《The Ascension Age 》Chapter 18: Looking for you
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Although Altina, Kymei, and Sera had ugly expressions due to the unfairness, they had to admit that Zule was right. They were put together in the first place because of how odd they were. Even without high Stellar Energy Aptitudes, they still exceeded enough in other fields to make up for it. However, they were extremely rare.
Every year, the top-rankings were dominated by those with high Stellar Energy Aptitudes. Not even 1% of those there were people like Altina's group. That being said, it simply wasn't worth it using precious and rare Stellar Energy Resources equally since it would be a waste. The Baulmu Alliance needed warriors, not fairness. If a small percentage was impacted because of it, the alliance would simply ignore it.
It was then that Altina looked at Aire and asked, "Wait! But you said Aire has a very high aptitude, right? Just how high is it? Can he help us go up?"
Aire felt a chill on his back. Isn't that the same as asking him to be the main focus of their group? He totally didn't want the attention. "Ahem...it's not that incredible..."
"To be honest, I'm not sure," replied Zule with a pensive expression. "I tested his aptitude while he was recovering. However, because he was sleeping, I didn't get any proper results. I only know that he's definitely above average. However, if he doesn't show it while he goes through the test, I wouldn't be able to tell exactly where he stands."
Aire's eyes lit up as soon as he heard that. 'Great! I just need to do my best to hold back as much as possible,' he thought with hope in his eyes.
However, Stella's voice sounded in his mind right after, saying, "Aire, are you trying to kill us? If we don't get resources, you won't increase your level! Do you have any idea how much worse our situation will become if you do that?!"
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"What do you mean?" Aire soon asked.
Stella sighed before continuing, "Isn't that obvious? Back then, we could have gotten a great initial standing just by using your aptitude. That being said, we had a much better chance to fight for resources. But now, everyone's aptitudes will be used for it. That means that it'll be even more difficult to get there."
Aire couldn't help but ask, "Can't you simply hack the system and send the resources to us?"
Stella shook her head as she said, "I told you already. I can't. It goes against the rules of the Ascension Age Soul Assistants. I can't break it even if I wanted to."
"Why the hell do these rules even exist? It only makes things more difficult!" Aire cursed.
Stella didn't care as she said soon after, "If you want to complain, leave the Universe and tell Gigon, not me. I'm not the one who created them. However, if you don't get resources, you won't have the chance to even leave this planet, let alone the Universe. Aire, you can't hold back!"
Aire wanted to cry already. Nothing worked the way he wanted to. "Fine..." Though, it was then that he thought about something. "By the way, how good is my aptitude compared to others?"
Stella pondered for a moment before smiling and saying, "I don't know?"
Aire's mouth twitched as he asked, "What kind of useless assistant are you?"
Stella dropped her head after hearing that. "Sorry..."
"Sigh... whatever. I'll find out when they bring up the tests," mentioned Aire. "After all, they need precise results for the team's overall strength."
No one knew what Aire was saying to Stella, nor did they notice anything different. Because those conversations happened in his mind, everything was just extremely fast. He didn't really need to 'talk' with Stella, nor did she need to 'talk' with him. Everything was exchanged through thoughts, so no more than a few seconds passed during their 'conversation.'
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Zule then turned around, preparing to leave as he said, "Anyway, that's about it. As for the rest, they're more or less the same. The ceremony will start soon, so pay attention. By the way...we have a new principal, see ya!"
Zule then disappeared in the middle of the crowd as Altina and the others went to their seats. New principal? They weren't interested in that. The principal of a place like the Ascension Age School was a figure way too far from their level.
"Well, we can only do as much as we can. Everyone, make sure that you give your best during the aptitude test. We might have no chance of getting a top position, but we can't fall to the bottom either."
Sera and Kymei nodded after hearing that. Aire did too...albeit somewhat unwilling.
Because of how big the place was, many displays were placed everywhere for those all the way back. Others simply used their communicators to watch the opening through there. Nevertheless, everyone paid attention.
