The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years - Chapter 2

Crimson Vale Academy—where reputation is currency, and failure is a stain you wear on your sleeve.Behind gothic walls and spotless uniforms, students aren't just educated—they're measured, ranked, and pitted against each other in a brutal meritocracy. Privileges are earned, not given. The strong rise. The weak vanish.Enter Kairon Vale, a transfer student marked Rank D—the bottom of the bottom. No badge. Just a stitched black fang, branding him as “Obsidian”—a warning to others.In a system where points dictate your value, Obsidian-ranked students claw for every opportunity to ascend into the prestigious Golden or Platinum ranks—where comfort, power, and influence await. But for most, it’s a losing battle.Yet Kairon isn’t here to fit in, impress, or play by their rules. Cold, calculating, and impossible to read, he watches the system… and waits. Because while the academy judges worth by numbers and names—he understands something deeper:Everyone wears a mask. And every mask can be cracked.Let the games begin.

“Ding, the wind and thunder war eagle has been upgraded, the bloodline is activated, and the dark flame phoenix has evolved!”

“Ding, the Xuanwu level has been completed simultaneously, the current level, the immortal level!”

The aura recovered, beasts ran rampant, and humans lost half of their population in an instant.

The demise of human beings is imminent, and the beastmaster turns out, and human beings have the opportunity to continue to survive.

Today, this is a world of beastmasters for all people.

Su Bai came through and awakened his dual contract talent, and he could have twice as many pets as others!

Based on blood and sweat and passion, Su Bai has become an eternal legend in this world!

- Description from novelbuddy

In a world ravaged by radiation and the remnants of war, Dylan is far from a classic hero. A lieutenant with a tainted past, he's just trying to survive the ruins of a dying world... until the day he wakes up bound and surrounded by the mutilated corpses of his comrades.Captured by monstrous creatures, he soon realizes he’s been transported to another world. A world far more dangerous, far more brutal—where only the strong survive, and even monsters are hunted. Saved in extremis by Maggie, his commanding officer, he begins a desperate escape. Their only hope may lie in their encounter with Élisa, an elf abandoned by her kin, and their discovery of a mysterious power: anima gems—stones imbued with spiritual essence that can enhance body and soul, and unlock the path to awakening.No One under 18 admitted