Nano Mashin - Chapter 164: Into the snake’s mouth (7)

After years of exile, Marcus is coming back home. A powerful mage with few equals, Marcus lives in a world full of monsters and powerful adepts, many of which have bad histories with him. But he has not come back to pursue vengeance or start a fight. All Marcus wants to do is reconnect with old friends, build himself a house, and maybe train a successor or two.Alas, the world didn’t stop just because Marcus went into exile, and not everyone is content to let go of old grievances. Strange things are happening in the world at large, too, hinting at a looming disaster of unknown nature. Still, where there is a will, there is a way.If nothing else, Marcus has a lot of magical power to throw at problems.+++Zenith of Sorcery is set in its own original setting and isn’t related to Mother of Learning… beyond being written by the same person, of course. This is a more classical fantasy story than my previous one, with a lower level of technology and stuff like elves and dwarves, but it has a lot of worldbuilding effort put into it and its own complex magical system. The story has significant xianxia influences, but isn’t meant to be a xianxia story.For those of you not familiar with my previous work, I write relatively slowly. I intend to publish chapters at the rate of one chapter every three or four weeks, subject to further delays as life intervenes.

After marrying into the Gardiner Family for two years, Florence Fuller has become the topic of casual conversation among the wealthy ladies.“I heard that on the day of the two families' wedding, the young master of the Gardiner Family actually took another woman abroad.”“Yes, I was at the wedding scene that day, the man showed up once and left, leaving the girl there feeling awkward.”“No one outside knows she's the young mistress of the Gardiner Family. Her husband is constantly surrounded by scandals, and his female companions are never the same.”......Florence Fuller’s marriage was indeed as pitiful and unbearable as they said.Luke Gardiner would only occasionally pretend to be with her to appease the Gardiner family elder and never took this marriage of convenience to heart.Until someone showed him a video.Florence Fuller fell into a man's arms, her tearful eyes and expression distraught, while the man looked at her with deep affection, one arm holding her close. His other hand brushed away the tears from her eyes, and he lowered his head to kiss her.From that moment on, Luke Gardiner's world fell apart.He realized that from beginning to end, Florence had another man hidden in her heart.

Aaron, a wildlife biologist, became a military strategist right after a global war between nations began.He never wanted to participate in the war but he had to, because he wanted to continue his studies on endangered species the moment the war was over, but to his surprise, everyone in his unit were killed, including him, and the next thing he knew, Aaron woke up in the body of a young noble having a similar name to his.However, he also noticed he had awoken in a world different from Earth.In this world, demonic beasts ran rampart with only one thought in mind, causing them to feed on anyone they see, be it humans, elves or even magical beasts as well.During his first encounter with a magical beast, Aaron awakened a system which allowed him to bond with magical beasts and to obtain terrifying abilities from these bloodcurdling magical beasts, so he used his experience as a wildlife biologist to help make it easier for him to bond with these beasts.However, Aaron also noticed he could evolve these beasts if their loyalty towards him had reached a certain level, so he vowed in his heart to grow strong enough to protect those he cared about in this world with the hope of living a happy, peaceful life where he'll be able to focus fully on his passion as a wildlife biologist.