lead - Werewolf Sighted on Campus! But now it's already end and I think I don't make make it. So if someone reading this story of mine cause I'm planning to not update it every day since I have another 3 story and it's my priority cause I join it as well in the contest. But if someone will opposed at my decision please do tell me I will change my mine immediately cause for all of my story so far this is what I really like... Hehe so please... Tell if anybody want to an update every day just tell me!!

A girl who hate by her whole clan because of her late parents sin.
She's indeed a traitor for all eyes but still she care and submitted to them.

**********
She is standing in front of her parents little by little eating by the fire burning in the middle of their surrounding clan. She can't do anything other than crying. Beside there are punish because of her.

Because she's born into the world.

Her father is half vampire and half wolf who happen to get fall in love with her wolf mother.

They hide their relationship to everyone since a wolf can't be fall to there enemy's. 

A vampire...

But her mother got pregnant and there relationship revealed to there clan they parents got away and hide. Until in her 10th birthday came and there clan find them and now she's staring at her parents getting burned...


She instantly wake up from her bad nightmare when her auntie shake her to wake up.

Lyca wake up your getting late at school.

She open her eyes wider when she heard that.

No it can't be! I don't want people focus there attention toward me.

I smiled widely at my aunt she's my mother sister who adapt her since her parents died. She love her aunt she is the only one accept her as she is there's no one care about her other than her aunt.

Her clan? Well she's like a trash to them and useless.

I stand up and take a bath and move fast as I can since it's already ten minutes before her class starts.

As she got out of there house she run fast so she can't be late.

I really hope that my power comes out already like the other teenagers at her age but maybe because her father is half only her changing form comes delay.
That was her aunt say. She well maybe she's lying and I don't have power at all.

But it doesn't matter as long as I live I won't lost my hope.

As I cross the street I suddenly jumped in surprised when someone car appears inforn of me. I good thing is I avoid it from running fast.

I sigh... That was close.

Hey if you want to die go on but don't take anyone with you!

The driver said.

I just stoop my head and run again.


I was entering at the school when someone bump in to me.

Hey stupid are you blind! 

I stoop and say sorry. 
But the someone grabbed me and hold my chin up. 

Wohh look who's who! 

I stare at the guy in front of me with silence cause I know I'm pretty doomed. 

Cause I bump into the most notorious guy in the campos together with his allied..

What am I going to do? 
Mom... Dad... 
I think I'm going to be with you anytime soon...

grade 4 writing prompts

Writing Prompts Fantasy

World Terror

No System? No Problem! (Rebellion Against the Heavenly Fate)

New Earth- The Dungeon of Madness

To My Sunflower

Guild Wars

The Sword Deity in Tokyo

Runes of Hecate (MIGRATED)

Artist's Journey In Another World!

Lyrcan white wolf from LYONEDESTENE ACADEMY (The Daughter of a sinner)

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