Omen of the Witchblade: A Progression Fantasy Survival LitRPG Adventure

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

This story has been pulled for a complete rewrite. Stay tuned for the next version!

Mel wakes up buried alive at the bottom of a dungeon when the multiverse competition begins.

Two opposing worlds joined a realm of deadly monsters and runic magic. A multiverse where the Convocation trials offer endless challenges for power and growth for those daring enough to climb the Leagues.

Alone, yet fiercely determined to find answers about her mysterious arrival, Mel must survive the wilderness where formidable monsters roam the elemental plateaus and ordinary people from Earth contend with bloodthirsty warriors from a dark world.

While others hide and conspire, Mel embraces the chaos. Fighting people and hunting monsters becomes second nature. She was born for this life. Only, Mel discovers something far more dangerous than challengers and beasts in this savage reality.

Expect meaningful progression through aspect powers and a long running story that expands in scope over time, folding in Earth mythology and supernatural lore into the multiverse through the lens of Realmwalkers.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: Shardrune Talekeepers

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 1,520
Views: 91,878

Chapters(16 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(5)

VegetablesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So I wrote a review for this, and like a moron I clicked on a link to check something and lost the entire thing. I'm too lazy to rewrite it, so bullet points it is.
* Very well written, entertaining and fun. One of the better litrpgs on RR.
* Appears to be solo, though there is a period of grouping up for a bit.
* Borrows heavily from Elden Ring at the start especially regarding monsters, though that seems to be in decline in later chapters. That is its biggest downer, but it doesn't impact the quality of the writing, aside from being jarring initially.
* World building suffers from the above, but its fine. It's obviously not Elden Ring. Not particularly unique though.
* System is basic but understandable... doesn't go down the overload road like a lot of other litrpgs, with ridiculous numbers of skills etc.
* MC is a likeable shorty, not likely to hit her head on door frames (what doorframes?). She doesn't take poop from anyone.
* Grammar/spelling is good, nothing that detracts.
KevB2398Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I've been looking for something new to read and boy am I glad I gave this a shot. Definite HWFWM and vibes, but clearly its own universe. Realistic, awesome fights and a well-done antihero lead make it even better. I can't wait to see how the rest of this series goes if it has me hooked this early.
skemmotarRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I almost skipped this because of the reviews that I read. Derivative and uncharacteristic actions (i.e. here befriending weak randos for the sake of it and going for a cuddly story).
I thoroughly enjoyed the story so far and am glad I gave it a chance. Sure, there is inspiration from other stories but to be honest I did not mind that at all. Afterall, what hasn't borrowed from something else at this point and to me it wasn't so apparent, not more than other fictions in any case.
I also think that the human element is often discounted in such stories where the expectation is for an OP solo hero adventure with a morally ambiguous MC who sacrifices whatever is needed for power. Mel has just enough humanity in her to feel sassy but also real. The meeting (and eventual leaving, don't worry!) of the weaklings plays a role and makes sense within the story. It also adds to the character of Mel and actually becomes an excellent springboard for something that happens later! And trust me, she's no goody two shoes.
On the story itself, I always enjoy when I can discern a few more shadowy plot points coming down the line showing that the author has a few things planned down the line and has put thought in the overall story.
It is well written, the action is fun to read without getting bogged down by endless rows of skills and numbers, which I feel is one of the better evolutions of the genres.
Ultimately, I enjoyed reading and want to read more and that's what matters! I binged the 50 or so chapters out within 2 days in the little free time I was able to scrounge.
Northern LightsRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Or: When the plot keeps getting in the way of a good story.
The setup has it all. Pint-sized no-nonsense powerhouse Mel ends up stranded in a new world, with a weird competition going on: Apparently, all must fight according to a system's wish, and only the best advance. Mel, helped by instincts from a mysterious past, takes to it like a duck to the water: She thrives on fighting, she wants to excel. She has the ambition and the power to make it reality.
As a setup, it hardly gets any better. If all the story was about was her fighting, I'd read it. If she was just running around, I'd read it. Hell, I'd even read about her going shopping. So what about the plot?
Well, after the thouroughly enjoyable opening of Mel soloing her starting cave, she stumbles on a group of people that are her polar opposites: Weak, afraid, wanting to go home, unwilling to fight, uninterested in competition. Naturally, they decide to party up.
Wait, what?
It's the world's worst party. Even IRL it'd be ridiculous. A pro-gamer paired with casual players who're more interested in a spot of sightseeing does not work. To be clear: Either is a fine way to play a game. RPGs, IRL and not, are great because they do not tell you how to play. However, together those approaches only produce nonsense -- that is, dissatisfaction all around, because the sight-seers hamper the levelling of the pro, while the latter constantly drags the former into fights they do not want.
Which is why such parties do not happen. Except by author fiat.
Well, fair enough, you say, so she does play literal babysitter for a group that wants to play house for 20 chapters -- and almost get her killed because of their idiocy, for which there is not so much as a peep of apology, even after she saves their asses -- until she is finally allowed to be off again. Great! Naturally, the quality of the story picks up exponentially.
It last for all of five chapters before the next project stumbles into her: A dude sounding like he needs
TheLastStitchRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Ok, so this is a little early for a review for my preference, but I have enough points of interest to build a map here. We'll start with the good. Everything except how characters interact with eachother is good quality writing. The lore is interesting, the main characters powers are cool almost to the point of carrying the story, the MC is like 2/3s awesome. It's got a lot going for it. Besides one glaring issue early on that I'm not certain will continue for much longer this just IS a fun read.
But there are a number of reasons I couldnt rate this higher. Ranging from ethical reasons to pet peeves. I'll start with the one glaring issue because I've already alluded to it. There's a good chance when the MC meets other "friendly" people your gonna hate this story. It's really poorly handled. In the span of like 15 minutes they go from oddly aggressively ungrateful jerks to the best of friends who'd die to protect the MC. They are suddenly written as if they'd been close personal friends for years, power of friendship anime style. It is thoroughly cringe. Beyond that they become weights dragging the story down afterword. The MC for whatever reason just adopts these people and considers them her sole responsibility and the story becomes about babysitting them. It's not a good time. But! I will say going by the latest chapters it's hinting they aren't gonna be around much longer. We'll have see if the story repeats itself when a new crop of not enemies comes along, or if the writer learned something from those chapters.
Now onto the slightly more uncomfortable reasons I had to rate this so lowly. If you know anything about current events in gaming this story is the palworld of webnovels. It goes far beyond wearing its um....inspirations on its sleeve. The magic system is a paired down version of He Who Fights With Monsters's. A good 70% of the world building/main characters capabilities are just straight lifted from Elden Ring's. Pretty much everything about this story