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Shadowborn
Shadowborn
68.5k Views 1537 Favorites 50 Chapters 4 Chapters/Week 592 Readers
4.8 (74 ratings)
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Synopsis

Zaren saved the world once, and it cost him everything. A life of war and pain left him with nothing and nobody, and with the fight for the world over and done with Zaren was ready to simply disappear. To leave behind the world that held nothing more for him, taking with him a powerful weapon he knew would cause untold suffering if it fell into the wrong hands. As far as he's concerned, the world was better off without him or the blade in it.

But when a goddess seeks him out offering something impossible, he has to set aside his hatred for the divine. A deity from another realm threatens their world, and only a goddess whose domain is far too intimate for Zaren’s liking is convinced of its existence. She needs Zaren to prepare the world for a war nobody believes is coming before its too late. The only problem? Her deal involves resetting Zaren’s level back nearly to one.

Alone and with only a shadow of his former power, Zaren has to collect both levels and allies in the hopes he might stand a chance against the looming threat. But the world he’s trying to save isn’t quite the one he left behind. Something is affecting the world in ways he has to figure out before it gets him killed, and he isn't sure its only mortals behind those changes. Changes that seem to mesh oddly well with certain...benefits provided by the goddess who contracted him.

But if Zaren wants to have a chance at completing his impossible task, he’s going to have confront the scars of his past and unravel the darkness that lurks within him. A task that might have more to do with his mission than he previously thought. Luckily, those put on his path, seemingly by fate itself, seem more than willing to offer a helping hand. And, if he plays his cards right, quite a bit more.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What to expect:
-Overall plot driven with a serious tone
-Dark themes, traumatic pasts mixed with lighter moments that will slowly head towards happier waters as Zaren fights against the world he finds himself in.
-Longer chapters, almost always over 5k words
-A competent MC with a tortured past doing his best to move forward
-Occasional other POVs from various characters, sometimes not immediately relating to the current characters (though they will always factor in eventually)
-Plenty of smut. Though it isn't the main focus of the story and doesn't start too strong, it will ramp up over time.
-LitRPG elements with less emphasis on number crunching and more on the end results so as to not bog the reader down with numbers and data
-A wide cast of characters, races, skills, classes, etc.
-A world that isn't openly smut-themed in nature, but there might be some secrets Zaren uncovers as he explores it...
-No NTR, incest, furry, or generally taboo kinks

-Current Update Schedule is Monday/Wednesday/Friday, but I will occasionally drop extra chapters if I have a lot stored up or if I feel like more than one chapter is necessary.
(Cover art courtesy of img2go AI generator)

Genre
ActionAdultAdventureEcchiFantasyHaremLitRPGRomanceSmut
Tags
Adventurers Caring Protagonist Character Growth Demi-Humans Discrimination Fantasy Creatures Fantasy World Former Hero Game Elements Girl's Love Subplot Goddesses Handsome Male Lead Heroes Level System Magic Male Protagonist Multiple POV Nudity Polygamy R-18 RPG Saving the World Sex Friends Toys Weak to Strong
Table of Contents 50
Reviews 9
Table of Contents
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    3hyv
    Status: chapter 11

    Wow a diamond in a sea of sh*t. Great writing, great worldbuilding, believable characters, gritty action, tough hero, romance and tasteful lemons, on point litrpg elements, interesting plot. Only need to hope that author sticks through this and doesn't hiatus.

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    5 Likes · Like
    tatekim
    Status: chapter twenty one – hard conversations

    It's pretty good. You can tell the author's really putting effort into it.

    The MC has been through some tough times, but he gets this chance at a better life by striking a deal with a god to bring back his deceased friends. As we keep reading, we uncover more and more about his past. Now, that's both a good and a not-so-good thing. On one hand, it keeps you hooked, dying to know what's next. But on the other hand, sometimes the MC's actions feel a bit too passive because we don't have the full picture of what he's been through. The tag "Weak to Strong" doesn't currently apply to the MC; he's nerfed but still much stronger than anyone around him. They have just reached a larger city (chap 20), and I hope to see some powerful people and how he will deal with them.

