Conscripted into imperial battle, a lowly mechanic crosses boundaries to face monsters of war, in this thrilling dark-fantasy adventure

Hailing from a rural village, Mikolai was an army mechanic with modest ambitions: keep his head down and stay out of trouble. But then he had the misfortune of finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time . . .

Mistaken for a steam knight, Mikolai is drafted into a task force with an intimidating casualty rate led by the notorious war mage known as the Butcher of Belz. Suddenly the unwitting commander of a small squad, the former civilian is tasked with leading his troops into battle to stamp out the resistance in the name of imperial rule—or heroically die for the motherland in some godforsaken corner of the world.

Trudging over the treacherous Sarmatian mountains and into a dreaded no man's land where empires clash, Mikolai and his team face a threat worse than they'd feared: not all their enemies are human. The squad is outmatched, but they know desertion equals execution. Fortunately, their leader's own latent mage powers have unexpectedly started to emerge.

Mikolai used to think his destiny was to be a humble farm boy, but he'll soon discover he's bound for greater—and terrifying—things. In order to save himself and his friends, he'll need to summon the willpower to become the commander he was always meant to be. But survival is far from guaranteed.

The first volume of the hit progression fantasy series—with more than a million views on Royal Road—now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!