Shadow of the Abyss - Chapter 9: Mana

“The missing ingredient is a test subject with Royal Blood...”Raven Kyzer, a Commoner boy, grew up in an orphanage along with his twin sister, after losing their mother at a young age, having never met their father.After being discovered to possess Royal blood, the twins are abducted by the Church of Persona. Raven is used as a test subject in an ancient form of Forbidden Magic, known as the Homunculus Ritual, while his sister goes missing in the clutches of the church.The Homunculus Ritual is conducted to turn Raven into a powerful but mindless Monster, a loyal weapon for the church with no sense of free will...but something goes wrong, the ritual fails to destroy Raven's mind and he escapes the clutches of the church.Furious at being turned into a Monster, Raven swears revenge against the church, determined to make them pay for what they did to him, as well as to rescue his sister from their clutches.But there's only so much he can do by himself, even with the new powers he gained through the Homunculus Ritual...that's when he has a fateful encounter with the nation's most wanted criminals, a group known as The Irregulars, who, like Raven, have their own reasons to despise and go after the church, as well as the corrupt Nobility that oppresses the Commoners.With their goals aligned, Raven decides to join The Irregulars, taking the first step on his long, arduous path to revenge...

【Mr. Lin Wife's Love Story】“Boss, in one minute, your wife has scratched a limited edition sports car while driving.” “What, has the wife been hurt?” “No.” “That's good, you can directly charge the expenses of the car to my account. In future, you will handle similar situations in the same way, as long as my wife isn't hurt herself.” Secretary: Boss, do you have any principles left?【Mr. Lin's Marriage Trick】“Nannan, as long as you marry me, you can still do what you like, go where you want, and I will handle all the house chores.” “Hm, sounds pretty good.”【Post-Marriage Complaints】After marrying, An Nan found that a certain man secretly sabotaged her work, reducing it by half, and whenever she wanted to go somewhere, that man conveniently had free time, thus killing her plans for romance in its cradle. Damn, with things like this, why did she even get married: “Lin Mubai, I want a divorce.”(This story doesn't involve any third or fourth parties, even if one or two pop-up sometimes, they are just cannon fodder)

As part of the imperial family, every move by Chu Yuan in this game of chess is made with apprehension, fearing that with a moment of inattentiveness, the whole match will be lost in a single move.

Ascending to the throne at eighteen, not half a year passes before civil strife erupts in Yun Nan. Though the thoughts of the old guard at the imperial court are not exactly identical, they are all waiting to see how the new emperor will put an end to this.

Unexpectedly, before this side could make a move, a few thousand miles away, the King of Xi Nan, Duan Bai Yue, had already personally commanded troops to attack in all directions; not half a year had passed when peace was restored.

Sparse moonlight shines into the palace; Chu Yuan stamped the wax seal himself, and had a secret letter sent urgently to Yun Nan 800 miles away — this time, what must we(1) give in exchange?

Brush marks passed through the back of the paper; it almost can be seen, when writing this line, how angry the young emperor was.

Duan Bai Yue spread out a piece of paper unhurriedly, replying with only one word.

You.

Notes:
(1): Chu Yuan is using the royal ‘we’ here.

- Description from Novelupdates

Blue Learley, a seventeen-year-old girl, lived in a small town with her parents and two brothers. Everything was going as usual until that fateful night when her life changed forever. Demetrius Easton, the merciless werewolf king, got his eyes on her and wanted her as his bride. When her own parents sold her to him, she had no way of escaping him and no one to turn to for help.***“I don’t want to stay away for too long. Sometimes I fear the bird might fly away.”“The bird doesn’t have a home. The outside world is dangerous for it. And besides, the bird has already found its freedom inside,” I said. “The bird won’t fly away.”‘So you don’t have to cut its wings since it did not grow them in the first place. It’s okay. The bird likes the cage anyway.’