Aetheric Chronicles: Reborn As An Extra - Chapter 44: EEEH?

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.

Introduction

In the ten years since the Great Chu, strange things have happened everywhere.

When he woke up, Zhou An became a yamen agent.

Crisis is always there, but fortunately Zhou An brought a small game made in his previous life.

As long as the life-exploding skills are used, the skills can undergo qualitative changes and become magical skills.

Knife skills – open the sky with one knife.

Turn the pot over – the Kingdom of God in the pot.

Swimming – making waves.

Several years later, Zhou An said that all he knew were common abilities in life.

The crowd was furious.

“You’re talking nonsense, I saw you split the sky with a knife!”

“You’re lying. I saw with my own eyes that you put a ten-foot-tall weirdo into a pot and beat it to death!”

“You said you can swim, but the huge waves have nothing to do with swimming!”

Facing the angry crowd, Zhou An sighed and took out a small sword as wide as his palm.

“I have learned a lot about blacksmithing recently, and I will show you how to defeat all magic with one sword.”

- Description from novelbuddy

It was in the middle of the night that the woman who would be the Duchess came to see me.

She said my father and mother died, and my kind uncle became king.

She said it’s not worth it for me, the crown prince, to be living in hiding, too.

“A while ago, Your Highness had been hiding from me. With all due respect, is that for the sake of survival? Just because your parents died doesn’t mean you have no reason to survive. Actually, that fact alone made it all the more reason why you should live. If you die now…”

If I died now?

When I asked her while looking at her eyes, the woman eventually brought out the harsh truth with empathetic eyes.

“It’s like a dog’s death.”

“That’s rude….”

It’s been a long time since I said that. In a short while, he has been treated as a madman and beaten to death just by saying similar things. She loosened her arms that held me and I suddenly stiffened up due to it. Because I thought she might have loosened her arm to hit me. But she didn’t.

She knelt down with one knee in front of me, just like a knight.

“Hastred’s Sarian raised her salutations. May you accept it gladly.”

My first knight is beautiful and kind.

“Are you on my side?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

It was all a lie.

“In a world where power determines everything, the most dangerous weapon isn't a sword... it's knowing what happens tomorrow.”※※※Cast aside by his own noble family, Vaerik Tudor finds himself exiled to the merciless Northern Province—a frozen wasteland where most are sent to die.No magic. No special bloodline. No legendary weapon.Just when death seems certain, something unexpected activates: a mysterious Daily Intelligence System that provides him critical information about the future.[As the sun rises tomorrow, a dead god's massive body will break through the ice-covered lake, with its heart somehow still beating, pulsing with the ancient power of winter itself.][One young wolf, fiercer than all the rest, fought and defeated every other cub in the red valley territory, becoming the new leader of the entire pack.][Nearly forty battle-scarred giant wolves are right now creeping through the valley to the southeast, with muscles ready to spring and teeth ready to bite, planning to take over your land when night falls.][A never-ending wave of walking dead bodies will soon swallow up every country on this land mass, with the human race barely surviving—for every million people alive today, only one will remain.][A runaway princess from the northern tribe has fled to the red valley lands, but weakened by starvation and freezing temperatures, she has collapsed unconscious in the barren wilderness and will be eaten by a giant white bear before sunset today.]While southern nobles drown in their politics and pleasure, Vaerik is building something unprecedented in the frozen north. A domain where slaves become free citizens. Where barren wasteland transforms into fertile fields. Where loyalty is earned, not demanded.But the north holds ancient dangers...Frost dragons shriek dominance above his impenetrable cold-forged bulwark.Frost giants patrol the mines containing precious magical marrow. Barbarian tribes plot revenge against imperial invaders. Religious zealots hunt for heretics. And an unstoppable threat looms on the distant horizon that could consume the entire continent.Winter is coming, and this storm will eventually engulf the entire continent. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.※※※Warning: Contains fortress-building, territory management, strategic battles, hidden talents, and a protagonist who rises from forgotten exile to become the most feared lord in the north. For fans of kingdom-building, strategic progression, and war.