Toaru Majutsu no Index SS - Volume 2, Chapter 14: The Dance between Gatekeeper and Intruder. The Third Friday of September.

Excerpt:“Are you satisfied?” he asked, walking to the fire where she already sat. “Can you yet call yourself the greatest knight?”“Not until I can beat you,” Irene argued.Despite how serious he looked only moments before, he cracked a smile.“But you saved my life,” he insisted.Synopsis:With a second chance given to her after a pathetic ending to a life she didn’t want, Irene Litharion decides that she will follow in her father’s footsteps and become a knight.Waking up in the body of her eleven year old self, she’s reinvigorated to follow her heart. She has the rare blood of ancient warriors in her veins and promises to not turn her back to it anymore.Prepared for the sacrifices she will have to make to live the life she wants, a new challenge is presented when the only way she can become an apprentice knight is to turn her back on femininity altogether. The years she spent being forced to attend etiquette lessons go out the window and instead, daily sword practice takes place.Her father does all he can to get her into the knighthood, but it’s up to her to show her strength and skill to stay in it.However, it’s different than she expects when the Monster War ravages her homeland, she learns the sting of loss, and secrets of her own blood present themselves the more she leans into the thrill of battle.

Monster Fusion: Rise of the Vice Sect LeaderRay Darkheart was cursed forever unable to cultivate, even after reincarnation. No technique, no bloodline, no divine intervention could change his fate. His body rejected all forms of cultivation, leaving him powerless in a world where strength ruled.But fate was not so absolute.One day, he awakened the Monster Fusion System a power unlike any other. By fusing two monsters of the same rank, he could create something far stronger, evolving them beyond their natural limits. Each fusion carried forward enhanced traits, bloodlines, and abilities, forming creatures that defied logic itself.Yet power came at a price.To advance, to unlock the system’s hidden functions, he needed spiritual stones countless, unending spiritual stones. Every ability, every upgrade, every path forward demanded a fortune. Alchemy, formations, talismans, swordsmanship nothing was beyond his reach, as long as he could afford it.Thus, Ray chose the only path left to him.If the world would not grant him strength, he would take it for himself. As the Vice Sect Leader, he would amass wealth, plunder resources, and rob cultivators blind not for greed, but for survival.A powerless man? No.A schemer, a thief, a legend in the making Ray Darkheart would rise.[sect building] [business empire] [disciple cultivation] [comedy] [alchemist] [formation master] [sword dao] [system] [monster fusion] [resource management] [plundering] [strategic growth] [power progression] [cultivation world]

I don’t need any deep relationships. I have no desire for a girlfriend, and I only require one friend who holds any value to me. Ever since I threw out my youth for the sake of efficiency, there is one person who keeps entering the bedroom of Ooboshi Akiteru. She’s neither my little sister nor my friend. She’s nothing more than a bothersome, annoying Kouhai, as well as my friend’s little sister: Kohinata Iroha.

“Senpai, let’s go on a date~! Did you think I’d say that~?”

Rather than blood, it seems like energy drinks run through her veins. She keeps occupying my bed, and she tries her best to seduce me with whatever method she can play to her favor. She’s a girl who’s constantly annoying and obnoxious around me. Even though I’m busy all day long, she doesn’t care.

And in case you’re wondering why all these envious gazes are directed at me, it’s because Iroha is actually really popular. She’s an honor student at our school with top grades to boot, and she’s known for being kind and proper to anyone she meets.

…Hey now, why are you only so annoying when you’re around me?

Wonderful wizards mix and match Western magic and Eastern mysticism, and become the most unexpected wizard or Taoist priest in the world.

Tom: Watch out Vijay, Tiger Tank!

Vijay: Shrink quickly, just missing a keychain, hehe…

Tom: The mummy is resurrected, run

Vijay: What are you panicking about? Come and get a corpse talisman, stop first, just squatted in the pit and forgot to bring toilet paper…

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