Close Combat Mage - Chapter 377 - Sudden Advancements Part 2

Johnathan, an old man with an extraordinary past but an ordinary end, gets reincarnated in a dark fantasy world full of magic, darkness, and mysteries furled.

However, he committed a grave blunder by taking the fiction he had read as a reference. Reborn as a baby, he hoped to be deemed gifted by speaking early.

One thing led to another, and tragedy struck. The villagers declared him a demon-possessed and called the church. Johnathan, now known as Sylvester Maximilian, realized that he had messed up.

When the church's inquisitors came to judge him and burn him on a pyre. As a last resort and to welcome his soon to arrive second death, he started chanting holy hymns as his last breath.

Overwhelmed, they kneeled, thinking he was a messenger of Solis.

From there, the story of how Sylvester Maximilian rose through the ranks to sit at the top began.

But his life won't be ordinary, as he uses his cunning and the tag of 'God's favored' to his advantage. Fighting treachery, unearthing secret plots and world mysteries, facing the darkness around him and creating his place in history, engraving his name in the annals to be forever remembered as the—Immortal Pope, The Young.

[A/N: To not mislead you, the novel's name does not mean he instantly becomes the Pope from the start. The story will follow the life of MC. Though he will become the Pope at a pretty young age. 40% of the novel will be based around MC fighting to sit on the supreme throne.

If you enjoy world building and lore building, then you will like this story.]
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***Main Tags: FANTASY, ADVENTURE, MAGIC, DARK, STRONG MC(Weak at the start because he's a baby. Not an instant OP though.), WHOLESOME, COMEDY, KINGDOM BUILDING. MENTALLY OLD MC, Politics, Backstabbing, World Building.***

[WARNING: MC will not go around saving everyone. Absolutely not if it puts him in danger. But if he can save someone using his status or position in the church, he will. He will kill innocent people if he has to. MC is not crazy, cynical, or unsociable. The world at some times may seem very DARK.]
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[DISCLAIMER]
The religion will be fake. I won't make it similar to those existing in our world not to trigger anyone. However, the Church terminologies and designations may feel identical as they are simple vocabulary words.

Again, everything you read in this novel is fictional and has no relation to our world.

I hope you enjoy my work. Stay safe and eat healthy bananas.
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Join the Monke Family - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn

“Special Admission, Rank 1.”That was the title on the golden invitation I threw into the trash three months ago.Back then, I was the Crime Lord of Oakhaven. I had money, territory, and an ego that touched the sky. Why would a King lower himself to attend a school?I was arrogant. I was foolish.And I paid the price.It took less than an hour for a single knight to turn my criminal empire into a graveyard. He didn't just defeat me; he ignored me. I was an ant beneath the boot of a god.Broken and desperate, I used my last asset: a golden letter granting me entry to Zenith Imperial Academy as “Special Admission Rank 1.”It’s a lie. I’m not a prodigy. I’m a fraud with no foundation, surrounded by the strongest heirs in the Empire who want to see me bleed. I can’t cast their spells. I can’t hold their weapons.But I can steal their lives.My Authority is [Usurper]. While they study theory, I steal reflexes. While they practice honor, I copy trauma. I am not here to learn. I am here to hunt.My targets are the “Four Calamities”—four women who hold powers strong enough to rewrite reality.They think I’m their peer. They don’t know I’m the parasite waiting to hollow them out.I’m going to make them mine.Discord: https://discord.gg/FK9GfrSjtb

While a certain young man hides in a certain Ruins City, wanting to become a tanky mage through passive farming.

Mages should focus on learning more spells and magic? There is no time to invest in body strengthening? Mages are defenseless when they run out of mana? None of these are a problem for Gurney and his Passive Farming System. Through the system, Gurney trains both his body and mind at the same time, he goes beyond the limits and logic of an ordinary mage. This is a mage who casts spells while tanking hits, his recovery speed surpasses even warriors and knights. This is the journey of a vigilant and careful mage who grows tankier and tankier.

…

With the rising waves of darkness, the steampunk steel ship sets sail on a journey and adventure.

Whales sink to the depths of the sea, sirens sing with beautiful voices, calling out to the Transcendent sailors who hunt for mermaids.

The mysterious Time Hunters who obey the ancient rules search for their prey.

He who bears the title of “Hero” carries the burden of fate as he steps on the road to write a new page of history.

Ancient “Sealed Ones” rush to break out of their imprisonment, wanting to create and release new “Supernatural Memetics”.

The combination of steam technology and supernatural powers bring forth the era of “Transcendent Genetic Warriors”.

Infant dragons who have just hatched watch as the Dragon Slayer digs out their mother’s heart from her body.

Calamity level lifeforms sharpen their blades, stepping into the stage of this extraordinary era.

The tides of the era surge and swirl, bringing along the mysterious fog of darkness…

The indescribable existence nurtures and grows…

Along with the stare of the Abyss…

Lyle Walt is a young noble boy and heir looking forward to the day he can inherit his family’s territory. Except around when he was 10 year old, his parents started neglecting him more and more in favour of his little sister, Celes.
On his fifteenth birthday, he is challenged to a duel by his sister to see who will inherit the household and horribly loses, being cast out of his family. Afterwards, he gets treated by the family groundskeepers and receives the family heirloom Gem from him that Lyle’s grandfather had entrusted to him. From there, he begins an aimless journey with his childhood friend and former fiancée, Novem, and the Gem-turned-Jewel that houses the memories, personalities, and Skills of seven of his ancestors.