Valkyrie's Shadow - Chapter 18Winter’s Crown: Act 8,

Humanity’s first 8th Class Mage.

Betrayed, he traveled back 30 years into the past.

The story follows Ian Page, archmage and the first man to break through the 6th class, then through the 7th and become the most powerful mage, an 8th class mage.

After a lifetime of war and killing, the continent was finally unified thanks to his efforts. Now, old, his wish is to live the rest of his life in peace and try to find salvation for all the blood he spilled. However, his old friend, maddened by paranoia, couldn’t tolerate someone so powerful, so he betrayed Ian and killed him.

In his last breath, he cast a time magic that allowed him to travel back to when he was a young boy. With all the knowledge he previously had, he decided to do things better so he could end with less regrets.

With the appearance of the Title System, who wouldn’t want to rule the world, uncover the endless mysteries of the Dead Worlds, or become the new symbol of humanity?When the Great Distorted Cataclysm descended upon Earth, humanity received an answer to one of the most frequently asked questions in history.Is there life beyond Earth?And the answer was yes, as Distorted Gates began appearing all over the world, from which wave after wave of Distorted creature of various shapes and sizes emerged. These Gates concealed bottomless Dead Worlds, each filled with countless histories and secrets.And teenagers who had turned sixteen received a special Title System. Within this system, they were granted a random Title that determined their unique abilities.Shadow Assassin, Phantom Lady, Ethereal Entity… There were many Titles with cool names and strange powers.But Lin surpassed them all — he received the rare Title: Lord of the Time!Orphaned at the age of ten and forever driven by a thirst for vengeance, Lin embarks on a new path to gain the power he needs to fulfill his long-awaited revenge.“With this Title, I finally have the strength to take down the Matrix family and carry out my long-awaited revenge! Mom, Dad, rest peacefully in heaven… your son is going hunting!”This is the story of the birth of time…Wait a second — didn't time always exist?!

Ye Feng was transported to a cultivation world, but unfortunately had no hope of cultivating immortality and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life.Yet he didn’t know—The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king.The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it.The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him.Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds.Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along…

I am currently re-writing the first chapters of this story. They are quite rough and bounce around a lot and I can do better. At some point, I will replace these with the better chapters.Sometime in 2024 Aethon Books will publish the first volume of this story on Amazon, KU, and audible. This will mean the story will be stubbed. I will notify people far in advance of that.In the dystopian world of the future, life is rough when you live at the bottom. Jobs are non-existent. Far too many people live in poverty, crammed into huge buildings called Habitats. With no jobs in the real world, many people can only find work online in VR worlds as servants to the very rich. And it's getting worse. The old internet is unusable and hacked to pieces. The new system needs AI to run things, but all but one of them were destroyed. The last sentient AI is ordered to create a new game world so the rich can have a playground, and the corporations that rule the world can have a new global market place. Everyone wants a piece of the new game. The guilds are competing to be the first to find the dungeons and kill the biggest monster. The corporations are claiming land and putting in their online market places. Ozzy and his friends just want a paycheck.Four friends sign five year contracts as virtual serfs in a small village, and can't go adventuring at all to gain money. They don't have many choices. They can work as a blacksmith, barmaid and shepherd for all those years....or they can cheat and find ways to take advantage of the system and carve out a section of the game world for themselves, and earn a fortune in the real world.When they give you a mop and not a sword, you have to find the loopholes and change the rules.