Heavenly Castle - Extra Chapter 4 – Ayla and Taiki’s day together, Part1

I had finally done it—achieved the ultimate Paladin build. Maxed stats, impenetrable armor, and so many resistances that death itself had given up on me. I was an unkillable tank, an indomitable force. Nothing could stop me.And then my PC exploded.I died.Irony, thou art a cruel mistress.But instead of the afterlife, I woke up as my Paladin character… in the wrong freaking genre. Instead of castles and dungeons, there were people flying around on swords, shooting qi beams like fantasy laser guns.“This is definitely the wrong genre,” I muttered, watching a pompous young master sneer at me.“Kowtow, kiss my foot, and beg for forgiveness!” he declared.I looked at my imaginary maxed-out health bar, then at his flimsy silk robes.Oh, this was going to be fun.

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.

Just as nuclear weapons are merely a by-product of science, immortality is but a small gift in the pursuit of the Dao.The patriarch of the new method, the great sage and virtuous teacher, Zhen Fa Zhenren, the strongest cultivator in ten thousand years, is recruiting personal disciples. The reference books are as follows:“Topology in Talismans—Starting with the Little Rain Talisman”“Artificial Intelligence Research in Magical Artifacts: A Preliminary Exploration of Artifact Spirits”“Elemental Decomposition of the Nine-turn Golden Elixir”“Basics of Formation Pathways”Note: Preference will be given to those who have published papers in the Journal of Immortal Dao.

Beneath the daily routine, at the end of rationality, outside the world you are familiar with – there is a landscape you have never imagined.When Yu Sheng opened the door for the first time, the world he was familiar with collapsed.And the “truth” that goes straight to the root of the world came to him.