The Regressor Is The Villain - Chapter 9: New Skills

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.

Nicholas Marjan, known as Niels, was an Asian football-obsessed loner in the modern world. A master of FIFA Career Mode, addicted to YouTube tactics videos, and followed every twist of the transfer window like it was life or death, he lived the beautiful game from behind a screen.Until the day he died.And woke up in the late 2000s, in the body of a once-promising young player at a lower-league English club. A player whose career had been cut short by a brutal ACL injury. With his playing career over before it could truly begin, his second life offers no glory on the pitch.But Niels still has one weapon: his mind.Armed with future knowledge of football's evolution, and guided by a mysterious, almost cheat-like instinct for scouting raw talent, Niels steps into the world of coaching. As an assistant at a struggling lower-league club, he begins to reshape the team from within challenging outdated tactics, unearthing hidden gems, and reigniting hope in the dressing room.His methods are unorthodox. His instincts, uncanny. And soon, whispers about the “young coach with a gift” begin to spread.This isn’t the story of a player chasing glory. It’s about someone reborn to change the game from the sidelines. From forgotten training grounds to Europe’s biggest stages, Niels is on a mission,not just to win, but to rewrite what it means to lead.He once dreamed of lifting trophies as a player.Now, he'll do it as a coach.

Auren was the star of his generation. Graduated the combat school at the age of 12, mental fortitude was beyond his peers, and he was considered the talent of the Western State of Lysendral.It was for this reason that his awakening was greatly anticipated. Everyone was sure the star would receive a Divine Blessing from the Archon.And like others before him, be set on a definite journey to becoming the strongest Blessed in the history of the world.However, expectations were shattered when Auren awakened a Divine… Curse.“Such a phenomenon has never been heard of!”“How can a human awaken a curse! This is an abomination! Kill him! Sacrifice him to the archons!”In such a slight moment of appointment, Auren's entire life came crashing down.And he became a national criminal. Locked up and sentenced to death for having receiving a curse instead of a blessing.A 16 year old boy was ruthlessly killed by a guillotine and offered as a sacrifice to prevent doom… and the people relished in it.However, this was not the end for Auren.[Congratulations, you have died by execution],[Conditions have been met][You have challenged your first fester.][A requiem beckons onto you..][...Your resurrection awaits.]Having broken the shackles of death, Auren rises again to seek vengeance and destroy not just the nation that had killed him but tear down the very existence of the archons themselves.But is everything really as it seems?

WARNING!-DARK ROMANCE-A shifter will only have mate from their kind, but what happens if you are the last creature of your kind?Lycan.He is the last of his kind and is the most terrifying type of shifter. But, as scary as he was, he was alone.However, in order to survive, you don’t have to be the strongest, just deadliest.***He looked at her like he had never seen anyone before. The sight of her calmed the rush in his ears, the beat of his heart and finally he was able to focus again…“She is no longer your responsibility. She is mine to deal with now,” the lycan said.