Bloody Æther (LitRPG-lite)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

My family is murdered, slain and tortured over dinner, and made into a meal by a monster that took the shape of a man. We were all killed. Yet I am still here, cursed with the same power as the monster that slayed me and burned by the light of the sun.

Now the direct heir to the title of Count, my uncle forces his way into my home with intents to seize the title for himself. I find myself forced to grow my new powers to deal with his machinations, and to track down the man who murdered my family. Yet the world is not how I'd pictured it from within my families estate, the nobles do not live up to their ideals, the common people struggle under great burdens, and the other races, the elves, the dwarves, and the northern tribes, are not at all as my tutors described them.

Seeing the world for what it is while struggling with the changes forced upon me, I seek to learn who I am, and who I might become in this chaotic world of lies.

(LItRPG elements showing up throughout the story with in-world skillbooks)

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: FormlessChimera

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 431
Views: 144,839

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(4)

Sondrex76Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
After Journey of Black and Red this is probably the vampire story I like the most.
The main character is changed by becoming a vampire, vampires are monsterous, there are consequenses to being a vampire, there is power, yet it comes with weaknesses.
This is how vampires are supposed to be written, even if the specifics of their powers and weaknesses here may vary a bit from the standard, that's more of a plus than anything.
It is an entertaining read, with a main character who truly believes in the role of a noble being to serve their people, a character who tries to act rationally, and who time and time again gets disappointed by the world as she learns of its true state.
grapefanta111Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Both Rotten Æther and Bloody Æther are great. They are exciting and engaging. The dialogue is very well written. The characters are endearing, funny and fun. The story also has nuanced psychological layers; it's never flat. There remains a satisfying logical consistency throughout. They're great stories. The writing is excellent.
ChaosBelleRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
So for perspective, I read this story first. I did go back and read Rotten Aether to catch up on things. At the time of writing this, both stories had 36 chapters. I'll try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible, but it should come as no secret that both stories are set in the same world, and likely going forward they're going to interact and overlap in ways that could be excellent.
The world is confusing at best. It's probably the only reason I drag the story score down to a 4/5 star review. In terms of world-building, this story is particularly confusing. When you have a story about nobles and noble nonsense, I expect a lot of politics and a clever protagonist who uses every tool to their advantage. There are very few moments that the main character does this, in fact, this story is more about a bloodthirsty monster doing her best to cling to her humanity by only hunting people who deserve it.
As far as style goes I have a really tough time here. I can't quite give it a perfect 5/5 because this story is listed as a LitRPG but it honestly might as well be just a regular fantasy story with a vague sense of power level. There's this fantasy aspect with numbers and skills and I can't really tell where it all matters or how it all matters even though I'm pretty sure it actually does matter. Maybe I'm just dumb, but I feel like it's not explained well enough for the average reader to grasp what makes certain spells and techniques powerful.
Now that all might sound particularly critical, but this story is good if those two things don't bother you. Personally, I would prefer a story with more politics.
Onto the good. I'm no grammar expert but I've seen no problems throughout this story. I'm sure there are some and someone with a better grasp of grammar could find a flaw here and there, but by and large, it's flawless.
I think the characters are where this story really shines. The main character is clearly troubled, and she has few people she can talk
luda305Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
As suggested by the author, I read this together with Rotten Æther (fun fact, you can't search for the title of either story unless you do that weird character; aether doesn't work). The stories don't seem to have anything to do with each other yet, other than perhaps being set in the same world and that both characters are "evil" outcasts who seek to better the world.
After a vampire attacks a count's household, a young noblelady is the sole "survivor"--she actually has been turned to a vampire. She undergone an emotional transformation--colder and even more proper than before--and a magical one--vampire magic! As the heiress, perhaps she could have moved on, but her uncle forces himself into the estate, declaring himself regent and engaging her to his son (her cousin) in a blatant bid to seize the noble estate. (Did the uncle sic the vampire on the family? Who knows.) Unwilling to directly confront the man and without the followers (knights) needed to do so in her stead, she forces herself to grow her powers until she does so. Yet, in finally exploring the world (well, city) outside her estate walls, the truth of the nobility in the kingdom is exposed and she has a crisis of confidence as to what it means to be a noble and whether she, a monster, can still be a noble (yes). Also that slaves are people (and isn't that an awkward lesson for us to read about her learning). Assisted by a local police investigator and a newly retained maid and guard, she begins to clean up the local corruption and comply with her obligations of noblesse oblige.
Despite occasionally bouts of inaction, Bloody Aether is a bit more action-oriented than Rotten Aether, as least in so much as the latter is mostly conducted in the wilderness, while the former takes place mostly in the city. There's more of an action thrill, intermingled with the exploration of a mentally-altered character as she struggles to come to grips with reality.
The writing style is well done and particularly compell