Ranking System - Chapter 156 Courtney’s First Day

Book I: Lost ThingsTristan Abrascal is a thief, one of many making their living under the perpetual twilight of the greatest city in all of Vesper. Quick wit and a contract with a capricious goddess have always kept him one step ahead, until one night he crosses a line by accident that burns all the bridges he had left. But not all is lost, as his mentor offers a way out of peril that turns out to be more than a simple escape.It is also an opportunity to get even with the infanzones, the nobles he’s lived under all his life, and it so happens that Tristan has a full ledger’s worth of scores to settle with them.Lady Angharad Tredegar has fled halfway across the world, leaving behind a ruin of a life: her family butchered by a ruthless enemy, their estate torched and their nobility revoked. Yet no matter how far she flees the blades of assassins follow, and she finds herself growing desperate for any protection. She has one relative left to call on, her estranged uncle, but she finds that the safety he offers comes at a cost.Angharad has sworn revenge, however, and her honour will allow for no compromise. She will do what she must to survive so that one day bloody vengeance can be visited upon her enemies.The paths of the two take them to the doorstep of the Watch, but for desperate souls like them enrolment is a lost cause. They will have to do it the hard way instead, by surviving the trials on the isle known as the Dominion of Lost Things.Where every year many go, and few return.Book II: Good TreasonsThe trials of the Dominion are over.The four survivors have become students of Scholomance, enrolling together as a cabal, yet even on those infamous grounds they soon learn none are beyond the reach of their pasts.Angharad Tredegar is returned to a semblance of the world she left behind, but finds her honor sorely tested by bargains offered - every bit as tempting as in the stories and even deadlier.Tristan Abrascal needs answers. Mysterious enemies keep trying to abduct him, his classroom does not exist and he’s now had several conversations with dead people. Worst of all, his carrots keep dying.Maryam Khaimov is going mad, which would worry her less if it were happening on schedule. More frightening yet is the possibility that she is not, and there truly is someone else going around wearing her face.Song Ren must forge the others into a functional unit, all the while fending off enemies on all sides: rival cabals, vengeful countrymen and the deluge of implacable foes her companions simply cannot seem to stop attracting.Failure is not an option, for Song must bring back honor to her family’s name whatever the cost: it is the only way to keep their disgrace from literally eating them all alive.And as the four chase shadows in Scholomance, in the distance looms the greater test awaiting them in the Asphodel Rectorate. Asphodel is a faded power, the rotten carcass of what it once was, but under that rot looms darker things - of which monsters might just be the least dangerous.Besides, is treason really such an evil when you have the best of reasons for it?

He hadn’t even met his so-called “fiancé” when he found himself labeled as an “abandoned husband.” Discussing marriage had always been a sensitive topic for him, but he ended up falling victim to a cunning plot that involved marriage, dowry theft, and a seemingly arrogant “high and mighty” family. Those individuals who posed as “orphans” and “villains” wore sinister grins on their faces. They audaciously conspired against this young master, ensuring that peace eluded his family day in and day out. And now, what was this? The supposed “orphan” had suddenly transformed into a royal grandson?! Tears welled up in Lin Yuxing’s eyes as he exclaimed, “My love, let’s continue our days of togetherness!”

After her grandfather's death, Bai Hanyun was disowned by her parents and cast out of the Bai family. With nowhere else to go, she left the city and returned to the countryside. There, by a twist of fate, she discovered an antique mirror hidden in the basement of her newly purchased home. From that moment on, strange events began to unfold—until one day, she stumbled upon a prayer from a young general.Feng Xiyan, besieged by the Yuezhi Tribe and betrayed by the imperial court, had been driven into a desperate corner. With no access to water, food, or medicine, he and the citizens of Xiqiang City could do nothing but await death. But just as all hope seemed lost, Heaven intervened. From that moment on, the Feng Army and the people of Xiqiang City had enough food and water, living lives more prosperous than even the Emperor himself.

“My unrequited love is over.” Compared to my perfect older brother, I, Ha Giyeon, was endlessly lacking. My first love and my last love—every single one of them were my brother’s friends. What I got in return for pouring all my affection into them were cold, violent words of rejection. Then came the thunderbolt: I wasn’t even their real son. My family, whose love I desperately sought, kicked me out of the house. Even though I scraped by doing hard labor, it didn’t feel like living. Then came the sudden car accident. Right before dying, I regretted everything and begged— That if I ever got to live again, I would never give my love to the family who scorned and discriminated against me, nor to the brothers who tormented me under the pretense of affection. I would live a life that was truly my own. And as if it were a lie, in the winter of my 17th year, Ha Giyeon returned. As Ha Giyeon began to change, so too did the family and the brothers who had once trampled him…