Unholy Player - Chapter 19: Evolutionary step

Welcome! If you want to jump in without any spoilers, feel free. Otherwise, here's a story primer, with a list of more specifics on what to expect from my work further below.Our story follows a fallen knight haunted by his past, in a world afflicted by war and supernatural wounds. Alken is the Headsman of Seydis, an executioner tasked by the divine powers of his homeland to hunt dark sorcerers, warlords, and traitors of all varieties, lest they drag the world into calamity.Once a paladin, this role ill suits him. Forced to cross lines that shake his beliefs, tempted by dark forces, and seen as an ill omen wherever he wanders, his path is often a bloody one. The longer he spends in the shadows of his world, the more he comes to realize just how many have been disenfranchised by the existent order. During his lonely battles through a land haunted by the restless dead and ancient magics, his journey becomes increasingly strange and personal.Enter a realm where the dead stir in every shadow and brooding demigods wage a millennia long war for a ruined heaven, where blessed knights wield gilded flames and sorcerers battle with weapons forged of their own souls. Enter a world of faustian alchemists, of saintly demons, and of time-weary elves.From Oathbreaker you can expect— A setting heavily inspired by Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Fromsoft games, and authors such as Michael Moorcock and Kentauro Miura. — A first person POV from an older protagonist who already knows a lot about his world’s history and cultures, who shares this information with the reader as it becomes relevant.— A mix of action adventure and quieter moments where the focus is on character development. Lore is shared piecemeal, usually only as it relates to a particular arc or character beat.— A heavy focus on mystery, both with the setting and the protagonist. The main character’s backstory isn’t shared up front, and a lot of the narrative involves learning about him a bit at a time, either from his own narration or other characters interacting with him.— A semi-soft magic system where many mages manifest unique powers tied to their own soul, or gain unique powers through eldritch pacts.— Romantic elements. These don’t crop up much until later in the story.— A variety of supernatural beings, such as elves, vampires, gargoyles, chimera, and trolls. Many are familiar, some are not, and most of the familiar ones have my own twists put on them.—Nobledark fantasy. This means that the world is often themed around tragedy and horror, but it’s not dedicated to being gritty. There are elements of high fantasy intermixed with the scarier stuff.—Episodic arcs. Each story arc usually has a specific locale and antagonist or set of antagonists, but certain overarching plots tie them together.— A long running narrative. I don’t have a specific projection of how long or how many arcs or books, but you should expect this to be equivalent to a long running serialized work.This is my first web serial! I hope everyone enjoys it. For trigger warnings, readers should beware that there are some heavy topics in here. When I think something might upset certain readers, I’ll put a warning in the author notes above a chapter. If I miss or overlook anything, feel free to let me know in the comments! I am currently publishing the same story on my wordpress, which is linked below and in my profile. I release three chapters a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Thanks for reading!(I originally had a link to a wordpress, but I'm in the process of overhauling that space. It's not a priority since my readership is all here, but just in case anyone noticed and was wondering)

We do not belong to the light nor do we belong to the darkness, we walk the line in between.

There will be no people singing our praises or bards retelling our heroism but we will have pride in our work.

– Law of the Demon Hunter, Prologue

- Description from Novelupdates

Twenty years ago, she was taken in as the Lin family’s young heiress through a twist of fate. But mistakes would eventually be corrected one day. When the real daughter of the family returned and her foster parents begged her to stay, she obliged. Unbeknownst to her, this was actually a scheme disguised as familial affection. They only kept her around to squeeze her dry of all her value!

Do you still remember Contra’s secret skill to summon 30 lives?

Do you remember the excitement when Pokemon caught Pikachu?

Do you remember the location of the hidden mushrooms in Super Mario?

Do you still remember the hard work of farming in Ranch Story?

Do you still remember the blood-warming series?

Tank Wars on FC, Bomberman, Double Dragon, Cat and Mouse, Red Fortress, Jackie Chan Kick Hall… The King of Fighters on GBA, Metal Slug, Golden Sun, Naruto, One Piece, Ace Attorney, Fire Emblem… This one A familiar name, buried many of our childhood memories.

And the Fruit Ninja, Plants vs. Zombies, Fishing Master and Angry Birds of Android phones have brought us much joy.

Warning, because the movie world, arcade world, and large game world have been excessively damaged, the data is currently being reset! The dream space is opened this time, and the selected scenes are:

FC red and white machine world, GBA handheld world, and Android phone world!

- Description from novelbuddy