[Book One of The Exiled]
Origin Recognized
He woke in a field with a short sword, a System interface, and no memory of who he was.
The System calls him a Duelist. The class fits badly. It logs what he does, fails to classify it, and keeps a record it tries to redact: origin recognized, containment. Nobody in the city has seen that flag fire on a living person.
Theo Brooks reads fights. Positioning, timing, the seam in the plate, the half second the other side did not account for. It keeps him alive against the corrupted things in the plains and the warehouses beneath the city. It also draws attention: a Fire Sorcerer who chose her own name, a Guardian running one level ahead, an information broker who charges in data, and a Director who holds things half a second longer than she needs to.
The corruption spreading through the System does not conquer. It convinces. And it knows Theo from somewhere he cannot remember.
What kind of book this is
LitRPG progression fantasy in the vein of He Who Fights With Monsters, The Primal Hunter, and Defiance of the Fall. Close third person. Tactical combat. A System interface that is part of the story, not a sidebar. Progression that is earned, logged, and traceable.
The setting is modern-adjacent: salvaged infrastructure, post-industrial districts, advanced systems layered over what was there before. No castles.
[Short Sword] [Common] [Damage: 4-6] [Durability: 61/80] [No special attributes] [Precise Strike: Level 1] [Increases attack accuracy and critical chance.] [Accuracy +1%] [Critical Hit Chance +0.25%]