Eli Grayson thought he was a regular human. Born and raised on Earth, he was inadvertently introduced to magical society when he thwarted an assassination attempt against the high elven Princess Aria Hightower. In the process, he discovered the quirk within his DNA that allowed him to do things no regular human could do – namely, absorb and control the magical energy known as mana in the form of magical spells. During this ‘awakening’ process he had a vision of a powerful being named Athena, who informs him that his DNA and abilities mean that he is no regular human. Instead, he is something called “Royal Blooded”.

After recovering from the attack, Aria introduces Eli to her handmaidens: a dryad named Liliflora (Lilly for short) and a coldheart phoenix named Freya. They teach him about magical society, telling him that mana has mutated magical beings into having longer lifespans and changing the ratio of women to men to about 6:1 – causing polygyny to be the norm. Aria also formally introduces herself as a princess of the high elven nation of Eyilean. Then she gives him the bad news: when the multiracial magical council finds him they will see him as a threat to their ability to keep magic a secret from regular humans – something they believe is critical to their survival due to humanity’s vastly larger population, higher level of technology, and aptitude for fighting wars.

As a show of appreciation for saving her life, Aria invokes an ancient elven tradition to claim Eli as her ‘fiancé’ to justify taking him through a magical portal back to the high elven realm of Eldamar to hide. Even though the move shielded him from the magical council, it embroiled him in elven politics. He wins over Aria’s father – King Faelor Hightower – and his 3 wives by helping investigate the assassination attempt into Aria. Along the way he meets the female orcish warrior Naz, and the desert elven woman Zebeyana bint al-Ramil (Zee for short) – the latter of which works undercover as a CIA operative, passing human secrets back to the elves. He also learns about magic from an older wood elf woman named Talaedra, learning about the elvish language and culture in the process.

Eventually, Eli’s ‘engagement’ to Aria turned into a real relationship. After their first night together they discover that ‘bonding’ with a Royal Blood had a number of effects. First, it gave Eli the ability to use Aria’s spatial magic – something he sorely needed due to his inability to control his instinctual Royal Blooded magic. Second, it allowed Eli to assume the form of a high elf at will. Lastly, it boosted Aria’s magical abilities, allowing her to master new spells at an accelerated rate as well as empowering her existing repertoire of spells. After this revelation, Aria encourages Eli to bond with other women and form a harem.

He joins Aria, Freya, and Lilly on a trade mission to the magical city of Coldwater. While they are there, Freya’s sister is killed during a second assassination attempt on Aria’s life. Freya elects to stay in Coldwater with the rest of her family to mourn her sister. Eli blames himself and grows closer to Lilly, discovering that she is a psychologist by training. She offers to provide him with therapy to help him adjust to his new life.

With the help of Aria, Lilly, Naz, and Zee Eli discovers that the assassination attempt was a joint plot between Aria’s bother Anar and his accomplice, Princess Icitra of the rival high elven nation of Avallonè. The two of them use a powerful magical artifact to mind control humans and force them into staging a coup in Avallonè, killing the rest of the royal family and installing Icitra as the new Queen. When they discover that Anar plans to do the same thing to Aria’s family they step in. Anar tries to mind control Eli but he assumes his high elven form, preventing the mind control from working. Eli overpowers and kills Anar, destroying the artifact but sparing Icitra’s life out of mercy.

On their return, Aria’s father and mothers accept Eli’s actions as necessary and embrace him as family. He has a therapy session with Lilly, after which the two of them bond.

Eli accompanies Aria, Lilly, Naz, and Zee on what is supposed to be a regular trade mission to the heavily forested wood elven realm. They arrive to find that the wood elves have just been attacked by an army of reanimated dead animals. Eli and Lilly decide to track the source of the reanimated dead through the forest, using it as an opportunity to test Eli’s life magic and ‘dactyl’ (male dryad) form – both of which were unlocked because of his bonding with Lilly.

After a series of brief skirmishes with more reanimated dead they find the source of the skeletons: an undead sorcerer known as a lich. Eli is outmatched by the lich but manages to destroy it by using his Royal Blooded powers to drain the mana from its phylactery - the item that gives the lich life. After, they return to Irandell - the capital city of Eyilean – where Eli tries to learn more about the origins of the lich by letting the Gradumir the dwarf and Ashni the naga examine the seemingly inert phylactery. They tell him it is made of a material called ‘arcanite’ – a rare and powerful substance with special properties that is only smithed in one place. They commit to tracking down more information about the origins.

While in Irandell he meets one of the humans he saved from Anar’s mind control – a woman named Annette Legrand – who has decided to work as a chef for the Hightower royal family. He also learns that the ruling magical council has finally caught wind of his existence and is demanding that he submit himself to them for judgement. Aria and Lilly convince him to move to Irandell more permanently until they can figure out what to do about the council – knowing that it will keep him safe from their grasp but also admitting that it will prevent him from being able to visit Earth. Afterwards, he calls his normal human parents and gives them a cover story for being mysteriously unable to visit them.

He commits to becoming as powerful as he can in the meantime, training his magic with Talaedra and his martial skills with Zee and Naz. He also learns about the ruling magical council and its constituent races. His lesson is interrupted when they learn that the desert elven realm of Qizm Alsahra is attacked by more reanimated dead.

