Etherious: The System's Descent
EmEs
When Earth evolves past a hidden threshold, humanity is whisked away by the Grand System into an educational Tutorial to adapt to Ether, a new energy source now suffusing reality. Arthur Ward is left behind, bleeding out on the sidewalk after being hit by a truck—no isekai, no summoning, just a broken man in a world that has upgraded without him. Animals become deadly monsters prowling the streets, dimensional incursions tear open the city, and Ether rewrites the rules of life itself. With a path to redemption before him, Arthur must adapt or die: gathering Ether, surviving monster cores, rewriting reality, and climbing a System-defined progression ladder while the path to power proves a slippery slope. Perfect for fans of Defiance of the Fall, The Primal Hunter, and Road to Mastery, this LitRPG progression fantasy follows Arthur from rock-bottom healer to Originator and Fringe Walker as System law breaks, alien races arrive early, and a sector-wide bounty marks him as The Perfect Homunculus.
Progression: Grand System / Ether progression verified via Goodreads series descriptions (404953) and Podium/Royal Road blurbs: (1) System Descent & Tutorial — Earth 'passing a threshold few even knew existed' triggers Grand System which whisks humanity into a Tutorial to teach Ether, the introduced energy source; those who miss/escape the Tutorial (Arthur) must learn under harsher conditions. (2) Ether Gathering + Monster Core Consumption — combination of human progression mixed with monster core consumption; MC develops multiple magic affinities, Muay Thai-augmented combat, and title collection as quantified milestones. (3) Class/Title Ladder & Locus of Power — Arthur grinds toward unlocking a powerful class, heals as premier healer, trains under Alyssia Sil'Vorken at the Locus of Power crucible (Book 3), fixes his soul/Origin blood (Book 4 Originator), and ascends to Perfect Homunculus / Fringe Walker (Book 5) while System law, alien incursion tiers, and sector-wide bounty provide explicit rank/escalation structure. No Harem, LitRPG stats implied via System integration.
Royal Road
Goodreads
