Crown of Thorns - Chapter 83: The Warrior's story

For five years, I've lived the life of a failure. Smashing my hands against the wooden target in hopes of entering a meditative state; a necessary step to becoming a cultivator.For five years, I've faced nothing but disappointment, looks of pity, and meager attempts at encouragement.But everything has to come to an end. An end, that for me, became a new beginning!Circuits, wires, and capacitors? Or maybe spirit powder, Spricur crystals, and Qi gathering formations?In a world where cultivation is, for most, merely a hobby and the worlds of mysticism and science are divided, I shall be the one to craft a bridge between the two!Why rely on ancient arrays to harness dense Qi? Isn't it easier to buy one of my converters, plug it into the wall, and be done with it?Is your gaming console malfunctioning, yet no tech shop can find the cause? Have you tried this the exorcising swatter 3.0?And you! Yes, you, the one whose reflection appears on the screen on your phone once you block it! Why would you buy static figurines if you can come to my shop... And get your hands on waifus that will actively flirt with you?Come all ye troubled souls, and allow this God to craft a solution to all your problems!

Warning This fiction contains:

Graphic Violence Profanity Sensitive Content

Summary – Level 1:

Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.

Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.

Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.

Did I mention that there will be math?

Summary – Level 2:

Okay, but what are you in for, really?

Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.

...

What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?

Yes!

Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–

Now!

Okay, okay!

The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?

Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?

Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.

POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.

Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.

Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.

There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.

The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.

The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!

“Your Majesty, please break-off my marriage with Her Highness the Imperial Princess. I fell in love with Lady Adriane Reese.”

“Six engagements, Six break-ups.”

The princess’s fiancé always had an affair with the maids!

“I don’t want to marry the crown prince, I want to live with my father forever…”

“Such a useless being. Begone!”

The princess who is known to be weak and s*upid, Apollonia.

But she has another hidden face…

“It’s because the throne is hard to obtain, my father also spent 10 years on trying to kill my mother, the empress.”

As Apollonia grinned, her red eyes shone intensely. Usurpation of the throne.

Her goal was clear. She was never shaken.

‘I want to live my life with my father.’

To be exact, I want to live my life where my father is seated.

Please wait, father. Your daughter is on her way.

To take back everything that was stolen from me.

Her original self was a powerful jiangshi who had cultivated for innumerable years. However, when she attempted to unlawfully enter the world of the immortals, she was discovered by the Jade Emperor and thrown into the mortal world as punishment. Her soul then left her corpse, fusing with the body of the Motian Dynasty’s sixth princess. She didn’t even have a chance to fully comprehend her current circumstances before her maid unexpectedly ignored her mistress, even publicly provoking her!

“What? That weak and cowardly idiot who has neither her father’s love or mother’s favor actually mistook her older sister as her maid?! All the royal princes in the world loathe her?”

“Damn you! This old lady will let all of you understand why the flowers are so red!”

“Hey! Did you hear? That cowardly sixth princess unexpectedly snatched away the man that the eldest princess favored today!”

“How is that interesting news? That fourth princess who ran always ran amuck in the capital city is now confined to her bed now!”

The good-for-nothing counterattacks! The previously cowardly and incompetent sixth princess suddenly reveals her exceptional talents! She is full of radiant elegance, and unparalleled disdain!

She is driven by the desire to shed no more tears! However, if she had known what would happen later, she would have been better off acting stupid! She had calculated thousands, tens of thousands of scenarios, but had never calculated one where one day, her own prey would unexpectedly turn around, and ruthlessly bully her instead! Damn it, she still hasn’t sucked any blood yet!

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