Not long after, the opening ceremony finally started. A woman followed by many instructors went up to the stage. However, the moment she appeared, many eyes widened. That's because she wasn't just anyone. There was almost no student in the school who couldn't recognize her. Well, there were a few who didn't know...including Aire.
'I didn't expect the principal to be from another race...' That's all Aire could tell.
However, he quickly noticed Sera's shining eyes by his side. It was as if she was seeing god itself as she muttered in disbelief, "It's...it's her!"
Kymei and Altina also seemed to be thoroughly amazed by that as one of them said, "This year...will definitely be interesting."
Aire didn't know what they were talking about. But before he could ask, the woman began to talk.
"Hello, everyone. As some of you probably know, the principal of the Ascension Age School had changed. However, I believe none of you knew who it was until now. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Ramalia Sol, the new principal."
Immediately, Stella's voice echoed in Aire's mind as she said, "Hey, look! It's her!"
"Do you know her?" Aire asked with a puzzled expression.
Stella nodded as she replied, "When I was looking for you, she kept following me everywhere. She had hundreds of starships under her command. She was very cool!"
"Looking...for you?" Aire immediately had a bad premonition after hearing that.
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How it became a Magical journey
Here are the back stories of the characters of my original story 'A magical Journey'.I will add other characters as the story goes! I will explain here how all the characters got together and what they were doing in their life before it all begun so I recommand to read the story before, since there is some spoiler in the backstories.
8 97A Virtual Invasion
An invasion from another dimension is shut down by an Empire's traitor and the world has a scant few decades to build the strength to resist a multidimensional Empire. How will the world fair when no one even knows its doom is one barred gate away? Fortunately, the traitor has a plan. Maybe with a bit of luck and planning, he can build a force to defend the world without anyone realizing it. Author's Thoughts: What is litRPG (From wikipedia) - LitRPG, short for Literary Role Playing Game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of MMORPGs with science-fiction fantasy novels.[1] LitRPG is a literary genre where games or game-like challenges form an essential part of the story. A LitRPG work simultaneously narrates the story of characters inside and outside of the game-world. At least some of the characters in a LitRPG novel therefore understand that they are playing a game: they are 'meta-aware'. So, while Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is a fantasy novel, a book about people creating avatars and interacting in a Lord of the Rings MMORPG would be a LitRPG novel.Why do I read them? You know, I am not too sure. I love MMOs. I played them, quit them, joined up and repeated the cycle. They are fun! They are a massive waste of time but so are most games. Do I want to read about someone else playing them? Sort of?The advent of VR and the possibility of VR someday becoming so immersive that you can't tell them from reality sets the imagination on fire. What if this could be life? But most stories fall short. At the end of the day the protagonist hangs up his VR helmet and goes to have dinner with his mom and dad or other family and it becomes meaningless. It's like the story that ends because the main character woke up and nothing you read matters.There have been some books that explore the concept of the intersection of reality and total immersion VR. Enders Game is a classic. There were a few others that escape me but they exist, however, the cross between the game and reality is weak.So what if the game was real? The technology needed for total immersion VR is so advanced that by the time we reach that goal technology should have naturally evolved to include several items. You must have direct neural input. You simply can't have a total immersion (all senses and perfect presence) experience without this basic prerequisite. If you have direct neural access, you can probably do neat things like feed knowledge and skills directly to that person. You can undoubtedly do many horrible things as well. Muscles are controlled by the brain. If you control the brain why would you let the body just sit there and rot? A person that sits unmoving for 24 hours a day will have their body whither away just like a coma patient. However, if you control the brain you could control the muscles. On a basic level, this would be isometric impulses, working muscle group against muscle group to avoid atrophy. Taken to its logical conclusion you would be able to gain muscle mass and program muscle memory. The flip side is that you could remote control their body... but let's not go there. So what would people do if it were real? Well, they would probably limit and regulate it since the drawbacks are very obvious. Even if you look at the basic aspects of this you can see some negative possibilities. Look at the Sword Art Online anime. Personally, I think they missed the boat by putting a bomb in the VR helmet. Do you really need a bomb when you have direct access to the brain?So what kind of events would you need to have a situation where the obvious drawbacks haven't been explored? Maybe a society where the advancement of technology has so far outstripped the explorations of its applications that ignorance was truly bliss? Okay, so I had to put in an alien invasion to kickstart the premise, but that was just one of the possibilities.
