A Warlock's Ascent - Chapter 9 That Is Not A Bird

“The stronger the weapon you awaken, the greater your chance of survival.”That’s the law on Mars, humanity’s last refuge after Earth fell.After the mysterious death of the Red Space Dragon, the most powerful of its kind, the surviving dragons tore through Earth in a brutal war, each hunting the lost source of its power. Half the planet was scorched in their wake… and in the chaos, Gavin died. Crushed under rubble. His girlfriend was slaughtered. His dog too.Both gone.But death wasn’t the end.He awakens on mars - into the future, years later, in a new body. Stronger. Sharper. Not entirely human and with the new name; Tatehan.Mars, now colonized by desperate human survivors, is a harsh, dystopian, dangerous world ravaged by wild Martian beasts and alien threats. And here, power is everything.Survival depends on awakening ancient weapons — divine swords, elemental guns...But Tatehan awakens something else entirely, the lost spaceship of the Red Space Dragon.A sentient vessel. Alien. Unimaginably powerful.The ship grants him access to a mysterious system that unlocks alien powers, not all at once, but only through extraordinary feats.[You have awakened your first ability: Gravity Manipulation — Level One]Armed with this force, Tatehan will battle monsters, rival factions, and godlike threats.He will journey to Venus, Pluto, and Saturn’s moons.And from the ashes of Gavin’s past, he will rise, now as Tatehan, not just to survive, but to become a legend feared across the galaxy.

Nova scrambled backwards, panting hard, her short locks clinging to her damp forehead as she watched this predator stalk towards her. The vibrant and lively forest hushed, almost holding its breath to watch the scene unfold. Great, she had an audience for what would surely be a gruesome death.Death looked... a little... rugged and in nothing but a loin cloth, defined by slabs of muscle, a trail of hair leading down to such a small piece of cloth to hide a large-A spine-chilling growl snapped her gaze back up to meet his golden-red eyes, fiery, and intense, glaring at Nova as he slammed his hands either side of her head. Pieces of bark crumbled down from the impact.“I told you not to run...” He threatened, his eyes piercing hers, his voice more guttural than she'd heard from any male. His eyes clenched shut as his body trembled. “My instinct is to always stalk, always chase... until I get what I want..”Their faces were inches apart. She could feel his hot breath fanning her face. The forest was humid and hot, and his body was so close to hers that it was almost unbearable. The gruff voice, those words and the intensity of those eyes that reminded her of sunsets caused goosebumps to flourish across her arms.“What do you want?” Nova swallowed, not recognising her voice. She was so out of her depth. His chest rumbled, and more bark crumbled down from behind her head.“You...”Her breath hitched.“To. Do. As. You're. Told.”Paradise was what Nova Winslow was promised when her boyfriend whisked her away to Isla De Tayun, the perfect getaway for their busy lives. It was untouched, pristine, a hidden gem.But it had remained that way for a reason. The island doesn’t want visitors. And neither do the natives.What should have been a romantic retreat, drinking from coconuts and lounging on white-sandy beaches together, turns into a holiday from hell.Mid-argument with her soon-to-be ex, Nova stumbles into a lake. When she resurfaces, her boyfriend, the path she came from, and the resort have vanished.Alone, stranded, and with little survival skills, Nova has only a wet phone with no signal, a pair of heels, and an irrational fear of bats—which are everywhere. She is out of her depth when she falls into a mystical world of beasts.Hunted by tribesmen, stalked by beasts that shouldn't exist, and hearing animals speak, she has no choice but to trust the wild beast the forest itself fears—Yoa, a wanted man. Together, they flee the tribes pursuing them all while battling her growing attraction to Yoa.Can she survive the wild and make it back to her civilised life? Or will she lose herself to the untamed world—and to the man who belongs to it?

A love story that came about due to Fight The Landlord. [1]

Roy died in an unfortunate accident.

He thought that was the end.

But unfortunately for him, God didn't have a place for him in heaven, and the devil didn't want him in hell either.

So he ended up in the body of a famous count's third child, who his entire family neglected.

The world was exactly the same as the one in the novel he had read the day before he died.

The person whose body he had come to possess had the same name as him but wasn't mentioned in the novel because he had died two years before the forces of chaos invaded the county.

That meant, while Roy was alive in this new body, two years later, he would die, ripped apart & eaten by a monster.

He needed strength to survive the future events, but unlike the protagonist of Stallion novels, he didn't have a golden finger!

[You've gained 1 EXP]

It was only after unintentionally stepping on a bee Roy realized that he possessed a golden finger!

And this golden finger might be his key to becoming the strongest!