The Price of Essence [Slice of Life LitRPG]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Experience points are finite, and all civilizations of the universe wage war to take it all.

For Jeremy, heir to a legendary family, the Academy of Humanity is his first step into a brutal reality where strength is determined by Skills. Driven by the weight of his family’s legacy and haunted by the mystery surrounding his sister’s awakening, Jeremy’s journey takes an unexpected turn when he discovers his unique Skill:Universal Equipment.In a world where buffs are absorbed from equipment—strictly limited to designated slots—Jeremy alone can place any item in any slot, breaking the boundaries others are confined by.

With this unmatched adaptability, Jeremy can combine buffs in unprecedented ways, layering conflicting powers and amplifying his strength beyond what anyone has ever seen. But wielding such power comes at a price. Allies grow curious, rivals grow wary, and a twin brother is left in his shadow. What lines will he cross in his pursuit of the truth? And will it be worth the price he will pay?

Readers can expect:

Strong to OP MC

Skill progression, not just numbers go up (but there’s a lot of that too)

Stacking a bunch of equipment buffs for ridiculous results

Characters who feel like real people

MC that isn't afraid to use his influence

No harem, no romance at all

2000 words per chapter, Monday to Friday

Information

Status: Cancelled
Year: 2024
Author: Abarith

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.0/ 5.0
Followers: 461
Views: 117,020

Chapters(58 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(7)

