Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord - Chapter 224: The Husk of an Outer God

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.

The formless ancient world was infested with despicable demons. They hunted and feasted on mankind, keeping the human civilization constantly in a weak and suppressed state.

During the first known year, a magical mountain descended into the world from the realm of the Gods. Carved on this enormous mountain was a message: ‘Heaven Prevails’…

After the Grand Descent, a name that was given to the descending of the mountain, the Three Great Sages made their ways to Mystic Mountain where they learned to harvest what we now call magic, establishing the Mystic Cults and eighty-one sacred shrines to help aid mankind with the cult’s mystic powers against the eternal fight to the death with demons.

- Description from Novelupdates

Li Jing, who is unemployed in a first-tier city, obtains a system where enjoying life can double the amount of money spent.[Congratulations, host for spending two thousand yuan to enjoy gourmet food, positive emotion one star, return ten times the consumption amount of twenty thousand yuan.][Congratulations, host for spending fifty thousand yuan to stay in a luxury hotel, positive emotion two stars, return twenty times the consumption amount of one million yuan.][Congratulations, host for spending one hundred thousand yuan to enjoy the pleasure of purchasing luxury goods, positive emotion three stars, return...]By becoming wealthy through the system, Li Jing finally experiences the joy of life, luxurious spending, perfect service, and transcendent status, all of which make him deeply understand the power of money.Especially those once unattainable goddesses, due to Li Jing's improved economic level and upgraded social circles, wonderful and unforgettable stories centered around him occurred.In the top floor suite of the world's tallest building, Li Jing stands with a wine glass in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the entire city, and sighs:“People without money are merely alive.People with money truly live.”

~Mature Content~Alex, a broke and normal college student, stumbles across a deal too good to pass up—a high-tech VR headset for just $99.99 with a coupon code.Curious and desperate, he buys it, only to discover a virtual world called The Nexus.This isn’t just any game; every coin he earns in the VR world can be cashed out in real life.There are two Modes in The VR game: General for Normal Gaming/Adult for Adult Gaming.He doesn’t know what happened after playing VR he discovered that he can use the in-game currency he earned through quests can be use in real life.And all the quests are related to Adult Game mode which he selected in the starting.