Zed was just a normal guy with an incredible amount of trauma. He'd aged out of the foster system at 18 after having been placed there as a teen when his father killed his mother after finding out she had been cheating on him. He went to art school and made a life for himself selling swords he forged that won awards for not only the beauty with which they were instilled but the craftmanship that was poured into them. He didn't really have friends, but he had his own studio and was making a good living. He was okay.  Until he wasnt.  He was kidnapped through a portal with barely any chance to react, only to find out that he was stuck there due to his body having been atomized by the portal through which he was pulled, leaving his soul without a "container." Aethos, the God of the System who'd sacrificed their freedom to become the System that allowed for a better quality of life and guided magic rather than struggle through the hellscape they'd been born in, comforted him. He gave him a chance at the ability to forge connections as he forges swords. Right after he kicks some serious butt, though.  This is the story of Zed, the Zenithal Warsmith. (The picture is AI generated and will most likely be changing later on) Author's Notes: There will be LGBT themes throughout the novel. I've updated the tag to include romance because, even though it won't be the biggest part of the story, it is still a big one. (I don't even mention sexuality at all until page 200 basically, if that gives you a better impression, though it will be more prevalent as it progresses) I don't like that I feel like I have to put a content warning about that, but until I have a better overall Synopsis and clearly defined direction of the story, I'm just adding some notes down here so no one thinks I'm misleading them when it eventually happens. I'm kind of going with the flow of how the story feels while I'm writing it. I have a wide overarching plan for plot points I want to hit, but the in between is jello at best so I'll update this Tags and Genres stuff as I write and things just happen! I'll also eventually rewrite the synopsis to encompass the story in a better, more accurate way.  Also this is all a huge first draft and there will eventually be a period of me going back and rewriting nearly everything so that it feels easier and better to read. This is my very first fiction and I'm finding my process but posting the chapters, even though it's embarrassing to put myself out there for judgement/criticism, will keep me accountable for actually writing the thing.