8 126RU in?
Lily thought her senior year of high school was going to be like everyone elses, but as she takes her little sister around Halloween night, the world changes in a drastic way. It all starts when a green light flashes across the sky. Her neighbors collapse, but when they rise they change. Lily needs to keep her sister safe in a now zombie filled world as they seek their parents and help others along the way. Please note there will be blood, gore and violence.
8 92Planetoid: The Legend of Aya Volume One
Elven warrior Aya Tintel is one of the remaining survivors from the destruction of her home-planet Tarabos. Taking refuge with her caretaker, Jeeg, she brings balance to the wildlife and space-farmers on a tiny planetoid because to her all life is precious. One day, a mysterious and handsome space traveler shows up and sets nature off balance, and fearing the worst for her new home, Aya sets out on an adventure to fix things, an adventure that would end with her becoming a legend among her people. Follow the Legend of Aya from her humble beginnings in this Avatar and Princess Mononoke inspired light novel.
8 68Cutting to Life: an NPC LitRPG (Battle Royale)
Nikola is an NPC in The World of Wills, a video game where players can feel sensations as if they were truly there. She leads a life of bloodshed and murder - that is, until one day she wakes up sapient. Just as she begins thinking real, non-scripted thoughts and making connections, she and the players in the game are told that if they die in the game, they die in real life - and it's time to get killing. But what of Nikola, the emerging AI consciousness? How does she win in a game that can only end in her being wiped from existence at the end of it all? - Updates Mondays and Fridays. Cutting to Life is a slow-burn LitRPG with a villainous (later anti-hero, or maybe still villainous, haha) female lead.It's told from the perspective of Nikola, an NPC within the World of Wills who's become sapient and is now mysteriously able to play the game as a PC. It's quite light for a LitRPG, but the system and stats become more of a focus later when Nikola herself can access them.The story gradually builds into a Battle Royale where the players' lives are on the line (if you die in the game, you die in real life), and only one party of savvy adventurers can win. They'll have to spend their time and stats wisely as dungeons promising rare gear float down from the sky - but is a legendary sword worth killing someone for, knowing they'll stay dead forever? - This story is told in third person, past tense.- This is a slow-burn LitRPG that spends a lot of time establishing its setting and characters, because I believe this will make for a better payoff in the end. As such, the Battle Royale doesn't start until chapter 30 or so.- Chapters are anywhere between 800 words and 3000 words long.- Book cover by Vixeona.Cutting to Life is also being posted on SPB and Scribble Hub.Thank you sincerely for reading.
8 186The Seven Winged Butterfly
« Is your life really that boring? ». « I mean, I wouldn’t say that it’s boring. It’s just…normal. I wake up, I go to lesson, I get back home to study, I read some web novels or watch some episodes of a series, and then I go to sleep. And the next day it starts again ». … « Sometimes I wonder how would it be like to live an adventurous life, like the characters of those novels…to really have an extraordinary life… ». ... « A superpower? Interesting…what superpower would you choose? ». ------------------------------------------------------------------- What would you do if you were suddenly gifted a superhuman ability? Would you use it to enjoy the pleasures of life? Would you try conquering fame and power? Would you create a better world for those around you? Now, what if you realized that you are not the only one gifted with a unique power. That there are six more like you, but whose powers and intentions you ignore completely. What would you do then? Is it safe to just keep living your life as you please? Would you track them down to make sure that they are peaceful? Or would you hunt them to make sure that you are the only "special" one in the world? That mysterious countdown that keeps ticking certainly doesn't help.
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