Eli volunteers to go and help defend the realm, knowing that it would win the favor of the council. Together with the rest of his harem they hold off the initial attack, driving the skeletons back. When it becomes obvious that they’re going to need reinforcements to track down the liches, Eli travels with Zee to a desert elven monastery to seek the advice of a djinn known as ‘the oracle’, and they become close during the journey. The djinn agrees to help, enlisting the desert elven twins Sira and Ziran into Eli’s service before using his powers to glimpse the future. He tells the group where the two liches in the realm are, but the effort of using his powers kills him. While the djinn uses his powers Eli has a vision of Athena, who tells him that there are many more magical worlds which even the elves know nothing about and that there is a dangerous force coming for Earth. She tells him that he needs to come to see her in person or else they will track him. To come to her realm he needs to seek out a dragon with the name of ‘The Scarlett Claw’.  

Afterwards, while Sira and Ziran prepare for the journey back to the monastery Eli and Zee bond. This gives Eli access to a desert elven form and magic while also increasing Zee’s magical powers. They travel on the backs of wyverns to pick up Aria, Lilly, and Naz before proceeding on to confront the liches, destroying them and freeing the realm. In the process Eli realizes that every time he drains a lich’s phylactery his magical powers grow. Sira and Ziran ask to join Eli on his adventures as his royal retainers.

When they return to Irandell, Gradumir and Ashni report back to Eli that the amulets are quite valuable, with both demons and angels offering to buy it from them. They also inform them that while they couldn’t find the person who originally commissioned the pieces to be made, there were 3 more amulets somewhere out there – meaning there are presumably 3 more liches. Eli resolves to train harder to confront the liches when they surface, learning how to make potions and becoming more proficient in combat. He also learns more about orcish culture, becoming close with Naz as he does.

Those lessons soon become useful as the orcish realm of Targe Maraz is the next to be assaulted by the reanimated dead. Eli, Naz, Sira, and Ziran charge through the portal, but are quickly cut off from any reinforcements by an undead dragon and its 3 lich masters. They decide to rally the local orcish warriors, with Eli assuming the role of chieftain for both Naz’s tribe and another orcish tribe who challenges him. Together with his new tribemates he petitions the orcish leader Azrak for help. Azrak mentions that that they have no way of killing the undead dragon save for a magical orcish axe which has been lost to time.

Eli and Naz resolve to find the axe, travelling to its last known location – a cave system in a mountain filled with giant venomous spiders. Eli uses his life magic powers to convince the spiders that they are friendly, and in return the spiders reveal their secret: they are protecting a secret dark elven enclave led by a dark elven woman named Queen Aratessa, also known as ‘the Spider Queen’.
When they speak to Aratessa, she says she has the axe but won’t give it up unless they help her slay a hydra which is terrorizing her people. Instead of killing it Eli uses his life magic to tame it, discovering that the dark elven mountain enclave is in danger of collapsing in the process. Eli brings the hydra along with this message back to Aratessa, winning her loyalty and the magical axe in the process. Aratessa agrees to help against the liches so long as Eli helps find a new home for her and her subjects.

When they deliver the axe back to Azrak, he easily rallies the rest of the orcish forces against the liches. Eli and Naz bond the night before the battle. Together with the orcs and their new dark elven allies they attack and defeat the 3 remaining liches, during which Eli gains the support and admiration of his orcish tribe.

Eli, Naz, Sira, Ziran, and the orcish tribe return to Irandell much to the relief of Aria, Lilly, and Zee. He debriefs them on what happened, and discovers from Faelor’s dark elven wife Morathi that Aratessa is descended from a the original “Spider Queen” – a cruel dark elven queen who was banished for using death magic. Aratessa shows that she is not the same person as her grandmother, and wins over Morathi. Eli also promises to take Aria ring shopping for a real engagement ring.

The next day an anonymous email is sent to Aria containing a video of the deposed Queen Icitra holding Eli’s parents hostage. She demands the 6 phylacteries that Eli has collected in exchange for their lives. Eli travels with his harem to her mountain hideout in Avallonè to negotiate for their release. Icitra cruelly kills Eli’s parents, causing him to lose control and transform into his orcish form. He kills Icitra and storms out into the night.

Several days later, Eli is found by Freya. She heard about what happened from Aria and has come to help. She brings him back to Icitra’s mountain hideout where they meet Minerva – and angel who was held prisoner there. Minerva reveals the true mastermind behind both Icitra’s kidnapping and the liches: the archangel of death and her former master, Azreal. She claims that Azreal seeks to create order in all the realms by killing everyone and turning them into perfectly obedient reanimated dead. She also reveals that the phylacteries can act as keys which unlock the doorway to the angel’s home – a pocket dimension only accessible via a doorway in a realm called Purgatory.

Together with his harem, Eli decides to go after Azreal and stop him. He wins the support of the angel’s mortal enemies – the demons – by killing Azreal’s forces who were blocking the doorway to the demonic pocket dimension and freeing them. In the process he befriends a succubus named Vespera, who rallies an army of demons for him to fight the angels. He augments their forces with ones from the people he’s helped in the past – wood elves and dryads with their animal companions from the wood elven realm, orcs and dark elves from Targe Maraz, wyverns from Qizm Alsahra, and even Freya’s phoenix sisters from Coldwater.

Together, their forces travel to the doorway of the angelic pocket dimension and kill Azreal and his combined army of undead and angels. A week later, Eli uses the phylactery to enter the angelic pocket dimension and informs them that Aratessa’s dark elven House of the Spider has decided to make Purgatory their new home, setting up defenses around the doorway to their pocket dimension. This forces them to end their war with the demons and recognize the dark elves as the rightful owners of Purgatory – terms which they accept in exchange for controlled access to the wider world.

With the battle won, Eli returns to Irandell to deal with his trauma. He gradually heals with the help of his women, and bonds with Freya. Finally, an unnamed woman visits Eli in Irandell, asking for his help in tracking down the bones of her brother – the undead dragon which he fought in Targe Maraz.