The Guardian's Moment (Guardian Book One)

Shmorg is going to be the strongest man in the room. He just has to wait for the room to need him. His Gift only activates when someone else is in genuine danger. He can't use it to win a duel, pass a test, or impress anyone who's ever evaluated him. On paper it makes him the least promising trainee Ironhearth has ever admitted. It's also what's kept people alive. Shmorg failed the knight apprentice test three times. The third rejection wasn't even a full sentence. Then his younger brother Awakened a Gift for farming — which was, inconveniently, Shmorg's entire backup plan. So when he asked the night sky for one thing he might be good at and a cheerful voice answered Okay!, he was prepared to take the win. He was less prepared to land across the continent, in a field of monsters, with a quest log advising him, in bold, to RUN. He didn't run. He picked up a dying knight's sword instead. Now he's trying to keep pace with knights who've had five years of real training and real stats, armed with a skill he isn't allowed to practice and a chicken named Jerry who beats him in Strength. And monsters are appearing where monsters shouldn't — which suggests whatever dropped him here wasn't doing him a favor.