John Michael Bird

Try as he might, Fischer still can't catch a break. Tropica's forces have just perpetrated the fantasyland equivalent of crashing the king's party, kicking over the punch bowl, and making a series of rude gestures on their way out. Unfortunately, they're about to learn firsthand that when you take a bully down to the mat, it's best to make sure they don't get back up. Because their enemies are unearthing long-forgotten powers, and if those dabbling in the resulting destructive chi succeed, they could become even more annoying than the time Corporal Claws hid all of Fischer's pants.

To his dwarven captors, Zeke Blackwood is just another slave working the mines. They're unaware he's a Cambion, or human-demon hybrid, who's been charged with increasing his power as he battles the monstrous beings beneath the mountains of Min Ferilik. Forced by the dwarves into hard labor, gladiatorial games, and dangerous quests, Zeke continues to grow more powerful, becoming a champion meant for deployment in a forthcoming war between good and evil.

When summoned to a fantastical world and granted powers by a broken System, most freshly minted protagonists would strap on their big-boy boots and get ready for their stats to start climbing. But Fischer isn't like most MCs. In fact, he doesn't want to be a hero at all. Fame? Fortune? Power? He had enough of all that in his old life. Discovering forbidden fishing techniques and petting every cute animal that comes within scritching distance? Now that's a good time.

Jake has finally found a personal goal of his own as he gains a quest to defeat three more Beast Lords before he can face the final opponent of the Tutorial: The King of the Forest. Something he happily does, fully immersing himself in grasping power and gaining levels as he hunts through Dungeons to kill stronger and stronger foes. In another region of the Tutorial, turmoil amongst the humans quickly died down after a disastrous battle leaves nearly everyone except the Metal Mage William dead.

When the cultivators came to Earth, they destroyed our entire civilization in a matter of hours. Armies fell, cities burned, and that was before the moon turned red and filled our world with monsters. Now, over a decade later, what's left of humanity slaves under the heels of our Qi-infused masters. The luckiest of us might even become one of them, they say—if we serve the Dynasty well enough and harness the power of Qi. But I want none of that. I'm sick of serving, and I want nothing to do with their world. Instead, I want them to pay for what they did to mine.

Arthur lives with his father, a fallen but proud former noble, in Border Village #49, along with the other good folks condemned to toil in service to the Baron. But Arthur has an edge: a stolen heart card that secretly fell into his possession, thanks to a dragon. It’s a priceless source of power for the Baron and the tyrant will kill to get it back. Invaluable, too, to a young man of spellcasting ambitions.

In the distant past, a time of magic and swordplay, there lived Harold, the mightiest lich of all, a master of arcane sciences, and a challenger of gods. After reaching the pinnacle of his power and finding it surprisingly bland, Harold waged a cataclysmic war against the gods, aiming to shatter the very system that confined him.

For years, Zeke Blackwood fought tooth and nail to defend the powerless and avenge the fallen, becoming one of the strongest people in the world and a match for any monster or magic-wielding sorcerer in the Radiant Isles. One life-or-death battle after another forged him into the ideal solder, meant for a war between good and evil. But when an encounter with the demon realm leaves him transformed, his body shattered, he's forced to follow a far more dangerous path.

Through promises of untold wealth and power, the Eternal Depths has long held sway over the hearts of men, has long lured the greedy and the desperate to their untimely end. Edmund Montgomery Ahab has sworn to destroy it. With nothing but a sword in his hand, vengeance on his mind, and a mysterious connection to the Aspect of Madness, Edmund embarks on a one-way journey into those deadly halls. He knows there will be no return. Edmund has already given his life to the dungeon. All that remains to be seen is whether he takes the dungeon’s right back.

In pursuit of his abusive father’s approval, Zeke Blackwood pushed himself to the very pinnacle of his chosen obsession. Since childhood, all he’d ever wanted to do was play baseball, and through hard work, discipline, and no small degree of talent, his goal of reaching the major leagues was finally in sight. But then a horrific car accident ruined his arm, eliminating any hope of a professional baseball career. Consumed by depression, Zeke gave up on his future, preferring to wallow in self-pity. That is, until an opportunity came along for him to prove his worth.