CHAINS - The First Link

[Progression High Fantasy, LITRPG-Light, Skill Evolution, Earned Power Growth] CHAINS is anIceberg **Layer 1: Book 1 Plot** Can one person make a difference? Damian is just your average adventurer. Coming from a less-than-humble upbringing, he's managed to carve himself a simple life. Unfortunately, that simple life of adventuring has come to an abrupt end. A grand conspiracy is unfolding in the capital city, and Damian and his party members have found themselves caught in the middle. What can a bunch of underleveled adventurers do while the 'powers that be' fight? This novel is litrpg-light. There are Status Windows with Tiers, Levels, and Abilities, but no detailed stats, such as attributes. Updates MWF - **Layer 2: Larger Story - Early Spoilers** Death Isn't An Escape. It's A Curse. All who die in these lands are cursed to return as the undead. Stronger, terrible, and hungry to kill the living. The lands of Tania have been plagued by this curse for over 1000 years, with no end in sight. The four goddesses have been missing all the while, and only their guardians, the Valkyrie, remain to enforce stability in a slowly crumbling world. Our heroes must uncover the mysteries of this world and piece it back together before it's too late. They will not start as the most capable, or the smartest, or even the most courageous. They're just the ones whokeep getting back up after getting knocked down. In due time, they'll embody all the characteristics of great heroes, but for now, they're just agroup of misfits. - **Layer 3: Grand Plan** This story is a progression-adventure litrpg that will cover a multitude of subgenres. Sometimes it will be a mystery adventure. Other times, it will be a slice of life or a dungeon crawler. Mix in a little horror episode here and there. And eventually, it's going to become a weak-to-strong adventure with world travel. Sometimes it's happy, and you feel butterflies in your stomach and want to snack. Other times, it's so sad that it feels like your heart just got ripped out. There is no static with these chains, because the goal is to break them. - **Layer 4: What This Story Is Really About** The Core of CHAINS is exactly that. The things that bind us. Some are good, some are bad. There are things within your control, while most others are out of your hands. Sometimes the thing binding you is there for your own good, while at other times, it holds back your potential. Sadly, you may not know which is which until theyare already broken. - **Layer 5: Humanity** I've usedNO AItowritemy story. Not for writing or generating ideas. I use Grammarly to fix spelling and grammatical errors, as recommended by Royal Road.All the AI tools on Grammarlyare turned off, andto my knowledge,it's a much better version of Microsoft Word. Idouse em and en dashes becauseI thinkthey look good.(Alt + 0151) You can toss any of my chapters into an AI detector and get back a 100% Human reading. I have failed as a human when it comes to the cover art, though. It is currently AI, and I hope to replace it. I looked into commissioning artwork, and it's expensive. - **Layer 6: Everything Laid Out - Spoilers** Monster Evolution is a significant part of this story, but won'tbe touchedupon for some time. I'll list the chapter here once I get there. For the story I'm trying to tell, it doesn't make sense for them to show up right away. - **Layer 7: ???** Not all things are as they seem.