Path of the Last Champion [Sci-Fantasy LitRPG, Party Dynamics, Earned Power] (Arc 2 Complete!)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Please read this first: (21/12/2025) Arc 1 (Books 1 and 2) of Path of the Last Champion should hopefully be published sometime early-ish next year. I highly,highlyrecommend that if you like the idea of this story, that you wait for that version to come out. It will be a far more epic and pleasurable entry into what I promise is going to be a legendary journey. After taking everyone's feedback and advise into consideration, I've done a full re-write of Arc 1 to address all those issues. So, it would mean the world to me if you read that newer version instead! That said, if you would like to read the story in its first version, then know thatthe annoying bits should be self-contained to and resolved by the end of Arc 1! Again, thank you all so, so much for all your feedback, comments, and messages! You have, and continue to be, instrumental to the growth of this story! A sinner rises, a sword becomes legend, an ancient lie unravels… The Path of the Last Champion begins, and nothing will ever be the same. Nar was born in darkness, and he was meant to die there – a slave, a sinner, shackled by a sin long ago forgotten and doomed to a life beneath the surface. His eyes were never meant to see the dazzling lights of the Infinite Nexus, nor the wonders of the Endless Labyrinth from aboard great aetherships. He was never destined for power, a class, or the System… But he made the choice few sinners dare – to Climb. Now, he must forge a hybrid tank/DPS class, hide a secret that could get him kicked from his Climbing party, and achieve the impossible in order to save his dying father, who sacrificed everything to ensure Nar’s future. He will face everything that lies in wait for him in the darkness of the Between-Nexus, and beyond that, Nar will need to grow strong in a society where might makes right, in order to one day make the journey back for his dad before it's too late… However, without knowing it, with every step he takes towards the City Without End, Nar is bringing to a close a play that has spanned eternities. The players are all assembling for the final act that will decide the fate of Creation Itself, but no one is expecting Nar… Nor the lengths he is willing to go in order to rescue his dad. Nar is no chosen one, but he will be the Last Champion. What to expect: - A Sci-Fantasy LitRPG with massive world building, realistic party based combat centered around the holy trinity classes (+ party leaders!) with many unique paths/affinities (becoming more relevant in Arc 2!), an advanced tech society, dungeons, huge raids, mysterious plot, epic battles, and more! - A System that has been established for a long, long time (“There's nothing new in the Nexus!”) and which is crucial for the very functioning of society itself. - Support characters that will have unique classes/paths, as well as their own growth, motivations and storylines, and who will always remain relevant to the story (there will be different POVs, but MC’s POV is 95% of the story). -Slow burnand earned power! Nothing is given, there are no handouts, and no shortcuts! - If you enjoy Star Wars, Final Fantasy, Tower of God, One Piece and others like this, you might like this story too! -Arc 1is a Tower Climber through a vast, ancient, uncaring and cruel machine world. Our characters are flawed, and at times dumb, annoying and make poor decisions! But they learn and grow, and by the end of Arc 1, they’ve got themselves mostly put together, and have forged unbreakable bonds! -Arc 2is after the Climb, and after the craziness and everything that the party endured in Arc 1, this is their chance to catch a bit of a breather, and learn more of the outside world. But there are secrets in the dark, things in motion our party does not yet suspect, and their break will not last forever...-Arc 3arrives like a storm after the end of Arc 2 and is currently releasing! Big changes are coming for Nar and the party as they are thrust into their first long delve. Welcome to the Brightnight domain, the jungle ruled by the night, and a place of monstrous beasts and insane gains! There is no doubt that this will be a perilous delve, but the greatest danger might just come from those to whom you extend a helping hand to... And who knows what secrets lie forgotten in the sweltering jungle? - 3 chapters weekly (MON-WED-FRI) - Average 3k words per chapter

Information

Status
Ongoing
Year
2024
Author
TheWanderingWind

Tags

LITRPGADVENTUREMAGICDRAMASCI-FIGAMELITMALE LEADMYSTERYGRIMDARKHIGH FANTASYMYTHOSSOFT SCI-FISTRATEGYPROGRESSIONLOCAL PROTAGONISTDUNGEON CRAWLER

Royal Road Stats

Rating
4.6/ 5.0
Followers
4,381
Views
3,010,185

Chapters(386 total)

What readers say about Path of the Last Champion [Sci-Fantasy LitRPG, Party Dynamics, Earned Power] (Arc 2 Complete!)

