Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (Book 4 Stubbing April 20)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Elijah is dying.

Afflicted with terminal cancer, his days are limited. So, after deciding to spend his remaining time with family, he boards a plane and sets off for the Pacific Northwest to be with his sister. However, along the way, Earth is transformed by the touch of the World Tree, injecting it with magical Ethera and connecting it to a much larger universe via the System. More importantly for Elijah, it also causes his plane to crash, stranding him on a deserted island. But all is not lost, and through the System, he gains the Druid archetype that may be enough to allow him to survive a hostile environment filled with powerful monsters as well as more mundane threats like starvation and the elements.

Meanwhile, his sister, Alyssa, must survive the collapse of civilization as she knows it while trying to keep her family safe.

Follow them as they try to navigate an apocalyptic world full of game-like stats, classes, and threats aplenty.

Current Release Schedule is one chapter a day (7 days a week) at 11AM CST. Patreon is currently200+ CHAPTERS AHEAD.

If you want to discuss the story, check out my Discord:

https://discord.gg/ccQQbgJ67y

Protector of the Grove (Path of Dragons 1) - On Kindle, Audible, and Paperback May 6, 2025 - LinkHERE

Whispers of the Wild (Path of Dragons 2) - On Kindle, Audible, and Paperback September 2, 2025 - LinkHERE

Shadow of the Hunter (Path of Dragons 3) - On Kindle, Audible, and Paperback January 6, 2026 - LinkHERE

A Druid's Wrath (Path of Dragons 4) - On Kindle, Audible, and Paperback May 5, 2026 - LinkHERE

