The skies of the Dark Continent teem with ravening beasts. Thousands of refugees are at the gates of Foreston seeking salvation from a mysterious scourge. The Wastes are infested with herds of bloodthirsty necromorphs that devour every living thing in their path. A Dark Gateway has opened in the Stone Forest, allowing a horde of otherworldly monsters to come flooding through. Adversaries from time immemorial are gathering armies and amassing forces. Ancient enemies are forming alliances. The world of the Great System stands once again on the precipice of change. A new war is coming.

After sealing the otherworldly portal, Eric becomes a Magister of the order of monster hunters. From now on, as head of the once mighty organization, he gains power over all its riches. But Eric is aware that he won’t be able do it on his own. And reviving what is popularly referred to as "the dead order" won’t be enough. He also has to assert its right to exist because its ancient enemy is on the lookout! Very soon the Steel King will realize that his plan to get back the Crown, a most powerful artifact and symbol of the royal dynasty’s authority, has failed. Need it be said who will suffer all his wrath? Eric realizes a great battle is coming, one like those described in the ancient chronicles. He also realizes that in the upcoming showdown he will need loyal and powerful helpers at his side. And thus, after defying Darkness, Eric’s path takes him to the Undermountain Kingdom of the Gnomes. According to ancient legends and tales, that is where he will find Gramner the Fourarmed and convince the great blacksmith to perform the hatching ritual in the Forge of the True Flame.

After wiping out the drak nest, Eric finds himself now also in a trap. In order to avoid dying in a cave-in, he activates the manuscript he received for defeating the Lady of the Anomaly. A portal then whisks Eric away to the lookout point atop the mysterious Citadel of Chaos. The entrance to the Citadel is guarded by the Gatekeeper, a huge troll encased head to toe in a suit of plate armor. Thanks to his Friend of the Trolls amulet, Eric manages to avoid fighting him and thus passes the Gatekeeper’s first test and can enter the Citadel of Chaos to partake in its mysteries. Eric isn’t interested in its mysteries though and he tells the troll as much directly. He even goes so far as to say he would rather just go on his merry way and leave the Citadel. But the Gatekeeper informs Eric that he will not be able to leave quite so easily because now that he has activated the manuscript, he must undergo a test known as Unity with Chaos! On the one hand, Eric understands that taking part in the undoubtedly dangerous activity threatens to end not only in loss of time, but possibly loss of life as well. On the other hand though, he remembers perfectly well what Chaos Magic is capable of. What if Eric is able to pass the test? Will Chaos grant him power? After all, Eric is conscious of the fact that, despite how markedly he has changed and grown stronger, he is still nowhere near as powerful as the Steel King, who is holding Maya and Mee in captivity. Could the gods perhaps be telling Eric the time has come to do as the Woodwose instructed? The time has come to grow stronger!

After battling the hyenas, Eric gets a notification that something called a Place of Power has been found. That is the only clue that might help him get back to his native world. But there's a problem. The system needs mana to calculate a route. Eric simply doesn't have any and he doesn't know when he will. That is because, due to the strange laws this world lives by, Eric's mana supply isn't filling up. But the Great System also exists here, though its laws are only partially functioning. Having found himself in this alien and dangerous world without magic or the support of his loyal Gorgie, Eric understands that the kid who saved him, Badger, is currently his only source of useful information. That is a chance to understand and gain knowledge about this world and, in all likelihood, find a way to rustle up some mana.

Winner of Mark Lawrence's 3rd Self Published Fantasy Blog Off Everyone knows Drake Morrass is only out for himself. As the fires of a dying city burn on a distant shore, Drake sees an opportunity to unite the other pirate Captains under his flag and claim himself a crown. If he is to succeed he will need allies and credibility. Who better than gentleman pirate, Keelin Stillwater, renowned for taking ships without bloodshed, as well as his skill with a sword. Enemy ships sail their waters, setting the Pirate Isles ablaze. The sinister Tanner Black threatens to steal the throne before Drake has even sat in it. Now Drake must somehow convince the other pirate Captains that his best interests are also theirs. Dive into this swashbuckling adventure today!

Read opening chapters here - magicdomebooks.blogspot.com/2019/06/underdog-dungeons-of-crooked-mountains.html Eric was born in a world governed by the Great System, in the family of Aren Bergman, a respected miner from Orchus. But the joy of gaining a son was overshadowed by the newborn's terrible affliction. Eric was completely nulled - level zero and no characteristics points. The only things keeping him from dying were his tiny base supplies of "life" and "energy." The medicine woman who delivered Eric believes this to be the work of the evil spirit Bug. Due to the peculiar laws of the Great System, Eric cannot use experience essences or characteristics tablets, so he risks having to spend his whole life confined to a bed. But his father finds a solution. He takes out a large bank loan and goes to the capital where he buys a few artifacts of the Ancients on the black market, which have no level restriction. Despite having the artifacts, Eric is still very feeble and everyone in town thinks him a freak. But at least he can move on his own and that gives the Bergmans hope. But alas, it isn't for long. On Eric's fourteenth birthday, his father and mother die in a mining accident. The bank takes their house, and Eric is left with no choice but to work off the remaining debt in the Dungeons of the Crooked Mountains. And so begins the story of a nulled boy's struggle to survive...

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