Orphan

In a world where magic is everything and bloodline is destiny, one boy was born with nothing. Aethoria is a continent fractured by war five rival kingdoms each anchored to a unique form of elemental magic drawn from the Aeths, crystallized veins of life force buried deep in the earth. For a thousand years, the kingdoms coexisted in uneasy balance. Then the Solmere Empire began to burn. Karl Dun is seventeen years old when his village is set alight. He is a commoner, an orphan, and worst of all in Aethoria Aethless: tested twice and found hollow, incapable of bonding with any elemental magic. In a society where your Aeth-bond determines your value, your rank, and your right to dream, Karl has been told since childhood that he is nothing. But when a Solmere fire-officer seizes his wrist during the burning of Durnholt, something impossible happens. Karl absorbs the man's fire-Aeth. Not copies it. Not borrows it. Takes it and the fire burns in his veins as though it has always been there. Forced to flee into the cursed Grey wood forest, Karl encounters Sera ..a disgraced Deaven shadow mage wanted in four kingdoms who recognizes what he is before he does. She calls his ability Mirroring: the rarest, most feared power in Aethoria's history, last recorded three hundred years ago in the mage who ended the First Kingdom War. The empire hunts Mirrors above all else because a Mirror cannot be defeated by magic. A Mirror becomes magic. As the Solmere Arbiters close in and the other kingdoms begin to mobilize, Karl must learn to control a power he does not understand, survive an alliance with a woman whose loyalties are her own, and decide whether the prophecy that named him the Hollow King, the Aethless

She thought she was using him. He'd been searching for her for twelve years. "Listen carefully," Diana Morrison's voice cuts through the study like ice. "These are the terms of our marriage arrangement, and they are non-negotiable." Marcus Hayes sits across from her in his worn suit, agreeing to every humiliating condition without protest. Separate bedrooms. No physical contact. Divorce after one year. "Do you have any backbone at all?" Diana demands, frustrated by his compliance. What she doesn't know: Marcus is the Supreme God of War of West America, commander of armies, controller of trillion-dollar empires. Twelve years ago, a starving orphan boy received kindness from a young girl who shared her meager lunch. He never forgot her. Now that girl stands before him—cold, calculating, believing she's trapped a desperate nobody in a fake marriage to escape her family's control. "Perhaps I am desperate," Marcus admits softly. "But not in the way you think." When the Romano and Bennett families attack, when her business crumbles, when assassins lurk in shadows—Marcus moves like the warrior he is, leaving enemies broken and allies in awe. "Who are you?" Diana whispers, watching him dismantle threats with surgical precision. Marcus's slight smile holds secrets that could reshape nations. "I'm your husband." She thought their contract marriage had an expiration date. She has no idea the Supreme God of War never lets go of what's his. He spent twelve years building an empire to be worthy of protecting her. Now he'll spend a lifetime proving she was always meant to be his.

As a poor orphan, Lucas had endured nothing but scorn, humiliation, and contempt his entire life. For years, he believed that was all life was about—until he met Ariadne Brook. She became the light in his dark world, the kindness to the world's wickedness, his warmth in a cold world, and the love to the world's hatred. She was everything the world couldn't be. But the same couldn’t be said for her family. They were just like the rest of the world. Living with the Brooks, he was treated as nothing more than a servant—unpaid, ridiculed, and humiliated. Still, for Ariadne, he endured it all. Yet, every man has his breaking point. One day, Lucas reached his. And he left. For six years, he disappeared without a trace. It was almost as if he had vanished from the face of the earth. Ariadne waited until she couldn’t wait any longer. She was about to marry another. But then, Lucas returned. And this time, he was different. He was no longer the timid young boy she knew. Confidence radiated from him, as if he now sat at the top of the world. Lucas has sworn never to let Ariadne cry or suffer again. For she was his woman, the very reason he was still alive. The only reason he pushed through all he faced during those six years he vanished. She was there for him when the whole world was against him, and now he would be there for her! He would cherish and protect her. Even if it meant going against the whole world, for her, he’d gladly do it. If the world couldn't have angels, then for her, he would become the devil!

In a world that is defined by power, Lance stands out as the only enigma-nap, with no visible aim and a razor-sharp tongue. This lazy, sharp-tongued orphan, however, hides under the indifferent face a very sharp mind and single terrifying thought: 'Can I become a god?' He transforms that rather weird obsession into an obstinate path for becoming the controller of the very texture of society. Thus, in walking such cunning schemes, he really very well plans the things in a manner that all those who will be caught in the web don't know how they got entrapped. Ranging from the shadowy syndicates to ancient bloodlines vying for supremacy, everyone is just another piece on his board. Evelyn, heiress to a legacy now crumbling, has her own fights. Mysteriously, both parents vanished in relation to a top-secret research project. The thing preventing total destruction of the family's an ancient curse: utter ruin to any that lay a hand upon this bloodline-the protection has already started to fade. In a fateful meet with Lance, Evelyn would acquire an artifact capable of giving unimaginable superhuman powers. But one condition binds their uneasy alliance: equivalent exchange. Such were destined to forge alliances as well as betray and cut secret deals, and in such noise, Lance discovers the buried legacy of his own blod, a legacy that perhaps holds the key to his grand ambition towards godhood. Bloodlines are unveiled, as underground superhuman races come to light, and as secret organizations revealed their own conspiracy towards ascendencion. Lance sacrifices pawns in a larger game that only he can see in every moves. Even gods bleed. Will Lance maneuvers his enemies to rise to the throne of immortality or will his cold calculations be trumped by love, betrayal, and the unraveling secrets of his past?.

The world ended once. Then it came back wrong. Seven years after the Aura Revival, Earth is no longer safe. New York City has become a war zone. Giant monsters surge through the streets in Beast Tides. Powerful bloodline families rule from fortified towers, using ancient cultivation powers that feel closer to gods than humans. Ronan Burke is nobody. He’s an orphan with no family, no backing, and no talent for cultivation. He survives by running dangerous courier jobs and staying out of sight. Every day is about not getting killed, by beasts, gangs, or the families who control everything. Then one escape goes wrong. Cornered during a Beast Tide, Ronan comes into contact with a relic that should not exist. It doesn’t just give him power. It locks him into a contract. A system awakens in his mind. It gives him one command: Reach Level 16 in every cultivation realm. Achieve perfection. Fail and die. In a world where even the greatest geniuses can barely reach Level 14, Ronan is forced to chase a level everyone believes is impossible. Every breakthrough makes him stronger, and more dangerous to discover. If the families find out what he is, they won’t recruit him. They’ll cut him open to steal his secret. To survive, Ronan must grow in silence. He scavenges the ruins, hunts monsters far above his level, outplays arrogant heirs, and hides his strength at every turn. His only ally is the cold, relentless system guiding him toward a kind of power the modern world insists no longer exists. The Beast Tides are getting worse. The bloodline families are making their moves. And Ronan Burke, the weakest man in the city, may be its last unseen hope… if he can stay hidden long enough.