by Ryan Andrew
An untamed power. A broken border. A war that will reshape kingdoms. Ethan carries a power he cannot understand and barely controls. Old legends say that power could destroy everything. When assassins slip across Esterria’s borders, Ethan is dragged from his simple life to accompany the Watcher James in hunting the threat. But what started as a journey to avert a border war quickly unravels into a greater danger. Dark powers are revealed, hidden motives are coming to light, and the whisper of something far stronger than any known Gift is stirring at the corners of the world. For Ethan to become who he was intended to be, he must master the dangerous power within his own soul. Because the greatest threat to Esterria isn’t the invading army, it’s the Gift burning inside him. Book 1: The Diffident Apprentice (COMPLETED) Book 2, The Reluctant Exile: Starts September 1. Chapters every Tuesday and Thursday. Please note- This is classic fantasy with rich worldbuilding and a character-driven story. The MC is very much a zero to hero in book 1. While I’m a fan of LitRPG and portal fantasy, there are no elements of that within this story. *if you are reading this story somewhere other than at royalroad.com (where it is free to read), it has been illegally copied
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, 05:38 UTC
Entry forecast updated 2 Oct 2026, 05:38 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.
Rising Stars history is uncertain, so no precise projection is shown.
beats 41% of similar stories
beats 87% of similar stories
beats 30% 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 50–149 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.
