The (Monstrous) Monster Slayer: Phoenix Core [CULTIVATION - GAMELIT]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

The journey to the apex is a ladder with infinite steps. The ascent, full of monsters. To begin the climb, Dante must succeed in the first year of a sect school.

Cultivators gather in sects, specializing in slaying down the creatures. The slain monsters provideMonster Cores,which give access toQi.

Thus, monster Slayers, wielding the power of monsters to advance, seek power through cultivation.

Dante, descendant of a declining clan, dreams of power. Since being a Slayer is synonymous with sponsorship, the goal is simple. He must enter one of the great sects' academy to grow stronger and save his clan. He must become a Slayer.

Combined with a new Monster Core,will his efforts be enough to once again raise the pillars of his clan?

Follow Dante's journey in a world of cultivation inspired by Xianxia and Progression Fantasy. There will be Gamelit elements, but no system.

The writing quality improves during the series. Who knew, writing an entire book makes you a better writer. So, I am rewriting the first chapters to level the playing field. If you have tried the series and gave up because of the first draft, I urge you to reconsider!

What you will find here:A story that takes place in a sect academy; Qi system that uses monsters; Cultivation.

What you won't find here:Harem; Dumb protagonist; A protagonist who will change the world in the first 100 chapters.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Dunskel

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 166
Views: 88,764

Chapters(72 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(7)

AlexKnowlesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Hey there,
So I admit I do like all POV's if done well enough, and this pulled me in nicely from the start.
Story -
There's a lot of tropes within cultivation, and this doesn't stray too far from some. But I feel they're interesting and well told from the Mc's perspecitve. I want to see what happens, and what he goes through a bit more than some others. (they can be a little repetative and I so love trope breakers)
Character -
I like Dante, he's got a ways to go, for sure. But he's willing to do the work and his best to save his clan. I do think I'd like just a little bit more with Dante and Amalia maybe to get some more information haha, but it's good. The others work with him, against him. Im waiting for someone to join him, befriend him properly, so they can share and learn, a little bit of banter, and even rivaly. Just needs a bit more. and no... (not the dragon)
Grammar -
There are a few mistakes I can spot, I'm no grammr guru either, thats why I use editors, but a few missing words etc. I'll DM you if you want me to really point some ways to make your writing stronger.
Style -
It's a really easy style to follow, and POV so far. Though some word choices really do need addressing, to bring this to snappy, in your face tense, especially around the monster encounters. Theres sometimes a lot of distancing with filters rather than us getting right in there, as above I'll help if I can!
Overall
I'm really liking this, and I want to read more, already kept going.
Lara Zanatti ReisRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This review is based on the first seven chapters of the story, The (Monstrous) Monster Slayer: Phoenix Core - A Cultivation Series
After closing the first chapter, the idea that came to my mind was Monster Hunter, produced by Bethesda (Fallout series)
The first three chapters feel like a tutorial before we can immerse into this universe.
Is the story readable? Yes, the author has their own style, mainly focusing on Dante's POV. Would I advise it? If you love the ambience and strategy of Monster Hunter, the answer is a big yes.
It shows that the author has a solid structure and lore, even with the little grits. 4/5 would recommend.
The story, as far as I read it, ambience, character goals, and lore system reminded me of Monster Hunter. There is, yes, a level system. However, the quests are not linear. And gives the idea that the characters in the future are free to follow the course of their adventure. Which is very intriguing.
And when I say Bethesda is more of a negative outlook, since it reminded me of the clunky dialogues.
Note that the author primes on the visual description with some charming details. The one that caught my attention the most was Dante walking to a floor that was skeetching. A minor detail that completed the whole visual of the scene. That is praiseworthy!
However, where the author gives into the visual description, he lacks in the dialogue. They are indeed very descriptive but lack the finesse of a natural conversation, which reminded me of the dialogues of Fallout 4 as mentioned above. They do their job, don't take me wrong. However distract from the initial style. And made me wonder how would the writing stye sound on the first POV
Gradually, you learn the mechanism of the lore, but it can feel frustrating in the first chapters. As the important information are provided after chapter 4.
geminirandRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I hadn't read this type of story but was immediately interested from the opening chapter. The testing scenario it starts with is clever and well described. I expect we'll be seeing more of the other characters as the tale unfolds. Once the test is done, it has a familiar scenario in the sense of a character thrust into a situation he doesn't quite understand, so we get to experience it along with him.
This is also well written, with no grammar or obvious spelling issues that so often plague stories here.
CKJ5Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story, The (Monstrous) Monster Slayer: Phoenix Core - A Cultivation Series and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Okay, now that's out of the way, let’s get into it.
Pros:
The (Monstrous) Monster Slayer: Phoenix Core is a Xianxia-inspired progression fantasy. The first chapter does a nice job of introducing elements of the author’s cultivation world without heavy-handed exposition. As a reader, I enjoyed the proving test scene. I understand the two stories are unrelated, but it reminded me of the Harry Potter sorting hat scene. I also enjoyed that Dante had trouble with his test, but the troubles led to other mysteries.
Cons:
I felt the dialogue at times was sophomoric, for lack of a nicer term. Having characters shout things like "Earth-breaking hammer, baby!" seems out of place and unnecessary. Unfortunately, while the dialogue in most areas of the chapter is functional, there are times that it is very jarring and distracting. That brings us to grammar. The author mentioned English is not their native language but wanted feedback to improve their work. One recurring issue the author seems to have is proper punctuation with quotations. I would suggest focusing on your quotation grammar as you edit. There are some other syntax issues, but nothing that a good edit wouldn’t clean up.
Overall:
The first chapter was a smooth, easy, fun read outside what I discussed earlier. I felt the story was progressing, and I was not wasting my time. Something I feel is critical to nail in one’s first chapter. I think The (Monstrous) Monster Slayer: Phoenix Core is off to a great start, and if the author wanted to invest more time in cleaning it up, they might turn some heads with it.
kolokRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The story begins with the protagonist wanting to enter a cultivation academy to lift his family out of poverty. From here, Dante receives a mysterious power, meets new people and all that comes with this kind of arc.
One thing to note is the group the MC trains with. Each member has their personality, ambitions, and motivations. Yes, it shouldn't be a point to highlight, but the number of stories on this website that don't develop the secondary characters is too many, so encountering one where the side characters are as interesting as the MC is something to welcome.
In general, I find the story quite entertaining. It doesn't have a lot of points that may stand out and sometimes it may be a little generic but nothing that takes you out of the history. I have a good time reading about Dante and his friends and I hope to continue reading about their adventures as the history progress.
5unRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Reviewed as part of a review swap after reading the first six chapters.
Overall Score (4/5): Overall, I think that the story has lots of good foreshadowing and plot devices that pull the reader along and have the potential to be grow into something very interesting. There are unique ideas at play that set this story apart from others in the same genre. I like the main character, and each of the side characters are distinctly different. The grammar is a little rough, but impressive considering that the author is not a native English speaker. With more writing experience and a few passes of editing, a lot of the mistakes can be cleaned up.
Style Score (3.5/5): The style of writing uses third person subjective, mainly focusing on the main character's perspective, Dante. Sometimes though, the author changes to using a disconnected perspective mid sentence, switching from "he thought" to "one might react" etc, which can be distracting. There aren't huge exposition dumps, which is nice. Much of the context of the worldbuilding is delivered through dialogue, giving the characters a chance to develop.
Grammar Score (3.5/5): As stated earlier, the grammar is a bit rough. If that's a huge turnoff for you, this story might be hard to read. However, I think the plot, characters, and world are compelling enough to justify reading this story in spite of the lackluster grammar/spelling. Keep in mind, English is not the author's first language, and these issues will resolve as they continue to write.
Story Score (4.5/5): I won't give any spoilers here, but there are several unique elements in this fiction that fascinate me and are worth reading to discover more about. Many tropes familiar to Xian Xia and progression fantasy readers are present in this novel, but with new takes and unique elements.
Character Score (4.5/5): The main character, Dante, is dedicated to getting stronger to save his clan from their financial decline. He overcomes his fears to learn all that he can and mak
Hamo4Royal Road
★★★ 3.0
Style: Fairly standard, nothing particularly fantastic or detrimental. The author is good at creating imagery in a reader's mind.
Story: This is the highlight of the fiction. The story is entertaining, if quite generic, and captures the reader's attention with Dante's struggle and progression. The pacing is also very good, not being too slow or too fast.
Grammar: The main issue I have with this fiction and the reason for the three star overall rating, is the poor grammar, which consistently breaks my immersion in the story. There are commonly sentences that are incoherent and sometimes have mid sentence changes in perspective. There are no noticeable spelling mistakes and only some minor punctuation mistakes. It remains a very good attempt from an author whom another reviewer has mentioned, is not native English speaking. If you are someone who can ignore poor grammar then I recommend this story.
Character: The main character and side characters are slowly being fleshed out over the chapters, which is good, but they are quite generic. The characters actions do also seem slightly unrealistic at times. Dante's motivations are relatable and compelling. Another area the author makes good use of is the dialogue, which is lifelike and enhances each character's personality.