Chapter 0: The Last Stand
Hello everyone,
How are you doing? Nice to meet you. I’m Mayuces.
The story of Demir and Aris doesn’t begin with this chapter; it ends here.
This is the epilogue, and also a promise: there is an ending, there is character growth, and there are real changes.
When you see the slow start, you might think the whole novel will stay that way. It won’t. Once I establish the characters and the power-scaling system, the story won’t turn into a sprawling fantasy opera or an forever series.
I hope you enjoy the journey.
P.S. If you read my previous book, you know I’ve been experimenting with audiobooks. It takes a while, so I can’t keep up with my writing speed, but I’ve turned the first 10 chapters into an audiobook.
No excuses now. You can listen while gaming, walking, commuting to work or school, and then come back to read the rest. :D
YouTube link: https://youtu.be/UdAhF0zedQc
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*Date: 33,490 - Location Unknown - 14 Years After the Severing*
The battlefield screamed with light.
A single blast split the horizon. The beam burned so hot it erased stone, steel, and bone alike. Entire watchtowers dissolved in its wake. The frontlines of soldiers turned to drifting ash before they could scream.
Only one figure stood against it.
Demir Strovan planted his boots in the cracked earth. His tower shield, taller than most men, rattled under the storm. Runes etched into its gear burned bright. One after another they shattered into sparks as the impact ate them alive.
His voice cut through the chaos like a blade.
“STAND BEHIND ME!”
Every rune that broke was another breath of life given to those behind him. Every crack in the shield was a heartbeat stolen from his own body. The metal groaned. His bones ached.
Still he endured.
“Do it now!” Demir’s words came out as a roar. “I can’t hold on anymore!”
Behind him, Aris gathered every scrap of power he’d hoarded for fourteen years. The young man who’d once been a timid thirteen-year-old now stood ready to sacrifice his essence. His final attack would change the lives of everyone in Aethyros. Not just outsiders like him, but every single local.
The enemy’s beam pressed harder. Demir’s shield cracked down the middle.
Then came a sound no one had heard for fourteen years. She finally did it Aris thought.
A chime.
Blue light danced in the corner of Aris’s vision like a forgotten dream made real.
**[System Online]**
**[Level Up!]**
**[Level Up!]**
×98
**[Level Up!]**
**[Reached Max Level!]**
The HUD had returned. After fourteen years of silence, it blazed to life. All those gathered xp finally joined the system.
Some fell to their knees in disbelief. Others wept openly. The curse of the coup was broken at long last.
Among them, one man raised his head to the heavens.
Aris.
The Power Mage. The one who had built his legend not on steel or relics, but on witness and forgotten echoes.
Numbers flooded his sight like a waterfall of possibility.
**[Level: 99]**
His hands trembled as the prompt appeared.
*“Allocate points?“*
He didn’t hesitate.
“DUMP EVERYTHING INTO MANIFEST!”
His first real stats in fourteen years.
Power surged down his arm, shaping itself into a sphere of impossible brilliance. Time itself seemed to recoil. The system overloaded, struggling to process what he was creating.
Aris raised his hand. His voice carried like thunder across the broken field.
“This is MY world.”
With all his might, with power he’d never reached before, Aris started shaping his spell. Even the system glitched, trying to catch its magnitude. When finally released to Tyrant. The spell tore reality open
A small black hole formed at their location. The attacker, a horror cloaked in shadow and fire, screamed without sound as its body unraveled. It was erased down to the very concept of its existence.
The battlefield froze. No air. No noise. No motion.
Then came the words, drifting through the silence, colder than any death sentence:
**[New Title Acquired: Author of Fate]**
And suddenly, the story itself bent.
Perspective shattered. The world, once narrated by unseen hands, shifted. The voice changed. Aris’s voice....
“....No. My voice rises to the battlefield.”
I lowered my hand. The battlefield was dust. The enemy, gone. Even the blast had forgotten it existed.
As the silence thickened, I whispered the words I had waited fourteen years to speak.
“Let’s get out of this wretched game.”
Hey,
I just finished reading your story and I really loved it. The characters felt so real and every scene kept me completely engaged. I also have a few ideas on how we could enhance it visually if you are open to exploring them.
A smart, gripping progression fantasy where choices not stats define power. Real stakes, meaningful crafting, academy intrigue, and a world that refuses second chances make this a standout read.