Within a Hollow Heart - Chapter 48: Volume 1, : "Shadows of a Fading Light"

Cecily was a scrawny girl with no friends. However, like all other girls, she yearned for true love. She always had a crush on Robert, Alpha’s son in their Pack. However, on her eighteenth birthday, she found out that Robert was her Mate!

Before she could hug him in excitement, Robert had already flung her hand away like a piece of trash. “You will not become my Mate. Pretend that nothing happened today. Leave and watch your mouth. Do not say anything that you should not say!”

Robert publicly ogled at the sexy, beautiful blonde Alison at their high school graduation. The graduation trip changed Cecily, making her stronger, more confident, more vibrant, and more beautiful and sexy. Furthermore, Robert, who met her on his college campus again, began to pursue her. “You should be my Luna. We will live together from now on. We will have lots of kids. They will be healthy and smart.” Robert’s eyes were filled with lust. Robert’s pestering made Cecily feel disgusted and nauseated!

As Cecily could not protect herself from Robert due to the difference in strength, Michael appeared. “Your actions make you unworthy as an Alpha.” Michael looked at Robert with disdain.

During Robert’s inauguration as Alpha, Cecily could no longer tolerate his pestering. “I, Cecily Levin, reject Robert Paslo as my mate.” When Robert was furious and in pain, wanting to hurt Cecily, Michael appeared again! “Cecily was the Mate arranged by the Moon Goddess for me.” Michael looked at Cecily gently. “Whoever dares to touch her is disrespecting the royal family.”

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)

“The masterminds are cooler than heroes,” I mutter as I stare at the chess pieces before me. It is easier to be the one who sits in the shadows and moves the pieces, likewise deciding the flow of the game.Heroes will foolishly sacrifice their lives for the good cause and villains will sacrifice the world for their own gain, but masterminds will use both the heroes and villains to their own benefit.Why, you ask? Well, that's because I've lost my life once while trying to be a hero so, I don't want that anymore. I'd rather be a mastermind who molds the world as per my convenience and live peacefully. Because, why not?***[Defender of Divine Glory says you are the hope of this world.]What?[Goddess of Wisdom believes that you will be the one to save the world.]Wait, what?![Propose the Grand Duke the idea of a fake marriage.]And, why would I do that?![Stop the assassination of Prince Eric.]Why would I save him?![The candidates for the throne are:... Who will you choose?]Ah! I give up...It seems like a curse that anyone who wishes for a slacker life in Isekai will have to go through the most troublesome things.In my past life, I died because of one rookie mistake but after being transmigrated in the world of fantasy I've gotten an opportunity to start afresh, but unlike the protagonists who look for their love and glory, I'd rather make money and live a life of a slacker.I have magic, I have power and I have money, what else do I need?Well, that was the plan but this damn system is getting on my nerves. I mean who in their sane mind would want to mess with the complicated royal family and political affairs? But that's not all though.I've also become the saviour of this world. Things just can't be anymore worse!Besides, the penalty of failing this quest is...[Failure: Destruction of the World.]It seems like if I screw up in selecting the right person then the destruction that is going to befall the world won't be stopped.If I speak of my reward then it's this vague thing.[Reward: Fulfillment of any wish.]“If that's the case then, I'd rather choose the person who would be the best fit for the throne.”And that's how I decided that I would become the Kingmaker.

Back in 1996, the eldest daughter of Oldman Xie’s Family, Xie Wanying, said that she wanted to be a surgeon, to which many people laughed at her .

“ A Phoenix gives birth to a phoenix. And a dog gives birth to a dog. A truck driver’s daughter will be a doctor, when pigs learn how to climb trees. ”

“I’m not just going to be a doctor, I’m going to be a cardiothoracic surgeon,”Xie Wanying said.

Her sentence created a thousand waves in the medical circle. A relative doctor of their family even ridiculed her sternly and said: “Do you know how high the admission score for medical students is? Can you even pass the exam?”

“There are zero female cardiothoracic surgeons in the country, if the top female doctors could not make it that far who do you think you are!”

A group of people ridiculed: “You will only get admitted to a third-rate medical school and be a hygienist in a small county. Who will you marry in the future? ”

But she proved them wrong, at the end of the college entrance examination, Xie Wanying entered the top class of surgery in the country with the province’s top prize in science. She entered the top hospital in the capital and was sought after by the director of the surgical departments while she was still an intern. “Student Xie Wanying, you must come to general surgery.”

“No, you must go to our urology—”

“Pediatric surgery lacks female doctors like Xie Wanying.”

All her relatives Wechat moments:……….

At this time, Xie Wanying independently completed the national youngest tetralogy of Fallot surgery, represented the domestic cardio-thoracic surgery association to participate in the international medical forum, and published the world’s first minimally invasive heart valve repair operation, which was a worthy feat considering she was the top female surgeon!

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