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: nrsearcy

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 13,995
Views: 16,259,362

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

Jwood718Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story is really good. Seriously read it. I read it caught up, then waited awhile to reread and catch up again. The things I disliked in my first read through changed as I reread and everything tied together really well. I’m eager to see how the rest of the story develops.
CostcoManagerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This book fits very well into the progression fantasy subgenre. Additionally, instead of progress feeling fast and unearned, every bit of it in this story is logical, and earned. At first I was concerned about the archetype the main character has, but it has not limited the main character in any fashion.
StrangestQuarkRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story starts off as a fairly ordinary system apocalypse story, but swiftly distinguishes itself by providing 2 distinctly different perspectives of the world without either of them feeling particularly bothersome. The unique twists of the MC's fighting style is also developing in a dynamic way that I've personally never really seen before.
One of the most pleasant surprises to me was the boldness of some of the author's choices. Without going into details, there are 2 points in the story where things come to head in ways that seem entirely realistic but completely out of left field at the same time.
The character development is constant and decisions have consequences on not just a world based level but on a more personal one too. The world building feels detailed in a way that very few can replicate and the different regions are easily distinguishable. There are no real grammatical issues and next to no issues with weird phrasing either.
This story has been an amazing surprise for me, as I went into reading it with very few positive expectations. Despite my initial skepticism, this has become one of my favourite stories on this site so I can only recommend reading it to anyone who is interested enough to read the reviews.
StupidHeartRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Honestly love the book alrdy. Good pacing in my opinion well used methods and so on. I like the style of Cultivation and system mix and how he got his powers and even then is still struggling to keep up w enemies
Ps: Author if he doesn’t find Carmen soon maybe ill find u xD
CodrexRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Path of Dragons does a lot right, and more importantly, it understands what makes this kind of story fun to read. The progression feels rewarding, the world has weight to it, and there’s a strong sense that the story is building toward something bigger instead of just chaining together cool moments. The protagonist, Elijah Hart, is a strong anchor for the story, and his setup gives the whole thing a solid emotional base from the start.
The biggest strength for me is the atmosphere and direction of the story. There’s a clear sense of momentum, and the dragon-focused identity helps it stand out. The power growth is satisfying, and advancement usually feels earned rather than handed out for free. The setting also has that nice mix of danger, mystery, and scale that makes it easy to keep reading.
That said, the reason I’d give it 4.5 instead of a full 5 is that, for me personally, some of the reasoning behind certain decisions or developments feels a little lacking at times. Not enough to ruin the story, but enough that there were a few moments where I wanted a bit more depth, justification, or internal logic to fully sell what was happening. There’s also still a little room for extra polish in pacing here and there.
Overall though, this is still an easy recommendation. Path of Dragons delivers where it matters most: satisfying progression, a strong core concept, good momentum, and a world that feels worth exploring. If you like progression fantasy with a capable lead, meaningful growth, and a story that clearly has larger ambitions, this one is absolutely worth checking out.
TerebinthRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I like the mc, mostly, though he lacks a well-defined moral code. That said, developing the aforementioned seems to be a recurring theme, so we'll see where it goes. I'm nearly through with story arc 2.
Definitely curious to see where he goes with diplomacy and establishing relations between native and foreign species. The author seems to favor non-American culture -- which I understand, having been raised overseas, myself.
Jamey1977Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I have enjoyed this series so far. From 1-1 to 7-15. It’s has been nice to follow the main character from fumbling around the island to becoming a world power. I also like the fact he is not perfect and has is rough times and personal crisis. I Kant wait to keep following along
sweetciderRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
stopped reading because the author made an extremely forced choice which was easily avoidable, resulted in zero emotional growth for, and bought very little benefits for the main character. all through a random act of whimsical cruelty on the author's part. the pov changes are jarring too, but the grammar is good at least
Slothy2.0Royal Road
★★ 1.5
I was enjoying this story till the end of book one. I won't go into detail about what I hated cause it's a large enough spoiler it's actually against the rules to share but my investment in this story was punished and there are real flaws in this story that causes them. One is the synopsis that sets improper expectations for the reader that leaves choices the author makes grating heavily with some of the audience. Also I really feel like this event that I will not name is to different in tone from the rest of the story.
I had more to say, and I did in an earlier review but it got deleted for spoiling to much. I just really wanted to stress that for some of the audience the end of book one will ruin the entire story and it really sucks to be invested in a story for an entire book then just not be able to take it seriously anymore. Part of me is bitter cause something I enjoyed got "ruin" (I say in quotes cause people disagree and that's fine). The other thing I wanted to stress is that while this is an opion there are true flaws here.
LameNameYoRoyal Road
★★ 1.5
So the author's note is a premise that the story is not "multi POV" but... It is. I'd say at least 20% of book 1 is not the main character's perspective. Having said that, there isn't anything wrong with the second perspective, it's not poorly written, the characters are good, if a little more shallow, which only having had 1/5th the time makes sense. Having said that, I agree with another review, though not the rating because of it.
I agree, spending an entire book shallowly developing another group, and settlement, only to kill off the main character of the second book is a rather kick in the face. It definitely didn't need to be that long if we're going to turn around and abandon the MC's sister's group until he finds them now that we were given this... It definitely felt like a waste that should have been a recap, or even better, something the MC has to uncover when he eventually finds the settlement.
Outside of that!
There are differences from the typical "cultivation" or "gamelit" genre, while still being true to them that give it a unique but familiar feel. The premise of "a druid who actual druids" is quite apt. I've read plenty of "druid" books where the main character might just have a single plant spell.
The progress of the MC feels well earned, an explanation of how the stat growth itself feels is nice while not flashing an entire status sheet every chapter.
A lot of the power the MC gets feels earned, rather than handed to him except...
The dragon core, and how much stronger it is according to the lil tree guy feels a little gifted for basically going stealth and casting a return spell. But how it changes him and his spells are intriguing and enjoyable.
Overall a very enjoyable read, but is definitely a book with a side story scattered throughout.
Update: the second POV is getting to almost 50% and it's just depressing beatdown after beatdown for the other main party. At this point it's a second book in length, and as of book 2 is just depressing at eve