The Owl's Bastard

This is an epic-length, multi-volume story. Volume 1 Complete. Volume 2 in progress. Would you be willing to sacrifice what you are to save what you can? Once a cloistered student of the dark arts from a fabled school, Dragos now wanders the world, making his way as an outcast of society. When a chance encounter with a monster complicates his already uncertain path, he embarks on a search for students left behind after their school's destruction. Each encounter darkens his soul as he moves towards that which he once left behind. To preserve and protect the one legacy he has, the knowledge of the Solomonari wizards, he will make choices that dictate the kind of man he is and what he will become. Will he be Calruthia's savior or its ruin? If you find this story anywhere but Roral Road or Ghostcat's Patreon, it has been scraped without the author's permission. What to expect: *Dark Fantasy/Grimdark themes*A zmeu, which is a type of Romanian dragon, and other lesser-known Mythology*Powers come from the Solomonari and operate in folkloric ways, not gamelit ways, soft magic system.*Many tragic endings (but not all)*A few romantic situations (nothing graphic) at different times. No harem for Dragos.*Light progression, training, and development that intensifies. No numbers.*Naive protag begins with slightly greater than average skills, and Vol 1 ends with a few more spells and powers.That kind of progression speed.*Weird and uncanny obstacles.*Some violence that becomes more prevalent as the story goes on*The pacing is moderate, at times built for tension or reflection alongside the action.Inspirations include The Witcher and Mushishi. Updates Wednesdays. Note: If you find this anywhere other than Royal Road or MY Patreon, it has been taken without consent/plagiarized. Support my work here: https://www.patreon.com/c/Ghostcat738 I can be found on Discord in various locations like Immersive Ink, Royal Road Writer's Guild, The Council of the Eternal Hiatus, Crowe's Nest of Royal Road, as well as deLongchamp's community server. I did the art for the painted cover. The rest are AI that I doctored up. I'm cycling through them because, why not. I have half a dozen, might as well keep using them.