Forged Legacy

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

What would you see if your life’s grandest achievements were tattooed on your skin? What about your darkest secrets? Who would you become knowing that your true legacy was on display for all the world to see? A better person… or a monster. Harvey reached his breaking point, throwing his life away, only to be brought back when The System welcomed Earth into the Multiverse. He was given a chance at redemption, but only if he survived an integration trial facing an army of undead hellbent on invading his home. With his legacy already stained and a noose tattooed on his chest, he’ll have to fight, bleed, and forge his way back to a life he can be proud of. What to Expect: - LitRPG Survival Progression Fantasy goodness with a balance of crunch and emotion. - Weak to Strong MC - Killing, Crafting (Blacksmithing and Inscriptions), and Tattoos. - Skills made from lived experiences, not arbitrarily picked from a screen. - Choices matter, and your past defines your future. -Darkthemes offset by good friends who like to share a laugh If you love stories like Primal Hunter or Defiance of the Fall, I wrote this book for you! November 2025 Writathon Winner! I will be uploading chapters between1,500 and 4,000 words M-F at 9:10 AM PST.There's a lot of variety in chapter length because some stories take longer to tell than others, but the average word count per chapter of what I have written is 2,534. If you’d like to read ahead, check out my Patreon, where you can read 5 or 20 chapters ahead! Trigger Warning -This book discusses suicide and is the redemption arc of a character who made the tragic decision to end their own life. It's not glorified in any way. Dealing with Depression, Anxiety, and Trauma is difficult, and both I and many people I love have struggled. My goal here is to demonstrate how navigating through challenging times can lead to a life you could never have imagined for yourself. When the world is at its darkest, you have to keep fighting.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: Draven A Stark - Forged Legacy

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 957
Views: 266,475

Chapters(140 total)

What readers say about Forged Legacy

“Cool premise: The half living, half dead, regular people stuck on the front lines is a nice twist on both. Amazingly adaptable system: The system feeling almost alive is what leads to its adaptability and helps each character’s power evolve and grow in enti…”
Amaranth VNova WexlerRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“When I started Forged Legacy I was worried it would be like so many other System Apoc stories, An generic apathetic op mc, hollow side characters that mean nothing but to show how great the mc is and a System thats either cold and ruthless or sentient and s…”
Book-WyrmRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

Amaranth VNova WexlerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Cool premise:
The half living, half dead, regular people stuck on the front lines is a nice twist on both.
Amazingly adaptable system:
The system feeling almost alive is what leads to its adaptability and helps each character’s power evolve and grow in entirely unique ways, even if they started from the same point. I can already see an Arcanist who used a sword in an emergency evolving into a spell-blade or a warrior picking up a bow to hit a far off target and then hitting another one close to them with a woodcutter’s ax and being able to change into a master of any weapon they pick up. And archer who learned to use essence could turn into a magic archer whose arrows pass through objects or explode on certain contact.
Great characters:
I love how the MC is not the leader of the group. It is always cool to see the MC be someone trusted by the leader and not the leader themselves. The character interactions feel mostly realistic, with the ones that feel a bit off still understandable with things like passive auras effecting how people feel and see each other.
All in all, I am greatly enjoying it so far and look forwards for when the next chapter is released as soon as I finish the most recent one.
Book-WyrmRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
When I started Forged Legacy I was worried it would be like so many other System Apoc stories, An generic apathetic op mc, hollow side characters that mean nothing but to show how great the mc is and a System thats either cold and ruthless or sentient and snarky all in the name of producing the "Ultimate Warrior". The author has stood right up to the turning point of all these tropes and instead of going right into them turns left instead.MC has shitty life and kills themself? Most would immediately use this to make the MC blame everyone else in their life for it and use it to justify the MC hating or not caring about anyone. Not Harvey though, he hates his own weakness and use it to renews his will to live and help others. But it doesn't happen instantly he needs support from friends to get back on his feet. Most authors would have his friends killed or betray him to drive home the burgeoning misanthropy in the MC but instead they stay with him and help him amd he helps them and others in turn. Then theirs the system, I love how the system feels in Forged Legacy. It doesn't feel cold or ruthless like some or alive and sentient like others, it's not pushing one agenda or another. It just wants you to find you're own novel way forward and it does everything it can to help you find that way if only you can push yourself to find it. It's almost child like in the way it's trying to help and I can't think of another system that does anything like it. I love it.There's plenty more to say about Forged Legacy but you should really just go read it for yourself.-From a Excited and Intrigued Book-Wyrm
Carlee MarxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
At first, I was hesitant to start this book, kinda not something I was interested in… they say never judge a book by its cover and HOLY SHIT BRO!!! This book is so good! Harvey is such a rad dude. 10/10 I will be recommending to everyone I know.literally , can’t wait for the next chapter!!
baelrathRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Nice, refreshingly new take on system-advent story. This story focuses on those that died a day before system showing up on Earth.
Neat how much more control people have over shaping their character growth in this world type. People aren't forced to choose growth from static options given but can interact with the system, (less to start, more as they grow) to create and forge the skills and potentially classes that they want.
Characters start out flawed, but real, and have real time growth in even the 40 chapters that are out at time of review. MC is really starting out from a place not many write about and growing from there. To the point that it seems a fake out and that the character we read from seems less a MC than a side character until they grow into their own (doesn't take too long, maybe 5-10 chapters)
Trigger warning: not story breaking as its first chapter.
MC does take their own life via car crash rage out. suicide is a theme that does come up later for other characters.
Mechanics of the story of fine, minor edits needed, but nothing to wreck immersion.
World building is where this story shines so far. Got familiar themes of character growth via monster slaying, base building, profession building etc. adventure growth. System seems that it would work for many paths to power.
Good potential, hope it continues.
clg8471Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Nice character development. Waiting to see how conflicts are resolved and how the team pulls together. Different world creation. A very definite deadline that all need to working towards. Good story line. I am looking forward to each chapter. Almost wish I found it later so I could binge read it longer.
sleepycrowRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
My friend suggested this book to me, and I’m glad they did. I’ve really enjoyed how quickly it moves—lots of monsters to fight, which I love! I’m also into the Veilstrider aspect and how the story feels like a game with points and levels but still reads smoothly as a book. The characters are great, and the plot keeps getting more exciting with each chapter.
tbladetenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Really close to some of my favorites like primal hunter. The merit system and the tattoos are an awesome touch to a really cool concept. The visuals accompanying the tattoos help the immersion. So far, I’m really enjoying the story. I’m excited to see where this goes. Id recommend it to anyone who likes progressive fantasy.
Hardawg63Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I was a little skeptical when the MC starts behind the 8 ball in chapter 1, but the story won me over. Harvey becomes competent fast without skipping over the emotional fallout that got him there in the first place. The character work is solid, the system feels grounded, and the pacing stays tight through the first 30 chapters. If you like survival-focused LitRPG with actual consequences behind the power progression, this one’s worth sticking with
OchoaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A dark take on the apocalyptic system stories. With much to discover and learn about the system and where the survivors will forge their paths. Those who died soon before integration being given a chance is a nice twist that provides a welcome unexpected storyline. It is a detailed slow burn that still needs a bit more to flesh out the characters and their paths forward, but the legacy being hammered out steadily.
RaedawgRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I’m new to this genre and really enjoying this book. The author is very creative with his storyline. Looking forward to more chapters to be released. I really enjoying how he bridges the gaming world into the real world. At the same time making it a multi universal concept. I definitely will pay to read more of Draven’s books.