Trials of the Abyss - Chapter 12: Battle of Wits

“Success is a shallow foundation built on luck and circumstance. Failure, accumulated and stacked like endless bodies in a mass grave, forges the deepest roots into unshakable power. I know all this about power with surety as all I had were countless failures. After all, I am Vakochev, and I set the very Scales of Existence. This... is my story. Existence, is my Story.”---In the brutal Lands of Stone, where mountains move and beasts devour civilizations whole, power is the only currency that matters.Damian Vakochev was once a prince to a glorious power, but he was stripped of that power, family, and everything he held dear as he was left with a shattered foundation.In an age where tribes war for scraps and Neolithic Empires crush all who oppose them, where ancient beasts roam territories older than memory and Mana flows through the Lands of Stone like blood through veins, where Warriors reinforced by Mana who could go against entire armies and Primal Beasts could devour entire mountains, Damian looks upon it all and asks...why?Who said things had to be the way they were? Who decided what power truly was?Why could he not stand over the tallest mountain and declare exactly what power was as he saw fit?!Why did he have to follow the set path of cultivation? Why were others born with Land and Sky Physiques while he was not? What prevented him setting up his own rules and his own paths?!

On her wedding day, she was humiliated; her status as the legitimate wife was instantly changed into that of a concubine.

I died a heroic, powerful, male Archmage… so why did I wake up as a sixteen-year-old girl?!Theo’s last memory is of a glorious, failed last stand. His next is a beeping hospital machine—and a terrifyingly handsome guy he’s pretty sure is a demon calling him “princess.”Now, he’s Thea Montrose, youngest daughter of a powerful family in a world run on magi-tech and corporate espionage. Between navigating floating cars, enduring his new mom’s hugs, and figuring out the horrifyingly complex mechanics of using the bathroom, Theo has his hands full.But his new family is hiding secrets, and their rivals play for keeps. Good thing this spoiled heiress’s body now holds the soul of an ancient wizard. They wanted the real Thea back? They’re about to get way more than they bargained for.He failed to save his old world from an apocalypse—now he just might save this one (and finally figure out how this bra works).