u/RW_McRae

This was such a nice way to wake up ❤️. It's one thing when it's a new reader, but it's another when they've been with you from the beginning

The Bloodforged Kin

It's time to start writing the next series and I'm split between 3. They're all still after the system apocalypse, but these are each different takes on the standard System. Troop 276 will make more sense if you've been reading my series, but the others are new characters.

I think I'm going to write 20k ish words in each and see which ones appeal to me the most.

Jamal and the 50 Kings: The world has seen a period of rest since the end of the Cryptid Challenge and humanity has finally been given a chance to take a collective breath. Humanity is flourishing, but with peace comes stagnation, and The System doesn’t abide stagnation.

That stagnation hits some harder than others, and none so much as Jamal the Skill-less. He’s a champion of multiple Climb circuits, fighting his way to the top of gladiatorial challenges across multiple states despite not having a single combat skill. When The System tried to assign skills to him, he rejected them. When The System tried to force stat point allocation, he defied it with an unmatched iron will. Jamal doesn’t use skills, and thus the energy from every level gain stays inside of his soul, ready to be cycled as he sees fit - empowering his strikes and changing his stats mid-battle. To him skills are a weakness - a symbol that you weren’t dedicated or talented enough to reach the peak without help. A true warrior owns his energy, and it responds to his will and his alone. Jamal has reached the peak of his abilities, and with no more challengers to defeat he is growing frustrated and bored.

Enter the 50 Kings - the last surviving members of a group that numbered in the thousands. They day The System arrived they were trapped in a futbol stadium together, locked away from the outside world until only fifty remained. The only way to leave was to be one of the last fifty alive at the end, and the only way to do that was to purge yourself of all weaknesses before someone purged you. Theirs became a society of daily battle and constant advancement, eradicating all weaknesses from themselves and others. Now the final fifty have been released, and they are bringing their ethos to the rest of the world:

All weakness must be purged, even if it means killing 90% of humanity.

The 50 Kings have been freed, and no one alive has the strength to stop them. None but one, anyway.

 

Troop 276

Troop 276 started the apocalypse as kids, abandoned to the Idaho mountains when System creatures ripped through the adults that were meant to protect them. They could have died - probably should have - but they didn’t, each of them becoming survivalists with powers that allowed them to survive a wilderness that killed others that were far more advanced than them. As the very first System-recognized squad, their powers didn’t operate the same as others - they didn’t get stat sheets and skills, they earned badges. Do the work to earn your badges and you get badge synergies, which gives you powers upon powers. Weak at first, but exponentially stronger as you advance them. Your powers and abilities are only limited by the combinations of badges you collect.

What was once only a handful of children is now a troop of over 200 people, all working together to rebuild society. Where there is trouble, the Troop takes care of it. Where people are in desperate straits, the Troop supports. And when all hope is lost, the Troop restores it. They don’t focus on individual power, they focus on community, teamwork, and thriving together, building up the local towns and stubborn townsfolk into a community that can face the ever-growing threats that their world is facing.

It is a good plan, until a danger thought long dead returns to threaten them all.

The leader of the cannibals, , defeated and presumed dead, has returned. His power comes from consuming others and taking on their stats and abilities. When Troop 276 destroyed his small tribe of cannibals, he survived. When the Cryptid Challenge arrived, he thrived and grew in power. Now that the Cryptid Challenge is over he is looking for a new source of power, and he has his eyes set on the people that once destroyed everything he had built.

 

Mallpocalypse

Hey, how’s it going? My name is Luca - that’s a hard ‘c’, like ‘Luke’. It’s Italian, so don’t worry ‘bout it. Sorry, that’s a little joke. It never works out.

Anyway, today is the two-year anniversary of the day The System arrived and locked us all here in the Mall of America. How do I know it’s the day? Because it’s also my birthday, and every year I remember that I shouldn’t even be here - wouldn’t have been if my asshole manager, Jonathan, hadn’t made me come in to work on my day off. It’s not all bad, though - I get all the food and drink I can put away for free today.

So what’s life like being trapped in the world’s biggest mall with thousands of other people, all of whom have gotten magical abilities? It’s a mixed bag. The first few months were rough. Like, Mad Max rough. It’s not so bad now, though. The daytime is pretty much like being in a mall any other day. We spend the days walking the mall, visiting shops, and exploring. The System has created plenty of mysteries to be explored, each with their own challenges, dangers, and rewards. You can challenge them and get cool shit, but make sure you’re level appropriate and have the right abilities, otherwise you might never come back.

The night is where it gets weird. Monday through Saturday they come, creatures that appear just as the sun sets. Each day has its own types of monsters and challenges, and each day of the week gets a little harder. Monday’s aren’t so bad and are a good source of easy experience points, but you really, super, definitely don’t want to get caught in the open on a Friday or Saturday night. Not unless you want to let everyone watch you meet an ugly demise. Inside the stores you’re safe, so you just gotta get in before the gate comes down. Nothing gets through them just so long as it’s shut all the way.

Not everyone gets inside the stores, though, and almost every Monday through Wednesday there are people who brave the nights. A few with really good classes may brave Thursdays, and every so often someone strong or dumb or overconfident enough to try it will take on a Friday. Why? Well, partly for experience. It’s hard to get experience just going about your day. Most of the skills here are crafting, cooking, selling, or money related. There’s some good cleaning skills too. It’s tough to get fighting skills in a mall. But also, the longer you last the nights, the more sponsorship deals you can get from the stores. Getting your face on one of the big department stores posters gets you a lot of experience points, a lot of free shit, and plenty of men and/or women, should you be so inclined.

That’s not the only reason, though. There’s a way out - at least, that’s the rumor. You have to complete certain challenges, defeat certain creatures, solve certain puzzles. Just getting the entry tickets can take a few months of grinding. Get through them all and you can get a pass into the subterranean labyrinth that goes for miles beneath the mall. The doors won’t open without the pass, though, so no cheating. If you can make it to the end of the labyrinth then you can get out.

That’s the rumor, anyway. No one has ever come back to confirm.

 

This is a LitRPG story that has middle success on Royal Road. Before pulling the book from RR I had about 1600 followers, which is in the top 15% or so of the site.

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I didn't do any advertising or promoting other than a link and blurb on my story on RR, so I'm betting most of this traffic is coming from people that were in the middle of it on RR when it was pulled.

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A couple of days ago I started an ad on Amazon, but it has only had 33 impressions so far so I don't think it's moving the needle yet. I'll come back after 30 days with the stats then to compare

This has been a long time coming! Book 1 is out, and we're already working on book 2.

Cover is by J Caleb Design - the same person who did the art for Apocalypse Parenting and Victor of Tucson

Come check it out, buy a copy or two, leave a 5-star review 😁

The Bloodforged Kin, book