Accidental War Mage
C52/100Web serial by Tom Writing Quietly
In a militaristic empire where war mages are prized and steam knights celebrated, Mikolai reluctantly signed up to be a steam suit mechanic to avoid conscription into the regular infantry. Magical talent is rare, precious, and a pathway into the nobility — but Mikolai is a peasant from a small farming village with simple ambitions: stay alive and do the right thing. When an unfortunate accident leads to his assignment to a special task force commanded by the notorious war mage Ognyan Spitignov, surviving with a clean conscience becomes very difficult. The mission: stamp out resistance to imperial rule in newly-conquered territory. Mikolai will try everything in his power to make the best of a bad situation — and he has more power than he realizes. His journey will take him through the horrors of war and the grinding clash between empires.