  • “So to preface, I loved act 1 and rate it 5 stars, even if it had some drawbacks, because the fresh setting, character interactions and mystery elements make for a great read. However as of starting act 2 I am putting reading this on hold, because I feel lik…”
    Chrones_Royal Road5.0 / 5
  • “I have read a plenty of fictions on this site. None of them made me cry. This fiction did it.  The character design, main character growth, overall world design are amazing. I feel empathy to the team. I can understand why they do act one way or another. I…”
    2B5DCRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

  • Chrones_Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    So to preface, I loved act 1 and rate it 5 stars, even if it had some drawbacks, because the fresh setting, character interactions and mystery elements make for a great read. However as of starting act 2 I am putting reading this on hold, because I feel like everything good and interesting about act 1 has been shelved(for now at least) and instead we get obvious conclusions dumped onto us in pages upon pages of exposition, this review is about act 1.
    The good
    Party dynamics are handled well and it's hard not to root for the party doing its best
    The mystery of the setting and the exploration are top notch and extremely enjoyable
    The tension and atmosphere in traversing the climb is handled well, giving the fights and rare moments of respite a lot more weight.
    The bad
    Minor spoiler
    This is by far the dumbest, most hardheaded MC I've ever seen. Nav will fail to come to an obvious conclusion or to make a basic deduction, then have it explained to him, only to forget and agonize about it thrice again. Which while slightly realistic due to his childhood, does not lead to a good reading experience.
    Characters in general aren't very smart, cunning and intellect is lacking among the entire cast. So if you're looking for smart characters making the best use of the resources and information available to them, you won't find that here.
  • 2B5DCRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I have read a plenty of fictions on this site. None of them made me cry. This fiction did it.  The character design, main character growth, overall world design are amazing. I feel empathy to the team. I can understand why they do act one way or another. I can understand why they make the wrong choices. I can understand their motivation. They are not just words in front of my eyes. No, they live in my head with their so sad but so beatiful lives. 10 out of 10 the best I have read
  • B FishyRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Honestly a super great read. Incredible world building, interesting character development, and lots of mysteries to be solved. I also enjoy how rapidly the chapters have been coming out. Doesn't seem to be a super well followed story yet, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Can't wait for more chapters to drop to continue the story.
  • A GalaxyRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    From start to current chapter, I felt the amount of work and dedication put into this story, and it's worth to be called one of the "best" stories I have ever read.
    This is not a purposeless grindfest but it has all the quality of a LitRPG grindfest we all love and want to read a million pages of.
    There is a plot, and it's not about freaking pointless things I don't care about, it's about following the growth of our hero and the rightly-numbered cast of characters alongside him.
    There is a world that has existed before the protagonist was born, with the all so important mysteries I want to know but am denied.
    The LitRPG system is, as should be expected, built for the story, it's part of the Universe, and though it's not my beloved "All-Encompassing Natural Law" type, as I said, it's built for the purpose of the story and promise an otherworldy delve into various exciting mechanics.
    If the story made me feel stressed during high-octane moments and happy during growth and relaxed chapters, then what more is there to say about the grammar and the style?
    Damn, it's been a long time since I last read something so much to my taste~<3
  • BidenBidenBidenBidenRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    The path of the last champion contains fascinating world building. The Nexus is incredible mysterious and alluring in that cold, harsh way that the worlds of good sci-fi stories sometimes manage to achieve. The story is fast paced and full of tense action, but tempered by wholesome moments and excellent character growth across the whole party. Every party member is unique and memorable, and at this point there is not a single one of them that I dislike. The progression is also very interesting and satisfying, with some mechanics that I haven’t seen before, but are easy to understand. This stories strongest point is it’s character development, characters have a single arc, after which they no longer grow, but rather are constantly changing in new ways. It doesn’t feel like the character development is simply moving towards a set destination, but is rather natural and real. I strongly recommend you read this, you will not regret it.
  • BlindCentaurRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    A great slow burn Litrpg! The thing I'm most impressed in this story it's not all the mysteries about their world/religion or the power system and action scenes (those are great!) But how the party engage, talk e deal with their own problems. That's beautiful. Very organic. You can see hesitation, their failures, their hopes, their despair and .... their secrets. It's really human (although the majority of them are not human haha). I liked a lot. It's  really hard to write characters growth as close to the reality as this story present us. Kudos to the author.
  • Bloody HealerRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    What strikes me most with this story is not its intriguing and mysterious setting, its fascinating characters that are each a whole trauma can of worms, its masterfully narrative woven power system, its blood pumping action scenes, nor its emotionally charged intra-party interactions. What I'm most impressed with is the way it manages to set a well balanced dark tone. Even though the story feels dark and brutal, it's never felt stale and gritty. I highly recommend people give it a shot, even if you wouldn't typically read dark novels.
  • BronzeDeganRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This story is one of the best I've ever read.
    The worldbuilding is brilliantly designed, with believable societies and cultures populating a vast, dark machine-like world. It's easy to tell early on that the scope of the story lies well beyond its beginning. The mystery of WHY this world is the way it is drives the narrative and reader forward.
    The characters are well written and easy to empathize with. The main character and each of the main cast feel like they have real motivations that push each of them to make decisions that make sense in the moment. Every piece of character growth feels earned, in a way that few other litRPG stories have been able to manage.
    The prose rises to match the world and characters. Strong symbolism is evident throughout the story, without drowning out the human-scale story being told. I'm hesitant to name any concrete literary influences, but more often as I read, the story brings to mind Plato's Allegory of the Cave.
    I'll be following this story closely, and look forward to the day its recognized as one of the defining fictions of the genre.
  • Bacon MacleodRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I will preface this review by saying if you don't like flawed characters who struggle to overcome false indoctrination and a bucket and a half full of trauma, with slow pacing, this book is probably not for you. I like all of those things, so I love it, and its done well so it's not a quality issue, just a matter of taste. You gotta be someone who likes the process and journey, not just the prize.
    Style: Very utilitarian prose, but it works well, I really enjoy it. I think there is some room for improvement by having chunkier paragraphs at times, but with the nature of a wide cast, it is understandable that dialogue can get line-by-liney.
    Pacing is slow, but not dragged out. The full journey is explored, but things where 'nothing' happens are skipped over. This is a measured pace book, and some people don't like that - but it is done well IMHO
    Story: Fantastic, love it, zero complaints. Amazing science fantasy setting, deep lore, a feeling of long history, and mysteries galore. Gives fallen london and later DnD SpellJammer vibes.
    Grammar: no comments, but i'm bad at picking up on minor flaws.
    Character: The characters are great, and I love how deftly the wide cast has been done. Trauma feels believeable, and everything entirely matches up with character motivation and backstory - even when you want to slap them upside the head and shake them by the shoulders.
    I also recognise this is another point people might find troublesome. This story is literally a journey out of the darkness, and no one makes that kind of journey without hesitation, fear, and a few wrong turns. Characters can be mighty frustrating at times (not always, there's a lot of cheering them on moments too), but their growth is real and lived and satisfying. Its extremely well done. However, if  characters making decisions that are 'illogical' or 'unoptimal' makes you dislike a book, just steer clear. Not every book is written for every person, and that's okay.
    My favourite part is how despite everythi
  • Dingo_shablinkoRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Here is a story that feels real, and will draw you in! I've read up to chapter 75, and enjoyed the whole journey.The style is solid. The vocabulary is excellent, the word choices are natural and unforced.The story does not hold your hand and over-explain the world building. It sets up a number of hooks in the beginning that pull the reader along. In the beginning it might have been a bit heavy on the explanations of the attributes, but for a reader unfamiliar with litRPGs that might be necessary.The grammar is good. It is clear that the story is well proof-read. I found one or two errors in the entire 835 pages that I've read so far.The main character feels quite real in the way emotions play out. Through him we experience shame and insecurity along with triumph and advancement. The character progression is my favourite part. The team he is part of is a group of flawed and sometimes broken individuals, and through wholesome comradery they support each other through their troubles and come out better for it.The characters do not advance super quickly, the progression feels honest and worked for. When they level, it feels deserved.Thanks to the author for providing such an excellent story for us to read!

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