R. C. VettaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Incredibly Fun Read!
For me I am always intrigued by a litrpg story that has a strong emphasis on families. This one delivers in a way that definitely scratches the progression and slice of life itch.
Style- The author's style is so calming that even during the intense moments they do not feel rushed. Just like the magic system the style of writing feels very methodical. Not to say it is procedural or formulaic in any way. The text flows without any fluff or extraneous descriptions. The author's ability to focus the story wholly on the scene at hand is remarkable.
Grammar- I did not notice any glaring grammatical errors and definitely nothing that took me out of the reading.
Story- The plot is a bit of a slow burn in terms of skill acquisition and progression, but that is juxtaposed by the rapid accelerating plot that introduces the reader to the world and its unique quirks. After that initial introduction, things slow back down a bit and leads to a very Mr. Miyagi-esk period of training that helps develop our understanding of the "system" at play in this world.
Characters- I can't rave enough about how natural these characters feel. So much of the dialog reads like a natural conversation you would hear between normal people in common situations. The way characters interact with one another is a incredible feat by the author. So often dialog can be great, but still not feel like a father talking to a son or a brother to their brother. This story does not suffer from that in the least. The family dynamic is expertly done!
Highly recommended for fans of Skill progression with a strong dash of Slice of Life.
Pen RoninRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I appreciate a story I can’t predict, and this one has two twists that grabbed my attention right away. This is definitely a page-turner by a skilled storyteller.
Unique skills and abilities seem central to this world, and we see it from the point of view of a nuclear family. Specifically, we see it through the eyes of Jeremy, one of the children with a lot of potential. The parents live in a more complex world, and the children can’t stay isolated from reality forever.
Prose: Very well written. It has good imagery and is paced well.
Story: Good plot. It’s hard to say much about the plot other than it’s good, or else I spoil some events that are better left to surprise the reader. The pace feels natural and not rushed, but it moves along quickly.
Grammar. I’m not good at spotting spelling mistakes, and I didn’t see any. Punctuation and all that looked good.
Character: The story starts with children and captures their lighthearted nature while emphasizing worldbuilding. The dialogue and interactions invoke a little nostalgia and feel natural.
Overall, I highly recommend The Price of Essence. It has a really good concept, is well written, and enjoyable to read.
Perry OkeefeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall it is a well written story with a focus on characters and the emotional moments in their lives as they experience the magical world around them. The story starts us out the night before the three siblings are about to receive their first skills from the magical system.
The style is descriptive without disrupting the smooth flow of the story, which I really appreciate. This story has done a great job balancing what the reader needs to know to move the story forward while minimizing bloat. The world feels mysterious and magical, and the skills are interesting and unique.
The grammar is quite good, I wasn't distracted from the story at any point because of poor grammar. However, my own grammar is far from perfect so I might not be the best person to judge grammar.
The story is magical and intriguing, though at times I found myself wishing it would progress a bit faster, but that is a personal preference and not in any way an actual disadvantage of the story its.
The characters are were this story really shines, giving you a close up look at the struggles of a family as they go through a terrible tragedy, and how family/sibling dynamics might interact with a magical world.
bewareoftoadsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
woahhhhhh blurb wasn’t lying when it said that the characters feel like real people. I am such a sucker for sibling dynamics, especially the angsty ones. Nothing quite hurts like the monsters at home.
Style: 10/10 (yes ik the review system don’t work like that but it is still deserved). The world feels super magical and interesting, and the coolness of the magic skills can really be felt through the characters’ reactions to getting them. At the same time, it preserves the emotional moments like the shock and pain and confusion when Alicia doesn’t get a skill of her own.
Story: the world building is solid. The power of the parents and the importance of the skills is really well established, along with the class divide. The mystery of what happened with Alicia definitely has me hooked, because it did NOT feel like she was a “pretender.” Also the fact that Jeremy’s progression is so fast because he has his sisters amulet 😭 did he somehow take her potential?? I need to know and I need Alicia back so everyone can be happy again (not really the angst feeds my soul lol)
Grammar: No issues here!
Character: MC feels pretty standard. His skill is pretty OP, and progression so far has been pretty fast. It’s not that he feels unrealistic- he is shocked and confused at his sister’s death- but he doesn’t really have the same emotional pull as his brother, Andrew. He’s going to school to… uphold his family legacy? But also with all the icky feeling preferential treatment and nepotism, it’s hard for me to relate to that motivation. Based on what I’ve seen so far, though, I have no doubt Jeremy is going to get pulled into his sisters death stuff and have that as a driving motivator.
Right now, definitely the winner for me is Andrew. bro is not having a good time and I can’t help but root for him. His brother is so perfect and happy and Andrew can’t figure out to be happy for him, so of course he’s angry and frustrated about that, on top of feeling inferior to his brother because he
YkikamucowRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I came because of the name, I stayed because of the character development.
Jeremy, our lead, starts out with every advantage, and the attitude to go with it. A classic OP, all the advantages lead, but the author works with this trope well, and its not a simple power trip fantasy, but a well thought out story of actions and consequences.
bearycoolRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Its a pretty fun but slow story about two brothers that join a magic academy. The MC Jeremy is much more talented than his brother because of his unique skill, which might have interesting conflicts between the brothers in the future. I dont know in the future but right now the daily chapters make up for the slow pace.
The style is very descriptive but isn't boring. Just the right amount of description to make you feel what's happening.
Story like I said is pretty slow so far, at a dozen chapters in they've only started going to school. But the slowness gives time to really develop the personalities of the characters. Only 1 action scene so far, but that might change once they really get going in school. We get bits and pieces of world building rather than an expositioon dump which I love
Grammar is flawless, I only saw one part that should have been a comma not a period but other than that pretty great here.
Character is really the selling point here, they're really wrll written and you can definitely think that you could see these characters have the same argument in real life. You quickly get attached to the characters (still annoyed at what happened in chap 2), and I can't wait to see more of them. good job here.
CosmorosRoyal Road
★★ 2.0
Let's start with the fact that the story was good in writing and human interaction with a system that has been made better than most you can find.
However, it was abandoned by the author, so the system that was barely explained will not be described further. From what we got, it looks like a standard LitRPG but with even more grind than usual. The numbers go up without much of a tier separation, which makes no sense when you read the story.
Now, to the characters. Our MC is supposed to be 13 years old. Anyone on this site can remember what it was being one. Sophisticated talks and drama on the level of a drama club acting was not part of it. The entire relationship and actions of the side characters make no sense, considering their age.
Also, after reading 10 chapters (out of 57) where MC constantly complained, went full-blown panic attack mode, and cried most of the chapters, I had enough. It reads like a Japanese novel where MCs constantly do the same pity-act thing.
Then we hit another iceberg; it's a slow-burn story that takes a few chapters to recount a day of MC's life. Yes, there are some time skips here and there, but mostly, they are around a week. As you can imagine, the story would have probably taken forever to reach MC adulthood or would have probably used a gigantic time skip. However, it's abandoned.
It had a somewhat promising start to the story, with an interesting system, characters, etc. But the more I read, the more disappointed I was. When MC went into constant complaint and paranoia mode, I just had enough. I have read enough Japanese novels with MCS that can not complain and just shut up. The system was original enough, and the powerful origins are rare on RR.
I liked it enough to subscribe to Patreon, and the same day, it was abandoned. The author did not announce it on Patreon but on RR. So, everyone who came to Patreon after Chapter 47 discovered they had wasted money.