MTL - Sword of Coming - Chapter 12 Alley

[WSA ENTRY 2025 - Discord Nitro for any Gifts ]Elias Kael’s life as a chef was supposed to be simple—until an unexpected event leaves him bonded to a mysterious shard and a peculiar being named Dot. Struggling to make sense of his newfound connection, Elias is drawn into a hidden world where people like him are being hunted, their fates intertwined with secrets that stretch far beyond his understanding.As powerful forces close in, Elias must confront his forgotten past, navigate dangerous alliances, and tap into abilities he never knew he possessed. But as the world shifts around him, the stakes grow higher, and Elias realizes the key to survival lies not only in his own strength but in uncovering the truth behind the shards and the enigmatic forces driving them.A story of resilience, discovery, and unexpected bonds.

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.

After receiving his terminal illness diagnosis, Chu Xun could finally let go of everything. The most important thing of being alive is after all, one’s own happiness.

Dumping a jerk, getting back on his retarded colleagues, firing his dumbass boss, staying in a luxurious house, enjoying a feast and bedding a young, energetic and handsome guy—Chu Xun very coolly did what he didn’t dare to do in the past!

All his savings were spent and as he laid down waiting for his death, the doctor apologetically told him, “I’m so sorry, we misdiagnosed.”

“…” Chu Xun felt faint.

He did another checkup and thought, he did feel unwell recently though?

The doctor looked grim.

Chu Xun’s heart skipped a beat. “Don’t tell me it wasn’t a misdiagnosis after all. Am I sick?”

Doctor: “You do not have a terminal illness, but you are… You are pregnant.”

Chu Xun: “???” Ermm, he’s a guy?

And later, the child’s father, that young, energetic and handsome man, who also happened to be a 26-year-old billionaire, Lin Yanchen, appeared and handed out a marriage certificate already signed by him. “I’ll take responsibility. Let’s get married.”

Chu Xun only realised now that his 30-years-late love life, as though blooming blossoms, was flooding in.

- Description from Novelupdates

Following a regrettable teleportation gate incident, freshly graduated spatial mage Tila found himself in a strange bipolar world. On one side are the sexless humans, completely isolated from the rest of the world inside their domes. On the other side lies the bustling outside world, composed of a myriad of non-human species.Should he focus on the humans and teach them a thing or two about their bodies? Or should he mingle with the spirited outside species?Of course, he shall do both, by becoming the sole true interspecies trader!