    We've got some interesting characters in general, mostly ladies. The followers, you could consider them as "strays"; they have some personality and simple goals. They are discriminated against or abused, and now the MC is here to protect and love them. There's not much romance, but there is some smut.

    The world seems to be heavily impacted by gods, but I don't remember any religion being mentioned. There's a lot of discrimination against demi-humans, and there are laws to support this so the MC wants to change that.

    The system is good; it's there to give a sense of growth and direction. Not those 30 lines of status every chapter, just a simple "Level UP" and "HP/MP", apply status where needed, and select skills. The action/fights are well done with a sense of struggle and tactics; I could easily imagine those scenes.

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    4 Likes · Like
    Runner
    Status: c0

    So far, great story and a lot of potential.

    If you think you might enjoy the details in the summary, you should enjoy the story.  Here's what I liked -

    Besides the good story telling -  Characters, world, and the plot line all make sense and seem to be developed.  These can change as the characters grow and effect the environment around them.  Example is the growth of the MC.  How he has gone from being a affection starved loner who's scared of getting close to people and is seeking death to having someone he cares for.  While the gods/goddess seem to influence the world by nudging the scales one way or the other but have limited ability for active interaction with the world. 

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    4 Likes · Like
    Derisat
    Status: c33

    The perspective jumps from memories to hallucinations to what's happening right now, and given with no warning, usually at the start of a chapter. So you stop reading one thing and then you start in the middle of an alien thought in an alien situation in a different time with different people with entirely different names, that have not been introduced to you yet. When it hasn't even resolved what happened in reality.

    Characters have been introduced rapidly and it's hard enough just remembering their BS fantasy names, they haven't stuck with us enough to form a memory, an identity with the reader. And then you slingshot it off into some hallucination of the past with literally an entirely different set of actors and even the main characters called different. Jarring and unpleasant and right now I do not give a f**k that they're stuck down with the bugs, we spent just as much time locked in his lunatic head and a flashback with people that are already dead that have no bearing on the future or the movement of the plot.

    Very early on the writing becomes bogged down with unimportant things to the reader. They may be important to the psychology of the main character but you don't need to tell their life story. Show his actions now, have them reveal his path slowly to the people around him as he talks about what made him. Massive amounts of words and chapter space dumped into flashbacks and hallucinations suddenly. With an entirely new cast of DEAD npc's, this early in the novel, to rememorize. 

    I no longer care about the dark sewer, I've been brought out of that, I don't care that they're surrounded by spiders, I've been brought out of that three times so far. There's no more tension, there's no more danger, there's no more risk of loss. The author has effectively neutered the tension of his whole story and bogged down the resolution to the problem that actually matters, surviving their current situation.

    Now it is boring

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    3 Likes · Like
    NingTheDragon
    Status: chapter thirty-four: bluffing with the...

    Really well done, bit dark at times but still one of the best stories in this site. 

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    2 Likes · Like
    CookieB
    Status: prologue: a deal you can’...

    Its great! It's the type of story that demands you pay attention to appreciate it so it's not for everyone and it's something to binge rather than follow.

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    2 Likes · Like
    Neigh
    Status: chapter twenty: anford

    One of the few Novels, that are really, REALLY! Good! It is well written, no Inconsistencies, with no Plotholes, not even minior ones (At leasts for me), and has many Details, that makes up the Taste/Color of the Novel! And that while not feeling stuffed, with the Details, while reading it! The only bad (Or better said not near Perfect thing is) it does get confusing when we get another PointOfView after these *****, with no knowledge of who or where it continues.

    I really hope the Author continues to write this Novel, the pacing of Updates is very good too, with 3 Chapters per Week with quite a lenght of said Chapters. 

    5 Stars from me For this Novel!

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    2 Likes · Like
    Kuzikarin
    Status: chapter thirty-one: slave thirteen

    Came for smut. Stayed for the story. MC is excellent. The world is interesting to want to know about.

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    2 Likes · Like
    zigzag12321
    Status: chapter twenty-eight: royally screwed

    Truly a diamond in the rough, a needle in a haystack, probably top 2 best stories I’ve read on this site

    Read More

    2 Likes · Like
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