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The Argentum Apex

Five hundred years ago, General Aethelgard saved humanity. Then, he was betrayed. Now, he is Kaelen Vance, a seventeen-year-old minor noble with a fragile body, a pitiful mana pool, and the tactical genius of a war god. Kaelen has awakened in a new era where magic has become inefficient and soft. To find the truth behind his past life’s murder, he must gain access to the Forbidden Archives. But those secrets are locked away at the very top of the Argentum Citadel—the most ruthless magical academy in the world. At Argentum, gold means nothing. Aura Points (AP) are the only currency that matters. Your rank determines your food, your lodging, and your rights. The weak sleep on the floor and starve; the strong live in luxury and rule. To survive the brutal hierarchy, Kaelen needs a partner. He finds one in Elara Vane. Elara is a magical prodigy with the firepower to level a mountain, but a childhood curse has left her paralyzed from the waist down. In an academy obsessed with mobility and physical prowess, she is viewed as a liability—a stationary target waiting to be broken. Kaelen sees something else: The ultimate artillery. They strike a desperate deal: Kaelen will be her shield, using ancient martial arts to hold the line, and Elara will be his sword, raining destruction from her runewoven hover-chair. Together, the "Cripple" and the "Failure" will shatter the academy’s rankings. They will climb from the bottom of the spire to the Zenith. But at the very top waits the Headmaster, Lord Valdor—the strongest human alive—and he is watching.
Youlovereading · 95 Views

BLACK CONTRACT CITY

BLACK CONTRACT CITY "In a city where the sun never shines, power is not a gift—it is a debt paid with the fragments of your soul." SETTING: The world is contained within a nameless, vertical megacity known as the "Tiered City." At the bottom lies the Underveil—a rusted, suffocating labyrinth of slums, oily rain, and "Hollows" who have been drained of their essence. Above them sits The Grid, a neon-lit battleground of syndicates and mercenaries. At the very peak lies The Crown, where the elite rule through ancient sorcery and demonic pacts, shielded by a massive concrete sky called "The Line." PROTAGONIST: Asher Noctier is a ghost in the machinery. A survivor of a forgotten massacre, he lives in the shadows of the Underveil, tethered to a chilling entity named Velzar—a demon child who offers protection but demands a terrifying price. Asher is the only one who perceives the "Interface," a translucent, flickering HUD that maps the world’s decay and grants him forbidden abilities. THE POWER SYSTEM (THE VOID’S TAX): There is no free power in Black Contract City. To use his demonic abilities or the Interface's functions, Asher must pay the "Void’s Tax." Every victory costs him: a precious childhood memory, a sensory faculty, or hours of his remaining life expectancy. As Asher grows stronger, he becomes more hollow, literally burning his humanity to fuel his ascent. THE CONFLICT: Driven by a cold need for truth and a hidden locket that anchors his past, Asher begins an impossible climb from the mud of the Underveil to the spires of The Crown. Along the way, he assembles a crew of broken outcasts—a feral warrior, a shadow-weaving captain, and a nihilistic engineer—each bound by their own dark contracts. THE CENTRAL QUESTION: As the Interface slowly consumes his mind and the city descends into chaos, Asher faces a brutal realization: If the world is corrupt at its very roots, can you save it without becoming the very monster you sought to destroy? To reach the top and reclaim his life, Asher must decide how much of himself he is willing to lose before there is nothing left to save. "BLACK CONTRACT CITY" is a dark, psychological action epic about the cost of ambition, the weight of memory, and the thin, bloody line between a savior and a demon.
Youssef_Elouizari · 243 Views