
by David FitzGerald
Nathan Carter attends school like any ordinary teenager, trying to survive each day without drawing too much attention to himself. Then a strange storm leaves him with something that could change his life forever. When Nathan learns about the Upper Academy, a school for students whose gifts extend far beyond academics, he sees an opportunity to escape the future waiting for him. He applies and steps into a world he never imagined he could belong to. But Nathan is not the only one wondering what he might become. The military has already taken an interest in his developing abilities, and they have plans of their own. Unsure of himself and unprepared for the expectations being placed upon him, Nathan must decide what kind of life he wants and how far he is willing to go to claim it. His journey will carry him from an uncertain boy struggling to find his place to a young man rising through the academy and proving himself in a world that is in much need of heroes.
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 2 Oct 2026, 03:38 UTC
Entry forecast updated 2 Oct 2026, 03:38 UTC
Ranking model: rs-public-oracle-state-v1
Forecast model: rs-model-entry-v1
Chart history contains only this ranking model's runs; legacy points are not spliced in.
Coupled 14-day outlook
rs-joint-entry-copula-v1
Any eligible RS entry
9%
Two or more lists
2%
Likely threshold order: Contemporary → Fantasy → Main.
Leading bundle: Contemporary (7%).
Estimated from one fitted shared story path; category probabilities are not multiplied as if lists were independent.
Separate entry forecast; this probability does not enter the ranking score.
Overall Rising Stars Shadow RS rank
#1365 of 12,407 · 1315 below RS #50
By genre
beats 13% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 51% of similar stories
Mid-pack, room on both levers
Traffic and conversion both sit mid-field for a story this size. Growth here compounds from consistency: steady cadence feeds traffic, and a sharper hook lifts what each view is worth.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 10–19 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views lifetime.