
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 Monday, Wednesday, Friday 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
Rank updated 14 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Entry forecast updated 14 Aug 2026, 04:15 UTC
Overall Rising Stars shadow rank
deep field · ~#1042 of 6,880 · 992 below #50
By genre
beats 53% of similar stories
beats 96% of similar stories
beats 84% 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.
At this conversion, the Adventure Rising Stars bar (≈8 new followers/day) costs about 4.4k views/day — the story currently gets ~128.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 20–49 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.