Terminus Ritual: Level Up or Die

In one afternoon, the lives of Alix and Leon take drastically different turns.

As one mourns all he has lost, and the other is only beginning to celebrate, they are both summoned to another world. There, one of them is destined to become the Solknight, while the other is cursed to become the Darknight.

They soon find out that the world they have been summoned to is dying, the World Tree that provides all with life in an eternal state of decay. The only thing that can hold off its death is the Terminus Ritual, a ritual Alix and Leon are going to have to take part in if either of them want to make it back home, but for the Terminus Ritual to be a success, one of them will have to die.

They are both given five years to do with what they will, but at the end of it they will be irresistibly drawn together. For the Solknight, the Hero summoned to save Babyl, he is given everything he could possibly need. For the Darknight, summoned just to be a puppet in the Hero's prophecy, he is cast out and abandoned to his fate. If he doesnt want to die for an uncaring world, he will have to use his five years wisely.

Author's Notes

This is my first attempt at writing something in the Isekai/LitRPG genre, although I wouldn't say its in the light novel style. I have read very little in the genre before so this is mostly an experiment and I hope it doesnt come across as overly cliché or derivate. It is just for a bit of fun and to write something different from the traditional fantasy that I usually write. I'm hoping that posting it here will encourage me to work on it more frequently.

Cover is a placeholder and also not fully accurate to the characters, just experimenting with style.