Hidden Beacons (Magical Transformation Progression Fantasy)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Miwah is out for revenge. And it’s going to take a bit of teamwork and more than a few magical transformations to get it.

After her village is ravaged by a band of pillagers, Miwah comes across an ancient ghost on the boat of the very clan that destroyed her home. Being one of the few in the world born withPotential, she is given a necklace that allows her to activate herPurifierform that grants her enhanced abilities, a powerful weapon and a magical ensemble.

Now stranded in a busy port town on an island, she must team up with others withPotentialto fend off the local gang, ravenous beasts and other threats that endanger the populace.

Hidden Beacons is a progression fantasy LitRPG. Art is done by whoareuu. Expect daily updates (for now).

[Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: S.N. Keirstead

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.1/ 5.0
Followers: 218
Views: 132,738

Chapters(147 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

Dusty_GlamourRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This Review is part of a Review Swap.
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I've seen far too many stories that label themselves GameLit, but are actually just LitRPG but this one is, chef's kiss, actually GameLit. What this means is that the story is set in an actual game-like world, which is evident from how things are explained in-character rather than just fiddling with the System until you understand how to hack it.
It has unique stats, which is always a boon when it comes to LitRPG. That said, onward to the actual part review.
Style: Nothing to complain about here. The paragraphs are blocky and it looks decent on PC as a result. In some paragraphs, the name of the character is used one too many times when "he" or "she" would be better, but that's more of a nitpick than anything jarring.
Grammar: Nothing wrong with Grammar. There were some mistakes pointed out in the comments and they seem to have been fixed up promptly, which is always a good sign. Aside from that, even if there were some mistakes, they aren't enough to make you stop and question it.
Story | Character: We actually haven't seen much of a plot or any real character development at the moment. It's mostly worldbuilding and explanation of how the world works, so it'll be updated later at around, say, Chapter 30 or the like comes out. So I'm at that spot where I can't grade it low nor grade it at max, so I'm just leaving a 4.5 as a placeholder.
Overall: Decent read if you're into LitRPG and GameLit. For now, at least. Don't know how it'll turn out since we haven't gotten to the juicy part yet.
DreameroftheUnknownRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Let me just say, I absolutely adore the magical girl genre so I might be a tad biased. However, I truly think even a non-magical girl fan would enjoy this story.
Style score: It flowed nicely, and the paragraphs were short enough that they didn't feel like a slog or an eyesore to read through. It was dynamic, with the action scene being the perfect blend of description and well. . .action. This story is set in the third person and maintains that throughout the entire story. If it was possible to give a 6/5, I would, because of one addition: pictures! That's right, at the end of some chapters, there are absolutely gorgeous pictures that help the audience envision the story! And this isn't a one-time thing either but in multiple chapters! I really love the author going above and beyond to add this!
Story score: Right off the bat, we are hit in the face with suspense and action. We're scared for the main character while wanting her to get revenge at the same time. The fact this story begins after Miwah's village got destroyed creates a mysterious tension from the start. What exactly happened during the village attack? Was there a reason why? The author constantly kept me thinking and wondering about these little questions, making me want to read more to find out. The magic system in this story is also very well developed, and while there are two chapters primarily devoted to explaining the magic system in detail, the author successfully manages to make it engaging and not feel like a mindless exposition.
Grammar score: I couldn't detect any spelling mistakes, and the vocabulary was rich. This means there isn't much I can say about this category except keep up the good work!
Character score: The main character, Miwah, is passionate and strong. She's not OP from the beginning, which I appreciate, and she does have some problems. She carries the trauma from the village attack, and the fact that she is fierce and ruthless enough to kill makes her pop out in a magical girl
LooxEyewalkerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Hidden Beacons is an absolute blast to read through! Miwah is an absolute badass who isn't afraid to open up about her dark past. The world so far is incredibly charming while still having a darker side, and I love the Chinese wuxia-inspired themes and worldbuilding. Probably the best aspect of the story is the author's descriptiveness, especially with the fight scenes! The occasional illustrations are also a great bonus! All in all, an awesome read. If you like beautifully described tense fantasy/video-game inspired battles in a wuxia-inspired world, this is the story for you!
Rhea BringRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
From the very first chapter this story shines through the characters and only grows better from there. It starts with a bang, is easy to read, and grammar was nearly spotless. I've not read many magic girl fictions, but this makes me want to read more.
Now then, main points:
~ Style. Well done with destinctive and vivid discriptions, flowing structure, and very easy read. There were a few chunky sentences, but they were few and detracted little from the story. Overall, it's very good.
~ Story. Addicting. Beware! Once you start, it will be hard to stop. Action is easy to picture and draws you in from the very first chap. Each consecutive chapter flows seamlessly into the next and is a fun binge read.
~ Grammar. Nearly flawless. Great job!
~ Characters. Ahhh, what do I say? I already love them both! Miwah is a perfect mix of flaws and action. Yalch is like a little conscience on her shoulder... but not. You'll see. The little guy is highly fun. Their conversations are enlightening and made me smile more than once. The characters shine in this and really made the entire story for me.
~ Special mention. The depictions are super cool. Really made the characters come to life in my mind.
Overall, fun read with awesome characters. It's quite humorous at points and made me smile throughout.
Great job and can't wait to read more!
NatarajaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
- Style & Grammar
This is well written, no grammar nor style issues. The layout is good which makes the text pleasant to read. However, English is not my native language, so I may have missed some things...
- Story
It's a bit strange that the captain placed a precious necklace where it could fall. And it's quite confusing not knowing if he was aware that Miwah was in the chest or not. The initial situation is not clear enough.
The principle of magical transformations is interesting, but this matter of magical necklaces on which it rests is a bit far-fetched.
For the moment the story is a succession of actions without much emotional investment or plot. A more global plot is needed to make the reader emotionally invested in the problems and actions of the characters.
- Character
The two main characters don't have much personality, the ghost just helps the heroine, and the heroine follows what the ghost says. It's rather flat, you should develop more emotions and motivations of each one. For example, fear before fighting in a new form for the first time, or despair about what happened to her village, or excitement at the idea of being able to take revenge...
Anthony and Leisel VolskiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
More GameLit than LitRPG, Hidden Beacons follows a young seamstress on her journey of revenge. Perhaps 'inadvertently' kidnapped by an unscrupulous clan, Miwah breaks out of the enemy's clutches with the assistance of a ghosty... thing. There is a dark undercurrent that hasn't quite made itself known, but the unnamed maggoty creatures seem like they're about to become a big problem for everyone. Maybe an even bigger problem than the current established Big Baddies.
Style is well defined and battle driven. Only real drawback for me is that some of the fight scenes and descriptions read a little too technical which is a bit world breaking for me. That and a couple slow-paced 'stats' chapters made the story a bit of a slow read in parts.
The story here is reasonably interesting. I don't get into magical girl stuff much but Miwah's unique attitude and Yalch's presence save the story from falling into mediocrity. A girl with newfound powers goes after a band of baddies who've wronged her. This is something I can get behind.
No atrocious grammatical issues here. You might come across the occasional typo or odd phrasing, but these points are easily overlooked.
While the characters portrayed here each have their own unique voice, some of the reactions and interactions fall a little flat to me. While it helps to better define the characters, some of Miwah and Tamma's early interations bother me. Why are perfect strangers always so eager to share their most vulnerable moments with each other?
All in all, the magical girl genre isn't one of my favorites by a long shot, but you can't deny that Hidden Beacons is well written and will definitely find its own dedicated fanbase. Come for Miwah's progression, stay for Yalch.
KagenaoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Interesting story and it has great potential. I love how the mc is not so innocent. The plot is also unique, atleast based on the other novels I read so far. There are only a few characters introduced so far, so I can't say much about the characters. But after reading till chap 6, i think this is going in a dark route. The style and grammar are also great, I didn't see anything wrong with it. Overall, it's great. All that's left is for the author to make the story continue being interesting in the future.
MajorianRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The first few chapters have been action packed, serving as a good way to entice readers. There hasn't been much of characterization or lore explained but it's clear that's coming later. It's appears to be following the standard Magical Tropes but taking it in a more mature direction. The action is well written, which this author specializes in. The stuff that people may really care about, such as plot and characters, aren't yet present. The true story will pick up quite a few chapters in so keep that in mind. This story can accomplish great things. The foundations are there, now the author just needs to build upon them.
MalevolenceMauRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
A wonderful tale of, currently, two women finding their power to stand against evil in the world. All the while being followed by a spirit as their guide, a spirit guide!
The story is quite the slow burn, 26~ chapters for the first two days, which may be off-putting to some readers who want a faster progression. The release schedule of 1/day has mostly been kept too as well, only faltering with the last three chapters that were every other day.
There's not much focus onto the stat side of this story, you only see the stats three times in the current 39 chapters, so number crunchers and those who love to see all the numbers may feel disappointed. However, readers who enjoy lite-stats should feel fine in this situation.
Style:
Following a third-person perspective, we follow the views of mostly Miwah with some camera panning to the scenary around her. Some inner thoughts are explained to us, though only from Miwah so far, so it seems like a full POV on her and no switching to be had. There are very few time skips, sleep and two walking segments, so nothing is really glossed over.
The stat screens are shown in the typical RoyalRoad tables without much alteration to them. However, it does feel like the full array of stats and skills haven't been shown, so it may expand with time.
Story:
As the story is a slow-burn, it has taken quite some time to make any distance in the women's journey. It keeps with the generic weak-strong save the world from evil formula, starting off against thugs and bandits, but where it leads we don't know so far.
The story beats are generally solid with some world-building thrown in every so often, it helps when the two protagonists are from different locales so their conversations explaining where they came from make sense and inform the reader at the same time.
It does feel at times that events are forced, or decisions slip at times to allow for certain scenes to play out to the story and not to what has been shown before, though this is more o
TealiciousTeaRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
As usual the author kills it with the action and bringing in good character art for the story. A solid start that sets up the darkness and much of the early character, world and plot details.
It is a realtively slow start for plot progression but as a long running fiction that is fine. Enough happens in every chapter to keep the story pusbing forward at a steady pace.
Grammar and style are good.
Our MC doesn't have a blue box. It isn't important but I feel the loss.