
by Gregory Daloisio
Tom Baldur wakes up alone on a beach with no memories, a mysterious magic ring on his finger, and a demon willing to kill him for it. Before he can even figure out who he is, he's rescued by an unlikely group: the legendary Five Muscular Generals of King Arthur's Guard. They're heroes.They're war commanders.They're terrifyingly gigantic and full o’ glorious muscle! And for some reason... …they've decided to adopt him. Now, Tom must survive a crazy training regimen that would break ordinary soldiers and uncover his lost past through the pandemonium of a continent-spanning conspiracy. The only problem? He's, well, painfully average. While the Five Muscular Generals can run twenty miles before breakfast, crush boulders with their bare hands, and inspire entire armies simply by existing, Tom struggles epically to finish warmups without collapsing. Yet somewhere beneath his forgotten memories lies a secret powerful enough to draw the attention of demons and black magic cults—and perhaps change the fate of the world itself. If the training doesn't kill him first. What to expect: -Epic Tolkien-inspired fantasy adventure -Mythology-inspired fantasy -A genuinely wholesome mentor/student story -Brotherhood and found family -Gradual progression and magical training -Equal parts heartfelt adventure and absurd humor -Ancient mysteries, demons, Arthurian kingdoms, cults, and legendary heroes About the Journeys to Magic Series: Welcome to the sprawling fantasy realm of Helios, the continent of the Journeys to Magic series. Many cultures and heroic stories remain untold throughout these mythical lands, and cannot be covered in the main story; thus, the purpose of these side stories! While I recommend you take a look at the mainline series here first, this is a standalone story and can be read on its own.
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Rank updated 13 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Entry forecast updated 13 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
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Hidden gem — exposure is the bottleneck
Readers who find this story follow it at a high rate; there just aren't enough of them. In our cohort data, near-daily posting lifted the odds of reaching 25 followers from ~0% to 17% — more chapters, shoutout swaps and ads buy the eyeballs this conversion deserves.
At this conversion, the Action Rising Stars bar (≈8 new followers/day) costs about 244 views/day — the story currently gets ~2.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 2–4 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views lifetime.
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