The Chains of Gloomwatch: A Fantasy LitRPG, Book 2 in Soulbound Saga

He left his friends to find a temple. He found a cage instead.Aedric Thornvale thought he was finally walking his own path. He had left the safety of the Marr Caravan, eyes set on the Blackthorn Forest and the answers waiting within the Temple of Forgotten Wisdom. But destiny-and the King's army-had other plans.Caught in a brutal conscription drive, Aedric is stripped of his possessions, his freedom, and his name. Now, he is just Recruit 144.Trapped in Fort Gloomwatch on the edge of the corrupted Shadowlands, Aedric faces a terrifying reality: the daily struggle to survive the "Grinder" is nothing compared to the threat living inside the walls. The fort is culling the weak and harvesting the strong.If they discover he is Awakened, he becomes fuel for a dying tyrant.To stay alive, Aedric must learn a new kind of magic-deception. He must suppress his magic, hide his sarcasm, and endure the brutality of the drill yard without revealing his true strength. But the Shadowlands are calling, and the monsters in the mist don't care about his secrets.As his class evolves from a simple Trickster into something more, Aedric learns that sometimes, to see the light, you have to walk through the shadow.The Raven is waiting. The System is watching. And in the Grinder you break or you evolve. "To see the truth, one must first be willing to lose the lie."