
by Aleah Cat
Earth has fallen. The few beaten survivors fled on colony ships to start again. That was how Major Marielle Smith fought, survived, then lost it all. Sylpharia is a world recovering from the clutches of an abhorrent and evil empire. Enter Mari—a clone of a mere human—raised in a world that hates her kind as some of the vestiges of their oppressors. The lone glimmer of light? A young Kilthien woman named Kris—the daughter of the rebellion's leader. Together, Mari seeks to recover her lost immortal soul while Kris delves into the secrets of magic to become the beacon that shatters history's endless cycle of destruction. What to expect: -Zero AI use. Not for artwork, and not for the story or editing. -Dual Female Leads! One, an immortal soul cultivator turned soldier; the other, a perfectionist chasing the secrets of magic. -Slow Burn. Mari makes slow progress on her path. Kris has to experiment and research her magic gadgets. -Lesbian Romance. A lot of flirty humor, mostly. -An almost isekai. This story starts small, limited to the planet of Sylpharia, and will eventually ascend into the broader universe, visiting other worlds in later volumes. -Elements of cultivation mixed into a much more expansive breadth of flavors of magic. -Untamed mana is poisonous. Mana itself is a background mystery of the setting. -Updates Every Monday! Content Warnings: -There are some traumatic scenes among Mari's memories. This isn't GoT, so not everyone is on the chopping block, but some characters might die. I think writing a story where nobody ever dies lacks in suspense and gravity. -History of slavery on the planet Sylpharia. There won't be actual slaves in the content, but the history of the fallen empire on Sylpharia involves a lot of horrible things done by an oppressive regime. -Language. Mari was a soldier. She and other former comrades talk like soldiers. Yes, they swear. Cover artwork by AR Sullivan, a seasoned illustrator known for providing covers to theOutworlder's Blood and Dungeon Accountant series among many others.You can find them @arsullivanart Participated in the Fall 2025 Writathon!
#26
6/8/2026
Peak #32
0d
#25
6/8/2026
Peak #39
0d
#24
3/17/2026
Peak #50
0d
#23
3/13/2026
Peak #49
0d
#22
3/11/2026
Peak #45
2d
Rank updated 13 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Entry forecast updated 13 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Overall Rising Stars shadow rank
deep field · ~#7258 of 7,531 · 7208 below #50
By genre
beats 84% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 66% of similar stories
Firing on all cylinders
Traffic and conversion are both strong for a story this size. Readers are finding it and sticking — if Rising Stars is the goal, this is the moment to push.
At this conversion, the Sci-fi Rising Stars bar (≈1 new followers/day) costs about 301 views/day — the story currently gets ~226.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 50–149 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.
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