Ten Realms

Ex-combat medic Erik West and his best friend, Marine recon sniper Jimmy "Rugrat" Rodriguez, have been thrown into another world—branded as the "cursed." Now they must figure out a fantasy world where cultivation, skills, and abilities must be grown or death awaits. In a world where personal strength is everything, Erik and Rugrat have to start from the bottom. But they've cut their teeth in conflicts across Earth, and it's not a question of whether they are ready for the ten realms—it's whether the ten realms are ready for them.

In the second realm, Erik and Rugrat begin to understand their character sheets and the system known as the ten realms—a place where the strong make the rules and the weak cling to them for protection. After taking control of the Beast Mountain Dungeon and leading nearly two hundred people, they now command the Alva Dungeon—and need mana stones, dungeon cores, and monster cores to keep it running as they ascend.

New challenges arise in the third realm. Erik searches for Old Hei while Rugrat deals with his broken mana system. Both paths lead toward the alchemist association's trial, and trouble—as always—is not far behind the duo. All isn't peaceful in the first realm either, as Alva and Vermire face one of their greatest challenges yet.

The Battlefield Realm: where sects rise and fall, the ground trembles under fighters from the higher realms, and empires are won and lost. Erik and Rugrat must enter if they want to increase their strength and the strength of Alva. The Fourth Realm will change their lives—or end them.

After taking and defending Vuzgal, Erik and Rugrat face a new task: build a city. Alva mobilizes alongside their allies to develop the new prize. As they solidify their gains and hone their crafts and cultivation, their gaze turns back toward Vermire and the dungeon—and Alva begins to move in the shadows.

As the fighting competition grips Vuzgal, the city-state declares its independence and strength. Alva prepares to retake the lost floor of Water, and the Adventurer Guild hones its blades in preparation for war against the Willful Institute. Erik and Rugrat travel to the sixth realm—a place with cities under the sun and dungeons beneath.

Fighting in the shadows, with enemies at their backs—will Alva's secret be revealed? As Erik and Rugrat return to Alva, they find things have only heated up in their absence. The Adventurer's Guild moves in the shadows with Alva's support. With all their preparations, are they ready to take on a powerful sect from the sixth realm?

War has come to the Willful Institute—and to the first realm. For years Alva has trained and developed weapons and tactics never seen in the ten realms. Now Alva goes to war—no band of fighters looking for individual honors, but a nation forged together in dungeon and battlefield, fighting as one. It is time for Erik and Rugrat to step out of the shadows.

Strength comes not from victories, but from standing up after defeats and pulling others to their feet. The Alvans have paid a heavy price—a price felt in every member's heart. Beaten but unbroken, they face forces from the seventh realm, bleeding the enemy at every step. From a small group fighting to survive in the first realm, they have grown into a nation that challenged the combined United Sect Alliance. Now their belief in one another must be tempered alongside their bodies and mana.

The eighth realm is not a realm unto itself—it is a question: Why do you fight? Merely gaining levels and achieving higher cultivation is not enough to pass through to the ninth realm. Find your truth. Understand your reason. Only then can you pass the eighth realm's test. It may be Erik and Rugrat's hardest challenge yet.

At Avegaaren Academy—where heroes compete and legends are born, at the heart of the Imperium's might—Erik and Rugrat's abilities are pushed to the limit in new and unexpected ways. Here, they may gain more than strength and power: they may learn the purpose of the realms themselves, and the truth of the three races who wove their fates together against the darkness.

The tenth realm has been lost. Akran's hordes of devourers and ravagers have been loosed upon the lower realms, and the reclusive, powerful Imperium has taken a serious blow. It will take Alva, the Imperium, sects, clans, nations, and city-states—banding together as they did in ages past—to face the threat. It is time for everyone to put their cultivation to use.